Gene: Thanks.
I was guessing that it was a half sine wave returning only to zero. However, now that you've made me think about it, it doesn't make sense after all. I'm familiar, of course, with half-wave and full-wave rectification (and memorized the four diodes in a square diagram many many years ago). It's amazing that nobody else noticed my error. Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Gene Mechtly > Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 16:40 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Cc: Metric Forum > Subject: [USMA:20347] (no subject) > > > On Fri, 31 May 2002, Bill Potts wrote: > > ... > > Power to U.S. and Canadian houses is 3-wire. Two are live and provide > > full-wave 220 V AC for ovens, stoves, driers, etc. The third wire is > > neutral. Half the house's 110 V circuits use one live, plus neutral. The > > other half use the other live, plus neutral. The fact that the > two sets of > > half-wave circuits are mutually 180 degrees out of phase isn't > a problem. > > ... > > Bill, > > Both branches (black to white, and red to white) are "full wave sinusoidal > 110 V (to about 120 V) ac"! Why do you write "half-wave circuits"? > The term "half-wave" implies rectification by a single diode, which is > *not* involved in usual electrical service to houses in the US. > > Gene. >
