alternating current
Noun
Meaning
an electric current that reverses direction sinusoidally
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Examples
In the US most household current is AC at 60 cycles per second
Alternating current sensing Since the basic indicator system in either an analog or digital meter responds to DC only, a multimeter includes an AC to DC conversion circuit for making alternating current measurements.
A power supply using a transformer with several windings, one or more rectifiers (which may themselves be vacuum tubes), and large filter capacitors provided the required direct current voltages from the alternating current source.
Because of the significant advantages of alternating current over direct current in transforming and transmission, electric power distribution is nearly all alternating current today.
A term formerly used for direct current was galvanic current. citation Alternating current main In alternating current (AC, also ac), the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction.
As a result, voltage for alternating current almost never refers to the voltage at a particular instant, but instead is the root mean square (RMS) voltage, which is a way of defining an effective voltage when calculating power (RMS voltage × RMS current).