I want to go camping but use a generator to run a computer. A laptop and desktop need different watts. You have to put the right amount of watts into each device. Different outlets have different watts. The watts in a cigarette lighter are different than the watts in a generator.
What is a watt? What do different watt numbers mean? What happens if I have a device sending too many watts or not enough to a device? Is it critical or just ideal to match them?
In: Engineering
It’s the SI unit for power, which is the rate of energy transfer. One watt is equivalent to one joule per second. For electrical devices, the power is also equivalent to the voltage multiplied by the current.
> You have to put the right amount of watts into each device.
You have to put the right amount of *volts* into each device (though some devices can cope with a large range of voltages, and some power supplies can switch to some different voltages depending on what the device needs). The current, and therefore the power, drawn by the device will typically fluctuate. Any transformer/power socket/power supply will have a maximum rated current, and if you go above that, then hopefully there is a fuse or circuit breaker that will cut the power to the device, otherwise bad things can start happening.
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