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Electrical & Electronics Engineering vocabulary · Voltage, Current and Power

DC

Meaning in electrical & electronics engineering, with examples

/ˌdi ˈsi/abbreviationCore term

In electrical & electronics engineering, DC means: Short for direct current: current that flows in one direction only, usually at a steady value. Batteries, solar panels and most electronic circuits work with DC.

In Turkish: doğru akım, DA

How it is used

Pronounced 'D-C'. Used before nouns: DC voltage, DC supply, DC motor, DC bus, DC-DC converter. Labels show 'VDC' or a straight-line symbol. Engineers call a supply line 'the 12 V DC rail'.

Example sentences

  1. The controller needs 24 V DC, so we added a DIN-rail power supply.

  2. Measure the DC voltage across the capacitor with the power on.

Common collocations

  • DC voltage
  • DC supply
  • DC motor
  • DC bus
  • DC-DC converter
  • ACShort for alternating current: current that changes direction many times per second. Mains electricity is AC, at 50 Hz in Turkey and Europe and 60 Hz in North America.
  • batteryOne or more electrochemical cells that store energy and supply it as DC. Capacity is given in ampere-hours (Ah) or milliampere-hours (mAh), and the voltage depends on the cell chemistry.
  • rectifierA circuit or device that converts AC into DC, usually with diodes. A bridge rectifier uses four diodes so that both halves of the AC waveform are used.
  • power supplyA device or circuit that provides the voltage and current a system needs, usually by converting mains AC into a regulated DC output. A bench power supply is the adjustable unit on a lab desk.

More terms: Voltage, Current and Power

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