TABLE OF CONTENTS This section introduces basic alternating current theory. We discuss the terminology used to describe alternating waveforms and the behavior of resistors, capacitors, and inductors when an alternating current is applied to them. The chapter concludes by introducing another useful component, the transformer.
Direct currents are currents which, even though their magnitude may vary, essentially flow only in one direction. In other words, direct currents are unidirectional. Alternating currents, on the other hand, are bidirectional and continuously reverse their direction of flow. The polarity of the e.m.f. which produces an alternating current must consequently also be changing from positive to negative, and vice versa.
Alternating currents produce alternating potential differences (voltages) in the circuits in which they flow. Furthermore, in some circuits, alternating voltages may be superimposed on direct voltage levels (see Figure 1.105). The resulting voltage may be unipolar (i.e., always positive or always negative) or bipolar (i.e., partly positive and partly negative).
A graph showing the variation of voltage or current present in a circuit is known as a waveform. There are many common types of waveform encountered in electrical circuits including sine (or sinusoidal), square, triangle, ramp or sawtooth (which may be either positive or negative going), and pulse.
Complex waveforms, like speech and music, usually comprise many components at different frequencies. Pulse waveforms
