While science tries to explain everything in this world, some things remain unexplained. Like this battery that has been working continuously for the last 176 years and no one knows how!
A battery installed in a bell at Oxford University in 1840 has been working non-stop for the past 176 years, or the bell it powers has rung about 10 billion times. The mysterious battery located at the Clarendon Laboratory has baffled researchers, as no one knows how it has lasted so long.
Officially known as the Clarendon Dry pile or simply the Oxford electric bell, it is powered by a single seemingly immortal battery, which moves a metal ball back and forth with a gentle sound. This is because the charge is so low that the metal ball responsible for the ringing simply vibrates gently between the two bells.
The Clarendon Dry Pile is one of the earliest types of electric batteries. These operate by using alternating plates of silver, zinc, sulfur, and other elements to produce small amounts of electricity .In the case of the Oxford Bell battery, the construction of the "plates" inside the battery is unknown.
In 1984, A.I. Croft, then a researcher at the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford, explained the mystery behind its operation:
“The material from which the discs are made is not known with certainty, but it is clear that the outer coating is sulfur and this seals in the cells and the electrolyte. Similar discs to this one were made by researcher Giuseppe Zamboni, whose batteries consisted of about 2,000 pairs of aluminum foil discs glued to paper impregnated with zinc sulfate and coated on the other side with manganese dioxide. The discs are of course not dry, but contain the right amount of water to provide electrolyte without causing a short circuit.”.
The bell from Watkins & Hill, a London firm, was purchased by Professor Robert Walker who left it at the school with a handwritten note saying it was “installed in 1840.”
The researchers are hesitant to open the device, since the disturbance could “prevent us from seeing how long the experiment will last.” A.I. Croft said it is unlikely that the electrochemical energy will run out, but the bell’s tremolo may wear out. Then the bell will stop ringing and we will be able to examine its interior more closely.
Meanwhile, the Oxford Bell has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the world's most durable battery" that continues to operate.
