When working around mains voltages, it can be useful to know whether a given circuit is live or not. While this can be done by direct connection with a multimeter, non-contact methods are available ...

The world of electric vehicles can sometimes seem like it comes with its own vocabulary, and that's where we come in. Look out for our ABC of EVs series, to demystify the words and phrases you'll hear ...

Have you ever wondered about the electricity that courses through your car? Do you suspect that there's a captive bolt of lightning held in a magic jar? Of course you don't. You're not a Neanderthal.

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 ...

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 easy way to measure high AC currents is to use a clamp meter but these are generally quite expensive and cost several hundred dollars at a minimum. Add-on clampmeter adaptors can work well but ...

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 ...

High-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology offers several advantages compared to alternating current transmission systems. For example, it allows more efficient bulk power transfer over long ...

Scientists at Scripps Research have used rapid alternating current (AC) to selectively reduce carbonyl groups (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c06572). The technique avoids side reactions ...

Single-contact LEDs driven with alternating current mean brighter, sharper smart glasses. (Nanowerk News) LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are essential components in near-eye displays like virtual ...