I am beginning of learn electricity so sorry if my questions are confusing or does not make sense. My question is specifically about how voltage (which I guess is due to separation of uneven charges) is constantly maintained in a battery. My knowledge of battery comes from chemistry and there examples of battery were not as complicated as those found in physics. Like in chemistry we learned of how electrons traveled one one electrode to another another and when the charges are evened the battery then dies. But in physics I am reading of examples when the battery constantly maintains the voltage and charges keep on traveling the circuit even when they reach the other terminal. Can anyone explain how this is happening? I guess I don't understand how batteries work completely.
[Physics] How is potential difference maintained in a battery
batterieselectrochemistryvoltage
Best Answer
So technically, in those physics examples the voltage isn't fixed in those batteries. The potential drops, just very slowly for small currents. For example, if the voltage is 12V and some small current flows, the voltage drops. However, it drops to like, say, 11.9999935434V or whatever. So for the problem you don't really care and you just assume 12V. Eventually, once the current has run long enough it will become noticeable in practice that the voltage is not 12V. And that's when you need to recharge the battery (if rechargeable) or get a new one.