In 1887, Tesla , the "father of alternating current ", was walking the streets of the United States glumly.
should know that he just invented the 3-phase 220V AC. It is for this reason that he was later called the "Father of Alternating Current". But judging from the current situation, Tesla seems to be dissatisfied with his invention.
But that was not the case, because at that time, a man named Edison was competing with him.
As early as the second half of the 19th century, Edison invented direct current . In 1881, based on this, Edison established the world's first central power plant in New York and installed three 110V direct current generators. . The power plant
can power 7200 incandescent lamps . Edison's light bulbs use 110V DC. Afterwards, the United States began the mighty second industrial revolution . Since then, incandescent lamps have entered thousands of households.
Just when Edison's development of direct current was in full swing, unexpectedly, Cheng Yaojin, Tesla's alternating current, suddenly appeared halfway.
AC power, as the name suggests, is to convert DC power into AC power, and then transport it to thousands of households or factories.
Compared with DC, AC is less damaged during transportation and loses less heat from the circuit. When saw this, Edison couldn't sit still. In order to suppress Tesla, he set obstacles at every turn and restricted the passage of exchange points in the United States. In the end,
suffered from lagging development. Even if Tesla wanted to refute him, his arm could not twist his thigh. In desperation, Tesla found a local organization.
AC has such great advantages. It stands to reason that relevant organizations will strongly support Tesla so that AC can develop vigorously in the United States. However, unexpectedly, the result was that the United States once let Tesla, including the entire American people, Shocking. After the incident of
, the United States bluntly stated that will continue to use direct current and the voltage will continue to be 110V.
What's going on?
I later learned that it was not that the US government did not use alternating current, but that they could not use alternating current. Later, the government explained the reasons one by one.
AC power does have its advantages. At the beginning, AC power gradually replaced the DC power generation mode in industrial applications, and once became the new power supply standard in the United States.
However, it is always difficult to have both, and of course there is no perfect thing. Due to some practical factors, the US government had to lower the voltage back to 110V. The reason for lies with the American people themselves.
The large electrical appliances that people buy now are all 110V voltage, and the power grid in the United States has been laid out according to 110V.
If the 110V power grid is completely transformed into a 220V power grid, the money consumed will be immeasurable. In this way, due to economic and other factors, the US government finally lowered the voltage to 110V.
In addition, in order to facilitate calculation, the US government has also set the AC voltage standard at 110V/60Hz. Since , the United States has continued to use 110V until today. This is also the fundamental reason why Chinese people who want to travel to the United States today must bring a power converter in addition to passports, ID cards, and other items.
Speaking of this, some people have questioned whether the US government's adjustment of the voltage to 110V, apart from the public's reasons, has anything to do with the voltage itself?
Is 10V voltage safer than 220V?
Before answering this question, first of all, we need to make it clear that the security of is actually relative.
In most people's perception, 110V seems to be safer than 220V, but in fact it is not. Both are equally fatal to the human body. It all boils down to the voltage limit that the human body can withstand.
For the human body, the maximum voltage that can withstand is 36V, and the maximum current it can withstand is 10mA. Therefore, whether it is 110V or 220V, it is equally fatal.
followed by the related losses between the two.
From the physical formula p=UI, we can know that under the same transmission power, the greater the voltage, the smaller the current. Therefore, the current on the 10V transport wire is much greater than the current on the 220V transport wire.
Finally, combine the power P=I*I*R formula of the resistance loss of the transmission line. When the resistance is the same, the greater the current, the greater the power loss.
In short, compared to 220V voltage, 110V voltage actually has no advantages in all aspects. However, the current US power grid and popular electrical appliances have been laid out. In desperation, the United States has no choice but to compromise and continue to use 110V voltage.
This was also the fundamental reason for Tesla’s subsequent defeat. After all, personal persistence is insignificant in the face of national interests.
Fortunately, scientists have national boundaries, but science has no borders. Later, Tesla’s original intention was perfectly implemented in Europe. currently has voltage restrictions in the United States, but not in Europe and other places. It is a recognized fact that
110V has a low voltage and is not conducive to daily use. For this reason, after Europe introduced 110V, it directly changed its specifications to 220V, and it has been used to this day. At present, European countries have been using the 220V/50Hz AC power grid standard.
Why does our country use 220V civilian voltage?
Our country currently uses 220V, but that was not the case before and .
In 1982, our country established its first power plant. After all, everything is in the process of continuous development and evolution, and the same is true for the voltage usage in our country.
At the beginning, due to chaotic management, there was no standard for the voltage used in our country. We often used yours and I used mine. The use was extremely confusing and there were no specifications at all. It was not until the founding of New China that this chaos gradually disappeared.
attributed to After the founding of New China, we took a ride on the Soviet Union.
With the help of the Soviet Union, our country's power grid construction was gradually improved. After that, a unified electricity consumption standard was established on this basis. This is where the 220V voltage used in our country today comes from.
Specifically, because the power grid standard implemented by the Soviet Union at that time was , the European standard , we learned from them, and naturally our country's power grid usage standard was the same as Europe's, 220V/50HZ. This is the fundamental reason why we never need to bring a voltage converter when traveling to Europe or Russia.
Which countries in the world are like China, and which countries are like the United States?
Speaking of this, one country needs to be mentioned in particular, Japan.
A group of friends traveled to Japan before. Before arriving in Japan, everyone was happy, but unexpectedly, not long after arriving in Japan, everyone became depressed.
It turns out that Japan’s residential and industrial electricity standards are lower than the 110V voltage in the United States. The voltage they use is only 100V. Due to the fact that no one has a voltage converter nowadays, they have no choice but to spend a lot of money to buy a voltage converter locally.
Afterwards, everyone learned that Japan originally used the 100V voltage, but it was out of its own practical considerations.
Japan has many islands and a relatively concentrated population. Therefore, they have no need for long-distance power transmission. In other words, they have no need to use high voltage at all. After comprehensive consideration, Japan resolutely gave up the 220V voltage and chose a small voltage.
later proved that the advantages of using small volts far outweigh the disadvantages.
Firstly, the small voltage can reduce damage to transmission lines, and secondly, it can also reduce the difficulty of laying the power grid. is extremely friendly in terms of human, material and financial resources.
In addition, some American countries such as Cuba , Brazil , Mexico , and Lebanon also use 110V voltage. Talk about it. The use of low voltage in these countries is, to some extent, influenced by the United States.
On the contrary, there are many countries that use 220V voltage. Britain, Germany, France, Singapore , Italy, Greece , Netherlands , Austria , Macau China, Singapore, Norway , etc. all use 220V voltage.
Can American and Japanese electrical appliances be used in our country?
In fact, we only need to connect a 220V to 110V voltage converter, convert the voltage, and then connect it to electrical appliances for use. The specific operation method of
is that the 220V input end of the voltage converter is connected to the mains power, and the 110V input end of the foreign appliance is inserted into the output socket of the voltage converter.
Generally speaking, there is no difference between high and low voltage. In the end, the one that suits your national conditions is the best.
