Power and Energy
Power
A source of energy is required to drive current round a complete circuit. A circuit is
complete when there is a complete path or loop for current to circulate in that loop. This
is possible when a circuit is provided by batteries or any source of power in the circuits
you have been looking at. It is therefore, Power that consummates the circulation of
current and use of energy in any circuit. The batteries, for example, is one of the most
common power source, convert chemical potential energy into electrical energy. The
energy is used to do work on the electrons in the circuit.
Power is a measure of how rapidly work is done. Power is the rate at which the work is
done, work done per unit time. Work is measured in joules (J) and time in seconds (s)
so power will be in Joules(J)/sec which we call a watt (W). It is also expressed in KW
like in our monthly household consumption.
In electric circuits, power is a function of both voltage and current and we talk about the
power dissipated in a circuit element
Algebraically : Power = Work (Joules) = Joules/sec = watts
Time (sec)
Electrical Power
Electrical power is the rate at which electrical energy is converted in an electric
circuit. It calculated as:
P = V (I)
Power (P) is exactly equal to current (I), in Amp multiplied by voltage (V), in volts
there is no extra constant of proportionality. The unit of measurement for power
is the watt (abbreviated W).
It was James Prescott Joule, not Georg Simon Ohm, who first discovered the
mathematical relationship between power dissipation and current through a resistance.
This discovery, published in 1841, followed the form of the equation: P=I2R, and is
properly known as Joule's Law. However, these power equations are so commonly
associated with the Ohm's Law equations relating voltage, current, and resistance that
they are frequently credited to Ohm.
Equivalent forms
We can use Ohm's Law to show that P=V(I) to P=I2R and P = V2./R
Using V=I⋅R
P=V⋅I, and (I = V/R), then P = V2/R Ohm's Law=I2R
ILLUSTRATION : ELECTRICAL POWER
Given a circuit component that has a voltage of 55 V and a resistance of 22 Ω, what is
the power dissipated?
Write down what you are given and what you need to find
V=5 VOLTS; R =2 Ω ; P = ______W
Write down an equation for power
The equation for power is:
P=V2//R
Solve the problem
P=V2/R=(5)2//(2)=12.5 Watts
EXAMPLE 2: ELECTRICAL POWER
Study the circuit diagram below:
The resistance of the resistor is 15 Ω and the current going through the resistor is 4 A.
What is the power for the resistor?
Determine how to approach the problem
We are given the resistance of the resistor and the current passing through it and are
asked to calculate the power. We can have verified that:
P=I2R=I2R
Solve the problem
We can simply substitute the known values for RR and II to solve for PP.
P=I2R=(4)2×15=240 watts
Write the final answer
The power for the resistor is 240 W.
EXAMPLE 3: POWER IN SERIES CIRCUIT
Two ohmic resistors (R1 and R2) are connected in series with a cell. Find the resistance
and power of R2, given that the current flowing through R1 and R2 is 0.250A and that
the voltage across the cell is 66 V. R1 = 1 Ω.
Draw the circuit and fill in all known values.
Determine how to approach the problem.
We can use Ohm's Law to find the total resistance R in the circuit, and then calculate
the unknown resistance using:
R=R1+R2=R1+R2
because it is in a series circuit.
Find the total resistance
V= IR=6 ; subst. I = 0.25 and V = 6; Then I = V/I =24 Ω
Find the unknown resistance
We know that:
R=24 Ω
and that
R1=1 Ω
Since
R=R1+R2
R2=R−R1 : R2 = 24 -1 = 23 Ω
Therefore,
R=23 Ω
Solve the problem
Now that the resistance is known and the current, we can determine the power on R 2
P2 =I2R=(0.25)2(23)=1.44 W
Write the final answer
The power for the resistor R2 is 1.441 watts
Notice that we use the same circuits in examples as we extend our knowledge of
electric circuits. This is to emphasise that you can always combine all of the principles
you have learnt when dealing with any circuit.
EXAMPLE 4: POWER IN SERIES AND PARALLEL NETWORKS OF RESISTORS
Given the following circuit:
The current leaving the battery is 1,071,07 AA, the total power dissipated in the circuit
is 6,426,42 WW, the ratio of the total resistances of the two parallel
networks RP1:RP2RP1:RP2 is 1:2, the ratio R1:R2R1:R2 is 3:5 and R3=7 ΩR3=7 Ω.
