How do objects get the same amount of power from one port as it would from an extension cable that splits said port in 3 or 4, wouldn’t it just cut the power in half or in quarters giving less power to the object?
In: Technology
In most electrical systems, the power source provides a constant voltage and the devices take as much power as they need. Splitting the circuit with extension cables doesn’t change the voltage, so the devices still take all the power they need.
The only downside is that splitting the circuit lets you add more devices. Possibly they add up to more power than the source can provide, and typically a circuit breaker pops or a fuse blows.
Conceivably, all those devices can add up to more power than the thin extension cord can conduct, so you wind up heating up the extension cord (possibly dangerously so) before the breaker pops.
You could think of a Y-divider for a garden hose. You can screw that divider into your spigot on the side of your house and turn one or the other on, or both. You could keep adding more dividers on these dividers, and the water will keep getting split among them. On the first couple of divisions, there’s still enough water pressure (potential) to keep a steady flow of water to more than one hose, but eventually the number of different paths is high enough that the potential is reached and the flow is weaker. There’s still water trying to flow, but you may not get enough for what you need.
Power is both potential and current, so things plugged into an electrical outlet may not draw all of the power available. There are many different ways to split the power depending on current and voltage needs. Some things can operate on many different currents (kind of like water pressure) and some things *must* have a certain amount. So most of our household items don’t take a whole lot of power compared to the availability and we can split it up quite a bit.
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