Transformer

See the respective unrelated articles about the an animated television series from the 1980s, Transformers, and the glam rock album by Lou Reed, named Transformer, for those respective topics.

''Transformers
Electrical diagrams''

A transformer is an electrical device that transfers energy from one electrical circuit to another by means of magnetic coupling. An electrical transformer is the name given to any device for producing by means of one electric current another of a different character. It typically transforms between high and low voltages and accordingly between low and high currentss.

Table of contents

1 Machines
2 Principles

2.1 Autotransformers

3 Invention
4 Transformer practice

4.2 Uses of transformers
4.3 Construction

5 See also

Machines

Electrical transformer are a simple machines in mechanics, both transforming power from one form into another with a certain energy-dissipation depending upon frictional losses, or something equivalent to them. The working of such an appliance is, of course, subject to the law of conservation of energy. It works only with current that changes, and most often it is used with alternating current.

Electrical transformers may be divided into classes, according to the nature of the transformation effected. They are:

[1] Transformers changing the form of the power, but keep the type of the current the same.

[2] Transformers changing the type of the current as well as the form of power.

A transformer which raises voltage is generally called a step-up transformer, and one which lowers voltage a step-down transformer.

An ideal transformer has perfect magnetic coupling, so that all the power fed into the device is available at its output, but in practice there are losses. The resulting current represents less power than the applied current, the difference being represented by the power dissipated in the translating process. The power given up electrically to any circuit is measured by the product of the effective value of the current, the effective value of the difference of potential between the ends of the circuit and a factor called the power factor. In dealing with periodic currents, the effective value is that called the root-mean-square value (RMS), that is to say, the square root of the mean of the squares of the time equidistant instantaneous values during one complete period (see Electrokentics).

In the case of continuous current, the power factor is unity, and the effective value of the current or voltage is the true mean value. As the electrical measure of a power is always a product involving current and voltage, we may transform the character of the power by increasing or diminishing the current with a corresponding decrease or increase of the voltage.

Principles

A transformer usually has two induction coils or windings. As the changing current flows through the powered or primary winding, it produces a changing magnetic field that grows through the unpowered or secondary windings. This changing magnetic field induces a current in the secondaries. (The changing magnetic field also causes magnetostriction which in turn results in mechanical forces that make parts of the transformer vibrate, which is why transformers hum. The hum consists of a fundamental note at twice the mains frequency, plus harmonics. The energy converted to motion is one form of core loss.)

The winding with fewer turns of wire has higher current, at a lower voltage. The winding with more turns of wire has less current, at a higher voltage. The ratio of voltages is proportional to the ratio of the numbers of turns of wire. For example, a 5-to-1 step-down transformer might take 1200-volt 60 Hz alternating current, and change it to the 240-volt 60 Hz alternating current distributed to houses. It might have 500 turns of wire on the primary, and 100 turns on the secondary. Many electronic appliances have several secondaries to produce different voltages needed in the appliance.

The high-current low-voltage windings have fewer turns of thicker wire. The thicker wire helps carry more current. The high-voltage, low-current windings have more turns of thinner wire. The thinner wire carries less current, but at a higher voltage. Transformer designers will optimize the wire sizes so that each winding will have the lowest resistance while keeping the winding size as small as possible, in an effort to reduce copper losses.

Some transformers have equal numbers of windings on both coils. These "isolation" transformers are used to prevent direct current flow between electric circuits, while transferring power.

Autotransformers

An autotransformer has only a single winding, which is tapped at some point along the winding. AC or pulsed DC power is applied across a portion of the winding, and a higher (or lower) voltage is produced across another portion of the same winding. Autotransformers are commonly used as spark coils in automotive engines, and as high-voltage flyback transformers in television sets and computer monitors.

Variac was a trademark in the mid-20th century for a variable autotransformer intended to conveniently vary the output voltage for a steady AC input voltage. A sliding contact determined what fraction of the winding was connected across the output; a common configuration provided for 120 V as input and percentages of that voltage as high as about 110%. More compact semiconductor light dimmers have displaced them in many applications, such as theatrical lighting.

Invention

Those credited with the invention of the transformer include:

Lucien Gaulard and John Gibbs, who first exhibited a device in London in 1881 and then sold the idea to American company Westinghouse. They also exhibited the invention in Turin in 1884, where it was adopted for an electric lighting system.
William Stanley of Westinghouse, who built the first model based on Gaulard and Gibbs' idea in 1885.
Hungarian engineers Ott� Bl�thy, Miksa D�ri and K�roly Zipernowsky at the Ganz company in Budapest in 1885, who created the efficient "ZBD" model based on the design by Gaulard and Gibbs.
Antonio Pacinotti (1860).
Nikola Tesla is often incorrectly credited with its invention, although his true achievement was to develop the device for practical AC power distribution. He did develop the Tesla coil (after Stanley's original transformer), which is a high-voltage, air-core, self-regenerative resonant transformer that generates very high voltages at high frequency (which is named in his honor).

Transformer practice

Uses of transformers

If electrical power needs to be transmitted over long distances, the loss is much lower if high voltage is used. But high voltage is dangerous in the home, so transformers are employed to step the voltage up at the power station and back down at the consumer's premises.
Small transformers are often used to isolate and link different parts of radios. See electronics and impedance match.
Some transformers are designed so that one winding turns or slides, while the other remains stationary. These can pass power or radio signals from a stationary mounting to a turning mechanism, such as a machine tool head or radar antenna.
Some moving transformers are precisely constructed in order to measure distances. Most often, they have several primaries, and electronic circuits measure the shape of the wave in the different secondaries.

Construction

Transformers often have silicon steel cores to channel the magnetic field. This keeps the field more concentrated around the wires, so that the transformer is more efficient. The core also keeps the field from being wasted in nearby pieces of metal.
Laminated cores are made of many stamped pieces of thin steel. This prevents eddy currents from forming in the cores and wasting power by heating the core. Other types of core are made of nonconductive magnetic materials, such as a ceramic material called ferrite.
High-frequency transformers in low-power circuits where moderate losses are acceptable may have air cores. These save weight and cost.
Power transformers are usually more than 98% efficient which makes them the most efficient devices man can make. The higher-voltage transformers are bathed in nonconductive oil that is stable at high temperatures. This used to be polychlorinated biphenyl, the famous toxic waste, "PCB". Nowadays, nontoxic very stable fluorinated hydrocarbons are preferred. The oil cools the transformer, and helps prevent short circuits. It has to be stable at high temperatures so that a small short or arc will not cause a breakdown or fire.
See how to make a transformer for instructions on how to make a very simple transformer suitable for demonstration of the principles in a school classroom setting.