Why is a Return Wire Necessary in Electrical Distribution?

[physicspriya]

i m an electrical student. can anybody clearly tell me why is a return wire provided from the generating plant to the load? does current flow through the return wire or is it simply meant to form a closed lop?

 

[chroot]

The wire is provided because current flows through it, of course. If it had no function, it would seem a bit odd to spend so much money building it.

- Warren

 

[berkeman]

i m an electrical student. can anybody clearly tell me why is a return wire provided from the generating plant to the load? does current flow through the return wire or is it simply meant to form a closed lop?

And with high-power transmission, there are usually three wires, carrying AC power in a 3-phase fashion:

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

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

 

[physicspriya]

so the concept of closed loop is met.Now my next question is does the return wire carry the same amount of current as the go wire?please explain this in detail. Thanks for responding to the previous question

 

[berkeman]

so the concept of closed loop is met.Now my next question is does the return wire carry the same amount of current as the go wire?please explain this in detail. Thanks for responding to the previous question

Thread moved to Homework Help. physicspriya, what do you think? What has your reading about electricity told you so far about your question?

Keep in mind that the propagation of the voltage and current waveforms will happen at a significant fraction of the speed of light, so the answer to your question will depend on how long the wire loop or transmission line is... Can you tell us why?

 

[Cyclops]

Your question I believe is about voltage and current. Kirchoff law states that the sum of currents going into and from a point/node is zero. The current flowing to the load and away from the load will be completely the same. However loads consume power so if the current is the same then the voltage much reduce. The power transferred is due to the voltage drop at the load. For electricity to flow - there must be a ring or loop to and from the source.