I like that. "All the world's a voltage divider."

I'd also like to point out that the exchange between Joe and Larry is a perfect example of the 'refinement of approximations' that I mentioned before my transformer lecture [Linked Image]

Larry said 'If you have 2 12V transformers, one rated at 1A and the other rated at 10A, then they will both push the same current through the load.' Which is a fine way of saying that if you apply 12V to a load, the load will carry a particular current.

Then Joe came in with a refinement: the output voltage of the transformer is _not_ constant, and will change with the connected load. It is quite likely that the output voltage of the 1A transformer will fall more than the output voltage of the 10A transformer, thus making it quite likely that the 10A transformer will put a bit more current through the load.

We could keep going further, for example looking at how transformer heating messes with output voltage, and how load characteristics change over time, at each stage developing a more complex model of the world which more closely approximates how the world works. You will find this over and over in science texts; where a good approximation is taught as 'this is how the world works', and then a couple of paragraphs later you get 'what we said previously was not quite accurate, here is the real way that things work'.

Joe, there is a story (urban legend? I have no proof, here is a Darwin Awards reference http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-50.html ) of someone electrocuting themselves with a 9V source using a multimeter to measure body resistance.

Scott, you are welcome to use my text.

-Jon