How to intentionally overload almost any value resistor with a DC power supply?
You can never &quot;force&quot; a current higher than 0.11A through a 120 ohm resistance while maintaining the voltage at 16V. You can either set the voltage or the current, not both. Your power supply is (within limits) a voltage supply, so it sets the voltage. If you want to increase the current, you need to either increase the voltage, or decrease the resistance.
When you set the &quot;Amps&quot; on your power supply, what you are really setting is the limit. This means that the power supply will supply up to 5A, but the actual current is determined by the voltage.
In order to &quot;blow up&quot; the resistor, you would have to exceed its power rating (by quite a bit). These are probably 1/4 watt resistors, so you would need to give them something like 5W if you want to see interesting things happen. For the 120 Ohm one, you would need 25V (P=I*V, V=I*R, P=(V^2)/R, V=sqrt(P*R)=sqrt(5*120)=24.5V).