Describing Power and Energy

[kitana]

Hi, I am a new female student of Domestic Electrical Installer course.

I wonder how I can describe Power and Energy the best way. My two guess are that in my words, Power is the action that happens when the voltage drives the electric current between two points in a circuit, and the Energy would be the amount of power used during a period of time.

Am I right there or have I misunderstood the whole thing?

I am reading that the power of the circuit is a measure of the rate at which heat can be given off by the circuit when electrical energy is converted into heat energy. This confuses me and I wonder if someone could help me clarify this to me.

Would be ever so thankful for kind answers. Take care.

 

[Darkwood]

Welcome to the Forum kitana

If you are on an active college course then may I recommend the applying to access the Trainee Forum where we have select Mentors and like minded trainee's.
I suspect this is coursework or an assignment and if so we do not give direct answers as such, members may guide you or nudge you in the right direction but giving you direct answers can go against you in a learning capacity and can mask areas that your tutor may otherwise see your struggling.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

You're basically on the right lines. Power is the rate of conversion or transfer of energy, i.e. energy per unit time. Conversion into heat is just one of many possibilities for the power delivered by a circuit. For example a circuit charging a battery will (hopefully) be delivering most of its power into the battery while converting a minimum into heat.

Grab any decent physics textbook for a general grounding in the concept of energy!

 

[UKMeterman]

Energy is the ability to do work.
Power is the rate at which the work is being done.