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II. Short Answer Questions · Q12

Q.Write down the various forms of expression for power in an electrical circuit.

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Concept understanding — Electrical Energy and Power

Deriving P = VI. Tracking a small positive charge dQ around a simple loop containing a battery of voltage V and a resistor: moving through the battery, the charge gains potential energy dU=V dQdU=V\,dQ (at the expense of the battery's stored chemical energy); moving through the resistor, it loses that same energy to collisions with the resistor's atoms. The rate at which this energy is delivered is the electrical power, P=dU/dt=V dQ/dtP=dU/dt=V\,dQ/dt, and since I=dQ/dtI=dQ/dt,

P=VIP = VI

This gives the power delivered by a battery (or delivered TO any electrical device) carrying current I under potential difference V, with SI unit the watt (1 W=1 J/s1\ \text{W}=1\ \text{J/s}).

Alternative forms via Ohm's law. Substituting V=IRV=IR into P=VIP=VI gives P=I2RP=I^2R, and substituting I=V/RI=V/R instead gives P=V2/RP=V^2/R -- three algebraically equivalent expressions for the power dissipated in a resistor, each convenient in different situations depending on which quantity (I or V) is already known. The I2RI^2R (and V2/RV^2/R) forms make clear that power depends on the SQUARE of current (or voltage): doubling the current through a fixed resistor quadruples, not merely doubles, the power dissipated. …

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