like, what's your phase? [RE-wrenches]

Marco Mangelsdorf marco at pvthawaii.com
Wed May 11 12:21:08 PDT 2005


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A basic Electricity 101 question: why is "single phase" three-wire (two hots
and a neutral) 120/240VAC called single phase?  Aren't there actually two
phases 180 degrees opposite of each other?  I mean, I can clearly understand
why three-phase power is called three phase with each phase, at least in the
U.S., 120 degrees out-of-phase with each other with no congruence of the
phases at the zero crossing.  Why then isn't "single phase" actually called
two phase?  (And yes, I know that "single phase" is also referred to as
"split phase."  The word "split" implies two, right?

And if, in fact, "single phase" power is single phase, then what's two phase
power?  I read in the American Electricians' Handbook over the weekend
references to "two phase power."  

I'm confused... 

Marco Mangelsdorf
President
ProVision Technologies, Inc.
69 Railroad Avenue, Suite A-7
Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA
(808) 969-3281, fax 934-7462
www.provisiontechnologies.com



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