How Transformers Work – Rafael Reynoso

Transformers are devices that change the voltage, pressure that drives electric currents, in an alternating current system. These are important if you want to distribute electricity over long distances. The transformer takes the electricity from a generator and “steps” it up to a high voltage, which can travel long distances. Where it is needed, a transformer is use to “step” down the high voltage to a usable voltage. In reality, it may be stepped up or stepped down a couple depending on how high the voltage is that you are working with. The way these transformers work is through electric self-induction. Electric self-induction is a consequence of a magnetic field in one circuit which may “induce” a current in a nearby circuit. In transformers two coils of copper wire are used to create the self-induction. If the number of coils in the first coil is less than the number of coils in the coil that is being “induced” then the voltage is going to increase as the difference in the number of coils increases. The opposite goes for lowering the voltage; the more coils there in the primary coil than the secondary coil, the lower the voltage in the secondary coil will be.