How Do Diodes Function in Various Electronic Applications?

[Mr_Bojingles]

From what I've gathered a diode is used to make the current flow in one direction but block the flow in the other direction. Does that mean diodes are only used in AC circuits since a DC circuit only flows one way anyway?

 

[waht]

Diodes are used extensively in AC and DC circuits. In DC, current will flow in a diode from if you hook up the positive battery terminal to anode of the diode and the cathode to negative terminal of the battery. Diode will almost act like a wire. But if you reverse the anode with cathode current will not flow.

 

[ranger]

It may indeed seem, at first, that diodes may not have any applications in dc. But by itself it doesn't offer much, but if you correctly hook them up to components, you get interesting circuits.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electronic/diodecon.html#c2
http://www.educypedia.be/electronics/analogdiode.htm

 

[chroot]

Diodes have an enormous number of applications:

Rectification
Temperature Sensing
Signal demodulation
Radio receiver
Light sensor
Light emitter
Random noise generator

There are probably more than I'm forgetting.

- Warren