Why resistors are not energy storage components

Can a resistor store energy?

Resistor can’t store energy. Neither can be a source on its own. Resistor always dissipates energy in the form of heat. Other elements like inductor and capacitor store energy in the magnetic and electric fields respectively. Examples for active devices are operation amplifier (OPAMP) etc. A resistor consists of two terminals.

What is the difference between a resistor and a capacitor?

In the case of a capacitor, the energy is stored as electric field, whereas in the case of the inductor, the energy is stored as magnetic field. For the resistor, by definition, this component does not have the ability to store energy, if not all of the energy that is given, is transformed (usually heat).

Why do resistors have no reactive effects?

These concepts are in theory lumped circuit. For real resistors, you can always find reactive effects, but are negligible for normal applications; but may be noticeable at high frequencies. If you deal with the theory of lumped circuits, the answer is that the resistor has no reactive effects due to their inability to store energy.

What if resistors are not placed in a circuit?

If resistors are not placed in the circuit, the waves look like shark fins. The circuit still functions, but they're definitely odd-looking waves. For background, this question arose after wiring up an Arduino to a Microchip 24LC256 (EEPROM) using I2C.

What happens if a resistor does not change?

If the resistance of the resistor does not change, then the current through it remains unchanged if the voltage across it remains unchanged. Otherwise, if the voltage drops (decreases), the current also decreases. Similarly, if the voltage increases, the current increases.

Do resistors transform electrical energy to heat?

Yes, resistors will transform electrical energy to heat, which is considered "internal", however, you will not find many treatments of electrical circuits in terms of thermodynamics. The reason for that is because electrical circuits are extremely far away from thermal equilibrium and thermodynamics has very little useful things to say about that.