What is Chemical cell?
A '''chemical cell''' converts [[chemical energy]] into [[electrical energy]]. Most [[battery|batteries]] are chemical cells. A [[chemical reaction]] takes place inside the battery and causes [[electric current]] to flow. There are two main types of batteries - those that are ''rechargeable'' and those that are not. A battery that is not rechargeable will give electricity until the chemicals in it are used up. Then it is no longer useful. It can be rightly called 'use and throw'. A [[rechargeable battery]] can be ''recharged'' by passing electric current backwards through the battery; it can then be used again to produce more electricity. It was Gaston Plante, a French scientist who invented these rechargeable batteries in 1859. Batteries come in many shapes and sizes, from very small ones used in toys and cameras, to those used in cars or even larger ones. [[Submarine]]s that aren't nuclear submarines require very large batteries. == Types of chemical cells == * Simple cell * [[Dry cell]] * [[Wet cell]] * [[Fuel cell]] * [[Solar cell]] * [[Electricity|Electric cell]] == Electrochemical cells == An extremely important class of oxidation and reduction reactions are used to provide useful electrical energy in batteries. A simple electrochemical cell can be made from copper and zinc metals with solutions of their sulphates. In the process of the reaction, electrons can be transferred from the zinc to the copper through an electrically conducting path as a useful electric current. An electrochemical cell can be created by placing metallic electrodes into an electrolyte where a chemical reaction either uses or generates an electric current. Electrochemical cells which generate an electric current are called voltaic cells or galvanic cells, and common batteries consist of one or more such cells. In other electrochemical cells an externally supplied electric current is used to drive a chemical reaction which would not occur spontaneously. Such cells are called electrolytic cells. == Voltaic cells == An electroc