Topic: Battery math question

[taper420]

There are size c rechargables that are 5000mah at 1.2v. If I made a battery pack out of 10 of these in series, would the rating be 5000 mah 12v or would it be 50000mah 12v?

[JasonSobel]

it all depends on how you wire it.

if you wire them in series, then you will have 5000mAH at 12 V.
ir you wire them in parallel, then you will have 50000mAH, but the voltage will remain at 1.2 V.

edit to add:
if you really wanted 50000mAH at 12 V, you would need 100 of the batteries.  (first wire sets of 10 in series, and then wire each of those sets together in parallel)

[JasonSobel]

to help explain a little more



and

[taper420]

thanks.... +t

and dammit, there goes that idea

[taper420]

ok another question....
I have a laptop drawing 1.9 amps at 24v.
I have a converter that converts 12 volts directly to 24 volts to power the laptop.
I am correct in assuming that this is doubling the amp draw to 3.8 at 12v, meaning a 4000mah 12v battery would give me about 1 hour, and an 8000mah 12v battery would give me about 2 hours?