How do I interpret the wattage of a bulb. For example when it is said that the bulb is rated for 60 W , what does that mean?
Electronic – What do you mean by a Wattage of an incandescent bulb
power electronics
power electronics
How do I interpret the wattage of a bulb. For example when it is said that the bulb is rated for 60 W , what does that mean?
Best Answer
Watt (\$W\$) is the unit of Power (\$P\$). There is an equation that says:
$$E = P \cdot t$$
You can see that Energy (\$E\$) equals Power (\$P\$) times time (\$t\$). There is a linear relationship between Energy and Power, so the higher the Power (wattage) of a device, the more energy it consumes.
The same formula, in a different form:
$$E=P \cdot t \rightarrow P=\frac{E}{t} \rightarrow W=\frac{J}{s}$$
One Watt means one Joule (\$J\$) per second (\$s\$) is being consumed. 60W means 60J/s is being consumed by the bulb.