Why does alternating current (AC) need a neutral?

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I understand the concept of DC, but if electrons are just kind of moving back and forth in one place to produce an electric charge for AC, why do they say it’s necessary to have a path back to ground/ 0V if it’s not “moving” towards ground/ 0V?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Think of a water pipe in wich a piston moves the water forwards and backwards (alternating current).
If the system is closed the water would splash around in the area of the piston.

But if you make a loop of pipes from one side of the piston to the other, the entire water in the loop would move back and forth (ignoring friction/inertia for simplicity)

Now you could put a water wheel inside the pipe with would get pushed forwards and backwards and you can do work with that, grind some flour or something.

That’s the concept of alternating current, piston is the generator, water the electrical current, the water wheel is a motor.

The concept of electricity flowing from one point to another is physically wrong but the simplest way to understand it without deeper knowledge

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