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In article <Bz7EzH.9xq.1@cs.cmu.edu> redmond+@cs.cmu.edu (Redmond English) writes:
>
>Hello,
>
>  My car battery just up and died the other day.  I have been
>informed that this happens a lot in the winter, but I can't
>think of any reasonable explanation.
>
>  Any ideas?
>
>                             Red/.

Mine died last week too... strange.

In cold weather chemical processes generally proceed at a slower rate. A
marginal battery in warm weather might not crank out enough juice to turn an
engine over in cold weather.

My battery had crusty deposits on the battery posts. The cold snap last week
was probably enough to contract the battery posts away from the wires.


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In article <Bz7EzH.9xq.1@cs.cmu.edu> redmond+@cs.cmu.edu (Redmond English) writes:
>
>Hello,
>
>  My car battery just up and died the other day.  I have been
>informed that this happens a lot in the winter, but I can't
>think of any reasonable explanation.
>
>  Any ideas?
>
>                             Red/.


As a chemist, I can tell you with utmost security that the battery dies 
because a chemical reaction is used to produce a potential differnce (voltage)
across your battery terminals.  Without going into details, when exothermic
reactions are cooled, the driving forces (which depend on temperature) are
diminished and therefore the potential is smaller.

As a consequence, if one were to take that battery inside for a while and
warm it up and then try again, it just might start your car up  }:)

But there is one more aspect of cold weather that cause more than just a 
reduction of your cars voltage....  the very same processes prevent your
battery from being recharged effectivally after it expends energy starting the
car by the alternator.

Ken ( really, I am a chemist) Pearce

Too bad.  Just when you need a stronger battery because of the higher
viscosity (is this an English word?) of the oil in your motor,
it gets weaker.  Tsss.

Erik Broeders

In article <1992Dec13.213841.24118@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> kpearce@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (BULLDAWG) writes:
> ... a chemical reaction is used to produce a potential differnce (voltage)
> across your battery terminals.  Without going into details, when exothermic
> reactions are cooled, the driving forces (which depend on temperature) are
> diminished and therefore the potential is smaller.

Not quite.  The potential is the same.  The available current is less, as
the internal resistance is greater.

Keith Lynch, kfl@access.digex.com