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A standard panel in the US that has single phase coming in is 2 110 lines opposite in polarity. Every other breaker in the box is on an alternating leg. A 220 breaker is double wide grabing one of each pole. An appliance like a stove that is 220 can have an internal timer running off just one of the legs and neutral.I doubt it has anything to do with DC. DC was Edison's thing and AC was Tesla's. They hated each other. AC won out because it transfer over a large distance with minimal loss in comparison to DC. They both had patents on things and would not license them to the other.
When 240 power is required, a second sine wave is introduced exactly the opposite of this one so at the peak, there is 240 volts from peak to peak and zero at the crossing. Good overview (new window).
I cannot really verify this but from what I'm seeing researching this,Aussie power is unlike ours. We have a load wire(black) supplying 110V ,a common(white) return to source,and a ground. Aussie uses one leg of 220V,one leg return to source and a ground. Soooo....... don't do what Carl(and myself previously) suggested. A few readings with the voltmeter should verify this.