You are given a number of
resistors, each capable of dissipating only 1.0 W without being destroyed. What is the minimum number of such resistors that you need to combine in series or in parallel to make a
resistance that is capable of dissipating at least 12 W?
Solution
VerifiedGiven:
Net resistance increases in series connection and decreases in parallel connection. So for the net resistance to be equal to the individual resistance there must be a combination of both series and parallel.
There are not many combinations that can fulfill that so we can go through each First case consists of 2 series of 2 resistors in parallel:
From the condition that we get:
Also, power dissipation through each resistor
This condition is not met, therefore this layout will not work.
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