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The terms anode and cathode are not defined by the voltage polarity of electrodes, but are usually defined by the direction of current through the electrode. An anode usually is the electrode of a device through which conventional current (positive charge) flows into the device from an external circuit, while a cathode usually is the electrode through which conventional current flows out of ...
Cathode polarity with respect to the anode can be positive or negative depending on how the device is being operated. Inside a device or a cell, positively charged cations always move towards the cathode and negatively charged anions move towards the anode, although cathode polarity depends on the device type, and can even vary according to the ...
The cathode is in many ways the opposite of the anode. The name (also coined by Whewell) comes from the Greek words κάτω (kato), 'downwards' and ὁδός (hodós), 'a way'. It is the positive electrode, meaning the electrons flow from the electrical circuit through the cathode into the non-metallic part of the electrochemical cell.
When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. [2] The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, those negatively charged electrons flow through the circuit and reach to the positive terminal, thus cause a redox ...
The alternating voltage to be rectified is applied between the cathode and the plate. When the plate voltage is positive with respect to the cathode, the plate electrostatically attracts the electrons from the cathode, so a current of electrons flows through the tube from cathode to plate. When the plate voltage is negative with respect to the ...
To an external wire connected to the electrodes of a galvanic cell (or battery), forming an electric circuit, the cathode is positive and the anode is negative. Thus positive electric current flows from the cathode to the anode through the external circuit in the case of a galvanic cell.
These electrons then flow through the external circuit to the cathode (positive electrode) (while in electrolysis, an electric current drives electron flow in the opposite direction and the anode is the positive electrode). The cathode is the electrode where reduction (gain of electrons) takes place (metal B electrode); in a galvanic cell, it ...
On many dry batteries, the positive terminal (cathode) is a protruding metal cap, and the negative terminal (anode) is a flat metal disc (see Battery terminal). In a galvanic cell such as a common AA battery, electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal, while the conventional current is opposite to this. [6]