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The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean simply alternating and direct, respectively, as when they modify current or voltage. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The usual waveform of alternating current in most electric power circuits is a sine wave , whose positive half-period corresponds with positive direction of the current and vice versa (the full ...
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]
A converter from alternating to direct current, where switching devices actively are operated in step with the positive and negative excursions of the supply. synchroscope An instrument used to bring an alternating current generator into synchronization with a grid, that uses a moving pointer or set of lamps. system identification
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 ...
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 include simple devices such as transformers, and more complex ones like resonant converters.
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.
In a simple alternating current (AC) circuit consisting of a source and a linear time-invariant load, both the current and voltage are sinusoidal at the same frequency. [3] If the load is purely resistive, the two quantities reverse their polarity at the same time. Hence, the instantaneous power, given by the product of voltage and current, is ...