Electric wire size

You mean power from the standard house outlet right back to the transmission lines connected to the power stations.

The conversion boxes are called "transformers".

For simplicity they power transmission and distribution network can be expressed as a line diagram using a series of a few transformer squares with interconnecting lines representing the different line voltage potentials between the power station and the house.

Thanks for the transformer termonology.

I can't use a line diagram, won't fit this kind of essay. The words and terms are what I need most. Need to sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Here is a good place to start to find the answers yourself.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/

Hi, douglass,

Howstuffworks has some good leads, giving you diagrams (which you can't use, but show you the layout to be described) and the nomenclature (which you can use). I haven't followed through the links, but it looks promising.

Hi Douglass,

Some basics first - the electricity does not go through your outlet to the power plant;it is the other way round. The power plant is the source, from where the electricity is generated, usually at voltages around 11kV. From the power plant the electricity passes through a step-up transformer, which boosts the voltage to typically 110kV or above. Transmission voltages are kept high, so that the current in the transmission lines is low, which minimizes the energy lost in the conductor (losses =I²R) as heat. The conductor is usually made of aluminium and is not insulated. At the other end of the transmission line, the voltage is reduced by using step-down transformers, which are located in sub-stations, and then when it reaches your home the voltage is at 110V (assuming you are in the US). The distribution lines from the substations to the meters of individual homes are insulated aluminium conductors. In general, sizes of conductors are proportional to the current they carry.

See also the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission

Guest (#5), Did a good job of supplying you with valuable information. In order for you to obtain further technical information regarding power transmission that is commonly accepted by all physics/engineering people you only need to obtain a college physics book and the Handbook of Physics and Chemistry. You need to fully understand the I squared power factor because current is carried through high voltage transmission line to prevent heated line (power) loss as compared to household voltages @(120-240v). You can find considerable information as to wire gauges and other data in the Handbook mentioned.

You must use AC current to either raise or lower voltages (works either way in and out of transformers) . However, transformers can not raise and lower transmission DC voltages, hence the reason that we use AC today. There is an interestig history behind the battle for markets between AC and DC generation, the electric chair demonstration, etc.---Look it up!