ELECTRICAL ENERGY

AND POWER
OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, the student
should be able to
• discuss the relationship of work to
power.
• apply the power and energy concepts
to practical problems.
WORK
For an object to move, some force must make it move.
When electrons flow in a circuit, a force must make them flow.
A force produces or tends to produce motion or change in
motion.
Energy is the ability to do work. Therefore, when work is
accomplished, energy is used or consumed.
If a weight is to be lifted, work is required.
The unit of work is the foot-pound (ft.lb), which is the amount of
work accomplished when a weight of 1 pound is lifted vertically
1 foot, or when a force of 1 pound acts through a
distance of 1 foot.
The amount of work done, measured in foot-pounds, is equal to
the force in pounds multiplied by the distance in feet, or
If a 2-pound weight is lifted a distance of 3 feet, the work
done is equal to 2 × 3, or 6 foot-pounds.
Work is not a function of time. An elevator motor does
essentially the same amount of work in speeding a car
to the top of a building as it does in having it rise slowly.
Although the work is nearly the same, the motor must
be much more powerful in the first instance than in the
second.
POWER
Power is the rate of doing work. The faster a
given amount of work is accomplished, the
greater the power required.
If a 2-pound weight is raised 3 feet in 1
minute, more power is required than if
the same weight were raised 3 feet in 5
minutes.
Mechanical power is often expressed in
foot-pounds per minute (ft-lb/min)
The watt (W) is used as the unit of electrical
power. The instrument used to measure power is
the wattmeter (Figure 6-1).
When 1 ampere exists in a circuit due to a source
of 1 volt, 1 watt of power is used in that circuit.
In DC circuits, the electrical power in watts can
always be found by any of the following formulas in
which I represents the number of amperes, R is
the number of ohms, and E is the number of volts
Determine the cost of operating a television set for 6
hours. The set is rated at 150 watts, and the cost of
energy is at the rate of 5 cents per kWh.
Electrical power can be changed to
mechanical power by an electric motor.
If exactly as much power could be delivered
by the motor as is supplied to it, then for each
746 watts of electrical power supplied to the
motor, 1 horsepower of mechanical power
would be delivered.
Actually, a motor is not 100 percent efficient. The
power delivered is never equal to the power
supplied.
Some losses always occur due to internal motor
resistance, bearing friction, and air friction. The
power supplied to the motor must be greater than
the power delivered to provide for these losses.
Example: In the circuit shown in Figure 6-2, find the
following:
a. The power delivered to the lamp.
b. The cost of operating the lamp for 24 hours at 4 cents
per kWh.
ACHIEVEMENT REVIEW
1. An electric soldering iron takes 5 amperes at 110 volts. What is the power used in
watts? In kilowatts? _________________________________________________

2. A device is rated at 1,100 watts. What current is required if it is operated at 110

volts? ____________________________________________________________

3. A motor must lift an elevator car weighing 2,000 pounds to a height of 1,000
feet in 4 minutes, at a constant speed. What horsepower rating is required of the
Motor? ___________________________________________________________

4. Find the cost of operating ten 100-watt lamps, at their rated voltage, for 11 hours
at a rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. __________________________________

5. Determine the overall efficiency of a motor that delivers 2 hp to a load if it draws

7.5 amperes when connected to a 240-volt supply. _______________________
6. An electric toaster has a rating of 1,000 watts at 120
volts. What current will it
draw? _______________________________________
7. The toaster in problem 6 (same heating element) is
connected to a 240-volt
circuit. What power will it use?
_______________________________________
8. Determine the cost of operating a 2-watt electric clock for
365 days at 3 cents per
kilowatt-hour.
_______________________________________________
_____
9. A transformer primary circuit (input) draws 12 amperes when connected to a
2,400-volt source. An ammeter connected in the secondary circuit (output)
indicates
115 amperes at 240 volts. Calculate the percent efficiency of the transformer.
_______________________________________________________________
____
10. A 5-ohm heating element draws 20 amperes from the power source. How
many
kilowatts of power are delivered to this element?
__________________________
_______________________________________________________________
____
11. Determine the power that is taken by R
2
in Figure 6-3.
12. For the circuit in problem 11, what is the total power of
both resistors combined?_______________________
13. Find the power at R3 in Figure 6-4.

14. For the circuit in problem 13, find the total power of
the circuit.

15. What is the power taken by R4 in the circuit for

problem 13?