Appendices

AC - means Alternating Current and DC means Direct Current. AC and DC are also used
when referring to voltages and electrical signals which are not currents! For example: a
12V AC power supply has an alternating voltage (which will make an alternating current
flow).
ADAPTER - a device for connecting pieces of equipment that cannot be connected
directly.
CAPACITOR - a device used to store an electric charge, consisting of one or more pairs of
conductors separated by an insulator.
DISCHARGE - is the sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects
caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown. A buildup of static
electricity can be caused by tribocharging or by electrostatic induction.
ELECTRIC CHARGE - is the physical property of matter that causes it to experience a
force when placed in an electromagnetic field. There are two types of electric charge:
positive and negative (commonly carried by protons and electrons respectively). Like
charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other.
ELECTROLYSIS - chemical decomposition produced by passing an electric current
through a liquid or solution containing ions.
ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR - is a polarized capacitor whose anode or positive plate is
made of a metal that forms an insulating oxide layer through anodization. This oxide
layer acts as the dielectric of the capacitor. A solid, liquid, or gel electrolyte covers the
surface of this oxide layer, serving as the cathode or negative plate of the capacitor.
FILTER - is a circuit capable of passing (or amplifying) certain frequencies while
attenuating other frequencies. Thus, a filter can extract important frequencies from
signals that also contain undesirable or irrelevant frequencies. In the field of electronics,
there are many practical applications for filters.
FREQUENCY - the number of waves that pass a fixed point in unit time; also, the number
of cycles or vibrations undergone during one unit of time by a body in periodic motion.
LC - an LC circuit, also called a resonant circuit, tank circuit, or tuned circuit, is an electric
circuit consisting of an inductor, represented by the letter L, and a capacitor,
represented by the letter C, connected together.
POWER SUPPLY - is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load.
The source power may come from the electric power grid, such as an electrical outlet,
energy storage devices such as batteries or fuel cells, generators or alternators, solar
power converters, or another power supply
RATIO - the quantitative relation between two amounts showing the number of times
one value contains or is contained within the other.
RC - an RC circuit is short for 'Resistor-Capacitor' circuit. A capacitor takes an infinite
amount of time to discharge through a resistor, which varies with the values of the
resistor and capacitor.
REACTANCE - in electric and electronic systems, reactance is the opposition of a circuit
element to a change in current or voltage, due to that element's inductance or
capacitance. ... In phasor analysis, reactance is used to compute amplitude and phase
changes of sinusoidal alternating current going through a circuit element.
RECTIFIER - an electrical device which converts an alternating current into a direct one
by allowing a current to flow through it in one direction only.
RESERVOIR - a place where something is kept in store.
RESISTANCE - is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces
the electric current flow through it. The resistance is measured in units of ohms (Ω). If
we make an analogy to water flow in pipes, the resistance is bigger when the pipe is
thinner, so the water flow is decreased.
RIPPLE - is the residual periodic variation of the DC voltage within a power supply which
has been derived from an alternating current source. This ripple is due to incomplete
suppression of the alternating waveform after rectification.
VOLTAGE DROP - is defined as the amount of voltage loss that occurs through all or part
of a circuit due to impedance. A common analogy used to explain voltage, current and
voltage drop is a garden hose. This condition causes the load to work harder with less
voltage pushing the current.
Vpk - Peak voltage is the highest point or highest value of voltage for any voltage
waveform. It is a power quality issue that occurs when devices that use Pulse Width
Modulation, such as a variable frequency drive, is added to a power system.