How Transformers Work – Stephen Iero

A transformer is a device that takes electricity of one voltage and converts it into a different voltage.  A transformer changes voltage from low to high or high to low, this procedure is referred to as Stepping.  AC (alternating current) is the only type of current that can use the transformer because back then there was no simple way of accomplishing this task.  Since the power is at such high voltage then it can be easily transported over long distances with little voltage drop along the way.  Before the electricity would be able to be used the voltage would have to be dropped for commercial and household use.

The first transformer was created by Faraday and his had two wires wrapped around an iron bar.  One of the wires was an input and the other was an output, each of these wires completed a circuit back to the iron bar.  The AC current was switched to go back and forth in order to create a magnetic field.  This created magnetic field steps up or down the voltage in the wrapped wires.