Contents
Key Stage 4
Meaning
An alternator is a device used to generate alternating electrical current.
About Alternators
- Alternators use the generator effect to generate and electrical current.
- Alternators are used in power stations which supply the national grid.
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| This diagram shows an alternator which has a moving coil of wire rotating through a magnetic field.
Due to the coil flipping over relative to the magnetic field the direction of the current changes with each half turn of the coil. |
References
AQA
- Alternators, page 224, GCSE Physics; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA'
- Alternators, page 305, GCSE Physics; The Complete 9-1 Course for AQA, CGP, AQA'
- Alternators, page 97, GCSE Physics; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA'
- Alternators, pages 234-5, GCSE Physics, Hodder, AQA'