What does the rating on speaker mean?

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I have a speaker which has 8ohms and 0.5W written at the back. What does that mean? From this can I calculate the max or min voltage or current the speaker can take?
 

You have power = 0.5 W and resistance = 8 ohms , so by P=( I^2) . R , you get I = 0.25 ampere and V=2 Volts. It means that your speaker has power capacity of 0.5 watts with 8 ohm resistance load.
 
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It means that the impedance of the speaker is 8ohm while the power rating is 0.5watts.

---------- Post added at 14:13 ---------- Previous post was at 13:48 ----------

It means that the impedance is 8ohms and the power is 0.5watts. You can calculate the voltage and current using the normal ohm's law.
 

So anyway, I want to know what rating of speaker I need to connect to an amplification circuit that can output 5V maximum. More specifically 0V to 5V. The voltage of a 0.5W and 8ohm speaker is 2V, so i guess that means the speaker will be blown if I use it?
 

scream_er said:
I want to know what rating of speaker I need to connect to an amplification circuit that can output 5V maximum.
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That depends on whether 5V is peak to peak, peak or r.m.s.

If peak to peak, i.e. 1.77Vrms, that's 0.4W in 8 ohms, so your 0.5W 'speaker would be suitable.

If it's pk, i.e. 3.535Vr.m.s., that's 1.56W in 8 ohms.

And, if it's r.m.s., that's a bit over 3W in 8 ohms.
 

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