THE INTERNATIONAL

DICTIONARY
OF PHYSICS
AND ELECTRONICS

SECOND EDITION

D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC.

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
TORONTO

LONDON

^ a n N ostrand R egional O f f ic e s :

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D. V a n N ostrand C o m p a n y , L td ., London
D. V a n N ostrand C o m p a n y (Canada), L td ., Toronto

Copyright 1956, 1961 by D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY, INC.

Published simultaneously in Canada by

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EDITORIAL BOARD
W A L T E R C. M IC H E LS, Editor-in-Chief
B ryn M awr College

R O S A L IE C. H O Y T

JO S E P H C. M A Y

B ryn M aw r College

Yale University

JO H N R. P R U E T T
B ryn M awr College

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
N IE L F. B E A R D S L E Y

GEORGE M U R P H Y

Ohio State University

W right Air D evelopm en t C enter, USAF

N ew York University

C H E STE R H. PA G E

R. T. B E Y E R

National Bureau of Standards

Brown U niversity

F. R O B E R T SCOTT

H. C. CORBEN

General Atom ics Division

General Dynam ics Corporation

Carnegie Institute of T echnology;

Thompson Ram o Wooldridge, Incorporated

E D W A R D A. FREEMAN

R U D O L P H SH E R

Forrestal Research Center

B rookhaven National Laboratory

R O B E R T L IN D S A Y

BENSON R. SU N D H EIM

Trinity College
H artford, Conn.

N ew York University

R O B E R T B. L IN D S A Y

A. A. TOW N SEN D
University of Cambridge

Brown University

K . M EN D ELSSO H N

A. D. Y O F F E

U niversity of Oxford

University of Cambridge

J. M. ZIM AN
University of Cambridge

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The publication of a second edition of the IN T E R N A T IO N A L D IC
T IO N A R Y OF PH Y SICS A N D ELECTRO N IC S within less than five
years of the publication of the first edition has been made desirable by the
rapid progress in some of the fields of physics and electronics. The break
down o f parity conservation, the growth of hydromagnetics and other forms
o f fluid mechanics, the completion of more powerful accelerators, the rapid
application o f transistors and the increased quality and quantity of com
puters are examples of the many changes that result in the introduction of
new terms and modifications in the meaning of old ones.
The differences between this edition and the first, however, are much
more extensive than would be demanded by such progress alone. An
attempt has been made to remove redundant entries, to make better use
of cross-references, and to make entries easier to locate by the choice of
initial words that are likely to be the ones that first occur to the user.
Those omissions and errors which crept into the earlier volume and have
been brought to our attention by published reviews or letters from readers
have been corrected. W e express our thanks to both reviewers and letter
writers, and to the editors of other dictionaries (particularly T H E IN
T E R N A T IO N A L D IC T IO N A R Y OF A P P L IE D M A T H E M A T IC S ),
who have given permission for the use of entries that are so excellent we
have not wished to m odify them in any way.
Another new feature of the Second Edition is the group of multilingual
indices, in French, German, Spanish and Russian. They have been added
to meet the ever-growing use and importance of the foreign literature.
The Second Edition, to an even greater extent than the first, avoids
uniformity o f the level of presentation, rather than seeking it. W e have
been guided by a desire to meet the needs of those users who are most likely
to look up specific terms. Thus, those entries which will probably never
be used by a professional physicist are generally treated in a discursive
manner, while those that will be sought by such a person are based on the
assumption that he will bring considerable background to bear on their in
terpretation. In some instances, both the discursive and the more formal
treatments are combined in a single entry; in others, cross-referencing
should carry the user from one level of presentation to the other. The new
Introduction, we hope, will be of help to non-physicists. (The material
included in the old Introduction is retained, having been transferred to
appropriate entries on mechanical units, thermal units, electromagnetic
units, etc.).
As in 1956, we express the hope that continued criticism will be forth
coming to aid us in future efforts.
T

he

d it o r s

INTRODUCTION*
During the preparation of the second edition of the D ictionary of Physics and
Electronics, the editors have tried to increase the usefulness of the book to the
varied groups that have used the first edition. These include not only professional
physicists, but also chemists, mathematicians, engineers, business executives, and
secondary school teachers. M any individuals in these groups are better ac
quainted with classical physics the traditional fields of mechanics, acoustics,
heat, electricity and magnetism, and light than they are with modern physics.
It is hoped that the following pages, in which the connection between classical
and modern developments is traced briefly, may be of help in the use of the
increased number of entries dealing with atomic and nuclear physics, relativistic
mechanics, quantum theory, and similar topics.
I. Physics in 1800
Although the transition from the classical to the modern period in physics is
generally placed at about 1900, the groundwork for recent developments was well
laid during the nineteenth century. M uch of this century was characterized by
a process of synthesis of the knowledge that had been accumulating since the
time of Galileo (1564-1642) and Newton (1642-1727), and by a growth in the
depth of understanding of this knowledge.
B y 1800, the basic structure of classical mechanics had been erected firmly
on the foundation of Newtons laws of motion and of his law of universal gravi
tation. The validity of the three laws of motion had been well established, not
only in terrestrial surroundings, but also in the realm of celestial mechanics. In
addition, Euler (1707-1783), D Alembert (1717-1783), Lagrange (1736-1813),
and Laplace (1749-1827) had developed increasingly elegant ways in which the
laws might be applied to complex situations. In view of the high development
and great success of Newtonian mechanics at this time, it is not strange that
most nineteenth century physicists took the view that all phenomena could
eventually be explained on the basis of the laws of motion.
In contrast with mechanics, the other fields of physics (or of natural philos
ophy, as it was then known) were in a rudimentary stage. It is true that Black
(1728-1799) had established the basis for calorimetry and that the study of
heat was thus put on a quantitative basis; yet its synthesis with the rest of
physics really belongs to the nineteenth century, for Rum ford (1753-1814) had
proposed the connection between heat and motion only in 1798. Geometrical
optics had progressed far, after the discovery o< the law of refraction by Snell
(1591-1626); lenses and mirrors of reasonably high quality had been manufac
tured and the achromatic refracting telescope had been developed. Although
* In this Introduction, as in the rest of the volume, bold-face words indicate cross reference
to alphabetized entries. In general, primary entries are listed under the principal noun of
the phrase defined, but some exceptions occur when an adjective or proper name is a very
important part of the phrase. In most instances of this sort, cross references are listed under
the noun as well.

diffraction and polarization phenomena were known, the study of them was far
from complete and their theoretical explanations were founded on ad hoc h y
potheses that had little connection with the basic theory of light.
The relationship between electricity and magnetism had not yet been estab
lished. Knowledge of each of these fields was largely qualitative and discon
nected; the existing theories, such as the fluid theory of Franklin (1706-1790),
were to need serious m odification before they became powerful tools for further
progress. It is true that Cavendish (1731-1810) had been able to show, even on
the basis of the early qualitative experiments, that the force between static elec
tric charges varies as the inverse square of the distance between them, just as does
the gravitational force between two masses. His work was not widely known,
however, and it remained for Coulomb (1736-1806) to establish experimentally
the law which now bears his name. In the meantime, Volta (1745-1827), follow
ing the lead of Galvani (1737-1798), had constructed the first voltaic pile, the
predecessor of the modern electric battery, and so had opened the way for the
investigation of electricity in motion.
II. The Nineteenth CenturyAge of Synthesis
F ir s t S t e p s

The opening years of the nineteenth century put on a sound basis three con
cepts that were to make physics a unified subject, rather than a collection of
loosely connected studies. These were the law of the conservation of energy, the
wave theory of light, and the atomic theory of matter.
The brilliant analyses and experiments of Rum ford and of D a vy (1778-1829)
showed that neither the heat developed in the boring of cannon nor the melting
of ice by friction was consistent with the concept of caloric (a postulated inde
structible fluid involved in all thermal phenomena). Their discoveries led to
the measurement of the mechanical equivalent of heat by Joule (1818-1889) and
subsequently to the enunciation of the law of the conservation of energy. Earlier
conservation laws, for mass, momentum, and angular momentum, had long been
accepted, but this new law was broader in that it provided a connection between
two different types of phenomena, each of which had been investigated in con
siderable detail and in each of which a separate conservation law had been
found to be applicable under certain ideal circumstances. The gradual recogni
tion of the extent of validity of the conservation law, coupled with the under
standing that developed after the studies of Carnot (1796-1832), led to the de
velopment of thermodynamics by Kelvin (1824-1907), Helmholtz (1821-1894),
Clausius (1822-1888), Gibbs (1790-1861), and others. As a result of their work
it became increasingly clear that thermodynamics, a study based on a few basic
laws and on no detailed assumptions of mechanism, was a powerful tool that
applied to all phenomena. Both the first law of thermodynamics and the second
law of thermodynamics m ay be put in the form of statements of impossibilities:
1. Energy can be neither created nor destroyed.
N o process is possible if it results in a decrease in the entropy of an isolated
system.

2.

These two general statements define the limitations within which we believe
natural phenomena to take place and hence within which scientists must work.

They therefore take a central place in science and no scientific theory that tran
scends their limitations can be considered to be acceptable. Thus they weld to
gether not only mechanics and heat, but also all other branches of natural science.
The discovery of interference phenomena in optics, made by Young (17731829), put at least a temporary end to a controversy that had been in progress
since the time of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). W as light to be described as a stream
of particles emitted by a luminous source or as a disturbance transmitted through
some medium? Both hypotheses found support. During the seventeenth cen
tury, Huygens (1625-1695) and Descartes (1596-1650) had been the chief
proponents of the latter; Newton of the former. Y oung pointed out that a crucial
experiment could be performed to distinguish between the two theories. I f light
from the same source were to arrive simultaneously at the eye over two inde
pendent paths, it would be expected on the basis of a particle theory that the
intensity would always be the sum of the intensities contributed by the two sep
arate beams. On the other hand, the wave theory would suggest that the in
tensity could be either greater than or less than the intensity produced by a
single beam, depending on the relative lengths of the two paths. In a typical
wave, something (e.g. the surface of water) is disturbed first in one direction
and later in the opposite direction. W hich of the two directions is observed at a
given instant depends on the distance from the source. Now, if the distances from
the source to the eye are different over the two paths, it is possible that light
coming over one path will be producing a disturbance opposite to that produced
by light coming over the other the resultant intensity may be less than that
produced by either beam alone. A t other distances the two disturbances may
be in the same direction, with consequent greater intensity. N ot only do ex
periments of this type lend strong support to the wave theory, they also allow
the wavelength of the light to be determined. Young was able to demonstrate
that a large number of known phenomena, such as the colored appearances of
thin films, the occurrence of Newtons rings, etc., could be explained by invoking
his principle of interference between two light beams. In the hands of Fresnel
(1788-1827), Y ou n gs ideas led to such strong evidence for the wave theory of
light that it was accepted unanimously by students of physics.
Y ou ngs work, like that of Rum ford, D a vy, and Joule, led to the joining of
different branches of natural philosophy. W ave phenomena are very com m on;
waves on the surfaces of liquids or in solids can be understood both qualitatively
and quantitatively in terms of the laws of m otion; sound was known before
Y ou ngs time to be transmitted by a wave motion in air. As a result of the
triumph of the wave theory of light, it became possible to argue by analogy with
the behavior of these more easily observed waves and so to predict the be
havior of light under circumstances that rendered the particle theories almost
useless.
The third great contribution to the unity of science, the atomic theory of
D alton (1766-1844), was, like the wave theory of light, an old idea. Democritus
(circa 460-357 B.C.) had speculated on the possibility that matter consisted of
indivisible atoms and Lucretius (circa 96-55 B.C.) had popularized his ideas. B e
fore the advent o f quantitative experimentation, however, there was no way of
demonstrating whether the properties of matter were more easily explained on
the basis of such an assumption or on the hypothesis that any kind o f matter
could be subdivided without limit. It took the genius of D alton to realize that

the law of constant proportions and the law of multiple proportions in chemical
reactions could be most easily understood if one supposed that each chemical
element or compound came in the form of large numbers of individual particles,
each of which was the smallest bit of matter that had the chemical characteristics
of the material. N ot only did his concept lead to great simplification of chemistry
it also was to provide the basis on which one could understand the law of gas
behavior that had been discovered by B oyle (1621-1679) and of the regularity
in the faces of crystals that had been observed nearly two centuries before by
Steno (1638-1687) and H ooke (1635-1703). The strength and power of D altons
theory were increased greatly by the work of Avogadro (1776-1856), who de
veloped the famous hypothesis that the numbers of molecules in equal volumes
o f different gases (under the same conditions) are equal, and by that of Can
nizzaro (1826-1910), who combined the ideas of his two great predecessors to
develop the modern concepts of atomic and molecular masses.
T

he

E l e c t r o m a g n e t ic F ie l d E q u a t io n s

Alm ost simultaneously with the work that we have just been discussing, the
knowledge of electrical and magnetic phenomena was moving forward at a rapid
pace. A t the turn of the century, the two types of phenomena seemed to be en
tirely independent, but in 1817 Oersted (1777-1851) discovered accidentally that
an electric current produces a magnetic field. Ampere (1775-1836) seized upon
this discovery as soon as he heard about it, and rapidly developed the mathe
matical relationship known as Amperes law, which connects the magnitude and
direction o f the magnetic field with the magnitude and direction of the electric
current and with the geometry of the system. The production of magnetic fields
by electric currents naturally raised the question of whether the converse phe
nomenon took place could magnets produce electric currents? The answer was
found almost at the same time by Henry (1797-1878) and by Faraday (17911876), who showed that changing magnetic fields could produce an electric field,
and so could induce currents in a conducting material. Electricity and magnetism
were truly found to be closely related!
B y 1867 it must have appeared to many physicists that the basic knowledge
of electric and magnetic fields had progressed nearly to its ultimate state. But
the most striking piece of synthesis remained to be carried through. Before
commenting on it, we must mention that the application of mathematics to
physical phenomena was continuing to grow from the roots established by Euler,
Lagrange, and Laplace. Hamilton (1805-1865) had carried the ideas of these
workers to an even more highly polished state than that in which they had left
them; Fourier (1768-1830) had developed theorems that were to make possible
the solution of differential equations that had previously seemed to present in
surmountable difficulties. Gauss (1777-1855), by developing what is now known
as Gauss' law, had simplified greatly the computation of gravitational and elec
tric fields that surround symmetrically arranged masses or electric charges and
Poisson (1781-1840) had shown that the solutions of a number of physical prob
lems could be accomplished by the solution o f the single and powerful Poisson
equation. It was becoming increasingly clear that the methods of differential
equations and vector analysis provided a language in which physical phenomena
could be treated and understood with a minimum of difficulty.

M axwell (1831-1879) saw in the new mathematical methods a w ay of com

bining into a short description all that was known about electricity and mag
netism. There were four available principal relations: (1) The inverse square
law of force between electric charges at rest; ( 2 ) A similar law for the force
between magnetic poles; (3) Am peres law connecting the magnetic field in the
neighborhood of a current with the current producing it; and (4) Faradays law
of induction, which gave the electromotive force induced in any circuit in terms
o f the time rate of change of the magnetic flux through the circuit. Faraday had
given additional meaning to these laws by the use of a quasi-mechanical model
involving lines o f force, which he supposed to behave very much like stretched
rubber bands. These lines of force offered an alternative to the concept of action
at a distance, which to most scientists and philosophers is an objectionable no
tion. M axwell was able to reduce each of the four laws to a mathematical form
in which two vector quantities, the electric field strength and the magnetic field
strength, expressed what might be called the state o f electromagnetic strain of
the space surrounding the charges. His set of four equations shows connections
between these vectors and between them and the presence of stationary or moving
charges in the neighborhood of the region of space being discussed. In other
words, M axw ells equations place the emphasis on the field, or the changes in
the nature of space, produced by charges. As we shall see later, this kind of
description was to prove to be a valuable one during the next fifty years or more.
In developing his model of the electromagnetic field, M axwell encountered,
recognized, and overcame one difficulty that might have escaped the notice of a
lesser mind. T o a large extent, there seemed to be a reciprocal relationship be
tween electricity and magnetism we have already seen how this reciprocity led
to the search for the induction of electric currents by magnetic fields. Y et the
symmetry was not complete, as induction requires a changing magnetic field while
magnetic fields are produced by steady electric currents. He met this apparent
lack of reciprocity by imagining and then producing sound reasoning to support
the idea that a changing electric field produces the same magnetic effect as a cur
rent flowing in a conductor, that it constitutes a displacement current. Here was
a case, to be repeated many times later, in which symmetry considerations and the
form of the mathematical expressions were to guide physical theory.
W ith the displacement current added to the concepts involved, M axw ells four
equations, after some routine mathematical manipulation, led to a startling pre
diction. A ny electrical or magnetic disturbance created in free space should, if
these equations were correct, be propagated through space as a disturbance, or
wave motion. This should be a transverse wave, i.e. one in which the disturbance
is at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels and therefore one that
may be completely polarized. Further, the speed of the wave could be predicted
from measurements that had been made on purely electrical and magnetic phe
nomena it was very close to 3 X 1010 centimeters per second. The study of
polarization phenomena had already shown light to be a transverse wave and
measurements of its speed by Fizeau (1819-1896) and Foucault (1819-1868)
agreed quite precisely with the speed predicted for electromagnetic waves. All
of this seemed like too much of a coincidence between light on the one hand and
electromagnetic phenomena on the other.
light is an electromagnetic wave.

From 1870 on it was accepted that

A t o m ic it y

and

E l e c t r ic C h a r g e

D a lton s discovery of the atom icity of matter, as we have seen, followed on the
development of quantitative methods in chemistry. The first evidence that elec
tricity also occurs in very small, indivisible, and identical pieces also came about
as the result of careful and quantitative measurements. Almost as soon as Volta
had made the battery, and hence reasonable steady electric currents, available,
various experimenters began studies of the effects produced when such currents
passed through solutions of acids, bases, and salts in water. The decomposition of
water into hydrogen and oxygen was brought about very ea rly; it was not much
later when it was found that metal could be removed from the electrode by which
the current entered certain solutions (the anode) and an approximately equal
amount of metal be deposited on the other electrode (the cathode). Early in his
career, Faraday performed some ingenious experiments to learn about such elec
trochemical effects. He was able to show that the amount of any given substance
that is deposited or produced in an electrochemical cell is proportional to the
amount of electricity passed through the cell. This is neither surprising nor par
ticularly revealing, but Faradays finding about the amounts of different materials
deposited or produced by electrolysis when the same amount of electricity passes
was destined to be highly important.
The second Faraday law of electrolysis states that the amount of a substance
deposited in electrolytic action by a fixed amount of electricity is proportional to
the equivalent weight of the substance, i.e., to its atomic weight divided by a small
integral number, the valence. Although it was not recognized at the time, this law
points strongly to the atomic nature of electric charge. If individual atoms pass
through the cell in a form in which they carry electricity with them and if each
atom carries the same amount of electric charge, the masses transported must be
proportional to the masses of the atoms. T o account for the importance of
equivalent weights, we need merely to suppose that different species o f atoms carry
different numbers of elementary charges, the number being exactly equal to the
valence. N o other logical explanation of Faradays second law has ever been
developed.
Although Faraday was very close to discovering the atom icity of electricity,
the true significance of his work had to wait for the development o f a very d if
ferent line of investigation. W e are all familiar with the striking effects pro
duced when electricity is passed through a partially evacuated glass tube con
taining some air or other gas. These phenomena require a high voltage, or
potential difference, as compared with that needed for electrolysis or for the
conduction of electric currents through solids, hence their investigation had to
wait for the invention of the induction coil, which came about as a direct conse
quence of Faradays law of induction. When investigators began to study the
gas discharge, it was noted that the glass near the cathode often exhibited a
bright glow, or fluorescence. The cause of this fluorescence was gradually traced
to particles that were either emitted from or produced near the cathode. The
nature of these particles was put forward by Crookes (1832-1919), who pointed
out that the known bending of their paths by a magnetic field was consistent with
the idea that each of them carries a very small negative charge of electricity.
After a great deal of preliminary work by many experimenters, Thomson (18561940) was able to measure the radius of curvature of the cathode rays in a

known magnetic field and the energy transported by these rays. The former
depends on the speed, the mass, and the charge of the particles; the latter on the
mass and the speed. B y combining the two results, Thomson succeeded in esti
mating the charge-to-mass ratio of the individual particles. This ratio was found
to be independent of the nature o f the gas in the tube it appeared that identical
particles were produced whenever an electric discharge took place in any gas.
W ithout following the rest of the work done to determine their properties, we
can recognize that the cathode rays responsible for the fluorescence of the glass
are made up of the particles now known as electrons, each of which is a very
small negative electric charge, having a mass that is a little more than 1 / 2 0 0 0 of
the mass of a hydrogen atom.
N ot long after the cathode rays were discovered, it was found that another
type of ray could be seen if the cathode of a discharge tube had small holes, or
canals, drilled through it. Through these holes there emerged streams of par
ticles that originated in the gas discharge. B y measurements of their deflections
in electric and magnetic fields, it was found that the canal rays are streams of
particles, each of which has a mass essentially equal to that of the individual
atoms or molecules of the gas and carries a positive charge that is either equal in
magnitude to the charge of the electron or is a small integral multiple of that
charge.
The conclusions reached from the study of electrolysis and of gas discharges
had, before the end of the century, gone beyond the atom icity of electricity. It
was becoming increasingly clear that negatively charged electrons with masses
far smaller than the atoms are common constituents of all atoms. As atoms
in general are electrically neutral, and as the canal rays consist of positively
charged particles, it seemed reasonable that the latter were the residue of an
atom or molecule after one or more electrons had been removed from it in
the violence of the discharge. Thus the atom, whose very name means in
divisible, was shown to possess an inner structure. The study of this struc
ture was to become the chief activity of the physics of the twentieth century.
T

he

E v id e n c e

of

Spectra

The decomposition of white light into a spectrum of colors by dispersion in a

prism had been studied extensively by Newton, who also showed that the colors
could be recombined to produce white light. W hat distinguished the colors from
each other was not clear until the wave theory of light took hold. It was then
shown that the order of the spectrum colors violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow,
orange, red is the same as the order of the wavelengths of the light producing
them. Red light has a wavelength of about 7000 Angstrom units (A ), violet
light about 4000 A ; the other colors have wavelengths intermediate between
these extremes of the visible spectrum.
N o one seems to have noticed that the spectra obtained from various light
sources were different from one another until more than fifty years after N ew
ton s work. Even after it had been observed that the addition of salts containing
sodium to a flame causes a brightening of the yellow portion of the spectrum
produced by the flame, another century was required before it was clear that
there are at least three distinct types of spectra. ( 1 ) Incandescent bodies, such
as a piece of heated metal, emit all wavelengths to which the eye is sensitive
(and some to which it is not). ( 2 ) Heated gases and vapors give bright line

spectra or band spectra, in which some sharply defined wavelengths are present,
while many wavelengths are absent; each of the wavelengths present accounts
for a spectral line. Finally, gases or vapors introduced in the light path be
tween an incandescent source and the spectroscope result in a dark line spectrum
or a dark band spectrum in which certain sharply defined wavelengths are miss
ing; it was the observation of such dark lines in the spectrum of the sun by
W ollaston (1766-1828) and by Fraunhofer (1787-1826) that helped greatly in
the disentanglement of the puzzle of the spectrum.
It was finally recognized, as the result of the efforts of many workers, particu
larly of Kirchhoff (1824-1887) and Bunsen (1811-1899), that each element can
emit only certain distinct wavelengths unless it is in chemical combination with
other elements. (From such compounds, when their vapors are heated, spectra
consisting of bands of many closely spaced lines are emitted.) N ot all of the
possible spectral lines of an element are necessarily emitted at any one time,
although more and more of them are often found as the temperature of the vapor
is increased. However, no lines not present in the characteristic spectrum of an
element are ever emitted by that element, and each dark line produced by the
element is found to have the same wave length as a bright line in its character
istic emission spectrum. T o explain this, Kirchhoff and Bunsen, as well as Stokes
(1819-1903), introduced the ingenious assumption that there was something in
the atom that could vibrate only at particular frequencies. When the atom was
disturbed, as it might be by heat, a wave was set up at the frequency o f vibra
tion and would spread out from the atom as a light wave. On the other hand,
when light from an incandescent source fell on atoms of the substance, those
waves having the same frequency as one of the characteristic vibrations would
start the vibration this would require energy, and light of the particular wave
length characteristic of this frequency would be absorbed. Molecules, being
more complex than atoms, might be expected to have many more characteristic
frequencies and to give the more complex band spectra. In solids the complexi
ties must truly be very great, since great numbers of atoms are involved, and
one might well anticipate that so many wavelengths would be emitted that they
would overlap, giving the continuous spectrum characteristic of incandescent
bodies.
W hen M axw ells electromagnetic theory of light had been developed and when
it had become accepted that electrons were constituents of atoms, the some
thing that was vibrating could almost certainly be identified. The electron
meets every requirement. It is an electric charge, therefore its motion will set
up an electromagnetic field in its neighborhood. It is so light that there is little
difficulty in imagining that it can vibrate at the high frequencies typical of optical
vibrations, which are at the rate of four to eight times 1 0 14 per second.
T w o models of the structure of the atom were in current use by the end of the
century. In one the atom was considered to be a jelly-like ball of positive charge,
in which there were imbedded a number of electrons. Each of these electrons
would ordinarily be at rest at some position within the atom, but it could be
disturbed by heating, by the effect of other electrons striking the atom, etc. When
displaced from its equilibrium position, the electron would be subject to a force
pulling it back to that position. If it is supposed that the force is proportional
to the distance that the electron is displaced, the problem of finding the frequency
of the resulting vibration is an easy one the electron will undergo simple har

monic motion analogous to the swinging of a pendulum bob. This model was
very simple and was successful in many ways. The frequency of a simple har
monic motion is independent of the amplitude (the maximum distance that the
particle departs from its equilibrium p o sitio n ); this fact accords with the well
defined frequency (and wavelength) of spectral lines. When the atom is placed
in a steady electric field, the electrons will be displaced by an amount propor
tional to the magnitude of the field and so the atom will acquire an electric
polarization in the direction of, and proportional to, the field. This accounts for
the constancy of the dielectric constant of most insulating materials. This model,
in which the electrons were all in static equilibrium unless disturbed, would ac
count for some, but not all, of the observed properties of atoms, but it encountered
one very serious difficulty in principle. Earnshaw (1805-1888) had demonstrated
that no system of electric charges could remain in static equilibrium under the
action of their mutual electrical attractions and repulsions alone. Quite clearly,
some mysterious new type of force needed to be introduced into the model to
allow the atom to be stable. The origin and nature of such forces were, at the least,
obscure.
A second model overcame the difficulties introduced by Eamshaws theorem,
but only at the cost of bringing in new ones. According to it, the atom would
consist of a heavy, positively charged, nucleus, about which electrons m ove in
circular or elliptic orbits, very much like planets about the sun. The mutual
attraction of the nucleus and any electron then supplies the centripetal force
needed to hold the electron in its orbit. One m ajor problem with this model was
that it would not account nicely for the sharply defined frequencies o f spectral
lines. The frequency of rotation of a planet or satellite depends on its distance
from the attracting center, becoming greater as the distance decreases. I f the
radius of a circular orbit is supposed to be constant, the frequency will also be
constant, but this would contradict the law of the conservation of energy; as the
electron spins about, it produces an electromagnetic disturbance and so radiates
energy; this energy can be supplied only by a decrease in the size of the orbit,
with a consequent increase in the frequency. On the other hand, the dynamic
atom model was successful in accounting for the magnetic susceptibility of an
atom and for both plane polarization and circular polarization of the emitted
light.
Thus as the end of the century approached, physics found itself in the not
unusual position of having two models that could not be reconciled easily with
each other, each having certain successes and certain failures. M uch had been
accomplished, but new ideas were needed if either of the existing models was to
develop into a truly successful one.
One very remarkable discovery seemed to make the problem even more dif
ficult than it would have been otherwise, but this discovery was to furnish the
test of the first truly hopeful theory, some years later. It had long been rec
ognized that the hydrogen atom, being the lightest of any, was probably also the
simplest. Nature seemed to confirm this supposition, for atomic hydrogen has a
simple visible spectrum, consisting of only four lines, with wavelengths of ap
proximately 6563 A, 4861 A, 4340 A, and 4102 A. Balmer (18251898) was able
to show that all of these wavelengths could be expressed by the same equation:
N2
Xisr = (3645.6 A) ------- -
N 2 - 71

where n 2, N takes of the values 3, 4, 5, or 6 , and \N is the wavelength asso

ciated with the number N. N ot only does the expression work for the four visible
lines; when integral values of m higher than 6 are used it also gives the wave
lengths of several additional lines that had been found in the ultraviolet spec
trum of hydrogen.
Here is an equation that is both accurate and simple and that uses the integers
in a w ay that would have delighted the Pythagoreans. From the moment that
it was announced by Balmer, it was clear that any successful model of the hydro
gen atom must be one that involves the integers 1 , 2 , 3 , in some manner.
N early twenty years were to elapse, however, before such a model was proposed.
T

he

I n t r o d u c t io n

of

S t a t is t ic a l M

ethods

B efore we consider the rest of the series o f remarkable discoveries that were
accomplished during the turn of the century decades of 1887-1907, we must
examine one more new line of thought that was introduced into physics during
the nineteenth century. W ith the triumph of D alton s atomic theory, scientists
had to consider the fascinating question of the connection between the atoms
and molecules that make up a large scale body of material and the observed
characteristics of the large scale material itself. T o take the simplest illustra
tion, Boyles law had been known for a long tim e: the product of the pressure
and the volume of a given sample of a gas is at least approximately constant at
a given temperature. W hat properties must we suppose the molecules of the gas
to have, and how must we assume that they behave, in order that their com
bined effects m ay result in this simple relation? It is clear that molecules of the
same kind must, in general, attract each other when they are very close other
wise solids and liquids would not hold together as they do. The density of a
typical gas, however, is so much less than the density of a solid or liquid that
we must suppose that the molecules are much farther apart in it than in the more
condensed substances. It might be that the pressure of a gas results from the
molecules repelling each other, but this alone should lead, as it does in the case
of like electrical charges, to the molecules collecting just inside the walls of a
room, instead of being distributed uniformly throughout the room. Another pos
sibility is that the molecules are in motion, that they move about inside a con
tainer, bumping into each other and rebounding from the walls. On such a
kinetic theory, the pressure results from the sum of the effects of individual mole
cules bouncing from the walls, each collision contributing a small outward push.
It might be objected that the pressure on this basis should not be steady, as it
seems to be, but rather that it should fluctuate as individual molecules or groups
of molecules strike a wall. This difficulty was overcome as soon as the tremen
dous number of molecules in any large scale sample of material was estimated. A
cubic centimeter of gas contains about 3 X 1019 molecules under normal condi
tions. W ith such numbers, one can well expect that collisions will be so fre
quent that individual ones will not be distinguishable, at least by any simple
means.
The large number of molecules involved saves the day as far as fluctuations
in pressure are concerned, but it contributes a discouraging factor if one attempts
to tackle the computation of the pressure by the direct and obvious means. This
would be to assume that the molecules are little spheres, each of which behaves
like a very small steel ball and therefore moves in accordance with the laws of

mechanics. I f one knew the nature of the walls of a box that contains a gas and
also knew where each molecule was at some instant and how fast and in what
direction it was moving, he could apply the known mechanical principles to com
pute the entire future history of all of the molecules. Such a procedure would
involve six equations for each molecule, or some 2 X 1020 simultaneous equations
for the sample of gas mentioned above something quite beyond practicality.
Aside from the impossibility of solving the equations involved, it is incon
ceivable that one could even set them up, for it is clearly impossible to measure
simultaneously all the positions and velocities. A ny attempt to compute the
behavior of the gas must therefore be based on ignorance. Fortunately, however,
one branch of mathematics is specially designed to work with systems about
whose details one is ignorant. This is probability theory. W hen one throws a
die, it should be possible to predict, on the basis of its position and motion as it
leaves the hand, the number that will be exposed when it comes to rest. In prac
tice, one cannot obtain all the information necessary to predict how the die will
fall on any given throw. I f it is thrown six hundred times, however, one expects
each of the six faces to be uppermost in about 1 0 0 throws. One would not be
surprised if a three were to occur in two successive throws, but if it turned up
in 150 of the 600 throws the symmetry of the die would probably be seriously
questioned. Probability deals with problems of this sort it allows the calcula
tion of the expectation of what will happen on the average.
Alm ost seventy years before D alton s argument for atom icity was put forward,
Bernoulli (1700-1782) had applied probability considerations to answer the ques
tion of how a gas would behave if it were made up o f a large number of mole
cules. Following his lead, Joule, Maxwell, and Clausius brought the kinetic
theory of gases to a high level of development. T hey were able to show not
only that the assumption of molecules in continual random motion would lead
to B oy les law, but also that the ideal gas law, which relates the product of the
volume and pressure to the temperature, could be obtained if one supposed that
the average kinetic energy of the molecules was proportional to a quantity that
came to be known as the absolute temperature (or the Kelvin temperature),
equal to the Centigrade temperature plus about 273. Boltzmann (1844-1906)
carried their work still further. Arguing that the many collisions among the
molecules would lead to a state of affairs in which their identities must be ef
fectively lost, he and M axwell pointed out that even the question of what speed
a particular molecule could be expected to have at a given time was a question
that could be answered on a probability basis. The line of reasoning is essen
tially based on the idea that the collisions among molecules will be so frequent
and will be so random in character that every molecule in a gas must at some
time be arbitrarily close to every possible position in the container, and that every
molecule at some time in its history will be travelling with any speed that one
cares to name. One then asks, not for the state of affairs at any instant, but
rather for the most probable state of affairs. It is assumed that the effects of
the many collisions will erase all m em ory of the past, so that any improbable
state of affairs (e.g., one in which all the molecules are moving in a single direc
tion) will soon disappear and be replaced by a state that is close to the most
probable state.
Using probability methods and recognizing that both the total number o f mole
cules and the total energy of any isolated sample of gas must remain constant,
Boltzmann was able to show that the assumptions just mentioned lead to a very

interesting conclusion. Suppose that one counts the number of molecules having
energies in the narrow range between E i and E 1 + dE and then makes a similar
count of those whose energies lie between E 2 and E 2 + dE, Suppose also that
there is no a priori reason to expect different numbers in the two ranges. Then,
according to Boltzm anns result, the ratio of the second count to the first can be
expected to be
e ~ { E 2- E i ) l k T

where e is the base of the natural logarithms, T is the absolute temperature, and
k is a universal constant, now known as the Boltzmann constant. This exponen
tial expression has the property that it becomes nearly unity for very high tem
peratures and nearly zero for very low temperatures. A t very low temperatures
almost all of the molecules will be nearly at rest; at very high temperatures al
most equal numbers of molecules will have two widely differing energies.
The Boltzmann factor, as the exponential expression is known, was to play an
increasingly important role in physics and in chemistry as the twentieth century
came into being. M ore important, however, was the fact that it had been dem
onstrated that statistical mechanics, in which one calculates what will probably
happen, rather than what must happen, had been made a part of scientific theory.
A fter two centuries of work with the mechanics of Newton, in which all of the
future appeared to be predictable if a sufficient number of positions and veloci
ties were known, physicists were learning to be satisfied with a less detailed
answer that was based on the assumption that the exact past history of a system
of particles is unimportant, because its effects are removed by the collisions that
move the system toward the most probable state.
III. The Period of Change: 1887-1907
T

he

ic h e l s o n - M o r ley

E x p e r im e n t

and

R e l a t iv i t y T

heory

The introduction of the wave theory of light had introduced one logical diffi
culty. W hen we think of a disturbance moving from point to point, the picture
is hardly complete unless we suppose that there is something present to be dis
turbed. On the other hand, light passes through a vacuum. This difficulty was
met by postulating the ether hypothesis, according to which a hypothetical
material, the ether, pervades all space and is the medium in which the light wave
is propagated. Between the time of Young and that of Maxwell, some strange
properties had to be ascribed to the ether in order that the various observations
on optical phenomena could be explained. The development of the electromag
netic theory of light might have been considered to remove the necessity for the
ether, as electric and magnetic fields can exist in a vacuum ; yet the idea was
so firmly planted that the ether hypothesis was retained in modified form.
There seemed to be reason to believe that the ether could serve a second pur
pose, in addition to being a medium to transmit light waves. In experimental
physics it is always necessary to make the measurements of the position of bodies
relative to some coordinate system. The question of which of the many possible
coordinate systems was best had been a perplexing one. In fact, N ewtons first
law of motion may be considered to be a definition of a coordinate system in
which his other laws of motion, and consequently the rest o f classical mechanics,
will be valid. Newton and others following him had shown, for example, that
the laws of mechanics had to be modified when one attached his coordinate sys

tem to the rotating earth, rather than using a system in which the fixed stars
remain at rest. The latter system had been widely accepted as the preferred,
or absolute system. It was natural enough to suppose that the ether as a whole
would not be m oving with respect to the fixed stars, and that all natural phe
nomena could be best described in a coordinate system attached to the ether.
This supposition made it desirable that the velocity o f the earth (and therefore
of the physics laboratories on it) be determined relative to the ether.
In principle, the determination of the velocity is simple. I f light travels at a
speed c through the ether and if the earth is moving at a speed v relative to the
ether, one needs only to measure the speed of light in various directions. When
the light is travelling in the same direction as the earth, its measured speed should
be c v ; when it is travelling in the opposite direction, c + v. The first prac
tical difficulty, of course, is to measure the speed of light with sufficient precision
to distinguish between c + v and c v. The highest speed at which a laboratory
can be expected to be transported through the ether is that o f the earth in its
orbit around the sun approximately 18 miles per second, or 3 X 106 cm /sec.
This is only one-hundredth of one percent of the speed o f light, and measurements
of great accuracy would need to be made to detect the motion. The difficulty is
compounded when one notices that the best measurements o f the speed of light
have been made by using a round trip, in which the light passes from a point of
observation to a distant mirror and is reflected back to the point of observation.
The problem of calculating the speed from an experiment of this sort is exactly
analogous to the calculation of the air speed of a plane that is flying in a wind
and that makes a round trip from one point on the earths surface to another
point and back. A simple computation shows that when the plane flies directly
against the wind in one direction and directly with it in the other, the time taken
for the trip is 2 L v a/ (v a2 vw2), where L is the distance between the two points,
v a is the speed of the plane relative to the air, and v w is the speed of the wind
relative to the earth. In terms of the light beam and the earth, the corresponding
time is 2 L c / (c2 v 2). B y inserting the values of c = 3 X 1010 cm /sec and
v = 3 X 106 cm /sec, we find that the expected time differs from that obtained
with v = 0 by only one part in 108. A measurement with an accuracy better
than one-millionth of a percent would be needed to detect the existence o f v\
In 1887 M ichelson (1852-1931) and M orley (1838-1923) reported the results
of an ingenious experiment that avoided the m ajor difficulty. Instead of trying
to measure the speed of light as it travelled in different directions, they arranged
to measure directly the difference between the times taken b y two light beams,
travelling at right angles to each other. Suppose that each of the two beams cov
ers a round trip, one moving parallel to the motion o f the earth through the ether
and the other at right angles to this direction, and that both cover the same
measured distance. Then the time taken for the first beam is 2L c / {c2 v 2) . B y
considering an analogy with a plane flying, with a cross wind, a round trip over
the same distance, relative to the ground, it is easy to see that the distance that
the light in the second beam travels, relative to the ether, is 2 Lc/y/c2 v 2, or
that the time taken should be 2 L/y/c2 v2. The difference between these two
times is very small (about % X 10 8 of the round trip time) but it is possible
to measure it precisely by having the two beams interfere on their return to a
common starting point, and so to compare it with the time of a single oscillation
of the light wave. When Michelson and M orley performed their experiment,
they found that the expected difference in time, which should have been detected

with ease if the speed of the earth through the ether was 3 X 106 cm /sec, was not
found they detected no difference, although they performed the experiment with
the light beams travelling in different directions relative to the earth and at dif
ferent times of the day and of the year, to avoid the danger that they might
accidentally have chosen a time when the earth was at rest relative to the ether.
Attempts to reconcile the results of the Michelson-Morley experiment with
classical physics were soon forthcoming. One was based on the assumption that
the earth and the air drag the ether along with them. This idea, however, was
in contradiction to earlier work by Bradley (1693-1762) on the aberration of light,
and by Fresnel, who had demonstrated that B radleys results and some other ob
servations required a partial ether drag. Fitzgerald (1851-1901) and Lorentz
(1853-1928) independently arrived at a novel way of accounting for the new
result. This was to assume that any material body that is in motion through
the ether shrinks, or contracts, in such a way that its dimensions in the direction
of motion are reduced in the ratio V I v 2/c2 from what they would be were
the body at rest relative to the ether. W e need not concern ourselves with the
detailed consequences of this assumption at present, as they are closely related
to those of the special relativity theory that we shall encounter soon. It is suf
ficient to note that they seem artificial. It has been said that, according to the
Fitzgerald-Lorentz treatment, one of the principal properties of the ether was its
ability to conceal its own existence.
In 1905 Einstein (1879-1955) proposed an even more daring and far reaching
postulate. Arguing both from the M ichelson-M orley experiment and from the
fact that many physical phenomena depend only on the relative velocities of the
bodies concerned, he assumed that all coordinate systems that are in uniform
relative motion with respect to each other are equally valid for the description of
physical phenomena, that physical laws when properly stated must take the same
form in each of these systems, and that speed of light is the same in each of them.
If we accept these postulates, we are forced to some surprising conclusions. Sup
pose that an observer B , who is m oving at a speed v relative to another observer
A , measures the speed of light, with the light travelling over a path that in his
coordinate system is at right angles to the direction of his motion relative to A.
(See figure.) H e reports that the speed is c. Observer A has measured the speed
of light moving perpendicular to the direction of the relative m otion in his own
system (see figure) and has found it to have the same value, c. He cannot under
stand at first how B could obtain the same result, because the light in B s experi
ment must have travelled a distance L / V 1 v 2/c2 (as seen in A s coordinate
system) while B measured the distance as L. Eventually he realizes that he can
account for B s value if he supposes that B s clock is running slow in the ratio
V I v 2/c2. He is therefore forced to suppose that the motion of B relative to
A causes B ys clock to run slow. He then realizes that the common sense as
sumption that he has previously made that the rate of a clock is independent
of its motion relative to the observer is something that can be determined only
by experimental test and that the experiments on the speed of light furnish the
test needed.
Let us now transfer our attention to B. H e has the same difficulty understand
ing A s result as A had in understanding his. According to B, the light in A )s ex
periment had to travel a distance that was greater in the ratio 1 / V I v2/c2 than

B's first experiment

A's first experiment

N9

Q*

M
Path as
seen by A

A's second experiment

o ^

Path as
seen by A

Path as
seen by 6

Path as
seen by B

B's second experiment

f t ................

Path as seen by A

.......... y . s

Path as seen by B

-<-----ct2 ------

R*_________
O'

Path as seen by B

L------Path as seen by A

The two upper diagrams represent the light paths as seen by the two observers,
A and B, when B is moving to the right with a constant speed v with respect
to A. In B s coordinate system light travels from P to a mirror at Q, where
it is reflected and returns to P. In A s system, B s mirror (Q) has moved
from Q to Q' while the light was travelling toward it. By the time that the
light completes the return trip P has moved to P'. The path is therefore
P-Q '-P', which is of length 2L' = 2 L /V 1 v2/c2, where L is the distance be
tween P and Q at any particular instant, as measured by A. Similarly, when
light travels from M to N and back to M in A s experiment, as shown at the
upper left, its path in B s coordinate system is M -N -M .
The two lower diagrams illustrate the second pair of experiments, in which
the light paths are parallel to the relative motion. In B a experiment the
light travels from R to S, where it is reflected back to R . The distance be
tween R and S at any instant is L, as measured by A . While the light is
travelling from R to S, the latter point has moved to S' in A s coordinate
system. If tx is the time taken for the outgoing trip, the distance
RSf It -f* vti ct\.
Similarly, on the return trip, the distance
S'R' L vt2 = cfe.
The total time for the round trip, as measured by A, is
L

*-

2Lc

+ <* - v + 7+1, = 7 = ?

The diagram at the lower right indicates that a similar result is obtained when
B views A s experiment.

the one which A measured.

Hence he concludes that A s clock is running slow

in the ratio VI v 2/c2. Each says that the others clock is running at an in
correct rate. W hich is right? According to the Einstein postulates both are; the
rate of a clock is not independent of its motion relative to the observer who

reads it. It follows at once that the concept of absolute time cannot be accepted.
A similar argument shows that measuring rods, such as foot rules and meter
sticks, must be affected by their motion relative to the observer. Suppose that
A and B do another pair of experiments, in which the light travels parallel to the
direction of their relative motion, instead of perpendicular to it. Both again get
the identical result c. Now, as the path of the light in B Js experiment is seen in
A s coordinates, the distance travelled is 2 L / ( 1 v 2/c2). The time taken for
the round trip was, according to A , this distance divided by c, or 2 L / c ( l v 2/& ).
(See figure.) Remembering that B s clock is running slow, A would expect B to
have reported an average speed of c V 1 v 2/c2, which is not equal to c. H e can
account for the discrepancy if he supposes that B s measuring rods have shrunk
as a result of their motion. B would then have measured the distance as being
longer than 2 L. According to A , B s measuring rods are shorter than they should
be whenever they are moving in the direction of their own lengths, the contrac
tion being in the ratio V 1 ^ V c2* As before, B finds that A s rods have short
ened in the same ratio. The length of a rod, like the rate of a clock, depends
on its motion relative to the observer. Absolute space, like absolute time, is a
meaningless concept it can never be discovered by measurement.
The effects o f which we have been speaking are, of course, very small unless
the speeds of motion are comparable with the speed of light, which accounts for
the fact that they are not observed in ordinary observations and therefore seem
contrary to common sense. As we shall see, however, they have some inter
esting and practical consequences.
H aving found the effects of motion on clocks and measuring rods, we can arrive
quite easily at the Lorentz transformation, which was obtained before Einstein
developed his theory. Suppose that a body is moving parallel to the relative
velocity v of B with respect to A. The two observers have synchronized their
clocks to read tA = tB 0 at the instant when the moving body was at a par
ticular position, and they measure the distance of the body at any later time
from this point. A t some time tB) as measured by B , B finds the body at a posi
tion x B. H e therefore says that the velocity of the body is uB = x B/tB. H e now
wants to send a message to A, telling him where he can expect to find the body.
H e reasons thus: If it were not for the contraction of A s measuring rods, he
would find the body at a distance x B + v tB from his starting point, because its
distance from the starting point in m y coordinate system is x B and m y starting
point has advanced a distance v tB relative to him; however, because his rods are
too short, I must give him a distance greater than this if our measurements are
to agree; the distance that he will measure will be
xa

= (xB + vtB) / ^ l v2/c2.

B y an exactly similar line of measurements and reasoning, A finds a velocity

= Xa /Ia for the body, and decides that B will locate it at

ua

xb

= (xa ~ vtA) / V / 1 ~ v2/c2.

Each of these expressions involves both xa and xB- If we eliminate the former, by
substituting its value from the first equation into the second, we find that

tA = (fe + vxB/c2) / V 1 - v2/c2.

Finally, by eliminating

xb

instead of

tB = (tA

xa

,we get

vxa /c2) /

V 1 - v2/c2.

These four expressions form the main part of the Lorentz transformation. It
is worth note that the reading of a clock in one system, as observed from the
other, depends not only on the relative velocity v, but also on its position x A.
One interesting consequence of the transformations is the Einstein velocity
addition equation. T o arrive at this equation we need merely to substitute the
values for x B and tB into uB = x B/tB and to remember that uA = x A/tA It fo l
lows after a little algebra that
uB = (uA v)/(l

vua/c2).

This equation replaces the simpler uB = uA v of classical mechanics which is

valid whenever v and uA are much smaller than c.
As soon as Einstein found that his postulates demanded that length and time
measurements depend on the speed of the measuring devices relative to the ob
server, he asked whether the third fundamental mechanical quantity, mass, also
changed. W e need not follow his detailed argument here, except to say that it
depended on both mass and momentum being conserved quantities in all systems
that are in uniform relative motion. He abandoned the old, and non-operational,
definition of mass as the quantity of matter in a body, and took instead the
definition developed by M ach (1838-1916), who had pointed out that the only
truly operational way of comparing two unequal masses was to let them collide
and to measure their accelerations during the collision. This is equivalent to
a measurement of the velocities of the masses before and after the collision and,
since velocities do not add classically in relativity theory, it would be surprising
if the mass of a body were not dependent on its speed relative to the observer.
Einstein succeeded in showing that the mass of a body in motion at speed v
(relative to the observer measuring it) is greater than the mass of the same
body at rest (with respect to the observer) in the ratio 1 / V I v2/c2.
relation may be expressed by the equation:

This

mv = m j y / 1 v2/c2\
where mv is the observed mass of the particle and m 0 is its rest mass.
The most widely known consequence of special relativity theory is the massenergy relation, E = me2. This relationship is a direct consequence of the varia
tion of mass with speed. In calculating the kinetic energy of a body in N ew
tonian mechanics, one considers the work done by the body as it is brought to
rest by an opposing force. If the force is constant, as can be arranged, the work
is the force times the distance travelled as the b od ys momentum changes from
an initial value mv to a final value of zero. If the same computation is carried
out with a body that initially has a relativistic speed, the work done must be
greater than would be done classically. The change of momentum, which is
proportional to the constant force times the time taken for the body to come
to rest, is the product of the initial observed mass and the initial velocity. This
is greater than the rest mass times the initial velocity. Consequently, the time
taken for a given force to bring the body to rest will be greater than that which
would be required classically. A computation along these lines shows that the

kinetic energy of a body of rest mass m0, moving with a speed v is

(m v

r a 0) c 2,

or that the kinetic energy is exactly equal to c 2 times the change in mass pro
duced by the acceleration to the speed v . Einstein went one step farther. He
supposed an amount of energy equal to m 0c 2 to be equivalent to the rest mass.
I f some or all of the mass could be converted into energy (as was accomplished
on a large scale 40 years later) this relation should tell how much energy would
be released. Conversely, under proper circumstances mass might be created
at the cost of energy, the amount of mass being m = E /c2. The first process
occurs when a particle and an antiparticle annihilate each other, the second in
pair production.
Striking and surprising as were the above consequences of the special theory
o f relativity, its indirect effect on physical theory was probably more important.
First, it brought home the lessons of operationalism that had been taught by
M ach and others it provided convincing evidence that definitions such as those
that had been used in the past for length, time, and mass were not satisfactory
b y themselves, that every definition of a physical quantity must indicate and
be consistent with the operations by which the quantity is measured. Secondly,
it put physics on notice that no law or principle was thoroughly understood or
correctly stated until it was expressed in such a way that it was invariant when
the Lorentz transformations were used to provide for a method of satisfactory
communication between observers in two coordinate systems moving with uni
form speed with respect to each other. This guiding rule was to prove highly
important in developments such as that of the Dirac electron theory, three dec
ades after Einsteins work.
The successes of the special theory of relativity led Einstein to go further,
and to consider systems of coordinates that were in accelerated motion relative
to each other. Out of this effort came the general theory of relativity, in 1913.
One of the mainstays of this theory is the equivalence principle, which states
that a gravitational field in any limited region of space produces the same effects
as an acceleration in a direction opposite to that of the field. From this, in
turn, grew a new view of gravitation, one that predicts nearly, but not exactly,
the same behavior as does N ewtons law of universal gravitation.

R a d ia t io n

and

P l a n c k s Q u a n t u m T

heory

W e have discussed at some length the spectra emitted by atoms, but have
barely touched on the steps toward the understanding of the continuous spectrum
produced by an incandescent body. B y the use of arguments that were based
on thermodynamic reasoning, and were therefore above suspicion, a number of
properties of thermal radiation had been predicted theoretically. Perhaps the
most important of these was developed by Kirchhoff (1824-1887), who demon
strated that the most effective sources o f thermal radiation are also the most
effective absorbers of radiation falling upon them. The Kirchhoff radiation law
is particularly important, for it indicates that there exists an ideal emitter of
continuous radiation a body that absorbs all the light that falls upon it, and
reflects none. Such a body is known as a perfect black body. The theoretical
concept of a perfect black body would have probably accomplished little had
it not been found possible to construct such a body, with which experiments

could be performed. Consider a large empty box, with a small hole in one of
its faces. A ny light falling on this hole enters the box and undergoes many re
flections inside before it finds its way outside again. A t each reflection some
of the light will be absorbed; after many reflections practically none of the light
will reemerge. A small hole in the side of a small cavity therefore acts like a
perfect black body. If the entire cavity is heated to a uniform, high tempera
ture, it is indeed found that the hole glows more brightly than do its surround
ings, verifying the prediction based on KirchhofFs law that a black body is the
perfect source of thermal radiation.
W ith the invention of the experimental black body, various workers started
to study the spectrum of the radiation emitted from it at various temperatures.
M ost of the energy given off at available temperatures is in the infrared; it was
detected and measured with the help of thermopiles. It was found that the
amount of energy in any given frequency band, say one o f width 1 0 13 cycles
per second, was very small at very low frequencies (very long wavelengths),
that it increased to a maximum at a frequency that depended on the tempera
ture, and then decreased again as very high frequencies (very short wavelengths)
were approached. The relation between the wavelength km at which maximum
emission occurs and the temperature was found to be in accord with a law de
veloped theoretically by W ien (1864-1928). It can be expressed as A = C/T,
where T is the Kelvin temperature and C is a constant. As we shall see, how
ever, some other aspects of the distribution did not concur so well with theory.
B y the time that the definitive measurements were completed by Lummer (I8 6 0 1925) and Pringsheim (1859-1917), it was clear that existing theories could not
account for the experimentally determined facts.
W hile the beautifully precise experimental work on black body radiation was
being carried on, the theoreticians were far from idle. Their problem was sim
plified by the very nature o f the experimental black body, for it is essentially
a cavity containing nothing but electromagnetic radiation. If one can manage
to calculate the energy density within the cavity, i.e., the energy per unit v o l
ume, he can tell how much radiation will escape through the hole, through which
energy flows with a speed c. The waves within such a cavity are like standing
waves on a string not all frequencies are possible. W hen one computes how
many different modes (or frequencies) are possible, he finds that the number
in any small frequency range between the frequencies v and v
dv is propor
tional to v2 and to the volume. Now, if one can find the average energy of each
mode, the problem is solved; the total energy density in the small range dv is
merely a constant times the square of the frequency times the average energy
per mode.
Here the statistical methods of M axwell and Boltzmann could come into play.
It is true that they deal with molecules and we are now discussing waves, but
a simple and valid trick gets around this difficulty. Suppose that the cavity
contains a large number of small oscillators, each having one o f the possible
frequencies. These oscillators can emit and absorb radiation and, on the aver
age, the energy that each has will be proportional to the energy present at its
particular frequency. One can then apply the Boltzmann factor e ~ E/kT to the
oscillators to find how their energies will be distributed at a particular tempera
ture and hence can compute the average energy. As a matter of fact, it had
already been shown that the average energy should be k T , the product of the
Boltzmann constant by the Kelvin temperature. (This fact is a result of the

equipartition of energy.) Consequently the energy density in a given frequency

range dv might be expected to be proportional to v2kT dv.
This result, derived first by Rayleigh (1842-1919) and later by Jeans (1877
1946) was so far from correct that it became known as the Rayleigh-Jeans catas
trophe. N ot only does it fail to show a maximum as required by the W ien law,
it also predicts that the radiated energy should be infinite, because the energy
per unit frequency range increases without limit as v becomes large. This pre
diction conflicts with the conservation of energy as well as with the experi
mental measurements on black body radiation! Y et every principle involved
in the derivation seemed to be sound and to have met the test of experience.
Planck (1858-1947) became interested in the Lummer-Pringsheim results and
in 1900 he published a derivation of a radiation law that agrees with experiment,
based on a radically new hypothesis. He found that the troubles with the theory
could be removed if he assumed that an oscillator with a frequency v could not
have all possible energies, but rather only those energies that are integral mul
tiples of c0 = hv, where h is a quantity equal to about 6 .6 X 1 0 ~ 27 erg seconds,
now known as the Planck constant.
P lancks assumption leads to a new result for a very simple reason. W e can
see this if we take a special case. Suppose that 1 0 0 0 oscillators, each charac
terized by a frequency v = 2 kT/h are distributed among the various energies
that are possible according to Plancks hypothesis. Then c0 = 2 k T and the pos
sible values of the energies are 0 , c0, 2c0, 3c0, etc. T o find how the oscillators
are distributed among these various states, we need merely to put the number
in each state equal to an initially undetermined constant times the Planck factor
6 c/fc:r, where c is the energy. This insures the correct relative number in each
state; we then choose the constant so that the total number turns out to be 1 0 0 0 .
D oing this, we find that only the lowest three states need to be counted. The
state of zero energy is occupied by 8 6 8 oscillators, that of e0 by 116, and that
o f 2c0 by 16. The distribution is shown by the histogram of the figure, the bars
o f which are marked by diagonal cross hatching. The number of occupants of
each state is indicated by the area o f its appropriate bar and the total number
of oscillators by the total diagonally cross hatched area. Let us now find what
the distribution in energy of the oscillators would be according to classical (prePlanckian) statistics. The number of oscillators per unit energy range is pro
portional to e 6/MT and the constant of proportionality is chosen so as to make
the total number of oscillators, or the area under the curve, equal to 1 0 0 0 , as
before. The result is shown by the smooth curve in the figure, in which the
area marked by horizontal hatching lines is exactly equal to the doubly hatched
area in the histogram. E very oscillator represented by the horizontally hatched
area has more energy than it would have according to Plancks distribution, hence
the total energy of the set of 1 0 0 0 oscillators would be greater classically than it
would according to Planck. It follows that the average energy per oscillator,
if the Planck distribution is valid, must be less than kT. The difference between
the two distributions becomes greater and greater as the frequency increases and
as c0 becomes much larger than kT, because more of the oscillators are in the
state of zero energy under these circumstances.
The calculation of the average energy according to Plancks assumption shows
that it is different for different frequencies and that for a frequency v it is equal
to hv/(ehPlkT 1). A t low frequencies this expression is very closely equal

to k T ; at high frequencies the denominator approaches infinity and the average

energy approaches zero, hence the Planck radiation formula avoids the R ayleighJeans catastrophe.
Planck had rescued physics from the seemingly impassable road block created
b y the application of classical physics to the problem o f black body radiation,
but he had also started a revolution that was to prove as far reaching as that
initiated b y Einsteins relativity theory. Apparently energy, at least under
some circumstances, must be atomistic. The occurrence of the frequency in the
expression for the size of each atom, or quantum, of energy suggests that the

2000

e/2kT

Distribution of oscillators of frequency v = 2kT/h, according to Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics

(smooth curve) and according to Planckian statistics (histogram). The average energy per
oscillator is less if the distribution is Planckian.

impossibility of a system having a continuous range of possible energy values

is connected with an oscillation or a similar periodic behavior of the system.
This suggestion has turned out to be a true one. All electromagnetic waves are
either periodic or can be represented as a combination of waves that are periodic,
hence they, like the oscillators, can be expected to carry energy in quanta
quanta of low energy for low frequency radio waves and of high energy for vis
ible or ultraviolet light.
Further applications of Plancks quantum hypothesis were not long delayed.
Einstein assumed the oscillations of the atoms in a crystal to be quantized and
was able to account for the fact that the specific heats of solids fall to values
below those predicted by the Dulong and Petit law as the temperature decreases.

D ebye (1884r) and others have extended Einsteins ideas to develop theories
of specific heats that are in good quantitative agreement with experiment. Ein
stein also used the quantum to explain, in 1905, why the energies of electrons
emitted from metals by the photoelectric effect depend on the frequency of the
light that causes their emission and not on its intensity. As we shall see later,
these were but the first steps toward the creation of a physics in which the
quantum was to stand in a central position.

he

isc o v e r ie s

of

P e n e t r a t in g R a d ia t io n s

Both relativity theory and quantum theory grew out of predictions made by
classical theoretical physics and found to be in contradiction to experimentally
observed facts. The third contribution of the age of transition was different
in that it involved the experimental discovery of several phenomena that were
com pletely unexpected.
In 1895 Rntgen (1845-1923) showed that a gas discharge may emit some
sort of radiation that can cause a phosphor placed near the discharge tube to
glow. This radiation was given the name of x-rays. It was soon demonstrated
that the radiation seemed to come from the regions of the tube that fluoresce
under the bombardment of the cathode rays. Perhaps the most striking char
acteristic of the x-rays was their ability to pass through substances, such as
paper or sheets of metal, that are completely opaque to visible radiation. They
also could produce ionization, i.e., they could remove electrons from the neutral
atoms or molecules of a gas through which they passed.
The question of the nature of the x-rays was one that took some time to an
swer. Their ability to activate phosphorescence and to ionize gases indicated
that they carried energy from their point of origin. As in the case of light, both
a particle hypothesis and a wave hypothesis were put forward. Affirmative evi
dence for the latter seemed secure when von Laue (1880-1960) showed that they
could be diffracted by the atoms of a crystal in much the same way that visible
light is diffracted by the lines of a grating. This experiment seemed to show not
only that they were waves, but also that their wavelength was not far different
from the distance between atoms in a crystal, about 10 ~ 8 cm. Electromagnetic
waves of this wavelength have frequencies of about 3 X 10 18 per second, about
ten thousand times that of visible light. W ith the recognition of this fact the
dual behavior of x-rays sometimes as particles and sometimes as waves was
understandable in terms of the quantum theory. The chunks or bundles in
which x-rays carry energy are much larger than those for visible light, hence each
bundle acts very much like a localized particle. Some years later, Compton
(1892) was able to apply this idea, of an x-ray quantum as a particle, to
the discussion of a collision between the quantum and an electron, and to show
that the momentum and energy transferred to the electron are exactly those that
would be expected if the quantum were a little piece of matter, having an energy
hv and a mass hv/c2, as required, respectively, by quantum theory and relativity
theory. From that time on it was clear that the description of light or x-rays
as either a wave or a particle was not complete by itself, that a duality in their
description the assignment of both wave and particle properties to them was
necessary.
Soon after it had been established that the x-rays from a gas discharge tube

originated in the same regions that showed fluorescence, Becquerel (1852-1909)

began to investigate the possibility that these or similar radiations might be given
off b y other fluorescent materials. A number of the salts of uranium were
known to fluoresce under the action of sunlight, and he was working with these,
the salt being separated from a photographic plate by a layer of black paper,
wrapped around the plate. He discovered, partly by accident, that these salts
gave off a penetrating radiation continually, whether or not they were fluorescing.
The radiation was of a type that would produce an image on the photographic
plate after passing through dark paper but that was largely absorbed in passing
through a piece of metal, such as a coin. This type of radiation was even more
puzzling than were x-rays. The latter came from a discharge tube into which
electrical energy was being fed there was an obvious source of energy to ac
count for them without assuming a violation of the first law of thermodynamics.
On the other hand, a sample of inert uranium salt gives off radiation unabated for
many years, and this radiation carries off energy with it. The question arose as
to the source of this energy and it appeared for a while that one of the major
conservation laws was threatened. A resolution of the enigma had to wait for a
better understanding of the process leading to the radiations and for the Einstein
mass-energy relation.
The separation of radium from the uranium-rich pitchblende, accomplished by
the Curies (1867-1934 and 1859-1906), made available a much more powerful
source of the new radiations and so made it easier to perform quantitative ex
periments. It was soon shown that the radioactive rays consisted not of a single
type of radiation but of three distinct types. One of these, which came to be
known as alpha-radiation, is absorbed by a few centimeters of air, or by other
matter of approximately the same mass per unit area (about 0.004 gram /cm 2) ;
these rays can be deflected by a magnetic field and were shown to be positively
charged; the second, called beta-radiation, can penetrate roughly 1 0 0 times as
much matter and carries a negative charge; the third, which received the name
of gamma-radiation, is far more penetrating than either of the others and is not
affected by a magnetic field, hence carries no electric charge.
The unravelling of the relations among these three types of radiation and of
the changes taking place in the atoms that emit them took considerable time.
One of the important early observations was that the rate at which the radiations
are emitted from a sample of a given radioactive material is directly proportional
to the amount of the material present, and that it decreases exponentially with
time. (I.e., at the end of a certain time, called the half life, the rate of emission
will have dropped to one-half of the initial rate; at the end of twice this time it
will have dropped to one-quarter of the initial rate; etc.) This is exactly the
behavior that would be expected if the time at which any particular atom gives
off a particle is determined purely b y chance. Thus the probability considera
tions introduced into physics b y Bernoulli, M axwell, and Boltzmann took on
added importance. The big break in the understanding o f radioactivity came
about when Rutherford (1871-1937) and Soddy (1877-1956) first suggested, and
later demonstrated, that the radioactive emission o f an alpha- or a beta-particle
(-em ission and /3-emission) are processes in which an atom of one chemical ele
ment changes to an atom of another chemical element that it is a natural trans
mutation process. In particular, Rutherford and Soddy obtained definite experi
mental proof that the -particles are helium ions.

IV. The Rutherford-Bohr Atom Model

As we^aw above, two models of atomic structure had grown up in the attempts
to explain spectra. Each had advantages and each suffered from some disadvan
tages. Rutherford was the first to realize that the availability of high energy
a-particles furnished a tool that could be used in a crucial test as to which model
was closer to reality. He used a-particles as bullets to be fired at targets in the
form of films of metal, thin enough so that nearly all of the particles would
pass through. As each a-particle struck a zinc sulfide screen, after it had trav
ersed the film, it caused a scintillation, or flash of light, which could be observed
with a microscope. Hence the direction in which each particle was moving after
passing through the film could be determined. If the atom consisted of a positive
jelly-lik e mass in which electrons were imbedded, nearly all of the a-particles
would pass through many such atoms. There they would be subject to rather
small forces, which might deviate them through small angles, in much the same
manner that a piece of soft wood would cause a spread in the direction of high
speed bullets fired through it. On the other hand, if the atom consisted of a small,
positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons in orbits, most of the a-par
ticles could pass through the film without coming sufficiently near to any nucleus
to be deviated appreciably from their original paths. It is true that each bom
barding particle would encounter many electrons during its passage, but because
of their small masses these would have little more effect than would a number
of dust particles in the path of a bowling ball. Occasionally, however, an
a-particle could be expected to pass close to a massive, positively charged nucleus.
During the close passage it would be strongly repelled from the nucleus and so
be deflected through a large angle. The experimental results obtained by Ruther
ford not only showed such large deflections for some of the particles, they also
showed that the proportion of the particles scattered through any range o f angles
agreed well with the number that would be expected on the assumption that
almost all of the mass of the atom resides in the nucleus, which is positively
charged and which has a radius less than 10 12 cm. These experiments, which
were to be the forerunners of many others in which particles are scattered from
a target, sounded the death knell of the diffuse atom model and supported
strongly the dynamic, orbital model. In so doing, they forced physicists to face
squarely the problem of the expected inward spiralling of the electron, with its
subsequent change in frequency.
In 1913, Bohr (1885) proposed a radically new model of the hydrogen
atom, based on three daring assumptions. H e assumed that:
1. The laws of electrodynamics, although well supported b y large scale experi
ments, do not hold at atomic dimensions and that one way in which they
are violated is that an electron travelling in a possible circular orbit about
a nucleus does not radiate energy.
2. The quantum condition E = nhv applies to electronic orbits as well as to
harmonic oscillators, v being the frequency of the electronic motion about
the nucleus and E being the energy (potential plus kinetic) of the electron.
This restricts the possible circular orbits to certain fixed radii. An atom
having its electrons in such orbits can be said to be in a stationary state, as
its energy remains constant in view o f the first assumption.

3. Energy is radiated from an atom only when an electron jum ps from a

stationary state to another stationary state of lower energy than the first.
The frequency of the radiation given off in this transition is then v =
(Ex E 2) /h, where E is the energy o f the initial state and E 2 is the energy
of the final state.
W hen B ohrs assumptions are applied to the electron in the hydrogen atom, it is
found that the only possible orbits are those having radii
rn n2h2/4:Tr2me2,
where n is an integer, known as the principal quantum number, m is the mass of
the electron, and e is the electronic charge in e.s.u. The resulting energies of
the stationary states are
E n = 2ir2me*/n2h2.
A t its very best, the Bohr model did violence to large parts of physical theory,
but it had the great advantage that it accounted precisely for the frequencies of
the lines in the hydrogen spectrum. For example, if we suppose that the lines
in the Balmer series result from a jump from a stationary state of quantum num
ber N to one of quantum number 2 , the frequencies are predicted as:

The wavelengths are therefore

2 hsc

\n = c/v =

7r W

N2
' N2 -

22

This expression is exactly of the form found experimentally by Balm er; further,
the quantity ( 2 /i3c / 7r2me4) can be calculated from the measured values of the
constants h, c , m, and e. When this com putation is made, it is found that the
value 3644 A is obtained, as compared with the observed 3645.6 A. Even the small
discrepancy between these is accounted for when it is recognized that the nucleus
is not infinitely massive as compared with the electron, and thus that the two
bodies revolve around a common point, not quite at the location o f the nucleus.
In the hands of Sommerfeld (1868-1951) and W ilson (1869-1959) the Bohr
model became even more powerful. It was shown that the quantization of energy
in the circular orbits was equivalent to a statement that the angular momentum
is quantized, being equal to nh/27r. B y application of a similar condition to the
linear momentum associated with the radial motion of the electron in an elliptical
orbit, it was found that two quantum numbers were needed to define a stationary
state. W e need not concern ourselves with the details of the treatment here,
but rather to note that the work of Bohr, Sommerfeld, and W ilson led to the
assignment of great importance to the concept of angular momentum in quantum
theory.
Although exact calculations from Bohr theory were possible only for the hydro
gen atom or for ions from which all but one electron had been removed, many
concepts of the theory could be and were applied to other atoms. Even when
the energies of stationary states could not be computed, it was possible to iden

tify the quantum numbers characteristic of the states, and to arrive empirically
at selection rules that indicated which of the many possible transitions between
the states were likely to occur. A great step forward occurred when Goudsmit
(1902) and Uhlenbeck (1900) introduced the concept of electron spin.
They conceived the idea that each electron, independent of its motion in an
orbit, possesses an angular momentum of amount /i/4?r half of the h/2ir unit in
which orbital angular momenta are quantized. The existence of this spin was
confirmed directly by an ingenious experiment devised by Stern (1888) and
Gerlach (1889). It has since been recognized that particles other than the
electron possess spin, always in some integral multiple of h/4nr, and that the mag
nitude of the spin is as much a characteristic of a particle as is its mass.
A second important step in the interpretation of atomic spectra was the enunci
ation by Pauli (1900-1958) of his famous exclusion principle. According to this
principle, no two electrons in a single system can have identical quantum num
bers. W ere it not for the prohibition of the existence of such identical electrons,
one might expect that an atom with many electrons could have a stationary state
in which all of them could be in a single orbit analogous to that occupied by the
single electron in a hydrogen atom. W hen the principle is taken into account,
it is found that not more than two electrons (with spins in opposite directions)
can occupy a single orbit, or can have the same principal and orbital angular
momentum quantum numbers. The recognition of the Pauli exclusion principle
did far more than to promote the understanding of spectra, as it indicated for the
first time the connection between the structure of atoms and their chemical
behavior, on which the periodic table is based.
V. Duality and the Uncertainty Principle
W e have seen how physicists were forced to describe light and other forms of
electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays, sometimes as a wave motion and
sometimes as a motion of particles known as photons. The Planck-Einstein
relation
E = hv,
serves to connect the two descriptions. A second equation, which also forms a
bridge between the particle and wave aspects of light, can be derived with the
help of special relativity. If a photon travelling at a speed e possesses a mass m,
its momentum is p = me and its energy is me2 = pc. Equating this expression for
the energy to hv and remembering that the wavelength X = c/v, we find the
de Broglie relation:
p = h/\.
In 1925, de Broglie (1892) raised a question as to whether the duality
o f description that had been found to be necessary for light might not also be
required for things like baseballs, atoms, and electrons, which had always been
thought of as particles. If so, a complete description of a particle having a m o
mentum p and an energy E would involve a wave motion characterized by a
frequency v = E/h and a wavelength A = h/p. A very rapid calculation shows
that such an idea does not affect megascopic (large scale) physics. For example,
a bullet having a mass of 1 0 gm and moving with the speed of sound has an as

sociated wavelength of about 2 X 1 0 30 cm a length so small that it has no

physical significance. On the other hand, an electron that has been accelerated
from rest through a potential difference of 1 0 0 volts has an associated wavelength
of about 10 " 8 cm roughly the radius of an atom. One might expect, therefore,
that de B roglies assumption might be of importance when non-massive particles,
like electrons, are moving in orbits of atomic dimensions.
If electrons have wave properties, it should be possible to observe diffraction
and interference with them, as is done with light and other waves. Such effects
are most easily observed when the wave is reflected from a grating having a regu
lar spacing between reflecting or transmitting portions that is not much greater
than the wavelength. As the distances between atoms in a crystalline solid are
o f the order of a few Angstrom units, the wave properties of electrons can be
demonstrated by observation of the diffraction of electrons from such crystals,
in much the same manner that x-ray diffraction is observed. Almost immedi
ately upon de B roglies announcement, Davisson (1881-1958) and Germer (1896) in the United States and Thomson (1892) in England showed that
the expected diffraction effects do take place, and so established the wave nature
of what had previously been considered to be particles in the strict Newtonian
sense. W ithin a few years, the wave nature of other particles, including the
proton and hydrogen molecule, was given experimental support and it became
quite clear that the duality of description required for light was also required for
all material as well.
The revolution that followed de B roglies work can be described completely
only in mathematical terms that are inappropriate to this introduction, but the
basic idea behind this revolution is a direct and simple consequence of waveparticle duality. According to Newtonian mechanics (and to its modification by
Einstein), the future behavior of any particle can be predicted exactly if we know
the forces to which it is subject and if we also know both its position and its
momentum at some given instant.
T o determine these quantities for a particle such as a bullet we might set up
an arrangement of the type indicated at (a) in the figure. Tw o light sources
send beams of photons across the path of the bullet and into photocells. As the
bullet passes the position A , at least one photon must be scattered, in such a
direction that it misses the photocell, if the passage is to be detected; the corre
sponding decrease in the response of the cell indicates that the bullet has passed
and the time at which it occurs tells when the passage took place. Similarly,
when the bullet passes the position B , at least one photon must be scattered if
we are to know when the bullet went by. The decrease in the response of the
second cell tells us when the bullet was in a particular position and a knowledge
of the distance between A and B and of the time between the two dips in photo
cell response allows us to compute the velocity, and therefore the momentum, of
the bullet. This seems straightforward until we recognize that there is an in
trinsic uncertainty in the determination of either of the positions of the bullet.
The second photon that was scattered from the bullet might have been scattered
when the latter was in the position shown by the solid outline in ( b ) or when
it was in the position shown by the dotted outline. It is well known that the
position of a particle cannot be determined by the scattering of a wave to an
accuracy that is appreciably better than the wavelength A of the wave. Hence

the position of the bullet at the time

Light sources
that it has interrupted the second light
*
*
beam is subject to an uncertainty Axy
about equal to A.
In the case of a bullet, an uncertainty
CD ------------------u- _ -t
in position of as much as a few thou
sand Angstrom units would be unim
portant, as it would be very small com
Photocells----pared with the dimensions of the bullet
(a)
itself.
Such a distance, however, is
many times the diameter of an electron.
Before
After
collision
collision
I f an electron is to be located with any
precision, it is therefore necessary that
Photon ;
f ***
Electron p + A p
light of very short wavelength be
G

p
G
used. Even x-rays, with A ^ 10 - 8 cm,
J
Electron
f
Photon
would give only a crude measurement,
/
r
so it is necessary that y-rays of much
(b)
shorter wavelength be employed. When
(c)
this is done, however, a new com plica
tion enters. In our calculation of the momentum we measured the velocity of
the m oving particle over the path A -B and then supposed that this velocity was
maintained unchanged as the particle passed B. Remembering the particle aspect
of the light, we can examine the scattering process in the manner indicated at
(c). The photon approaching the electron has momentum in the direction pi
before it collides and momentum in a different direction p 2 after it collides. In
order that momentum be conserved, it is necessary that the change in momentum
of the electron be equal and opposite to the change in momentum of the photon,
i.e., that the electron gain (or loss) an amount of momentum

(L>

Ap = Pi -

p 2,

where the subtraction is performed vectorially. I f the photon is scattered

through an angle sufficiently large to miss the photocell, the change in momentum
will be of the same order of magnitude as the initial momentum of the photon.
Using the de Broglie relation, we therefore find that
Ap ~ pi =* h/\.
Hence our attempt to locate the electron precisely, by using short wavelengths,
has possibly introduced a large change in the momentum from the value meas
ured over the path A - B . The shorter the wavelength of the light, the greater
the uncertainty introduced in the momentum.
B y combining the uncertainties in the position and the momentum, we arrive
at the Heisenberg uncertainty relation:
AxAp > h,
where the equal to or greater than sign is used instead of the approximate
equality sign because other sources of error may increase the product of the
two uncertainties but can never decrease it. Having accepted this relation, we
see that classical mechanics cannot predict precisely the future history of any
particle, because the initial position and momentum cannot be determined with
the needed precision. If there is an uncertainty in the position of the particle

at a time t1} there will also be an uncertainty in its position at a later time i2Similarly, an uncertainty in momentum implies that we do not know exactly how
fast or in what direction the particle is moving, hence its position at time t2
becomes increasingly uncertain as the interval t2 1 increases.
VI. Quantum Mechanics
Soon after the introduction and confirmation of de B roglies hypothesis, Heisen
berg (1901) and Schrdinger (1887-1960) developed two new systems of
mechanics, based upon the hypothesis and on the uncertainty relation. The two
systems can be shown to be equivalent, and we shall discuss here only the
Schrdinger formulation of quantum mechanics.
Once the association of a wave with the motion o f particles is accepted,
it is easy to set up an equation for the wave in a purely formal way. In the
simplest case of a wave travelling in the ^-direction, having a fixed frequency v
and a fixed wavelength A, the disturbance at any point at a given instant is
the same as the disturbance at a second point at the same instant, the second
point being at a distance A from the first. It is also the same as the disturbance
will be at the original point one period later. (The period, or periodic time, is
the inverse of the frequency.) These conditions are satisfied if the disturbance,
which we shall denote by
is
fa = A sin 27v(yt x/\)y
where A and B are constants.
equations can be written as

or

fa = B cos 2nv(vt x/X),

Using the relations E = hv and p = A/X, these

2 tt /
ypi = A sin (Et px),
h

or

\p2 = B cos 27v(Et px).

This wave must be associated with a particle that is described classically as

having a constant energy E and a constant momentum of magnitude p . Such
a particle is one moving in a straight line at constant speed, i.e., subject to no
forces.
Before physical significance can be given to this equation, it is necessary that
a meaning be attached to \p, the disturbance. A clue to this meaning in the
case just discussed is given by an application of the uncertainty principle. A
particle having a fixed momentum p has no uncertainty in momentum, hence its
position must be com pletely indeterminate. It can be anywhere along the line
o f motion at any instant. This is equivalent to saying that the probability of
finding the particle at any instant within a range of length Ax from a fixed posi
tion is the same as of finding it within the same range of any other position. The
introduction of a description in terms of probabilities is similar to the introduction
of probabilities into the statistical treatment of the molecules of a gas. In both
cases probabilities were introduced as a result of ignorance of the initial position
and momentum in the one case because so many particles were involved, in
the other because the position and momentum of a single particle cannot be de
termined simultaneously with complete precision. Now suppose that we make
a guess that the probability of finding the particle between two nearby points,
x and x + Ax is
P = \p2 Ax,

where \p is either
or \[/2. Combining the two waves and making A = B, i.e.,
giving them equal amplitudes, we have
0 2 tt
0 2 tt
1
P = A 2 sin 2 (Et px) + cos (Et px) Ax.
h
J
h
Because sin 2 0 + cos 2 6 = 1 for any value of 6, we have
P = \j/2 Ax = A 2 Ax,
which states that the probability is independent of position, as we have con
cluded that it must be.
A consideration of many different cases of motion in the light of the uncer
tainty principle led Born (1882-1956) and others to conclude that the wave
function ij/ must be interpreted in the way that we have found satisfactory in
the one special case, i.e., that the square o f the absolute value of if/ is the proba
bility per unit volume that a measurement will locate the particle in a given
volume of space.*
W ith the advent of quantum mechanics, the ad hoc hypotheses that character
ized the work of Planck and of Bohr became consequences of more basic and
broader general principles. The stationary states of atoms, for example, follow
from the fact that only waves of particular frequencies m ay occur when the
wave is restricted to a limited region of space. A classical problem that illus
trates this is that of a standing wave on a violin string. Such a standing wave
results from two waves travelling in opposite directions along the string. If the
two waves have the same frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, their super
position results in a pattern that does not progress along the string. A t intervals
of half a wavelength there are points, called nodes, at which no vibration occurs;
half way between these points there are antinodes, at which the string vibrates
with maximum amplitude. N ow suppose that the string is firmly fixed at both
ends, so that no motion can take place there. This is possible only if the w ave
length is such that nodes can occur at the two ends, or that the length L of the
string be an integral number of half wavelengths. Some of the possible forms
of standing waves are shown in (a) of the figure. As can be seen easily, the
only possible values of wavelength are those for which
= 2 L / 7i,
7i being an integer. These values of A. are said to be eigenvalues. They are
determined by the dimensions of the region within which the wave may exist
with non-vanishing amplitude.
The electrons in an atom are held close to the nucleus by electrostatic attrac
tion; their wave functions cannot extend to great distances; hence we might
expect the wavelengths and frequencies associated with the electrons to be
limited to particular eigenvalues. Instead of considering the three-dimensional
case of a hydrogen atom, let us examine a simple one-dimensional case in which
an electron is subject to no forces as long as it is within a distance a of the
origin 0 but is subject to such large forces at a distance a that it cannot get
* In the one dimensional case that we have treated, \}/2 was the probability per unit length;
this generalizes to probability per unit volume in three dimensions. Also, the simple square of
\p that we have used was appropriate only because we had made \p a real quantity. In general \f/
will be a complex number and the square must be replaced by \\p\2 or by
where \f/* is
the complex conjugate of \f/.

further than this distance from the origin. (See (b) of the figure.) The proba
bility of finding the electron at distances greater than a from the origin is zero.
The wave function must therefore vanish as x approaches a or as it approaches
a. These are exactly the conditions that determined the eigenvalues of the

=4(f)

n = 4/

'32o2fn

=3(|)

n-3

9n
32a2m

= 2@
=1()

- = 2;

-L -

4h2
h = 32o^m
I*
h2
E,~ 32a2m

(a)

(c)

wavelength for the violin string, hence the only values of the wavelength that
are possible are
An = 4 a/n,
where n is an integer. Because of the de Broglie relationship p = h/\, only certain
discrete values of momentum are possible. These are
pn = h/\n = nh/^a.
But the kinetic energy of the electron is
= pn2/2m.
of the energy are
E n = n2h2/32a2m.

Hence the eigenvalues

The horizontal lines in ( 6 ) show several of the possible energy levels. W e may
notice that the spacing of the levels varies inversely with a2. The more closely
the electron is confined, the greater the spacing of the levels.
This increase of the energy difference between successive levels accounts for
the fact that the low energy levels of an atom are much more widely spaced than
are the high energy levels in which an electron has almost enough energy to
escape. The curved lines in (c) of the figure represent the potential energy of
an electron as a function of the distance r from the nucleus of a hydrogen atom.
These lines mark the limits of the distance that an electron of a given energy can

get from the nucleus. They therefore correspond to the vertical lines in ( 6 ).
In contrast to the situation in (b ), where electrons of any energy were limited
to the same distance, electrons of low energy are closely confined, while those
of high energy are less limited in their range of motion. The horizontal lines
indicate the energies of the lowest four stationary states of hydrogen as calcu
lated by quantum mechanics. These energies are identical with those given by
Bohr theory.
VII. New Fundamental Particles
Some years before the development of the quantum mechanics, it had become
clear that atoms of the different chemical elements differ in the number o f
electrons that they contain. H ydrogen has a single electron, helium has two,
lithium has three, etc. Atoms in their normal states are electrically neutral, so
the nucleus must have a charge equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the
sum of the charges of all the electrons of the atom. That nuclei carry positive
charges that increase by one unit of electronic charge as we go from any element
to the next higher element in the periodic table had been shown by the Ruther
ford scattering experiments. It was later shown more precisely by the work
of M oseley (1887-1915), who applied the ideas of the Bohr model to the x-ray
spectra of many atoms. When isotopes were discovered, it became clear that
the positive charge on the nucleus was a far more important determinant of the
chemical properties than was the mass of the atom. A system of nomenclature
was therefore built up, ascribing to each atomic species an atomic number Z and
a mass number A. The former is the number of units of electronic charge car
ried by the nucleus; the latter is the mass of the atom (rounded off to the nearest
integer) in terms of a unit that is % 6 of the mass of an oxygen atom.
In the course of his scattering experiments, Rutherford had observed that
atomic nuclei could occasionally be broken up or could react with each other,
in a sort of nuclear chemistry, to produce new nuclei. This finding strongly
suggested that nuclei have structure and are built up of particles less massive
than the nucleus itself. The only particles that possessed the necessary char
acteristics and that were known at the time were the proton and the electron.
A nuclear model was therefore constructed in which a nucleus of atomic number
Z and mass number A contained A protons (to account for its mass) and A Z
electrons (to compensate for the charges on all but Z of the protons). This model
was not entirely satisfactory. In the first place, no explanation could be given
of the fact that these charges were held together within the very small volume
of the nucleus in spite of the great electrostatic repulsion of the protons. In the
second place, the model seemed to be in conflict with the uncertainty principle.
An electron confined to a region of dimensions about 10 13 cm has a very small
uncertainty in its position. It therefore has a very large uncertainty in its m o
mentum, and this implies that the momentum, and therefore the kinetic energy
of the electron must occasionally, at least, be very high. A calculation shows
that the energy is of the order of 1 0 12 electron volts, yet the known facts about
the potential energies of particles within a nucleus indicated that such an electron
would have much more than sufficient energy to allow it to escape from the
nucleus. Finally, measurements of the spin of nuclei gave results which were
either inconsistent with the model or indicated that the rules by which spins
added within the nucleus were very different from those that had been found
to hold for the electrons outside the nucleus. For example, the common isotope

of nitrogen having a mass number fourteen would have, according to this model,
fourteen protons and seven electrons in its nucleus. Each proton and each elec
tron has a spin of one-half unit of h/2ir1 and it had been well established that
the spins of an odd number of such particles could add only in such a way that
the total spin would be an odd number of half units. Y et measurements on
nitrogen showed that its nucleus has one unit of spin. Something was clearly
wrong.
M any of the difficulties inherent in the proton-electron nuclear model were
removed when Chadwick (1891) demonstrated that a form of radiation
that had been discovered earlier by Joliot (1900-1958) and Curie (1897-1952)
consisted of neutral particles having a mass very nearly equal to that of the
proton and having no electrical charge. This particle became known as the
neutron. Alm ost from the moment of its discovery the neutron was incorporated
into the nuclear model a nucleus was considered to consist of Z protons and
A Z neutrons. Thus the nitrogen nucleus that we discussed above contains only
14 particles (7 protons and 7 neutrons) and can be expected to have an integral
spin. The problem of the reconciliation with the uncertainty principle dis
appears because the mass of the neutron is nearly 2 0 0 0 times that of the electron
and, consequently, it possesses a much lower kinetic energy when it has the same
amount of momentum. The difficulty in accounting for the forces that hold the
nucleus together in spite of the repulsion of the protons remained and was to
wait for several years before a start was made on its eradication.
Even before the discovery of the neutron, another new fundamental particle
had been unearthed. Its histoiy is fascinating, since its existence was predicted
theoretically several years before its experimental discovery. D irac (1902)
made the prediction in the course of his attempts to revise the quantum me
chanics and to put them into a form that would be invariant when the Lorentz
transformation was used to transform from one system of coordinates to an
other. W hen the resulting equations were applied to the simplest case, that of
a free electron subject to no forces, it was found that both positive and negative
values of the energy were predicted, the minimum magnitude of this quantity
being me2, where m is the rest mass of the electron and c is the speed of light.
The minimum was easy to understand, as it represents the rest energy of an
electron and no electron can possibly exist without this much energy. But the
negative energies introduced something new. Eventually a surprising interpre
tation of D ira cs result came to be accepted. It was supposed that the universe
contains great numbers of electrons of negative energy so many that essentially
all of the negative energy states are occupied. The possible energies of these
states vary between minus infinity and - m e 2. Because this sea of electrons of
negative energy is uniform, it is undetectable; only inhomogeneities are phys
ically observable. Suppose, however, that one electron in a negative energy
state is given additional energy sufficient to lift it into a positive energy state,
say by the absorption of a photon. This energy, of course, must be at least
equal to the separation of the highest negative energy state and the lowest
positive energy state, i.e., to 2 me2. As a result of this process an observable
electron would be created. A t the same time, a vacancy would be established
in the negative energy state from which the electron had been lifted. This vacancy
can be thought of as a hole or a bubble in the uniform sea of negative energy
electrons. An electron near the hole could be moved into it by an electric field,

leaving a new hole where it had been before. The hole, then, would appear to
m ove in a direction opposite to that in which an electron would move under the
action of the same field, just as bubbles in a carbonated liquid move upward as
a result of gravitational forces. The hole thus behaves as if it were positively
charged. It is equivalent to a particle having the same mass as the electron and
a charge that is equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to that of the electron.
Thus, by the supply of a sufficient amount of energy an electron pair could be
produced two particles of equal mass and opposite sign.
A simple calculation shows that the minimum energy required to produce a
pair is 2 m e2 = 16 X 10 14 joule, which is equal to the energy that an electron
acquires in falling through a potential difference of 1 0 6 volts. A t the time of the
development of the D irac electron theory, devices that would produce photons
of this energy were not readily available. Confirmation of the theory might
have waited for a long time had it not been for the availability of high energy
photons from a natural source. Early in the century it had been discovered
that the atmosphere is being bombarded continually by radiation from outside
the earth. These cosmic rays have since been identified as charged particles
of very high energy (up to 0.16 joule or 1 0 18 electron volts). When they interact
with the atmospheric atoms, the cosmic rays produce ions, electrons, photons,
and other products, many of which reach the surface of the earth with great
energies. During a study of cosmic rays with a W ilson cloud chamber, Anderson
(1905) found that pairs of particles of low mass and of opposite charge
were being produced. He called the positively charged particle a positron.
Before we go on to some of the other particles that have been produced by
cosmic rays or by accelerators, it will be worth our while to discuss an important
process that is the opposite of pair production. A fter a positron has been created
there is a chance that an electron of positive energy will fall into the hole,
filling it by a process of pair annihilation. This process must be accompanied
by the release of an amount of energy of at least 2 me2, which is given off in the
form of photons. The annihilation process has been observed widely. One might
ask whether particles other than electrons can be created and annihilated simi
larly. As a matter of fact, it has been demonstrated that all of the fundamental
particles that we know exist in pairs. Usually one member of the pair is found
much more com m only than the other. This member is called a particle, the
other an anti-particle. A pair consisting of a particle and its anti-particle can
be created by the supply of sufficient energy; the pair can be annihilated under
proper circumstances with the release of energy. The most recently discovered
anti-particle is the anti-proton, having a negative charge equal to that of the
electron and a mass equal to that of the proton.
Another fundamental particle whose existence was predicted on theoretical
grounds was the meson. Its existence was postulated to account for the strong
forces that hold a nucleus together. T o account for the stability of nuclei, it is
necessary to suppose that these forces are much stronger than are electrical forces
at distances equal to or less than 10 13 cm. On the other hand, they must be
much less than electrical forces at greater distances, as they produce no meas
urable effects in Rutherford scattering and similar experiments, in which the
bombarding particles come closer than 1 0 12 cm of the nucleus without showing
effects of any forces except those predicted by Coulom bs law.
sort are known as short range forces.

Forces o f this

A clue to the nature of the nuclear forces was first found by Yukawa (1907). He supposed that a neutron or a proton within a nucleus might occa
sionally give off and at other times absorb a lighter particle. Each of these
particles would thus be exchanged between the heavy nucleons. It had already
been demonstrated that such exchanges could produce a binding energy that
would hold particles together the stability of the hydrogen molecule, for ex
ample, results from an exchange of electrons between the two atoms.
I f a particle of the type imagined by Yukawa exists within the nucleus, the
uncertainty principle can be invoked to give us an idea of its mass. The un
certainty in position is about 1 0 ~ 13 cm and its speed cannot be greater than
that of light. A detailed consideration based on these facts shows that the rest
mass of the particle must be about 2 0 0 times that of an electron. Because its
mass is intermediate between that of an electron and that of a proton, this par
ticle came to be called a meson.
A t about the same time that Yukawa made his prediction, several workers
found among the products produced by cosmic rays particles that carried an
electric charge and that had just about the predicted mass. It thus appeared
that another theoretical prediction had been verified. The mesons were found
to have the interesting property that they were unstable. A fter travelling through
matter for some distance, giving up much of its energy to the atoms along its
path, the meson disappears and an electron appears in its place. This decay
of the meson takes place with a very considerable decrease in rest mass and
much of the resulting kinetic energy is given to the electron, which starts off
with high speed.
A fter some years, a second type of meson, having a rest mass o f a bit more
than 300 electronic masses, was also found. These were called pi-mesons to dis
tinguish them from the earlier and lighter particles, which were renamed as mumesons. W hen accelerators yielding enough energy for the creation of meson
pairs became available, the properties of the two types of meson could be studied
in more detail than was possible when one was limited to cosmic rays as the only
source of these particles. A surprise was in store, for it was found that the
mu-mesons, which had been predicted in an attempt to account for nuclear forces,
did not interact appreciably with protons and neutrons. On the other hand, the
pi-mesons showed strong interactions. They, not the mu-mesons, were appar
ently responsible for nuclear binding.
The burst of discovery of new fundamental particles that started soon after
1930, was to continue for several decades. There is not space here to trace the
whole story, but the reader will find a summary of the present state of knowl
edge of the various new particles in the entries mesons and hyperons and neutrino,
and in the other entries to which cross references there will lead him.
VIII. Today and Tomorrow
In this introduction, which has been designed only to supply a temporary
bridge across the gap between classical and present day physics, we have not
had space even to touch upon many interesting and significant developments.
N othing has been said about the increased understanding that quantum me
chanics has contributed to the physics of solids, about the growth o f our knowl
edge of the detailed structure of the nucleus, about the development o f power
from fission and from fusion, about the unravelling of the story of the beta-

decay process, or about many other current topics. All of these stories are still
unfolding and much of what might be said here would be obsolete before this
dictionary comes from the press. W hat we hope to have accomplished, however,
is a demonstration that the physics of today is built upon that of yesterday and
that we can expect the physics of tomorrow to be built upon that of today. If
this expectation is fulfilled, the definitions and the discussions that follow in this
volume may be of assistance not only in the context of physics as it now exists,
but also in understanding new developments as they occur.

A
A. ( 1 ) Linear acceleration (a). ( 2 ) Mean
sound absorption coefficient (a). (3) Element
argon (A ). (4) Angstrom unit (A or ). (5)
First van der W aals constant (a). ( 6 ) Chem
ical activity (a ). (7) Accommodation coeffi
cient (a ). ( 8 ) Am plification of amplifier ( A) .
(9) Amplitude ( A) . (10) Refracting angle of
prism (A ).
( 1 1 ) Area (A ).
( 1 2 ) Specific
rotation of light \a\. (13) Free energy, H elm
holtz, which is also known as isothermal work
function, total ( A) , per unit mass (a ), per
mole (a, A or A m) . (14) Factor in Richardson-Dushman equation { A) .
(15) W idth of
slit (transparent portion) (a ). (16) Atomic
weight or atomic mass number ( A) .
(17)
First Cauchy constant (^4). (18) Strength of
simple acoustic source ( ).
(19) M agnetic
vector potential (A). (20) Bohr radius (a i).
(21) Radius of acoustical tube, disc or mem
brane (a ).
(22) Abbreviation for ampere
(A or a).
A + , A . Terminal markings for sources of
filament voltages in electronic equipment.
(See A supply.)

ABBE NUMBER. The reciprocal of the dis

persive power of a material.
ABBE REFRACTOMETER.
eter, Abbe.

ABBE SINE CONDITION. The relationship

ny sin 0 = n 'y ' sin O', where n,nf are indices
of refraction, y ,y ' are distances from optical
axis, and 0,0' are angles light rays make with
the optical axis. A failure of an optical sur
face to satisfy the sine condition is a measure
of the coma of the surface.
ABC. Abbreviation for automatic brightness
control; automatic bass control.
ABCOULOMB.
The electromagnetic unit
(emu) of charge.
One abcoulomb is the
amount of charge that passes when a steady
current of one abampere flows for one second.
(See electromagnetic unit.)
ABEL EQUATION. W hen a particle falls on
a smooth curve, s = s ( z ) , in a vertical plane
from z = z0 to z = Zj the time of descent is
1
r z 'GO
<Zo) = / = I
/
dz
V 2g J0 V z0 z

A AND R DISPLAY (ALSO A AND R SCAN

OR A AND R SCOPE). See display.
AB-. A prefix attached to the names of the
practical electrical units to indicate the cor
responding unit in the cgs electromagnetic
system (emu), e.g., abampere, abvolt.
ABAMPERE. The cgs electromagnetic unit
(emu) of current. It is that current which,
when flowing in straight parallel wires 1 cm
apart in free space, will produce a force of 2
dynes per cm length on each wire. One ab
ampere is equal to 10 absolute amperes.
A BATTERY. Power source for filaments in
battery-operated electronic equipment.
ABBE CONDENSER. A compound lens used
for directing light through the object of a com
pound microscope. All the light enters the
object at an angle with the axis of the m icro
scope.

See refractom-

where g is the acceleration of gravity. AbeFs

problem is to find a curve for which the time
of descent is a given function of z, t{zo) =
f (zo) . The result is
/(So) =

r Z0 </>(z)
- p j= = dz
c'o V z 0 - z

where

S'(*) .

It is a Volterra integral equation of the first

kind.
ABELIAN GROUP. A commutative group,
thus A B = BA where A, B are any two ele
ments contained in it. A simple example is
the cyclic group of order n.
ABERRATION, ANGLE OF.
of light, Bradley.

See aberration

ABERRATION, CHROMATIC.
matic aberration.

See chro

ABERRATION (S), FIVE GEOMETRICAL.

(1) Spherical Aberration.
(2) Coma.
(3)
Astigmatism. (4) Curvature of Field. (5)
Distortion.
Also called the third-order
aberrations and first comprehensively ana
lyzed by Von Seidel.

ABSCISSA. The horizontal coordinate of a

point in a two-dimensional system, com monly
rectangular Cartesian, and usually designated
by x. Together with the ordinate it locates
the position of the point in a plane.
ABSOLUTE DELAY.

See delay, absolute.

ABSOLUTE FUTURE OF AN EVENT. All

events which could be reached by a signal
emitted at the event and moving with velocity
less than or equal to that of light in a vacuum.

ABERRATION, LEAST CIRCLE OF. The

area of minimum cross section of the rays
from an optical system with spherical aberra
tion.

ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY.
solute.

ABERRATION OF LIG HT (BRADLEY).

The apparent displacement of a star due to
the motion of the earth in its orbit. Distinct
from parallax.
(See Bradley aberration
method.)

ABSOLUTE PAST OF AN EVENT. All

events from which a signal, moving with
velocity less than or equal to that of light
in a vacuum, could be emitted to reach the
event in question.

ABERRATION, OPTICAL. The failure of an

optical system to form an image of a point as
a point, of a straight line as a straight line, and
of an angle as an equal angle. (See spherical
aberration; astigmatism; coma; curvature of
field; distortion (of the im age), and chromatic
aberration.)

ABSOLUTE SPACE-TIME. A fundamental

concept underlying Newtonian mechanics is
that there exists a preferred reference system
to which all measurements should be referred.
This is known as absolute space-time. The
assumption of such a system is replaced in
relativistic mechanics by the principle of
equivalence. (See equivalence principle.)

ABERRATIONS OF LENSES, SEIDEL THE

ORY OF. Seidel developed third order theory
as a series of five correction terms to the Gauss
first order theory (2), giving the five geomet
rical aberrations.
ABNEY EFFECT. A shift in hue which is
the result of a variation in purity and, there
fore, in saturation. The A bney effect may be
represented by chromaticity loci, of specified
luminance, with the hue and brightness con
stant, when purity and, therefore, saturation
are varied. It is a relationship, of psycho
physical nature, between psychophysical speci
fications and color sensation attributes.
ABNEY M OUNTING. A method for mount
ing a grating, plateholder and slit on a Row
land circle and moving only the slit to ob
serve different parts of the spectrum.
ABNORMAL G LO W .

See glow, abnormal.

ABNORMAL REFLECTIONS.
tions, abnormal.
AB PACiK*
batteries^

See reflec

A combined package of A and B

See humidity, ab

ABSOLUTE TEMPERATURE SCALE.

temperature scale, absolute.

See

ABSOLUTE UNITS. A ny set of units de

fined in terms of fundamental (arbitrary)
units of mass, length, and time by connecting
physical equations.
Compare international
units. (Cgs electrostatic, cgs electromagnetic,
and MKSA units are absolute units.)
ABSOLUTE ZERO.
The temperature at
which a system would undergo a reversible
isothermal process without transfer of heat.
This is the temperature at which the volume
of an ideal gas would become zero. The value
calculated from the limiting value of the co
efficient of expansion of various real gases is
273.16C.
ABSORBANCE. The common logarithm of
the absorptance. It may be applied to the
total radiation, the visible radiation or to a
particular part of the spectrum (spectral ab
sorbance) .
ABSORBANCY. The common logarithm of
the reciprocal of the transmittancy.

ABSORBED DOSE.

See dose, absorbed.

ABSORBER. In general, a medium, substance

or functional part that takes up matter or
energy. Specifically a body of material intro
duced between a source of radiation and a de
tector to ( 1 ) determine the energy or nature
of the radiation; ( 2 ) to shield the detector
from the radiation; or (3) to transmit selec
tively one or more components of the radia
tion, so that the radiation undergoes a change
in its energy spectrum. Such an absorber may
function through a combination of processes
of true absorption, scattering and slowingdown.
ABSORPTANCE. The ratio of the radiant
flux absorbed in a body of material to the
radiant flux incident upon it. Com m only, the
material is in the form of a parallel-sided
plate and the radiation in the form of a paral
lel beam incident normally on the surface of
the plate. Properly, transmission measure
ments should be corrected for reflection and
scattering losses to determine the absorptance.
The absorptance m ay be measured for any
radiation, for visible light (optical absorp
tance) or as a function of the wavelength of
the radiation (spectral absorptance).
ABSORPTIOMETER.

See colorimeter (3).

ABSORPTION.
(1) The process whereby
the total number of particles emerging from
a body of matter is reduced relative to the
number entering, as a result of interaction of
the particles with the body. ( 2 ) The process
whereby the kinetic energy of a particle is
reduced while traversing a body of matter.
This loss of kinetic energy of corpuscular ra
diation is also referred to as moderation, slow
ing, or stopping. (3) The process whereby
some or all of the energy of sound waves or
electromagnetic radiations is transferred to
the substance on which they are incident or
which they traverse. (4) The process of at
traction into the mass of one substance by
another so that the absorbed substance dis
appears physically.
ABSORPTION, ACOUSTICAL
See sabin.

UNIT

OF.

ABSORPTION BAND. A region of the ab

sorption spectrum in which the absorptivity
passes through a maximum or inflection.

ABSORPTION CELL. A transparent vessel

used to hold liquids for the determination of
their absorption spectra.
ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT.
(1) For
the absorption of one substance or phase in
another, as in the absorption of a gas in a
liquid, the absorption coefficient is the volume
of gas dissolved by a specified volume of
solvent; thus a widely-used coefficient is
the quantity a in the expression a = V0/Vp,
where F 0 is the volume of gas reduced to stand
ard conditions, V is the volume of liquid and p
is the partial pressure of the gas. (2) In the
case of sound, the sound absorption coefficient
(which is also called the acoustical absorptiv
ity) is defined as the fraction of the incident
sound energy absorbed by a surface or me
dium, the surface being considered part of an
infinite area. (3) In the most general use of
the term absorption coefficient, applied to
electromagnetic radiation and atomic and sub
atomic particles, it is a measure of the rate of
decrease in intensity o f a beam of photons or
particles in its passage through a particular
substance. One complication in the statement
of the absorption coefficient arises from the
cause of the decrease in intensity. When light,
x-rays, or other electromagnetic radiation
enters a body of matter, it experiences in gen
eral two types of attenuation. Part of it is
subjected to scattering, being reflected in all
directions, while another portion is absorbed
by being converted into other forms of energy.
The scattered radiation m ay still be effective
in the same ways as the original, but the ab
sorbed portion ceases to exist as radiation or
is re-emitted as secondary radiation. Strictly
therefore, we have to distinguish the true ab
sorption coefficient from the scattering coeffi
cient; but for practical purposes it is some
times convenient to add them together as the
total attenuation or extinction coefficient.
Accurate measurements upon electromag
netic and some other types of radiation which
has traversed various thicknesses of matter has
established that each infinitesimal layer per
pendicular to the direction of propagation cuts
down the flux density by a fraction of its value
proportional to the thickness of the layer,
whence by integration (when permissible) the
flux density after having penetrated the me
dium to a distance x is given by the exponential
expression:
_ ajC>

in which Zo is the flux density at entrance into

the medium (i.e. for x = 0). (See the Bouguer
law; Beer law.) For true absorption, the con
stant a is the absorption coefficient. For scat
tering, which obeys the same law, a is the scat
tering coefficient. And for the total attenua
tion, including both, it is the extinction co
efficient, which is the sum of the absorption
and the scattering coefficients.
The absorption coefficient may be computed
for total radiation which enters the absorbing
material, for the visible luminous radiation
or as a function of wavelength, being in that
case, the spectral absorption coefficient. The
absorption coefficient divided b y the density
o f the absorbing medium is called the mass
absorption coefficient. (See absorption coeffi
cient, mass and other qualified terms.)
ABSORPTION
COEFFICIENT,
AMPLI
TUDE. The absolute value of the natural
logarithm of the ratio of the peak sound pres
sure (see sound pressure, peak) or particle
velocity (see velocity, particle) at two points
(along the path of the sound beam) a unit
distance apart. It is usually measured in
nepers/cm. In a plane wave, if 1 is the maxi
mum particle velocity at x and $2 is that at
x 2, measured in the direction of propagation of
the wave, the amplitude absorption coefficient
a is given by

x2 -

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT, ATOMIC.

The atomic absorption coefficient of an ele
ment is the fractional decrease in intensity,
per number of atoms per unit area ; it is equal
to the linear absorption coefficient (see absorption coefficient, linear) divided by the
number of atoms per unit volume, or to the
mass absorption coefficient (see absorption
coefficient, mass) divided by the number of
atoms per unit mass. If the medium consists
of only one nuclide, the atomic absorption co
efficient
is equivalent to the total cross
section for the radiation in question.
ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT, LINEAR.
The linear absorption coefficient xi is the frac
tional decrease in intensity per unit distance
traversed, or /it = dl/Idx, where I is the in
tensity of the beam and x is the distance
traversed.

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT, MASS. The

mass absorption coefficient
is the frac
tional decrease in intensity per unit surface
density. For a substance of density p, xm
is equal to fii/p) hence is independent of the
density.
ABSORPTION, CRITICAL. See absorption
discontinuity; absorption edge.
ABSORPTION CURVE. The graphical rela
tionship between thickness of absorbing ma
terial and intensity of transmitted radiation.
ABSORPTION DISCONTINUITY. A dis
continuity appearing in the absorption coeffi
cient of a substance for a particular type of
radiation when expressed as a function of the
energy (or frequency or wavelength) of this
radiation.
An absorption discontinuity is
often associated with anomalies in other vari
ables, such as the refractive index.
ABSORPTION EDGE. The wavelength cor
responding to an absorption discontinuity in
the intensity of an absorption spectrum, not
ably an x-ray absorption spectrum, which
gives the appearance of a sharp edge in the
photograph of such a spectrum.
ABSORPTION, EXPONENTIAL.
sorption coefficient.

