Why AC and not DC?
Electricity and Magnetism
Level
2
It was only with the invention of Alternate Current by Nikola Tesla that long-range electrical energy distribution became available for an affordable price. That being said, why is it not possible to widely distribute electrical energy using Direct Current?
Direct Current generates more heat, requiring more expensive wires to implement
The distance travelled by Direct Current is too small
The losses caused by high currents are too big
Security risks and electrical archs makes it not worth it.
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1 solution
All answers are wrong. It is possible to distribute electrical energy using DC and it is being done with high-voltage DC connections and it has advantages over AC on long distances. AC is easy (and cheap) to transform to high voltage, thus reducing current flow and that is its biggest advantage. Getting a high-voltage DC current is expensive (back in Tesla's day it wasn't even possible as you need to use Thyristors (valves)), but then it has fewer losses in transmission.