> OK it runs less hot! The heat dissipation [watts] within a diode is not I
 > think, equal to E times I. Yes there is an ohmic energy loss, yes it 
 > gets hot but it is less hot than volts times amps would propose.
 > 
 >MR> Alec, if you read a little about P-N junctions on Fermi levels, energy
 >MR> band gaps, conduction bands, depletion layers, contact potentials,
 >MR> recombination sites, saturation currents, and electron/hole mobility in
 >MR> semi-conductor junctions, you'll change your mind in that rectifier
 >MR> diodes do indeed dissipate energy by emitting infra-red photons.
 > 
 > All too technical for me! I am victim to the tech education 
 > curriculum of the
 > 1940s. *Of course* diodes release energy [why else have a heat 
 > sink!] but I had
 > to endure hours of circuit theory and circuit analysis- remember 
hevenin's
 > Theorems? and in assembling Equivalent Circuits we had *ALWAYS* to insert 

 > fixed *opposing EMF* at every diode. Maths is of course a FAKE, but 
Alec,
 The reason for the 'fixed EMF' scenario is because the voltage drop across 
the diode won't change much with varying current, unlike a resistor. However, 
the power dissapated within the diode is still going to follow the P=EI rule.
--- FLAME v1.1
---------------