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A volt-ampere ( SI symbol: V⋅A or V A; also VA) is the unit used for the
apparent power Power (physics), Instantaneous power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversal ...
in an
electrical circuit An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical component An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic component ...

. The apparent power equals the product of root mean square voltage and root mean square current. In
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Flow (fluid) or fluid dynamics, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (math ...
(DC) circuits, this product is equal to the
real power Power (physics), Instantaneous power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversals ...
in
watt The watt (symbol: W) is a unit of power Power typically refers to: * Power (physics) In physics, power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. In the International System of Units, the unit of power is the watt, equa ...

s. Volt-amperes are usually used for analyzing
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particle In physics Physics (from grc, φυσική (ἐπιστήμη), physikḗ (epistḗmē), knowledge of nature, from ''phýsis'' 'natu ...
(AC) circuits. The volt-ampere is dimensionally equivalent to the
watt The watt (symbol: W) is a unit of power Power typically refers to: * Power (physics) In physics, power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. In the International System of Units, the unit of power is the watt, equa ...

(in
SI units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system The metric system is a system of measurement A sys ...
, 1 V⋅A = 1 W). VA rating is most useful in rating wires and switches (and other power handling equipment) for inductive loads.

# Unit

For a simple
electrical circuit An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical component An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic component ...

running on
direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Flow (fluid) or fluid dynamics, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (math ...
, the electrical current and voltage are constant. In that case, the
real power Power (physics), Instantaneous power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversals ...
(''P'', measured in
watt The watt (symbol: W) is a unit of power Power typically refers to: * Power (physics) In physics, power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. In the International System of Units, the unit of power is the watt, equa ...

s) is the product of the electrical current (''I'', measured in
amperes The ampere (, ; symbol: A), often shortened to "amp",SI supports only the use of symbols and deprecates the use of abbreviations for units. is the base unit of electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particle In physics ...
) and the voltage from one side of the circuit to the other (''V'', measured in
volts The volt is the derived unit for electric potential The electric potential (also called the ''electric field potential'', potential drop, the electrostatic potential) is the amount of work energy needed to move a unit of electric charge ...

): $P = I \cdot V$ However, for
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particle In physics Physics (from grc, φυσική (ἐπιστήμη), physikḗ (epistḗmē), knowledge of nature, from ''phýsis'' 'natu ...
, both the voltage and current are oscillating. Instantaneous power is still the product of instantaneous current and instantaneous voltage, but if both of those are ideal sine waves driving a purely resistive load (like an incandescent light bulb), average power becomes (with subscripts designating peak amplitude and
root mean square In mathematics Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gene ...
(RMS)): $P_\text = = I_\text \cdot V_\text$ More generally, when voltage and current are no longer in phase, these products no longer compute average power but a new
apparent power Power (physics), Instantaneous power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversal ...
(''S'', measured in volt-amperes): $S = I_\text \cdot V_\text$ The relationship between real power (the average power above) and apparent power is described by the
power factor In electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics The field of electronics is a branch of ph ...
. With a purely resistive load, they are the same: the apparent power is equal to the real power. Where a reactive (capacitive or inductive) component is present in the load, the apparent power is greater than the real power as voltage and current are no longer in phase. In the limiting case of a purely reactive load, current is drawn but no power is dissipated in the load. Some devices, including
uninterruptible power supplies An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power Mains electricity (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, C ...
(UPSs), have ratings both for maximum volt-amperes and maximum watts. The VA rating is limited by the maximum permissible current, and the watt rating by the power-handling capacity of the device. When a UPS powers equipment which presents a
reactive Reactive may refer to: *Generally, capable of having a reaction (disambiguation) *An adjective abbreviation denoting a Bowling ball#Coverstock technology, bowling ball coverstock made of reactive resin *Reactivity (chemistry) *Reactive mind *Reacti ...

load with a low power factor, neither limit may safely be exceeded. For example, a (large) UPS system rated to deliver 400,000 volt-amperes at 220 volts can deliver a current of 1818 amperes (these are RMS values). VA ratings are also often used for transformers; maximum output current is then VA rating divided by nominal output voltage. Transformers with the same sized core usually have the same VA rating. The convention of using the volt-ampere to distinguish apparent power from real power is allowed by the SI standard.

# Volt-ampere reactive

In electric power
transmission Transmission may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmissionPower transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to perform useful Mechanical work, work. Power (physics), Power is d ...

and
distributionDistribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics) Distributions, also known as Schwartz distributions or generalized functions, are objects that generalize the classical notion of functions in mathematical analysis. Distr ...
, volt-ampere reactive (var) is a unit of measurement of
reactive power Power (physics), Instantaneous power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversal ...
. Reactive power exists in an AC circuit when the current and voltage are not in phase. The term ''var'' was proposed by the Romanian
electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Constantin Budeanu Constantin is a Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southe ...
and introduced in 1930 by the
IECIEC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organizati ...
in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the capital Capital most commonly refers to: * Capital letter Letter case (or just case) is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smalle ...

, which has adopted it as the unit for
reactive Reactive may refer to: *Generally, capable of having a reaction (disambiguation) *An adjective abbreviation denoting a Bowling ball#Coverstock technology, bowling ball coverstock made of reactive resin *Reactivity (chemistry) *Reactive mind *Reacti ...

power. Special instruments called ''varmeters'' are available to measure the reactive power in a circuit. The unit "var" is allowed by the
International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes Pleonasm#Acronyms_and_initialisms, pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most wi ...
(SI) even though the unit var is representative of a form of power. SI allows one to specify units to indicate ''common sense physical considerations''. Per EU
directive 80/181/EEC Directive may refer to: * Directive (European Union), a legislative act of the European Union * Directive (programming), a computer language construct that specifies how a compiler should process input * Directive (poem), "Directive" (poem), a poem ...
(the "metric directive"), the correct symbol is lower-case "var",Council Directive on units of measurements 80/181/EEC
Chapter 1.2.3., p. 6: "Special names for the unit of power: the name volt–ampere (symbol ‘VA’) when it is used to express the apparent power of alternating electric current, and var (symbol ‘var’) when it is used to express reactive electric power." although the spellings "Var" and "VAr" are commonly seen, and "VAR" is widely used throughout the power industry.

# References

* {{FS1037C Electricity Units of power