power rating

The rated power is the maximum power that can be supplied or removed at which an electronic component, assembly, or device fully meets specifications. The rated power is a real power that occurs at direct and alternating current. For AC voltage, it is equal to the rms value.

For electronic components, the rated power is the maximum power that electronic components can consume without being damaged. The rated power is specified at continuous full load. For resistors, the maximum power dissipation increases with the size of the resistor surface, because this results in better heat dissipation.

For reactances, the rated power corresponds to the root mean square( RMS) value. Typical examples are loudspeakers and power amplifiers for audio equipment. These operate either capacitively or inductively and convert the applied AC voltage into sound pressure. The resulting RMS value of the power is the nominal power. This is the power that is effectively produced by the audio signal currently applied.

The nominal power is the effective power of the entire frequency range between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. This RMS power is usually about 60% of the sinusoidal power, which refers to a continuous sinusoidal tone of 1 kHz.