I understand that (i) LED's have forward voltage drops (Vf) and (ii) that exceeding the dissipation wattage or max current can damage the device; thus one uses a series resistor to limit the current.
But, I find it strange that there is no maximum rating on any of the data sheet that I can find that might specify when some max input voltage would damage the LED.
While this may not be a valid way to think about it, I'm trying to think of an LED+resistor as a voltage divider, but that implies that the LED's "resistance" varies with voltage because it always (magically) drops the voltage to exactly what it needs. This (possibly incorrect) way of thinking leads me to the following questions:
a) Is it really the case that, even if I provide 500V DC to an LED with an adequate resistor to limit current to prevent exceeding it maximum power dissipation, that it will never crackle and pop, provided that I stay below its maximum current rating and power dissipation?
b) If so, is this because the "ground reference" for the LED is always immediately after the LED's cathode, and so the actual voltage across the device is only ever Vf?
c) And even so, there must be some tiny internal resistance that would become evident (or not?) at higher voltage as across the device, so why do manufacturers not specify a maximum input voltage?
d) Does this behavior hold true for all P-N junction devices?
What is the proper way to think about for forward voltage drops in a current loop containing LEDs or other components that exhibit constant forward voltage drops?