On Paper: Introduction to AC Conversion to DC

To get DC (Direct Current) from AC (Alternating Current), the AC which is a sine wave must be rectified, then smoothed. Rectification is required because half of the sine wave happens in the negative voltage region. Rectification is taking the negative part of the voltage and flipping it up to the positive region. Smoothing is where capacitors are used to store the rectified voltage (which looks like a bunch of humps) and makes it more like a line that has very small bumps. The higher capacitance, the smaller the bumps will be.