See ab

ABSORPTION FACTOR. In any absorbing

system, especially in the case of absorption
of radiation, the ratio of the total unabsorbed
radiation to the total incident radiation, or to
the total radiation transmitted in the absence
of the absorbing substance.
(Cf. absorptiv
ity.)
ABSORPTION INDEX. In traversing per
pendicularly a thin layer of absorbing mate
rial of thickness d, the amplitude of vibration
of light of wavelength decreases in the ratio
l:e

2ttk
x

where k is the absorption index. In conse

quence, the ratio of the intensities of the emerg
ing and incident light is given by
h/h = 6

-4ttk\

For an absorbing layer of thickness A this

ratio becomes
I 1 /I 0 = e~ 4n.

both a magnitude and a direction.

fining equation is

The absorption coefficient a is given by

h / h = e~ ad

dv

hence
a

4 ttk/\ .

ABSORPTION LIM IT.

discontinuity.

Same as absorption

ABSORPTION LOSS, ACOUSTIC.

That
part of the transmission loss due to the dissi
pation or conversion of sound energy into
other forms of energy (e.g., heat), either
within the medium or attendant upon a reflec
tion.
ABSORPTION MESH. A filter element used
in a waveguide system to absorb unwanted
components of electromagnetic energy.
ABSORPTION, SELECTIVE.
Absorption
which varies in amount with wavelength.
ABSORPTION TRAP.

See trap.

ABSORPTIVE POWER,
same as absorptivity.

OPTICAL.

ABSORPTIVITY, OPTICAL.
missivity subtracted from unity.

The

The
trans

ABUNDANCE RATIO. The proportions of

the various isotopes making up a particular
specimen of an element.
ABVOLT. The cgs electromagnetic unit of
potential difference and electromotive force.
It is the potential difference that must exist
between two points in order that one erg of
work be done when one abcoulomb of charge
is moved from one point to the other. One
abvolt is 1 0 8 volt.
A-C.

See alternating current.

A-C BRIDGES.

The de

See bridges.

ACCELERATING CHAMBER.
ber, accelerating.

See cham

ACCELERATING TUBE. An accelerating

chamber of general tubular construction,
either toroidal as in a betatron or cylindrical
with a large length-to-diameter ratio as in an
electrostatic accelerator or linear electron ac
celerator.
It m ay be sealed off or continu
ously evacuated.
ACCELERATION. The time rate of change
of velocity. Like velocity, acceleration is a
vector quantity, requiring the specification of

where v is the instantaneous velocity and t

the time. Acceleration may be indicative of
a change in speed, of a change in the direction
of a velocity of constant magnitude, or of a
combination of the two. The quantity just
defined is strictly speaking the instantaneous
acceleration . (Cf. acceleration, average.)
ACCELERATION, ANGULAR. Angular ac
celeration is the time rate of change of the
angular velocity, expressed by the vector de
rivative d&/dt. Only in case the direction of
the axis remains unchanged can the angular
velocity and angular acceleration be treated
as scalars. The effect of torque applied to a
body free to rotate about an axis is to give it
angular acceleration, and the opposition o f
fered by the body to this process gives rise to
the concept of moment of inertia.
ACCELERATION, AVERAGE. If the in
stantaneous velocity of a particle is Vi at a
given instant and v2 at a time At later, the
average acceleration during the time At is de
fined as:
v2 - Vi

ACCELERATION, CENTRIPETAL.
centripetal acceleration.

See

ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY. (1)

The ratio of the weight of a material particle
to its mass at any specific point in an approxi
mately uniform gravitational field. This is
the acceleration with which a body would
fall in the absence of all other disturbing
forces, such as those due to friction. The
measured acceleration due to the gravity re
sults not only from the gravitational pull of
the earth but also from centrifugal forces pro
duced by the earths rotation. The term is
therefore a misnomer and is not exactly
synonymous with the gravitational field
strength.
( 2 ) Specifically, the acceleration with
which a body falls in vacuo at a given point
on or near a given point on the earths sur
face. This acceleration, frequently denoted
by g, varies by less than one percent over the

entire surface of the earth.

Its average
value has been defined by the International
Commission of Weights and Measures as
9.80665 M /S 2 or 32.174 ft /S 2. Its value at
the poles is 9.8321 M /S 2 and at the equator
9.7799 M /S 2.
ACCELERATION, INSTANTANEOUS.
acceleration.

See

ACCELERATOR, ALTERNATING GRADI

ENT. A high energy accelerator (see acceler
ators, particle) using alternating gradient
focusing. A n y of the various methods em
ployed for acceleration in the high energy m a
chines may be used.
ACCELERATOR, FIXED FIELD, ALTER
NATING GRADIENT (FFAG). This m a
chine is intended to operate with the particles
being accelerated confined to approximately
circular paths within a doughnut shaped
vacuum chamber. The average magnetic flux
density seen by a particle in a complete trip
around the machine, the guide field, is such
as to hold a particle of appropriate momentum

Alternating gradient, fixed field accelerator. M odel

of a fixed field alternating gradient accelerator built
by the Midwestern Universities Research Association
for design studies. This machine accelerates electrons
to approximately 400 K cv, using a combination of
betatron and pulse acceleration. The magnetic flux
density in alternate magnet segments is directed in
opposite senses.

in its orbit. This guide field is allowed to in

crease rapidly with radius, so that particles
with the initial momentum of injection and
those with a final momentum corresponding to
very high energies may be contained within a
vacuum chamber of small radial width. Such

a rapid radial increase in the guide field allows

the use of a fixed magnetic field for all energies
and almost continuous injection and accelera
tion of particles, but with normal focusing
methods most of the particles would be lost be
fore the final energy was reached. This is
overcome by using alternating gradient focus
ing.
The alternating gradient focusing is
achieved by supplying the guide field with a
sectored magnet (see figure), the gradient of
the magnetic flux density being produced by
using alternate sectors in opposite directions.
The dividing lines between sectors may be
radial (radial sector machine) or they may be
sections of a spiral, starting from the center of
the machine (spiral sector machine or spiral
ridge m achine). Various accelerating methods
may be used. The most common one is to
split the vacuum chamber into electrically in
sulated sections and apply synchronized volt
age pulses between adjacent ones.
ACCELERATORS, PARTICLE. W ith the
advent of modern experimental nuclear
physics, there has been developed a large num
ber of devices designed to give to charged
particles, such as electrons or positive ions, the
high energies necessary to penetrate the Cou
lomb barrier of the target nucleus.
The earliest forms of accelerators used an
ion source at one end of an accelerating tube,
the other end being maintained at a high nega
tive potential with respect to the source. The
potential difference was established either by
a bank of transformers and rectifiers (Cockcroft-Walton accelerator) or by an electro
static generator. In either case, intermediate
electrodes were usually used to focus the ion
beam.
The type of accelerator just mentioned is
limited by the difficulties of insulation when
high voltages are involved. As a result, ac
celerators designed to deliver particles of very
high energy generally transfer the energy to
the particles in many steps. In the linear ac
celerator, the particles travel along a straight
line. During most of the time each particle is
in a field-free region, but at intervals it passes
through the gap between two electrodes. A
radio frequency oscillator causes the potential
difference between the electrodes to oscillate
and the lengths of the field-free sections are
such that if a charged particle passes one gap
when the potential difference is near a maxi

mum value (in the direction for acceleration)

it will reach the next gap when the potential
difference is again near a maximum. Such an
accelerator possesses inherent phase stability,
with the result that pulses of particles are
pulled together and emerge from the accelera
tor with energies that are approximately the
same.
The cyclotron operates on much the same
principle as the linear accelerator, except that
the paths of the particles are a series of semi
circles, maintained by the centripetal force on
the particles due to a uniform magnetic field.
A t non-relativistic speeds, the momentum of
the particle and the radius of its trajectory
are proportional, hence the transit time for the
semi-circle is independent of the energy. This
relation does not hold when the speed of the
particles becomes comparable with the speed
of light. Higher energies than those for which
the cyclotron is suitable therefore demand the
synchrotron or some m odification of it. In
such machines either the magnetic field or the
frequency of the oscillator is varied with time
to keep the radius of the trajectory constant
and the transit time between accelerations
synchronized with the radio frequency field.
The beam emerges in a series of pulses. A c
celeration is accomplished once, twice, or sev
eral times per revolution.
One accelerator, the betatron, is particularly
suitable for the acceleration of electrons. In
it, electrons are produced in a vacuum chamber
in the form of a doughnut, mounted perpen
dicular to a changing magnetic field. The field
is varied periodically in such a w ay that two
conditions are satisfied simultaneously the
radius of the electrons orbit is kept at essen
tially a constant value and the induced elec
tromotive force around this path supplies the
energy to it.
For further details, see the entries indicated
above, also synchro-cyclotron; bevatron; cosmotron; alternating gradient focussing; fixed
field, alternating gradient focussing. See also
paper by M . Stanley Livingstone, Amer. J.
Physics, 27, 626 (1959).
ACCELEROMETER. (1) An instrument for
determining the acceleration of the system
with which it moves. ( 2 ) A transducer which
gives an indication, usually in the form of a
voltage, proportional to the acceleration to
which it is subjected.

ACCESS TIME.
( 1 ) The time interval,
characteristic of a memory or storage device,
between the instant at which information is
requested of the memory and the instant at
which this information begins to be available
in useful form.
( 2 ) The time interval be
tween the instant at which information is
available for storage and the instant at which
it is effectively stored.
ACCIDENTAL DEGENERACY.
resonance.
ACCIDENTAL ERROR.
tal.

See Fermi

See error, acciden

ACCOM M ODATION COEFFICIENT.

quantity defined by the equation:
a (T 3 T X) /{ T2 -

T x)

where T\ is the temperature of gas molecules

striking a surface which is at temperature
T2, and T z is the temperature of the gas m ole
cules as they leave the surface, a is the ac
com modation coefficient. It is, therefore, a
measure of the extent to which the gas m ole
cules leaving the surface are in thermal equi
librium with it.
ACCOM M ODATION, OCULAR.
A ccom
modation of the eye for objects at different
distances is brought about by changes in the
tension of the ciliary muscles which control
the shape of the crystalline lens.
ACCUM ULATION
COEFFICIENT.
A
term sometimes used specifically to denote the
rate of increase in the concentration of ad
sorbed molecules upon a surface, in relation to
the concentration of that molecular species in
the phase (3) in contact with the surface.
ACCUM ULATION POINT. One of a set
such that any neighborhood of this point, no
matter how small, contains a member of the
set. All the points of a set which is every
where dense are accumulation points.
ACCUMULATOR. ( 1 ) A device which stores
a number and which, on receipt o f another
number, adds it to the number already stored
and stores the sum. The term is also applied
to devices which function as described but
which also have other properties. However,
this usage is deprecated in favor of the term
counter. ( 2 ) An old term for a battery of the
storage type.

ACCURACY. The quality of freedom from

mistake or error, that is, of conform ity to truth
or to a rule. A ccuracy is distinguished from
precision as in the following example: A sixplace table is more precise than a four-place
table. However, if there are errors in the sixplace table, it may be either more or less ac
curate than the four-place table.
ACCURACY IN MEASUREMENT. The de
gree of correctness with which a method of
measuring yields the true value of a meas
ured quantity.
It is usually expressed in
terms of error, the units being those of the
measured quantity or the ratio (or percent)
of the error to the full scale value or to the
actual value.
ACHROMAT. A compound lens corrected so
as to have the same focal length for two or
more different wavelengths. Com m only the
F- and C-lines are the chosen wavelengths.
ACHROM ATIC.
(1) Free from hue (see
color, achromatic).
(2) Transmitting light
without showing its constituent colors, or sepa
rating it into them.

achromatic loci obtained under different con

ditions of adaptation
ACHROMATIC POINT. The point on a
chromaticity diagram that represents an
achromatic stimulus.
ACHROMATIC STIMULUS. (1) A visual
stimulus that is capable of exciting a color
sensation of no hue. (2) In practice, an arbitrarily-chosen chromaticity, such as that of
the prevailing illumination.
ACHROMATISM.
being achromatic.

The state or quality of

ACOUSTIC.
The word acoustic, when
used as a qualifying term, means containing,
producing, arising from, actuated by, or car
rying sound, or designed to carry sound and
capable of doing so.
ACOUSTIC ABSORPTION LOSS.
sorption loss, acoustic and sabin.

See ab

ACOUSTICAL. W hen used as a qualifying

term, denotes related, pertaining to, or associ
ated with sound, but not having its properties
or characteristics. Examples: acoustical engi
neer, school, glossary, unit. This usage of
acoustical as modifiers agrees with the com
m only accepted usage of electrical. In the
science of mechanics, however, the term
mechanical is the only modifier in common
use.

ACHROM ATIC COMBINATION.

If re
versed crown and flint prisms are made of such
angle that the angles of dispersion between
any two different wavelengths of light are
alike but reversed in direction, then these two
colors will not be separated and all colors
lying between them will be separated little if
any from each other. B y using three kinds of
glass it is possible to bring three colors to
gether. W hen the dispersions balance, the
deviations will in general not balance. This
same principle is used in making achromatic
lenses. Achrom atic prisms have a maximum
of deviation and a minimum of dispersion,
while an Amici prism disperses the light with
a minimum of deviation.

ACOUSTICAL ADJUSTMENT OF ROOMS.

The modification of the average sound absorp
tion coefficient of a room by the introduction
of acoustical materials of greater or lesser ab
sorptivity.

ACHROM ATIC
LOCUS.
Chromaticities
which may be acceptable reference standards
under circumstances of common occurrence are
represented in a chromaticity diagram by
points in a region which may be called the
achromatic locus.
A ny point within the
achromatic locus, chosen as a reference point,
may be called an achromatic point. Such
points have also been called white points.
However, the term white point is best used
to specify the intersection of the various

ACOUSTICAL
ATTENUATION
CON
STANT.
(See also absorption coefficient,
amplitude.) The acoustical attenuation con
stant is the real part of the acoustical propaga
tion constant. The commonly used unit is
the neper per section or per unit distance. In
the case of a symmetrical structure, the real
parts of both the transfer constant and the
acoustical propagation constant are identical,
and have been called the wavelength con
stant.

ACOUSTICAL
ABSORPTION
COEFFI
CIENT. See sound absorption coefficient.
ACOUSTICAL ABSORPTIVITY.
absorption coefficient.

See sound

ACOUSTICAL BRANCH. See branch, acous

tical and optical.

46, even though they have yet not been em

ployed widely in acoustics.

ACOUSTICAL ELEMENTS.
The param
eters, analogous to electrical elements, that
characterize the action of each component of
an acoustical system.
(See analogs; acous
tical units.)

ACOUSTIC BRANCH.

ACOUSTICAL MIRAGE. The distortion of

a wave front by a strong temperature gradient
so that part of the wave front overlaps an
other, creating the illusion of two sound
sources although only a single source exists.
ACOUSTICAL OHM. An acoustic resist
ance, reactance, or impedance has a magnitude
of one acoustical ohm when a sound pressure
o f 1 microbar produces a volume velocity of 1
cubic centimeter per second.
(See analogs;
acoustical units.)
ACOUSTICAL PHASE CONSTANT.
phase constant, acoustical.

See

ACOUSTICAL PRINCIPLE OF SIMILAR

ITY. For any acoustical system involving
diffraction phenomena, it is possible to con
struct a new system on a different scale which
will perform in similar fashion, provided that
the wavelength of the sound is altered in the
same ratio as the linear dimensions of the orig
inal system.
ACOUSTICAL
PROPAGATION
CON
STANT. See propagation constant, acous
tical.
ACOUSTICAL RECIPROCITY THEOREM.
See reciprocity theorem, acoustic.
ACOUSTICAL REFLECTIVITY. See soundreflection coefficient.
ACOUSTICAL
TRAN SMITTIVIT Y.
sound transmission coefficient.

See

ACOUSTICAL UNITS.
In acoustics, the
centimeter-gram-second (cgs) system of units
has been and is at present predominantly
used; but some practical units such as English
and metric system units of length are also
being used; and the watt is com monly being
employed for designating acoustic power. In
recent years there has been a trend toward
adoption of the rationalized meter-kilogramsecond system of units in many fields of sci
ence and engineering.
Therefore the MKS
units are included in conversion table on page

See acoustic mode.

ACOUSTIC CAPACITANCE, SPECIFIC.

See capacitance, specific acoustic.
ACOUSTIC CENTER, EFFECTIVE. The
point from which spherically divergent sound
waves, emitted by an acoustic generator, ap
pear to diverge.
ACOUSTIC COMPENSATOR. A device for
adjusting acoustical path lengths for matching
purposes in binaural listening.
ACOUSTIC COMPLIANCE.
ance, acoustic.

See compli

ACOUSTIC DEPTH FINDING, ECHO

M ETHOD. See echo depth sounding; sonar.
ACOUSTIC DETECTOR, BROCA TUBE.
An early type of pressure sensitive acoustic
receiver, consisting of a sphere of rubber or
sheet metal mounted at the end of a listening
tube.
ACOUSTIC
DETECTOR,
DISPLACE
MENT. A ny acoustic receiver that measures
directly the displacement of the medium.
ACOUSTIC DETECTOR, PRESSURE. Any
acoustic receiver that is operated primarily
by the excess pressure produced by the sound
in the medium in which the detector is placed.
ACOUSTIC FILTER.

See filter, wave.

ACOUSTIC GENERATOR.
acoustic.
ACOUSTIC INERTANCE.
tic.

See generator,

See mass, acous

ACOUSTIC M ODE. A type of thermal vi

bration of a crystal lattice (see space lattice)
which, in the limit of long wavelengths, is
equivalent to an acoustic wave traveling with
nearly constant velocity as if through an elas
tic continuum. A t high frequencies, approach
ing the Debye frequency, the phase velocity
of the acoustic modes tends to decrease, owing
to dispersion. (See also branches, acoustical
and optical.)
ACOUSTIC PHASE ANGLE.
The angle
whose tangent is the ratio of the acoustic re

tubes having branches, or through cavities of

various shapes, such as musical instruments
or resonators, reveal certain remarkable anal
ogies to the theory of a-c circuits. Thus one
encounters the property known as acoustic
impedance; with its components, acoustic re
sistance and acoustic reactance, the latter be
ing dependent upon the acoustic inertance
(analogous to inductance) and acoustic com
pliance (sometimes called acoustic capaci
tance). These correspond to analogous prop
erties of a-c circuits, in which the electric im
pulses may be compared to acoustic waves.
The acoustic resistance, inertance, and com
pliance depend, respectively, upon the viscos
ity, the density, and the elasticity of the me
dium. (See impedance, acoustic; mass, acous
tic, etc. See also entries under sound.)

actance to the acoustic resistance. (See re

actance, acoustic and resistance, acoustic.)
ACOUSTIC REFRACTION.
acoustic.

See refraction,

ACOUSTIC RESISTANCE.
acoustic.

See resistance,

ACOUSTICS. In the broader sense, acoustics

is the physics of sound, treated in all its as
pects. Com m only, however, the term is re
stricted to a study of the transmission of
sound through various media or in various
enclosures or conduits, including the effects
of reflection, refraction, interference, diffrac
tion, and absorption.
The investigation of such problems as the
passage of sound through simple tubes, or
C o n v e r s io n

Quantity

of

P r e s e n t A c o u s t ic a l U n it s

Dimension

in t o

ks

Present Unit

n it s

Mks Unit

Con
version
Factor *

Sound velocity
(particle velocity)

LT 1

cm per second

meter per second

10-2

Volume velocity

L3T -1

cubic cm per second

cubic meter per second

10 6

Sound energy

M L 2T -2

erg

Joule

lO -7

Force

M L T -2

dyne

newton

lO 5

Sound pressure
(sound-energy density)

M L _1T ~ 2

microbar

newton per square

meter

1 0 -1

Sound-energy flux
(sound power of source)

M L2T ~ 3

erg per second

watt

lO 7

Sound intensity
(specific sound-energy flux)

M T 3

erg per second per

square cm
watt per square cm

watt per square meter

lO 3
104

Acoustic impedance
(resistance, reactance)

M L - 4T ~ 1

acoustical ohm

Mks acoustical ohm f

105

Specific acoustic impedance

M L - 2! " 1

acoustical ohm X
square cm

Mks acoustical ohm f

X square meter

10

Mechanical impedance
(resistance, reactance)

M T 1

mechanical ohm

Mks mechanical ohm f

l O '3

* Multiply the magnitude expressed in present units by the tabulated conversion factor to obtain magnitude in
inks units.
f Mks acoustical ohm and mks mechanical ohm are proposed terms.

ACROMATISM, D-G.

See D-G acromatism.

ACTINIC. See ray, actinic.

ACTINIDE SERIES. A term derived by
analogy to the lanthanide series to denote
elements o f atomic number 89-103 inclusive.
Members of this series include the known ele
ments actinium, thorium, protactinium, ura
nium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, cu
rium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, and nobelium. It is be
lieved that the element # 1 0 3 will, when dis
covered, probably belong to this series. The
justification for this grouping is found in the
existence in the higher elements of (III) oxi
dation states similar to actinium, and (IV )
oxidation states similar to thorium. Certain
similarities also exist between the atomic
spectra and magnetic properties in the two
series.
ACTINIUM . Radioactive element.
Ac. A tom ic number 89.

Symbol

ACTINOMETER.
An instrument which
measures the intensity of photochem ically ac
tive radiation, by determining the fluorescence
of a screen or the extent of a chemical decom
position reaction initiated by the incident
radiation.
ACTINOMETRY. The determination of the
photochemical intensity of light.
ACTINON. The isotope of the element radon
(atomic number 8 6 ) having a mass number
219.
ACTION. The action of a dynamical system
is the space integral of the total momentum
of the system. Specifically, if r,- is the position
vector of the jth particle of the system and
rrij is the mass, the action for the path going
from P i to P 2 is
2

I !'L n ijYj-dY j,
Pi

where the integral is taken along the actual

path from P i to P 2. The integral can be shown
to reduce to the form
f*t>2
2 I E xdt,
Jti
where E K is the total kinetic energy of the
system and ti and t<> are the times at which

the system is in positions Pi and P2 respec

tively. (Cf. least action, principle of; action
integral.)
ACTION AT A DISTANCE. Theory of the
interaction between charged particles in which
the electromagnetic fields do not appear ex
plicitly. In particular the W heeler-Feynman
theory, in which radiation damping appears
when a particle is surrounded by a complete
absorber of radiation. Thus on the one hand
radiation damping arises as a consequence of
statistical theory, while on the other the equa
tions of motion of a classical charged particle
are those of the Dirac classical electron
theory.
ACTION INTEGRAL. For a generalized co
ordinate qi and its conjugate momentum pi
the phase integral,
Ji =

Vi dqi,

is called the action integral (see action vari

able) . The integral is taken over one complete
cycle of a system and is therefore only defined
for periodic, or multiply periodic, systems.
The Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum condition
states that the action integral of a system
must be an integral multiple of Plancks con
stant (Ji = nh). See Bohr-Sommerfeld quan
tum theory.)
ACTION, PRINCIPLE OF LEAST. See least
action, principle of.
ACTION, QUANTUM OF.
Synonym for
Planck constant, h. (See also action integral.)
ACTION TIM E, VISUAL. The period of
visual stimulation necessary to permit a visual
sensation to attain maximum strength.
ACTION VARIABLE. I f one of the momenta
of a classical dynamical system yields a closed
curve when graphed against the conjugate co
ordinate, the area contained within this curve
is the action variable corresponding to this
degree of freedom. Usually denoted by J.
(See also action integral.)
ACTIVATION. (1) In nuclear physics, the
process of inducing radioactivity through neu
tron bombardment or by other types of radia
tion (see cross section, activation). (2) In
electron-tube technology, the process by which
the cathode is treated in order that maximum

emission may occur. (3) The transfer of a

sufficient quantity of energy to an atomic sys
tem to raise it to an excited state in which it
can participate in a process not possible when
the system is in its ground state. (See activa
tion energy.) (4) See inversion (6).
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS.
A method of
analysis by means of isotopes in which a small
quantity of an element that is difficult to de
termine is exposed to activating particles (e.g.,
deuterons in a cyclotron or neutrons in a
nuclear rea ctor). One or more of the stable
isotopes of the element are thus converted to
radioisotopes which can be detected by their
characteristic radiations and half-lives. B y
treating similarly a comparison sample con
taining a known proportion of the given ele
ment the analysis can be made quantitative.
ACTIVATION ENERGY.
tion.

See energy, activa

ACTIVATOR. An impurity atom present in

a solid and making possible the effects of
luminescence, or markedly increasing their
efficiency. Examples are copper in zinc sulfide,
and thallium in potassium chloride.
ACTIVE. This word is used in nuclear phys
ics for three special meanings: ( 1 ) Fissionable
(active m aterial).
( 2 ) R adioactive (active
sam ple). (3) The active part of a reactor is
the core (active lattice).
ACTIVE CENTER. Atoms which by their
position on a surface, such as at the apex of
a peak or on the edge or corner of a crystal,
share with neighboring atoms an abnormally
small portion of their electrostatic field and,
therefore, have a large residual field available
for catalytic activity or for adsorption.
ACTIVE DEPOSIT. In general, any radio
active material deposited on a surface. Spe
cifically, any radioactive decay product de
posited on a surface in contact with a radio
active gas, especially the gases radon, actinon
and thoron.
ACTIVE PRODUCT. A radioactive decay
product of a radionuclide.
ACTIVITY. (1) Radioactivity. (2) The in
tensity or strength of a radioactive source, i.e.,
the number of atoms disintegrating in unit
time, or derivatively, the number of scintilla
tions or other effects observed per unit time.

A ctivity is often expressed in curies or ruther

fords or roentgens per hour at one meter. (3)
The apparent effective concentration of a sub
stance in a reacting system. In many rela
tionships involving concentrations, it has been
found that the use of actual concentrations
does not give calculated results which agree
with observed results, because of the departure
from ideality of real gases and solutions (due
to such causes as, for example, the influence
of interionic or intermolecular attraction). In
such cases, instead of concentrations, activi
ties m ay be used. Thus, the activity ar of the
rth component in a complex phase is defined
by the relationship:
Mr Mr0 = R T In arj
where /r and /v are the chemical potentials in
the system and in some standard state at the
same temperature, T (the standard state is
usually defined as the pure state of the com
ponent) and where R is the gas constant. For
the activity of solutions, ar may be replaced
by x rjr, where x r is the mole fraction of com
ponent r in the solution, and } r is the activity
coefficient, so that the equation becomes:
Mr Mr0 = R T In x rf r.
(4) For optical activity, see rotation of the
vibration plane; dispersion of rotation; rota
tion, specific.
ACTIVITY COEFFICIENT. The ratio of
activity (3) to concentration. Thus the ac
tivity coefficient f r of the rth component in a
complex phase is defined as
/, = -
Xr

where ar is the activity and x r, the concentra

tion. It is a thermodynamic function used in
expressing the chemical potentials of real
gases and solutions, and it is a useful measure
of the departure from ideality of these sys
tems.
ACTIVITY COEFFICIENT, RATIONAL.
The activity coefficient obtained by derivation
from the Debye-Hiickel theory of electrolytes.
ACTIVITY CURVE. A graph in which the
activity (2) of a radioactive source is plotted
as a function of time.
ACTIVITY OF AN ELECTROLYTE, MEAN.
See mean activity of an electrolyte.

ACTUATING SIGNAL, LOOP.

back, loop actuating signal.

See feed

ACTUATING TRANSFER ELEM ENT.

feedback transfer function, actuating.

See

ACTUATING TRANSFER FUNCTION. See

feedback transfer function, actuating.
ACTUATOR, ELECTROSTATIC. An ap
paratus constituting an auxiliary external
electrode which permits the application of
known electrostatic forces to the diaphragm
of a microphone for the purpose of obtaining
a primary calibration.
A.D.

See average deviation.

ADAM ANTINE COMPOUND. A compound

having in its crystal structure an arrangement
of atoms essentially that of diamond, in which
every atom is linked to its four neighbors by
covalent bonds. An example is zinc sulfide,
but it is to be noted that the eight electrons
involved in forming the four bonds are not
provided equally by the zinc and sulfur atoms,
the sulfur yielding its six valence electrons,
and the zinc, two. This is the structure of
typical semiconductors, e.g., silicon and
germanium.
ADAPTATION. The adjustment of the sen
sitivity of an organism to the conditions of
the immediate environment. Thus the dark
adapted eye has a lower threshold than does
the light adapted eye and sources of a given
illuminance appear brighter under conditions
of dark adaptation.
All sense perceptions
seem to be affected similarly by the processes
of adaptation.
A D D CIRCUIT.

See comparator.

ADDER (HALF AD DER ). A circuit hav

ing two input and two output channels for
T able

Input To

Output From

0
0
1
1

0
1
0
1

0
1
1
0

0
0
0
1

binary signals ( 0 , 1 ) and in which the output

signals are related to the input signals accord
ing to the table.
(It is called a half adder because two half
adders can be used in the construction of one
binary adder.)
ADDER, ALGEBRAIC.
form an algebraic sum.

ADDITION OF VELOCITIES. The law de

rived from special relativity theory relating
the velocities \AB} Vbc, Vca where \ab is the
velocity of A relative to B, etc. For motion
in one dimension it becomes
vab

-*s

B >

->c

v Cb

Va c

VABVCB

For relative velocities small compared with the

velocity c of light in a vacuum, the law reduces
to the non-relativistic vector addition law for
relative velocities:
vac

v a b

ycB

(See relativity theory, special; relativity, New

tonian; Introduction.)
ADDITIVE COLOR PROCESS. A system
of color photography in which the color syn
thesis is obtained by the addition of colors
one to another in the form of light rather than
as colorants.
ADDITIVE
quantity.

PROPERTY.

See

extensive

ADDITIVITY, PRINCIPLE OF. The prop

erties of a solution of a strong electrolyte are
the sum of the individual properties of its
ions. In general, an additive property applies
to a system where it is the sum of the individ
ual properties of the constituents. The only
property, however, which is truly additive in
a chemical system is mass.
ADDITRON.
A
computer tube.

An adder which can

Canadian special-purpose

ADDRESS. An expression, usually numerical,

which designates a particular location in a
storage or memory device or other source or
destination of information. (See also code,
instruction.)
ADDRESS, ABSOLUTE.
An
pressed in machine language.

address ex

Address Part Adiabatic Invariant

ADDRESS PART. In an instruction, any
part that is usually an address. (See also
code, instruction.)
ADF. Abbreviation for automatic direction
finder.
ADHESION AND COHESION. These two
terms are used rather loosely to denote the
forces and energies that hold molecules in con
tact with each other. Adhesion is generally
used when the molecules are of different
species; cohesion, when they are of the same
species.
(For discussions of the forces re
sponsible for adhesion and cohesion, and for
the energetics involved, see Born-Mayer equa
tion; van der Waals forces; vapor pressure;
energy, surface; surface tension; adsorption.)
ADHESION, W ORK OF. The work of ad
hesion W Ab between two liquids A and B is
the increase in free surface energy (see sur
face energy, free) on separating 1 cm 2 of in
terface A B :
W A B 7A

7B yAB,

where yA and yb are the surface tensions of

A and B respectively against their vapors, and
7 ab is the interfacial tension.
For a solidliquid interface the work of adhesion W s l is
defined as the work required to separate 1 cm 2
of interface in a vacuum to give a naked solid
surface:
W

s l

= 7s + 7l ys l ,

where 7 s and jl are the surface free energies

measured in a vacuum. It may be shown that
W sl ys ~ y s v 0 + 7 l (1 + c o s 6e ),
where
is the surface tension of the solid
covered by an absorbed film of liquid in equi
librium with the vapor, and 0E the equilibrium
contact angle.
ADIABAT. (1) I f a thermally-isolated sys
tem moves through a series of equilibrium
states, the locus of the points representing
these states on a graph is called an adiabat.
Thus in meteorology, an adiabat is a line on
a chart showing the adiabatic lapse rate (wet
or d ry ). (2) See adiabatic invariant.
ADIABATIC. Said of a process that takes
place without gain or loss of heat by the sys
tem involved, for example adiabatic expansion.
A com pletely adiabatic process is unrealizable,

50
but it can be closely approximated in practice
by good thermal insulation and by carrying
out the process rapidly so that little time is
allowed for heat flow in or out of the system.
ADIABATIC APPROXIMATION.
( 1 ) The
assumption that the electronic wave functions
in a molecule or solid are distorted by the m o
tion of the nuclei, but in such a way that their
energy is a function only of the nuclear con
figuration at a given moment, and does not
depend on the rate at which the nuclei are
moving (see Born-Oppenheimer method).
( 2 ) See Ehrenfest adiabatic law.
(3) In
astrophysics, the approximation that the pres
sure and density in a star vary in accordance
with the adiabatic gas law. Thus, that the
pressure p is related to the volume V by the
relation:
p V y = Constant,
where 7 is the ratio of the sp e cific h e a t at
constant pressure to the specific heat at con
stant volume.
ADIABATIC DEMAGNETIZATION, COOL
ING BY. A technique for attaining very low
temperatures, of the order of 0.01K.
A
crystal of a paramagnetic salt is cooled down
to liquid helium temperatures in a strong mag
netic field. The crystal is then thermally in
sulated, and the field removed, the entropy
of the system remaining constant. But the
entropy of the spin system is very small in
the state of order induced by the field, so that
the crystal is eventually left in a state of very
low entropy, that is, low temperature. The
final temperature depends on the interactions
between the spins, causing splitting of the
energy levels, so that it is smallest for a mag
netically dilute substance, in which the para
magnetic ions are spaced far apart, e.g.,
F eN H 4 (S 0 4) 2 12H 20 .
ADIABATIC ELASTICITY.
A term in
vented by Hugoniot to express the change of
elasticity of the medium which is propagat
ing an explosion wave, assuming that the
medium is discontinuous in the vicinity of
the wave.
ADIABATIC INVARIANT. A physical quan
tity which remains constant during the spacial
or temporal variation of a system. Usually
this quantity will remain constant to some ap
proximation. For example, in the treatment

of the motion of charged particles in a nonuniform magnetic field, the magnetic moment
2W

(where H is the magnitude of the magnetic

field strength, and W is the energy associated
with the component of velocity perpendicular
to the field) will be an adiabatic invariant of
the motion if the magnetic field remains
spatially constant over several Larmor radii
and temporally constant over several Larmor
periods.
ADIABATIC PROCESSES IN THE AT
MOSPHERE. W hen a parcel of air is moved
from one position to another with respect to
surrounding air, in such a manner that energy
does not flow across the boundaries of the
parcel, thermal changes taking place within
the parcel are said to be adiabatic changes.
Any process in the atmosphere occurring adiabatically is known as an adiabatic process.
ADI ACTINIC. N ot transmitting photochemically-active rays.
ADION. An ion adsorbed on a surface that
is held so that it is free to move on the surface
but not away from it.
A-DISPLAY (ALSO A-SCAN OR A-SCOPE).
See display.
ADJACENT-CHANNEL
See selectance.
ADJOINT.
joint.

ATTENUATION.

See matrix, adjoint; operator, ad

ADJOINT EQUATION.
The differential
equation L( u ) = u" + p {x )v ! + q ( x ) u = 0
may be frequently solved by use of an inte
grating factor. Suppose such a factor v exists
so that v L ( u ) d x is an exact differential, then
the operator adjoint to L( u ) is
L(v) = v" p(x)v' + [q{x) p'(x)]v.
vL(u) uL(v) = (d/dx)[P{u, v)]
is the Lagrange identity, and
P = uv[u'/v v'/v + p{x)]
is the bilinear concomitant. I f the adjoint
equation L{v) = 0 can be solved, the original
equation L( y) = 0 is equivalent to the first
order equation P (u, v) = C, where C is an

arbitrary constant. The latter, of course, can

always be solved.
An equation identical with its adjoint is said
to be self-adjoint. A ny differential equation
may be put into self-adjoint form if the appro
priate factor is introduced.
These procedures are not limited to equa
tions of second order but may be generalized
for those of any order.
ADJOINT W A V E FUNCTION. In Dirac
electron theory the row -vector $ = ip*p3 where
{/ is the wave function, the asterisk denotes
Hermitean conjugate and p3 is the Dirac
operator y 4.
ADMITTANCE. The reciprocal of imped
ance. Thus if the impedance of a circuit ele
ment is
Z = R + j X , |Z|2 = R 2 + X 2,
its admittance is

R - j X _ R

Y R + j X = R2 + X 2 = J z p
= G + jB
The real part of admittance is called con
ductance (Cr); the imaginary part, susceptance ( B ) . Note that positive reactance im
plies negative susceptance. (See admittance
driving-point, admittance electrode, admit
tance gap circuit, admittance gap, electronic,
transadmittance; interelectrode admittance,
short-circuit driving-point; admittance, shortcircuit feedback; admittance, short-circuit
forward; admittance, short-circuit input; ad
mittance, short-circuit output; admittance,
short-circuit transfer, admittance, transfer.)
ADM ITTANCE, BACKWARD TRANSFER.
See admittance, feedback.
ADM ITTANCE, CIRCUIT.
driving-point.

See admittance,

ADM ITTANCE, COMPLEX.

The admit
tance of a network branch is given by the
ratio of the current through the branch to
the voltage across the branch, with current
and voltage expressed as complex numbers.
ADM ITTANCE, DRIVING-POINT (between
the jth Terminal and the Reference Terminal
of an n-Terminal N etw ork). The quotient of
the complex alternating component Ij of the
current flowing to the ;th terminal from its

external termination by the complex alternat

ing component Vj of the voltage applied to
the ;th terminal with respect to the reference
point when all other terminals have arbitrary
external terminations. In specifying the driving-point admittance of a given pair of ter
minals of a network or transducer having two
or more pairs of terminals, no two pairs of
which contain a common terminal, all other
pairs of terminals are connected to arbitrary
admittances.
ADM ITTANCE, DRIVING POINT, SHORT
CIRCUIT (OF THE ;TH TERMINAL OF AN
n-TERMINAL NETW ORK).
The driving
point admittance between that terminal and
the reference terminals when all other termi
nals have zero alternating components of volt
age with respect to the reference point.
AD M ITTAN CE ELECTRODE (OF THE
jTH ELECTRODE OF AN n-ELECTRODE
ELECTRON TUBE). The short-circuit driving-point admittance between the ;th elec
trode and the reference point, measured di
rectly at the ;th electrode. T o be able to de
termine the intrinsic electronic merit of an
electron tube the driving-point and transfer
admittances must be defined as if measured
directly at the electrodes inside the tube. The
definitions of electrode admittance and elec
trode impedance are included for this reason.
ADM ITTANCE, ELECTRONIC.
The ad
mittance of a vacuum tube caused by the ac
tion of electron beams within the tube. (See
admittance, driving-point.)
AD M ITTANCE, FEEDBACK, SHORT CIR
CUIT (OF AN ELECTRON TUBE TRANS
DUCER). The short-circuit transfer admit
tance (see admittance, transfer, short-circuit)
from the physically available output terminals
to the physically available input terminals of
a specified socket, associated filters, and tube.

electrode to the output electrode of an elec

tron tube.
(See transadmittance interelec
trode.)
ADM ITTANCE GAP, CIRCUIT. The ad
mittance of the circuit at a gap in the absence
of an electron stream.
ADMITTANCE GAP, ELECTRONIC. The
difference between (a) the gap admittance
with the electron stream traversing the gap
and (b) the gap admittance with the stream
absent.
ADM ITTANCE, IMAGE.
image impedance.

Reciprocal

of

ADM ITTANCE, INDICIAL, OF A NET

WORK. The response, as a function of time,
to a unit step stimulus. Specifically, the cur
rent produced by a unit step of one volt.
ADM ITTANCE, INPUT, SHORT-CIRCUIT
(OF AN ELECTRON
TUBE TRANS
DUCER). The short-circuit driving point ad
mittance (see admittance, driving point, shortcircuit) at the physically available input ter
minals of a specified socket, associated filters,
and tube.
ADM ITTANCE, NORMALIZED. The re
ciprocal of the normalized impedance. (See
impedance, normalized.)
ADM ITTANCE,
OUTPUT,
SHORT-CIR
CUIT
(OF
AN
ELECTRON
TRANS
DUCER). The short-circuit driving-point ad
mittance (see admittance, driving point, shortcircuit) at the physically available output
terminals of a specified socket, associated
filters, and tube.
ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR FORWARD
TRANSFER. See transistor parameter Yf.
ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR INPUT.
transistor parameter Y*.

See

AD M ITTAN CE, FORW ARD, SHORT-CIRCUIT (OF AN ELECTRON TUBE TRANS

DUCER). The short-circuit transfer admit
tance (see admittance, transfer, short-circuit)
from the physically available input terminals
to the physically available output terminals of
a specified socket, associated filters, and tube.

ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR OUTPUT,

OPEN-CIRCUIT. See transistor parameter
h0.

ADM ITTANCE, FORW ARD TRANSFER

(OR TRANS ADM ITTANCE).
The shortcircuit transfer admittance from the input

ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR REVERSE

TRANSFER, SHORT-CIRCUIT. See transis
tor parameter y0,

ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR OUTPUT,

SHORT-CIRCUIT. See transistor parameter

Y0.

ADM ITTANCE, TRANSFER, SHORT-CIR

CUIT (FROM THE ;T H TO THE iTH TER
M INAL OF AN n-TERMINAL NETW ORK).
The transfer admittance from the terminals
to terminal I when all the terminals except j
have zero complex alternating components of
voltage with respect to the reference point.
ADPEDANCE. A term meaning either ad
mittance or impedance.
ADSORBATE.
sorbed.

substance which is ad-

ADSORPTION. A type of adhesion which

takes place at the surface of a solid or a liquid
in contact with another medium, resulting in
an accumulation or increased concentration
of molecules or other particles from that me
dium in the immediate vicinity of the surface.
ADSORPTION, ACTIVATED. Chemisorption (adsorption involving forces of chem
ical nature) in which the activation energy is
relatively high.
(See also adsorption, types
of.)
ADSORPTION, APOLAR.
Adsorption
nonpolar substances on nonpolar media.

of

ADSORPTION, DISPLACEMENT.
Dis
placement from a surface of one adsorbed
substance by another.
ADSORPTION EQUATION,
Gibbs adsorption equation.

GIBBS.

See

ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIUM.
Equilib
rium between a substance that is adsorbed
upon a surface, and the same substance in a
solution or other medium that is in contact
with the surface.
ADSORPTION EXPONENT. The exponen
tial term n in the (classical) adsorption iso
therm.
ADSORPTION, HEAT OF. W hen a gas or
vapor is adsorbed on a solid, heat is liberated.
There are two ways of expressing these heat
effects: (1) Integral heat of adsorption, which
is the total amount of heat, Q cal, given out
when 1 gm of the outgassed solid takes up m
gm of the gas or vapor. It is expressed as
calories per gm of adsorbent, for an adsorp
tion of m gm of adsorbate. (2) Differential
heat of adsorption,
dQ
-A H = M
dm

where M is the molecular weight of adsorbate.

Heats of adsorption may be measured by
means of a calorimeter. They m ay also be
calculated from heats of immersion and con
densation.
In the case of a liquid, the heat of adsorp
tion of solute from solution m ay be determined
from the thermodynamic relation:
d(AG)
AH = AG T

dT

where AH and AG are the heat of and free

energy (see free energy (1)) of adsorption.
For dilute solutions:
AG = R T In - Cs lid = - R T In ------- ----^solution

T ^solution

where Csoiution is the concentration of the solute

in solution, Cgoiid is the concentration of the
adsorbed solute, T is the amount of adsorbed
solute per unit area of surface, and y is the
thickness of the adsorbed film. The heat of
adsorption m ay be also measured calorimetrically.
ADSORPTION ISOSTERE. A graph show
ing the variation with temperature of the pres
sure required to keep a predetermined quan
tity of gas adsorbed on a given solid surface
in equilibrium with the gas.
ADSORPTION ISOTHERM. A relationship
between the mass of substance adsorbed at a
given temperature and the mass of adsorbent.
The Freundlich or classical adsorption iso
therm is of the form:
= kpl,n >
m
in which x is the mass of gas adsorbed, m is the
mass of adsorbent, p is the gas pressure, and k
and n are constants for the temperature and
system. In certain systems, it is necessary to
express this relationship as:
- - k(hy)1/n
m
where h is the relationship of the partial pres
sure of the vapor to its saturation value, and
y is the surface tension. Numerous isotherm
equations have been proposed in the chemical
literature in the last fifty years.
Brunauer, Emmett and Teller have obtained

54

Adsorption, Negative Aeolight

an equation which is more general than the
Langmuir equation. For a critical review of
the theory, see Halsey, J. Chem. Phys., 17,
758 (1949); and H ill, J. Chem. Phys., 17, 106
(1949).
(See also Gibbs adsorption equa
tion; Langmuir adsorption isotherm.)
ADSORPTION, NEGATIVE. A phenomenon
exhibited by certain solutions in which the
concentration of solute is less in the surface
than it is throughout the solution. This be
havior is shown by solutes that increase the
surface tension.
ADSORPTION, ORIENTED. State of ad
sorption in which the adsorbed molecules are
uniform ly (or partially) ordered with respect
to orientation.
ADSORPTION, POLAR. Adsorption of elec
trically unequal amounts of ions, so that the
adsorbed film has an over-all electrical charge.
Also adsorption chiefly attributable to attrac
tion between polar groups of adsorbent and
adsrbate.
ADSORPTION POTENTIAL. The energy
change experienced by a molecule (ion) in
passing from the gas (or solution) phase (3)
to the surface of the adsorbent.
ADSORPTION SPACE.
adsorbed layer.

The thickness of an

ADSORPTION, SPECIFIC. (1) Preferential

adsorption of one substance over another.
(2) Quantity of adsrbate held per unit area
of adsorbent.
ADSORPTION, TYPES OF. The adsorption
o f gases (or liquids) on solids has been di
vided into two main classes depending on
whether the adsorption is of a physical or
chemical nature. The first, generally known
as van der Waals adsorption, involves van der
W aals or dispersion forces. This type of ad
sorption is accompanied by a relatively small
heat of adsorption, of the order of 5 K cal/m ole
or smaller, and is reversible. The adsorption
isotherm is one for which the amount adsorbed
increases rather slowly with pressure.
In
chemisorption, forces of a chemical or valency
nature are involved. This adsorption is diffi
cult to reverse, and the heat of adsorption is
as great as that found in chemical reactions
and is of the order of 20-100 K cal/m ole. This
type of adsorption is usually specific. A typ

ical example of van der W aals adsorption is

the adsorption of nitrogen on charcoal at low
temperatures, while an example of chemisorp
tion is the adsorption of oxygen on tungsten.
When chemisorption does not occur readily
at room temperatures but requires an activa
tion energy of the order of 5 K cal/m ole or
greater, the adsorption process is usually re
ferred to as activated adsorption. An example
of this is the adsorption of hydrogen on nickel.
ADVANCE BALL. In recording, a rounded
object which rides ahead of the cutting stylus.
Its function is to maintain uniformity of
groove depth.
ADVANCED FIELDS. Electromagnetic field
strengths, E, B, at a point r at time t derived
from the advanced potentials, i.e., generated
by charges and currents that will be at r R
at time t + R /c (all R).
ADVANCED POTENTIALS. The electro
magnetic potentials at a point r at time t due
to sources at the points r R at times t +
|R|/c, i.e., on the future light cone through
the event r, t.
ADVANTAGE,
chines.

MECHANICAL.

See

ma

ADVECTION. The transfer of air and air

characteristics by horizontal motion.
Fog
drifts from one place to another by advection.
Cold air moves from polar regions southward.
Large-scale north-south advection is more
prominent in the northern hemisphere than
the southern, but west-to-east advection is
prominent on both sides of the equator.
ADVECTION FOG. A dvection fog is formed
when warm moist air comes in contact with a
colder surface; this contact with the cold sur
face cools the air to its dew point, thereby
causing condensation and fog. It is a com
mon phenomenon throughout the year over
cold ocean currents (for example the Labrador
Current) when the air comes from warmer
regions.
AEOLIAN TONES. The tones produced by
a gas stream striking a stretched wire in a
direction normal to the length of the wire.
(See also Strouhal formula.)
AEOLIGHT. A glow discharge lamp em
ploying a cold cathode, and a mixture of per
manent gases in which the intensity of ilium-

ination varies with the applied signal voltage.

The aeolight lamp is widely used to produce
a modulated light for motion-picture sound
recording.
AEOLOTROPIC.
AERIAL.

Same as anisotropic.

See antenna.

AERODYNAMICS. A phase of the mechan

ics of fluids, its study being limited to the
reactions caused by relative motion between
the fluid and solid, with the fluid being air.
Sometimes this strict definition is broadened
so that aerodynamics m ay also include the re
actions of gases other than air. The scope of
the subject of aerodynamics is, nevertheless,
broad. It encompasses the flow of gases in
conduits, the effects of winds on static struc
tures such as building, chimneys, and bridges,
and the effect on m oving bodies of the atmos
phere through which they move.

AF.

A bbreviation for audio frequency.

AFC, afc. Abbreviation for automatic fre

quency control. (See frequency control, auto
matic.)
AFFINE. See coordinate system and trans
formation, affine.
AFFINE
CONNECTION,
COEFFICIENT(S) OF. The coefficients r,/*, r 'A/ , in
the law o f parallel displacement (see affinely
connected space). The scalar product of two
vectors remains constant under parallel dis
placement only if Tpf/1 = r'<A When a met
ric is defined the coefficients TvaP become the
Christoffel three-index symbols.
AFFINELY CONNECTED SPACE. A space
with a law of parallel displacement of a vector:
a
au

AEROGEL. A colloidal solution of a gaseous

phase in a solid phase (3 ), obtained usually by
replacement of the liquid in the dispersed
phase by air or gas.
AEROLOGY. (1) That branch of meteorol
ogy which treats of the free atmosphere, i.e.,
unaffected by surface effects, usually on the
basis of direct observations. ( 2 ) Aerology is
sometimes used as a synonym for meteorology.
AEROMETEOROGRAPH.
An instrument
made for carrying in an aircraft for the pur
pose of making an air sounding,1
i.e., an in
vestigation of the atmospheric conditions at
various levels. The instrument makes a run
ning record of atmospheric pressure, tempera
ture and relative humidity at the various alti
tudes reached by the aircraft in flight.

T * a vx*

TffJL/a <Txv

where the left-hand sides denote changes in the

contravariant and covariant components of a
vector under the infinitestimal coordinate dis
placement Sx^.
AFTER-FLOW. Persistence of flow after re
moval of the external stresses, due to relaxa
tion of visco-elastic stresses.
AFTERGLOW. ( 1 ) The persistence of radia
tion from a gas-discharge tube or luminescent
screen after the source of excitation has been
removed. ( 2 ) Phosphorescence.
AFTER-IMAGE. The image seen after a
portion of the retina has been fatigued by
continued fixed stimulus. The after-image is
frequently of the complementary color to the
original stimulus.

AEROMETER. An instrument used to meas

ure the density of gases.

AGC.
trol.

AEROPHARE.
con.

AGE, t
In nuclear reactor theory, the value
calculated for the slowing-down area used in
the Fermi age model. It is defined by

An air-navigation radio bea

AEROSOL. A colloidal system in which a

gas, usually air, is the continuous medium,
and particles of solid or liquid are dispersed
in it.
AEROSTATICS. The science of gases at rest
(mechanical equilibrium ).
(Cf. aerodynam
ics, the science of gases in motion.)
AETHER.

See ether.

Abbreviation for automatic gain con

E D ( E ' ) d E '
r(E ,E o.) = f
a8(E ') E f *
J'E
e
where E' is the neutron energy, D is the diffu
sion coefficient of neutron flux, is the loga
rithmic energy decrement, <t8 is the m acro
scopic neutron scattering cross-section, that is,
the scattering cross-section per unit volume.

N ote that the age, being an area, has dimen

sions of length squared
AGE EQUATION W ITH O U T CAPTURE.
The equation:

a group or collection of particles whose be

havior is of special interest. Thus a rigid
body is an aggregate of particles in which the
separation distance of every pair of particles
remains constant.
AGGREGATION, STATE OF. Physical con
dition expressed as solid, liquid or gaseous.

which describes the slowing down of neutrons

in a scattering medium (moderator) in which
neutrons are not captured by the nuclei of the
moderator. In the equation, q is the slowing
down density, or the number of neutrons, per
cubic centimeter per second, that slow down
past a given energy E\ and r is the age
(having dimensions of length squared), which
is related to the time required by the neutron
to slow down, on the average, from its original
fission energy to the energy E. (See Fermiage model.)
AGE
HARDENING
(PRECIPITATION
HARDENING). A process of hardening an
alloy by aging at room temperature or ele
vated temperatures, which occurs only in al
loys which are supersaturated solid solutions.
The aging process, which increases hardness
and strength while usually decreasing ductil
ity, is associated with the precipitation of one
or more phases which m ay or may not produce
recognizable particles.
AGE OF THE UNIVERSE. A time of about
1 0 10 years derived from astronomical observa
tions. W hether this is really the age of the
universe is a matter of opinion. (See Hubble
constant.)
AGE THEORY.
model.

See age; also Fermi age

AGGREGATE RECOIL. The ejection, from

the surface of a sample, of a cluster of atoms
attached to one that is recoiling as the result
of -particle emission.
Although the phe
nomenon m ay be quite common, the amount
of matter thus carried away is so small as to
be undetectable unless it is strongly radioac
tive. It is observed with strong preparations
of -a ctive materials of high specific activity,
such as nearly pure polonium compounds, as
a migration of a small fraction of the radio
activity onto clean surfaces in the vicinity.
AGGREGATION. The gathering of particles,
especially in the sense of their formation into
larger entities or aggregates. An aggregate is

AH, ah.

Abbreviation for ampere hour.

AI. Abbreviation for aircraft interception.

Refers to airborne radar sets used for purposes
of interception.
AIEE. Abbreviation for American Institute
of Electrical Engineers.
AIR CONDUCTION (SOUND). The process
by which sound is conducted to the inner ear
through the outer ear canal as part of the
pathway.
AIR EQUIVALENT.

See stopping power.

AIRFOIL. Any body whose shape causes it

to receive a useful reaction from an air stream
moving relative to it.
AIR GAP.

See gap, air.

AIR LINES. Spectral lines caused by excita

tion of molecules in the air by spark discharges
and which do not ordinarily occur in arc dis
charges. Air lines are mostly undesired in
analysis of materials by spectral methods.
AIR MASSES. Very large parcels of air rang
ing from about 500-5000 miles in lateral di
mensions and from several thousand feet to
several miles deep, which have properties
(temperature, humidity, thermal structure)
that vary only slightly, or vary linearly, from
point to point within the parcel. Air masses
develop over large, relatively-homogeneous
geographical areas where air is stagnant for a
sufficient period to acquire the characteristics
of that region. These regions are either con
tinental or maritime and are known as airmass source regions. A fter an air mass be
gins to move from its source region it acquires
modifying features characteristic of the sur
face over which it travels. M odification con
tinues until the air mass loses its identity in
the general atmospheric circulation.
Classification of air masses begins from lati
tudinal consideration. There are four ma
jor zones which contribute primary classifi

Air Monitor Algebra

57

cations: (1) A rctic, (2) Polar, (3) Tropical,

(4) Equatorial.
These are subdivided into M aritim e (m)
and Continental ( c ) , depending upon the exact
source region. Finally each air mass must be
classified as either cold (k) or warm ( w ) . A
cold air mass is one which is colder than the
surface over which it is traveling and is there
fore being heated from below. A warm air
mass is one which is warmer than the surface
over which it is traveling and is therefore
being cooled from below.
AIR MONITOR. A n y device for detecting
and measuring airborne radioactivity for
warning and control purposes.
AIR PARCELS, TRAJECTORY OF. A par
cel of air located in a given pressure field will
m ove with the gradient wind of the field (as
suming steady flow ). A t the end of a few
hours, the parcel will locate in some new re
gion where it has been carried by the wind.
If, however, the pressure field and therefore
the wind is changing, the parcel will not move
into a position indicated by the existing gradi
ent flow. It will follow a trajectory or path
dictated by successive gradient directions and
velocities as indicated by synoptic reports and
charts. An approximation to its trajectory
can be had by extrapolating the parcels indi
cated movement for as small a time interval as
practicable (usually 3 or 6 hours between syn
optic charts) using successive synoptic charts.
(See wind equations.)
AIRPORT SURFACE DETECTION EQUIP
M ENT (ASDE). A radar for observation of
the positions of aircraft on the surface of an
airport.
AIR-POSITION INDICATOR.
air position.

See indicator,

AIR SPEED. The rate of motion of a vehicle

relative to the air mass.
AIRSPEED METER.

See anemometer.

AIRY DISK. The central bright part of the

diffraction pattern of a circular pinhole.
AIRY EXPERIMENT. Demonstration that
the angle of aberration (see aberration of
light, Bradley) of a star does not depend on
the nature of the transparent medium filling
the telescope

ALBEDO.
(1) The ratio of the radiant
energy falling on a planet or satellite to that
reflected. (2) In nuclear physics, the ratio of
the neutron current density out of a (non
source) medium to the neutron current density
into it. (3) In cosmic ray physics, albedo re
fers to those energetic charged secondary cos
mic rays which move generally upward. Since
some of these particles go far into the upper
atmosphere and return to the earths surface
(because of the effect of the earths magnetic
fie ld ), measurements of primary cosmic radia
tion must be corrected for the contribution of
the albedo particles.
ALBERT EFFECT. A reaction of light-sen
sitive photographic materials discovered by
E. Albert in 1899. Albert found that if a wet
collodion plate is considerably overexposed
and the latent image destroyed with nitric
acid, a positive image is produced upon expo
sure to white light and subsequent develop
ment. A lberts observations with wet collo
dion have been shown to hold also for gelatin
emulsions by Luppo-Cramer, J. Precht and
others. The effect is produced by chromic
acid, ammonium persulfate and other sub
stances which destroy the latent image as well
as by nitric acid.
ALFORD LOOP.

See antenna, Alford loop.

ALFVEN W AVE. A transverse hydromagnetic wave in an electrically conducting fluid

containing a magnetic field. The wave travels
in the direction of the magnetic field. In an
infinite conductivity fluid, this wave has a
phase velocity
~ixH2
47r5
where H is the magnetic field strength and 8
is the mass density.
ALGEBRA. The set of relations between
numbers represented by symbols and obtained
by the operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, raising to a power,
and extracting a root. A common problem is
that of finding the value of an unknown quan
tity satisfying an equation written in terms
of the operations just stated.
Functions which involve the variables in
algebraic operations are classified into ra
tional, irrational, and power functions. A l-

Alpha

Emitter

Alternating Current Circuit

and
Ma

E* = v
(2) Often, the ground state -disintegration
energy, which is the total energy evolved, in
cluding the energy of gamma and associated
radiations, when the disintegrating and product
nuclei are in their ground states: Qao.
ALPHA EMITTER. A radionuclide that un
dergoes a transformation by -particle emis
sion.
u f, oLf, ctRy ar. See respective entries under
transistor parameter.
ALPHA PARTICLE.
(1) A positivelycharged particle emitted from a nucleus and
composed of two protons and two neutrons.
It is identical in all measured properties with
the nucleus of a helium atom. (2) B y ex
tension, the nucleus of a helium atom (Z = 2,
A = 4 ), especially when it is in rapid motion,
as when artificially accelerated.
ALPHA PARTICLE(S), DELAYED, par
ticles emitted prom ptly by excited nuclei (see
nucleus, excited) formed in a p-disintegration
process. The -particle emission must occur
rapidly enough to compete with de-excitation
by y-ray emission. In this case the -particles
will have an apparent half-life equal to that
of the /3-decay, hence the term delayed.
(See neutrons, delayed.)
ALPHA PARTICLE(S), LONG RANGE. See
alpha-particle spectrum.
ALPHA-P ARTICLE
M OD EL
OF
NU
CLEUS. A nuclear model for which the basic
structural unit is the -particle. It is assumed
that as many of the nucleons as possible are
grouped together to form -particles and that
the remaining nucleons move about somewhat
freely. The model is most successful for light
nuclei consisting of the same even number of
neutrons and protons. Such a nucleus is re
ferred to as an -particle nucleus.
ALPHA-PARTICLE SPECTRUM. The dis
tribution in energy or momentum of the
-particles emitted by a pure radionuclide, or,
less commonly, by a mixture of radionuclides.
Each a-emitting nuclide yields a characteristic
spectrum consisting of one or more sharp lines,
each line being due to a particular group of

60

monoenergetic particles. When more than one

group is present, the distribution is said to
have fine structure; this results from transi
tions to more than one nuclear energy state
of the product nuclide, the group of highest
energy coming from the ground-state transi
tion. In exceptional cases (R aC ' and T h C '),
lines are observed due to groups that have
very low intensities (10- 6 to 10 4) relative
to those for the main groups. The particles
producing such lines are called long-range
-particles. They result when the emitting
nuclei are formed in excited states in the pre
ceding /^-disintegration (of R aC or ThC) and
emit -particles directly from the excited
states, instead of becoming de-excited by the
more usual y-emission. The normal -disin
tegration energy is then augmented by the
excitation energy.
ALPHA RAY.

See alpha particle.

ALPHA-RAY SPECTROMETER.
An in
strument used to determine the energy distri
bution of -particles.
ALPHATOPIC. Pertaining to a relationship
wherein the masses or composition of two nu
clei differ by an -particle.
ALTAITE. A lead telluride mineral, used in
early crystal detectors.
ALTERNATING CURRENT (A-C). Current
in which the charge-flow periodically reverses,
as opposed to direct current, and whose aver
age value is zero.
(See alternating current
circuit.)
ALTERNATING
CURRENT
CIRCUIT.
Suppose that any element of a circuit, such
as a straight wire, a coil, or a capacitor, carries
a current that varies periodically with the time
t. A simple example occurs when the current I
can be expressed as
I = I 0 cos cot = I 0 cos 27rft,
where 70 is a constant amplitude, / is the fre
quency, and to is the angular frequency. The
potential difference required to maintain this
current is then also periodic and can be shown
to be
V = V 0 cos (cct + <t>),
where V 0 is the voltage amplitude and
phase angle. Further,

Fo = IoZ,

is a

where Z is the magnitude of a quantity known

as the impedance, and
tan cj) = X/jffi
where X is the reactance and R is the effective
resistance.
It is often convenient to express the current
through and voltage across the circuit element
b y a co m p le x n u m b e r , I = I^e 1 or V =
+ 0 ) an(j .j.0 consider the instantaneous
current or voltage to be the real part of the
number. The situation can then be represented
on an Argand diagram as shown in the figure.

the ideal elements mentioned above or can be

considered to be built up of a combination of
such elements. Thus a coil of wire, such as a
solenoid, can often be considered to consist
of a resistance R in series with an inductance
L. When it carries an alternating current I,
the potential difference across its terminals is
V = IR + i\ X L = IZ,
so that
Z = R + iuL

and

Z = (R2 + co2L 2) v*

and
tan 0 = L /R .

Imaginary

Similarly, a capacitor or condenser can be ap

proximated as a pure capacitance C in parallel
with a leakage resistance R. Then, if 1^ is
the current through the resistance and I c that
through the capacitance,
Y = Ir R = i l cX c = Hc/coC.
Taking the total current I = I r + Ic, it is
found that
Z = V /I = 72(1 - ia C R )/(l + a2C2R 2),
Z = R /( 1 + a? C 2R 2) y\
and
tan< = coCR.
The vectors I and V are then each of constant
length, I 0 and V 0 respectively, and both rotate
about the origin with an angular velocity <o,
so that the phase angle <f> between them re
mains constant. Then one can write
V = ZI = (R + iX ) I,
where Z is the (complex) impedance and i =
\ / 1. The magnitude of Z is then
Z = (Z Z *)H = (.R2 + X 2YA,
Z* being the complex conjugate of Z.
For a pure resistance R :
Z R = ZR = R ;

4>r

= 0;

for a pure inductance L :

Z l = IZ l icoL;

4>l = 90;

and for a pure capacitance C :

Z c = iZ c i/oiC)

<f>c 90.

A ny real circuit element can either be approxi

mated (at a particular frequency) by one of

Complex circuits m ay be built up of com

binations of elements of the type discussed
and the impedance of the combination found
by the applications of the Kirchhoff laws of
networks to the instantaneous currents through
and potential drops across the elements. When
the current variation is more complicated than
that expressed by the simple sinusoidal func
tion, e.g., if it includes a third harmonic:
I =

+ / 3e3^

a separate solution may be carried out for each

value of co and the real parts of resulting in
stantaneous currents and voltages may be
added.
A t any instant, energy is supplied to a circuit
element at the rate
P i = I V = [I 0 c
oswt][V0 cos (cot + <j))]
= 70F o(cos2

cos <t> ~ sin cd cos cot sin 0).

This instantaneous power may be either posi

tive or negative; when 4> ^ 0 power is delivered
to the circuit during part of the cycle and re

turned to the source during other parts. The

net energy delivered during any single cycle is
/w
E

Jo

P 4t

J p2ir/
cos2 ootdt
o
A*27r/aj
+ sin <f> I
sin o)t cos G)tdi\.
Jo

spectral lines in an associated group of fine

lines relatively close together.
ALTERNATOR. A device for converting me
chanical energy into electrical energy, the
latter appearing as an alternating current.
The simplest alternating current generator
consists of a coil of wire rotating in a con
stant magnetic field and connected to the load
by brushes bearing rotating slip rings. The
elementary principle of a simple two-pole,
single-phase alternator is shown in the figure.

The average power is P = E f = E u / 2 t . A s

the second integral above is zero, the only con
tribution comes from the first integral, which
has the value ir/w. Hence
P

= | 7 0F 0 COS 0 = Irm sVrm s COS </>,

where 7rmg and F rms are respectively the rootmean-square (or effective) current and the
root-mean-square voltage. The factor cos <j>y
giving the ratio of the power to the product
of the effective current and effective voltage, is
called the power factor. (See also multiphase
circuits.)
ALTERNATING GRADIENT FOCUSING.
The qualitative concept involved in alternat
ing gradient focusing can best be seen by con
sidering a charged particle moving in the zdirection of a Cartesian coordinate system.
If from 2 = 0 to z A there is a magnetic
flux density B, whose x - and ^/-components are
respectively B 0x and B 0y where B 0 is a con
stant, and if from z = A to z = 2 A there is a
flux density with the x - and ?/-components,
respectively, B 0x and B 0y, then the par
ticle which is m oving along the 2 -direction will
obtain a velocity directed towards the 2 -axis
by the time it reaches z = 2A. In other words,
a sequence of alternating gradient fields will
tend to focus the particle towards the axis.
This principle is used in high energy acceler
ators to prevent spreading of the beam.
ALTERNATION, L A W OF. The spectra of
the elements in successive groups of the pe
riodic table of elements are characterized by
alternations of odd and even term multiplici
ties. Thus the arc spectrum of potassium has
a m ultiplicity of 2, calcium has values of 1
and 3, scandium, 2 and 4, titanium, 1, 3, and
5, etc. In general, the elements of even v a
lence have odd multiplets, whereas those of
odd valence have even multiplets. A spectral
multiplicity or multiplet is the number of

W hen the magnet revolves it carries with it

lines of force which cut the conductor, which
is a wire loop embedded in the stationary por
tion called the armature, and so generates a-c.
This elementary principle must be expanded
in several directions if a practical generator of
a-c is to be had. First, the rotating part, or
rotor, must have magnetic strength in excess
of that which could be obtained from a simple
permanent magnet. In other words, the poles
must be formed by electromagnets whose ex
citation, in the form of d-c, must be carried
to the rotor through slip-ring connections.
The rotor is called the field, and the current
through it called the field current. In high
speed steam-turbine driven alternators as few
as two poles are often used, while in slowspeed water-turbine units the number is fre
quently nearly 100.
The stationary part,
called the stator, or armature, usually has
three sets o f overlapping coils, connected in
three separate circuits. These three circuits,
or phases, are usually connected in either a A or a Y-connection. (See multiphase circuits.)
The Y connection is preferred because of the
usefulness of the neutral point, and the fact
that the line voltage is \/3 times the phase
voltage, whereas it is only equal to the phase
voltage in A connection. The neutral point is
connected to the fourth wire of a four-wire,
three-phase system, and left unconnected, or
grounded, in the three-wire system. Several

advantages are realized by making the rotating

part the field, and the stationary part the
armature. The a-c m ay be generated at very
high voltages because it is not necessary to
connect it through movable contacts as would
be the case if the armature revolved. The
armature conductors can be very rigidly braced
in position, and may be much better disposed
than if they were required to be in the rotor.
ALTERNATOR, ALEXANDERSON. A ro
tating machine used as a source of very low
frequency power for purposes of transmission
and induction heating.
ALTERNATOR, INDUCTION. A rotating
machine which may be used to generate large
amounts of power at frequencies as high as
hundreds of kilocycles. The machine operates
on the principle of variable reluctance. An
appropriately-shaped rotor changes the airgap reluctance, and thus the flux, at a cyclic
rate. The alternating flux is made to link a
coil, thus producing the desired induced volt
age. These devices were the power sources for
some of the first long-range, radio-telephone
communication systems, and many of the orig
inal machines are still in use. They are also
employed in industry to supply power to induction-heating systems.
ALTERNATOR, RADIO-FREQUENCY. A
rotating-type generator for producing radio
frequency power.
ALTERNATOR TRANSMITTER.
mitter, alternator.

See trans

ALTIMETER. An instrument for indicating

altitude above or below a given datum point,
usually the ground or sea level. The most
common form is based on the variation of at
mospheric pressure with altitude.

for many altocumulus bands. The cloud may

or may not be associated with cyclonic storms.
ALTOSTRATUS.
Translucent to opaque
cloud composed of water droplets through
thin layers of which the sun or moon might
appear as seen on a ground-glass screen. It
is a middle-level cloud in contrast to the high
cirrus forms but may lie either above or be
low the freezing level. V ery frequently, the
top part o f a layer of altostratus is a cirrustype cloud, although this is not observable
from below. Altostratus cast very little if any
shadow but usually appear as a dull, drab,
grayish sheet. Altostratus following cirrus and
cirrostratus is an almost certain indication
that a cyclonic disturbance is approaching.
ALUMEL. A high resistivity, low tempera
ture coefficient nickel-aluminum alloy often
used in thermocouples.
ALUMINUM. M etallic element.
Atom ic number 13.

Symbol Al.

A-M. Abbreviation for amplitude-modulation.

AMAGAT-LEDUC RULES. Volume occu
pied by a mixture of gases is equal to the
sum of the volumes they would occupy indi
vidually at the temperature and pressure of
the mixture.
AMAGAT UNITS. A system of units in which
the unit of pressure is the atmosphere, and
the unit of volume is the gram-molecular vol
ume (22.4 liters at standard conditions).
AMR, amb.

Abbreviation for ambient.

AMRIENT TEMPERATURE.
ture, ambient.

See tempera

ALTIMETER, CAPACITANCE. An altim

eter which determines the height of an aircraft
in terms of its capacitance to earth.

AMBIGUITY, NAVIGATIONAL. The con

dition obtaining when navigation coordinates
define more than one point, direction, line of
position, or surface of position.

ALTOCUMULUS. Billowed cloud of small

cumuli (see cumulus) that generally form in
layers. It is composed of water droplets, al
though it may lie either above or below the
freezing level.
It is a middle-level cloud.
Altocumulus casts shadows and varies in color
from pure white to nearly black. In general
they are whitish with darker shadows.
M ackerel sky is an appropriate description

AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION.
The effective
diffusion of charged particles in a plasma
which results from the requirement of almost
exact spacial charge neutrality. Because the
mobility of electrons is much greater than ions
one might expect larger diffusion coefficients
for the electrons, but because of the space
charge limitations the effective diffusion co
efficient is closer to the ionic component.

AMERICIUM. Transuranic radioactive ele

ment. Sym bol Am. Atom ic number 95.
AMETROPIC. Descriptive of an eye afflicted
by myopia or hyperopia.
AMICRON. A name applied by Zsigmondy
to individual disperse particles invisible un
der the ultramicroscope and of size about
10~ 7 cm. They act as nuclei for the form a
tion of submicrons which are about five times
as large.
AM M ETER. An instrument for measuring
electric currents in amperes. D -c ammeters
are usually of the m oving-coil type, being
similar in principle to the d Arsonval galvan
ometer. A coil carrying the current to be
measured turns between the poles of a per
manent magnet against the torque of a hair
spring and causes a pointer to move over its
dial. A -c ammeters sometimes have two coreless coils in series, one turning in the field set
up by the other which is fixed (electrodyna
mometer typ e). The reversal of current thus
has no effect upon the direction of the torque.
The most com monly-used a-c ammeters em
p loy a vane of iron which may move in the
magnetic field of a coil, thus changing the
inductance of the coil (m oving-vane typ e).
Some a-c ammeters are of the thermal type,
in which the current to be measured passes
through a heating element, whose temperature
rise is measured by a thermocouple connected
to a d-c meter.
For currents heavier than the coil can safely
stand, a shunt may be provided in d-c am
meters, which allows only a predetermined
fraction of the current to pass through the
instrument; while a transformer serves a sim
ilar purpose with a-c ammeters. Sensitive
ammeters, graduated in milliamperes, are
called milliammeters.
(For a more detailed discussion, see W . C.
M ichels, Electrical M easurem ents and Their
Applications, Chap. 2 (Van Nostrand, 1957).)
AMORPHOUS. D evoid of regular structure,
like glass as distinguished from a crystal.
AMPERE. A unit of electrical current, ab
breviated A or amp. (1) The absolute ampere
is exactly one-tenth of an abampere, the elec
tromagnetic unit (emu) of current. The ab
solute ampere has been the legal standard of
current since 1950.
(2) The International

ampere, the legal standard prior to 1950, is

the steady current which must flow across a
surface in order that one International cou
lomb of electricity shall pass the surface dur
ing each second. 1 Int. amp = 0.999835 Abs.
amp.
AMPERE-HOUR. A unit of electrical charge,
being the amount o f electricity represented by
a current of one ampere flowing for one hour.
AMPERE LAW . The term is used loosely for
any one of several expressions that connect
the magnetic field produced by a steady cur
rent with the magnitude of the current and the
geometry of the system. In the following dis
cussion rationalized MKSA units are used; for
other systems see electromagnetic units.
The differential form, sometimes called the
Laplace law, gives the field dH produced by a
current I flowing in a differential length dl of
a filamentary conductor as
dH = J(dl X r ) /r 3,
where r is the (vector) displacement of the
point at which the field is measured from the
element dl. The differential vector dl has
the same sense as the (positive) current flow.
(For meaning of dl X r see vector product.)
A fter integration over an infinitely long
straight filament, this form of the law yields
the Biot-Savart law.
The integral, or circuital form of the law
states that
f u - d a = I,
where the line integral is taken around any
closed path that encloses the current I. (For
the meaning of H - ds see scalar product.) The
value of this integral is often called the magnetom otive force. When this form of the law
is combined with a symmetry argument it,
like the differential form, leads to the B iotSavart law.
In the course of the development of his elec
tromagnetic theory, Maxwell modified the
Ampere law to allow for the effect of displace
ment currents, as well as conductive currents.
The Biot-Savart law is sometimes called
the Ampere law.
AMPERE RULE. The magnetic flux gener
ated by a current in a wire encircles the cur
rent in the counterclockwise direction, if the
current is approaching the observer.

AMPERE THEOREM. The magnetic field

due to an electric current flowing in any cir
cuit is equivalent at external points to that
due to a simple magnetic shell, the bounding
edge of which coincides with the conductor,
and the strength of which is equal to the
strength of the current. (See magnetic shell,
equivalent.)
AMPERE THEORY OF MAGNETISM. The
hypothesis that permanent magnetic moment
is due to permanent, internal, current loops
in a material.
AMPERE TURN. The unit of magnetomo
tive force in mksa units. The integral form of
Amperes law gives the magnetomotive force as
3C = ^ H d s = I = N i,
where I is the total current enclosed by the
line integral. This total current m ay result
from N turns of wire each carrying a current i.
Thus a magnetomotive force of 1 ampere turn
m ay result from 1 ampere flowing in 1 turn
of wire, from 0.1 ampere flowing in 10 turns
o f wire, etc. (See also Ampere law.)
AMPERE-TURN(S) (RELAY). The product
of the number of turns in an electromagnetic
coil and the r.m.s. current in amperes passing
through the coil.
AMPERE-TURN AM PLIFICATION.
amplification, ampere-turn.
AMPERE-TURN GAIN.
ampere-turn.

See

See amplification,

AMPERE TURN PER METER. The unit of

magnetic field strength, H, in the mksa system.
A magnetic field strength of magnitude equal
to that inside a long solenoid having N turns
in a length L, where N/L = 1/meter.
(See
ampere turn.)
AMPERE-TURN RATIO.
ampere-turn.

See amplification,

AMPERE-TURNS, CONTROL.
The term
control ampere-turns expresses the magnitude
and polarity of the control magnetomotive
force required for operation of a magnetic
amplifier at a specified output.
AMPERE-TURNS, CONTROL, NOMINAL.
The difference between the control ampereturns for minimum output and for rated out

put is the nominal control ampere-turns d if

ference, or briefly, control ampere-turns.
AMPERIAN CURRENTS.
The complete
equivalence between magnetic dipoles of m ag
netized matter and of circulating electric cur
rents enables one to postulate that the magnet
ization of matter is due to circulating currents,
known as Amperian currents (or magnetiza
tion currents). Unlike ordinary currents, the
flow of Amperian currents is persistent and in
volves no dissipation. Amperian currents are
due to the orbital and spin magnetic moments
of electrons.
AMPERITE.

Trade name for a ballast tube.

AMPLIDYNE.
A rotary magnetic or dynamo-electric amplifier frequently used in
servomechanism and control applications be
cause of its high power gain. It is a singlestage device with a high degree of positive
feedback.
AMPLIFICATION. A general transmission
term used to denote an increase of signal mag
nitude. (See also amplification, gas.)
AMPLIFICATION, AMPERE-TURN. Of a
magnetic amplifier, the ratio of the change in
output ampere-turns to the change in control
ampere-turns required to produce the output
current change. Assuming the change from
minimum to maximum output ampere-turns
to be 100%, the nominal ampere-turn amplifi
cation is measured over the following range:
An output current 20% greater than the mini
mum to an output current 20% less than the
maximum. Ampere-turn amplification should
be specified for operations of the magnetic
amplifier at its rating except for control cur
rents and output currents. The ampere-turn
amplification should be the minimum that
exists for any conditions within the rating.
AMPLIFICATION CONSTANT OF RESO
NATOR. The ratio of the square of the maxi
mum excess pressure in a resonator to the
square of the maximum external operating
pressure.
(See also sound pressure, maxi
mum.)
AMPLIFICATION, CURRENT. (1) Of an
amplifier, the ratio of the current produced
in the output circuit as a result of the cur
rent supplied in the input circuit, to the cur

rent supplied to the input circuit. (2) Of a

magnetic amplifier control-winding, the ratio
of the change in output current to the change
in current in the control winding required to
produce the output current change. Assum
ing the change from minimum to maximum
output current to be 100% , the nominal cur
rent amplification will be measured over the
following range: An output current 20%
greater than the minimum to an output cur
rent 20% less than the maximum. Current
amplification should be specified for opera
tions of the magnetic amplifier at its rating
except for control currents and output cur
rents. The current amplification shall be the
minimum that exists for any condition within
the rating.
(3) Of a multiplier phototube,
the ratio of the output current to the photo
cathode current due to photoelectric emission
at constant electrode voltages. Terms output
current and photocathode current as here used
do not include dark current. This character
istic should be measured at levels of operation
that will not cause saturation.
(4) Of a
transducer, the ratio of the magnitude of the
current in a specified load impedance con
nected to a transducer to the magnitude of
the current in the input circuit of the trans
ducer. I f the input a n d /or output current
consist of more than one component, such as
multifrequency signal or noise, then the par
ticular components used and their weighting
must be specified. B y custom, this amplifi
cation is often expressed in decibels by multi
plying its common logarithm by 20.
AMPLIFICATION FACTOR. This is a com
monly used parameter in vacuum-tube work
and is usually denoted by /. In the conven
tional tube the current is controlled both by
the voltage applied to the grid and that ap
plied to the plate. Because the grid is closer
to the cathode from which the electrons origi
nate, a voltage applied to it is more effective
in drawing the electrons across the tube than
would be the same voltage applied to the plate
(it is the passage of these electrons across the
cathode-anode space which constitutes the
tube current). Am plification factor is a meas
ure of the relative effectiveness of voltages on
the two electrodes and is defined as the nega
tive of the ratio of the infinitestimal plate volt
age change necessary to counteract a given
infinitesimal change in grid voltage to the

change in grid voltage, in order to keep the

plate current constant.

dVg/ ip constant

AMPLIFICATION, GAS. (1) A property of

a gas-filled radiation counter tube, defined by
the formula V = A ne/C. Here the gas am
plification (^4 in the formula) is the number
of additional ions produced by each electron
produced in the primary ionizing event, as it
travels to the central wire in a radiation
counter. The formula expresses the size of
the pulse V in volts appearing in the counter
in terms of the gas amplification A , the num
ber of electrons formed in the initial ionizing
event n, the electron charge in microcoulombs,
e , and the distributed capacity of the central
wire system in microfarads, C. (2) In a gas
phototube, the ratio of radiant or luminous
sensitivities, with and without ionization of
the contained gas, is the gas amplification
factor.
AMPLIFICATION, MAGNETIC. Am plifi
cation achieved by the utilization of the non
linear properties of saturable magnetic cores.
(See amplifier, magnetic.)
AMPLIFICATION, POWER. (1) In an am
plifier, the ratio of the power level at the out
put terminals to that at the input terminals.
(2) In a magnetic amplifier, the product of
the voltage amplification and the current am
plification of that amplifier, using a specified
control circuit.
(See amplification, voltage
and amplification, current.)
(3) In a transducer the ratio of the power
that the transducer delivers to a specified
load, under specified operating conditions, to
the power absorbed by its input circuit.
If the input and/or output power consist of
more than one component, such as multifre
quency signal or noise, then the particular
components used and their weighting must be
specified. This ratio is usually expressed in
decibels.
AMPLIFICATION, VOLTAGE.
(1) The
ratio of the voltage produced at the output
terminals of an amplifier, as a result of the
voltage impressed at the input, to the voltage
impressed at the input. (2) The ratio of the
magnitude of the voltage across a specified
load impedance connected to a transducer, to

the magnitude of the voltage across the input

of the transducer. If the input an d /or output
voltage consist of more than one component,
such as multifrequency signal or noise, then
the particular components used and their
weighting should be specified. B y custom
this amplification is often expressed in deci
bels by multiplying its common logarithm by
20. (3) Of a magnetic amplifier control-winding, the ratio of the change in output voltage
to the change of voltage across the control
winding circuit required to produce the out
put voltage change. Assuming the change
from maximum to minimum output voltage to
be 100% , the nominal voltage amplification
will be measured over the following range:
An output voltage 20% greater than the mini
mum to an output voltage 20% less than the
maximum. Voltage amplification should be
specified for operations of the magnetic am
plifier at its rating except for control currents
and output currents. The voltage amplifica
tion shall be the minimum that exists for any
conditions within the rating.
AMPLIFIER. A device whose output is a
function of an input signal, and which draws
power therefor from a source other than the
input signal. In addition to definitions of
various types of amplifiers, the following ar
ticles include two long articles on basic types.
(See amplifier, magnetic and amplifier, vac
uum-tube.)
AMPLIFIER, BACKW ARD W AVE.
A
traveling wave tube in which the direction of
rf power flow is reversed with respect to the
direction of beam travel. The principle is
also applied to some types of magnetrons.

AMPLIFIER, BUFFER.
An amplifier in
which the reaction of output-load-im pedance
variation on the input circuit is reduced to a
minimum for isolation purposes.
AMPLIFIER,
CASCADE
OR
MULTI
STAGE. A chain of amplifier stages in which
the output of the first is used as the input of
the second, and so on. A stage of such an
amplifier is defined as the section from a point
just before the grid of one tube to that just
before the grid of the next. (See also klystron,
cascade-amplifier.)
AMPLIFIER, CASCODE. A cascade ampli
fier consisting of a grounded-cathode input
stage driving a grounded-grid output stage.
Frequently used in television and other U H F
and V H F receiver input-stages because of its
low noise figure. Sometimes referred to as
the W allman Am plifier for its originator.
AMPLIFIER, CATHAMPLIFIER.
amplifier.

AMPLIFIER, CATHODE-COUPLED.
A
cascade amplifier (see amplifier, cascade) in
which the coupling between two stages is ob
tained by the use of a common cathode re
sistor.
AMPLIFIER,
CATHODE-FOLLOW ER.
See amplifier, common-plate.
AMPLIFIER, CHIRIEX. An infrequentlyused, high-efficiency, linear radio-frequency
amplifier.
AMPLIFIER, "CHOPPER.
A
for amplifier, contact-modulated.
AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT.

AMPLIFIER, BALANCED (PUSH-PULL).

An amplifier circuit in which there are two
identical signal branches connected so as to
operate in phase opposition and with input
and output connections each balanced to
ground.
AMPLIFIER, BOOSTER. An amplifier used
in audio consoles between mixer controls and
the master volume control to prevent deteri
oration of signal-to-noise ratio. It generally
supplies sufficient gain to compensate for mixing-circuit losses.
AMPLIFIER, BOOTSTRAP.
circuit.

See bootstrap

See cath-

synonym

See amplifier.

AMPLIFIER, CLASS-A.
An amplifier in
which the grid bias and alternating grid volt
ages are such that plate current in a specific
tube flows at all times. T o denote that grid
current does not flow during any part of the
input cycle, the suffix 1 may be added to the
letter or letters of the class identification.
The suffix 2 may be used to denote that grid
current flows during some part of the cycle.
The same notation is used in the Class AB,
Class B and Class C amplifiers.
AMPLIFIER, CLASS-AB. An amplifier in
which the grid bias and alternating grid volt
ages are such that plate current in a specific

tube flows for appreciably more than half but

less than the entire electrical cycle.
AMPLIFIER, CLASS-B.
An amplifier in
which the grid bias is approximately equal to
the cutoff value so that the plate current is
approximately zero when no exciting grid volt
age is applied, and so that plate current in a
specific tube flows for approximately one-half
o f each cycle when an alternating grid voltage
is applied.
AMPLIFIER, CLASS-C.
An amplifier in
which the grid bias is appreciably beyond the
cutoff so that the plate current in each tube
is zero when no alternating grid voltage is
applied, and so that plate current flows in a
specific tube for appreciably less than onehalf of each cycle when an alternating grid
voltage is applied.
AMPLIFIER, COM MON-CATHODE.
An
electron-tube amplifier in which the cathode
terminal is at or near a potential level which is
common to both input and output terminals at
the operating frequency. The input is applied
between the control grid and cathode, and the
output is essentially coupled between plate (or
anode) and cathode (this is the conventional
amplifier circuit). Com m on-cathode is pre
ferred over the older term grounded-cathode
because this configuration is frequently em
ployed without the cathode actually being at
ground potential.
AMPLIFIER, COMMON-GRID.
An elec
tron-tube amplifier circuit in which the control-grid is at or near a potential level which is
common to both input and output terminals at
the operating frequency. The input is ap
plied between the cathode and the control grid
while the output is coupled between the anode
and control grid terminals. The grid-to-plate
impedance of the tube is in parallel with the
load instead of acting as a feedback path, thus
increasing high frequency stability. Commongrid is preferred over the older groundedgrid designation because this configuration is
frequently employed without the grid actually
being at signal ground potential.
AMPLIFIER, COMMON-PLATE (CATH
O DE FOLLO W ER ). An electron-tube am
plifier in which the plate (or anode) is at or
near a potential level which is common to both
input and output terminals at the operating

frequency. The input is applied between the

control grid and plate while the output is
coupled to the cathode and plate terminals. A
common-plate amplifier is characterized by
a large amount of negative feedback which
raises the input impedance, lowers the output
impedance, and allows the device to serve as
an impedance-matching element. Commonplate is preferred over the older term
grounded-plate because this configuration is
frequently employed without the anode ac
tually being at signal ground potential.
AMPLIFIER, COMPLEMENTARY.
amplifier, transistor, complementary.

See

AMPLIFIER,
CONTACT-MODULATED.
An amplifier for the amplification of d-c and
very low frequency signals. The signal source
is modulated by a carrier-operated contact
system (usually 60 or 400 cps), the resulting
modulated wave amplified in an a-c amplifier
to a suitable level, and subsequently demodu
lated, sometimes by the same contact system
used to accomplish the original modulation.
AMPLIFIER, DIELECTRIC. An amplifier
which utilizes as a controllable impedance
a capacitive element whose capacitance is a
function of applied voltage. (See amplifier,
parametric.)
AMPLIFIER, DIODE. A parametric ampli
fier in which the transducer is a silicon ca
pacitor.
AMPLIFIER, DIRECT-CURRENT. An am
plifier capable of amplifying waves of infin
itesimal frequency.
AMPLIFIER, DISTRIBUTED. An amplifier
consisting of vacuum tubes distributed along
two transmission lines as shown below.

The stray capacitances of the grids and plates

of the tubes are used in this way as capaci
tances for the artificial lines. The tubes work
into a purely resistive load over the pass band
of the lines. Both lines must have the same
group velocity so that the signal produced on

each plate will add to the one traveling down

the line from the previous tube. In this way
the signals from the tubes are added and can
give an amplification even though the gain of
each tube is less than one. The ordinary figure
of merit or gain-band width product does not
apply since the stray grid and plate capaci
tances are in effect neutralized. The amplifier
band width is determined by the cutoff fre
quency of the transmission lines.
A M P L IF IE R , D O H E R T Y . A particular ar
rangement of a radio-frequency linear power
amplifier wherein the amplifier is divided into
two sections whose inputs and outputs are
connected by quarter-wave (90) networks,
and whose operating parameters are so ad
justed that, for all values of the input signal
voltage up to one-half maximum amplitude,
Section No. 2 is inoperative and Section No.
1 delivers all the power to the load, which
presents an impedance at the output of Sec
tion N o. 1 that is twice the optimum for m axi
mum output. A t one-half maximum input
level, Section N o. 1 is operating at peak effi
ciency, but is beginning to saturate. A bove
this level, Section N o. 2 comes into operation,
thereby decreasing the impedance presented
to Section No. 1, which causes it to deliver
additional power into the load until, at m axi
mum signal input, both sections are operating
at peak efficiency, and each section is deliver
ing one-half the total output power to the load.
A M P L IF IE R , D O U B LE -STR E A M . A travel
ing-wave amplifier in which the amplification
occurs as a result of the interaction of two
electron beams having different average veloc
ities. The amplification takes place in the
beam itself and is a result of what might be
called electromechanical interaction.
A M P L IF IE R , D U O -D IR E C T IO N A L .
amplifier, balanced (push-pull).

See

A M P L IF IE R ,
D Y N A M O -E L E C T R IC .
A
power amplifier (see amplifier, power) for d-c
and very low frequencies whose output circuit
consists of some form of rotating armature in
a controllable magnetic field. It is frequently
employed in servomechanisms and other con
trol systems. See amplidyne, metadyn and
rototrol.
A M P L IF IE R , F E E D B A C K . In its simplest
form, a feedback amplifier can be regarded as

a combination of an ordinary amplifier or x

circuit, and a passive network, or /? circuit,
by means of which a portion of the fx circuit
can be returned to its input. The resulting

relationship between output and input voltage,

E 0 and El, respectively, is

where fxfi is called the feedback factor and can

be either plus (positive feedback) or minus
(negative feedback), and jx itself is the am
plification factor of the /x circuit. (See feed
back, entries.)
A M P L IF IE R , FIN A L.
The last amplifier
stage in a radio transmitter.
A M P LIF IE R , F O R W A R D W A V E . A travel
ing wave tube in which rf power and the elec
tron beam travel in the same direction toward
the load.
A M P L IF IE R , GAIN -ADJUSTIN G.
plifier, volume-limiting.

See am

A M P L IF IE R , G R O U N D E D -C A T H O D E . See
amplifier, common-cathode, which is now the
preferred term.
A M P L IF IE R , G R O U N D E D -G R ID . See am
plifier, common-grid, which is now the pre
ferred term.
A M P L IF IE R , G R O U N D E D -P LA TE .
See
amplifier, common plate, which is now the pre
ferred term.
A M P L IF IE R , H E A D . The amplifier used to
am plify the audio-frequency output of the
sound head of a m otion-picture projector.
A M P L IF IE R , H Y D R A U LIC . A power am
plifier (see amplifier, power) employed in
some servomechanisms and control systems in
which power amplification is obtained by the
control of the flow of a high pressure liquid
by a valve mechanism.
A M P L IF IE R , IN TE R M E D IA T E -FR E Q U E N CY.
The amplifier used in superhetero
dyne receivers which amplifies the sum or d if

ference frequency produced in the mixer or

first detector by the heterodyning of the sig
nal and oscillator frequencies.

ciably beyond the cut-off value so that neither

amplifier conducts when the input signal is
zero.

AMPLIFIER, INVERTED.
step-down.

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, BRIDGE.

A
magnetic amplifier in which each of the gate
(2) windings is connected in series with an ap
propriate arm of a bridge rectifier (see recti
fier, bridge). The rectifiers provide the ef
fect of self-saturation and d-c output.

AMPLIFIER, KLYSTRON.

See amplifier,
See klystron.

AMPLIFIER, LINEAR.
(1) An amplifier
whose signal output voltage is directly propor
tional to the signal input voltage over the
range of input signal amplitudes for which it
was designed.
(2) A pulse amplifier which
gives an output signal voltage whose peak
value is proportional to that of the input signal
voltage and whose shape is a faithful repro
duction of that of the input signal. This
means that the gain and phase shift of the
amplifier must be constant over all frequencies
which are important in the Fourier analysis
of the input pulse, or that the output pulse is
a linear function of the input pulse for all
amplitudes and all important frequency com
ponents.
AMPLIFIER, LOCK-IN.
chronous.

AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, BRIDGE CIR

CUIT. See figure.

TYPICAL MMF CONTROL CONNECTION

UNIDIRECTIONAL D -C SIGNAL
TYPICAL MMF B IA S CONNECTION
U N ID IR ECTIO N A L D -C BIAS
T n K T r- W - j
k-C

LOAD

Magnetic amplifier bridge circuit.

See detector, syn

AMPLIFIER, LOGARITHMIC. An ampli

fier whose output signal is a logarithmic func
tion of the input signal.

OUTPUT C IRCU IT

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC,
CIRCUIT. See figure.

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC. A device using

saturable reactors either alone or in com bina
tion with other circuit elements to secure am
plification or control.

-- 1

TYP IC A L MMF BIA S CONNECTION

U N ID IRECTIO N AL D-C BIAS

OU**>UT CIRCU IT

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, BALANCED. A

device formed by mixing the outputs of two
identical single-ended amplifiers so that the
output polarity can be reversed.
AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, BALANCED,
CLASS A OPERATION. Class A operation
of a balanced amplifier occurs when each
single-ended amplifier is biased so that it con
ducts when the input signal is zero.

CENTER-TAP

TRANSFORMER

Magnetic amplifier center-tap circuit.

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, DOUBLER CIR

CUIT. See figure.
B IA S

AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, BALANCED,

CLASS B OPERATION. Class B operation
of a balanced amplifier occurs when each
single-ended amplifier is biased to cut-off so
that neither amplifier conducts when the input
signal is zero.
AMPLIFIER,
MAGNETIC, BALANCED,
CLASS C OPERATION. Class C operation
of a balanced amplifier occurs when each of
the single-ended amplifiers is biased appre

T YPIC AL MMF CONTROL CONNECTION

UNID IRECTIONAL D-C SIGNAL

SIGNAL

----------- ---------------

r-W H

---

lo o o ;

T Y P IC A L MMF BIA S CONNECTION

U N ID IRECTIO N AL O -C B IA S

OUTPUT CIRCU IT

Magnetic amplifier doubler circuit.

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, FIGURE OF

MERIT. The ratio of the power gain divided
by the time constant under specified operat
ing conditions. The time constant may be
expressed either in seconds or cycles (num
ber of cycles for 63% change, or T/f, where
T is the time constant (seconds) and / is the
supply frequency
(cycles per secon d )).
Sometimes referred to as dynamic power gain.

put for a servo-m otor; and it employs an auto

transformer with cross-conduction.

CONNECTION
R EV ER S IB LE 0-C SIGNAL

t y p ic a l m m p c o n tr o l

OUTPUT CIRCUIT

AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, FULL-WAVE

BRIDGE CIRCUIT. This circuit is shown
in the accom panying figure. It provides a re
versible output for a servo-motor.

Magnetic amplifier half-wave bridge circuit (with

cross-conduction and autotransformer).

AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, HALF-WAVE

BRIDGE CIRCUIT (W IT H CROSS-CON
D UCTION). This circuit is shown in the ac
companying figure. It provides a reversible

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, HALF-W AVE

BRIDGE CIRCUIT. This circuit is shown
in the accom panying figure. It provides re
Magnetic amplifier half-wave bridge circuit (with
cross-conduction).

output for a servo-motor and it employs cross

conduction.
AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC,
CIRCUIT. See figure.

HALF-W AVE

T YPIC AL MMF CONTROL CIRCtJiT

UNIDIRECTIONAL 0 -C SIGNAC

LOAD

OUTPUT CIRCUIT

Magnetic amplifier half-wave circuit.

versible output for a servo-motor; and it does

not employ cross-conduction.
AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, HALF-W AVE
BRIDGE
CIRCUIT
(AUTOTRANSFOR
MER). This circuit is shown in the accom
panying figure. It provides a reversible out

AMPLIFIER, MAGNETIC, SIMPLE.

A
magnetic amplifier consisting only of satur
able reactors.
AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, SIMPLE PAR
ALLEL. A simple magnetic amplifier having
two a-c coils which are parallel-connected.

AMPLIFIER,
M AGNETIC,
SIMPLE
SERIES. A simple magnetic amplifier (see
amplifier, magnetic, and simple) having two
a-c coils which are series-connected.
The
three-legged type in which the a-c coil is on
the center leg may be considered of this type.
AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, THREE-PHASE
FULL-W AVE BRIDGE CIRCUIT. See fig
ure.

TYPIC AL MMF CONTROL CIRCUIT

' UNIDIRECTIONAL D-C SIGNAL

impedance and medium power output which

is bridged across the program circuit. The
available power output is used to operate a
loudspeaker an d /or headphones for the benefit
of control personnel.
AMPLIFIER, MULTISTAGE.
cascade.

See amplifier,

AMPLIFIER, NEGATIVE-MASS.
A pro
posed (1960) amplifier which will work by
providing, in a crystal, carriers of such energy
and momentum that at least one of their three
effective masses is negative. W ave amplifica
tion should result under this condition.
AMPLIFIER, NEHER TETRODE. An integral-cavity, negative-grid tube designed to
operate at a frequency of about 3000 mega
cycles per second.

Magnetic amplifier three-phase full-wave bridge

circuit.

AMPLIFIER, M AGNETIC, THREE-PHASE

H ALF-W AVE CIRCUIT. See figure.

AMPLIFIER, NON-LINEAR. An amplifier

in which the output is not related to the input
by a simple constant. One form is the volumelimiting amplifier (see amplifier, volume lim
iting) where the average gain is changed in
such a manner that steady-state waveforms
are accurately reproduced; another form, fre
quently called a clipping or over-driven am
plifier, has an output which is a greatly dis
torted version of the input.
AMPLIFIER, PARAMAGNETIC. See maser,
two-level and maser, three-level.

AMPLIFIER,
MAGNETIC,
VOLTAGECONTROLLED. A magnetic amplifier in
which the rate of saturable reactor core flux
change during the resetting interval and, con
sequently the reset flux level are directly re
lated to the signal voltage and are not sensibly
affected by such currents as m ay flow in the
control circuit.
AMPLIFIER, MASER. See maser, and maser,
ammonia.
AMPLIFIER, M ODULATED. An amplifier
stage in a transmitter in which the modulating
signal is introduced and modulates the carrier.
(See also amplifier, contact-modulated.)
AMPLIFIER, MOLECULAR.

See maser.

AMPLIFIER, MONITORING. In broadcast

ing and recording: an amplifier with high input

AMPLIFIER, PARAMETRIC. An amplifier

which increases the power level of a signal by
means of the variation of an energy-storage
parameter.
The classic example is the L -C resonant cir
cuit in which the spacing of the capacitor plates
is varied cyclically by a pum p at a frequency
up, twice the signal frequency
which is iden
tical to the resonant frequency of the circuit.
Initial charge on the capacitor will result in a
sinusoidal variation of capacitance charge as a
function of time. If the capacitance is always
decreased by the pump at the plus or minus
peak of charge during which time charge is
relatively constant, an increase in capacitor
voltage must result, since C QV. This in
crease in capacitor voltage represents an in
crease in the power level of the original signal,
the additional energy representing the work
done by the pump in increasing the separation
of the capacitor plates against the forces of
electrostatic attraction.

Maximum energy will be transferred from

the pump frequency to the signal frequency if
the pump frequency is twice the signal fre
quency and if the relative phase of the two is
adjusted as described above. In a practical
case, the separation of the two frequencies can
not be conveniently maintained constant.
Therefore, the signal and pump will no longer
interact favorably all the time, but will drift

is a two-port device with unconditional sta

bility, without the requirement of a circulator.
Several devices m ay be used to provide oper
ation in the parametric mode. For example,
the reactance tube could provide the pump by
periodically varying the capacitance in re
sponse to an input signal. A later device with
great potential because of its low noise and
high frequency characteristics is the silicon
diode used as a silicon capacitor, since its
capacitance is a function of the voltage across
its junction. Parametric amplification can also
be achieved by the utilization of the non-linear
characteristics of ferromagnetic and ferroelec
tric materials.
AMPLIFIER, PARAPHASE.
A phase-inverter amplifier used to convert a single-ended
signal to a push-pull signal.

Parametric amplifier.

periodically into and out of the optimum con

dition. This produces a modulation of the
signal frequency, resulting in frequency com
ponents in the output, among which are a>8, (dp,
and (o>p w8) the latter term being called
the image or idler signal.
The mode of operation described above is
called a negative resistance amplifier, since it
acts to neutralize or overcome the positive re
sistance of the resonant circuit.
Stability
problems arise, since the output and input
terminals are inherently the same. The close
ness of the image frequency to the signal fre
quency makes the separation of the two diffi
cult, one procedure being the utilization of a
circulator. The pump signal m ay be filtered
from the output by a conventional bandelimination filter.
A slightly different mode of operation, called
variously the up-conversion amplifier or amplifying-up converter, differs from the negative
resistance type of amplifier in the following
respects:
(1)
Since the gain can be shown to be pro

AMPLIFIER, PEAK-LIMITING OR GAIN

ADJUSTING. A volume-limiting amplifier.
(See compression; compressor.)
AMPLIFIER, PENTRIODE. A video am
plifier containing a pentode which, by virtue
of suitable bypass and coupling devices, is
made to operate as a triode (screen effectively
connected to the plate) over a portion of the
frequency range, and as a pentode (screengrounded) over another part of the frequency
range.
AMPLIFIER, PNEUMATIC. A power am
plifier (see amplifier, power) employed in
some servomechanisms and control systems in
which power amplification is obtained by the
control of the flow of a high pressure gas by a
valve mechanism.
AMPLIFIER, POWER.
An amplifier de
signed to produce maximum output power
rather than maximum voltage gain for a given
percent distortion.
AMPLIFIER POWER AMPLIFICATION.
See amplification, power.

portional to ----- , the pump frequency is

AMPLIFIER, PROGRAM.
The amplifier
following the master volume control in an
audio console. Its gain brings the signal to a
level suitable for transmission.

made as high as is practicable. (2) An addi

tional frequency of interest is (cos + o)p). The
signal frequency is inevitably shifted in the
amplification process. (3) The up-converter

AMPLIFIER, PULSE. An amplifier designed

specifically to am plify the intermittent signals
of a nuclear detector, incorporating appro
priate pulse-shaping characteristics.

AMPLIFIER, PUSH-PULL.
balanced.

See amplifier,

AMPLIFIER, QUADRUPOLE. A vacuum

tube amplifier in which quadrupole fields act
parametrically upon the fast cyclotron wave
o f an electron beam to produce amplification.
AMPLIFIER, QUANTUM M ECHANICAL.
See maser and maser amplifier.
AMPLIFIER, REACTANCE.
parametric.

See amplifier,

AMPLIFIER, REFLEX. A circuit in which

one tube simultaneously amplifies signals in
tw o widely-separate frequency bands (i.e., the
intermediate frequency signal of a superhetero
dyne and the audio frequency output of the
d etector). N ow little used because the savings
o f material and space are not justified by the
additional com plexity of operation.
AMPLIFIER, REGENERATIVE. An ampli
fier with positive feedback.
(See amplifier,
feedback.)
AMPLIFIER, RESISTIVE-WALL. An electron-beam amplifier in which the beam flows
near a resistive wall.
Gain is obtained
through interaction between the streamcharge and the wall-charge, which is induced
by the stream. The wall-charges act on the
stream so as to cause larger and larger
bunches to be formed, which result in expo
nential growth of the original signal with dis
tance. Gain and gain-bandwidth are com
parable to other forms of traveling wave
tubes, and the stability is inherently greater.
AMPLIFIER, RIPPLED W ALL. A type of
single-velocity, stream amplifier in which the
m ajor part of the amplification is obtained
in a drift-tube region, where either the tube
diameter or the stream diameter varies pe
riodically.
AMPLIFIER, ROTATING.
dynamo-electric.

See

amplifier,

AMPLIFIER, SERVO. The name applied to

any amplifier used as a part of a servomech
anism.
AMPLIFIER, SINGLE-ENDED. An ampli
fier in which each stage normally employs only
one tube, or, if more than one tube is used, in
which they are connected in parallel so that

operation
ground

is

asymmetric

with

respect

to

AMPLIFIER,
SINGLE-ENDED
PUSHPULL. A form of amplifier in which a pair
of output terminals may have an instanta
neous voltage of either polarity as may be
dictated by the phase of the input signal.
AMPLIFIER, STAGGER-TUNED. An am
plifier incorporating stagger-tuning to provide
a desired bandwidth characteristic.
AMPLIFIER, STEP-DOWN. An amplifier
used to measure very high potentials which
are impressed between anode and cathode, the
anode being negative. The corresponding grid
current is measured with the grid positive.
This is sometimes called an inverted volt
meter.
AMPLIFIER, TIME-SHARED. An amplifier
which may be used for several signals by
virtue of a synchronous switching arrange
ment which connects one signal, and the ap
propriate source, at a time to the amplifier.
This process actually consists of a complete
time-division multiplex modulation system.
(See modulation, multiplex, time-division.)
AMPLIFIER, TORQUE. A device possessing
input and output shafts and supplying work
to rotate the output shaft, without imposing
any significant torque on the input shaft. The
speed of the output shaft is equal or propor
tional to that of the input shaft, regardless of
the load on the former.
AMPLIFIER, TRANSISTOR. The transistor
may be employed in three basic configura
tions; the common-base, the common-emitter,
and the common collector. The meanings of
the symbols used below are given under tran
sistor, parameter entries.
(1) The common-base transistor amplifier
has less than unity current amplification (for
transistors with a or h/b hub < 1); no phase
reversal; very low input impedance (hib =
hub) and high output impedance (hob = h22 b).
(2) The common emitter transistor ampli
fier has the highest power gain of the three
configurations; large current amplification
(a/(l a)rb = hfe = h2 ie)', input impedance
(hie hue) relatively low and essentially in
dependent of load; phase reversal of signal.
(3) The com m on-collector transistor ampli
fier has the lowest power gain of the three con-

Schematic representation
of a PNP common-base
transistor amplifier

Schematic representation
of a PNP common-collector
transistor amplifier

hfc ib

LL

Low-frequency h parametr equivalent circuit

for common-base transistor amplifier
Low-frequency h parameter equivalent circuit
for common-collector transistor amplifier

--- >e
s
1
r
f

K 1
2
1
L--- 1---------------

............... .
i -Wv 1
rc
lrb.
1

i1
1 1
1 5
1
1
- 4 1

H------- W \ r

-^ 0

Low-frequency T parameter equivalent circuit

for common-base transistor amplifier

Low frequency T equivalent circuit

for common-collector transistor amplifier

figurations; large current amplification (hfc =

A21 c ) ; no phase reversal; input impedance quite
high but dependent on load impedance; output
impedance quite low but dependent upon im
pedance effectively in series with the input
terminals.

