Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!pesnta!amdcad!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-kirk!williams From: williams@kirk.DEC (John Williams 223-3402) Newsgroups: net.analog Subject: The difference between capacitors and batteries Message-ID: <158@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Thu, 6-Dec-84 11:29:12 EST Article-I.D.: decwrl.158 Posted: Thu Dec 6 11:29:12 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 9-Dec-84 03:24:23 EST Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: DEC Engineering Network Lines: 15 A battery is an extremely nonlinear capacitor. This is due to the fact that the charge changes the characteristics of the dielectric. Period. They optimize difference aspects of similar phenomenon. You will find that all capacitors are somewhat nonlinear. Vendors tend to stuff this characteristic into the absolute tolerance. Polystyrene and polypropalene ( spelling? ) tend to be the most linear. Batteries are the most nonlinear. You don't find many that are inbetween until you get to solid state capacitors processed in silicon, where the depletion layer varies with charge. The development of linear capacitors in IC's was a major breakthrough for systolic arrays and switched capacitor networks. It should be noted the the nonlinearity in silicon is inverse to the nonlinearity you find in batteries. ----{ john williams }----