If AC current oscillates as it passes through a conductor is it slower than DC current which does not oscillates?
1 Answers
is [AC current] slower than DC current
Current doesn't have a speed, it is a measure of charge passing per unit time.
Current can be larger or smaller but not faster or slower.
If we know the Mississippi river flows at a rate of 17000 $m^3s^{-1}$, we don't know how fast the water is moving (and for many purposes may not care).
If AC current oscillates
It does.
The magnitude and direction of the electric field changes and reverses in a sinusiodal pattern. So the force on the charge carriers (e.g. electrons in some cases) will vary and reverse, so the acceleration of the drift velocity of the charge carriers will not be constant.
Electrical/Electronic engineers mostly don't need to know the drift velocity of charge carriers in electrical conductors.
In practice, we measure alternating current in such a way (Root mean square) that we can use the numbers in calculations in much the same way we do for direct current.
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