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ãEISCO SCIENTIFIC – www.eiscolabs.com
DEMONSTRATION TRANSFORMER APPARATUS
INTRODUCTION:
This apparatus is designed for supervised student use. Though the projects outlined in this kit
are safe under standard operation, dangerous voltages and currents can be created with
this kit so careful supervision is required. This kit provides means of
• Building a step-up and step-down transformer
• Understanding induction for DC vs. AC voltage
• Investigating the effect of an iron core and iron loop in transformers
CONSTRUCTION and BACKGROUND:
The kit contains 4 coil units and one dissectible iron core unit, with a U-shaped piece, I-shaped
piece, and retaining clamps with stainless steel bars. One coil unit has a 230 VAC 3-pin
connector with an on/off switch. The remaining units all have 4-mm connectors labeled by the
number of coil turns and maximum permissible current.
The coil units can be placed on either the U-shaped or I-shaped iron core. The coil unit to
which power is applied in a circuit is called the primary coil. The other coil is called the
secondary coil.
When power is supplied to the primary coil, magnetic fields are created. An electromotive force
(EMF) is created in the secondary coil in response to the changing magnetic field. Thus, even
though the primary and secondary coil have no electrical connection, they carry an inductive
connection which allows energy to be transferred from the primary to the secondary coil.
Generally speaking, if the secondary coil has more turns than the primary coil, the EMF
induced in the secondary coil will be larger than the primary coil. If the secondary coil has
fewer coils then the induced EMF will be smaller than in the primary coil.
The ratio between the voltages in the primary and secondary coils will be roughly equal to the
ratio of the coils. The actual resistance of some of the coils is very small so extreme care must
be taken is constructing circuits to ensure students and teachers don’t injure themselves or
damage the equipment.
WARNING!
Very large and unsafe voltages can be created
with this kit using even small power supplies.
Extreme care should be taken to avoid dangerous transformer coil combinations.
WARNING!
WARNING!
The components of this kit carry the risk of electric
shock and should be used with extreme caution.
WARNING!
