PEOPLE have discovered a little-known trick that can reveal whether a battery is old or new.
And it can save so much time when replacing the batteries in your gadgets.
The method? Drop them and see if they bounce.
It might sound bizarre, but the science behind the method is legit.
A standard alkaline battery – like the one you slot into the back of an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Sky remote – bounces quite high after being dropped on its end when it is empty.
But when the battery will land flat on its bottom, with little to no bounce, if it’s new.
This is because the physical properties of the electrodes change when you use a battery.
A video from Chem Thug breaking down the science behind the method has gone viral on TikTok, garnering 335,000 views since last year.
“This is wild,” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “I learned a thing today! Thank you.”
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
The trick makes changing the batteries in the back of your TV remote – or any other battery-powered gadget you have – slightly easier.
It will certainly save time slotting dead batteries into a remote in hopes they’ve still got some juice left.
Although, a study by Princeton University, New Jersey, in 2015 found that batteries will bounce fairly high even when they’re about 50 per cent spent.
While a battery with 70 per cent of its power remaining bounces just a small amount.
So, if you’re really short on fresh batteries – it might still be worth trying the ones that bounce.
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