Can someone please explain to me the difference between an AC motor and a DC motor, but in a way that a non-technical person can understand? Not saying it has to be completely dumbed down - just want to have the light bulb go off. Thanks.
This Site Might Help You. RE: AC Motor vs. DC Motor explanation? Can someone please explain to me the difference between an AC motor and a DC motor, but in a way that a non-technical person can understand? Not saying it has to be completely dumbed down - just want to have the light bulb go off. Thanks.
Hi. AC motors are designed and built differently than DC motors. AC motors take advantage of the 60 hertz clock of a power line (or 50Hz in other countries) - this means the power line changes phases 60 times a second - to rotate, while DC motors are designed with the voltage level applied. You can control them both, but with different means. The easiest to control is the DC motor (change the potential (the voltage) and it turns slower or faster.
Well AC, or Alternating Current motors are more efficient than DC or direct current. Both motors work by basically positive and negative current chasing itself in a circle which never catches up to itself so the motors turn. In AC, polyphase or three phase motors this becomes more efficient because you need lower current to do the same thing a DC motor does which requires more voltage to push it. But in a basic sense DC motors are good because you can control the speed of them better than AC. You will find DC motors on things like rock crushers, car crushers etc. where there is a slow but constant speed needed despite the load. A DC motor may turn a conveyor belt at 2 rpm's but when you add rock or a crushing apparatus you will still get that 2 rpm despite the load. A lot of your home appliances ironically run on DC motors too. Now overload it then you will have problems but that is it's basic uses today. AC motors you will find in factories because they have a faster startup speed and when you use the three phase motors they are just more efficient. There is a type called a squirrel cage and then you can imagine the squirrel in the cage moving the rotor that chases the cage or the stator but never really goes end over end when doing so. That is the same principle of magnetism and voltage chasing current inside a DC or an AC motor but each are suited for uses where one or the other may not be as good given the circumstance or the operation you want to control.
