Basic Principle of pH Electrode In PH measurement, the used pH electrode is also known as the primary battery. The primary battery is a system, whose role is to transfer chemical energy into electrical energy. The voltage of the battery is called the electromotive force (EMF). This electromotive force (EMF) is composed of two half-batteries. One half-battery is called the measuring electrode, and its potential is related to the specific ion activity; the other half-battery is the reference battery, often called the reference electrode, which is generally interlinked with the measurement solution, and connected to the measuring instrument.