Why does India's (along with Europe's) electrical system have a different voltage than the US?

Question

Does it offer any advantages? Or is it just different?

Answer 1

in USA at first Direct current was used
using it caused lot of loss of power while transmission
so it was thought to maintain a low voltage to decrease the energy loss(note power=potential difference X current)

but in other countries it seems to have started with alternatin current in alternating current there is a very very minimal loss while transmission

so a higher V can be maintained

advantage of higher voltage is that more energy can transfered in short time

disadvantage of hogher voltage:u will get a deadlier shock

Answer 2

The higher the voltage the more current can be carried through smaller wires. Ditto the frequency of 60 cycles or hertz.

Europe has the better system as America was first and did the most stupid thing possible... adopted 60 Hz... the ideal frequency to stop a person's heart. Not 50Hz, not 70Hz, but 60Hz... the exact same frequency of the EKG's 'R' wave, that we know otherwise as a "heart beat." LOL!

It was long before we knew about the advantages. All military aircraft works at 400Hz. iow, if you need to count on something, you don't do it the 'old' way.

If you want the math... here is how it works:

200 watt light bulb at 200 volts uses 1 amp

200 watt light bulb at 100 volts uses 2 amp

It takes a bigger wire to carry 2 amps than it does 1 amp.

More copper, heavier and less efficient. Of course 220 or 240 can kill you a lot quicker than 120V.

Ohms law

E=I * R

Watts E*I

E = Voltage, I = Current in amps, R = resistance in ohms.

Your power supply on in your computer is called a “switching” power supply. Why? Because it operates at a much higher frequency. Why? Because the transformers and capacitors can be made smaller for the same amount of power it produces.

UK uses a little lower frequency than the USA.

BTW, the European model isn’t “far” superior than the USA for those that are illiterate but want the USA to always be first.

Sometimes we are first, but not in this case.

Europe was at 110 Volts too, before WWII. They decided to up the voltage to 220 to save on the copper. America would like to have done the same but there were many more appliances in the USA than in Europe.

Why does Europe have 50Hz instead of 60Hz like in America? They changed it to 50Hz to fit better in their metric system of base ten.

Nope... it's Europe that wanted to be different, not the USA.

Europe made a better call on this one.

Not the metric of 50Hz however since generators are 20% less efficient than 60Hz generators.

Answer 3

It was created while it was a British colony, so it uses the same system as in the UK and most of Europe.

I suppose the higher voltage has an advantage of letting you plug in a wider variety of appliances into any outlet (like a washer/dryer), but there are no real advantages to either system. They are just different.

Answer 4

A watt is a unit of power that can be translated directly into horsepower. An amp (ampere) is a quantity of electricity like a quantity of water. We might measure water flow in gallons per hour and we measure the flow electricity in amps per second. Voltage is electrical pressure--how far will the water squirt from the hose. A watt is one volt times one amp per second.

To get more water to flow, you can either get a bigger pipe or raise the pressure. Bigger pipes cost a lot of money. Fatter wires also cost a lot of money, so raising the voltage lets you get away with using thinner, cheaper wires. The higher the voltage, the more dangerous it is.

Answer 5

In the US nearly every house has 240 AND 120V circuits. The Higher voltage is used for the higher energy appliances, lower for most everything else.
The net effect is that the weight of the copper wire in the lower voltage circuits is greater than if 240 were used throughout. Keeps our metal industries financially healthy......!

Answer 6

The exact voltage is arbitrary. It's just important that the appliances plugged into the grid have been engineered to operate properly with the voltage being used.

Answer 7

nicely the U. S. is a u . s . even as Europe is a continent..... Europeans variety a lot in language, looks, ideals, way of life, attitudes....etc etc. i'm from Europe, I honestly have by no ability been to the U. S. do not comprehend what it really is like extremely. i wager the numerous ameliorations is that the U. S. doesn't have as a lot historic previous and is no longer as previous as Europe. also your politics are diverse to many eu international places. on account that I honestly have by no ability been outdoors Europe (nicely except for to north africa) I desire Europe.....yet like I honestly have stated I honestly have by no ability even been the U. S.

Answer 8

It is just different. There really is no advantage to thier system over ours or vice versa. We happen to use 120 V 60 Hz AC current where they use 220V 70Hz AC current. It is just a different system and is totally arbitrary.

Answer 9

because in europe and india they aint showy like the states, with their higher mains voltage. bunch of show offs.

Answer 10

I think part of europe took over India and US did not.And it's just different.