I was wondering how to convert 5v (volts) of power to 3.3v.?

If the circuit is running at 5v and 1amp, does that meen it also has 1.7 watts of resistance? I was looking at the conversions for this and it seems confusing. It's supposed to be (WAV) watts = amps x volts. So if I have a 5 volt current and want to change that to 3.3 volts (for a computer fan to run quieter) than would I have to get an in-line resister for this? Basicallly what I want to know is, what the resistance of watts is going to be to convert the 5v to 3.3v. Also, is it going to matter if it is on a variable speed current?I was wondering how to convert 5v (volts) of power to 3.3v.?
If this is just for a fan, and not something critical like a microprocessor, you might try a couple of silicon diodes in series with the fan, they will give you a voltage drop of about 0.7V per diode, so two will drop your 5V to about 3.6V. While you should be able to find 1A diodes, 3A ones are pretty common and inexpensive and will give you some safety factor. This is somewhat like the Zener idea you asked about, but low voltage Zeners are not so common, and general purpose diodes are cheap. Also the voltage drop across a diode varies little with current, unlike a resistor.



Of course if you are trying to make a 5V fan quieter, you will need to make sure it still provides adequate cooling, I assume a 5V fan is cooling some piece of equipment, not you.I was wondering how to convert 5v (volts) of power to 3.3v.?
You are partially correct. Your project idea will work despite your %26quot;units%26quot; (amps/volts/watts) confusion. Resistance is measured in ohms, not watts.



Power (watts) = voltage (volts) x current (Amps). However, this isn't what you need.



Resistance (ohms) = voltage (volts) / current (Amps). This equation, called %26quot;Ohm's law%26quot;, is the one you're after. Thus, you need a 1.7 ohm resistor ((5v - 3.3v) / 1A = 1.7 ohms).



Your idea won't work if the component draws varying amounts of power (thus presenting a variable load) like a computer; you'd need a %26quot;voltage regulator%26quot; in that case. In your case, it will work fine with a fan. Instead of powering the fan, 1/3 of the energy will be wasted as heat, disipated by the 1.7-ohm resistor.



Also, watts = volts x Amps = 1.7v x 1A = 1.7 watts. Your resistor must be able to disipate this much heat. Most resistors can't handle this; the ones you find on circuit boards are usually 0.25 watt.



Also, since Ohm's law is linear with voltage, it will still work on a variable speed current.