Since the last time I wrote about laptops, I have discovered a second most-amazing property of physics that has kept my poor computer from crashing (and taking with it the few precious works of my short life). There was a brief brownout last week that made me fully appreciate the power of my battery, thanks to which my unsaved paper was saved. If my battery had not been charged that day, I would have spent one very long and sleepless night. However, fortunately, my battery was in fact charged because of the junction rectifier in my computer that was turning the AC from the outlet to DC stored by the battery. It seems that the laptop battery requires DC while the usual outlets only supplies AC, therefore a diode like the rectifier is used to block the alternate current and only allow a flow of current in one direction. The diode placed in circuit with the AC cuts of half of each of its cycle so that the remaining current is all in the same direction.
GRAPH OF AC CONVERTED TO DC
