Definition of Alternating current

1. Noun. An electric current that reverses direction sinusoidally. "In the US most household current is AC at 60 cycles per second"

Exact synonyms: Ac, Alternating Electric Current
Generic synonyms: Electrical Energy, Electricity
Antonyms: Direct Current

Definition of Alternating current

1. Noun. an electric current in which the direction of flow of the electrons reverses periodically having an average of zero, with positive and negative values (with a frequency of 50 Hz in Europe, 60 Hz in the US, 400 Hz for airport lighting, and some others); especially such a current produced by a rotating generator or alternator. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Alternating current

1. Electrical current which alternates direction periodically. (For instance, household electric current is AC alternating at 60 oscillations/sec (60 Hertz) in the United States, and 50 Hertz in many other countries.) Acronym: AC (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Alternating Current

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alternate cover test
alternate day strabismus
alternate energy
alternate generations
alternate history
alternate universe
alternate universes
alternated
alternately
alternateness
alternates
alternating
alternating(a)
alternating current (current term)
alternating currents
alternating function
alternating functions
alternating knot
alternating light test
alternating mydriasis
alternating pulse
alternating strabismus
alternating tremor
alternatingly
alternation
alternation of generation
alternations

Literary usage of Alternating current

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Bulletin by National Electric Light Association (1911)
"If the oil snitch on the alternating-current side of a rotary converter opened us the result of u surge, or other reason, and the direct-current switches ..."

2. Science Abstracts by Institution of Electrical Engineers (1900)
"... cm. in diam with an alternating current of frequency about 130 periods per second, curve A shows the resistance offered to the alternating current, ..."

3. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1922)
"Complete Dynamo Electric Machinery Apparatus For Demonstrating Direct Current Motors and Generatori alternating current Rotating Field and Induction Motor ..."

4. Convention by National Electric Light Association Convention, National Independent Meat Packers Association, University of Georgia College of Agriculture, University of Georgia Dept. of Food Science (1905)
"The effect of an alternating-current rectifier on alternating- current motor ... The alternating-current motor has come to stay and it is only a matter of ..."

5. A Course in Electrical Engineering by Chester Laurens Dawes (1922)
"General Field of Use of alternating current.—Over 90 per cent, of the electrical energy generated at the present time is generated as alternating current. ..."

6. Principles and Practice of Electrical Engineering by Alexander Gray (1917)
"The voltage between a and b is alternating, see page 240, so that, even with no external load, an alternating current flows through the coil C, this current ..."

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