I’m trying to find out how many turns of a wire denote the electrical output of a generator. Also, to have 60Hz, I’m assuming that the field needs to be broken 60 times per second? So, a larger number of magnets passing the coil would reduce the speed needed to generate 60 Hz?
I’ve looked around the internet before asking this question, but I don’t think I’m wording properly what it is I want to know.
I’m sure there is a formula somewhere that denotes the turns of wire for what I want. I have a pretty good understanding of electricity to begin with, for a laymen. I understand HOW to make things, like a Tesla coil, but I can’t predict the resulting voltage, because I can’t find the equations anywhere!
I am making a magnetic generator, (permanent magnets). But, I don’t want it to be useless when I’m done, and be nothing more than a toy with outputs that have no real use!
So, haw many turns to get 120 volts? Can I use multiple coils? If so, how would I wire them together to stay at 120? Would I need to consider the 60Hz as being added together for ALL coils? Or would that stay at 60 Hz because that is the frequency of each of the coils?
As you can see, I need a little help with this. I love to read and learn new things, so if you have time to just post a link I could use, that would be great!
Thanks!
Sam: I’m still reading from the links you have provided. I’ve learned a lot already!
Coils can be either placed on the rotor or the stator, as I suspected. The result is the same. An EMF is the result. Which when placed under load will generate a current. Rotor and stator are simply terms to denote which piece is stationary and which is rotating.
I’m still working on the 60Hz. If I’m correct, the magnetic field must go through a complete cycle of +/- in one second, to create 1 Hz. So, If I used 10 magnets, each showing a reversed pole from the one before it…1 RPM in one second, should equal 5 Hz?
I’m still working from your first link, as it has MANY links inside it to follow. I’m sure I will find everything I need now. My biggest problem was not knowing the terminology for what I was looking for. You have certainly fixed that problem for me with the links provided.
Thank you very much for your help!
EDIT: RPM should read revolution.
12. August 2010 at 1:31 am
I have a BS degree in Electrical Engineering but field and optics is not my focus area so I may not be able to answer you fully.
You do have very good basic knowledge to start off with. But in my understanding, in order to get a 60 Hz frequency, the coil has to make 60 revolutions per section. I cannot think of any other way to get the same frequency without the coil making fewer or more than 60 revolutions/sec. And I think the turns of coils do not matter in the generator.
If you want to learn about the basic formulae in this problem, I suggest that you start looking at "Faraday’s Law" or "Biot-Savart’s Law." (Easily accessible in wikipedia).
Faraday’s Law dictates that in a closed loop, current is induced as the total magnetic field passing through it changes. The amount of voltage induced in the loop can be also calculated using Faraday’s law. So please refer to "Faraday’s Law" in wikipedia.
Also, since you are building an AC generator, there is another important concept about AC voltage. AC voltages typically switch signs (+) and (-). So the voltage you are looking at is the RMS value.
Here are a few websites that could be useful in your project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faradays_law
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/motorac.html