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galvanic cell

File:Galvanic_cell_with_no_cation_flow.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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galvanic cell

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Also known as chemical cell, cell, voltaic cell

device for spontaneous conversion of chemical into electrical energy

AI overview

A galvanic cell is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy through a spontaneous chemical reaction. This technology matters because it's the basic principle behind batteries, which power many of the devices we use every day.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Part of
battery
Has part
separator
Named after
Luigi Galvani
Image
Galvanische Zelle 2009-02-08.svg
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Galvanic cells
topic's main category
Category:Galvanic cells
has characteristic
electrical energy
inception
1786-00-00
discoverer or inventor
Luigi Galvani
time of discovery or invention
1786-00-00
source of energy
chemical energy
location of creation
Bologna
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~17 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Galvanic cell with no cation flow A galvanic cell or voltaic cell, named after the scientists Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta, respectively, is an electrochemical cell in which an electric current is generated from spontaneous oxidation–reduction reactions. An example of a galvanic cell consists of two different metals, each immersed in separate beakers containing their respective metal ions in solution that are connected by a salt bridge or separated by a porous membrane.

Volta is the inventor of the voltaic pile, the first electrical battery. Common usage of the word battery has evolved to include a single galvanic cell, but the first batteries had many galvanic cells.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “galvanic cell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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