Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
In 1887 direct current (DC) was king. At that time there were 121
Edison power stations scattered across the United States delivering
DC electricity to its customers.
But DC had a great limitation -- namely, that power plants could only
send DC electricity about a mile before the electricity began to lose
power. So when George Westinghouse introduced his system based
on high-voltage alternating current (AC), which could carry
electricity hundreds of miles with little loss of power, people naturally
took notice. A "battle of the currents" ensued. In the end,
Westinghouse's AC prevailed.
The American Experience | Edison's Miracle of Light | AC - DC: What's the Difference?
The amplitude of AC
V
Veff
2
This is why the 'smoothing' block, described in the next chapter is required.
Smoothing:
Vr
I
Vr
2C. f
Where: I [Amps], C [F], f [Hz]
and Vr [V]
I 1A
C 6950F
2 Vr f 2 0,1 12V 60Hz
Ex 2: How big would the Ripple voltage be if the current gets reduced to
500mA?
I 0,5 A
Vr 3
0.6V
2 C f 2 6,95e 60 Hz
Compromise:
• Availability of components
• Price of components
• Ripple voltage
If the ripple voltage is too large and the input voltage to the regulator falls
below the regulated voltage of the regulator, then of course the regulator will
not be able to produce the correct regulated voltage.