# Can I decrease voltage to get higher amperage?

If I have for example a battery that outputs 10 V but with a maximum of 0.5 A. If I took the output of the battery and entered it in a buck converter to get 5 V will I get the same 0.5 A at 5 V or I will get 1 A?

In my small knowledge what I know that the watts should be the same so 10V * 0.5A = 5W, so 5V * 1A = 5W. Is this true or it's only theoritical?

• A battery voltage usually varies some over its active life. For example, a LiPo might start with $4.2\:\text{V}$ but end with $3.7\:\text{V}$ when it needs to be recharged, again. Also the current "maximum" is a "compliance" value. This doesn't mean you have to always use that much. It just means you can get up to that range and stay within the voltage range specifications, consistent with the remaining available energy. A buck converter will need to operate well over the source range of the battery and the current required from the battery will vary as the battery voltage changes. – jonk Oct 13 '19 at 7:56
• have you tinkered with bipolars and resistors and LEDs, to turn the LEDs on and off? have you built any bipolar amplifiers? – analogsystemsrf Oct 13 '19 at 21:25
• @analogsystemsrf nope, I didn't do this before, tell me more please – Shams El-Deen Oct 14 '19 at 4:48