Power Dissipation

Power dissipation typically refers to how much power (volts times amps) is converted to heat in a circuit. While it’s usually unwanted, that isn’t necessarily the case, as the heat may be the main focus, such as with space heaters.

Something that confuses people when they first start studying electronics is that they try to calculate the power dissipated in a capacitor and inductor. With *ideal*, or perfect, capacitors and inductors, they’re energy storage devices and don’t dissipate any power. In reality, there is always a very small series resistance with these devices that dissipate power but it is usually negligible.