5 ms·

"The lithium-ion battery in the laptop sitting next to him had ignited, setting his couch on fire. Battery cells were flying all over the living room, leaking a

"The lithium-ion battery in the laptop sitting next to him had ignited, setting his couch on fire. Battery cells were flying all over the living room, leaking acid." Lithium-ion cells do not contain acid. The electrolyte is composed of salts, solvents, and additives.

Phlarp 7y ago
I've never had an 18650 Li-ion cell go off on me, but I have had LiPo cells decompose while still strapped to my drone and those produce copious amounts of thick smoke (which I'm told is not great for you in confined spaces)
bluGill 7y ago
You know that, I know that, probably most people reading this have enough chemistry to know that and understand. However the average person doesn't know that. I wouldn't expect the reporter to know that. Calling the contents an acid which the average person knows is dangerous is arguably better than being precise but confusing people into not realizing the true danger.
- slantyyz 7y ago
  I don't agree. I expect a reporter from a legitimate news organization (as opposed to some random blogger) to research it and find out. I'm sure 5 minutes of googling would have produced that knowledge. The reporter could have substituted "chemicals" for "acid", which would have been less imprecise, but is still a scary enough word for average readers to interpret as dangerous. Lowering expectations/standards for journalism is a slippery slope.
- tellak 7y ago
  It’s supposedly “news”, not editorializing. It’s their responsibility to get the facts right. Acids aren’t inherently dangerous. And I know plenty of “average” people that know that vinegar is an acid and swear by it as a household cure-all to a fault. Same goes for carbolic acid. This is all stupid when we have perfectly correct adjectives in the English language to use like caustic, toxic, noxious, incendiary, poisonous etc.
mikestew 7y ago
" leaking acid." "...or whatever the colloquial term is for the shit that they put in batteries these days. 'Acid' is what we used to call it."

Phlarp 7y ago

I've never had an 18650 Li-ion cell go off on me, but I have had LiPo cells decompose while still strapped to my drone and those produce copious amounts of thick smoke (which I'm told is not great for you in confined spaces)

bluGill 7y ago

You know that, I know that, probably most people reading this have enough chemistry to know that and understand. However the average person doesn't know that. I wouldn't expect the reporter to know that. Calling the contents an acid which the average person knows is dangerous is arguably better than being precise but confusing people into not realizing the true danger.

slantyyz 7y ago
I don't agree. I expect a reporter from a legitimate news organization (as opposed to some random blogger) to research it and find out. I'm sure 5 minutes of googling would have produced that knowledge. The reporter could have substituted "chemicals" for "acid", which would have been less imprecise, but is still a scary enough word for average readers to interpret as dangerous. Lowering expectations/standards for journalism is a slippery slope.
tellak 7y ago
It’s supposedly “news”, not editorializing. It’s their responsibility to get the facts right. Acids aren’t inherently dangerous. And I know plenty of “average” people that know that vinegar is an acid and swear by it as a household cure-all to a fault. Same goes for carbolic acid. This is all stupid when we have perfectly correct adjectives in the English language to use like caustic, toxic, noxious, incendiary, poisonous etc.

mikestew 7y ago

" leaking acid." "...or whatever the colloquial term is for the shit that they put in batteries these days. 'Acid' is what we used to call it."