Burning Yourself on a Resistor

Yes, it is possible to burn the $#*&! out of yourself on a resistor….a tiny little resistor. I did this under the supervision of an electronics technician at a bench job I had in college. The tech had hair down to his waist, wore glasses, and confirmed the imagery in Joe Jackson’s lyrics for Soul Kiss: “And all the hippies work for IBM.” As a freshman, I worked in the basement of the Physics department at LSU in the electronics repair shop. I knew nothing. He knew that I knew nothing. 

I don’t recall the exact circumstances, but I needed a resistor for a PCB. We had an entire wall of tiny drawers of passive components, and I knew enough to read the band for the correct value….but I didn’t consider wattage. 

Power (Watts) = Voltage x Voltage X Resistance. 

Translation: If you choose a resistor that is too low in wattage and you install it and power up the board, you essentially have an electric heating element. This tech was a great guy, but he felt that I would learn this wattage-thing better with some hands-on experience. After much confusion and still not “getting it,” he finally told me I needed a resistor with higher wattage. I needed a bigger one! Kids, this is why you have to learn algebra: for practical reasons like not burning yourself. 

Sometimes you have to learn things the hard way, preferably without killing yourself.