OT: Power Frequency

From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke_at_mch20.sbs.de>
Date: Fri Apr 16 14:28:38 1999

> >> >3) 240VAC 3 pin sockets are a national standard.
> >> I think only the English (and Swiss?) are the ones that want to be
> >> different to the rest of Europe - in this case anyway (there are many
> >> others).

> >What about the mains voltage? Does that vary a lot? We're all 240v 50hz.
> >(In theory, anyway)

> 240V was chosen to be the standard to reduce line losses??? Why 50cyc?

Short answer:
Why not.
Or: Why 60 ?

Long Answer:
A willingfull decision of a single person (or group) in the past.
Lets see: If you want AC (usefull to allow up/downstepping of Voltage)
some 12-15 Hz are minimum. Also, if you want to have a continious
electric lighting, the frequency should be above ~40Hz. On the other
hand, as higher the frequency gets, as harder it is to build usable
distribution systems - also (more important) for higher frequencies
you need faster spinning generators (machines at some 500 rpm have
been hightech around the turn of the century) with higher cost to build
and maintain or more dense packing to get more coils be powered within
one turn - and as we know, dense packing is a development problem - when
a technology is new, the structures are big. Taking this into account,
usable frequencies for public power systems have been in the 40-100 Hz
range - now the only task was to pick one. The 60 Hz decison might have
been based on the idea to continue the line: one minute is 1/60th of
a hour, and a second is 1/60th of a minute, and a cycle is 1/60th of
a second ... while the 50Hz idea was based on geting a simple number,
(serving the needed purpose) with a usable division within the decimal
system.

In fact any number could have been involved.

Gruss
H.

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Received on Fri Apr 16 1999 - 14:28:38 BST

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