Why can’t everything just run off AC/DC?

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Edit: Sorry I meant just off of either AC Or DC

In: Engineering

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They are only one band they can’t do everything.

Seriously, there are not enough batteries to hold all that energy and other forms of energy are easier for mobil things not connectedto the grid.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Everything that uses electricity does run off AC or DC. The main power in your home is AC and many devices convert it to DC before it is useful depending on the device.

Your phone and computer both use DC within them. Your computer has a power supply that converts the AC to DC before it runs the motherboard or charges the battery in the case of a laptop.

Your phone uses an AC charger which converts it to DC before the cable that connects to your phone.

There are AC motors they can be powered from the wall but often the power needs to be modified in voltage.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Which AC or DC?

Nearly everything you can think of electronic runs off either AC or DC.

Or did you mean the band? I like many AC⚡️DC songs.

EDIT:

AC is generally better for transmission over power lines and useful for motors.

DC is generally better for electronics. Most things you’re familiar with run off DC. Often they will have an AC adapter which converts to DC.

Heck, my Tesla converts AC from the wall to DC in the car, it uses DC to power all the electronics and AC to power the motors.

Anonymous 0 Comments

AC is better for transmission but is nigh-impossible to store.

DC is better for storage but sucks for long range transmission.

Here’s an article by NASA that goes into more detail: https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/Electric/-E11-reason.htm

Nearly every actual use of AC power could be replaced with a DC alternative, but you would need a DC power plant every dozen miles or so because DC power transmission is so inefficient.

The same can NOT be said for universal use of AC, because AC batteries don’t exist.

Anonymous 0 Comments

DC is used for electronics because computer logic is based of the on or off state of a bunch of switches. Although, technically a bunch of switches turning on off at several megahertz like in your computer is AC, but nonetheless the power supply needs to be DC. DC is what batteries provide, and what is needed to charge them. Electrochemistry won’t force the chemical reaction to go back and forth several times a second. Imagine fire burning and then unburning, it just doesn’t work that way. DC is also what solar panels produce, and the way you need to drive LED lights without a horrible flicker.

AC relates well to rotating machines, aka motors and generators. Meaning AC is really easy to make a useful generator or low maintenance motor. Motors and generators work be trying to align an electromagnet with a magnet, or sometime a second electromagnetic. The thing about that, if you take two magnets, they only move towards each other once. Then it’s done. You have to pull them apart again. Not a great motor. AC works great for motor and generators because flipping the current flips the electromagnet, so two magnets can endlessly chase each other. DC can’t run a motor, unless you want to call a one way, one time use railgun a motor. A “DC” motor is really an AC motor. Switches (electronic or physical called a commutator) flip the current each time the motor turns half way. It’s fed DC, but really is AC. DC motors aren’t great though, they require metal brushes to get the current to the spinning part, which obviously wears out pretty quick. AC motors don’t need any metal brushes, they can just spin freely. The vast, vast majority of motors are what is called AC induction motors (they don’t have permanent magnet). They work really well with low maintenance. Factories use them, plants use them, the water coming out of your tap is pumped by them. This is what a masisve chunk of what all our electricity is used for, so it’s good to have an AC grid because it’s mostly used for motors.

AC also is the only thing that works with a transformer. It’s a really simple device consisting of two coils of wire next to each other, and as long as one coil has a different numbers of turns, the transformer can create a higher or lower voltage. Transformers are fundamental to the power grid, as you need high voltage, low current power transmission to do it efficiently. Low voltage is very wasteful and only good for end user applications. DC can’t work with a transformer, so you’re stuck at low voltage. There are modern high voltage DC power lines that offer some improvements over AC transmission lines. They still involve a transformer technically, just a conversion process between AC and DC. Basically, they need really big version of the cellphone charger you plug in the wall. These are expensive and only make it practical for very long, very high power transmission lines.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because you store power (batteries) in DC.

Was a boater. Entire boat ran on DC. Smaller wires a bonus! I measured electrical usage in amps. I stored it in volts. Watts. Never actually figured out watts…and don’t get me started on ohms…

Had a inverter for AC for power tools. The inverter itself pulled a lot of power just to cool it.