A Thévenin equivalent voltage source with positive source resistance supplies load power to a real resistive load. Differentiating gives its maximum at . With reactive impedances and fixed source impedance, conjugate matching maximizes the average delivered power. Maximum delivered power is distinct from maximum efficiency; at a real resistive match half of the source's internally generated power is dissipated in .
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The Maximum Power Transfer Theorem is an important principle in electrical engineering and circuit analysis. It states that in order to transfer the maximum amount of power from a source (such as a voltage or current source) to a load (such as a resistor), the load resistance must be equal to the output resistance of the source or circuit from which the power is being drawn, when looking back into the circuit.