AC and DC: Electrically speaking

[lionkingcmsl]

Some idle musing on the train ride in this morning led me to the conclusion that the terms AC and DC are misnomers.

We are taught they they stand for Alternating Current and Direct Current, but when they show graphical representations of said currents they show the voltage waveforms. AC normally shows a nice sine wave, while DC's voltage is at a constant level.

Being you can't have negative current; though it may change direction, the terms should be AV: Alternating Voltage and CV: Constant Voltage. I feel that this more accurately describes what is happening. So that U.S. standard home power would be 120AV and a power supply to a IC board would be labeled as +5CV

I know that I won't change 150+ years of electrical teaching and dogma, but this is what I think of these terms.

Thoughts?

Comments

[kamiten.livejournal.com]

I personally don't see the problem with the naming. Alternating current flows back and forth, direct current flows only one way.

I understand what you're trying to say about not being able to have negative current. Amps are amps after all. But like voltage there is an argument to be made that negative amps do exist, and merely represent the amplitude at which current is flowing from positive to negative as opposed to flowing from negative to positive.