4 ms·
> energy density and power density seem to be roughly inversely related across technologies. i.e the more energy you can pack per unit mass the slower it is to
by ComputerGuru 2y ago
> energy density and power density seem to be roughly inversely related across technologies. i.e the more energy you can pack per unit mass the slower it is to get it in and out.
This sounds really elegant and simple to the point where people might take it as an axiomatic fact but the very existence of both nuclear fission and fusion stops it from being a general rule. They’re both discharging power from individual atoms and it would actually be great if we had a way to slow down the rate of discharge.
- lazide 2y agoIt also has plenty of plain old basic chemistry examples showing it false - lithium ion vs lead acid, gasoline vs fuel oil, etc.
- tomxor 2y agoYes, it's only a high level observation, but one that seems to hold true for electrical storage so far, i.e where there is a closed system with an electrical input and output. For fusion there are also various direct energy conversion methods for electrical output, but not the reverse, i.e i don't think there is method for nucleosynthesis directly from charged particles. In a more general sense, sure, power vs energy relation doesn't hold, but when limiting the system to the requirements to be a self contained electrical storage component, this relationship seems to emerge.