Phase Change Matters

EGO’s new line of cordless electric lawn mowers, hedge cutters and chain saws is powered by a 4.0Ah lithium ion battery surrounded by phase change material that helps dissipate heat. The battery provides up to 45 minutes of mowing and recharges in 30 minutes, the company said.

Think you know how phase change works? You might need to rethink that. Researchers at Princeton, Peking University and New York University say the process is a lot more complex than previously known. "This research shows that phase changes can follow multiple pathways, which is counter to what we've previously known," explains Mark Tuckerman, a professor of chemistry and applied mathematics at NYU and one of the study's co-authors. "This means the simple theories about phase transitions that we teach in classes are just not right."