Why do some plugs have obviously inefficient designs, e.g. cover multiple outlets, or only fit in the very last spot because they bend at a right angle downward?
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I feel like this is directed toward in-home 120vAC wall outlets, which i feel has been adequately addressed by others.
But if we’re going for “bent at a right angle downward” plugs, might i present for your review the 3- (and 4-) prong outlets used for welding and other heavy-duty, 3-phase, high voltage (277vAC & 480vAC) outlets.
These are designed with a bent segment in one of the plug tangs so as to act as a “key” so you don’t accidentally plug it in incorrectly and blow the transformer on the equipment. 3-phase systems require a bare copper ground and 3 hot wires that are individually half of the total effective voltage, but when measured across 2 hot lines equal the total voltage. Confusing, right? Lol.
That’s because they are run slightly out of phase, so that alternating current (AC) can behave similarly to direct current (DC). AC has peaks and valleys and flows in both directions, but is also susceptible to demand fluctuations. DC is a constant supply, but only flows in one direction, but is unaffected by demand fluctuations.
3-phase combines both of these attributes by providing 3 individual lines of AC that are milliseconds apart (out of phase) so that each of their valleys are covered up by the peak of the next phase, essentially turning AC into a constant line of peaks with no valleys (aka: DC), but able to flow in both directions with no risk from fluctuations.
Hopefully this left you with more questions than answers. Lol.
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