A heating pad has several strips of heater wire connected in parallel. Consider eight of the wires, each with 4Ω resistances, connected to a 12V power source. given this scenario answer the following questions A. what is the total resistances of eight wires (they are in groups of two) ? B. what is the total current?

Question

Physics

Liana Kerr

31 August, 13:46

A heating pad has several strips of heater wire connected in parallel. Consider eight of the wires, each with 4Ω resistances, connected to a 12V power source. given this scenario answer the following questions A. what is the total resistances of eight wires (they are in groups of two) ? B. what is the total current?

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Jayda Byrd · Answer 1

The question is going along fine, and then suddenly "groups of two" get thrown in. What that means is not clear at all.

Here's a solution assuming that 8 heater wires are all in parallel:

- - The resistance of each wire is 4 ohms.

- - If eight resistors, each 4 ohms, are in parallel, the total resistance is 0.5 ohm.

- - Current = (voltage) / (resistance)

Current = (12 volts) / (0.5 ohm)

Current = 24 Amperes.

Power dissipated by the heater = (voltage) x (current)

Power = (12 volts) x (24 Amps) = 288 watts, a nice toasty heating pad.