Originally Posted by
baldscreen
There are always an even number of poles. One provides positive half of the wave form, the other is the negative half. Each revolution of the alternator then provides (# of poles/2) waves, or cycles. An 8 pole machine produces 4 full cycles per revolution. So, in the original problem:
Frequency = (8 poles x 1/2 cycle/pole) x 1500 rev/minute x 1min/60 seconds
Poles & minutes cancel, leaving 100 cycles per sec.
Each phase is separate, so number of phases doesn't affect the calculation.