When choosing a switch to use in an electrical design project, there is a perception that it is possible to use any switch, provided its current rating is greater than the maximum load in the circuit.

As the story goes, the rock band AC/DC took its name from a label on an old sewing machine in the Young brothers’ home. It must have meant that the machine could run on either alternating-current or ...

The previous tutorials featured resistors in direct current (DC) circuits wherein the voltage and current have been assumed to be of constant polarity, flow and direction. The voltage, current and ...

Alternating current (ac) or direct current (dc) circuits are capable of carrying very different currents, as illustrated by the ratings on the switch in Figure 1. This is why it’s so important for ...

The battery as we know it today was an invention of Italian chemist and physicist Alessandro Volta. He witnessed electricity splitting water into its constituent elements of oxygen and hydrogen and ...

For motor applications, engineers have several options at their disposal. Typically, engineers can choose between direct-current (DC) or alternating-current (AC) motors. Machine Design has covered the ...

Find a downloadable version of this story in pdf format at the end of the story. Although features and functionality attract the most attention for new electronic products, whether consumer, ...