Hey guys, I don’t understand enough about electronics to answer this, but if my electricity at home is able to power a washing machine.
Should it not be possible to have like a super battery that goes 100% instant, and then release normal current to the phone until it’s charged? More like an instant power bank?
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There’s a big difference between using the movement of electrons, which is how your washing machine is working, and storing electrical energy. Think of it like staring a water pump. It’ll move water almost instantly, but if you want to use that to fill your pool it’ll take some time. Intense scientific research is ongoing to figure out how to fill that pool faster for you.
There’s a big difference between using the movement of electrons, which is how your washing machine is working, and storing electrical energy. Think of it like staring a water pump. It’ll move water almost instantly, but if you want to use that to fill your pool it’ll take some time. Intense scientific research is ongoing to figure out how to fill that pool faster for you.
Think of your battery as an above ground swimming pool. Once full, you have a large volume to slowly take water out as you need. The problem is… it takes a long time to refill.
Sure, filling it with a fire hose is a lot faster than a garden hose – but there is a limit. Try dumping in 1000 gallons all at once from a helicopter and you are going to have a bad time. It is dangerous, will damage the pool, and water will get everywhere!
The trick with batteries (and pools), is to have a large volume that you can quickly fill and store for later use. The technology is getting better, but there will always be limits and tradeoffs.
Think of your battery as an above ground swimming pool. Once full, you have a large volume to slowly take water out as you need. The problem is… it takes a long time to refill.
Sure, filling it with a fire hose is a lot faster than a garden hose – but there is a limit. Try dumping in 1000 gallons all at once from a helicopter and you are going to have a bad time. It is dangerous, will damage the pool, and water will get everywhere!
The trick with batteries (and pools), is to have a large volume that you can quickly fill and store for later use. The technology is getting better, but there will always be limits and tradeoffs.
Why should it be possible?
There’s no energy storage in the world that is instant, batteries are no different. A flywheel takes time to get up to speed. A water reservoir needs time to fill up.
Batteries work by having chemical processes that release electrons happen in a controlled fashion. Rechargeable batteries are the same, but use chemicals whose processes can be reversed.
These processes take time, and are inefficient. You don’t get all the electricity put into them back as usable power. The power lost turns into heat, and too much heat in too short a time can lead to fires.
Even without the fire hazard, trying to force a chemical reaction to happen faster than it wants to is likely to just change the chemical properties in such a way that they’re no longer usable.
Imagine trying to make a hot dog. Grilling it takes maybe 5 minutes. Could you do it in 0.1 seconds if you just had a flame that was 30000 degrees instead of 1000 degrees? No, you’d get a coal shell with a raw hotdog inside. You don’t get the chemical reaction you want if you don’t supply the right amount of energy at the right rate.
Why should it be possible?
There’s no energy storage in the world that is instant, batteries are no different. A flywheel takes time to get up to speed. A water reservoir needs time to fill up.
Batteries work by having chemical processes that release electrons happen in a controlled fashion. Rechargeable batteries are the same, but use chemicals whose processes can be reversed.
These processes take time, and are inefficient. You don’t get all the electricity put into them back as usable power. The power lost turns into heat, and too much heat in too short a time can lead to fires.
Even without the fire hazard, trying to force a chemical reaction to happen faster than it wants to is likely to just change the chemical properties in such a way that they’re no longer usable.
Imagine trying to make a hot dog. Grilling it takes maybe 5 minutes. Could you do it in 0.1 seconds if you just had a flame that was 30000 degrees instead of 1000 degrees? No, you’d get a coal shell with a raw hotdog inside. You don’t get the chemical reaction you want if you don’t supply the right amount of energy at the right rate.
We have those, they’re called capacitors. They don’t store a lot of power in small spaces, so your phone becomes big again.
People don’t want big phones so we have to use lithium type batteries which do not like to be charged quickly – they become quite hot.
Research is ongoing into finding capacitors that store energy densely (called super caps, don’t confuse them with snake oil laced “super caps” with Lithium Titanate Oxide or LTO batteries)
Research is also ongoing into making lithium batteries charge faster, that’s why we have batteries today that charge much faster than a few years ago.
We have those, they’re called capacitors. They don’t store a lot of power in small spaces, so your phone becomes big again.
People don’t want big phones so we have to use lithium type batteries which do not like to be charged quickly – they become quite hot.
Research is ongoing into finding capacitors that store energy densely (called super caps, don’t confuse them with snake oil laced “super caps” with Lithium Titanate Oxide or LTO batteries)
Research is also ongoing into making lithium batteries charge faster, that’s why we have batteries today that charge much faster than a few years ago.
to make an analogy a firehose can put put an immense amount of water, but this doesn’t mean you can drink straight from it all the water you need in a second
this is because people are more delicate than wood and concrete and can only take so much water at once
similarly batteries and electronic circuits are mode delicate than a big fat heater and you can’t shove a few kilowatts in there, it’s gonna overheat and explode
to make an analogy a firehose can put put an immense amount of water, but this doesn’t mean you can drink straight from it all the water you need in a second
this is because people are more delicate than wood and concrete and can only take so much water at once
similarly batteries and electronic circuits are mode delicate than a big fat heater and you can’t shove a few kilowatts in there, it’s gonna overheat and explode
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