dereckbc:
Quote
and that would be your plain ole 60 Hz power supplied by your POCO

Long term this 50 or 60 Hz will be very accurate, Depending on loading on the overall grid the frequency can vary by up to quite a few seconds a day if not tens of seconds a day.

During peak demand the main frequency may be 59.687 Hz for example, for say a couple of hours when all generators in the system are heavily loaded and it is not warranted to start up extra generating capacity. Generally at night when the grid is lighter loaded the frequency will be raised a little like 60.206 Hz for a period of time to make up for lost cycles generated so that over a 24 hour period a "nil" error is in generated cycles.
60 Hz system . 24h*3600*60 = 5,184,000 cycles
50 Hz system . 24h*3600*50 = 4,320,000 cycles
The mains operated clock usually has a hysteresis motor, or synchronous motor which runs exactly in step with the mains frequency, so some seconds are lost during the day and made up for at night. Over a long period these clocks are very accurate. [Linked Image]

The product of rotation, excitation and flux produces electricty.