dc/ac??

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

DC is a terrible term. it means "constant, unchanging", but is defined as "Direct Current". which is annoying because a DC battery doesn't have a constant CURRENT output, but rather a constant voltage... further, a battery can be charged or discharged, so current isn't even always the same polarity, let alone constant!

From the standpoint of a battery in discharge or the circuitry of a car where you have a "hot" lead and ground, the polarity never changes, electrons flow one way only and the current is pretty direct. Never heard anything or one say that for DC to really be DC the amperage had to be constant. Only that the voltage and current did not change polarity at regular intervals.