What is an Electric transformer?
Electric transformers make alternating current (AC)
electricity, which comes from generators or power plants, safer to use in homes
and businesses. Essentially, they reduce the high voltages of AC electricity to
lower voltages. This process happens within a set of coils with wire wrapped
around them. It’s easy to think of an electromagnet. When a wire is wrapped
around an iron core inside a ring, it creates an electromagnetic field that attracts
metal objects made of ferromagnetic material like iron or steel. When
electrical current moves through a wire loop, current flows toward one end of
its coil first and then flows toward its other end.
Transformers make use of an electromagnet’s power in
two ways. Transformers first convert voltage—the amount of energy transferred
through a circuit—in order to increase or reduce it. This allows a household or
business to use electricity without worrying about whether or not they have
enough amps to power a device. The second way transformers change electrical
current is by increasing or decreasing amperage, which measures how much
current flows through a wire at once. When your house wires are attached
directly to your home’s power lines, you draw more amperage than you can use at
once, resulting in surges of unused electricity that can damage home appliances
and electronics.
Types of Transformer
There are two types of transformers, one which
transfers power from low voltage to high voltage, called a step-up transformer,
and one that takes power from high voltage to low voltage called a step-down
transformer. Though there are other uses for them as well. Transformers can be
used for rectification (to convert alternating current into direct current), isolation
(electrical insulation between different circuits), or impedance matching (in
order to apply loads at various voltages). Transformers allow us to take our
standard 110/220V household supply from the electrical grid, alter its voltage
via a coil of wire, then send that new electricity on to wherever we need it in
our house. That way we don’t have to build separate outlets for every new
electronic device that comes along.
Step-up transformers increase the voltage by taking
advantage of a fundamental principle of electromagnetism called Lenz’s law. It
dictates that when a coil of wire moves through a magnetic field, some of the
field’s energy becomes stored in that moving coil. When you connect a load
between one end of your newly charged coil and the ground, power flows across
because of resistances in both coils. Step-down transformers on the other hand
take advantage of another interesting property: they induce a higher voltage on
one end with lower voltage on the other side. All you have to do is plug your
appliance into its outlet, then run wiring from your transformer to power
things up!
Applications of Transformer
They are widely used in various industries such as
power generation, distribution, and transmission, as industrial, commercial,
and institutional applications. Electric transformers are used to convert
alternating current (AC) electricity from a power supply into direct current
(DC), or vice versa, according to IEEE Spectrum magazine. They can also be used
to isolate different circuits so they don’t interfere with each other. The
operation of a transformer depends on its design characteristics, core
composition material, and other factors.
Transformers are a key component of an electrical
grid, which converts electricity from large power plants into a form that can
be used in homes and businesses. In rural areas, transformers play a major role
in providing reliable electricity access. They’re also used to convert
alternating current (AC) power to direct current (DC), typically at higher voltages
so energy can be transmitted long distances more efficiently using transmission
lines, according to Horizon Power. Transformers can also be used to isolate
individual circuits so they don’t interfere with each other. For example,
transformers are built into substations that serve specific neighborhoods or
regions. Electrical service requires both AC and DC components, such as
transformers and converters that convert AC power into DC power for household
use and vice versa.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Transformer
Transformers are very useful in the electrical
field. The benefit of using transformers is that they change voltage without
changing frequency. Transformers use magnetic induction to transfer power from
the primary to the secondary winding. This happens because there is a coil of
wire wound around a core made out of soft iron or ferrite, with a constant
magnetic field surrounding it. The interaction between these two magnetic
fields creates eddy currents in that core. As current flows through one wire, a
corresponding electromagnet develops around the core; that new electromagnet
interacts with whatever magnetic field was already present in addition to its
own magnetism, thus increasing its strength overall.
Transformers can be used for both AC and DC
currents. They are commonly used for converting one voltage to another, whether
higher or lower. For example, transformers are often used to boost a low
120-volt electrical outlet to 220 volts so that a dryer or stove will work
properly. Transformers can also change frequency; 60 Hz to 100 kHz transformers
are sometimes installed in electronic equipment like fans in order to run more
quietly.