Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Science
  4. / Physical Sciences
  5. / Physics
  6. / Electricity And Electrical Engineering

by Thommy on December 25th, 2004

Thommy

Question

Help answer this question below.

In layman's terms, how do the terms voltage, resistance and wattage interrelate?

Share:
Other

Answers. 3 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on April 8th, 2005

    Anonymous

      Imagine water going through a hose.  There are three obvious things at work here:

        •  You have pressure, which is the force that makes the water flow.

        •  Friction within the hose resists the flow of the water.

        •  Depending on the balance between the two previous forces, there is a rate at which the water will flow through the hose, which could be measured in volume of water per unit of time (i.e. gallons per minute).
     
     
      With electricity, we have three things to measure as well; which I hope you will notice correspond directly to the three things mentioned above with respect to water flowing through a hose.

        •  Voltage is the “pressure” that makes electricity flow.

        •  Resistance is the force which opposes the flow of electricity.

        •  Current is the rate at which electricity is flowing.

      Ohm's Law ties this all together.  Current (in Amperes) = Voltage (in Volts) divided by Resistance (in Ohms).

      If, for example, you put 9 volts across 2 ohms of resistance, you'll have 9÷2 = 4.5 amperes of current flowing through that resistance.

      A fourth measurement that ties into these other three is power.  Power is the ability to do actual work.  As tied into Ohm's law, power (in Watts) is equal to current (in Amperes) multiplied by Voltage.

      Example:  A light bulb, oparating with 120 volts across it, and having a resistance of 60 ohms, has 2 amperes of current going through it.  This 2 amperes of current multiplied by 120 volts tells us that this bulb consumes 240 watts of power.

      Electrical power measured here in watts is directly comparable to mechanical power, which is usually measured in horsepower.  One horsepower is approximately equal to 746 watts.
     
     
      A final note for Star Trek fans:  Ohm's law is the basis for all electronics.  Without this balance of voltage, resistance, and current, nothing would work.  Thus, the Borg should not be able to use any electronic-based technology, because with the Borg, “Resistance is futile!”

    • Like
    • Report

    2 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Raghav on March 17th, 2005

    Raghav

    A voltage between two ends says i have so much static pressure between me so when connected by a wire it will result in a current. Resistance of a conductor (through which the current flows) says you may have the pressure but i will decide how much current will flow, meaning it resists the flow of current. Lesser the resistance more the current. I(current) = V(Voltage)/R(Resistance). Because of the resistance and conservation of energy, the lost energy (that was suppose to be converted into electric flow) comes as heat. So the energy consumed for given time will be in Watts (W = Voltage x current = Voltage * Voltage/Resistance = V*V/R), so some of the resistors are designed for a particular wattage. As the resistance of a resistor is constant Wattage is directly proportional to the square of voltage. If you keep on increasing the voltage resitance cannot take all that energy getting converted into heat and burns out, so usually resistance comes with safe maximum operating Voltage/Wattage.

    • Like
    • Report

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Quirkie on December 28th, 2004

    Quirkie

    Voltage measures electrical pressure/electrical potential difference in volts.
    Resistance measures resistance to electrical pressure. Resistance can be measured in Ohms.
    Ampage measures eletrical current in amps.
    Current through a resistance is proportional to potential difference divided by the resistance. Amps = Voltage / Resistance in Ohms.
    (more resistance = less current, more voltage = more current)
    Wattage measures power in Watts. Power is energy consumption per given time. Joules consumed in a second in the case of Watts.
    Electrical consumption in a component in watts is equal to voltage multipied by the ampage through it.

    Thus a 55 Watt light bulb on a 110 Volt circuit draws a current of half an Amp and has a resistance of 220 Ohms.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading In layman's terms, how do the terms voltage, resistance and wattage interrelate?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

ANSWERBAG BUZZ

Power in terms of voltage and resistance
Ohm s law layman s terms
Ohm s law in layman s terms
Electronics for layman
Layman electronics

Answerbag

a Demand Media company