That is to ask, is it theoretically possible with high end materials to actually pull it off, or is there a physical size limit to using that power?
That is to ask, is it theoretically possible with high end materials to actually pull it off, or is there a physical size limit to using that power?
amps = volts / ohms watts = volts * amps watt-hours = watts * time
Bigger wire = less resistance, generally. So to increase amperage (and thus power), you need bigger wire. But resistance turns power into heat, so if you're trying to shove more power through, waste heat rises. Eventually, it can melt the solder joints that hold circuits together (solder is a very soft lead alloy with a low melting point). Meanwhile, too much power can easily fry the silicon of actual computer chips, and excess heat can cause other problems.
It's a pretty straight forward formula. To lower the resistance, you either decrease the numerator (but a zero length wire is pretty useless) or increase the denominator (a huge-ass not even necessarily infinite, but just a conductor the cross-sectional area of say, the Pentagon, is technically possible but utterly pointless unless you're transmitting electricity cross-continent or whatever.
However, the resistivity of a conductor is its inherent property and so if there were a way to get a material whose resistivity was zero. Then you could transmit huge-ass amounts of energy over hair-strand thin wires because since <rho> is zero, you can play with other parameters in that formula without any fear. Hmm... (hint hint)
the search continues...
But rather than go down that road - an analogy that helps me understand amps is to think of it as bandwidth of water flowing through pipes. If you try to force too much water through the pipes too fast, they explode from pressure.
This means for a given contact resistance, the energy dissipated as heat into that contact is proportional to the square of current. Note, however, that you can increase the power also by increasing voltage, and not needing lower resistance contacts. That is why laptop chargers are usually 19V, and power transmission lines are 500-750kV.