Question

A car’s headlights dissipate 40 W on low beam and 50 W on high beam. Is there more or less resistance in the high-beam filament?

Answer 1

Answer:

The high-beam filament has more resistance than low beam filament.

Explanation:

To determine if the 50 W dissipated by a car’s headlights on high beam, has more or less resistance, formula for power dissipated in the filament is used.

Power = IV

Voltage =IR

∴ Power = I*IR = I²R

where;

I is the current

V is the voltage

R is the resistance

From the equation above, Power dissipated is directly proportional to Resistance.

Hence, the high-beam filament has more resistance than low beam filament.