If you have a battery, especially AA or AAA, that might be good or might be dead and you don’t have a meter to check it with, you can see if it will bounce. Hold the battery about an inch above a hard surface and drop it on its end. If it’s a new, fully charged, battery it won’t bounce much at all. In fact, it’s not unusual for it to just land with a thud and stay standing on its end. However, if it’s low on voltage, it will bounce much more than a fresh battery will. The difference is clearly obvious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_m6p99l6ME