Comparison chart

Alternating Current versus Direct Current comparison chart

Alternating Current Direct Current

Amount of Safe to transfer over longer city distances and Voltage of DC cannot travel very
energy that can provide more power. far until it begins to lose energy.
can be
carried

Cause of Rotating magnet along the wire. Steady magnetism along the wire.
the
direction of
flow of
electrons

Frequency The frequency of alternating current is 50Hz The frequency of direct current is
or 60Hz depending upon the country. zero.

Direction It reverses its direction while flowing in a It flows in one direction in the
circuit. circuit.

Current It is the current of magnitude varying with It is the current of constant

time magnitude.

Flow of Electrons keep switching directions - forward Electrons move steadily in one
Electrons and backward. direction or 'forward'.

Obtained A.C Generator and mains. Cell or Battery.

from

Passive Impedance. Resistance only

Parameters

Power Lies between 0 & 1. it is always 1.

Factor

Types Sinusoidal, Trapezoidal, Triangular, Square. Pure and pulsating.

Alternating and Direct current. The horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis represents
voltage.

The reasons for preferring AC system over DC are:

Engineer’s Perspective:

1. It is easy to maintain and change the voltage of AC electricity for

transmission and distribution.
2. Plant cost for AC transmission (circuit breakers, transformers etc.) is much
lower than the equivalent DC transmission
3. From power stations, AC is produced so it is better to use AC than DC
instead of converting it.
4. When a large fault occurs in a network, it is easier to interrupt in an AC
system, as the sine wave current will naturally tend to zero at some point
making the current easier to interrupt.
5. It is easier to convert AC to DC rather than the other way around.
6. AC can be stepped up and back down with transformers quite easily
whereas DC cannot as transformers rely on a constantly changing
EMF(electromotive force).
7. If the DC was left at the supply voltage over a very large distance the volt
drop would be too great and the wires would have to be enormously thick
(and expensive) in order to carry the required current.
8. Modern technology has brought about ways to step up voltage of DC with
solid state circuitry and is becoming a possibility for the future, but it is still
expensive and not quite as efficient or reliable as the good old transformer.
Consumer’s Perspective:

1. All the household and indstrial systems are wired for AC rather than DC. It
would be highly impractical to convert every equipment to DC.
2. Fairly high voltage DC can be quite dangerous, if you were to grab a wire
with damaged insulation it becomes very hard to release the hand from it
as the muscles clamp up tight.
 3. This isn't to say that grabbing an AC bare wire would be any good for you
either but you have more of a chance of releasing yourself from it

Origins of AC and DC current

A magnetic field near a wire causes electrons to flow in a single direction along
the wire, because they are repelled by the negative side of a magnet and
attracted toward the positive side. This is how DC power from a battery was
born, primarily attributed to Thomas Edison's work.
AC generators gradually replaced Edison's DC battery system because AC is
safer to transfer over the longer city distances and can provide more power.
Instead of applying the magnetism along the wire steadily, scientist Nikola Tesla
used a rotating magnet. When the magnet was oriented in one direction, the
electrons flowed towards the positive, but when the magnet's orientation was
flipped, the electrons turned as well.

Storage and Conversion From AC to DC and

Vice Versa
AC can even be changed to DC by an adapter that you might use to power the
battery on your laptop. DC can be "bumped" up or down, it is just a little more
difficult. Inverters change DC to AC. For example, for your car an inverter would
change the 12 volt DC to 120 Volt AC to run a small device. While DC can be
stored in batteries, you cannot store AC.

Which is More Dangerous – AC or DC?

First of all, keep in mind that both AC and DC voltage and Current are dangerous and
hazardous. Both are our friends and worst enemies as well as they won’t miss you if
you give it a chance. 
Fig – 1 Difference Between AC & DC

AC is more serial killer as AC with less frequency (50 Hz in EU and 60 Hz in US)

is more dangerous than the DC having the same level of voltage. In other words,
230V AC (or 120V AC) is more dangerous than 230V DC or 120V DC respectively. But
keep in mind that DC has the ability to roast you i.e. if we say AC is more dangerous,
it doesn’t mean that DC will only play with you. Stay away and don’t trust both.

Advantages of DC Transmission
 There are two conductors are used in DC transmission while three conductors are
required in AC transmission.
 There are no inductance and surges (High Voltage waves for very short time) in DC
transmission.
 Due to the absence of inductance, there are very low voltage drop in DC transmission
lines as compare to the AC (if both Load and Sending end Voltage is same)
 There is no concept of Skin effect in DC transmission lines. Therefore, conductor
having small cross sectional area is required in DC transmission line.
 A DC System has a less potential stress over AC system for same Voltage level.
Therefore, a DC line requires less insulation.
 In DC System, there is no interference with other communication lines and systems.
 In DC Line, Corona losses are very low as compared to the AC transmission lines.
 In High Voltage DC (HVDC) Transmission lines, there are no dielectric losses.
 In DC Transmission system, there are no difficulties in synchronizing and related
stability problems.
 DC system is more efficient than AC, therefore, the rate of price of Towers, Poles,
Insulators, and conductor are low so the system is economical.
 In DC System, the speed control range is greater than AC System.
 There is low insulation needed in the DC system (about 70%).
 The price of DC cables is low (due to low insulation).
  In DC Supply System, the Sheath losses in underground cables are low.
 DC system is suitable for High Power Transmission based on High Current
transmission.
 In DC System, The Value of charging current is quite low, therefore, the length of the
DC Transmission lines is greater than AC lines

Disadvantages of DC Transmission:
 Due to commutation problem, electric power can’t be produced at High (DC) Voltage.
 In High Voltage transmission, we cant step-up the level of DC Voltage (As
Transformer won’t work on DC).
 There is a limitation of DC switches and circuit breakers (and they are costly too).
 The motor generator set is used to step down the level of DC voltage and
the efficiency of Motor-generator set is lower than a transformer.
 DC transmission system is more complex and costly as compared to the AC
transmission system..
 The level of DC Voltage can not be changed (step-up or step-down) easily. So we
can not get desire voltage for electrical and electronics appliances (such as 5 Volts, 9
Volts 15 Volts, 20 and 22 Volts etc) directly from the transmission and distribution
lines.

Advantages of AC Transmission System

 AC Circuit breakers are cheaper than DC Circuit breakers.
 The repairing and maintenance of the AC sub station is easier and inexpensive than
DC Substation.
 The Level of AC voltage may be increased or decreased by using step up and Step
down transformers.

Disadvantages of AC System
 In AC line, the size of the conductor is grater than the DC Line.
 The cost of AC transmission lines is greater than DC Transmission lines.
 Due to skin effect, the losses in AC system are more.
 Due to the capacitance in AC transmission lines, a continuous power loss occurs
when there is no load on the power lines or line is open at all.
 There are some additional line losses due to inductance.
 More insulation are required in AC transmission system.
 The corona losses occur in an AC transmission line system.
 AC transmission lines interfere with other communication lines.
 There are stability and synchronizing problems in AC System.
 AC transmission system is less efficient than the DC transmission System.
 There are difficulties in controlling the reactive power.