Jacobi’s Maximum Power Transfer Theorem
Jacobi’s law (also known as Jacobi’s Maximum Power Transfer Theorem) of nearly 200 years ago stated
Maximum power is transferred when the internal resistance of the source equals the resistance of the load.
Implied is that the internal resistance of the source is held constant, it does not work otherwise. The source must be one that can validly be represented by a Thevenin equivalent circuit. This was in the very early days of harnessing electric current, direct current initially.
Later adaptation dealt with alternating current and it became
Maximum power is transferred when the load impedance is equal to the complex conjugate of the internal impedance of the source.
Again a necessary condition is that the source must be one that can validly be represented by a Thevenin equivalent circuit. Continue reading Transmitter / antenna systems and the maximum power transfer theorem