How are transformers used every day?

Answer 1

For the electricity at your home and where you work. Electricity goes through several step down Transformers between the power plant and your home. The electrical lines on the street in front of homes carry voltages of several thousand volts. The transformer on the pole in front of most homes in the U.S. step the voltage down to a total of 240 volts between three wires, two "hots" and a "neutral". The voltage between the two hots is 240 volts, usually for large appliances.The voltage between one hot and the neutral is 120 Volts used for everything else.

There are also transformers in most electronic devices such as T.V.s and computers. These transformers are made to step the voltage down from 120 volts to whatever the operation voltage of the device is. A cell phone charger has both a transformer and a rectifier. The transformer first steps the voltage down from 120 volts to a much lower voltage. Most cell phones now charge at 5 volts so they can be compatible with USB ports on computers, which uses 5 volts. The rectifier (and a filter circuit) then convert the 5 volts AC to 5 volts DC to charge the phone.

Another interesting fact: DC voltage cannot pass through a transformer.