1. How is electricity for houses generated at the power plant?
My answer: At thermal power stations where heated water turns into steam which rotates a steam turbine, driving the electrical generator.
2. How is that electricity transferred? How can you estimate the voltage of a power line by looking at it?
My answer: Through power lines. (Not sure about 2nd part of question)
3. What is the name of an electrical device that changes the voltage from power company from high voltage to low voltage? Does that device work from both AC and DC?
My answer: Transformers. Yes it works for both AC and DC.
Im not sure if all my answers are right. thank you guys for checking and could you also provide me with the correct answer if i made a mistake?
6 Responses
q3 transformers are AC only !
1. good answer
2. Good, I also don’t know the part about looking at the lines.
3. Transformers only work for AC.
1. All electricity, minus solar electricity, is generated by mechanical means converted to electricity via a generator. Wind, Hydro, Steam…ect
2. Distrabution lines. The higher the voltage on the lines the taller the utility pole or transmission tower. Also spacing between the condutors is greater for higher voltages and wire size increases as well.
3. Transformer. Transformers used by the utilty companies for stepping down distrbution voltage to useable household voltage work strictly on AC.
2. For high voltage transmission lines; the higher the voltage, the more insulators used to support the lines.
BTW: the current determines the wire size of the lines, not the voltage. Otherwise, the other answers are correct.
Don’t trust any of the answers above except the first one. Several have serious errors in them.
1. I would write something like:
Power plants use various methods to convert fuel or natural power sources into electric current. Steam plants are powered by burning coal, oil, or natural gas to turn water into steam. A nuclear plant also produces steam, but the heat comes from a nuclear reaction. In all those types, the steam is used to propel turbines that in turn drive electric generators.
Hydroelectric dams use the weight of falling water to turn turbines that in turn drive electric generators. Wind generators involve large low-speed turbines that capture power from the wind to drive electric generators.
2. Something like:
Electric power is distributed by an interconnected grid of wires arranged to carry the desired current to the desired distribution points. Cross-country lines use very high voltages to carry large currents with smaller wires. Local distribution wiring is at much lower voltages and uses heavier wiring to carry the required current.
It is difficult to judge the voltage of a line without considerable experience and knowledge of the components involved. In general, cross-country lines carried on “skeleton” towers carry 750,000 to 1,500,000 volts. Smaller skeleton towers carry 50,000 to 250,000 volts, and your street wiring carries 4,000 to 14,400 volts. There are many variations, and you just have to be familiar with the technology.
3. Write:
Power companies use step-down transformers to convert the higher voltages down to house power. Transformers operate only on AC current, and cannot use DC current.
There is much more for you to learn. A trip to the library is very much called for.
Have fun!
1. by using thermal power, such as coal or nuclear, or hydroelectrically, such as a dam to rotate turbines which in turn rotate generators,which are essentially motors in reverse. allowing the lines of flux from permanent magnets to pass coils of wires , inducing a voltage in the wires.
2 thru low resistance metal conductors, voltage can be estimated by the distance between each phase and by the amount of insulators between the conductors and the support point and the distance from the ground
3.a transformer, works on alternating current only