A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized
electrical device such as a lead-acid battery. This definition can be recalled by using
the mnemonic CCD for Cathode Current Departs. A conventional current describes the
direction in which positive charges move. Electrons have a negative electrical charge,
so the movement of electrons is opposite to that of the conventional current flow.
Consequently, the mnemonic cathode current departs also means that electrons
flow into the device's cathode from the external circuit. For example, the end of a
household battery marked with a + (plus) is the cathode.
The electrode through which conventional current flows the other way, into the device,
is termed an anode.
Charge flow
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Conventional current flows from cathode to anode outside the cell or device (with
electrons moving in the opposite direction), regardless of the cell or device type and
operating mode.
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 operating mode. Whether the cathode is negatively polarized
(such as recharging a battery) or positively polarized (such as a battery in use), the
cathode will draw electrons into it from outside, as well as attract positively
charged cations from inside.
A battery or galvanic cell in use has a cathode that is the positive terminal since that is
where conventional current flows out of the device. This outward current is carried
internally by positive ions moving from the electrolyte to the positive cathode (chemical
energy is responsible for this "uphill" motion). It is continued externally by electrons
moving into the battery which constitutes positive current flowing outwards. For
example, the Daniell galvanic cell's copper electrode is the positive terminal and the
cathode.
A battery that is recharging or an electrolytic cell performing electrolysis has its cathode
as the negative terminal, from which current exits the device and returns to the external
generator as charge enters the battery/ cell. For example, reversing the current direction
in a Daniell galvanic cell converts it into an electrolytic cell[1] where the copper electrode
is the positive terminal and also the anode.
In a diode, the cathode is the negative terminal at the pointed end of the arrow symbol,
where current flows out of the device. Note: electrode naming for diodes is always
based on the direction of the forward current (that of the arrow, in which the current
flows "most easily"), even for types such as Zener diodes or solar cells where the
current of interest is the reverse current. In vacuum tubes (including cathode-ray tubes)
it is the negative terminal where electrons enter the device from the external circuit and
proceed into the tube's near-vacuum, constituting a positive current flowing out of the
device.
