Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jMmUoZh3Hq4
On the left is non-American power. On the right is American power. As you can see, the left is simple. Just 240V. The right however is a bit more complicated. There’s a center tap which splits the 240V power into two 120V power sources. But 240V is still accessible across the two wires. This makes it safer (NOT SAFE, just safer!) than full 240V, but 240V is still available whenever needed. Of course, this is totally offset by horrible unsafe American plugs that can shock you if you do something dumb with them, but that’s not the point.
