2006-11-26 04:47:58 · 4 answers · asked by lenmonto1 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The storage capacity of small batteries is generally rated in milliampere hours (mAh). For example, an "AAA" size nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery is rated at about 850 mAh, whereas a "D" size NiMH battery is rated at 2500 mAh. What this means is that the voltage produced by the battery remains relatively constant for one hour when the battery is supplying the specified current in milliamperes. This is considered the useful life of the battery, before it must be recharged (if it is a type that is rechargeable). The battery voltage starts to drop rapidly after the mAh capacity has been consumed, until the battery is drained.
If the load on the battery is, say, 50% of the rated load, the useful life of the battery is approximately two hours. Conversely, if the load is 200% of the rated load, the useful life of the battery is approximately a half hour. In actuality a reduced load will result in a battery life somewhat longer than would be expected by the mAh rating, whereas an increased load would will result in a shorter life than expected.
There are other factors that come into play, such as the internal resistance of the battery, but these are beyond the scope of your question.
However, you should know that most electronic devices draw a current that is much less than the mAh rating of the recommended battery. (Who would want to change or recharge batteries every hour?) The actual current usually varies, depending on the user settings or activity. For example, a higher radio volume requires more battery current.
To answer your second question, you can substitute a battery with a higher mAh rating as long as the voltage is the same. This will give you a correspondingly longer useful battery life. On the other hand, substituting a battery with a lower mAh rating may not work well because the higher internal resistance mentioned above will give a somewhat reduced battery voltage.
2006-11-26 17:32:37 · answer #1 · answered by Tech Dude 5 · 9⤊ 0⤋
mAh stands for milli ampere hour and it is a measurement of how many milli amps of current a battery is capable of producing in one hour.
Yes you can substitute a battery with a higher mAh current rating provided you use the same battery voltage. It gets trickier if you use a battery with lower mAh current rating since you are not going to get the milli amp current supply you need for that hour. You can still use a battery with a lower mAH current rating provided you are keeping it charged.
2006-11-26 04:56:35 · answer #2 · answered by TCay G 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I too, saw that e-mail floating around. It has to be a lantern battery from the present times, cause just this past weekend we opened a older lantern battery, ie metal outside casing and it didn't have 32 AA batteries, it had 4 very large ie. D-cell batteries in it. But I'm wanting to go buy a plastic cased lantern battery and see for myself! Now where did I put those wire cutters and screw driver? I only hope the manufactures don't get wind of this, or we are all sunk. That darn lantern battery will cost $100.00 dollars. lol
2016-03-13 14:06:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mah Stands For
2016-12-16 20:13:20 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As everyone has stated, mAh is milliamp-hours. What is failed to be mentioned is what this means. 1 Amp = 1 Coloumb of charge per second... thus mAh is an amount of charge.
If you think about it, that's what a battery does. Hold an amount of charge. It's easy to see then that if you draw a larger current, the amount of time you can sustain that current reduces.
2006-11-26 12:34:12 · answer #5 · answered by cw 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It stands for milliAmpere hours. A milliampere is one-thousandth of an ampere. For example, a 500 milliampere hour battery will deliver 500 milliamperes (one-half ampere) for one hour, 1,000 millamperes (one ampere) for 30 minutes, &c.
Yes, you can substitute a battery with a higher number so long as the voltage is he same. The number just indicates the amount of reserve power the battery has. A battery with a higher number last longer but will be larger physically and heavier also so be aware of size and weight constraints.
2006-11-26 04:59:46 · answer #6 · answered by briggs451 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it stands for milli amp hours which is the current that the battery can supply over time.you can up the batteries mah if you stay with the same voltage-this will make the device work longer
2006-11-26 04:51:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So for example if we buying a mobile, is it better to buy having a battery with high mAh?
2015-07-26 15:03:15 · answer #8 · answered by Zahoor Ullah 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mil-amps,.......like the amperage on you car battery only way less,than an amp, of power,.......the more mil-amps, the longer it will last,,,,,,,yes you can use a battery, with higer,mAH,
2006-11-26 04:53:37 · answer #9 · answered by ThomasL 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