Guessing game...

well this is quite coincidental. ATM in yr 12 physics we are doing electronics which include rectifiers.

As i understand them they rectify AC current (really??). As we know AC current is like a sine wave. It goes up and down and continues. What a rectifier does is it converts the -ve voltage to +ve voltage.

have a look at this, hope it helps. And if i am completely wrong please do not hesitate to say so. I usually play games in physics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier

wow, my explanation (or lack there of) is nothing but a random collection of words.

[JERRY2KONE]

OK guys I consider myself retrained. After being out of the industrial light for going on 20 years some of the stuff I only had partial experience with has faded somewhat. I can still tear down an engine and rebuild it with confidence and success. The electrical side has always been a bit confusing, because every time one would ask a question the answer would be "IT'S MAGIC". I know enough to be able to wire a house and change our light switches and resepticles without getting shocked, or at least only once. I always hated getting bit by 120-240 v, but it was always a good learning tool to be more careful, or just open the breaker. Working with R/C always seemed easy with 7-8 volts, but now we have 2s-12s Lipos with 4s-6s being the norm, so even R/C is getting tricky.