numvana

Transformer Turns Ratio Calculator

Find an ideal transformer's secondary voltage and current from its primary winding's voltage, current, and the turns ratio between the two windings.

Turns ratio (Np:Ns)
10:1
Secondary voltage (Vs)
12 V
Secondary current (Is)
20 A
Primary power (ideal)
240 W
Secondary power (ideal, lossless)
240 W

How it works

An ideal transformer couples two windings through a shared magnetic core, and the voltage across each winding is proportional to how many turns it has: Vp/Vs = Np/Ns. Because an ideal (lossless) transformer passes the same power through both sides (Vp×Ip = Vs×Is), the current ratio runs the exact opposite way — a step-down in voltage is always matched by an equal step-up in current, and vice versa: Is/Ip = Np/Ns.

Given the primary winding's turns, voltage, and current plus the secondary's turns, this calculator solves directly for the secondary's voltage (Vs = Vp × Ns/Np) and current (Is = Ip × Np/Ns). Primary and secondary power are reported separately rather than assumed identical, so the result makes the ideal, no-loss assumption visible — a real transformer's secondary power is always slightly less than its primary due to core and winding losses this calculator doesn't model.

FAQ

Why does a step-down transformer increase current?

Because power in must equal power out for an ideal transformer (Vp×Ip = Vs×Is) — if the secondary voltage drops, the secondary current has to rise by the same factor to keep that product unchanged. A 10:1 step-down transformer therefore delivers 10× the current at 1/10th the voltage, never a free reduction in both.

Why doesn't this calculator just assume 100% efficiency is realistic?

It reports the ideal, lossless result because that's what the turns-ratio relationship actually describes — real transformers lose a few percent of power to resistive heating in the windings and alternating-magnetic-field losses in the core, so a real secondary's measured power will come in slightly under this calculator's figure. Treat the result as the theoretical ceiling a real transformer approaches, not an exact prediction of one.

Related calculators