eli5: how does AC power provide power when it’s just shifting back and forth? Don’t you need to have current going in one direction

Question

eli5: how does AC power provide power when it’s just shifting back and forth? Don’t you need to have current going in one direction

In: 67

Answer 1

Some good answers here but I wanted to add, the power doesn’t come from the electrons, it comes from the electric field. The fields is generated regardless of the direction of the current. The field may invert, but it’s still present, and some devices don’t care which way the field is aligned.