🔍 Key Concepts

• Mercury behavior around electric current and sparks • How lead-acid batteries can produce explosive gas during charging • What happens if glass and conductive metal fall into a battery cell

💭 Think About

• Think about what mercury is: Is it conductive? What could happen if it bridges parts inside a battery cell? • In a charging lead-acid battery, what flammable gas is present around the plates and vents? How could an accident trigger that gas? • If a glass thermometer broke inside or near a cell, which consequence would be the most immediate and dangerous?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify whether mercury conducts electricity and can create short circuits • Recall that lead-acid batteries vent hydrogen gas, which is highly explosive in the right mixture with air • Ask which option describes an effect that is both sudden and catastrophic, rather than slow or mild damage