High Voltage Power Transmission
Someone asked me why high voltages are used to transmit power over long distances, so I thought I’d make a post on the explanation.
Power = current time voltage, and voltage = current times resistance. P = IV and V = IR. Substituting IR for V in the first equation we get P = I2R, meaning the power loss is proportional to the square of the current. In fact, these losses are often referred to as “I2R losses.” Thus we need to keep the current to a minimum, which, because P = IV, means high voltages.
