A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled electrical conductors. A changing current in the first circuit (the primary) creates a changing magnetic field; in turn, this magnetic field induces a changing voltage in the second circuit (the secondary); this is called mutual induction. By adding a load to the secondary circuit, one can make current flow in the transformer, thus transferring energy from one circuit to the other.
The secondary induced voltage VS, of an ideal transformer, is scaled from the primary VP by a factor equal to the ratio of the number of turns of wire in their respective windings:
By appropriate selection of the numbers of turns, a transformer thus allows an alternating voltage to be stepped up — by making NS more than NP — or stepped down, by making it less.
Transformers are some of the most efficient electrical 'machines',[1] with some large units able to transfer 99.75% of their input power to their output.[2] Transformers come in a range of sizes from a thumbnail-sized coupling transformer hidden inside a stage microphone to huge units weighing hundreds of tons used to interconnect portions of national power grids. All operate with the same basic principles, although the range of designs is wide.
Applications
A key application of transformers is to increase voltage before transmitting electrical energy over long distances through wires. Wires have resistance and so dissipate electrical energy at a rate proportional to the square of the current through the wire. By transforming electrical power to a high-voltage (and therefore low-current) form for transmission and back again afterwards, transformers enable economic transmission of power over long distances. Consequently, transformers have shaped the electricity supply industry, permitting generation to be located remotely from points of demand.[3] All but a tiny fraction of the world's electrical power has passed through a series of transformers by the time it reaches the consumer.[4] Transformers are used extensively in electronic products to step down the supply voltage to a level suitable for the low voltage circuits they contain. The transformer also electrically isolates the end user from contact with the supply voltage.
Signal and audio transformers are used to couple stages of amplifiers and to match devices such as microphones and record player cartridges to the input impedance of amplifiers. Audio transformers allowed telephone circuits to carry on a two-way conversation over a single pair of wires. Transformers are also used when it is necessary to couple a differential-mode signal to a ground-referenced signal, and for isolation between external cables and internal circuits.
Basic principles
The transformer is based on two principles: firstly, that an electric current can produce a magnetic field (electromagnetism) and secondly that a changing magnetic field within a coil of wire induces a voltage across the ends of the coil (electromagnetic induction). By changing the current in the primary coil, it changes the strength of its magnetic field; since the changing magnetic field extends into the secondary coil, a voltage is induced across the secondary.
An ideal step-down transformer showing magnetic flux in the core
A simplified transformer design is shown to the left. A current passing through the primary coil creates a magnetic field. The primary and secondary coils are wrapped around a core of very high magnetic permeability, such as iron; this ensures that most of the magnetic field lines produced by the primary current are within the iron and pass through the secondary coil as well as the primary coil.
Induction law
The voltage induced across the secondary coil may be calculated from Faraday's law of induction, which states that:
where VS is the instantaneous voltage, NS is the number of turns in the secondary coil and Φ equals the magnetic flux through one turn of the coil. If the turns of the coil are oriented perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, the flux is the product of the magnetic field strength B and the area A through which it cuts. The area is constant, being equal to the cross-sectional area of the transformer core, whereas the magnetic field varies with time according to the excitation of the primary. Since the same magnetic flux passes through both the primary and secondary coils in an ideal transformer,[1] the instantaneous voltage across the primary winding equals
Taking the ratio of the two equations for VS and VP gives the basic equation[5] for stepping up or stepping down the voltage
Ideal power equation
The ideal transformer as a circuit element
If the secondary coil is attached to a load that allows current to flow, electrical power is transmitted from the primary circuit to the secondary circuit. Ideally, the transformer is perfectly efficient; all the incoming energy is transformed from the primary circuit to the magnetic field and into the secondary circuit. If this condition is met, the incoming electric power must equal the outgoing power.
Pincoming = IPVP = Poutgoing = ISVS
giving the ideal transformer equation
If the voltage is increased (stepped up) (VS > VP), then the current is decreased (stepped down) (IS <>lanyard usb drive
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