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What is the Difference between Alternating Current and Direct Current?

Difference between Electrical Currents: Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC)?


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Electricity has served us well. It made our lives easier and more comfortable. Although almost everyone uses electricity, there are actually less who knows the basics of electrical currents. To start with, we have two types of electrical currents, the Direct Current (DC) and the Alternating Current (AC).

There are a lot of differences between these two currents and they are very distinguishable. An example of a Direct Current (DC) is a battery. When we say Direct current, electricity flows only in one direction because the poles will ward off any current going back at the direction. That is why batteries have negative and positive poles. This type of current can only travel on short distances because Direct Currents (DC) have shorter life span and they carry lesser amounts of energy. The energy cannot reach their target without using much of its electrons. Since the energy stored is limited, batteries always ran out of life after use.

Alternating Currents (AC) is exactly the opposite of Direct Currents (DC). This type of current flows in two directions and is more efficient than Direct Current (DC). Similar to how DC was developed, AC was also developed with the use of magnets. While magnetism was applies in a steady motion in DC, magnetism is applied through a rotating magnet, making electrical currents flow in two direction with unlimited energy. Because the energy is infinite in Alternating Current (AC), the electrons can now travel farther, sending electrical currents at a long distance without the fear of losing energy. AC can carry high voltage that can supply large amounts of electricity. That is the reason why, some electrical currents need transformers to reduce the flow energy before reaching its destination such as in homes and appliances. Another good thing about AC is that, with the use of the correct adapter, AC can be converted into DC. This will make any appliances portable such as laptops, mobile phone devices, and many more.
Nov 13th, 2012 at 9:24 PM
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