David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 1/12/2011 5:16 PM Dean Hoffman spake thus:

Frank wrote:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm

That article might drive the EEs here a little batty.
AC doesn't actually flow. The electrons jiggle.
I checked a few pages down and found another obvious error.
There is another mistake he http://tinyurl.com/4dv2hch
just above the watt hour meter.

What, the step-down transformer? What's wrong with that?

The explanation just above it. The center tapped secondary of a
single phase transformer has two phases all of sudden.
(I'm growing up to be a picky old fart.)

And I have to disagree with you; who says AC doesn't flow? During the
positive half-cycle, current flows (electrons from negative to positive,
or "conventional current flow" in the opposite direction).

I suppose this explanation falls apart if looked at from the POV of
quantum physics, but for an explanation of current flow from an
electrical standpoint it's perfectly valid.