On Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:09:42 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

Brian Lawson fired this volley in
:

A point to note that amazes me some people don't know.... with
electric current, the point of HIGHEST resistance will be the point of
highest heat(ing). Think about it.

I did. It doesn't. I'm a career electrical engineer, now 'converted to
the dark side' (explosives industry).

IF you even understand Ohm's law, consider that a few hundred megohms in
series with (even) a 575V main won't conduct enough current to even warm
up.

That's a "HIGH" resistance. A complete "open" with no conduction at all
would be the "HIGHEST" resistance. And in that case, no current would
flow, at all. No current, no power dissipation -- no heat. So
obviously, the point of highest resistance does NOT create the highest
heat.

Try this, instead -- a resistance of _exactly_ what will dissipate the
maxiumum POWER across a shunt is the one that will be the point of
highest heat(ing). (hint... heat is energy... power dissipated as heat)

Think about it. If that doesn't work, try looking up Ohm's law and the
power vs. resistance vs. current formulae.

It's a bit amazing to me that the trades still allow this kind of myth to
perpetuate, and even allow them to be the basis of training their
apprentices. But they do; even today, so don't feel deprived.

The Navy was full of this stuff, too. That's one reason why all I ever
wanted out of the Navy was ME.

LLoyd
Hey Lloyd,

You are absolutley right. I was wrong. What WAS I thinking?!?! Never
let common sense interfere with science, eh? Never let 35 years of
work habit get in thenway of the office engineer.

Brian Lawson.