How does a dry cell battery lose its power? Wouldn electrons be returned back into the battery?
Battery power comes not from stored electrons but from the electric potential difference between the anode and the cathode. It might help if you think about it like this: one side has more electrons than another and when the battery is connected to a circuit the electrons move from the side with more electrons to the side with fewer electrons. edit: The reason the electrolyte does not discharge the battery is because the anode and cathode are separated by a membrane that only allows the passage of ions and not the electrolyte itself. Batteries are set up as two half-cells, the anode and the cathode, connected by a bridge that allows the passage of positive ions (but not electrons themselves, usually). As the anode discharges electrons, a chemical reaction creates positive ions which are released into solution. These ions cross the bridge into the cathode where they absorb electrons, completing the circuit. A dry cell battery functions the same way as a wet cell battery does, and they a
