Does a dry-cell battery produce the same current that a generator produces?

Answer 1

A dry cell produces direct current, which means that the current flows from one terminal of the dry cell to the other in one direction only. The word generator nowadays often means a device that produces alternating current, which is to say current that reverses its direction, usually at a fixed rate called the frequency. For instance, the current available in North American homes is alternating current at 60 cycles per second; it reverses direction 120 times per second. A machine that produces current that resembles what is available from a dry cell is often called a dynamo. These devices are similar to generators but with switches in them to change the alternating current to direct current, in effect. The current they produce is still not quite like that from a dry cell inasmuch as it's not perfectly 'smooth' continuous direct current. There's a ripple of slightly higher and lower current superimposed on the direct current.

Please see the link, especially the graph associated with the Gramme dynamo.