A student wants to design a device that generates maximum heat for a given battery and time. Which configuration should the student choose?
Using a resistor with very low resistance value
For a fixed voltage source V across a resistor R, the power dissipated as heat is given by P = V²/R, and the heat produced in time t is H = V²t/R (Joule's law of heating).
Since V and t are fixed by the battery and the chosen duration, the heat produced depends only on R. Smaller R gives larger current (I = V/R) and more power, so a resistor with very low resistance will dissipate the maximum heat.
Short-circuiting the battery is unsafe and wastes energy inside the cell, adding more batteries changes V (not fixed), and the highest possible R would actually minimise the heat. Hence, the correct answer is Using a resistor with very low resistance value.
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