Lithium/Lithium-ion batteries

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Sat Jan 5 18:12:03 2002

On Sat, 5 Jan 2002, Chris wrote:

> I heard the advantage to Lithium batteries over Alkaline is that Lithium
> provides steady voltage right up until it is dead, where an Alkaline
> looses voltage as it dies.
>
> Any truth to that? Or is it simply Lithium provides more amperage at a
> given voltage?

Both are true. They hold the voltage level more steady as they are used,
and they recover from pulsed current drain faster then an alkaline does.
This is why they are ideal for cameras with flashes and similar electronic
equipment. There would be no real gains to using a Lithium cell in say a
walkman, since it has a slow but steady current drain over a long period
of time. Alkaline cells are less expensive to manufacture, so they cost
considerably less than a Lithium cell.

-Toth
Received on Sat Jan 05 2002 - 18:12:03 GMT