Zinc-Carbon Battery

A zinc-carbon battery is a disposable primary cell built around a zinc container that serves as the negative electrode and a central carbon rod that serves as the positive electrode, with a paste of manganese dioxide and carbon powder packed between them and an ammonium chloride or zinc chloride paste acting as electrolyte, together producing about 1.5 volts. It descends from the wet Leclanche cell, and Carl Gassner patented the first dry version, sealed in a zinc casing with a plaster-based paste, in 1886; by 1898 zinc-carbon cells were powering the earliest flashlights, and their capacity roughly quadrupled over the following century through purer manganese dioxide and better sealing. They remain a low-cost choice for low-drain devices such as clocks, remote controls and smoke detectors, though they perform poorly in high-drain devices, where alkaline batteries now last longer. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/