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There's a common misconception that, for a linear circuit, the maximum
efficiency and/or power available from a voltage source occurs when the source resistance equals the load resistance (or, more generally, when they're complex conjugates). But this isn't universally true, as I'll show with a simple example. Suppose we have a 100 volt perfect voltage source in series with a variable source resistance, and a fixed load resistance of 100 ohms. If we make the source resistance 100 ohms, the source delivers 50 watts, 25 of which are dissipated in the source resistance and 25 watts in the load. The efficiency, if you consider the source resistance dissipation as wasted, is 50%. But what happens if we reduce the source resistance to 50 ohms? Now the source delivers 66.7 watts, of which 22.2 is dissipated in the source resistance and 44.4 in the load resistance. The power to the load has increased, and the efficiency has increased from 50 to 66.7%. The efficiency and load power continue to increase as the source resistance is made smaller and smaller, reaching a maximum when the source resistance is zero. At that point, the source will deliver 100 watts, all of which is dissipated in the load, for an efficiency of 100%. The well known and often misapplied rule about maximizing power transfer by matching the source and load impedances applies only when you're stuck with a fixed source resistance and can only modify the load. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
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