DC

(noun)

Direct current; the unidirectional flow of electric charge.

Related Terms

Examples of DC in the following topics:

  • Different Types of Currents

    • If the sources are constant (DC) sources, the result is a DC circuit.
    • If a capacitor or inductor is added to a DC circuit, the resulting circuit is not, strictly speaking, a DC circuit.
    • However, most such circuits have a DC solution.
    • In electronics, it is common to refer to a circuit that is powered by a DC voltage source such as a battery or the output of a DC power supply as a DC circuit even though what is meant is that the circuit is DC powered.
    • A simple DC circuit is illustrated in .

  • Resistors and Capacitors in Series

    • An RC circuit has a resistor and a capacitor and when connected to a DC voltage source, and the capacitor is charged exponentially in time.
    • In this Atom, we will study how a series RC circuit behaves when connected to a DC voltage source.
    • Fig 1 shows a simple RC circuit that employs a DC voltage source.
    • where V(t) is the voltage across the capacitor and emf is equal to the emf of the DC voltage source.

  • Resistors in AC Circuits

    • Direct current (DC) is the flow of electric charge in only one direction.
    • Examples include the commercial and residential power that serves so many of our needs. shows graphs of voltage and current versus time for typical DC and AC power.
    • Ohm's law applies to AC circuits as well as to DC circuits.
    • (a) DC voltage and current are constant in time, once the current is established.

  • Root Mean Square Values

    • Unlike direct current (DC), where the currents and voltages are constant, AC currents and voltages vary over time.
    • Many of the equations we derived for DC current apply equally to AC.
    • (a) DC voltage and current are constant in time, once the current is established.

  • Humans and Electric Hazards

    • Typically, the expression is used to describe an injurious exposure to electricity.The minimum current a human can feel depends on the current type (AC or DC) and frequency.
    • A person can feel at least 1 mA (rms) of AC current at 60 Hz and at least 5 mA of DC current.
    • The current may, if it is high enough, cause tissue damage or fibrillation, which leads to cardiac arrest. 60 mA of AC (rms, 60 Hz) or 300-500 mA of DC can cause fibrillation.The potential severity of the shock depends on paths through the body that the currents take.

  • Discrete Fourier Transform Examples

    • We can see that the first sample in frequency domain is associated with the zero-frequency or DC component of a signal and that the frequency increases until we reach Nyquist, which is in the middle of the array.

  • Van de Graff Generators

    • In this figure, a high, positive DC potential is applied to the upper roller.

  • Impedance

    • Just like resistance in DC cases, impedance is the measure of the opposition that a circuit presents to the passage of a current when a voltage is applied.

  • Inductors in AC Circuits: Inductive Reactive and Phasor Diagrams

    • Note that the current starts at zero, then rises to its peak after the voltage driving it (as seen in the preceding section when DC voltage was switched on).

  • Phase Angle and Power Factor

    • Impedance is an AC (alternating current) analogue to resistance in a DC circuit.