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At its highest temperature, a space heater has a resistance of 17.5?

2 Answers

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Final answer:

The question covers Physics topics like resistance, power, and energy transfer in the context of heating devices such as space heaters, relevant to high school students studying Electric Circuits and Thermodynamics.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of this question is Physics, mainly focusing on the concepts of electrical resistance, power, and energy transfer in electrical appliances such as space heaters. These concepts are part of the high school physics curriculum, typically covered in Electric Circuits and Thermodynamics units. In Physics, resistance is a measure of the opposition to the flow of electric current through a conductor, and it is a key factor in determining the energy usage and effectiveness of heating devices. The power, measured in watts (W), indicates the rate at which electrical energy is converted into heat or another form of energy in a device like a space heater. Understanding these fundamental concepts allows students to calculate important parameters such as current, the number of electrons flowing, and the heat added to an environment by an appliance.

Calculations involving resistance, current, and power are essential in predicting the performance of a heater in different conditions, for example, how many 1-kW room heaters would be needed to balance the heat transfer in a house or how long it will take a space heater to heat a room by a certain number of degrees Celsius. These types of problems help students apply physics principles to practical scenarios, deepening their understanding of energy transfer and electrical characteristics of appliances.

User Mohammad Mustaqeem
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Final answer:

In this case, the average power output of the space heater is approximately 891.79 watts.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the average power output of the space heater, we can use the formula:

P-avg = (V-peak²) / (2 * R)

where:

  • - P-avg is the average power output,
  • - V-peak is the peak voltage, and
  • - R is the resistance of the space heater.

Given:

  • - V-peak = 176.8 V (peak voltage)
  • - R = 17.5 Ω (resistance)

Substituting these values into the formula, we have:

P_avg = (176.8²) / (2 * 17.5)

To calculate this, we need to square the value of V-peak, then divide it by two times the resistance.

Calculating further:

P-avg = 31212.64 / 35

Simplifying the division:

P-avg ≈ 891.79 W

Therefore, the average power output of the space heater is approximately 891.79 watts.

Your question is incomplete, but most probably the full question was:

At its highest temperature, a space heater has a resistance of 17.5 Ω when it is plugged into a wall outlet supplying a peak voltage of 176.8 V sinusoidally at 60 Hz. What is the average power output of the space heater?

User Tolyan
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7.9k points