Schematic representation
of a PNP common-emitter
transistor amplifier

V bO O

? oe-

Low-frequency h parameter equivalent circuit

for common-emitter transistor amplifier

-AAAr-

rb

AMPLIFIER,
TRANSISTOR,
COMPLE
MENTARY.
A transistor amplifier which
makes use of the complementary symmetry of
the characteristics of N P N and PN P tran
sistors. As an example, an N P N transistor
and a PN P transistor might be placed in a
common-emitter, push-pull output circuit
with their bases directly in parallel. A posi
tive input signal will cause an increase in col
lector current in the N P N and decrease in
collector current in the P N P transistor. Thus
push-pull operation is achieved without a
transformer or usual form of phase-invertor.
AMPLIFIER, TRIODE. An amplifier em
ploying a triode electron tube.

Low frequency T equivalent circuit

for common-emitter transistor amplifier

AMPLIFIER, TUNED. An amplifier in which

the load impedance consists of, generally, a
parallel inductance-capacitance network. The
fact that the impedance of this network varies
with frequency causes the gain of the amplifier

to vary as a function of frequency in a some

what similar manner.
AMPLIFIER, VACUUM TUBE. An ampli
fier which has a vacuum tube and its associ
ated circuit arranged to reproduce in its plate
circuit in greater magnitude a voltage or cur
rent which is applied in its grid circuit. The
term amplifier is used to denote both a single
stage or several stages in cascade. Vacuum tube amplifiers are classified in various ways
according to their use, circuit, etc., but all
types depend upon a few basic circuits. Thus
they may be termed current amplifiers or volt
age amplifiers, power amplifiers, audio-fre
quency amplifiers, radio-frequency amplifiers
and various coupling types.
Current amplifiers are designed to give an
amplified current in the plate circuit. H ow
ever, since the vacuum tube is a voltagecontrolled device, the input current is applied
to the grid as a voltage drop that is produced
in an impedance. This voltage drop controls
the current in the plate circuit which is de
signed to give relatively large currents. V olt
age amplifiers on the other hand have their
plate circuits designed to produce large volt
age drops.
In any vacuum -tube amplifier circuit the
fundamental operation is the controlling of the
plate current by a voltage applied to the grid.
This plate-current change is utilized in vari
ous ways, giving rise to several standard clas
sifications of voltage amplifiers. Reference

N o Signal

f V X Jj
Signal

Tima

(
Fig. 1.

Resistance coupled vacuum-tube amplifier.

to the figures will aid in understanding the

operation. Fig. la shows a simple resistancecoupled circuit. The a-c voltage to be ampli

fied is applied across the grid resistor rg. This

voltage alters the plate current which varies
as the grid voltage varies. For no-signal volt
age on the grid, plate current is a constant
value of d-c, but the a-c voltage on the grid
causes this to vary as shown in Fig. lb . This
current produces a potential drop across the
plate resistor R L which has the same form as
the current. This voltage is applied across
the grid resistor of the following tube through
the coupling condenser. However, since a
condenser circuit responds only to varying
voltages, only the a-c component will appear
across the resistor R gl as shown in Fig. 1c.
W ith proper choice of circuit components the
voltage on the second grid is several times that
impressed on the first grid. The ratio of these
voltages is the gain or amplification of the
stage.
While this gain varies with frequency, for
the middle portion of the operating range it is
given b y:
A =

hR' l /(R' l

+ Rp)

where R p is the dynamic plate resistance of

the tube, p is the amplification factor of the
tube, and R 'L is R L and R gl in parallel. Pen
tode tubes are normally used for resistancecoupled amplifiers because of their much
greater gain.
Fig. 2 shows another method, transformercoupled, of utilizing the current change in the

plate circuit. Here the varying plate current

produced by the alternating voltage on the
grid produces a voltage across the secondary
of the transformer. Since the transformer
operates only on a-c, the voltage across the
secondary is a reproduction of that applied to
the grid of the first tube. The gain of such
a stage is very closely given for the middle
of its operating range b y :
A = in,
where n is the turns ratio of the transformer
(secondary/prim ary) and
is the amplifica-

tion factor of the tube. Because they give a

wider frequency range with transformers than
other types of tubes, triodes are normally used
in such circuits. Fig. 3 shows a third method

of coupling a voltage amplifier. This is very

similar to the resistance-coupled case but the
output voltage drop is across a choke or im
pedance coil. This is an impedance-coupled
amplifier. Since the choke causes only a small
voltage drop for d-c, very little of the supply
voltage is lost and most of it appears at the
plate of the tube, thereby increasing the gain
by decreasing the dynamic plate resistance of
the tube. The frequency response character
istic of this amplifier is usually not as good as
for the resistance-coupled type. The gain in
the middle range is given b y :

^ _______ m2tt/L
"

V R P2 +

(27r/L )2

where / is the frequency and L is the induc

tance of the choke in henries. Other symbols
are as before.
The three circuits shown are com monly used
in audio-frequency amplifiers which must
operate over a wide frequency range. For
radio-frequency use the range is much more
restricted in terms of its proportion of the
mid-frequency value. As a consequence such
amplifiers can and ordinarily do use tuned

circuits for coupling elements. Such an am

plifier is shown in Fig. 4. W hile there are
many variations of the tuned amplifier, this is

typical of those used in the radio-frequency

portion of the usual radio receiver. The re
sponse of a tuned amplifier varies markedly
with frequency and the frequency at which
the response is a maximum may be adjusted
b y varying the condenser. This type ampli
fier, then, serves as a selective device to differ
entiate between stations and at the same time
serves as an amplifier. The condenser shown
is the tuning condenser controlled by the dial
on the panel of the ordinary radio set.
For amplifying d-c voltages without the
introduction of modulation a direct-coupled
amplifier must be used since the circuits shown
before respond only to alternating voltages.
Such an amplifier is shown in Fig. 5. It will

Fig. 5. Direct coupled vacuum-tube amplifier for d-c.

be noted that the high voltage of the plate of

the first tube would be applied to the grid of
the second if it were not for the bucking action
of the grid or C battery which must, therefore,
be made large enough to give the correct net
voltage on the grid. Unless the A, B, and C
voltages are carefully regulated, direct-coupled
amplifiers are rather unstable and are to be
avoided except in cases where nothing else
will serve satisfactorily.
The amplifiers discussed above are intended
primarily for voltage amplification. However,
in many applications it is necessary to get
power from an amplifier unit so at least the
final stage is usually adjusted to give power
rather than voltage output. An amplifier so
adjusted is called a power amplifier. In radio
transmitting circuits or large power audio
amplifiers several stages m ay be power am
plifiers. For this type of service the circuit is
adjusted to give as large a current as possible
through the load, which has much lower re
sistance than in voltage amplifiers. The tubes
used are somewhat larger as a rule than those
of voltage circuits and are specially designed
for large current outputs. Power amplifiers
are frequently classified as Class A, B, AB or
C, depending upon just how they are operated.

Class A amplifiers operate about a mean grid

bias value such that the output wave is essen
tially the same as the input wave and the d-c
plate current has a constant value (the volt
age amplifiers are Class A ) . A Class B ampli
fier has the grid bias adjusted so that plate
current flows only on the positive half-cycle
of the input signal. Class AB is intermediate
between A and B. In these three classes a
subscript 1 is often used to denote that the
grid does not take current, and a subscript 2
to denote that grid current flows. Since AB
and B amplifiers using single tubes do not
give output waves similar to the input waves
they must be operated push-pull for audio
frequency work. Class C amplifiers are ad
justed so plate current flows for less than a
h alf-cycle of the input signal. They are used
exclusively for radio-frequency work where a
tuned circuit m ay be used for the load. (See
tank circuit.)
Fig. 6 indicates the relative

attention to the available output power of the

stage.
AMPLIFIER, VOLUME-LIMITING.
compression; compressor.
AMPLIFIER, W ALLM AN.
cascode.

See

See amplifier,

AMPLIFIER, W ID E B A N D .
An amplifier
having uniform response over many decades
of frequency. One example is the video am
plifier. (See amplifier, video-frequency.)
AMPLISOLVER. Trade name for a com
patible amplifier-resolver module.
AMPLISTAT. A trade name applied to selfsaturating magnetic amplifier circuits. (See
magnetic amplifier, self-saturating.)
AMPLITRON. Trade name for a particular
non-reentrant magnetron amplifier.
AMPLITUDE. (1) If a complex number is
represented in polar coordinates it becomes
r(cos 0 + i sin 6 ) and the angle 0 is the ampli

Fig. 6.

Relative bias values.

bias values for the different types of service.

The efficiency becomes better but the distor
tion worse in the order A, A B , B and C. For
audio-frequency work the power amplifiers are
normally connected to the load (loud-speaker)
through a transformer, while in radio-fre
quency work air-cored transformers and ca
pacitance coupling are common.
AMPLIFIER, VACUUM TUBE, CLASSIFI
CATION. See amplifier, class-A, amplifier,
class-AB, amplifier, class-B, amplifier, class-C.

tude, argument, or phase of the number. (See

de Moivre theorem.) The term is also used
to designate a parameter occurring in elliptic
functions and integrals.
(2) The crest or
maximum value of a periodic (or specifically
a simple harmonic function of space or time)
or, more generally, any parameter that when
changed, merely represents a change in scale
factor.
In amplitude-modulation systems,
this quantity becomes a function of time, and
its instantaneous value is of importance, but
it is still referred to as the amplitude.

AMPLIFIER, VIDEO-FREQUENCY. A de
vice capable of amplifying such signals as
comprise periodic visual presentation.

AMPLITUDE BALANCE CONTROL. In

navigation, that portion of a system which
may be varied to adjust the relative output
levels of two related signals. Originally used
in ILS and later in loran.

AMPLIFIER, VOLTAGE. An amplifier de

signed for the primary purpose of producing
an increase in signal voltage with little or no

AMPLITUDE COMPARISON. The process

of indicating the time at which two waveforms
reach the same amplitude. It may also be

considered to be the method of determining

the abscissa of a waveform, given its ordinate.
AM PLITUDE FADING.
AM PLITUDE GATE.

See fading.

See limiter, clipper.

AM PLITUDE, INITIAL. The maximum dis

placement from a reference point of a periodic
function. The periodic function can describe
the motion of a pendulum point, the motion of
a point on a spring or of a point on a mechan
ical system which is performing oscillatory
motion or may represent the motion of a wave
in a medium. (Cf. harmonic motion.)
AM PLITUDE LIMITER.

(AM).

See

AM PLITUDE, PEAK-TO-PEAK (DOUBLE

AM PLITUDE). Of an oscillating quantity,
the difference between extremes of the quan
tity.
See pulse amplitude

AM PLITUDE RESONANCE.
nance; oscillations, forced.

See

reso

AM PLITUDE
RESPONSE
(CAMERA
TUBES). See square-wave response (camera
tubes).
AM PLITUDE SELECTION. See amplitude
separation, and clipper circuit.
AM PLITUDE SEPARATION. T he process
o f separating all values of a wave greater or
less than a given amplitude, or those lying
between two amplitudes.
AMU. The atomic mass unit, a unit of mass
equal to one-sixteenth the mass of the atom
of oxygen of mass number 16.
1 amu = 1.657 X 10 24 g.
In terms of energy, 1 amu = 931 mev = 1.49
X 10 3 ergs.
ANABATIC W IN D . A wind
hill. In general, anabatic winds
originating in connection with
ing, such as a breeze blowing up
the sun warms the ground.
ANALOG COMPUTER.
log.

ANALOGS AND ANALOGY. M uch o f the

progress in theoretical physics has come about
through the recognition that systems that are
very different physically may sometimes be
described by identical mathematical treat
ments. Thus, damped harmonic motion and
the electrical behavior of a simple series alter
nating current circuit may be described by the
same differential equation:

See limiter.

AM PLITUDE M ODULATION
modulation, amplitude.

AM PLITUDE, PULSE.
entries.

ANALOG (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUT

ERS). A physical system on which the per
formance of measurements yields information
concerning a class of mathematical problems.

blowing up
refer to winds
surface heat
a valley when

See computer, ana

where A , B , and C are constants and is a

quantity (displacement or charge) which var
ies with time. The mass in simple harmonic
motion corresponds exactly to the inductance
in the electrical case; either mass or induct
ance m ay be represented by A in the equation;
each of these quantities is known as an analog
of the other. Similarly the mechanical and
electrical resistances are analogs, as are the
spring constant and the inverse capacitance.
The great advantage of the recognition of
exact analogies, such as the one just discussed,
is that they allow mathematical and logical
techniques that have been developed for one
branch of physics to be adapted quickly and
easily to another branch. In some cases they
may allow the behavior of a physical system
to be predicted by measurements on an analo
gous system. Thus an analog computer may
consist of a number of electrical circuit ele
ments, which may be combined in various
ways and so may be used as exact analogs of
the elements of a mechanical, acoustic, or
other system. Measurements of voltages and
currents may then be converted to the analo
gous forces and velocities, pressures and ve
locities, or other quantities.
In particular, many equations that may be
stated in terms of scalar potentials may be
applied equally well to instances of electro
statics, steady current flow, thermal conduc
tion, etc.
Thus the equipotential surfaces
may be measured in an analogy tank which
contains an electrolyte and two or more elec
trodes of fixed geometry and they will be
identical with the isothermal surfaces in a
geometrically similar volume in which thermal

conduction is taking place in a homogeneous

and isotropic medium and in which the sur
faces corresponding to the electrodes are main
tained at fixed temperature differences, pro
portional to the electrical potential differences
between electrodes in the tank.
ANALYTIC. A function f ( z ) of the com
plex variable z = x + iy is analytic at a point
on the ^-plane if the function and its first
derivative are finite and single-valued in the
neighborhood of the point. I f this property
applies to all points within a given region of
the complex plane, f ( z ) is an analytic func
tion throughout the region. A ny point at
which the derivative fails to exist is a singu
larity or a singular point of the function.
Equivalent definitions of an analytic func
tion are: (1) it must satisfy the CauchyRiemann equations or Laplaces equation;
(2) it is analytic only if it may be represented
by a convergent power series in some neigh
borhood of the given point.
Other words often used in place of analytic
are holomorphic, meromorphic, monogenic,
uniform, regular.
An analytic function of a real variable may
be defined in a similar way.

produce a given density (4) on the photo

graphic film will depend upon how far to the
right one moves on the film. If a given pulse
height is chosen, the distance one moves to the

right to obtain a given photographic density

will be related to the number of pulses of this
height during the exposure time.
ANASTIGMAT. A compound lens com bina
tion corrected so that both astigmatism and
the curvature of the field are largely elimi
nated over a considerable area in the image
plane.
ANCHOR RING. Also called a torus, it is a
surface which has the shape o f a doughnut
with a hole in it. It can be generated as a
surface of revolution by rotating the circle
(y -

b) 2 + z2 = a2

around the Z-axis. Its equation, when ration

alized, is of the fourth degree
(x 2 + y 2 + z 2 + b2 a2) 2 = 4 b2 (x 2 + y 2).

ANALYTICAL GAP. The region between the

two electrodes of the source in emission spec
troscopic analysis; also called the electrode
gap.
ANALYTIC CONTINUATION. Calculation
of an analytic function over some domain
from precise definition of the function over
a smaller domain.
ANALYZER. (1) The nicol prism (or other
device which passes only that component of
light which is polarized in a particular plane)
which is placed in the eyepiece of a polariscope or similar instrument. (2) A volt-ohm milliammeter test instrument.
ANALYZER, GREY W E D G E . A device for
determining the distribution in height of pulses
being produced by a source. The distribution
is determined by photographing the screen of a
cathode ray tube through a grey wedge filter.
I f the density of the wedge filter increases from
left to right and the pulses are stretched so as
to appear on the screen as shown in the figure,
then the number of repetitions necessary to

AND-GATE.

See gate; and-gate.

AND-CIRCUIT.
(Also see gate.)

Synonym

for

and-gate.

ANECHOIC ROOM. A room in which sound

reflections from the boundary surfaces have
been reduced to a negligible amount.
ANELASTICITY (OR INTERNAL FRIC
TION). In general, any deviation from the
ideal behavior postulated by classical elastic
ity theory (where the strain is proportional to
the applied stress and follows instantaneously
upon its application). The term is applied
particularly to those phenomena associated
with the damping of elastic waves in solids.
Numerous causes are known for these effects,
such as thermal diffusion, motion of grain
boundaries, diffusion of twin boundaries,
atomic solution diffusion, etc. The damping
associated with a given process depends
strongly on the frequency of the elastic wave.
ANEMOGRAPH. Instrument used for re
cording wind velocity.

ANEMOM ETER. An apparatus for measur

ing one or more components of the velocity of
a gas or sometimes pressure, especially that of
air.
ANEMOM ETER, CUP.
An anemometer
consisting of a set of three or four hemispheri
cal or conical cups mounted on a wheel whose
axle is vertical. W hen the wind blows it forces
the cups and the wheel to rotate; the wind
speed is related to the total number of rota
tions over a short period of time. Various
types of counters are used to determine the
rotations per min or per sec.
ANEMOM ETER, PLATE. An anemometer
consisting of a simple plate mounted in such
a manner that the wind blows against it, de
flecting it in the direction toward which the
wind is blowing. A pointer or scale mounted
along the plate measures the deflection of the
plate, which can be correlated to the wind
speed.
ANEM OM ETER, PRESSURE-TUBE.
An
anemometer employing the difference in static
and dynamic pressure in a wind blowing
across a tube mounted with its opening di
rectly into the wind.
ANEMOSCOPE. An instrument actuated by
a wind vane, and showing wind direction on a
calibrated scale.
ANGELS. Radar reflections in the lower
atmosphere, usually of short duration, and
observed most frequently below 3000 feet.
Since, in most cases, the object causing the re
flection was not visible, the object was called
an angel. Experiments have proved that,
in many cases, these reflections are due to in
sects or birds.

than 180). See also Euler angles; angle,

dihedral; angle, solid; triangle, spherical.)
(2) See the various entries given below, for
example: angle, solid; also see the entries
under the various phenomena, for example:
refraction, angle of.
ANGLE, BUNCHING.

See bunching angle.

ANGLE, CRAB. In navigation, the angular

difference between course and heading, iden
tical with drift correction angle.
ANGLE, CROSSING.
In navigation, the
angle at which two lines of position or course
lines intersect.
ANGLE, CUTTING. The angle between the
vertical cutting face of a cutting stylus and
the record surface. Ideally, 90; deviations
are called dig-in angle or drag angle.
ANGLE, DIFFRACTION.
The angle be
tween the direction of an incident beam of
light and any resulting diffracted beam. (See
diffraction.)
ANGLE, DIHEDRAL. The angle between
two planes. The dihedral angle is zero if the
planes are parallel. I f the direction cosines
of perpendiculars to two planes are A,/a,v and
A',j/ y the dihedral angle between the planes
is given by
cos 6 = XX' -f- nix' *4" vvf.
ANGLE, DRIFT. The angular difference be
tween the course and the course made good.
ANGLE, DRIFT CORRECTION. The angu
lar difference between the course and the
heading. (Sometimes called the crab angle.)
ANGLE, FIRING.

See gate angle.

ANGLE, GLIDE-SLOPE.
ANGLE. (1) The figure obtained by drawing
two straight lines from a point. In trigo
nometry, an angle measures the rotation of
one straight line, the terminal line, about a
fixed point on an initial line. It is positive
if the direction of rotation is counterclock
wise. I f the magnitude of the angle equals
2?r radians, it is called a perigon angle and
such an angle, divided into 360 equal parts,
has a magnitude of 360 degrees (360). A
right angle equals 90 or ir/2 radians; a
straight angle, 180 or tt radians; an acute
angle is less than 9 0; an obtuse angle, greater
than 90 (but frequently limited to one less

ANGLE, GROOVE.

See slope angle.

See groove angle.

ANGLE MODULATION.
angle.

See modulation,

ANGLE OF ARRIVAL. The angle between

the line of propagation of a radiowave and the
earths surface at the point of reception.
ANGLE OF BEAM. In a directional antenna
system, the angle which encloses the greater
part of the transmitted or received energy.
ANGLE OF DEPARTURE.
angle of.

See departure,

ANGLE OF DEVIATION.
angle of.
ANGLE OF DIP.

See deviation,

See dip-needle.

ANGLE, OFFSET. In lateral disk reproduc

tion, the offset angle is the smaller of the two
angles between the projections into the plane
of the disk of the vibration axis of the pickup
stylus and the line connecting the vertical
pivot (assuming a horizontal disk) of the
pickup arm with the stylus point.
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE. (1) The angle at
which one body or material or radiation
strikes a surface, measured from the line of
direction of the moving entity to a line perpen
dicular to the surface at the point of impact.
The term is used com monly in regard to the
impact of radiant energy upon a material sur
face. (2) The angle between a ray of light
striking a surface and the normal to that sur
face, as shown in the accom panying figure, in

ANGLE, SOLID. Consider a small cone with

a base of area dS and a vertex at a fixed point
P. This cone will cut out an area da on a
sphere of radius r with center at P. The solid
angle subtended by dS at P is defined as do) =
dcr/r2. It is numerically equal to the area cut
out by the same cone on a sphere of unit radius
at the same point P. The unit is the steradian,
the solid angle which subtends an area equal to
the square of the radius.
ANGLE, TILT. In radar, the angle between
the axis of radiation in the vertical plane and
a reference axis (normally the horizontal).
ANGLE, TRANSIT. The product of angular
frequency and the time taken for an electron
to traverse a given path.
ANGLE VARIABLE. In classical mechanics,
the dynamical variable w conjugate to the
action variable J, and thus defined only for
periodic motion.
For such motion of fre
quency v, w = vt + const.
ANGSTROM COEFFICIENT. The coeffi
cient A in Angstroms formula for the scat
tering coefficient for dust in the atmosphere.
S = A \~B
in which A. is wavelength and B depends on the
particle size.

which i is the angle of incidence, R is the

angle of reflection, r is the angle of refraction,
D is the angle of deviation,
is the index of
refraction of the medium from which the light
is incident upon the surface, and n 2 is the index
of refraction of the medium into which the
light is refracted from the surface. (See the
Snell law.)
ANGLE OF REPOSE. The maximum angle
with the horizontal at which an object on an
inclined plane will retain its position without
tending to slide. The tangent of the angle of
repose equals the coefficient of static friction.
(Cf. friction, coefficient of static.)
ANGLE OF SLIP. (1) The angle included
between the direction of the applied force and
the surface of shear during the plastic flow of
a solid body. (2) The angle of repose.
ANGLE, ROTATIONAL TRANSFORM. See
transform, rotational.

ANGSTROM UNIT.
The Angstrom unit
equals 10 8 centimeters. Visible light has a
wave length of a few thousand (4000-7500)
Angstroms. The diacritical mark over the
first letter is frequently omitted.
ANGULAR ACCELERATION.
eration, angular.
ANGULAR DISPERSION.
angular.

See accel

See dispersion,

ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION.
In nuclear
physics, the distribution in angle, relative to
an experimentally specified direction, of the
intensity of particles or photons resulting
from a nuclear or an extra-nuclear process.
Commonly, the specified direction is that of
an incident beam, and the angular distribution
is that of particles which are scattered or are
the products of nuclear reactions. In such
cases, the angular distribution in the labora
tory system will depend upon the energy of
the incident particles.
Alternatively, the
specified direction might be that of an applied

field, or a direction of polarization, or the di

rection of emission of an associated radiation.

(See rigid body, general equation or rotational

motion; rigid body, kinetic energy of; torque.)

ANGULAR M AGNIFICATION.
fying power.

ANGULAR M OM ENTUM (ATOMIC AND

NUCLEAR PHYSICS). The angular momen
tum, or moment of momentum, of an elemen
tary particle or system of such particles that
either (a) spins about an axis or behaves as
though it spins about an axis, or (b) revolves
in an orbit or behaves as though it revolves in
an orbit. For an elementary particle, the
angular momentum associated with axial ro
tation is called the intrinsic angular momen
tum, or spin. When a nucleus is considered
as a single particle, its total angular momen
tum is also referred to as its spin. For an
elementary particle, the component in a par
ticular direction of both kinds of angular m o
mentum is quantized; the quantum o f spin
angular momentum is
and the quantum of
orbital angular momentum is h. (See Dirac ft.)

See magni

ANGULAR M OM ENTUM .
A conserved
quantity which remains constant in an isolated
system. For a single particle of mass m, ro
tating in a circle of radius r with an angular
velocity o) (in radians/second) the angular m o
mentum is mr2w. For a symmetric body rotat
ing about a fixed axis the angular momentum
is H = (^ m ^ 2) co = 7o>, or in vector notation,
H = Z, where co is a vector whose direction is
given by the direction of progression of a right
handed screw. I =
is the moment of
inertia with r4 being the perpendicular distance
of the ith mass m* to the axis of rotation.
For a body not rotating about a fixed axis,
the situation is more complicated. The angu
lar momentum of a single particle about a
point, whether or not it be m oving about this
point, is in vector notation mr X v = mr X
(co X r) where r is its vector distance to the
point, v its instantaneous velocity, and co its
instantaneous angular velocity about the point.
For a rigid body, the angular momentum is
then given by H = Sra^r* X (co X rt) = Sra*
[r/co (ri-<tt)rj. This can be written as:
H X =
H y

Hz =

Ixx^ x

^-xy^y

Ixz^ zy

ly x ^ x

ly y ^ y

ly z ^ z j

Izx^x

lyz^y

I ZZQ)ZJ

where the I ax, I xy, etc., are the moments and

products of inertia. In this case we do not in
general have H = 7co. The angular momen
tum vector thus does not have the same direc
tion as the angular velocity vector; rather the
angular momentum vector is related to the
angular velocity vector by a linear transforma
tion through the moment of inertia tensor,
which is defined by the nine components I xw,
etc.
If the principal axes (see inertia, moments
and products of) are used, the products of
inertia vanish and the angular momentum is
given by H 1 = Zn coi, H 2 = Z22*02, iZ 3 = Z3303 ,
where
is the component of co along principal
axis number 1 , etc.; and where Zn is the m o
ment of inertia computed about axis number 1 ,
etc. For the special case of a body rotating
about a principal axis we again have H = Zco.

ANGULAR
M OM ENTUM ,
COUPLING
AND RECOUPLING OF. When two or more
particles within the same system both possess
angular momentum, or when one or more such
particles possess both orbital angular m o
mentum and spin, it is necessary to consider
how the individual angular momenta combine,
or couple. This problem of coupling, and that
of the recoupling of coupled angular momenta,
plays a central role in the determination of
the total angular momentum eigenfunctions
for the composite system, in the treatment of
the emission and absorption of radiation, and
in the correlation between the properties of
successive radiations that are emitted or ab
sorbed by the system. The fact that this
coupling or recoupling involves more than the
simple vector addition of the separate angular
momenta follows from the quantum mechani
cal limitation on the knowledge that one can
have concerning the angular momenta. The
Heisenberg uncertainty principle indicates
that the maximal information that one can
obtain about any angular momentum is the
value of J 2 j { j + 1)h 2, the square of the
total angular momentum, and the value of one
of its com ponents, say J z = mfi. (Here fi is
the Dirac ft and j and m are the appropriate
angular momentum quantum numbers.
This is not sufficient information about the in
dividual components to put one in a position
to perform the necessary vector addition re
quired to predict the total angular momentum.

The further fact that quantum mechanics

require that the possible observed values of the
resultant of two angular momenta whose
squares are J 2 = j i ( j i + 1)h 2 and J 2 =
.7*20*2 + l)^ 2 are such that their squares are
J 2 = ]U + 1)H2, where |j'i - j 21_ < j <
\ji
+ j 2 \ makes it clear that the entire problem
can be discussed only in the language of quan
tum mechanics, not in that of classical me
chanics.
In the simple case of a system made up of two
independent sub-systems, each described by
total angular momentum and magnetic quan
tum numbers, ji, mi and j 2, m2, and by the
separate eigenfunctions \j\rrii) and \j2m2) (see
representation theory, quantum m ech
anical) , the quantum mechanical expression of
the problem usually takes one of two forms:
1. One asks for the probability that various
values of the one of the angular momenta
(and, perhaps, of its component along a
specified axis) will be measured in an ex
periment following the measurement of
the values of the other angular momenta.
2. Following a more formal mathematical ap
proach, one asks for the expression of the
eigenfunction |jm ) of the systems angu
lar momentum J and its -component J z
in terms of the eigenfunction for the
system :
\jimxj 2m2) = \jim1)\j 2m2},

or vice versa.
Because the mathematical relationship be
tween the various angular momentum eigen
functions can be transformed easily to the more
physical language implied by the first state
ment, the following discussion will be based on
the second form.
Considering for the moment the simple case
of a system made up by the combination of only
two independent sub-systems, the fact that the
eigenfunctions \jintij2m2) are assumed to form
a complete orthonorm al set of functions
means that an eigenfunction |jm ) can be ex
pressed as a linear combination of the functions
of this set, i.e.,
|j m ) = X ) ( j \ j i m u ]2m2) \ j i mlj 2m2),

mim2
where the summation over m\ goes from ji
to -\-ji and the coefficient (jm\jimi, j 2m2) is
in general a complex constant made real with
an appropriate choice of phase. The most
com m only used choice is that of Condon and

Shortley (The Theory of Atomic Spectra, M ac

millan, 1935). These coefficients are variously
referred to as vector coupling coefficients,
Wigner coefficients, or Clebsch-Gordan
coefficients. They form a unitary matrix.
For many purposes, it is useful to express them
in terms of other coefficients having greater
symmetry in the j, ji, and j 2 (see Y coefficient;
three-j symbol). The expression of an eigen
function \jimi,j 2m2) in terms of the functions,
Ijm ) is given by:
\ j i m u j 2m 2) =

' E i ( j i m 1, j 2m 2 \ jm )\ jm ),

J
where the coefficients
( j 1m l , j 2m 2 \jm) =

j 2m2),

the phase of the latter being chosen as they

were above. The second expression follows
from the first because of the orthonormal char
acter of the vector addition coefficients, i.e.,
X ) U j 2 m 2 \ jm )(j1m1,j 2m2 \j'm) =
miW2
The problem of the coupling of three or more
angular momenta is less simple. Suppose that
three sub-systems described by the eigenfunc
tions \jitni), \j2m2), and \j3mz) couple to form
a combined system having a total angular m o
mentum operator J and a -component J z.
One of the complications here results from the
necessity of first choosing a coupling scheme.
One possibility is that j 1 and j 2 couple to give
a resultant ,7*12 and that this couples with j 3 to
give j. This coupling scheme may be indicated
as [(jij 2)js]- W ith the use of the relations ob
tained for simple coupling, one finds that the
eigenfunction can be written as
=

( j m \ j i 2m 12! j 3m 3) \ ji2m 12) \j3tn3),

where
Iii2 i2 ) =

xp ( j 12OTl2 \ji m u j 2m 2) \j1m 1) \ j 2m 2).

Eigenfunctions \ jiz,j 2 ;jm ) and \ ji,j 2z',jm),

result from the respective coupling schemes
[ 0 *1^3)72 ] and [ ji ( j 2j 3) l Once a coupling scheme
has been chosen, any number of angular mo
menta may be coupled two at a time in the
manner outlined.
The case of two particles having orbital angu
lar momenta described by the quantum num
bers liyMi and l2 ,m 2 and spins described by

the corresponding quantum numbers $1,^1 and

s2,M2 is of particular interest. The possible
coupling schemes may be indicated b y:
[(lxl2) (sis2)]
[(llSl)(l2S2)]
1 2
{[(h h )* !^ }

[(S)(2sl)]

{[(S l^ ^ lfe }
{ [(sl s2)^2]^l}
{[(Z iS i)Z 2]s2}

{[(Zisi)s2]2}

{[(^1^2) 51]^}
{ [(^2^l)^l]^2 }
{[fe lK ]^ }
{[(h s e h }
{[(/2s2)il]5l}

The first tw o schemes in the first column repre

sent, respectively, L-S or Russell-Saunders
coupling and j - j coupling. The others con
stitute various types of intermediate coupling
(see coupling, transition types). The gen
eral coupling scheme {[(j\jz)j 2]j} is of particu
lar interest in a physical problem when the
Hamiltonian operator for the entire system
commutes with the operators corresponding to
the square of the total angular momentum and
its 2-component for each of the angular m o
menta j 13, j ( i 3)2, and j [(13)2] 4> since each of
these angular momenta is then a conserved
quantity for the system. In light atoms this
situation seems to exist approximately for
Russell-Saunders coupling as generalized to
include all of the electrons under consideration;
thus definite energy eigen states of the atom
correspond to Russell-Saunders coupling. In
heavy atoms the generalization of j - j coupling
is sometimes fairly descriptive of the energy
eigenstates.
In a mathematical sense, the three coupling
schemes possible for three momenta and the
fifteen schemes possible for four momenta are
equivalent, since the set of eigenfunctions of
any one coupling scheme form a complete or
thonormal set in which any eigenfunction of
the other coupling schemes may be expanded.
This process is known as the recoupling of angu
lar momentum. A recoupling transformation
for the system having three independent angu
lar momenta may be expressed as:

= 2 0'l2j3|jli23)0)\ j l , j 2 Z , j ) ,
where the coefficient O W s 1JiJ23) <',) of the ex
pansion is given in terms of the six -j s y m b o l of
Wigner by the expression:
t h 2 h \ h h U) = ( - i y +* +* + '
V ( 2 , ^ + l ) ( 2 j 23+ l )
7l J2 J12

73.7.723

Similarly, a recoupling transformation for the

system having four independent angular m o
menta may be expressed as:
\ji2 , j u ) j m )

X )

O W

34 \j13j 2 i )

(j) l i i s ,

j 2 i',jm),

j\-*hA
where the coefficient is specified in terms of the
nine-j symbol of Wigner:
0 * 1 2 ,7 3 4 1,7*13,7*24) ^

[(2,7 *12 +

1 ) (2 ,7 3 4 +

1)

j l 32 j\2

x (2j 13 + 1 x 3/24 + 1)1* h h h i

-jl3 ,7*24 j

This is the type of recoupling transformation

required to go from Russell-Saunders to j -j
coupling and vice versa. Recoupling trans
formations suitable to other four-coupling
schemes may be obtained equally simply, but
they are used rather infrequently and will not
be given here. For a more detailed treatment
of the subject see any of: M . E. Rose, E le
mentary Theory of Angular M om entum , John
W iley and Sons, 1957; U. Fano and G. Racah,
Irreducible Tensorial Sets, Academ ic Press,
1959; A. R. Edmonds, Angular M om entum in
Quantum M echanics, Princeton University
Press, 1957.
ANGULAR M OM ENTUM OPERATORS.
See operators, quantum mechanical; quantum
mechanics, postulates of; representation
theory, quantum mechanical. For a more de
tailed treatment, which establishes the rela
tionship between the angular momentum op
erators and the infinitesimal rotation trans
formations of the spatial system, see U. Fano
and G. Racah, Irreducible Tensorial Sets,
Academ ic Press, 1959, Appendix B ; A. R. E d
monds, Angular M om entum in Quantum M e
chanics, Princeton University Press, 1957,
Chapter 4; M . E. Rose, Elem entary Theory of
Angular M om entum , John W iley and Sons,
Inc., 1957, Chapters 2 and 4.
ANGULAR M OM ENTUM , ORBITAL. The
angular momentum H associated with the m o
tion of a particle moving in an orbit.
H = rar X v,
where m is the mass of the particle, r its vector
displacement from the origin (fixed in an in
ertial system) and v is the velocity.
(See

angular momentum, coupling of; angular mo

mentum (atomic and nuclear physics).)
ANGULAR M OM ENTUM , SPIN. The in
trinsic angular momentum o f an elementary
particle. (See spin.)
ANGULAR, VELOCITY. A quantity relat
ing to rotational motion. W hile the use of the
term angular velocity may be extended to any
motion of a point with respect to any axis, it
is com m only applied to cases of rotation. Its
instantaneous value is defined as the vector,
whose magnitude is the time rate of change of
the angle o f rotation 0, d6/dt, and whose di
rection is arbitrarily defined as that direction
o f progression of a right-hand screw rotating
in the same sense as the physical system.
The usual symbol is o> or Q. (See handedness,
right and left.)
T h e concept of angular velocity is most
useful in the case of rigid body motion. I f
a rigid body rotates about a fixed axis and
the position vector of any point P with respect
to any point on the axis as origin is r, the
velocity r of P relative to this origin is r =
co X r, where co is the instantaneous vector
angular velocity. This indeed m ay serve as
a definition of o>.
The average angular velocity may be de
fined as the ratio of the angular displacement
divided b y the time. In general, however,
this is not a vector, since a finite angular
displacement is not a vector. The instan
taneous angular velocity is more widely used.
Angular velocities, like linear velocities, are
vectorially added, for example, if a top is
spinning about an axis which is simultaneously
being tipped over toward the table, the re
sultant angular velocity is the vector sum of
the angular velocities of spin and of tipping.
(This enters into the theory of precession.)
The derivatives of the Euler angles are some
times very useful in describing the angular
motion of a rigid body which has components
of angular velocity about all its principal axes.
ANGULAR W ID T H .

See course width.

ANHARMONICITY.
(1) The term me
chanical anharmonicity refers to a mechanical
vibration in which the restoring force acting
on the system does not vary linearly with the
displacement of the system from its equilib
rium position. (2) A phenomenon to which
the term electrical anharmonicity is applied

occurs in the calculation of the intensities of

infrared bands. This phenomenon is a de
parture of the variation of dipole moment
with internuclear distance from a strictly
linear relationship.
ANHARMONIC
MOTION, CLASSICAL.
The motion of an anharmonic oscillator as
treated by classical (non-quantum) mechan
ics.
ANHARMONIC OSCILLATION.
lation, anharmonic.

See oscil

ANHARMONIC TERMS. Terms in the ex

pression for the potential energy of a mole
cule or a solid which are cubic or of higher
power in the displacements of the particles.
T hey are responsible for thermal expansion
and for thermal resistivity through the phonon-phonon interaction.
ANION. An ion which deposits on the anode;
that portion of an electrolyte which carries the
negative charge and travels against the con
ventional direction of the electric current in
a cell. W ithin the category o f anions are
included the nonmetallic ions and the acid
radicals, as well as the hydroxyl ion. In elec
trochemical reactions they are designated by
the minus sign placed above and behind the
symbol, i.e., C l or S 0 4= , the number of
minus signs indicating the magnitude, in elec
trons, of the electrical charge carried by the
anion.
In electrolysis, the anode is positive, and the
anion is attracted. In a battery, it is the
deposition of negative anions that makes the
anode negative.
ANIONIC CURRENT. T h at portion of the
electric current carried by the anions.
ANISEIKON.

An electronic flow-detector.

ANISEIKONIA. A term for unequal imag

ery. B y imagery is meant not the retinal
image, but that which reaches consciousness
as a perception. (See anisopia.)
ANISODESMIC STRUCTURE. A type of
ionic crystal in which some of the ions tend
to form tightly bound groups, e.g., nitrate,
chlorate, etc.
ANISOPIA. Unequal vision in the two eyes
producing unequal imagery.
Anisopia can

be either inherently existing or artificially

produced.
ANISOTROPIC. N ot isotropic; having d if
ferent properties in different directions as in
certain crystals; anisotropic.
ANISOTROPY. A ny property of a material
which results from its anisotropic nature.
ANISOTROPY ENERGY. The magnetization
curve for a single crystal of ferromagnetic m a
terial is found to approach saturation when the
magnetizing field is in certain equivalent crystallographic directions at much lower fields
than when it is in other directions. E.g. in iron
the directions of easy magnetization are the
[100], [010], and [001] directions. The ani
sotropy is apparently a consequence of spinorbit coupling and of interactions among the
electrons of the crystal, which result in the
spontaneous magnetization of individual do
mains being in the direction of easy magnetiza
tion, rather than in the direction of the mag
netizing field. Only at high field strengths is
the magnetization pulled aw ay toward the
direction of the field. The energy stored in the
magnetization of a crystal can be expressed to
C
c, good approximation as
E = K (h 2k2 + k2l2 + l2h2) + H M ,
where h, k , I are the direction cosines of the
magnetic field strength (H) with respect to a
set of axes coincident with the directions of
easy magnetization, K is the anisotropy con
stant-, and M is the magnetization. The first
term on the right, which would be zero for an
isotropic substance, is the anisotropy energy.
ANISOTROPY, FERROMAGNETIC.
discussion of anisotropy energy.
A N L , anl.
limiter.

See

Abbreviation for automatic noise

ANNEALING. The process of holding a solid

material at an elevated temperature for some
length of time in order that any metastable
condition (e.g., frozen-in strains, dislocations,
vacancies, etc.) m ay go into thermodynamic
e quilibrium. This may result in recrystalliza
tion and polygonization of cold-worked sam
ples.
ANNIHILATION. (1) A process in which a
particle and an anti-particle meet and convert
spontaneously into one or more photons; it is

the inverse of pair production. The common

est example is the annihilation of an electron
and a positron, the rest masses of which are
converted into (usually) two 0.511-mev pho
tons according to the principle of mass-energy
equivalence. ( 2 ) The conversion of rest mass
into electromagnetic radiation. (3) See oper
ator, annihilation.
ANNIHILATION FORCE. Contribution to
the force between an electron and a positron
arising from the fact that these particles may
virtually annihilate each other, thereby m ak
ing the charges less effective and the attrac
tion less. This raises the 1 SS level of positronium by an amount %<*4mc 2 (a = M.3 7 ).
(See virtual process; vacuum polarization.)
ANNIHILATION RADIATION.
Electro
magnetic radiation produced by the union,
and consequent annihilation, of a positron and
an electron. Each such annihilation usually
produces two, rarely one or three, photons.
These photons have properties identical with
those of y-rays, and accom pany the decay of
all positron-emitting radioactive substances.
A positron and an electron are most likely to
unite when their relative velocity is small;
hence the energy available for the annihilation
radiation will be that of the rest-masses of the
electron, 2 mec2 [ = 1 .0 2 m ev], and the process
will usually result in the production of two
oppositely-directed photons, each o f energy
0.51 mev.
ANNULAR RESONATOR.
annular.

See resonator,

ANODE. The electrode via which positive

current enters a device. The anode is the posi
tive terminal of an electroplating cell, but the
negative terminal of a battery. The term
anode is customarily used for any thermionic
tube electrode operated at an appreciablypositive potential.
ANODE (ELECTRON TUBES). An elec
trode through which a principal stream of
electrons leaves the interelectrode space. (See
also entries under plate.)
ANODE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE.
See
voltage, anode, breakdown; voltage, break
down.
ANODE CURRENT.

See electrode current.

ANODE, EXCITATION.
der excitron.

See description un

ANODE FALL. In a gas discharge tube, the

fall of potential (it may be either positive,
zero or negative) between the positive column
and the anode.
ANODE, HOLDING.
A small auxiliary
anode in a m ercury-pool rectifier such as an
ignitron or excitron. It is supplied with d-c,
and has the function of keeping a cathode spot
energized during intervals when the main
anode current is zero.
ANODE M ODULATION.
plate.

See modulation,

ANODE RAYS. Among the positively charged

particles recognizable in a (so-called) vacuum
tube, and mixed with the ionized molecules
and atoms of the rarefied gas, are sometimes
found ions which are traceable to the metallic
anode or to impurities in it or upon its sur
face. The anode may be oxidized or have
films or patches of metallic salts upon it which,
in the operation of the tube, in some manner
not fully understood, yield ions of the metal.
I f the anode is treated with alkali or alkalineearth salts or oxides and strongly heated, very
copious positive emission m ay result, serving
as a convenient source of positive rays.

ANODE VOLTAGE
drop, anode.

DROP.

See voltage

ANODE VOLTAGE, PEAK FORWARD. See

voltage, peak forward, anode.
ANODE VOLTAGE, PEAK INVERSE.
voltage, peak inverse, anode.

See

ANODIZE. T o place a protective film on a

metal surface by electrolytic or chemical ac
tion. Aluminum and magnesium parts of elec
tronics equipment are frequently anodized.
ANOLYTE. The liquid near the anode dur
ing electrolysis.
ANOMALOUS
ATOMIC
SCATTERING
M ETHOD. A proposed method of x-ray anal
ysis in which the variation with the x-ray
wavelength of the scattering power of certain
atoms is to be exploited.
ANOMALOUS DISPERSION.
Ordinarily
the refractive index n of a medium decreases
with increasing wavelength A (see dispersion).
It often happens, however, that in the imme
diate vicinity of a certain wavelength Ai there
is a break or discontinuity in the dispersion
curve and the usual rule may be locally re
versed (see figure). In some cases there are

AN OD E, SECOND. The principal pre-de

flection, accelerating anode in an electro
statically focused cathode-ray tube, the first
anode being the focusing electrode or second
grid.
A NODE SHEATH. In a gas discharge tube,
the electron boundary which exists between
the plasma and anode when the current de
manded by the anode circuit is larger than the
random electron current at the surface of the
anode. The anode fall is positive for this
condition.
ANODE STRAP. A metallic connector be
tween selected anode segments of a m ulticavity
magnetron (see magnetron, multicavity) for
the purpose of wide separation.
(See mag
netron, strapping.)
ANODE
supply.

SUPPLY VOLTAGE.

ANODE VOLTAGE.

See plate

See voltage, electrode.

Variation of refractive index with wavelength, illus

trating anomalous dispersion.

several such points, Ai, 2 , A3, . These dis

continuities correspond to lines or bands in the
absorption spectrum of the medium. In the
Sellmeier dispersion formula,
A\2
n ~ 1+ ^

r ^

B\2
+ r ^ ? + '" '

the several fractional terms make provision

for the respective discontinuities. The absorp
tion wavelengths Ai, A2 * * and the constants
A, B, * must be determined experimentally.
I f there is pronounced absorption and anom
alous dispersion in the visible range, the me
dium appears colored, as illustrated by trans-

parent dyes.
formula.)

(See also Hartmann dispersion

ANOMALOUS
M AGNETIC
M OM ENT
(ELECTRON). Contribution 63/4 ttm e 2 to the
magnetic moment of the electron arising from
radiative corrections to the value eh/2me de
rived from the unquantized Dirac electron
theory. (See also gyromagnetic ratio.)
ANOMALOUS OR DISPLACED TERMS.
Spectral terms forming part of a group for
which the limiting terms (corresponding to the
ionizing potential in the normal spectra) have
negative values.
For example, a complete energy level dia
gram for calcium shows two such sets of levels,
marked 3d and 4p, which are located above
the limit for the normal terms of the spectrum.
ANOM ALY OF STRONG ELECTROLYTES.
See electrolytes, anomaly of strong.
ANORTHIC.

See crystal systems.

ANOTRON. A cold-cathode, glow-discharge

diode. The cathode frequently m ay be of
sodium, while the anode is composed of copper.
A-N RADIO RANGE. A radio range provid
ing four radial lines of position identified
aurally as a continuous tone resulting from the
interlocking of equal amplitude UA and N
International M orse code letters. The sense
of deviation from these lines is indicated by
deterioration of the steady tone into audible
A or N code signals.
ANT, ant. Abbreviation for antenna.
ANTENNA. In the process of radio com
munication the power generated in the trans
mitter must be projected or radiated into space
and at the receiver some of this radiated
energy must be abstracted from the passing
radio wave and fed into the receiver proper.
It is the antenna which radiates the power at
the transmitter and which picks up the signal
at the receiver. The antenna form ranges
from a simple short length of wire for the
receiver to an elaborate array of wires or steel
towers for large transmitters. W hen alternat
ing voltage of a high frequency is connected
to a conductor which is open at the end a cor
responding high-frequency a-c will flow in the

conductor and return to the voltage source

through the capacitance between the conductor
and the rest of the circuit. This rapid a-c

causes energy to be radiated into space from

the conductor. This energy travels out from
the conductor and does not return. The con
ductor in this case is the antenna (of course
the various connecting wires of the transmitter
also have high-frequency a-c and hence will
radiate to some extent but very inefficiently).
The efficiency with which an antenna radiates
is determined by its length and configuration,
and its location with respect to the ground,
surrounding objects, etc. In general, better
radiation is obtained when the antenna length
is an appreciable part of a wavelength o f the
radio signal. Thus they are usually such
values as quarter-wave, half-wave, etc.
ANTENNA, ACHROMATIC.
An antenna
whose characteristics are uniform over some
desired band of frequencies.
ANTENNA, ADCOCK. A pair of vertical
antennas separated by a distance of one-half
wavelength or less, and connected in phase
opposition to produce a radiation pattern hav
ing the shape of a figure of eight.
ANTENNA, ALFORD LOOP. A multiele
ment antenna, having approximately equal and
in-phase currents uniformly distributed along
each of its peripheral elements, producing a
substantially circular radiation pattern in the
plane of polarization (originally developed as
a four-element, horizontally-polarized vhf
loop-antenna).
ANTENNA, ALFORD SLOTTED TUBU
LAR. A horizontally-polarized antenna de
veloped for F M broadcast work. It consists
of a sheet of metal bent into the form of a
cylinder which is not quite closed, hence a
straight narrow slot extends the full length
of the cylinder or tube. It is so dimensioned
that the distribution of potential across the
slot has very nearly the same phase through
out the entire length of the slot. The currents
produced flow in horizontal circles around the
cylinder so that the latter operates something
like a stack of small, in-phase loops.
ANTENNA, ALL-W AVE. An antenna de
signed, usually, for reception of the standard
broadcast and short-wave bands. This term
is ambiguous, and should be avoided in writ
ing.
ANTENNA, APERIODIC. A non-resonant,
and thus frequency-insensitive antenna.

ANTENNA, DIRECTIONAL. An antenna

having the property of radiating or receiving
radio waves more effectively in some direc
tions than others.
ANTENNA DIRECTIVE
tenna power gain.

GAIN.

See an

ANTENNA, DISCONE. An antenna of a

disk and a cone whose apex approaches and
becomes common with the outer conductor of
the coaxial feed at its extremity. The center
conductor terminates at the center of the disk,
which is perpendicular to the axis of the cone.
Its most important characteristic is its ability
to operate over a very wide bandwidth with
out a substantial change of input impedance
or radiation pattern. The radiation pattern
is omnidirectional in a plane perpendicular to
the axis of the cone.
ANTENNA, DOUBLET. Sometimes referred
to as a half-w ave dipole or H ertz antenna, it
is center-fed and has an over-all length of
approximately one-half a wavelength.
(See
antenna, dipole.)
ANTENNA, DUM M Y. A device which has
the necessary impedance characteristics of an
antenna and the necessary power-handling
capabilities, but which does not radiate or
receive radio waves. In receiver practice, that
portion of the impedance not included in the
signal generator is often called dummy an
tenna.
ANTENNA EFFECT. (1) (Old usage.) In
a loop antenna (see antenna, loop), any spuri
ous effect resulting from the capacitance of
the loop to ground. (2) In navigation systems
employing antennas, any output signals due to
the directional array acting as a non-directional antenna (also called height effect). In
usual direction finding practice on ground
waves antenna effect would be manifested:
If in phase by an angular displacement of the
nulls from 180 displacement; if in quadrature,
by a residual signal obscuring the nulls. The
in-phase effect is often used to eliminate the
180 ambiguity, i.e., to permit sense finding.
ANTENNA EFFECTIVE RESISTANCE. See
antenna resistance.
ANTENNA, FANNED-BEAM. A unidirec
tional antenna so designed that transverse

cross sections of the m ajor lobe are approxi

mately elliptical.
ANTENNA, FISHBONE. An antenna con
sisting of a series of coplanar elements ar
ranged in collinear pairs, loosely coupled to
a balanced transmission line.
ANTENNA, FLAGPOLE. The name some
times applied to the coaxial antenna (see an
tenna, coaxial) because of its flagpole-like
appearance.
ANTENNA, FOLD ED DIPOLE.
An an
tenna composed of two parallel, closely spaced
dipole antennas (see antenna, dipole) con
nected together at their ends with one of the
dipole antennas fed at its center.
ANTENNA, FRANKLIN.
linear.

See antenna, co-

ANTENNA, GAIN OF. (Old usage.) The

measured gain of one transmitting or receiving
antenna over another is the ratio of the signal
power one antenna produces at the receiver
input terminals to that produced by the other,
the transmitting power level remaining fixed.
(See also antenna power gain.)
ANTENNA, GROUNDED.
Marconi or grounded.

See

ANTENNA, GROUND-PLANE.
tenna, counterpoise.

antenna,

See

an

ANTENNA, GROUND SYSTEM OF. That

portion of an antenna, closely associated with
and including an extensive conducting surface,
which may be the earth itself.
ANTENNA, HARMONIC. A long-wire an
tenna which has a length that is an integral
multiple of a half-wavelength.
ANTENNA HEIGHT ABOVE AVERAGE
TERRAIN.
The average of the antenna
heights above the terrain from two to ten miles
from the antenna. (In general a different an
tenna height will be determined by each direc
tion from the antenna. The average of these
various heights is considered as the antenna
height above the average terrain.)
ANTENNA HEIGHT, EFFECTIVE. In its
former usage, this term was applied to the
actual height of the vertical section, multiplied
by the ratio of the average current in that
section, to the input current. In its present

usage, this term means the height of the an

tenna center of radiation above the effective
ground level. For an antenna with symmet
rical current distribution, the center of radia
tion is the center of distribution. For an an
tenna with asymmetrical current distribution,
the center of radiation is the center of current
moments when viewed from directions near
the direction of maximum radiation.
ANTENNA
H EIG H T,
ELECTRICAL
(LENGTH). The actual length of the an
tenna in terms of wavelengths or fractions
thereof. Applicable only in systems with sinu
soidal current distribution.
ANTENNA, H ELICAL. An antenna used
where circular polarization is required. The
driven element consists of a helix supported
above a ground plane. I f the circumference
of one turn is approximately one wavelength
the radiation is said to be in the axial mode
and is directed predominately along the axis
of the helix. In this mode the antenna has
good efficiency and relatively broad band
width.
ANTENNA, HERTZ.

See antenna, doublet.

ANTENNA, HORN-TYPE. A flared, open ex

tension o f a waveguide which m ay be dimen
sioned to provide impedance match between
the waveguide and free space as well as direc
tional characteristics over a com paratively
wide frequency-range.
ANTENNA INPUT RESISTANCE.
tenna resistance.

See an

ANTENNA, ISOTROPIC (UNIPOLE).

A
hypothetical antenna radiating or receiving
equally in all directions. A pulsating sphere
is a unipole for sound waves. In the case of
electromagnetic waves, unipoles do not exist
physically, but represent convenient reference
antennas for expressing directive properties of
actual antennas.
ANTENNA, J. A half-w ave antenna, end-fed
b y a parallel-wire, quarter-wave section hav
ing the configuration of a J.
ANTENNA, L. A single-wire horizontal an
tenna, fed from one end, giving it an L-shaped
appearance.
ANTENNA, LEAKY-PIPE. External radia
tion is produced by providing a hole or slot in

a waveguide propagating electromagnetic

power. Proper choice of the size and location
of a series of holes in the waveguide may lead
to quite directional radiation-patterns.
ANTENNA, LENS. T o satisfy high direc
tivity requirements, a lens is often placed in
front of another radiator such as a dipole or
horn. In much the same manner as an optical
lens focuses light waves, these microwave
lenses focus the high-frequency energy into a
sharp beam.
ANTENNA, LENS (ARTIFICIAL D IELEC
TRIC OF). The function of the dielectric is
to delay the portion of the wavefront going
through the middle of the lens. These lenses
are sometimes called delay lenses for this rea
son. Because of their weight, dielectric lenses
made from such materials as polystyrene are
not usually used in microwave lenses. Instead
an artificial dielectric is produced by support
ing small metal disks or spheres in a lattice
arrangement to simulate the molecules o f a
true dielectric. This lens is quite broadband.
ANTENNA, LENS (DELAY OF).
tenna, lens (artificial dielectric of).

See an

ANTENNA, LENS (METALLIC). Parallel

metal surfaces placed parallel to the E field
produced by a radiator.
Since the phase
velocity in a waveguide is larger than the freespace velocity, the net phase change at a given
point may be controlled by varying the length
of the path the wave travels between the sur
faces.
Thus a spherical wave may pass
through the lens and emerge a plane wave
because of the selective phase-shift functions
performed. (See antenna, lens.)
ANTENNA, LENS (PATH LENGTH). This
lens retains the hyperbolic shape of the arti
ficial dielectric lens, but contains parallel con
ducting sheets which are perpendicular to the
E field. The sheets may be corrugated or set
at an angle to produce a longer path length
through the lens than through free space, so
that an equivalent angle of refraction is pro
duced.
ANTENNA, LONG-WIRE. A linear antenna
which, by virtue of its considerable length in
comparison with the operating wavelength,
provides a directional radiation pattern.

ANTENNA, LOOP. An antenna consisting

o f one or more complete turns of conductor
and functioning by virtue of the circulatory
current therein.
ANTENNA, LOOPSTICK. A reduced-size
loop antenna (see antenna, loop) having the
loop wound on a rod or bar of some type of
ferrite material.
ANTENNA, MARCONI-FRANKLIN.
This
array (see antenna array), one of the first em
ployed for high-speed shortwave point-topoint communication, consists of a front cur
tain of vertical radiators, each consisting of
several cophased dipoles in series, and another
curtain of reflecting wires of the same con
struction situated one-quarter wavelength to
the rear. There are twice as many reflectors
as radiators.
ANTENNA, MARCONI OR GROUNDED.
An antenna with one end of its radiating sur
face grounded. It may be considered as a
transmission line open-circuited at the far end
and driven at the sending end, which is the
junction between antenna and ground.
ANTENNA, MARKER. The transmitting an
tenna for a marker beacon.
ANTENNA MOUNT, SCANNING. A me
chanical support for an antenna which provides
mechanical means for scanning or tracking
with the antenna and means to take off infor
mation for indication and control.
ANTENNA, MULTIPLE-TUNED. A lowfrequency antenna having a horizontal section
with a m ultiplicity of tuned vertical sections.
ANTENNA, MUSA. A multiple-unit steerable antenna consisting of a number of sta
tionary antennas, the composite m ajor lobe
(see lobe, major) of which is electrically steerable.
ANTENNA, NOTCH-EXCITED. An antenna
in which radiation currents are caused to flow
in stabilizing fins or wings of a missile or air
craft.

ANTENNA, OSCILLATING DOUBLET. A

reference standard against which the direc
tional characteristics of an antenna may be
compared. Ideally it consists of two closely
spaced charges of opposite sign, both oscillat
ing in the same phase. Also, it m ay be re
garded as an infinitely-short, linear currentelement.
ANTENNA, PARABOLIC. A directional an
tenna (see antenna, directional) using some
form of a paraboloidal mirror either to con
vert plane waves into spherical waves or to
convert spherical waves into plane waves.
The reflector is fed or illuminated by the
use of dipoles, waveguide feed systems, or
horns. The simple parabolic mirror is truly
a broad-band device.
ANTENNA, PARASITIC. An antenna ele
ment that operates as a part of an array with
out direct connection to the source of power
(or in the case o f a receiver, without connec
tion to the receiver terminals).
ANTENNA PATTERN.
tern.

See radiation pat

ANTENNA, PENCIL-BEAM.
A unidirec
tional antenna (see antenna, unidirectional),
so designed that cross sections of the major
lobe by planes perpendicular to the direction
of maximum radiation are approximately cir
cular.
ANTENNA, PHASE-SHAPED.
shaped-beam.

See antenna,

ANTENNA, PILL-BOX. A cylindrical, para

bolic reflector enclosed by two plates perpen
dicular to the cylinder, so spaced as to permit
the propagation of only one mode in the de
sired direction of polarization. It is fed on
the focal line.
ANTENNA, POCKET.
A non-protruding
slot antenna (see antenna, slot) developed for
aircraft applications.

See an-

ANTENNA POLYROD. A form of dielectric

antenna (see antenna, dielectric) made of
polystyrene rods.

ANTENNA, OMNIDIRECTIONAL. An an
tenna producing essentially constant field
strength in azimuth, and a directive radiation
pattern in elevation.

ANTENNA POWER GAIN. In a given di

rection 4tr times the ratio of the radiation in
tensity in that direction to the total power
delivered to the antenna.

ANTENNA OHM IC RESISTANCE.

tenna resistance.

ANTENNA, QUARTER-WAVE. An antenna

which is electrically one-quarter of a wave
length long. It m ay be physically longer or
shorter than one-quarter wavelength in free
space.
ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN.
radiation pattern.

See

ANTENNA
RADIATION
See radiation resistance.

RESISTANCE.

ANTENNA, RAMSHORN.

See antenna, U.

ANTENNA, RECEIVING. An antenna used

for the reception of radiated electromagnetic
waves.
ANTENNA RESISTANCE. The quotient of
the power supplied to the entire antenna cir
cuit by the square of the effective antenna cur
rent referred to a specified point. Antenna
resistance is made up of such components as
radiation resistance, ground resistance, radio
frequency resistance of conductors in the an
tenna circuit, and equivalent resistance due to
corona, eddy currents, insulator leakage, and
dielectric power loss.
ANTENNA
RESONANT
FREQUENCY.
The frequency or frequencies at which the
antenna appears as a pure resistance.
ANTENNA, RHOMBIC. An antenna com
posed of long-wire radiators comprising the
sides of a rhombus. The antenna usually is
terminated in an impedance. The sides of the
rhombus, the angle between the sides, the
elevation, and the termination are propor
tioned to give the desired directivity.
ANTENNA, ROTARY. A ny form of antenna
which may be rotated around its center in
order that its directional characteristics may
be used to advantage.
ANTENNA, SCANNING. A directional an
tenna (see antenna, directional) employed in
radar which m echanically or electrically
causes its radiation to scan periodically a
given arc or solid angle.
ANTENNA, SECTIONALIZED VERTICAL.
A vertical antenna (see antenna, vertical)
which is insulated at one or more points along
its length.
The insertion of suitable re
actances or applications of a driving voltage
across the insulated points results in a m odi

fied current distribution giving a more desired

radiation pattern in the vertical plane.
ANTENNA, SECTORAL.

See horn, sectoral.

ANTENNA, SERIES-FED VERTICAL. A

vertical antenna (see antenna, vertical) which
is insulated from ground and energized at the
base.
ANTENNA SERIES LOADING. A method
of tuning whereby the effective height of a
vertical colinear array may increase with
proper nonradiating impedances employed be
tween the elements. (See antenna, colinear.)
ANTENNA,
SHAPED-BEAM
(PHASE
SHAPED). A unidirectional antenna (see
antenna, unidirectional) whose m ajor lobe
differs materially from that obtainable from
an aperture of uniform phase. A cosec2 0
beam is a shaped beam whose intensity in
some plane varies as cosec2 0 over a pre
scribed range, where 6 is a polar angle in that
plane. The half-power width in planes per
pendicular to this plane is approximately con
stant for the prescribed range of 0.
ANTENNA, SHUNT-FED VERTICAL. A
vertical antenna (see antenna, vertical) con
nected to ground at the base and energized at
a point suitably positioned above the ground
ing point.
ANTENNA, SIMPLE DOUBLET.
tenna, doublet; antenna, dipole.

See an

ANTENNA, SLEEVE-DIPOLE.
A dipole
antenna (see antenna, dipole) surrounded in
its central portion by a coaxial sleeve.
ANTENNA, SLEEVE STUB. An antenna
consisting of half of a sleeve-dipole antenna
projecting from an extended metal surface.
ANTENNA, SLOT.
A radiating
formed by a slot in a metal surface.

element

ANTENNA, SPACED.
An antenna array
used for diversity reception, consisting of
several antennas spaced several wavelengths
apart.
ANTENNA, SPHERICAL.
tropic (unipole).

See antenna iso

ANTENNA, SPIDER-WEB.
An antenna
array consisting of several different-length
doublets coupled to a common transmission

line for wide band (standard broadcast and

shortwave) reception.
Suitable frequencysensitive elements are used, so that essentially
only one antenna functions at a given fre
quency. The name is derived from its phys
ical appearance.
ANTENNA, SQUARE LOOP. An array (see
antenna array) consisting of four dipole ra
diators arranged in a square. The dipoles may
take the form of folded or simple dipoles fed
at the center.
ANTENNA, STEERABLE. A directional an
tenna (see antenna, directional) whose m ajor
lobe (see lobe, major) can be readily shifted
in direction.
ANTENNA, STERBA CURTAIN. An array
employing a front curtain of several radiators
spaced one-half wavelength, with uniphased
currents, and a similar reflector curtain di
rectly excited by transmission lines. R adia
tion is directed perpendicularly to the line of
the array.
ANTENNA, SUPER-TURNSTILE. An im
proved version of the turnstile antenna. It
has a broader bandwidth and is easier fed
than the original turnstile developed by
Brown. (See antenna, turnstile.)
ANTENNA, TOP-LOADED VERTICAL. A
vertical antenna (see antenna, vertical) so
constructed that, because of its greater size at
the top, there results a modified current dis
tribution giving a more desirable radiation
pattern in the vertical plane. A series reactor
may be connected between the enlarged por
tion of the antenna and the remaining struc
ture.
ANTENNA, TRIDIPOLE.
An omnidirec
tional, horizontally-polarized antenna consist
ing of three dipoles displaced from each other
by 60 in the horizontal plane. The radiators
are curved, causing the array to have a cir
cular appearance.
ANTENNA, TURNSTILE. An antenna com
posed of two dipole antennas (see antenna,
dipole), normal to each other, with their axes
intersecting at their midpoints. Usually, the
currents are equal and in phase quadrature.
ANTENNA, TURNSTILE, DE MARS. An
improved turnstile antenna in which certain
phasing operations are performed at the base

o f the supporting tower rather than at the

antenna elements. (See antenna, turnstile.)
ANTENNA, U. A combination of the Alford
antenna and V antenna, consisting of two
members of streamlined cross-section forming
a U. Usually used with aircraft, the U is
mounted on a pedestal slightly less than a
quarter wavelength above the fusilage. B e
cause of its appearance, it is sometimes called
the ram shom antenna.
ANTENNA, UNIDIRECTIONAL. An an
tenna which has a single well-defined direc
tion of maximum gain.
ANTENNA,
UNIDIRECTIONAL
COU
PLET. A two-dimensional array made up of
pairs of isotropic antennas spaced a quarter
wave apart and phased by a quarter period.
The directional pattern of each pair is a
cardioid. This is thus a type of broadside
array. (See antenna, broadside array.)
ANTENNA, V. A V-shaped arrangement of
conductors, balanced-fed at the apex, and
with included angle, length, and elevation pro
portioned to give the desired directivity.
ANTENNA,
WAVE
(BEVERAGE
AN
TENNA). A directional antenna (see an
tenna, directional) composed of a system of
parallel, horizontal conductors from one-half
to several wavelengths long, and terminated
to ground at the far end in its characteristic
impedance.
ANTENNA, YAGI. An array with one or
more parasitic elements (see antenna, para
sitic) in addition to the driven element or
elements. The parasitic element captures
energy from the field produced by the driven
antenna and reradiates it in a phase (relative
to the phase of the radiation from the driven
unit) that is a function of both the spacing
of the elements and the length of the parasitic
element. I f the resultant radiation pattern
has its maximum in the direction of the driven
element, the parasitic element is called a re
flector, whereas if the maximum radiation is
in the direction of the parasitic antenna, it is
called a director.
ANTI-. A prefix used before the name of an
elementary particle to indicate another par
ticle with certain symmetry characteristics.
(See antineutrino; antiproton; antiparticle;
etc.)

ANTIBONDING
antibonding.

ORBITAL.

See

orbital,

ANTICATHODE. In an x-ray tube, the tar

get on which the electron beam is focused and
from which the x-rays are radiated.
ANTI-CLUTTER CIRCUITS. In radar, cir
cuits which attenuate undesired reflections to
permit detection of targets otherwise obscured
by such reflections. (See clutter.)
ANTICOINCIDENCE.
anti-.

See

coincidence,

ANTICOINCIDENCE CIRCUIT. A circuit

with two input terminals which delivers an
output pulse if one input terminal receives a
pulse, but delivers no output pulse if pulses
are received by both input terminals simul
taneously or within an assignable time in
terval. (See resolving time; coincidence.)
ANTICOINCIDENCE
COUNTER.
counter, anticoincidence.

See

ANTICOMM UTATOR OF T W O OPERA

TORS. If A, B are two operators their anti
com mutator is (A, B } + = AB + BA.
ANTICYCLONE. A large atmospheric eddy,
whose horizontal dimensions vary from a few
hundred miles to several thousand miles. It
rotates in a clockwise manner in the northern
hemisphere and a counterclockwise manner in
the southern hemisphere when viewed from
above. The barometric pressure within an
anticyclone is high relative to its surroundings,
and a pressure gradient exists from its center
toward its periphery. A well-developed anti
cyclone is essentially an air mass.

spontaneous polarization is small, or even

vanishing. These materials are described as
being antiferroelectric. Strictly the term is
applied only to substances in which the net
spontaneous polarization is zero; materials in
which the polarizations of the individual ions
cancel only in part are often referred to as
quasi-ferroelectrics or as ferrielectrics.
ANTIFERROELECTRIC
MATERIALS.
Those in which spontaneous electric polariza
tion occurs in lines o f ions, with adjacent lines
in an antiparallel arrangement.
(See ferro
electric; ferroelectric materials.) The rela
tion of antiferroelectrics to ferroelectrics is
similar to that of antiferromagnetics to ferro
magnetics.
(See antiferromagnetism and
ferromagnetism.)
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC EXCHANGE IN
TEGRAL. In the Heisenberg theory of fer
romagnetism, the interaction between the
spins of electrons on neighboring atoms de
pends on the sign of the exchange integral.
Under certain circumstances, this integral
may have a sign which favors an antiparallel
arrangement of the spins. This is interpreted
as leading to the phenomena of antiferromag
netism.
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM. The observed
susceptibility curves of certain substances

ANTICYCLOGENESIS. The process which

creates or develops a new anticyclone. The
word is applied also to the process which pro
duces an intensification of a pre-existing anti
cyclone.
ANTICYCLOTRON. A form of travelingwave tube. (See tube, traveling-wave.)
ANTI-ELECTRON.
tron.

See anti-particle; posi

ANTIFERROELECTRIC. Certain crystals,

such as W 0 3 and A g2H 3I 0 6, have been shown
to exhibit spontaneous microscopic polariza
tion similar to that in ferroelectrics, except
that different types of ions are polarized in
different directions, so that the megascopic

Antiferromagnetic state spin structure of manganese

oxide as determined by Shull, Strauser and Wollan.

suggest that the system has gone into a state

analogous to the ferromagnetic state, but
with neighboring spins antiparallel, instead of
parallel. That is, such substances exhibit a
paramagnetism (low positive susceptibility)
that varies with temperature in a manner
similar to ferromagnetism, exhibiting a Curie
point.
Their resulting superlattices have
been observed by neutron diffraction. The
interaction giving preference to the antiparal
lel arrangement is believed to be an exchange
force, similar to that invoked in the Heisen
berg theory of ferromagnetism, but opposite
in sign. Evidence from face-centered crystals
has suggested the importance of superexchange
between next-nearest neighbors, through the
anions.
ANTIHALATION BACKING. In the record
ing of spectra by the photographic method,
there is a tendency for lines to be broadened
by light passing through the photographic
plate and then being reflected back to the
emulsion. This broadening of lines is called
halation. It may be largely overcome by
coating the back of the plate with a non-re
flecting coating. Some spectrographic plates
now have a colored layer between the emul
sion and the glass for the purpose of absorb
ing this undesired light.
ANTIHUNTING CIRCUIT. A stabilizing or
equalizing circuit used in a closed-loop feed
back system to m odify the response of the sys
tem in order that self-oscillations may be pre
vented.
ANTIHUNT TRANSFORMER.
former, antihunt.
ANTIMATTER.
antiparticles.

See trans-

M atter made up entirely of

ANTIMONY. M etallic element.

A tom ic number 51.
ANTINEUTRINO.
theory.

Symbol Sb.

See neutrino; beta-decay

ANTINODES (LOOPS). The points, lines,

or surfaces in a standing wave (see wave,
standing) system where some characteristic
of the wave field has maximum amplitude.
The appropriate modifier should be used with
the word antinode to signify the type that
is intended (pressure antinode, velocity anti
node, etc.). (See also loop.)

ANTI-NOISE DEVICE.

See codan.

ANTIPARALLEL. H aving opposite senses.

Thus, in the figure, the vectors A and B are
A

antiparallel, while the vectors C and D are

parallel.
ANTIPARTICLE. If it is assumed that the
Dirac electron theory should (with some
changes which are not yet completely under
stood) generalize to give a theory for all par
ticles of spin y2h, then it appears that there
must exist states of negative energy for the
proton, neutron, neutrino, jx-meson and any
other spin
particles similar to the ones
that are assumed to exist for the electron. A
vacuum ordinarily would have all such states
filled. The absence of a particle in one of
these states would leave a hole much as the
absence of a drop of water in the center of a
filled glass leaves a bubble. The Dirac Equa
tion indicates that this hole should behave
as though it had a mass identical to that of
the particle which was removed but the re
verse of all of its electromagnetic properties
and the reverse o f its angular momentum.
Such a hole is referred to as an antiparticle.
In lifting a particle, say a proton, out of a
state of negative energy, it is necessary to
supply twice the rest mass energy of the par
ticle plus the kinetic energy given to the par
ticle (proton) and its antiparticle (the proton
hole or antiproton). I f such a process takes
place, it is said that a proton-antiproton pair
has been produced. These antiparticles have
been observed experimentally.
Any particle and its corresponding antipar
ticle may be involved in an annihilation proc
ess, with the emission of annihilation radia
tion.
ANTIPROTON.

See antiparticle.

ANTIRECIPROCAL ELEMENT. See net

work element (antireciprocal) (nonreciprocal)
(reciprocal).
ANTIREGENERATIVE DEVICES. See neu
tralization; antihunting circuit; equalizer.
ANTIRESONANCE (PARALLEL IM PED
ANCE). In general, a condition o f maxi
mum impedance, as results when two or more

impedors are connected in parallel, under such

conditions that (for resistanceless im pedors),
Z approaches infinity when W12 = 1 /L C . The
term antiresonance is com monly used with
suitable modifiers.
(See antiresonance, dis
placement and antiresonance, velocity.)

term is also applied to any physical system in

which each point has properties opposite to
those of a point symmetrically located with
respect to it, e.g., an electric dipole is anti
symmetric in its charge distribution.
(See
symmetric.)

ANTIRESONANCE,
DISPLACEMENT.
Displacement antiresonance exists between a
body, or system, and an applied sinusoidal
force if any small change in the frequency of
the applied force causes an increase in the
amplitude of displacement at the driving
point.

ANTITRADE WINDS. A bove the northeast

and southeast trade winds there frequently are
present westerly winds known as the anti
trades. Reversal of direction occurs as low
as a few thousand feet or as high as 3 -4 miles.

ANTIRESONANCE, VELOCITY. V elocity

antiresonance exists between a body, or sys
tem, and an applied sinusoidal force if any
small change in the frequency of the applied
force causes an increase in velocity at the
driving point, or if the frequency of an ap
plied force is such that the absolute value of
the driving-point impedance (see impedance,
driving point) is a maximum.
ANTIRESONANT FREQUENCY.
quency, antiresonant.

See fre

ANTI-SIDE-TONE. In the older types of

telephone subscribers sub-set the sound going
into the transmitter (mouthpiece) can be
heard in the receiver. This is known as sidetone and has some objectionable features. It
causes the speaker unconsciously to lower the
voice and thus reduces the energy transmitted,
and it also increases the effect of any local
noise by causing it to appear in the receiver.
It is thus desirable to eliminate or at least
reduce the side-tone and special circuits and
equipment have been devised. These sub-sets
are known as anti-side-tone sets.
ANTISTOKES LINES. W hen all the mole
cules are in the normal state, the only possible
transitions caused by exciting radiation are
those in which the scattered or fluorescent
light is of the same or lower frequency than
the incident light (Stokes Lines). However if
some of the atoms or molecules are in states
higher than normal, lines of frequencies higher
than that of the incident light (Antistokes
Lines) m ay result. (See Raman effect.)
ANTISYMMETRIC.
(1) A function which
is transformed into its negative when the vari
ables of the function are interchanged in pairs,
or the sign of a variable is changed. (2) The

ANTI - TRANSIT - RECEIVER

TUBE
(SWITCH).
See tube, anti-transit-receiver;
switch, TR; duplexer.
ANTONOFF RULE. The tension at the in
terface between two saturated liquid layers
which are in equilibrium is equal to the differ
ence between the individual surface tensions
against air or vapor of the two saturated so
lutions. This rule is approximate only and
a number of exceptions are known.
ANVIL. The characteristic fibrous, spread
ing top o f a cumulonimbus cloud in full de
development.
APERTOMETER.
A device designed by
A bbe for measuring the numerical aperture
(see aperture, numerical) of microscope ob
jectives.
APERTURE.
Qualitatively, any opening
through which radiation or particle fluxes m ay
pass. In optical and electron-optical instru
ments, the term aperture has acquired specific
or quantitative meanings given below.
APERTURE, ANGULAR. (1) For a point
object lying on the optical axis, the angular
aperture is the maximum half angle subtended
by the refracting surface at the object. (See
also projection, angle of.)
(2) The angle
subtended by the radius of the entrance pupil
of an optical instrument at an axial object
point.
APERTURE COMPENSATION. The reduc
tion of aperture distortion by boosting the
high frequency gain of the television camera
video amplifier.
APERTURE
COUPLING
(COUPLING
HOLE, COUPLING SLOT). An aperture in
the wall of waveguide or cavity resonator de

signed to transfer energy to or from an ex

ternal circuit.

APEX. The tip, point, or summit of a curve

or surface. (See vertex.)

APERTURE ILLUMINATION.
The field
distribution in amplitude and phase (2) over
the aperture.

API, api.
position.

APERTURE LENS.
electric.

APLANATIC LENS SYSTEM.

A system
which satisfies the equation, ny sin u = nry f
sin v! constant. Unprimed letters refer to
object space, primed to image space, n, n'
are indices of refraction; y, y ' are distances
o f a point object and its point image from the
optical axis; and u, uf are angles made by a
ray with the optical axis. This equation is
known as Abbe s sine condition.
A triple aplanat is a compound lens made
of two diverging lenses of flint glass between
which is cemented a converging lens of crown
glass.

See lenses, apertures as

APERTURE MASK.
A perforated plate
placed in a color-television tube between the
focusing and accelerating electrodes, and the
tri-color phosphor screen.
APERTURE, NUMERICAL. Abbe named
the quantity n sin u the numerical aperture
(N .A .) of a lens, u is the angular radius of
the lens as seen from a point on the optical
axis at the object, and n is the index of re
fraction of the medium between the object
and the lens.
APERTURE OF A LENS. The diameter of
the lens. (See aperture, relative, and aper
ture, numerical.)
APERTURE OF A UNIDIRECTIONAL AN
TENNA. T hat portion of a plane surface
near the antenna, perpendicular to the direc
tion of maximum radiation, through which
the m ajor part of the radiation passes.
APERTURE, RELATIVE (OR F-NUMBER).
The ratio of the focal length of an optical
system to the diameter of the entrance pupil.
APERTURE STOP. That opening in an op
tical system, frequently one of the lenses it
self, which limits the size of the bundle of
rays which can pass from a point on the ob
ject to the corresponding point of the image.
The aperture stop of a system may be a d if
ferent opening for objects at different dis
tances from the system.
APERTURE, TELEVISION.
In transmit
ting the television image it is necessary to
break it down into elements of very small
area. In early mechanical scanning methods
this wa& done by observing the image
through an opening or aperture which scanned
the scene. In modern equipment the scanning
is no longer done mechanically but the term
aperture is used to denote the size o f one of
the elements into which the picture is broken
for transmission.

APLANAT.

Abbreviation for indicator, airSee aplanatic lens system.

APLANATIC POINTS. Tw o points on the

axis of an optical system which have the prop
erty that rays proceeding from one of them
shall all converge to, or appear to diverge
from, the other. The two foci of an ellipsoid
of revolution are aplanatic points.
APLANATIC SURFACE. An optical surface
for which two aplanatic points exist.
APOCHROMATIC SYSTEM.
A system
which is aplanatic and achromatic for two or
more colors, and is free from secondary spec
trum.
APOSTILB. A unit of luminance, equal to
% 0,000 Iambert.
APPARENT CANDLE POWER. A measure
of the equivalent luminous intensity of an
extended source at a specified distance in
terms of a point source which would produce
the same illumination at the same distance.
(See also candle.)
APPARENT MOLAR QUANTITY. F or a
solution containing ni moles of solvent and
moles of solute, an apparent molar property
is defined as
X 7l\X\
n2
where X is the value of the property for the
whole solution and Xx the molar property for
the pure solvent; e.g., the apparent molar v o l
ume of the solute is (V UiVx)/n2) V being

the total volume and V\ the volume per mole

of the solvent.
APPEARANCE POTENTIAL (MASS SPECTROMETER).
The minimum energy that
the electron beam in the ion source must have
in order to produce ions of a particular species
when a molecule is ionized.
APPLEGATE DIAGRAM . A graphical ex
planation o f the process of bunching in velocity-modulation tubes. The example below is
for the tw o-cavity klystron. In this diagram

APPLIED SHOCK. A n y excitation which,

if applied to a system, would produce shock
motion within the system.
APPLIQUE CIRCUIT. A circuit that can
be added to a complete basic circuit to in
crease, or change, the possible applications of
the basic circuit. F or example, some carrier
telephone equipment designed for dial signal
ing can be converted to ringdown signaling
through the use o f an applique circuit.
APPROXIMATE IN THE MEAN. A func
tion f ( x ) is approximated in the mean by the
sum

n aiUi

if

lim

I ( f 2 diUifwdx = 0

n>oo J

where w is the appropriate weighting func

tion.
APPROXIMATION,
CLASSICAL.
See
Wentzel-Kramer-Brillouin approximation.
APPROXIMATION METHODS IN QUAN
TUM MECHANICS. See perturbation the.
ory; variation method; Wentzel-KramersBrillouin approximation; Hartree method;
Hartree-Fock method.

Applegate diagram. (B y permission from M icro

wave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al., 1953,
D . Van Nostrand Company, Inc.)

the positions of electrons that pass through

the output gap at various instants in the cycle
o f buncher voltage is shown as a function of
time. Th e slope of any curve is equal to the
velocity with which the corresponding elec
tron leaves the input gap.
Close spacing of the velocity lines indicates
that many electrons pass a given point in a
short time interval, that is, that the electrons
pass in bunches.
APPLETON LAYER.
and F2 layers.

T he ionospheric F x

APPLICATOR
(APPLICATOR
ELEC
TRODES). In dielectric heating usage, ap
propriately-shaped conducting surfaces be
tween which is established an alternating elec
tric field for the purpose of producing dielec
tric heating.

AQUADAG. A trade name for a suspension

o f graphite. A coating formed b y this ma
terial and subsequent evaporation is conduct
ing and is frequently used as an electrode or
as a sink for secondary electrons.
ARAGO SPOT. A bright point which, owing
to diffraction, appears at the center o f the
shadow o f a circular object in light from a
point source.
ARC. A discharge of electricity through a gas,
normally characterized by a voltage drop ap
proxim ately equal to the ionization potential
of the gas.
ARC BACK (BACKFIRE). This is the o c
currence o f an arc from anode to cathode in
a gaseous rectifier tube. N orm ally such a
tube has electrons flowing from the cathode
to the anode but under certain conditions ex
cessive heating o f the anode, excessive voltage
across the tube, or other effects m ay cause the
anode to emit electrons and allow an arc dis
charge to take place. Under many circuit
conditions this may destroy the tube or it
m ay merely open the protective devices.

ARC BAFFLE. An obstruction placed in

m ercury-pool tubes to prevent mercury from
splashing onto the anode. Also called splash
baffle. A rc baffles are illustrated in the fig
ures accom panying the definitions of excitron
and ignitron.
ARC, CARBON. A brilliant light source be
tween two carbon rods which are first touched
together to start and then separated a few
mm. W ith d-c, the hottest point is the crater
which forms on the anode ( + term inal). The
flaming arc is produced by putting a core into
each carbon rod containing some material
such as strontium, calcium, cobalt or sodium
salts which causes the most luminous area to
be between the carbons. B y putting a sample
of an unknown into the anode crater, the un
known will be volatilized and its spectrum
(arc spectrum) m ay be observed. The anode
crater of a high current carbon arc, with its
temperature of over 5000 C, is one of the hot
test sources known in the laboratory.
ARC CHUTE. A restricted passage around a
set of contacts. W hen the contacts open the
resulting arc is forced into the chute by chim
ney action. The arc-path is lengthened and
deionization is accomplished in less time.
ARC CONVERTOR.

See convertor, arc.

ARC DISCHARGE.

See discharge, arc.

ARC-DROP LOSS.

See loss, arc-drop.

ARC, FLASH. The sudden, sometimes de

structive, increase in emission of a thermionic
cathode thought to be due to irregularities in
the cathode surface.
ARCHIM EDES PRINCIPLE. A body im
mersed in a fluid is acted on by a buoyancy
force, made evident by a loss of weight, equal
to the weight of displaced fluid.
ARC, KEEP-ALIVE.
(1) In m ercury-pool
tubes, a current between the cathode and an
auxiliary or excitation anode. Sufficient cur
rent is drawn by this anode to maintain a
cathode spot until such time as conduction to
the main anode is desired. (See ignitron; exci
tron.) (2) T R , A T R and P R E -T R tubes. A
more recent term is ignitor, discharge. (See
discharge ignitor.)
ARC LINE. A spectrum line observed in an
arc spectrum; usually a line in the spectrum
o f the un-ionized atom.

ARC LOSS.

See loss, arc.

ARC, MERCURY.
The electric discharge
through mercury vapor, between electrodes
either of mercury or of some solid metal, is
among the richest sources of ultraviolet radia
tion and has long been used as such. In the
more common forms now in use at least one
electrode is of mercury, deposited in a suitable
reservoir at the end of a quartz tube. As these
tubes are operated on moderate voltage, it is
necessary to start or strike the arc by tem
porarily running a small stream o f mercury
through the tube from one electrode to the
other. This makes a mercury conductor which
quickly grows hot and fills the tube with mer
cury vapor, after which the mercury stream
is broken and the arc is self-sustaining. The
temperature is not nearly so high as in solidelectrode arcs, and these lamps are quite effi
cient.
I f the mercury vapor becomes too
dense, the conductivity falls off; therefore in
some forms, as the Cooper-H ewitt lamp, ar
rangements are provided for condensing the
vapor to a fixed density. The bulb must be
made o f quartz for ultra-violet because glass
is highly opaque to that radiation. In some
forms, a fluorite window is inserted, instead,
in a glass bulb. M ercury arcs with glass tubes
have proved useful to some extent for illu
mination and especially in photography, the
light being a highly actinic blue-green.
The mercury-arc tube is used primarily as
a power rectifier but occasionally has grids
inserted and is used for power control pur
poses. Since the voltage drop across the tube
is small and is constant the tube losses may
be made relatively small by using fairly high
circuit voltages. A t a few hundred volts it is
the most efficient converter for a-c to d-c
transformation. In the larger power applica
tions the tubes are operated on polyphase cir
cuits, going even as high as 24 or more phases,
with a common cathode and multiple anodes.
This gives a d-c output which has very little
ripple and hence needs little if any filtering.
ARC-THROUGH
(M ULTIELECTRODE
GAS TUBES). The loss of control resulting
from the flow o f a principal electron stream in
the normal direction during a scheduled non
conducting period.
ARCTIC SMOKE. A form of fog caused by
rapid evaporation from the surface of warmer

water when very cold, dry air streams across

it.
AREA. (1) I f a parallelogram has sides de
noted by the vectors A and B, its area is given
by the vector product, C = A X B, which is
perpendicular to the plane determined by A
and B. The scalar magnitude of C equals
that o f the area and the direction of C is
arbitrarily taken as the direction of the out
ward normal to the surface.
(2) In calcu
lus, the area of a surface m ay be found by
integration. I f y = f ( x ) describes a curve,
the area bounded by the curve, the X -axis,
and the ordinates (a,b) is

For a curved surface described b y z = f(x ,y )

the area is

J J f(x,y)dxdy.
(See also integral, surface.)
See back-scattering co

AREA, ELEM ENTAL.

A ny segment of a
scanning line of the subject copy the dimen
sion of which along the line is exactly equal
to the nominal line width. (See line width,
nominal.) Elemental area is not necessarily
the same as the scanning spot.
AREAL DENSITY.

Surface density.

AREOMETRIC M ETHOD. The method of

determining the specific gravity of a liquid
by measuring the loss of weight of a solid of
known mass suspended in the liquid. I f the
volume of the solid can be determined by
measurement, the density o f the liquid m ay
be determined.
ARGAND DIAGRAM.
ARGON.
Gaseous
Atom ic number 18.

See complex variable.

element.

ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION. A sequence

o f the form a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d,
where a is the first term and d is the constant
difference between any two successive terms.
(For its sum see series, arithmetic.)
ARITHMETIC UNIT, PARALLEL. A com
puter unit in which separate equipment is
provided to operate (usually simultaneously)
on the digits in each column.
ARM.

f f(x)d x.
Ja

AREA, ECHOING.
efficient.

ARITHMETIC ELEM ENT (ARITHMETIC

ORGAN, ARITHMETIC UNIT). That part
of a computer which performs arithmetic
operations.

Sym bol

A.

ARGUMENT. (1) The independent variable

x for a function f ( x ) and also the values of
the independent variable in a numerical table,
such as the angles in a table of trigonometric
functions or the numbers in a table of loga
rithms. (2) See amplitude.

(1) See branch.

(2) See couple.

ARMATURE. (1) One of the essential parts

o f the dynamo electric machine. In a gen
erator, the armature is the winding in which
electromotive force is induced. In the motor
armature, conductors carry the input current
which, in the presence of a magnetic field,
produces a torque and effects the transforma
tion of electrical into mechanical energy. In
d-c machines it is the rotor, but the a-c arma
ture may be rotor or stator. Larger size syn
chronous machines always have stationary
armatures. The reluctance o f the magnetic
circuit to the flux, which must link the con
ductors of the armature in order to generate
electric energy, is decreased b y providing a
core of soft iron or steel, on the surface of
which the conductors are embedded in slots
suitably provided in the core. The armature
windings o f a d-c generator are terminated
at the segments of a commutator, by means
o f which the alternating e.m.f.s induced in
the armature are rectified and transferred by
brushes from the moving rotor to stationary
terminals.
The conductors must be sepa
rately insulated, as must be also the commu
tator segments, and must be well braced and
anchored in their slots to resist the electro
magnetic and mechanical forces which tend
to displace them. (2) The hinged or pivoted
moving part of the magnetic circuit of an elec
tromagnetic relay. Sometimes used in a gen
eral sense to mean any moving part which
actuates contacts in response to a change in
coil current.
ARMATURE CHATTER (RELAY).
tion of armature (2).

V ibra

104

Armature Contact Arrhenius Viscosity Formulae

ARMATURE CONTACT (RELAY).
for contact, movable.

A term

ARMATURE RATIO (RELAY). The dis

tance through which the spring buffer moves,
divided by the armature travel.
ARMATURE REACTION. This term refers
to the reaction of the magnetic field produced
by the current flowing in the armature condijctors upon the main magnetic field of a
dynamo machine. The result is a distortion
type of field structure, and the phase angle be
tween the armature voltage and current. In
of the magnetic field, the extent depending
upon the reluctance of the magnetic circuit,
the arrangement of the armature windings, the
d-c machines the effect is to increase the flux
at some pole tips and decrease it at others,
while in a-c machines the effect depends upon
the field structure and the phase angle of the
armature current and voltage. Th e flux m ay
be distorted as in the d-c machine, it m ay be
changed in magnitude but undistorted in wave
form or it m ay be changed in magnitude and
shifted in position with respect to the field
windings. Armature reaction is an important
factor in the speed and voltage regulation of
the machines.
ARMATURE TRAVEL (RELAY). The total
distance traveled during operation by a point
on the armature (2) which is nearest the poleface center when the relay is operated.
ARM PICKUP (TONE ARM).
arm arranged to hold a pickup.
ARRANGEMENT.

A pivoted

See permutation.

ARRAY.
(1) A collection of numbers or
functions ordered in tabular form (see deter
minant and matrix). (2) See antenna array.
ARRAY, BROADSIDE.
broadside.

ARRAY, LINEAR.

ARRHENIUS-GUZMAN EQUATION. A re
lation between the viscosity v)} and tempera
ture Tj at constant pressure,
B

where A , B are constants. B may be identi

fied with the activation energy for liquid
flow.
ARRHENIUS THEORY OF ELECTRO
LYTIC DISSOCIATION. The theory pro
posed by Arrhenius, which states that when
an electrolyte (an acid, base, or salt) is dis
solved in water, a substantial portion o f its
molecules dissociate spontaneously into posi
tive and negative ions, which, upon the appli
cation of an electrical potential difference to
the solution, are attracted to the electrode of
opposite sign, at which they are neutralized by
picking up or giving off one or more electrons,
thus conducting current through the solution.
This dissociation increases the number of par
ticles in the solution, and thus changes the
osmotic pressure, elevation of the boiling
point, and depression of the freezing point to
an extent determined by the degree of dis
sociation and concentration of the electrolyte.
The degree of dissociation increases with dilu
tion, becoming complete at infinite dilution.77
M odern discoveries and interpretations have
modified considerably this view of electro
lytic dissociation.
(See electrolytes, theory
of, for statement of current views.)

See antenna array,

ARRAY, CURVED. See source, curved line,

and source, curved surface.
ARRAY, END-FIRE.
fire.

ARREST POINT. A temperature at which a

system of more than one component that is
undergoing heating or cooling absorbs or yields
heat without change in temperature, thus in
terrupting the heating or cooling process.

See antenna array, end-

See source, straight line.

ARRESTER. A protective device used to b y

pass to ground destructive lightning dis
charges.

ARRHENIUS
VISCOSITY
FORMULAE.
(1) Effect of temperature on viscosity o f a
liquid:
d In (rjvlA)/dT = h / T 2f
where v is the specific volume and k x is con
stant.
(2)
Viscosity of electrolyte and non-electrolyte solutions
V = A X,
where x is the concentration and A is constant.

ered are vowels (usually combined with con

sonants into meaningless syllables).

(3) V iscosity of a sol

log = kC,

ARTIFICIAL
dummy.

where ^ is the viscosity of the medium and C is

the molecular concentration of the sol-forming
material.
ARRIVAL ANGLE.

See angle of arrival.

ARRL.
Abbreviation
R elay League.

for American R adio

ARSENIC, Non-m etallic element.

As. A tom ic number 33.

Symbol

ARTICULATION (PERCENT ARTICULA

TION) AN D INTELLIGIBILITY (PER
CENT INTELLIGIBILITY). Of a com mu
nication system, the percentage of the speech
units spoken by a talker or talkers that is
understood correctly by a listener or listeners.
T he word articulation is customarily used
when the contextual relations among the units
of the speech material are thought to play an
unimportant role; the word intelligibility is
customarily used when the context is thought
to play an important role in determining the
listeners perception.
It is important to
specify the type of speech material and the
units into which it is analyzed for the pur
pose of computing the percentage. The units
m ay be fundamental speech sounds, syllables,
words, sentences, etc. The percent articula
tion or percent intelligibility is a property of
the entire communication system: talker,
transmission equipment or medium, and
listener. Even when attention is focused upon
one com ponent of the system (e.g., a talker,
a radio receiver), the other components of the
system should be specified.
Sound articulation is the percent articula
tion obtained when the speech units consid
ered are fundamental sounds (usually com
bined into meaningless syllables).
Consonant articulation is the percent articu
lation obtained when the speech units con
sidered are consonants (usually combined
with a vowel into meaningless syllables).
Syllable articulation is the percent articula
tion obtained when the speech units considered
are syllables (usually meaningless and usually
o f the consonant-vowel-consonant typ e).
Vow el articulation is the percent articula
tion obtained when the speech units consid

ANTENNA.

ARTIFICIAL LOAD.

See

antenna,

See antenna, dummy.

ARTIFICIAL RADIOACTIVITY.
(1) In
duced radioactivity.
(2) R adioactivity in
duced under controlled conditions.
ASA. Abbreviation for American Standards
Association.
ASC, asc. A bbreviation for automatic sensi
tivity control.
A-SCAN.

See display.

A-SCOPE.
ASDE.
ment.

See display.

See airport surface detection equip

ASPECT RATIO. The ratio o f picture width

to picture height in a cathode-ray tube. It is
usually 4 :3 .
ASPHERIC SURFACE. A surface of a lens
or mirror which has been changed slightly
from a spherical surface as an aid in reducing
aberrations. Parabolic mirrors for telescopes
and Schmidt corrector plates are common as
pheric surfaces.
ASSEMBLE, T o integrate subroutines and
routines into a main program of a computer.
ASSEMBLY.

See ensemble.

ASSOCIATED CORPUSCULAR EMISSION.

(Expression used in definition o f roentgen.)
The full complement of secondary charged
particles (usually limited to electrons) asso
ciated with an x-ray or yray beam in its pas
sage through air. The full complement of
electrons is obtained after the radiation has
traversed sufficient air to bring about equilib
rium between the primary photons and sec
ondary electrons. Electronic equilibrium with
the secondary photons is intentionally ex
cluded.
(See secondary emission; electron,
secondary.)
ASSOCIATIVE L A W . Addition and multi
plication processes obey this law if the fol
lowing relations hold:

a + (J> + c) = (a + b) + c;
(ab)c a(bc) = abc.

ASTABLE (OR FREE-RUNNING). R efer

ring to a circuit which has two quasi-stable
states. N o trigger is required; a continuous
waveform is generated.
ASTATIC.
(1) W ithout orientation or di
rectional characteristics. (2) A trade name.
(3) See galvanometer, astatic.
ASTATINE, R adioactive
At. A tom ic number 85.

element.

Sym bol

A STATION. In loran, the designation ap

plied to the transmitting station of a pair, the
signal of which always occurs less than half a
repetition period after the next preceding
signal and more than half a repetition period
before the next succeeding signal of the other
station of the pair, designated a B station.
ASTERISM. One of the characteristic effects
sometimes observed in x-ray spectrograms. It
has, roughly, the shape of a star, and com
m only indicates the presence o f internal stress
in the material under investigation.
ASTIGMATIC DIFFERENCE.
The dis
tance between the primary and secondary
foci of an astigmatic optical system. (See as
tigmatic focus.)
ASTIGM ATIC FOCUS. In an astigmatic
system some o f the bundle of rays from an
off-axis point meet in a line perpendicular to
a plane containing the point and the optical
axis. Some meet in a line at a greater image
distance, which line lies in a plane containing
the point and the optical axis. A t all other
image distances the bundle is an ellipse (or
circle ). The first line is called the primary or
meridional or tangential focus. The second
line is called the secondary or sagittal focus.
ASTIGMATIC PENCIL. A homocentric pen
cil of light after refraction at a large angle of
incidence is generally no longer homocentric,
but is astigmatic, since the projections o f the
refracted rays do not pass through a common
point.
ASTIGMATIC SPECTRAL LINE.
The
image of the entrance slit at the primary fo
cus (see astigmatic focus) of an astigmatic
grating.
ASTIGMATISM. (1) A defect in a lens, in
cluding the lens of the eye, in which there is a
difference in the radius of curvature of the

lens as observed in one plane from that ob

served in another plane. (2) An aberration
of a lens with spherical surfaces such that the
image of a point not lying on the optical axis
is a pair of short lines normal to each other
and at slightly different distances from the
lens. (3) In an electron-beam tube and other
electron optic devices, including cathode ray
tubes, a focus defect in which the electrons in
different axial planes come to focus at differ
ent points. Under these conditions the spot
is not round, thus causing different trace
widths depending upon the direction o f the
trace.
ASTON DARK SPACE. In a glow-discharge
device, a narrow dark region immediately ad
joining the cathode.
ASTON W H O L E NUMBER RULE. The
atomic weights of isotopes are (very nearly)
whole numbers when expressed in atomic
weight units, and the deviations from the
whole numbers o f the atomic weights of the
elements are due chiefly to the presence of
isotopes with different weights.
ASTRON. A proposed thermonuclear device
with an axially symmetric magnetic field
produced by a shell of relativistic electrons.

A deuterium (the fusion fuel) plasma is pro

duced by the collisions of these electrons
with injected cold deuterium gas and is con
fined by their magnetic field.
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT. A unit of distance
principally employed in expressing distances
within the solar system, but also used to some
extent for measuring interstellar distances.
Technically defined, one astronomical unit is
the mean distance of the earth from the sun.
T o express this in miles it becomes necessary
to determine the distance of the earth from
the sun in miles or, in other words, to deter

mine the solar parallax. The value accepted

at present for the length o f the astronomical
unit is 92,897,000 miles (149,504,000 kilo
meters) .
A SUPPLY. The source of the heating cur
rent for the cathode of an electronic tube. In
the early days of radio the various voltages
needed to operate a receiver were obtained
from batteries, called A, B and C batteries,
supplying the filament, plate and grid voltages
respectively. These letter designations have
carried over to the present-day sources, al
though the voltages are usually obtained now
from an a-c source, either directly as in the
case of the A supply or indirectly for B and C
voltages.
ASYMMETRIC. N ot symmetric. The term
is generally applied only to functions or sys
tems which are neither symmetric nor anti
symmetric*
ASYMMETRIC TOP. A model of a molecule
which has no three-fold or higher-fold axis of
symmetry, so that during rotation all three
principal moments o f inertia are in general
different. Examples are the water molecule
and the ethylene molecule.
ASYMMETRY, INTRAMOLECULAR. Lack
of symmetry in the spatial arrangement of the
atoms and radicals within the molecule, espe
cially of carbon compounds but also signifi
cant with other elements. (See atoms, isom
erism.)
ASYMMETRY POTENTIAL. The potential
difference between the outside and the inside
surface of a hollow electrode (usually a glass
electrode).
ASYMPTOTE. A straight line related to a
curve in such a w ay that the distance be
tween them approaches zero as both approach
infinity. The asymptote is the tangent o f the
curve at infinity. (See hyperbola.)
ASYMPTOTIC
APPROXIMATION.
series, asymptotic.

See

ATMOLYSIS. T he separation of a mixture of

gases by means of their relative diffusibility
through a porous partition, as burned clay.
The rates of diffusion are inversely propor
tional to the square roots of the densities of

the gases. H ydrogen is thus the most d if

fusible gas.
ATMOMETER. A n instrument for measur
ing evaporation, generally that o f water into
the atmosphere.
ATMOSPHERE. (1) A gaseous envelope sur
rounding a body, or a mass of gas occupying
a region. (2) A standard unit of pressure (see
atmosphere, standard).
(3) The cluster of
impurity atoms formed around a dislocation
line, and responsible for Cottrell hardening.
An atmosphere can follow the motion of the
dislocation only very slowly, as in very slow
creep.
ATMOSPHERE, CIRCULATION OF THE.
When averaged over long periods o f time,
local and small-scale irregularities in the at
mosphere^ motions disappear and a general
ized pattern of winds is manifest. There are
five latitudinal belts in each hemisphere into
which generalized winds can be classified:
(1) The doldrum belt
which extends
roughly from the equator to 10 or 15 north
and south is a belt of light variable winds.
(2) The trade wind belt extends from 10
or 15 north and south to approximately 30
north and south. Trade winds blow from the
northeast to east-northeast in the northern
hemisphere and from the southeast to eastsoutheast in the southern hemisphere and are
known respectively as the northeast trades
and the southeast trades.
(3) A narrow and drifting belt o f light vari
able winds extends about the earth at ap
proximately 30 north and south. This belt
is known as the horse latitudes.
(4) W esterly winds with a slight com po
nent from the south blow in a relatively wide
band from approximately 30 north and south
to 60 or 70 north and south. T h ey are
known as the prevailing westerlies but in the
southern hemisphere are more com monly
known as the Roaring Forties because of their
stronger and more steady character.
(5) The polar area winds tend to blow
anticyclonically with an easterly component
over each region. (See also winds.)
ATMOSPHERE, CONTROLLED. The use
o f a gas other than air, such as hydrogen, ni
trogen, carbon dioxide, etc., in an apparatus
or process which would react with atmospheric
oxygen.

ATMOSPHERES, L A W OF. The atmos

pheric pressure P , as a function of height z
above sea level, is given approximately by
P = P Qe~~mezlkT,
where P 0 is the pressure at z = 0, m is aver
age molecular mass, k is the Boltzmann con
stant, T is the absolute temperature and g is
the magnitude of the acceleration due to
gravity. This law is derived under the as
sumption that m, g, and T are constants,
independent of the altitude z. Th e law of
atmospheres applies not only to atmospheric
air but also to small particles suspended in
a liquid of almost equal density. In the latter,
the effective mass, me must be used, where
m e = mp m h mv being the mass of each of
the particles and m x the mass of the liquid
displaced, i.e., m\ = p{V, where pi is the
density of the liquid and V is the volume of
the particle.
ATMOSPHERE, STANDARD.
(1) A unit
o f pressure, defined as the pressure exerted
by a column of mercury 760 mm high, having
a density of 13.5951 gm c m " 3 and subject to
gravitational attraction of 980.665 dyne
gm 1, which is equal to 1.013250 X 106 dyne
cm 2.
(2) In meteorology, an atmosphere
having a sea-level pressure of 1.013250 X 106
dyne cm - 2 (1,013.25 m illib ars); a sea-level
temperature of 1 5C ; and a lapse-rate of
6.5C up to 11 km.
ATMOSPHERIC ACOUSTICS. The study
o f sound propagation and attenuation in the
atmosphere, including such problems as sound
ranging and signaling, and aircraft noise.
ATMOSPHERIC D UCT.
An atmospheric
layer which conducts radio-frequency waves
in the same manner as a true waveguide un
der certain conditions of temperature and
humidity. Attenuation at certain frequencies
is quite low and transmissions m ay be re
ceived at points far outside the usual recep
tion area.
Atmospheric ducts are sometimes referred
to as ground-based ducts, since the atmos
phere forms one of the boundary surfaces and
the earths surface the other boundary. The
effects of atmospheric ducts are more pro
nounced in the m icrowave bands, 3000 me and
up, but they do exist at frequencies as low
as 20 me.

ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY. The con

dition in the atmosphere in which vertical
movement is prevalent. (See atmospheric
stability, instability and equilibrium.)
ATMOSPHERIC
interference.

INTERFERENCE.

ATMOSPHERIC INVERSION.
sion.

