República Bolivariana de Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educación Universitaria

Universidad Politécnica Territorial ‘’José Antonio Anzoátegui’’

Definitions of electrical terms

Profesora: Bachiller:

Lcda. Francis Bracho Javier Cabello, 26.751.722

1) Ampere: The ampere (symbol: A), often shortened to "amp", is the base unit of electric
current in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after André-Marie Ampère (1775–
1836), French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics.

SI defines the ampere in terms of other base units by measuring the electromagnetic force
between electrical conductors carrying electric current.

2) Battery: An electric battery is a device consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with
external connections provided to power electrical devices such as flashlights, smartphones, and
electric cars. The electronic symbol for a battery is:

3) Capacitor: A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores electrical

energy in an electric field. The effect of a capacitor is known as capacitance. While some
capacitance exists between any two electrical conductors in proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a
component designed to add capacitance to a circuit. The capacitor was originally known as a
condenser. The electronic symbol for a capacitor is:
4) Conductor: In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material
that allows the flow of an electrical current in one or more directions. Materials made of metal are
common electrical conductors. Electrical current is generated by the flow of negatively charged
electrons, positively charged holes, and positive or negative ions in some cases.

5) Damper: A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. In electronics, a kind

of diode, intended to absorb energy peaks, normally generated by inductive circuitry.
6) Phase: In electrical phase is the expression of relative displacement between and among waves
having same frequency.

Phase difference, also called phase angle, in degrees is conventionally defined as a number
greater than -180, and less than or equal to +180. Leading phase refers to a wave that occurs
"ahead" of another wave of the same frequency. Lagging phase refers to a wave that occurs
"behind" another wave of the same frequency. When two signals differ in phase by -90 or +90
degrees, they are said to be in phase quadrature. When two waves differ in phase by 180 degrees
(-180 is technically the same as +180), the waves are said to be in phase opposition. Illustration B
shows two waves that are in phase quadrature. The wave depicted by the dashed line leads the
wave represented by the solid line by 90 degrees.

7) Target: A supplementary device used in conjunction with a relay or circuit breaker to indicate
that it has functioned.

8) Watt: The watt (symbol: W) is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units (SI)
defined as 1 joule per second and can be used to quantify the rate of energy transfer.

9) Voltage regulator: A voltage regulator is an electronic circuit that provides a stable dc voltage
independent of the load current, temperature and ac line voltage variations. A voltage regulator
may use a simple feed-forward design or may include negative feedback. It may use an
electromechanical mechanism, or electronic components. Depending on the design, it may be
used to regulate one or more AC or DC voltages.
10) Statiscope: A small instrument used for indicating high-voltage alternating current or pulsating
direct current potentials and high voltage static or a high voltage field adjacent to conductors
energized at 1000 volts and above.

11) Auxiliary Relay: An auxiliary relay is a relay that assists another relay or device in performing an
action. It does this when its operating circuit is opened or closed. These relays are used in nearly
all electronic devices to assist them in functioning correctly. Essentially, it is as simple as an action
done to the relay causing a circuit to be opened – completed- or closed and not allow power to
travel through it.

One example of an auxiliary relay in action can be seen when a light is turned on in a home.

12) Armor rod: Armor rods are designed to protect cables against bending, compression, abrasion,
and flash-over. They are also used to repair damaged aluminum-based conductors and restore the
conductors' mechanical strength and conductivity.

13) Carrier current: Carrier current transmission (originally called wired wireless) employs guided
low-power radio signals, which are transmitted along electrical conductors. The transmissions are
picked up by receivers that are either connected to, or a short distance from, the conductors.
Carrier current transmission is used to send audio and telemetry to selected locations, and also for
low-power broadcasting that covers a small geographical area, such as a college campus. The most
common form of carrier current uses long wave or medium wave AM radio signals that are sent
through existing electrical wiring, although other conductors can be used, such as telephone lines.
14) Cathode: The negatively charged electrode by which electrons enter an electrical device.

15) Compensator: A static VAR compensator is a set of electrical devices for providing fast-acting
reactive power on high-voltage electricity transmission networks. SVCs are part of the Flexible AC
transmission system device family, regulating voltage, power factor, and harmonics and stabilizing
the system.

16) Control circuit: A type of circuit that uses control devices to determine when loads are
energized or de-energized by controlling current flow. Control circuits usually carry lower voltages
than power circuits.
17) Electrode: An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part
of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). The word was coined by William
Whewell at the request of the scientist Michael Faraday from the Greek words elektron, meaning
amber (from which the word electricity is derived), and hodos, a way.

The electrophore, invented by Johan Wilcke, was an early version of an electrode used to study
static electricity.

18) Electron: The electron is a subatomic particle, symbol e− or β−, with a negative elementary
electric charge.

19) Direct current: Direct current (DC) is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. A battery is a
good example of a DC power supply. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but
can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion
beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current
(AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current.
20) Generator: In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power into
electrical power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam
turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, and internal combustion engines and even hand cranks.

21) Interlock: An interlock is a feature that makes the state of two mechanisms or functions
mutually dependent. It may be used to prevent undesired states in a finite-state machine, and
may consist of any electrical, electronic, or mechanical devices or systems.

22) Brush: A brush is device which conducts current between stationary wires and moving parts,
most commonly in a rotation shaft.

23) Commutator: An attachment, connected to the armature of a motor or generator, through

which electrical connection is made and which ensures that the current flows as direct current.

Commutator in a universal motor from a vacuum cleaner. Parts: (A) commutator, (B) brush, (C)
rotor (armature) windings, (D) stator (F) (field) windings, (E) brush guides:

24) Relay: A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to
mechanically operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solid-state
relays.

25) Feeder: In electric power distribution, voltage power line transferring power from a
distribution substation to the distribution transformers. An electrical wiring circuit in a building
which carries power from a transformer or switch gear to a distribution panel.
26) Flux: The electric flux through an area is defined as the electric field multiplied by the area of
the surface projected in a plane perpendicular to the field. Flux is the presence of a force field in a
specified physical medium, or the flow of energy through a surface. In electronics, the term applies
to any electrostatic field and any magnetic field. Flux is depicted as "lines" in a plane that contains
or intersects electric charge poles or magnetic poles.

27) Fuse: In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is an electrical safety device that
operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit. Its essential component is a
metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows through it, thereby interrupting the
current. It is a sacrificial device; once a fuse has operated it is an open circuit, and it must be
replaced or rewired, depending on type.
28) Inductance: In electromagnetism and electronics, inductance is the property of an electrical
conductor by which a change in current through it induces an electromotive force in both the
conductor itself and in any nearby conductors by mutual inductance.

29) Ohm: The ohm (symbol: Ω) is the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, named after German
physicist Georg Simon Ohm. Although several empirically derived standard units for expressing
electrical resistance were developed in connection with early telegraphy practice, the British
Association for the Advancement of Science proposed a unit derived from existing units of mass,
length and time and of a convenient size for practical work as early as 1861.

30) Rotor: The rotor is a moving component of an electromagnetic system in the electric motor,
electric generator, or alternator. Its rotation is due to the interaction between the windings and
magnetic fields which produces a torque around the rotor's axis.

31) Three phase: Three-phase electric power is a common method of alternating current electric
power generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system and is the most
common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer power. It is also used to power
large motors and other heavy loads.