Electric power:
It is the electric work done per unit time. i.e., it is work done in 1 second.
work done
Power
time taken
W
P
t
It is also defined as the rate at which electrical energy is consumed.
Electrical energy consumed
Power
Time taken
E
P
t
S I unit = w (watt)
1 Watt: If a potential difference of 1 volt causes a current of 1 ampere to flow
through a circuit, the electrical power consumed is 1 watt.
or
The power of an appliance is 1 watt if one ampere of current flows through it on
applying a potential differences of 1 volt across its ends.
or
When an electrical appliance consumes electrical energy at the rate of 1 J/Sec its
power is said to be 1 W
1 W = 1 J / Sec
1 KW = 1000 W
1 Megawatt (1 MW) = 106 W, and
I Horse-power (1 HP) = 746 W
1. Power in terms of work
W
P
t
W
but V=
q
W Vq
Vq
P
t
q
P V
t
q
P VI I
t
So P = V I (i)
2 P = V I
But V = I R (By Ohm’s law)
P=V I
P = I R I
P = I 2 R (ii)
3 P=VxI
V
But I= by substituting in the above equation
R
V
P V
R
V2
P (iii)
R
W 2 V2
P VI I R
t R
Power in terms of energy
E
P
t
E=P t
Electrical energy consumed = power time
Power and voltage of an electrical appliance
Every electrical appliance has a label which tells us the voltage to be applied and
the electrical power consumed.
Eg: An electrical appliance of power rating 100 W 220 V means the electrical
appliance has a power consumption of 100 W and it is to be used on a voltage of
220 V.
Electrical energy
Electrical energy = Power time
The electrical energy consumed by an electrical appliance is given by the product
of power rating and the time for which it is used.
SI Unit (Wh) (Watt hour)
Commercial unit of electrical energy
1 KWh Kilo watt hour or unit
BOTU Board of trading unit
1 KWh
It is the amount of electrical energy consumed when an electrical appliance
having a power rating of 1000W / 1 KW is used for 1 hour.
Relation between KWh and J
1 KWh = 1000 Wh
= 1000 J X 60 x 60
= 3600000 J
= 3.6 x 106 J
1 KWh = 3.6 x 106 J
Joule’s Law of heating
The heat produced in a resistor is
a. Directly proportional to the square of the current
b. Directly proportional to the resistance for a given current
c. Directly proportional to the time for which the current flows through
the resistor
H α I2
H α R
H α t
H=I2Rt
Application of heating effect of current
The heating effect of current is utilized in the working of electrical
appliances such as electric iron, electric toaster, oven, room heater, water
heater etc
All these heating appliances contain coils of high resistance wire made of
nichrome alloy. When these appliances are connected through a power
supply by insulated copper wire a large amount of heat is produced because
of the high resistance of the nichrome alloy and the heating element
becomes red hot. But as negligible heat is produced in the connecting
cords(insulated copper wire) so the connecting cards do not get heated up.
The heating effect of electric current is utilized in electric bulbs for
producing light. When electric current passes through a very thin high
resistance tungsten filament of an electric bulb the filament becomes white
hot and emits light.
Tungsten metal is used for making the filaments of electric bulbs, because of
its high melting point ( 3380 deg C) high flexibility and low rate of
evaporation at high temperature.
The electric bulb is filled with a chemically un reactive gas like Argon or
Nitrogen. If air is present in the electric bulb, the hot tungsten filament
would burn up quickly in the oxygen of air. The gases like Argon or nitrogen
do not react with the hot tungsten filament and prolong the life of the
filament
Most of the electric power consumed by the filament of an electric bulb
appears as heat only a small amount of electric power is converted into light.
So filament type bulb are not so efficient.
