Description:
In this activity from the AAPT/PTRA manual "Role of the Laboratory in Teaching Introductory Physics", students are asked to find the condition for maximum power transfer from a power supply to a load resistor. By adding an "internal resistor" to a power supply it can be made a variable in a typical power transfer laboratory activity. Students who have studied calculus can do a maximization calculation to check the results of this activity.
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