I am kind of new in electricity, I bought a USB tester - KWS1902C. I can see my laptop voltage is constant 20 V (or around 20) to be more precise. Amperes are changing in sleep mode 0.002 when working depending on the load from 1 to 2 amperes. So far so good. One thing I do not understand is why mAh is constantly rising. Reading on the internet, mAh is the capacity. But why my capacity is rising all the time when battery is 80% (I set max to be 80%) on my laptop?
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1\$\begingroup\$ Cheap Chinese toy can not be used for precise measurent. Algorthm is unknown. Usually that devices calculate left energy by the voltage but the have to be calibrated for each battery. \$\endgroup\$– user263983Jun 30, 2022 at 2:16
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\$\begingroup\$ what do u mean by algorithm, which one should be used ? \$\endgroup\$– THEGreatGatsbyJun 30, 2022 at 10:38
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\$\begingroup\$ The device has microcontroller inside. Microcontroller run by some programm which is implement some algorithm. If it has some user interface, you can programm it. Battery voltage depends on remain power, but measured in some conditions. Briefly, the device is a toy, not a precise instrument. \$\endgroup\$– user263983Jun 30, 2022 at 10:56
2 Answers
The mAh reading on your meter is a measure of the total energy used since the meter was last reset. It does not indicate the capacity of your battery.
mAh measures the total charge which has passed through some point over all time. It is like a turnstile counter for electrons.
So mAh is a great way to keep track of capacity, just the way a turnstile counter is a good way to measure a stadium's total capacity if you reset it when the stadium is empty and then look at its value once it is full.
In other situations it is just measuring the charge which has "passed through".
It's almost the total energy, but you need to multiply it by the voltage first: electrons can pack a different punch depending on their voltage.
Note that the detail is somewhat more complex particularly with regard to the role of voltage and potential and fields, and also exotic carrier types etc, but this will do you.