Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
How many volts are being dropped
French translation:
de combien de volts la tension est abaissée
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2013-04-13 14:54:07 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Apr 9, 2013 17:13
11 yrs ago
English term
France
How many volts are being dropped
English to French
Tech/Engineering
Electronics / Elect Eng
The voltage optimiser is equipped with a power bar display:
The height of the bar is broadly representative of the savings being made
The height of the bar is a function of:
How many volts are being dropped, and
How much energy is being consumed.
It is broadly representative because we cannot differentiate between loads which yield a saving and loads which do not
The height of the bar is broadly representative of the savings being made
The height of the bar is a function of:
How many volts are being dropped, and
How much energy is being consumed.
It is broadly representative because we cannot differentiate between loads which yield a saving and loads which do not
Proposed translations
(French)
| 4 | de combien de volts la tension est abaissée |
Daryo
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| 4 +1 | quelle est la chute de tension |
Agathe Seneschal
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| 4 | chute de tension en volts |
wolfheart
|
Proposed translations
17 mins
Selected
de combien de volts la tension est abaissée
..
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Note added at 22 mins (2013-04-09 17:35:20 GMT)
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la tension est abaissée = c'est le résultat d'une action délibérée (ST: volts are being dropped)
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Note added at 3 hrs (2013-04-09 20:19:30 GMT)
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Normally, if you reduce the applied voltage, the intensity of the electrical current is also reduced (in proportion to the drop in voltage, if the electrical resistance doesn't change significantly with the change of temperature of the wire) so the consumed power (amps multiplied by volts = watts) is also reduced, not in proportion to the drop in voltage but with the square of the drop in voltage i.e. reduce the voltage by 50 % and the consumed power drops to 25 % (50 % x 50%) of the initial value.
So, yes dropping the voltage will reduce the power consumed. (that's how light dimmers work, btw, by gradually dropping the voltage applied to the light bulb).
Having said that, who and why would need this kind of equipment, I have no idea, but it doesn't change the fact that the ST is about a deliberate reduction of voltage "une tension qui a été abaissée", not a tension that dropped on its own at the point of connection to the grid.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 mins (2013-04-09 17:35:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
la tension est abaissée = c'est le résultat d'une action délibérée (ST: volts are being dropped)
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2013-04-09 20:19:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Normally, if you reduce the applied voltage, the intensity of the electrical current is also reduced (in proportion to the drop in voltage, if the electrical resistance doesn't change significantly with the change of temperature of the wire) so the consumed power (amps multiplied by volts = watts) is also reduced, not in proportion to the drop in voltage but with the square of the drop in voltage i.e. reduce the voltage by 50 % and the consumed power drops to 25 % (50 % x 50%) of the initial value.
So, yes dropping the voltage will reduce the power consumed. (that's how light dimmers work, btw, by gradually dropping the voltage applied to the light bulb).
Having said that, who and why would need this kind of equipment, I have no idea, but it doesn't change the fact that the ST is about a deliberate reduction of voltage "une tension qui a été abaissée", not a tension that dropped on its own at the point of connection to the grid.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
FX Fraipont (X)
: How then do you make sense of "the savings being made"? If you bring down the voltage from a high of 232V to rated 220V, there are no savings in terms of power, quite the opposite, actually. And, as I said, no shooting is intended, messenger or otherwise.
6 mins
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don't shoot the messenger, that's what's in the ST: this equipment is supposed to lower the voltage, to "drop/shed" volts (=> " volts are being dropped")
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| neutral |
Tony M
: That's not quite technically accurate, as F-X points out. 'voltage drop' represents a loss of voltage across a device, which can be good or bad; nothing really to do with 'shedding' as such. No, passive unnecessary here.
4 hrs
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it's not that drop being measured; ST says this device is on purpose reducing/dropping the voltage supplied as output. (a bit like a light dimmer does on a smaller scale) so the passive voice should be used.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much for all your help. I think most of you are right, but this seemed the right answer given the context."
15 mins
chute de tension en volts
***
+1
29 mins
Agathe Seneschal
France
France
Native in French
Specializes in field
France
An engineer and a translator
Native in: French (Variant: Standard-France) 
Works in: English to French
Related KudoZ points
:
36
quelle est la chute de tension
Je ne pense pas qu'il soit nécessaire d'ajouter "volts", l'unité de mesure de la tension étant le volt...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: Oui, en effet ! Et surtout parce que l'affichage n'est pas numérique, il ne s'agit donc pas de chiffre exact, mais d'une simple indication.
4 hrs
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Merci Tony !
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Discussion
I think caution is in order, at least until we have the full context...
Do note that there is nothing especially signifcant about the use of the passive here in EN: it is just a common-enough turn of phrase, one should be wary of reading too much into it...
The input is the standard voltage from the grid (say 240 V); the output side is connected to some consumers and has a variable voltage. By reducing the output voltage the consumed power is also reduced, when needed.
The drop in voltage shown on this display is the reduction of voltage at the output compared to the input voltage from the grid. A drop of 25V would mean the attached consumer is being supplied with 215V instead of the 240V coming from the grid. That drop in voltage is the result of the work of this device, so displaying it shows to the user that the device is "making some savings".