Determine the:
1. voltage of the battery,
2. the power dissipated in RP1RP1 and RP2RP2, and
3. the value of each resistor and the power dissipated in each of them.
What is required
In this question you are given various pieces of information and asked to determine the
power dissipated in each resistor and each combination of resistors. Notice that the
information given is mostly for the overall circuit. This is a clue that you should start with
the overall circuit and work downwards to more specific circuit elements.
Calculating the voltage of the battery
Firstly we focus on the battery. We are given the power for the overall circuit as well as
the current leaving the battery. We know that the voltage across the terminals of the
battery is the voltage across the circuit as a whole.
We can use the relationship P=VIP=VI for the entire circuit because the voltage is the
same as the voltage across the terminals of the battery:
PV=VI=PI=6,421,07=6,00 VP=VIV=PI=6,421,07=6,00 V
The voltage across the battery is 6,006,00 VV.
Power dissipated in RP1RP1 and RP2RP2
Remember that we are working from the overall circuit details down towards those for
individual elements, this is opposite to how you treated this circuit earlier.
We can treat the parallel networks like the equivalent resistors so the circuit we are
currently dealing with looks like:
We know that the current through the two circuit elements will be the same because it is
a series circuit and that the resistance for the total circuit must
be: RT=RP1+RP2RT=RP1+RP2. We can determine the total resistance from Ohm's
Law for the circuit as a whole:
VbatteryRT=IRT=VbatteryI=6,001,07=5,61 ΩVbattery=IRTRT=VbatteryI=6,001,07=5,6
1 Ω
We know that the ratio between RP1:RP2RP1:RP2 is 1:2 which means that we know:
RP1RT(5,61)RP2RP2=12RP2 and=RP1+RP2=12RP2+RP2=32RP2=32RP2=23(5
,61)=3,74 ΩRP1=12RP2 andRT=RP1+RP2=12RP2+RP2=32RP2(5,61)=32RP2RP2=23(5,6
1)RP2=3,74 Ω
and therefore:
RP1=12RP2=12(3.74)=1,87 ΩRP1=12RP2=12(3.74)=1,87 Ω
Now that we know the total resistance of each of the parallel networks we can calculate
the power dissipated in each:
PP1=I2RP1=(1,07)2(1,87)=2,14 WPP1=I2RP1=(1,07)2(1,87)=2,14 W
and
PP2=I2RP2=(1,07)2(3,74)=4,28 WPP2=I2RP2=(1,07)2(3,74)=4,28 W
Parallel network 1 calculations
Now we can begin to do the detailed calculation for the first set of parallel resistors.
We know that the ratio between R1:R2R1:R2 is 3:5 which means that we
know R1=35R2R1=35R2. We also know the total resistance for the two parallel
resistors in this network is 1,871,87 ΩΩ. We can use the relationship between the
values of the two resistors as well as the formula for the total resistance
(1RPT=1R1+1R21RPT=1R1+1R2)to find the resistor values:
1RP11RP11RP11RP11RP1R2=1R1+1R2=53R2+1R2=1R2(53+1)=1R2(53+33)
=1R283=RP183=(1,87)83=4,99 Ω1RP1=1R1+1R21RP1=53R2+1R21RP1=1R2(53+1)1
RP1=1R2(53+33)1RP1=1R283R2=RP183=(1,87)83=4,99 Ω
We can also calculate R1R1:
R1=35R2=35(4,99)=2,99 ΩR1=35R2=35(4,99)=2,99 Ω
To determine the power we need the resistance which we have calculated and either
the voltage or current. The two resistors are in parallel so the voltage across them is the
same as well as the same as the voltage across the parallel network. We can use
Ohm's Law to determine the voltage across the network of parallel resistors as we know
the total resistance and we know the current:
V=IR=(1,07)(1,87)=2,00 VV=IR=(1,07)(1,87)=2,00 V
We now have the information we need to determine the power through each resistor:
P1=V2R1=(2,00)22,99=1,34 WP1=V2R1=(2,00)22,99=1,34 W
P2=V2R2=(2,00)24,99=0,80 WP2=V2R2=(2,00)24,99=0,80 W
Parallel network 2 calculations
Now we can begin to do the detailed calculation for the second set of parallel resistors.
