A common household circuit is wired for 15 amps. How many light bulbs of resistance 35 ohms can be hooked up in parallel before the circuit breaker pops?
2007-04-18 16:01:31 · 4 answers · asked by lucan1958 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Each bulb, by Ohm's law, has I=E/R where I is the current we want to know and E is the 120V voltage and R is 35 Ohms. The arithmetic says 120/35 = 3.4 amps.
How many 3.5 amp bulbs can fit on 15 amp circuit is 15/3.4 which is less than 5 bulbs. Call it 4 bulbs for the answer.
2007-04-18 16:41:07 · answer #1 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Household current is AC opposed to a battery's DC voltage. DC is a constant high and a constant low side or positive and negative, respectively. AC goes from positive to negative and back. In the US this happens every 60 times a second, which is called 60 hertz AC. On your wall outlet the smaller slot is the supply and the large one is the return. The round one in the middle is earth ground and is for safety.
2016-05-18 04:17:47 · answer #2 · answered by carolann 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trivial application of Ohm's law. Each bulb-branch draws I=V/R. Add as many bulbs as necessary to exceed 15A.
2007-04-18 16:15:19 · answer #3 · answered by noitall 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
4.37 lamps, round off to 4.
2007-04-18 18:38:46 · answer #4 · answered by scott p 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