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"Alternating current" most commonly refers to power distribution, but a wide range of other applications are technically alternating current although it is less common to describe them by that term. In many applications, like guitar amplifiers , different waveforms are used, such as triangular waves or square waves .
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.
Types of electric current Rectification of a sine wave produces pulsed DC. Pulsed DC ( PDC ) or pulsating direct current is a periodic current which changes in value but never changes direction. Some authors use the term pulsed DC to describe a signal consisting of one or more rectangular ("flat-topped"), rather than sinusoidal, pulses.
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]
A power converter is an electrical device for converting electrical energy between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). It can also change the voltage or frequency of the current. Power Converters can include simpler tools such as transformer or more complex like a resonant converter.
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.
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The plotted line represents the variation of instantaneous voltage (or current) with respect to time. This cycle repeats with a frequency that depends on the power system. In electrical engineering, three-phase electric power systems have at least three conductors carrying alternating voltages that are offset in time by one-third of the period ...