nanog mailing list archives

Re: MAE-East still no generator


From: matthew () scruz net (Matthew Kaufman)
Date: Sat, 7 Sep 1996 21:44:31 -0700

Original message <199609080429.XAA10713 () westie gi net>
From: Alan Hannan <alan () gi net>
Date: Sep  7, 23:28
Subject: Re: MAE-East still no generator


  Howdy,

  To stay in the tradition of the NANOG mailing list, I will take
  this subject a bit off topic.  :-)

  The common American household and business operates on Alternating
  Current mainly because of distance.

  Over long distances, Alternating Current loses less energy in
  transferring energy than Direct Current.  For proof, imagine the
  energy actually moving from point a -> point b (as in DC) or
  moving back and forth in millions of sets between points a and b.
  (and not moving as far) (as in AC).

The real reason that AC is more efficient to transmit is that transformers
work on AC, and that means you can, with little effort, trade amps for volts.
Then you get to transmit the power at high voltage, but low current draw. 
That means thin wires (saves copper) and less resistive loss (saves energy). 

Are we far enough off topic yet?

-matthew kaufman
 matthew () scruz net

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