2024-11-22
electrodes-What is an electrode?
According to wiki, an electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte or a vacuum). Examples of electrodes are the cathode and anode.Given this definition, does this mean that every electric component that has electrodes (i.e. anode or cathode), is a nonmetallic part? And what exactly is the use of an electrode? Is it just used to indicate polarity? Are there other types besides anode or cathode? Can I use electrode as a synonym for pole? I hope someone can explain this without getting too technical.Given this definition, does this mean that every electric component that has electrodes (i.e. anode or cathode), is a nonmetallic part?Under that definition, in order to have electrodes a component must have nonmetallic parts. But it can't be entirely non-metallic since the electrodes are part of the component and they are metal. For example, a vacuum tube is generally made from metal, glass, and empty space (vacuum). It has both metallic and non-metallic components.