See

See inver

ATMOSPHERIC RADIO W A V E. A radio

wave that is propagated by reflections in the
atmosphere. It may include either or both
of the components, ionospheric wave and
tropospheric wave.
ATMOSPHERIC SOUND REFRACTION,
CONVECTIVE. The bending of sound rays
in the atmosphere due to a gradient in the
wind velocity.
ATMOSPHERIC SOUND REFRACTION,
TEMPERATURE.
The bending of sound
rays in the atmosphere due to a temperature
gradient (and hence a gradient in the sound
velocity).
ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY, INSTABIL
ITY, AND EQUILIBRIUM.
Everywhere
that air is in motion some vertical perturba
tions are present. Isolated parcels and cur
rents of air are thus started upward or down
ward in a layer of surrounding air. The ac
tion of the environment on the displaced par
cels is a measure of the stability or instability
of the air. I f the parcel is forced back to its
original position, the air is stable and does not
favor vertical m otions; if the parcel is ac
celerated in its vertical movement, then the
air is unstable and favors vertical motions;
if the parcel comes to rest at a new position,
neither rising nor falling, then the air is in an
equilibrium state.
ATOM . The smallest particle o f an element
which can enter into chemical combination.
All chemical compounds are formed of atoms,
the difference between compounds being at
tributable to the nature, number, and arrange
ment of their constituent atoms. For current
views of structure, see atomic structure.
ATOM , BOHR. A model o f the hydrogen
atom (and of hydrogen-like ions such as H e+
and L i+ + ) based on the nuclear atom of
Rutherford (see atom, Rutherford nuclear),
and on classical mechanics except for the

superposition of non-classical, quantum, con

ditions. An electron of charge e and mass
m experiences a Coulomb force of attraction
to a nucleus of positive charge + Z e (where
Z is 1 for hydrogen, 2 for ionized helium
(H e + ), etc.) given (in mksa units) by
F = Ze2/ W 2- This attractive force pro
vides the centripetal force necessary for the
electron to m ove in a circle of radius r, i.e.,
Z e2/4nr0r2 = m v2/r. Classically, an electron
m oving in a circular orbit would radiate elec
tromagnetic waves and hence would spiral
into the nucleus. Bohr assumed as his first
non-classical condition that this classical
radiation law did not hold if the electron were
in one of a discrete set of stationary orbits
determined b y a quantum condition on its
angular momentum, i.e., if rrtvr = nh/2ir, where
h is the Planck constant. This condition, to
gether with the force equation, leads to the
expression for the radii of the allowed orbits:
rn = n2h2/4:7r2e2m (n = 1, 2, ) and to the
expression for the energy of the electron when
it is in one o f the allowed orbits: E n =
2tr2me*/n2h2 (n = 1 ,2, ) (in mksa un its).
The negative sign results from the fact that
the zero o f potential energy has been taken
at infinity.
The second non-classical condition imposed
by Bohr was that a photon o f radiation is
emitted in the transition from a higher to a
lower stationary state, with the frequency, /,
of the radiation being given by the Planck law,
i.e., / = AE m- n/h = (E m - E n)/h. (See Bohr
theory of atomic spectra.)
In a modified form, the B ohr atom can
include elliptic as well as circular orbits (see
atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld) accounted quite well
for the spectra o f hydrogen and hydrogen-like
ions, but was unable to account for many of
the features of more com plex atoms. It has
been superseded b y the quantum mechanical
theory o f the atom. (See also electron cloud;
wave mechanics; Schrdinger equation.)
ATOM , BOHR-SOMMERFELD. A m odifi
cation of the B ohr model of the atom, in which
quantized elliptic orbits, as well as circular
orbits, are allowed. The quantum conditions
of the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum theory were
applied to the radial and angular components
of the motion, leading to two quantum num
bers instead of one, the radial quantum num
ber (n') and the azimuthal quantum number

(k ). The principal quantum number, n = n'

- f k , largely determines the energy of the
stationary states as, in the Bohr atom. H ow
ever, there is a small relativistic effect on the
energy expressed in terms of the fine structure
constant and of both n and fc. The quantum
number n can take on values 1 ,2 , * *, and the
quantum number k can take on the values 1,
2, , n.
In addition to the principal and azimuthal
(angular momentum) quantum numbers, n
and k, a third, the magnetic quantum number
m appeared as a result of space quantization.
Thus, the component of the angular momentum
in some given direction can only take on dis
crete values, mh/2ir, where m = 0, 1, 2,
The Bohr-Sommerfeld model of the atom
has been replaced by the wave-mechanical or
quantum mechanical atom, yet as a modelistic visual aid it is still used (with cau tion ),
e.g., in the vector model o f the atom. Its
m ajor fault lies in the fact that it assigns
precise orbits to the electrons and is therefore
in violation o f the Heisenberg uncertainty
principle. (See also atom, de Broglie; atom,
vector model of.)
ATOM , D E BROGLIE. See de Broglie atom.
ATOM DISINTEGRATION. The emission
by an atomic nucleus o f a particle or particles,
or larger fragments, and radiations, resulting
in the formation of new atomic species, differ
ing from the original in mass, atomic number,
or energy or in more than one of those prop
erties. Disintegration m ay occur naturally,
as in the case of the radioactive elements, or
may be produced artificially, by bom bard
ment with particles or radiations.
ATOM , EXCITED . An atom which possesses
more energy than a normal atom o f that
species.
The additional energy com m only
affects the electrons surrounding the atomic
nucleus, raising them to higher energy levels.
ATOM IC BEAM.
molecular.

See beams, atomic and

ATOM IC BEAM M ETHOD. A method of

broadening of spectral lines devised to obtain
the high resolution necessary for accurate reso
lution of hyperfine structure components.
This method was developed by Jackson and
Kuhn (P ro c. R oy. Soc. [A ] 148, 335 (1935))

as follow s: Atom s evaporated from the sur

face o f a liquid are passed through a long
cool tube to produce a beam in which the
greatest angle that an atom can make with
the axis of the tube is d /i, where d is the
diameter of the tube and I is length. N ow if
these atoms are excited or allowed to absorb
energy, and the radiation or absorption is ob
served by a spectroscope whose line of sight is
at right angles to the direction of the atomic
ray, then the Doppler width of the emitted
or absorbed line will be smaller in the ratio
o f d to I than that of a line emitted by the
atoms with their normal random distribution
o f velocities at the temperature of the liquid
from which the atoms are evaporating. (See
also molecular beam; beams, atomic and
molecular.)
ATOM IC CHARGE. The electrical charge
o f an ion (charged atom) which is equal to
the product o f the number of electrons the
atom has gained or lost in its ionization, by
the charge on one electron. (See charge, ele
mentary.)
ATOM IC CHARGE, EFFECTIVE.
The
spectra of monovalent atoms m ay be approxi
mated by a Balm er-like formula in which the
charge on the nucleus is reduced by a shield
ing constant due to the other electrons in the
atom.
The value of this effective atomic
charge will depend on the amount of penetra
tion of the valence electron into the kernel of
the atom, i.e., the cloud o f electrons between
the valence electron and the nucleus.
(See
shielding (3).)
ATOM IC CORE. An atom stripped of its
valence electrons, leaving only closed elec
tron shells about the nucleus.
ATOM IC DISTANCE. T he average distance
separating the centers of tw o atoms.
ATOM IC ELECTRON. One of the bound
electrons that surround the nucleus of an atom
(see atomic structure). The term is also used
for a free electron which is produced by ioniza
tion of an atom, to distinguish it from the
electrons released from the nucleus in betadecay.
ATOM IC ENERGY.
(1) The constitutive
internal energy of the atom, which would be
absorbed when the atom is formed from its
constituent particles, and released when it is

broken up into them. This is identical with

the binding energy and is proportional to the
mass defect. (2) Energy released as the re
sult of the disintegration of atomic nuclei,
particularly in large scale processes.
ATOM IC ENERGY LEVELS. (1) The val
ues o f the energy corresponding to the sta
tionary states of an isolated atom. (2) The
set of stationary states in which an atom of a
particular species m ay be found, including
the ground state, or normal state, and the
excited states.
ATOM IC FACTOR.
factor.

See atomic scattering

ATOM IC FREQUENCY.
The vibrational
frequency of an atom, used particularly with
respect to the solid state.
ATOM IC KERNEL. An atom which has lost
the electrons in its outermost shell (the valence
electrons). (Same as atomic core.)
ATOM IC MASS. The mass of a neutral atom
of a nuclide. It is usually expressed in terms
of the physical scale of atomic masses, that
is, in atomic mass units (amu).
ATOM IC MASS CONVERSION FACTOR.
The experimentally determined ratio of the
atomic weight unit (awu) to the atomic mass
unit (amu). Because the isotopic composition
of natural oxygen varies slightly with its
source, the value (1 amu = 0.999728 awu) of
this factor is uncertain in the seventh signifi
cant figure.
ATOM IC MASS NUMBER.
ber.
ATOM IC MASS UNIT.

See mass num

See amu.

ATOM IC NUMBER. The number of protons

in an atomic nucleus, or the positive charge
of the nucleus, expressed in terms of the
electronic charge. It is usually denoted by
the symbol Z.
ATOM IC NUMBER, EFFECTIVE. A num
ber calculated from the composition and
atomic numbers of a compound or mixture.
An element of this atomic number would in
teract with photons in the same way as the
compound or mixture. Various formulae for
this number have been developed, of which
the following are perhaps best known:

I ll

Atomic Orbital Atomic State, Metastable

Spier: Based on theoretical considerations

involving absorption and scattering coefficients
(Brit, J. Radiol. 19, p. 52, 1946):
Z = effective atomic number
= (aiZx2-94 + a2Z 22 94 + - . ) 1/294,
where Z i , Z 2, etc., are atomic numbers of in
dividual constituents, and ax, a2l etc., the frac
tional electron contents of elements Z u Z 2, etc.,
in the com pound.
Fricke and Glasser: Based on theoretical
considerations of photoelectron production
(Fortsch. a. d. Gebiete der Roentgenstrahlen,
33, p. 243, 1925):

ATOM IC SCATTERING FACTOR. A factor

representing the efficiency with which x-rays
of a given frequency are scattered into a given
direction by a given atom, usually measured
in terms of the corresponding factor for a point
electron. From this factor is constructed the
structure factor which governs the diffraction
of x-rays in the x-ray analysis of crystal struc
ture. In general, the atomic scattering factor
is proportional to the atomic number. I f the
charge density p (r) o f the electrons at r in
the atom is known, then the scattering factor
for radiation for wavelength A, incident on a
plane normal to the direction S, is

/ = J P(r)ei(2T,X)tSdT

3 /a iZ i4 + a2Z 24
\ CL\Zi -f- CL2Z 2 * * *

taken through the volume of the atom.

where Z x, Z 2, etc., are the atomic numbers of

the constituents, and a\, a2, etc., their fractions
b y weight.

ATOM IC SOLUTION DIFFUSION.

One
cause of internal friction in solid solutions is
the diffusion of the constituent atoms.

ATOM IC ORBITAL.

ATOM IC SPECIES. A distinctive type of

atom. The basis o f differentiation between
atoms is (1) mass, (2) atomic number, or
number o f positive nuclear charges, (3) nuclear
excitation energy. The reason for recognizing
this third class is because certain atoms are
known, chiefly among those obtained by arti
ficial transmutation, which have the same
atomic (isotopic) mass and atomic number,
but differ in energetics. (See nuclear isomer

See orbital, atomic,

ATOM IC PARAMETERS. The distances be

tween the various atoms in a crystal structure,
as determined, for example, by x-ray analysis.
ATOM IC PLANE. A plane passed through
the atoms of a crystal space lattice, in ac
cordance with certain rules relating its posi
tion to the crystallographic axes. (See Miller
indices.)
ATOM IC POLARIZABILITY.
bility, atomic.

See polariza-

ATOM IC PROPERTIES. Properties of sub

stances which are due to the nature of the
constituent atoms, as distinct from those prop
erties due to their arrangement into molecules
and solids, etc.
ATOM IC RADIUS. B y a comparison of the
crystal structures of covalent compounds (see
covalence), an effective radius can be as
signed to each type of atom, as if it were a
sphere of a definite size. This radius depends
on the type of bonding, and on the coordina
tion number. In turn, the ratio of the atomic
radii will often decide the crystal structure of
a given compound.
ATOM IC RADIUS, NONBONDED.
The
value of the atomic radius corresponding to
the closest distance of approach between
atoms not united by a bond.

(3).)

ATOM IC
atomic.

SPECTRUM.

See

spectrum,

ATOM IC STATE, MEAN LIFE OF AN.

The time r after which the number o f atoms
left in the given atom ic state is 1/e of the
original number. T h e time is given by the
expression:
1
1
T_
or
/ * i-nm

m
where Anm is the Einstein transition proba
bility o f spontaneous emission, n is the initial
state, m, the final state. The first expression
is the partial mean life for transition from state
n to state m ; the second is the total mean life
of state n.
ATOM IC STATE, METASTABLE. An ex
cited atomic energy level wherein the atom
cannot give up its energy in the form of radia

tion b y an allowed transition (see selection

rules) but must ultimately return to the nor
mal state by some other process.

element by its density. This quantity, when

plotted against atomic number, exhibits a
striking periodicity.

ATOM IC STRUCTURE. A ccording to cur

rent views, an atom consists of a number of
electrons m oving in the electrical field of the
positive charge of a massive nucleus. B e
cause of the small dimensions of the system,
it is impossible to ascribe exact orbits to the
electrons.
Only the language of quantum
mechanics suffices to describe an atom, in
terms o f wave functions which measure the
density o f the electron cloud surrounding the
nucleus. An isolated atom can only exist in
discrete energy states or energy levels; transi
tions between these are accompanied by the
emission or absorption of m onochromatic ra
diant energy. (See also atom, Bohr-Sommerfelt; atom, de Broglie; atom, vector model.)

ATOMIC W EIG H T. The mass of an atom

of any element, the mass of the oxygen atom
being taken as 16 units (see amu). The
atomic weight is also called the equivalent
weight or the relative weight. Since many
elements, as they com monly occur in nature,
are mixtures of isotopes, the accepted values
of their atomic weights are in reality mean
values of the isotopic atomic weights of the
various isotopes present. The atomic weight,
as defined above, is often called the chemical
atomic weight, taking as its basis a value
of 16, for ordinary atmospheric oxygen. Since
atmospheric oxygen consists of a mixture of
3 different isotopes, a physical atomic
weight scale has been established which as
signs to the lowest mass isotope the value 16.

ATOM IC SUSCEPTIBILITY. T h e change

in magnetic moment of one gram-atom of a
substance produced by the application of a
magnetic field of unit strength.
ATOM IC THEORY. The assumption that
matter is not infinitely divisible but is com
posed of ultimate particles called atoms. The
hypothesis was enunciated b y John D alton
in 1803, but the idea dates back to the Greek
philosophers.
ATOM IC TRANSMUTATION. The chang
ing of an atom into an atom o f different
atomic number or, in other words, into an
atom of a different element. The process of
transmutation occurs in nature in the course
o f the disintegration of the various radioactive
elements and may also be effected by artificial
means, such as b y bombardment with neutrans, a-particles, \-radiations, etc.
ATOM IC UNITS (HARTREE). In atomic
problems it is often convenient to use the set
of units: ft, the quantum of angular m o
m e n tu m ; m, the m ass of the electron; and
e, the charge on the electron, rather than the
esu, em u , or m ksa systems. In the atomic
system of units, the unit of length is the radius
o f the first Bohr orbit a = ft2/me2, and the
unit of time is t = fts/me4, which is the time
fo r the electron to travel one radian in the
first Bohr orbit.
ATOM IC VOLUM E. A numerical result ob
tained by dividing the atomic weight of an

ATOM IC W E IG H T UNIT.

See awu.

ATOM , IONIZED. An ion, which is an atom

that has acquired an electric charge by gain
or loss o f electrons surrounding its nucleus.
ATOMIZATION.
Th e breaking-up o f a
liquid into small droplets, usually in a high
speed jet or film.
ATOM , LABELED. A tracer atom which can
be detected easily, and which is introduced
into a system to study a process or structure.
ATOM , MESONIC.
The atom formed
when a negative meson is captured by the po
tential field o f a nucleus and exists for a short
time in one of its quantum mechanically al
lowed energy levels.
ATOM , NEUTRAL. An atom which has no
over-all, or resultant, electric charge.
ATOM , NORMAL. An atom which has no
over-all electric charge, and in which all the
electrons are at their lowest energy levels.
ATOM , NUCLEAR. (1) See atom, Ruther
ford nuclear. (2) An atomic nucleus with
out surrounding electrons.
ATOM , RADIATING. An atom which is
emitting radiation during the transition of
one or more o f its electrons from higher to
lower energy states.

ATOM , RECOIL. An atom which undergoes

a sudden change or reversal of its direction
of motion as the result of the emission by it
of a particle or radiation.
ATOM , RUTHERFORD NUCLEAR. A theory of the structure of the atom in which a
small nucleus concentrates practically all the
mass, and has a positive charge equal to the
atomic number. An equal number of elec
trons, surrounding the nucleus, fill the m ajor
part of the atomic volume. This idea is the
basis of the Bohr atom, and of all subsequent
theories.
A TOM , STRIPPED. (1) An atomic nucleus
without surrounding electrons. (2) An atom
from which two or more valence electrons have
been removed.
ATOM , THOMSON. An early model of an
atom in which the positive charge was con
sidered to be distributed continuously through
out the volume of a sphere, and in which nega
tive electrons (o f sufficient number to give
electric neutrality) were imbedded. The elec
trons normally occupied positions of equilib
rium, but were capable of executing harmonic
motions about their equilibrium positions
when disturbed (e.g., by an incident electro
magnetic w ave). The Thomson atom was
superseded by the Rutherford nuclear atom.
(See scattering, Thomson; atom, Rutherford
nuclear; dispersion of light, classical theory
of.)
ATOM , UNITED. An entity postulated in
atomic studies, e.g., one of the methods of
approach to the study of molecular dissocia
tion. In this method of analysis, the nuclei of
the atoms forming the molecule are assumed
to be brought so close to each other that they
form a single atom, with the same number of
electrons as the molecule. Such an atom is
called a united atom. The analysis then pro
ceeds by assuming that this atom is then split
up, until it forms the given molecule.
A TOM , VECTOR M OD EL OF. In quantum
mechanics, as in classical physics, angular
momentum is a vector quantity whose direc
tion, for a particle m oving in a plane orbit,
is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit
and with a sense given by the progression of a
right-handed screw. In the quantum mechan
ics, however, angular momenta (both orbital

and spin) are quantized in magnitude and

direction and special rules have to be set up
for their vector addition (see angular mo
mentum, coupling of). The anomalous Zee
man effect, spectral doublets, hyperfine struc
ture, and many other spectral phenomena are
explained in terms o f the vector addition of
the various vector contributions to the total
angular momentum of atoms, nuclei, etc.
(See, for example, Semat, Introduction to
A tom ic and Nuclear Physics, Rinehart and
Co., 1954.)
ATR.

See tube, ATR.

ATTENUATION. In its most general sense,

attenuation is reduction in concentration,
density or effectiveness. In radiation theory,
attenuation is used to express the reduction
in flux density, or power per unit area, with
distance from the source; the reduction being
due to absorption a n d /or scattering. In the
most common usage, attenuation does not in
clude the inverse-square decrease of intensity
o f radiation with distance from the source.
The same restriction applies to the use of the
term in nuclear physics, where attenuation is
the reduction in the intensity of radiation on
passage through matter where the effect is
usually due to absorption and scattering.
ATTENUATION BAND.
tion.

See band, rejec

ATTENUATION CONSTANT. For a travel

ing plane wave at a given frequency, the rate
of exponential decrease of the amplitude of a
field component (or of the voltage or current)
in the direction of propagation, in nepers or
decibels per unit length. The attenuation con
stant is the real part of the propagation con
stant.
ATTENUATION CONSTANT, ACOUSTI
CAL. See acoustical attenuation constant.
ATTENUATION CONSTANT, IMAGE. The
real part of the transfer constant.
ATTENUATION, CURRENT. O f a trans
ducer, the ratio of the magnitude o f the cur
rent in the input circuit of a transducer to the
magnitude of the current in a specified load
impedance connected to the transducer. I f
the input an d /or output current consist of
more than one component, such as multifre
quency signal or noise, then the particular

components used and their weighting must be

specified.
B y custom, this attenuation is
often expressed in decibels by multiplying its
common logarithm b y 20.
ATTENUATION DIRECT COUPLED (TR,
PRE-TR, AND ATTENUATOR TUBES).
The insertion loss measured with the resonant
gaps (see gap, resonant), or their functional
equivalent, short-circuited.
ATTENUATION DISTORTION.
tude distortion.

See ampli

ATTENUATION EQUALIZER.
izer, attenuation.

See equal

ATTENUATION FACTOR.
(1) The ratio
of the rate at which radiant energy, electrical
charge, or other similar quantity appears at
the output of a device, line, or medium to the
rate at which the same quantity enters at the
input. When the absorption is exponential,
the attenuation factor is e _0i, where x is the
thickness of the medium or the length of the
line, and a is the absorption coefficient. (2)
The factor is sometimes expressed as the
logarithm of the value given above, i.e., as
ax. It is then com m only expressed in nepers.
ATTENUATION RATIO.
the propagation ratio.

The magnitude of

ATTENUATION, SECOND-CHANNEL. See

selectance.
ATTENUATION, SIDEBAND. T hat form
of attenuation in which the transmitted rela
tive amplitude of some component (s) of a
modulated signal (excluding the carrier) is
smaller than that produced by the modulation
process.
ATTENUATION, VOLTAGE. The ratio of
the magnitude of the voltage across the input
o f a transducer to the magnitude of the v olt
age delivered to a specified load impedance
connected to the transducer. I f the input
a n d /or the output voltage consist of more
than one component, such as multifrequency
signal or noise, then the particular components
used and their weighting should be specified.
B y custom this attenuation is often expressed
in decibels by multiplying its common loga
rithm by 20.
ATTENUATION
VOLTAGE
(TRANSDUCER). See transducer attenuation volt
age.

ATTENUATOR (PAD). A network designed

to introduce a definite loss in a circuit. It is
designed so the impedance of the attenuator
will match the impedance of the circuit to
which it is connected, often being connected
between two circuits of different impedance
and serving as a matching network as well as
an attenuator. It is distinguished from a
simple resistance in that the impedance of an
attenuator does not change for various values
of its attenuation. It is a valuable unit in
making many laboratory tests on communica
tions equipment where it is used to adjust the
outputs of two pieces of apparatus or for two
different conditions so the relative merits may
be determined from the attenuator setting.
In much communication work it is desirable
to transmit power at a higher level than will
be used in order to overcome circuit noises,
and then to reduce it to the proper value at
the receiving end by a pad. It is usually cali
brated in decibels and the attenuation intro
duced by it is so indicated.
ATTENUATOR, CHIMNEY. One form of
coaxial-line attenuator which received its
name from the appearance of the stub lines.
ATTENUATOR, COAXIAL LINE. An at
tenuator for use in a coaxial line. It may be
fixed or variable.
ATTENUATOR, FLAP OR FIN.
guide attenuator, flap or fin.

See wave

ATTENUATOR, SPAN. An attenuator used

in cable transmission to make the flat loss of
each section of cable between repeaters nearly
equal.
ATTENUATOR, TRANSVERSE FILM.
waveguide attenuator, transverse film.

See

ATTENUATOR TUBE. See tube, attenuator.

ATTENUATOR, W AVEGUIDE.
guide attenuator entries.

See wave

ATTRACTION, ELECTRICAL. The force

between electric charges of opposite sign, hav
ing a magnitude given by the Coulomb law.
ATTRACTION, GRAVITATIONAL.
Newton law of universal gravitation.

See

ATTRACTION, M AGNETIC. A force ex

erted b y a magnetized body upon another
capable of magnetization, as of an iron m ag
net upon a piece o f iron. The force between

two magnets may be an attraction or a repul

sion, depending upon orientation.
A T T R A C T IV E F O R C E S IN LIQ U ID S. W ith
the exception of liquid rare gases, a liquid
molecule exerts on its neighbors an attractive
force which falls off very rapidly with dis
tance and which is negligible for spacings more
than a few molecular diameters. The attrac
tive forces in liquid rare gases are of the van
der W aals (see van der Waals forces) type,
varying inversely as the seventh power of the
distance, but ordinary liquid molecules attract
one another with a force that falls off much
more rapidly.
A T W O O D M A C H IN E . A device consisting
o f a wheel or pulley over which is passed an
inextensible cord connecting two weights. It

listener, and the point at which the sound pres

sure is measured should be specified.
Unless otherwise indicated, the ambient
noise reaching the ears is assumed to be neg
ligible. The threshold m ay be expressed in
decibels relative to 0.0002 microbar or to 1
microbar. Instead of the method of constant
stimuli, which is implied by the phrase in a
specified fraction o f the trials, another psy
chophysical method (which should be speci
fied) may be employed.
A U D IO .
Pertaining to sound or hearing.
The word audio m ay be used as a modifier
to indicate a device or system intended to
operate at audio frequencies. (See frequency,
audio-.)
A U D IO D IS T O R T IO N .
tortion.
A U D IO
audio-.

FR E Q U EN C Y.

See audio and dis

See

frequency,

A U D IO F R E Q U E N C Y PEAK L IM IT E R . See
limiter, peak, audio-frequency.
W\ U

A U D IO G R A M .
A graph showing hearing
loss, percent hearing loss, or percent hearing
(see hearing, percent) as a function o f fre
quency.

Atwood machine.

is often used to demonstrate motion of a sys

tem under an external uniform force in ac
cordance with the second of the Newton laws
of motion. It can be used to determine ac
celeration due to gravity.
AUDIBILITY, LIMITS OF. The thresholds
of hearing: the minimum effective sound pres
sure that can be heard at a specified frequency
forms the lower limit (minimum audibility or
threshold pressure); the minimum effective
sound pressure that causes feeling or pain in
the ear forms the upper limit (threshold of
feelin g). (See sound pressure, effective; audi
bility, threshold of; and feeling, threshold of.)
AUDIBILITY, M INIM UM .
threshold of.

See audibility,

AUDIBILITY, THRESHOLD OF (THRESH

O LD OF DETECTABILITY). For a speci
fied signal, the minimum effective sound pres
sure of the signal that is capable of evoking
an auditory sensation in a specified fraction of
the trials. The characteristics of the signal,
the manner in which it is presented to the

A U D IO G R A M , M ASKING.
A graphical
presentation of the masking due to a stated
noise. This is plotted, in decibels, as a func
tion o f the frequency of the masked tone.
A U D IO M E T E R . An instrument for measur
ing hearing acuity. Measurements may be
made with speech signals, usually recorded,
or with tone signals.
A U D IO M E T R Y . The study o f hearing acuity
by means of audiometers.
A U D IO N . The original three-element va c
uum tube invented by DeForest.
A U D IT O R Y C A N A L. The canal connecting
the external ear (pinna) and the ear drum.
A U D IT O R Y L O C A L IZ A T IO N . The ability
o f the ear to locate the apparent direction of
sound sources, especially by means of the
binaural effect.
A U D IT O R Y SENSATION AR EA . (1) The
region enclosed by the curves defining the
threshold of feeling and the threshold of audi

bility as functions of frequency (see feeling,

threshold of, and audibility, threshold of).
(2) The part of the brain (temporal lobe of
the cortex) which is responsive to auditory
stimuli.
AUGER COEFFICIENT.
The ratio of
Auger yield to fluorescence yield, which is
also expressed quantitatively as the ratio of
the number of Auger electrons to the number
o f x-ray photons ejected from a large number
o f similarly excited atoms.
(See Auger ef
fect.)
AUGER EFFECT. A nonradiative transition
o f an atom from an excited electronic energy
state to a lower state with the emission of an
electron. The term usually refers to the x-ray
region of energy states. The final state cor
responds to one higher degree of ionization
than does the initial state. The effect is an
alternative process to the transition to a lower
state having the same degree of ionization
with the emission of an x-ray photon, and thus
is analogous to the internal conversion o f a
nuclear transition. The ejected electron has
kinetic energy equal to the difference between
the energy of the x-ray photon of the corre
sponding radiative transition, and the binding
energy of the ejected electron.
M ore explicitly, the Auger process takes
place when two energy levels of an atomic
system which belong to different term series,
happen to lie close together. T h ey then in
fluence each other; there is a shift of the two
levels in the sense of a repulsion, and there is
a mixture of the eigenfunctions o f the two
states. W hen one term in a discrete series
has the same energy as a term of a continuous
term spectrum, all the higher terms of the
series have the same energy as correspond
ingly higher terms o f the continuous range,
and therefore, all the higher terms of this
series m ay be perturbed. In such a perturba
tion by a continuous term the shift of the orig
inally discrete level can assume a continuous
series of values. T hat is, the level becomes
diffuse; the atom or molecule can assume all
energy values in a more or less narrow region
(depending on the strength of the perturba
tion) .
As in the case of ordinary perturbations a
mixing of the eigenfunctions takes place here
also, so that the true state is a hybrid. Part
o f the time the system is in the discrete

state, part o f the time it is in the continuous

state. However, a continuous state means
a splitting of the system and a flying apart of
the parts with more or less kinetic energy (the
eigenfunction is an outgoing, spherical w a v e ).
Therefore, when, as a result of the mutual
perturbation, the system has once gone from
the discrete into the continuous state, it
cannot return to the discrete state, since
the parts are soon widely separated from each
other. Thus, if an atomic system is trans
ferred to such a diffuse state for example, by
light absorption it undergoes a radiationless
decomposition after a certain lifetime.
AUGER ELECTRON. An electron ejected
from an excited atom in the Auger effect.
AUGER SHOWER. A shower of Auger elec
trons, a term now applied to any extensive
shower.
AUGER YIELD. The Auger yield for a given
excited state o f an atom of a particular ele
ment is the probability o f deexcitation by the
Auger effect rather than by x-ray emission;
it is the difference between unity and the
fluorescence yield for that state, and also
equals the sum o f the Auger yields for the
various possible Auger transitions from that
state.
AUGHEY SPARK CHAMBER (GAS TRANS
PORT ELECTRODES). An electrical spark
is produced between two hollow tubular elec
trodes. A gas passed through the electrodes
into the space where the spark occurs will be
excited and caused to emit its characteristic
spectrum. Traces of contamination in the gas,
such as dust particles, will be efficiently ex
cited so that their spectrum may be observed.
AUGM ENTATION DISTANCE. The dis
tance between the extrapolated boundary and
true boundary of a nuclear reactor. Also
known as extrapolation distance.
AURAL RADIO RANGE. A radio range sta
tion providing lines of position by virtue of
aural identification or comparison of signals
at the output of a receiver. (See A-N radio
range.)
AURAL TRANSMITTER,
aural.

See transmitter,

AUREOLE. The hazy, less luminous outer

portion of an electric arc, often of a different
spectrum from that of the core.
AURORAL LINE. A green line in the spec
trum of the aurora borealis at wavelength
5577 A due to a forbidden transition in oxy
gen.
AUTOCOLLIM ATOR.
(1) A device by
which a lens makes diverging light from a slit
parallel, and then after the parallel light has
passed through a prism to a mirror and been
reflected back through the prism, the same
lens brings the light to a focus at an exit slit.
(2) A telescope provided with a reticle so
graduated that angles subtended by distant
objects may be read directly. (3) A convex
mirror placed at the focus of the principal
mirror of a reflecting telescope and of such
curvature that the light after reflection leaves
the telescope as a parallel beam.
AUTOCONVECTION LAPSE RATE. U n
disturbed air will remain stratified even
though the lapse rate exceeds the dry-adia
batic rate of 5.5F per 1000 ft. I f the lapse
rate becomes sufficiently large, density of the
air will increase with altitude and will over
turn. This critical lapse rate is 34.17C per
km or very nearly 19F per 1000 ft.
AUTODYNE DETECTOR.
tector.

See beatnote de

AUTOELECTRIC EFFECT.
autoelectric.

See emission,

AUTOIONIZATION OR PREIONIZATION.
An atom which is in a discrete energy state
above the ionization point can ionize itself
autom atically with no change in its angular
momentum vectors if there is a continuum
with exactly the same characteristics. (See
Auger effect; radiationless decomposition.)
AUTOM ATIC CONTROL.
control.
AUTOM ATIC GRID BIAS.
automatic.

yaw axes, or which maintains a predetermined

course of the vehicle.
AUTOM ATIC PROGRAMMING. A term for
all techniques which are designed to simplify
the writing and execution of programs for
computers. Assembly programs, which usu
ally translate from the programmer's symbolic
language to machine language, assign absolute
addresses to instructions and data words, and
integrate subroutines into the main routine,
are examples of automatic programming aids.
AUTOM ATIC TRACK FOLLOWER.
chart-line follower, automatic.
AUTOPILOT.

See

See automatic pilot.

AUTOPILOT COUPLER. In navigation, the

means used to link the navigation system re
ceiver output to the automatic pilot.
AUTORADAR PLOT.
unit.

See chart comparison

AUTORADIOGRAPH
(RADIOAUTO
GRAPH). Record of radiation from radio
active material in an object, made by placing
its surface in close proxim ity to a photographic
emulsion.
AUTOSYN.

A trade name for synchro.

AUTOTRANSFORMER.
A
transformer
which has a common winding which serves as
both primary and secondary. A frequently
used form of autotransformer is known by
the trade names of Variac or Powerstat and
has a secondary voltage which is continuously
adjustable. A carbon brush, serving as the

See entries under

See grid bias,

AUTOM ATIC NOISE LIMITER.

iter, noise.

See lim

AUTOM ATIC
PILOT
(AUTOPILOT).
Equipment which automatically stabilizes the
attitude of a vehicle about its pitch, roll, and

movable secondary tap, is made to contact

the commutator-like surface of a partiallybared toroidal winding. Thus, the output may
be adjusted from zero to something greater
than the input voltage for the schematic
shown.
AUXILIARY EQUATION. Using the symbol
D = d/dx, a given linear differential equa

tion with constant coefficients may be written

in the formD ny + axZ)n-1 2/ H-------- h oy = 0.
The auxiliary equation is:
(Z> - n )(D - r2) (D - rn)y = 0,
where the rs are roots of the algebraic equation:
rn + airn~ l - f a2rn~ 2 H----------- f- a =

0.

The general solution of the original differential

equation is then
V = 2

cieT<x>

the c /s being arbitrary constants, provided

the roots are all unequal. If one of them, rg
is repeated g times the corresponding terms in
the general solution of the differential equation
are replaced b y cg( l + a xx + a2x2 + ------h
ag- i x g~~l)eTgX. Imaginary roots, if they occur,
have the form r = A iB and the term in
the solution becomes eAx(c+ cos B x + c__ sin
B x ).
AUXOCHROM E. A chromophore which has
a noteworthy effect on the wavelength at
which absorption occurs.
AUXOM ETER OR AUXIOM ETER. An ap
paratus for measuring the magnifying power
o f a lens or any optical system.
AVAILABLE ENERGY.

of ions. In this process an ion produces an

other ion by collision, and the new and orig
inal ions produce still others by further col
lisions, resulting finally in an avalanche of
ions (or electrons). The terms cumulative
ionization and cascade are also used to de
scribe this process. It occurs in a non-selfmaintained gas discharge, where ions have
sufficient energy.
AVC. Abbreviation for automatic volume
control.
AVE. Abbreviation for automatic volume
expansion.
AVERAGE.

Defined for a quantity Q by

_ _ S w (ai, *

as)Q(ai,

,<*)

2w (ai, ,,)
where w is the weighting function. The ordi
nary average is obtained by taking w = 1 so
__
2Q(ai, , as)
y =
s

W hen Q and w are continuous,

^ w ( x i,

, Xs)Q(xi}

*, xs)dxi * dxs

J w(xi, * , xs)dxi dx8

See free energy.

where r is the domain of definition of Q and w

AVAILABLE POWER. See power, available.

AVALANCHE. The cumulative process in
which charged particles accelerated by an
electric field produce additional charged par
ticles through collision with neutral gas m ole
cules or atoms.
AVALANCHE D IO D E.

See diode, Zener.

AVALANCHE EFFECT. (1) The condition

which exists in a Townsend discharge when
the applied voltage is sufficient to cause elec
trons to ionize gas molecules upon collision,
thus releasing new electrons. This creates a
cumulative increase or avalanche of current.
T he discharge is thus self-maintained.
(2)
Sometimes applied to the Zener effect in semi
conductors.
AVALANCHE, TOW NSEND. A term used
in counter technology to describe a process
which is essentially a cascade multiplication

AVERAGE ABSOLUTE PULSE AMPLI

TUDE. See pulse amplitude, average abso
lute.
AVERAGE DEVIATION. The average de
viation (A .D .) o f a number o f like quantities
X j is the average o f the absolute departures
of their individual values from their mean
h x j - x \
A .D . = ----------------.
n
where the mean
t x j
n
The A .D . is a measure of the expected de
parture of any single observation of a series
from the true value which would be ob

tained by the averaging of an infinite series

of observations. The average deviation of the
mean (a.d.) is
a.d. = A .D ./V n 1
A .D . and a.d. are related to other measures
o f uncertainty if the individual values are
distributed according to a particular rule,
such as the normal error function in the Gauss
ian error function.
AVERAGES, M ETH O D OF. A procedure
for evaluating the numerical coefficients of a
polynomial equation. Suppose there are n
measurements of some physical quantity y
and that a polynom ial of degree m < n is to
be used for expressing the dependence of y on
some other quantity x , so that y = A + B x +
C x2 + + M o f1. D ivide the measurements
into (m + 1 ) -groups, add the equations in
each group to obtain a set of (m + 1 ) -simul
taneous equations and solve them for the de
sired numbers A y B } C, *, M .
AVIDAC. The name applied to a particular
digital computer.
AVOGADRO CONSTANT. The number of
molecules contained in one mole or grammolecular weight of a substance. The pres
ently-accepted value of the Avogadro con
stant, which is usually denoted by AT, is
(6.0248 0.0002) X 1023/g m mole (phys.).
This is the least-squares adjusted value.
AVOGADRO HYPOTHESIS.
(Avogadro
rule.) Avogadro, in 1811, enunciated the rule
that equal volumes of gases under like con
ditions of temperature and pressure contain
equal numbers of molecules.
AVOGADRO NUMBER.
stant.

See Avogadro con

AW BERG AN D GRIFFITHS M ETH O D

FOR LATENT H EAT OF VAPORIZATION.
A continuous-flow method in which the heat
o f evaporation o f the liquid under investiga
tion is transmitted to a constant stream o f
water, whose temperature is raised a measured
amount.
AW U . The atomic weight unit, which is onesixteenth of the weighted mean of the masses
of the neutral atoms of oxygen of isotopic

composition of that found in fresh lake or

rain-water.
1 awu = 1.660 X 10 24 gm.
AXES, BODY AND SPACE. In problems
dealing with rotating rigid bodies it is often
convenient to refer to two coordinate systems.
One, the set of space axes, is fixed to an
inertial frame of reference and remains sta
tionary. The other, the body axes, are fixed
to the rotating rigid body and rotate with it.
The principal axes are often used for the body
axes. (See also inertia, moments and prod
ucts of; inertia ellipsoid.)
AXIAL M AGNIFICATION. The ratio o f the
interval between two adjacent image points
on the axis o f an optical instrument to the
interval between the object conjugate points.
AXIAL RATIO (OF A W AVEGU ID E). The
ratio of the m ajor axis to the minor axis of
the polarization ellipse.
AXIAL VECTOR.
(1) See pseudo-vector.
(2) In crystallography, the vector displace
ment of the lattice site from the nearest similar
site that is located on the same axis of sym
metry. (See symmetry, axis of.)
AXICON. An optical component which has
the property that a point source on its axis
of revolution is imaged to a range o f points
along its axis. Axicons do not, therefore, have
a definite focal length.
AXIOTRON.
A high-vacuum, thermionic
diode in which the magnetic field produced
by the filament current exhibits control over
the anode current.
AXIS. A line so situated that various parts
of an object are symmetrically located in re
lation to it. (See symmetric; and symmetry,
axis of.) Also the line passing through the
origin of a coordinate system which corre
sponds to all points o f a given variable when
other variables are zero. Thus, in two dimen
sions, the X -axis is the locus o f all points
whose y-coordin ate is zero.
(See also el
lipse; hyperbola; parabola.)
AXIS, INSTANTANEOUS.
In rigid body
motion, the instantaneous axis is the axis per
pendicular to the plane of the motion which
passes through that point or those points of a
body which are instantaneously at rest. For

a cylinder rolling down an inclined plane with

out slipping, the instantaneous axis is the line
o f contact between cylinder and plane.
AXIS,
tation
of the
nance

N A R R O W -B A N D . In phasor represen
of the chrominance signal, the direction
phasor representing the coarse chromi
primary,

AXIS (AXE S) O F R O T A T IO N , F IX E D . The

locus o f points of a system along a straight
line which remain stationary when rest of sys
tem undergoes rotational motion. (See rota
tion.)
AXIS, O P T IC . A direction through a doublyrefracting crystal along which no double re
fraction occurs. A uniaxial crystal has one
such direction, a biaxial has two such direc
tions. (See crystal, uniaxial, and crystal bi
axial.)
AXIS, O P T IC A L .
an optical system.

The axis of symmetry of

A X O N O M E T R Y . Measurement of axes, es
pecially in crystals.
A ZE O T R O P E . A mixture with a constant
boiling point. A negative azeotrope has a
minimum, a positive, a maximum boiling
point.

A ZIM U TH .

See bearing.

A Z IM U T H A L Q U A N TU M N UM BER.
quantum number, azimuthal.

See

A ZIM U T H A N G LE . (1) The angle <\> in the

spherical polar coordinate system. (2) For
plane-polarized light incident on the surface
of a dielectric, the angle between the plane of
vibration and the normal to the plane of in
cidence. This same word applies to incident,
reflected and refracted light.
(3) When a
heavenly body is located with respect to the
horizon and a meridian plane, the azimuthal
angle is the angle between the meridian and
the vertical plane through the body and the
zenith.
A ZIM U TH , A N G LE O F PR IN C IPA L. Cir
cularly-polarized light incident on a metallic
surface at the angle o f principal incidence
will be reflected as plane-polarized light with
its plane of vibration making an angle of
principal azimuth with the plane of incidence.
A ZIM U TH D IS C R IM IN A T IO N . A more re
cent equivalent term is angular resolution.
A Z IM U T H
marker.

MARKER.

See

calibration

B
B. (1) Breadth or width (b ). (2) Element
boron (B ). (3) Boils a t (6 ). (4) Second
van der W aals constant (b) ,
(5) Effective
film thickness (B ). (6) Brightness or lumi
nance ( B) .
(7) W ien displacement constant
( b) .
(8) Volum e modulus of elasticity ( B) .
(9) Exponent in Richardson-Dushman equa
tion ( 6). (10) Susceptance (B or fe). (11)
Second Cauchy constant ( B) . (12) Magnetic
flux density (B). (13) Band head (B ). (14)
Abbreviation for bel (com bining form (B or

b)).
B, B + , B . Letter and symbols used to
identify the high-voltage plate supply for
vacuum tubes.
BABBLE. The aggregate cross talk from a
large number o f disturbing channels.
BABINET ABSORPTION RULE. Positive
uniaxial crystals (see crystal, uniaxial) have
greater absorption for the extraordinary com
ponent, while negative crystals have greater
absorption for the ordinary component of the
light doubly-refracted by them.
BABINET COMPENSATOR.
sator.
BABINET-JAMIN
compensator.

See compen

COMPENSATOR.

See

BABO, L A W OF. The addition of a non

volatile solid to a liquid in which it is soluble
lowers the vapor pressure of the solvent in
proportion to the amount of substance dis
solved.
BABS. Abbreviation for blind approach bea
con system.
BACK EMISSION.
BACKFIRE.

See emission, reverse.

See arc back.

BACK FOCAL LENGTH. The distance from

the back surface o f a lens to the principal
focus. Its reciprocal is sometimes called the
vertex power or the effective power of a lens.

BACKGROUND. A general term for the to

tality of the effects that are always present in
physical apparatus, and above which a phe
nomenon must show itself in order to be meas
ured. Such unrelated effects include the un
wanted counts or currents from cosmic rays
in electrical apparatus for measurement of
radioactivity, developable grains on photo
graphic plates that are unrelated to the phe
nomena investigated, noise in acoustical ap
paratus, and many others.
(See also noise
and related entries.)
BACKGROUND COUNTS.
(1) Counts
caused by any agency other than the one
which it is desired to detect.
(2) Counts
caused by radiation coming from sources ex
ternal to the counter tube other than the
source being measured, or by radioactive con
tamination of the counter tube itself. (I.R .E .
Definition.)
(3) See count, background.
BACKGROUND RETURNS (RADAR).
clutter.

See

BACKHEATING.
In magnetrons, the in
crease in cathode temperature due to highvelocity electrons being returned to its sur
face. It m ay be sufficiently severe to cause
burnout.
BACKPLATE (CAMERA TUBES).
The
electrode to which the stored charge image
is capacitively coupled.
BACK PORCH. In television, that portion
of a composite picture signal which lies be
tween the trailing edge of a horizontal sync
pulse and the trailing edge of the correspond
ing blanking pulse. The color burst, if pres
ent, is not considered part of the back porch.
BACK-PORCH EFFECT. The continuation
of collector current in a transistor for a short
time after the input signal has become zero
due to a storage of minority carriers (see car
rier, minority) in the base region. The effect
is most noticeable for large signals and is also
apparent in junction diodes.

BACK SCATTER. A general term for echoes

which m ay include both clutter and desired
echoes from a target. This usage of the term
is deprecated.
BACK SCATTERING.
The deflection of
particles or of radiation by scattering proc
esses through angles greater than 90 with
respect to the original direction o f motion.
BACK-SCATTERING
COEFFICIENT
B
(ECHOING AREA). For an incident plane
wave, the back-scattering coefficient B is 4?r
times the ratio of the reflected power per unit
solid angle (<r) in the direction of the source
divided by the power per unit area ( W \) in
the incident wave:

where k 6 is the force constant, r6 is the internuclear distance, d# is a constant that is d if

ferent for each type of molecule (it is 0.68A if
both atoms are in the first row of the periodic
system, 1.25A if they are in the second, etc.)
and C11 may be taken as the same for all mole
cules ( = 1.86 X 105 gm A 3/s e c 2).
The Badger rule m ay readily be applied to
polyatom ic molecules.
BAFFLE. A shielding structure or partition
used to increase the effective length of the
external transmission path between two points
in an acoustic system as, for example, between
the front and back of an electroacoustic
transducer#
BAFFLE ARC.

where W r is the power per unit area at dis

tance r. For large objects, the back-scatter
ing coefficient of an object is approximately
the product of its interception area by its
scattering gain in the direction of the source,
where the interception area is the projected
geometrical area and the scattering gain is
the reradiated power gain relative to an iso
tropic radiator.
BACKSTOP (RELAY). The part of a relay
which limits the movement of the armature
away from the pole piece or core.
BACK-TO-BACK CONNECTION. The con
nection of a pair of tubes (usually ignitrons
or thyratrons) in a manner which will permit
control of alternating current rather than di
rect current. The anode of one tube is con
nected to the cathode of the other, and viceversa. Thus, one tube m ay function on each
h alf-cycle of supply voltage.
BACK-TO-BACK REPEATER.
back-to-back.

See repeater,

BACKW ARD TRANSFER ADM ITTANCE.

See admittance, feedback.
BACK W A V E .

See wave, spacing.

BADGER RULE. A n empirical relation be

tween the force constants and vibrational fre
quencies of the electronic states of diatomic
molecules of the form :
kt (r, d a )3 = C 11

See arc baffle.

BAFFLE, LABYRINTH. An acoustic device

consisting of long air-chambers designed to
absorb without reflection the energy radiated
from the rear surface of the loudspeaker cone.
BAFFLE PLATE.
form of wave filter.
ing entries.

Another name for some

See filter, wave and grat

BAFFLE, REFLEX. A loudspeaker baffle in

which a portion o f the radiation from the rear
o f the diaphragm is propagated forward after
controlled shift of phase or other modification,
the purpose being to increase the over-all
radiation in some portion of the frequency
spectrum.
BALANCE.
(1) A condition of partial or
complete equilibrium or adjustment.
(See
balance, mechanical.) (2) A well-known in
strument used in weighing. W hile any type
of scales used for weighing may properly
be called a balance, the term usually refers
to the equal-arm balance familiar in every
laboratory.
The dynamics of this instrument is rela
tively simple unless the pans are allowed to
oscillate independently of the beam, a condi
tion which should be carefully avoided while
taking readings. The balance may then be
treated as a gravity pendulum suspended from
the central knife edge or pivot, the pans and
their loads being regarded as concentrated at
the end knife edges. A ny slight excess weight
Aw on one pan causes a change in the equi
librium position. The sensitiveness of the
balance is appropriately expressed as the
change in the equilibrium pointer reading per

unit excess weight. M ore convenient in prac

tical work is the reciprocal of the sensitive
ness, which m ay be called the stability.
(3) An electrical network is in a condition of
balance when it is so adjusted that an emf
in one branch produces no current in another
branch.
BALANCE, CHAIN. A balance in which the
smaller weights (com m only below 1 0 0 mg)
are applied by raising or lowering a chain at
tached to the beam, which is accomplished
b y moving the other end of the chain along
a vertical scale.
BALANCE COIL.

See coil, balance.

BALANCE, DAMPED. A balance equipped

with means for damping the to-an d-fro m ove
ments of the suspended system, so that the
pointer comes to rest more rapidly. A mag
netic system or a piston in a close-fitting cy l
inder are often used for the damping.
BALANCE, DYNAM IC.
See
mechanical; ( 2 ) state, steady.

(1)

balance,

BALANCED CURRENTS (ON A BAL

ANCED LINE). Currents flowing in the two
conductors of a balanced line which, at every
point along the line, are equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction.
BALANCED LINE.

the case, for example, in a properly adjusted

Wheatstone bridge.
BALANCE, JOLLY. A balance used for the
determination of specific gravity of a sub
stance by weighing it in air and in liquid.
This balance consists of a spring from which
the sample is suspended, with a scale for read
ing its position.
BALANCE, KEYBOARD.
A balance
which all small weights (often up to 1 g)
handled by a series of keys mounted on
outside of the case. The weights are
handled manually, and their total can be
termined by adding the weight-values of
keys depressed in a given weighing.
BALANCE, LINE.

in
are
the
not
de
the

See line balance.

BALANCE, M ECHANICAL.
Mechanical
balance consists of the equilibrium of masses,
and can be divided into static and dynamic
balance. Static balance occurs in a system
when the center of gravity of the system co
incides with its reactions. For example, a
rotating body in static balance has its center
o f gravity coincident with its axis of rotation.
A system may, however, be in static balance,
but become unbalanced when the system ro
tates. Such a system, for example, as that
shown in the accompanying figure may well

See line, balanced.

BALANCED LINE (TW O-CONDUCTOR).

See line, balanced (two-conductor).
BALANCED LINE SYSTEM.
tem, balanced.

See line sys

BALANCED TERMINATION. For a sys

tem or network having two output terminals,
a load presenting the same impedance to
ground for each of the output terminals.
BALANCED VOLTAGES (ON A BAL
AN CED LINE).
Voltages
(relative to
ground) on the two conductors of a balanced
line which, at every point along the line, are
equal in magnitude and opposite in polarity.
BALANCE, DYNAM IC.
(1) See balance,
mechanical. ( 2 ) See state, steady.
BALANCE, ELECTRICAL. A bridge cir
cuit is in a condition of balance when so ad
justed that an e.m.f. in one branch produces
no current in the conjugate branch. This is

and Dynamic Unbalance

be in static balance, and satisfactorily pass a

balance test which would consist of putting
the shaft on absolutely horizontal parallel
rails and trying the rotor for equilibrium in
any position. But when this system rotates,
the centrifugal forces of the two weights, not
being in the same plane perpendicular to the
axis of rotation, create a couple acting on the
shaft. That couple rotates with the shaft and
produces shaking forces at the journals, and
vibrations in the foundation. The dynamic
balancing of this system would involve the
addition of a system o f counter balances
which, by themselves, would be in static equi
librium, but which in rotation would produce

a couple equal in magnitude but opposite in

direction to the one already considered.

BALANCE, STATIC.
cal.

BALANCE, MICRO. A balance for the pre

cise weighing of small masses; the great sensi
tivity necessary is usually achieved by use
o f the torsion of a quartz fiber as a means of
determination of weight. (See balance, tor
sion.)

BALANCE, TORSION. A balance in which

the weight is determined in terms of the
elastic torque exerted by a twisted wire or
band.

BALANCE, MOHR. A balance (see balance

(2)) designed, like the Westphal balance, for
determining densities of solids by weighing
them in air and when suspended in a liquid of
known density; if the density of the solid is
known, that of the liquid m ay be determined.
BALANCER.
( 1 ) The circuit employed to
balance out the antenna effect due to antennato-ground capacitance in radio direction
finders. ( 2 ) A machine consisting of two ro
tating devices, mechanically coupled, used to
maintain or approximate balanced voltages
on a three wire d-c line. When the load be
tween one of the outer wires and ground is
increased so as to decrease the voltage across
this leg, the half of the balancer connected
across the leg acts as a generator, driven b y
the half of the machine across the other leg.
BALANCE, RECIPROCATING.
R ecipro
cating balance consists of opposing the shak
ing forces of a reciprocating mass by equal
and opposite forces obtained from another
reciprocating mass. One particularly difficult
job of balancing occurs in a system consisting
of both rotation and reciprocation, as exempli
fied by the piston, connecting rod, and crank
mechanism. The difficulty lies in the fact that
if perfect balance is secured in the direction
of reciprocation by the employment of rotat
ing counter balances, severe unbalance will
result in a plane perpendicular to that direc
tion. The solution of this difficulty is a com
promise in which only part of the reciprocat
ing mass is counterbalanced, thus reducing the
maximum degree of unbalance, but producing
a smaller unbalance in two planes.
BALANCE, SPRING. A device for weighing
in which the object to be weighed is sus
pended by a spring, calibrated so that a
pointer attached to a point on the spring in
dicates weight directly by its position relative
to a graduated scale. (Cf. balance, Jolly.)

See balance, mechani

BALANCE, WESTPHAL.
A balance de
signed for determining the densities of liq
uids or solids. It consists essentially of a
plummet suspended from a beam, which is
graduated and provided with riders. The
density of the liquid is read directly as the
buoyant force on the plummet. Commonly,
the riders on this balance have weight-ratios
o f 1 , 1 / 1 0 , 1 / 1 0 0 , 1 / 1 0 0 0 , and the beam has
nine divisions calibrated so that the specific
gravity of the liquid can be read directly.
BALANCING, D ETAILED. A principle of
statistical mechanics which states that the
steady state of affairs at equilibrium is main
tained by a direct balance between the in
stantaneous rates o f opposing processes.
BALLAST. An element placed into a circuit
to act as a current regulator or stabilizer. (See
tube, ballast.)
BALLISTIC MEASUREMENT. Any meas
urement in which an impulse is applied to the
measuring device and the subsequent motion
of the device is determined as a measure of
the impulse.
(See pendulum, ballistic, and
galvanometer, ballistic.)
BALLISTIC PENDULUM.
ballistic.

See pendulum,

BALLISTICS. The science which treats of

the motion of masses projected into space,
especially as associated with the motion of
projectiles from guns and cannon. The com
plete path of a projectile is comprised of three
separate and distinct phases. The first occurs
in the bore of the gun, and the study of pro
jectile motion here is that of interior ballistics.
Secondly, there is the study of the path taken
by the projectile as it flies through space from
the gun to the target. This is exterior ballis
tics. Then, thirdly, there is the study of the
penetration and the penetrating power o f a
projectile, which, for want o f a better term,
might be called 'penetration ballistics.

BALMER SERIES. A group of lines in the

visible spectrum of atomic hydrogen repre
sented by the formula:

in which v is the wave num ber, Rh is the

Rydberg constant for hydrogen (109,677.591
cm -1 ) and n\ is 2 , while n 2 has integral values,
3 ,4 ,5 . . . .
BALUN. The name balun (balanced to un
balanced) is applied in general to devices used
for the transformation from an unbalanced
(coaxial) transmission line or system to a bal
anced (two-wire) line or system, in which the
two terminals have equal impedances to
ground. Some change in impedance level may
also be introduced between the balanced and
unbalanced terminal-pairs of the device.
BALY TUBE (CELL). A tube or cell of vari
able length used to hold solutions for absorp
tion spectrographic determinations.
BAND (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS).
A group of tracks on a magnetic drum.
BAND (OR ENERGY BAND). See band
theory of solids; spectrum, band; frequency
band.
BAND, A L L O W E D . A range of energies
which electrons m ay possess in a solid. (See
band theory of solids.)
BAND, DEAD.

See dead band.

BAND, DEGRADING OF.

ing of.

See band, shad

BAND EDGE ENERGY. The energy of the

edge of the conduction band or valence band
in a solid; that is, the minimum energy re
quired by an electron in order that it may be
free to m ove in a semiconductor or the maxi
mum energy it m ay have as a valence elec
tron.
BAND, EFFECTIVE (IN FACSIMILE).
The frequency band of a facsimile signal
wave equal in width to that between zero fre
quency and maximum keying frequency (see
keying frequency, maximum.) The frequency
band occupied in the transmission medium
will in general be greater than the effective
band.

BAND, FIRST OVERTONE. The spectral

band produced when the vibrational energy
o f a molecule changes from an initial level in
which the vibrational quantum number is 0 to
a level in which the vibrational quantum num
ber is 2, or the reverse. (See spectrum, rota
tion-vibration.)
BAND, FORBIDDEN. A range of energies
which no electron in a solid may possess.
(See band theory of solids.)
BAND, FREQUENCY.

See frequency band.

BAND, FUNDAMENTAL.
The spectral
band produced when the vibrational energy of
a molecule changes from an initial level in
which the vibrational quantum number is 0
to a level in which the vibrational quantum
number is 1 , or the reverse. (See spectrum,
rotation-vibration. )
BAND H EAD. The wavelength of the sharp
est edge of a spectral band. (See spectrum,
band.)
BAND(S), INTERFERENCE GUARD. The
two bands o f frequencies additional to, and
on either side of, the communication band
and frequency tolerance, which m ay be pro
vided in order to minimize the possibility of
interference.
BAND
OF
EMISSION,
FREQUENCY
(COMMUNICATION BAND).
See fre
quency band of emission.
BAND, PASS (OF A FILTER). That band
o f frequencies which are passed with little or
no attenuation.
BAND-PASS TUBE. See tube, broad-band
(TR and Pre-TR tubes).
BAND PRESSURE LEVEL.
level, band.

See pressure

BAND PRESSURE LEVEL, SOUND.

sound band pressure level.

See

BAND, REJECTION. A band o f frequencies

in which the signals are selectively attenuated
or eliminated. In a uniconductor waveguide,
the frequency range below the cut-off fre
quency.
BAND SCHEME.
The band theory of
solids requires the classification of the elec
tronic states according to the energy bands to
which they belong. There is a convenient

theorem by which each band may be identi

fied with a level of the independent atom,
from which it arises as the atoms are brought
together to make the solid. This identifica
tion, together with the spacing and width of
the various bands, m ay be said to constitute
the band scheme.
BAND, SECOND HARMONIC.
with band, first overtone.

Identical

BAND, SECOND OVERTONE. The spec

tral band produced when the vibrational
energy of the molecule changes from an initial
level in which the vibrational quantum num
ber is 0 to a level in which the vibrational
quantum number is 3, or the reverse.
(See
spectrum, rotation-vibration.)
BAND, SERVICE. A band of frequencies
allocated to a given class of radio service.
BAND, SHADING OF.
The gradual de
crease in intensity of a spectral band (see
spectrum, band) on the side opposite to the
band head.
BAND, SIDE.

See sideband.

BAND SPECTRUM.

See spectrum, band.

BANDSPREAD. In the finer grade of radio

receivers, such as used for communications
purposes, it is desirable to be able to tune
rapidly over a wide frequency range, yet be
able to tune carefully to rather fine limits over
a small range at any selected point in the
wider range. This is accomplished by the
band spreading tuning provided on such re
ceivers. One method is to place a small ca
pacitor gang in parallel with the main, tuningcapacitor gang.
BANDSPREAD, M ECHANICAL. A means
o f providing greater angular rotation of tun
ing control for a given tuning range b y the
use of a vernier dial or some similar mechani
cal device.
BAND, STOP.

See band, rejection.

BANDSTOP FILTER.

See filter, bandstop.

BAND, SUMMATION. A combination spec

tral band for which the lower state is the
vibrational ground state of the molecule.
BAND THEORY OF SOLIDS. The success
of the simple free electron theory of metals
was so striking that it was natural to ask

how the same ideas could be applied to other

types of solids, such as semiconductors and
insulators. The basic assumption of the free
electron theory is that the atoms may be
stripped of their outer electrons, the resulting
ions arranged in the crystalline lattice, and
the electrons then poured into the space be
tween.
The free electron model results from the
neglect of the interaction of the various atoms
and of the periodic variation of the potential
in which the electrons move, i.e., as their dis
tance from the nearest metallic ion changes.
W hen the former is taken into account, it is
found that each energy eigenstate o f an iso
lated atom is split into N non-degenerate
states, where N is the number of atoms in the
crystal. The group of levels that result from
a single atomic state form an allowed band.
If we start from the free electron picture and
consider the effect of the periodic variations
o f potential, the Block theorem (2) leads to
the conclusion that there will be discontinui
ties in the plot of energy vs. momentum when
ever the wave vector k has magnitude and
direction such that it satisfies the Bragg law
for reflection, in which A. may be set equal to
1/k to give k -d = n. Here k is the propaga
tion vector, d is the vector separation of two
atomic planes in the crystal and n is an integer
equal to the scalar product. As with the
atomic interaction model, the number of eigen
states between two energy breaks is equal to
the number of atoms in the crystal. Thus
either approach leads to the existence o f a
m anifold of energy levels occurring in groups
of N closely spaced levels, the groups being
separated by energies that are often very
large compared with the spacing of levels
within a group, somewhat as shown in Fig. 1 .
Each group of levels is known as an allowed
band; the energies between groups are said to
be in a forbidden band. Because these levels
depend on the properties of the body as a
whole, the entire macroscopic crystal m ay be
considered to be a single giant molecule. The
electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties
o f the crystal are then largely determined by
the electrons in the energy levels within the
highest occupied bands.
Because electrons obey the Pauli exclusion
principle, not more than two of them (with
oppositely directed spin) can exist in any
single energy level. In thermal equilibrium

Energy

(c)

Fig. 1. Origin of the energy levels in a crystalline solid. The curves represent potential energy vs. distance.
At (a) the potential energy is that of an isolated ion; the energy levels, represented by the horizontal lines,
are sharp. At (b ) the overlap of the fields of the ions lowers the potential energy curve between the atomic
positions and results in a splitting of each atomic level into a band of allowed levels. At (c) the model
is derived from one in which the electrons are free, subject only to a periodic potential resulting from the
ionic fields.

at the zero of absolute temperature, then, all

of the levels up to some particular energy, de
termined by the number of electrons present,
will be occupied and all above this energy will
be vacant. This highest level is known as the
Ferm i level. A t higher temperatures there
will not be a sharp discontinuity in occupancy
some of the levels below the Fermi level will
be vacant and some above it will be occupied.
The Ferm i level is then defined as the energy
of the state which has a fifty percent chance
of being occupied.
The Fermi level is determined by the num
ber of electrons present, and the properties
of the material are therefore dependent on
whether this energy falls near the bottom ,
top, or middle of an allowed band. If the
number of electrons is such as to exactly fill
certain bands, with a wide gap above them,
the material will be an insulator (m ). I f the
gap is very narrow, or if there are impurities
present to create extra levels, the substance
may be semiconducting (o ). (See Fig. 2 .) In

Filled impurity
levels
Empty impurity
levels
(m)

(n)

(o)

Fig. 2. Band diagrams of m, insulator, n, metal, and

o, semiconductor.

these cases, it is difficult to supply sufficient

thermal energy to an electron to promote it
into the conduction band above the gap, where
alone it is free to carry an electric current. In

a metal (n ), however, there is always a par

tially filled band, in which the electrons be
have in many respects as if they were free.
The existence o f the partially filled band may
be due either to the fact that each atom con
tains an odd number of electrons or to the
overlapping of two allowed bands, each of
which will be partly filled. D irect evidence
for the existence of bands is provided by the
soft x-ray emission spectra, but the impor
tance of the theory is not so much its correct
ness in detail as the simplicity of the band
scheme by which the energy relations between
various phenomena may be shown on a single
diagram.
BA N D , T H IR D H A R M O N IC .
band, second overtone.

Identical with

BA N D , V A LE N C E . An allowed band o f en
ergies in a solid, identified with the ground
states of the valence electrons. (See band
scheme and band theory of solids.)
B A N D W ID T H .
(1) The number of cycles
per second expressing the difference between
the limiting frequencies of a frequency band.
(2) For an amplifier, or other device, the
range of frequencies for which some charac
teristic (such as gain) falls within specified
limits (e.g., not less than one half of its maxi
mum value).
(3) In radio communication
usage, the number of cycles per second re
quired to convey the information being trans
mitted, either visual or aural.
B A N D W ID T H , E F F E C T IV E .
( 1 ) For a
specified transmission system, the bandwidth
of an ideal system which (a) has uniform

transmission in its pass band equal to the

maximum transmission of the specified sys
tem, and (b) transmits the same power as the
specified system when the two systems are re
ceiving equal input signals having a uniform
distribution of energy at all frequencies.
This m ay be expressed mathematically as fo l
lows:
Effective bandwidth = f Gdf,
A)
where / is the frequency in cycles per second
and G is the ratio of the power transmission
at the frequency /, to the transmission at the
frequency of maximum transmission.
( 2 ) For a band-pass filter (see filter, band
pass) the width of an assumed rectangular
band-pass filter having the same transfer ratio
at a reference frequency, and passing the same
mean-square value of a hypothetical current
and voltage, having even distribution of energy
over all frequencies.
BAN D W ID TH , INTELLIGENCE. The sum
of the audio (or video) frequency bandwidths
of the one or more channels.
B A N D W ID T H ,
MONOCHROM E.
monochrome bandwidth.

See

BA N D W ID T H OF A W AVE. The least fre

quency interval outside of which the power
spectrum of a tim e-varying quantity is every
where less than some specified fraction of its
value at a reference frequency. This defini
tion permits the spectrum to be less than the
specified fraction within the interval. Unless
otherwise stated, the reference frequency is
that at which the spectrum has its maximum
value.
BAN D W ID T H , PULSE. The smallest con
tinuous frequency interval outside of which
the amplitude of the spectrum does not ex
ceed a prescribed fraction of the amplitude
at a specified frequency. Caution This defi
nition permits the spectrum amplitude to be
less than the prescribed amplitude within the
interval. Unless otherwise stated, the speci
fied frequency is that at which the spectrum
has its maximum amplitude.
This term
should be Pulse Spectrum Bandwidth be
cause it is the spectrum and not the pulse
itself that has a bandwidth. However, usage
has caused the contraction.

BAR. A unit of pressure in the metric system

equal to one million dynes per square centi
meter. It is slightly less than one atmosphere.
Unfortunately, in acoustics the bar was once
used to denote a pressure of one dyne per
square centimeter. The commonly used unit
today is the microbar, which is one dyne per
square centimeter.
BARDEEN AND BRATTAIN THEORY.
The observation that a metal in contact with
a semiconductor prefers to emit holes rather
than electrons is explained by the tendency
for electrons to remain bound in surface states
near the junction.
BARDEEN-COOPER-SCHRIEFFER THE
ORY OF SUPERCONDUCTIVITY (1957).
An extension of the ideas of the Frohlich-Bardeen theory in which the exchange of virtual
phonons and the short range Coulomb repul
sions between the members of a pair of elec
trons having spins in opposite directions lead
to a correlation of the electrons in a supercon
ductor. The correlation leads to stable elec
tron pairs having energies near the Fermi level
and seem to account satisfactorily for the ma
jor properties of superconductivity.
BAR GENERATOR.

See generator, bar.

BARIUM.
M etallic element.
Atom ic number 56.

Symbol Ba.

BARKHAUSEN CRITERION FOR OSCIL

LATORS. Sustained oscillations may be ob
tained in single-tube, feedback oscillators if
the ratio of voltage fed back to the grid to
the output voltage is equal or greater than
-

p + J V
V
9mZl/

where the negative sign signifies a 180 phase

shift, jl and gm are tube parameters, and Zi is
the effective load impedance seen by the
tube.
BARKHAUSEN EFFECT. A series of mi
nute jumps in the magnetization of iron or
other ferromagnetic substance as the mag
netizing field is continuously increased or de
creased; discovered by H. Barkhausen in 1919.
The effect may be observed by winding on
the specimen, along with the magnetizing coil,
a secondary coil connected to some sensitive
detector of current fluctuations, such as an

129

Barkhausen-Kurz Oscillator Barrier Layer

oscillograph or an audio amplifier. As the

magnetizing current is steadily increased, the
current in the secondary circuit, instead of
being constant, exhibits a succession of small,
sharp peaks or maxima.

long, from which the air has been exhausted;

the upper end is sealed, and the lower dips into
a cup containing mercury, which is open to
the air. The height of the mercury column in
the tube indicates the air pressure.

BARKHAUSEN-KURZ OSCILLATOR.
oscillator, Barkhausen-Kurz.

BAROMETRIC TENDENCY. The changes

of barometric pressure within a specified time
(usually 3 hours) before the observation, usu
ally indicated by symbols at the right of the
station as shown on the weather map.

See

BARLOW RULES. The volumes of space oc

cupied by the various atoms in a given mole
cule are approximately proportional to the
valencies of the atoms; whenever an element
exhibits more than one kind of valency the
lowest value is generally selected.
BARN. A unit of nuclear cross section o f the
magnitude of 1 0 24 square centimeter per nu
cleus.
BARNETT EFFECT. In 1915, S. J. Barnett
discovered that a relatively long iron cylinder,
when rotated at high speed about its longi
tudinal axis, developed a slight magnetization,
the value of which was proportional to the
angular speed. H e found the magnetization
to be about 1.5 X 10 6 c.g.s. electromagnetic
unit per revolution per sec for a cylinder about
7 cm in diameter and 50 cm long. The effect
was attributed to the influence of the im
pressed rotation upon the revolving electronic
systems within the atoms. An inverse effect
was discovered about the same time by Ein
stein and de Haas; viz., an iron cylinder, sus
pended vertically, was observed to rotate
slightly when suddenly magnetized.
BAROCLINIC. W hen isobaric surfaces and
equal-density surfaces do not coincide the at
mosphere is said to be baroclinic. I f the sur
faces do coincide, the atmosphere is said to
be barotropic. Local winds often arise when
the atmosphere is highly baroclinic.
BAROGRAPH.

A recording barometer.

BAROSCOPE. An indicating pressure gauge,

consisting of a U-tube partly filled with liquid,
having one end open to the atmosphere, and
the other end connected to a system whose
pressure is to be observed. Also called an
open-end manometer.
BAROTROPIC FLUID. ( 1 ) A fluid whose
density is a single-valued function of the pres
sure, e.g., a compressible fluid whose specific
entropy or temperature is everywhere the
same. The Kelvin circulation theorem ap
plies to barotropic fluids only. ( 2 ) See baro
clinic.
BARRATT M ETHOD. An optical method
of determining percent concentration of solu
tions throughout a very wide concentration
range. A series of samples of known concen
trations gives a curve with which the un
known is compared.
BAR RELAY.

See relay, bar.

BARRETTER. A metallic resistor with a

positive temperature coefficient o f resistivity,
used in control and measurement applications.
The resistor m ay sometimes be enclosed in a
gas-filled envelope to produce desired char
acteristics. (See tube, ballast.)
BARRIER. See potential barrier; potential,
nuclear; Coulomb barrier.

BAROMETER. An instrument for measuring

the pressure of the atmosphere.

BARRIER
(Obsolete.)

BAROMETER, ANEROID. A thin disk o f

metal covering the aperture of a box from
which the air has been exhausted. Variation
in atmospheric pressure causes a bulging of the
disk, which shifts a pointer over a scale and
so indicates the pressure.

BARRIER FILM RECTIFIER.

barrier film.

BAROMETER, MERCURY. A column of

mercury in an upright tube at least 80 cm

(IN A SEMICONDUCTOR).
See depletion layer.
See rectifier,

BARRIER LAYER.
A n electrical double
layer formed at the surface of contact be
tween a metal and a semiconductor, or be
tween two metals, in order that the Fermi
levels in each material should be the same.
(See junction.)

BARRIER LAYER CELL.

layer.

See cell, barrier

BARRIER LAYER RECTIFIER.

fier, junction.
BARRIER PENETRATION.
tion probability.
BARRIER, POTENTIAL.
rier.
BARRIER REGION.

See recti

See penetra

See potential bar

See barrier layer.

BARTLETT FORCE.
Phenomenologically
postulated force between two nucleons de
rivable from a potential in which there ap
pears an operator which exchanges the spins
of the two particles but not their positions.
(See also nuclear forces.)
BARYE.
BARYON.

BASEGROUP. A term designating a number

of carrier channels in a particular frequency
range that forms a basic unit for further modu
lation to a final frequency band.
BASELINE. In navigation the line joining
the two points between which electrical phase
or time is compared in determining naviga
tion coordinates. (For two ground stations
it is the line joining the two stations, and in
the case of a rotating collector system, it is
the line joining the two sides of the collector.)
BASE OF THE POSITIONAL NOTATION
SYSTEM OF NUMBERS. The integer of
whose successive powers the digits of a num
ber are the coefficients. Sym bolically:
* *+ a2r2

o,\T + atfp

The same as bar.

+ a - i r 1 + a _ 2r 2
is written

See mesons and hyperons.

BASE. (1) One of the connections to a tran

sistor, playing the role of the cathode in a
vacuum tube. ( 2 ) A ny substance which can
replace the hydrogen of an acid, or which
contains hydroxyl groups capable of uniting
with the hydrogen of an acid to form water
and a salt, or which contains trivalent nitro
gen and can add directly to an acid to pro
duce a salt in which the nitrogen is pentavalent. ( 3 ) See base of the positional notation
system of numbers. (4) See logarithm.
BASEBAND. In a carrier (or subcarrier)
wire or radio transmission system, the band
o f frequencies occupied by the signal before it
modulates the carrier (or subcarrier) fre
quency to form the transmitted line or radio
signal. Th e signal in the baseband is usually
distinguished from the line or radio signal by
ranging over distinctly lower frequences, which
at the lower end relatively approach or may
include dc (zero frequency). In the case of a
facsimile signal before modulation on a subcarrier, the baseband includes d-c.
BASE CHARGE,
base, stored.

STORED.

See

BASE
CURRENT,
TRANSISTOR.
transistor base current entries.

charge,
See

where r is the radix and the a* are the integers

0 g a,- ^ r - 1 . For example, in the case of
the number t written in the common decimal
system, we have:
r = 10;

* a2 = ai = 0;

a _i = 1;

a _ 2 = 4 .

BASE REGION. The interelectrode region

o f a transistor into which minority carriers
are injected.
BASE RESISTANCE TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameter r&.

See

BASILAR MEMBRANE. A flexible mem

brane separating two of the canals in the
cochlea of the ear.
BASIS OF A QUANTUM MECHANICAL
REPRESENTATION.
See representation
theory, quantum mechanical.
BASS. Frequencies at the lower end of the
audible range.
BASS COMPENSATION. An equalizer used
to correct the bass response of an audio am
plifier system.
BASS REFLEX.

BASE ELECTRODE (OF A TRANSISTOR).

An ohmic contact or majority carrier contact
to the base region.

a 0 = 3;

See baffle, reflex.

BATE EQUATION.
form :

A relationship o f the

/ A r,\ 2
logI0 ( w

C
A

( C ArA*
7

" <: + i W

'

Mo
V

= ratio of viscosity of a solution to that of

V
At7
water at the same temperature; = corrected
Vo

equivalent conductance; k, k', h, and A 0 are

empirical constants; C is the concentration of
the solution.
BATHOCHROME. A chromophore which
lowers the frequency at which absorption o c
curs.
BATCHINSKI RELATION.
The fluidity
of a liquid is a linear function of the specific
volume, i.e.,
V~ 1 = B(f> -

b),

where 77 is the viscosity, v is the specific v o l

ume, B is a constant, b is a characteristic
volume, approximately equal to the volume,
>, appearing in the van der Waals equation.
BATTERY. A ny group of duplicate units
which are contributing individually to a com
mon effect.
B y far the most com mon usage of the word
is in reference to a collection of chemical cells
for the production or storage of electrical
energy. As such, the battery m ay be of the
primary type, of which the individual unit is
the primary cell, or it may be the ordinary
storage battery. (See battery, secondary.)
BATTERY, PRIMARY. A group of primary
cells. (See cell, primary.)
BATTERY, SECONDARY. A group of sec
ondary cells (see cell, secondary) as in a
com mon storage battery.
BATTERY, STORAGE.

See cell, secondary.

BAUD. The unit of telegraph signaling speed,

derived from the duration of the shortest sig
naling pulse. A telegraphic speed of one baud
is one pulse per second. The term unit
pulse is often used for the same meaning as
the baud. A related term, the dot cycle,
refers to an on-off or mark-space cycle in
which both mark and space intervals have
the same length as the unit pulse.
BAUMfi SCALE OF DENSITY.
A con
venient scale of density for use with floating

hydrometers, whose depth of immersion is a

linear function of the inverse of the density.
The scale is linear in inverse density, that is,
in specific volume.
BAY. ( 1 ) One segment of an antenna array.
(2) A housing for transmitter equipment.
BAZOOKA.

A form o f balun.

B BATTERY. The power source for the

anode circuit of an electronic device which
is battery-operated.
BC. ( 1 ) On tube-base diagrams, the letters
indicating a base-shield connection. ( 2 ) A b
breviation for broadcast band.
BCC.

Abbreviation for body centered cubic.

B-DISPLAY (B-SCAN OR B-SCOPE).

display.
BE, be.

See

Abbreviation for band elimination.

BEACON, EQUISIGNAL RADIO-RANGE.

An aircraft-guidance radio-beacon which
transmits two distinctive signals which may
be received with equal strength only in cer
tain sectors called equisignal sectors.
BEACON, MARKER. A low-power transmit
ter placed along established airline routes for
guidance purposes.
BEACON, RADIO. A radio transmitting sta
tion, maintained and operated for the pur
pose of determination of radio bearings. The
transmitting frequency, latitude and longi
tude, characteristic signal, and times of op
eration of each radio beacon are listed for sea
navigators in the Hydrographic Office Publi
cation R adio Aids for N avigators, and for
aviators in a similar publication of the Civil
Aeronautics Administration. In one sense of
the term, any radio station might be used as
a radio beacon since a radio bearing may be
obtained from it.
However, only stations
listed as beacons can be relied upon, since
their positions are carefully determined, and
their signal characteristics are maintained by
responsible agents.
BEACON, RESPONDER.

See transponder.

BEACON
TRANSPONDER.
ponder; pulse repeater.

See

trans

BEAM. ( 1 ) A flow of electromagnetic radia

tion or of particles that is essentially unidirec

tional. (See lobe, major.) (2) A straight or

initially curved member which supports bear
ing loads without the aid of arch action (see
specific types of beams which follow ).
(3)
The term beam is also used to designate cer
tain rolled-steel sections, such as the I-beam ,
which m ay be used either as beams, as defined
in (2) above, or as columns.
BEAM ANGLE.
BEAM BENDER.
(See kinescope.)

See angle of beam.

Colloquialism for ion trap.

BEAM CANDLE POWER. The equivalent

beam candle power of a searchlight is defined
as the candle power of a bare source which,
if located at the same distance away, would
produce at that point the same illumination.
BEAM, CANTILEVER. A beam (2) which
is rigidly connected at one end to a fixed sup
port and free to move at the other end is
called a cantilever beam. This theoretically
fixed condition rarely occurs because of de
formation of the supporting material. The
maximum bending moment and maximum
shear occur simultaneously at the face of the
support. The usefulness of this type of beam
is demonstrated in structures such as canopies,
unbraced airplane wings and cantilever re
taining walls.
BEAM, CONTINUOUS. A beam (2) which
has more than two supports. A beam which is
continuous over several supports offers more
difficulty in analysis than would a series of
freely supported beams covering the same
overall span. Because of the restraint at the
intermediate supports, the continuous beam
can carry a greater load than a simple beam
of the same size and span. It is quite impor
tant to provide a firm foundation for the in
termediate supports, as small deflections due
to sinking of an intermediate support may
introduce stresses of an entirely different na
ture and magnitude from those used in design
ing the beam.
BEAM COUPLING. The production of an
alternating current in a circuit connected be
tween two electrodes through or by which a
density-modulated electron beam is passed.
BEAM-COUPLING COEFFICIENT.
The
ratio of alternating driving current produced
in a resonator to the alternating component

o f the initiating beam current.

coupling.)
BEAM CURRENT.

(See beam

See current, beam.

BEAM-DEFLECTION
beam-deflection.

TUBE.

See

tube,

BEAM, ELECTRON. A stream of electrons

moving with about the same speed and in
the same direction, so as to form a beam (1).
BEAM, ELECTRON, MAGNETICALLYCONFINED. An electron beam (1) which is
confined to a given path b y the use of appro
priate magnetic fields.
BEAM, FAN. A field pattern having an elliptically-shaped cross section in which the
ratio of the m ajor to minor axes usually ex
ceeds 3 to 1.
BEAM, FIXED. A beam (2) having the ends
so firmly connected to the supports that the
tangent to the elastic curve at the ends re
mains fixed in direction under varying load
conditions. Theoretically, this requires the
support to be absolutely unyielding.
In

Fixed Beam

actual practice it is impossible to attain a

perfectly rigid end support, and the design
of a beam on the assumption of perfect re
straint would be unduly optimistic. There
fore a design intermediate between perfect
restraint and perfect freedom should be
adopted for built-in beams, the departure
from the conditions of perfect fixity being
based upon the rigidity of the end supports.
Since a fixed beam under load receives an end
moment where it is built in, it will be stiffer
than a freely supported beam, and thus have
a smaller deflection under the same load.
BEAM, H OLDING. A diffuse beam of elec
trons for regenerating the charges retained on
the dielectric surface of an electrostatic mem
ory or storage tube.
BEAM-INDEXING COLOR
tube, beam-indexing color.

TUBE,

See

BEAM LOADING. The production o f an

electronic admittance between two grids when
an initially-unmodulated (constant-density)

beam (1) of electrons is shot across the gap

between them.

(4)
relay.

BEAM M ODULATION.
beam, percentage.

BEARING, COMPASS. The angle

horizontal plane between the direction
netic north on the compass card and
joining the observer and the object,
measured clockwise.

BEAM PATTERN.

See

modulation,

See directivity pattern.

BEAM, PENCIL. Emission from an antenna,

having the form of a narrow conical beam.
BEAM-POSITIONING MAGNETS.
vergence magnets.

See con

BEAMS, ATOM IC AN D MOLECULAR.

Unidirectional streams o f neutral atoms or
molecules passing through a vacuum, generally
with thermal velocities. Such beams m ay be
produced by emergence from a pinhole in a
chamber containing low pressure gas or vapor.
B y passing the beam through magnetic or elec
tric fields quantities such as nuclear magnetic
moments and hyperfine structure can be de
termined. (See Rabi method for determining
nuclear moments; Stern-Gerlach experiment.)
BEAM TRANSADMITTANCE.
mittance, beam.

See transad

BEARING. (1) A ny member used to support,

guide, or restrain a m oving part of a mech
anism. In the most com mon cases, the m ov
ing parts are of cylindrical shape and the
forces between the bearing and the part are
radial. Thrust bearings, however, take axial
as well as radial load. Ball bearings and
roller bearings, in which a number of hard
spherical or cylindrical components roll be
tween the m oving parts, generally have less
friction than do journal bearings, which are
characterized by the sliding of solids on solids.
B y a derived meaning, the term ball bearing
is sometimes applied to the individual balls,
or to balls of the type used in a ball bearing.
(2) T h at part of a structure that transmits
load to the supports, such as a pedestal under
a bridge.
(3) A direction at a reference point, ex
pressed as the angle in the horizontal plane
between a reference line and the line joining
the reference point to another point, usually
measured clockwise from the reference line.
In navigation, the terms azimuth and bearing
have the same meaning; however, the term
bearing is preferred for terrestrial navigation
and the term azimuth is preferred for celestial
navigation.

The fulcrum of the armature (2) of a

in the
of mag
the line
usually

BEARING, GRID. The angle, usually meas

ured clockwise, between grid north and the
initial direction of the arc of a great circle
through an observer and the point whose bear
ing is specified.
BEARING, M AGNETIC. The angle in the
horizontal plane between the direction of mag
netic north and a line joining the observer and
the object, usually measured clockwise.
BEARING PIN.

See pin, bearing.

BEARING, RADIO. The direction of a radio

transmitter, as determined by a directional
antenna receiver, is known as the radio bear
ing of the transmitter.
BEARING, RELATIVE. A bearing in which
the direction of the reference line is the head
ing o f the vehicle.
BEARING, TRUE.
The angle measured
clockwise between true north and the initial
direction of an arc of a great circle through
an observer and the point whose bearing is
specified.
BEAT(S). A series o f alternate maxima and
minima in vibration amplitude, produced by
the interference of two wave trains of differ
ent frequency. A familiar example arises in
the case of musical sounds. I f two musical
pipes or strings of slightly different pitch are
I

111111111111111111111 -
11111111111111111111111111
Five coincidences in unit time between wave trains
of frequencies 20 and 25.

sounded together, the result is a more or less

distinct throbbing, often disagreeable to the
ear. The beat frequency is the difference of
the two wave frequencies. Thus, if the two
tones are middle-c (256) and c-sharp (271.2),
there will be 15.2 beats per sec. I f the two
tones are ultrasonic, but have a frequency
difference within the audible range, the beats

themselves m ay produce an audible beat

tone. A similar effect results from the simul
taneous reception of two radio wave trains
which are nearly, but not quite, synchronized.
Thus if two stations are sending on carrier
waves of 1000 and 998 kilocycles, the receiver
will emit a shrill whistle of frequency 2000
cycles. This is the heterodyne effect, re
sponsible for the annoying squeals and trem
olos often heard in radio reception. The
effect is utilized in heterodyne code receivers
and in the frequency-conversion section of
the modern radio. One type of radio fading
m ay be regarded as a beat phenomenon of
long period.
BEAT CARRIER (FACSIMILE). The unde
sirable heterodyning of signals, each syn
chronous with a different stable reference os
cillator causing a pattern in received copy.
Where one or more of the oscillators is forkcontrolled, this is called fork beat.
BEAT FORK.

See carrier beat.

BEAT FREQUENCY.

See frequency, beat.

BEAT-FREQUENCY COMPONENT.
The
sum a n d /or difference frequencies produced
as a result of heterodyning. (See beat note.)
BEAT FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR.
oscillator, beat frequency.

See

BEATING. A phenomenon in which two or

more periodic quantities of different frequen
cies produce a resultant having pulsations of
amplitude. (See beats.)
BEAT NOTE. The wave of difference fre
quency created when tw o sinusoidal waves of
different frequencies are supplied to a non
linear device.
BEATNOTE
oscillating.

DETECTOR.

See

detector,

BEATTIE AN D BRIDGEMAN EQUATION.

A form of the equation of state, relating the
pressure, volume, and temperature of a gas,
and the gas constant. The Beattie and Bridgeman Equation applies a correction for reduc
tion of the effective number of molecules by
m olecular aggregation, due to various causes.
It has been stated in more than one form, an
example of which is:
R T ( 1 - )
A
P = ----- v
- (v V + B ') -----y2
y2

in which P is the pressure, T is the absolute

temperature, V is the volume, R is the gas con
stant and A , B and e are quantities defined in
terms of five empirical constants, A 0j B 0,
a, b, and c b y the following relationships:

-A (l - )

VT3
BEAT, ZERO. Heterodyning with zero fre
quency difference.
BEAUFORT W IN D SCALE. In the days of
sailing vessels, Admiral Beaufort introduced
a wind scale for judging wind force on the
sails of a vessel. B eaufort numbers have
since then been correlated to a range of wind
velocities, and the scale has continued in uni
versal use for describing wind velocity.
Code Number

0
1

Wind Velocity
(m.p.h.)

0-1

1-3
4-7

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

13-18
19-24
25-31
32-38
39-46
47-54
55-63
64-75
Over 75

8-12

Description
Calm
Light air
Light breeze
Gentle breeze
Moderate breeze
Fresh breeze
Strong breeze
Moderate gale
Fresh gale
Strong gale
Whole gale
Storm
Hurricane

BECKMANN M ETHOD. See boiling point,

methods of determining elevation of, and
freezing point depression, measurement of.
BECQUEREL RAYS. Radiation emitted by
radioactive substances, discovered in early
work on radioactivity by the action upon
photographic plates. These rays were later
named gamma rays.
BEER L A W . The law discovered by Beer in
1852, that the absorption coefficient for light
passing through a solution of a given salt in
a non-absorbing solvent is proportional to the
concentration. The absorption coefficient a of
the Bouguer law can therefore be expressed

135

Bei Berkeley and H artley M ethod

as ac, where a is the molar absorption coeffi

cient and c is the concentration in moles per
liter. Sometimes written:
I = I 0e - acx

where I is the intensity of light transmitted,

I 0 is the intensity of the incident light, e is the
natural logarithmic base, c is the concentration
of the solution in moles per liter, x is the thick
ness of the transmitting layer, and a is the
molar absorption coefficient.
In general Beer's law is used for light of a
particular narrow wavelength band and then
a is the specular molar absorption coefficient.
The Beer law is also written
I = J010_C*
where e is known as the molar extinction co
efficient. N ot all solutions obey the Beer law.
(See also the Bouguer law.)
BEI.

The imaginary part of the Bessel func

tion of complex argument (xy/i).

part is denoted by Ber. Thus

able carriage between them is some device,

called the photometer head, for receiving
and comparing the illuminations from oppo
site directions.
BEND. In a rectilinear navigational system,
the departure of a defined course line from
a straight line.
BEND, W AVEGU ID E. See waveguide bend.
BENDING MOMENT.
ing.

See moment, bend

BENDING OF LIGHT.
Consequence of
general relativity theory (see relativity the
ory, general), coupled with the identification
of a null-geodesic as a possible path of a
light ray, that a light path is curved on pass
ing near a massive object. For the sun, the
theoretical value is 1.75 seconds, in much
better agreement with observation ( ^ 2 " )
than the value .875 seconds derived from the
Newtonian theory of gravitation.

The real

J n(x V 7 ) = Ber (x ) + i Bei (x).

BEL. A dimensionless unit for expressing the
ratio of two values of power, the number of
bels being the logarithm to the base 1 0 of the
power ratio. W ith P 1 and P 2 designating two
amounts of power and N the number of bels
corresponding to the ratio P 1/ P 2,
N = log10 (P 1/ P 2).
BNARD CONVECTION CELLS. W hen a
layer of liquid is heated from below, the onset
of convection is marked by the appearance
of a regular array of hexagonal cells, the
liquid rising in the center and falling near the
wall of each cell. The criterion for the ap
pearance of the cells is that the Rayleigh num
ber should exceed 1700 (for rigid boundaries).
BENCH PHOTOMETERS. Instruments for
comparing the luminous intensities of two
sources (see photometry) by finding a point
so located between the two light-sources un
der comparison that the flux densities pro
duced by them at that point are equal. The
luminous intensities of the two sources are
then proportional to the squares of their dis
tances from that point. T o this end, the two
sources are mounted near the extremities of
the scale of an optical bench, and on a m ov

BENDING, UN SYMMETRICAL. The con

dition which exists at any cross-section of a
flexural member (see flexure) when the plane
of the loads contains the shear center but
does not coincide with either of the two prin
cipal planes of bending is known as unsymmetrical bending. Under these conditions the
flexure formula is not applicable because the
neutral axis is not perpendicular to the plane
of the loads although it does pass through
the center of gravity of the cross-section.
BENHAM TOP. A disc bearing character
istic black and white portions, which under
certain conditions of angular velocity and
illuminance, induces chromatic responses.
(See Fechners colors.)
BENITO. A continuous-wave navigational
system in which the distance to an aircraft
is determined on the ground by a phase-difference measurement of an audio signal trans
mitted from the ground and retransmitted by
the aircraft. Bearing information is obtained
by ground direction-finding of the aircraft
signals.
BER.

See Bei.

BERKELEY AND HARTLEY M ETHOD.

The measurement of osmotic pressure by the
application of a gradually increasing external
pressure to the solution until the entry of

solvent into the solution through the semi

permeable membrane is just prevented.
BERNOULLI EQUATION.
A
non-linear differential equation:

first order

dy
dx

+ f(p)y = a(x)yn-

It m ay be made lin e a r b y the substitution

y = u 1171 1, giving
du
dx

+ (1 - n )f(x)u = (1 n)g(x).

BERNOULLI L A W (OR THEOREM ). A

statement of the law of the conservation of
energy for steady flow of an inviscid fluid.
I f the fluid may be regarded as incompressible,
the sum, p +
+ pgh (where p is local
hydrostatic pressure, Y2pv2 is the kinetic pres
sure, and gh is the local gravitational poten
tial) , is constant along any one streamline. If
the flow is also irrotational, the sum is con
stant over the whole flow. The law may be
generalized for compressible flow.
BERNOULLI NUMBER.
power series:
g

e* -

A coefficient in the

n\

The first few numbers are B 0 1 ; Bi =

B s = B 5 = B 7 = = 0 ; B 2 = / (3 ;
=
%o'> b 6 =
B s = - H o ; b io = % .
Th ey occur in the Euler-Maclaurin formula.
Variations in definition and notation are
often found.

t(ex
(el -

=
1)

A coefficient

4>n(x)
no

BERTHELOT EQUATION. A form of the

equation of state, relating the pressure, vol
ume, and temperature of a gas, and the gas
constant R. The Berthelot equation is de
rived from the Clausius equation and is of
the form :
r
9P T C (
T c2\ l
PV = RT 1 +
M l
:
L
128P CT \
T 2/J
in which P is the pressure, V is the volume,
T is the absolute temperature, R is the gas
constant, T c is the critical temperature, and
P c the critical pressure.
BERYLLIUM. M etallic element of Group
2 A. Sym bol Be. Atom ic number 4.
BESSEL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION. A
second order equation with a regular singular
point at x = 0 and an irregular one at x = oo:
x 2y " + x y ' + (x 2 n2) y = 0 ,
where n is a constant. Its solutions, called
cylindrical functions, are Bessel, Hankel, and
Neumann functions.
BESSEL FORMULA FOR INTERPOLA
TION. A central difference equation (see
also difference, finite):

B nXn

BERNOULLI POLYNOMIAL.
in the power series:

vessel inside a water bath. The weight of

the condensed vapor and the rise in tempera
ture of the water bath are measured.

n\

The first few polynomials are 0 2 = x (x 1);

<t>3 = x (x 2 - % x + H ) ;< I >4 = x 2(x2 - 2x + 1) ;
<f>5 = x (x 4
+ % x 2 % ).
Variations
in their definition and the notation often occur.
I f the nth. polynom ial is expanded in a
Maclaurin series, the coefficients are related
to the Bernoulli numbers.
BERTHELOT CONDENSATION M ETHO D
FOR LATENT H EAT OF VAPORIZATION.
A given amount of vapor is condensed in a

yv+y2 = M y2 + dyHv

(v2 - I)
> . .3 .
+ V}4~
2!

y $ i -

(,2 _

1 ){V2 _

4!

- 1)
3!

9)
+

The independent variable x is equally spaced

so that (xn xo) = nh and the desired value
of y corresponds to x = x 0 + hu\ v = u
The other symbols are defined as follows:
= Am(
i
vyy2 = (yo + 2/ 0 / 2 ; \ihmy y%
= (5w2/o + *my i)/ 2.
BESSEL FUNCTION. A solution of the
Bessel differential equation. There are three
kinds of Bessel functions but those of the
second kind are also called Neumann func
tions and those of the third kind, Hankel
functions. The Bessel function of the first
kind may be defined by a generating function
and by the infinite series:

137

Bessel Function, Modified Beta Decay Theory

(ix/2) 2k

o f a sample by measuring the absorption of

P'-rays in the sample.

2 / " o k\T(n + k + 1)
Provided n is not zero or an integer, the gen
eral solution of the differential equation is
y = A J n{x) + B J _ n(x), where A , B are con
stants of integration. In the integral case,
J n J _ n and the second linearly independent
solution is a N eum ann function.
The Bessel functions of half-integral order,
n = m + y%\ m = 0, 1 , 2 , are linear
combinations of sin x and cos x.

BETA DECAY. A radioactive transforma

tion of a nuclide wherein the atomic number
is changed by + 1 or 1, and the mass num
ber is unchanged. When the atomic number
is increased by 1, negative /2-particle emission
occurs, and when the atomic number is de
creased by 1, there is positive /2-particle (posi
tron) emission or electron capture. (See beta
decay theory; Fermi theory of beta decay.)

BESSEL FUNCTION, M ODIFIED.

The
modified Bessel function of the first kind is

BETA-DECAY, DOUBLE.
decay.

7n0) =
and that of the second kind is
K n (z) =

\ tt (sin nir) 1[ / _ n(2) -

In (z)\ -

BESSEL FUNCTION, SPHERICAL.

function,

The

j n ( z)

where J n+y2(z) is a Bessel function of half

integral order.
BESSEL INEQUALITY. I f a function f { x )
is expressible in terms of an orthonormal set
of functions <i using expansion coefficients
d = j * f<t>idx, then the Bessel inequality states
00

r
Ci

i=i

<

I fd x .

I f f i x ) is integrable square, the sum of the

square of the expansion coefficients is thus
convergent.
W hen the equality holds, the result is
known as the Parseval theorem .
B oth relations may also be written in vector
form.
BETA. (1) Coefficient of volume expansion
i/3).
(2) Plane angle i/3).
(3) R elativity
ratio (/?).
(4) See also beta-particle and
beta-ray.
(5) R atio of speed to speed of
light (/?). (6) The short-circuit current gain
in a grounded-emitter, transistor amplifier
i/3 = a./i l a ), where a is the current ampli
fication) .
BETA-ABSORPTION GAUGE. An instru
ment which measures the thickness or density

See double beta-

BETA DECAY THEORY. The quantitative

theory of beta decay, first developed by Fermi
in 1933 and based on the neutrino hypothesis
of Pauli, is still basic, although its form has
been somewhat revised. It assumes a similar
ity between the beta decay process and the
emission of electromagnetic radiation the
decay is considered as a transition between
two energy states of the same system, in which
the energy is carried off by a "quantum of
the lepton (electron-neutrino) field, an elec
tron and an anti-neutrino.
As in the electromagnetic case, the calcula
tion of the transition probability is accom
plished by the use of perturbation theory.
The interaction energy between the system
and the ever present lepton field due to vacuum
polarization is treated as a perturbation H ' on
the Hamiltonian operator H (see operators,
quantum mechanical) of the system. It is
this interaction which causes the transition
between what would otherwise be two sta
tionary states of the system.
When dealing with the lepton field, one does
not have available, as in the electromagnetic
case, a set of classical relations which indi
cate how an expression for the interaction
energy should be constructed. Some guess
must be made as to the form o f the interaction
between the lepton field and its sources, the
nucleons. The assumption of a point inter
action between the field and a nucleon, de
pending only upon the field strength at the
position of the nucleon, and the requirement
of Lorentz invariance were shown by Gamow
and Teller to leave only ten possible choices
for the form of the interaction. Five of these
lead to parity conservation and five produce a
complete breakdown of parity conservation.

Individual interactions within each group of

five are characterized by the way in which
the electron and anti-neutrino wave functions
are combined to give a field strength Jt
representing the lepton field.
This field
strength is then coupled to the nucleon
source current
to give a scalar or pseudo
scalar interaction energy leading to parity
conservation or non-conservation, respectively.
W hen the relativistic wave functions of the
Dirac electron theory are considered, it is
found that they can be combined to form the
quantities S and S', one of which is a scalar;
V and V', one of which is a vector; T and T ',
one of which is a tensor; A and A ', one of which
is an axial vector; and P and P ', one of which
is a pseudo-scalar; the distinctions result
ing from the behavior of the quantities
under space transformations. These ten field
strengths Ju are:

J js =
>

J IV =

J 'ei i

(Ji t )

2s/2

JIA =

e iy V l'v

J IP

J'e'V&l'v

where \f/e and \f/v are the Dirac wave functions

for the electron and neutrino respectively, $ e
and \pv are their H erm itian conjugates, and
the \ = Cyi, y 2, Y3 , Y4) with the
being the
Dirac operators. In considering these ten
Afield strengths as different, an apparently
artificial distinction has been made between
several of the Ju and the Jw which seem to be
essentially the same. This distinction follows
from the fact that the Ju transform as indicated
if the electron and neutrino have the same in
trinsic parity, while the Jw have the indicated
transformation properties if the electron and
neutrino parities are opposite. In either case,
the other member of the pair will behave in a
similar way except that it will change sign
under a transformation involving reflection
through the origin of the coordinate system.
The nucleon source current is J Hi, where

Jh s

ip l 'I'N
->

Jh = foyp N

J ha

i
(Jh t ) w = ip
JH P =

( w * - VvV^'I'N

$PY5'l/N

with if/p and n being the Dirac wave functions

for the proton and neutron respectively.
The interactions J h 'J u conserve parity if the
electron and neutrino have the same intrinsic
parity while they lead to complete non-conser
vation of parity if the electron and neutrino
have opposite parity. For the interactions
J h v J w , the reverse is true. The most general
interaction which can be constructed on the
above assumption is
H' = g

[CtJff** Ju + C i'jH i-Jw

%

+ Hermitian conjugate],

J IS'

J IV>

(JlT')nv
J IA
J IP'

eYY5^ V

$e

2V2

WY5Y75^f

eVVB'l'v,

where the C* and CV represent the relative

strengths of the various interactions and g is
the coupling constant, analogous to the elec
tronic charge in the electromagnetic case.
Until 1956, the Cv were taken to be zero,
since it was assumed that the electron and neu
trino had the same parity and there was a
strong belief on the part of all physicists in the
existence of a symmetry in nature which they
felt would be violated if parity were not co n
served. The Cs and Cy terms lead to one set,
of selection rules called Fermi selection rules,
since Cy was the term used b y Fermi in the
original theory. The Ca and C t lead to the
Gamow-Teller selection rules, so named since
Gamow and Teller were the ones to generalize
the original Fermi interaction.
In 1956, C. N . Yang and T . D . Lee proposed
that the conservation of parity be given up in
weak interactions in an effort to reconcile some
of the apparent difficulties in the decay of the
K mesons. They pointed out that experi

mental measurements of effects due to the

Cv ^ 0 would require the measurement of a
pseudo-scalar quantity related to the beta

decay, such as I -p , where I is the nuclear spin

As a result of the Lee and Yang suggestion,

C. S. W u (et al.) carried out an experiment on
the allowed beta-decay in cobalt 60 in which

>

she measured I p, with I the nuclear spin direc

and p is the electron momentum vector. In

spite of the enormous number of experiments
which had been carried out in the previous 23
years in an effort to check the validity of the
theory and then to determine the values of the
Cij no experiment measured such a pseudo
scalar quantity. Thus there was no experiment
which was inconsistent with Ci ^ 0 . The
types of experimental information which were
available up to this time had come from three
types of experiments:
(1) Information from beta-recoil nucleus
angular correlation experiments designed to
give information about the beta-neutrino
angular correlation.
( 2 ) Careful measurements of the shape of the
beta ray energy spectrum.
(3) Beta-gamma angular correlation ex
periments not involving information about
electron polarization or gamma ray circular
polarization (but in m any cases involving
linear polarization measurements on the gamma
rays).
The only effect of the Ci ^ 0 on the
theoretical predictions for results from these
three classes of experiments would be to replace
a given |Ci\2 b y [|C<|2 + |C,v|2] and C<Pj* by
[CiCj* + Ci'Cj**]. Thus, the assumption of
the Cv = 0 would result in the obtaining of
wrong values for the Ci from the above class
of experiments, but these values would be con
sistent for all of these experiments and would
accurately fit them (if the experiments are
good) even if the correct interaction required
Cv 7^ 0. Of the clear cut conclusions which
were drawn from the experiments prior to
1956 only two are still effective if Cv ^ 0 :
A. The various beta decay processes ob
served required that at least one (or both)
of the Ci and Cv leading to Fermi selection
rules and one (or both) of the C and Cv
leading to Gamow-Teller selection rules
must be different from zero.
B. The existence of forbidden transitions
having the spectrum shapes predicted by
the theory for the change AI in nuclear
spin taking on the maximum allowed b y
the Gamow-Teller rules for the given
order of forbiddenness (unique forbidden
transitions) gave great support to the
general form of the theory.

tion and p the electron momentum direction.

This was done b y lining up the spins of Co 60
nuclei with the use of a magnetic field while
the Co 60 was at very low temperatures
( ~ 0.01 K ). The number of electrons emit
ted as a function of the angle 6 between their
direction and that of the nuclear alignment
direction would be
(Jz) v

1(B) 1 + A --------cos 0
J c
where (J z) is the average value of the magnetic
q u a n t u m n u m b e r for the nuclei, J is the total
angular momentum quantum number, v is the
electron speed, and c is the speed of light. The
W u experiment showed A ~ 1. For such a
pure Gamow-Teller transition, theory gives

A -

2\MqT\2
..

1 {R e(CT*CT - CA*CA>)}
Ze2

- Im (Ct *CA' + CT'*CA),

hep

where
= [ |Ct |2 + | C t *|2 + |Ca |2 + |Ca >I2] M Gt2,
R e means real part of, Im means imaginary
part of, Ze is the nuclear charge, e the electronic
charge, p the electron momentum, c the speed
of light, % the D ira c fi, and |M q t \2 the abso
lute value squared of the nuclear matrix ele
ments associated with the T and A interactions
(Gamow-Teller matrix elements). It has been
assumed that experiments of class 2 justify the
assumption that interference terms between
the T and A interactions (Fierz interference)
are zero, meaning also that either the C t and
C t '7 or the Ca and Ca' are approximately zero
in the above expression. (This would not be
true for a two-com ponent neutrino!) The new
experimental result showed clearly that parity
is not conserved. The fact that the experi
mental value of A took on, in magnitude, ap
proximately the maximum possible value re
quires that invariance of the interaction under
charge conjugation (exchanging all particles for
their anti-particles) must also break down. As
can be seen, the result indicated further that
either Ca ~ Ca> and CT ~ Ct ~ 0 or that
C t ~ C ^ /andC ^ Ca> 0. Lee and Yang
and, independently, Landau and Salam im

mediately concluded that this result suggested

a revival of the two-com ponent neutrino theory
suggested in 1929 b y W eyl, but investigated
and rejected b y Pauli when he showed that it
did not conserve parity, in which he strongly
believed.
In essence, the two-com ponent
theory assumed an exactly zero rest mass for
the neutrino and assumes that it can exist in
only one spin state as characterized b y the
>
>
operator or-p where <rv is the neutrino spin
operator and p is its momentum vector. Their
original choice was for <r p/1 p |= + 1 , i.e.,
with the neutrino spin always pointing along
the direction of its momentum and the anti
neutrino spin always pointing opposite its
momentum. Alm ost immediately, three in
dependently proposed theories (Feynman and
Gell-Mann, Sudarshan and Marshak, and
Sakurai) leading to the same universal Fermi
interaction were put forth which produced the
two-com ponent theory with crvp/1 p^ |= 1
(neutrino spin antiparallel to its m otion ). This
theory, usually referred to as the Feynman-GellM ann theory, leads to an interaction among
any four Dirac particle fields described b y the
wave functions
f e , \pc, and
of the form :
G {[& i y (1 + Y 5 )fe H fo Y (l + Y s)fe]
+ Hermitian conjugate},
It was proposed that this interaction should
apply not only to beta decay, but also other
decay processes involving weak interactions,
such as jit-meson decay, 7r-meson decay, K meson decay, A-decay, 2-hyperon decay, and
S-hyperon decay.
For beta decay, this inter
action reduces to

eliminated the disagreement and brought all of

the data into excellent agreement with this
theory with the exception of one slight puzzle.
In nuclear beta decay \Ca \2 1*421Cy |2, con
trary to the apparent prediction of the universal
Fermi interaction. On the other hand, the nu
clear beta decay value of gCy = 1.41 X 10 49
erg cm3 leads to a theoretical prediction for the
lifetime of the /-meson rM= (2.26 0.04) X
10-6 sec as compared with the experimental
value of r^ = (2.22 0.02) X 10-6 sec. There
are current theoretical reasons for suspecting
that there should be a renormalization effect
correction (similar to renormalization o f
charge) applied to Ca but not to Cy, and it has
tentatively been assumed that this renormaliza
tion of Ca will lead to Ca = \ /l.4 4 Cy. A
brief summary of a few of the predictions of
this theory for allowed beta decay are listed
below.
Lepton Conservations
Predicted.
Invariance:
Interaction invariant under CP [combination
of space coordinate inversion (P) and charge
conjugation (C)] and also under time in
version (T), but not under C or P alone.
Thus parity non-conservation which gives
maximum effect in agreement with experi
mental observation; positron decay experi
ments appear as images of electron decay
experiments, with particles replaced by anti
particles.
Energy distribution
angular correlation:

and

beta-neutrino

P 3= ( E , 6 e v ) d E

1.49 X 10 49m0c2
2

I>

p( - m s f e ) ] ['/'(- iv y a)

/2

+ 1.441M qt |2

X (1 + Ys)^] + H .C .}.
which is equivalent to C a = Ca i Cy
C y with all other C = 0, i.e., a vector-axial
vector interaction with equal strength for par
ity conserving and parity non-conserving inter
actions and equal strength but opposite signs
for the axial vector and vector parts of the in
teraction. A t the time of its proposal (1958),
this interaction was in only partial agreement
with experiment; however, at the present time
(1960) subsequent experiments seem to have

\
- 022 ) ( 0 - )2
1 \c~
/

-\ 1 \ \2 + \MF\2

1.44 1Mqt |2 + IMp \2

where ( ) goes with /3 -decay, ( + ) goes with

j3+-decay, ra0 is the electron rest mass, E the
beta energy, E 0 the maximum beta energy,
is the angle between the beta (/3 ) and antineutrino ( v) or
and v, \Mp\2 the square of

the nuclear matrix element of y, the Fermi

function:

F ( Z ,E )

|r(p+/)|2l
T y[r(2p+l)l2)'

- 2 ( l + ) ( 2 p R )

BETA-EMITTER. A radionuclide that un

dergoes disintegration by emission of a -particle.

with
BETA FUNCTION.

