i have been looking at transformers and i wanted to know a few things. will they do dc current? do they just add x amount of volts or do they multiply by x or just change to x? also there is a sort of container that goes around them is that carbon???? it goes all the way around and then through
It is the reversal of polarity that induces a voltage, therefore only AC. It is the number of turns ratio that determine the voltage of output. It will be the same power (minus transformer losses) in and out. If the number of turns causes a stepped down voltage the current will increase by the same measure.
the average transformer you see on a power line, is takin a higher voltage and is distrubing down to what your house can handle which is usually 200amps. A transformer is nothing more than copper coils wrapped around carbon metal. And on the side of the transformer there is a voltage input and output tag. Transformer are huge and small. I work with them everyday.
Transformers only operate on AC current because they use a phenomenon known as electromagnetic induction, which requires a changing magnetic field. They multiply the input voltage by a constant value which depends on the ratio of the number of coils in the input and output circuits.
will they do dc current? No o they just add x amount of volts or do they multiply by x or just change to x? A transformer does not give you power. what it does is change the voltage in an inverse proportion to the current ( you get more voltage, you get less current) also there is a sort of container that goes around them is that carbon? They can be, most of the time it is steel though. unless you work at a power plant or sub station, then you might see some transformers that have carbon cases.
Transformers won't work on DC current, as it is absolutely necessary to have a rapidly forming and collapsing magnetic field to induce the voltage in the secondary winding. It doesn't have to be a sine wave; If you have a DC voltage, you can convert it to a square wave with a contact modulator or solid state device, run it through a transformer to get a higher or lower voltage, then rectify and filter back to DC. For a transformer, the voltage in vs voltage out is just the ratio of the number of turns in the primary vs secondary. If the secondary has 10 x as many turns as the primary, you will get 10 x the voltage out (but at 1/10 the current). Carbon is not usually involved, all the ones I've seen had cores of thin stamped sheets of silicon steel stacked together to minimize eddy currents. For very high frequency operation, ferrite cores are used, these look like black ceramic (maybe this is what you are thinking is carbon?)
