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work is done at a rate of one watt when one ampere flows through a potential difference of one volt.

volts x amps = watts

So 1 watt is any ratio of volts x watts that equals 1.

1volt x 1amp = 1 watt

or

9v @ .11 amps = 1 watt

For "ratio of volts x watts" above read "product of volts x amps".

True for resistive loads. Beware reactive loads (capacitors and inductors) where current may not be in phase with the voltage. For a quarter cycle phase lag, the power is actually zero even if the current and voltage are large. Power Stations do not like supplying current to reactive loads.

Answer

In AC, the product of current and voltage is called the apparent power of a load, and is measured in volt amperes. The watt is the unit of true power which is the product of current, voltage, and power factor (where power factor is the cosine of the phase angle) of a load.

One volt ampere is equal to one watt only when the current and voltage are in phase, which is the situation with a purely-resistive load. For all other loads, the true power is less than the apparent power (i.e. watts < volt amperes).

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13y ago

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More answers

The equation you are looking for is the product of votage and amperage is equivalent to the watts ( power ). V x A = W ; where v is volts, a is amperes and w is watts. Any combination of volts and amps whose product is 1 will give you 1 watt. Double check your equipment, often watts are given as KW or kilowatts; that's 1000 watts.

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14y ago
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An ampere is a unit of charge flow rate, while a watt is a unit of energy flow rate. The two units are not directly convertible.

More specifically, one ampere is one coulomb per second, while one watt is one joule per second. If you knew how many volts were involved, you could compare, because volts is joules per coulomb.

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14y ago
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In a dc system the power (watts) is just equal to the volts times the amps. In an ac system another factor comes in, the power factor, so the power is the volts times the amps times the power factor, which is never more than 1.

It happens when the volts and the amps are not in exactly in phase, in other words they do not peak together. That happens when the load contains components (capacitance or inductance) that can store energy temporarily. There is a part of the ac cycle when the voltage has reversed when the current has not yet reversed (or vice versa), and that causes some power to flow back from the load to the generator. Therefore the net average power is less than the volts times the amps.

This is important because the transmission of power is limited by the voltage and the current. The insulation has a maximum voltage rating, and the wires have a maximum current rating. So even though a load might have a low power factor it still puts demands on the transmission system. In particular a load that draws a large current causes losses in the resistance of the transmission lines even though its power factor might be small.

Transmission components are rated according to the maximum voltage times the maximum current, which is volt-amps or VA, which can be extended to kVA or MVA.

1 watt might equal 1 VA for a resistive load, but for many types of load, especially induction motors, the power factor is lower, usually about 0.75 so that 1 VA equals 0.75 watts.

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11y ago
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There are zero volts and watts in one amp. Amps are the result of watts divided by amps. Amps = watts / volts. So if 120 volts and 120 watts were used the result would be equal to 1 amp (120/120 = 1). At 12 volts, 12 watts would = 1 Amp. in other words for any given voltage, the same number of watts = 1 amp.

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11y ago
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One watt is equal to one volt multiplied by one ampere. Therefore, one watt is equivalent to one volt multiplied by one ampere (1 W = 1 V x 1 A).

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AnswerBot

9mo ago
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1 volt-ampere

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Wiki User

13y ago
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Q: How many volts and amperes is equal to one watt?
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