Page 92 - Big Ideas Year 10 sciPAD 2025

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92 SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
CIRCUITS AND MAGNETS
Batteries Produce Electricity
A battery produces electricity using two different metals placed in a
chemical paste. A chemical reaction between the metals and the
paste frees more electrons in one metal than in the other. One end
of the battery is attached to one of the metals and the other end
is attached to the other metal. The end that frees more electrons
develops a negative charge and the other end develops a positive
charge. If a wire is attached from one end of the battery to the other,
electrons flow through the wire to balance the electrical charge. The
battery will continue to produce electricity until the metal or chemical
paste runs out. A load is a device that uses electricity to work or
perform a job. If a load (such as a light bulb) is placed along the wire,
the electricity must do work as it flows through the filament of the light
bulb. This causes the filament to glow and produce light.
1. What two things would you find inside a common battery?
(a) (b)
2. Why do batteries go ‘flat’? 

3. What term is used to describe devices, such as bulbs, that use electricity to do work? 

4. George and Hemi are talking in class. Use the information above, and your own knowledge,
to complete the cartoon below.
HEY GEORGE, how come a
battery has a positive end
and a negative end?
Sweet as!
You the man!
Metal rod
(positive)
Chemical
paste
Protective
outer case
Metal
inner case
(negative)
1
2
3
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