Final answer:
Resistance enables materials to minimize change by resisting the passage of electric current. In an electrical circuit, reducing resistance or doubling the current increases power dissipated, and in transmission, higher voltage with lower current reduces energy loss.
Step-by-step explanation:
Resistance is the ability to minimize change. In the context of electricity, resistance is the property of materials to resist the passage of electric current. The correct option for the given question would be b) Minimize change.
Now diving deeper, if one wishes to increase the power dissipated in a circuit while keeping the current constant, reducing the resistance as opposed to reducing the voltage would be the right choice. Since power is directly proportional to the square of the current (P=I2R), a decrease in resistance will lead to an increase in power dissipated by the circuit. Similarly, if the voltage remains constant, doubling the current rather than doubling the resistance will lead to higher power dissipation (P=V2/R), as power is directly proportional to the square of the current. Lastly, for high-voltage long-distance transmission lines, transformers are used to reduce energy loss during transmission by increasing voltage and thereby reducing the current, which leads to a reduction in resistive losses (I2R losses).