What chemicals inside a hearing aid battery make it explode?

[gary350]

I saved 75 used hearing aid batteries and threw them into a fire. It took about 8 seconds then, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. About as much fun as shoot a whole pack of firecrackers. What chemical makes the batteries explode?

 

[Nugatory]

Just about anything will explode if it's heated in a closed metal container... and this might not be so much fun if you consider how many of those chemicals are toxic... zinc and mercury in particular.

We don't generally host discussions that could lead to a Darwin Award, so this thread is closed.