Eli5: What’s the difference between a single phase electric current versus a 3 phased one?
In: 18
Remember singing “row row row my boat” as a kid?
Remember how 3 different choruses would sing?
Imagine all 3 choruses are in one room. Well first take one chorus. They just sing. One side of the room is making all the noise. One side of the room has energy. Then it doesn’t. Then it does, then it doesn’t. You can pretend the other two choruses aren’t there and this is a “one phase” system. On, then off.
When you have all 3 choruses singing, there is more energy in the room. But here’s where it gets a bit different.
Instead of it just being “on and off” as far as the energy in the room, you can imagine each chorus pulsing with music at their time.
So as one group says row, two seconds later another one does, and two seconds later another one does.
When one chorus gets weak, another pops in, and another, so in a way, the groups of singers make sure the energy in the room always stays at the same level
What this explanation leaves out is how the voltage is effected by all of this but this is the main difference
Latest Answers