Posted by Wayne Parham [ 64.216.178.154 ] on July 18, 2005 at 06:43:40:

In Reply to: Re: Fixed Bias v. Cathode Bias posted by manualblock on July 17, 2005 at 21:01:39:

Actually, the water in the pool analogy is very close. The only difference is that the behavior we're looking at in electricity is fundamentally two-dimensional and the pool is three-dimensional. But if you look at a profile of the surface, the ways they act are almost exactly the same.

Forget the "current" part of the phrases "direct current" and "alternating current". Current only flows when we have a closed circuit. The terms are labels that come from a description of power circuits, one having fixed potential and therefore fixed current when loaded, the other having a sine wave output, and therefore an alternating current when loaded. But when we talk about potentials in general, we almost always refer to a steady potential as DC and a moving one as AC. That's the part to focus on, whether the potential is fixed or moving.

Replies: