nikola tesla developed the first alternating current alternator.
who developed the first alternating current alternator?
nikola tesla
the first alternator to produce alternating current was a dynamo electric generator based on michael faraday's principles constructed by the french instrument maker hippolyte pixii in 1832. pixii later added a commutator to his device to produce the (then) more commonly used direct current. the earliest recorded practical application of alternating current is by guillaume duchenne, inventor and developer of electrotherapy. in 1855, he announced that ac was superior to direct current for electrotherapeutic triggering of muscle contractions. alternating current technology was developed further by the hungarian ganz works company (1870s), and in the 1880s: sebastian ziani de ferranti, lucien gaulard, and galileo ferraris.
alternating current
the late 1870s saw the introduction of first large scale electrical systems with central generation stations to power arc lamps, used to light whole streets, factory yards, or the interior of large warehouses. some, such as yablochkov arc lamps introduced in 1878, ran better on alternating current, and the development of these early ac generating systems was accompanied by the first use of the word "alternator". supplying the proper amount of voltage from generating stations in these early systems was left up to the engineer's skill in "riding the load". in 1883 the ganz works invented the constant voltage generator that could produce a stated output voltage, regardless of the value of the actual load. the introduction of transformers in the mid-1880s led to the widespread use of alternating current and the use of alternators needed to produce it. after 1891, polyphase alternators were introduced to supply currents of multiple differing phases. later alternators were designed for various alternating current frequencies between sixteen and about one hundred hertz, for use with arc lighting, incandescent lighting and electric motors. specialized radio frequency alternators like the alexanderson alternator were developed as longwave radio transmitters around world war 1 and used in a few high power wireless telegraphy stations before vacuum tube transmitters replaced them.
alternator