Voltagedrop

FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Voltagedropdescribeshowthesuppliedenergyofavoltagesourceisreducedaselectriccurrentmoves
throughthepassiveelements(elementsthatdonotsupplyvoltage)ofanelectricalcircuit.Voltagedrops
acrossinternalresistancesofthesource,acrossconductors,acrosscontacts,andacrossconnectorsare
undesiredsuppliedenergyislost(dissipated).Voltagedropsacrossloadsandacrossotheractivecircuit
elementsaredesiredsuppliedenergyperformsusefulwork.
Forexample,anelectricspaceheatermayhavearesistanceoftenohms,andthewireswhichsupplyit
mayhavearesistanceof0.2ohms,about2%ofthetotalcircuitresistance.Thismeansthat
approximately2%ofthesuppliedvoltageislostinthewireitself.Excessivevoltagedropmayresultin
unsatisfactoryoperationof,anddamageto,electricalandelectronicequipment.
Nationalandlocalelectricalcodesmaysetguidelinesforthemaximumvoltagedropallowedin
electricalwiring,toensureefficiencyofdistributionandproperoperationofelectricalequipment.The
maximumpermittedvoltagedropvariesfromonecountrytoanother.[1]Inelectronicdesignandpower
transmission,varioustechniquesareemployedtocompensatefortheeffectofvoltagedroponlong
circuitsorwherevoltagelevelsmustbeaccuratelymaintained.Thesimplestwaytoreducevoltagedrop
istoincreasethediameteroftheconductorbetweenthesourceandtheload,whichlowerstheoverall
resistance.Inpowerdistributionsystems,agivenamountofpowercanbetransmittedwithlessvoltage
dropifahighervoltageisused.Moresophisticatedtechniquesuseactiveelementstocompensateforthe
undesiredvoltagedrop.

Contents
1Voltagedropindirectcurrentcircuits:resistance
2Voltagedropinalternatingcurrentcircuits:impedance
3Seealso
4References
5Externallinks

Voltagedropindirectcurrentcircuits:resistance
ConsideradirectcurrentcircuitwithaninevoltDCsourcethreeresistorsof67ohms,100ohms,and
470ohmsandalightbulballconnectedinseries.TheDCsource,theconductors(wires),the
resistors,andthelightbulb(theload)allhaveresistancealluseanddissipatesuppliedenergytosome
degree.Theirphysicalcharacteristicsdeterminehowmuchenergy.Forexample,theDCresistanceofa
conductordependsupontheconductor'slength,crosssectionalarea,typeofmaterial,andtemperature.
IfthevoltagebetweentheDCsourceandthefirstresistor(67ohms)ismeasured,thevoltagepotential
atthefirstresistorwillbeslightlylessthanninevolts.Thecurrentpassesthroughtheconductor(wire)
fromtheDCsourcetothefirstresistorasthisoccurs,someofthesuppliedenergyis"lost"(unavailable
totheload),duetotheresistanceoftheconductor.Voltagedropexistsinboththesupplyandreturn

wiresofacircuit.Ifthevoltageacrosseachresistorismeasured,themeasurementwillbeasignificant
number.Thatrepresentstheenergyusedbytheresistor.Thelargertheresistor,themoreenergyusedby
thatresistor,andthebiggerthevoltagedropacrossthatresistor.
Ohm'sLawcanbeusedtoverifyvoltagedrop.InaDCcircuit,voltageequalscurrentmultipliedby
resistance.
.Also,Kirchhoff'scircuitlawsstatethatinanyDCcircuit,thesumofthevoltage
dropsacrosseachcomponentofthecircuitisequaltothesupplyvoltage.

Voltagedropinalternatingcurrentcircuits:impedance
Inalternatingcurrentcircuits,oppositiontocurrentflowdoesoccurbecauseofresistance(justasin
directcurrentcircuits).Alternatingcurrentcircuitsalsopresentasecondkindofoppositiontocurrent
flow:reactance.This"total"opposition(resistance"plus"reactance)iscalledimpedance.The
impedanceinanalternatingcurrentcircuitdependsonthespacinganddimensionsoftheelementsand
conductors,thefrequencyofthealternatingcurrent,andthemagneticpermeabilityoftheelements,the
conductors,andtheirsurroundings.
ThevoltagedropinanACcircuitistheproductofthecurrentandtheimpedance(Z)ofthecircuit.
Electricalimpedance,likeresistance,isexpressedinohms.Electricalimpedanceisthevectorsumof
electricalresistance,capacitivereactance,andinductivereactance.Itisexpressedbytheformula
,analogoustoOhm'slawfordirectcurrentcircuits.

Seealso
Voltagedivider
Electricaldistribution
Electricalresistance
Kirchhoff'svoltagelaw
Electricalconduction
Groundloop(electricity)
Powercable
Meshanalysis

References
1. ^[1](http://www.electricalinstallation.schneiderelectric.com/voltagedrop.htm)

ElectricalPrinciplesfortheElectricalTrades(JimJennesson)5thedition

Externallinks
FreewareNECTables,CECTablesandElectricalCalculationforyourPC(http://mc
group.ca/download.htm)
VoltageDropCalculator
(http://www.engineersedge.com/instrumentation/voltage_drop_calculator/wire_voltage_drop_calc

ulator_12928.htm)
EPRIPowerQualityVoltageDropCalculator(http://www.mypq.net/tools/voltagedrop.asp)
VoltagedropofBritishmainscables(http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?
title=Cables#Voltage_Drop)
BS7671:2008CableSizingTool(http://myelectrical.com/tools/cablesizingcalculator)
CableSize&VoltDropCalculatorUK(http://www.bbowner.co.uk/voltdropcablesize
calculator.html)
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voltage_drop&oldid=640718308"
Categories: Electricity Electricalparameters Cables
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon2January2015,at22:53.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionalterms
mayapply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.