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Alternating Current vs. Direct Current - Lesson For Kids PDF

This document provides a lesson for kids on the differences between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). It explains that with DC, electrons flow continuously in one direction from negative to positive terminals. With AC, electrons vibrate back and forth between negative and positive terminals 60 times per second in the U.S. This causes the intensity of devices like light bulbs powered by AC to flicker on and off 60 times per second, too quickly for the human eye to detect. The document includes diagrams to illustrate the differences between how DC and AC flow in simple circuits.

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Satyajit Mishra
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251 views3 pages

Alternating Current vs. Direct Current - Lesson For Kids PDF

This document provides a lesson for kids on the differences between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). It explains that with DC, electrons flow continuously in one direction from negative to positive terminals. With AC, electrons vibrate back and forth between negative and positive terminals 60 times per second in the U.S. This causes the intensity of devices like light bulbs powered by AC to flicker on and off 60 times per second, too quickly for the human eye to detect. The document includes diagrams to illustrate the differences between how DC and AC flow in simple circuits.

Uploaded by

Satyajit Mishra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

12/28/2019 Alternating Current vs. Direct Current: Lesson for Kids | Study.

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Alternating Current vs. Direct Current: Lesson for Kids

Cite this lesson


Want to learn more about the electrical power used by all those devices, like televisions and computers and
cellphones? In this lesson, you will explore the di erences between alternating current and direct current.

How Electrons Flow


Electricity is the ow of electrons through a wire, but there are actually two di erent ways the
electrons move within the wire. These are called currents. Much like an ocean current that
moves in a de nite direction, electricity has speci c movements it makes in the wires. These
currents are called alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC).

Direct Current
With DC current, electrons move in one direction, from (-) negative to (+) positive. It's a constant
current, owing continuously until either it's switched o or its power source runs out of or
stops generating power.

DC current ow through a simple circuit.

Let's say we're looking at a circuit with a light bulb. As noted, direct current ows from negative
to positive, and the on/o switch acts as a gate for this electron ow. When it's on the circuit is
complete, allowing the electrons to ow. After passing through the switch, electrons ow to the
light bulb. The lament in the bulb lights up, taking the charge from the electrons, which are
then drawn to the positive terminal on the battery to be charged once again. This process
continues until the battery eventually loses its charge.

Alternating Current
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With AC current, electrons don't really ow, they simply vibrate back and forth from negative to
positive and positive to negative. It isn't a continuous vibration either, like the constant ow in
DC. The electrons vibrate in time or in sync with one another, and this timing is controlled by
modifying the speed of the generator. We call this electrical timing hertz.

In the U.S., AC electricity is generated at 60 hertz. The electrons vibrate and bang into each
other, transferring their charge from positive to negative and back again 60 times per second.
This means that when a circuit running on AC has a light bulb, it doesn't have a steady ow of
positively charged electrons running through it like it does on DC power, so the light is not
constant either. It ickers on and o for every cycle of electron charge transfer, at 60 complete
cycles per second. However, this is too fast for the human eye to see, so it appears to be a
constant light.

AC current ow through a simple circuit.

AC is produced by a generator, and its charge (negative or positive), ows both ways, as
represented by the blue and red arrows in this image. The switch and the bulb operate the
same as in the DC circuit.

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