Like I understand wattage and that a light bulb uses way less watts than say an electric dryer. But what causes less current to be supplied to the light bulb vs the dryer? I assume the power being supplied by the grid wants to force electricity out at a constant rate. So what is built into various circuits that causes the appliance to accept current at a higher or lower load? Is it simply just resistance? I can’t seem to wrap my head around this one.
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>Like I understand wattage and that a light bulb uses way less watts than say an electric dryer. But what causes less current to be supplied to the light bulb vs the dryer? I assume the power being supplied by the grid wants to force electricity out at a constant rate. So what is built into various circuits that causes the appliance to accept current at a higher or lower load? Is it simply just resistance? I can’t seem to wrap my head around this one.
There is no forcing and no rate The power grid just provides a voltage and as much current as the load desires. The load **determines** the current, it doesn’t “accept it”.
It’s really super simple. If you connect a load with an equivalent resistance of 12Ω to 12V it will draw 1A, period.
If the dryer has an equivalent resistance of 20Ω and you connect it to 220V it will draw 11A.
You can then put a power supply in-between that limits the current that’s “let through” or varies the operating voltage or maybe put some breakers and fuses in that will pop/blow when the current draw exceeds the limit of the wiring, but the concept doesn’t change.
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