alternating current
nounDefinition of alternating current
: an electric current that reverses its direction at regularly recurring intervals
—abbreviation AC
Examples of alternating current in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The system has two inverters, which convert the direct current (DC) output from the photovoltaic panels into appliance-friendly alternating current (AC) power. — Amy Gamerman, WSJ, "The Homes Where Families Go Off the Grid," 27 Sep. 2018 Panels produce direct-current electricity that needs to be converted to alternating current so it can be carried into homes or sent to local power grids. — Christopher Martin, Los Angeles Times, "The most profitable part of solar power isn’t panels or batteries," 8 Aug. 2019 One-legged, blade-shaped, and driven by an alternating current, this new robot moves with a cockroachlike bouncing motion at a speed of 20 body lengths per second (above). — Kelly Mayes, Science | AAAS, "Watch a human try to crush this cockroach-inspired robot—and fail," 31 July 2019 Now turn the rotary switch (dial) to Volts DC; because batteries supply direct current (DC), not alternating current (AC). — Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, "How To Use a Digital Multimeter," 25 July 2019 The technology uses transcranial alternating current electrical stimulation (tACS) to enhance the connection between frontal parts of the cortex (crucial for working memory) and more posterior brain regions. — Vivienne Ming, Quartz, "Why I’m turning my son into a cyborg," 15 July 2019 All across the United States, the power grid operates at 60 hertz, its innumerable tributaries of alternating current synchronizing of their own accord. — Natalie Wolchover, WIRED, "The Math of How Crickets, Starlings, and Neurons Sync Up," 7 Apr. 2019 Edison's propaganda machine pumped out hundreds of flyers and pamphlets on the dangers of alternating current, even electrocuting small animals in front of newspaper reporters. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "AC/DC: It’s Tesla duking it out with Edison in The Current War trailer," 27 June 2019 All across the United States, the power grid operates at 60 hertz, its innumerable tributaries of alternating current synchronizing of their own accord. — Quanta Magazine, "Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization," 4 Apr. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alternating current.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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