A direct current can be explained in pure simplicity. You have probably used batteries in your day to day devices in order for them to work. TV remote controls, mini radios and flashlights are just some of the best examples. Batteries have what we call Direct Currents where the flow of electricity happens in one direction. When the circuit is completed, the positive terminal remains positive and the negative terminal remains negative all throughout the course of operation. Therefore, no changes in the flow of electricity can be observed. Direct currents are ideal for small scale applications. Some other forms of electricity which are Direct Currents in nature are static and lightning.
In contrast to a Direct Current, an alternating current involves the modification of the flow of electricity. The best example that we can have is the electricity coming from power plants. As the “alternate” root word implies, the direction of the current may be reversed. Basically, the main industrial purpose is for the power generator company to save electricity and make it more efficient to transmit power to the customers. In the US, the currents reverse at least 60 times in a second.
We have previously discussed that Direct Currents are ideal for smaller devices which need a definite amount of power to operate. In that case, let us concentrate on the advantages that can be acquired in Alternating Currents. Primarily, it is very easy to convert the voltages of an electric power using a “transformer”. This means that the power plant can easily modify the power it sends out to the channels based on the needs of the end-user. Because of this feature, power plant companies can save a lot of money and resources if they can transmit very high voltages of electricity to far distances.
Here’s how it will look like; the same amount of power can be transmitted in different combinations of amps and voltages. You can transmit either having a large amount of amps at very low voltages or at very low value of amps with high voltages. If you want to send out 1 amp to an end-user, you will only need to have a very thin wire since very negligible amount of power will be lost as heat. Otherwise, you would need a large wiring facility if you wan to send out at least a million amps.
As you can see, because of the property of the Alternating Current, it would be very easy to customize the amount of power to be transmitted to reduce possible energy losses. When electricity travels through the distribution facilities of power companies, they employ high voltage transmissions to reduce energy losses predicted by the wire material’s resistance and distance. But because of the AC characteristic, such amount of power can be converted to lower voltages to safely arrive at our house’s electric sockets. Therefore, another good feature of the AC is probably safety. Of course, you wouldn’t want a million volts lingering in your house wall sockets.