for example, on my windows laptop, there is the plug that goes into the outlet, some wire, a big block of plastic, and then more wire that connects to the charger that goes into the charging port. why is that block there?
In: Technology
It’s the computer’s power supply. It converts the 120 volts or 230 volts (depending on country) of alternating current to the 18-20 volts of direct current your computer wants to charge its battery.
[Here’s what one looks like inside.](https://pcper.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/img-4287.jpg) The big brown cylinders are capacitors; these are part of the system that converts AC to DC. You can also see a couple transformers (the rectangles above the big capacitors) as well as a huge number of heat sinks. Your typical laptop power adapter will be a lot simpler, because the monster in the picture is designed to deliver up to 1.6 kilowatts of power to a high-end desktop PC.
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