A polyphase system is a means of distributing alternating-current electrical power. Polyphase systems have three or more energized electrical conductors carrying alternating currents with a definite time offset between the voltage waves in each conductor. Polyphase systems are particularly useful for transmitting power to electric motors. The most common example is the three-phase power system used for industrial applications and for power transmission. The most obvious advantage of three-phase power transmission using three wires, as compared to single-phase power transmission over two wires, is that the power transmitted in the three-phase system is the voltage multiplied by the current in each wire times the square root of three (approximately 1.73). The power transmitted by the single-phase system is simply the voltage multiplied by the current. Thus the three-phase system transmits 73% more power but uses only 50% more wire.
Read more about Polyphase System: Phases, Motors, Higher Phase Order
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces upon us the manufacture of the hydrogen bomb. We do not choose our problems, we do not choose our products; we are pushed, we are forced—by what? By a system which has no purpose and goal transcending it, and which makes man its appendix.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)