Understanding Power Dissipation in Resistors and Ohm's Law

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around understanding power dissipation in resistors and the application of Ohm's Law. The original poster presents a scenario involving resistors with a specific configuration and attempts to calculate the power dissipation across them.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the assignment of resistance values and the implications of using arbitrary values. There is an exploration of how to express current in terms of resistance and the relationship between total power and power dissipation across individual resistors.

Discussion Status

Some participants have offered guidance on how to approach the problem, suggesting that the resistors should be treated as identical and emphasizing the need to consider the total power supplied by the battery. Multiple interpretations of the problem setup are being explored, particularly regarding the assignment of resistance values and the calculation of power dissipation.

Contextual Notes

There is an ongoing discussion about the assumptions made regarding the resistors' values and their arrangement, as well as the implications of these assumptions on the overall power calculations.

delsoo
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Homework Statement



i let r = 1 ohm, so i get effective r = 1.5 ohm, , since P=VI, i get my I = 8A, so i get the power dissipation of RESISTOR P = 8W , so the 4W remaining for both Q AND R , why power of R is 2W? i hope someone can explain this.

Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution

 

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delsoo said:

Homework Statement



i let r = 1 ohm, so i get effective r = 1.5 ohm, , since P=VI, i get my I = 8A, so i get the power dissipation of RESISTOR P = 8W , so the 4W remaining for both Q AND R , why power of R is 2W? i hope someone can explain this.

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution


You can not choose the resistance arbitrary. All resistors have the same resistance, r, an unknown.Find the expression of the current in terms of r, knowing the total power supplied by the battery.
Your argument is correct otherwise. The power is really 8 W through the resistor P, and 4 W on Q and R altogether. The resistors are identical, so the power must be the same on each, adding up to 4 W.

ehild
 
Last edited:
First, you seem to have flipped the statement of the problem and the attempted solution.

Second, your post will be easier to read and will thus tend to get more responses if you use normal orthography.

Third, there is no reason or justification for assigning a particular value to the resistance of each resistor; just use r or some such, and just use I for the current. In fact, you don't really need to do much calculating for this problem.

Fourth, to answer your question, start by thinking of Q and R as a single resistor, and then think of what proportion of the total power would be dissipated in P and in the Q/R combination. Then think of Q and R separately, and how the power dissipated in each must be related.
 
ehild said:
You can not choose the resistance arbitrary. All resistors have the same resistance, r, an unknown.Find the expression of the current in terms of r, knowing the total power supplied by the battery.
Your argument is correct otherwise. The power is really 8 W through the resistor P, and 4 W on Q and R altogether. The resistors are identical, so the power must be the same on each, adding up to 4 W.

ehild

can i say that the power of battery is equal to the sum of all power dissipation of resistor independent of the arrangement of the resistor. which means no matter how the arrangement resistor , the sum of all power of resistor = power of battery?
 
delsoo said:
can i say that the power of battery is equal to the sum of all power dissipation of resistor independent of the arrangement of the resistor. which means no matter how the arrangement resistor , the sum of all power of resistor = power of battery?

Yes.

ehild
 

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