Amperes for the Dummy Electrician

We here at the Antisocial Network often hear complaints that scientists and technologists talk too much in "jargon." Our staffers, most of whom are scientists and technologists point out that everyone talks too much in jargon: ever listened to a business type rattle off "biz-speak"? or a social worker speaking of "empowerment" or "incarcerated persons"? Scientists are (somewhat) less likely to speak in buzzwords, but that's mainly because so many of those "jargon" words have quite specific meanings.

All this is a way of introducing one humanities type, history student Michael O. Smathers, and his failure to understand the "jargon" of physics in "Capacity of a 15 Amp Circuit [sic]"¹ at Sciencing.com...

We're at a loss as to why Smathers chose some strange engineering document as his sole reference, since it says jack about the capacity of a 15-amp  circuit. That may, however, explain why Smathers makes some monumental errors on the way to addressing a question that could be answered in about ten words: "The maximum capacity of a 15-amp circuit is approximately 1800 watts." Michael O. couldn't get away with just ten words, though, so he had to pad that to 332 words, some of them... how shall we put it? Oh, yeah: wrong.

Here for your reading pleasure is some of Michael's dumbassery about electricity:

• "...some devices only require 0.5 amperes to function." – Devices don't "require... amperes" to function. Devices require voltage and consume power (watts), but they draw current.
• "Electrical devices have a power output rating in watts that is derived from multiplying the input voltage by the current draw." – No, Michael, you have it backwards: watts are a measure of the amount of work a device performs. Electrical devices use a set wattage, which – when divided by the voltage of the circuit – equals the amperage.
• "A single circuit may only produce 3 watts of power per square foot for lighting and power receptacles, according to the National Electrical Code. Therefore, circuits must be designed and loaded according to how much space they cover. For a 1,200-square-foot building, the total maximum power output would be 3,600 watts. At 120 volts on average, not including more power-intensive appliances, the current draw would be 30 amps. Therefore, two 15-amp circuits would be needed." - Oh, the dangers of attempting to reword stuff you don't understand. Just two 15-amp circuits for a 1200-ft² building? Sure...
• "For example, a 15-amp circuit at 120 volts produces a maximum of 1,800 watts. No more than 1,440 of that should be used continuously. This allows for power surges and prevents the circuit breaker from tripping." - A] A 15-amp circuit doesn't "produce" 1800 watts, it can safely carry 1800 watts. B] "Power surges," perhaps, but the real reason is that many electrical devices draw more wattage at start-up than when running.
• "Too much current produces more heat than the conducting material can handle and therefore can cause a fire or damage the components of the circuit." - And fires don't "damage the components of the circuit"? Idiot.

Such are the dangers of attempting to use science-y words you don't understand to describe a system about which you know almost nothing. If doing that doesn't mean Smathers is a perfect candidate for Dumbass of the Day, we don't know what is...

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/info_12175189_capacity-15-amp-circuit.html

copyright © 2017-2022 scmrak

SI - ELECTRICITY