Veritasium
May 20, 2026
How Many AA Batteries to Power a Human for One Hour?
Key Takeaways
- 1A single AA battery (2.9 Wh) can power a human at rest for only about 2 minutes
- 2You would need 30 AA batteries to power a human for one hour, based on ~86 calories per hour resting metabolic rate
- 3Battery energy scales dramatically with animal size: from 2 years for a worker ant to 0.5 seconds for a blue whale
- 4Modern power banks like the Anker Prime offer the same energy as 30 AA batteries in a compact form using LCO cells
- 5LCO cells provide advantages over traditional NCM cells including lower internal resistance and rapid charging up to 250W
Chapters
1. Battery Energy Across Different Animals
A single AA battery's 2.9 Wh of energy sustains different creatures for vastly different durations: worker ants for 2 years, bees for 4 days, mice for 14 hours, and a blue whale for only half a second.
2. Human Energy Requirements
The average human at rest consumes about 86 calories per hour. One AA battery can power a human for approximately 2 minutes, requiring 30 batteries for a full hour of operation.
3. Modern Power Bank Solution
The Anker Prime power bank contains the equivalent energy of 30 AA batteries in a 20% smaller package using advanced LCO cells instead of traditional NCM cells.
4. LCO Cell Technology Advantages
LCO cells offer lower internal resistance than NCM cells, enabling rapid charging capabilities of up to 250W single-port or 300W total across all ports, with real-time charge status display.
Glossary
- Wh (Watt-hours)
- A unit of energy measurement indicating how much power can be delivered over time; 2.9 Wh means the battery can deliver 2.9 watts for one hour
- LCO cells
- Lithium Cobalt Oxide battery cells used in high-performance applications; offer lower internal resistance and faster charging than traditional cells
- NCM cells
- Nickel Cobalt Manganese battery cells; traditional chemistry with higher internal resistance compared to newer LCO technology
- Internal resistance
- The opposition to current flow within a battery; lower internal resistance allows for faster charging and power delivery
- Calories (dietary)
- Units of energy used to measure food and metabolic energy; the amount the human body burns per hour varies with activity level