Hello
I am getting ready to teach circuits in the next week.
I was looking at a question that has a battery hooked up to a 5 W bulb and then the battery is hooked to a 10 W. It then asks which case has the greater current and then which light bulb has the greater resistance.
Now comes the silly part.
How does the batter "know" that it is supposed to put out more current for different lighbulbs? Mathematically it makes sense but conceptually it doesn't to me.
I know my students are going to ask me this and I am not wanting to say cause of the little guy that lives in batteries.
Doesn't a battery put the same amount of current out regardless of what is hooked to it?
Thanks
tina
Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429