why is it that in some countries the frequency of the line voltage available in homes is 60Hz and in some countries it is 50Hz. is there a reasoning behind this. i mean is one of them better than the other. if there is not much of a difference then why do countries have different frequencies. i always thought that 60Hz was chosen because it serves a better time base for clocks that are powered from the AC socket. isnt that true??? whats the story behind all this
60hz good for clock syncing, 50hz is good for maths
I think it was the US that started an AC grid and they chose 60Hz, there was no reason that they couldn't have picked 50Hz.
UK came next and wanting to boost their industry went for 50hz that way they wouldnt have to by from the US
50hz is very good to work with from a thd point of view. I know i will see some 5th and 7th for a 6 pulse and that is 250Hz and 350hz, slightly harder for 60hz
All areas of the US were not always 60 Hz and I suspect the rest of the world's electrical distribution has a similar history. Many industrial cities used 25 Hz power for a number of years and it might still be possible to find motors and other equipment operating at 25 Hz. I know as late as the 1980s that they looked at renovating an old hydro plant (very small) in the town where I grew up because the generating equipment was 25 Hz. The plan was to send the power into the city of Buffalo, NY where some customers still used 25 Hz power. Many of the factories in the Buffalo area had equipment installed and operating from early 1900s and the cost to change over was still higher than keeping the old system.
I have no idea why 25 Hz but it may have had something to do with rotating speeds, number of poles and some other things. As with other things, the move to 60 Hz was likely evolutionary and heavily based on the cost to make the change.
There is some historical information that should be able to be found under Edison, Westinghouse and similar names - the people who heavily influence the early and rapid growth of electrical systems in the US. Again, I'd expect Europe and other areas of the world to have been influenced by this (and they influenced the US) but they ended up at different point as a result of a similar evolutionary process.
Don't forget Tesla, who was the pioneer of AC and AC machinery, against some other industry giants who were pushing for DC (it's a fascinating story, really!). Just because of some of his more "eccentric" ideas, I think he kind of got sidelined in the history books though I'd say it could be argued that his contributions were greater than the others'.
You lost me there. For motor-driven clocks, both frequencies require synchronous motors and gear trains. For digital clocks, you need to divide by 60 or 50 to get to seconds. From there on, both are identical.
seems various mechanical, feasability and compromises resulted in 60Hz in North America. Telsa is credited with suggesting 60Hz to eliminate streetlighting flicker.
OK. 60 seconds in a minute. 60 minutes in an hour. 12 hours in a 12 hour period. So what? Where does the 50Hz come in? All the mains driven clocks in the UK (formerly England) used the mains frequency as a reference, just like the clocks in the USA, once you got the seconds right the subsequent gearing is surely irrelevant. Or maybe I've got it wrong, and 60 Hz means 60 cycles per minute?
OK. 60 seconds in a minute. 60 minutes in an hour. 12 hours in a 12 hour period. So what? Where does the 50Hz come in? All the mains driven clocks in the UK (formerly England) used the mains frequency as a reference, just like the clocks in the USA, once you got the seconds right the subsequent gearing is surely irrelevant. Or maybe I've got it wrong, and 60 Hz means 60 cycles per minute?
The only difference for mechanical clocks is the number of teeth on one gear, it makes no real difference at 50Hz or 60Hz - neither is easier than the other.
OK. 60 seconds in a minute. 60 minutes in an hour. 12 hours in a 12 hour period. So what? Where does the 50Hz come in? All the mains driven clocks in the UK (formerly England) used the mains frequency as a reference, just like the clocks in the USA, once you got the seconds right the subsequent gearing is surely irrelevant. Or maybe I've got it wrong, and 60 Hz means 60 cycles per minute?
The only difference for mechanical clocks is the number of teeth on one gear, it makes no real difference at 50Hz or 60Hz - neither is easier than the other.
so, 60Hz isnt for making a good time base. it was suggested by Tesla when he made the three phase power generation and transmission system. in the abscence of a standardization body different companies started making different types of generators depending on their ease. then AEG in germany made a system working at 50Hz because it somehow suited them and the others had to use their systems because they had a strong monopoly. and after the 2nd world war britain started using 50Hz AC systems. and then the whole world followed. but the americans took the word of tesla and used a 60Hz system. now, although a 50Hz system is less efficient in generation and transmission it is still more popular than 60Hz
and after the 2nd world war britain started using 50Hz AC systems. and then the whole world followed. but the americans took the word of tesla and used a 60Hz system. now, although a 50Hz system is less efficient in generation and transmission it is still more popular than 60Hz
Does the Swiss tram or trolleybus sytem still use 33.3Hz?
As for 50Hz versus 60Hz there are minor advantages (and trade-offs) to both ...
higher frequencies will allow smaller inductive components (transformers)
lower frequencies will suffer less from line losses on long distribution runs (capacitance and inductance)
I don't think there is any magic behind either number - they had to pick a value to standardise to and these two have proliferated - maybe 400Hz would be more popular if shipbuilding were leading the technology at that time :?: :roll:
and after the 2nd world war britain started using 50Hz AC systems. and then the whole world followed. but the americans took the word of tesla and used a 60Hz system. now, although a 50Hz system is less efficient in generation and transmission it is still more popular than 60Hz
yeah but u can use 230V with 60Hz. and infact Nikola Tesla suggested the use of 230V (or maybe 240V) with 60Hz because according to his calculations that was the optimum combination.