In a wye circuit, the current flow is approximately what percentage less than in an equivalent delta circuit?

In a wye circuit, the relationship between the currents in the wye configuration and the corresponding delta configuration is indeed characterized by a specific ratio. When comparing the currents between an equivalent delta and wye circuit, the current in the wye configuration is approximately 58% less than in the delta configuration.

This significant difference arises from the way that voltage and current are distributed in wye and delta circuits. In a delta circuit, the line-to-line voltage is directly applied across the components, which tends to yield higher currents. Conversely, in a wye configuration, each component experiences a voltage that is reduced by a factor of the square root of three, leading to lower current flow through each individual branch of the circuit.

When you examine the calculations, the current in the wye configuration can be found using the formula for phase currents, which indicates that in a balanced system, the current in the wye configuration is reduced by a ratio of √3 compared to the corresponding line current in the delta configuration. This results in the current being approximately 58% less in a wye circuit than in a delta circuit, clearly justifying the selection of this answer.