[ELI5] Why are battery capacities expressed in Ah (Amperes-hour) and what does it mean, for example, a AA battery that is 2500 mAh?
In: 68
Ah is the amount of energy charge in a battery that enables 1 amp of current to flow for one hour
Ignoring voltage, which is 1.5v for a AA battery, if you are using half an amp that would give you two hours, and if you were using 2 amps it would last 30 minutes.
2500 mAh can be drawn (ignoring other losses) at 1 mA for 2500 hours, or 2500 mA for 1 hour, for 5000 mA for 30 minutes, etc.
Unfortunately there are other losses, self-discharge, higher loads mean shorter battery life, etc. which changes the math a bit.
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