What is an electric current that reverses its direction in a regular pattern?

1 Answer
Aritra G.
Jun 4, 2015

Such currents are termed as alternating currents and vary sinusoidally with time.

Depending on whether the circuit is predominantly capacitative or inductive, there may be a phase difference between the voltage and the current : The current may lead or it may lag behind the voltage.
Such things are not observed in direct current circuits.

The voltage #v# is given as,

#v = v""_0Sin omegat#
Where #omega# is the angular frequency such that #omega = 2pinu# and #t# is the time. #v""_0# is the peak voltage.

The current is given by,

#i = i""_0Sin (omegat + phi)#, where #phi# is the phase difference, negative or positive. #i""_0# is the peak current.

Related questions
See all questions in Electric Power
Impact of this question
3906 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License