Battery polarity marks (+ and −)
The plus and minus signs on a battery, marking its positive and negative ends. Devices use the same signs to show which way round a battery goes.
Easily confused with
How to read it
A battery keeps one terminal at a higher electric potential than the other. The OpenStax physics textbook explains that the higher one is called the positive terminal and is labelled with a plus sign, and the lower one the negative terminal, labelled with a minus sign. Energizer’s alkaline battery handbook refers to the symbols on devices showing the correct way to position the positive (+) and negative (−) ends, and notes that the positive and negative covers are the battery’s contact surfaces.
Also searched as: battery plus and minus, battery symbols.
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Sources
- University Physics Volume 2, 10.1 Electromotive Force, OpenStax, Rice University, § 10.1
- Alkaline Manganese Dioxide Handbook and Application Manual, 2018, Energizer Brands, LLC
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 25, 2026. How we research
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