From Diffen
| Alternating Current | Direct Current | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Flow of Electrons: | Electrons keep switching directions - forward and backward | Electrons move steadily in one direction or 'forward' | |
| Cause of the direction of flow of electrons: | Rotating magnet along the wire | Steady magnetism along the wire | |
| Amount of energy that can be carried: | Safer to transfer over longer city distances and can provide more power | Voltage of DC cannot travel very far until it begins to lose energy |
Electricity flows in two ways; either in alternating current (AC) or in direct current (DC). Electricity or ‘current’ is nothing more than moving electrons along a conductor, like a wire, that have been harnessed for energy. Therefore, the difference between AC and DC has to do with the direction in which the electrons flow. In DC, the electrons flow steadily in a single direction, or "forward." In AC, electrons keep switching directions, sometimes going "forwards" and then going "backwards."
A magnetic field near a wire causes electrons to flow in a single direction along the wire, because they are repelled by the negative side of a magnet and attracted toward the positive side. Thus, DC power from a battery was born, primarily attributed to Thomas Edison's work.
AC generators gradually replaced Edison's DC battery system because AC is safer to transfer over the longer city distances and can provide more power. Instead of applying the magnetism along the wire steadily, scientist Nikola Tesla, used a magnet that was rotating. When the magnet was oriented in one direction, the electrons flowed towards the positive, but when the magnet's orientation was flipped, the electrons turned as well.
Another difference between AC and DC involves the amount of energy it can carry. Each battery is designed to produce only one voltage, and that voltage of DC cannot travel very far until it begins to lose energy. But AC's voltage from a generator, in a power plant, can be bumped up or down in strength by another mechanism called a transformer. Transformers are located on the electrical pole on the street, not at the power plant. They change very high voltage into a lower voltage appropriate for your home appliances, like lamps and refrigerators. AC can even be changed to DC by an adaptor that you might use to power the battery on your laptop.
Both AC and DC can carry the same amount of energy. And the voltage dropped is the same for the same voltage, same size wires and the same current flowing over the same distance. DC can be "bumped" up or down, it is just a little more difficult. Inverters change DC to AC as for your car, an inverter would change the 12 volt DC to 120 Volt AC to run a small device. And you can not store AC. And the DC in electronic devices is changed to AC inside the device. Audio (sound) is AC.
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