P - [1 (oZ)2]M,

An improper integral:

- */& r i r .
B(m ,n) = f
Jo

ziz aZE

y =
V
Y being the gamma function, and the other
symbols as used before.

also called an Eulerian integral o f the first

kind. It can be expressed in terms of the
gamma function by the equation:
T (m )r(n )

Polarization o f beta particles em itted in

decay:
>

(See also invariance theorem and conser

vation laws in qu an tu m mechanics.)
BETA DISINTEGRATION.
entries.

T(m + n)

(Polarization) p = (<re*pe)
c

See beta-decay

BETA-NEUTRINO ANGULAR CORRELA

TION. See beta decay theory.
BETA PARTICLE. A negative electron or
positive electron (positron) emitted from a
nucleus undergoing p-decay.
BETA RAY.

BETA DISINTEGRATION ENERGY.

(1)
Usually, the energy difference between the
neutral parent atom and the neutral product
atom, before emission of any gamma radia
tion; sym bol Qjg. For negatron emission it
is equal to the sum of the kinetic energies
of the beta-particle, the anti-neutrino, and the
recoil atom (usually negligible), and is ob
tained experimentally from the maximum en
ergy of the beta-ray spectrum. For positron
emission, the energy equivalence of tw o elec
tron rest-masses must be added to the sum of
the kinetic energies of the positron, the neu
trino, and the recoil atom, since the products
include the positron and one negative electron
in addition to the neutral product atom. The
energy equivalent to their masses ultimately
appears as radiant energy of annihilation
radiation. For electron capture, the disinte
gration energy is equal to the sum of the
kinetic energy of the neutrino and the elec
tronic excitation energy of the product atom
(usually, the binding energy, in the neutral
product atom, of an electron equivalent to
that which was captured).
(2) Often, im plicitly, the ground-state /3disintegration energy, which is the total en
ergy released in a ^-transition between isobars
in their ground states ; symbol Qp0. It includes
the energies of any y-radiation and associated
radiations following the /3-process itself.

x )n~ ld x ; m > 0, n > 0

A stream of (J-particles.

BETA-RAY SPECTRUM. (1) The distribu

tion in energy or momentum o f the /^-particles
(not including conversion electrons) emitted
in a /?-decay process. The /?-ray spectrum is
always continuous up to a maximum energy.
Its shape depends upon the nature of the par
ticular /?-decay process.
(See beta decay
theory.)
(2) Sometimes, and loosely, the energy
spectrum of the electrons emitted b y a radio
active source, irrespective o f their origin. In
addition to the continuous spectrum of defini
tion (1 ), it may show lines due to internal
conversion or to Auger electrons. (See Auger
effect.)
BETATOPIC. Differing by, or pertaining to
a difference by, unit atomic number. Thus,
if one atom or element can be considered to
form another atom or element, by ejection of
an electron or positron (beta-particle) from
its nucleus (and thus changing its nuclear
charge by 1 ) , the two atoms are betatopic.
BETATRON. A particle accelerator invented
by D. W . Kerst. It is based on the Maxwell
equation that is a generalization o f Faradays
law of electromagnetic induction, namely,
that changing magnetic fields produce electric
fields, i.e.,

V X

between the covariant derivatives of the Reimann-Christoffel tensor.

U. -- -----------

at

d r
E 'd l = ------ I B - dA (in m k sa u n it s ).
d tJ
The force E e of this induced field is used to
accelerate the particles.
The particles travel in an evacuated doughiiut, and are held in a circular path of con
stant radius (r = m v/B e), by a magnetic
field that increases as the particle momentum
increases. (See accelerators, particle.)
BETA-VALUE.
In the controlled thermo
nuclear program this is the ratio of the out
ward pressure exerted by a plasma to the in
ward pressure that the confining magnetic
field is capable of exerting.
(See magnetic
pressure.)
BET EQUATION.

See adsorption isotherm.

BETHE-HOLE DIRECTIONAL COUPLER.

See waveguide coupler, Bethe-hole direc
tional.
BETHE-SALPETER EQUATION. Equation
in quantized field theory describing the bound
state of tw o interacting particles, formulated
in a com pletely relativistic manner and em
ploying a relative time variable.
BEV. Abbreviation for billion electron-volts,
a unit of energy.
BEVATRON. A colloquial name for the 6 Bev
proton synchrotron at the University of C ali
fornia, Berkeley. (See also accelerators, par
ticle.)
BEVERAGE ANTENNA. See antenna, wave.
BEZOLD-BRCKE EFFECT.
A shift in
hue which is the result of a variation in
luminance. The B ezold-Brcke effect may
be represented by chromaticity loci, of speci
fied luminance, with hue and saturation con
stant, when luminance, and consequently
brightness, are varied. It is a relationship,
of psychophysical nature, between psycho
physical specifications and color sensation
attributes.
BFO.
lator.

Abbreviation for beat-frequency oscil

BIANCHI IDENTITIES.
B W ;t +

B%<rr;v +

The relations:
B ^ r v -e

BIAS. (1) In electrical work, a voltage whose

principal function is to locate the operating
point on the characteristic curve of a piece
of apparatus. The term is most commonly
applied to the grid voltage of a vacuum tube,
in which case it means the d-c voltage (other
than signal voltage) applied between the
cathode and control grid of the tube. In this
connection the term C+bias is also commonly
used. The bias may be obtained from a source
o f d-c voltage, from the potential drop across
a resistor (cathode resistor) in the cathode
circuit or, when the grid carries current, from
the drop across a resistor in the grid circuit.
The first method is called fixed bias and the
latter two self-bias. Bias is also used in
telegraphy to indicate undesirable voltage ad
ditions to or subtractions from the code
signals. (2) B y analogy, any steadily-applied
physical entity, introduced to keep a device
operating at a specified characteristic (e.g.,
see bias lighting).
BIAS CELL.

See cell, bias,

BIAS, CUTOFF.
cutoff.

See cutoff bias; voltage,

BIAS, GRID, AUTOMATIC. Grid-bias volt

age provided by the difference of potential
across resistance (s) in the grid or cathode
circuit by grid or cathode current or both.
(See bias.)
BIAS, GRID, DIRECT. The direct com po
nent of grid voltage.
This is commonly
called grid bias.
BIAS LIGHTING. A method of increasing
iconoscope sensitivity by illuminating the
mosaic from the rear with a constant lightsource.
BIAS WINDINGS.

See windings, bias.

BIAX. A ferrite magnetic computer element

of small size. Rectangular in shape, it con
tains two holes. B y controlling the spacing
between the holes, flux interference techniques
can be made either destructive or non-destruc
tive, allowing the device to be used for mem
ory or logical circuitry, respectively.
(See
read out, non-destructive; circuit, logical.)

B IA X IA L C R YSTAL. A birefringent crystal

with two axes along which there is no double
refraction.
B ID E C T A L . Designation for a particular
tube basing arrangement.
See wave

B ID IR E C T IO N A L C O U PLE R .
guide coupler, bidirectional.
B IE D E N H A R N

ID E N T IT Y .

cl \a

cl

/J

e'

f\

Id '

The relation

( l ) a+ b+ c+ d+ e+ f + d'+ e'+ f' -(2k + 1)

iff

e'l ig

f 1 \g

d 'j

la

f\

d'\ i c

e'J

\i

between the six-j symbols of Wigner, which

was derived b y Biedenharn (1953) and also
by E lliott (1953). It should be noted that
the six-; sym bol is given by R acahs sym
metrized W coefficient (1957):
fa

id

e f

c j _ f o

id

cl

f\

B IF IL A R . (1) Transformers, inductors, coils,

etc., are bifilar wound when two conductors
are wound simultaneously, side-by-side, to
achieve similarity between windings or close
coupling. A bifilar resistor is wound by first
doubling the wire into a hairpin form and
then winding it on a mandrel. This type of
winding, with currents in adjacent turns flow
ing in opposite senses, has low inductance.
(2) See filar micrometer. (3) The bifilar pen
dulum consists of a rigid body (often a rod)
suspended by two wires.
B IL A T E R A L N E T W O R K .
bilateral.

See transducer,

B IL IN E A R C O N C O M IT A N T .
equation.
B IL IN E A R F O R M .

See adjoint

See form, bilinear.

B IL L E T SPLIT LEN S. A lens is cut into

two halves by a cut parallel to the optical
axis. B y displacing the axes of the two halves
slightly, overlapping beams from a slit source
will form interference fringes.
B IL L IO N . In the U.S. and France, 109. In
England and Germany, 1012. Recent recom
mendations of the international SUN C om

mission suggest that the prefix giga- be used

to indicate 109 and tera- for 1012.
B IM E T A L L IC STRIP. A strip formed o f two
metal pieces having unequal temperature co
efficients of expansion. These pieces, when
welded or otherwise held together intimately,
respond to temperature changes by mechan
ically deforming or curling. This arrangement
is used widely as the sensing element in ther
mostats and thermometers.
B IM O R P H (B IM O R PH C E L L ). T w o piezo
electric plates cemented together in such a
way that the application of a potential to
them causes one to expand and the other to
contract, thus producing a bending of the
combination.
B IN AC. One type of high-speed, electronic,
digital computer.
BINARY.

See notation, positional.

See cell, binary.

BIN ARY C E L L .
BIN ARY C O D E .

See code, binary.

B IN A R Y -C O D E D -D E C IM A L SYSTEM.
A
system of number representation in which
each decimal digit is represented by a group
of binary digits (e.g., the excess-three code).
BIN ARY D IG IT .

See bit.

BIN ARY N U M BER SYSTEM.

notation.
BIN ARY PO IN T.

See positional

See point.

B IN AU R AL IN TE N SITY E F F E C T . I f 0 is
the angle made with the median plane o f the
line joining the ears by a line drawn in the
apparent direction o f a sound source, and if
sound of the same frequency and same phase
is incident on both ears, then
II
6 = K in .
Ir
where I I is the intensity measured at the left
ear, and I r is the intensity measured at the
right ear. K is a frequency-dependent con
stant.
B IN AU R AL PHASE E F F E C T . I f the sound
intensity at the ears is maintained alike and
differences in phase are introduced, there is
an angular displacement 0 of the apparent
sound source from the median plane. The

relation between this angle and the phase d if

ference 4> is given by
6 = K<t>,
where K depends upon frequency.
BINAURAL SOUND REPRODUCING SYS
TEM . See reproducing, sound system, bin
aural.
BIN AXIAL CRYSTAL.

See crystal, biaxial.

BINDER. A resinous material which causes

the various materials of a record compound
to adhere to one another.

BINDING ENERGY, NEUTRON.

The
energy required to remove a single neutron
from a nucleus. M ost known neutron bind
ing energies are in the range 5-8 mev, though
that for H 2 is 2.23 mev, that for Be9 is 1.67
mev, and that for C 12 is 18.7 mev.
BINDING ENERGY, NUCLEAR. (1) The
energy that would be necessary to separate
an atom of atomic number Z and mass number
A into Z hydrogen atoms and A -Z neutrons.
This energy is the equivalent of the difference
I
- 2H

BINDING ENERGY.
(1) The energy re
quired to remove a particle or other entity
from a system.
(See specific entries which
follow .)
(2) The energy required to disperse
a solid into its constituent atoms, against the
forces of cohesion. In the case of ionic crys
tals, it is given by the Born-Mayer equation.
BINDING ENERGY, ALPHA-PARTICLE.
The energy required to remove an -particle
from a nucleus. F or spontaneous -emitters,
it is the negative of the ground state a-disintegration energy. For most light nuclides the
-particle binding energy is positive and is
equal to several mev. F or nuclides of mass
number ^ 1 2 5 , it is approximately zero. For
nuclides of mass number ^ 1 5 0 to 200, it is
negative by ^ 1 to 3 mev, but the lifetimes
for -disintegration are generally too long for
detection of -a ctivity. For most nuclides of
mass number exceeding 200, the -particle
binding energy is negative b y ^ 4 to 8 mev,
leading to observable -a ctivity.
BINDING ENERGY CURVE. A curve show
ing the dependence of the binding energy per
particle of a nucleus (see binding energy,
nuclear (2)) on the mass number of the
nucleus.
BINDING ENERGY, ELECTRON.
The
energy necessary to remove an electron from
an atom. It is identical with the ionization
potential.
BINDING ENERGY, ELECTRON, TOTAL.
The energy necessary to remove all the elec
trons from an atom to infinite distances, so
that only the nucleus remains. It is equal to
the sum of the successive ionization potentials
o f that atom.

1$

&

tU -s*'

r ^
t - V tax. 8.7

L
3 Li6

V 2IHe3

, hi
20 40 60 80 100 120 U 0 160 180 200 220 240 260
Mass number (A)

between the sum of the masses o f the product

hydrogen atoms and neutrons, and the mass
of the a tom ; it includes the effect of electronic
binding. (See binding energy, electron, total.)
(2) The binding energy per particle, and there
fore the binding energy defined in (1) divided
by the mass number, A } of the nucleus.
BINDING ENERGY, PROTON. The energy
necessary to remove a single proton from a
nucleus.
M ost known proton binding en
ergies are in the range 5-12 mev, although
that for H 2 is 2.23 mev, that for H e4 is 19.81
mev, and those for L i5 and Be9 are negligible.
BINDING ENERGY, SPECIFIC.
ing energy, nuclear (2).

See bind

BINGHAM EQUATION.
A relationship
which gives the fluidity (reciprocal viscosity)
o f mixtures of solutions of non-electrolytes:
<p = xa 4>a

xb 4>b ,

where <j> is the fluidity of the mixture, 4>a and

<t>B the fluidities of the components, and xa and
xb are the volume fractions of the components.
The deviations from this relationship are due
to volume changes on mixing.

BINOCULAR. An instrument composed of

two similar telescopes, one for each eye, usu
ally with focusing tubes controlled by a com
mon screw adjustment.
BINOCULAR, PRISM. A binocular having
a pair of right-angled, total-reflection prisms
in each telescope. This arrangement shortens
the tube length, as compared with an ordi
nary field glass of equal power, and since it
also permits the objectives to be set further
apart than the eyepiece, it increases the
stereo power of the instrument as a binocu
lar. (See binocular vision.)
BINOCULAR VISION. The possession of
two eyes set at a distance apart, but with
approximately parallel axes, enables us to
obtain two views from slightly different
angles, and thus to become sensible of the
solidity of single objects and to get an idea
of the actual distribution of different objects
in space. In some manner the brain is able,
through long experience, to blend the two d if
ferent sensory pictures from the two different
retinal images and to interpret the resulting
sensation in terms of geometrical solidity.
There is, however, a limit to the distance at
which this impression is perceptible, and for
very distant objects other factors must be
relied upon, such as the apparent size (as of
buildings or trees), or the opacity of the at
mosphere (as in viewing distant mountains).
In the absence of such factors, no estimate
o f distance can be form ed; thus the stars all
appear to be at the same distance. This lim
iting stereoscopic radius is for normal, un
aided eyes, only a few hundred feet, but with
a binocular telescope, and especially with a
prism binocular (see binocular, prism), it is
increased in a ratio called the stereo power
of the instrument.
BINOMIAL.
terms.

A polynomial containing two

BINOMIAL COEFFICIENT.
The coeffi
cient of the variable in a binomial series. The
n\
(k + l)th coefficient of order n is ---------- *
v
'
k!(n-k)l
usually designated b y the sym bol

equals the number of com binations of n

things taken k at a time. Properties of the
coefficients include

c m ih

;:;)

BINOMIAL THEOREM.
A rule for ex
panding (x + y ) n, where n is a positive in
teger. The result is
(x + y) n = x n + nxn xy
+

n(n 1)
V
2!

- y

+ - - - + yn.

The (k + l)th term is

x n ky k,
where

is the binom ial coefficient.

BIOLOGICAL SHIELD. A shield used to

reduce the intensity of transmitted radiation
to an amount permissible physiologically.
BIOLUMINESCENCE.
der luminescence.

See discussion un

BIOPHYSICS. The application of physics

and physical methods to the investigation of
biological phenomena. The term has been
used in the restricted sense of the application
of physical methods such as electron m icro
scopy, potential measurements on nerve fibers,
radioactive tracer techniques, and the use of
high energy radiations and other physical
agents. It is also used in a more general sense
to include the application of physical ideas
and methods of reasoning to such broad areas
as the replication of genetic material, the
coding of genetic material, intermolecular
forces and the specificity of enzymatic bio
chemical reactions, the transfer of excitation
energy in photosynthesis, etc. In the latter
sense it is often impossible to distinguish be
tween biochemistry and biophysics. A t the
cellular and ultracellular levels, biological
processes are molecular processes and as such
involve physical phenomena. Similarly bio
logical structure at the ultracellular level in
volves the organization o f molecules and
macromolecules into membranes, probably of
only bimolecular thickness, and here the ideas
developed by physicists for problems of the
solid and the liquid state are of importance.

BIOT-SAVART L AW . A law expressing the

fact that the magnetic field intensity in the
neighborhood of a long straight wire carrying
a steady current I varies inversely as the ra
dial distance r from the wire, thus H = 21/r
(oersteds in emu units) or H = I/2irr (ampere-turns per meter in rationalized mksa
units). The lines of magnetic field intensity
form circular loops about the wire. The direc
tion of the field is given by the right hand
rule, i.e., if the wire is held in the right hand
with the thumb pointing in the direction of
positive current flow, the remaining fingers
point in the direction of the field. The Am
pere law is sometimes called by this name
since either of the two laws m ay be deduced
from the other.
BIPOLAR COORDINATE.
system, bipolar.
BIPRISM.

See coordinate

See prism, Fresnel bi-prism.

BIQUADRATIC.

See equation, quartic.

BI-QUARTZ.
B y placing two adjoining
pieces of equal thickness of quartz, one
dextro-, the other laevo-rotatory, over the
analyzer in a polariscope, the accuracy of
setting can be increased.
Such a double
b lock is called a bi-quartz.
BIREFRINGENCE.
Double refraction or
the splitting of a ray of incident light into
two components which travel at different ve
locities. (See double refraction, optical.)
BIREFRINGENCE, F LO W . In the flow of
viscous liquids, composed of anisotropic m ole
cules, the forces of shear tend to orient the
molecules, leading to birefringence.
BISCUIT.

See preform.

BISMUTH. M etallic element.

A tom ic number 83.

Sym bol Bi.

BISTABLE. A circuit with two stable states.

See scale-of-two, Eccles-Jordan circuit, trig
ger circuit, and multivibrator, bistable.
BIT. A unit used in information theory, ex
pressing the amount of information given by
a choice between an equally likely yes or
no. Thus the information that a diagram is
contained somewhere in the first 50 pages of a
400 page book contains 3 bits; one for the fact
that it is in the first 200 pages, one to place it
in the first half of these, and one to limit it to

the first half of the first quarter. Notice

that each bit involves a choice between two
sections with equal numbers of pages, to in
sure equal probability of the yes and the
no. T o place the diagram on a particu
lar pages requires nearly 8.64 bits [% o o
( % ) 8-64] Each place in a binary number sys
tem gives one bit of information.
BIT (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS).
(1) An abbreviation of binary digit. (2) A
single character of a language employing ex
actly two distinct kinds of characters. (3) A
unit of storage capacity. The capacity, in
bits, of a storage device is the logarithm to the
base two of the number of possible states of
the device as defined under bit in preceding
entry. (See also storage capacity.)
BITTER PATTERNS. A method for detect
ing domain boundaries at the surface of ferro
magnetic crystals. If a drop of a colloidal
suspension of ferromagnetic particles is placed
on the surface of the crystals, the particles
will collect along the domain boundaries where
the field is strongest.
BIZMAC. Trade name for an electronic data
processing system.
BJERRUM DOUBLE BAND. When the ab
sorption spectra in the near infrared of many
gaseous substances (e.g., HC1, H Br, H I and
CO, but not O 2, N 2, and H 2) is observed with
a thin layer of gas and small dispersion, only
a single absorption line (also called fun
damental band) is observed in the whole re
gion. However, with greater resolution, this
line is found to consist of two maxima close
together, called the Bjerrum double band.
BJERRUM THEORY. In the case of a monatomic gas, no energy is possessed other than
that due to translational movement. As re
gards the rotation of the molecule as a whole,
the potential energy of rotation is negligible
compared with the kinetic energy. In regard
to atomic vibrations the total vibrational en
ergy is ORT where 6 is a function of the tem
perature T and o f the vibration frequency v.
BLACK AND W H ITE.

See monochrome.

BLACK BODY. This term denotes an ideal

body which would, if it existed, absorb all and
reflect none of the radiation falling upon it;
its reflectivity would be zero and its absorp

tivity would be 100% . The chief interest at

tached to such a body lies in the character of
the radiation emitted by it when heated and
the laws which govern the relations of the
flux density and the spectral energy distribu
tion o f that radiation to the temperature.
T he total emission of radiant energy from
a black body takes place at a rate expressed
by the Stefan-Boltzmann
(fourth-power)
law; while its spectral energy distribution is
described by W iens laws, or more accurately
by Plancks radiation formula, as well as by a
number of other empirical laws and formulae.
(See thermal radiation.)
T he nearest approach to the ideal black
body, experimentally, is an almost completely
closed cavity in an opaque body. Th e labora
tory type is usually a somewhat elongated,
hollow metal cylinder, blackened inside, and
com pletely closed except for a narrow slit in
one end. W hen such an enclosure is heated,
the radiation escaping through the opening
closely resembles the ideal b lack -bod y radia
tion; while light or other radiation entering
by the opening is almost com pletely trapped
by multiple reflection from the walls, so that
the opening usually appears intensely black.
For this reason, black -body radiation is also
often called cavity radiation.
BLACK-BODY
RADIATION.
R adiation
having a spectral distribution of energy ac
cording to the Planck radiation formula and
such as would be given off by an ideal black
body or complete radiator. The energy dis
tribution is a function of only the temperature
of the radiator.
BLACK COMPRESSION.
black.

See compression,

BLACKER-THAN-BLACK. A portion of the

television signal devoted to synchronizing.
These synchronizing signals are transmitted
at a higher power than the blackest part of
the picture. This occurs when the spot re
turns from the far right to begin the next line
and from the bottom to the top of the picture.
BLACKETT AND RIDEAL M ETH O D FOR
SPECIFIC HEAT AT CONSTANT PRES
SURE.
A continuous-flow method, based
upon the determination of the temperature
gradient along a tube through which the gas
passes.

BLACKETT RELATION. Empirical rela

tion between magnetic moment /x and angu
lar momentum o-:
jjl ~

Gy*a
------

( G = gravitational constant and c = speed of

light in a vacuum) valid for the earth, the
sun and the star 78 Vir.
That the relation represents a fundamental
property of matter has not been established,
and indeed stars with magnetic moments
which vary with time have been observed
since it was proposed.
BLACK LEVEL.
The amplitude of the
modulating signal when the television camera
is receiving no light.
BLACK LEVEL REFERENCE. The picture
signal level corresponding to a specified maxi
mum limit for black peaks.
BLACK OUT EFFECT. A temporary loss
of sensitivity of a vacuum tube after a strong,
short pulse. The effect is extremely variable
from tube to tube, and its cause is not under
stood. It is a different effect from the block
ing action due to grid current flow.
BLACK PEAK. In television, a peak excur
sion of the picture signal in the black direc
tion.
BLACK SATURATION.
black.

See compression,

BLACK SIGNAL. The signal at any point in

a facsimile system produced by the scanning
of a maximum density area of the subject
copy.
BLACK TRANSMISSION.
black.

See transmission,

BLAGDEN L A W . The depression of the

freezing point of a solution is, for small con
centrations, proportional to the concentration
of the dissolved substance.
BLANKET (OF A CONTROLLED THER
MONUCLEAR REACTOR).
A layer of
lithium placed around the reaction chamber
of a controlled thermonuclear reactor. The
nuclear reaction
L i6 + n

t + H e4

causes the neutron energy to be absorbed in

the blanket, and in addition produces addi
tional tritium to be used as fuel. The lithium
can be mixed with other substances and run
through a heat exchanger to produce steam
and thence electrical power.
BLANK, FINISHED.

See piezoid.

BLANK GROOVE.
lated.

See groove, unmodu

BLANKING. In television, the process of

cutting off the cathode ray during the time it
is not forming a part of the picture. This
occurs when the spot returns from the far
right to begin the next line and from the bot
tom to the top of the picture to begin the next
field.
BLANKING, HORIZONTAL. The interrup
tion of the electron beam of a cathode-ray
tube during horizontal retrace.
BLANKING LEVEL.
In television, that
level o f a composite picture signal which
separates the range containing picture infor
mation from the range containing synchro
nizing information. The setup region is re
garded as picture information.
BLANKING PULSES.
ing.

See pulse(s), blank

BLANKING SIGNAL. A wave constituted

of recurrent pulses, related in time to the
scanning process, used to effect blanking. In
television, this signal is composed of pulses at
line and field frequencies, which usually orig
inate in a central sync generator and are
combined with the picture signal at the pick
up equipment in order to form the blanked
picture signal. The addition of the sync
signal completes the composite picture sig
nal. The blanking portion of the composite
picture signal is intended primarily to make
the return trace on a picture tube invisible.
The same blanking pulses or others of some
what shorter duration are usually used to
blank the pickup device also.
(See pulses,
blanking.)
BLANKING, VERTICAL. In television, the
interval during which the electron beam is
being shifted from the bottom of the image
back to the top, and the electron beam is pre
vented from reaching the screen.

BLATTNERPHONE. A name given to one

form of magnetic wire recorder.
BLAZE. It is now possible to rule diffraction
gratings with lines of predetermined shape so
that one side of the groove is a plane, called
the blaze.
BLEMISH
(IN
CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES). An imperfection of the storage sur
face which produces a spurious output. (See
also ion burn in cathode ray tubes.)
BLIND APPROACH BEACON SYSTEM.
A radar instrument low-approach system in
which airborne equipment interrogates a
ground transponder.
Distance from the
transponder and position with respect to the
center line of the runway is presented on an
L type display in the aircraft.
BLIND SPEED. In radar M T I, the radial
velocity of a moving target which traverses
one-half wavelength, or multiples thereof, be
tween successive pulses.
BLIND SPOT. The place on the retina of
the eye where there is a lack of sensitivity due
to the entrance of the optic nerve.
A

L ook at A with right eye from a distance of

about 6 inches and B is not visible.
BLINKING. In pulse systems, a method of
providing information by m odifying the sig
nal (at its source) so that the signal presenta
tion on the display alternately appears and
disappears; e.g., in Loran means for indicating
that a station is malfunctioning.
BLIP (PIP). On a radar display a deflection,
or a spot of contrasting luminescence, caused
by the presence o f a target.
BLISTER.

Colloquialism for a radome.

BLOCH EQUATIONS (NUCLEAR RESO

NANCE). Equations derived by F. Bloch to
describe the macroscopic effects of magnetic
resonance in a sample containing net nuclear
magnetic moments. T hey are (in emu)
Mx -

7 { My Hz - M zHy ) + M x/T2 = 0,

Aiy -

7 ( M ZH X - M XH Z) + M y/T2 = 0,

U z-

y ( M xH y - M y H J + M z/T2 = M o/Tu

where M w, etc., are the components of the

magnetization; H x, etc., the components of
the magnetic field intensity; T i, the longi
tudinal spin-lattice relaxation time; T2 the
transverse relaxation time due to spin-spin in
teractions; y the nuclear gyromagnetic ratio;
and M 0 is the equilibrium value that M z would
approach due to the strong magnetizing field
H z = H 0, i.e., Mo = x # o where x is the m acro
scopic nuclear susceptibility of the material.
(See also nuclear induction; nuclear magnetic
resonance; spin echo.)
BLOCH FUNCTION. It can be shown that
the wave function of an electron in a peri
odic lattice has the form
\[/ = u( r)eik'T
where u ( r) has the periodicity of the lattice
(i.e., is the same in every unit cell) and k
is the wave vector of the electron.
BLOCH THEOREM. (1) The lowest state
of a quantum-mechanical system in the ab
sence of a magnetic field can carry no cur
rent; an important result for the theory of
superconductivity.
(2) The statement that
every electronic wave function in a periodic
structure can be represented by a Bloch
function. (B loch s proof was general for so
lutions of the Schrdinger equation with a
periodic potential.)
BLOCH W A L L. The transition layer be
tween adjacent ferromagnetic domains mag
netized in different directions. The wall has

through the wall, rather than to have an

abrupt discontinuity.
BLOCK.
unit.

A group of words considered as a

BLOCKING. The interruption of plate cur

rent in a tube due to the application of a high
negative voltage. When done intentionally,
this m ay be called blanking or gating.
BLOCKING CAPACITOR.
coupling or blocking.

See capacitor,

BLOOM (ON PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE).

A filmy layer deposited on a photographic
plate by tap water. Rem oved by gently rub
bing the plate with wet cotton.
BLOOMING. An increase in the blip (spot)
size caused by an increase in signal intensity.
Bloom ing may be employed in navigational
systems with intensity modulation displays
for the purpose of conveying information.
BLUE G LO W . (1) A type of thermolumi
nescence emitted b y certain metallic oxides
when heated. (2) The bluish luminosity of
the gas near the cathode in a Geissler tube.
BMEWS.
system.
BO, bo.
oscillator.
BOBBIN.
wound.

Ballistic

missile

Abbreviation

early

warning

for beat-frequency

spool upon which a coil is

BOBBIN CORE.

See core, tape wound.

BOBBIN HEIGHT.

See core, tape-wound.

BOBBIN, I.D.

See core, tape-wound.

BOBBIN, O.D.

See core, tape-wound.

BODY BURDEN.
body burden.

See maximum permissible

BODY-CENTERED STRUCTURE. A type

of crystal structure in which atoms are lo
cated at the corners and center of a cubic or
rectangular cell. (See space lattice.)
Bloch wall. (By permission from Solid State Phys
ics by Kittell, 1953, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

a finite thickness, of the order of a few hun

dred lattice constants, as it is energetically
preferable for the spin directions to change
slowly from one orientation to another, going

BOHM AND PINES M ETHOD. A tech

nique for allowing for the Coulomb interac
tion between the conduction electrons (see
electron, conduction) in a metal. It is shown
that the gas of electrons behaves as a plasma,
having characteristic vibrations of long wave

lengths but nearly constant frequency, while

the interactions between individual electrons
are shielded out at all but short distances.
The method gives good values for binding
energies, specific heats, paramagnetic sus
ceptibilities, etc., of simple metals, and the
plasma oscillations have been observed by
noting the energy lost by electrons passed
through thin films of the metal.
BOHR ATOM . See atom, Bohr; Bohr theory
of atomic spectra; atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld.
BOHR FREQUENCY CONDITION.
See
Bohr theory of atomic spectra, Postulate 2.
BOHR M AGNETON. A unit of magnetic
moment used in atomic physics.
(1) The
electronic B ohr magneton is the most widely
used form of this unit, and is understood when
not otherwise designated. It is defined by the
expression (in em u):
Mo = eh / ^ m ec = 9.2728 X 10 21 erg gauss 1,
where /x0 is the electronic Bohr magneton, e is
the electronic charge, h is the Planck constant,
me is the rest mass of the electron and c is the
speed of light. (2) The nuclear Bohr magneton
is defined b y the expression (in e m u ) :
Hi eh/^-wMc =

Mo
1836*

where M is the rest mass of the proton, and

the other symbols have the same meanings as
those given for the expression for the electronic
Bohr magneton.
BOHR-MODELSON THEORY.
model.

See nuclear

BOHR ORBIT. An allowed electron orbit in

the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom. (See
atom, Bohr; Bohr radius.)
BOHR RADIUS. In its most common usage,
this term designates the radius ri of the orbit
of the lowest energy in the B ohr model of the
hydrogen atom. Its value is given in non
rationalized c.g.s. units by the expression:

where h
mass of
charge.
used to

where n is the principal quantum number, and

the other symbols have the same meaning as
those given for the expression for ri above.
(See atom, Bohr.)
BOHR-SOMMERFELD ATOM. See atom,
Bohr-Sommerfeld; Bohr-Sommerfeld
(old)
quantum theory.
BOHR-SOMMERFELD (OLD) QUANTUM
THEORY.
Often called the old quantum
mechanics, this theory developed from quan
tum ideas of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Sommerfeld and others, culminating just before the
present quantum mechanics (new) developed
with the ideas of de Broglie, Schrodinger, and
Heisenberg. In the Bohr-Sommerfeld quan
tum theory, the basic ideas of the classical
mechanics of Newton, Lagrange, Hamilton,
etc., were kept, but with three non-classical
ideas superimposed, (a) For bound particles
the action integrals are quantized, leading to
allowed states, (b) In these quantized allowed
states, no radiation occurs, i.e., they are sta
tionary. (c) In a transition from one quan
tized allowed stationary state to another, dis
crete photons o f electromagnetic energy are
emitted or absorbed according to the law
AE ntfn = hv where AE nffn is the energy change
in a transition from the nth to mth state, h is
Planck's constant and v is the frequency of
the electromagnetic wave associated with the
photon.
In addition to its quite successful applica
tion to the hydrogen atom (see atom, Bohr
and atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld), the theory was
applied to other problems, e.g., the linear one
dimensional harmonic oscillator. In the latter
case, application of the quantum condition

h2
47r2mee2

the permissible orbits in the Bohr model of the

hydrogen atom. Its value is given b y the ex
pression:
n2h?
----- - = n2 X 0.529 X 1 0 -8 cm,
r =
47t mee

= 0.529 X 10~8 cm,

is the Planck constant, me is the rest

the electron, and e is the electronic
Sometimes the term Bohr radius is
designate the radius rn of any one of

pdq = nh

leads to a set of discrete, evenly spaced, al

lowed energy values E n = nhv, where n = 1, 2,
and v is the classical frequency of the
oscillator (v = y/k/m/2ir). In the new quan
tum mechanics the values of E n are given by
E n = {n + y2)hv, n = 0, 1, 2 leading to a

zero point energy. The absence of this zero

point energy in the Bohr-Sommerfeld theory
results from the neglect of the Heisenberg
uncertainty principle.
Although the Bohr-Sommerfeld theory has
been replaced by the quantum mechanics, it
is still often used as an aid in solving quantum
mechanical problems, since a consequence of
the correspondence principle is that the re
sults of quantum mechanics should agree with
those of the Bohr-Sommerfeld theory for suffi
ciently high quantum numbers, just as the re
sults of the Bohr-Sommerfeld theory should
agree with those of classical physics in the
limit of high quantum numbers.
BOHR THEORY OF ATOM IC SPECTRA.
Bohr based this theory of spectral series upon
two postulates: Postulate 1. An atomic sys
tem can, and can only, exist permanently in a
certain series of states corresponding to a dis
continuous series o f values for its energy, and
hence any change in the energy of the system,
including emission and absorption of electro
magnetic radiation, must take place by a com
plete transition between two such states.
These states will be called the stationary
states of the system. Postulate 2. That the
radiation absorbed or emitted during a transi
tion between two stationary states is m ono
chromatic and possesses a frequency ?, given
b y the relation hv = E m E n
(See atom,
Bohr; atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld; Bohr-Sommer
feld (old) quantum theory.)
BOHR-W HEELER
EMPIRICAL
MASS
FORMULA. See mass formula, empirical.
BOHR-W HEELER THEORY. An analyti
cal theory of the nature of nuclear fission and
the conditions under which it might occur,
based upon a liquid-drop analogy. One con
clusion was that if the ratio Z2/A exceeded
45, no additional energy would be necessary
to cause fission to take place.
(Z = atomic
number; A = mass number.)
An element
having a Z2/A ratio of 45 would have an
atomic number of well over 100, so according
to this theory, elements of atomic number ap
preciably higher than 100 are not stable.
BOILING. The process of changing from the
liquid state to the vapor state, the term being
restricted usually to cases in which the vapor
pressure of the liquid is equal to, or greater

than, the
liquid.

atmospheric

pressure

above the

BOILING MIXTURES, CONSTANT. L iq

uids consisting of two or more components
which boil at constant temperature and distill
without change in composition. Commonly,
there is only one composition at which two
particular liquids form a constant boiling
mixture.
(The proportions vary, of course,
with the pressure.)
Constant boiling liquid
systems are also called azeotropic mixtures.
BOILING POINT. The normal boiling point
of a liquid is the temperature at which its
maximum or saturated vapor pressure is
equal to the normal atmospheric pressure, 760
mm of mercury. If the pressure on the liquid
varies, the actual boiling point varies in ac
cordance with the relation between the vapor
pressure and the temperature for the liquid
in question. (See vapors.) Water, for exam
ple, with a normal boiling point of 100C
or 212F, boils at ordinary room tempera
ture when the pressure is reduced to about 17
mm. I f a solid is dissolved in the liquid, or if
another, less volatile liquid is mixed with it,
the boiling point is raised to a degree ex
pressed by the boiling point laws of vant
Hoff, Raoult, and others. (See solutions.)
A liquid does not necessarily begin boiling
when the temperature reaches the boiling
point. I f kept perfectly quiet, and especially
if covered with a film of oil, water may be
raised several degrees above its normal boil
ing point (superheating), before it suddenly
boils with explosive violence; it then returns
to its true boiling point. (See ebullition.)
BOILING POINT, ABSOLUTE. The boil
ing point on the absolute scale, numerically
equal to the boiling point in degrees centi
grade plus 273.16.
BOILING POINT, CONSTANT. Th e tem
perature at which a solution boils without a
change in composition, at a definite concen
tration and under a constant pressure; the
proportion by weight of the components in
the vapor is the same as in the liquid.
BOILING POINT ELEVATION BY DIS
SOLVED SOLUTE. For dilute solutions the
amount of elevation is given approximately
by the relationship:


R ( T ) 2 Afi
0 = ~A
7 qT)i r ~;nnn
1000 2g^ m* = e Ls m
M i is the molar mass of the solvent, A eh its

latent heat of vaporization in kcal per mole at

temperature T , m8 the molality of solute s;
Be is called the boiling point constant, or ebullioscopic constant. It depends only on the
properties of the solvent. For water
6C = 0.51C.
BOILING POINT, M AXIM UM .
Binary
liquid systems which show negative devia
tions from the Raoult law have vapor pressure-composition curves at constant tempera
ture which pass through a minimum. For
these systems the boiling point-com position
curve at constant pressure passes through a
maximum. A t the maximum boiling point
the liquid and vapor have the same com posi
tion and such a solution (azeotropic solution)
distils com pletely without change in com po
sition or temperature.
BOILING POINT, M ETHOD(S) FOR D E
TERMINING ELEVATION OF.
In the
Beckmann method a Beckm ann-type ther
mometer is immersed in a weighed amount of
solvent and the boiling point determined by
gentle heating until a steady temperature is
reached. A weighed amount o f solute is then
added and the boiling point redetermined.
The difference gives the elevation of the boil
ing point. The glass vessel containing the
liquid is provided with a platinum wire sealed
through the bottom to promote steady boil
ing and to prevent overheating, and reflux
condensers are used to minimize loss of liquid.
In the Landsberger method, vapor from
boiling solvent is passed through the solvent
contained in another vessel and by giving up
its latent heat will eventually raise the liquid
to the boiling point. A t this stage a weighed
amount of solute is added to the second vessel
and the boiling point is again determined.
In the Cottrell method, the thermometer is
placed in the vapor phase above the surface
o f the liquid and the apparatus so designed
that boiling liquid is pumped continuously
over the bulb of the thermometer.
BOILING POINT M ETH O D FOR VAPOR
PRESSURE. A simple method depending on
the fact that a liquid boils when its vapor
pressure is equal to the external pressure.

The liquid is heated in a vessel which is con

nected through a condenser to a pump and a
suitable manometer. Condensed vapor runs
back into the liquid, and the pressure is con
trolled by the rate of pumping. The tem
perature of the liquid is adjusted until it
boils. The method is applicable over a wide
range of temperature and pressure.
BOILING POINT, M INIM UM. Binary liq
uid systems which have vapor pressure-composition curves at constant temperature that
pass through a maximum, give boiling pointcom position curves at constant pressure that
pass through a minimum. A t the minimum
boiling point the liquid and vapor have the
same composition. (See boiling point, maxi
mum.)
BOILING POINT OF SOLUTIONS. The
solution of a nonvolatile substance in a liq
uid lowers the vapor tension of the system
and so raises the boiling point of the solvent.
In dilute solutions the effect is proportional
to the molecular ratio between the solvent and
solute but in concentrated solutions devia
tions from this rule occur.
(See law of
Raoult.)
BOLOMETER. (1) A very sensitive thermo
metric instrument o f the metallic resistance
type, devised by Langley and used for meas
uring feeble radiation. It consists of a slender
strip o f platinum mounted at the lower end
o f a long cylindrical tube having circular
stops across it at intervals to screen off all
radiation except that to be observed. A slight
amount o f radiant energy falling upon the
strip causes a measurable deflection in a sen
sitive galvanometer in the resistance bridge
coupled with it. T h e sensitivity o f the in
strument is of the same order as that o f the
radiomicrometer o f Boys. W hen a bolometer
tube is counted as the receiving element of a
spectroscope, instead o f the usual observing
telescope or camera, the instrument may be
used to detect and measure the intensity of
infrared spectral lines or bands. Very sensi
tive bolometers have been constructed, m ak
ing use of the rapid resistance change when
a metal becomes superconductive.
(2) In microwave technology, a barreter,
thermistor or other device utilizing the tem
perature coefficient of resistivity of some re
sistance element is called a bolometer.

BOLTZMANN CONSTANT. The constant k

in the calculations arising in the development
o f the Boltzmann principle. The least squares
adjusted output value of this constant is
(1.38026 =fc 0.000022) X 10~16 erg/deg C " 1.
The Boltzmann constant is equal to the
ideal gas constant per mole (R ) divided by
the Avogadro number.
BOLTZMANN DISTRIBUTION L A W .
Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution Law.

See

BOLTZMANN FACTOR.
(1) The weight
ing factor e ~ E/1cT that appears in the B oltz
mann distribution law and in many treatments
involving statistical mechanics.
(See Boltz
mann principle; partition function.)
(2) A
correction factor applied to calculated line
intensities in spectra due to thermal excitation.
BOLTZMANN
orem.

H-THEOREM.

B O LTZM A N N -VLASO V E Q U ATIO N S. The

basic equations which govern a high tempera
ture plasma in which the collisional mean free
path is much greater than all the character
istic lengths o f the system, first used by
Vlasov. T h ey are (in Gaussian units)

(i)
efj
dt

e* r

V X B1
E + -----------

+ v V / ,- + -

m.j L

-V v /, =

(2)

1 dB
V X E = ----------c dt

(3)

4ir
1 3E
V X B = j + ------c
c dt

(4)

V -B = 0

(5)

V E = 4ir<r

(6)

j = Z ) ei f f j v d zv

See H-thej

BOLTZMANN
PRINCIPLE
(DISTRIBU
TION). A somewhat general law relating to
the statistical distribution of large numbers
of minute particles subject to thermal agita
tion and acted upon by a magnetic field, an
electric field, or a gravitational field, etc. The
number of particles per unit volume in any
region of the field, when the system is in
statistical equilibrium, is given by the equa
tion
N = N 0e kT.
Here E is the potential energy o f a particle
in the given region, No is the number per unit
volume in a region of the field where E is
zero, k is the Boltzmann constant (ideal gas
constant per m olecule), and T is the absolute
temperature of the system of particles. Such
an equilibrium m ay exist, for example, in a
mass of electrified colloidal particles kept in
suspension b y their Brownian movement
while acted upon by an electric field.
BOLTZM ANN TRANSPORT EQUATION.
The fundamental equation describing the con
servation of particles which are diffusing in
a scattering, absorbing, and multiplying me
dium. It states that the time rate of change
o f particle density is equal to the rate of pro
duction, minus the rate of leakage and the
rate of absorption.

(7)

<r = 53 e]J f]d 3v

Equation (1) is the usual Boltzmann equation

for the one-particle distribution functions /,
of charge and mass e,- and mj respectively.
The electromagnetic fields E and B are de
termined by the usual Maxwell equations ( 2 ) (5 ). The current density j and the charge
density o- are given by equations (6) and (7).
The summations in (6) and (7) are over all
particle species.
BOMBARD. T o subject to the impact of
particles or radiations, as is used in the pro
duction of other particles or radiations, or
in the transmutation of atoms.
BOND.
(1) A symbol used to denote the
number and attachments of the valences of
an atom in constitutional formulas. The bond
is represented by a dot () or line ( ) drawn
between the atoms, as H - O H or H O H.
D ouble and triple bonds are used also and
m ay express unsaturation, particularly when
they join two atoms of the same element as
in the second and fourth examples following:
= C = 0 , H 2C = C H 2, C a = 0 , H f e C H .
(2) The atomic interaction that binds neu
tral atoms together in a molecule is known
as the valence bond. The valence bond is con
sidered to result from the electrical attraction

attributable to various distributions of the

electrons around the nuclei of the bonded
atoms. Various arrangements of this kind,
and their influence upon the properties of the
resulting compounds, are discussed for the
special types of bonds which follow. (See also
orbital, and resonance, quantum mechanical.)
BOND ANGLE.
The angle between two
bonds in a molecule, e.g., in water the bond
angle is 109.5, indicating that the lines join
ing the two hydrogen atoms to the oxygen
atom meet at this angle. (See bond direction.)
BOND, ATOM IC. A valence linkage be
tween atoms, consisting of a pair of electrons.
BOND, CONJUGATED DOUBLE. The al
ternation of single and double bonds. B y
electron transfer the positions of the single
and double bonds can be exchanged, leading
to an exchange energy.
BOND, COORDINATE. A term applied to
various types of valence bonds. The most
common usage occurs probably in the case of
the semicovalent bond formed between two
atoms by a pair of electrons, both donated by
one of the atoms, or in the special case of a
coordination-type compound, in which the
primary valences have already been satisfied,
and in which the coordinate bond is formed
later.
BOND, COVALENT. A type of linkage be
tween atoms wherein each atom contributes
one electron to a shared pair that constitutes
an ordinary chemical bond.
BOND, DATIVE. A type of covalent bond
(see bond, covalent) in which both electrons
forming the bonding pair are supplied by one
atom. An example is the forming of amine
oxides between tertiary amines and oxygen,
in which both electrons were donated by the
nitrogen group.
Such bonds exhibit some
polarity and are frequently called semipolar
bonds.
BOND DIRECTION, OR ORIENTATION.
Certain covalent bonds (see bond, covalent)
prefer to lie in particular directions with re
spect to the bonded atoms. For example, in
a tetrahedrally bonded carbon atom the bonds
point from the center of the carbon atom to
the vertices of a regular tetrahedron.
(See
directed covalent bond; bond angle.)

BOND, ELECTROSTATIC.
A valence
linkage in which two atoms are held together
by electrostatic forces resulting from the
transfer of one or more electrons from the
outer shell of one atom to that of the other.
In this process the atoms are converted into
ions of opposite charge which attract each
other. The transfer of electrons is commonly
in the direction that gives completed, or more
nearly completed, outer electron shells for
both atoms.
BOND ENERGY. The energy characteriz
ing a chemical bond between atoms, as meas
ured by the energy required to disrupt it.
BOND, HETEROPOLAR. A valence link
age between two atoms, consisting of a pair
of electrons. This bond is characterized by
an unequal distribution of charge dipole due
to a displacement of the electronic-pair so
that the effect of the bond is to make one atom
differ in polarity from the other. (See bond
moment.)
BOND, HOMOPOLAR. A valence linkage
between two atoms consisting of a pair of
electrons that are held equally by both atoms,
so that no difference in polarity exists between
the atoms, i.e., there is no bond moment.
BOND, HYBRID. See hybridization of eigen
functions.
BOND, HYDROGEN.
A valence linkage
joining two electronegative atoms through a
hydrogen atom.
Since a stable hydrogen
atom cannot be associated with more than
two electrons, the hydrogen bond may be re
garded as representing a resonance phenom
enon, by which it is alternatively attached
to one or the other of the two atoms. (See
exchange energy.)
BONDING ORBITALS.
ing.
BOND, IONIC.

See orbital, bond

See bond, electrostatic.

BOND, M ETALLIC. A special type of bond

existing in metals, in which the valence elec
trons of the constituent atoms are free to
move in the periodic lattice. This type of
bonding accounts for the observed metallic
properties. (See band theory of solids.)
BOND, MOLECULAR. A valence linkage
between two atoms consisting of a pair of

electrons, both of which have been furnished

b y one of the atoms.
BOND M OM ENT. T he electrostatic dipole
moment of a chemical bond between atoms.
BOND, tt (PI). A covalent bond with maxi
mum overlap of the atomic orbitals at right
angles to the line joining the two atoms.
BOND, SEMI-COVALENT OR BOND, PO
LARIZED IONIC. A valence linkage which
is intermediate in character between a purely
ionic and purely covalent bond, with inter
mediate properties. Such bonds arise quite
often if the constituent atoms have unequal
electron affinities.
BOND, SEMIPOLAR.

See bond, dative.

BOND, a (SIGMA). A covalent bond with

maximum overlap of the atomic orbitals along
the line joining the two atoms.
BOND STRENGTH.

Same as bond energy.

BOND SYSTEM OF NOTATION. A system

of notation proposed by Bond for the descrip
tion of the cut of a piezo-electric crystal.
BONE CONDUCTION.
The process by
which sound is conducted to the inner ear
through the cranial bones.
BOOLEAN ALGEBRA. A system of logic ex
pressed in algebraic symbols. An algebra with
two operations, addition and multiplication,
and with certain specified properties.
(For
further details, see James and James, M a th e
matics D ictionary, second edition, D . Van
Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, 1959.)
BOOST.

T o increase or amplify.

BOOSTER. (1) An electrical booster is one

of several types of devices inserted in series
in an electric circuit, to increase the voltage
of that circuit. There are several uses to
which the booster can be put. It may be em
ployed to compensate for a line voltage drop,
or it may be employed to vary voltage in such
a w ay that constant current is maintained.
The boosting of d-c circuits is maintained by
the rotating equipment called booster genera
tors. If this booster is driven by an electric
m otor the set is called a m otor-booster. The
booster generator can be used to raise the line
voltage at a feeder point on an electric trac
tion system.

The booster transformer is sometimes used

in alternating-current circuits. On a simple
single-phase circuit it boosts the line voltage
by connecting the primary of the transformer
across the line, and the secondary in series.
The induction regulator is a form of booster
transformer whose effect is varied by rotating
one winding with respect to the other.
(2) The term booster is widely used as a
colloquialism for an amplifier between the an
tenna and receiving set (especially a tele
vision set) antenna terminals.
BOOSTER VOLTAGE.
In the deflection
circuits of television receivers, the additional
d -c voltage added to the plate supply voltage
by the damper tube.
BOOTHROYD-CREAMER
SYSTEM.
A
tim e-division multiplex modulation system.
BOOTSTRAP CIRCUIT. A single-stage am
plifier in which the output load is connected
between the negative end of the plate supply
and the cathode, the signal voltage being ap
plied between the grid and the cathode. The
name bootstrap arises from the fact that a
change in grid voltage changes the potential
of the input source with respect to ground by
an amount equal to the output signal.
BORDA MOUTHPIECE, OR NOZZLE. An
outlet from a container of liquid by a short
re-entrant tube. The discharge coefficient of
the Borda mouthpiece is exactly one-half, and
a measurement of the head and the orifice
area is sufficient to compute the total flow.
BORESIGHTING. In radio the process of
aligning a directional antenna system by an
optical procedure.
BORN APPROXIMATION. A quantum me
chanical approximation method used partic
ularly for the computation of cross sections
in scattering problems. This approximation
can be used when the relative kinetic energy
of two particles is large compared to their
interaction energy. The approximation con
sists of the assumption that the wave func
tion of the system is made up of an incident
plane wave, eikz, plus a spherical scattered
wave, v{ r ) , with | v ( r ) | l . Qualitatively,
this approximation is based on the idea that
the large size o f the relative kinetic energy
compared to the interaction energy insures
that the distortion of the incoming plane wave

by the potential can be neglected and that the

weak potential will scatter a very small part
of the incident wave.
BORN-HABER CYCLE. A cycle of changes,
chemical and physical, applied to a chemical
substance, com monly a crystalline metallic
halide, to calculate the electron affinities of
certain atoms. The stages include the dis
sociation of the molecules of the crystal into
gaseous ions, the neutralization of these ions
by transfer of electrons from the negative ions
to the positive ones, the condensation of the
gaseous atoms to form solid molecules of the
two substances (e.g., metal and halogen), and
the recombination of the solid molecules to
reform the original crystalline compound.
From this cycle, it is possible to derive the
equation:
D

E = Q + S + + I

m x

in which E is the electron affinity of the halo

gen atoms, Q is the heat of formation of the
compound, S is the heat of sublimation of the
metal, D is the heat of dissociation of the
molecular halogen, I is the ionization poten
tial of the metal, and UMX is ^he lattice energy
of the crystal.
(See Born-Mayer equation.)
BORN-HEISENBERG REPRESENTATION.
See Heisenberg representation.
BORN-INFELD THEORY. N on-linear m od
ification of Maxwell equations in which the
electromagnetic field is described by four
vectors E, B, D, H, two of which are func
tions of the other two. It leads to a finite self
energy for an electric particle, but it is not
a unique theory and it does not lead to new
results which may be compared with those
of experiment.
BORN-MAYER EQUATION
a2e2N A
U

be-rp

+ -

choice of the zero of energy. In each case, r

is a measure of the interatomic distance, or
lattice constant, and its equilibrium value
makes U a minimum.
BORN-OPPENHEIMER
M ETHOD.
An
argument for calculating the force constants
between atoms in a molecule or solid, based
on the observation that the motion of the
electrons is so rapid compared with that of
the heavier nuclei that it can be assumed that
the electrons follow the motion of the nuclei
adiabatically.
That is, one calculates the
eigenvalues of energy for the electrons with
the nuclei in fixed positions; the variation of
this electronic energy with the configuration
of the nuclei may then be treated as a con
tribution to the potential energy of the inter
atomic forces.
BORN-VON KRMN THEORY OF SPE
CIFIC HEAT. A modification of the Debye
theory of specific heat of solids in which, in
stead of considering the medium to be an
elastic continuum, it is considered to consist
of discrete masses coupled to each other by
elastic springs. The heat capacity is given as
(hv/2kT)2
dv.
f Lg M sinh 2{hv/2kT)
Jo
si

where vL is the largest normal frequency, and

g(v)dv is the number of normal modes between
v and v + dv.
BORON. Nonmetallic element.
Atom ic number 5.
BORROW.

Symbol B.

See carry.

BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION. As the

temperature of a Bose-Einstein gas is reduced
below a critical temperature T0, there is a
rapid increase in population of the ground
state. It is believed that helium II is in such
a state. (See also superfluid.)

60.

This equation represents the binding energy

of an ionic crystal as the sum of various terms.
The first is the Coulomb energy of the lat
tice of charged ions. N ext comes the repul
sive potential between the outer closed shells
of the ions. The third term comes from the
van der Waals forces of attraction between
them. q is a constant, depending on the

BOSE-EINSTEIN DISTRIBUTION. (1) In

a gas composed of a fixed number of particles
that obey Bose-Einstein quantum statistics,
the number of particles, n*, in a state of energy
Ei, is given by
m = 1/[AeEilkT -

1],

where A is a constant that depends on the total

number of particles present. Gases composed

157

Bose-Einstein Gas Boundary Layer, Fluid Flow

of particles with integral spin, such as helium

o f mass number 4, obey this distribution law.
(2) In applying the Bose-Einstein statistics
to photons, the assumption of a fixed number
of photons cannot be made. This fact leads
to a slightly different distribution function
than the one above, nam ely the constant A
is unity, i.e.,
m = l/[eEilkT -

1].

This distribution law leads to the Planck

radiation formula for black bodies.
BOSE-EINSTEIN GAS. A gas composed of
particles of integral spin, which obey the
Bose-Einstein distribution law.
BOSON. A particle described by B ose-E in
stein statistics. (See quantum statistics.)
BOTTOM ING. The process of clamping the
plate potential of a pentode at a low level
by operating below the knee of the E p/Iv
characteristic. A triode operated in the posi
tive grid region may be operated in a similar
manner.
BOUGUER L A W . The law discovered by
Bouguer in 1729, that the absorption o f light
in homogeneous materials depends on thick
ness according to the exponential expression
given under absorption coefficient. The law
was rediscovered by Lam bert and is often
referred to as the Lambert law of absorption.
It is also related to the Beer law, which is
obtained b y setting the absorption coefficient
a = ac. W hen the law is expressed in terms
of com mon logarithms:
I = J010-**,
fc is known as the extinction coefficient.
These laws m ay be applied to a narrow
band of wavelengths, giving the specular co
efficient of absorption or the specular extinc
tion coefficient according to the form of the
equation used. T h ey do not hold for broad
spectral bands if the coefficients depend ap
preciably on the wavelength.
BOUNDARY CIRCLES.
In impedance
matching, circles of constant standing-wave
ratio which represent the boundaries of all
transformation circles which may be trans
formed to the definition circle.
BOUNDARY CONDITION.
(1) Specified
values of the solution to a differential equa

tion and its derivatives for certain values of

the independent variables which make the
solution acceptable, usually in order to satisfy
some conditions imposed for physical reasons.
For a total differential equation, the bound
ary conditions specify the values of the arbi
trary constants in the general solution. In
the case of a partial differential equation, the
boundary conditions affect the form of the
solution. Sometimes boundary values lead to
eigenfunctions. Commonly occurring types of
boundary conditions are those of Dirichlet,
Neumann, Cauchy, homogeneous, and stand
ard. (2) See boundary value problems.
BOUNDARY CONDITION, HOMOGENE
OUS. As applied to a partial differential
equation, these conditions consist of the spe
cification of the value of the function <(s)
and its normal derivative N (s) along a bound
ing surface in such a w ay that A<j>($) +
B N (s) = 0.
When A<f>(s) + B N( s ) = F( s )
the conditions are inhomogeneous. In either
case, they are called Cauchy boundary con
ditions.
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS ON THE ELEC
TROMAGNETIC FIELD VECTORS.
(1)
A t an uncharged boundary between two media
the normal components of the magnetic flux
density B, and of the electric displacement D
are continuous. If the boundary carries a
surface charge, then the difference in the nor
mal components of D is equal to the surface
charge density. (2) Also the tangential com
ponent of the electric field intensity E is con
tinuous at a boundary, and the tangential
component of the magnetic field intensity H
is continuous if the boundary carries no sur
face current. If there is a surface current,
the difference in the tangential components
o f H on the two sides of the boundary is the
surface current per unit length flowing along
the boundary.
BOUNDARY CONDITION, STANDARD.
W hen applied to the Schrdinger equation of
quantum mechanics, this condition requires
that the wave function and its derivative
vanish at infinity.
BOUNDARY LAYER, FLUID FLOW . M o
tion of a fluid of low viscosity, such as air or
water, around a stationary body or through
a stationary conduit possesses the free velocity
of an ideal fluid everywhere except in an ex

158

Boundary Marker Bourdon Gauge

tremely thin layer immediately next to the
stationary body. M any of the phenomena of
fluid flow m ay be studied and analyzed with
out consideration of this boundary layer, but,
thin as it may be (usually a few thousandths
of an inch), its internal mechanics must be
understood and evaluated in certain o f the
phenomena of fluid motion. Some of the more
important of these are:
1. The magnitude of the maximum lift co
efficient of the airfoils.
2. Profile drag of airfoils.
3. The drag of bluff bodies.
4. The large variations of drag coefficient
at critical Reynolds number for laminarturbulent transition.
5. The transfer of heat through surface
films.
BOUNDARY MARKER.
ary.
BOUNDARY M ETH O D ,
moving boundary method.

See marker, bound-

M OVING.

See

BOUNDARY M ETHO D , SHEARED.

sheared boundary method.

See

BOUNDARY, P-N. A surface in the transi

tion region between P -typ e and N -type m a
terial at which the donor and acceptor con
centrations are equal.
(See semiconductor,
N-type; semiconductor, P-type; donor impur
ity; and acceptor impurity.)
BOUNDARY SCATTERING (OR BOUND
ARY RESISTANCE). In thermal conduction
in solids, at low temperatures the phonon
mean free path m ay become so large that it
exceeds the dimensions of the specimen. In
this case, the conductivity is limited by scat
tering of the phonons by the boundaries, and
appears to depend on the size of the sample.
BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS. P rob
lems which involve the solution of partial
differential equations subject to boundary
conditions imposed on the solutions at speci
fied values of the independent variables. For
example, a solution to the one dimensional
wave equation is
U = (C sin ut
(
o)X
o)x\
+ D cos <d) I A s m + B cos )
\

V /

where is arbitrary. For a string fixed at its

tw o ends the boundary conditions are that
U = 0 at x = 0 and at x = L. This restricts
the choice of w to w = mrx/L where n is an
integer, and forces the arbitrary constant b = 0.
The solution is then Un (Cn sin nt + D n
cos con0 (sin (mrx/L)), with (n = 1, 2, ), and
the most general solution is
_
mrx
U = 2-r iPn sin 03nt + D n cos cont) s in ----- *
n
L
where the Cn and D n are determined by the
initial conditions, i.e., the displacements and
velocities as functions of x when t = 0.
Other boundary value problems occur in
such solutions as that to Laplaces equation,
subject to boundary conditions imposed on the
potential and its derivative at conducting and
dielectric surfaces; or the solution to the
Schrdinger equation, subject to boundary
conditions on the wave function such as the
conditions o f good behavior. The imposition
of the boundary conditions restricts the solu
tions o f a given partial differential equation
to a set of characteristic functions, each asso
ciated with different allowed values of the
parameters that appear in the separation of
the equation.
(See eigenfunction, eigen
value, etc.)
BOUNDED. A function such that for all
values of the function, f ( z ) < M , where M
is a real positive number, is said to be bounded
from above. When f ( z ) > M ( M negative),
it is bounded from below. W hen |/(z)| < M ,
the function is of bounded variation. Similar
definitions are applicable when f ( z ) is re
placed by a set or sequence.
BOUND PARTICLE. A particle surrounded
by a potential barrier, and having insufficient
kinetic energy to pass over the top o f the
barrier. In quantum mechanics, a particle
which is classically bound may penetrate
through a barrier. (See penetration probabil-

ity.)
BOURDON GAUGE. A device for measur
ing pressure in which a positive pressure dif
ference between the outside and inside of a
curved tube of flattened section tends to
straighten it. The movement may be linked
to a dial and pointer indicator, although other
methods of indication are used.

159

Box-car Lengthener Bragg Law

B O X C A R LENGTHENER.
A
pulselengthening circuit which lengthens a series
of pulses without changing their height.
Ideally, it produces flat-topped pulses pro
longed throughout the interval between pulses.

of high reflecting power which covers only

part of the prism-face. The two prisms are
then sealed together with Canada balsam so
that the reflecting coat is between the two
halves of the compound prism.

BOYLE-CHARLES L A W . The Boyle law

expresses the variation of pressure and v ol
ume of a body of ideal gas at constant tem
perature; the Charles law expresses the pro
portionality of pressure to absolute tempera
ture (at constant volum e), while the G ayLussac law states the proportionality of v o l
ume to absolute temperature (at constant
pressure).
A single statement covering all these rela
tionships is the Boyle-Charles law, which
leads to, or is a form of, the ideal gas law.
Its mathematical expression may be written:

BRACHISTOCHRONE. The characteristic

curve along which a particle will slide from
one point to another under the influence of
gravity in the least possible time, friction
being neglected. The formal solution is ob
tained by an application of the calculus of
variations. The curve has the mathematical
form of a cycloid.

pv = poV0(l + at),

\n 1

in which p0v0 is the value of pv at temperature

t = 0 , and a is the volume coefficient of expan
sion for the gas in question. If the centigrade
scale is used, a is for all gases approximately
equal to ^ 7 3 or 0.003661 per centigrade degree.

in which v is the w ave n u m b e r , R h is the

R y d b e r g c o n s ta n t for hydrogen (109,677.591
cm -1 ), Ui is 4, and n2 has integral values 5, 6 ,
7, . ..

BOYLE L A W . (M ariotte law, law of B oyleM ariotte.) A t constant temperature the v o l

ume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure,
and the pressure varies inversely as the v o l
ume. In other words, the product of the pres
sure and volume of a gas is constant at a
given temperature. This law holds only for
the ideal or perfect gas; all real gases depart
from it to a greater or lesser extent.
BOYLE TEMPERATURE. The temperature,
for a given gas, at which the Boyle law is most
closely obeyed in the lower pressure range.
A t this temperature the minimum point (of
inflection) in the p V -T curve falls on the pV
axis.
BP, bp. (1) Abbreviation for band pass.
Abbreviation for boiling point.

(2 )

BRACE-LEMON SPECTROPHOTOMETER.
A spectrophotometer which has two identical
collimators, in one of which are set two Gian
polarizing prisms, one fixed in azimuth while
the other may be rotated. The dispersive ele
ment is a Brace prism.

BRACKETT SERIES. A group of lines in the

infrared spectrum of atomic hydrogen repre
sented by the formula:

BRADLEY ABERRATION M ETHOD. B e

cause of the finite ratio between the velocity
o f light and the velocity of the earth in its
orbit, a telescope aimed at a star must be
pointed slightly forward in order to correct
for the forward motion of the telescope while
light is moving the length of the telescope.
Bradley (1728) found the maximum angle of
aberration to be about 20.5 seconds of arc.
This combined with the velocity of the earth
in its orbit gives an approximate value for
the speed of light. (See, however, the Airy
experiment.)
BRAGG ANGLE.

See Bragg equation.

BRAGG CURVE. ( 1 ) A graph for the aver

age number of ions per unit distance along a
beam of initially monoenergetic <*-particles,
or other ionizing particles, passing through a
gas.
(2) A graphical relationship between
the average specific ionization of an ionizing
particle of a particular kind, and some other
variable, such as the kinetic energy, the resid
ual range, or the velocity of the particle.
BRAGG EQUATION.

BRACE PRISM. A compound prism made

of two 30-degree prisms. On one of these is
deposited an opaque coat of suitable metal

n2 /

See Bragg law.

BRAGG LAW . The law expressing the con

dition under which a crystal will reflect a

beam of x-rays with maximum distinctness,

at the same time giving the angle at which
the reflection takes place. This law is also
valid for the reflection of de Broglie waves
associated with electrons, protons, neutrons,
etc. (See also de Broglie hypothesis.) For
x-ra y reflection it is customary to use the
complement of the angle of incidence and re
flection, that is, the angle which the incident
or the reflected beam makes with the crystal
planes, rather than with the normal. Let this
Bragg angle be 6. I f the planes or layers of
atoms are spaced at a distance d apart, and
if A is the wavelength of the x-rays, B raggs
law is expressed by the equation

BRAGG SPECTROMETER (OR IONIZA

TION SPECTROMETER). An instrument
for the x-ray analysis of crystal structure, in
which a homogeneous beam of x-rays is di
rected on the known face of a crystal, C, and
the reflected beam detected in a suitably

n\

The condition for an intensity maximum is that

n must be a whole number. For example if the
planes of rock salt parallel to the natural cubi
cal faces are spaced at d = 2.814 X 10-8 cm
or 2814 x-units, and if the incident rays have
a com ponent of wavelength X = 714 x-units,
the above equation gives sin 0 = 0.1269n.
Then if the crystal is rotated slowly, there will
be a distinct reflection when 0 reaches 7 17'
(n = 1), again at 14 42' (n = 2), also at
22 23' (n = 3), etc.
BRAGG M ETH O D OF CRYSTAL ANAL
YSIS. A beam of x-rays is directed against a
crystal, and its atoms, because of their lattice
arrangement, reflect the rays as would a series
o f plane surfaces. The measurements of the
diffraction patterns formed by the reflected
radiations furnish a means of calculating the
spacings between the atomic planes, if the
wave length of the x-rays is known.
BRAGG RULE. An empirical relationship
whereby the mass stopping power of an ele
ment for -particles is inversely proportional
to the one-half power of the atomic weight.
This relationship is also stated in the form
that the atomic stopping power is directly
proportional to the one-half power of the
atomic weight. The wide usefulness of the
Bragg rule is due to the fact that it leads to
relations between the stopping powers of d if
ferent elements for crparticles. It also ap
plies to other charged particles as well as
-particles, and to the same degree of approxi
mation.

Bragg spectrometer.

placed ionization chamber, E . As the crystal

is rotated, the angles at which the Bragg
equation is satisfied are identified as sharp
peaks in the ionization current. See figure.
BRAGG TREATMENT. The discussion of
the diffraction of x-rays by crystals in which
it is shown that interference between rays re
flected from successive atomic planes leads
to the Bragg equation. (See Bragg law.)
BRAKE HORSEPOWER. The mechanical
output of an engine, turbine, or motor is called
the brake horsepower because one of the most
common methods of testing for mechanical
output is with the Prony brake. However,
the output available at the shaft is called
brake horsepower whether measured by brake
or not. For example, when an engine drives
an electric generator by direct connection, the
horsepower available at the coupling between
the machines is termed brake horsepower, but
would not, under these circumstances, be meas
ured by a brake. In the case o f direct con
nected electric generating sets, the brake horse
power of the prime m over is found by dividing
the electrical output from the generator, con
verted to horsepower, by the efficiency of the
generator. The result is the generator input,
which is the same as the mechanical output
of the prime mover.

BRAKING, DYNAM IC. Braking an electro

mechanical system involving an electric
motor, by forcing the m otor to act as a gen
erator and thus to absorb energy.
BRANCH (ARM). A portion of a network
consisting of one or more two-terminal ele
ments in series.
BRANCH (COMPUTER).
ditional jump.
BRANCH, ACOUSTIC.

Synonym for con

See acoustic mode.

BRANCHES, ACOUSTICAL AND OPTI

CAL. In a crystal containing two different
kinds of atoms, the possible modes of vibra
tion fall into two distinct classes. In one (see
acoustic mode) adjacent atoms are in general
displaced in the same direction from their
equilibrium position; in the other (see optical
mode) adjacent atoms have instantaneous
displacements that are opposite in sign. The
distinction between the two modes is probably
seen most clearly if one considers a one
dimensional array of atoms equally spaced at
a distance a, alternately of mass M i and M 2,
with M i > M 2j and subject to linear coupling
with a force constant a.

BRANCHING. In radioactivity, branching

denotes the occurrence of more than one mode
of radioactive disintegration of a radionu
clide. An individual atom of a nuclide ex
hibiting branching disintegrates by one mode
only.
BRANCHING FRACTION.
In a radio
nuclide undergoing disintegration by more
than one mode, the ratio of the number of
atoms disintegrating by a particular mode to
the total number of atoms disintegrating (per
unit tim e), is the branching fraction for the
particular mode of disintegration.
BRANCHING RATIO. The ratio of two spe
cified branching fractions.
BRANCH POINT.

See point, branch.

BRANCH, P, Q, OR R. See Fortrat parabola

and spectrum, rotation-vibration.
BRANCH TRANSMISSION. The transmis
sion of sound in a tube or conduit containing
one or more side branches.
BRASHEAR-HASTINGS PRISM.
Brashear-Hastings.
BRAVAIS LATTICE.

See prism,

See space lattice.

BRAVAIS-MILLER INDICES. A modifica

tion of the Miller indices suitable for describ
ing hexagonal crystals. In this system, three
axes are taken, perpendicular to the hexag
onal axis and at angles of 120 to one an
other. The symbols then consist of the re
ciprocal intercepts on these axes, followed by
the reciprocal intercept on the hexagonal axis,
all reduced to integers, e.g., (0001). The first
three indices are not independent but must
add to zero.
BRA VECTOR. The dual of a ket vector,
denoted b y the symbol (B |. The scalar product
of a bra and a ket is the bracket { B\A) . (See
tensor, dual.)
BREAK CONTACT (RELAY).
tact, back (relay).
Under these circumstances, a plot of the
frequencies of the various modes as a function
of wave number shows two branches, as indi
cated in the figure. As the wave speed is
equal to 2?rv/fc, the two branches show very
different dispersion characteristics,

BREAK DELAY (RELAY).

for time, release (relay).

Same as con

Another term

BREAKDOWN. The process whereby a neu

tral gas with a negligible level of ionization
becomes ionized due to energy imparted to
the gas. The ionization rate must be greater

than the recombination rate so that electron

multiplication occurs.
BREAKDOWN TRANSFER CHARACTER
ISTIC (GAS TUBES). A relation between
the breakdown voltage of an electrode and the
current to another electrode.
BREAKDOWN
breakdown.

VOLTAGE.

See

voltage,

BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE, TRANSISTOR.

See transistor parameter BVco> etc.
BREAKER, CIRCUIT. A special switching
device for opening electrical power circuits
under load, the operation being initiated either
by an attendant, or automatically, in the event
of abnormal circuit conditions. It is a safety
device installed in those portions of an elec
tric circuit where it is desirable to open the
circuit under load upon occurrence of ab
normal current, abnormal voltage, high tem
perature, grounds, etc.
BREAK
break.

FREQUENCY.

BREAK-IN KEYING.

See

frequency,

See keying, break-in.

BREAK-IN OPERATION. A communication

system which permits the receiving operator
to break-in or interrupt the transmission at
any time.
BREAKOFFSKI. A colloquial expression for
a device used to connect two parts of a glass
vacuum system. The two parts are separated
by a thin membrane or tip of glass, which
m ay be broken by dropping a weight onto it.
The weight is often made of iron, so that it
can be lifted by a magnet and then dropped.
BREAK POINT.
BREAKUP.
See
color breakup.

See point, break.

molecular

ion

breakup;

BREEDING RATIO (NUCLEAR REAC

TOR). The number of fissionable atoms pro
duced per fissionable atom destroyed.
(See
entries under fission.)
BREIT-WIGNER FORMULA. An equation
relating the cross section cr of a particular
nuclear reaction to the energy E of the inci
dent particle and the energy E 0 of a resonance
level of the compound nucleus, when E is close
to E 0 In the special case where only one

resonance level is involved, the Breit-W igner

formula is

where <r(a,6) is the cross section for the re

action involving the capture of particle a and
the emission of particle >, Ta is the partial
width of the energy level for the mode of
disintegration in which the incident particle
is re-emitted without loss of energy,
is the
partial width of this energy level for the mode
of disintegration in which particle b is emitted,
T is the total width of the energy level,
X = X/27T, where X is the de Broglie wave
length of the incident particle, and I is the
orbital angular momentum q u an tu m num ber
of the incident particle. (See level w idth.)
BREMSSTRAHLUNG.
A German word,
meaning literally braking radiation, denot
ing the process of producing an electromag
netic radiation (or the radiation itself), by
the acceleration that a fast charged particle,
such as an electron, undergoes when it is de
flected by another charged particle, such as
a nucleus. The resulting radiation has a
continuous spectrum, as exemplified by the
continuous x-ray spectra. Outer bremsstrahlung is a term applied in cases where the
energy loss by radiation exceeds greatly that
by ionization as a stopping mechanism in
matter; a phenomenon seen clearly for elec
trons with energies above 50 mev. Inner
bremsstrahlung is a term applied to com
paratively infrequent processes occurring in
^-disintegration, and resulting in the emis
sion of a photon of energy less than (or equal
to) the maximum energy available in the
transition. The abrupt change in the electric
field in the region of the nucleus o f the atom
undergoing disintegration sometimes results in
the production o f a photon, in a manner sim
ilar to the emission of a photon in the ordi
nary (outer) bremsstrahlung process.
In
both negative electron and positron emission
the photon energy is obtained at the expense
of the energies of the charged particle and of
the recoil nucleus and the spectral distribu
tion decreases continuously with increasing
energy o f the /3-particles. In electron cap
ture, the photon energy is obtained at the
expense of the neutrino, and the spectral
distribution is greatest at about one-third
of the normal neutrino energy, reaching zero

at zero energy and at the normal neutrino

energy. Betatopic substances sometimes ex
hibit a weak radiation with continuous spec
trum that is due to both outer and inner
bremsstrahlung, or to one of them alone.
BREWSTER ANGLE. The Brewster angle,
or polarizing angle, of a dielectric is that
angle of incidence for which a wave polarized
parallel to the plane of incidence is wholly
transmitted (no reflection). An unpolarized
wave incident at this angle is therefore re
solved into a transmitted partly-polarized
com ponent and a reflected com pletely-polar
ized component. (See Brewster law.)
BREWSTER FRINGES. In a single FabryPerot interferometer, it is not practicable to
observe fringes with white light. However,
two Fabry-Perot interferometers in series and
with their planes not quite parallel will form
white-light fringes if the air-spaces of the
two are very accurate, integral multiples of
each other.
BREWSTER L A W .
In 1815 Sir D avid
Brewster discovered that for any dielectric
reflector there is a simple relationship bei

Angle of Incidence

or

Brew sters Angle

for the reflection of sodium light by this glass

is 50 56'. (See polarized light.)
BRIDGE. As used in this book, the word
bridge without qualification means an elec
tric bridge. (See bridge, electrical.)
BRIDGE AMPLISTAT. See various bridge
circuits listed for amplifier, magnetic.
BRIDGE, ANDERSON. A six-element m odi
fication of the M axw ell-W ien bridge (see
bridge, Maxwell-Wien) which has two inde
pendent balance conditions. It is used for
measuring inductance in terms of capacitance
and resistance.
BRIDGE, CALLENDAR AND GRIFFITHS.
A slide-wire bridge (see bridge, slide-wire)
for the measurement of a four-terminal, re
sistance thermometer.
BRIDGE, CAMPBELL. A bridge specifically
designed for the comparison of mutual in
ductances.
BRIDGE, CAMPBELL-COLPITTS. An a-c
bridge designed to measure capacitance by
the substitution method.
BRIDGE, CAPACITANCE.
comparing two capacitances.

bridge for

BRIDGE, CAREY-FOSTER.
A form of
Wheatstone bridge (see bridge, Wheatstone)
adapted to the measurement of the difference
between tw o nearly equal resistances, with
the elimination of errors due to the connec
tions. The bridge is of the slide-wire type
(the ordinary 4-gap form is easily adapted to
the purpose) ; the resistance p of the slide
wire per unit length being accurately known.
X and S are to be compared. (See figure.)

Brewster Law.
A, Incident plane (plane of polarization or plane of
magnetic vector, after reflection); B, Plane of vibra
tion (plane of electric vector, after reflection); C,
Reflecting surface (dielectric).

tween the polarizing angle (see Brewster

angle) for the reflected light of a particular
wavelength and the refractive index of the
substance for the same wavelength. The re
lationship is that the tangent of the polariz
ing angle is equal to the refractive index. For
example, if the refractive index of flint glass
for sodium light is 1.66 the polarizing angle

Diagram of Carey-Foster bridge circuit.

A balance is first secured with the contact C

at a distance a from M . Then X and S are
interchanged, and another balance obtained
with C at distance a2 from M . It may then
be shown that
X S = (ax a2)p.

The Callendar and Griffiths bridge is a special

type of C arey-Foster bridge used with resist
ance thermometers. (See also bridge, Heydweiller.)
BRIDGE, COMPARISON. An electric bridge
used to determine the difference in impedance
between two nearly equal and essentially
similar circuit elements.
BRIDGED-T
bridged-T.

NETW ORK.

BRIDGE, KELVIN DOUBLE. An arrange

ment for measuring four-terminal resistors in
dependently of lead and contact resistance.
BRIDGE MAGNETIC AMPLIFIER.
magnetic amplifier, bridge.

See

BRIDGE, M A XW ELL M ~ L. A bridge

for the comparison of a mutual inductance
with the self-inductance of one of the coils.

network,

BRIDGE, M AXW ELL-W IEN. A bridge for

measuring inductance in terms of capacitance.

BRIDGE, ELECTRICAL.
The electrical
bridge is a term referring to any one of a
variety of electric networks, one branch of
which, the bridge proper, connects two
points of equal potential and hence carries
no current when the circuit is properly ad
justed or balanced. (See the various types
of bridges listed.)

BRIDGE, M ECHANICAL IMPEDANCE.

A ny device for measurement of a mechanical
impedance by balancing methods.

See

BRIDGE, FREQUENCY.
A n y bridge in
which the balance depends on frequency may
be used to measure frequency. The W ien
bridge (see bridge, Wien) is com monly used
for this purpose.
BRIDGE, HAY. A modified M axw ell-W ien
bridge (see bridge, Maxwell-Wien) suitable
for measuring high-Q inductors.
BRIDGE, HEAVISIDE. A bridge designed
to measure mutual inductance, which is sim
ilar to the Wheatstone bridge. (See bridge,
Wheatstone.)
BRIDGE,
HEAVISIDE-CAMPBELL.
A
bridge designed for the comparison of selfand mutual inductances.
BRIDGE,
H EYDW EILLER
(ALSO
CALLED CAREY-FOSTER BRIDGE).
A
bridge for the comparison of capacitance with
mutual inductance.
BRIDGE, HOOPES CONDUCTIVITY. A
modification of the K elvin double bridge (see
bridge, Kelvin double) designed for the rapid
determination of the conductivity of wire
samples.
BRIDGE, INDUCTIVE-RATIO.
A fourarm bridge in which the two adjacent fixed
arms are closely-coupled inductors.
BRIDGE, KELVIN. A double bridge for the
measurement of very low resistances.

BRIDGE, MUELLER. A bridge for measur

ing four terminal resistors, particularly resist
ance thermometers.
BRIDGE, MUTUAL INDUCTANCE.
A
modified M axwell-W ien bridge (see bridge,
Maxwell-Wien) for measuring mutual induct
ance in terms of resistance and capacitance.
BRIDGE, OW EN. A bridge for the deter
mination of inductance in terms of capaci
tance and resistance, with the advantage of
being useful, over a very wide range of in
ductance, with reasonable-size capacitors.
BRIDGE, RAPHAEL. A form of Wheatstone
bridge used to determine the position of a
fault on a telephone line or cable.
BRIDGE RECTIFIER.
wave bridge.

See rectifier, full-

BRIDGE, SCHERING. A bridge designed

for the measurement of capacitance and di
electric loss. It is particularly useful for
precision measurements on capacitors at low
voltage, and for the study of insulation at
high voltage.
BRIDGES, FERGUSON CLASSIFICATION
OF. M ost special bridge circuits for measur
ing resistance, capacitance, inductance, or
frequency are special cases of the four-arm
(Wheatstone) bridge with complex imped
ances in the branches. It is desirable that
the bridge be balanced by adjustments on
only two elements, and that the effects of
these adjustments be independent. The equa
tions for balance may contain the impedances
o f the (two) fixed branches as a ratio (ratioarm bridges) or as a product (product-arm

bridges). These two categories can be sub

divided according to whether the ratio (or
product) is pure-real or pure-imaginary at
balance.
BRIDGE,
SLIDE-WIRE.
Wheatstone.

See

bridge,

BRIDGE, STROUD AND OATES.

The
conjugate of the Anderson bridge (see bridge,
Anderson) obtained by interchanging the de
tector and voltage supply.
BRIDGE, W AGN ER EARTH (GROUND).
An addition to almost any a-c bridge to pre
vent errors, due to stray capacitance, in meas
uring high impedances. The addition consists
of a potentiometer connected across the oscil
lator, with the m ovable tap grounded. It may
also be necessary at high frequencies to shunt
the potentiometer with a double-stator ca
pacitor,
BRIDGE,
plest and
measuring
to Fig. 1,

W HEATSTONE. One of the sim

best-known bridge networks for
electrical resistances.
Referring
let R be the unknown resistance

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Sketches of simple and four-gap Wheatstone bridge
circuits.

and R 2 a known resistance, preferably not

very different from R l7 in terms of which R 1
is to be measured. R% and R, called the ratio
arms, are two other resistances which may be
varied continuously or by very small stages
and the values of which are known, either in
ohms or relatively to each other. From C to
D is the bridge proper, containing a galvanom
eter. T o measure R 1} the resistances E 3 and
R are adjusted until the galvanometer shows
no current, which means that C and D are at
the same potential. It then readily follows
from the law of potential drop that R i : R 2 =
i23:E 4, and hence R = R 2R^/R^
Fig. 2
shows a slide-wire form having a graduated
resistance wire and four gaps. The C areyFoster bridge is a special type of Wheatstone
bridge.
BRIDGE, W IEN .

See Wien bridge-circuit.

BRIDGING. The shunting of one electrical

circuit by another.
BRIDGING (RELAY). A term used to de
scribe a contact transfer in which the movable
contact touches the normally open contact be
fore leaving the normally closed contact dur
ing the transfer action, thus never completely
opening the circuit of the m ovable contact.
BRIDGING CONNECTION. A connection
across (in shunt with) a circuit. It is gen
erally a connection of a high impedance device
across a circuit so that the circuit is not loaded
by the device. (See loss, bridging.)
BRIDGING GAIN.
BRIDGING LOSS.

See gain, bridging.

See loss, bridging.

BRIDLE W IRE. R elatively short lengths of

weatherproof wire used to connect open-wire
pairs to: cable pairs; pole-mounted equipment
such as filters, protectors, retard coils, etc.;
or other open-wire pairs in different pin posi
tions.
BRIGHTNESS. T he attribute of visual per
ception in accordance with which an area ap
pears to emit more or less light. Luminance
is recommended for the photometric quantity
which has been called brightness. Lum i
nance is a purely photometric quantity. Use
o f this name permits brightness to be used
entirely with reference to the sensory re
sponse. The photometric quantity has been
often confused with the sensation merely be
cause of the use of one name for two distinct
ideas. Brightness is the term to be used,
properly, in nonquantitative statements, espe
cially with reference to sensations and per
ceptions of light. Thus, it is correct to refer
to a brightness match, even in the field of a
photometer, because the sensations are
matched and only by inference are the photo
metric quantities (luminances) equal. Like
wise, a photometer in which such matches are
made should properly be called an equality of-brightness photometer.
A photoelectric
instrument, calibrated in foot-lam berts, should
not be called a brightness meter. If cor
rectly calibrated, it is a luminance meter.
A troublesome paradox is eliminated by the
accepted distinction of nomenclature. The
luminance of a surface may be doubled, yet it
now is permissible to say that the brightness
is not doubled, since the sensation which is

166

Brightness Channel Brookes Deflection Potentiometer

called brightness is generally judged to be
not doubled.
BRIGHTNESS CHANNEL. The use of this
term should be avoided.
(See monochrome
channel; luminance channel.)
BRIGHTNESS
brightness.

CONTROL.

See

control,

BRIGHTNESS SIGNAL. See luminance sig

nal. Th e use of the term brightness signal is
deprecated.
BRILLIANCE. Brilliance is that attribute
o f any color in respect of which it may be
classed as equivalent to some member of a
series of greys ranging between black and
white. Yellow is the most brilliant color in
the spectrum of white light.
BRILLOUIN EFFECT. Upon the scatter
ing of m onochromatic radiation by certain
liquids, a doublet is produced, in which the
frequency of each of the two lines differs from
the frequency of the original line by the same
amount, one line having a higher frequency,
and the other a lower frequency.
BRILLOUIN FUNCTION. In the quantum
theory of paramagnetism, a quantum-mechanical analog of the Langevin equation
(see Weiss theory; Langevin formula) was
developed by Brillouin, with the following re
sult:

k
Io

2J + 1
(2J+l)a
1
t
,
-----------c t n h --------------------------ctnh a/2J
2J
2J
2J

where a = JgP(H + N I s)/kT , /5 is the Bohr

magneton, eh/^irmCy J is the angular momen
tum q u a n tu m n u m b er, and
2me

symmetry. In the study of complex metals

and alloys, where there may be several over
lapping bands, the geometry of the zones plays
an important role.
BRITISH THERM AL UNIT. Unit o f work
or energy, abbreviated BTU . The energy re
quired to raise the temperature of one pound
of water through a temperature rise of one de
gree Fahrenheit without any vaporization.
When greater precision is needed, the tempera
ture rise is specified as from 39F to 40F.
BROADENING OF SPECTRAL LINES. A
spectral line emitted by an atomic or nuclear
system does not consist of a single frequency,
but rather of a continuous group of frequen
cies, which m ay be very narrow in its extent.
The inherent width of a line is known as its
natural width. A spectral line may be addi
tionally broadened by Doppler broadening
and by collision (or pressure) broadening. In
the latter case, the lifetime r o f an excited
state m ay be reduced during a collision, which
in turn increases the energy level width,
r , of the excited state through the relation,
r = h/r (see Heisenberg uncertainty prin
ciple) . Since the change in energy AE in the
transition and the frequency of emitted radi
ation are related by AE = hv, any broadening
of the energy change results in a broadening
of the frequency spectrum.
BROADSIDE ARRAY.
broadside.
BROCA TUBE.
tube.

See antenna array,

See acoustic detector, Broca

BROMINE.
Non-m etallic liquid
Sym bol Br. Atom ic number 35.

element.

magnetic moment
angular momentum

(ig is 1 for orbital m otion alone; 2, when the

moment is due entirely to spin).
BRILLOUIN ZONE. In the band theory of
solids the various electronic states belonging
to a band m ay be classified according to their
wave vectors. I f these vectors are taken to
be position vectors in k-space it is found
that they all lie inside a certain polyhedron.
Such a polyhedron is called a Brillouin zone,
and can often be constructed merely from
consideration of the crystal lattice and its

BROM W ICH CONTOUR.

An integration
path, used in the calculus of residues. It ex
tends from c too t o c + ioo, where c is real
and positive and the path is so chosen that all
singularities of the complex function are to
the left of it.
BRONSON RESISTANCE. The resistance
formed by two electrodes in a gas which is
exposed to a constant ionization source.
BROOKES DEFLECTION POTENTIOM
ETER. See potentiometer, Brookes deflec
tion.

BROOKES POTENTIOMETER.
See
tentiometer, standard-cell comparator.

po

BROW NIAN M OVEM ENT. The irregular

and random movement of small particles sus
pended in a fluid, discovered by R obert Brown
in 1827, and now known to be a consequence
of the thermal motion of fluid molecules. The
motion is caused by statistical fluctuations of
pressure over the surface of the particle and
the distribution of particle velocity is similar
to that of a gas molecule of the same weight
as the particle.
BRUSH. A device for conducting current to
or from a rotating part. The brush is station
ary, and is held and guided by a fixed brush
holder in which it slides freely. There may
be several brushes side by side to form a
single-brush set. The rotating member may
be the commutator of a d-c generator or mo
tor, or it m ay be the slip rings of an a-c
m otor or generator.
Other examples of
brushes are those used in magnetos and static
electricity machines.
BRUSH (RELAY).

A synonym for wiper.

BRUSH DISCHARGE.

See ionized gases.

B STATION. In loran the designation ap

plied to the transmitting station of a pair, the
signal of which always occurs more than half
a repetition period after the next preceding
signal and less than half a repetition period
before the next succeeding signal from the
other station of the pair, designated an A
station.
BUBBLE CHAMBER. A vessel filled with
a transparent liquid so highly superheated
that an ionizing particle m oving through it
starts violent boiling by initiating the growth
of a string of bubbles along its path. Its ap
plications are similar to those of a cloud
chamber.
BUBBLE GAUGE. A small liquid-containing trap, installed in a gas line, which permits
the rate of gas flow to be determined by
counting the number of gas bubbles, as they
move through the liquid.
BUBBLE OVERVOLTAGE.
age, bubble.

See overvolt

BUBBLE PRESSURE. The pressure within

a bubble of gas in liquid is greater than the

pressure in the surrounding liquid by 2y/R

where y is the surface tension and R is the
bubble radius. If, as in a soap bubble, a
bubble of gas is separated from the surround
ing gas by a thin film of liquid, the pressure
difference is twice this value.
BUBBLE RAFT. An elegant means for vis
ual demonstration of the properties of dislo
cations in metals. A raft of bubbles floating
on soap solution takes a structure that may
be described as a two-dimensional crystal,
and when deformed it is observed that slip
takes place by the propagation of disloca
tions.
BUCKLEY GAUGE. An extremely sensitive
pressure gauge, based on measurement of the
amount of ionization produced in the gas by
a specified current.
BUCKLEY M ETHOD FOR OBTAINING
INTERFERENCE
PATTERNS
W IT H
HIGHLY-CONVERGENT LIGHT. In this
arrangement, light from a projection lantern
falls upon a Polaroid plate or film (the po
larizer) and is then strongly converged by a
lens system such as the Abbe condenser. The
third element of apparatus in the train is a
doubly-refracting crystal, and then the only
additional apparatus necessary is a second
piece of Polaroid (the analyzer), followed by
a screen. A good-sized image o f the interfer
ence pattern appears on the screen.
BUCKLING. A measure of the curvature of
the neutron density distribution. In a bare
homogeneous reactor, the geom etric buckling
is that curvature needed for the reactor to be
critical, as determined from its geometrical
configuration, whereas the material buckling
is the curvature obtainable in that material.
BUCKLING, GEOMETRIC. In reactor the
ory, the lowest eigenvalue that results from
solving the wave equation
V ^ { F ) + B e24>(r) = 0
with the boundary condition that the thermal
neutron flux, 0(r) = 0 at the (extrapolated)
boundary of the system. The geometric buck
ling B 2 is a property only of the geometry,
i.e., the size and shape, of the system.
BUCKLING, MATERIAL. An obsolescent
term for the quantity B 2 (or B m2 in conform

ity with B g2 in the foregoing equation) which

is determined by the equation:
K x q ( B 2)
1 + L C2B 2
where K is the number of fast neutrons pro
duced for each neutron absorbed, L c is the
core diffusion length, and q { B 2) is the sinu
soidal source non-escape probability, evalu
ated at thermal energy. It depends only upon
the material and composition of the medium.
However, the geometric buckling, B g2, of the
core of a critical system of a specified shape
is equal to the material buckling, B m2, of this
core.
BUDAN THEOREM. Used in locating the
real roots of a polynomial equation. Let
P ( x ) = 0 be the polynom ial of degree n
with real coefficients. Let a and b be real
numbers, neither o f which is a root of
P( x ) = 0, and suppose that a < b. Let V a
denote the number of variations of sign of
P(x),P'(x),P"(x), - , P

WW

for x = a, after vanishing terms have been de

leted, and similarly Vb the number of varia
tions for x = b. Then V a Vb is either the
number of real roots of P( x ) = 0 between a
and b or exceeds the number of these roots by
a positive even integer. A root of multiplicity
m is here counted as m roots.
BUDDE EFFECT. The increase in volume
of halogens, especially chlorine and bromine
vapor, on exposure to light. It is a thermal
effect, due to the heat from recombination of
atoms.
BUFFER. A substance that enables a system
or entity to resist changes in conditions, me
chanical shocks, addition of foreign sub
stances, etc. Examples are: (1) An isolating
circuit used to avoid reaction of a driven cir
cuit upon the corresponding driving circuit.
(2) A circuit having an output and a multi
plicity of inputs so designed that the output
is energized whenever one or more inputs are
energized. Thus, a buffer performs the cir
cuit function which is equivalent to the logi
cal or. (3) A storage device used to com
pensate for a difference in rate of flow of in
form ation or time or occurrence of events
when transmitting information from one de
vice to another. (4) In physical chemistry, a

buffer is a substance which, upon addition to

a system, renders the hydrogen ion concentra
tion resistant to, or less sensitive to, addi
tions of acidic or alkaline substances (see
buffer solution). There are other chemical
buffers, however, such as the oxidation-reduction buffer, which tends, in the same way,
to stabilize the oxidation-reduction potential
of a system. (5) For relay buffer, see buffer
(relay), spring.
BUFFER AMPLIFIER. See amplifier, buffer.
BUFFER SOLUTION.
A solution whose
pH is changed only a relatively small amount
by the addition, within limits, of acids and
bases even strong ones if the amount added
is small. Solutions of weak acids or bases or
their salts, such as phosphates, borates, etc.,
are buffer solutions. (See buffer (4).)
BUFFER (R E LA Y), SPRING. A bearing
member made of insulating material which
transmits the m otion of the armature to the
movable contact and from one movable con
tact to another on the same pile-up.
BUG, ELECTRONIC.

See electronic bug.

BUILDING-OUT SECTION. A stub used

for tuning or matching purposes.
BUILDING-UP PRINCIPLE. The postulate
that the totality of the electronic terms of an
atom or molecule can be obtained by succes
sive bringing together of the parts. In an
atom this building-up may be accomplished
only in one way, i.e., by adding the electrons
successively to the nucleus, considering their
successive orbital arrangements. In a mole
cule, this method may also be used, or other
wise methods may be elaborated for bring
ing together (from infinite separation) the
whole atoms that make up the molecule, or
for parting (from zero nuclear separation)
the hypothetical united atom.
(See atom,
united. )
BULGE. The attenuation-frequency charac
teristic of a transmission line is generally not
a straight line. The difference between the
actual characteristic and a linear character
istic is known as bulge.
BULK MODULUS (OR MODULUS OF
VOLUME ELASTICITY). The application
of pressure to a material medium changes its

volume. The bulk modulus for an elastic

medium is defined as
Ap
B = ---------
A 7 /7 0
where Ap is the increase in pressure, AV is the
decrease in volume, and F 0 is the original
volume. The modulus may be defined and
measured under adiabatic, isothermal or other
specified conditions.
BUNCHER, CAVITY.
BUNCHER GAP.

See cavity buncher.

See gap, buncher.

BUNCHING. The action in a velocity-m odulated electron stream that produces an alter
nating convection-current component as a
direct result of the differences of electron
transit time produced by the velocity modula
tion.
(See bunching, optimum; overbunch
ing; bunching, reflex; debunching, spacecharge; underbunching.)
BUNCHING ANGLE (IN AN ELECTRON
STREAM). In a given drift space, the aver
age transit angle between the processes of
velocity modulation and energy extraction at
the same or different gaps. (See also bunch
ing angle, effective (in a reflex klystron).)
BUNCHING ANGLE, EFFECTIVE (IN A
R EFLEX KLYSTRON).
In a given drift
space, the transit angle that would be required
in a hypothetical drift space in which the
potentials vary linearly over the same range
as in the given space and in which the bunch
ing action is the same as in the given space.
BUNCHING, OPTIMUM.
The bunching
condition that produces maximum power at
the desired frequency in an output gap (see
gap, output) of a velocity-m odulated electron
tube.
BUNCHING PARAMETER.
One-half the
product of (1) the bunching angle in the ab
sence of velocity modulation (see modulation,
velocity) and (2) the depth of velocity m od
ulation.
In a reflex klystron the effective
bunching angle must be used.
BUNCHING, REFLEX. The bunching that
occurs in an electron stream that has been
made to reverse its direction in the drift space.
BUNSEN COEFFICIENT. (Absorption co
efficient.) The volume of gas under standard

conditions o f temperature and pressure

(S.T.P.) which is absorbed by a unit volume
of solution.
BUNSEN ICE CALORIMETER M ETHOD
FOR LATENT HEAT OF FUSION. A ves
sel containing some ice and water, but no air,
is sealed by a mercury column. Addition of
a known amount of heat will melt ice, and the
increase in volume of the water-ice mixture is
registered by the mercury column.
BUNSEN SCREEN. A photometer screen
consisting of a diaphragm of paper or parch
ment with a translucent central spot of oil or
paraffin.
BUOYANCY. The apparent loss of weight
by a solid body immersed wholly or partially
in a fluid. The total buoyancy force is equal
to the weight of the displaced fluid and acts
through the position of the center o f gravity
of the displaced fluid.
BUOYANCY M ETHO D FOR GAS DEN
SITY. A very sensitive balance supports a
large bulb of known external volume inside a
gas-tight case. The beam is balanced with
the case evacuated or filled with a standard
gas, and then with the gas to be investigated.
The gas density can then be calculated from
the upthrusts, using Archimedes principle.
BUPS ANTENNA.

See antenna, Bups.

BURGER - DORGELO - ORNSTEIN

SUM
RULE FOR ATOM IC SPECTRA. The sum
of the intensities of all the lines of a multiplet
which belong to the same initial or final state
is proportional to 2J + 1, the statistical
weight of the same initial or final state, re
spectively.
BURGERS DISLOCATION.
location.

See screw dis

BURGERS VECTOR. A vector representing

the displacement of the material of the lat
tice required to create a dislocation. As usu
ally defined, the Burgers vector must always
be a translation vector o f the lattice.
BURN, IMAGE.

See image, retained.

BURNISHING SURFACE.
In mechanical
recording, the portion of the cutting stylus
directly behind the cutting edge which smooths
the groove.

BURNOUT.
In thermonuclear research, a
term used to describe the rapid reduction of
neutral particle density in a plasma or dis
charge. This usually is due to a higher ioni
zation rate than neutral particle formation
rate (considering both diffusion and recom
bination). (See plasma; ionization.)
BURST. (1) In cosmic ray studies, an ex
ceptionally large electric pulse observed in
an ionization chamber, signifying the simul
taneous arrival or emission of several or many
ionizing particles.
Such an event m ay be
caused by a cosmic ray shower or by a spalla
tion disintegration of the type that can pro
duce a star. (2) In communications, a sud
den increase in signal strength of waves be
ing received by ionospheric reflection. The
effect is believed to be caused by a disturb
ance of the ionosphere by meteors.
BURST, COLOR.

See color burst.

BURST PEDESTAL (COLOR-BURST PED

ESTAL). The rectangular, pulse-like com
ponent which m ay be part of the color burst.
The amplitude of the color-burst pedestal
is measured from the a-c axis of the sinewave portion to the horizontal pedestal.
BUS.
(1) In electrical devices, any rigid
conductor used to distribute current to several
branches. (2) In electronic computers, one or
more conductors which are used as a path for

transmitting information from any of several

sources to any o f several destinations.
BUSHING (RELAY). Same as spring buffer.
(See buffer (relay), spring.)
BUTTERFLY
butterfly.

CIRCUIT.

See

resonator,

BUTTERWORTH SHAPE. A type of attenuation-frequency curve produced by an

electrical filter.
BUTT JOINT.

See waveguide, joint, butt.

BUTTON. The container of carbon granules

in a carbon microphone.
(See microphone,
carbon.)
BUYS BALLOT L A W . Professor Buys B al
lot at Utrecht in 1857 stated this law: Stand
ing with back to wind, low pressure is to left
and high pressure to right in northern hemi
sphere, with the reverse being true in the
southern hemisphere. This law was one of
the earliest statements of the principles of
winds now accepted as common meteorologi
cal knowledge.
BW O. A bbreviation for backward wave os
cillator.
(See tube, traveling-wave; back
ward-wave.)
BYPASS MONOCHROME
monochrome, bypass signal.

SIGNAL.

See

c
C. (1) Capacitance or permittance or desig
nation for capacitor ( C) . (2) Partial capac
itance (c ). (3) Third Cauchy constant ( C) .
(4) Compliance (C ). (5) Sound conductiv
ity of an opening (c ). (6) Concentration of
solution (c or C) . (7) Element carbon (C ).
(8) Speed of light in vacuum (c ). (9) D e
gree Centigrade (Celsius preferred) (C ).
(10) N orm ality of solution (C ). (11) Heat
capacity, total (C ), per unit mass (which is
specific heat) (c ), heat capacity per mole
(c , C or Cm), heat capacity per atom or
molecule (c or Cm) y specific heat at constant
volume (cv), specific heat at constant pres
sure {cv) y m olar heat at constant volume
(Cv), molar heat at constant pressure ( Cp).
(12) Thermal conductance ( C) . (13) Planck
radiation law constants (ci, c2).
(14) In
duction coefficient (c ). (15) Sutherland con
stant ( C) .
(16) Designation for d-c voltage
sources for vacuum tubes ( C ).
(17) C ou
lomb (C b ). (18) Complex, as used in nar
row fine structure, isotopic or nuclear spin
hyperfine structure (c ).
(19) Abbreviation
for candle (C or c).
(20) Abbreviation for
centa- (10 - 2 m ultiplier). (21) Phase speed
of a wave.
CABLE. A transmission line or group of
transmission lines mechanically assembled in
com pact flexible form.
CABLE, LEADER. A navigational aid in
which the path to be followed is defined by
a magnetic field around a cable.
CABLE, STANDARD. A theoretical cable
used as a reference for specifying transmis
sion losses. It has a linear series resistance
of 88 ohms per mile, a linear shunt capaci
tance of 0.054 microfarads per mile with no
inductance or shunt conductance.
CADM IUM . M etallic element.
A tom ic number 48.
CAD M IU M CELL.

Sym bol Cd.

See cell, cadmium.

CADM IUM CUT-OFF. The neutron absorp

tion cross section of cadmium is high for neu

tron energies below about 0.3 ev, but drops

sharply at higher energies. This makes cad
mium a selective absorber of slow neutrons.
(See cadmium ratio.)
CADM IUM RATIO, The ratio of the neu
tron-induced saturated activity in an un
shielded foil to the saturated activity of the
same foil when it is covered with cadmium.
It is a measure of the relative numbers o f
neutrons of thermal energies and those of
higher energy.
CADM IUM RED LINE. A line in the spec
trum of cadmium at 6438.4696 angstroms
which, because it was the most narrow line
known to Michelson, was used by him in meas
uring the standard meter and has been ac
cepted as the primary standard of length.
It is now being superseded by lines from the
spectrum of mercury-198, particularly a green
line at 5460.7532.
(See mercury-198 and
international angstrom.)
CAILLETET AND MATHIAS, L A W OF.
Also called the law of the rectilinear diam
eter. The mean value of the densities of a
substance in the saturated vapor state and in
the liquid state, at the same temperature, is a
linear function of the temperature.
CAL. Abbreviation for calorie. The form
cal is usually used for the gram calorie and
either Cal or K ca l for the kilogram calorie, or
kilocalorie.
CALCITE. A natural hexagonal crystal of
calcium carbonate. It cleaves readily into
rhombohedrons. Because it is readily avail
able and because of its optical properties, par
ticularly with respect to polarization of light,
it has been much used in connection with the
study of polarized light. (See Nicol prism.)
Calcite is also called Iceland spar.
CALCITE GRATING SPACE. The distance
between diffracting surfaces in calcite crystals
used in x-ray diffraction. In the Siegbahn
system (see Siegbahn unit):

Effective
True

18C
20C

3.02904 X 1 0 ~ 8 cm
3.02951 X 10 8 cm

In the cgs System

True

20C

3.03567 X 1 0 ~ 8 cm

CALCIUM . M etallic element.

Atom ic number 20.

Sym bol Ca.

CALCULATOR, NETW ORK.

calculator.

See network

CALCULUS, DIFFERENTIAL AND IN

TEGRAL. A branch of mathematics dealing
with the rate of change of a function and with
the inverse process.
CALCULUS OF FINITE DIFFERENCES.
Study of the properties of differences, par
ticularly as applied to interpolation proce
dures.
CALCULUS OF RESIDUES. The study of
the Cauchy integral and theorem, especially
for evaluation of integrals in the complex
plane. The fundamental theorem of the sub
ject is: if f { z) is analytic within a region ( 7 ,
except for a finite number of poles, the value
of the contour integral

f(z)dz = 27riS,

CALIFORNIUM.
Transuranic
Sym bol Cf. Atom ic number 98.

element.

