Batteries and Charges In WIRED Magazine

It's a common misconception regarding electricity that we deal with in class all the time, but Wired Magazine got it dead wrong this month (Aug 2011 issue p.30):

"A battery works by converting chemical energy into free electrons; some of the electrons get used, and the rest return to the cell."

Forgivable is the implications that the chemical energy creates the electrons (the energy is used to free the already existing electrons).  Unforgivable is the line "electrons get used" and don't return to the cell.  For every electron that leaves a battery cell, another one enters; there are no electrons getting used up in the process.  The number of electrons in a battery or in any circuit is always constant.  Rather, it is the energy used to promote the electrons to being free in the battery that gets used up in the circuit.

This description of a battery is the same as saying "A factory works by converting breakfast foods in the morning into factory employees.  Some of the employees get used up in the factory doing work and the rest come home in the evening."