Why does the smartphone sit down quickly? Experts explained this by the “barrel effect”

The battery of the gadget began to rapidly lose charge, although nothing seems to have changed? According to the technology portal BGR, the cause may be the so-called “barrel effect”.

The essence of the phenomenon is illustrated by an old analogy. Imagine a wooden barrel made of boards of different heights. No matter how much water is poured into it, its level will never exceed the height of the shortest board. Similarly, a battery consisting of several successively connected cells works: the overall performance and capacity of the entire system rests on the capabilities of the degraded element itself.

Experts explain the mechanism: when one of the cells discharges faster than the rest, the built-in protection system forcibly disconnects the power of the entire unit. This is a necessary measure to avoid critical damage to a weak cell. At the same time, a decent supply of energy may remain in neighboring, healthier elements, but the gadget simply will not be able to use it.

A similar situation occurs during charging: the worn component quickly reaches peak voltage, which is why the controller stops the charge process ahead of time, preventing the remaining cells from filling to the end.

But the “barrel effect” is not a universal explanation for any rapid discharge. This physical principle is relevant primarily for complex battery assemblies, where the elements are connected in series (for example, in laptops, power tools or electric cars).