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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,090 |
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Valued Member
United States
207 Posts |
So I put two 9 volt batteries in my pocket today in the same pocket as my 1937 Walker pocket piece. Uh oh......my pocket starting getting real hot, so pulled everything out and one of the batteries was HOT....  Was it just the silver conducting electricity or would a State Quarter or newer .50 or .25 have conducted the same? |
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
silver is a very good conductor of electricity. However, I think most coins or keys would do the same to an extent.  EDIT - I think there are some coins that would not conduct |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
Few materials more conductive of electricity than silver. It's only the price that keeps it from being used in commercial electrical wiring. I was once told there was a warehouse in New Jersey, built during the 40s at a brief point when wartime copper rationing made silver slightly more obtainable, which was entirely wired in silver!
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Valued Member
 United States
207 Posts |
I have had batteries in my pocket in the past and never experienced the heat haha so figured it must be the silver.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1721 Posts |
I had dumped some 9v batteries into a bag and many of them ended up shorting out on the cases of others. I reached in to get one and there was lots of heat being generated. Some of the batteries were warm. Yes, I separated them. Anyone ever have a small commercial battery achieve a catastrophic failure? I'm not talking a split I mean a bang. Is this possible?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1200 Posts |
Sounds like a shocking experience to me!
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Valued Member
Canada
453 Posts |
Lithium ion batteries (especially the earlier ones) have been known to catch fire. Not so nice if it's in your cell phone!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Quote:
Lithium ion batteries (especially the earlier ones) have been known to catch fire. Not so nice if it's in your cell phone! Or in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. When we were kids we used to test 9 volt batteries by laying our tongues across both terminals. Try it sometime ....... |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
My mom used to do that. I think I tried it as a kid once or twice. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1721 Posts |
I still check 9v batteries using my tongue. You can tell the difference between a good one and a bad one without breaking out a Fluke. My older brother taught me that trick around 40 years ago. He also taught me how to strip wires with my teeth. That one I try not to do anymore.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
Quote:
When we were kids we used to test 9 volt batteries by laying our tongues across both terminals. Try it sometime ....... If a 9V does not do anything for you...step up to a lantern battery!  Edited by oih82w8
03/07/2013 08:39 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10038 Posts |
No negative implied here at all, but wire we having a lot of trouble with this? This kind of occurrence can spark a lot of theorizing though. So I can understand a desire for enlightening. My current thoughts on this issue are the silver coin shorted the two terminals on top of the battery, ergo... heat, metered out in elevated levels of BTUs. As revolting as the heat in your pocket must have been, the capacity for silver and a battery to produce this situation makes sense. Although the heat might not have been enough to make you die... oh dear, it could get hot. I cannot think of anode-er reason for the occurrence that might be grounded in a workable theory. Oops - I have to quit here, my wife is calling for me to go and insulate-her attic. I have no alternator-ive but to make a positive response (and not show resistance to her request) if I want to generate a happy response from her.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Of course that lady on the coin may have been trying to get out of your pocket. Making things a bit warm might have worked. Why not try an experiment. Take a 9V battery, stand it up, place a Silver coin accross the terminals, wait a while and touch the coin. If it's hot, there is your answer. If not, real carefully look inside your pocket for wires placed there by someone. Might well be a recording system to see where you go and what you do. If that coin gets hot,try other coins of different materials and let us all know which coins work best. One more thing. Hopefully you don't need those batteries for a smoke detector. Might well be worn out. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Earle .......... that was great.  |
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Valued Member
United States
207 Posts |
Ok, I tested a State Quarter while sitting at my desk today at work. Conducts just as good and gets just as hot. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
It isn't surprising it gets hot. Coinage metals have very low resistance values. The resistance through the metal between those battery terminals would be about 2 X10-8th or .00000002 ohms the current flow (if it could actually put out that much) would be the voltage/resistance or about 450,000 amps! The power or heat generated is the square of the current times the resistance or just over 4KW (A toaster is usually between 1 and 1.5 KW.) But the battery can't deliver that much current. It can still deliver enough though to get it good and hot.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,090 |
Posted 03/06/2013 8:30 pm
