The eyes (heating elements) of an electric range are frequently made of resistive nichrome strips. Operation of the eye is quite simple. A current is passed through the heating element causing it to dissipate power in the form of heat. Also, a four-position selector switch, shown in Fig. 2.45, controls the power (heat) output. In this case the eye consists of two nichrome strips modeled by the resistors R_1 and R_2, where R_1 < R_2.
1. How should positions A, B, C, and D be labeled with regard to high, medium, low, and off settings?
2. If we desire that high and medium correspond to 2000 W and 1200 W power dissipation, respectively, what are the values of R_1 and R_2?
3. What is the power dissipation at the low setting?