We are given R3=7,00 ΩR3=7,00 Ω and we know RP2RP2 so we can
calculate R4R4 from:
1RP213,74R4=1R3+1R4=17,00+1R4=8,03 Ω1RP2=1R3+1R413,74=17,00+1R4R4=8
,03 Ω
We can calculate the voltage across the second parallel network by subtracting the
voltage of the first parallel network from the battery
voltage, VP2=6,00−2,00=4,00 VVP2=6,00−2,00=4,00 V.
We can now determine the power dissipated in each resistor:
P3=V2R3=(4,00)27,00=2,29 WP3=V2R3=(4,00)27,00=2,29 W
P4=V2R2=(4,00)28,03=1,99 WP4=V2R2=(4,00)28,03=1,99 W
P=VI=(3,00)(0,333)=0,99 WP=VI=(3,00)(0,333)=0,99 W
Assignment : Solve the following problems. Use step by step solution of simplifying series
and parallel parts/branch. Compute only the current and power in the 4 ohm resistance.
Electrical Energy
When power is dissipated in a device there is a transfer of energy from one kind to
another. For example, a resistor may get very hot which indicates that the energy is
being dissipated as heat. Power was the rate at which work was done, the rate at which
energy is transferred. If we want to calculate the total amount of energy we need to
multiply the rate of energy transfer by the time over which that energy transfer took
place.
Electrical energy is simply power times time. Mathematically we write:
E=P×t ; where P is the power in watts; and t is TIME IN hrs.
In terms of Work done in a circuit, Energy is measured in joules (J) and time in
seconds (s).
EXAMPLE 1 : ELECTRICAL ENERGY
A 30 W light bulb is left on for 8 hours overnight, how much energy was wasted?
What is required
We need to determine the total amount of electrical energy dissipated by the light bulb.
We know the relationship between the power and energy and we are given the time.
Time is not given in the correct units so we first need to convert to S.I. units:
TIME t =8; hr=8×3 600 s/hr ; t = 28800sec
Calculate the energy
We know that:
E=Pt=(30w)(28 800s)=864 000 Ws = 864,000J
EXAMPLE 2 : ELECTRICAL ENERGY
Study the circuit diagram below:
The resistance of the resistor is 27 Ω and the current going through the resistor
is 3.3 A. What is the power for the resistor and how much energy is dissipated in 35 s?
Determine how to approach the problem
We are given the resistance of the resistor and the current passing through it and are
asked to calculate the power. We have verified that:
P = I2R
and we know that
E = Pt
Solve the problem
We can simply substitute the known values for RR and II to solve for PP.
P=I2R=(3.3)2×27=294.03 W
Now that we have determined the power we can calculate the energy:
E=Pt=(294.03)(35)=10 291.05 J
Write the final answer
The power for the resistor is 294,03W and 10,291,05 J.
Electricity is sold in units which are one kilowatt hour ( kWh). A kilowatt hour is simply
the use of 1kW for 1 hr. Using this you can work out exactly how much electricity
different appliances will use and how much this will cost you.
We are given the details for a device that uses electrical energy and the price of
electricity. Given a certain amount of time for use we need to determine how much
energy was used and what the cost of that would be.
The various quantities provided are in different units. We need to use consistent units to
get an answer that makes sense.
The microwave, for example, has a nameplate of 900W. We can convert this to kW :
900 W/1000 =0.9 kW. If we use this for 30 min, the energy consumed will be :
Calculate usage
The electrical power is:
E=Pt=(0.9 kW)x (30 min)(1Hr/60min) = 0.9x0.5 kWH – 0.45 KWh
Calculate cost (C) of electricity
If electricity cost P12.00 per kwh ; then the cost of operation is :
C=E×price = 0.45 kwh x P12.00/kwh = P5.40
Given the following appliances and their corresponding power consumptions.
Appliance Power rating
Stove 600 W
Microwave 1 200 W
Washing machine 200 W
Kettle 1200W
Fridge 230 W
Toaster 750 W
Energy saver lamp 40W
Light bulb 120 W
Vacuum cleaner 1 600 W
Assignment :
Complete the following table.
Appliance Cost to run for 1 hour
Stove
Microwave
Washing machine
Kettle
Fridge
Toaster
Energy saver globe
Vacuum cleaner
