On Jul 25, 8:40 am, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:

Obviously, the problem with electric airplanes is range. It's doubtful if
electricity storage will ever reach the energy density of gasoline. One
thing that amazes me is that electrons weight almost nothing. A charged
battery, for all practical purposes, weighes the same charged or not - the
energy the battery contains weighs nothing. It seems like the boffins could
figure out a way to pressurize a container with electrons.


Batteries don't store electrons. They store energy in the form of
chemical changes. Every electron that leaves a battery via the
negative terminal is replaced by another coming in the positive
terminal.
In a lead-acid battery, lead and lead peroxide react with sulfuric
acid and end up as lead sulfate and water. Two electrons are released
for every lead peroxide/sulfuric acid molecule reaction, and two are
absorbed by the lead sulfate/water result. When we recharge the
battery, we're forcing electrons backward through it, converting the
lead sulfate and water back to lead, lead peroxide and sulfuric acid.
So there's no weight change because there are no atoms coming or
going, and no electrons leaving that aren't replaced. Just a molecular
change within the battery.
The lead sulfate eventually wrecks the battery. Not all of it
is converted back to lead and lead peroxide, and it gradually
accumulates on the plates and reduces their effectiveness. Time for a
new battery.

Dan