Write the differences between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC).
I will try, but understand, though we can harness electricity for power, there are still mysteries surrounding the existence and interaction of electric charge.
Alternating current is an electric current that reverses direction at regular intervals. All household current is alternating current. That is how it is generated through power lines, our electric grid, from the source like hydroelectric dams through power lines and into our homes.
Direct current is electric current going only one way in a wire or circuit. Automobiles run on direct current. Science says the flow of electrons in direct current only travels one way. Alternators in cars start out producing alternating current, but with an electric device called a diode, the current is changed to direct current. A diode will only let current pass through it in one direction, but stops current flow in a reverse direction. Before the invention or discovery of alternators, cars used a belt driven generator to produce direct current. Alternators proved superior in generating electricity, however, so were adopted by auto makers.
Now purists will add something more: by convention we say that current flows from the positive battery terminal, through the wire circuits, through an electric motor, and then to ground and thus back to the negative terminal of the battery. So from positive to negative, right? Well, electricity is a negative charged electron flow through a wire, so purists say the current flow is actually from the negative battery terminal through the wire circuits and back to the positive battery terminal. It is confusing, so by convention we say (DC) current flow is from positive to ground, or negative.
Well, there you go. Is it crystal clear, or whut??? Lol.
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