CALLENDAR AND BARNES M ETHOD

FOR M ECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF
HEAT. A steady flow of water through a
thermally-insulated tube is heated by a
steady electric current, and a temperature
difference is set up at the ends of the tube.
E xcept for the measurement of electric power,
the evaluation of the result is similar to that
in mechanical, continuous-flow methods.
C ALLIER COEFFICIENT. The density (4)
of photographic negatives measured by paral
lel light is greater than if measured by diffused
light. This effect is caused by scattering.
Callier defined a coefficient as
density measured by parallel light

Q=

density measured by diffused light

The average value of Q is about 1.4 =fc 0.2.

CALMS OF CANCER. The belts of high
pressure lying north of the northeast trade
winds. (See atmosphere, circulation of the.)
CALMS OF CAPRICORN. The belts of
high pressure lying south of the southeast
trade winds. (See atmosphere, circulation of
the.)

where 2 is the sum of the residues of the

function at the poles within the region C.

CALOMEL ELECTRODE.
normal calomel.

CALCULUS OF VARIATIONS. Study of

maximum and minimum properties of defi
nite integrals. A simple case is

CALORESCENCE. The production of vis

ible light by means of energy derived from
invisible radiation of frequencies below the
visible range. Tyndall found it possible to
raise a piece o f blackened platinum foil to a
red heat by focusing upon it infrared radia
tion from an arc or from the sun, the visible
wavelengths having been filtered out. It is to
be noted that the transformation is indirect,
the light being produced by heat and not by
any direct conversion of the infrared fre
quency.

= I f(x,y,y')d x
J

CL

where y ( x ) is to be determined so that the

integral is either a maximum or a minimum.
In either case, y is said to be an extremal
and the integral has a stationary value. See
brachistochrone; Euler equation; isoperimetric equation.
CALEOMETER.
An electrical instrument
used to measure the heat loss from a cali
brated wire and useful in making a number
of determinations, such as that of the varia
tion of the concentration of one of the com
ponents of the gas surrounding the wire, (See
also gauge, Pirani.)

See electrode,

CALORIE. A unit for the measurement of

the quantity of heat. As originally defined,
it was the amount of heat required to raise
the temperature of one gram of water through
one degree Centigrade. As thermal measure
ments increased in precision, this definition
was not sufficiently exact and many different
kinds of calories were used, considerable con

fusion resulting. A fter 1930 an artificial, con

ventional calorie was defined by the relation
1 calorie = 4.1833 international joules and,
in 1948, it was redefined as 1 calorie = 4.1840
absolute joules. This definition is now gen
erally accepted in the United States. The
large calorie (Cal. or K cal.) is 1,000 times as
large. Another artificial calorie, used in en
gineering steam tables, is the International
Table calorie: 1 I.T. calorie = %6 interna
tional watt-hour = 0.00116298 absolute watthour.
Conversion to other energy units gives:
1 cal. = 0.00396573 B .T .U .
1 cal. = 0.0412917 liter-atmosphere
1 cal. = 0.999346 I.T . cal.
CALORIFIC INTENSITY. The maximum
temperature attainable b y combustion of a
given fuel with atmospheric oxygen under at
mospheric pressure.
CALORIFIC VALUE. The number of units
of heat obtained by complete combustion of
unit mass of a substance. Determinations of
calorific value are very com m only made in
the evaluation of fuels, the study of foods,
etc.
CALORIFIC VALUE, GROSS. The quan
tity of heat produced by the combustion of a
unit mass of a substance with oxygen under
pressure, as in a bomb calorimeter. I f this
value is corrected for the latent heat of va
porization of the water present, then the net
calorific value is obtained.
CALORIMETER. An apparatus for meas
uring the change of heat content of a system.
CALORIMETER, ADIABATIC.
A calo
rimeter so well insulated from its surround
ings that reactions or processes involving heat
transfer can be studied without having any
appreciable heat exchange occurring with the
outside.
CALORIMETER, BOMB.
oxygen bomb.

See calorimeter,

CALORIMETER, DIFFERENTIAL. A de
vice for measuring a quantity of heat by
comparing it with a known quantity of heat
at the same temperature.
CALORIMETER, GAS. An apparatus used
in the analysis of combustible gases, primar

ily to determine calorific value and, inciden

tally, to determine moisture content and to
test for the presence of other materials.
CALORIMETER, NERNST. A calorimeter
in which a substance whose specific heat is
to be measured is suspended in a glass or
metal envelope which can be evacuated. The
method is particularly suited for work at low
temperatures.
The envelope is immersed
into a vessel containing the cooling agent, and
the substance is cooled by admitting a small
amount of gas into the envelope. The sub
stance is then thermally insulated by evacu
ating the envelope, and the specific heat is
measured by recording the increase in tem
perature caused by supplying a known amount
of heat. In Nernsts original experiment the
same wire, attached to the substance, served
as heater and resistance thermometer.
CALORIMETER, OXYGEN-BOMB. A cal
orimeter in which a weighed sample of solid
or liquid material is ignited by an electricallyheated wire and burned by oxygen under pres
sure. The heat evolved is determined, usually
by absorption in a water jacket (see cal
orimeter, water) surrounding the combustion
chamber (oxygen -bom b).
CALORIMETER, SIMON AND LANGE
VACUUM.
An improvement of Nernsts
vacuum calorimeter (see calorimeter, Nernst)
in which the substance inside the vacuum
envelope is surrounded by a shield to which
a small container with the cooling agent
(liquid air, liquid hydrogen or liquid helium)
is attached. B y pumping off the vapor from
the container, a lower starting temperature
can be obtained than by pumping off the
vapor of the large bath of cooling agent sur
rounding the vacuum envelope. M oreover,
by regulating the pressure in the container,
the temperature difference between the sub
stance and the shield can be kept small.
CALORIMETER, SODIUM PEROXIDE. A
calorimeter in which a weighed sample of solid
or liquid is burned by oxygen derived from
sodium peroxide, usually when an accelerator
such as potassium perchlorate or benzoic acid
is added to aid combustion.
CALORIMETER, WATER.
A thermallyinsulated metal cup containing water and fur
nished with a thermometer. The quantity of

heat to be measured is applied to the water,

and the rise of temperature resulting, multi
plied by the mass of the water, gives the num
ber of calories received. Corrections must of
course be made for the heat absorbed by the
cup, thermometer, and other accessories, the
water equivalent of which is in the com puta
tion simply added to the mass of actual water.
A llowance must also be made for heat lost or
unintentionally introduced through radiation
and conduction; for which purpose the New
ton law for heat loss is com m only used.
CALORIMETRIC COEFFICIENT. One of
the following six coefficients, used to express
the rate of absorption of heat during revers
ible changes of pressure, volume, and tem
perature:
(1) H eat of compression at constant volume,
(dq/dp)v.
(2) Heat of expansion at constant pressure,
(dq/dv)p.
(3) Specific heat at constant volume,
(dq/dT)v.
(4) Specific heat at constant pressure,
(dq/dT)p.
(5) Latent heat of change of pressure,
(dq/dp)T.
(6) Latent heat of change of volume,
(dq/dv)TIn these expressions, q is the quantity of heat,
p, the pressure, v, the volume and T , the ab
solute temperature.
CALORIMETRY. T h e quantitative deter
mination of heat content.
CALUTRON. A production isotope separator
of the electromagnetic type, based on the 180
focussing Dem pster mass spectrograph.
CAMERA, POWDER.
Hull Method.

See Debye-Scherrer-

CAMERA SCANNING AM PLITUDE.

scanning amplitude, camera.

See

CAMERA SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTIC.

In television, the sensitivity of each of the
camera color-separation channels with respect
to wavelength. It is necessary to state the
camera terminals at which the characteristics
apply. Because of nonlinearity, the spectral
characteristics of some kinds of cameras de
pend upon the magnitude of radiance used in
their measurement. Nonlinearizing and ma-

trixing operations m ay be performed within

the camera.
CAMERA TAKING CHARACTERISTIC.
The use of this term should be avoided. (See
camera spectral characteristic.)
CAMERA TUBE.

See tube, camera.

CAMPBELL M ETHOD. A method of meas

uring low pressures, in the range 10-1 to 10 3
mm Hg. A lamp filament constitutes one arm
of a Wheatstone bridge, the other arms con
sisting of resistances so chosen that the bridge
is balanced when the filament temperature is
about 100C. The balance is achieved by
adjusting the voltage across the bridge, when
the pressure is so low that heat conduction by
the residual gas plays no appreciable role
(1 0 ~ 4 mm or less). Th e change in voltage re
quired to re-balance the bridge when a meas
urement is being made is then a measure of
the gas pressure. (See gauge, Pirani; manom
eter, hot wire.)
CANADA BALSAM. The turpentine yielded
by the balsam fir. It is a yellowish, viscid
liquid solidifying to a transparent mass. It
is much used as a transparent cement for ce
menting together compound lenses. N ow be
ing replaced by certain methacrylate plastics.
CANAL RAYS. This term is a bad transla
tion of the German Kanalstrahlen. A more
accurate designation would be tunnel rays
or perforation rays. They consist of posi
tive particles in a vacuum tube which escape
through tunnels or holes bored in the cathode.
Positive ions originating in the gas near the
cathode move toward it with great speed, or
dinarily striking it and causing the surface
disintegration and sputtering o f the metal
soon observable; also doubtless releasing
cathode-ray electrons. B ut if the cathode is
perforated with holes so placed that the posi
tive rays can enter them, some of the particles
pass through into the space behind the cath
ode.
In especially constructed canal-ray
tubes, this space is elongated so that the posi
tive rays, now isolated from the cathode rays,
can be studied separately.
CANCELLATION RATIO. In a radar M T I
system, the ratio of a fixed target signal volt
age after M T I cancellation to the voltage of
the same target without M T I cancellation.

CANDELA. U nit of illuminance: it is of

such a value that the illuminance of a black
body radiator at the freezing point of plati
num is 60 X 27r lumens per cm2. (See also
candle.)
CANDLE.
(1) The unit of luminous flux.
One candle is defined as the luminous inten
sity of % o square centimeter of a black body
radiator operating at the temperature of
solidification of platinum. Values for stand
ards having other spectral distributions are
derived by the use of accepted luminosity fac
tors.
(2) The older unit, the international
candle is a specified fraction of the average
horizontal candle power of a group of carbonfilament lamps preserved at the N ational
Bureau of Standards. (See E. P. H yde, Bul
letin o f the Bureau of Standards, Vol. 3, p. 65,
1907.)
CANDLEPOW ER.
in candles.

Luminous flux expressed

CANDLE POWER, APPARENT.

parent candle power.
CANDLE POWER, BEAM.
dle power.

See ap

See beam can

CANONICAL. Used to describe a standard

form of a function or equation, especially
when the form is simple. A canonical ma
trix, for example, has nonzero elements only
on the main diagonal.
CANONICAL EQUATIONS OF MOTION.
See the discussion of the Hamiltonian func
tion.
CANONICALLY
CONJUGATE
VARI
ABLES. The generalized coordinate g* and
the corresponding generalized momentum pi
that appear in the canonical equations of mo
tion are said to be canonically conjugate.
CANONICAL
TRANSFORMATION.
A
transformation from one set of generalized
coordinates and momenta to a new set such
that the form of the canonical equations of
motion is preserved. This usually involves
finding a transformation function S which is
a continuous and differentiable function of
the old and new generalized coordinates and
the time. The transformation can be de
fined b y :
dS
H q,q) = L'(Q ,Q ) + .
dt

where L is the Lagrangian function in the

original set of coordinates, and V is the L a
grangian function in the transformed set of
coordinates.
C A PA B ILITY, M O D U L A T IO N . See modula
tion capability.
C A P A C IT A N C E .
(1) In its elementary
sense, the term refers to the ratio of the abso
lute value of the electric charge on either of
a pair of conductors to the potential differ
ence between them. It therefore has the units
of charge divided b y potential. In the esu
system of units, the unit is the centimeter, in
the mksa system it is the farad. The capaci
tance of a pair of conductors depends on their
sizes, shapes, and separation, (see capacitance,
geometric) and on the dielectric constant of
the medium separating them; it increases with
the increasing areas of the conductors or with
decreasing distance between them. (See alter
nating current circuits; impedance.)
(See
also condenser; capacitor; farad; alternating
current circuit; energy stored in a charged
capacitor; relaxation oscillator; and related
entries.)
(2) The capacitance of an isolated single
conductor m ay be obtained from the defini
tion for a pair o f conductors by considering
the conductor to be one of a pair, the other
being at infinity.
(3) For systems of more than two conduc
tors, see capacitance, coefficients of.
(4) In an acoustic system, the negative
imaginary part of the acoustic impedance.
(See also capacitance, acoustic; capacitance,
specific acoustic.)
C A P A C IT A N C E , A C O U ST IC . The acoustic
element which opposes a change in applied
pressure and allows the storage of elastic
potential energy in the system. It is defined
as the ratio of the volume displacement to the
pressure and is measured in cm5 per dyne.
C A P A C IT A N C E , BODY. The capacitance
effect produced when the operators hand is
brought near a vacuum -tube circuit. Since
many of these circuits, especially those em
ploying tuned circuits, are very sensitive to
small changes in the capacitance coupling to
surrounding objects, the bringing of the hand
near any of the circuit conductors will mate
rially alter the response of the circuit. Such

effects can be minimized by shielding the cir

cuit and by appropriate grounding.
CAPACITANCE CATHODE INTERFACE
(LAYER). A capacitance which, in parallel
with a suitable resistance, forms an impedance
approximating the cathode interface imped
ance.
(See impedance, cathode interface.)
Because the cathode interface impedance can
not be represented accurately by the tw o-ele
ment R C circuit, this value of capacitance is
not unique.
CAPACITANCE, COLLECTOR TRANSI
TION. The capacitance across the collectorto-base transition region.
CAPACITANCE, DISTRIBUTED. The ca
pacitance which is inherent in any coil be
cause of the adjacent turns, layers, windings,
etc., which are separated by some dielectric
material and which have voltage differences
between them. The result of this is a capaci
tance action which lowers the effective induct
ance of the coil. This capacitance is often
considered as lumped and in parallel with the
true inductance of the coil (or other arrange
ment of conductors).
CAPACITANCE, EFFECTIVE. The total
capacitance found between two points in a
circuit.
CAPACITANCE, ELECTRODE
(n-TERM INAL ELECTRON TUBE). The capaci
tance determined from the short-circuit driving-point admittance (see admittance, driving
point, short-circuit) at the electrode.
CAPACITANCE, ELECTRON TUBE. See
capacitance, cathode interface (layer); ca
pacitance, electrode ( n-terminal electron
tubes); capacitance, gap, effective; capaci
tance, input (n-terminal electron tube); ca
pacitance, interelectrode ( j-l interelectrode
capacitance Cji of an n-terminal electron
tube); capacitance, short-circuit input (n-terminal electron tube); capacitance, short-cir
cuit output (n-terminal electron tube); ca
pacitance, short-circuit transfer (electron
tubes); capacitance, target (camera tubes).
CAPACITANCE, GAP, EFFECTIVE. One
half the rate of change with angular frequency
o f the resonator susceptance, measured at the
gap, for frequencies near resonance.

CAPACITANCE, GEOMETRIC. The ca

pacitance of an isolated conductor in vacuo.
For a sphere of radius a,
Q
V = ,
a

hence C = Q/V a.

where electrostatic units are used. For a hemi

sphere of radius a, C = 0.845a. For many
other bodies C is approximated b y \/S/4:ir,
where S is the surface area.
CAPACITANCE, INPUT (OF AN n-TERM INAL ELECTRON TUBE). The shortcircuit transfer capacitance between the in
put terminal and all other terminals, except
the output terminal, connected together.
This quantity is equivalent to the sum of the
interelectrode capacitances between the in
put electrode and all other electrodes except
the output electrode.
CAPACITANCE,
INTERELECTRODE
(j ITU
INTERELECTRODE
CAPACI
TANCE C fl OF AN n-TERMINAL ELEC
TRON TUBE). The capacitance determined
from the short-circuit transfer admittance be
tween the jth and the Zth terminals. This
quantity is often referred to as direct inter
electrode capacitance.
CAPACITANCE-LOOP
DIRECTIONAL
COUPLER. See waveguide coupler, direc
tional, capacitance-loop.
CAPACITANCE, SHORT-CIRCUIT INPUT
(OF AN n-TERMINAL ELECTRON TUBE).
The effective capacitance determined from
the output short-circuit admittance.
(See
admittance, output, short-circuit.)
CAPACITANCE, SHORT-CIRCUIT OUT
PUT (OF AN n-TERMINAL ELECTRON
TUBE).
The effective capacitance deter
mined from the short circuit output admit
tance. (See admittance, output, short-circuit.)
CAPACITANCE, SHORT-CIRCUIT TRANS
FER (ELECTRON TUBES). The effective
capacitance determined from the short-circuit
transfer admittance. (See admittance, trans
fer, short-circuit.)
CAPACITANCE, SIGNAL
See capacitance, electrode.

ELECTRODE.

CAPACITANCE, SPECIFIC ACOUSTIC.

T hat coefficient which, when multiplied by

2tt times the frequency, is the reciprocal nega

tive imaginary part of the specific acoustic
impedance.
(See impedance, specific acous
tic.) The dimensions of specific acoustic ca
pacitance are c m 5/ d y n e .
CAPACITANCE, STRAY.
Undesired and
unintentional capacitance between two bod
ies, such as the capacitance between a wire
and a chassis in a piece of electronic equip
ment. (See capacitance, distributed.)
CAPACITANCE,
TARGET
(CAMERA
TUBES).
The capacitance between the
scanned area of the target and the backplate.
CAPACITATIVE W IN D O W .
guide window, capacitative.
CAPACITIVE POST.
capacitive.
CAPACITIVITY.

See

wave

See waveguide post,

Same as permittivity, er.

CAPACITOR (ELECTRICAL). An arrange

ment of conductors and dielectrics used to
secure an appreciable capacitance, sometimes
one of specified value. The essential feature
of all capacitors is a system of two or more
conductors, separated by layers of dielectric.
The potential difference between the con
ductors, when charged, is reduced by the elec
tric polarization in the dielectric. This makes
it possible to accumulate large charges at
com paratively small voltages.
The oldest
form of capacitor is the Leyden jar, still often
used where heavy electric discharges are de
sired.
M any modern capacitors consist of
alternate metal and dielectric plates or sheets,
sometimes of metal foil and paraffin paper
strips rolled in a com pact bundle. Capacitors
in which the dielectric is air, usually of ad
justable capacitance, are much used in radio
and other oscillatory circuits. An electrolytic
capacitor consists of an electrolytic cell in
which a current has deposited a very thin
layer of nonconducting material on one of
the electrodes. This layer acts as the capaci
tor dielectric.
Such capacitors have very
high capacitance in proportion to their size
and weight, and are much used in electric
filters and other electronic apparatus. Stand
ard capacitors, of accurately known capaci
tance, are employed in electrical measure
ments. The capacitance depends upon the
total area a and the thickness d of the dielec
tric and upon its dielectric constant k. I f the

dimensions are in centimeters, the capacitance

for a capacitor of flat-plates is approximately
given in electrostatic units by the formula
C = ka/^rd and in microfarads by C =
8.84 X 10 ~~8ka/d. Thus, if there are 21 metal
plates 10 cm sq, separated by 20 sheets of
mica 0.01 cm thick and of dielectric constant
6, the capacitance is about 0.106 microfarads.
The capacitance is often made adjustable by
varying the distance d or by arranging the
plates to move past one another so as to vary
the area a of dielectric subject to the electric
field between them. A capacitor is often
called a condenser.
CAPACITOR, BATHTUB. A paper capaci
tor enclosed in a rounded-metal container re
sembling a bathtub.
CAPACITOR, BY-PASS. This is a capacitor
placed in an electrical circuit to allow a-c to
flow around some circuit component and
cause d-c to flow through the component.
The most common usage is in by-passing vari
ous voltage-dropping resistors used in vacuum-tube circuits to adjust the voltages ap
plied to the several parts of the circuits.
These resistors are by-passed so there will be
no, or very little, alternating signal voltage
drop to produce undesirable feedback. The
reactance of the capacitor should be low com
pared to the resistance of the resistor being
by-passed.
CAPACITOR, CERAMIC.
A
capacitor
whose dielectric is composed of a ceramic ma
terial. One form, using a high Q dielectric
such as steatite, produces a very stable ca
pacitor which may be made with a variety of
temperature coefficients. Another type, giv
ing a much larger capacitance per unit v o l
ume, employs a high dielectric constant ma
terial such as barium titanate. Unfortunately,
these capacitors have a lower Q, and a lower
leakage resistance, which restrict their appli
cation.
CAPACITOR, COMMUTATING.
A ca
pacitor used in gas-tube rectifier circuits to
prevent the anode from assuming large nega
tive voltages immediately after extinction.
If the anode were permitted to go far nega
tive before deionization was complete, some
of the residual positive ions which would
bombard the anode would be trapped, result
ing in cleanup in non-reservoir types of tubes.

CAPACITOR, COUPLING OR BLOCKING.

A capacitor incorporated in an electronic cir
cuit to separate a-c and d-c components, and
to isolate various parts of the d-c circuit
while maintaining effective a-c connections.
CAPACITOR, DIFFERENTIAL.
A vari
able, three-terminal capacitor (see capacitor,
electrical) having a single rotor and two sta
tors, arranged so that as capacitance is re
duced on one side, it is increased on the other.
CAPACITOR, DRY ELECTROLYTIC.
A
capacitor whose dielectric is a thin film of gas
formed by electrolytic action between two
metal plates. In general the unit is not truly
dry, but contains a moist paste from which
the gas is formed.
CAPACITOR FORMULAS.
(1) The ca
pacitance of n capacitors connected in paral
lel is

c=

c ,- .
1

(2) The capacitance of n capacitors connected

in series is such that
A = y .

Ci

CAPACITOR, GUARD RING. A capacitor

in which edge effects are eliminated or re
duced by the addition of conductors main
tained at the same potential as one of the
capacitance electrodes.
The arrangements
for the parallel plate and the cylindrical geo
metries are shown in the diagrams. The ca-

tor, guard-ring), with the guarded plate at

the bottom of a well, to make standard ca
pacitors of 0.1 /x/xf (and less) practical.
CAPACITOR, HOLE. A semiconductor ca
pacitor of very small size composed of an
electrolytically acidified surface of tantalum
covered by an evaporated coating of germa
nium which is, in turn, followed by an alumi
num film.
CAPACITOR INTEGRATOR.
grator, capacitor.

See

inte

CAPACITOR LOUDSPEAKER.
speaker, electrostatic.

See loud

CAPACITOR, PADDER.
An adjustable
capacitor employed in conjunction with the
tuning capacitor of a local oscillator to assure
satisfactory tracking (1).
CAPACITOR, PARALLEL PLATE. A ca
pacitor composed of two parallel plates, each
of area A , separated by a distance d. N eglect
ing edge effects, the capacitance is given in
mksa units by C = K ^ A / d where c0 is the
permittivity of free space (8.85 X 10-12F /M )
and K is the relative dielectric constant.
CAPACITOR, PRESSURE-TYPE. A capac
itor which has a dielectric consisting of an
inert gas, such as nitrogen under several at
mospheres of pressure, the objective being
higher operating voltages.
CAPACITOR, SILICON. A silicon semicon
ductor diode in which the capacitance across
the reverse-biased junction is utilized as a
circuit element. The capacitance varies as a
function of the bias voltage:
C =

C0

-Vi - v/<t>

Guard ring capacitors.

where C0 is the capacitance at zero voltage and

<f> is typically about 0.32 volts at room tem
perature, allowing the device to be used as a
variable reactance control device or ampli
fier.
(See amplifier, diode; amplifier, para
metric.)

pacitance between A and B is very close to

that computed without the consideration of
edge effects if A and G are maintained at the
same potential.

CAPACITOR, SYNCHRONOUS.
A syn
chronous motor operated over-excited and
without load. Such a m otor operates with a
leading power factor.

CAPACITOR, GUARD-W ELL. A m odifica

tion of the guard-ring capacitor (see capaci

CAPACITOR, TRIMMER. A small capac

itor used to adjust a tuned circuit to the de

sired resonance frequency. Essential in track

ing superheterodyne receivers.
CAPACITOR, VIBRATING (VIBRATINGREED DYNAM IC CAPACITOR).
A ca
pacitor whose capacitance is varied in a cyclic
fashion so that an alternating emf is devel
oped proportional to the charge on the insu
lated electrode. This device forms the basis
for a type of electrometer. (See electrometer,
vibrating reed.)
CAPACITRON.
An externally-fired, mercury-pool tube. Formation of the arc occurs
as a result of the sudden application of a high
voltage between the cathode and an insulated
starter electrode.
CAPACITY.
(1) Extent of space; specifi
cally cubic content or volume. (2) Power of
receiving or absorbing, as exemplified by heat
capacity, electrostatic capacity (capacitance),
capacity for moisture. (3) Maximum output.
(4) Power, as exemplified by the carrying
capacity of a stream.
CAPACITY,
pacitance.

ELECTROSTATIC.

CAPACITY, MEMORY.
age capacity.

See

Synonym for stor

CAPACITY, SPECIFIC THERMAL.

The
heat capacity of unit mass of a substance,
interchangeable with specific heat.
STORAGE.

See

storage

ca

CAPILLARITY. The phenomena which are

caused by surface tension and occur in fine
bore tubes or channels. An example is the
elevation (or depression) of liquid in a capil
lary tube partially immersed.
CAPILLARY. A cylindrical space of small
radius, or a tube containing such a space.
CAPILLARY CORRECTION. A correction
applied to mercury barometers, wide-bore
thermometers, etc., for the effect of capillarity
on the height of the column.
CAPILLARY ELECTROMETER.
trocapillarity.

CAPILLARY PRESSURE. The pressure de

veloped through capillary action, as in the
Jamin effect.
CAPILLARY RISE. The elevation of liquid
in a capillary tube above the general level.
For capillaries o f sufficiently small radius, it is
2y cos <t>
h = ------------

pg
where y is the surface tension, p is the liquid
density, <j> is the angle of contact of the liquid
with the capillary, g is the acceleration due to
gravity, and r is the radius of the capillary.
CAPILLARY RISE M ETHOD. See surface
tension, methods of measurement.

ca

CAPACITY, OVERLOAD. The current, volt

age, or power level beyond which permanent
damage occurs to the device considered. This
is usually higher than the rated load capacity.

CAPACITY,
pacity.

CAPILLARY M ETHO D OF SEPARATION.

A theory of the separation of gases by flow
through a porous medium, based on the con
cept of momentum transfer. The actual po
rous medium is treated as equivalent to a bun
dle of parallel capillary tubes. (Physical R e
view 75, 1050; 1949.)

CAPILLARY TUBE M ETHOD.

ity, measurement of.

See viscos

CAPSTAFF EFFECT. A photographic ef

fect discovered by J. G. Capstaff in 1921.
Sulfurous acid followed by a weak alkali is
capable of extending the sensitivity of bluesensitive films and plates to longer wave
lengths. The effect appears to be due to the
formation of a form of colloid silver and is of
no practical value, although materials sensi
tive to the entire visible region (panchro
m atic) can be produced by bathing succes
sively in sodium bisulfite (2 % ) and a weak
solution of sodium carbonate, then washing in
running water.
CAPTURE. A ny process whereby an atomic
or nuclear system acquires an additional par
ticle.
CAPTURE EFFECT. An effect in F -M re
ception where the stronger signal of two sta
tions on the same frequency completely sup
presses the weaker signal.
CAPTURE GAMMA RAYS.
The r rays
emitted as the result of the capture of a par
ticle by a nucleus.

See elec
CAPTURE, K-.

See K-electron capture.

CAPTURE, RADIATIVE.
(1) A nuclear
capture process whose prompt result is the
emission of electromagnetic radiation only.
(2) In reactor technology, the capture of a
neutron by a nucleus, with subsequent emis
sion of a -y-ray.
CARAT. A unit of mass of 205 milligrams
(in England, 205.31 m illigrams). The carat
is used widely to express weights of gems and
precious metals, and this has given rise to
another usage of the term carat, i.e., as a
standard of purity of gold.
CARBON. Nonm etallic element.
Atom ic number 6.
CARBON ARC.

Sym bol C.

See arc, carbon.

CARBON BUTTON.

See button.

CARBON CYCLE. A series of thermonu

clear reactions, releasing great quantities of
energy (by conversion from mass and by ra
diation) which are believed to furnish the
energy radiated by many of the stars. This
scheme was developed from theoretical con
siderations by H. A. Bethe in 1939 (and
simultaneously by C. F. von W eizsacker).
Various possibilities were tried, but the fol
lowing series was the only one which gave re
sults in agreement with the experimental
facts:
c 12 + H 1

N 13 + y

N 13 > C 13 + +1e + *
C 13 + H 1 - N 14 + 7
N 14 + H 1 - 0 15 + 7
O 15
N 15 + H 1

plants from carbon dioxide and water in the

presence of chlorophyll, with the aid of sun
shine, the transformation of plant carbohy
drates by animals into substances required in
their structure and processes, the decay of
animal bodies and excreta, aided by bacterial
action, to return carbon dioxide to the atmos
phere. This term is included for differentia
tion from the nuclear reaction series by the
same name.
CARBON 14. The radioactive isotope of
carbon of mass number 14, C 14. It disinte
grates with the emission of a 0.16 M ev /?-ray,
with half life of 5.57 X 103 years. C 14 is con
tinuously being produced in the atmosphere
by the bombardment of nitrogen by cosmic
ray neutrons (7N 14 + on1 -> 6C 14 + iH 1, see
nuclear reaction). Biological organisms in
corporate C 14 into their structures in the same
proportion to the stable C 12 as the relative
proportion of C 14 to C 12 in the carbon dioxide
of the atmosphere. Upon death, no further
carbon is taken up by the organism, and the
relative amount of C 14 to C 12 decreases with
time as the C 14 disintegrates. B y measuring
the relative amounts of C 14 to C 12 and com
paring it with that in atmospheric carbon di
oxide an estimate can be made of how long
ago the organism died (and stopped exchang
ing carbon with the atmosphere).
CARBONIZED FILAMENT. A thoriated,
tungsten filament which has been treated with
carbon to cause the formation of a coating of
tungsten carbide. This permits higher fila
ment temperatures without corresponding
evaporation of thorium.

N 15 + + ie + v
C 12 + H e4,

where + ie indicates a positron and v indicates

a neutrino. (See proton-proton chain.)
The overall reaction results in the produc
tion of a helium atom, two positrons and
much energy, from four protons, the carbon
atom that reacted initially being regenerated
at the end of the process. There are, of
course, other probable side-reactions.
CARBON CYCLE, ORGANIC. The cycle of
processes by which living things utilize the
carbon of the carbon dioxide of the atmos
phere in their metabolism. The cycle in
cludes photosynthesis of carbohydrates by

CARBONIZED PLATE.
A carbon-blackened anode treated for the purpose of increas
ing the heat dissipation.
CARBON-PILE REGULATOR.
A control
mechanism utilizing the variation of electrical
resistance which occurs as a pile of carbon
blocks is compressed.
CARCEL UNIT. A French unit of luminous
flux defined as one-tenth of the output of the
Carcel lamp which burns colza oil. It is ap
proximately 0.96 international candle.
CARCINOTRON.
lator tube

A backward -wave, oscil

181

Cardinal Points of a Lens System Carrier

CARDINAL POINTS OF A LENS SYSTEM.

The principal foci, the principal points and the
nodal points constitute the cardinal points of
a lens system. (See lens equation.)

In the former (clockwise) case, heat is

taken in from a hot source and work is done
by the hot substance during the high-temperature expansion a b ; also additional work

CARDIOID. A higher plane curve, which is

a special case of the limaon. Its equations
are
(x2 + y 2 2ax)2 = 4a2(x2 + y 2 ) ;
r ~ 2a(cos0 1);
x = a( 2 cos <t> cos 20),
y = a (2 sin 0 sin 2</>).

y
Carnot cycle on v-p diagrams; ab and cd, isother
mals, be and da, adiabatics.

y
Cardioid.

CARDIOID CONDENSER. An optical sys

tem for concentrating light on an object for a
compound microscope. It contains a cardioid
surface of revolution as a mirror. It is used
for dark field illumination.
CAREY-FOSTER M ETH O D OF CALIBRA
TION. A method of calibrating a non-uniform slide-wire of a W heatstone bridge (see
bridge, Wheatstone) by interchanging two
nearly equal resistances.
CARNOT CYCLE. An ideal cycle of four re
versible changes in the physical condition of a
substance; useful in thermodynamic theory.
Starting with specified values of the variables
temperature, specific volume, and pressure,
the substance undergoes in succession (1) an
isothermal (constant temperature) expansion,
(2) an adiabatic expansion, and (3) an iso
thermal compression to such a point that (4)
a further adiabatic compression will return
the substance to its original condition. These
changes are represented on the volume-pressure diagram respectively by ab, be, cd, and
da in the accom panying figure. Or the cycle
m ay be reversed: a d c b a.

is done at the expense of the thermal energy

of the substance during the further expansion
be. Then a less amount of work is done on
the cooled substance, and a less amount of
heat discharged to the cool surroundings, dur
ing the low-temperature compression cd; and
finally, by the further application of work
during the compression da> the substance is
raised to its original high temperature. The
net result o f all this is that a quantity of heat
has been taken from a hot source and a por
tion of it imparted to something colder (a
sink ), while the balance is transformed into
mechanical work represented by the area
abed. If the cycle takes place in the counter
clockwise direction, heat is transferred from
the colder to the warmer surroundings at the
expense of the net amount of energy which
must be supplied during the process (also
represented by area abed). The operation of
the cycle thus illustrates the second law of
thermodynamics.
CARNOT THEOREM. N o engine operating
between two given temperatures can be more
efficient than a perfectly reversible engine
operating between the same temperatures.
(See Carnot cycle.)
CARRIER. (1) An entity capable of carry
ing electric charge through a solid as, for
example, holes and mobile conduction elec
trons in semiconductors. (2) A wave suitable
for being modulated to transmit intelligence.
The modulation represents the information;
the original wave is used only as a carrier

o f the modulation. Usually thought of as a

sinusoidal wave of radio frequency.
(3) A
quantity of an element which m ay be mixed
with radioactive isotopes of that element giv
ing a ponderable quantity to facilitate chem
ical operations. (4) A substance in ponder
able amount which, when associated with a
trace of another substance, will carry the
trace with it through a chemical or physical
process, especially a precipitation process. I f
the added substance is a different element
from the trace, the carrier is called a non
isotopic carrier. (5) See carrier of observed
band system. (6) See hold-back agent.
CARRIER-AMPLITUDE
REGULATION.
The change in amplitude of the carrier wave
in an amplitude-modulated (see modulation,
amplitude) transmitter when modulation is
applied under conditions of symmetrical m od
ulation. The term carrier shift, often ap
plied to this effect, should not be used.
CARRIER CHROM INANCE SIGNAL.
chrominance signal.

See

CARRIER, COLOR. See the preferred term

subcarrier, chrominance.
CARRIER COLOR SIGNAL. In color tele
vision, the sidebands of the modulated color
subcarrier (plus the color subcarrier, if not
suppressed) which are added to the mono
chrome signal to convey color information.
CARRIER, CONTROLLED
(VARIABLE
OR FLOATING). A system of compound
modulation wherein the carrier is amplitudemodulated by the signal frequencies in any
conventional manner, but, in addition, the
carrier is also amplitude-modulated in ac
cordance with the envelope of the signal, so
that the percentage of modulation, or modula
tion factor, remains relatively constant re
gardless of the amplitude of the signal. (See
also modulation, controlled-carrier.)

the case o f power systems, carrier currents

of several kilocycles frequency are coupled to
the 60-cycle transmission lines. These car
rier currents m ay be modulated to provide
telephone communication between points on
the power system, or they may be used to
actuate relays on the system. This latter use
is known as carrier relaying. Carrier cur
rents have greatly extended the usefulness of
existing line facilities of the telephone and
telegraph companies.
Several carrier fre
quencies may be coupled to the lines already
having regular voice or telegraph signals on
them. Each of these carrier frequencies may
be modulated with a separate voice or tele
graph channel, and thus a given line may
carry the regular signals plus several new
carrier channels, each o f which is equivalent
to another circuit at regular frequencies. A t
the receiving end the various channels are
separated by filters, and the signals demodu
lated, and then fed to conventional phone or
telegraph circuits.
CARRIER DENSITY. In thermal equilib
rium, the density, n, o f electrons, and p, of
holes in a non-degenerate semiconductor are
related by the equation:
np = N CN Vexp ( - E G/kT),
where
tween
band,
states

E G is the width o f the energy gap be

the valence band and the conduction
and N v, N c are the effective densities of
in these bands, i.e.,
N c = N v = 2(2ttmkT/h2A.

CARRIER, FLOATING.
trolled.
CARRIER FREQUENCY.
carrier.
CARRIER-FREQUENCY
pulse, carrier-frequency.

See carrier, con

See frequency,
PULSE.

See

CARRIER-CONTROLLED
APPROACH
SYSTEM (CCA). An aircraft carrier radar
system providing inform ation by which air
craft approaches m ay be directed via radio
communications.

CARRIER-FREQUENCY RANGE OF A
TRANSMITTER. The continuous range of
frequencies within which the transmitter may
be adjusted for normal operation. A trans
mitter may have more than one carrier-fre
quency range.

CARRIER CURRENT. A relatively highfrequency a-c superimposed on the ordinary

circuit frequencies in order to increase the
usefulness of a given transmission line. In

CARRIER-FREQUENCY STABILITY OF A
TRANSMITTER. A measure of the ability
of the transmitter to maintain an assigned
average frequency.

CARRIER
INJECTION,
LIGHT.
The
method of introducing the carrier by periodic
variation of the scanner light beam, the aver
age amplitude of which is varied by the den
sity changes of the subject copy.
CARRIER LEAK. The electrical balance of
suppressed carrier modulators is never perfect.
The carrier frequency power remaining in the
output of the modulator as a result of this un
balance is called carrier leak.
CARRIER LOADING.

See loading, carrier.

CARRIER, MAJORITY. In a semiconductor,

in which conduction takes place by the m o
tion of both holes and electrons, the m ajority
carrier is the one that has the higher concen
tration, i.e., the electron in n-type semiconduc
tors and the hole in p-type. (See also carrier,
minority.)
CARRIER, MINORITY. In a semiconductor,
in which conduction takes place by the m o
tion of both holes and electrons, the minority
carrier is the one that has the lower concen
tration; i.e., the hole in n-type semiconductors
and the electron in p-type. As the product of
the concentrations of the two types is a con
stant for a given material at a fixed tempera
ture, in accordance with the mass action law,
small changes in the number of minority car
riers per unit volume can result in large
changes in the density of m ajority carriers
a fact important in the behavior of the
transistor. (See also carrier, majority.)
CARRIER NOISE LEVEL (RESIDUAL
M O D U LAT IO N ). See noise level, carrier
(residual modulation).
CARRIER OF OBSERVED BAND SYSTEM.
The molecule giving rise to the observed band
system. The term carrier is applied in ex
periments where more than one molecular
species is present.
CARRIER, PULSE.

See pulse carrier.

CARRIER REFERENCE, CHROMINANCE.

See chrominance carrier reference.
CARRIER RELAYING.
CARRIER REPEATER.
rier.
"CARRIER SHIFT.
metrical.

See carrier current.

See repeater, car

See modulation, asym

CARRIER SIGNALING.
rier.

See signaling, car

CARRIER SUPPRESSION. That method of

operation in which the carrier wave is not
transmitted.
CARRIER-TO-NOISE RATIO. The ratio of
the value of the carrier to that of the noise
after selection and before any nonlinear proc
ess, such as amplitude limiting and detection.
CARRIER, VARIABLE.
trolled.
CARRIER W AVE.
tion.

See carrier, con

See radio communica

CARRY.
(1) A signal, or expression, pro
duced as a result of an arithmetic operation
on one digit place of two or more numbers ex
pressed in positional notation and transferred
to the next higher place for processing there.
(2) Usually a signal or expression as defined
in (1) above which arises in adding, when the
sum of two digits in the same digit place
equals or exceeds the base of the number sys
tem in use. If a carry into a digit place will
result in a carry out of the same digit place,
and if the normal adding circuit is bypassed
when generating this new carry, it is called a
high-speed carry, or standing-on-nines carry.
If the normal adding circuit is used in such a
case, the carry is called a cascaded carry. If
a carry resulting from the addition of carries
is not allowed to propagate (e.g., when forming
the partial product in one step of a multiplica
tion process), the process is called a partial
carry. If it is allowed to propagate, the proc
ess is called a com plete carry. I f a carry
generated in the most significant digit place is
sent directly to the least significant place
(e.g., when adding two negative numbers using
nines complements) that carry is called an
end-around carry. (3) In direct subtraction,
a signal or expression as defined in (1) above
which arises when the difference between the
digits is less than zero. Such a carry is fre
quently called a borrow. (4) The action of
forwarding a carry. (5) The command direct
ing a carry to be forwarded.
CARRY, COMPLETE. A system o f execut
ing the carry process in which all carries and
any carries to which they give rise are allowed
to propagate to completion.

184

Carry, Self-instructed Catacaustic

CARRY, SELF-INSTRUCTED. A system of
executing the carry process in which informa
tion is allowed to propagate to succeeding
places as it is generated and without receipt
of a specific signal.
CARRY, SEPARATELY-INSTRUCTED. A
system of executing the carry process in which
carry information is allowed to propagate to
succeeding places only on receipt of a specific
signal.
CARRY, STANDING ON-NINES.

See carry.

CARTESIAN
COORDINATE.
Numbers
used to locate the position of a point relative
to intersecting axes: two if in a plane and
three in space. I f the axes intersect at right
angles, the coordinates are rectangular Car
tesian; if the axes are not perpendicular, the
coordinates are oblique. Since the latter are
seldom used, the designation Cartesian fre
quently means rectangular Cartesian.
(See
also abscissa; ordinate; coordinate system,
rectangular Cartesian.)

CASCADE. (1) A ny connected arrangement

of separative elements whose result is to mul
tiply the effect, such as isotope separation,
created by the individual elements. A bubble
plate-tower is a cascade whose elements are
the individual plates; a plant consisting of
many towers in series and parallel is similarly
a cascade whose elements may be considered
to be either the towers or the individual plates.
Similarly, an amplifier in which each stage
except the first has as its input the output of
the preceding stage is spoken of as a cascade
amplifier. (2) See tandem. (3) See cascade
shower.
CASCADED CARRY.

See carry.

CASCADE, IDEAL. A cascade wherein the

number of elements in parallel and the flow
in each stage vary continuously in such a way
that a minimum number of separative ele
ments are used to produce material of a speci
fied concentration.
CASCADE SHOWER.

See shower, cascade.

CARTESIAN OVAL. (1) A curve defined as

the locus of a point P that moves so that its
distance from the origin 0 (0,0) and the point
A (a,0) in rectangular coordinates satisfy the
relation A P = b - O P d t c , where b and c
are given positive constants.
(2) An aplanatic refracting surface having the equation
na = n 'a' = constant, where a and a' are the
distances from object and image, respectively,
to the refracting surface.

CASCADE THEORY (OF COSMIC RADIA

TION).
Theory of multiplication of elec
trons, positrons and y-rays in the passage of
a cosmic ray particle through matter, espe
cially through the atmosphere.
Developed
independently by Bhabha and Heitler and by
Carlson and Oppenheimer. The y-rays are
produced by bremsstrahlung and in turn lead
to pair production.

CARTRIDGE, PICKUP.
The removable
portion of a pickup containing the electro
mechanical translating elements and the re
producing stylus.

CASIMIR-DU PR THEORY OF SPINLATTICE RELAXATION.

A theory in
which the spin and lattice systems are treated
as separate thermodynamic systems, in ther
mal contact with each other.

CARVALLO PARADOX. I f white light con

sists of a com bination of infinitely long wavetrains, a spectograph should show the spec
trum both before the source is lighted and
after it has gone out. The mistake lies in the
assumption that the spectroscope selects light
of exactly one wavelength. A spectroscope
always selects a group o f waves covering a
small but finite range o f frequency. Such a
group m ay be considered as made up of an
infinite series of pure harmonic waves which
interact so as to give zero resultant before the
source is lighted and shortly after it has gone
out.

CASSEGRAINIAN TELESCOPE.
A re
flecting telescope in which a secondary convex
mirror reflects the light from the collecting
mirror back through a hole in the center of
the collecting mirror. The first real image is
com m only formed just behind the collecting
mirror. (See Newtonian and Gregorian tele
scopes.)
CASSETTE.
film.

A film holder for photographic

CATACAUSTIC.
flection.

A caustic produced by re

C A T A D IO P T R IC . Pertaining to, produced

by, or involving, both the reflection and the
refraction o f light.
C A TA PH O R ESIS.
trophoresis.
CATCH ER.

Preferably

called

elec

See klystron.

C A T C H E R C A V ITY .

See gap, catcher.

C A T C H E R GAP. In a klystron, the gap

or grid which receives energy from the
bunched or velocity-m odulated electrons.
CATELECTRODE.
C A TE N A R Y.

The cathode.

The locus of the equation

a
x
y = - (exIa + e~ xla) = a cosh -
2
a

spect to ground. The grid-cathode voltage

may thus be adjusted by changing the mag
nitude of the cathode resistance.
Unless
properly bypassed, the insertion of the re
sistance results in a certain amount of loss
of amplification, because of negative feed
back.
C A T H O D E , C O A T E D . An emissive struc
ture which has been coated with certain ele
ments or compounds to provide increased
electron emission. (See thermionic emission.)
CATH ODE, COLD.
(1) A cathode, in an
electron tube or a gas discharge tube, that
functions without the application of heat.
(2) A specific cold cathode is an electrode
used to furnish electrons by secondary emis
sion, sometimes used in the ions source of a
mass spectrometer.

C A TE N A R Y C U R V E . See funicular polygon.

C A T H A M P L IF IE R .
An amplifier circuit
with high input impedance, which permits
push-pull operation from an unbalanced
source.
C A T H E T O M E T E R . A type of comparator,
consisting of a telescope sliding on a vertical
scale and provided with cross hair and a
vernier. This instrument is used to measure
heights of liquid columns, or other differences
in level.
C A T H O D E . (1) In general, the electrode at
which positive current leaves a device which
employs electrical conduction other than that
through solids. (2) In an electron tube, the
electrode through which a primary stream of
electrons enters the interelectrode space.
(3) The negative terminal of an electroplat
ing cell (i.e., the electrode from which elec
trons enter the cell, and thus at which posi
tively charged ions (cations) are discharged).
(4) The positive terminal of a battery. (See
also cathode, cold; filament; photocathode;
photocathode, semitransparent; and other
cathode entries immediately following.)
C A T H O D E -B IA S A R R A N G E M E N T (SELFBIAS A R R A N G E M E N T ). The use of a re
sistor in the cathode circuit of an electron tube
to cause the cathode to be at some potential
above ground. I f the grid is caused to be at
ground potential, the net result will be that
the grid is negative to the cathode by the
amount that the cathode is positive with re

C A T H O D E C U RREN T.
rent.

See electrode cur

C A T H O D E D A R K SPACE. In a gas dis

charge tube, the dark band between the
cathode glow and the negative glow. Also
known as Crookes dark space or H ittorf dark
space.
CATH ODE,
M E N TA R Y).

D IR E C T - H E A T E D
See filament.

(F IL A

C A T H O D E D ISIN T E G R A T IO N . The de
struction of the active area of a cathode by
positive-ion bombardment.
CATH ODE DROP.

See cathode fall.

C A T H O D E , E Q U IP O T E N T IA L .
ode, indirectly-heated.

See cath

C A T H O D E FA L L . In a glow discharge tube,

the drop in potential (usually the larger part
of the total potential) which occurs in the
small distance between the cathode and the
plasma boundary.
C A T H O D E , FILA M E N TA R Y .

See filament.

C A T H O D E F L IC K E R E F F E C T .

See flicker.

CATH ODE FOLLOW ER.

A circuit in
which the output load is connected in the
cathode circuit of an electron tube, and the
input is applied between the control grid and
the remote end of the cathode load. The cir
cuit is characterized by low output imped
ance, high input impedance, and gain less than

unity under most operating conditions.

amplifier, common-plate.)

(See

bodies which are subjected to their bombard

ment, penetrate solids, and give rise to x-rays.

See

CATHODE-RAY FURNACE. A very high

temperature furnace used to heat small ob
jects in a vacuum by bombarding them with
intense electron beams.

CATHODE-FOLLOW ER AMPLIFIER.
amplifier, grounded-plate.

CATHO DE G LO W . A t sufficiently high volt

age, a glow exists about the negative terminal
of an arc. B y operating the arc at low pres
sure (in partial vacuum, as in a gas discharge
tube), this glow may fill much of the tube,
lying between the cathode dark space and
the Aston dark space. A substance placed on
the cathode will produce its characteristic
spectrum in the cathode glow. Also called
Glimmschicht method However, in many
discharges both the Aston dark space and the
cathode glow will be absent or indiscernible.
CATH O DE HEATING
heating, cathode.
CATHO DE, HOT.

TIME.

See

time

See cathode, thermionic.

CATHO DE,
INDIRECTLY
HEATED
(EQUIPOTENTIAL CATHODE, UNIPO
TENTIAL CATH O DE).
A cathode of a
thermionic tube to which heat is supplied by
an independent heater element.
CATH O DE, IONIC-HEATED. A hot cath
ode that is heated primarily by ionic bom
bardment of the emitting surface.
CATHODE, L-TYPE. An oxide cathode in
which the emitting material is held in a reser
voir instead of being applied in the form of
a coating. Increased emission, life and re
sistance to gas poisoning result from this
structure.
CATHODE, PHOTO.
CATHODE, POOL.

See photocathode.

CATHODE-RAY
OSCILLOSCOPE.
See
tube, cathode-ray; also oscilloscope, cathoderay.
CATHODE-RAY TUBE. See entries under
tube, cathode-ray; and tube, kinescope.
CATHODE-RAY
TUBE
DEFLECTING
COILS. See deflection yoke.
CATHODE-RAY
TUBE,
DEFLECTION
SENSITIVITY. The ratio of the voltage re
quired to produce a small deflection of the spot
on the screen of a cathode-ray tube to the
magnitude of the deflection. Commonly used
units are volts per inch or volts per centimeter.
When the sensitivity of a tube is specified, the
voltage is that applied to the deflecting plates ;
for an oscilloscope it is commonly that ap
plied to the terminals, with amplifiers set for
maximum gain. When a-c sensitivities are
specified, either root-mean-square or peak-topeak voltages may be given, the former usually
being for a sinusoidal wave.
CATH ODE SHEATH.

See sheath, cathode.

CATHODE SPOT. An area, on the cathode

of an arc, from which the electron emission
is extremely high.

See tube, pool.

CATH O DE PULSE MODULATION.

modulation, cathode pulse.

CATHODE-RAY LAMP. An intense light

source of small area obtained by directing a
beam of electrons against a small block of
refractory material, which is thereby heated
to incandescence.

See

CATH O DE RAY(S) (CATHODE STREAM).

Originally, this term applied generally to a
stream of electrons emitted from the cathode
o f a gas discharge tube, during its bom bard
ment by positive ions. The term has been
extended to denote any stream of electrons,
such as those emitted by a heated filament.
The emitted electrons are capable of causing
phosphorescence, chemical changes, mechan
ical effects; they can raise the temperature of

CATH ODE, THERMIONIC. In an electron

tube, a cathode which emits electrons on heat
ing. If the heating is accomplished by the
passage of an electric current directly through
the cathode, it is known as a directly-heated
cathode, or filament; otherwise it is an in
directly-heated cathode.
CATHODE, UNIPOTENTIAL. See cathode,
indirectly-heated.
CATH ODE, VIRTUAL. The locus of such a
space-charge-potential minimum that only a

portion of the electrons approaching it is trans

mitted, the remainder being reflected.
CATHODOLUM INESCENCE.
B y bom
barding a metal with electrons in an enclosure,
as with cathode rays, small amounts of the
metal are vaporized in an excited state, and
emit radiation characteristic of the metal.
CATHODOPHOSPHORESCENCE.
Phos
phorescence as a result of cathode-ray bom
bardment, as by the process described for
cathodoluminescence.
CATHOLYTE. The liquid found in the im
mediate neighborhood of the cathode during
electrolysis.
CATION. A positively-charged ion. Cations
are those ions that are deposited on the cath
ode. T hey travel in the nominal direction of
the current. In electrochemical reactions they
are designated by a dot or a plus sign placed
above and behind the atomic or radical symbol
as H* o r H + , the number of dots or plus signs
indicating the valence of the ion. (See cell;
ion; anion.)
In electrolysis, the cathode is negative, and
attracts cations. In a battery, the deposition
o f cations on the cathode makes it the posi
tive terminal.
CATIONIC CURRENT. That portion of the
total current which is carried by cations.
CAUCHY BOUNDARY CONDITION. A p
plied to a partial differential equation and
consisting of the value of a function and its
normal derivative, specified along a bounding
curve, such conditions are appropriate for
hyperbolic equations.
(See also boundary
condition, homogeneous.)
CAUCHY CONVERGENCE TEST.

If

lim|sn |1/n < 1,

n >90

then the infinite series

00

71 = 1

converges absolutely. A corollary, known as

the Cauchy ratio test, or sometimes as
d Alem berts test, involves

lim|n+i/n| = r.

If r > 1, the series converges; if r < 1, it

diverges; if r = 1, the test fails and the series
m ay either converge or diverge. For a more
general theorem on the existence of a limit,
also given by Cauchy, see convergence.
CAUCHY FORMULA FOR REFRACTIVE
INDEX. There is no simple complete formula
expressing the index of refraction of a medium
as a function of wavelength. A number of
semiempirical formulas have been used. One
of these is:

where A i is a constant characteristic of the

material and Xi is an idealized absorption
wavelength of the medium. When Ai <K X this
reduces t o :
AxXx2
n = 1 + A i H - j
X2
B
or
n A H - (Cauchy Formula).
X
A better approximation is

CAUCHY INTEGRAL. See integral, Cauchy.

CAUCHY RELATIONS. If the forces be
tween the atoms in a crystal lattice are cen
tral forces, and if every atom is in a center of
symmetry (see symmetry, center of), then
certain relations hold between the elastic
moduli of the unstrained crystal. Ionic crys
tals satisfy these conditions fairly well, but
metals do not, because the metallic bond is
non-central, offering little resistance to shear
ing of the lattice.
CAUCHY-REIMANN EQUATION. If du/dx
= dv/dy and du/dy = dv/dx, where u and
v are both functions of x and y, these equa
tions will be satisfied for an analytic function
(u + iv) of the complex variable z = {x +
iy ). They are often used to show that such
a function is analytic. (See also the Laplace
equation.)
CAUCHY THEOREM. I f f ( z ) is an analytic
function of a complex variable z which has
no singularities within or on a given closed
curve C , then

f(z)dz

0,

where the integral is extended over the entire

contour C.

ever the instantaneous pressure falls below

the vapor pressure. This effect is sometimes
called pseudo-cavitation, to distinguish it
from the effect in pure degassed liquids, where
an actual rupture of the medium occurs (at
much higher sound pressures). Collapse of
such cavities produces very large impulsive
pressures that may cause considerable me
chanical damage to neighboring solid surfaces.

CAUSALITY. (1) The hypothesis that a pre

cisely determined set of conditions will always
produce precisely the same effects at a later
time. Classical physics was based on firm
belief both in philosophical causality and in
the idea that the precise determination of the
initial conditions was possible in principle.
Quantum mechanics is based rather on the
Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which indi
cates that such precise determination is im
possible. (2) Condition that an event cannot
produce any effect outside of its future light
cone.
(See Kramers-Kronig dispersion for
mula.)

where p0 is the pressure at a reference posi

tion in the flow, p ' is the vapor pressure, y2pv2
is the kinetic pressure. It provides a measure
of the risk of cavitation occurring in a par
ticular flow system.

CAUSTIC. An envelope curve giving the

boundaries of an intially parallel beam after

CAVITY, BUNCHER.
used as a buncher gap.

Caustic.

reflection or refraction by an optical system

which has spherical aberration.
CAVENDISH EXPERIMENT. An experi
mental method developed in the eighteenth
century by H enry Cavendish to measure the
universal constant of gravitation G The
method employs a torsion balance to which
are fastened two metal spheres. The con
trolled presence of other large masses causes
the balance to deflect. From a knowledge of
the masses and the force of attraction, the
constant G can be computed by the applica
tion of the Newton law of universal gravita
tion.
CAVITATION. The formation of local cavi
ties in a liquid as a result of the reduction of
total pressure.
For non-degassed liquids,
these cavities are filled with the gases dis
solved in the liquid and are produced when

CAVITATION NUMBER.
sional parameter,
Po -

non-dimen-

p'

hpv2

A cavity resonator

CAVITY DEFINITIONS. The cavity defini

tions of the electric field strength E and the
electric displacement D were introduced by
Lord Kelvin. The electric field strength E
in a polarized dielectric is given by the field
strength in a needle shaped cavity whose long
axis is parallel to the field. The electric dis
placement D is given by its value in a flat
disk shaped cavity whose normal points along
the field. Similarly for magnetic media the
magnetic field strength H in a magnetic me
dium is that in a needle shaped cavity within
the medium, whose long axis is parallel to
the field. The magnetic flux density B in a
magnetic medium is that in a flat disk shaped
cavity whose normal points along the field.
These relations follow from the boundary con
ditions on the electromagnetic field vectors.
CAVITY DUPLEX (RADAR).
TR (Radar).
CAVITY RADIATION.

See Cavity

See black body.

CAVITY TR (RADAR). The resonant portion

of a TR switch.
CAYLEY-KLEIN PARAMETER. One of a
set of four quantities used to describe the
orientation of a rigid body. They are not
linearly independent but may be expressed
in terms of the Euler angles. W hen com
bined into matrix equations they are related

to the Pauli spin matrices which occur in quan

tum mechanics.
(See also Euler-Rodrigues
parameters.)

larger device, e.g., Kerr cell or absorption cell.

(4) In computers, an elementary unit of stor
age (e.g., binary cell, decimal cell).

C-BAND.

CELL, AVAILABLE ENERGY OF.

The
electrical energy available from a reversible
cell is the thermodynamic free energy change
of the process occurring in the cell.

See band(s), frequency.

C BATTERY.
(See bias.)
C-BIAS.

A battery used to supply bias.

See bias.

CCA. Abbreviation for carrier-controlled ap

proach system.
C-CORE.

See Core, C.

CCS, ccs. Abbreviation for continuous com

mercial service.

CELL, BARRIER LAYER. A photoelectric

device which produces a small electromotive
force upon the incidence of light or other
radiant energy upon its barrier layer or junc
tion.

Abbreviation for counterclock

CELL, BIAS. A small electric cell which is

capable o f supplying an open-circuit voltage
of 1% or 1% volts indefinitely.

C-DISPLAY (ALSO C SCAN OR C-SCOPE).

See display.

CELL, BINARY. In computers, an elemen

tary unit of storage which can be placed in
either of two stable states.

C C W , ccw.
wise.

CEILING. In general, the total distance from

ground or water vertically to the base of low
est cloud layer that, in summation with all
lower layers of clouds and obscuring phenom
ena, covers 0.6 or more of the sky.
CELESTIAL MECHANICS. The term ce
lestial mechanics is applied to that field of
astronomical study and research which deals
with the motions of two or more bodies in
space under the influence of their mutual
gravitational attractions. The fundamental
elements of the subject are found in the New
ton law of universal gravitation, the laws of
motion, and the laws of Kepler for planetary
motion. In the classical theory we find space
of three dimensions treated, with time con
sidered as an independent variable. W ith
in recent years some slight modifications of
the classical theory, particularly when the
time interval is very long or velocities and
accelerations are very high, have become nec
essary on account of the theory of relativity.
Under the general heading of celestial m e
chanics we find such problems discussed as
the development of the various methods for
orbit computation, methods for computing
perturbations, and solutions of the problem
of three bodies.
CELL. (1) A limited region of space, spe
cifically in phase space.
(2) An electrical
cell. (See cell, electric.) (3) A physical de
vice of small dimensions, used as part of a

CELL, CADM IUM. A standard or normal

cell usually constructed in the H form. The
cathode is an amalgam of 12% parts of cad
mium and 87y2 parts of mercury by weight.
The anode m ay be made of highly purified
mercury or of amalgamated platinum. The
electrolyte is a saturated solution o f cadmium
sulfate in water. The cathode is surrounded
by undissolved cadmium sulfate crystals, and
the anode is covered with a paste made of
mercurous sulfate and cadmium sulfate solu
tion. The cell is sealed to prevent evapora
tion. A t the ordinary temperature (20) the
saturated cadmium cell furnishes an electro
motive force of 1.018636 absolute volts, and
this varies only 0.00004 volt per degree change
of temperature. Unsaturated cells are more
difficult to reproduce accurately but are less
temperature dependent. They are calibrated
individually against saturated cells.
CELL, CLARKE.
CELL, COLOR.

See cell, standard.

See color cell.

CELL, CONCENTRATION. An electric cell

(see cell, electric) in which the electrical en
ergy is derived from the free energy change
accom panying the transfer of a substance
from a system of high concentration to one
of low concentration. If the transfer is across
the interface between two solutions of the
same electrolyte at different concentrations,
there is a direct transfer of electrolyte. On
the other hand, two similar voltaic cells con

taining electrolyte at different concentrations,

connected back-to-back, form a concentration
cell in which the transfer of electrolyte is in
direct.
CELL, CONDUCTIVITY.
cell.

See conductivity

CELL CONSTANT. The conductivity of an

electrolyte is inversely proportional to the
observed resistance of the conductance cell.
The proportionality constant depends on the
geometry of the cell, and is called the cell
constant. It is most readily determined by
measuring an electrolyte of known conduc
tivity.
CELL, DANIELL.
and cell, gravity.

See cell, displacement,

and the electrolyte solution. The electrodes

are usually plates of metal or carbon immersed
in the electrolyte solution; the electrode by
which the current leaves the cell is termed the
cathode, and that through which the current
enters is called the anode.
CELL, ELECTRODE CONCENTRATION.
A concentration cell (see cell, concentration)
having a uniform electrolyte, and electrodes of
the same metal at different concentrations, as
in different concentration amalgams.
CELL EM F (FORMULA FOR). Since the
electrical work done by a reversible cell equals
the decrease of free energy in the cell reaction,
AG = W = E lt = Eq = E nF,
it follows that

CELL, DISPLACEMENT. An electric cell

(see cell, electric) in which the essential chem
ical reaction is the ionization and entry into
solution of atoms of one element, and the
discharge and deposition from solution of the
ions of another. A well-known displacement
cell is the Daniell cell, in which metallic zinc
dissolves in a zinc sulfate solution, yielding
zinc ions, while copper ions are discharged and
deposited from a copper sulfate solution, with
accom panying flow of electricity in an external
circuit.
CELL, DRY. An electric cell (see cell, elec
tric) in which the electrolyte is a damp paste,
rather than a free liquid, and thus produces a
device more convenient for many purposes,
including portable applications in flashlights.
Another common feature of design of dry cells
is that one of the electrodes is made in the
shape of a cup which contains the electrolytedepolarizer mixture, and in which the other
electrode is centered.
CELL, ECHELON. A hollow glass vessel of
triangular horizontal cross-section used in ab
sorption spectrography, because of its con
venience in adjusting the thickness of the
layer of the absorbing liquid to any value up
to that represented by the altitude of the tri
angle constituting the section of the cell.
CELL, EDISON.

See cell, iron-nickel.

CELL, ELECTRIC. A n apparatus for the

transformation of chemical into electrical en
ergy or the reverse. The essential parts of the
cell are the containing vessel, the electrodes,

AG
E = -------- >
nF
where E is the emf, AG is the free energy
change, n, the number of faradays passing
through the cell per mole, and F is the faraday
(96,500 coulom bs).
(See also Gibbs-Helmholtz equation for a reversible cell.)
CELL, GALVANIC.

See cell, voltaic.

CELL, GRAVITY.
An electrolyte cell in
which the separation between the two ionic
solutions is maintained by means of gravity.
An example is the Daniell cell in which a
cupric sulfate solution in contact with a cop
per electrode is below a zinc sulfate solution
in contact with a zinc electrode. The differ
ence in specific gravity of the solutions pre
vents, or at least retards, mixing.
CELL, HALF. A voltaic cell can be con
sidered as two half-cells in series, each con
taining electrolyte and a single electrode.
(See single electrode potentials.)
CELL INTERNAL RESISTANCE. If a cell
having an open-circuit emf E is connected to
a resistance R , the current will be
E
I -------------R + r
The resistance r contributed to the circuit by
the cell is the internal resistance.
CELL, IRON-NICKEL. A secondary cell
(Edison battery) having electrodes of iron

and of nickel oxide. The electrolyte is a solu

tion of potassium hydroxide.
CELL, LECLANCHE. The Leclanche cell
is of particular interest, since in a special form
it is the common dry-cell. It has a carbon
cathode surrounded by manganese dioxide as
a depolarizer, a zinc anode, and a solution of
ammonium chloride as the electrolyte.
CELL, PHOTO.
voltaic cell.

See

phototube;

CELL, PHOTOVOLTAIC.
cell.

photo

See photovoltaic

CELL, PRIMARY. An electric cell in which

electric energy is obtained as the result of a
chemical reaction or reactions. Although the
reactions are approximately reversible, the
primary cell as defined is not arranged to
operate reversibly, cells so constructed being
called secondary cells. (See cell, secondary.)
CELL, REVERSIBLE. An electric cell (see
cell, electric) in which the rate of chemical
reaction varies continuously and reversibly
with applied external emf, and goes through
zero at a particular emf.
CELL, SECONDARY. An electric cell (see
cell, electric) in which the interacting sub
stances may be restored to their original
chemical form by sending a direct current of
electricity through the cell in reverse direc
tion to that of the discharge. Secondary cells
are com m only used to store and furnish elec
tricity, i.e., to act as a storage battery.
CELL, SELENIUM. In general, an arrange
ment in which a thin film of selenium is
mounted, with electric terminals, for utilizing
the photoconductive property of selenium.
Specifically, (1) a photovoltaic cell utilizing
selenium as one of the barrier materials, (2)
a rectifier element utilizing a barrier layer
formed between specially treated crystallized
selenium and an alloy of cadmium. The sele
nium is placed on a sheet of steel or aluminum
which serves as a mounting and heat transfer
medium.
CELL, STANDARD. Precise measurements
of electromotive force, as with a potentiom
eter, require a constant, known source of volt
age. The only practicable means of supplying
this is by some special type of electrolytic cell.
Of these, two have been highly developed and

much used. The older is the Clarke standard

cell, which, as improved by Carhart, has a
mercury cathode and an amalgamated zinc
anode. The cathode is submerged in a mercurous sulfate paste, and the electrolyte is a
solution of zinc sulfate saturated at 0C. The
whole is sealed in a suitable glass tube. This
cell has an electromotive force of 1.440 volts
at 15C, with a decrease of 0.00056 volt per
degree rise in temperature. In 1891 W eston
substituted cadmium amalgam for zinc, and
a saturated solution of cadmium sulfate for
the zinc sulfate electrolyte, the whole in an
H -shaped tube. The W eston normal cell has
a somewhat lower voltage than the Clarke

Cross section of standard Weston normal cadmium

cell.

(1.018636 volts at 2 0C ), but its temperature

coefficient is practically negligible. An un
saturated type of W eston cell is much used
com mercially in the United States.
It is
neither as permanent nor as reproducible as
the saturated cell, but is portable and is ten
times less sensitive to temperature changes.
CELL, TYPES OF. The emf in a voltaic cell
can be due to the presence of an electrolyte
concentration gradient, an electrode solubility
difference, an electrode reducibility difference,
or the use of non-mixed different electrolytes.
CELLULOSE NITRATE
disk(s), lacquer.

DISK(S).

See

CELL, VOLTAIC. An electric cell consisting

of two electrodes of dissimilar metals im
mersed in a solution which acts chemically
upon one or both of them, thus producing an
electromotive force; this type of cell derives
its name from the physicist Volta, who dis
covered the effect.
CELS. Abbreviation for Celsius.
perature scale, Celsius.)
CELSIUS.

(See tem

See temperature scale, Celsius,

CENT. (1) In nuclear terminology, a unit

of reactivity. (2) The interval between two
sounds whose basic frequency ratio is the
twelve-hundredth root of two. The interval,
in cents, between any two frequencies is 1,200
times the logarithm to the base 2 of the frequency ratio. Thus 1,200 cents = 12 equally
tempered semitones = 1 octave.
CENTER, COLOR.

See color center.

CENTER FREQUENCY. As applied to frequency modulation systems, the frequency of

the carrier wave with no modulation. (W ith
modulation the instantaneous operating frequency swings above and below the center

frequency. The operating frequency with no

modulation shall be the center frequency
within the frequency tolerances.)
CENTER, INSTANTANEOUS.
The point
about which a body having general motion
m ay be considered to be in pure rotation (i.e.,
without translation) for any instant. The in
stantaneous center is not necessarily on the
b od y; in fact, it can be, in the case of recti
linear motion, infinitely distant.
CENTER OF ACTION. Any one of several
large areas of high and low barometric pressure, changing little in location, and persisting through a season or through the whole

Som e J u s t I n t e r v a l s

(See

S c a le ,

Just)

Name of Interval

Frequency Ratio

Cents

Unison
Semitone
Minor tone or lesser whole tone
M ajor tone or greater whole tone
Minor third
Major third
Perfect fourth
Augmented fourth
Diminished fifth
Perfect fifth
Minor sixth
M ajor sixth
Harmonic minor seventh
Grave minor seventh
Minor seventh
M ajor seventh
Octave

1:1
16:15
10:9
9 :8
6:5
5 :4
4 :3
45:32
64:45
3 :2
8 :5
5 :3
7 :4
16:9
9:5
15:8
2:1

111.731
182.404
203.910
315.641
386.314
498.045
590.224
609.777
701.955
813.687
844.359
968.826
996.091
1,017.597
1,088.269
1,200.000

Some Sm all In ter vals

Name of Interval

Comma of Didymus
Comma of Pythagoras
Skhisma

Description

excess of greater whole tone over lesser

whole tone
excess of 12 Pythagorean fifths over 7 octaves
excess of Pythagorean over Didymean comma
(almost exactly equal to the difference be
tween a Pythagorean and an equally tem
pered perfect fifth)

jFrequency Ratio

Cents

81:80
531441:524882

21.506
23.460

32805:32768

1.954

year. Changes in the intensity and positions

of these pressure systems are associated with
widespread weather changes.

position. I f the density is constant through

out, the center of mass and center of volume
coincide.

CENTER OF AREA.

CENTER-OF-MASS SYSTEM.
In general,
any frame of reference moving with the
center of mass of a system. Calculations in
the center of mass system are often simpler
than in other coordinate systems because the
total momentum in the former is always zero.
For example, in nuclear reactions that are
endothermic, all of the initial kinetic energy
in the center of mass system is available to
cause the reaction to take place. On the other
hand, in the laboratory system, some of the
initial kinetic energy is not available, but must
reappear after the collision to conserve mo
mentum.

See centroid.

CENTER OF BUOYANCY.
The point
through which the resultant of the buoyancy
forces on a submerged body act. It is coin
cident with the center of gravity of the dis
placed fluid.
CENTER OF DISPLACEMENT. The cen
ter of gravity of the fluid displaced by a
floating body.
CENTER OF GRAVITY. F or an extended
body or collection of particles subject to the
earths gravitation, the point through which
the resultant force of gravity acts (i.e., the
weight of the body or collection) no matter
how the body is oriented. In a uniform gravi
tational field in which the ratio of gravita
tional force to mass is always the same, the
center of gravity is the same as the center of
mass.
CENTER OF INERTIA.

See center of mass.

CENTER OF INVERSION.
A symmetry
element possessed by certain crystals, where
by the crystal can be brought into self-coincidence by the operation r - > r, where r is
the vector position of a point in the crystal
referred to the center of inversion.
CENTER OF MASS. T hat point in a body
about which the sum of the moments of all the
individual masses constituting the body is zero.
If the individual (point) masses be called m,and the vector displacement of m, from some
fixed origin be called rjy the center of mass is
located r from the origin, where

rLrrij = 2 ; ,
the summation being extended over all of the
masses constituting the body. For a body
whose mass is continuously distributed over
its volume, the coordinates of the center of
mass are:
J xpdV
xc =

77

J ypdV

77

J* zpdV

7}

CENTER OF OSCILLATION (CENTER

OF SUSPENSION, CENTER OF PERCUS
SION). The frequency of oscillation of a
physical pendulum is given by
1

gl

* ~ 2 v \ k 2 + I2
where I is the distance from the point of sus
pension to the center of mass, and k is the
radius of gyration. A simple pendulum hav
ing the same frequency will be of length
k2 + I2
h

The point which lies at a distance li from

the point of suspension on the line through
the point of suspension and center of mass
is called the center of oscillation. I f the
physical pendulum were to be suspended from
this point, its frequency would be the same
as for the original point of suspension. (See
also pendulum, physical; pendulum, simple;
pendulum, Kater.)
CENTER OF PERCUSSION. That point
(with respect to a given point of suspension)
on a rigid rod, like a tennis racket or baseball
bat, such that an impulse applied perpendic
ular to the rod at the point produces no im
pulsive reaction at the original point of sus
pension. The center of percussion coincides
with the center of oscillation.

where M is the total mass of the body and

p = P [Xj , z) is the density as a function of

CENTER OF PRESSURE, HYDROSTATIC.

The point through which the resultant of the
forces on a surface due to hydrostatic pressure

acts. The center of pressure on a vertical sur

face lies at a depth (below the surface of a
liquid) equal to the quotient of the areal m o
ment of inertia (second moment of area) by
the first moment of area, the areas being
measured on the vertical surface and both
moments being taken about a line in the
liquid surface directly above the vertical sur
face.

CEN T ER O F SUSPENSION.
oscillation.
CEN T ER O F SYMMETRY.
center of.

See center of
See symmetry,

CEN T ER O F V OLUM E. The center of mass

of a homogeneous region.
coordinates are given by

JxdV

The rectangular

JydV

fzd V

where the integration is taken in each case

over the whole volume V of the region.

CENTER-TAP R E C T IF IE R .
full-wave, center tap.

See rectifier,

CENTI-.

A prefix, used with many physical

units, denoting one one-hundredth. Thus 100
centimeters = 1 meter; 100 centipoises = 1
poise.

CE N T IG R A D E .
Centigrade.
CEN T IGRAM .
gram.
C EN T IM ET ER.
meter.

See

One

temperature

one-hundredth

One one-hundredth

scale,

of

of a

CEN TIPOISE. A standard unit of viscosity,

equal to 0.01 poise, the c.g.s. unit of viscosity.
W ater at 20C has a viscosity of nearly 1
centipoise.

CENTISTOKE.

See stoke.

CENTRAL FO RC E . A force acting along

the line joining two centers, as, for example,
the electrostatic attraction between unlike
charges. For a conservative force, derivable
from a scalar potential function, the force will
be central if the potential is a function only
of the distance of separation.

CENTRIFUGAL.

M oving outward or di
rected outward, in the sense of away from
a center.

CEN TRIFUGA L (POTENTIAL) BARRIER.

See potential, effective.
CEN TRIFUGA L FO RCE. A radially out
ward force experienced by an observer in a
reference frame which is rotating at an angu
lar velocity <o with respect to an inertial frame
(cf. Coriolis effects (2)).
The centrifugal
force is equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the centripetal force (the force
required to hold the mass m at a constant
radius r from a point fixed in the inertial
frame, equal to ma)2r). Thus, a man doing
a loop-the-loop at an angular velocity <*> =
\/g/r just remains in his seat at the top of
the loop. An observer on the ground says
that the weight of the man, mg, is just sufficient
to supply the necessary centripetal force to
keep the motion circular; the man himself
feels an upward force ma>2r that is just suffi
cient to balance his weight and to prevent him
from falling.
(See curvilinear motion of a

particle in a plane; coordinate system, rotat

ing.)
CEN TRIFUGE. An apparatus for the sepa
ration of substances by the application of
centrifugal force.
CEN TRIFU GE, CONCURRENT.

The ap
plication to isotope separation of the centri
fuge. One or more streams of gas enters at
one end of the centrifuge and the partiallyseparated isotopes are removed in two or more
streams at the other end.

CEN TRIFUGE, COUNTERCURRENT.

In
this device countercurrent circulation is es
tablished in a centrifuge either thermally or
mechanically. B y the circulation of the gas
the radial concentration gradient is converted
into an axial gradient.

CEN TRIFU GE, EVAPORATIVE.

A batchseparating device wherein a mixture to be

separated is introduced into the centrifuge as
a liquid. The vapors are removed from a
point near the axis of the centrifuge, having
been separated by diffusion through the cen
trifugal field.

CENTRIPETAL. M oving inward, or directed

inward, in the sense of toward a center.

CEN TRIPETAL

A CCELERA T IO N .

(1)

The acceleration towards the center to which

any particle m oving in a circular orbit is sub
ject. This acceleration is equal to v 2/r, where
v is the orbital velocity and r the radius.
(2) M ore generally, that part of the radial
component of the acceleration of a particle
moving in any curved path which is equal to
the magnitude of the radius vector from the
instantaneous center of rotation multiplied by
the square of the instantaneous angular veloc
ity about that center. (See curvilinear motion

from A and B respectively. C is the instanta

neous center of rotation of A B and the cen
trode is the path traced by the point C while
A B is in motion. (See also center, instanta

neous.)
C EN T RO ID

(CENTER O F AREA). The

center of area of a two-dimensional homo
geneous region. For a plane, the coordinates
are given by
JxdA

J yd A

of a particle in a plane; Coriolis effects.)

CEN T RIPET AL FO RC E. The force neces
sary to impart centripetal acceleration to a
body. For a body of mass m moving about a
fixed axis at a distance r and with an angular
velocity a), the centripetal force is mo?r =
m v2/rj where v is the linear velocity of the
particle and where the negative sign indicates
that the force is directed radially inward.
Effects such as the rupture of a rotating body
or the outward skidding of an automobile in
rounding a corner are often discussed as effects
of centrifugal force, but are better described
as being due to the insufficiency of the centrip
etal forces (elastic stresses or the frictional
force of the wheels on the road) to maintain
the masses at constant distance from the
center of rotation. (See also circular motion,
uniform.)
CEN T ROD E.

The path of the instantaneous

center of a plane figure having plane motion,
that is, motion resulting when all points in
the figure move in parallel fixed planes, is
called the centrode. A ny plane body having
plane motion which is neither entirely recti
linear nor entirely rotative, but a combination
of the two, m ay be considered at any instant
as having rotary motion about a moving point
called the instantaneous center of rotation.
As shown in the illustration, the plane body

where the integrals are taken over the com

plete area, A , of the region.

CERAMAG.

Trade name for a ferrite core

material.

CERAUNOGRAPH.
An electronic instru
ment for recording the occurrence of light
ning discharges.
CEREN KOV COUNTER.

An apparatus for
detecting high energy charged particles, such
as those present in cosmic rays, by observation
of the Cerenkov radiation produced.

CEREN KOV RADIATION . Radiation emit

ted by a high-energy charged particle moving
in a medium having an index of refraction
sufficiently greater than unity so that its speed
is greater than that of light in the medium.
This radiation is due to the effect of the d if
ference between the high speed of the particle,
which m ay be close to that of light in a va c
uum, and the lower speed of its associated
electric and magnetic fields, which have speed
equal only to the speed of light in a vacuum
divided by the index of refraction of the
medium.
CERIU M .
Sym bol Ce.

Rare earth metallic

Atom ic number 58.

element.

CERRO BEN D.

A solder which has a melt

ing point of 70C.

CERROSEAL.

A solder which has a melting

point of 120C, and contains indium.

A B has a motion such that the velocity of A

is V i while the velocity of B is V 2. A t the
instant corresponding to the position shown
for A B the body must be rotating about a
point C, which is located at the intersection
of the perpendiculars to F i and V2 dropped

CESIUM.

M etallic
Atom ic number 55.

element.

Symbol Cs.

CGS UNITS. A system of units based on the

centimeter, gram, and second. (See mechan
ical units.)

CH.

Common identification for an iron-cored

inductor or choke coil.

CH A DW ICK -GO LDH ABER EFFECT.

A
term applied to nuclear reactions brought
about by bombardment with -y-radiations.
CHAFF.

M etal foil strips used as window

to confuse enemy radar.

CH A IN.

(1) A network of similar stations

operating as a group for determination of
position or for furnishing navigational infor
mation over an area greater than can be cov
ered by a single station. (2) See radioactive
See radioactive series.

C H A IN , D ISIN T EG RAT IO N .
tive series.

See radioac

C H A IN REAC T ION . A reaction in which

one of the agents necessary to the reaction is
itself produced by the reaction so as to cause
like reactions. In the neutron-fission chain
reaction, a neutron plus a fissionable atom
causes a fission resulting in a number of neu
trons which in turn cause other fissions.
CH A IN , STAR. A radio navigation transmit
ting system comprising a master station about
which three (or more) slave stations are sym
m etrically located.

CH A LLE N G E .
CH A LLE N G E R .

(5) In electronic com

puters, a portion of the storage medium which
is accessible to a given reading station. (See
also track.)

CHANN EL CAPACITY. The maximum pos

sible information rate through a channel sub
ject to the constraints of that channel. Chan
nel capacity may be either per second or per
symbol.
CHANNEL, CH RO M IN A N C E. In a colortelevision system, any path which is intended
to carry the carrier color signal.
CHANNEL, DRO P.

series.
CH A IN , DECAY.

information theory.

See interrogation.
See interrogator-responsor.

CH AM BER. See ionization chamber, bub

ble chamber, reverberation chamber, vacuum
chamber, etc.
CH A M BER, A CCELERA T IN G. A ny evacu
ated envelope in which charged particles are
accelerated. (See accelerator, particle.)

CHANGE

O F STATE.
Transformation
from one to another of the three states of
matter gaseous, liquid, or solid.
CH A N G ER, FREQ UEN CY.
changer.

See frequency

CHANNEL.
(1) See channel, frequency;
radio channel. (2) A system which trans
mits a signal from some input device to some
output device.
It m ay include amplifiers,
pulse shapers, delay lines, etc. (See trans
ducer).
(3) See channel effect.
(4) See

See drop channel.

CH A N N EL

EFFECT.
In junction tran
sistors (see transistor, junction) the flow of
current between emitter and collector which
circumvents the base region, due to some con
dition such as surface leakage.

CHANNEL, FREQUENCY. See frequency,

channel; radio communication; frequency,
carrier.
C H A N N ELIN G.

(1) The extra transmission

o f particles through a medium containing
voids, due to the presence of the voids. (2)
The additional transmission of the material
containing voids as compared to a homogene
ous material with average density the same
as the material with the voids.

C H A N N ELIN G EFFECT FACTOR. Atten

uation per unit length of equivalent homo
geneous material divided by attenuation per
unit length of the material containing voids.

CHANNEL, M ELTIN G. The restricted por

tion of the charge in a submerged-resistor or
horizontal-ring induction furnace in which the
induced currents are concentrated to effect
high energy absorption and melting of the
charge.
CHANNEL, M O N O C H RO M E .
chrome channel.
CHANN EL, M U LTIPLEX.
channel.

See mono

See multiplex

CHANNEL, PILO T . A pilot channel is

usually a very narrow-band channel over
which a single frequency is transmitted to op
erate trouble alarms or automatic level regu
lators, or both.
CHANNEL, RA D IO .

See radio channel.

CH A N N EL U T ILIZA T IO N IN D E X .
The
ratio of the information rate (per second)
through a channel to the channel capacity
(per second).
CHAPM AN EQUAT ION . An equation ex
pressing the viscosity of a gas in terms of
certain molecular constants. This relation
ship has been simplified to the expression:
(0.499)mc
\Z2 w(72(1 + c/T)
in which rj is the viscosity, m is the mass of
a molecule, c is its average speed, o- is the col
lision diameter of the molecule, c is Suther
lands constant, and T is the absolute tempera
ture.

CHAPMAN-JOUGET

C O N D IT IO N .

In

steady-state detonation the lowest possible

shock wave velocity is given by

where pi and p2 are the densities in front of

and behind the incident shock, respectively,
and P i and P 2 are the corresponding pressures.

CHARACTER.

(1) The trace (sum of the

diagonal elements) of a matrix representa
tion of a group. The character of all ele
ments in a given class of the group is the
same. (2) One of a set of elementary sym
bols (marks or events) which m ay be ar
ranged in ordered aggregates to express infor
mation.
A group of characters, in one context, may
be considered as a single character in another,
as in the binary-coded decimal system.

CHARACTER, C O D E .

See code character.

CHARACTERISTIC.

(1) Describing cer

tain curves used in the study of partial dif
ferential equations; (2) the integral part of
a logarithm, used to locate the decimal point
of the number; (3) Describing curves used to
characterize vacuum tubes, transistors, and
other devices.
(4) See eigenfunction and

eigenvalue.

variable as some independent variable is

changed, with all other independent variables
held constant. Thus the characteristic curve
of a d-c generator shows the potential differ
ence across the terminals as a function of
current, the speed being constant.
Tw o types of characteristic curves are em
ployed for vacuum tubes:
(I) Plate characteristics, which show the
plate current as a function of plate
voltage. Often several plots are shown
on a single sheet, each for a fixed value
of the control grid voltage and for
fixed values of the voltages on any
other grids that may be present in the
tube. The slope of such a curve at any
point is equal to the inverse of the
plate resistance under the correspond
ing operating conditions.
(II) Transfer characteristics, which show
the plate current as a function o f con
trol grid voltage. Several plots on the
same sheet m ay be characterized by
different fixed plate voltages an d /or
different voltages on any other grids
that may be present. The slope of the
transfer characteristic at any point is
equal to the transconductance under
the corresponding operating condi
tions.
The most common form in which the char
acteristic curve of a transistor is displayed
shows the collector current as a function of
collector voltage (relative to the base) for
various values of the emitter current. (2) See

differential equation, partial.

CHARACTERISTIC

EQUATION.
(1) A
class of equations connecting those variables,
such as temperature, pressure, and volume,
which define the physical condition of a given
substance and are called variables o f state.
The ideal gas law and the Boyle-Charles
law represent approximately the behavior of
all gases, but if one wishes to be accurate,
some modification of these must be sought
which will take account of the differences be
tween individual gases.
The best known
characteristic equation for gases is that o f van
der Waals. Using the same notation as for
the ideal gas law, this may be written

CHARACT ERIST IC CURVE.

(1) A plot
showing the behavior of any device by indicat
ing the changes that take place in a dependent

n2a\

V H------y )

^ ~

where n is the number of moles of gas, and

a and b are constants characteristic of the
gas in question. T hey are very small; if they
were zero we should have the ideal gas law.
Following are their approximate values for
certain gases, where a is expressed in atmos(liter/gm m ole)2 and b in liter/gm mole
Gas

Ammonia..............
Helium..................
Hydrogen.............
Nitrogen...............
Oxygen..................

4.170
0.034
0.244
1.390
1.360

0.03707
0.03412
0.02661
0.03913
0.03183

CH ARGE.
(1) A quantity of electricity,
measured in coulombs or related units. The
flow of charge per unit time is the electrical
current. (2) A term applied to flux, espe
cially in the flux-charging concept of mag
netic amplifier operation, com monly ex
pressed as volt-tim e integral.
C H A R G E (LOAD). In induction heating
and dielectric heating usage, the material to
be heated.

CHA RGE, BASE, STORED.

Characteristic equations of this sort are also

known as equations of state. (See also equa
tions under names of individuals, such as

Beattie and Bridgeman equation; Berthelot

equation; etc.)
(2) Equations which have solutions, sub
ject to particular boundary conditions, only
for certain specific parameters occurring in
them. (See eigenfunction and eigenvalue.)
(3) An equation in the linearized theory of
hydromagnetics whose solutions show the fre
quencies and modes of the initial perturba
tions which will decay or grow exponentially
in time for any given system. The solutions
to this equation indicate the regions of sta
bility for various hydromagnetic systems.
(See hydromagnetic equations.)

The phenome
non associated with the storage of minority
carriers in the base region of alloy-junction
type transistors under conditions of satura

tion.
CH A RGE, BOUND.

Those electric charges

on the surface o f a dielectric whose surface
density is equal to the polarization within the
dielectric. Such charges are bound in the
sense that they result from the creation and
reorientation of dipoles within the dielectric.
The total amount of bound charge throughout
the volume of any dielectric is zero. Bound
charges are distinguished from free charges.
(Cf. charge, free; electrostatics.)

CH A RG E CONJUGATION.
theory.

See beta decay

CHARGE-CURRENT
DENSITY
FO U R
VECTOR. The four functions of position and

CH A RACT ERIST IC PHASE VERSUS F R E

Q UEN CY RESPONSE. A graph or tabula
tion of the phase shifts occurring in an elec
trical transducer at several frequencies within

time j v i r j ) where j lf j 2, ; 3, are the com

ponents of electric current density, and ; 4 =
icp, where p is the charge density. For a
D irac electron field (see Dirac electron the

a band.

ory),

CH A RACT ERIST IC TEM PERATURE.

Debye temperature.

CH A RACT ERIST IC W A V E LE N G T H O F A
M E D IU M . The characteristic velocity (see
velocity, characteristic) divided by the fre
quency: 1 //V ^ c-

CH A RAC T ERIZAT IO N FACTOR. A fa c

tor obtained by dividing the cube root of the
boiling point (in degrees Rankine) by the
specific gravity at 60F. It is useful in the
investigation of oils.
CHARACTRON.
ray storage tube.

jn = iectf/yj\f/7

See

shaped-beam cathode-

where \p is the

ad jo in t w ave-function.

C H A RG E DENSITY.

In electrostatics, we
deal both with finite, point charges, and dis
tributed charges.
(1) A distributed charge
can be described in terms of its density (cou
lombs per cubic meter) at each point of the
region o f interest. The density is a threedimensional analog of a simple derivative.
(See the Poisson equation.) (2) The term is
also used to refer to the surface charge den
sity, the charge per unit area.

CH ARGE, D R IF T VELOCITY OF.

The
average velocity of the individual charges in
a group. For example, in an electron tube,

individual electrons move with different veloc

ities, but the average, or drift, velocity yields
the net current.

CH A RGE, E L E C T R IC .

See electrostatics.

CH A R G E
(E L E C T R O N IC )
ELEM EN
TARY.
The unit charge of electricity,
the charge on the electron, approximately
4.80281 X 10 10 electrostatic units (statcoulombs) or 1.60204 X 10 19 coulombs.
C H A R G E E X CH A N G E. In plasma physics
the colloisional process of transfer of an elec
tron from a neutral atom or molecule to an
ion. This can be an efficient cooling process
in a plasma confined by an electromagnetic
field when a slow neutral atom exchanges an
electron with a fast ion. The fast ion becomes
a fast neutral, which can escape from the re
gion if the ionization mean free path is large.
CH A RGE, FREE. E lectric charges on the
surface of a conductor or those charges on the
surface of a dielectric which are not bound
(cf. charge, bound).
W hen free charges
occur at the interface of dielectrics, there is
a discontinuity in the normal component of
the electric displacement vector at the inter
face, the magnitude of the change being the
surface density of free charges or 4tr times
that quantity, dependent on whether rational
ized or unrationalized units are employed.
(See electrostatics, Gauss law.)

C H A R G E IN D E P E N D E N C E .
Hypothesis
that the neutron-proton, proton-proton, and
neutron-neutron forces are all equal for the
same spin states, when the parts of the inter
actions that are explicitly electromagnetic
have been subtracted out.

CHARLES LAW . The coefficients of expan

sion of all gases are nearly the same, namely,
about % 73 of the volume at 0C per centi
grade degree. The law, stated by Charles in
1787 and independently by Gay-Lussac in
1802 (hence sometimes called G ay-Lussacs
law ), is not strictly true for non-ideal gases.
Regnault obtained the following values of the
volume coefficient, at one atmosphere pressure,
for various gases:
C 1
Air.......................................
Hydrogen...........................
Carbon dioxide..................
Sulfur dioxide....................
Carbon monoxide.............
Nitrous oxide.....................
Cyanogen...........................

0.0036706
0.0036613
0.0037099
0.0039028
0.0036688
0.0037195
0.0038767

None of these is far from % 73 = 0.003663,

which is therefore commonly taken as the
expansion coefficient for gases; especially as
the value for hydrogen, commonly used in the
standard gas thermometer, is very near it. If
the pressure as well as the volume is allowed
to vary, the behavior of the ideal gas must be
expressed by the Boyle-Charles law or the

ideal gas law.

CHART-COMPARISON UNIT. A device for
the simultaneous viewing of a navigational

position presentation and navigational chart

in such a manner that one appears superim
posed upon the other.

CHART-LINE FO LLO W E R , AUTOMATIC.

A device which automatically derives error
signals proportional to the deviation of the
track of a vehicle from a predetermined course
line drawn on a chart.

C H A RG E INV A RIA N CE. Hypothesis that

nucleon-nucleon interactions are invariant
under rotations in isotopic spin space. One
consequence of this is the charge independ
ence of nuclear forces.

CHASSIS. The metallic base on which the

parts o f electronic circuits are mounted.

CHARGE-MASS RATIO.

CHATTER, CONTACT (RELAY).

tact chatter, relay.

The ratio of the

electric charge of a particle to its mass, im
portant in the physics of electrons, ions, and
other electrified bodies of molecular order.
(See electric charge, specific.)

CHARGER-READER. Any auxiliary device

used to charge and read pocket chambers or
thimble ionization chambers. (See also con
denser r-meter.)

CHATTER, ARMATURE
armature chatter (relay).

CHATTOCK GAUGE.

(RELAY).

See

See con

A tilting manometer
which balances the pressure to be measured
against the pressure head caused by the tilt,
which can be measured accurately. The null
indication depends on the observation of the
motion of the interface between two immis
cible liquids of nearly equal density.

CHEBYSHEV SHAPE. A type of attenuation-frequency curve produced by an electrical

filter.
CHECK. A process of partial or complete
testing of (1) the correctness of machine op
erations, (2) the existence of certain pre
scribed conditions within the computer, or (3)
the correctness of the results produced by a
routine. A check of any of these conditions
m ay be made autom atically by the equipment
or m ay be programmed. (See also marginal
checking; verification.)
CHECK, AUTOM ATIC. A check performed
by equipment built into the computer specifi
cally for that purpose, and automatically ac
complished each time the pertinent operation
is performed.
Sometimes referred to as a
built-in ch eck. M achine check can refer to
an automatic check, or to a programmed
check of machine functions.
CHECK DIGITS.
combination.

See

check,

forbidden-

CHECK, FORBIDDEN-COMBINATION. A
check (usually an automatic check) which
tests for the occurrence of a nonpermissible
code expression. A self-checking code (or
error-detecting code) uses code expressions
such that one (or more) error(s) in a code
expression produces a forbidden combination.
A parity check makes use of a self-checking
code employing binary digits in which the
total number of l s (or 0s) in each permis
sible code expression is always even or always
odd. A check m ay be made for either even
parity or odd parity. A redundancy check
employs a self-checking code which makes use
of redundant digits called check digits.
CHECKING, MARGINAL.
A preventive
maintenance procedure in which certain oper
ating conditions, e.g., supply voltage or fre
quency, are varied about their normal values
in order to detect and locate incipient defec
tive units. (See also check.)
CHECK, M ACHINE.

See check, automatic.

CHECK, M ATHEM ATICAL.

programmed.
CHECK, PARITY.
combination.
CHECK POINT.

See

check,

See check, forbidden-

See point, way.

CHECK
PROBLEM.
grammed.

See

check,

pro

CHECK, PROGRAMMED. A check consist

ing of tests inserted into the program of the
problem and accomplished by appropriate use
of the machines instructions. A mathemati
cal check (or control) is a programmed check
of a sequence of operations which makes
use of the mathematical properties of that se
quence.
CHECK, REDUNDANCY.
bidden-combination.

See check, for-

CHECK ROUTINE OF CHECK PROBLEM.

A routine or problem which is designed pri
marily to indicate whether a fault exists in
the computer, without giving detailed infor
mation on the location of the fault. (See also
routine diagnostic; routine test; check, pro
grammed.)
CHECK, SELECTION. A check (usually
an automatic check) to verify that the cor
rect register, or other device, is selected in the
performance of an instruction.
CHECK, SINGLE PARITY. An error-detecting code for a binary system.
CHECK, TRANSFER. A check (usually an
automatic check) on the accuracy of the trans
fer of a word.
CHEM ICAL BINDING EFFECT. The de
pendence of the neutron cross sections o f a
material on the chemical binding of the atoms
composing the material.
CHEM ICAL POTENTIAL. A partial molar
quantity that measures the effect on a chemi
cal system o f a change in the compositions of
the phases (3). I f G is the Gibbs free energy
of a given phase and nk the number of moles of
the fcth component in that phase, then the
chemical potential xk of the fcth component in
that phase is
Mfc = G /dnjc-

The partial derivative is taken at constant

pressure, temperature and nt for all i ^ fc.
A t equilibrium the chemical potential of each
component fc is constant throughout all phases
of the system.
CHEM ICAL SHIFT. The change in the mag
netic flux density or in the frequency for nu
clear magnetic resonance that results from

201

Chemiluminescence Christmas-tree Pattern

the diamagnetic shielding effect of the sur

rounding electron cloud.
CHEM ILUM INESCENCE.
produced by chemical action.
CHEMISORPTION.
of.
CHI.

Luminescence

See adsorption, types

Specific magnetic susceptibility (x).

setting the plate in vibration, by bowing or

other means. The sand is shaken from the
portions of the plate that move with appreci
able amplitude and thus is left only along the
nodal lines.
CHLORINE. Nonmetallic element, gaseous
at ordinary temperature. Sym bol Cl. Atom ic
number 17.
CHOKE COIL.

See coil, choke.

CHIEF RAY. The ray which passes through

an optical system so as to intersect the axis
at the plane of the aperture stop is called the
chief ray.

CHOKE COUPLING.

CHILD-LANGMUIR-SCHOTTKY
TION. See perveance.

CHOKE, SMOOTHING. An inductor used

in a circuit designed to decrease the ripple in
a d-c power source.

CHIMNEY ATTENUATOR.
chimney.

EQUA

CHOKE JOINT.

See coupling, choke.

See waveguide choke joint.

See attenuator,

CHIP.
In mechanical recording, the m a
terial removed from the recording medium
by the recording stylus while cutting the
groove.
CHIRALITY. A term, which has recently
come into use, to characterize particles of spin
% fi that can exist in only one possible spin
state with respect to an axis of quantization,
chosen in the direction of the momentum vec
tor of the particle. A particle that always has
its spin directed parallel to its momentum
vector has positive chirality; anti-parallel,
negative chirality. Only particles of zero rest
mass, which must move with the speed of
light, can possess chirality. For particles of
non-zero rest mass, it is always possible to
transform to new Lorentz frame in which the
momentum of the particle is reversed relative
to its spin.
The only known spin y2fi particles of zero
rest mass are the neutrino and the antineu
trino. One interpretation of the non-conserva
tion of parity in beta-decay is based on the as
sumption that the neutrino is a particle of
negative chirality and that the antineutrino
has positive chirality. A particle of positive
chirality is one which always has a helicity
-f-1. (See also neutrino theory, two compo
nent; Feynman-Gell Mann theory; polariza
tion.)
CHLADNI FIGURES. Patterns showing the
loci of the nodes in vibrating plates. They are
produced by sprinkling fine sand, or similar
material, over a horizontal plate and then by

CHOKE, SWINGING. A variable inductance

choke often used as the input choke for a
smoothing filter of a power supply. The re
quirements for the input choke vary with the
load on the filter so one value of inductance
is needed for no load (other than the bleeder
across the filter output) and a much lower
value is needed when load is applied. B y
proper adjustment of the air gap in the core
of an iron-cored choke this variation is in
ductance can be made automatic as the cur
rent through it varies with the load demand.
CHOPPER. (1) A device, usually mechan
ical, to impart a pulsating characteristic to a
current, a beam of light, or a beam of particles,
by a regular and frequent interruption. (2) A
device which modulates a signal by opening
and closing contacts periodically. The fre
quency of the chopper is usually greater than
any frequency o f interest in the signal. (See
amplifier, contact-modulated.)
CHOPPER AMPLIFIER.
tact modulated.

See amplifier, con

CHOPPER, IMAGE. A chopper used to in

terrupt periodically an optical transmission.
CHRISTIANSEN EFFECT.
tiansen.

See filter, Chris

CHRISTMAS-TREE PATTERN. The optical

pattern observed on a laterally-recorded pho
nograph record when its surface is illuminated
by a light beam which is nearly parallel to
its surface. The width of this pattern may
be used to determine the frequency response
of the record.

202

Christoffel Three-index Symbol Chromatographie Adsorption

CHRISTOFFEL THREE-INDEX SYMBOL.
One o f certain quantities used in tensor anal
ysis. T h ey are not tensors themselves but
they do involve the components and deriva
tives of tensors. Th ey are of two kinds, often
distinguished by brace and bracket, respec
tively:
ns

dQmn\

{mn,q\ = - g q [ ------------------------------ )>

2
\ d xn
dxm
dxs )
r
_
1 / dQmq
dQnq
dgmn\
[rnn.q] = - I --------- --------------------- 1>
2\dxn
dxm
dxq J
where gmn is the covariant m etric tensor,
gQs _ Gmn/g, with g the d eterm in a n t of the
com ponents of gmn and Gmn the cofactor of
gmn in g. From the definitions, it follows that

they produce an achromatic visual stimulus

when combined in suitable proportions.
CHROMATICITY COORDINATE.
The
ratio of any one of the tristimulus values of a
sample to the sum of the three tristimulus
values. The sum of the three chromaticity
coordinates is always unity, so any two of
them determine the chromaticity.
CHROMATICITY DIAGRAM. A plane dia
gram formed by plotting one of the three
chromaticity coordinates against another.
1
520
1
/^ 7 X 5 3 1 3

360-520-780-- ---- SPECTRUM LOCUS

-5,000K-lp00oK--PLANCMAN LOCUS
360-760----------- PURPLE BOUNDARY

\5 4 0

/-510

I1 d
0<J

(mn,gj = gQS[mn,s].
CHROM A (MUNSELL CHROMA).
The
dimension of the Munsell system of color
which corresponds most closely to saturation.
Chroma is frequently used, particularly by
English writers, as the equivalent of satura
tion.
CHROMA CONTROL.

See control, chroma.

CHROM ATIC ABERRATION. The failure

of all the light from one point of an object to
form an image at a point because of the dis
persion of the material of the lenses. The
focal length of a lens is, in general, greater
for red light (longer wavelength) than for blue
light (shorter wavelength). Systems consist
ing entirely of reflection optics do not show
chromatic aberration. Hence, reflection optics
are used extensively in infrared instruments.
W ith compound lenses a proper choice of kinds
of glass and of lens curvatures can partially
compensate for chromatic aberration over a
not-too-large wavelength region. (See achromat and achromatic combination.)
CHROMATIC ABERRATION, LONGITU
DINAL. See longitudinal chromatic aberra
tion.
CHROMATICITY. The color quality of light
definable by its chromaticity coordinates, or
by its dominant (or complementary) wave
length and its purity taken together.
CHROMATICITY,
COMPLEMENTARY.
The property of two light samples whereby

60
\ j7 0

1 -500

0 O
O o
OO *
o , o o *
o

1>'Ocr
Sj

90

\
^560

n
x ji[ A s 90
o ^^ 0 0
'o
o

rvT

0
620
\6 50
660
TO
760

460)
\

C*

O
IS
IV

47

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
X

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.6

CIE (x ,y) chromaticity diagram plotted in rectang

ular coordinates.

The most common chromaticity diagram at

present is the CIE (x,y) diagram plotted in
rectangular coordinates (see figure).
CHROMATICITY FLICKER. That flicker
which results from fluctuation of chromaticity
only.
CHROMATICITY, ZERO SUBCARRIER.
The chromaticity which is intended to be dis
played when the subcarrier amplitude is zero.
CHROMATICNESS. The two attributes of
visual sensation, hue and saturation, taken
together; as distinguished from brightness.
CHROMATOGRAPHIC
ADSORPTION.
The application o f the adsorption of solutes
from solution. A solution is poured down a
column packed with the powdered adsorbing
material. The most readily adsorbed con

stituent of the solution will be adsorbed first,

and the other constituents further down the
column. This results in a partial separation
of the mixture giving a chromatogram.
Pure solvent is then passed down the column
to develop the chromatogram, and a better
separation o f the constituents is obtained.
Originally the method was used for colored
substances, but it has now been adapted for
colorless substances.
Furthermore, many
other means of adsorption have been devel
oped; for example, filter paper.
CHROMATRON.
television.

kinescope

for

color

CHROMEL. A high resistivity, low tempera

ture coefficient nickel-chromium alloy often
used in thermocouples.
CHROMINANCE. The colorimetric differ
ence between any color and a reference color
of equal luminance, the reference color having
a specified chromaticity. In three-dimensional
color space, chrominance is a vector which lies
in a plane of constant luminance. In that
plane it may be resolved into components,
called chrominance components. In color tele
vision transmission, for example, the chro
m aticity of the reference color m ay be that
of a specified white.

that one of the two chrominance primaries

which is associated with the lesser transmis
sion bandwidth.
CHROMINANCE PRIMARY, FINE. In the
color television system at present standardized
for broadcasting in the United States, that one
of the two chrominance primaries which is
associated with the greater transmission band
width.
CHROMINANCE
SIGNAL
(CARRIER
CHROMINANCE SIGNAL). The sidebands
of the modulated chrominance subcarrier (see
subcarrier, chrominance) which are added to
the monochrome signal to convey color in
formation.
CHROMINANCE SUBCARRIER.
carrier, chrominance.
CHROMIUM.
M etallic
Cr. Atom ic number 24.

element.

See sub
Symbol

CHROMOPHORE. Certain groups of atoms

in an organic compound cause characteristic
absorption of radiation irrespective of the na
ture of the rest o f the compound. Such groups
are called chromophores or color carriers.

CHROM INANCE CARRIER REFERENCE.

A synchronizing signal for television trans
mitters and receivers of the same frequency
and phase relationship as the chrominance
subcarrier in the color burst signal.

CHROMOPHORIC ELECTRONS.
E lec
trons in the double bonds of the chromophoric
groups.
Such electrons are not bound as
tightly as those of single bonds and can thus
be transferred into higher energy levels with
less expenditure of energy. Their electronic
spectra appear at frequencies in the visible
or near ultraviolet region of the spectrum.

CHOM INANCE CHANNEL.

chrominance.

CHROMOSCOPE. An apparatus for meas

uring color values and intensities.

CHROMINANCE
chrominance.

See channel,

COMPONENTS.

CHROMINANCE DEM ODULATOR.

demodulator, chrominance.
CHROM INANCE M ODULATOR.
ulator, chrominance.

See
See

See mod

CHROM INANCE PRIMARY.

