What is Alternating Current (AC)?
Most students of electricity begin their study with what is known as direct current (DC), which is electricity flowing in a constant direction, and/or possessing a voltage with constant polarity. DC is...
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AC Waveforms
When an alternator produces AC voltage, the voltage switches polarity over time, but does so in a very particular manner. When graphed over time, the "wave" traced by this voltage of alternating...
View ArticleMeasurements of AC Magnitude
So far we know that AC voltage alternates in polarity and AC current alternates in direction. We also know that AC can alternate in a variety of different ways, and by tracing the alternation over time...
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Simple AC Circuit Calculations
Over the course of the next few chapters, you will learn that AC circuit measurements and calculations can get very complicated due to the complex nature of alternating current in circuits with...
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AC Phase
Things start to get complicated when we need to relate two or more AC voltages or currents that are out of step with each other. By "out of step," I mean that the two waveforms are not synchronized:...
View ArticlePrinciples of Radio
One of the more fascinating applications of electricity is in the generation of invisible ripples of energy called radio waves. The limited scope of this lesson on alternating current does not permit...
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