Here’s Why Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Catches Fire.
After 35 reported incidents of overheating smartphones worldwide, Samsung made the unprecedented decision to recall every single one of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold.
That’s said to be 1 million of the 2.5 million that were manufactured. (Since the recall was first announced, the number of explosive Note 7’s has nearly quadrupled.)
The company stopped all sales and shipments of the Note 7, worked with government agencies and cellular carriers around the world to provide refunds and exchanges for the phone, and apparently it still wasn’t enough: as of October 10, 2016, as many as five of the supposedly safe replacement Note 7 phones caught fire as well, and
Samsung asked all users to shut down their phones. On October 13, Samsung officially recalled every single Note 7, including replacement units.
The science behind phone battery fires is actually pretty simple, and fairly well understood.
Much like the infamous exploding hoverboards, phones use lithium ion battery packs for their power, and it just so happens that the liquid swimming around inside most lithium ion batteries is highly flammable.
If the battery short-circuits — say, by puncturing the incredibly thin sheet of plastic separating the positive and negative sides of the battery — the puncture point becomes the path of least resistance for electricity to flow.
It heats up the (flammable!) liquid electrolyte at that spot. And if the liquid heats up quickly enough, the battery can explode.
![note-7-1](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/470f69_e28cb36f660a4736b3a959d11baacfa2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_589,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/470f69_e28cb36f660a4736b3a959d11baacfa2~mv2.jpg)
The FAA is strongly warning passengers not to use or charge a Note 7 on a plane, and many airlines are explicitly banning their use.
Why Note 7?
![galaxy-note-7-16-1-1440x960](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/470f69_54fe8426f1ba40acb5fd88b634cf7e93~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/470f69_54fe8426f1ba40acb5fd88b634cf7e93~mv2.jpg)
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