what's the difference between a capacitor and a battery?
2007-02-07 18:53:26 · 4 answers · asked by bigK 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The main difference is the way it stores the electrical energy. The capacitor stores the charge in an electric field. The battery stores the energy chemically. A chemical reaction stores the electrical energy. Reversing the chemical reaction releases the electrical energy.
2007-02-07 19:00:40 · answer #1 · answered by Michael T 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A battery stores chemical energy. A capacitor stores electrical energy.
A battery separates chemicals of 2 different types. When they are allowed to come together, electric current is produced. You can sometimes recharge a battery by separating the chemicals again. In a battery, you are changing from chemical to electrical energy.
A capacitor stores electrical charge. It does this by keeping positive and negative charges separate. When they are allowed to come together, an electric current is produced. In a capacitor, you are not changing the form of the energy (It's all electrical).
Generally, capacitors can only hold a couple seconds worth of charge, while a battery can hold a charge for much longer. But capacitors do have some imporatnt uses in electronics.
2007-02-07 19:00:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The difference between a capacitor and a battery is that a capacitor can dump its entire charge in a tiny fraction of a second, where a battery would take minutes to completely discharge itself. That's why the electronic flash on a camera uses a capacitor -- the battery charges up the flash's capacitor over several seconds, and then the capacitor dumps the full charge into the flash tube almost instantly. This can make a large, charged capacitor extremely dangerous -- flash units and TVs have warnings about opening them up for this reason. They contain big capacitors that can, potentially, kill you with the charge they contain.
2007-02-07 18:59:55 · answer #3 · answered by Albertan 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get a battery. ideally an AGM battery: because AGM batteries are dry cellular, there is not any chance of leaks so that you'll be able to placed them interior your trunk acceptable next to an amp. Capacitors are ineffective: they are like small batteries yet extra extreme priced and provide a lot less potential. you are able to also purchase the biggest AGM battery you are able to fit on your battery tray.
2016-11-26 01:56:48 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