Transformer Facts
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Transformer Facts
will help clarify what things one must understand to
successfully function with these electrical devices. Below are
statements of these facts that
will ground one in the fundamentals of transformers. If there are any
confusions as to the terms used, check the
glossary
first to see if it defined there. Otherwise, you can often find terms
defined in one of the fine online dictionaries. But please do not pass
by such an undefined or confusing term as they will directly affect your
comprehension of what you are reading and your ability to apply the data.
Transformer Fact 1
Any conductor of electrical current
forms an electromagnetic field around the conductor (as illustrated on
the right) so long as there is an
active flow of current.
Transformer
Fact 2
When one conductor is carrying a
current (and consequently forming a field around it), any second conductor
with a closed circuit will incur its own current by virtue of the field
created in the first wire passing back and forth across it. This means
that induction will only occur when the field is actively expanding or
contracting.
The
nature of electrical generators that produce alternating current makes them
ideal for applications calling for a continuously changing field. DC
currents can and have been used, but power is limited and special equipment
is necessary in order to repeatedly interrupt the current flow, thus
allowing the field to expand and contract.
Transformer Fact 3
The amount of power produced in the
second conductor is created in the same ratio as there are turns of
conducting medium (wire) from the first, or primary circuit, to the
second, or secondary circuit. See the page on
What is a
Transformer for further discussion of this point with the math involved.
Transformer Fact 4
The current in a conductor is measured
in amps. The power is measured in watts. The potential energy is
measured in volts. There is a direct relationship between all three of
these. It is expressed in this or a variation of this formula: watts =
amps x volts, or W = VA.
Transformer Fact 5
Any power source is usually relatively
stable or fixed as to the amount of power (watts) it can produce.
Transformer Fact 6
Using the formula above, whenever you
increase the volts, amps has to reduce proportionally and visa-versa, since
watts will not change, as stated in Transformer Fact 5.
Example,
you have a 12 volt battery and have a 3 amp current. 12 = V x 3.
This converts to 12 divided by 3 = V, or 4V. volts. You then somehow
change the amps to 1.5, but remember, the volts does not change. 12
divided by 1.5 results in a voltage of 8. If you notice, in the first
case, the amperage was 3 and in the second case it was 1.5. This
reduced amperage by a factor of 2, or half, and can be used to find the
voltage as it will be a function of the same amount, except that it will
increase where amperage decreased. Therefore, multiply the first
voltage by 2 and you get 4 x 2 =8.
Transformer Fact 7
There is a factor to consider with
conductors and power transmitted through them. All conductors have
some relatively fixed amount of resistance to the flow of power. As
flow is current, then amperage is the measure of current and will be
directly affected by resistance (measured in ohms.)
Ohm's law is a statement of this:
Electric current (amps) is proportional to voltage and inversely
proportional to resistance (ohms.)
Transformer Fact 8
The amount resistance (ohms) affects
current ( amps) is also proportional to the distance this current has to
travel. For instance, if a quantity of resistance is found in one mile
of wire, then two miles of wire amounts to twice the resistance affecting
the amperage. This is because the first mile already reduced the
amperage by a certain amount, so a second mile will reduce it again by the
same amount, or twice as much as one mile would.
Transformer Fact 9
The result of fact 7 and 8 above will
be that there is a finite distance any given flow can travel before the
cumulative effect of resistance overcomes amperage and reduces it to zero.
Once this happens, volts will raise (in accordance with fact 6) to infinity
and there will be no power delivered at the far end of the circuit.
There are other repercussions that could be extrapolated from this as to
what might happen next; amperage converted to heat and the energy dissipated
this way; or perhaps the redirection of the energy such that something
either drained off or melted due to this stopping of the flow of current
along the normal circuit. These are factors that could be explored,
but are unnecessary for this discussion,
Transformer Fact 10
Fact 6 can be played against facts 7
and 8 to solve successfully conveying power over long distances. The
trick is simply to up the voltage to a high level while consequently
reducing amperage to a very low volume. The effect will be to reduce
the consequences of resistance to a negligible level.
This is exactly what is done in transmission
lines across the world; equipment is used to take power from generation
plants and step it up to very high voltages and reduce amperage so that
little power is lost during transmission over long distances.
Transformer Fact 11
Transformers are created by applying
the first six of the above facts to achieve fact 10.
Transformer Fact 12
Diameter of the conductor is inversely
proportional to resistance. This fact is used to further reduce losses
in power by increasing the size of conductors when transmitting power over
distances. Its usefulness is limited by the practicalities of the
sizes one can economically and physically use in electrical lines without
creating high costs or overwhelming weights and forces acting on power poles
and towers.
Other successful strategies to improve
efficiency are covered in
New
Transformer Technologies and in the pages on
Energy
Star and
TP1 Transformers.
TEMCo carries a full line of
Transformers, with most products shipped within 24 hours. They not
only supply quality transformers, but also offer the lowest
prices, so call on the team at TEMCo to provide your
transformers and other electrical
transformer products! Find out why so many companies rely only
on TEMCo!!
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needs!!
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Transformer Facts
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