When two 500-ohm 1-watt resistors are connected in parallel, they can dissipate a maximum total power of:

When identical resistors are connected in parallel, the total power they can safely dissipate is the sum of their individual power ratings. Because the resistors are exactly the same value (500 ohms each), the total current splits perfectly evenly between them, ensuring they share the thermal load equally. Since each resistor can handle 1 watt, adding a second identical resistor in parallel provides another 1 watt of capacity. Therefore, 1 watt + 1 watt equals a maximum total power of 2 watts. It is a common misconception that parallel connections reduce power capacity or keep it the same as a single component. In reality, adding more physical material (more resistors) to share the load always increases the total power capacity.