Image: Wikimedia Commons

direct current

Unidirectional flow of electric charge

EntityQ159241

Also known as DC

Subclass of: electric current

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current.

Overview

All data

39 statements · 26% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Opposite of: alternating current
Permanent duplicated item: Q110096513
Unicode character: ⎓

On other databases

34 identifiers linking direct current across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

26%

externally sourced

Source last edited July 22, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q159241

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). direct current (Q159241). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/direct-current-Q159241