Answer to Question #301707 in Electricity and Magnetism for Chemistry

Question

The direction of current in a battery can be reversed by connecting it to a second battery of greater emf with the positive terminals of the two batteries together. When the direction of current is reversed in a battery, does its emf also reverse? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Answer

According to physics,

Direction of EMF is decided by the construction of the battery cell, it does not depend upon the direction of the current flow. However directon of the current depends upon what is cinnecred across the battery terminals.

However direction of the voltage drop depends upon the direction of the current. EMF as well as voltage drop have same units - Volts. in day to day work, the EMF as well as the voltage drop both are called as "voltage". EMF is the voltage of the power supply source.