If someone has a load that can be 10ohms up to 50ohms, and says to figure something out at full load, is full load the larger or smaller resistance value?
I'm thinking smaller, since with a constant voltage across it, the smaller resistive load will dissipate more power...
this right?
Essentially, yes, although it can get a little more complicated than that, but you'll learn that stuff along the way. :-)
Cheers! Rich
it depends what wort of power source it's connected to. but usually maximum load is at the lowest resistance.
yes for a constant (or near constant) voltage power source this is the most common type.
No. Full load usually means maximum power delivered. If your source impedance is 1k ohms, maximum power is delivered to a 1k ohm load.
"with constant voltage" is a special case, and indicates low source impedance (but HOW low, might make a difference).
If your 'something' has very low output impedance, it'd be 10 ohms. If it has very high output impedance, it'd be 50 ohms. With an AC source with output impedance Z, the highest power is delivered when the load impedance is the complex conjugate of the source impedance.
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