5 ms·

It's convenient to build things in multiples and powers of 2 and 3. A nice two-tier or four-tier battery rack full of 2-volt cells just works out nicely.

hinkley 3y ago
Smaller transformers with whole numbers, right? But why 4 and not 3 or 6?
- eternityforest 3y ago
  We seem to stick with 7-smooth numbers, and really extra prefer highly composite numbers (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_composite_number https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_composite_number) for things we chose before the age of calculators. 3 and 6 were the standard voltages for consumer stuff back in the days of people needing to buy multiple packs of AA cells every year
  - jjeaff 3y ago
    Are we not all still buying multiple packs of AA batteries every year? Or maybe it's just those with kids.
    - eternityforest 3y ago
      I think it might mostly just be those with kids! And non techies. They always have a few disposable battery flashlights hanging around it seems like.
    - myself248 3y ago
      Oh I hope nobody's doing that, rechargeables have been so good for so long. I'm just now retiring some that I bought in the 2007-2011 timeframe which have started to fail, but my 2015 purchases are still going strong with hundreds and hundreds of charge cycles on 'em. I haven't used alkalines since the 80s.
      - jjeaff 3y ago
        I have not had great luck with rechargeables. They have a lower voltage than regular AA, so I find that most sensitive electronics just start out thinking the battery is already low and then stop running before the battery is fully discharged. My Z-wave keypad lock is one of those. AA batteries last about 2 months, rechargeables start giving a low battery warning after a week and hardly last 2-4.
        eternityforest 3y ago
        Have you tried lithium rechargeables with the built in converters?
        myself248 3y ago
        I return garbage products like that. Not supporting rechargeables in 1980 was sort of forgivable, but they've had 40 years to get their act together.

hinkley 3y ago

Smaller transformers with whole numbers, right? But why 4 and not 3 or 6?

eternityforest 3y ago
We seem to stick with 7-smooth numbers, and really extra prefer highly composite numbers (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_composite_number https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_composite_number) for things we chose before the age of calculators. 3 and 6 were the standard voltages for consumer stuff back in the days of people needing to buy multiple packs of AA cells every year
- jjeaff 3y ago
  Are we not all still buying multiple packs of AA batteries every year? Or maybe it's just those with kids.
  - eternityforest 3y ago
    I think it might mostly just be those with kids! And non techies. They always have a few disposable battery flashlights hanging around it seems like.
  - myself248 3y ago
    Oh I hope nobody's doing that, rechargeables have been so good for so long. I'm just now retiring some that I bought in the 2007-2011 timeframe which have started to fail, but my 2015 purchases are still going strong with hundreds and hundreds of charge cycles on 'em. I haven't used alkalines since the 80s.
    - jjeaff 3y ago
      I have not had great luck with rechargeables. They have a lower voltage than regular AA, so I find that most sensitive electronics just start out thinking the battery is already low and then stop running before the battery is fully discharged. My Z-wave keypad lock is one of those. AA batteries last about 2 months, rechargeables start giving a low battery warning after a week and hardly last 2-4.
      - eternityforest 3y ago
        Have you tried lithium rechargeables with the built in converters?
      - myself248 3y ago
        I return garbage products like that. Not supporting rechargeables in 1980 was sort of forgivable, but they've had 40 years to get their act together.