Common Sense Evaluation

Here’s an extremely simple way to tell if your alkaline batteries are dead or not. Just drop them from a low height on a hard surface: The good batteries will stay down while the bad ones will bounce like a man on a pogo stick.

You learn something new every day!

This test works equally well for AA, AAA, C, D and 9 Volt alkaline batteries.
It is our understanding that the following chemical reactions occur and helps to explain our observations.

A non-rechargeable alkaline battery begins life using zinc powder mixed into a gel containing a potassium hydroxide electrolyte separated from a paste of manganese dioxide powder mixed with carbon powder using a porous membrane. To minimize hydrogen outgassing an extra measure of manganese dioxide is added. As the battery discharges manganese dioxide powder changes to manganese oxide causing the powdered granules to bond both chemically and physically. This packed-sand consistency reduces the antibounce effect exhibited by the gel mixture when the battery was fully charged.

 
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