Archive for the ‘Transformers’ Category

Transformers – Kolyo D.

December 9, 2008

A transformer is a mechanism that allows massive amounts of current to travel a long distance. Once it reaches its destination it can be stepped down and transferred to outlets at a safe voltage. Transformers were what made the long distance transfer possible in Westinghouse’s system, and that is why Westinghouse won the war of the currents because of his ability to transfer electricity to a great distance with ought having to have a power plant every 2 miles like Edison.

Transformers – Wes Vullo

October 30, 2008

The transformer is an electrical device that will drop or raise the voltage to another set voltage. This electrical device made the expansion of electricity to homes and cities safer. The transformer consists of coils of wire which produce a magnetic field. When the current hits the first wire, it induces current in the other coils as well. Pending upon specifications this will either create a voltage drop or increase. This is the law of electromagnetic induction simply put. Transformers are generally simple, but their importance is very relevant in today’s world.

Transformers – Michael

October 27, 2008

Transformers are the key to Alternating Current systems. The original design for the transformer was created by Michael Faraday and was later revolutionized by George Westinghouse. The transformer was designed to step down the voltage of the AC system in order to make working environments safer. At the same time the transformer was capable of increasing voltages allowing more rural areas to be electrified. By stepping up the voltage, current could be transported farther making it cheaper and easier to power homes. With the help of Gaulard-Gibbs, Westinghouse designed a transformer that was more advanced than Faraday’s original. It had H-shaped iron plate cores which passed through coiled copper wires. This made if possible to create more or less current based on how many times the wires were coiled. With this design the world was industrialized with Alternating Current.

How transformers work- Will

October 27, 2008

Transformers have a great deal to do with why we are able to use the concept of Alternating Current in modern times. It allows high voltages to be passed through and generate power more efficiently. It drops down the high voltage power so that it can effectively be used in factories, businesses, and homes. It creates a magnetic field inside the coil of one wire, which then establishes another current through another wire. The current travels through a series of wires which allows an easy change in the stepping up and down of voltages.

Transformers – Micah T

October 27, 2008

Transformers are the only reason that we are currently using alternating current, without the transformer we would most likely be using direct current.  The transformer allows AC to be stepped-up in voltage so that it can be transmitted over long distances from a power station to rural and urban areas.  The transformer also allows that high voltage to be stepped-down to a safer lower voltage in order to power our houses and factories.  The transformer is basically a copper wire that is wrapped around an iron rod, and as the current flows through the wire it creates a magnetic field that will step-up the current or if there is a second wire it will create a lower voltage on that wire.

Transformers- Aysha R

October 27, 2008

The AC transformer is a very important part of the AC power system. It allowed generating stations to be located in the city and still effectively power homes and businesses in rural areas. The transformer would take high-voltage electrcity, and drop it down to a level safe for people to use. Westinghouse invented the transformer out of a “H-shaped iron plate, the core, that would pass through copper wire coils that would be machine wound and used as the primary and secondary. The ends were closed by I-shaped plates ” (Jonnes 132). The “primary” is the copper wire used to feed electric current into the magnetic field and the “secondary” is the copper wire that intercepts the primary’s force field. Thanks to Westinghouse and his men, electricity was able to travel farther and faster.

How transformers work – Cory S.

October 27, 2008

Transformers are electrical devices that takes electricity at one voltage and raises or drops it into another voltage.  A transformer basically changes electricity from a high voltage to a lower voltage using two basic properties of electricity.  When you have an electric circuit, it is constantly surrounded by magnetism. When this magnetic field changes a voltage is created.  Voltage is defined as the measure of the strength or amount of electrons flowing through a wire.

Transformers-June Sri

October 27, 2008

A transformer is an electrical device the is used to change the voltage of the electricity. Transformers can take high voltages that had traveled over the long distance and step the voltages down for safety use in house or factory. A transformer is built base on the law of an electromagnetic induction. A magnetic field is generated when an electric current flows through a wire. Th greater the number of wrapped coils, the higher the voltages rise. The bigger the current, the stronger the magnetic field (the strength of the magnetism is directly related to the size of the electric current). When a magnetic field moves around a piece of wire, an electric current in the wire is generated. When the second coil of wire (fewer coil) is put next to the first coil, an electric current in the second wire is created. Because the current in the first coil induces a current in the second coil, we call this “the law of electromagnetic induction”. The interaction of two coils created a high self-induction, stepping down the high voltages low enough to be run in individual electronic device in the house or factory.

How Transformers Work – Robert

October 27, 2008

The transformer is one of the most important pieces of the AC power system. It allows AC power to be transmitted very long distances by stepping up the voltage to a higher level. Then, when the power reaches it’s destination, the voltage can be stepped down to a much lower level so it can be used in lights and machines. The device works by having a piece of iron with 2 wires, the primary wire and the secondary wire, wrapped around it. The primary wire creates a magnetic field in the piece of metal, which is then absorbed by the secondary wire. The amount of voltage that is transferred between the wires depends on the number of times they are coiled. If the secondary wire is wrapped around the iron more times then the primary wire, then the voltage is stepped up, and if it is wrapped fewer times, then the voltage is stepped down.

AC Transformer- Rich

October 27, 2008

One of the most important inventions during the early electrification of the world was the Ac induction transformer. This allowed power to be stepped up to extremely high voltages so that it could be transmitted long distances. The modern transformer developed by George Westinghouse consists of a H shaped iron core around which the wires are turned. The transformer works by inducing current flow from one wire to the other. In a transformer the core of iron acts as a simple electromagnet. because AC power changes flow directions constantly it shifts the magnetic field. This changing magnetic field induces current in the other wire wrapped around the transformer’s iron core.

Transfomers can both step down and step up the voltage in a line. The input wire is wrapped around one side of the H and the output around the other. If the current is being stepped up for long rage transmission then the input will have less turns around its side of the H than the output, If the power is being stepped down for use the input will have more turns around the H than the output.For example if the voltage of the input is 220v and the wire is wrapped round the core 10  times,  and the output is wrapped around the core 5 times, then voltage of the output will be 110v.  This is the law of proportional turns which governs transfomer operation.