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Glossary Science & Engineering

Battery capacity

Battery capacity is the charge a battery holds, in milliamp-hours (mAh), or the energy it stores, in watt-hours (Wh = volts × amp-hours).

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In more detail

A 2,000 mAh battery powering a 100 mA load lasts 20 hours in theory, 16 hours with 80% usable capacity. Compare batteries of different voltages in Wh, not mAh.

Try these tools

Battery Life Calculator

Estimate battery runtime from capacity (mAh, Ah or Wh), load (mA, A or W), usable capacity and an active/sleep duty cycle.

See also

  • Glossary Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
    A kilowatt-hour is the energy used by a 1,000-watt device running for one hour, the unit on electricity bills.
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