How does 3 phase power work?
In: Physics
Think of it this way (ELI5 vast-oversimplification) power comes in cycles called waves where it goes from high to low to high to low. The high part is what we need to make electricity do something useful, the rest of the cycle doesn’t help us (I know, I know, keeping it simple here). Let’s say a single phase of power cycles once a second,-
Single Phase: 0 seconds it’s high, 0.25 its middle, 0.5 it’s low, 0.75 its middle again, at 1 sec it’s high. That’s a lot of time where we can’t use the electricity.
A 2 phase system is has a second wave half a step out of sequence with the first. so at 0 seconds one phase is High and the other is low. at 0.5 seconds the first phase is low but the second is now high. This gives us 2x the Highs per second, so this system is 2x more useful than a single phase.
A 3 phase is the same logic, now we have 3x the highs per second making the system 3x more powerful.
The implication is that we can build systems 3x more powerful on a 3 phase BUT WE COULD ALSO use a machine with the same output as the single phase, but 3x smaller using 3 phase. Not the just the machine, we can use smaller wires, smaller *other complicated electrical stuff*, making a much cheaper device in 3 phase than the same output in 1 phase.
Latest Answers