Shopping for best battery strength can be quite a challenge. Do we trust the promises of the marketers, and opt for our favorite brands? Or should we try to read the small print on the wrapping and wonder what it means? If we ask the shop assistant they may use words like voltage, current, power, and capacity to explain. But what exactly do these terms mean?
Voltage Versus Current for Battery Strength
VOLTAGE is the force with which battery chemistry drives electrons through a cell. These are the subatomic particles that are primary carriers of electricity through our devices. That forcefulness depends on the relative strength of the anode and cathode electrodes. And how powerfully the positive cathode pulls them through.
Battery VOLTAGE matters because it must match the input requirements of the appliance to which we connect it. An over-voltage spike could cause serious damage.
If voltage is the pressure with which electrons travel through a circuit, then CURRENT is the quantity of electrons passing through at a given time. We measure this rate in AMPS, as opposed to VOLTS we use to measure VOLTAGE. We could imagine CURRENT as the number of ions moving through the electrolyte, multiplied by their AMPS.
Battery CURRENT is important too. That’s because there must be enough electrons in the circuit to match the requirements of the device.
Power and Capacity of a Storage Battery
We calculate the POWER of a battery by multiplying its VOLTAGE times its CURRENT. The result is a relative indicator of how quickly a battery can deliver its energy. A lead-acid starter battery is definitely more powerful than a button battery. Each has its own characteristics, because each has a different task to do.
But CAPACITY is something completely different. This is not the same as battery strength! It describes how long a battery can deliver its POWER, in terms of its particular VOLTAGE and CURRENT.
Voltage Current Resistance Water Analogy
Electricity is not the same as water, in fact the two don’t go other. However, it can be helpful to imagine VOLTAGE as the pressure of water in a storage tank. And then compare the rate it drains through a tap as the electric CURRENT, determining how long it could turn a water wheel.
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