Alternating Current (AC)

Hello. My name is Alternating Current, but my friends call me AC. I am a special kind of electricity. I love to dance and wiggle and zip all around. I am very good at traveling. I can go on very, very long trips through thin wires and I do not get tired at all. Before I came along, another kind of electricity could not go very far. It would get sleepy and have to stop. That made it hard to light up big houses or whole towns. But I can go anywhere. I love to travel far and wide to make everything bright.

My best friend was a very smart man named Nikola Tesla. He dreamed me up a long, long time ago in the 1880s. He imagined me wiggling back and forth, just like a child on a swing. He knew that wiggling would help me travel very far without getting tired. In the year 1887, he built special machines just for me. They helped me come alive and start my happy, wiggling journey. Later, in the year 1893, I went to a giant party. It was called the World's Columbian Exposition. I got to light up everything. All the buildings and paths were bright because of me. It looked like a magical wonderland, and I was so proud to shine for everyone.

Today, I am still wiggling and zipping everywhere. I travel through wires that run all the way to your house. I am the happy energy that turns on your lights so you can see in the dark. I help keep your food cold in the refrigerator. I make the television show cartoons and make your favorite toys whir and beep. Every time you flip a switch, that is me, arriving to help. I am the bouncy energy that makes the world a bright and fun place to live and play, every single day.