Question

What is an electrical load, and what are some examples of electrical loads?

Answer 1

An electrical load is a component which uses electrical power, like a resistor.

Explanation:

In circuit theory, a load is any component that consumes electrical energy and converts it to some other form of energy. Here are some common examples of load components:

1) Resistors. These components passively convert electrical energy into heat (and light in lamp filaments).

2) Motors. These components convert electrical energy into mechanical energy in order to turn a shaft. They are used to drive some vehicles, robots and many other important machines!

3) Appliances. These are the devices you use at home, like the fridge, toaster, oven and washing machine. All of them use electrical power to carry out their jobs.

Compare these to power sources like the battery, which produce electrical energy from some other form. In this regard, a load is the opposite of a source.

According to Thevenin's Theorem , any real circuit can be represented as a simple circuit containing one source and one load.