What Is The Electric Cell?

An electrical cell is the cell which can act to convert one form of energy to another like chemical energy into electrical energy. The structure of an electric cell is very simple. There are two electrodes which are attached in an electric cell which carry different charges like one has positive charge and the other has negative charge. Both of these electrodes are dipped in the electrolytic solution which is known as electrolyte. When the cell is linked with the external circuits then electricity passes through the electrolyte and a chemical reaction is carried out. The atoms of the electrolyte are dissociated in positive and negative ions. In this way the electric cell acts as the direct source of electricity because of flow of ions.

The electric cell produces a small but steady current. The cell is a special container in which a chemical reaction is allowed to take place and electricity produced. The simple cell is sometimes called a voltaic cell because the first electric cell was made in 1799 by the Italian scientist Volta. A simple cell consist of a copper plate and zinc plate dipped into a solution of dilute Sulphuric acid in a container.

When a copper wire is connected to the ends of the two plates, a current flows from the copper plate of the zinc plate in the wire and form the zinc to the copper in the acid. The copper plate is called the positive pole or terminal and the zinc plate is called the negative pole or terminal. The current is produced because of chemical action between the sulphuric acid and the zinc plate. This chemical action can be noticed as bubbles of hydrogen gas can be seen escaping from the acid.