9 V battery · Exterior
  1. 1Snap connector
  2. 29 V (6LR61)
  3. 3Outer casing · 48.5 × 26.5 × 17.5 mm
  4. 4Red (+) / black (−) wire
Rectangular body, with a small round (+) and a hexagonal (−) snap terminal side by side on top
48.5 × 26.5 × 17.5 mm
Power supply

9 V battery

What is this?

A rectangular battery that gathers six small cells in one case; a small bucket under high pressure.

What is it for?

Runs devices that draw little current at high voltage for a long time.

Where do you see it?

Smoke detector, multimeter and guitar pedal.

How do you spot it?

A rectangular box with two snap terminals on its top face.

Caution:

Joining the two ends with metal makes a short circuit and gets hot; connect it with a clip wire.

Technical definition

A rectangular battery containing six small 1.5 V cells in series. Its voltage is high but its capacity is low, so it lasts long only in circuits that draw little current. A clip attaches to the snap terminals on top.

Voltage9 V
Capacitance≈500 mAh
Size48.5 × 26.5 × 17.5 mm
+

IEC 60617: the drawing style used in Türkiye and Europe.

1Plus (+)Small round terminal+
2Minus (−)Large hex tip−
Nominal voltage
9 V
Capacitance
≈500 mAh (alkaline, at low current)
Internal structure
6 × 1.5 V cells in series
Nearly done
≈5.4 V
Suitable load
Low-current circuits
Example part
6LR61 (alkaline)
Running a motorA 9 V battery can't supply high current; its voltage collapses and it runs out quickly. For a motor use an AA battery pack or Li-ion.
Touching the terminals to metalThe two terminals are side by side; a coin or keys in a pocket can short the terminals and heat the battery.

Test whether this part is good with the multimeter on the measurement screen.

Take a measurement
MultimeterSmoke detectorGuitar effects pedalShort 5 V experiments with 7805