Re: details of what is happening with A/C electricity

On Mar 17, 8:32 am, bz <bz+...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
paulaireilly <paulairei...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:1173233930.410368.318220
@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:

If you try to think of capacitors and inductors, the analogies start
to break down, but very roughly, something like water towers act like
capacitors, and momentum of water acts a bit like inductance,

A chamber with a flexable diaphram blocking 'through flow' while
allowing pulses to pass is an analogy for a capacitor.

The water tower or a 'water hammer suppressor' like device is an
inductor.

i don't think so. i would say that water towers are the hydrological
analog of a DC battery. the (dual ported) chamber with a flexible
diaphramis a good analog of a capacitor (or one with a spring loaded
piston). probably the only analog of an inductor that i can think of
is a chamber filled with fan-blades or propellors that are all
connected to flywheels. the momentum of the flywheels will resist
changes in the current flow as what happens in inductors. a pipe with
obstructions (screens, gravel, etc) that causes turbulence would be a
the hydrological analog of a resistor. a diode would be modeled as a
pipe with a "check valve" (one-way valve), a transistor or amplifier
would be modeled with more difficulty.

r b-j

.