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  2. Direct current - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_current

    Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction ...

  3. Nikola Tesla - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

    Order of the White Lion (1937) Signature. Nikola Tesla (/ ˈtɛslə /; [2] Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Тесла, [nǐkola têsla]; 10 July 1856 [a] – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American [3][4] engineer, futurist, and inventor. He is known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

  4. War of the currents - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_currents

    The war of the currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It grew out of two lighting systems developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s; arc lamp street lighting running on high-voltage alternating current (AC), and large-scale low-voltage direct current (DC) indoor incandescent lighting ...

  5. History of electric power transmission - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_electric_power...

    Streetcars created enormous demand for early electricity. This Siemens Tram from 1884 required 500 V direct current, which was typical. Much of early electricity was direct current, which could not easily be increased or decreased in voltage either for long-distance transmission or for sharing a common line to be used with multiple types of electric devices.

  6. Dynamo - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamo

    "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, U.S. patent 284,110) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator.Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-current ...

  7. Electricity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity

    The invention in the late nineteenth century of the transformer meant that electrical power could be transmitted more efficiently at a higher voltage but lower current. Efficient electrical transmission meant in turn that electricity could be generated at centralised power stations , where it benefited from economies of scale , and then be ...

  8. DC motor - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_motor

    A DC motor is an electrical motor that uses direct current (DC) to produce mechanical force. The most common types rely on magnetic forces produced by currents in the coils. Nearly all types of DC motors have some internal mechanism, either electromechanical or electronic, to periodically change the direction of current in part of the motor.

  9. Rectifier - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier

    Power engineering. A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The process is known as rectification, since it "straightens" the direction of current.