Actually, no. The little battery in your iPhone, or the AA battery you just put in a flashlight may be rather boring, but here are 6 unique and amazing facts about batteries.
The world's largest battery
China boasts of building theworld's largest battery, an electricity storage device that is larger than a football field, and can store 36 megawatt-hours of electricity. That's enough to power 12,000 homes for about an hour. With a $500 million price tag, it might be the world's most expensive battery, also.Breaking it down per house, the price tag still isn't very nice: $500 million divided by 12,000 homes means the battery backup costs over $41,000 USD per home it covers. Ouch.
Who says a car can't run on AA batteries?
Someengineers in Japan actually got a car up to 75 miles per hour, powered only by 192 AA batteries. The car was a lightweight, miniature car built specifically for the test, though. It would take many more batteries to power a typical automobile. Plus, there would be the incredibly annoying chore of swapping out all the batteries once they ran out of juice.
What about running yourself with batteries?
Assuming that you eat 2,000 calories per day, it would take about 648 AAbatteries to power your body for one day. If you purchase batteries in bulk at $0.25 each, you would still need $60,000 of batteries each year.
Technology to power a human body with battery power doesn't exist, but even if it did, who would use it at that price? After all, steaks, ice cream, and pizza are cheaper and much tastier sources of energy.
How tiny can you go?
Researchers at Rice University built the world's smallest battery back in 2011. According to thisCNET article, the battery is 150 nanometers wide, which "is hundreds of times thinner than a human hair and more than 60,000 times smaller than a AAA battery." This batter is so small it could be used to power electronic devices so small that they work at an individual cell level in the human body.A battery-powered truck that can haul 8 tons
Smith Electric manufactures the Newton, an electric (battery-powered) truck that can handle a payload of up to 16,200 pounds. (That's enough to haul about 40 lions.) Amazingly, the truck has a range of up to 150 miles. Organizations that use the Newton include Staples and the US Army.Fastest battery on water
This video shows a successful record attempt by a battery-powered boat that reaches over 99 miles per hour. While slow compared to the over water speed record of 317 miles per hour, 99 miles per hour is quite impressive for a battery powered craft!
Steven KellettAbout the Guest Author:
Steven Kellett is the owner of ElectronicsWarehouse.com.au, an ecommerce store that sells a selection of batteries and battery chargers.
