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Direct current may be converted into alternating current via an inverter. Direct current has many uses, from the charging of batteries to large power supplies for electronic systems, motors, and more. Very large quantities of electrical energy provided via direct-current are used in smelting of aluminum and other electrochemical processes.
Alternating current can also be converted to direct current through use of a rectifier. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. An old name for direct current was galvanic current. [17]
Alternating current is any current that reverses direction repeatedly; almost always this takes the form of a sine wave. [46]: 206–07 Alternating current thus pulses back and forth within a conductor without the charge moving any net distance over time. The time-averaged value of an alternating current is zero, but it delivers energy in first ...
An alternating current of any frequency is forced away from the wire's center, toward its outer surface. This is because an alternating current (which is the result of the acceleration of electric charge) creates electromagnetic waves (a phenomenon known as electromagnetic radiation).
For alternating current, current density decreases exponentially from the surface towards the inside. Skin depth, δ, is defined as the depth where the current density is just 1/e (about 37%) of the value at the surface; it depends on the frequency of the current and the electrical and magnetic properties of the conductor.
Alternating electric current flows through the solenoid on the left, producing a changing magnetic field. This field causes, by electromagnetic induction, an electric current to flow in the wire loop on the right. The most widespread version of Faraday's law states:
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, U.S. patent 284,110) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator.Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-current ...
Skin effect — Tendency of charges to distribute at the surface of a conductor, when an alternating current passes through it. Static electricity — Class of phenomena involving the imbalanced charge present on an object, typically referring to charge with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction (e.g., static cling ...