Editing Output impedance (section)

{{short description|Measure of the opposition to current flow by an internal electrical load}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2023}}

In [[electrical engineering]], the '''output impedance''' of an [[electrical network]] is the measure of the opposition to [[Electric current|current]] flow ([[Electrical impedance|impedance]]), both static ([[Electrical resistance and conductance|resistance]]) and dynamic ([[Electrical reactance|reactance]]), into the [[Electrical load|load network]] being connected that is ''internal'' to the [[Current source|electrical source]]. The output impedance is a measure of the source's propensity to [[Voltage drop|drop in voltage]] when the load draws current, the source network being the portion of the network that transmits and the load network being the portion of the network that consumes.

Because of this the output impedance is sometimes referred to as the '''source impedance''' or '''internal impedance'''.

[[File:Source and load circuit Z (2).svg|thumb|Circuit to the left of central set of open circles models the source circuit, while circuit to the right models the connected circuit. {{math|''Z''<sub>S</sub>}} is output impedance as seen by the load, and {{math|''Z''<sub>L</sub>}} is input impedance as seen by the source.]]