Why does high voltage result in less power loss than high current?

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Physics 2 student here. I’ve just learned that:

P=I*V

Using ohms law, V=I*R you can get the equations:

P=I^(2)*R and P=V^(2)/R

In these equation, power is proportional to I^2 and V^(2) respectively. This seems to show that power is squarely proportional to both voltage difference and current. Yet it’s stated that high voltage results in less power loss than high current. How can this be true when power scales by the same amount with a change in either.

The context of this is power lines and why they use high voltage.

Please ELI5. I’ve heard inadequate explanations in my textbooks, I can’t wrap my head around it.

In: Physics

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Power loss is the resistance in the wires multiplied by the current.

Double the voltage and you halve the current, and therefore the power loss is half.

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