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Transformer
See the respective unrelated articles about the an animated television series from the 1980s, Transformers, and
the glam rock album by Lou Reed, named Transformer, for those respective topics.

Transformers
Electrical diagrams

A 'transformer' is an electrical device that transfers energy from one electrical circuit to
another by means of magnetic coupling. An electrical transformer is the name given to any
device for producing by means of one electric current another of a different character. It
typically transforms between high and low voltages and accordingly between low and high
currents.

Machines
Electrical transformer are a simple machines in mechanics, both transforming power from one
form into another with a certain energy-dissipation depending upon frictional losses, or
something equivalent to them. The working of such an appliance is, of course, subject to the
law of conservation of energy. It works only with current that changes, and most often it is
used with alternating current.

Electrical transformers may be divided into classes, according to the nature of the
transformation effected. They are:

[1] Transformers changing the form of the power, but keep the type of the current the
same.
[2] Transformers changing the type of the current as well as the form of power.
A transformer which raises voltage is generally called a step-up transformer, and one which
lowers voltage a step-down transformer.

An ideal transformer has perfect magnetic coupling, so that all the power fed into the device is
available at its output, but in practice there are losses. The resulting current represents less
power than the applied current, the difference being represented by the power dissipated in
the translating process. The power given up electrically to any circuit is measured by the
product of the effective value of the current, the effective value of the difference of potential
between the ends of the circuit and a factor called the power factor. In dealing with periodic
currents, the effective value is that called the root-mean-square value (RMS), that is to say,
the square root of the mean of the squares of the time equidistant instantaneous values
during one complete period (see Electrokentics).

In the case of continuous current, the power factor is unity, and the effective value of the
current or voltage is the true mean value. As the electrical measure of a power is always a
product involving current and voltage, we may transform the character of the power by
increasing or diminishing the current with a corresponding decrease or increase of the voltage.

Principles
A transformer usually has two induction coils or windings. As the changing current flows
through the powered or primary winding, it produces a changing magnetic field that grows
through the unpowered or secondary windings. This changing magnetic field induces a current
in the secondaries. (The changing magnetic field also causes magnetostriction which in turn
results in mechanical forces that make parts of the transformer vibrate, which is why
transformers hum. The hum consists of a fundamental note at twice the mains frequency, plus
harmonics. The energy converted to motion is one form of core loss.)

The winding with fewer turns of wire has higher current, at a lower voltage. The winding with
more turns of wire has less current, at a higher voltage. The ratio of voltages is proportional to
the ratio of the numbers of turns of wire. For example, a 5-to-1 step-down transformer might
take 1200-volt 60 Hz alternating current, and change it to the 240-volt 60 Hz alternating
current distributed to houses. It might have 500 turns of wire on the primary, and 100 turns
on the secondary. Many electronic appliances have several secondaries to produce different
voltages needed in the appliance.

The high-current low-voltage windings have fewer turns of thicker wire. The thicker wire helps
carry more current. The high-voltage, low-current windings have more turns of thinner wire.
The thinner wire carries less current, but at a higher voltage. Transformer designers will
optimize the wire sizes so that each winding will have the lowest resistance while keeping the
winding size as small as possible, in an effort to reduce copper losses.

Some transformers have equal numbers of windings on both coils. These "isolation"
transformers are used to prevent direct current flow between electric circuits, while
transferring power.

Autotransformers

An autotransformer has only a single winding, which is tapped at some point along the
winding. AC or pulsed DC power is applied across a portion of the winding, and a higher (or
lower) voltage is produced across another portion of the same winding. Autotransformers are
commonly used as spark coils in automotive engines, and as high-voltage flyback transformers
in television sets and computer monitors.

Variac was a trademark in the mid-20th century for a variable autotransformer intended to
conveniently vary the output voltage for a steady AC input voltage. A sliding contact
determined what fraction of the winding was connected across the output; a common
configuration provided for 120 V as input and percentages of that voltage as high as about
110%. More compact semiconductor light dimmers have displaced them in many applications,
such as theatrical lighting.
Invention
Those credited with the invention of the transformer include:

• Lucien Gaulard and John Gibbs, who first exhibited a device in London in 1881 and
then sold the idea to American company Westinghouse. They also exhibited the
invention in Turin in 1884, where it was adopted for an electric lighting system.
• William Stanley of Westinghouse, who built the first model based on Gaulard and
Gibbs' idea in 1885.
• Hungarian engineers Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri and Károly Zipernowsky at the Ganz
company in Budapest in 1885, who created the efficient "ZBD" model based on the
design by Gaulard and Gibbs.
• Antonio Pacinotti (1860).
• Nikola Tesla is often incorrectly credited with its invention, although his true
achievement was to develop the device for practical AC power distribution. He did
develop the Tesla coil (after Stanley's original transformer), which is a high-voltage,
air-core, self-regenerative resonant transformer that generates very high voltages at
high frequency (which is named in his honor).

Transformer practice
Uses of transformers

• If electrical power needs to be transmitted over long distances, the loss is much lower
if high voltage is used. But high voltage is dangerous in the home, so transformers are
employed to step the voltage up at the power station and back down at the
consumer's premises.
• Small transformers are often used to isolate and link different parts of radios. See
electronics and impedance match.
• Some transformers are designed so that one winding turns or slides, while the other
remains stationary. These can pass power or radio signals from a stationary mounting
to a turning mechanism, such as a machine tool head or radar antenna.
• Some moving transformers are precisely constructed in order to measure distances.
Most often, they have several primaries, and electronic circuits measure the shape of
the wave in the different secondaries.

Construction

• Transformers often have silicon steel cores to channel the magnetic field. This keeps
the field more concentrated around the wires, so that the transformer is more
efficient. The core also keeps the field from being wasted in nearby pieces of metal.
• Laminated cores are made of many stamped pieces of thin steel. This prevents eddy
currents from forming in the cores and wasting power by heating the core. Other types
of core are made of nonconductive magnetic materials, such as a ceramic material
called ferrite.
• High-frequency transformers in low-power circuits where moderate losses are
acceptable may have air cores. These save weight and cost.
• Power transformers are usually more than 98% efficient which makes them the most
efficient devices man can make. The higher-voltage transformers are bathed in
nonconductive oil that is stable at high temperatures. This used to be polychlorinated
biphenyl, the famous toxic waste, "PCB". Nowadays, nontoxic very stable fluorinated
hydrocarbons are preferred. The oil cools the transformer, and helps prevent short
 circuits. It has to be stable at high temperatures so that a small short or arc will not
cause a breakdown or fire.
• See how to make a transformer for instructions on how to make a very simple
transformer suitable for demonstration of the principles in a school classroom setting.