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Re: The "typical" high school physics teacher



On Wed, 29 Nov 2000 18:59:57 -0500 Michael Edmiston
<edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU> writes:
............. My unqualified high school physics teacher kicked me out
of class one
day because I argued with him about transformers. He said they
converted AC to DC. When he wouldn't budge I eventually told him he
didn't know
what he was talking about.

On the other hand, your teacher might have been correct. Don't some
transformers, such as those that operate toy trains, convert 120 Vac into
a low voltage dc that is connected to the tracks and accessories ?


That's called a power supply, not a transformer. Transformers NEVER
convert to DC. You have to add additional components to its output to do
that. Wolfgang Rueckner


If so, you should have told the teacher that most transformers will not
convert AC to DC but those that operate toy trains are an exception.

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where people used to give low-voltage DC toy electric train sets
to children for Christmas)


Dr. Wolfgang Rueckner
Harvard Science Center
1 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

phone: (617) 495-5360
fax: (617) 495-1210