Hi All,
Newbie to this forum. I did a searxh on 'scientific forums' and this one looked quite likely to answer my query. I hope you can help........
A friend and I were discussing a theoretical situatuation where two USB power packs (the type that act as emergency chargers for phones, iPads, etc) were connected to eachother in such a way as they could both draw power from the other and could both charge the other. (It must be possible to connect power packs in this way, as a single power pack can draw electricity from the mains whilst providing power to a device via a USB charger, for example.)
We assumed that the power packs would start off at 100% full, but can this be the case? Power packs drain (atrophy?) if left for some time, so this must mean that a fully charged power pack actually starts to lose power immediately after being charged to 100%, even if the rate at which it loses power is a fraction of a percent. We also need to factor in the amount of energy lost as heat from the cables connecting the power packs.
That being the case, as soon as you plug one power pack into another they would start to draw top-up power (dependent on the accuracy of the governing firmware). And a further assumption would be that, unless the packs were connected to each other at EXACTLY the same time, one would take presidence over the other and would be the 'most greedy'.
Is there any scientific principal behind our theoretical situation, or is the answer always going to be 'it depends'?
Please note: I am not, in any way, a scientist. The terms I am using above are probably incorrect, and there are quite possibly some basic priciples and accepted theory that I have neglected. We're just two friends who wants to know a little more about a topic we were discussing.
Thanks
Hi All, Newbie to this forum. I did a searxh on 'scientific forums' and this one looked quite likely to answer my query. I hope you can help........ A friend and I were discussing a theoretical situatuation where two USB power packs (the type that act as emergency chargers for phones, iPads, etc) were connected to eachother in such a way as they could both draw power from the other and could both charge the other. (It must be possible to connect power packs in this way, as a single power pack can draw electricity from the mains whilst providing power to a device via a USB charger, for example.) We assumed that the power packs would start off at 100% full, but can this be the case? Power packs drain (atrophy?) if left for some time, so this must mean that a fully charged power pack actually starts to lose power immediately after being charged to 100%, even if the rate at which it loses power is a fraction of a percent. We also need to factor in the amount of energy lost as heat from the cables connecting the power packs. That being the case, as soon as you plug one power pack into another they would start to draw top-up power (dependent on the accuracy of the governing firmware). And a further assumption would be that, unless the packs were connected to each other at EXACTLY the same time, one would take presidence over the other and would be the 'most greedy'. Is there any scientific principal behind our theoretical situation, or is the answer always going to be 'it depends'? Please note: I am not, in any way, a scientist. The terms I am using above are probably incorrect, and there are quite possibly some basic priciples and accepted theory that I have neglected. We're just two friends who wants to know a little more about a topic we were discussing. Thanks