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Electricity and Magnetism

Transmission of Electrical Energy

Consider a 6V, 6W bulb connected to an a.c. supply by cables having a total resistance, R.

To operate at 6W, the bulb needs a current of 1A. This current must, of course, flow through the resistance of the cables.

The power converted to heat (power wasted) in the cables is given by

power = I ² R

So, to have as little power wasted as possible, we should aim to decrease the current, I (assuming that we have already made R as low as possible).

This can be done as shown below.

If the transformers are 100% efficient, and the current flowing through the bulb is 1A then the current flowing through R is only 1/8A. This means that the power wasted in the cables is 64 times (8² times) less than in the previous case.

 

 

 

 

 

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