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[–] 1 point 1 day ago (2 children)

Heat is actually a function of power, which is voltage times current.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 day ago* (1 child)

    Yes, but the power dissipated by a wire is, roughly speaking, a function of current, with the voltage across the wire depending on the current and the wire resistance (Ohm's law). For a wire, you use P = I^2^ R, and for a load, you use P = V^2^ / R.

    In other words, the current through a wire is dependent only on the load and its power supply, while the voltage across it depends on both the current and the size of the wire. Hence, it's cleaner to talk about the current

    This is why AWG charts always give a current rating, not a power rating:

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Joule's first law (also just Joule's law), states that the power of heating generated by an electrical conductor equals the product of its resistance and the square of the current. Heat is a function of current, not total power.

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  • [–] 1 point 13 hours ago

    See Blue_Morpho's comment above. The things you're describing as the product of resistance and the square of the current is power.

    Heat is literally power dissipation. Saying "heat is a function of power" is essentially a tautology.

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