A transmis
sion primary which is one of two whose
amounts determine the chrominance of a color.
Chrominance primaries have zero luminance
and are nonphysical.
CHROMINANCE PRIMARY, COARSE. In
the color television system at present stand
ardized for broadcasting in the United States,

CHRONISTOR. An electrochemical elapsed

time indicator composed of a small electrolytic
cell whose anode and cathode lengths are func
tions of the time of operation.
CHRONOGRAPH. An instrument for writ
ing time. In the usual type of instrument a
drum carrying a sheet of paper is rotated by
clockwork at the rate of 1 rpm. A pen, at
tached to the armature of an electromagnet,
is carried parallel to the axis of the drum by
a screw and rests on the paper, tracing a spiral
line. The electromagnet is connected in an
electric circuit with a standard clock in such
a manner that every second the pen makes
a short lateral movement which graduates the

spiral line into seconds. A key is connected

in the circuit in such a manner that each time
the key is closed an extra graduation is made
on the spiral. W hen the sheet is removed
from the drum a scale may be used to measure
the distance of the marks made by pressing
the key from the marks made by the clock.
In this way the time of pressing the key may
be readily measured to 0.01 of a second.
W here observation times are required with
greater accuracy, the drum may be rotated
more rapidly and a tuning fork used to make
the time graduations. Other types of chrono
graph use a steadily m oving strip of paper on
which the pen traces its record. On the print
ing type of instrument a set of type wheels is
rotated by a standard clock, and each time a
key is pressed, a piece of paper is pressed
against the type and the instant printed to
the nearest hundredth of a second. Chrono
graphs have many uses, for example, in ap
paratus designed to record vibrations from
earthquakes.
CHRONOMETER. F or many types of field
observing where accurate time is required, the
use o f the pendulum clock is not practicable.
This is particularly true on shipboard or in
countries like Japan, where earthquakes fre
quently disturb the pendulum. The chronom
eter is an accurate type of escapement tim e
keeper which is spring driven. The m ove
ment is similar to that in the ordinary pocket
watch but much more massive. Various de
vices to compensate for changes in tempera
ture and for changes in the tension of the
spring are incorporated in the instrument.
W hen properly handled, the rate of a chro
nometer m ay be replied upon to within a few
hundredths of a second per day. W ith m od
ern methods of obtaining clock comparisons
b y radio at frequent intervals, the chronom
eter m ay be used for all except the most re
fined astronomical observations. M any chro
nometers are equipped with devices for m ak
ing or breaking an electric circuit so that they
m ay be used in conjunction with the chrono
graph.
CHRONOSCOPE.
(1) An instrument for
measuring time. (2) An electronic device for
measuring extremely-short time intervals.
CHRONOTRON. (1) A device which util
izes a measurement of the position of the

superposed loci of a pair of pulses on a trans

mission line to determine the time between
the events which initiate the pulses. (2) A
trade name for a tim e-delay device.
CIE. Abbreviation for Commission Inter
nationale de PEclairage. These are the ini
tials of the official French name of the Inter
national Commission on Illumination. This
translated name is approved for usage in Eng
lish-speaking countries, but at its 1951 meet
ing the Commission recommended that only
the initials of the French name be used. The
initials IC I which have been used commonly
in this country are deprecated because they
conflict with an important trademark regis
tered in England and because the initials of
the name translated into other languages are
different.
CIRCLE. A plane curve such that all of its
points are at a fixed distance, its radius, from
a fixed point, its center. Its general equation
in rectangular coordinates is given b y :
x2 + y 2 + 2A x + 2By + C = 0
provided D = A 2 + B 2 C is positive and
does not vanish. Under these circumstances
the radius of the circle is \/D and its center
is at x = A } y = B. If D = 0, the circle
degenerates into a point; if D becomes nega
tive the circle is imaginary.
If the equation is transformed to new axes
parallel to the original axes and the origin so
chosen that terms in x and y are eliminated,
the standard equation of the circle becomes:
X2 +

y2

= r2,

where r is its radius, and the center of the circle

is at the origin of the coordinates.
CIRCLE,
circle.

DEFINITION.

CIRCLE, ECCENTRIC.

See

definition

See groove, locked.

CIRCLE OF CONFUSION. Due to imper

fect imagery and to the fact that the images
of points at different object distances are
com monly observed on a single image-plane
(e.g., the film in a cam era), the image of a
point object is, in general, a small circle, the
circle of confusion.
CIRCLE OF CONVERGENCE. The bound
ary of the region o f the complex plane in
which a Taylor series converges. For a given

function, the radius of the circle o f converg

ence depends on the point (center of the cir
cle) about which the series is developed. On
the boundary the power series diverges be
cause of one or more singular points. Fre
quently the function m ay be found outside
of the circle of convergence b y analytic con
tinuation.
CIRCUIT. A network providing one or more
closed paths.
CIRCUIT,
ALTERNATING
CURRENT.
See alternating current circuits.
CIRCUIT, ANTICOINCIDENCE.
coincidence circuit.

See anti-

CIRCUIT, ANTIHUNTING. See antihunting

circuit.
CIRCUIT, APPLIQUE.
cuit.

See applique cir

CIRCUIT, COUPLED. W hile any group of

circuits which are so connected or related that
effects in one produce effects in the other con
stitute a coupled circuit, the term is usually
used to designate circuits related so a-c effects
are transferred but steady state d-c effects
are not. The two most common classifica
tions of coupled circuits are the inductive and
the capacitive coupled circuits, so named be
cause of the primary method of transferring
the effects.
Capacitance coupling is used
quite extensively in various vacuum tube am
plifier circuits, in thyratron circuits, and sim
ilar applications where it is desired to block
d -c effects and transfer a-c. Since the con
denser does this it m ay be used as the com
mon element between the two circuits. The
so-called resistance coupled amplifier is really
capacitance coupled. Fig. 1 shows examples
of this type. Inductive coupling is the most
Hf-

CIRCUIT, ASTABLE.

CIRCUIT, BALANCED. A circuit, all of

whose impedors are symmetrically disposed
with respect to objects at ground potential.
CIRCUIT, BISTABLE.
CIRCUIT,
circuit.

See bistable.

BOOTSTRAP.

CIRCUIT BREAKER.

See

bootstrap

See breaker, circuit.

CIRCUIT, CLAMPING. Another name for

a d-c restorer. (See clamping.)
CIRCUIT, CLIPPING. A term with three
possible meanings as follow s: (1) A circuit
for preventing the peak amplitude of an elec
trical signal from exceeding a predetermined
level. (2) A circuit for eliminating the tail
of an electrical pulse after a predetermined
time. (3) A circuit element in a pulse ampli
fier for reducing the amplification at frequen
cies below a predetermined frequency.
CIRCUIT, COINCIDENCE.
dence circuit.

See

coinci

CIRCUIT, COMBINER. A mixing amplifier

in a color-cam era chain which combines the
luminance and chroma channels with the
synchronizing signals.
CIRCUIT, CONTROL.
control circuit.

Hf-

See astable.

See entries under

Fig. 1.

Capacitance coupled circuits.

widely used type since it is used extensively

in the power field as well as in the communica
tions and electronics fields. The ordinary
power transformer is the means of inductively
coupling two power circuits. The various
transformers, tuning coils, etc., of radio cir
cuits are other examples. Fig. 2 shows some
typical circuits. T w o L C circuits coupled

Sip ^
Fig. 2.

g:
>

A*

Inductance coupled circuits.

together form an electrical example of coupled

oscillators. (See also coupled systems; oscil
lator, coupled.)
CIRCUIT, DELAY.

See delay circuit.

CIRCUIT, DIRECT CURRENT.

current circuits.
CIRCUIT, DOUBLER.

See direct

See doubler circuit.

CIRCUIT, ECCLES-JORDAN. The name

frequently applied to a trigger circuit or
bistable multivibrator.
CIRCUIT, ELECTRIC. An electric network,
providing one or more closed paths.

CIRCUIT EQUATION.

See Kirchhoff laws.

CIRCUIT, EQUIVALENT. An electrical cir

cuit which is electrically equivalent to an
other circuit, or sometimes, to a mechanical
device.
Equivalent circuits of mechanical
systems or electromechanical systems such as
loud-speakers enable the designer to apply
methods of circuit analysis, and often obtain
a solution easily which would be very difficult
if not impossible otherwise. The equivalent
circuit method is used extensively in the anal
ysis of communications circuits, particularly
those involving vacuum tubes. The tube it
self m ay be replaced, for instance, by a gen
erator having a generated voltage equal the
amplification factor of the tube times the ap
plied grid voltage and an internal resistance
equal the dynamic plate resistance of the tube.
W hile this does not give the d-c solution of
the tube circuit, it does allow the circuit to
be simplified for alternating currents and these
are usually the ones of interest. Similarly,
m any other types of electrical circuits may
be simplified in terms of equivalent circuits,
sometimes giving all the necessary solutions,
sometimes giving solutions for limited condi
tions, but, in most cases, greatly decreasing
the labor involved in analyzing the circuit or
equipment.
(See network, equivalent; anal
ogies and analogs.)
CIRCUIT, FAST-TIME-CONSTANT.
In
radar, a circuit with short tim e-constant used
to emphasize signals of short duration to pro
duce discrimination against low frequency
components of clutter.
CIRCUIT, FERRORESONANT.
resonant circuit.
CIRCUIT FLIP-FLOP.

See ferro-

See flip-flop.

CIRCUIT, FLOP-OVER. Colloquialism for

bistable multivibrator or trigger circuit.
CIRCUIT, FREE-RUNNING.
for an astable circuit.

Another name

CIRCUIT GAP ADM ITTANCE.

tance gap, circuit.

See admit

CIRCUIT, LIMITER.
CIRCUIT, LOAD.

See limiter.

See load circuit.

CIRCUIT, LOGICAL. A circuit capable of

performing logical functions as in a computer.
CIRCUIT, MAGNETIC.
cuit.
CIRCUIT, MATRIX.
CIRCUIT,
stable.

See magnetic cir

See matrix unit.

MONOSTABLE.

See

CIRCUIT, NATURAL FREQUENCY

See frequency, natural (circuit).

OF.

CIRCUIT, NATURAL OR FREE PERIOD

OF. The reciprocal of the natural frequency
of the circuit. (See circuit, natural frequency
of.)
CIRCUIT, NEUTRALIZATION.
under neutralization.
CIRCUIT, PHANTOM.
cuit.

See entries

See phantom cir

CIRCUIT, PHASE-SHIFTING. See phasecontrol; waveguide, phase-shifter.

CIRCUIT, PRINTED.

See printed circuit.

CIRCUIT, PUSH-PULL.
cuit; circuit, balanced.

See push-pull cir

CIRCUIT, QUASI-BISTABLE. An astable

circuit which is triggered at a rate that is high
as compared with its own natural frequency.
CIRCUIT, QUASI-MONOSTABLE. A mon
ostable circuit triggered at a rate which is
high as compared with its own natural fre
quency.
CIRCUIT, QUENCHING. A circuit which
diminishes, suppresses or reverses the voltage
applied to a counter tube in order to inhibit
multiple discharges from a single ionizing
event. (See also receiver, superregenerative;
oscillator, quenching.)
CIRCUIT, RADIO COMMUNICATION. See
radio communication circuit.

CIRCUIT, GYRATOR.
A circuit element
which is so named because it violates the
reciprocity theorem as does the gyroscope.

CIRCUIT, REACTANCE TUBE.

reactance.

CIRCUIT, INTEGRATING.
integrating; integrator.

CIRCUIT, RECORDING.
cuit.

See network,

mono

See tube,

See recording cir

C IR C U IT , R IN G . The name sometimes ap

plied to a bridge, rectifier, or modulator.

C IR C U IT , T IM E C O N STA N T O F A.
time constant.

C IR C U IT , SC A LE -O F-TW O . Another name

for bistable circuit or Eccles-Jordan trigger
circuit.

C IR C U IT , V O LT A G E -D O U B LE R .
tifier, voltage-doubler.

C IR C U IT , SC R AM B LE R . A circuit, usually
consisting of a balanced modulator and ap
propriate filters, for the production of scram
bled or inverted speech.
C IR C U IT , SE PA R A TIO N , A circuit which
will separate signals having different proper
ties, such as amplitude, frequency, etc.
C IR C U IT , SH AD IN G . A system of six w ave
form generators used to neutralize spurious
signals produced by certain television camera
tubes. T o a certain extent these waveforms
m ay also be employed to compensate for de
ficiencies in the uniform distribution of studio
light. The shading unit generates three wave
forms for vertical scanning and three more for
horizontal scanning. These three signals for
each axis consist of (1) sawtooth signals of
either positive or negative polarity and vari
able in am plitude; (2) sinewave signals adjust
able in phase and amplitude; and (3) parabola
signals available in either positive or negative
polarity and adjustable in amplitude.
C IR C U IT , SIM P L E X E D .
cuit; phantom circuit.

See simplexed cir

C IR C U IT , SM EARER. A circuit sometimes

used in pulse amplifiers to eliminate over
shoot. Since it is basically an amplifier cir
cuit with a short charging time and a rela
tively low discharge time, the overshoot is
eliminated at the expense of having to toler
ate a relatively-long trailing edge.
C IR C U IT STA B ILITY F A C T O R .
sistor circuit stability factor.

See tran

C IR C U IT , STEERIN G. In bistable multi

vibrator circuits, a network of biased diodes
which cause the input or triggering pulse to be
steered to the desired portion of the circuit,
thus increasing triggering efficiency.
C IR C U IT , STE N O D E . An intermediate-frequency amplifier whose selectivity has been
increased by a piezoelectric-crystal filter.
C IR C U IT , TAN K.

See tank circuit.

See

See rec

C IR C U IT (S ), V O L T A G E SUPPLY A N D
R E G U L A T O R . A ny of a large number of
circuits whose function is to provide d -c volt
age for use as plate and filament supply volt
age. Regulated supplies maintain the out
put voltage essentially constant under condi
tions of varying output current a n d /or line
voltage.
C IR C U L A R FU N C T IO N . A trigonometric
function; or an inverse trigonometric function.
C IR C U LA R LY -PO L A R IZE D L IG H T . D is
cussed under light, elliptically-polarized; po
larization.
C IR C U L A R M IL. A unit of area, employed
to designate the cross-sectional area of elec
trical conductors. It replaces measurement
in square inches, and is more convenient since
it is not necessary to multiply by the factor
tr. A mil is 1/1000 of an inch. The area o f a
circle whose diameter is M mils is simply M 2
circular mils.
Wires are sized by their area in circular
mils or by the American wire gauge. Despite
the arguments in favor of one system using
diameters in mils as size numbers, the Ameri
can wire gauge is com m only used for wires
sized from 40 to 0000 American wire gauge.
Wires larger than 0000 (212,000 circular mils)
are always sized in circular mils.
C IR C U L A R M O T IO N , U N IFO R M . In order
that a particle of mass m be maintained in
motion with constant angular velocity <o and
at constant radius r from a fixed center, it is
necessary that a centripetal force be acting.
This force is
f = rrm X <o X r,
where r is the instantaneous radius vector from
the center to the particle. (See triple vector
product.) This force is always directed to
ward the center, and has a magnitude
/ = mw2r = mv2/r,
where v is the linear speed of the particle.
The particle must be continually accelerated
inward with an acceleration of magnitude o>2r,

because the velocity is changing in direction,

even though it is constant in magnitude.

culator can effectively switch the antenna from

the transmitter to the receiver.

CIRCULATION. Around a closed path in

any vector field, the line integral of the field
vector around the path (see integral, line).
Iti a barotropic fluid, the circulation around
any path along which the fluid moves is a
constant. (See also curl (of a vector); Stokes
theorem; irrotational.)

CIRROCUMULUS.
Small billowed cirrustype cloud composed of ice crystals. This
type cloud indicates some instability in the
layer at and above the cloud level which per
mits rising currents to form the cloud parcels
and descending currents to create clear spaces
between them. Cirrocumulus frequently oc
curs in advance of a cyclonic storm.

CIRCULATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE.

See atmosphere, circulation of.
CIRCULATION THEOREM ( K E LV IN ). In
an inviscid fluid in which the density is
uniquely determined by the pressure and any
body forces are conservative (and proportional
to the mass which they are applied), the cir
culation round a circuit always composed of
the same fluid particles remains constant dur
ing the motion, i.e.,
(D/Dt) (j) v-d s = 0.
In an inviscid fluid the resultant of con
servative body forces (e.g., gravity) and
inertia forces is seen from the equation of
motion to be in the direction of the pressure
gradient, which, in the above case, is parallel
to the density gradient: these forces cannot
therefore change the vorticity.
The only
means of changing the vorticity requires dis
tortion of the fluid; but if the circuit moves
with the fluid the flux of vorticity remains
constant because the vortex lines move with
the fluid.
CIRCULATOR. A nonreciprocal circuit ele
ment employing the Hall effect or Faraday
rotation to produce phase shift which is a
function of the direction of energy travel
Matched load

CIRROSTRATUS. Cloud veil of more or less

uniform texture composed of ice crystals and
therefore, like cirrus, lying entirely above the
freezing level. Cirrostratus varies from white
to gray, is usually translucent, and partially
obscures the sun and moon. There are no
shadows but often mock-suns or mock-moons
which are images of the real celestial bodies.
Cirrostratus often heralds the approach of a
cyclonic storm, particularly in the temperate
zone.
CIRRUS. High cloud composed of ice crys
tals and, therefore, lying entirely above the
freezing level.
Cirrus is never lower than
about 4 miles in the tropics, but m ay be near
ground levels in the polar areas. In appear
ance they are usually thin, wispy, often in
streaks, and always whitish without shadows.
Cirrus often forerun storms but not all cirrus
are associated with storms. They cannot be
used as a foolproof indication that a storm is
approaching until considerable experience in
cloud observation is attained.
CIRRUS, FALSE.

See false cirrus.

CLAIRAUT EQUATION.
ferential equation:

A first-order dif

y = xp + / ( p ) ,
where p = dy/dx.
Its general solution is
y = cx + /(c ) . It also has a solution obtained
by elimination of p from the equations:
y = px + F (p );

x + F \p) = 0.

Since no arbitrary constant is involved in the

latter case, the result is a singular solution.

through the device. An application of the

Faraday ferrite circulator is a radar duplexer
in which the phase shift produced in the cir

CLAMPING. The connection of some point

of a circuit to a desired reference potential
for certain periods of time. Sometimes called
d-c restoration.
CLAPEYRON-CLAUSIUS EQUATION.
A
fundamental relationship between the tem

perature at which an inter-phase transition

occurs, the change in heat content (enthalpy)
and the change in volume, of the form :
dp

AH

dT
in which p is the pressure, T the temperature,
dp/dT the rate of change of pressure with
temperature, AH the change in heat content
and A y the change in volume.
W hen applied specifically to the evaporation
of liquids, this equation becomes:
dp
dT

L
T (V 2 -

CLAPP
Clapp.
CLASS.

Another name for relay,

OSCILLATOR.

See

CLASSICAL
APPROXIMATION.
See
Wentzel-Kramer-Brillouin approximation.
CLASSICAL
principle.

V i)

in which dp/dT is the rate of change of vapor

pressure with temperature, L is the molar heat
of evaporation, T is the temperature, and V 2
and V i are the m olar volumes of vapor and
liquid, respectively.
CLAPPER RELAY.
armature.

treatment that is based on the assumption of

Newtonian mechanics. Such treatments in
clude all electrical and magnetic discussions
based on the Coulomb law, the Ampere law,
and the Maxwell equations. Classical theory
is usually to be distinguished from relativity
theory and quantum theory, although rela
tiv ists treatments not involving the quantum
hypothesis are occasionally referred to as
classical, as are treatments involving quantum
theory but not quantum mechanics.

oscillator,

See group theory; transform.

CLASS I STATION. A clear channel broad

cast station with an operating power of not
less than 10 kilowatts and not more than 50
kilowatts. It is designed to render both pri
mary and secondary service at relatively long
distance.
CLASS II STATION. A clear channel broad
cast station designed to operate over a pri
mary service area. Its operating power is
between 0.25 and 50 kilowatts.
CLASS III STATION. A regional standard
broadcast station designed for a primary
service area. A Class III -A station operates
on a power level between 1 and 5 kilowatts
while a Class III-B station operates with a
power level between 0.5 and 1 kilowatt at
night, and not in excess of 5 kilowatts during
daylight hours.
CLASS IV STATION. A local service broad
cast station with an operating level not less
than 0.1 kilowatt or greater than 0.25 kilo
watt.
CLASSICAL. The adjective classical is in
general applied to any physical theory or

LIM IT.

See correspondence

CLASSICAL SCATTERING CROSS

TION. See scattering, Thomson.
CLAUDE M ETHOD.

SEC

See low temperature.

CLAUSIUS EQUATION.
A form of the
equation of state, relating the pressure, vol
ume, and temperature of a gas, and the gas
constant. The Clausius equation applies a
correction to the van der Waals equation to
correct the pressure-correction term a for its
variation with temperature.
The Clausius
equation takes the form :
n2a
\p +

( V - nb) = nR T

T (V + c)2J

in which P is the pressure of the gas, T is

the absolute temperature, V is the volume,
R is the gas contant, b is a constant, a is a
temperature-dependent constant, n is the num
ber of moles, and c is a function of a and b.
CLAUSIUS INEQUALITY. The statement
that, when a working substance is carried
through a cyclic process,
j> (dQ/T) < 0,
where dQ is an infinitesimal amount o f heat
energy absorbed by a system from a heat res
ervoir of Kelvin temperature T . (See also
thermodynamics, second law of.
CLAUSIUS LAW . The specific heat of an
ideal gas at constant volume is independent
of the temperature.
CLAUSIUS-MOSOTTI EQUATION.
The
relation between the dielectric constant k and
the polarizability a of the individual mole

cules of an assembly containing N such m ole

cules per unit volum e:

and
( M = m + m'),

{JW +

where p/M is the ratio of density to molecular

weight, and Pm is the molar polarization of
the substance.
CLAYDEN EFFECT. A photographic effect
discovered by A. W . Clayden (1900). A pho
tographic material which is first given a par
tial exposure to diffuse light produces a re
versed image if exposed a second time to a
brilliant source of light. The effect is ob
served frequently in photographing lightning.
I f the lens is left open to await a flash in the
proper position, other flashes occurring in the
meantime (street lights, etc.) produce a gen
eral exposure. Then when a brilliant flash
occurs the shutter is closed and the image
developed. The image of the flash may de
velop as a positive or as a negative depend
ing upon the relation of the two exposures.
The term black lightning is also applied to
this phenomenon.
CLEANUP.
(1) The removal of gas from
a high-vacuum tube by the action of the
getter. (2) The gradual disappearance of gas
in a discharge tube (such as a cold cathoderay tube or an x-ray tube) due to absorption
by the electrodes and glass walls.
CLEAR. T o restore a storage or memory
device to a prescribed state, usually that de
noting zero. (See also reset.)
CLEARANCE. (1) In navigation, the depth
o f modulation differences at various elevation
angles or bearings. (2) In instrument land
ing systems, the deviation indicator current
produced at various elevations or bearings.
CLEBSCH-GORDAN COEFFICIENTS. Co
efficients Cjj'(JMmm/) in
=

53 Cyy'
m=j m1

where

U (1)}2%m( 1)

=j(j+ lyyjmO),

U (2)}2ty ,w ( 2) = j ' W + l )U w (2 ),

m * ,

the operators
J (2) being vector angular
momentum operators.
(See also angular
momentum, coupling and recoupling of;
three-j symbol; V-coefficient; Wigner coef
ficient.)
CLERK M A XW E LL RELATION. See Max
well relation between dielectric constant and
refractive index.
CLICK GAUGE. A device used for the meas
urement of moderate pressures, employing a
thin diaphragm which has two stable posi
tions. The diaphragm separates the system
in which the pressure is to be measured from
a system in which the pressure can be con
trolled. Slight differences in pressure on the
two sides are indicated by an audible click
sound as the diaphragm moves from one stable
position to the other.
CLIM ATE. Average weather of any region.
Averages need not be for a whole year but can
be computed from data for months, weeks,
or days. It is necessary that sufficient data be
available to remove the element of irregularity
from climatic values.
CLIMB. The motion of an edge dislocation
normal to its slip plane. This process re
quires the movement of vacancies to or from
the extra half plane of the dislocation, and
hence its rate is governed by diffusion.
C-LINE.

Fraunhofer line at 6562.8 A.

CLINOMETER. An instrument for measur

ing the angle of elevation of clouds, balloons,
etc., in meteorology. It consists of a telescope
with cross-wires, mounted on a divided quad
rant from which the elevation may be read.
CLIPPER. See circuit, clipping; limiter, clip
per; limiter, peak-circuit.

(2),
CLIPPING.
clipper.

The process performed by a

CLIPPING CIRCUIT.
/ ? * & '* '( 2) = w V ( 2),

J {J

See circuit, clipping.

CLIPPING, SPEECH. The clipping of peak

speech signals (peak clipping) or the reduc
tion of weaker speech signals to zero (center
clipping) in intelligibility tests.

CLIPPING TIM E.

See time, clipping.

CLOCK. A ny device which repeats an ob

servable process periodically, i.e., in such a
w ay that it returns to a specified condition a
given number of times (n) during each in
terval required by some other clock to go
through a fixed number of periods (m ).
Am ong such clocks are the earth in its diurnal
rotation on its axis, the earth in its annual
revolution around the sun, and molecules or
atoms in their oscillations. M ost practical
clocks include a source of energy to keep them
in continual operation and some device to
count the number of oscillations occuring dur
ing any time interval. In communications and
electronics, a clock functions as a primary
source of synchronizing signals.
(See also
clock, atomic; inversion spectrum; maser.)
CLOCK, ATOM IC. The term has been rather
loosely applied to any device that depends for
its constancy of rate on the frequency of a
spectral line, i.e., on the energy difference of
two states, for the measurement of time inter
vals. In some cases they are those of an atom,
e.g., the two states into which the ground state
of caesium is separated in a magnetic field;
in other cases they are those of a molecule,
e.g., in the vibration spectrum of ammonia.
Successful atomic clocks have been built
em ploying a beam of caesium atoms (see
beams, atomic and molecular). The beam is
first separated into two components by an ar
rangement similar to that used in the StemGerlach experiment. I f the component made
up of atoms in the lower of the two possible
states is passed into a resonant chamber fed
by an oscillator, the atoms will absorb energy
and be raised to the higher state if the micro
wave frequency of the oscillator is just that
for resonance absorption. A second resolution
of the beam then again gives two components
with opposite spin; the relative intensities of
these two may be measured and may be used
to keep the oscillator in exact resonance. The
period of oscillation is thus matched to the
frequency of the spectral line, and the number
of oscillations in a time interval m ay be
counted by electronic a n d /or mechanical
means.
(See also the various entries under
maser.)
CLOCK, MASTER.
timing signals.

The primary source of

CLOCK PARADOX. If two identical clocks

A, B, are synchronized and then A is acceler
ated to some speed at which it is allowed to
travel for a time long compared with the time
of acceleration, then reversed in a short time
and brought back to rest alongside B, which
has not been accelerated, then A will record
a shorter time interval than B. This conclu
sion is a consequence of, and is understandable
in terms of, relativity theory.
CLOCK, SIDEREAL. A clock whose time is
based upon the rotation of the earth relative
to the fixed stars.
CLOCKSPRING CORE.
spring.

See core, clock-

CLOSE-DIFFERENTIAL RELAY.
name for relay, marginal.
CLOSED INTERVAL OR SET.
interval), closed.

Another

See set (or

CLOSED LOOP. (1) Portion of a Feynman

diagram describing the virtual creation of a
number of electron-positron pairs together
with the annihilation of all of them, as for
example in the scattering of light by light.
(2) See contour; Ampere law. (3) A coil of
wire which closes on itself.
CLOSED SYSTEM. A system which is iso
lated from its surroundings, and which m ay
therefore reach a state of thermodynamic
equilibrium, i.e., a time-invariant state where
all macroscopic quantities remain unchanged
and no spontaneous processes occur. (See also
non-equilibrium thermodynamics.)
CLOSE-PACKED HEXAGONAL. A com
mon form of crystal structure in which plane
triangular nets of atoms are stacked on one
another in the order A B AB . (Cf. closepacked structure.)
CLOSE-PACKED STRUCTURE. A type of
crystal structure obtained by arranging equal
spheres so that they occupy the minimum vol
ume. T w o such structures are possible, facecentered cubic and close-packed hexagonal.
They may be realized by stacking triangular
plane networks of spheres on one another so
that the atoms in one layer fit into the spaces
in the one below. If the three types of layers
have atoms lying above points A, B, C, re
spectively, then the layers are stacked in the

order A B C A B C in the face-centered struc

ture, and A B A B in the hexagonal struc
ture.

particle is marked by a visible white streak

or track of mist, sometimes several cm in
length, which soon diffuses and disappears.
The study of photographs of such cloud tracks
has in recent years afforded much information
as to the nature and the movements of the
particles producing them.
(See also cloud
chamber, diffusion; bubble chamber.)
CLOUD
CHAMBER,
COUNTER-CON
TROLLED. A cloud chamber whose expan
sion is triggered by a counter or counters, used
for studying particular events.

Stacking spheres in close packing. When one closepacked layer has been laid down (the A layer), the
next layer can go into either of the two sets of
hollows (B or C) on the first layer. A, B, and C
denote the centers of the spheres in the three pos
sible positions. (By permission from Dislocations
in Crystals by Read, 1953, McGraw-Hill Book Com
pany, Inc.)

CLOUD. Large numbers of water droplets

or ice crystals virtually suspended in the at
mosphere. A ctually the water or ice in a cloud
occupies only a small fraction of the total
space appearing as a cloud. Light is well
reflected from the droplets or crystals and
the cloud body appears as an opaque drifting
object. Clouds can be classified in several
ways. The two most common are in regard
to form, stratified or billowed; and in regard
to height, high, medium, or low. The basic
cloud forms are internationally recognized but
there are many variations of each form.
CLO U D CHAMBER. An enclosure contain
ing air or other gas saturated with water,
alcohol, or any other condensible vapor, the
cooling of which by a sudden expansion re
sults in the formation of fog droplets upon
particles of dust or other nuclei. That ions
in the gas are capable of serving as con
densation nuclei, even when no dust is pres
ent, was demonstrated by the experiments
of C. T. R. W ilson. Thus the clouds pro
duced are much more dense if the gas is
traversed by some ionizing emission like x-rays
or alpha rays. Sir J. J. Thom son utilized this
effect in his early measurements of the elec
tronic charge. One of the most striking phe
nomena of the W ilson cloud chamber is ex
hibited when single ionizing particles, such as
alpha or beta particles, are allowed to traverse
it just before the expansion. The path of each

CLOUD
CHAMBER, DIFFUSION.
A
cloud chamber which utilizes the diffusion of
vapor under the influence of a high tempera
ture gradient to produce a supersaturated
condition. The process is continuous, and it
is not necessary to use repeated expansions,
as in conventional cloud chambers.
CLOUD CHAMBER, HIGH-PRESSURE. A
cloud chamber in which the gas is maintained
at high pressure to reduce the range of high
energy particles and so to increase the prob
ability of observing events.
CLOUD CHAMBER, LOW-PRESSURE. A
cloud chamber in which the gas is maintained
at low pressure to increase the range or de
crease the scattering of particle tracks.
CLO UD ED CRYSTAL BALL M ODEL.
nuclear model.
CLOUD,
clouds.

ICE-CRYSTAL.

See

See

ice-crystal

CLOUD POINT. The temperature at which

a solution becomes cloudy as it is cooled at a
specified rate. The cloud point is an impor
tant property in the specification of lacquers,
oils, and other important solutions.
CLOUD - TRACK
INTERPRETATION.
Tracks are formed in cloud chambers by the
condensation of vapor on the ionization pro
duced by a particle traversing the chamber.
The presence of the track indicates that the
particle was charged; its density, length, cur
vature in a magnetic field, etc., may be inter
preted so as to provide information on the
sign and amount of charge, mass, energy, etc.,
of the particle.
CLUSIUS COLUMN. A device for the sepa
ration of isotopes by thermal diffusion. Tw o

versions of this apparatus exist: in one the

inner hot wall is an electrically heated wire;
in the other it is a cylinder of diameter com
parable to that of the outer cylinder. In the
separation of liquids the annular space is only
a small fraction o f a centimeter wide, while
in the separation of gases the space is of the
order of a centimeter.
CLUSTER. A small group of liquid m ole
cules with much the same spatial arrange
ment as in a solid crystal. Clusters are found
in liquids for temperatures not far removed
from the melting point.
CLUSTER, ION.

See ion cluster.

CLUTTER. In radar the display of a con

glomeration of unwanted echoes.
CLUTTER, GROUND.
Clutter resulting
from the ground or objects on the ground.
CM , cm. A bbreviation for circular mil; ab
breviation for centimeter.
C NEUTRONS. Neutrons of such energy
that they are strongly absorbable in cadmium.
C neutrons have energies from zero up to
about 0.3 ev.
C-NUMBER THEORY. A classical field the
ory, i.e., a field theory in which wave func
tions are (in general com plex) functions of
position and time. (C f. q-number theory.)
CO. Abbreviation for crystal oscillator; ab
breviation for cutoff.
COACERVATION. The production, by co
agulation of a hydrophilic sol, of a liquid
phase, which often appears as viscous drops,
instead of forming a continuous liquid phase.
COAGEL. A gel formed by precipitation or
coagulation, as distinguished from gel formed
by swelling of a solid colloid.
COAGULATION. (1) The process of com
plete or partial solidification of a sol to a
gelatinous mass; or of the separation from a
liquid system of a gelatinous mass. It in
volves the separation of the disperse from the
continuous phase which fact distinguishes it
from gelation. (2) The result of an altera
tion of a disperse phase or of a dissolved
solid which causes the separation of the sys
tem into a liquid phase and an insoluble mass,

as the coagulation of egg albumin. (3) The

separation of a gelatinous mass from a liquid
system, as the clotting o f blood. Derived
terms: coagulate; coagulator; coagulum.
COAGULATION VALUE. The concentra
tion of a coagulant which effects a given
amount of coagulation of a colloidal, or other
dispersed system.
COATED TAPE.
coated.

See tape, magnetic-powder

COAXIAL CABLE. A particular type of

cable capable of passing a wide range of fre
quencies without the usual prohibitive losses.
Such a cable in its simplest form consists of
a hollow metallic conductor with a single wire
accurately confined along the center of the
hollow conductor. It is also called a coaxial
line. (See line, coaxial.)
COAXIAL LINE.

See line, coaxial.

COBALT. M etallic element.

Atom ic number 27.

Sym bol Co.

COCHLEA. The inner ear, a bony structure

of spiral form, containing three parallel canals,
one o f which, the organ of Corti (see Corti,
organ of) contains the nerve terminals which
are stimulated by vibrations in the cochlea.
COCHLEA PARTITION. The structure di
viding the cochlea into two m ajor parts. It
is formed in part by the basilar membrane.
COCKCROFT-WALTON ACCELERATOR.
A device in which rectified a-c voltage is used
to charge a series of condensers to a high d-c
potential, which is then applied to the accel
eration of charged nuclear particles, espe
cially protons. (See accelerators, particle.)
COCKCROFT-WALTON
EXPERIMENT.
The first successful nuclear disintegration pro
duced by artificially accelerated protons
(1930).
The reaction involved was inter
preted as the formation of two crparticles
from the combining of the proton and the
lithium isotope of mass 7. This can be repre
sented by an equation as:
xH1 + 3Li7

4Be8

22He4 + Q,

where Q represents the kinetic energy of the

-particles in excess of the kinetic energy of
the incident proton.

COCKED HAT. The triangle formed by the

intersections of three navigational lines of
bearing in the process of determining position.
CODAN. Abbreviation for carrier operated
device, anti-noise. A device which silences a
receiver except when a modulated carrier sig
nal is being received.
CODD ING TON EYEPIECE. An eyepiece
made from a single piece of glass with a
groove cut around its equator to act as a stop.
The tw o convex surfaces are portions of the
same sphere.
Probably first made by Sir
D avid Brewster.
CODD ING TON
FACTORS.
Shape factor,

SHAPE AND

POSITION

P =

where p and q are object and image distances.

The spherical aberration given in third or
der theory m ay be expressed in terms of these
two Coddington factors.
CODE. (1) A system of characters and rules
for representing information. (2) Loosely, the
set of characters resulting from the use of a
code. (3) T o prepare a routine in machine
language for a specific computer. (4) T o en
code; to express given information by means
of a code. (See also language.)
In machine computation the detailed prep
aration, from programming instructions or
flow charts, of machine commands that will
lead to the solution of the problem at hand.
(See also computer, digital; program; address;
instruction.)
CODE, 8421.
decimal.

See

code,

8421 Binary
Coded Decimal

Decimal
Equivalent

0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001

0
1
2
3
4
5

6
7

8
9

For example, 436 would be represented as

(0001) (1011) (0100).
(See also code, alpha
numeric.)

7*2 + T\
S = -----------
H ~ n

where r\ and r2 are the radii of the first and

second surface of a lens;
Position factor,

CODE, BINARY CODED DECIMAL. A

binary code for an electronic computer sys
tem, in which each digit in a decimal notation
is represented on the binary system.

binary

coded

CODE, ALPHANUMERIC. A binary coded

decimal system in which the space com bina
tions are employed to represent the alphabet,
quotation marks, and other special symbol
requirements.
CODE, BINARY. Any code employing two
distinguishable types of code elements.

CODE CHARACTER. A particular arrange

ment of code elements used in a code to rep
resent a single value.
CODE DISTINGUISHABILITY. The qual
ity of a coded radio beacon which permits it
to be distinguished from all other emissions
from the beacon, such as those giving distance.
CODED PROGRAM.

See program, coded.

CODE ELEMENT.
One of the discrete
events in a code, such as the presence or ab
sence of a pulse, or of a dot or a dash or space
as used in a Morse code.
CODE, ERROR-CORRECTING.
A code
used in a redundant signal to improve the
reliability of transmission at the expense of
channel capacity.
CODE,
ERROR - DETECTING
( COM
PUTER). See check, forbidden-combination.
CODE, EXCESS-THREE. A number code
in which the decimal digit n is represented by
the four-bit binary equivalent of n + 3. (See
also binary-coded-decimal system.)
CODE; HOLLERITH. The IB M card code
in which information is represented on a
punched card by the position and number of
punches.
CODE, INSTRUCTION. An artificial lan
guage for describing or expressing the instruc
tions which can be carried out by a digital
computer. In automatically sequenced com

puters, the instruction code is used when de

scribing or expressing sequences of instruc
tions, and each instruction word usually con
tains a part specifying the operation to be per
formed and one or more addresses which iden
tify a particular location in storage. Some
times an address part of an instruction is not
intended to specify a location in storage but
is used for some other purpose.
If more than one address is used, the code is
called a multiple-address code. In a typical
instruction of a four-address code the ad
dresses specify the location of two operands,
the destination of the result, and the location
of the next instruction in the sequence. In a
typical three-address code, the fourth address
specifying the location of the next instruction
is dispensed with and the instructions are
taken from storage in a preassigned order.
In a typical one-address or single-address
code, the address m ay specify either the loca
tion of an operand to be taken from storage,
the destination of a previously prepared re
sult, or the location o f the next instruction.
The arithmetic element usually contains at
least two storage locations, one of which is an
accumulator.
For example, operations re
quiring two operands m ay obtain one operand
from the main storage and the other from a
storage location in the arithmetic element
which is specified by the operation part.
CO DE, MULTIPLE-ADDRESS.
instruction.

See code,

CODE IV-ARY. A code employing N distin

guishable types of code elements.
CODE, ONE-ADDRESS.
tion.

CODER, COLOR.

See color coder.

CODER PULSE (M O D E R ).
A circuit
which sets up a plurality of pulses disposed in
an identifiable pattern.
CODER, PULSE-DURATION. In naviga
tion a device which generates a code by the
varying of the pulse lengths.
CODE, TERNARY. A code employing three
distinguishable types of code elements.
CODE THREE-ADDRESS.
struction.
CODING DELAY.

See code, in

See delay, coding.

CODING GAP. In navigation, a process of

communicating information by so interrupting
the transmission of an otherwise regular signal
that the interruptions form a telegraphic-type
message.
CODING TUBE.

See tube, coding.

COEFFICIENT.
(1) An algebraic factor,
e.g., in (2 a )x, (2 a) is the coefficient of
x. (2) A quantity or parameter characteristic
o f a substance or a system. Examples are the
coefficient of friction, coefficient o f linear ex
pansion, coefficient of restitution, etc. Such
terms are listed under the appropriate charac
teristic, e.g., discharge, coefficient of; con
densation, coefficient of; etc.
COEFFICIENT, ACCUMULATION.
accumulation coefficient.

See

COEFFICIENT B, BACK-SCATTERING.
See back-scattering coefficient B.

See code, instruc

CODE OPERATION. (1) T he list o f opera

tion parts occurring in an instruction code,
together with the names of the corresponding
operations (e.g., add, unconditional trans
fer, add and clear, etc.). (2) Synonym for
operation part of an instruction.
CO DE, PULSE. (1) A pulse train modulated
so as to represent information. (2) Loosely,
a code consisting of pulses, such as M orse
code, B audot code, binary code.
CODER. A device which samples the m odu
lating signal at regular intervals in a pulsecode modulation system.

COEFFICIENT, COUPLING.
coefficient.

See coupling

COEFFICIENT OF DYNAM ICAL FRIC

TION. A quantity which gives the rate at
which particles in a velocity distribution slow
down a test particle due to collisions in Brown
ian motion.
COERCIVE FORCE, H 0. The magnetizing
field at which the magnetic flux density is
zero when the material is in a symmetrical
cyclicly magnetized condition (see magnetized
condition, cyclicly). Coercive force is not a
unique property of a magnetic material, but is
dependent on the previous history of the sam
ple. (See hysteresis.)

COERCIVE FORCE, DYNAMIC.

That
value of applied magnetizing field at which
a m ajor dynamic hysteresis loop crosses the
abscissa axis (has zero value of magnetiza
tion). (C f. hysteresis.)
COERCIVE FORCE, INTRINSIC ( H ci).
The magnetizing force at which the intrinsic
induction (see induction, intrinsic) is zero
when the material is in a symmetrically, cy clicly magnetized condition. (Cf. hysteresis.)
COERCIVITY. The property of a magnetic
material measured by the coercive force cor
responding to the saturation induction for the
material. This is a quasi-static property only.
COFACTOR OF A DETERM INANT. The
complementary minor to the element A ijc of
a determinant, multiplied by the sign
( l ) i+fc. Also called signed minor.
COGRADIENT. A word used to describe the
relationship of two tensorial quantities which
have the same transformation properties. (See
tensor, covarient; tensor, contravarient.)
COHERENCE.
interference.

See coherent radiation, and

COHERENCE IN SOUND REVERBERA

TION. T h e occurrence of received sound
reverberation in the form of pulses or short
bursts.
COHERENT RADIATION. In coherent ra
diation there are definite phase relationships
between radiation at different positions in a
cross section of the radiant energy beam (or
beam s), whereas in noncoherent radiation
these relationships are random. F or example,
a slit is filled with approximately coherent
radiation when it receives light from a small
distant source, because every portion o f the
slit is then illuminated by the light from each
radiating atom or molecule of the source.
Interference effects are observed only between
coherent beams.
COHERENT SCATTERING.
ing, coherent.

See scatter

COHERENT SYSTEM. In navigation, a sys

tem in which the signal output is obtained by
demodulating the received signal after mixing
with a local signal having a fixed-phase rela
tion to that of the transmitted signal, to permit

use of the information carried by the phase of

the received signal.
COHESION. Forces between the particles
of any given mass by virtue of which it re
sists physical disintegration. The connota
tion of the term cohesion implies a difference
from adhesion, in which the forces are opera
tive chiefly in interfacial surfaces.
COHESION PRESSURE.
The addition
term a/V2 used in the van der Waals equation
to correct the pressure by adding the attrac
tive force of the molecules. V is the volume
of one mole of the gas, and a is approximately
constant for a given gas.
COHESION, W ORK OF.
The work re
quired to separate a column of liquid 1 cm2
in cross section into two. It is given approxi
mately b y :
W c = 2yL
yL is the surface tension between liquid and
vapor in ergs per cm2.
COHO.
A coherent oscillator (see oscil
lator, coherent) used with moving-target, in
dicator radar systems.
COIL. This term applies to one or more
turns of conductor when wound as a definite
unit o f an electrical circuit. Thus we have
the choke coil, or as it is sometimes called,
impedance coil, as a number of turns of wire
forming a coil used primarily for its reactance
effect. The transformer is a unit of one or
more coils used for transferring electrical en
ergy b y magnetic induction. Coils are par
ticularly important in communications cir
cuits where they serve in the above capaci
ties, but also form parts of the tuned circuits
which make possible our complex systems.
W hile the coil is ordinarily used for its induc
tive properties, it inherently has both resist
ance and distributed capacitance. The former
is because of the resistance o f the wire of which
it is wound. The latter is due to the potential
difference between turns which are separated
b y the turn insulation. A t high frequencies
this distributed capacitance becomes extremely
important and limits the usefulness o f a given
coil. Various special winding schemes have
been used to minimize this effect. Electrical
machines have coils as essential components,
e.g., field coils, armature coils, etc.

COIL, BALANCE. A balance coil is a coil

for supplying a three-wire circuit from a tw owire circuit. A 240-volt single-phase line, for
example, can be used to supply two 120-volt
circuits consisting of three wires, one of which
is a common intermediate wire. The voltage
between the intermediate wire and either of
the outside ones is 120 volts. I f the loads on
the two 120-volt circuits are unequal, the
voltage can be balanced by an adjustment of
the central tap point at the balance coil. A
balance coil is frequently an auto-transformer
having only one coil, connections at the ends
of the coil, and an intermediate connection.
COIL, BUCKING. A coil so connected to
provide a demagnetizing effect on another coil.
An example is the hum-bucking coil in an
electromagnetic loudspeaker where power
supply pulsations are compensated for by the
bucking coil.
COIL, CHOKE. This term is applied to vari
ous types of inductances used in electrical cir
cuits primarily to present high reactance at
certain frequencies. Such coils usually have
high reactance compared to their resistance
and offer impedance to the flow of alternating
currents by the induced counter electromotive
force. Since this impedance will vary directly
with frequency, the choke may be designed to
let certain lower frequencies through and stop
or impede higher ones. An air-core choke coil
is often used in electrical power circuits to
block high-frequency transients produced by
lightning surges. In communications circuits
air-core chokes are used extensively to block
radio frequencies from audio-frequency cir
cuits or from d-c parts of the circuit. In these
applications they are often called radio-jrequency chokes. Iron-cored chokes are fre
quently used in audio circuits in a similar
manner. Iron-cored chokes are also im por
tant components of power supply filters as
well as many wave filters.
COIL CURRENT, RATED (R ELAY ). The
steady-state coil current at which the relay is
designed to operate.
COIL, DOU BLE-W O UN D (R E LA Y ).
A
winding consisting of two parts wound on the
same core.
COIL, DUOLATERAL. A coil having its
conductors wound in a criss-crossed fashion,
to reduce winding capacitance.

COIL, ELEVATOR. The name sometimes

applied to the impedance-matching, input
transformer in a television receiver.
COIL, FIELD. The coil used to provide the
magnetizing field in motors, generators, elec
trodynamic loudspeakers, etc.
COIL, FOCUSING.
COIL, HEATER.

See focusing coil.

See load coil.

COIL, HYBRID.
The bridging transformer
used in coupling a tw o-w ay telephone circuit
to the repeater station or for coupling two
one-w ay circuits to a tw o-w ay circuit. The
coil is so wound that when the line is properly
balanced by a balancing network there is no
reaction between the output and input con
nections of the transformer.
COIL, IMPREGNATED. A coil which has
been permeated with a phenolic, or similar
varnish, to protect it from mechanical vibra
tion, handling, fungus and moisture.
COIL, INDUCTION. A device for obtaining
a high, intermittent voltage from a source of
low, steady voltage, such as a battery. This
is accomplished by electromagnetic induction.
A coil of relatively few turns, called the pri
mary, and provided with a soft iron core, is
connected in series with the battery and with
some form of interrupter which renders the
n0'

i i i j / i

HIc

-M'l
Diagram of induction coil showing its primary wind
ing P, its secondary winding S, interrupter I, battery
B, and condenser C.

current intermittent. The rapid variations of

magnetic flux thus produced give rise to cor
respondingly high electromotive forces in the
secondary, a coil of many turns of fine wire
wound on the same core and thus effectively
coupled with the primary. The secondary
electromotive force o f course reverses with
each make and break o f the primary circuit.
The performance is improved b y placing a
capacitor across the terminals o f the inter
rupter.

COIL, LOAD. In induction heating usage,

an electric conductor which, when energized
with alternating current, is adapted to deliver
energy by induction to a charge to be heated.
COIL, LOADING.
(1) An inductance in
serted at regular intervals along a long trans
mission line or cable to increase the lines
characteristic impedance (see impedance,
characteristic) and reduce its attenuation
constant. (2) An inductance inserted in series
with an antenna to increase its electrical
length.
COIL, LOUDSPEAKER VOICE. The m ov
ing coil of a moving coil loudspeaker. (See
loudspeaker, moving-coil; coil, voice.)
COIL NEUTRALIZATION.
tion, inductive.
COIL, PUPIN.
loading.

See neutraliza

Another name for a coil,

COIL, RELAY. One or more windings of

wire to which energy is supplied to activate
the relay.
COIL, REPEATING. A transformer (usually
with a 1:1 ratio) employed in telephone lines
to prevent conductive coupling between two
line-sections. (See also repeater.)
COIL, RETARDATION. An inductor used
in telephone circuits to block audio-frequency
signals, while offering little opposition to d-c
signals.
COILS,
CONCENTRIC-W OUND.
Coils
having their windings placed radially one on
top of another.
COIL, SEARCH. A small coil used to meas
ure induction by virtue of the change of flux
through the coil when it is moved from one
position to another or rotated, or when the
flux through it is changed by such means as
the interruption of the current in the wind
ings of an electromagnet.
COIL, TESLA. A type of induction coil in
which the primary has a high-frequency spark
gap instead of the usual interrupter, and
whose secondary yields an intense high-fre
quency discharge. A typical arrangement is
shown in the figure. A high-voltage trans
form er T , or sometimes an ordinary induction
coil, sends sparks across the primary gap G i,

which is in circuit with a condenser Ci and

the primary air-core coil F, composed of a
few turns of heavy copper wire or tubing.
Because of the oscillatory nature of the con
denser discharge, this circuit is the seat of

Diagram of Tesla-coil circuits.

powerful high-frequency oscillations.

The
secondary, S, consists of many turns of fine
wire. The secondary circuit may be tuned
b y means of a variable condenser C2, and
when it is in resonance with the primary, the
oscillations in it are very intense. A torrent
of high-frequency sparks plays across the sec
ondary gap G2; or one terminal may be
grounded and sparks drawn from the other.
COIL, VOICE. A coil of wire wound on a
cylindrical paper form and attached to the
throat of a direct radiator loudspeaker (see
loudspeaker, direct radiator) or microphone
and used, in conjunction with a magnetic field,
to drive the cone of the loudspeaker.
COIL VOLTAGE, RATED (R ELAY). The
coil voltage at which the relay is designed to
operate.
COIL, WORK.

See coil, load.

COINCIDENCE (IN COUNTER TECH

N OLO GY). The occurrence of counts in two
or more detectors simultaneously or within
an assignable time interval. A true coinci
dence is one that is due to the detection of a
single particle or of several genetically re
lated particles.
An accidental, chance; or
random coincidence is one that is due to the
fortuitous occurrence of unrelated counts in
the separate detectors.
A delayed coinci
dence is the occurrence of a count in one de
tector at a short, but measurable, time later
than a count in another detector, the two
counts being due to genetically-related o c
currences such as successive events in the same
nucleus.

CO IN CIDEN CE, ANTI-.

The occurrence,
in a particular detector, of a count unaccom
panied by a simultaneous count, or by a count
within an assignable time interval, in one or
more other specified detectors.
COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT.
for coincidence counting.
CO INCIDENCE COUNTER.
coincidence.

A circuit used
See counter,

COINCIDENCE COUNTING. An experi

mental technique in which particular types
of events are distinguished from background
events by means of coincidence circuits so
designed or employed as to register coinci
dences caused by the type of events under
consideration.
COINCIDENCE M ETH O D .
measurements.

See physical

COINCIDENT-CURRENT
SELECTION.
See selection, coincident-current.
COL. A relatively small area about midway
between two cyclones and two anticyclones
where the pressure gradient is very weak and
winds are usually light and variable. It is
the point of intersection between a trough line
and a wedge line.
CO LD DOM E. A moving mountain or mass
of cold, dense air. (See air mass.)
CO LD FRONT.
A ny boundary surface
separating cold air from warmer air, along
which cold air is actively displacing the warm
air.
CO LD SECTOR. Tem perate-zone cyclones
usually involve two air masses. T hat part of
the cyclone occupied by the cold air is known
as the cold sector (in contrast with the area
occupied by the warm air, which is the warm
sector). Cold sectors constitute more than
one-half, and often practically all, of the area
covered by a cyclone.
CO LD TESTS OF RESONANT SYSTEMS.
The testing of a microwave system with the
tube in place, but in a nonoperative condition
so that its electronic admittance is zero. The
resonance frequency, loaded and unloaded
Q, and the driving point admittance are quan
tities usually measured.
CO LD TUBE USWR.

See USWR, cold tube.

COLD WORK. Considerable plastic defor

mation of a metal at such a temperature that
the material contains strains, dislocations,
etc., in a metastable state.
COLE-COLE PLOT. A plot of real part of
the complex permittivity versus the imaginary
part. If the Debye equation for complex per
mittivity is obeyed, the locus of the points is a
semicircle.
COLLAPSE. A term used in plasma physics
for a method of shock heating a cylindrical
plasma by externally applying a strong axial
magnetic field in a time short compared to
the time it takes a sound wave to cross the
cylinder of plasma.
COLLECTIVE ELECTRON THEORY OF
FERROMAGNETISM.
The electrons re
sponsible for ferromagnetism are supposed to
be more or less free. Parallel alignment of
their spins is favored by the exchange inter
action.
W ith the introduction of FermiDirac statistics, it is possible to show that a
transition from the ferromagnetic to the para
magnetic state occurs at a certain tempera
ture, which is identified with the Curie point.
COLLECTIVE
INTERACTIONS.
In
plasma physics those interactions which in
volve the combined effect of more than two
interacting particles. One result of such inter
actions are the collective modes of oscillation
of a plasma (see plasma oscillations; plasma
instabilities.)
COLLECTIVE M OD EL OF ELECTRONS
IN METALS. See Bohm and Pines method.
COLLECTIVE M OD EL OF
CLEUS. See nuclear model.

THE

NU

COLLECTOR. (1) In an electron tube, an

electrode that collects electrons or ions that
have completed their functions within the
tube. (2) In a transistor, an electrode through
which a primary flow of carriers leaves the
interelectrode region.
COLLECTOR CURRENT, TRANSISTOR.
See transistor collector current.
COLLECTOR
collector.

JUNCTION.

See junction,

COLLECTOR MULTIPLICATION (IN A

TRANSISTOR). The increase in the number
of collected carriers at an inversely-biased

p -n junction, due to an excessive density of

minority carriers in the collector region.
COLLECTOR
RESISTANCE, TRANSIS
TOR. See transistor parameter rc.
COLLECTOR SATURATION CURRENT.
Transistor collector current Zco, etc.
COLLIGATIVE PROPERTY.
A property
that depends for the most part on the number
of molecules involved and not on their nature.
COLLIM ATION. The process by which a
divergent beam of energy or particles is con
verted into a parallel beam. (C f. collimator.)
COLLIMATOR.
(1) An optical apparatus
for producing parallel rays of light. A com
mon form consists of a converging lens, at one
of whose focal points is placed a small source
of light, usually a pinhole or narrow slit upon
which light is focused from behind. R ays
o

o ll im a t o r

Divergent rays from slit S rendered parallel by

objective 0 .

diverging from this focal point emerge from

the objective lens in a parallel beam. The
slit or other source is viewed through the col
limator without parallax, since it appears at
an infinite distance. The arrangement is very
generally used on spectroscopes and spec
trometers. (2) B y analogy, any arrangement
of slits or apertures which limits a stream of
particles to a beam in which all the particles
move in the same, or nearly the same, direc
tion.
COLLIMATOR, FOCAL. A type of collima
tor consisting of an objective lens at one end
of a tube, and a pair of cross hairs placed
accurately in its focal plane at the other end.
COLLINEAR EQUATIONS ( O PTICAL).
If the intersection of the optical axis with a
plane through the principal focal point of
object space is taken as the origin of coordi
nates for points in the object space and a
similar origin is taken for coordinates in im
age space, the following collinear equations
result:

v'/v = f/x =

where x , x f are distances from their respective

origins parallel to the optical axis, y , y f are
distances normal to the optical axis, and /, f
are focal distances measured from their respec
tive origins. These equations are also known
as the N ewtonian form of the lens equations.
COLLISION. As used in physics, this term
refers to any interaction between free par
ticles, aggregates of particles, or rigid bodies
in which they come near enough to exert a
mutual influence, generally with exchange of
energy. It does not necessarily imply actual
contact. The process is always subject to
conservation of momentum, and in an elastic
collision / of mechanical energy as well. In
the latter case, if the initial velocities are
given, the velocities of the bodies after colli
sion can be calculated by applying these two
conservation principles. The subject is of
special significance in atomic physics, where
a collision is defined as a close approach of
two or more photons, particles, atoms or
nuclei during which an interchange occurs of
charge, energy, momentum or other quanti
ties. (See also impact.)
COLLISION DENSITY. In nuclear technol
ogy, the number of neutron collisions with
matter per unit volume per unit time. Partial
collision densities may be defined for neutrons
characterized by such parameters as speed
and direction.
COLLISION
DIAM ETER
OF
M OLE
CULES. The distance of closest approach be
tween the centers of any two molecules in a
collision.
COLLISION, ELASTIC. A collision in which
no net change occurs in the internal energy
of the participating systems; or in the sum
of their kinetic energies of translation. The
total mechanical energy is conserved, hence
the coefficient of restitution is unity.
(See
also impact.)
COLLISION FREQUENCY. The number of
collisions of a given kind which a given particle
undergoes per unit time.
COLLISION, INELASTIC. A collision in
which net changes occur both in the internal
energy of one or more of the participating sys
tems, and in the sums of their kinetic energies
of translation before and after the collision.

COLLISION OF THE FIRST KIND. The

collision of an accelerated particle (e.g., elec
tron) with an atom, resulting in a transfer of
energy whereby the atom becomes excited and
the electron is slowed.
COLLISION OF THE SECOND KIND. The
collision of an excited atom with a slow par
ticle (e.g., electron) whereby the atom under
goes transition to a lower energy-state and the
other particle is accelerated.
COLLISION PARAMETER.
rameter.

See impact pa

COLLISION, PERFECTLY INELASTIC. A

collision during which the amount of mechan
ical energy converted into internal energy has
the greatest possible value consistent with the
conservation of momentum. In such a col
lision the coefficient of restitution is zero.
COLLISION, PLASTIC.
A collision in
which plastic deformation of one or both col
liding particles takes place, and some me
chanical energy is dissipated. The coefficient
o f restitution is less than unity.
(See also
impact.)
COLLISION PROBABILITY.
(1) W hen a
beam of particles is passing through matter,
the probability that any single particle be re
moved from the beam in a distance dx is k dx,
where k is in general the inverse of the mean
free path. (2) The fraction of the particles
removed from a collimated beam per centi
meter path length and per millimeter of pres
sure at 0C . (3) For incident electrons, the
number of electrons removed per unit electron
current sometimes replaces the fraction.
CO LLOID. N oncrystalloid. Substances that
form two-phase systems with solvents which
exhibit the gross properties of solutions, or
modifications of crystalline substances which
are capable of forming such systems. The
former view that the colloid is essentially d if
ferent from substances which form true solu
tions is giving w ay to consideration that
the colloidal state is merely a condition into
which all, or nearly all, substances can be
brought by suitable means. Colloidal solu
tions do not obey the solution laws: the
alterations of the boiling and freezing points
are inappreciable, and the osmotic pressures
very small. A colloidal solution is, in reality,
a disperse system, and such measures as sep

arate disperse systems will usually cause the

coagulation and precipitation of colloids.
Ostwald distinguished between two classes of
colloidal liquids, one in which the suspended
colloid does not sensibly affect the properties
of the dispersive medium, such as suspensions
of metals, metallic sulfides or cla y; and the
class in which the reverse is true as in the
case of gelatin solutions which set to gels
below a certain temperature. (See also col
loidal system.)
COLLOIDAL EQUIVALENT. A term ap
plied to the dispersed phase of a colloidal
system, denoting the number of molecules per
unit electric charge.
COLLOIDAL
SOLUTIONS,
METHODS
OF PREPARATION. Colloids fall roughly
into two groups. First are the natural col
loids, which are usually lyophilic, where the
materials give colloidal solutions when they
are put in a suitable dispersing medium or
when they are warmed in this medium; for
example, proteins or soaps in water. The sec
ond group, called artificial colloids, are usu
ally lyophobic sols, and have to be prepared
by special methods.
These methods are
grouped under dispersion or peptization proc
esses in which particles or m acroscopic di
mensions are broken down to colloidal dimen
sions; and condensation or precipitation proc
esses where the colloid is formed by building
up from ions, atoms, or molecules.
The main dispersion processes are (1) me
chanical methods, such as the colloid mill,
(2) electrical disintegration methods using an
electric arc, (3) peptization and (4) ultra
sonic waves.
In condensation processes where colloids
are formed by the aggregation o f atoms or
molecules the stages are (1) formation o f a
supersaturated solution which can be brought
about in a number of ways, such as hydrolysis
reactions, double decomposition reactions, re
ductions, oxidations, and exchange o f solvent;
(2) formation of nuclei m the supersaturated
solution; (3) growth of nuclei to larger par
ticles until they reach colloidal dimensions.
COLLOIDAL STATE. A system of particles
in a dispersing medium, in which the mean
size of the particles lies between molecular
size and a size great enough to be visible to
the eye, or in the optical microscope. The

size limits are approximately 2 X 10 ~ 5 cm to

5 X 10 7 cm.
CO LLO ID AL SYSTEM. A multiphase sys
tem in which there is at least one finelydivided dispersed phase more or less uni
form ly distributed through the continuous
phase known as the dispersion medium. The
size of the particles in the dispersed phase
can be roughly between 2 X 10 ~ 5 cm and
5 X 10 7 cm. The types of colloidal systems
usually encountered, depending on the nature
o f the dispersed phase and the dispersion me
dium, are: sol, emulsion, foam, solid sol, solid
emulsion, solid foam, solid aerosol, liquid
aerosol, gel.
COLLO ID , HETEROPOLAR. A colloidal
system in which the dispersed particles are
polar compounds.
COLLO ID , HOMOPOLAR.
A colloidal
system in which the dispersed particles are
nonpolar compounds.
CO LLO ID , NEUTRAL. The colloidal sys
tem formed in soap solutions at high concen
trations of soap. The colloidal particles are
crystalline in nature and possess a laminated
structure consisting of layers of undissociated
soap molecules.
COLLO ID , PROTECTION OF. The protec
tion of certain lyophobic systems against the
coagulating effect of electrolytes by the addi
tion of certain lyophilic sols. An example is
the addition of large amounts of a gelatine
sol to a gold sol.
(See also gold number.)
The amount of lyophilic sol necessary to pro
tect the lyophobic sol depends on the charges
carried by the sols. (See also sols, sensitiza
tion of.) W hen the charges on the two types
are the same only protection is observed.
W hen the charges are opposite, small amounts
o f the lyophilic sol tend to sensitize, and large
amounts to stabilize the lyophobic sol.
CO LLO ID , REVERSIBLE AND IRRE
VERSIBLE. (1) A distinction based on the
fact that certain substances immediately as
sume the colloidal state on contact with pure
water. These are termed reversible colloids.
Others remain insoluble when once separated
from the disperse system. There is no real
theoretical distinction between the classes,
for the phenomenon depends upon the veloc
ity with which the disperse particles form

grains of precipitable size, and all such re

versible colloids eventually become irrevers
ible. (2) Colloids which, like agar agar or
gelatin, form both solutions and two phase
systems with water according to temperature
are termed reversible.
COLOGARITHM.
The logarithm o f the
reciprocal of a number. Sometimes used in
logarithmic computation to avoid the use of
negative mantissas or of subtraction of loga
rithms.
COLOR. The characteristics of light other
than spatial and temporal inhomogeneities.
The measure of color is three-dimensional.
One of the many ways of measuring color is
in terms of luminance, dominant wavelength
(see wavelength, dominant), and purity. In
homogeneities, for example, particular distri
butions and variations of light, and charac
teristics of objects which are revealed by vari
ations such as gloss, lustre, sheen, texture,
sparkle, opalescence, and transparency, are
not included among the color characteristics
of objects.
COLOR, ACHROMATIC. D evoid of hue.
Such a color is often called grey. (See also
achromatic locus; achromatic point; achro
matic stimulus.)
COLOR BLINDNESS. The inability of cer
tain defective eyes to distinguish between d if
ferent colors.
Inability to distinguish be
tween red and green is fairly common, par
ticularly in men. Yellow-blue color blindness
is much less common. W ith reduced illumina
tion we all become color blind before we
cease to see at all. This effect is due to the
greater sensitivity of the rods, which are not
color-sensitive, compared with the cones, which
are color-sensitive.
COLOR BREAKUP. A ny fleeting and par
tial separation o f a color picture into its dis
play primary components caused by a rapid
change in the condition of viewing. Illustra
tions of rapid changes in the condition of
viewing are: (1) fast movement of the head,
(2) fast interruption of the line of sight, (3)
blinking of the eyes.
COLOR BURST. That portion of the com
posite color signal comprising the few sinewave cycles of color subcarrier frequency
(and the color-burst pedestal, if present)

which is added to the horizontal pedestal for

synchronizing the color-carrier reference.
COLOR-BURST
pedestal.

PEDESTAL.

See

burst-

COLOR CARRIER. See the preferred term

subcarrier chrominance.
COLOR-CARRIER REFERENCE. A con
tinuous signal having the same frequency as
the color subcarrier and having fixed phase
with respect to the color burst. This signal
is used for the purposes of modulation at the
transmitter, and demodulation at the re
ceiver.
COLOR CELL. In a repeating pattern of
phosphors on the screen of a color picture tube,
the smallest area containing a complete set of
all the primary colors contained in the pat
tern. I f the cells are described by only one
dimension as in the line type of screen, the
other dimension is determind by the resolu
tion capabilities of the tube.
COLOR CENTER.
(1) W hen an alkali
halide crystal is heated in an atmosphere of
the alkali vapor, it takes on a deep color,
which is attributed to the creation of lattice
vacancies, acting as centers to which electrons
are attracted. The color is due to the absorp
tion of light in a broad band, as the electrons
are ionized away from the center. B y illumi
nation in the absorption band, the color may
be bleached, and the crystal rendered photo
conducting (see photoconduction).
Color
centers m ay be produced in other ways than
by heating in alkali vapor, such as by elec
trolysis, by irradiation with x-rays, electrons
or neutrons, etc. Several types of color cen
ters or bands have been designated, as exem
plified by the following: the F center or band
is considered to originate from an excess elec
tron near a negative ion va ca n cy; the F ',
from two excess electrons near a negative ion
vacan cy; the F 2j from two bound F-centers;
the F 2+ , from one excess electron near two
negative ion vacancies; the V i, from an elec
tron hole near a positive ion vacan cy; the U,
from added H~~ ions in a negative ion v a
can cy; the M , from an F-center combined
with two vacancies; the D , from an excess
electron near a combined positive-negative
ion vacancy.
(2) In color picture tubes, a
point or region (defined by a particular color-

selecting electrode and screen configuration)

through which an electron beam must pass in
order to strike the phosphor array of one pri
mary color. This term is not to be used to de
fine the color triad center of a color picture
tube screen.
COLOR CODER. In color television trans
mission, an apparatus for generating the
color picture signal (and possibly the color
burst) from camera signals and the chromi
nance subcarrier.
(See subcarrier, chromi
nance.)
COLOR, COMPLEMENTARY. T w o colors
are said to be complementary when they have
complementary chromaticities (see chromaticity, complementary) and, on mixing in
suitable proportions, yield a specified achro
matic color.
COLOR CONTAMINATION. In color tele
vision, an error of color rendition due to in
complete separation of paths carrying differ
ent color components of the picture. Such
errors can arise in the optical, electronic, or
mechanical portions of a color television sys
tem as well as in the electrical portions.
COLOR COORDINATE TRANSFORMA
TION. Computation of the tristimulus values
o f colors in terms of one set of primaries from
the tristimulus values of the same colors in
another set of primaries. This computation
m ay be performed electrically in a color-television system.
COLOR DECODER. In color television, an
apparatus for deriving the signals for the color
display device from the color picture signal
and the color burst.
COLOR DIFFERENCE SIGNAL. An elec
trical signal which, when added to the mono
chrome signal, produces a signal representa
tive of one of the tristimulus values (with
respect to a stated set of primaries) of the
transmitted color.
COLOR DISCRIMINATION.
differences between colors.

Perception of

COLOR EDGING. See color fringing. The

use of the term color edging is deprecated.
COLOR ENCODER.

See color coder.

COLOR FIELD CORRECTOR.

In color
television, a device located external to the tube

producing an electric or magnetic field which

affects the beam after deflection as an aid in
the production of uniform color fields.
COLOR FILTER. A layer, film, or plate of
a substance or material that absorbs or re
flects certain frequencies and transmits other
frequencies of light, thus changing the spectral
distribution of the light energy.
COLOR FLICKER. In color television, that
flicker which results from fluctuation of both
chromaticity and luminance.
COLOR FRINGING.
In color television,
spurious chromaticity at boundaries of objects
in the picture. C olor fringing can be caused
by the change in relative position of the tele
vised object from field to field or by misregis
tration and, in the case of small objects, may
even cause them to appear separated into d if
ferent colors.
COLORIMETER.
(1) An instrument de
signed for direct measurement of colors. (2)
An instrument designed for the measurement
of color, primarily by means of the visual
equivalence of a sample to a synthesized
stimulus.
(3) An instrument used for the
empirical measurement of concentrations of
solutions or the grading of products. For this
last use, the name color com parator is pref
able.
COLORIMETER, ABNEY.
A colorimeter
which combines light from two or more posi
tions in a spectrum of white light for the
purpose of producing colors of known char
acteristics.
COLORIMETER, BROWN-MacADAM.
A
three-filter
colorimeter embodying
color
matches between nearly identical spectral dis
tributions. The color to be matched is syn
thesized in an optical system using the same
kind of lamp, filters and mirrors as those in
the optical system used in matching, whereby
when the colors are matched, the spectral dis
tributions are identical.
COLORIMETER, DONALDSON.
A tri
chromatic, additive colorimeter having filters,
and mixing the components by diffusion in a
coated, hollow sphere. A modified D on ald
son colorimeter has six narrow-band filters,
and is arranged so that an approximate spec
tral match is first obtained by using the filters

successively in the eyepiece, followed by a

final visual match without a filter.
COLORIMETER, EASTMAN. A subtrac
tive colorimeter (see colorimeter, empirical)
in which the sample is matched by light pass
ing through three wedges, each belonging to
a series that can be varied until the best match
is obtained. The series are minus green, minus
blue and minus red.
COLORIMETER, EMPIRICAL. A colorim
eter using a series of selectively absorbing
materials through which transmitted light is
modified to match the sample. Also called
subtractive colorimeter.
COLORIMETER, GUILD. A trichromatic,
additive colorimeter in which the amounts of
the three components mixed are controlled by
rotary shutter movement. A rotating periscopic prism presents the components rapidly.
COLORIMETER, GUILD VECTOR.
A
colorimeter designed for the direct determina
tion of chromaticity by means of two succes
sive matches, wherefrom the chromaticity of
the sample is determined by the point of inter
section of these two vectors in the chroma
ticity diagram.
COLORIMETER, IVES.
A trichromatic
colorimeter using filters, in which the amounts
of the three component colors mixed is con
trolled by variable-width diaphragms.
COLORIMETER, NUTTING. A colorimeter
for direct determination o f dominant wave
length and purity, in which the sample color
is matched by adding an adjustable standard
white (achrom atic) stimulus to the spectrum
light from a prism.
COLORIMETER, PHOTOELECTRIC.
A
colorimeter in which the matching of a sam
ple is effected by three filter-photocell com
binations; although, of course, it is possible
to use a single photocell successively to meas
ure the light passing all three filters.
COLORIMETER, ROTATORY DISPER
SION. A colorimeter in which a sample is
matched by rotatory dispersion of polarized
light by the adjustment of Nicol prisms (and
intervening plates) and the instrument cali
brated in terms of chromaticity.

COLORIMETRIC PURITY.
orimetric.

See purity, col

COLORIMETRY. The techniques for the

measurement of color and for the interpreta
tion of the results of such measurements.
COLORIMETRY, THREE-COLOR M ETH
OD. A colorimetric method in which the
sample is matched with a mixture of variable
amounts of three components of light with
different chromaticities.
COLOR M ATCH. The condition in which
the two halves of a structureless photometric
field are judged by the observer to have ex
actly the same appearance. A color match
for the standard observer m ay be calculated.
COLOR MIXTURE. Color produced by the
com bination of light of different colors. The
com bination may be accomplished by succes
sive presentation of the components, provided
the rate of alternation is sufficiently high, or
the combination m ay be accomplished by
simultaneous presentation, either in the same
area or on adjacent areas, provided they are
small enough and close enough together to
eliminate pattern effects. A color mixture as
here defined is sometimes denoted as an addi
tive color mixture, to distinguish it from com
binations of dyes, pigments, and other absorb
ing substances. Such mixtures of substances
are sometimes called subtractive color m ix
tures, but might more appropriately be called
colorant mixtures.
COLOR M IXTURE CURVE. A curve rep
resenting the amount of a standard com po
nent (usually specified in wavelength) re
quired in a three-color mixture to match a
sample color, for unit flux of spectral energy.
The variables plotted are usually the amount
in lumens of the standard component and the
indicated wavelength of the sample color
matched.
COLOR-MIXTURE DATA.
values, the preferred term.

See tristimulus

COLOR MIXTURE FUNCTION. A func

tion having as variables the amounts or pro
portions of three standard color components,
represented by the color mixture curve.
COLOR, NONSPECTRAL. (1) A color not
present in the spectrum of white light. (2)
A color which can be represented by a point,

on the chromaticity diagram, that lies on the

straight line between the ends of the spectrum
locus, or between that line and the achromatic
point. (Definition by Committee on C olor
imetry of the Optical Society of America.)
COLOR PHASE (O F A GIVEN SUBCAR
RIER COM PONENT). The phase, with re
spect to the color-carrier reference, of that
component of the carrier-color signal which
transmits a particular color signal.
COLOR PHASE ALTERNATION (C P A ).
The periodic changing of the color phase of
one or more components of the color subcar
rier between two sets of assigned values. In
the N.T.S.C. system, the color phase is
changed after every field. It is recommended
that the term color phase alternation be
used in place of the terms oscillating color
sequence and flip-flop, which have been used
with this same meaning.
COLOR PICTURE SIGNAL.
In color tele
vision, the electrical signal which represents
complete color picture information, excluding
all synchronizing signals. One form of color
picture signal consists of a monochrome com
ponent plus a subcarrier modulated with
chrominance information.
COLOR PICTURE TUBE.
picture.

See tube, color

COLOR PLANE (M ULTIBEAM COLOR

PICTURE TUBES). A surface approximat
ing a plane containing the color centers.
C O L O R (S), PRIMARY. The colors o f con
stant chromaticity and variable luminance
which, when mixed in proper proportions, are
used to produce or specify other colors. Pri
maries need not be physically realizable.
COLOR PURITY MAGNET.
color purity.

See magnet,

COLOR SCREEN. A color filter used to ex

clude certain frequencies of light from a re
action system in order to control or m odify a
photo-process, physical or chemical.
COLOR-SELECTING-ELECTRODE
SYS
TEM. A structure containing a plurality of
openings mounted in the vicinity of the
screen of a color picture tube, the function of
this structure being to cause electron impinge
ment on the proper screen area by using either

masking, focusing, deflection, reflection, or a

com bination of these effects. (For examples,
see shadow mask; focusing and switching
grille.)
C O L O R -S E L E C T IN G -E L E C T R O D E
SYS
T E M TRANSM ISSION. The fraction of in
cident primary electron current which passes
through the color-selecting-electrode system.
C O L O R SENSATION. A subjective experi
ence constituting the primary conscious re
sponse to stimulation of the eye by radiant
energy in the visible region.
C O L O R SIGNAL. A ny signal at any point
in a color television system, for wholly or par
tially controlling the chromaticity values of a
color television picture. This is a general term
which encompasses many specific connota
tions, such as are conveyed by the words, color
picture signal, chrominance signal, carrier
color signal, monochrome signal (in color
television), etc.
C O L O R SIG NAL, C A R R IE R .
color signal.

See carrier

C O L O R SIGNAL, C O M P O SIT E . The color

picture, including blanking signals and all
synchronizing signals.
C O L O R , SPE C TR A L. A color represented
by a point on the chromaticity diagram that
lies on a straight line between the spectrum
locus and the achromatic point.
COLOR
color.

SU BCARRIER.

See

subcarrier,

C O L O R SYNC, C O M P O SIT E . The signal

comprising all the sync signals necessary for
proper operation of a color receiver. This in
cludes the deflection sync signals to which the
color sync signal is added in the proper time
relationship.
C O L O R SYNC SIGNAL.

See color burst.

C O L O R TE L E V ISIO N .
See television, dot
sequential; television, field sequential; tele
vision, line sequential.
C O L O R TE M PE R A T U R E .
color.

See temperature,

C O L O R TRANSM ISSION. In television, the

transmission of a signal wave for controlling
both the luminance values and the chromatic
ity values in a picture.

COLOR TRIAD (O F A PHOSPHOR-DOT

SCREEN). A color cell o f a three-color
phosphor-dot screen.
COLOR TRIANGLE. A triangle drawn on
a chromaticity diagram, representing the en
tire range of chromaticities obtainable as addi
tive mixtures of three prescribed primaries,
represented by the comers of the triangle.
COLORTRON.
scope.

A three-gun, tricolor kine

COLOR TUBE, BEAM-INDEXING.

tube, beam-indexing color.

See

COLOR VISION, THEORY OF. A ny psychophysiological theory which attempts to

correlate color sensation with the spectral dis
tribution of the radiant energy reaching the
eye. The early Young-H elm holtz theory of
color vision has been followed by others, none
of which are completely consistent with both
psychophysical observations and anatomical
evidence.
COLUMBUS.
An experimental thermonu
clear device of cylindrical design constructed
at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and using
the pinch effect for confinement and heating.
R ecent models also include externally applied
axial magnetic fields for stability. (See sta
bility of a plasma; dynamic pinch; stabilized
pinch.)
COLUMN. In positional notation a position
corresponding to a given power of the radix.
A digit located in any particular column is a
coefficient of a corresponding power of the
radix. Synonym : place.
COMA. One of the five geometrical aberra
tions of a lens with spherical surfaces. Skew
rays from a point object do not meet at the
same point on the image plane, but rather in
a pear shaped spot (com a). The Abbe sine
condition is a measure of coma. A lens sys
tem which is corrected for both spherical
aberration and coma for a single object posi
tion is called aplanatic.
COM ATIC CIRCLES. R ays from an offaxis point through any zone of a lens meet
the focal plane in a comatic circle, the radius
of which is in proportion to the radius of the
lens zone.
COMB FILTER.

See filter, comb.

COMBINATION. An assignment of a group

of objects into two or more mutually exclu
sive sets.

The binomial coefficient

is the

number of ways or combinations of selecting

k objects from a set of n objects. If the k
objects are permuted among themselves, no
new combinations are formed, but there are
fc! new arrangements of each combination.
COMBINATION PRINCIPLE.
The prin
ciple, first recognized by Ritz, that the many
frequencies exhibited by the spectrum of a
substance can be regarded as differences be
tween a com paratively few terms character
istic of the substance, taken two at a time in
their various possible combinations. R itzs
statement was quite empirical, but we now
understand that these terms correspond to the
different possible energy states of the atom
or molecule, and that the much more numer
ous spectral frequencies correspond to jum ps
or transitions from one state to another with
consequent release or absorption of radiation
quanta. For example, if an atom had twenty
possible energy states or levels, the number
of possible transitions releasing energy would
be theoretically 20 X 1 9 /2 ! = 190.
It does not follow, however, that all of the
corresponding frequencies are actually found
in the spectrum; some are forbidden, or of
such rare occurrence as not to produce ob
servable spectrum lines. (See also forbidden
transition.) W hen the principle is applied to
certain molecular spectra, slight discrepancies
are found which m ay be explained by assum
ing that some of the energy levels are not
single but are close doubles. Such a discrep
ancy is known as a combination d efect.
COMBINER CIRCUIT.
biner.

See circuit, com

COM M A (OF DIDYMUS OR OF PYTHAG

ORAS). See cent.
CO M M AND (CO M PU TER ). (1) One of a
set of several signals (or groups of signals)
which occurs as a result of an instruction; the
commands initiate the individual steps which
form the process of executing the instruction.
(2) Synonym for instruction.
CO M M AND (FEED BACK ). An independ
ent signal from which the dependent signals

are controlled according to the prescribed

system relationships.
COMMENSURABLE. The term used to de
scribe the relationship between several quan
tities, e.g., 6i, b2, and fc3, for which a number
C, not necessarily an integer, can be found
such that &i = 7&iC, b2 = n2C, and b3 = n3C
where n1} n2, and n3 are integers. I f no such
number C exists, then bly b2, and b3 are said
to be non-commensurable.
COM MON BASE CONNECTION.
plifier, transistor.

See am

COM MON COLLECTOR CONNECTION.

See amplifier, transistor.
COM MON EMITTER CONNECTION.
amplifier, transistor.

See

COMMON ION EFFECT. The reversal of

ionization which occurs when a compound is
added to a solution of a second compound
with which it has a common ion, the volume
being kept constant. The degree of ioniza
tion of the second compound then is lowered,
i.e., it retrogresses. (See mass action law.)
COM MUNAL ENTROPY. The contribution
to the entropy of a system arising from the
disorder when the molecules are sufficiently
free to change positions frequently.
COMMUNICATION.
tion.

See radio communica

COM MUNICATION BAND.

band of emission.

See frequency,

COMMUNICATION THEORY.
mation theory.
COMMUTATING CAPACITOR.
pacitor, commutating.
COMMUTATING RECTIFIER.
for free-wheeling rectifier.

See infor

See

ca

Synonym

COMMUTATION. (1) For the use of this

term in mathematics, see commutator; com
mutative; commutation rules. (2) A simple
loop of wire rotating in a unidirectional mag
netic field has induced in it a reversing or
alternating current. W hen the conditions of
usage make it desirable to have the current
from the generator flow in one direction in the
external circuit, commutation of some sort is
required. The function of a commutator is

to effect a reversal of the external connections

to the winding of the generator at the proper
time to produce a direct current in the con
nected circuit.
A single loop would generate a current
which, when commutated, was pulsating in
nature because of the varying rates at which
the conductor, during rotation, cuts the lines
of force of the magnetic circuit. The gen
erator is composed of many such loops prop
erly connected at their ends to the commu
tator.
The commutator for a single loop
would be simply a split ring with the two
halves insulated not only from each other,
but from the frame and shaft of the machine
as well. In an actual practical generator hav
ing a multiplicity of windings, the commu
tator consists of a large number of segments
of copper assembled around a hub which is
attached to the shaft. The segments are thor
oughly insulated from each other, usually with
mica, and to them the ends of the armature
coils are soldered. Brushes bearing against
the com mutator conduct the current away
from the generator.
COM M UTATION FACTOR (GAS TUBES).
The product of the rate of current decay and
the rate of the inverse voltage rise immediately
following such current decay. The rates are
com m only stated in amperes per microsecond,
and volts per microsecond.
COM M UTATION RULE.

The relation:

= ifi{0 , O '},
which must be met by any pair of quantum
mechanical operators O and O', which rep
resent two canonically conjugated dynamical
variables, if the Heisenberg uncertainty prin
ciple is to be satisfied. Here qt and pi are the
generalized coordinates (position and m o
mentum, respectively) for the system, h is
the Dirac ft, and 0 and O' are the classical
expressions for the dynamical variables in
terms of generalized position and momentum
coordinates. For the meaning of { 0 , 0 '} see
Poisson bracket. The requirement that the
commutation rule be satisfied is sometimes
called the quantization postulate. (See also
Jordan-Wigner commutation rules; commu
tation; quantum mechanics, postulates of.)

COM MUTATIVE. Describing the combina

tion of two or more quantities when the result
is independent of the order in which the oper
ation is performed.
Thus, if (a + b) =
(6 + a) or ab = ba, the processes are com
mutative.
(See operator, commutative; ma
trix, commutative.)
COMMUTATOR. (1) I f A and B are two
non-commutative operators, their commu
tator is
[A,B] = A B - B A .
According to quantum theory, if the commu
tator vanishes for two operators that repre
sent dynamical variables, then the measure
ment of one of these variables does not inter
fere with that of the other. (2) A mechani
cal device for periodically changing the con
nections to a rotating member, or for inter
changing the connections of two leads to an
electric circuit. (See commutation (2); elec
trical machinery; generator; dynamo.)
COM MUTING VARIABLES. In quantum
mechanics those dynamical variables whose
quantum mechanical operators commute. The
set of variables whose operators commute with
the Hamiltonian operator are constants of
motion.
COMPANDING.
In radio communication,
a process in which compression is followed by
expansion.
COMPANDING, INSTANTANEOUS. Com
panding in which the effective gain variations
are made in response to instantaneous values
of the signal wave.
COMPANDING, SYLLABIC. Companding
in which the effective gain variations are made
at speeds allowing response to the syllables
of speech but not to individual cycles of the
signal wave.
COMPANDOR. (1) A transmission system
in which the signal-to-noise ratio is improved
by signal compression before transmission,
and signal expansion after reception. (2) A
speech-reproducing system consisting of a
compressor of the volume range at the re
cording end, and an expander of the volume
range at the reproducing end.
COMPARATOR. (1) An instrument for the
accurate measurement of moderately small

lengths or distances. The feature common to

various forms is a reading microscope or tele
scope arranged to travel along a scale, its
axis remaining parallel to a fixed line. (2)
A circuit which compares two signals and sup
plies an indication of agreement or disagree
ment. This circuit is also known as an addor-subtract circuit.
COMPARISON BRIDGE.
parison.

See bridge, com

COMPASS.
A ny device which establishes
direction on the earths surface.
(C f. com
pass, magnetic; gyrocompass.)
COMPASS BEARING. See bearing, compass.
COMPASS COURSE.

See course, compass.

COMPASS COURSE, CORRECTED.

course, corrected compass.

See

COMPASS, FLUX-GATE. A compass oper

ating on the principle of the magnetic modu
lator. Three cores with appropriate excita
tion and load windings are arranged to be
perfectly balanced in the absence of external
fields. The magnitude and phase of the un
balance voltage on the load windings is pro
portional to the magnitude and direction of
the external (earth) magnetic field, respec
tively. A selsyn, sensitive only to phase, is
generally used as an indicator.
(See also
magnetometer, flux-gate.)
COMPASS H EADING.
pass.

See heading, com

COMPASS, INDUCTION. A compass which

determines the direction of the earths mag
netic field with the aid of a rotating coil.
Maximum induced voltage in the coil indi
cates that the rotational axis of the coil is
perpendicular to the magnetic field.

the bearing of a ship from the station. Next

the term was applied to a group of shore in
stallations, each equipped with a loop an
tenna, from which the navigating officer of a
ship within range could obtain the latitude
and longitude of his ship. A fter the loop an
tenna and receiving sets had been developed
to a state where they could be carried by the
ships themselves, the term radio compass was
applied to the loop. As new and improved
radio equipment became available, the term
radio compass was successively applied to any
radio device that could be used to determine
bearing. A glance through any textbook on
navigation, particularly those dealing with
air navigation, will yield at least two, and
sometimes as many as five, different instru
ments given the name radio compass.
COMPASS, RADIO, DUAL-AUTOMATIC.
A pair of direction-finders, with a common
azimuth-indicator having a pointer for each
direction finder, for the purpose of indicating
the bearing automatically.
COMPASS, SATURABLE-REACTOR TYPE.
See magnetometer, flux-gate.
COMPATIBILITY. T h at property o f a color
television system which permits substantially
normal monochrome reception of the trans
mitted signal by typical unaltered m ono
chrome receivers.
COMPENSATED SEMICONDUCTOR.
semiconductor, compensated.
COMPENSATION, APERTURE.
ture compensation.

See

See aper

COMPASS, M AGNETIC. A ny device which

indicates the direction of the horizontal com
ponent of the earths magnetic field. The
term usually refers to a magnetized needle
which is free to rotate in a horizontal plane.

COMPENSATION THEOREM. If a net

work is modified by making a change, AZ, in
the impedance of one o f its branches, the
current increment thereby produced at any
point in the network is equal to the current
that would be produced at that point by a
compensating electromotive force acting in
series with the modified branch, whose value
is iAZ, where i is the original current which
flowed in the modified branch.

COMPASS, RADIO. This is probably the

most loosely used term in all navigation.
W hen the loop antenna was first applied to
the determination of radio bearings, the term
radio-com pass station was applied to shore
installations that would forward, on request,

COMPENSATOR.
An
arrangement for
measuring the phase difference between the
two components of elliptically polarized light.
This is accomplished by introducing a known,
opposite phase difference of equal magnitude,
which reduces the existing phase difference to

zero. The most familiar form, devised by

Babinet, consists of two quartz wedges, with
their optic axes at right angles to each other.

COMPLEMENTARY AMPLIFIER.
plifier, transistor, complementary.

See am

COMPLEMENTARY FUNCTION.
lution to the differential equation;

The so

(Z)2 + a,\D + a2)y f(x )

may be written
y = eT2XJ e {ri~ r2)x<t>(x)dx + CieTlX + c2er2*,
A. Diagrammatic sketch of Babinet compensator;
angle of wedges much exaggerated. Hatching and
stippling indicate direction of crystal axes. B. Shows
wedges displaced.

where r1} r2 are the roots of the auxiliary equa

tion and

When passed through this apparatus and a

nicol prism set to extinguish light planepolarized at 45 to either axis, any given
elliptically polarized light produces a system
of parallel dark bands. Plane-polarized light
is first used (zero phase difference), then the
elliptic light of unknown phase difference, and
the relative displacement of the wedges neces
sary to restore the bands to their original
position gives the phase difference required.

The first term is a particular integral while

the second and third terms on the right are
the complementary functions. They form the
complete solution of the corresponding homo
geneous differential equation:

COMPENSATOR, ACOUSTIC.
compensator.

The procedure and nomenclature are not lim

ited to second-order equations but may be
extended to those of any order.

See acoustic

COM PLEM ENT. (1) A number whose rep

resentation is derived from the finite positional
notation of another by one of the following
rules: (a) True complement Subtract each
digit from one less than the base; then add 1
to the least significant digit, executing all
carries required; (b) Base minus ones com
plement Subtract each digit from one less
than the base (e.g., 9s complement in the
base 10, l s com plement in the base 2, etc.).
(2) T o form the complement of a number. In
many machines, a negative number is repre
sented as a complement of the corresponding
positive number.
COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE. Phys
ical phenomena may be described either in
terms of particle motions characterized by a
momentum p and an energy E , or in terms
of waves characterized by a wavelength A and
a frequency v. The two descriptions are con
nected by the equations:
p = h/\

and

E = hvy

where h is the Planck constant.

(See also
de Broglie wavelength; quantum; quantum
mechanics.)

<l>(x) = f e~ nxf(x )d x .
Jo

(D 2 + axD + a2)y = 0.

COMPLEMENTARY W AVELENGTH .
wavelength, complementary.
COMPLETE CARRY.

See

See carry.

COMPLETE
RADIATOR.
A
thermal
radiator of uniform temperature whose ra
diant flux in all parts of the spectrum is the
maximum obtainable from any temperature
radiator at the same temperature. Such a
radiator is called a black body because it
will absorb all the radiant energy that falls
upon it. This condition can be realized in
the laboratory only by having a hollow con
tainer with thick walls of high heat conduc
tivity (to insure thermal equilibrium) and a
very small hole from which radiation may
escape. N o known surface is truly black at
all wavelengths.
COMPLETE SET. A set of functions $n(#)
is complete if an arbitrary function, f ( x ),
satisfying the same boundary conditions as
the functions of the set, can be expanded as
oo

f(x) =

asn(x),
71 1

231

Complete Set of Orthogonal Functions, Expansion in Compiex Variable

the an being constant coefficients. This equa

tion is to be read as: the sum approximates
f i x ) in the mean.
COMPLETE
SET OF ORTHOGONAL
FUNCTIONS, EXPANSION IN.
(1) C on
sider the complete set of functions Snix) that
are orthogonal over an interval L, i.e.,
L

Sn(x)Sm*(x)dx = 0
where Sm*(x) is the complex conjugate of
Sm(x) and that are normalized to unity, i.e.,
Sn(x)Sn*dx = 1.
Then in the expansion
F (x) = a nSn(x)
n

of an arbitrary function F {x )} satisfying the

same boundary conditions as Sn, the coefficients
are given b y
anan* = |an I2 = f

Jo

F (x)S n*(x)dx.

Examples of complete orthogonal sets are the

sin nx and cos nx functions of the Fourier
series over the interval 0 to 7r; the complex
exponential functions elnx, n = 2, 1, 0,
+ 1, + 2 , over the interval 0 to t ; the
Legendre polynomials P n(%) over the interval
0 to 1; the functions \ / x J p(rnx) over the
interval 0 to 1, where Jp is the pth order
Bessel function of first kind and rn is its nth
root; etc.
(2) The idea of expansion in a complete
orthogonal set can be extended to the case
where the expansion functions form a con
tinuous, rather than a discrete, orthogonal
set. Again the orthogonality of the functions
allows the determination of the expansion co
efficients which are now continuous functions
rather than discrete constants (see transform
(2)). An example of such an expansion is
the Fourier transform. (See also eigenfunc
tion ( 1 ) ) .
(3) In many problems of quantum me
chanics, the quantum mechanical operators
have both discrete and continuous eigenvalues.
The complete set of eigenfunctions then in
cludes both those belonging to the discrete
spectrum and those belonging to the continu
ous spectrum of the eigenvalues. The expan
sion of an arbitrary state function is then a

sum over the discrete eigenfunctions plus an

integral over the continuous eigenfunctions.
COMPLETE SPACE. A metric space is com
plete if every Cauchy sequence in it is con
vergent to an element in the space.
COM PLEX ION.
COMPLEX
STANT OF.
complex.

See ion, complex.

ION,
INSTABILITY
CON
See ion, instability constant of

COMPLEX NUMBER. A complex number

has the form (a + ib ), where a,b are real
numbers and i = y 1. It thus consists of
a real part a and a pure imaginary part ib.
In the study of complex numbers they are
generally regarded as an ordered pair of real
numbers (a,6) subject to the following laws:
(1) equality, (a,b) = (c,d) if and only if
a = c, b = d) (2) addition, (a,b) + ic,d) =
(a + c, b + d) ; multiplication, (a,b) X (c,d)
= (ac bd, ad + b e).
(Cf. amplitude; ab
solute value; phase.)
A complex number may be represented
graphically on an Argand diagram.
(See
complex variable.)
COM PLEX PERMITTIVITY.
constant, complex.
COMPLEX TARGET.
COM PLEX TONE.

See dielectric

See target, complex.

See tone, complex.

COMPLEX VARIABLE. I f x and y are two

real variables, then z = x + iy is a complex
variable. It becomes a complex number if

x and y are constants. The com plex conjugate

of z is z* = x iy. The product of z and its
complex conjugate z * is real and is called
the absolute value \z\ of z, \z\ = ix2 + y 2)^ .
Complex variables may be written in the polar
form z = re10, where r = \z\ = ix2 + y 2)^2 and
the argument (or amplitude) is 0 = ta n -1
iy/x) (see diagram ).

A complex number may be plotted as a

point in an Argand diagram.
COMPLIANCE, ACOUSTIC. The recipro
cal of acoustic stiffness (see stiffness, acous
tic). Its dimensions are M ~ 1L * T ~ 2. This
definition applies to single frequency quanti
ties in the steady state, and to systems whose
properties are independent of the magnitude
o f these quantities.
COMPLIANCE CONSTANTS.
constants.

See elastic

COMPLIANCE, M ECHANICAL.
Com pli
ance in a mechanical vibrating system is that
coefficient which, when multiplied by 2tt times
the frequency, is the reciprocal of the nega
tive imaginary part of the mechanical imped
ance. The unit is the centimeter per dyne.
COMPLIANCE,
M ECH ANICAL
ROTA
TIONAL. In a mechanical rotational system,
that coefficient which when multiplied by 2tt
times the frequency, is the reciprocal of the
negative imaginary part of the mechanical
rotational impedance. The unit is the radian
per centimeter per dyne.
COMPONENT,
(1) In its general usage,
one of the ingredients of a mixture, or one of
the distinct molecular or atomic species com
posing a mixture. In physical chemistry, one
among the smallest number of chemical sub
stances which need to be specified in order to
reproduce a given chemical system. (2) The
projection of a vector on a particular coordi
nate axis or along some specified direction.
(3) For component of a tensor, see tensor,
contravariant; tensor, covariant (4). (See also
Fourier component.)
COMPOUND.
A homogeneous, pure sub
stance composed of two or more essentially
different chemical elements, which are pres
ent in definite proportions; compounds usu
ally possess properties differing from those of
the constituent elements.
COM POUND, COORDINATION. One of a
number of types of complex compounds, usu
ally derived by addition from simpler inor
ganic substances. Coordination compounds
are essentially compounds to which atoms or
groups have been added beyond the number
expected on the basis of electrovalent link
ages or the usual covalent linkages, to which

each of the two atoms linked donates one

electron to form the duplet. The coordinated
groups are linked to the atoms of the com
pound usually by semipolar covalences, in
which both the electrons in the bond are fur
nished by the linked atom of the coordinated
group. The ammines and complex cyanides
are representative coordination compounds.
COMPOUND, COVALENT.
A compound
formed by the sharing of electrons between
atoms; as distinguished from electrovalent
compounds, in which there occurs a transfer
of electrons. (See bond; bond, covalent.)
COMPOUND, INTERMETALLIC, A com
pound consisting of metallic atoms only,
which are joined by metallic bonds. Such
compounds may be made semiconducting if
the two metals between them contribute just
sufficient electrons to fill the valence band,
e.g., InAs.
COMPOUND, INTERSTITIAL.
A com
pound of a metal or metals and certain metal
loid elements, in which the metalloid atoms
occupy the interstices between the atoms of
the metal lattice. Compounds of this type
are, for example, TaC , TiC , ZrC, N bC , and
similar compounds of carbon, nitrogen, boron,
and hydrogen with metals.
COMPOUND, IONIC. One o f a class of
compounds which ionize readily in aqueous
solution, and which are formed when atoms
combine to produce molecules having stable
configurations by the transfer of one or more
electrons within the molecule. This type of
combination is illustrated by the combination
of sodium atoms and chlorine atoms to form
sodium chloride. The sodium atom loses the
single electron in its outer shell, and thus is
left with the stable configuration of eight elec
trons; the chlorine atom acquires an electron
to increase the number of electrons in its outer
shell from seven to eight; as a result of the
loss and gain of the electrons, the atoms have
acquired positive and negative charges, re
spectively, which constitute an electrovalent
bond.
COMPOUND, MOLECULAR.
A
com
pound formed by the union of two or more
already saturated molecules apparently in de
fiance of the laws of valence. The class in
cludes double salts, salts with water of crys

tallization, and metal ammonium derivatives.

These salts are usually formed b y van der
W aals attraction between the constituent
molecules. They do not differ in any charac
teristic manner from compounds formed in
strict accordance with the concept of valence.
They are also called addition compounds.
COM POUND, NONPOLAR. A compound
in which the centers of positive and negative
charge almost coincide, so that no permanent
dipole moments are produced.
The term
nonpolar also applies to compounds in which
the effect of oppositely directed dipole m o
ments cancel. N onpolar compounds may con
tain polar bonds, if their effect is canceled
by opposing bonds, as m ay occur in a per
fectly symmetrical molecule. N onpolar com
pounds do not ionize or conduct electricity.
M ost organic compounds are to be classed as
nonpolar compounds.
COM POUND
compound.

NUCLEUS.

See

nucleus,

COMPOUND, POLAR. In general, a com

pound that exhibits polarity, or local differ
ences in electrical properties, and has a di
pole moment associated with one more of its
interatomic valence bonds. Polar compounds
have relatively high dielectric constants, as
sociate readily in most cases, and include the
substances that exhibit tautomerism. In the
most general use of the term, polar compounds
include all electrolytes, most inorganic sub
stances, and many organic ones. Specifically,
the term polar compound is frequently ap
plied to the extreme type of polarity which
arises in the presence of an electrovalent bond
or, in wave-mechanical terms, to cases in
which one ionic term dominates in the orbital
function of the molecule. Such compounds
are exemplified by the inorganic acids, bases,
and salts which possess, to a greater or lesser
degree, the power, in aqueous solution, to con
duct electricity, associate, form double m ole
cules and complex ions, etc.
COM POUND, SATURATED. A compound
in which the valence of all the atoms is com
pletely satisfied without linking any two
atoms b y more than one valence bond.
COMPOUND TARGET.
pound.

See target, com

COMPOUND, TRACER. A compound which

by its ease of detection enables a reaction or
process to be studied conveniently. W ide use
has been made o f isotopes, including radio
active isotopes of common elements, which
are added in small quantities, in the form of
the proper compound, to follow the course of
an atom or a compound through a com pli
cated series of reactions; or conversely to de
termine the properties of a tracer that is
available only in quantities too small to
handle alone by adding it to a system con
taining chemically related elements, and then
following its course throughout a given series
of reactions. Considerable use o f tracer com
pounds is made in the study o f physiological
reactions.
COMPRESSIBILITY.
Relative change of
volume per unit of pressure, (1/V) (dV/dp).
In other words, the compressibility is the re
ciprocal of the bulk modulus. It may be
defined or measured under isothermal, adi
abatic, or other specified conditions.
COMPRESSIBILITY FACTOR. Defined as
pV / R T , where p is the pressure, V the v o l
ume, R the gas constant, and T the absolute
temperature. It has the value 1 for an ideal
gas, but m ay be greater or less than 1 for
real gases.
COMPRESSION. (1) In general usage, com
pression is descriptive o f the decrease of vo l
ume of a compressible substance (solid, liquid
or gaseous) due to the application of pressure.
The common example of compression is found
in cylinders filled with gas being compressed
by the motion of a piston moving in the cylin
der. The pressure increase required for any
given reduction of volume of a gas depends
upon the particular condition surrounding the
act of compression; for example, if the cylin
der is thoroughly insulated against heat trans
mission, the compression will be o f a type
known as adiabatic, and the temperature of
the gas will rise during compression because
the mechanical work expended on the piston
in obtaining the compression is converted into
heat energy in the gas. On the other hand,
if the cylinder is a good conductor of heat,
and passes heat to the atmosphere as rapidly
as it is received by the gas, the temperature
at the end of compression m ay be the same as
that at the beginning. In this isothermal

compression the pressure at the end of com

pression is less than that of an equivalent
adiabatic compression.
In general, actual
compressions are neither strictly adiabatic nor
isothermal.
(2) In structural engineering
compression is used to denote the type of
stress which causes the fibers of a member to
shorten. (3) In electronics, the ratio of the
small-signal power gain g0 of a device to the
power gain g at some higher power level.
Expressed in decibels:
Compression = 101ogi0
91
(See compressor.)
(4) In television, the re
duction in gain at one level of a picture signal
with respect to the gain at another level of
the same signal. The gain referred to in the
definition is for a signal amplitude small in
comparison with the total peak-to-peak, pic
ture signal involved. A quantitative evalua
tion of this effect can be obtained by a meas
urement of differential gain.
COMPRESSIONAL H EATING
( LONGI
TUDINAL AND A X IA L ). A method for
heating a plasma, usually one contained in a
magnetic mirror device. The confining mirror
can be raised after the plasma is obtained and
energy is imparted to the plasma by an adi
abatic compression.
COMPRESSION, BLACK (BLACK SATU
RATION). In television the reduction in gain
applied to a picture signal at those levels cor
responding to dark areas in a picture with
respect to the gain at that level corresponding
to the mid-range light value in the picture.
The gain referred to in the definition is for a
signal amplitude small in comparison with the
total peak-to-peak picture signal involved. A
quantitative evaluation of this effect can be
obtained by a measurement of differential
gain. The over-all effect of black compression
is to reduce contrast in the low lights of the
picture as seen on a monitor.
COMPRESSION, MODULUS OF.
modulus.

See bulk

COMPRESSION RATIO (GAIN OR AMPLI

F IC A T IO N ). The ratio of (a) the magnitude
o f the gain (or amplification) at a reference
signal level to (b) its magnitude at a higher
stated signal level.

COMPRESSION RATIO, TRANSADMIT

TANCE.
See transadmittance compression
ratio.
COMPRESSION, SYNC. The reduction in
gain applied to the sync signal over any part
of its amplitude range with respect to the gain
at a specified reference level. The gain re
ferred to in the definition is for a signal ampli
tude small in comparison with the total peakto-peak composite picture signal involved. A
quantitative evaluation of this effect can be
obtained by a measurement of differential
gain. Frequently the gain at the level of the
peaks of sync pulses is reduced with respect
to the gain at the levels near the base of the
sync pulses. Under some conditions, the gain
over the entire sync signal region of the com
posite picture signal may be reduced with
respect to the gain in the region of the pic
ture signal.
COMPRESSION, VOLUME. In amplitude
modulation systems of radio communication,
the amount of intelligence volume which can
be modulated upon the carrier is limited to
an amount which will give 100% modulation.
Since the percentage of modulation depends
directly upon the volume of the sound, it fol
lows that, in order not to exceed the allow
able modulation on very loud sounds, the per
centage on most sounds will be rather low.
Since the maximum use is made of the power
and a higher signal to noise ratio is obtained
for high degrees of modulation, it is very de
sirable to keep the level of modulation as high
as possible. T o do this the volume range of
the original sound is compressed into a much
smaller range. Thus, while a symphony or
chestra m ay have a volume range o f 100-110
db, the range is compressed to about 40 db
for broadcast purposes. In recordings the
maximum volume which may be recorded is
limited by the thickness of the groove walls
so the volume range is reduced here also. An
expander may be used in the reproducing sys
tem of the radio circuit or the phonograph
to restore the original range. (See amplifier,
volume-limiting.)
COMPRESSION, W H IT E (W H IT E SATU
RATION). The reduction in gain applied to
a television picture signal at those levels cor
responding to light areas in a picture, with
respect to the gain at that level corresponding

to the mid-range light value in the picture.

The gain referred to in the definition is for a
signal amplitude small in comparison with the
total peak-to-peak picture signal involved. A
quantitative evaluation of this effect can be
obtained by a measurement of differential
gain. The overall effect of white compression
is to reduce contrast in the highlights of the
picture as seen on a monitor.
COMPTON ABSORPTION. The absorption
of an x-ray or y-ray photon in the Compton
effect. Part of the energy of the photon is
absorbed, and part appears as a photon of
lower energy.
COMPTON EFFECT.
Elastic scattering
(see collision, elastic) of photons by elec
trons. Because the total energy and total
momentum are conserved in the collisions, the
wavelength of the scattered radiation under
goes a change that depends in amount on the
scattering angle. I f the scattering electron
is assumed to be at rest initially, the C om pton shift is given by the following equation:
X' X = X0( l cos 6) = (h/mec)( 1 cos 0),
where A' is the wavelength associated with the
scattered photons, X is the wavelength asso
ciated with the incident photons, X0 is the
Compton wavelength of the electron, m0 is the
rest mass, c is the speed of light, and 0 is
the angle between the paths of incident and
scattered photons.
The kinetic energy of the recoiling electron
is given b y :
h
-------(1 cos 0)
me\c
E
=

(r)

(1 cos 0)

1+

me\c

COMPTON METER. An ionization cham

ber especially useful for cosmic ray measure
ments. It is of the compensating type, using
a balance chamber with a uranium source
which is adjusted until it balances out the
normal cosmic radiation. Variations in this
radiation are shown on the collecting system,
which is connected to an electrometer.
COMPTON RECOIL PARTICLE. A par
ticle which gains its momentum by a scatter
ing process similar to the Compton effect,
COMPTON RULE. An empirical relation
ship between thermal properties of elements,
of the form :
(At. W t.)(L /)

= 2,

in which At. W t. is the atomic weight, L f is

the heat of fusion, and Tf is the fusing point
(in degrees absolute).
COMPTON SCATTERING.
effect.

