Kaplan Nursing Entrance Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Study for the Kaplan Nursing Entrance Exam. Dive into questions with detailed explanations and hints to enhance your understanding. Prepare strategically for a successful exam experience!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What is generated whenever a current passes through a resistance?

Light
Sound
Heat
Magnetism

The correct answer is: Heat

When a current flows through a resistance, it encounters opposition to the flow of electrons. This interaction leads to the conversion of electrical energy into thermal energy, resulting in the generation of heat. This phenomenon is well described by Joule's law, which states that the heat produced in a conductor is proportional to the square of the current multiplied by the resistance over time. While light, sound, and magnetism can also be produced by electrical currents under certain conditions (for example, light in resistant materials like filaments, sound in speakers, and magnetism in wires), the most direct and prevalent outcome of current passing through a resistance in typical scenarios is heat. Therefore, understanding heat generation in resistive circuits is fundamental in fields like electrical engineering and physics, as it impacts everything from the efficiency of electrical devices to the safety of electrical systems.