Gadgetory

why are all of our devices in 2016 suddenly exploding Daniels look bad for Samsung right now the company recalled the new Galaxy Note 7 last month because some of them were bursting to play send out replacements so far so good but now the replacement phones the ones that said we're safe have exploded too now the company is stopping production of the Galaxy Note 7 entirely the problem isn't about it's the battery most electronics use a lithium-ion battery the thing is used because it's light but can store a lot of energy but because lithium can store a lot of energy it's in its nature the unstable you've already achieved almost 90% of the maximum battery life even possible from these lithium-ion batteries but that doesn't stop people from wanting batteries that charge faster batteries that last longer this creates an arms race as manufacturers push the limits for really small games and the more you push the battery the more likely it is to explode we're carrying around little bombs of energy and we're pushing them to put the same ion batteries are actually pretty simple there are two electrodes for electrical conductors on opposite sides this is just like a standard battery one electrode is positively charged and it's called the cathode the opposite electrode is called the anode and it's negatively charged during charging lithium ions move from one side to the other when you use the battery the lithium moves in the opposite direction in between are these chemicals called electrolytes and they hope the ions move more easily they're crucial to make sure the battery works but they're also pretty volatile lithium ions need to move from one side or the other remember so the ions have to go back and forth but the anode and the cathode on the sides should never touch because the redirect energy to the electrolytes in the middle to keep this from happening battery makers and serve separators in between in Samsung's case the original problem with the separator flawed and that the two electrodes touch then all the energy being pumped in the battery goes directly to the electrolytes in the middle it catches fire and explodes there are other things that caused that explosion one wave overcharging this is like filling a glass with too much water it doesn't matter how slowly you go kick with you poured too much the glass can overflow overcharging happens when too much lithium goes in two months luckily most batteries are designed to automatically prevent overcharging then there's charging too much or too fast this leads to something called pleading think of it like putting change in the piggy bait if you add one point at a time at a steady pace you don't have any box you try to drop in all you change at once it'll pile up and out sides we're doesn't belong this forms these needle-like structures called dendrites that can internally short out the battery but this can be avoided by making sure that the charger and the battery are compatible exposed to look together finally sometimes companies try to make battery store more power by increasing voltage which is a way of measuring force higher the voltage the more power there is so they try to pump this up by adding these other elements like nickel you looking but again the higher the voltages the more likely the electrolytes are to combine in a way that makes them catch fire some scientists are trying to develop a kind of electrolyte that won't burst into flames as easily these are called ionic liquids and they need a lot more heat to form this flammable gas so it's a good idea they're often much safer but there could be challenges with battery life and of course they tend to be more expensive lithium-ion batteries are the best we have for now and honestly they're a good solution they really do get the job done as long as we don't demand more than they can safely offer over charging it happens when we chose yellow so pretty