View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-batteries-die-adam-jacobson

Batteries are a triumph of science—they allow smartphones and other technologies to exist without anchoring us to an infernal tangle of power cables. Yet even the best batteries will diminish daily, slowly losing capacity until they finally die. Why does this happen, and how do our batteries even store so much charge in the first place? Adam Jacobson gives the basics on batteries.

Lesson by Adam Jacobson, animation by FOX Animation Domination High-Def.