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OmegaFury
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Homework Statement
A heater is plugged into the same 120-V AC outlet as an 800-W hair dryer. If the total rms current drawn is 16.7A, then calculate the power rating of the heater.
Homework Equations
Pav=[itex]\frac{1}{2}[/itex]I2peakR
The Attempt at a Solution
Irms=Ipeak/[itex]\sqrt{2}[/itex]
So, Ipeak=16.7A x [itex]\sqrt{2}[/itex]
Solving for R in the Pav equation: 2Pav/I2peak=R
(2 x 800W)/(16.7A x [itex]\sqrt{2}[/itex])2= 2.87 ohms.
I'm assuming that in an outlet, the heater and the dryer are in parallel, so V=V1=V2 and Itotal=I1+I2
Using ohms law V/R=I, 120V/2.86 ohms= 41.81 A. Since this is too high, I know I'm looking at this problem completely wrong. I wanted to use that to find I2, solve for R, and find the power of the heater.
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