The Basics of Power & Circuitry: An Explanation for Laypeople

[fatalenergy]

I'm having difficulties understanding the concept of power and how you generate it in a circuit. Mainly I'm uncertain about how electrical energy can be used to produce power and what are the conditions for producing it (are resistors required?) Would someone be so kinda as to give me an anaolgy or an explanation in layman terms?

 

[Cliff_J]

Ok, how about a physical analogy? Let's say you have a large fan like a ceiling fan. You can turn it by hand and make it spin, therefore you are performing work on it. Let's say you want to make it spin really fast and generate lots of wind for a long time - sounds like an awful lot of work doesn't it? Even just to make it spin faster and faster you need to do more work, right? And this is power, the rate at which work is performed. Replace you with an electric motor and it applies just the same.

Resistors release heat and electric motors spin shafts - both forms of energy release can reflect power because they are performing work and at a certain rate.

Cliff

 

[techvineet]

The rate at which work is done is power. The e.g. (moving a fan) given above. Electrical energy in short, can produce a mechanical force as u did to move a fan. The condition is that u must have a device on which work is to be done and it should be electricity compatible.