If a motor loses one of its three supply phases, what is this condition called?

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Multiple Choice

If a motor loses one of its three supply phases, what is this condition called?

Explanation:
When a three-phase motor loses one of its supply phases, the motor becomes single-phased. With only two healthy phases, the stator field cannot form a proper rotating magnetic field, so torque drops dramatically and the motor can overheat as the currents in the remaining windings rise. If this condition continues, insulation damage and overheating can occur, and protective overloads may trip. The other items listed are not the fault condition themselves: a breaker is a device that interrupts current, a relay is a control switch, and an encoder provides position feedback. The term single phasing specifically describes this fault.

When a three-phase motor loses one of its supply phases, the motor becomes single-phased. With only two healthy phases, the stator field cannot form a proper rotating magnetic field, so torque drops dramatically and the motor can overheat as the currents in the remaining windings rise. If this condition continues, insulation damage and overheating can occur, and protective overloads may trip. The other items listed are not the fault condition themselves: a breaker is a device that interrupts current, a relay is a control switch, and an encoder provides position feedback. The term single phasing specifically describes this fault.

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