Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mphil-in-micro-and-nanotechnology-enterprise-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-1/section-b/12/ii/solution

specific energy is usable stored energy divided by device mass, commonly in Wh/kg; specific power is deliverable power per the same mass, in W/kg. The definition must specify whether packaging and inactive components count, and the discharge conditions must be comparable. On a Ragone plot with energy horizontal and power vertical, ordinary capacitors occupy high-power/low-energy territory, batteries tend toward higher energy and lower power, and supercapacitors bridge and overlap the two. These are broad regions rather than universal measured boundaries.
High specific energy means long operation for a given mass; high specific power means rapid delivery. Their ratio is a characteristic duration: when the preceding units are used, or . The diagonal lines in the sketch keep that unit conversion explicit. A cell's rated energy and peak pulse power need not be available simultaneously throughout discharge.
Figure 1.
Qualitative storage regions and constant-duration lines on a Ragone plot
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