What's the total charge that moves from one terminal of a battery to the other if 50mA of current are provided to a load for 1 hour?
I think I'm suppose to use the formula I = Q/t, where I is the current in amps, Q is Coulombs and t is time in seconds. The way I did the problem was to first multiply t to both sides so that I could isolate Q. Then rewrote the formula as Q = I x t. But I think that's wrong for some reason. I'm getting 50mA x 3600 = 180000C. Then convert it to 180 mC? so answer would be 180 mC? I don't think that's right so I'm asking here for some guidance.
Battery capacities are typically measured in amp-hours. So 50ma for 1 hour is 50mAh.
If you want to measure in Coloumbs then use the conversion factor 1Amp-second = 1C, or one amp for 1 second represents 1 Coloumb of charge..
$$50 \mathrm{mAh} \cdot \frac{1 \mathrm{A}}{1000 \mathrm{mA}}\cdot \frac{1 C}{1 \mathrm{s} \cdot 1 \mathrm{A}} \cdot \frac{3600 \mathrm{s}}{1 \mathrm{h}} = 50 \cdot \frac{1}{1000} \cdot 1{C} \cdot 3600 = 180 \mathrm{C}$$
Each of the conversion factors is 1, and all the units cancel out except the Coloumb.