Eli5: Why do batteries have the potential to explode?
In: Technology
Batteries have electrical charge stored inside of them, but that electricity is only released when you give it somewhere to go, like when you connect a piece is metal to the positive and the negative sides so that it can run your car or your cell phone.
If you have ever touched 2 hot wires together, or seen someone stick a piece of aluminum foil into a household socket, then you’ll know that electricity really wants to escape, and when you touch those 2 wires together you get a big bad spark.
The same thing happens in a battery when the liquid inside starts to have problems that basically create little “wires” inside of the battery that connect both sides.
The explosion is actually a whole bunch of sparks that are the electricity trying to find it’s way out. Combine that with materials that may be flammable, and you have the potential to explode.
The little”Wires” I referred to earlier are called dendrites. They look pretty cool under a microscope.
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