Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd © Copyright 2006 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 4 Energy & Power
• Energy is the ability to do work, and power is the rate at
which energy is used.
• Power (P) is a certain amount of energy (W) used in a
certain length of time (t), expressed as follows:
P=W/t
• Where P is power in watts (W), W is energy in joules (J),
and t is time in seconds (s).

• Note that an italic W is used to represent energy in the

form of work and a nonitalic W is used for watts, the unit
of power. The joule (J) is the SI unit of energy.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4

1n
Energy

Energy, W, is the ability to do work and is

measured in joules. One joule is the work
done when a force of one newton is
applied through a distance of one meter.
1m
The symbol for energy, W, represents
work, but should not be confused with the
unit for power, the watt, W.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power

• Power is the is the rate at which energy is used. Unit

of Power is Watt.

• One watt (W) is the amount of power when one

joule of energy is used in one second.

• Amounts of power much less than one watt are

common in certain areas of electronics.

• As with small current and voltage values, metric

prefixes are used to designate small amounts of
power. Thus, mill watts (mW), microwatts and even
Pico watts (pW) are commonly found in some
applications.
Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd
Chapter 4 Power
• In the electrical utilities field, kilowatts (kW) and megawatts
(MW) are common units. Radio and television stations also
use large amounts of power to transmit signals.

• Electric motors are commonly rated in horsepower (hp)

where 1 hp = 746 W.

• Since power is the rate at which energy is used. If you

multiply power in watts and time in seconds, you have
energy in joules, symbolized by W.
W = Pt

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 The Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Unit of Energy
• The joule has been defined as a unit of energy.
However, there is another way to express energy.

• Since power is expressed in watts and time in seconds,

units of energy called the watt-second (Ws), watt-hour
(Wh), and kilowatt-hour (kWh) can be used.

• When you pay your electric bill, you are charged on the
basis of the amount of energy you use, not the power.
Because power companies deal in huge amounts of
energy.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 The Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Unit of Energy
• The most practical unit is the kilowatt-hour. You use a
kilowatt-hour of energy when you use one thousand
watts of power for one hour.
• For example, a 100 W light bulb burning for 10 h uses 1
kWh of energy.
W = Pt = (100 W)(10 h) = 1000 Wh = 1 kWh

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power In An Electric Circuit

• When there is current through resistance, the collisions

of the electrons produce heat as a result of the
conversion of electrical energy.
• The amount of power dissipated in an electric circuit is
dependent on the amount of resistance and on the
amount of current, expressed as follows:
P = I2R (I Square R)

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power In An Electric Circuit
• P is power in watts (W), I is current in amperes (A), and
R is resistance in ohms. You can get an equivalent
expression for power in terms of voltage and current by
substituting V for IR (I2 is I * I ).
P = I2R = (I * I )R = I(IR) = (IR)I
P = VI
• Where P is in watts when V is in volts and I is in
amperes. You can obtain another equivalent expression
by substituting V/R for I (Ohm’s law).

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example
• A 100 W light bulb operates on 120 V. How much current
does it require?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power Rating
• The power rating is the maximum amount of power that
a resistor can dissipate without being damaged by
excessive heat buildup.

• The power rating is not related to the ohmic value

(resistance) but rather is determined mainly by the
physical composition, size, and shape of the resistor.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power Rating
• Metal-film resistors are available in standard power
ratings from 1⁄8 W to 1 W, as shown in figure. Available
power ratings for other types of resistors vary. For
example, wire wound resistors have ratings up to 225 W
or greater.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power Rating
• When a resistor is used in a circuit, its power rating must
be greater than the maximum power that it will have to
handle. For example, if a resistor is to dissipate 0.75 W
in a circuit application, its rating should be at least the
next higher standard value which is 1 W. A

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Example

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power Supply

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power Supply Efficiency

Efficiency of a power supply is a measure of how well it

converts ac to dc. For all power supplies, some of the
input power is wasted in the form of heat. As an
Power lost
equation, POUT
Efficiency =
PIN
Input
Output
power
power

What is the efficiency of a power

supply that converts 20 W of input
power to 17 W of output power? 85%

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Power Supply Efficiency

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Exercise

A 100 W light bulb operates on 120 V. How much current

does it require?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Exercise
• A light bulb draws 545 mA from a 120 V source. What is
the power dissipated?

• If there are 10 V across a resistor and a current of 3 A

through it, what is the power dissipated?

• If there is a current of 5 A through a 56 resistor, what is

the power dissipated?

• How much power does a 2.2 k resistor with 8 V across it

dissipate?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Exercise
• How much power does the source in Figure 3 generate?
What is the power in the resistor? Are the two values the
same? Why?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Exercise
• What is the resistance of a 75 W bulb that takes
0.5 A?
• If a 75 V source is supplying 2 A to a load, what
is the resistance value of the load?

• If a resistor has 5.5 V across it and 3 mA

through it, what is the power?

• If there are 60 V across a 680 resistor, what is

the power?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Exercise
• If a resistor is to carry 2 A of current and handle 100 W
of power, how many ohms must it be? Assume that the
voltage can be adjusted to any required value.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power
• Choose an adequate power rating for each of the metal-
film resistors in given Figure (1⁄8 W, 1⁄4 W, 1⁄2 W, or 1
W).

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4 Resistor Power
• A certain Resistor is required to dissipate
0.25W. What standard rating should be used?

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Selected Key Terms
Ampere-hour A number determined by multiplying the
rating current (A) times the length of time (h) that a
battery can deliver that current to a load.

Efficiency The ratio of output power to input power of a

circuit, usually expressed as a percent.

Energy The ability to do work.

Joule The SI unit of energy.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Selected Key Terms
Kilowatt-hour A large unit of energy used mainly by utility
(kWh) companies.

Power The rate of energy useage

Watt The SI unit of power.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

1. A unit of power is the

a. joule
b. kilowatt-hour
c. both of the above
d. none of the above

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

2. The SI unit of energy is the

a. volt
b. joule
c. watt
d. kilowatt-hour

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

3. If the voltage in a resistive circuit is doubled, the power

will be
a. halved
b. unchanged
c. doubled
d. quadrupled

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

4. The smallest power rating you should use for a resistor

that is 330  with 12 V across it is
a. ¼ W
b. ½ W
c. 1 W
d. 2 W

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

5. The power dissipated by a light operating on 12 V that

has 3 A of current is
a. 4 W
b. 12 W
c. 36 W
d. 48 W

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

6. The power rating of a resistor is determined mainly by

a. surface area
b. length
c. body color
d. applied voltage

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

7. The circuit with the largest power dissipation is

a. (a)
b. (b)
c. (c)
d. (d)

+10 V R +15 V R +20 V R +25 V R

100 W 200 W 300 W 400 W

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

8. The circuit with the smallest power dissipation is

a. (a)
b. (b)
c. (c)
d. (d)

+10 V R +15 V R +20 V R +25 V R

100 W 200 W 300 W 400 W

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

9. A battery rated for 20 Ah can supply 2 A for a

minimum of
a. 0.1 h
b. 2 h
c. 10 h
d. 40 h

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

10. The efficiency of a power supply is determined by

a. Dividing the output power by the input power.

b. Dividing the output voltage by the input voltage.
c. Dividing the input power by the output power.
d. Dividing the input voltage by the output voltage.

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd

Chapter 4
Quiz

Answers:
1. d 6. a
2. b 7. d
3. d 8. a
4. b 9. c
5. c 10. a

Principles of Electric Circuits - Floyd