If an electric circuit has a well-defined output terminal, the circuit connected to this terminal (or its input impedance) is the load. (The term 'load' may also refer to the power consumed by a circuit; that topic is not discussed here.) An electrical network or electrical circuit is an interconnection of analog electrical elements such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, diodes, switches and transistors. ... The input impedance or sometimes loading impedance of a circuit or electronic device is the impedance actually experienced by a signal which is connected to its input. ... // Mechanical power In physics, power (symbol: P) is the amount of work W done per unit of time t. ...

Load affects the performance of circuits that output voltages or currents, such as sensors, voltage sources, and amplifiers. A household's power outlets provide an easy example: they are a voltage source, outputting 120 V AC, with the household's appliances collectively making up the load. When a power-hungry appliance switches on, it dramatically reduces the load impedance, causing the output voltage to drop. This drop is easily observed; for instance, turning on a vacuum cleaner dims the lights. This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. ... The word current usually implies a flow or movement. ... A sensor is a physical device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition and chemical compounds. ... An ideal voltage source, V, driving a resistor, R, and creating a current I A voltage source is any device or system that produces an electromotive force between its terminals OR derives a secondary voltage from a primary source of the electromotive force. ... An amplifier can be considered to be any device that uses a small amount of energy to control a larger amount, although the term today usually refers to an electronic amplifier. ... CEE 7/7 plug and socket Domestic AC power plugs and sockets allow a connection between the mains (domestic, usually single-phase, AC electrical power) and the appliances commonly used in homes. ... The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference. ... city lights viewed in a motion blurred exposure. ... In electrical engineering, Impedance is a measure of opposition to a sinusoidal electric current. ... Canister vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from carpeted floors. ...

A more technical approach

(Two sidenotes on generality, for advanced readers. This discussion will disregard nonlinearity. It will also use simple resistances, but they can be readily generalized to impedances for AC analysis.) This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Resistance can mean one of: electrical resistance inner resistance antibiotic resistance resistance to a disease (see related subject immunology) a political or military resistance movement against foreign occupation, or more rarely, against ones own government geological resistance fluid resistance thermal resistance Resistance Records Air resistance This is a disambiguation... Electrical impedance or simply impedance is a measure of opposition to a sinusoidal electric current. ... city lights viewed in a motion blurred exposure. ...

When discussing the effect of load on a circuit, it is helpful to disregard the circuit's actual design and consider only the Thèvenin equivalent. (The Norton equivalent works just as well, but this discussion will use the Thèvenin form.) The Thèvenin equivalent of a circuit looks like this: It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Nortons theorem. ...

The circuit is represented by an ideal voltage source Vs in series with an internal resistance Rs.

With no load (open-circuited terminals), all of V_S falls across the output; the output voltage is V_S. However, the circuit will behave differently if a load is added. We would like to ignore the details of the load circuit, as we did for the power supply, and represent it as simply as possible. If we use an input resistance to represent the load, the complete circuit looks like this: The output impedance, source impedance, or internal impedance of an electronic device is the opposition exhibited by its output terminals to the flow of an alternating current (AC) of a particular frequency as a result of resistance, induction and capacitance. ... The input impedance or load impedance of a circuit or electronic device is the impedance actually experienced by a signal which is connected to it. ...

The input resistance of the load stands in series with Rs.

Whereas the voltage source by itself was an open circuit, adding the load makes a closed circuit and allows current to flow. This current places a voltage drop across R_S, so the voltage at the output terminal is no longer V_S. The output voltage can be determined by the voltage division rule: Open circuit can mean:- In electronics, where there is nothing connected to a load and no current can flow. ... television cameras for surveillance. ... In electricity, current is the rate of flow of charges, usually through a metal wire or some other electrical conductor. ... In electronics, a voltage divider or resistor divider or potential divider is a design technique used to create a voltage (Vout) which is proportional to another voltage (Vin). ...