Why aren't AA batteries square?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Is it cheaper to make batteries cylindrical or something? If they were square in crosssection, they wouldn't roll off the desk.

[badgolferman]

A quick question to Mr. Google yielded some good answers. It's easier to make round containers through extruders. Round withstands internal pressure better than square. There were a few more.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

I see. I didn't think of asking Mr Google. There are some things that just aren't out there. I thought this was odd enough to not be in his memory banks.

On the subject of round, you know those 2 litre coke/lemonade bottles? Why do they have 5 "feet" instead of a continuous circle? Then they wouldn't fall over so easily.

[Thomas]

I recall it being about pressure buildup.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

How does an unevenly shaped base help this? Can't it be just rounded like the top? Just a plain circle with the whole ring in contact with the surface you sit it on? In fact any uneven shapes I would have said should be WORSE for pressure buildup.

[Dean Hoffman]

And tanker trucks and tanker railroad cars are round also. Propane tanks and similar tanks holding pressure are round with curved ends.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Yes I understand that, but I thought AA batteries were dry and not under pressure. If you dismantle one it doesn't explode.

[Piso Mojado]

Yup, that's why your butt is round too- contains the poop/fart pressure more effectively.

[Dean Hoffman]

Even tanks that aren't under deliberately added pressure are mostly round. Liquid fertilizer storage tanks and fuel tanks for stationary engines are mostly round. Even grain storage is round for the most part.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Fri 22 Sep 2017 05:59:33a, Piso Mojado told us...

Why the hell would he have them laying on his desk in the first place? Either put them in a package or container, or put them where they belong in whatever your using them in.

Nutcase!

[dpb]

...

Circular area maximizes volume/unit length at minimum surface area.

So, you get the most capacity for the least actual material and the reduced stress concentration at corners is a bonus...

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

I used to live on a farm, and remember the propane tank (horizontal with rounded ends). We also had a gasoline tank about the same size. The most obvious difference was that the gasoline tank had flat ends rather than rounded ones.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

A round container has the greatest volume to surface ratio. That is, less wall material for its capacity. A square container is subject to unequal pressure from its contents, and will become round it it can (for example bulging gasoline cans).

BTW, I first discovered that as a child, playing in the mud.

OT: a local bank is collecting donations through the 28th, to be sent to Houston.

[Pinnerite]

Sometimes it is for hygienic reasons. Circular tanks have fewer (no) places for bacteria to propagate easily.

[Andrew]

If eggs were square or rectangular you could pack them into less space for transport. I think the hens might complain though.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

Prick.

[Max Demian]

Reminds me of the cowboy on his wedding night, who takes all his clothes off and stows them on a high shelf. On being asked by his bride why, he replies, "Well I ain't never done it with a woman before, but if it's anything like with a cow this place is going to be ass-high in shit."

[Wally]

Because then you would need to make square flashlights...and then you have the problem of screwing a square battery cap on a square tube after you put fresh batteries in.

[Tekkie®]

James Wilkinson Sword posted for all of us...

Because your head is square. Commonly called a blockhead. Next...

[Bill]

It takes less material to create the same volume using circular cross section versus square cross section. Think of a rectangle formed by a piece of string, and observe that you can increase its area by deforming it (alternately, do the math).