power transfer theorem

power transfer theorem

[¦pau̇·ər ′tranz·fər ‚thir·əm] (electricity) The theorem that, in an electrical network which carries direct or sinusoidal alternating current, the greatest possible power is transferred from one section to another when the impedance of the section that acts as a load is the complex conjugate of the impedance of the section that acts as a source, where both impedances are measured across the pair of terminals at which the power is transferred, with the other part of the network disconnected.