Q.Write down the various forms of expression for power in an electrical circuit.
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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 (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, , and since ,
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 ().
Alternative forms via Ohm's law. Substituting into gives , and substituting instead gives -- 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 (and ) 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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