Understanding Power Dissipation in Parallel Resistors

[IDGAF]

Ok, I'm not an EE student, nor do I really understand all of the P=IE^2 stuff concerning power and resistance, etc.

My question is regarding the power dissipation abilities of resistors in paralell. Let's say I have (10) 100ohm/5w resistors in paralell. Would this effectively be a 10ohm load with 50w of power dissipation? Do the collective resistors share the power handling duties? Or am I way off?

Any insight (in layman's terms) would be much appreciated.

 

[imsmooth]

Yes.


When in parallel each resistor handles a part of the current. 1/Rtotal = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + ...

So for 10 100R resistors you get a net resistance of 10R. Each resistor contributes to the total wattage. If each resistor is 5W then you have a total of 50W.