Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

potential, electric

(Encyclopedia)potential, electric, work per unit of electric charge expended in moving a charged body from a reference point to any given point in an electric field (see electrostatics). The potential at the refere...

power, electric

(Encyclopedia)power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some ...

ignition

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ignition system ignition, apparatus for igniting a combustible mixture. The German engineer Nikolaus A. Otto, in his first gas engine, used flame ignition; another method was heating a metal t...

electromotive force

(Encyclopedia)electromotive force, abbr. emf, difference in electric potential, or voltage, between the terminals of a source of electricity, e.g., a battery from which no current is being drawn. When current is dr...

electrode

(Encyclopedia)electrode, terminal through which electric current passes between metallic and nonmetallic parts of an electric circuit. In most familiar circuits current is carried by metallic conductors, but in som...

electrolysis

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Electrolysis: In a typical reaction electrodes are placed in a solution of hydrogen chloride, HCl, which contains both hydrogen and chlorine ions. The battery removes electrons from the anode, ...

electric-light bug

(Encyclopedia)electric-light bug: see water bug. ...

Yoshino, Akira

(Encyclopedia)Yoshino, Akira, 1948–, Japanese chemist, Ph.D. Osaka Univ., 2005. He was a researcher at Asahi Kasei Corp. from 1972 to 2017, when he became a professor at Meijo Univ., Nagoya, Japan. Akira received...

Goodenough, John Bannister

(Encyclopedia)Goodenough, John Bannister, 1922–2023, American physicist, b. Jena, Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1952. Goodenough was a researcher at the Massachu...

electric and magnetic units

(Encyclopedia)electric and magnetic units, units used to express the magnitudes of various quantities in electricity and magnetism. Three systems of such units, all based on the metric system, are commonly used. On...