Do power stations operate like batteries?

Question

Does a power station have a set of wires leaving it and travelling to the electrical network and a set of wires coming back into it from the electrical network, in much the same way as the + and - terminals of a battery? If not, why not?

Also, does an electrical appliance, e.g. a hairdryer, also have + and - coming from and going back to the electrical socket?

Answer 1

Power stations and batteries are different types of voltage.

Batteries = DC (Direct Current), uses a positive and negative pole to complete the circuit.

Power Transmission = AC (Alternating Current), uses a "hot", "common (or neutral)" to complete circuit.

AC cycles between positive and negative voltage. The rate of this positive/negative cycle is described in cycles per second or Hertz (Hz). So ... 120 VAC 60Hz is 120 volts AC cycling positive-negative 60 times per second.

The primary reason for AC is safety. AC will deliver a shock to a person and because of the reversing polarity, it will temporarily release allowing the involuntary contraction of your muscles to pull your limb away from the source. DC on the other hand will cause your muscles to contract without release. Obviously this is very dangerous.

To answer you final question, your appliances are AC and therefore do not have a + and -. They either have 2 or 3 elements ... A hot, common (aka neutral) and sometimes a ground.

Some small equipment for use in a motor vehicle may come with a cigarette lighter plug. This does have a + and - because the vehicle uses a 12 volt DC electrical system.

Answer 2

There is no power storage capability in AC power distribution systems. Power generating stations are interconnected with wires so that the load can be shared. However, the power generation from each station is only in one direction - outward.
Power generation is done by turbine- driven mechanical generators. The design is such that when the machine is running at the proper speed and the alternating power phase exactly matches, power can be produced. If the speed is reduced, it is automatically disconnected because it can indeed draw power from the system which will be lost as the generator begins to act like a "motor".
Power generation and household power are AC (alternating current). There is no +/- polarity in the wires like there is in an automobile DC system. However, In both types of AC or DC distribution there has to be more than one wire for there to be a complete circuit.
But beware. In your home part of the circuit is a "hot" and "neutral" and ground connection. If you have one wire and also contact to the ground, there can be a current flow.

Answer 3

Not exactly. Most, if not all, power plants generate alternating current. This means that the voltage on a given wire rapidly cycles between positive and negative. Instead of using a return wire to complete the circuit, the earth is used.

In your home, each outlet has a hot wire, a neutral wire, and a ground wire. The hot wire carries the current generated at the power plant. The neutral and the ground basically go to the same place, a metal stake driven into the ground, but are kept separate for safety reasons.

Answer 4

i think it is..in order to complete the circuit you must have a + and - supply and load(electrical appliance)..but nowadays we commonly use the ac supply,which only have a ground and live terminal..electrical appliances commonly use ac (alternating current) supply,which doesn't require polarity on each terminal...i hope I'm right,,correct me if I'm wrong..