Answer to Question #102702 in Electric Circuits for Ansh

Question

State two causes of energy loss in a transformer.

Answer 1

A very informative and useful article on transformers is available at [1]. There are very different types of transformers. All transformers have two main structural components. This is the winding and the core. The winding is a wire coil wound around the core. The core is usually made of soft magnetic material. The main type of loss in the winding is the ohmic loss in the resistance of the coil. They lead to the release of Joule heat with power $W=R\cdot I^2$ , where $R$ is the resistance of a coil, and $I$ is the RMS (Root mean square) current value throw wire.

The main type of loss in the core transformers with  conductive metal core is eddy current losses. When the current in the transformer winding changes, the magnetic field in the core changes with him and according to the law of electromagnetic induction, an alternating electric field is excited in the core. This field causes induced currents and corresponding ohmic losses thus Joule heat is released in the core. To prevent these losses, conductive cores are made from a set of thin plates that are sufficiently well insulated from each other. This design of the core does not allow currents to be closed and sharply reduces their value.

Answer: Two causes of energy loss in a transformer are the winding joule losses and eddy current losses in the core.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer