Why do electric companies utilize ac instead of dc?

Question

Why do electric companies utilize ac instead of dc?

Answer 1

AC can be raised and lowered in voltage very easily with a transformer....     high voltage for transmission over long distances, and low voltage to be safe in your home.

Answer 2

Shortly after Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb, he designed systems for distributing electricity to people using them.  He envisioned that power plants would always be near the people getting the electricity to light their homes and businesses and preferred DC current because it was simpler to control than AC.

George Westinghouse preferred AC because it could be easily transformed to high voltages and transmitted to longer distances.  For quite a while Edison feuded with Westinghouse on this topic.  Edison even tried to frighten people about AC saying that it was really dangerous and could kill people much more easily than DC.  Quite probably, he knew this wasn't so.

Quite surprisingly, high-voltage DC is now being used for long-distance transmission because long AC transmission lines can lose power because of the kind of electrical induction that makes transformers possible.

Harleigh Kyson Jr.

Answer 3

that was the fight between Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

Tesla pushed for AC and Edison pushed for DC. the biggest problem was the resistance of the wire. in a DC transmission circuit, the voltage drops the further you get away from the generator, while in an AC circuit there is no voltage drop, so more power is transmitted. much cheaper to use AC.

Answer 4

It's safer and can be transmitted over MUCH longer distances

Answer 5

If you had 120 volts of direct current running through your house and you accidentally cut into it, you would not be able to let go as easily.. Alternating current is safer.

Answer 6

in DC the voltage drop is just that. With AC if u are out on the end and the voltage is low u just change the transformer  tap. .

Answer 7

Thomas Edison thought the world would run on DC.  Mr. Tesla and others proved otherwise. DC does not work over long distances.  Edison recommended AC be used for executions for capital offenses.  That was an attempt to scare people away from AC.

Answer 8

AC is transmitted much better at high voltages.  AC is also what most household appliances use!  220 volts at 400 Hz would be even more efficient, but it is also almost always deadly when it comes into contact with humans.

Answer 9

AC at 60hz is the most efficent power for transmission, and heating value of the current, called RMS( root mean square) value, higher values have higher heating thus less safe in most applications. for example 180 hz is 9 times as hot as 60hz at the same current intensity, at say 10 amps or what ever current.

Answer 10

Because DC voiltage decreases in direct proportion to the length of the distribution lines. You need to read the battle between Edison and Westinghouse over this subject.