Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!larry!sde
From: sde@larry.sal.wisc.edu (Scott Ellington)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: 50 Hz in Europe... Was the decision political?
Message-ID: <787@larry.sal.wisc.edu>
Date: 12 Dec 89 19:29:22 GMT
References: <2332@ektools.UUCP>
Reply-To: sde@larry.sal.wisc.edu.UUCP (Scott Ellington)
Organization: Space Astronomy Lab, Madison, WI
Lines: 4

I don't know about the history or politics of the choice of 50 Hz for
power distribution in Europe, but it may have been a simple engineering
trade-off.  At 50 Hz, transmission losses are a little lower that at 
60 Hz, but motors and transformers are larger and more expensive.