Question

How are step up transformers used in the transmission of electrical energy

Answer 1

Transformers are used to increase or decrease the voltage of AC currents

Step-by-step explanation:

A transformer is a device consisting of two coils (called primary and secondary coil) wrapped at the two sides of a soft iron core. When an AC current is present in the primary coil, it induces a magnetic field inside the core, and the presence of this changing magnetic field induces a voltage (and a current) into the secondary coil.

The voltages in the primary and the secondary coil are related by the transformer equation:

`(V_p)/(V_s)=(N_p)/(N_s)`

where

Vp, Vs are the voltages in the primary and secondary coil

Np, Ns are the number of turns in the primary and secondary coil

There are two types of transformers:

- Step-up transformers: these have
`N_s > N_p`, so that
`V_s > V_p`, which means that they increase the voltage. They are used to increase the voltage of the AC current produced by the power plants, before being sent into the transmission lines.

- Step-down transformers: these have
`N_s < N_p`, so that
`V_s < V_p`, which means that they decrease the voltage. They are used at the end of the transmission lines, before the houses, in order to decrease the voltage and allow the household appliances to work properly (in fact, household appliances need lower voltages to work)