Do you know why a smartphone runs out faster in the cold?

You don’t need special powers of observation to notice: in the summer you can walk for a long time, holding the phone in your hand, and it will work without problems all this time. In winter, one has only to get the device out of a warm pocket, as the battery charge will begin to decrease at a catastrophic rate.

Sometimes it even happens that an almost fully charged smartphone can immediately beep: “0%”. Or simply turn off without warning.

Why is it so? Well, strictly speaking, even scientists shrug. Journal of the Electrochemical Society informsthat the exact mechanisms leading to poor performance of lithium-ion batteries at low temperatures are still not well understood. But still there is a good explanation.

Current in modern batteries formedwhen lithium ions are moving from one battery pole (anode) to the other (cathode) through a solid or liquid electrolyte. When the phone is fully charged, they are in the anode, and when it starts to consume energy, they are sent in the opposite direction. At zero value

batteries all ions pass into the porous graphite of the cathode.

Lowering the temperature reduces the ionic conductivity, and generally reduces the rate of chemical reactions. As a result, it becomes more difficult for lithium ions to move through the electrolyte and the current disappears.

If your smartphone "died" in the cold, this does not mean that all the particles instantly jumped to the cathode or somewhere else. It's just that their movement in the electrolyte has slowed down so much that the device considered the battery is completely empty. You need to warm the gadget, the chemical reaction will start, and the device will turn on again.

But in no case do not charge your smartphone in the cold - this will damage the battery or reduce its service life.

Do not charge your phone immediately if you came with cold. And do not try to warm it up on the battery: if condensation occurs in the case, a short circuit is possible, which will disable the gadget. Wait until the machine heat up to room temperature itself - then it will be possible to turn it on or recharge it.

Also, do not keep your smartphone in the cold once again - put it in your inner pocket, let it warm up from you. A thick case might also help. By the way, if you wear rechargeable headphones, it is better to change them to wired ones for the winter so as not to expose miniature batteries to unnecessary temperature changes.

Those who often have to work in the cold should get a secure smartphone with a thick rubberized case and a capacious battery. Such devices feel better in extreme weather conditions than conventional devices.