Battery powered devices do not produce electricity when turned off.
If I take a flashlight and put in a fresh set of batteries and do not turn it on no electricity is being emitted.
shareUm. . .
Have you ever owned a TV remote control? A computer? A smartphone?
The list goes on. . .
"Have you ever owned a TV remote control? A computer? A smartphone?"
What do those things have to do with anything? The OP is correct. There is no flow of electricity from a battery unless it's connected to a closed circuit. When you turn a battery-powered device off the circuit is broken (i.e., open circuit) which is why the device stops working when you turn it off. Therefore the battery in Chuck's pocket at the hearing wouldn't have affected him even if his condition were a real, physical hypersensitivity to electricity rather than a mental (psychosomatic) condition.
A battery is only a potential source of electricity until it's connected to a closed circuit. Other potential sources of electricity include potatoes, apples, lemons, etc. Here's a pair of apples powering a digital clock:
https://media.sciencephoto.com/c0/08/05/49/c0080549-800px-wm.jpg
So why didn't those Fuji apples that he liked so much bother him? The answer is bad writing. Chuck is presented as a genius, yet he doesn't have even a fifth-grade level of understanding when it comes to electrical theory?
I was wondering how a TV remote control fits into the OP's remarks. Electricity flows through a closed circuit, but the impression I got was that remotes only complete the circuit to emit a signal to the TV when a button is pressed, and the rest of the time, nothing. I suppose it depends on the functions of the remote.
"Electricity flows through a closed circuit, but the impression I got was that remotes only complete the circuit to emit a signal to the TV when a button is pressed, and the rest of the time, nothing."
That's right. Pressing a button closes a circuit and electricity flows through it, activating whatever function the button you pressed is assigned to. When you release the button it opens the circuit which stops the flow of electricity. Some remote controls have illuminated buttons so that you can see them in the dark, and the light may be on a some form of a timer (which could be as simple as a capacitor) so that it doesn't turn off until several seconds after you release the button you pressed, but I've never heard of a remote control that's always powered on.