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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 ...
The war of the currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It grew out of two lighting systems developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s; arc lamp street lighting running on high-voltage alternating current (AC), and large-scale low-voltage direct current (DC) indoor incandescent lighting ...
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.
An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC).
The AC current density J in a conductor decreases exponentially from its value at the surface J S according to the depth d from the surface, as follows: [4]: 362 = (+) / where is called the skin depth which is defined as the depth below the surface of the conductor at which the current density has fallen to 1/e (about 0.37) of J S.
Some authors use the term pulsed DC to describe a signal consisting of one or more rectangular ("flat-topped"), rather than sinusoidal, pulses. [1] Pulsed DC is commonly produced from AC (alternating current) by a half-wave rectifier or a full-wave rectifier. Full wave rectified ac is more commonly known as Rectified AC.
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Many other combinations of voltage and utility frequency were formerly used, with frequencies between 25 Hz and 133 Hz and voltages from 100 V to 250 V. Direct current (DC) has been displaced by alternating current (AC) in public power systems, but DC was used especially in some city areas to the end of the 20th century.