I always tell the youngsters when we talk about electricity. When it comes to explaining the difference between AC & DC I tell them all Electrical Current is DC but they way we generate it makes it Alternating Current (AC). It seems to simplify it for them and they understand it easier and better. Not many people think of it this way.
- Thread starter John B.
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MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
Hmm, not quite what I'd say.
The thing is that most people have difficulty visualizing the time element. If you look at an instant in time, you can't have alternating current because ac is a function of voltage over time. But if you draw a sine wave and explain how voltage varies over time, most folks can understand that.
The thing is that most people have difficulty visualizing the time element. If you look at an instant in time, you can't have alternating current because ac is a function of voltage over time. But if you draw a sine wave and explain how voltage varies over time, most folks can understand that.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Just confused me........
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
Interesting because the Amish in my area can have dc current ac is not accepted .welders OK but you can't hook up to the 110 outlet no lamps but cattle fencers OK .So what's the real difference?
dr sportster
Well-known Member
If you have to explain the theory to Electrical Engineers , it might not be a good theory.
dr sportster
Well-known Member
The way I explain it to kids is I poke a finger sharply into the chest then say this is like DC current . Then I grab the kid by the shirt and shake him back and forth 60 times a second and say this is AC current.
I never mentioned that this is a theory I will say it's a fact.
Electricity only flows one direction until it's reversed as in AC. This is caused by the way we have to generate it. It happens so fast that we really don't think about it.
If you could slow the cycles down far enough meaning very low RPMS as spinning a magnet inside a stator, would your AC volt meter be able to read the voltage or would you have to switch the meter to DC? If it's set on DC it would read Positive on one wave and Negative on the other.
There's not two kinds of electricity out there. It's just the way we produce it that changes thus having us to give it two names describing its character.
It's kind of like windchill. 75% of the people believe it's a temperature but it's not. It's a calculated formula on how fast heat is transferred or cooled down compared to still air temp and no wind. There's not two temperatures out there. A hot bowl of cereal will cool down on its own but you wouldn't want to sit there until it cools so you blow on it to cool it faster but it will never get any colder than the air temp that you're blowing on it. This is another easy fact that people have so much trouble understanding...
Sometimes we can look at things too deeply when we shouldn't be.
Electricity only flows one direction until it's reversed as in AC. This is caused by the way we have to generate it. It happens so fast that we really don't think about it.
If you could slow the cycles down far enough meaning very low RPMS as spinning a magnet inside a stator, would your AC volt meter be able to read the voltage or would you have to switch the meter to DC? If it's set on DC it would read Positive on one wave and Negative on the other.
There's not two kinds of electricity out there. It's just the way we produce it that changes thus having us to give it two names describing its character.
It's kind of like windchill. 75% of the people believe it's a temperature but it's not. It's a calculated formula on how fast heat is transferred or cooled down compared to still air temp and no wind. There's not two temperatures out there. A hot bowl of cereal will cool down on its own but you wouldn't want to sit there until it cools so you blow on it to cool it faster but it will never get any colder than the air temp that you're blowing on it. This is another easy fact that people have so much trouble understanding...
Sometimes we can look at things too deeply when we shouldn't be.
Janicholson
Well-known Member
And the volt meter is reading RMS (approximately equivalent to 120volts DC in power delivery) Peak-to-Peak volts are near 170 on a 120vac circuit. Jim
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Actually 120VDC is equivalent to 169.70562748477140585620264690516 VAC peak to peak or 120VAC RMS.
Janicholson
Well-known Member
I am sorry for misleading every body. That is far more accurate than the 120volt +- 5 volts usually found in an outlet. 50n% of university students do not know anything about electricity at all. They just plug stuff in. It gags me that we educate our students to pass tests with no relevance and ignore reality. Jim
Geo-TH,In
Well-known Member
Alternating current is a way for the electric company to sell you an electron, then take it back only to sell it to you again and again and again!!! Never to make new electrons. The electric company was in to recycling, before recycling was green. A kid might get that.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Worse yet these 'educated" people here something about green power, don't understand the proposal was not practical but they want it anyways because it's green.
One thing to remember is that DC current is "natural" ie lightning, static discharge etc. AC current must be artificially produced by man, as in an alternator or a phase converter.
Just like arguing over GMO seeds and plants over natural ones, as to which ones are real and which ones are man made.
A generator produces DC current, an alternator produces AC power.
Just like arguing over GMO seeds and plants over natural ones, as to which ones are real and which ones are man made.
A generator produces DC current, an alternator produces AC power.
Indiana Ken
Well-known Member
The issue with the Amish is not about electricity but rather being connected to the world. A wire leading to their house is viewed as being part of the world. To them the world is sinfull. A genset is not connected to the world and is okay. The rules are made by the individual churches, some Amish do not allow electricity.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
Have yet to have an Amish or Mennonite with any problems accepting my English money into their pocket and home.
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