In modern society, many things need batteries to use, such as remote controls, electric cars, alarm clocks, and some large devices.
Various models of batteries
For different devices, the type of battery required is different, and its battery life is also different.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched by the United States in the 1970s, are still operating in space, and because their missions drift away from the sun, they do not install solar panels, but use batteries.
Their batteries have been used for more than 40 years, do you know what kind of batteries are used?
This may be rarely heard of, but it is used in nuclear-powered batteries, and the radioactive element in it is plutonium.
Nuclear battery
Since elements have a half-life, when the plutonium is exhausted, it may be time for the detector to strike.
However, this is not the world's longest battery, we want to know the Oxford electric bell today, has been discharged for more than 180 years, and rings 10 billion times, but strangely, human beings still do not know its battery structure.
Oxford Electric Bells for more than 180 years
The bell is now on the shelf in the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and at first glance it looks like an ordinary experimental device.
Clarendon Laboratory
But miraculously, this electric bell, which is shrouded in double-glazed glass, has been ringing for more than 180 years, and few experiments have lasted so long.
It is recorded that the bell was bought in 1840 by Robert Walker, a professor of physics at oxford university, from instrument makers Watkin and Hill.
So far, the glass cover has never been opened, so it has been allowed to work until now.
However, it is worth noting that according to verifiable information, the life of this bell may be longer, because it may have been manufactured in 1825.
Oxford Electric Bells
If it starts ringing continuously from the day it was made, it's been ringing for 197 years as of 2022, which is simply incredible.
Construction of the Oxford Electric Bell
On the outside, the Oxford Bell device is indeed not difficult, in an absolutely air-isolated environment, there are two dry batteries, which form a stack in series.
In the middle of the two batteries, a silk thread hangs on top of which hangs a metal ball with a diameter of 4 mm.
The end of the battery is a hemispherical brass bell, and the metal ball is located between the two bells.
Metal balls and bells
There is only a little gap between the three, and the sound of this electric bell relies on the metal ball swinging back and forth between the bells, so as to hit the bell to play a bell effect.
It's hard to imagine how it could have swung back and forth for so many years.
After all, in our opinion, the durability of the battery is actually inversely proportional to the time it is used, but so far this trend has not been reflected in the Oxford Electric Bell.
In this regard, many scientists are also confused and do not know how it works for a long time.
Metal balls swing back and forth in it
A guess at how Oxford electric bells work
The metal ball can swing back and forth, relying on the power of two batteries.
Simply put, when a metal ball hits one of the bells, it carries a positive charge on it.
Since the two belong to the same charge, a subtle repulsion is created, causing it to be hit by another bell.
At this time, the metal ball is already carrying a negative charge, so it will be attracted to the other side.
In this cycle, the Oxford Electric Bell has formed a 2 hertz oscillation cycle.
Roughly how it works
So about how it works, whether these two dry batteries have special functions, or what the real structure of their interior is, etc., let's take a look at the scientists' guesses.
Internal structure is the key to solving problems
First, scientists can only make observations from the appearance of the electric bell.
Because the bell has not been turned on since it was brought back to Oxford University, the air isolation may be one of the reasons why the battery can work for a long time.
We can see that the surface of the battery is covered with a layer of sulfur, and its role is to isolate the air and play an insulating effect.
Thick sulfur on the outside
Scientists have speculated that this stack should be the Zamboni stack, an electrostatic battery invented by Giuseppe Zamboni in 1812.
Its main part is silver foil, zinc foil and other metal foil and disc-shaped paper composition, this paper is coated with manganese dioxide on one side, and the other side is coated with zinc sulfate.
These things are stacked in thousands of layers, compressed with glass tubes with end caps, and then they can be immersed in molten sulfur insulation.
In addition, the voltage of these pieces of paper is 0.8V, which shows that the voltage of the battery can reach several thousand volts.
Zamboni stacks
Although it can only provide a current of nano-ampere, due to its large internal resistance, it will not burn it even if it is short-circuited.
And the movement of the metal ball between the bells will only transmit a small amount of current, so the battery will consume very little power, so that it can last for so long.
But this is only the speculation of scientists, because the details and details of the electric bell have long been lost, so there is no other way but to dismantle it and study the internal structure.
However, scientists are now reluctant to directly remove the electric bell, because this experiment has broken multiple records.
The most durable battery
Not only did it become the longest-running experiment in history, but it was also the most durable battery in history.
Therefore, now we can only wait until the day when the electric bell runs out of electricity to have a chance to solve the mystery, but how long it will take, scientists do not know, we can only silently look forward to it.
The development process of the battery
So now there are so many batteries on the market, according to different materials, the scope of application is also different, so what stage of development have these batteries experienced?
Batteries are constantly evolving
Modern batteries have been developed for more than two hundred years, and in 1800, the Italian chemist Alessandro first invented the volta stack, which was the world's first generator.
The volta stack is composed of multiple layers of zinc and silver, of which the interval impregnated water, is the earliest chemical power source, not only provided the foundation for the development of electromagnetism, but also ushered in a new era of electrical development.
However, the volta stack at this time could not be reused, so in 1836, the causal scientist Daniel improved it, replacing the electrolyte with dilute sulfuric acid, so the first zinc-copper battery that was not polarized and could maintain balance was invented.
Volta stack
With the idea of reusing resources, the French physicist Plante invented the world's first rechargeable battery, the lead-acid battery, in 1859.
This invention is what we now call the battery, which provides great convenience for the development of modern car engines.
Because the previous battery, the electrolyte used is easy to leak, so it is not convenient to carry, so in 1887, the British scientist Helerson replaced the liquid electrolyte with a paste, which is the earliest dry battery.
Rechargeable battery
In 1890, Edison improved on this basis, inventing the iron-nickel dry battery that could be recharged, pushing the invention of the battery to a new height.
Today's dry batteries have gradually developed more than 100 kinds, and their functions and principles are actually in the same vein as volta stacks.
With the timely progress, as well as people's economic development, the use of batteries has become more and more demanding, so in 1980, Goodenough invented lithium batteries.
This type of battery can be said to be the development of modern electronic products, laying the foundation for persistence, lithium batteries although small, but can provide the highest voltage, density is also greater than the previous battery.
lithium battery
The mobile phones, computers, and even electric vehicles we use now use lithium batteries.
Of course, modern batteries have always been in a state of development, and the invention of each battery is more or less to make up for the loopholes of the previous battery.
Lithium batteries also have certain disadvantages, because the electrolyte it uses is a very flammable organic solvent.
Therefore, this kind of battery often has a short circuit, and even causes an explosion at high temperatures.
The battery exploded
Of course, these are all batteries that we can access, and there are some that are not within our scope of use, such as nuclear-powered batteries, because the radioactive elements they carry will cause harm to the human body.
Now these batteries applied to our daily lives have been continuously developing, and perhaps one day, we can really invent a battery with a battery life comparable to that of the Oxford Electric Bell.