Two questions:
So we have D, C, AA, AAA battery sizes. Whatever happened to the B and single A sizes?
A few years ago, I could have sworn I saw AAAA (quadriple A) batteries for sale at Best Buy. I think possibly they were meant for some kind of laser pointer. I don’t see them anywhere now. Where did they go, or was I just dreaming?
There are AAAA cells - in fact a 9v PP3 battery contains six of them in series. You can sometimes still get the more obscure cell types from electronics catalogues, but apart from running legacy equipment, there’s not much need for them - if the device is too small for AAAs, then it will typically run on button cells of some kind.
Yes, there are “A” and “B” batteries.. They’re just not used that much.
Cecil had a column on “B” cells, and we’ve had some discussions on the topic:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157644
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116827
The second is originally about 9V batteries, but it mutated.
Here is a picture of the relative size of B cell:
There are some LED penlights currently available that use AAAA batteries. Snap-On Tools carries them. They’re the first penlights I’ve seen that are actually as slim as a common pen.
Radio Shack carries the quadruple-A’s, but at most places if you ask for them they’re sure you mean triple-A’s, then when you insist it’s quadruple-A’s they look at you like you have two heads. But AAAA batteries, and non-exotic devices that use them, do exist.