I recently tested a 9V alkaline battery by measuring its open-circuit voltage (9.0 V) and then measuring it with a car headlight lamp (R = 1 Ohm) across the terminals (4.0 V). The lamp lit up brightly and got warm, but from the significant voltage drop I conclude that the battery is basically dead. Correct?
From those measurements I get a Thevenin model of the circuit as follows, where Rb is the battery's internal resistance and Rl is the load (lamp).
- Vb + Rb
-----|||||-----/\/\/\----- | | | | o o | | | Rl |
-----------/\/\/\---------
With the load removed, and assuming the voltmeter is an open circuit, Vb = 9.0 V. With Rl = 1 Ohm in place and the voltage across o-o measured as 4.0 V, the loop current is 4 A. So Rb is 1.25 Ohm. Correct?
Is there a rule of thumb for judging a battery as "still OK" or "dead" based on the calculated Thevenin resistance?
I measured the headlamp as 1.0 Ohm, which in a 12 V car circuit (assuming a negligeable series resistance) should have a power of
144 W. Does that sound reasonable?