AC Terms Flashcards
The flow of electrons that continuously changes its value in magnitude and periodically reverses direction.
Alternating current.
The number of cycles of AC completed in one second.
Frequency.
Part of electrical impedance, a measure of opposition to a sinusoidal alternating current.
Reactance.
The opposition to current flow in a circuit that is produced by a capacitor.
Capacitive reactance.
The opposition to current in a circuit that contains an inductor.
Inductive reactance.
Alternating current wave form that is produced by a rotary generator.
Sine-wave.
The effective value of sine-wave alternating current (.707 of the peak value).
Root mean square.
Amount of AC that produces the same amount of heat as corresponding value of DC.
Effective voltage.
Differences between two similarly varying quantities.
Phase angle.
Ratio of the actual power dissipated in an electrical system to the input power of volts multiplied by amps.
Power factor.
The actual power available in an AC circuit.
True power.
A phantom power that is a result of the voltage and current used by the inductors and capacitors in an AC circuit.
Reactive power.
The product of effective voltage and effective current which is expressed in Volt Amps rather than Watts.
Apparent power.
Windings arranged in the shape of a Y.
Wye wound.
Windings arranged in the shape of a triangle.
Delta wound.
Production of two or more phases of AC, or of two or more alternating voltages of the same frequency.
Polyphase.
Electronic device that converts AC voltage to a type of DC.
Rectifier.
A device which performs the opposite function of converting DC to AC power.
Inverter.
The reduction in voltage in an electrical circuit between the source and load.
Voltage drop.
Algebraic sum of the current flowing away from any point in an electrical circuit is equal to the sum of the current flowing to that point.
Kirchhoff’s current law.
Algebraic sum of all of the voltage drops in any closed circuit is equal to zero.
Kirchhoff’s voltage law.
A type of electrical circuit in which the current in a conductor splits into two parallel paths and then recombines into a single conductor.
Bridge circuit.
