Under ideal conditions, a battery with a capacity of 1000 mAh should last 10 hours if driving a load of 100 mA. However, real-world battery runtime is reduced by conversion inefficiencies in voltage regulators, wiring resistance, heat loss, temperature changes, and chemical aging. Setting efficiency to 80-85% is a standard baseline for typical DIY and electronic engineering designs.
Key Electrical Concepts:
Discharge rate (C-rate): Defines how fast a battery is being discharged. A rate of 1C means the discharge current will empty the battery in exactly 1 hour. A rate of 2C means it will empty in 30 minutes, whereas 0.5C corresponds to 2 hours.
Usable Capacity & DoD: Different batteries have safe Depth of Discharge (DoD) thresholds. For example, discharging Lead-Acid cells past 50% capacity severely limits their lifespan, whereas Lithium chemistries can easily support 80% to 90% DoD.
Peukert's Law: Alkaline and Lead-Acid battery capacities decrease as the discharge rate increases. If you discharge a battery very fast, its effective capacity shrinks.
Runtime (h) = (Capacity (Ah) × Voltage (V) × (Efficiency % / 100)) / Power (W)
Discharge C-Rate
C-rate = Current Draw (A) / Capacity (Ah)
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