Batteries, Generators: UNIZOR.COM - Physics4Teens - Electromagnetism - DC Ohm's Law
Channel: Zor Shekhtman on UNIZOR Education
Date: 2020-04-04

Unizor - Physics through a Looking Glass of Mathematician

Batteries, Generators

The potential energy of positive and negative charges in presence of a circuit is transformed into kinetic energy of electrons moving along a circuit, partially spending its energy on dragging through atoms of resistor and ending up on the positive terminal of the battery.

Battery A is capable of separating certain number of electrons from their nuclei, so does battery B.
When connected in a series, battery B separates its own electrons plus is given the already separated electrons form battery A, thus increasing the number of electrons separated from their nuclei. That creates a larger difference in potential between positive terminal of A and negative terminal of B.

Therefore, batteries in a series increase the difference of potential (voltage) between their free ends.

The voltage of an assembly of several sources of electric power connected in series is a sum of all individual voltages of its components.

Now consider two identical batteries connected parallel to each other.
The difference in electric potential (voltage) on the free ends of this assembly is the same as the voltage on the ends of each battery. So, the voltage in parallel connection remains the same.

At the same time the electrons needed by electric power consumer (a lamp, a refrigerator etc.) connected into a circuit with these batteries will consume half of needed electrons from one battery and another half from another.
So, the batteries in parallel connection share the burden and will work longer.