See Compton

COMPTON SCATTERING, DOUBLE.

double Compton scattering.
COMPTON SHIFT.
ton effect.

See

Discussed under Comp

COMPTON-SIMON EXPERIMENT. Fun

damental experiment demonstrating the quan
tum nature of x-rays by scattering them by
electrons in a W ilson cloud chamber and ob
serving that the energy and momentum bal
ance corresponds to an energy hv and momen
tum hv/c per quantum, where h is the Planck
constant, and v is the frequency.
COMPTON W AVELENGTH . A wavelength
characteristic of a particle of rest mass m0,
and evaluated by the relationship:
X0 = h/m0c,

and it recoils at an angle <f> given b y :

e
tan <t> = cot -

h
1+

m A c_

The differential scattering cross section for

Compton scattering of a photon by an elec
tron is given by the Klein-Nishina formula.
COMPTON ELECTRON. An electron set in
motion by interaction with a photon in the
Compton effect.

where Ao is the Compton wavelength, h is the

Planck constant, mo is rest mass of the particle
and c is the speed of light. (See also Comp
ton effect.)
COMPUTER.
(1) A machine for carrying
out calculations. (2) B y extension, a machine
for carrying out specified transformations on
information.
COMPUTER, ANALOG. A physical system
together with means of control for the per

formance of measurements (upon the system)

which yield information concerning a class of
mathematical problems.
(See also analogs
and analogy.)
COMPUTER, COURSE ( LINE ). The equip
ment which provides the means by which any
arbitrary course line m ay be set up and flown,
such as that used in connection with O D R and
D M E equipment.
COMPUTER, DIGITAL.
A computer in
which information, numerical or otherwise, is
represented by means of combinations of
characters in such a way that the number of
distinguishable combinations is much greater
than the number of distinguishable charac
ters. Thus, a digital computer is one which
makes explicit use of a language. (See also
program; code.)
COMPUTER, D IGITAL, PARALLEL.
A
digital computer in which the digits are
handled in parallel. M ixed serial and parallel
machines are frequently called serial or parallel
according to the way arithmetic processes are
performed. An example of a parallel digital
computer is one which handles decimal digits
in parallel, although it might handle the bits
which comprise a digit either serially or in
parallel. (See also computer, digital, serial.)
COMPUTER, DIGITAL, SERIAL. A digital
computer in which the digits are handled
serially. M ixed serial and parallel machines
are frequently called serial or parallel accord
ing to the way arithmetic processes are per
formed. An example of a serial digital com
puter is one which handles decimal digits
serially, although it might handle the bits
which comprise a digit either serially or in
parallel. (See also computer, digital, paral
lel.)

ing but serves also to focus the image of the

slit without the use o f a lens.
CONCENTRATION. (1) The process of in
creasing the quantity of a substance or form
of energy or other entity that exists in a v ol
ume of space, as in increasing by evaporation
the amount of solute contained in unit volume
in a solution, or as in gathering heat, light,
electricity, or other energy or form of energy.
(2) The quantity itself of matter or other
entity that exists in a unit volume, as the
strength of a solution in mass of solute per
unit mass of solution, or in the number of
moles, hydrogen ions, etc., contained per unit
volume or per unit mass.
CONCENTRATION,
ABSOLUTE.
The
quantity of a substance, or form o f energy or
other entity that exists in a unit volume, ex
pressed in mass per unit volume (ergs per
cubic centimeter), or number of particles (as
of atoms, hydrogen-ions, etc.) per unit v o l
ume.
CONCENTRATION CELL.
centration.

See cell, con

CONCENTRATION CELL, ELECTRODE.

See cell, electrode concentration.
CONCENTRATION,
CRITICAL.
When
two immiscible liquids are heated in contact
with each other, their mutual solubility is usu
ally increased until, at the critical solution
point, they become consolute. The com po
sition of the two solutions immediately before
they become consolute is termed the critical
concentration.

See flight

CONCENTRATION, IONIC. The number

of gram-ions (calculated from the gram-atomic
weight of the substance or substances compos
ing the ion) contained in unit volume of solu
tion.

COMPUTER F L O W DIAGRAM. A graph

ical representation of a program or a routine.

CONCENTRATION, M AXIM UM PERMIS

SIBLE. See maximum permissible concen
tration.

COMPUTER, FLIGHT PATH.

path computer.

COMPUTER, OFFSET COURSE. An auto

m atic computer which translates reference
navigational coordinates into those required
for a predetermined course.
CONCAVE GRATING. An optical diffrac
tion grating ruled on a concave, spherical re
flecting surface, which not only acts as a grat

CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION.
polarization, concentration.
CONCENTRIC
locked.

GROOVE.

CONCENTRIC LINE.
coaxial line.

See

See

groove,

Another name for

Concentric Line Oscillator Condenser R-meter

237
CONCENTRIC LINE OSCILLATOR.
oscillator, coaxial line.
CONCURRENT FORCES.
forces, concurrent.

See

See statics, also

CONDENSATION.
(1) Change from gas
eous (or vapor) state to liquid state. (See
change of state.) (2) In general, increase in
density. (3) The local increase in density in
a sound wave, as contrasted with rarefaction:
quantitatively,
p Po

s = ----------*
Po

where s is the condensation, p the local in

stantaneous density, po the constant mean
density at a point.
(4) Accumulation of
electric charge, as of electrons in a condenser
(see capacitor, electric). (5) Convergence of
light, or formation of a beam of parallel light
rays. (6) In chemistry, various combination
reactions of molecules to form larger m ole
cules.
(7) See Bose-Einstein condensation.
CONDENSATION, COEFFICIENT OF.
It
can be shown from kinetic theory that, for a
solid or liquid in equilibrium with its vapor
at pressure and temperature T , the mass of
vapor molecules striking (and therefore also
leaving) unit area per second is
M=

p S/m

moisture loss by precipitation, considering the

world at large, is replaced by equivalent evap
oration of moisture into the atmosphere.
Nuclei upon which condensation can take
place are absolutely necessary. Non-ionized
and pollution-free air will become up to 400%
supersaturated before condensation occurs.
On the other hand, clouds sometimes form be
fore air becomes 100% saturated. Nuclei upon
which condensation begins at the approach
toward saturation are highly hygroscopic and
encourage condensation. Minute salt crystals,
primarily sodium, magnesium and calcium
chlorides, carbonates, and sulfates, smoke par
ticles, and ions serve as condensation nuclei.
Lowering of the temperature of air below its
dew point, or adding water vapor beyond the
holding capacity of the air, is a second require
ment for the formation of clouds.
CONDENSED SYSTEM.
A substance or
mixture of substances in the liquid or solid
state. The term has also been applied to the
condensation into a state of zero momentum
of the particles in a ideal gas obeying BoseEinstein statistics.
CONDENSER, ELECTRIC.
electric.

See capacitor,

CONDENSER FORMULAS.
formulas.

See capacitor

/ 2 ttR T

where M is the molecular weight of the vapor,

and R the gas constant. I f it can be assumed
that every molecule striking the surface is con
densed, this expression will also give the rate
o f loss of weight of the solid or liquid at tem
perature T in a vacuum. I f the assumption is
not justified, the rate of loss of weight can be
written

jl = a p ^ M/2tRT
the constant a being known as the coefficient
o f condensation. Experiments appear to show
that this may be considerably less than unity
in some cases.
CONDENSATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
Clouds and precipitation are visible evidence
that water vapor in the atmosphere condenses
into liquid and solid water. Moisture in cloud
form may be re-evaporated into the air, but
rain, snow, and allied forms of precipitation
actively lessen the total water content. This

CONDENSER LOUDSPEAKER.
speaker, electrostatic.

See loud

CONDENSER MICROPHONE.
phone, electrostatic.

See micro

CONDENSER PLATE.
trode.

A capacitor elec

CONDENSER R-METER ( CONDENSER

IONIZATION CH AM BER). Ionization in
strument for measuring x- or y-rays, consist
ing of an electrometer and a detachable ioni
zation chamber, embodying a condenser of
suitable capacitance. This can be attached
to the electrometer and the entire system
charged. It is then detached from the elec
trometer, exposed to the radiation and re
turned to the electrometer for reading the de
crease in charge. The instrument can be cali
brated to read directly in roentgens at the
position of the center of the chamber, over a
considerable range o f photon energies, pro

vided the ionization chamber is suitably con

structed.
CONDITIONAL
INFORMATION
CO N
TENT. See information content, conditional.
CONDITIONAL STABILITY.
limited.

See stability,

CONDITIONAL TRANSFER OF CON

TROL. Synonym for jump, conditional.
CONDITION,
CYCLICALLY
M AGNET
IZED. A condition of a magnetic material
when it has been under the influence of a mag
netizing field varying between two specific
limits until, for each decreasing (or increas
ing) value of the magnetizing field, the mag
netic flux density has the same value in suc
cessive cycles.
CONDOR. A continuous-wave navigational
system similar to benito, which automatically
measures bearing and distance from a single
ground station. The distance is determined
by phase comparison and the bearing by auto
matic direction finding. Distance and bearing
are displayed on a cathode ray indicator.
CONDUCTANCE. The real part of admit
tance.
In a non-reactive element, the recip
rocal of the resistance.
CONDUCTANCE, DISPERSION OF.
Debye-Falkenhagen effect.
CONDUCTANCE, ELECTRODE.
part of the electrode admittance.

See

The real

CONDUCTANCE, EQUIVALENT. (1) The

electrical conductance of a solution which
contains one gram-equivalent weight of solute
at a specified concentration, measured when
placed between two electrodes which are 1 cm
apart. (2) For ATR tubes, the normalized
conductance of the tube in its mount measured
at its resonance frequency. Normalization is
with respect to the characteristic impedance of
the transmission line at its junction with the
tube mount.
CONDUCTANCE FOR RECTIFICATION.
The quotient of the electrode alternating cur
rent of low frequency by the in-phase com
ponent of the electrode alternating voltage of
low frequency, a high-frequency sinusoidal
voltage being applied to the same or another
electrode and all other electrode voltages be
ing maintained constant.

CONDUCTANCE, INPUT OR CATHODEGRID. See transit time; transit angle; consit

time effect.
CONDUCTANCE, IONIC.
The amount
contributed by each characteristic ion to the
total equivalent conductance in infinite dilu
tion. Thus, in the mathematical expression
of the law of independent migration of ions:
Ao =

+ A_,

in which A+ and A_ are the ionic conductances

of cation and anion, respectively, and A is
the total equivalent conductance (see con
ductance, equivalent) of the electrolyte.
CONDUCTANCE MOLAR. The electrical
conductance of a solution which contains one
mole of solute at a specified concentration,
measured when placed between electrodes
which are one centimeter apart.
CONDUCTANCE, MUTUAL. One of the
common vacuum -tube coefficients, which in
dicates the effect on the plate current of the
grid voltage, other quantities being held con
stant. It is also known as the transconduc
tance. M athem atically it is
Gm [dip/deglfjp constant
where dip is an infinitesimal change of plate
current and de0 is an infinitesimal change of
grid voltage, while E p is the plate voltage (see
transconductance; interelectrode transadmit
tance; characteristic curve).
CONDUCTANCE, NOISE, EQUIVALENT.
A quantitative representation in conductance
units of the spectral density of a noise-current
generator at a specified frequency. The rela
tion between the equivalent noise conductance
Gn and the spectral density
of the noisecurrent generator is
Gn = wWi/ikTo),
where k is Boltzmanns constant and T 0 is the
standard noise temperature, 290K, and k T 0
= 4.00 X 10 21 watt-seconds. The equiva
lent noise conductance in terms of the meansquare noise-generator current i2 within a fre
quency increment A/ is
Gn = ? / (4 k T 0Af).
CONDUCTANCE
OF
ELECTROLYTE.
The conductance (ohm - 1 ) and conductivity
(ohm -1 cm - 1 ) are defined for electrolytes as

for any conductor. In addition for electro

lytes, much use is made of the equivalent
conductance; this is the product of conduc
tivity and the volume (in cm3) containing 1
gram-equivalent of electrolyte.
CON DUCTAN CE
OF ELECTROLYTE,
M E A SU R E M E N T O F. T o avoid errors in
troduced by polarization at the electrode, the
conductance of electrolytes is measured with
low -voltage alternating current in a bridge.
Both reactive and resistive balances must be
made.
C O N D U C T A N C E R A T IO . The ratio of the
equivalent conductance of a given ionic (elec
trolytic) solution to its equivalent conduct
ance at infinite dilution. (See conductance,
equivalent.)
C O N D U C T A N C E , SPE C IFIC .
tivity, electrical.

See conduc

C O N D U C T A N C E , TR A N SISTO R O U TPU T.
See transistor parameter h0.
C O N D U C T IO N . The transmission of energy
(heat-sound-electricity) by means of a me
dium without movement of the medium itself,
as distinguished from convection, in which
such movement occurs, or from radiation in
which the energy quanta pass through the
medium and so the transmission does not
occur by means of the medium.
(See con
duction, electric; thermal conduction.)
C O N D U C T IO N , A IR
conduction (sound).

(S O U N D ).

See air

C O N D U C T IO N B A N D . According to the
band theory of solids, a partially-filled energy
band in which the electrons can m ove freely,
allowing the material to carry an electric cur
rent. Such a band could then be called a con
duction band, but the term is usually restricted
to the case of semiconductors and insulators,
where the conduction band is normally empty,
and is separated by an energy-gap from the
full bands below it.
C O N D U C T IO N
electric.

C U R R E N T.

See

current,

C O N D U C T IO N , D E F E C T . Conduction by
holes in the valence band of a semiconductor.
C O N D U C T IO N , E L E C T R IC . The transfer
of electricity is accomplished by the motion of
electric charge (1 ).
In most metals, the

moving charges are electrons; in semiconduc

tors, both electrons and holes are important;
in ionic crystals and electrolytes, positive and
negative ions are the carriers; in gas discharges
both ions and electrons play their parts.
In general, good conductors, like the metals,
show a decrease of conductivity with rising
temperature; other conductors show an in
crease. Photoconductive effects are shown by
some semiconductors under the action of light,
and superconductivity is characteristic, at very
low temperatures, of a few of the metals that
are not among the best of the conductors.
(For effects related to electrical conduction,
see also conduction, thermal; thermoelectric
phenomena; thermionic phenomena; Hall ef
fect; band theory of solids; free electron the
ory of metals; electrolysis; discharge, gaseous;
and related entries.)
C O N D U C T IO N , EXCESS.
In a semicon
ductor, conduction by excess electrons, for
example, by electrons introduced by donor
impurities and promoted to the conduction
band.
C O N D U C T IO N , IO N IC , IN SOLIDS. Since
the ions of an ionic crystal may diffuse
through the lattice, a small electrical conduc
tivity is possible even though the material
should otherwise be insulating. The process
is very sensitive to temperature (see mobility
of ions in solids) and at low temperatures is
also strongly dependent on the structure and
purity of the material.
C O N D U C T IO N , M E T A L L IC . The conduc
tion of electricity through solids wholly (or
almost so) by the migration of electrons in
such a concentration that the conductivity de
creases with increasing temperature.
C O N D U C T IO N , T H E R M A L ,
E very sub
stance is in some measure a conductor of heat
though liquids are generally poor conductors
and gases almost non-conductors. The best
conductors are metals.
The flux o f heat
through a layer o f any substance b y conduc
tion is proportional to the temperature gra
dient (fall of temperature per unit thickness),
and to a factor called the thermal conduc
tivity of the substance, defined as the quan
tity of heat transmitted per unit time per unit
cross section per unit temperature gradient.
The thermal conductivities of a few solids are

given below, in cal cm -1 sec- 1 degree- 1 , at

room temperature:
Aluminum. . . , , 0.480
Copper............
.918
C ork................
.0001
Glass............... ,.
.002
I c e ...................
.005

Iron (cast)___
0.161
Lead................
.083
Paraffin...........
.0006
Quartz. .0.033 or 0.017
Silver...............
1.006

(It will be noted that quartz, a highly birefringent crystal, has different conductivities
along and perpendicular to its optic axis, as
do anisotropic crystals in general.)
In most of the materials that are nonelec
trical conductors, the principal mechanism of
thermal conduction is the transfer of energy
by collisions among the molecules or atoms.
In a solid, these collisions are coupled so that
they result in lattice vibrations in which en
ergy is transferred in the form of phonons. In
metals, and to some extent in semiconductors,
this mechanism is unimportant compared with
the heat transport by electrons (see free elec
tron theory of metals). The WiedemannFranz law, which relates the electrical con
ductivity to the thermal conductivity and the
temperature, is a reasonably good approxima
tion for most metals, and breaks down badly
for many semiconductors.
The law for one-dimensional thermal con
duction is given under thermal conductivities
of metals, direct methods. When generalized
to three-dimensional flow, it may be written:
J = -K V T ,
where VT is the gradient of the temperature,
and J is a vector pointing in the direction of
the heat flow and of magnitude equal to the
amount of heat flowing per unit time across
unit area norm al to the flow.
K is the
therm al conductivity. (See also heat flow
equation.)
CONDUCTIVITY, ACOUSTIC. The ratio
o f the volume current through an orifice to the
difference in velocity potential between the
two sides of the orifice. Its dimensions are
in centimeters.
CONDUCTIVITY APPARATUS. An appa
ratus, usually in the form of a bridge circuit
for determining the conductivity of a liquid
or solution. It consists of a conductivity cell,
with all the accessory equipment for measur
ing resistance, and for measuring and con
trolling temperature.

CONDUCTIVITY CELL. A cell for deter

mining the conductivity of a solution (or fused
so lid ), consisting of a chamber containing two
electrodes.
CONDUCTIVITY, ELECTRICAL. Strictly
defined only for a material which obeys the
Ohm law and equal to the ratio:

* = J/E,
where J is the current density and E the elec
trical field vector. The most commonly used
unit is the mho per centimeter. In aniso
tropic materials, the conductivity is a tensor,
instead of a scalar.
CONDUCTIVITY MODULATION (OF A
SEM ICONDUCTOR). The variation of the
conductivity of a semiconductor by variation
of the charge carrier density.
CONDUCTIVITY, N-TYPE. The conductiv
ity associated with conduction electrons in
a semiconductor.
CONDUCTIVITY, P-TYPE.
Conductivity
in which the current appears to be carried by
positive charges, as by holes in an impurity
semiconductor.
(See semiconductor, impur
ity.)
CONDUCTOR.
A material which, when
placed between terminals having a difference
of electrical potential, will readily permit the
passage of an electric current is an electrical
conductor. Different materials have different
degrees of conductivity. (See also semicon
ductor.)
CONDUCTOR, FORCE ON.
conductor.

See force on

CONE. (1) A solid formed by a closed con

ical surface and a plane, called the base of
the cone, cutting the surface in a closed curve.
Depending on the surfaces from which they
are formed, cones are described as square, rec
tangular, elliptical, circular, etc., these terms
designating the section obtained by a plane
through the cone, parallel to its base.
The names cone and conical surface are fre
quently used interchangeably but it is proper
to distinguish between them, for one is a solid
and the other is a surface. (2) A receptor
cell in the retina of the eye. Cones respond
only to fairly high level of illumination, but

distinguish between colors.

See light cone.

(See rod.)

(3)

CONE OF NULLS.
A conical surface
formed by directions of negligible radiation.
(See interference.)
CONE OF SILENCE. A conically-shaped
region above an antenna where, because of the
configuration of the antenna system, the field
strength is relatively low, e.g., the cone of
silence above a radio range station.
CONFIGURATIONAL ELASTICITY OF A
LIQUID. The compressibility of a liquid de
pends in part on resistance to compression
owing to the thermal agitation of the m ole
cules and in part on disturbance of the short
range order. The contribution from the lat
ter is the configurational elasticity.
CONFIGURATION, ATOM IC.
The ar
rangement in space of the atoms of a m ole
cule.
CONFIGURATION, ELECTRONIC.
An
assignment of electrons to states or orbitals in
an atom, molecule or crystal. For example
the electronic configuration of a carbon atom
in its ground state is ( I s ) 2(2 s)2(2 p )2 indicat
ing that there are two electrons in the Is state,
two in the 2s state and two in the 2p state
(see s-state and p-state). The energy state
term (see term, energy state) is 8P 0, indicating
that the two 2p electrons have unpaired spins,
giving a resultant spin S = V2 + V2 =
and
therefore a multiplicity of 2S + 1 = 3 (trip
let), and that the orbital and spin angular
momenta combine to give a total angular m o
mentum quantum number of J = 0.
CONFIGURATION, INTERACTION. C al
culations of bond energy of molecules depend
on assuming that the electrons are to be found
in certain orbitals, for which approximate
forms must be assumed.
T o improve the
calculation it is necessary to consider the ad
mixture into the wave function of functions
corresponding to other electronic configura
tions, supposed to represent excited states of
the molecule.
CONFINEM ENT OF A PLASMA. In the
controlled thermonuclear program, a term
which refers to the condition in which an ex
tremely hot ionized gas or plasma is effectively
separated from material walls by means of

a magnetic field. During confinement, any

particle diffusion or radiation from the plasma
must not introduce a noticeable cooling m a
terial into the plasma volume. Isolation is
also used in this sense.
CONFINEMENT (CONTAINM ENT) OF
FULLY IONIZED PLASMA. The term used
to describe the scheme by which a high tem
perature plasma is held (long enough for nu
clear reactions to take place) off the walls of
the reacting chamber in controlled thermonu
clear reactors. The schemes which have been
considered in greatest detail involve the use
of static or quasi-static magnetic fields or
radio frequency electromagnetic fields.
CONFINEMENT
TIME
IN
A
CON
TROLLED
THERMONUCLEAR
REAC
TOR (C T R ). The characteristic time of de
cay of the ion and electron densities in a
controlled thermonuclear reactor. This time
is determined by collisions between the
charged particles in the plasma and by hydromagnetic and electrostatic instabilities and
other cooperative processes in the plasma.
CONFLUENCE. (1) The merging of singu
larities of a differential equation upon varia
tion of the parameters of the equation. The
confluent hyper geometric equation is
x y " + (c x )y' ay = 0
and is so-called because it is obtained from
the hypergeometric equation by confluence of
the singularities at x = 1 and x = 00 . Special
cases of it are the differential equations of
Hermite, Weber, and Whittaker. (2) In hy
drodynamics, the region in which the spacing
between streamlines decreases in the direction
of flow.
CONFLUENT HYPERGEOMETRIC FUNC
TIONS.
Functions related to the Gauss
hypergeometric functions.
(See Morse and
Feshbach, M ethods of Theoretical Physics,
M cG raw -H ill, 1953. See also confluence.)
CONFORMABLE.

See matrix, conformable.

CONFORMAL MAPPING. A transforma

tion of a complex function (see complex vari
able) by the mapping function transform
w = F{ z ) is conformal wherever F is analytic.
An infinitesimal figure in the 2 -plane is
mapped into a similar infinitesimal figure in
the w-plane. An alternate statement is that

two intersecting curves in the 0 -plane are

mapped into two curves in the w -plane with
the same angle of intersection.

bola, the ellipse, and a special case of the

latter, the circle. The parabola is a non
central conic since its center is at infinity.

CONGRUENT M ELTING POINT. A point

on a phase diagram where a solid compound
of two components melts to a liquid of the
same composition.

CONIC, CONFOCAL.
A system of two
or more conic sections having the same foci.
Its equation in standard form is:

CONIC. A conic section.

CONICAL COORDINATE.
system, conical.

See coordinate

CONICAL REFRACTION. A narrow ray

entering properly into a biaxial crystal may
be propagated as a cone within the crystal
(internal conical refraction). A convergent
beam of light focused on a pinhole in a screen
covering one face of a biaxial crystal may
leave a pinhole in a screen on the opposite
face as a cone (external conical refraction).
CONICAL SURFACE. A surface generated
by a m oving line intersecting a fixed curve
and passing through a fixed point. The line
is the generatrix; the curve is the directrix;
the point is the vertex. Its general equation,
if the vertex is taken at the origin of a
Cartesian coordinate system, is:
A x 2 + B y2 + Cz2 + 2Fyz + 2 Gxz + 2H xy = 0.
Depending on the curve chosen as the direc
trix, the surface is square, rectangular, ellip
tical, etc. If the directrix is an ellipse in the
plane z = c with semi-axes a and b and the
vertex is taken at x y = z = 0, the resulting
equation is:

The axis of the conical surface is then the

Z-axis and the coordinate origin is a center
o f symmetry. Tw o surfaces are thus pro
duced, one for positive values of z and its
mirror image for negative z. These are the
two nappes of the conical surface.
I f the directrix is a circle, a = b and the
surface is called right circular.
CONIC, CENTRAL. A conic section which
is symmetric about a finite point on the plane
o f the curve. I f this point, called the center,
is at the origin of the coordinate system the
equation contains no terms of the first degree
in x and y. The central conics are the hyper

where A > B and q is a variable parameter.

If q is less than B or negative, both denom
inators are positive and the resulting curves
are ellipses; if A > q > B } the curves are
hyperbolas; if q < A , the curves are imag
inary.
The two families of conics have the same
foci, for the distance from the center to a
focus is V [A q) (B q) = y/A B , in
both cases. Through every point in the plane
two curves intersect and the curves are mutu
ally perpendicular at that point. Thus if the
point of intersection is described by the two
real roots of the quadratic equation in q,
these numbers locate the point in a tw o-di
mensional curvilinear coordinate system, often
called elliptical.
(See coordinate system,
curvilinear; coordinate system, elliptic.)
A degenerate case is a system of two fam
ilies of parabolas, opening in opposite direc
tions. Since the curves are mutually perpen
dicular, they also may be used as a curvilinear
coordinate system in two dimensions. The
name parabolic coordinates is used for this
system as well as for the three-dimensional
case obtained by revolving the parabolas
about their common axis.
CONIC, DEGENERATE. One of the limit
ing forms of a conic section: one or two
straight lines or a point. It is represented by
a quadratic equation in two variables if the
discriminant of the equation vanishes.
CONICOID.

A quadric surface.

CONIC SECTION. A curve described in

Cartesian coordinates, usually but not neces
sarily rectangular coordinates, by an algebraic
equation of the second degree in two variables:
A x 2 + B xy + Cy2 + D x + E y + F = 0.
The shape o f the curve is determined by the
values assigned to the constants A , B, *, F
and relations assigned to them. The possi

bilities are: ellipse, hyperbola, parabola, de

generate conic. (See quadratic equation in
two variables.)
A conic section m ay also be defined as the
locus of a point which moves so that its dis
tance from a fixed point, the focus, is in a con
stant ratio, the eccentricity, to its distance
from a fixed straight line, the directrix. Each
curve is obtained by a cutting plane through
a right circular conical surface.
CONJUGATE.
(1) See complex variable.
(2) See transform; matrix, complex conjugate.
CONJUGATE FOCI.
The interdependent
distances between object and lens and lens
and image are known as the conjugate dis
tances. As the distance from the object to the
lens increases, that from the lens to the image
decreases and vice versa. The formula ex
pressing the geometrical relation between these
distances is:
1/ / = 1/v + 1/u,
where / is the focal length of the lens, v, the
lens-to-im age distance, and u , the ob ject-tolens distance. The ratio of the conjugate dis
tances determines the size of the image. Thus:

CONJUGATE SOLUTIONS. A system in

equilibrium consisting of two liquid phases
and two components; if the components of
such a two-com ponent system are designated
as A and B, then one phase is a solution of
component A in component B, and the other
phase is a solution of component B in com po
nent A. Such liquids are spoken of as partially miscible.
CONJUGATE VARIABLES.
conjugate variables.

See canonically

CONNECTIVITY. A domain bounded by a

smooth curve is said to be simply connected.
A ny closed curve in the domain can be shrunk
to a point by continuous deformation without
crossing the boundary. When more than one
continuous arc is required to form the bound
ary, the domain is multiply connected and the
minimum number o f arcs required to form
the boundary is the connectivity.
CONPERNIK. A trade name for a 50%
nickel-iron, isotropic magnetic alloy.

CONSERVATION LAW S. A conservation

law is a statement that some physical quan
tity remains constant during processes or inter
actions occurring within an isolated (closed)
R = v/u
system. Am ong the m ajor conservation laws
where R is the relative size of the image to the
of physics are those o f energy (including rest
object. If u = v, 1/f = 2/u and u = 2/. Then
mass energy), momentum, and angular mo
the total u + v = 4/, which is the minimum
mentum. Some conservation laws, such as
possible distance between real image and real
the conservation of matter and conservation
object for a lens with positive focal length.
o f parity are known to be of limited validity;
The definitions of v and u given here are
all observations to date indicate that the
applicable only to a thin lens. The equations
former is applicable in the non-relativistic
apply to any lens system, however, if v and u
limit and the latter in strong interactions (see
are measured respectively from and to the
interactions, weak and strong). It is possible
appropriate principal planes of the lens or
that others of the various conservation laws
the lens system. (See lens equation.)
m ay not apply strictly under all circumstances.
Other conservation laws are discussed in the
CONJUGATE POINT. (1) A singular point
entries for the particular conserved quantities.
on a curve which is the real intersection of
There is a close relationship between many
imaginary branches of the curve. The con
of the conservation laws and the symmetry
dition which must be met is
properties of nature, a given conserved quan
tity remaining invariant (conserved) under a
/ d2/ \ 2
d2f d 2f
given symmetry transformation. Thus the
\dxdy)
dx2 dy2
energy of a system remains constant under
time inversion (replacing t by t ) ; the m o
Also called an isolated point.
(2)
Because of the one-to-one relation be mentum of a system is invariant under a linear
tween the object-space and the image-space
transformation o f the space coordinates; angu
of an optical system, for each point or ray
lar momentum is invariant under a rotational
in one space there is a conjugate point or
transformation. In situations where parity is
ray in the other space. (See conjugate foci.)
conserved, it remains invariant under an in

version of the space coordinates.

(See also
invariance theorems and conservation in quan
tum mechanics.)
CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR M OM EN
TUM. See angular momentum.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, L A W OF.
The total quantity of energy in a closed sys
tem is constant. The law of the conservation
of energy is often called the first law of ther
modynam ics, or simply the first law.
(See
thermodynamics, first law of.)
In view of the recognition that energy and
mass are mutually convertible, which results
from special relativity theory, this law must
be recognized as a special case of the conser
vation of mass-energy. It is applicable only
when no conversions of mass to energy or
energy to mass take place, or when the en
ergy of the system is understood to include
all the mass of the system converted to en
ergy units by multiplication by the square of
the speed of light.
(See also conservation
laws.)
CONSERVATION OF MASS, L A W OF.
(Law of the conservation of matter.) This
law has been put in the form that matter can
neither be created nor destroyed. M ore ac
curately, the total mass of any closed system
remains constant under all transformations.
For the interpretation of this law in the light
of relativity theory, see conservation of en
ergy, law of; mass-energy relation.
CONSERVATION OF M OM ENTUM .
momentum, conservation of.
CONSERVATIVE FORCE.
conservative.

See

See force field,

CONSERVATIVE SYSTEM (CONSERVA

TIVE FORCES). A system of particles in
which the forces acting on any particle of the
system are forces which can be derived from
a potential energy function. There must exist
a potential energy function V {x> y> z) such
that the components of the resultant of these
forces are given by
dV

dV

6V

or the resultant force vector F = V F . The

forces which satisfy this condition are called
conservative forces.
(Cf. potential energy,)

In a conservative system, the work required

to move a particle from one point to another
depends only on the positions of the two
points, not on the path followed between
them. (See also del operator; gradient; workkinetic energy theorem.)
CONSERVED QUANTITIES. Those quan
tities which obey conservation laws, e.g., massenergy, momentum.
CONSISTOMETER.
A testing apparatus
for measuring the hardness (consistency) of
materials. Its essential element is a pointed
plunger which is dropped from a fixed height
on the material being tested; the depth of
penetration is a measure of the relative hard
ness of the material.
CONSOL.

See sonne.

CONSOLAN.

See sonne.

CONSOLUTE. Completely miscible. Term

applied to liquids when they are miscible in
all proportions, i.e., mutually completely sol
uble, under some given conditions. N ot usu
ally applied to gases, which are all miscible.
CONSOLUTE TEMPERATURE. The up
per consolute temperature for two partiallymiscible liquids is the critical temperature
above which the two liquids are miscible in
all proportions. In some systems where the
mutual solubility decreases with increasing
temperature over a certain temperature range,
the lower consolute temperature corresponds
to the critical temperature below which the
two liquids are miscible in all proportions.
Some systems such as methylethyl ketone and
water have both upper and lower consolute
temperatures.
CONSONANCE. W hen two or more musical
tones played simultaneously produce a pleas
ing effect on the listener, the tones are said
to be in consonance. The general condition
for consonance is that the frequencies of all
the sounds have the ratios of small whole
numbers.
CONSTANT. An absolute constant is a sin
gle number which always has the same value.
An arbitrary constant or parameter is one
which has only one particular value in a given
case, but may have another value in another
case. Arbitrary constants are often repre

sented by letters, as a, b, c, etc., from the first

part of the alphabet.

sions, so as to show spacial relationships, it is

called a configuration.

CONSTANT-ANGLE FRINGES,
dinger fringes.

CONSTITUTIVE EQUATIONS. The equa

tions D = eE and B = /xH, relating the elec
tric field intensity, E, with the electric dis
placement, D , and the magnetic field intensity,
H, with the magnetic flux density, B. For iso
tropic media the parameters e and t. are scalar
quantities. For anisotropic media they be
come tensors.
(See also constitutive prop
erty.)

See Hai-

CONSTANT-CURRENT
CHARACTERIS
TIC. The relation, usually represented by a
graph, between the voltages of two electrodes,
with the current to one of them, as well as all
other voltages, maintained constant.
CONSTANT-DELAY
See pulse-demoder.

DISCRIMINATOR.

CON ST ANT-DEVIATION
Haidinger fringes.

FRINGES.

See

CON ST ANT-DEVIATION
prism, constant-deviation.

PRISM.

See

CONSTANT H EAT SUMMATION, L A W

OF. (L A W OF HESS.) The energy change
involved in a chemical reaction or series of re
actions in going from the initial condition of
the system to the final condition is always the
same and is independent of the intermediate
course the reaction takes.
C O N ST A N T (S), LINE.
sion.

See line, transmis

CONSTANT OF INTEGRATION. An arbi

trary constant or parameter which must be
added to any function resulting from an inte
gration in order to obtain the general solution
or primitive. Thus the general solution of an
nth order differential equation will contain n
constants of integration.
CONSTANT-RESISTANCE
STRUCTURE.
A structure whose iterative impedance (see
impedance, iterative), in at least one direc
tion, is a resistance and is independent of the
frequency.

CONSTITUTIVE PARAMETER. The pa

rameters e and fi in the constitutive equations.
CONSTITUTIVE PROPERTY. A property
that depends for the most part on the arrange
ment of the atoms in the molecule and, to a
lesser degree, on their number and nature.
CONSTRAINED MOTION.

See kinetics.

CONSTRAINT. A n y particle or collection of

particles is said to be subject to constraint if
the number of degrees of freedom is less
than SNj where N is the number of particles.
(C f. the D'Alembert principle and the Gauss
principle of least constraint.)
Specifically
that property which distinguishes a mecha
nism from other mechanical linkages.
A
mechanism has constrained motion in that a
motion of one part is followed by a prede
termined motion of the remainder of the
mechanism.
T o determine whether a me
chanical linkage is a mechanism or not, Klein
advocates applying the criterion of constraint,
which he writes as follows:
SN - 4 + t - P
J = ------------------ ---------

CONSTANTS OF MOTION. Those dynam

ical variables which, for a given system, re
main constant in time. The momenta con
jugate to the cyclic coordinates of the Hamil
tonian function are constants of motion. (See
coordinate, cyclic.)

in which J is the number of joints in the mech

anism, N is the number of links in the mech
anism, y is the number of independent pris
matic chains, that is, those whose joints are
of the sliding type, P is the number of point
or line type of contact joints in the mecha
nism. W hen this equation yields an identity,
the mechanism is said to be constrained for
all dimensions.

CONSTITUTION. (1) The arrangement of

the atoms in the molecule.
(2) A diagram
designed to show the relative positions of
atoms and groups in two dimensions. When
the arrangement is considered in three dimen

CONSTRAINT, HOLONOM IC.

The con
straints on a system of particles are holonomic
if they can be written in the form f ( r 1} r2,
t) = 0, where r*, etc., are the coordinates of
the particles and t is the time.

CONSTRUCTIVE
interference.

INTERFERENCE.

See

CONTACT ANGLE. The angle formed by a

liquid on the surface of a solid at the gassolid-liquid interface, measured as the di
hedral angle in the liquid. Its value depends
on the relative surface energies of the three
interfaces, vapor-solid, vapor-liquid and solidliquid.
CONTACT ARMATURE (R ELAY ).
for contact, movable (relay).

A term

CONTACT ARRANGEMENT
( RELAY ).
The com bination of different basic contact
forms that make up the entire relay switching
structure.
CONTACT, BACK (R E LA Y ). A term for
the stationary contact of single-pole normally
closed contacts. (See contact nomenclature.)
CONTACT BOUNCE (R E LA Y ). The un
controlled making and breaking of contact
when relay contacts are moved to the closed
position.
CO NTACT, BREAK
contact, back.

(R E LA Y ).

Same as

CO NTACT CHATTER (R ELAY ). A sus

tained rapid opening and closing of contacts
caused by variations in the coil current, me
chanical vibration and shock, or other causes.
CONTACT CURRENT, RATED (R ELAY).
The current which the contact is designed to
carry for its rated life.
CONTACT F O L L O W (R ELAY ). The dis
tance two contacts travel together after just
touching.
CO NTACT FORM, BASIC
single-pole contact assembly.

(R E LA Y ).

CONTACT, FRONT (R ELAY ). A term for

the stationary contact of single-pole normally
open contacts. (See contact nomenclature.)
CO NTACT GAP (R ELAY ).
tact separation (relay).

Same as con

CONTACT,
H IGH
RECOMBINATION
RATE.
A sem iconductor-semiconductor or
metal-semiconductor contact at which thermal
equilibrium carrier densities are maintained
substantially independent of current density.

CONTACT, LEVER (R ELAY).

contact, movable.
CONTACT, MAKE (R E LAY).
contact, front (relay).

A term for

Same

as

CONTACT-MAKING METER ( RELAY).

Another name for relay, instrument.
CONTACT, MAJORITY CARRIER (TO A
SEM ICONDUCTOR). An electrical contact
across which the ratio of majority carrier cur
rent to applied voltage is substantially inde
pendent of the polarity of the voltage, while
the ratio of minority carrier current to ap
plied voltage is not independent of the polar
ity of the voltage.
CONTACT, MOVABLE (R ELAY). A con
tact which, when the relay is energized or de
energized, is mechanically displaced to en
gage or disengage one or more stationary con
tacts.
CONTACT NOISE.

See noise, contact.

CONTACT NOMENCLATURE (RELAY).

Each of the movable contacts of a relay con
stitutes a pole of the relay.
A combination of a stationary contact and
a movable contact, which are engaged when
the coil is unenergized, is referred to as back,
break, form B or norm ally-closed contacts,
and is abbreviated NC. A combination of a
stationary contact and a m ovable contact,
which is engaged when the coil is energized, is
referred to as front, make, form A or normally
open contacts, and is abbreviated NO.
A combination of two stationary contacts
and a movable contact, which engages one of
them when the coil is energized and engages
the other when the coil is unenergized, is called
transfer, form C or double-throw contacts, and
is abbreviated D T .
Contrasted with double-throw contacts, NO
and N C contacts are called single-throw con
tacts, abbreviated ST.
A combination in which a movable contact
simultaneously makes and simultaneously
breaks connection between two stationary
contacts is called double-break contacts, and
is abbreviated D B . For normally open con
tacts, this combination may be called double
make contacts.
Relay contact notations are given in the
following order:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Poles
Throws
N orm al Position
D B , if double-break, or D M , if double
make contacts.

E xam ple: SPST NO D B designates single

pole, single-throw, normally open, double
break contact.

A Make
SPSTNO

All contacts are single-break except when

noted as double-break (D B ).
R elays having several sets o f differently
functioning contacts will have the contact
forms listed in alphabetical order o f their let
ter symbols as given in figure below.
Example: 1A2B refers to SPST NO con
tacts and D P S T N C contacts.

J Make, make,
break

0 - 0-

o o

-1 o
K Single pole,
double throw,
center off,
SPDTNO

B Break
SPSTNC

0 -0 -

C Break/ make
(transfer)
SPDT

L Break, make,
make

D Make, break
(continuity
transfer)

U Double make,
contact on
arm

0 - 0 -

E Break, make,
break

0 0
-

0 0

r o
-1
W Double make,
double break
contact on
arm

-o

oo

Y Double break,
contact on
arm

F Make, make

-o

. t:

H --------

o
o

X Double make
SPSTNODB

G Break, break#

------- o

0 0

Y Double make
SPSTNCDB

H Break, break
make

0 0

I Make, break,
make

o - o

Z Double make,
double break,
SPDTDB

JrO
k o

NARM nomenclature for basic contact forms

Contacts.

For a relay on which the moving contact en

gages more than two stationary contacts dur
ing its cycle of operation, the contact arrange
ment is described as M P N T , where M is the
number of poles and N is the number of
throws, e.g., 8 P 2 0 T .

measurements of these potentials are, unfor

tunately, very difficult.
(2)
Colloquialism for the negative potential
required to bias the grid of a vacuum tube
to the point of zero grid current (usually 0.1
to 1.0 volt).

CONTACT, OHM IC. A contact between two

materials, possessing the property that the
potential difference across it is proportional to
the current passing through.

CONTACT RATING (R ELA Y). The power

handling capability of the relay contacts as
defined by the manufacturer.

CONTACTOR. A term for a relay with

heavy-duty contacts.
CONTACTOR ( ELECTRICALLY
ATED ) . See switch, load.
CONTACTOR, LOAD.
(load contactor).

See

OPER

switch, load

CONTACTOR, VIBRATING. A device which

periodically makes and breaks contact in a
cyclic fashion, used for converting d-c signals
to a-c signals. (It is also called a vibrator or
chopper.)
CO NTACT OVERTRAVEL (R ELAY ).
term for contact follow (relay).

CONTACTS (R E LAY).
Current-carrying
parts of a relay which engage or disengage to
make or break electrical circuits.
CONTACTS, BREAK-BEFORE-MAKE (RE
L A Y ). Contacts which interrupt one circuit
before establishing another.
CONTACTS,
CONTINUITY - TRANSFER
(R ELA Y). Same as contacts, make-beforebreak.
CONTACTS, DOUBLE-BREAK
See contact nomenclature.

(RELAY).

CONTACTS, DOUBLE-MAKE
See contact nomenclature.

(RELAY).

CONTACTS, DOUBLE-THROW (R ELAY).

See contact nomenclature.

CONTACT, POINT, OF A SEMICONDUC

TOR. Pressure contact between a semicon
ductor body and a metallic point.

CONTACT SEPARATION (RELAY). The

maximum distance between mating relay con
tacts when the contacts are in open position.

CO NTACT POTENTIAL. (1) The potential

difference observed between the surfaces of
two metals in contact. It is due to the dif
ferences in work function; the electrons in
each metal tend to reach the same Fermi level,
and potential builds up until this is estab
lished. A distinction must be made between
the contact potentials in air and the so-called
intrinsic contact potentials in a vacuum
with all adsorbed gases removed. According
to M illikan, the intrinsic potential difference
between two metals A and B is expressed by
V ab = h(vA vB) /%, in which h is the Planck
constant, va and vB are the critical frequencies
of photoelectric emission for the two metals
(see photoelectric phenomena), and e is the
electronic charge. In any case, if the elec
tronic work functions of the metals are pA
and pB, the contact potential difference is
V ab = (Pa Vb ) /e . The work functions, and
hence V ab , are in general dependent upon the
medium surrounding the metals. Accurate

CONTACTS, FIXED (R ELAY). The sta

tionary contacts of a relay which are engaged
and disengaged by moving contacts to make
or break circuits.
CONTACTS, FOLLOW-THROUGH ( RE
L A Y ). Contacts which have contact follow.
CONTACTS, LOW -C AP ACITANCE ( RE
L A Y ). A type of contact construction pro
viding low intercontact capacitance.
CONTACTS, MAKE-BEFORE-BREAK (RE
L A Y ). Double-throw contacts so arranged
that the moving contact establishes a new cir
cuit before disrupting the old one.
CONTACTS,
MULTIPLE-BREAK
( RE
L A Y ). Contacts so arranged that, when they
open, the circuit is interrupted in two or more
places.
(See contact nomenclature.)
CONTACTS, NORMALLY CLOSED (RE
L A Y ). A combination of a stationary contact

and a m ovable contact which are engaged

when the coil is unenergized.

C O N T IN U E D PRODUCT.
finite.

CONTACTS, N O RM A LLY O PEN (R E L A Y ).

CONTINUITY EQUATION.

A combination of a stationary contact and a

m ovable contact which are not engaged when
the coil is unenergized.

CONTACTS, OFF-LIMIT (R E L A Y ). Con

tacts on a stepping relay used to indicate when
the wiper has reached the limiting position on
its arc and must be returned to normal before
the circuit can function again.

CONTACTS,
OFF-NORMAL
(R E L A Y ).
Contacts of a rotary stepping switch or relay,
which assume a different position when the
wiper assembly is in the home position than in
any other position. Usually used for wiper
position indication or in homing the switch.

CONTACT SPRING (R E L A Y ).
contact (relay).

See spring,

CONTACTS, SELF-CLEANING (R E L A Y ).
A term for contacts, wiping.

CONTACT, STATIONARY (R E L A Y ).
A
contact member which is rigidly fastened to
the relay frame and which is not moved as a
direct result of energizing or de-energizing the
relay.

CONTACTS, W IP IN G (R E L A Y ).

Contacts
designed to have some relative motion during
the interval from the instant of touching until
com pletion of the closing motion.

CONTACT TRANSFORMATION.
nonical transformation.

nom ically useful before competing processes

make containment impossible. Usually con
tainment is attempted by use of a magnetic
field which isolates the extremely hot elec
trically conducting plasma from material
walls. In practice containment time is the
experimentally attainable time in which isola
tion occurs.

CONTINUA.

CO LOR.

A
equation can be applied to the flow
served, indestructible quantity.
tinuity equation m ay be written
form as:

V-(pv) = p

or

continuity
of any con
The con
in general

V J = -p,

where v is a flow velocity, p is a density, and

J = pv is a current density.
The continuity equation may be alterna
tively written in integral form a s j ' j da =
pdV, which m ay be interpreted as the
statement that the net outward current of a
quantity from a closed surface is equal to the
rate of decrease of that quantity in the volume
enclosed by the surface.
(a) In fluid flow, mass is conserved and the
equation of continuity holds, where p is mass
per unit volume and v is the velocity of mass
flow. In the case of an incompressible fluid,
p is constant and the continuity equation be
comes V-v = 0.
(b) In electric currents, charge is conserved
and the equation of continuity holds, where p
is the charge per unit volume, v is the velocity
of charge flow, and J = pv is the electric
current density. If the current is in a steady

state, V J = 0.
(c) For the case of the flow of thermal energy
the continuity equation becomes

See ca

CONTAINM ENT T IM E. In the thermonu

clear program, the time required for a rea
sonable fraction of the fusion fuel to react
and thus to produce enough energy to be eco

CONTAM INATION,
contamination.

See product, in

See

color

See spectrum, continuous.

where
of the
is the
to the
tion) ,

J is a vector pointing in the direction

maximum heat flow, whose magnitude

heat energy crossing unit area normal
flow in unit time (see heat flow equa
T is the temperature and C is the heat
capacity per unit mass of the material.
(d)
In the flow of electromagnetic energy
in charge-free space, this energy is conserved
and the equation of continuity becom es:

VP =

d /E D
(

B H\
1
)*

d t\ 2

2 /

Here P = E X H is P o y ntin g s vector, the

intensity of the radiation or power flow per
unit area, and J(E *D + B H ) is the electro
magnetic energy density.

smooth curves having no multiple points. If

If the space is not charge free, energy can
the closed contour is traversed in a counter
be transferred to the charges and be lost from
clockwise direction with respect to some point
the field. In this case a term E J must be
added to the left hand side of the equation,
in the domain, the sense of the contour is
representing the rate of dissipation of energy
positive. Integration along a closed contour,
per unit volume.
C is indicated by the symbols
(e)
In quantum mechanics, probability is
conserved, and the continuity equation can be
written: V -S = P , where P is the p r o b
a b ility d e n s ity , M * , and S is the probability
and the result is a contour integral.
(See
density current given b y S = (h/2 mi)(^*V ^
calculus of residues.) (2) A curve in a twofVf*).
dimensional space, along which some func
tion
of position has a specified constant value.
CON TIN UITY O F STATE. Transition be
Thus a line on a map connecting points hav
tween two states, as between the gaseous and
ing the same height is a height contour or a
liquid states, in either direction, without dis
potential energy contour.
continuity, or abrupt change in physical prop
erties. Although this transition is not realiz
CONTRACTED RIEMANN-CHRISTOFFEL
able in practice by mere pressure-volume
TENSOR.
The tensor G^v = B enP where
change, it can be accomplished b y some proc
B \ V(T is the Riemann-Christoffel tensor. Sum
esses, as by a sequence of temperature
mation on the repeated index e is implied.
changes in one direction at constant volume,
CONTRACTION. A process used to reduce
followed by temperature changes in the other
the rank of a tensor.
(See tensor contrac
direction at constant pressure, or vice versa.

'f

CONTINUOUS CREA T ION HYPOTHESIS.

Hypothesis that the universe is being created
continuously by the formation, without ap
parent mechanism, o f one nucleon per 109
year-liter, a rate too small to be directly de
tected, but sufficient to keep the average den
sity constant despite the expansion of the
universe. Galaxies which have receded to a
distance of more than 2 X 109 years are sup
posed to disappear from view, and the whole
universe is in dynamic equilibrium, recently
created matter forming into galaxies to re
place those which are lost. Thus the universe
is in a steady state, although the matter
which composes it is being continually
changed. This creation of matter throughout
all space, without local energy conservation,
is so great a mystery that the theory has not
been generally accepted.

CONTINUOUS-DUTY RATING.
ing, continuous-duty.

See

rat

CONTINUOUS -TRANSFER
CONTACT
(R E L A Y ).
Same as contacts, make-beforebreak (relay).
CONTOUR.

(1) A smooth curve made of

arcs bound together continuously, each arc
having a continuous tangent. A closed con
tour may be decomposed into a series of closed

tion.)
CONTRACTION, C O E FFIC IE N T OF. The
ratio of the sectional area of the parallel jet
of liquid issuing from an orifice to the area
of the orifice. Its value depends on the na
ture of the orifice and varies between 0.5
and 1.
CONTRACTION O F MEASURING-RODS.
I f a rod of proper length I moves longitudi
nally with velocity v with respect to an ob
server, the length of the rod appears to this
observer to be

v2\1/2

'O -?)
(c is the velocity of light).

(See relativity,

special theory of.)

CONTRAST.

(1) In photography, the slope

of the curve plotted between density and the
log of exposure (see H and D curve). (2)
In television, the ratio of the white to black
portions of a picture. Pictures having high
contrast have very deep blacks and brilliant
whites, while a picture with low contrast has
an overall gray appearance. (3) In psycho
physics, the change in the response to a stim
ulus as a result of the proximity in space or
time of other stimuli. In general, the response
to a stimulus of given physical intensity is re

duced if neighboring stimuli have greater in

tensities, and vice versa.
CONTRAST CONTROL.
trast.

See control, con-

CONTRAST SENSITIVITY. I f the

ence in brightness AB of a small spot
a larger background of brightness B
discernible, the contrast sensitivity is
as AjB/B. (See also Weber law.)
CONTRAST SIGNAL.

differ
against
is just
defined

See signal, contrast.

CONTRAGRADIENT. A word used to de

scribe the relationship of two tensorial quanti
ties which have different transformation prop
erties. (See tensor, covariant; tensor, contravariant; cogradient.)
CONTRA VARIANT.
See tensor,
variant; vector, contravariant.

contra-

CONTROL. (1) A system or device which

exerts a restraining, governing or directing in
fluence. (2) An experiment or test done to
confirm or to rule out error in experimental
observations. (3) Usually, those parts of a
digital computer which effect the carrying out
of instructions in proper sequence, the inter
pretation of each instruction, and the applica
tion of the proper signals to the arithmetic
unit and other parts in accordance with this
interpretation. (4) Frequently, one or more
of the components in any mechanism respon
sible for interpreting and carrying out manually-initiated directions. Sometimes called
manual control. (5) In some business appli
cations of mathematics, a mathematical check.
CONTROL
angle.

ANGLE.

Synonym

for

gate

CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC CONTRAST. In

television receivers, automatic gain control
of the i-f and r-f video amplifiers. Thus the
second detector output amplitude is essentially
constant, which results in constant picture
contrast.
CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC FREQUENCY.
An arrangement whereby the frequency of an
oscillator is automatically maintained within
specified limits.
CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC GAIN. A circuit
arrangement which adjusts the gain in a speci
fied manner in response to changes in input.
Also called automatic volume control.

CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC GAIN, INSTAN

TANEOUS. In radar, that portion of a sys
tem that so autom atically adjusts the gain of
an amplifier for each pulse as to obtain a sub
stantially constant output pulse peak ampli
tude with different input pulse peak ampli
tude, the adjustment being sufficiently fast to
operate during the time a pulse is passing
through the amplifier.
CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC VOLUME. An
automatic volume control circuit is incorpo
rated in a radio receiver to maintain the am
plitude of the signal applied to the detector as
nearly constant as possible and thus correct
for variations in signal strength caused by
fading. W hen a modulated radio-frequency
wave is detected the output contains a d-c
component which has a magnitude propor
tional to the amplitude of the carrier im
pressed on the detector. Other components
(af and rf) are filtered out and this d-c volt
age is applied as bias to the variable mu radio
frequency amplifiers. The figure illustrates
the essential components of such a system, the

Controlled Tube

Simple automatic volume control circuit.

resistance and capacitance units indicated as

L serving to separate the various components
of the detector output and route them to the
proper parts of the complete receiver. The
d-c for the avc is fed, as indicated, to the
grid of the rf tubes, usually all being so biased
although only one is shown. Thus a high
value of applied signal gives a high value of
d-c output which is applied to the variable
mu tube, making its grid more negative and
thus decreasing its gain and reducing the sig
nal applied to the detector. A low value of
carrier gives a lower value of d-c which means
less negative bias on the rf tube, hence more
gain and increased signal to the detector.
CONTROL, AUTOM ATIC VOLUME D E
LAY. Automatic volume control which is
designed to act only on signals which exceed
a certain predetermined value.

CONTROL, BASS. A tone control having

the ability to increase or decrease the bass
frequency gain of an audio amplifier.
CONTROL, BRIGHTNESS. In television sys
tems, a control on the receiver for regulating
electron current and thus the over-all bright
ness of the picture.
CONTROL, CENTERING. In cathode-raytube devices, a potentiometer which enables
the viewer to move the image back and forth
or up and down on a screen. Horizontal and
vertical centering each requires a separate
control.
CONTROL CHARACTERISTIC. (1) Of a
magnetic amplifier, a curve of the output
quantity versus control quantity under speci
fied conditions, both expressed in suitable
units. (2) Of a gas tube, a curve of the criti
cal grid voltage versus anode voltage.
CONTROL, CHROMA. In color television,
the gain control which determines the amount
o f color signal fed to the demodulators. Set
ting this control to zero reduces the picture
to black and white.
CONTROL CIRCUIT.
(1) O f a magnetic
amplifier, the control windings and the volt
age sources and impedances which are con
nected to them, and which together determine
the current in the control windings. (2) The
circuits of a digital computer which effect the
carrying out of instructions in proper sequence,
the interpretation of each instruction, and the
application of the proper commands to the
arithmetic element and other circuits in ac
cordance with this interpretation.
CONTROL CIRCUIT A-C SUPPLY VOLT
AGE (RESET CIRCUIT A-C SUPPLY
V O LT A G E ). An a-c voltage, appearing in
the control circuit of a magnetic amplifier,
the purpose of which is, in conjunction with
the action of the signal, to accomplish re
setting of the saturable reactor core flux dur
ing resetting intervals of the cycle.
CONTROL CIRCUIT IMPEDANCE. C on
trol circuit impedance of a magnetic ampli
fier consists of two parts: (a) The external
control circuit impedance includes the exter
nal control circuit reactance and, usually, the
entire control circuit resistance, (b) The in
ternal control winding impedance consists of

the control winding reactance and control

winding resistance.
CONTROL CIRCUIT REACTANCE. Con
trol circuit reactance of a magnetic amplifier
consists of two parts: (a) The reactance of
the control winding of one saturable reactor
when unsaturated; this reactance is also called
internal control winding reactance. The con
trol winding reactance is related to the gate
reactance by the square of the turns ratio of
the saturable reactor, (b) The reactance of
the control circuit external to the control
winding is called the external control circuit
reactance.
CONTROL CIRCUIT, RESET. That cir
cuit of a magnetic amplifier through which
controlled resetting of the saturable reactor
core flux is accomplished. This circuit is com
prised of the saturable reactor control wind
ing (s), the signal (s) and any other param
eters which m ay be used in conjunction with
these to accomplish the desired controlling
action.
CONTROL CIRCUIT RESISTANCE.
resistance, control circuit.

See

CONTROL
CIRCUIT
RESISTANCE,
EQUIVALENT. O f a magnetic amplifier, the
parallel equivalent of all the control circuit
resistances referred to the same turns basis,
usually that of an output winding.
CONTROL CIRCUIT RESISTANCE, RE
FLECTED. The resistance of a control cir
cuit when referred to some arbitrary turns
basis, usually that of an output winding.
CONTROL, CONTRAST. A control on the
television receiver which regulates the video
signal strength. This has the effect of chang
ing the ratio of the black and white portions
of the picture. It corresponds to the volume
control in an aural receiver.
CONTROL, CONVERGENCE. The control
in a color television receiver which adjusts
the potential on the convergence electrode
of the kinescope for convergence of the
beams.
CONTROL, CROSS. A compandor circuit
arrangement in which input signals to the
compressor also control the operation of the
expandor at the same end of the circuit.

C O N T R O L C U R R E N T . In amplifiers, the
current whose magnitude determines the m ag
nitude of output.
C O N T R O L , D ISTR IB U T IO N .
a linearity control.

In television,

C O N T R O L E L E C T R O D E . A metal struc
ture adjacent to the cathode of a cathode-ray
tube which controls the potential relationship
between the grid and the cathode. This elec
trode controls the light intensity of the image
on the screen of the tube by controlling the
magnitude of the beam current.
C O N T R O L , FO CU SIN G .
In cathode-ray
equipment, the control whereby the electron
beam is made to meet the fluorescent screen
in a small, well-defined spot.
C O N T R O L , FR A M IN G . (1) In television, a
centering or width control. (2) In facsimile,
the control which adjusts the horizontal posi
tion of the picture.
C O N T R O L , GAIN .
C O N T R O L G R ID .

See entries under gain.

See grid, control.

C O N T R O L , H E IG H T . In television, the con

trol whose setting determines the vertical am
plitude of the image.
C O N T R O L , H O L D . In television, the vari
able resistor that permits adjustment of the
synchronizing oscillator until the latters fre
quency nearly equals that of the incoming
synchronizing pulses. Colloquialism for syn
chronization controls.
C O N T R O L , H O R IZ O N T A L C E N TE R IN G .
A control that enables the operator to move
a cathode-ray image in a right or left direc
tion across the screen.
C O N T R O L , H O R IZ O N T A L H O L D .
The
control which varies the free-running period
of the horizontal-deflection oscillator in a tele
vision receiver.
C O N T R O L H YSTERESIS.
control.

See hysteresis,

C O N T R O L L E D R E C T IF IE R .
controlled.

See rectifier,

CO N TRO LLED TH ERM ONUCLEAR RE

A C T O R (C O N T R O L L E D FU SION R E A C
T O R ). A controlled thermonuclear reactor
is a hypothetical device which harnesses the

nuclear fusion process to produce electrical

power. It consists of a reaction chamber in
which the fuel, deuterium or a deuteriumtritium mixture, is held at temperatures of
108 to 109 K . The fuel at these temperatures
forms a completely ionized plasma which can
only be kept off the reaction chamber walls by
the use of electromagnetic fields. The fusion
energy can, in principle, be abstracted in a
neutron absorbing blanket and by direct elec
trical means. (See also astron, cusp or picket
fence, D C X , magnetic mirror, pinch effect,
and stellerator.)
C O N T R O L L E D V A R IA B LE .
controlled.

See variable,

C O N T R O L L E D (V A R IA B L E O R F L O A T
IN G ) C A RR IE R .
See carrier, controlled
(variable or floating).
C O N T R O L L E R , A U T O M A T IC .
A device
which measures the value of a variable quan
tity or condition, and operates to correct or
limit deviation of this measured value from
a selected reference. It includes both the
measuring means and the controlling means.
C O N T R O L , LIN E A R ITY .
(1) In cathoderay tube equipment, an adjustment that tends
to correct any distortion in the sawtooth cur
rent or voltage waves used for deflection. (2)
In television, a control which varies the dis
tribution of scanning speed throughout the
trace interval.
C O N T R O L , L O C A L . A system or method
of radio-transmitter control whereby the con
trol functions are performed directly at the
transmitter.
C O N T R O L L O O P , FE E D B A C K .
back control loop.

See feed

C O N T R O L , M A STER BRIGH TNESS. The

common bias control for all three electronguns of a three-color kinescope.
C O N T R O L , M A ST E R GAIN (V O L U M E ).
A control provided in broadcast or recording
studios to permit adjustment o f the over-all
output level of the studio without affecting
the balance achieved by the mixer controls.
It is also useful for fading purposes.
C O N T R O L , PHASE SH IFT. This control is
com monly applied to thyratrons or ignitrons

operated on a-c and consists of controlling

the breakdown point by shifting the phase of
the grid voltage with respect to the anode
voltage. Figure (a) shows the anode voltage
(A ), the grid characteristic (B ), the d-c grid

CONTROLS, BACKGROUND. The three in

dividual color brightness controls on color
television receivers.
CONTROL, SEMIREMOTE. A system or
method of radio-transmitter control whereby
the control functions are performed near the
transmitter by means of devices connected to,
but not an integral part, of the transmitter.
CONTROL, SENSITIVITY-TIME.
control, temporal.

See gain

CONTROL, SEQUENCE (R ELA Y).

The
automatic control of a series of operations in
a predetermined order.

(b)
bias (C ) and the a-c grid voltage (D ). These
are all plotted against time along the horizontal
axis. I f at any instant the net grid voltage,
i.e., the d-c plus the a-c value, goes above the
characteristic (B ) the tube breaks down and
conducts for the rest of that half-cycle. Thus
if the grid wave is shifted to position (1) the
tube breaks down at time ti while if it is
shifted to (2) the tube breaks down at t2. B y
making the phase continuously variable the
average output o f the tube may be varied by
varying the part of the cycle over which the
tube conducts. A simple circuit for doing this
is shown at ( b ). The voltage applied to the
grid m ay be varied over nearly 180 by v a ry
ing the value of the resistor R. This method
o f controlling tubes is widely used for motor
speed control and for resistance welding con
trol.
CONTROL POINT.

See point, control,

CONTROL RATIO (O F A GAS T U B E).

The ratio of the change in anode voltage to
the corresponding change in critical grid
voltage, with all other operating conditions
maintained constant.
CONTROL, REMOTE. A system or method
o f controlling any equipment or assembly,
such as a radio transmitter, whereby the con
trol functions are performed from a distance,
electrically, over intervening wire- or radio
circuits.

CONTROL, SEQUENTIAL. The manner of

operation in which instructions to a digital
computer are set up in sequence and are fed
consecutively to the computer during the solu
tion of a problem.
CONTROL, SEQUENTIAL, DYNAMIC. A
method of operation in which a digital com
puter, as the computation proceeds, can alter
instructions, or the sequence in which instruc
tions are executed, or both.
CONTROL SYSTEM, AUTOMATIC. Any
operable combination of one or more auto
matic controls connected in closed loops with
one or more processes.
CONTROL, TONE. The control for regulat
ing the frequency response of an audio am
plifier. In its most common form as found in
most radio receivers it consists of a condenser
in series with a variable resistance shunted
across the circuit at some point. Since such
a com bination passes high frequencies more
easily than low values, the highs will be at
tenuated, the degree being determined by the
setting o f the variable resistance. Thus by
varying the resistance more or less attenuation
m ay be given the high frequencies and the
effect is as if the bass response were being
varied. In more elaborate tone controls sep
arate bass and treble controls are provided,
thus allowing a balanced control of the re
sponse.
CONTROL TRACK.
CONTROL TURN.

See track, control.

See windings, control.

CONTROL, VERTICAL CENTERING. In

television, an adjustment control for moving
the image up or down on the viewing screen.

CONTROL, W ID T H . In television, the elec

trical com ponent or circuit that controls the
width of the image.
CONTROL W INDINGS.
trol.

See windings, con-

CONVECTION.
(1) The transference of
heat by the bodily movement of heated par
ticles of matter, as the heating of buildings
by steam, hot air, or hot water.
(See also
thermal convection.)
(2) The transfer o f
mass by streaming motion.
CONVECTIONAL PRECIPITATION. Pre
cipitation from clouds caused by thermal in
stability, i.e., clouds of the cumulus or cumulo
nimbus type.
CONVECTION CURRENT. (1) See current,
electric. (2) In an electron stream, the time
rate at which charge is transported through a
given surface.
(3) In atmospheric physics,
air currents that travel vertically. C onvec
tion can be either mechanical or thermal.
Orographical and frontal lifting are mechan
ical convections of whole layers of air; whirl
winds, dust devils, cumulus clouds and thun
derstorms are results of small-scale convec
tion.
CONVECTION, FORCED. The transport
of heat through the m otion of a locally heated
fluid if this motion is produced by other agen
cies than the gravitational effect on the vari
ation in density with temperature.
CONVENTION, NATURAL.
convection.

See thermal

CONVERGENCE. (1) A series converges if,

and only if, the sum of the first n terms ap
proaches a limit as n is increased indefinitely,
i.e., if
|Sn - L | <
for all c, however small, and for all n greater
than some fixed N. Here L is a finite number,
the limit, and Sn is the sum of the first n
terms. (See also Cauchy convergence test.)
(2) In meteorology, an inflowing of air into a
region from more than one direction in such
manner that more air flows in than flows out.
So long as this process continues, it will tend
to produce an increasing pressure and tem
perature, with their consequent effects. (3) In
any multibeam cathode-ray tube, a condition
in which electron beams intersect at a specified

point. For example, in a three-gun, color

kinescope, the focusing of the three electron
beams on a common point, usually the aper
ture mask.
(4) See lens, converging.
(5)
Beams of light or of particles are convergent
toward a point, if all rays o f the beam are di
rected toward a common point (or line if the
beam is cylindrically convergent) .
CONVERGENCE CONTROL.
convergence.

See control,

CONVERGENCE,
DYNAMIC
( MULTI
BEAM CATHODE-RAY TUBES). The proc
ess whereby the locus o f the point of converg
ence of electrom beams is made to fall on a
specified surface during scanning.
CONVERGENCE ELECTRODE.
trode, convergence.
CONVERGENCE MAGNETS.
convergence.
CONVERGENCE PLANE.
vergence.

See magnets,

See plane, con

CONVERGENCE SURFACE.
convergence.
CONVERGING LENS.

See elec

See surface,

See lens, converging.

CONVERSION. In general, a change, often

with the sense o f a directed or induced
change. One specific use is a change in nu
merical value of a quantity resulting from
the use of a different unit in the same or a
different system of measurement. (See con
version factor.)
CONVERSION COEFFICIENT.
version fraction.

See con

CONVERSION, DIRECT ENERGY.

rect energy conversion.
CONVERSION EFFICIENCY.
ciency, conversion.

See di

See

effi

CONVERSION ELECTRON.
An electron
emitted in the process of de-excitation of the
nucleus by direct coupling between the ex
cited nucleus and an electron in the K , L, or
M shells or possible other shells, constituting
the process of internal conversion. Such an
electron has a kinetic energy which is the d if
ference between the transition energy and the
binding energy of that electron. Internal con
version is followed by emission o f character

istic x-rays or of Auger electrons as a conse

quence of the necessary rearrangement of the
atomic electrons.

CONVERTER, ARC. A form of oscillator

utilizing an electric arc as the generator of
alternating or pulsating current.

CONVERSION FACTOR.
See acoustical
units; electromagnetic units; mechanical units;
thermal units.

CONVERTER, BROWN. A relay designed

to operate as a voltage-operated switch in a
contact-m odulated amplifier. (See amplifier,
contact-modulated.)

CONVERSION FRACTION. The ratio of

the number of internal conversion electrons
to the number of quanta emitted plus the
number of conversion electrons emitted in a
given mode of de-excitation of a nucleus.
Partial conversion fractions refer to conver
sion fractions for various electron shells, e.g.,
-^-conversion fractions, L-conversion frac
tions, etc. Sometimes called conversion co
efficient.
CONVERSION GAIN.
(1) In a nuclear
reactor, the conversion ratio minus one. (2)
See gain, conversion voltage.
CONVERSION, INTERNAL.
conversion.

See internal

CONVERSION RATIO. In a nuclear reactor,

the number of fissionable atoms produced per
fissionable atom destroyed.
CONVERSION
TRANSCONDUCTANCE.
See transconductance, conversion.
CONVERTER.
A machine or device for
changing alternating current to direct cur
rent, or the converse. I f a conversion is made
from d-c to a-c, the machine is called an in
verted converter. The most common type of
rotating converter at present is the rotary
converter, which is essentially an alternator
and d-c generator combined in one machine
having a single armature and a single-field
circuit. This is not to be confused with a
m otor-generator set which, although it may
be classed as a converter, is basically two m a
chines having separate armatures, and shafts
connected by a coupling. The rotary con
verter receives a-c at one set of terminals, and
delivers d-c at another. The energy deliv
ered is less than that received by the amount
of the converter losses, consisting of friction,
resistance heat, and core losses. The con
verter is frequently called a synchronous con
verter or rotary converter.
CONVERTER, AMPLIFYING-UP. A para
metric amplifier frequency converter.

CONVERTER, FACSIMILE. A device which

changes the type of modulation.
CONVERTER, FACSIMILE RECEIVING
( FS TO AM CONVERTER) . A device which
changes the type of modulation from fre
quency shift to amplitude.
CONVERTER, FACSIMILE TRANSMIT
TING ( AM TO FS CONVERTER). A device
which changes the type of modulation from
amplitude to frequency shift.
CONVERTER, FS TO AM.
facsimile receiving.

See converter,

CONVERTER, LINE-BALANCE. See balun.

CONVERTER, M AGNETIC.
tor, magnetic*

See modula

CONVERTER,
MERCURY - HYDROGEN
SPARK GAP. A spark gap generator or power
source which utilizes the oscillatory discharge
o f a capacitor through an inductor and a spark
gap as a source of radio-frequency power.
The spark gap comprises a solid electrode
and a pool of mercury in a hydrogen atmos
phere.
CONVERTER, PENTAGRID.
A vacuum
tube containing 5 grids in addition to the
usual anode and cathode. It is used primar
ily as a combined oscillator and mixer or first

detector in a superheterodyne receiver. In

operation the cathode and the first two grids
form the cathode, grid and anode of a conven
tional oscillator circuit. The electrons which
would all contribute to the plate current of a

conventional oscillator tube largely pass

through the openings in the grid-like anode
and are then acted upon by the incoming sig
nal which is applied to one of the other grids.
Upon finally reaching the real anode of the
tube the electrons feel the effects of both the
oscillator and the incoming signal, and thus
give a combined effect in the output. A typ i
cal connection is shown in the figure.
CONVERTER, PHASE. I f single-phase v olt
age is applied to one phase of a rotating threephase induction motor it will be found that
approximately balanced three-phase voltages
m ay be obtained from the three terminals of
the machine. This is because the rotating
field induces voltages in the various phase
windings which are not much different from
the applied voltage. Since the single-phase
field is not quite uniform and since the im
pedance drop in the windings affects the ter
minal voltage, the output voltages are not
quite equal, but nearly enough so that they
m ay be used for much three-phase work. This
method is used quite widely in a-c railway
electrification since the necessity for three
conductors makes transmission of three-phase
power to the locom otive difficult.
CONVERTER, POOL CATHO DE MER
CURY ARC. A frequency converter using a
mercury arc power converter.
CONVERTER, Q UEN CHED SPARK GAP.
A spark gap generator or power source which
utilizes the oscillatory discharge of a capacitor
through an inductor and a spark gap as a
source of radio frequency power. The spark
gap comprises one or more closely-spaced gaps
operating in series.
CONVERTER, RADIO FREQUENCY. A
power source for producing electrical power
at a frequency of 10 kc and above.
CONVERTER, SECOND-HARMONIC.
modulator, magnetic.

See

tion or faltung of / and g> often indicated by

the symbol ( / * g) is the integral

Let (F be the F o u rie r tr a n s fo r m of the in

tegral, then

Hf * g ) =

= H g).

This theorem also applies directly to the La

place transform and with minor modifications
to the Mellin transform.
CONWELL-WEISSKOPF FORMULA. The
mobility /x of electrons in a semiconductor in
the presence of donor or acceptor impurities
is given by
M = [27/ie2(kTy/2 log (1 + x 2) \ l N e ^ ^ ,
where
x QedkT/e2
and c is the dielectric constant of the me
dium, N is the concentration of ionized do
nors (or acceptors), 2d is the average distance
between ionized donors, e and m the electronic
charge and mass, etc.
COOKE TRIPLET.

See camera lenses.

COOKIE CUTTER. See magnetrons, meth

ods of tuning.
COOLIDGE TUBE.
A hot-cathode, selfrectifying type of x-ray tube.
COOLING BY ADIABATIC DEM AGNETI
ZATION.
See adiabatic demagnetization,
cooling by.
COOLING CURVE. A graphical represen
tation of the temperature of a substance
plotted against time, such as is obtained for a
molten alloy cooling through its solidification
temperature or range of temperatures.

CONVERTER, SHORT-WAVE.
A device
consisting of a heterodyne detector or mixer
and an appropriate local oscillator. The de
sired short-wave frequency is converted to a
frequency which is within the standard broad
cast band.

COOPERATIVE
PHENOMENON.
Any
process for whose occurrence the simultaneous
collective interaction among several m ole
cules or systems is required. M ost typical
are order-disorder transformations, and ferro
magnetism, where every atom in a crystal may
participate. (See collective electron theory of
electromagnetism; Bohm and Pines method.)

CONVOLUTION. If / and g are both func

tions of the complex variable z, the convolu

COORDINATE.
(1) One of the numbers
used to locate the position of a point relative

to a coordinate system. In three-dimensional

systems, if the point is on a coordinate surface
one coordinate is zero; if it is on a coordinate
axis, two coordinates are zero. (2) See bond,
coordinate.

of the variables are: 0

0~ s
oo.

COORDINATE AXIS.
A direction along
which only one of the coordinates of a point
changes as the point moves in this direction.
In three dimensions, an axis is the intersec
tion of two coordinate surfaces. The axes
may be mutually perpendicular or inclined at
any arbitrary angle.

COORDINATE SYSTEM.
(1) A reference
system for locating points, objects, and events
in space (or in 4 dimensional space-time, see
Minkowski space). In 3 dimensional space, a
point is located by 3 numbers (coordinates)
which specify the point of intersection of 3
coordinate surfaces, each of which is character
ized by a constant value of one of the co
ordinates (see also coordinate axis). If the
3 reference surfaces are mutually perpendic
ular the system is said to be orthogonal. If
the surfaces are curved, rather than plane, the
system is said to be curvilinear.
In solving physical problems, a judicious
choice of coordinate system will often make
the problem easier to handle. The choice is
often made on the basis of the type of sym
metry inherent in the physical problem.
The three most commonly used coordinate
systems in physics are the orthogonal systems:
rectangular Cartesian, cylindrical, and spher
ical polar. These, and other curvilinear co
ordinate systems often used are listed below,
under coordinate system, ellipsoidal, etc.
(2) In many problems of physics, multi
dimensional coordinate systems (hyperspaces)
are used as in the Hilbert space of eigenvalue
problems, or the phase space of statistical me
chanics.

COORDINATE,
variable.

CYCLIC.

See

COORDINATE, IGNORABLE.
able variable.
COORDINATE, NORMAL.
ordinates.

ignorable
See ignor

See normal co

COORDINATES AND M OM ENTA, GEN

ERALIZED. Generalized coordinates are co
ordinates chosen to describe the motion of a
mechanical system, without having their ex
act nature immediately specified. The gen
eralized coordinates associated with a system
having n degrees of freedom are denoted by
Qiy Q2, * * * qn- In the final analysis of a par
ticular problem, the generalized coordinates
must be translated into a known set, such as,
for example, rectangular, cylindrical, or spher
ical.
The generalized momenta pi, P2, pn are
defined by the equation:
dL

Vi

=
dqi

u ^ s; u ^ t ^ u ;

COORDINATE SURFACE. The surface in

a coordinate system obtained by setting one
coordinate equal to a constant.

COORDINATE SYSTEM, BIPOLAR.

A
curvilinear coordinate system. Choose two

where L is the Lagrangian function for the

system. The generalized momentum pi is said
to be conjugate to the generalized coordinate
qi. The Lagrange equations and the H am il
ton canonical equations are expressible in
terms of generalized coordinates and momenta.
COORDINATES, HYLLERAAS. A two par
ticle set of coordinates useful in the quantum
mechanical problems of the helium atom, the
singly ionized lithium atom, etc. The co
ordinates are u = ri2, where r12 is the separa
tion between the two particles; s n + r2j
where
and r2 are the respective distances
of the two particles from the origin; and
t = n r2. The volume element is then given
by d v 1d v 2
7t2u ( s 2 t2) d u d s d t . The ranges

Bipolar coordinate system.

points a on the X -a xis of a rectangular co

ordinate system. Then any point (x,y) in the
X Y -p la n e could be measured in either of two
polar coordinate systems where the poles are
at x = dba; the polar axis in both systems is
the X -a x is; the two polar angles are 6 1 , 02;
the two radius vectors are ri, r2. Define the
parameters = 6 X 02; r\ In r 2/r 1 and, in
terms of these parameters,

and the respective unit vectors,

For a right handed system the
is expressed by ei X e 2 = e3,
e 3 X ei = e2. The vector line
given b y :

ds

= eihid^i + e2h2d^2 +

with magnitude given b y :

(ds)2 =

hn\ d in) 2.

a sin

a sinh 77
x =

ei, e2, and e3.

orthogonality
e 2 X e 3 = e 1}
elem ent, ds is

cosh 77 cos

cosh rj cos

which are families of circles along the X - and

7-axes, respectively.
Translation of these
circles along the Z-axis produces the bipolar
coordinates which are families of right cir
cular cylindrical surfaces with axes parallel
to the Z-axis and centers at y = 0, x = 0,
respectively ($}rj = constant), where
0 < < 2tt;

co < 77 < go.

The third surface is a plane perpendicular

to the Z-axis (z = constant).
COORDINATE SYSTEM, CONFOCAL. See
coordinate system, ellipsoidal; coordinate sys
tem, paraboloidal; quadric, confocal.
COORDINATE SYSTEM, CONICAL. A de
generate system of curvilinear coordinates ob
tained from an ellipsoidal system. The sur
faces are: spheres with center at the origin of
a rectangular system and radii u (u = co n s t.);
two sets of cones with apexes at the origin, one
along the Z-axis and the other along the X axis (v, w = const.). Conical coordinates are
related to rectangular coordinates by the equa
tions
u2v2w2
x2 =
b2c2
u2(v2 - b2) (w2 - b2)

y2 =

b2Q>2 - c2)

u2(v2 c2)(w 2 c2)

c2(c2 b2)
where c2 > v2 > b2 > w2.
COORDINATE SYSTEM, CURVILINEAR
ORTHOGONAL. A ny coordinate system in
which the surfaces specified by a constant
value of one of the coordinates are not all
planes. Let the three coordinates be 1, f 2, 3,

Curvilinear coordinate system.

The scale factors, hn, are given b y :

(*-)! [ ( ) + ( 1

+ ( ) ]

where x = #(i, 2, 3)> etc. are the trans

formation equations between the particular
curvilinear coordinate system and the rectan
gular Cartesian coordinate system.
The volume element is given b y :
dr = hih2h^d^id^2d ^ .

(For the form taken by the del operator, V, etc.,

see operators, vector differential, in various
coordinate systems.)
COORDINATE
SYSTEM,
( CIRCULAR)
CYLINDRICAL.
A curvilinear orthogonal
coordinate system in which the coordinates p,
6 , and z specify the position of a point in
space. In this system the unit vectors are
ep pointing in the direction of increasing p, e$
pointing in the direction of increasing 0 , and
e z pointing in the direction of increasing 2 .
The first two are not fixed in direction but are
dependent on the coordinate 6 (see coordinate
system, rotating).

Coordinate System, Ellipsoidal Coordinate System, Elliptic Cylindrical

The vector line element is

( fl2

2_ (62- X)(62-

ds = [(dp)2 + (dd)2 + (dz)2]y\

z

V
2

(62 - a2)(c2 - a2)

ds = e pdp + eodd + e zdz,

and its magnitude is

260

)(62 -

v)

(a2 - 62)(c2 - b2)

(c2 ~ X)(c2 -

m) ( c2

~ )

(a2 c2)(62 c2)

(Circular) cylindrical coordinate system.

In the right-handed system shown the unit

vectors are orthogonal, i.e.,
Cp *

ep*e2

e $ -e z

0,

and satisfy the relations ep X e$ = e z, e$ X e2

= ep, e z X ep = e#. (See scalar product and
vector product.) The volume element is
dr = pdpdddz,
and the transformation equations connecting
this system with rectangular Cartesian co
ordinates a re:
x p cos 0
y = p sin 6
z = z.
(See also coordinate system, plane polar; co
ordinate system, elliptic cylindrical; coordi
nate system, parabolic cylindrical.)
C O O R D IN A T E SYSTEM, E L L IP S O ID A L .
A system based on confocal quadrics.
If A.,
fjjy v are the three real roots of a cubic equation
in a parameter describing such quadrics, they
also locate the position of a point in space, for
three mutually perpendicular quadric sur
faces intersect at the point. I f constants are
taken so that a > b > c, the surfaces are: (1)
ellipsoids, A = const., c2 > A > oo ; (2) hy
perboloids of one sheet, p, = const., b2 > p >
c2; (3) hyperboloids of two sheets, v = const.,
a2 > v > 62.
The relation between the rectangular Car
tesian coordinates and the ellipsoidal coordi
nates of a point are;

Since x, y , ^ occur as squares in these relations

they give eight points symmetrically located
in the Cartesian system. Some convention
must then be adopted for the signs of the
ellipsoidal coordinates in order to locate a
point uniquely.
These coordinates are also frequently called
elliptical but that term is best reserved for a
two-dimensional system of confocal conics.
M ost of the curvilinear systems used in mathe
matical physics (including rectangular and
spherical polar coordinates) are degenerate
cases of the ellipsoidal system.
C O O R D IN A T E SYSTEM, E L L IP T IC .
A
plane, two dimensional, coordinate system in
which the coordinate curves are the mutually
orthogonal sets of confocal ellipses and hyper
bolas.
The transformation equations are,
with the foci at x = db a, y = 0:
x = a cosh u cos v,
y = a sinh u sin v.
Alternatively, the two coordinates = cosh u
and rj = cosh v may be used, in which case the
following h o ld :
rA + rB
= ------------,
2a

rA
rB
rj -- -------------2a

These coordinates are useful in some two cen

ter problems o f physics. (See also coordinate
system, spheroidal; coordinate system, ellip
soidal.)
C O O R D IN A T E SYSTEM, E L L IP T IC CY
L IN D R IC A L . A degenerate case of ellip
soidal coordinates where the surfaces are: (1)
elliptic cylinders with semi-axes a = c cosh u ,
b = c sinh u, u = const.; (2) hyperbolic cy l
indrical surfaces with a c cos v, b = c sin v,
v = const.; (3) planes parallel to the X F plane, z = const. A point in this system has
rectangular Cartesian coordinates

x = c cosh u cos v,

x = fr,

y = c sinh u sin Vj

z = z,

z = z.

and 0 < u < o ; 0 < v < 2x; o < z < oo.

(See also coordinate system, spheroidal, oblate
and prolate.)

i2),

y2 =

(a2 X)(a2 ix)(a2 v)

(-b2 - a2)
(ib2 - X)(62 (a 2 -

m)2 -

v)

b2)

z = J (a 2 + b2 X p v).
COORDINATE
SYSTEM,
POLAR
(P LA N E ).
A two dimensional coordinate
system which is a special case o f the three
dimensional cylindrical system with z = 0 .
The polar variables are r, 0, and the trans
formation equations are:
x r cos 0 ,

Parabolic coordinate system.

COORDINATE
SYSTEM,
PARABOLOI
DAL. A curvilinear coordinate system of confocal paraboloids. I f
x, v are the real roots
of a cubic equation in a parameter describing
such surfaces, they are elliptic paraboloids
(X, v = const.); o o < X < 62 ; a 2 < j ' < o
and hyperbolic paraboloids (x = const.), b2
< fi < a2 where a > b > c are also constants.
As in the case of ellipsoidal coordinates a
convention is needed for the sign of the co
ordinates. They are related to rectangular
coordinates by the equations:
x2 =

COORDINATE SYSTEM, PARABOLIC. In

a limiting case of confocal paraboloidal co
ordinates, only two surfaces result. There
are two families of parabolas with common
foci at the origin of a rectangular coordinate
system, one extending toward the positive and
the other toward the negative Z-direction.

=W

y = r sin 0 .

COORDINATE SYSTEM, RECTANGULAR

CARTESIAN. A system defined in terms of
three fixed, mutually orthogonal axes, usually
denoted by x, y, and z. The system shown in

R otate the families about this axis to obtain

paraboloids of revolution (, 77 = const.) and
add planes from the Z-axis (cp = const.). The
transformation equations are:

cIt

x = 77 cos <p,
y =
* = W

sin 0 ,
-

2)-

COORDINATE SYSTEM, PARABOLIC CY

LINDRICAL. A curvilinear system similar
to parabolic coordinates with coordinate sur
faces consisting of two families which are
parabolic cylindrical (, rj = const.) and a
fam ily of planes (z = const.). The transfor
mation equations are:

the diagrams is right handed, which is the con

ventional choice in the United States (see
handedness, right and left).
The vector line element is
ds = e xdx + e ydy + e zdz>

where e x, e y and e z are unit vectors pointing

in the positive direction of the three coordinate
axes. The magnitude of the line element is

ds

= Kdx)2 + (,dy)2 + (dz)Y2.

Since the three unit vectors are orthogonal and

right handed they obey the multiplication rules:
I X Cj/ =

X Cg = e#,

ez X

ey.

(See scalar product and vector product.)

volume element is

COORDINATE SYSTEM, ROTATING. (1)

In an unaccelerated rectangular Cartesian
coordinate system (an inertial frame), the
position r, velocity v, and acceleration a of a
point mass are given in vector form by
r = ix + j y + kz,
v = f = ix + j y + k z,
a = y = ix + j y + kz,
where i, j, and k are unit vectors with fixed
directions in space, whose time derivatives are
therefore zero. The second of the Newton
laws o f m otion then states that F = ma.
If the m otion of the particle is referred to a
rectangular Cartesian coordinate system which
is rotating with an angular velocity co, the
reference system is no longer an inertial frame,
and the above equations must be modified.
F or example, a particle that is stationary in the
rotating system will be observed to have both
a velocity and an acceleration in the fixed
inertial system. A n y vector V that is constant
in magnitude and direction in the rotating
system will be observed b y the fixed observer
to be changing at a time rate given by
(dV/dt) fixed = <> X V
Or, for any vector

(dA./df) fixed = (dA/ 0 rotating b

X A.

Thus, at the instant when the two coordinate

systems coincide, the transformation equations
are:
r = r',
v = v ' + (0 X r',
a = a' + 2(co X v') + <o X ( X r'),

F = ma = ma' + 2m (co X v') = mo> X (co X r').

In the rotating system, a' is the apparent
acceleration and ma' is the apparent force, Fa.
The apparent force is thus given by

The

dr = dxdydz.

(see vector product).

A in general,

where the primes refer to the rotating system,

so that, for example, a = ix + j y + kz and
a' = i'x' + j 'y r + k'z'. N ewtons second law
then becomes

Fa = F 2m(<o X v') rrm X (<* X r').

The second term on the right is the Coriolis
force, and the third term is the centrifugal
force. If F = 0, the particle will travel with
uniform motion in a straight line as observed
by the stationary observer (a = 0). However,
to an observer fixed to the rotating coordinates,
the particle will appear to be accelerated with
an acceleration a' = 2(<o X v') <o X (o) X
r'), and this rotating observer accounts for the
apparent acceleration b y saying that an ap
parent force must be acting on the particle (see
also curvilinear m otion o f a particle in a
plane). (2) In a curvilinear coordinate system
all the unit vectors are not fixed in direction.
Therefore, in finding the time rate of change
of a vector in a fixed curvilinear coordinate
system the effect of the changing direction of
the unit vectors must be taken into account.
For example, in the cylindrical system, the
ee and er vectors rotate in direction as 0
changes. The time rate of change of a vector
in the xy-plane, A = A re r + A # e 0, will thus be
given by A =* A re r + A re r + Aeee + A eee.
From the discussion in (1), e r = Bee and e# =
6erj so that A = (A r 6Ae)er + (Aq +
M r)e 0. The results for the spherical polar and
other curvilinear coordinate systems can be
found in an analogous manner.
COORDINATE SYSTEMS, RIGHT AND
LEFT H ANDED. See handedness, right and
left.
COORDINATE SYSTEMS, SEPARATION
OF VARIABLES IN. See separation of vari
ables.
COORDINATE
SYSTEM,
SPHERICAL
POLAR. An orthogonal, curvilinear coordi
nate system, in which the coordinates r, 6 and
4> specify the position of a point in space. In
this system the unit vectors are er, ee, and e0.
The directions of these unit vectors vary from

point to point in space.

ment is

The vector line ele

ds = e rdr + e erdd +

sin 6d<l>

It is often useful (in two center problems) to

use the coordinates and rj in place of u and v,
where = cosh u and rj = cos v. These two
coordinates may alternatively be defined b y :

and its magnitude is

T A + rB
= ------------

ds = [(dr)2 + (rdB)2 + (r sin Od<t>)2]^.

In the right handed system shown, the unit
vectors are orthogonal, i.e., e r -e$ = er-e^ =
ee-e# = 0, and satisfy the relations er X e$ =
X C</> 6/*,
X Cr = G0

,
and

rA - rB
rj ----------------

The limits of the variables are 1 < rj < 1,

l < f < o o , 0 < $ < 7 r ; o r 0 < w < o o , 0 < v
<

7T.

The volume element is

dr = r2 sin ddrddd<l>.
The transformation equations connecting this
system with rectangular Cartesian coordinates
are:
x = r sin 0 cos 0,
2/ = r sin 0 sin <j>,
2

= r cos 0.

COORDINATE
SYSTEM,
SPHERICAL
POLAR (PLANE), See coordinate system,
polar (plane).
COORDINATE SYSTEM, SPHEROIDAL
(OBLATE AND PROLATE), Degenerate
cases of the ellipsoidal coordinate system,
which arise when two of the three axes become
equal.
In the prolate spheroidal system the sur
faces are (1) prolate spheroids (u constant)
obtained by rotating ellipses about their m ajor
axis (^-axis), (2) hyperboloids of two sheets
(v = constant) obtained by rotating hyper
bolas about their axis ( 2 -axis), and (3) planes
passing through the 2 -axis (<j> = constant).
The transformation equations are (with the
foci at a ) :
x = a sinh u sin v cos <,
y a sinh u sin v sin <,
z = a cosh u cos v.

In the oblate spheroidal case, the ellipses are

rotated about their minor axis to form oblate
spheroids (u = constant), and the hyperbolas
are rotated about this same axis to give hyper
bolas of one sheet (v = constant).
Again
taking the 2-axis to be the axis of revolution,
the transformation equations are
x = a cosh u sin v cos </>,
y = a cosh u sin v sin 0,
z = a sinh u cos v.
The same figure as that for the prolate spher
oidal case applies if the x- and 2-axes are inter
changed.
COORDINATE SYSTEM, TOROIDAL. A
curvilinear system closely related to bipolar
coordinates. If the traces of the surfaces in
that system are taken in the X F -p la n e as two
families of mutually orthogonal circles, then
rotation of the circles about the Z-axis forms
a fam ily of spherical surfaces and a family
of anchor rings. The toroidal coordinate sur
faces are then taken as: (1) spherical, with
centers on the Z-axis at a distance of a
cot from the origin and with radii of a csc
const.; (2) anchor rings with radii of a
coth rj for the axial circles and circular cross
sections of radii a csch y, rj = const.; (3)
planes through the Z-axis, ^ = const., where
\p = ta n -1 y/x. These coordinates are re

lated to rectangular coordinates by the equa

tions
x = r cos \py y = r sin \p
a sinh 77
r = ----------------------;
cosh 7} cos
0

a sin
z = ----------------------- ;
cosh r\ cos

< < 27 t ; 0 < ^ < 2 7 t ; 0 < 77 < 00.

COORDINATE VALENCE.
ordinate.

See bond, co

COORDINATION NUMBER. The number

of nearest neighbors (see neighbors, nearest)
of a given atom in a crystal structure. In
covalent crystals, only those neighbors to
which the atom is directly bonded are counted,
and this number is usually four or less. In
metals the coordination number may be as
high as twelve, as in the close-packed struc
tures.
COORDINATION POLYHEDRA. The ar
rangement of oxygen ions about the cation
to which they are closely bonded, in an ionic
crystal, as, for example, the group (SiCM,
which forms a tetrahedron. Such polyhedra
pack as units in the crystal structure.
COPPER. M etallic element.
A tom ic number 29.
COPY.

Sym bol Cu.

See transfer.

CORE. (1) A magnetic core is an important

element in many applications in electrical de
sign. Electromagnetic equipment, as exempli
fied by the transformer, the motor and the
generator, have electrical circuits, usually of
copper conductors, and magnetic circuits.
The magnetic circuit follows a path largely
contained in a core composed of iron or iron
alloys. The purpose of the core is to offer
a low-reluctance path for the magnetic flux
established by the electrical circuits, and its
success in this respect is measured by its
permeability. (2) In a nuclear reactor, the
region containing the fissionable m aterial; in
a heterogeneous reactor, the region contain
ing fuel-bearing cells.
(3) In an atom, the
aggregate consisting of the nucleus plus all
electrons in closed shells. The valence elec
trons m ay often be considered to be moving
in a field due to the spherically symmetrical
charge -\-ze of the core, 2 being the number
of valence electrons. (4) In mechanical re
cording, the central layer or basic support of

certain types of laminated media. (5) In a

relay, a stationary part of the magnetic circuit
of a relay about which the coil is wound.
CORE, C. A spirally-wound magnetic core
which is formed to a desired rectangular
shape before it is cut into two c-shaped pieces.
In this form it may be placed around a trans
former or magnetic amplifier coil as a superior
replacement for the more conventional E -I
lamination. Its principal advantages lie in
the fact that grain-oriented materials may be
used, the effective air gap may be made quite
small, and assembly time is reduced.
CORE, CLOCKSPRING. One of the names
applied to a toroidal core made up of a thin
magnetic tape wound into the form of a ring.
CORE, DUST. A magnetic core composed of
pulverized particles bound together by a suit
able binder. The small particle-size reduces
core losses sufficiently to allow use of the cores
at much higher frequencies than would other
wise be possible.
CORE LOSSES. The power losses in a mag
netic core caused by hysteresis and eddy cur
rents. The latter loss is caused by the cur
rents which are induced in the core mate
rial by the changing flux through it. This is,
of course, much more pronounced in a-c than
in d-c machines, because of the much greater
rate of change of the flux in the former. In
order to reduce this loss the cores of all a-c
machinery and much d-c machinery are lam
inated or composed of thin sheets. The hys
teresis loss is due to the interaction between
the fields of the molecules of the core and
the external magnetic field. W hile the two
types o f losses do not follow the same laws
the total loss varies approximately as the
square of the frequency if other factors are
held constant.
CORE, MAGNETIC TAPE. A toroidal core
formed from thin magnetic tape wound in a
tight, continuous spiral.
CORE OF THE CONFIGURATION.
parent of a state.

See

CORE, SATURABLE, IDEAL. A core dis

playing idealized magnetic characteristics, i.e.,
a magnetization curve represented by two
straight lines, having m= zero above the knee

and /a = infinity below the knee, and having

no losses and hence no hysteresis loop.
C O R E , T A P E -W O U N D . A length of ferro
magnetic tape coiled about an axis in such a
way that one convolution falls directly upon
the preceding convolution. The greater of the
cross-sectional dimensions of the tape is the
tape width, and the other is the tape thick
ness. A wrap is one convolution of the tape
about the axis. W rap thickness is the distance
between points on two consecutive wraps,
measured parallel to the tape thickness.
A bobbin core is a tape-wound core in which
the ferromagnetic tape has been wrapped on a
form or bobbin which supplies mechanical
support to the tape. The bobbin I.D . is the
center-hole diameter and the bobbin O.D. is
the overall diameter of the bobbin. The bob
bin height is the overall axial length of the
bobbin. The groove diameter is the diameter
of the center portion of the bobbin on which
the first wrap o f the tape is placed. The
groove width is the axial length of the bobbin
measured inside the groove provided for the
tape.
C O R IN G . A variation in com position within
the dendrites or grains of a cast solid-solution
phase caused by failure to achieve equilib
rium during solidification. The alloy which
initially solidifies, contains a greater propor
tion of the component which raises the freez
ing temperature of the liquid, and the inte
rior (core) of the dendrite is thereby enriched
in this component.
C O R IO L IS E F F E C T S (A C C E L E R A T IO N
O R F O R C E ). (1) A ny object moving above
the earth with constant space velocity is de
flected relative to the surface of the rotating
earth. This deflection was first discussed by
the French scientist Coriolis about the m id
dle of the last century, and is now usually
described in terms of the Coriolis acceleration
or the Coriolis force. The deflection is found
to be to the right in the northern hemisphere
and to the left in the southern. I f rma is the
vector velocity of a particle with respect to
the earth (r is measured from the center of
the earth), then the Coriolis acceleration is
given by 2o) X rma where o> is the angular
velocity of rotation of the earth.
The Coriolis effects must be considered in
a great variety of phenomena in which motion

over the surface of the earth is involved.

Among these m ay be listed: a. Rivers in the
northern hemisphere should scour their right
banks more severely than the left, and the
effect should be more evident for rivers in
high latitudes. Studies of the banks of the
Mississippi and Y ukon rivers indicate the pre
dicted results, b. The motions of air over the
earth are governed, to an appreciable extent,
by the Coriolis force, c. A term, due to the
Coriolis force, must be included in the equa
tions for exterior ballistics. W hile the effect
is negligible in small-arms fire, nevertheless,
it is very important in the fire-control mate
rial for long-range guns and still more impor
tant in connection with long-range ballistic
missiles, d. A ny level bubble, which is being
carried on a ship or plane, will be deflected
from its normal position. The deflection will
be perpendicular to the direction of motion
of the ship or plane. The correction for this
effect may amount to several miles in the
determination of a position of the ship or
plane by methods of celestial navigation if
the bubble octant is used in the necessary
observations.
(2) A generalized discussion of Coriolis ef
fects, not limited to the earth as a frame of
reference, is given in polar coordinates as fol
lows: A particle which is subject to no forces
in a polar coordinate system r, 0 experiences
a radial acceleration r(dO/dt)2 and a tangen
tial acceleration 2 (dr/dt) (dO/dt). These
accelerations result from the fact that every
point fixed in a coordinate system rotating
with an angular velocity dO/dt (with the ex
ception of the origin) is accelerated with re
spect to an inertial frame. The radial ac
celeration is known as the centrifugal accelera
tion; the tangential acceleration is called the
Coriolis acceleration. I f Newton's second law
of motion is applied to the particle without
correction for the motion of the coordinate
system, a centrifugal force mr(dO/dt)2 and
a Coriolis force 2m (dr/dt) (dO/dt), where
m is the mass of the particle, must be postu
lated to account for th behavior of the par
ticle. A Coriolis effect also occurs in poly
atomic molecules, since the atoms vibrate
about their equilibrium positions while the
molecule is rotating as a whole. Perturba
tions in molecular spectra appear due to this
interaction between the vibrational and rota
tional motions.

CORKSCREW INSTABILITY. In the ther

monuclear program, an observed configuration
of gas current in a cylindrical discharge tube
where the axial current forms a helical shape.
Com m only observed in pinch discharge sys
tems when the stability conditions are ex
ceeded. The corkscrew or helical instability
is a particular case of the general hydromagnetic instability. Corkscrew instability is also
called kink instability or pinch instability.
CORNEA. The outermost part of the eye
just in front of the aqueous humor.
CORNER EFFECT. The rounding off of the
attenuation vs. frequency characteristic at the
extremes (or com ers) of the pass band of a
filter.
CORNER REFLECTOR.
ner.
CORNU SPIRAL.

See reflector, cor

CORONA.
(1) Diffraction of light from
either the sun or moon through cloud waterdroplets produces a corona or series of col
ored rings which appear about the celestial
body but actually are at the cloud height.
Corona differs from halo in that the latter is
due to refraction by ice crystals. Reddish
colors always occupy the outer part of the
ring.
(2) Also corona discharge. (3) The
outermost layer of the solar atmosphere start
ing near the solar radius. It is observable to
about 10 solar radii. It consists of a very
rarified highly ionized gas which emits a con
tinuous spectrum and a few emission lines of
highly ionized atoms, which indicate a kinetic
temperature of about 106 K . It is the region
in which solar flares, filaments and promi
nences occur.
CORONA
corona.

A plot of

DISCHARGE,

See

discharge,

COROSIL. Trade name for an oriented sili

con-iron magnetic alloy.

7TV
cos dv

CORPUSCULAR.
particle.

against
rv
irv2
y = I sin dv.
Jo
2

CORRECTION.

This gives a double spiral curve. Distances

on this curve are used in computing intensi
ties in the diffraction pattern resulting from
Fresnel diffraction.

H aving the nature of a

See error.

CORRECTION, GAMMA.
rection.
CORRECTION TIME.

Cornu spiral.

See gamma cor

See time, correction.

must have an angular momentum of ft point

ing along the Z-axis. N ow if the nucleus
again emits a particle of zero spin but carries
off ft in orbital angular momentum and leaves
the nucleus with zero total angular momen
tum, it is clear that the orbital angular m o
mentum of this second particle must point
CORRELATION.
(1) The mutual depend
along the Z-axis and thus the particle must
ence of two or more events or phenomena.
have its direction also parallel to the X - Y
F or example, in the free electron picture of
plane. This means that, relative to the direc
metallic conductors the electrons are, to a
tion of emission of the first particle, all direc
first approximation, treated as in random m o
tions in space are not equally probable for
tion, one electron being unaffected b y neigh
the second particle. Hence an angular cor
boring ones. However, due to their mutual
relation between the two particles is forced
Coulom b repulsion the motion of any one elec
by the conservation of angular momentum.
tron is always correlated with the motion of
In the language of quantum mechanics, the
others in its neighborhood.
Likewise, the
formal aspects of any correlation problem can
Pauli exclusion principle produces a spinbe described rather easily. For example, sup
dependent correlation between electrons. (See
pose a system has, as a result of the measure
also cooperative phenomena.)
ment of some property of the system, been
(2)
In connection with a nuclear transition selected to be in some state, a, described by
or reaction, the term is used to indicate the
the density matrix p a. In terms of quantum
probability of a definite relationship between
mechanical representation theory, this matrix
a specified set of properties of one part of the
may be represented relative to a set of base
system and another set of properties that are
vectors which are eigenfunctions of the square
produced in the transition or reaction. For
of the total angular momentum operator and
example, in beta decay, the beta-neutrino
its Z-com ponent for the initial state. In this
directional (or angular) correlation is defined
representation, the elements of this matrix
as the probability per unit solid angle that the
would be expressed as ( j ama |pa |
After
neutrino in a particular decay is emitted in
the system has emitted some kind of radiation
a direction making an angle 0 with the direc
and gone over to a state, 6, the combination
tion of emission of the beta particle. Simi
o f the system in state b and the radiation
larly, the y -y directional correlation in a two
would be described by a density matrix pr&
step transition is the probability per unit solid
and could be represented relative to a set of
angle that the second gamma ray, y2, will be
base vectors which are eigenfunctions of the
emitted in a direction making an angle 6 with
square of the total angular momentum and its
respect to the direction of emission of the
Z-com ponent for the system b and also are
eigenfunctions of the similar operators for the
earlier yi. M ost of the correlation phenomena
radiation. In this representation, the elements
in nuclear physics owe their existence to the
of the matrix pr& would be ( jrmr, j&m&; j ama
conservation of angular momentum.
This
| prb | j'rm'r,
I f some property
fact can best be illustrated by considering, in
of the final state b is measured, then there
a rather naive w ay the following hypothetical
must be a quantum mechanical operator B
problem, discussed partially in the language
corresponding to the dynamical variable being
of classical mechanics. A nucleus, initially
measured.
Likewise for any measurement
having zero total angular momentum, emits a
made upon the emitted radiation, there must
particle which has no intrinsic spin but carries
be an operator R corresponding to this dy
off % in orbital angular momentum. If the
namical variable being measured. The opera
orbital angular momentum carried off by this
tor corresponding to the successive measure
particle points along the Z-axis, then by clas
ments on the final system and the radiation
sical mechanics, the particle must move in a
would be BR. The average value of the
direction parallel to the X - Y plane of a rec
operator BR for the final state of the system
tangular Cartesian coordinate system. C on
described by />r& which resulted from the tran
servation of angular momentum requires that,
sition from the state described by pa would
after the emission of this particle, the nucleus
CORRECTION TO VACUUM. The correc
tion of wavelengths or of the speed of light
as measured in air to the appropriate values
in vacuo. The index of refraction for air is
about 1.000225 but is dependent on the den
sity of the air.

give the probability that the properties char

acterized by the operations B and R would be
found when the initial state had the proper
ties characterized by the density matrix pa.
Thus the average value of BR for this final
state would give the correlation between the
properties of interest. The correlation is then
given by
(BR )av = Trace ||pr6 BR||,
where pr&BR is the matrix product of the
matrix representations of p r b, B* and R. The
matrix prb is in turn given b y the expression
Prb =

HPaHf,

where H is the matrix representation of the

part of the Hamiltonian operator of the initial
system corresponding the perturbation which
produces the transition, and H f is its Hermetian conjugate. W ritten in terms of the
elements of the matrices, this last equation is
(jr ^ ir jb m

!P r b \ j r m rf , j bm

jaW a |H |

b)

= XI

( jr 'n ir d b 'M 'b )

|Pa Ija ^ a ) { ja a \

j r ' m r , j b m b ' ; . j am a' ) -

In this way the problem of form ally construct

ing the expression for any desired correlation
is relatively easy. The problem of evaluating
such an expression is, however, very difficult
unless full use is made of methods for break
ing such an expression down into simple parts.
F or a treatment of such methods see U. Fano
and G. Racah, Irreducible Tensorial Sets,
Academ ic Press, 1959.
(3)
In statistics the correlation coefficient
is dependence of one variable on another.
CORRELATION, ANGULAR.
tion.

See correla

CORRELATION ENERGY. The energy as

sociated with the correlation effect in a metal,
i.e., the tendency for electrons to keep apart,
and hence for the positions of any two not to
be entirely independent. It represents a cor
rection to a naive calculation of Coulomb
energy.
CORRESPONDENCE PRINCIPLE.
The
principle that in the limit of high quantum
numbers the predictions of quantum theory
agree with those of classical physics. The
term is also often used in the sense that, in
the limit of high quantum numbers, the pre
dictions of quantum mechanics agree with

those of the Bohr-Sommerfeld ( old) quantum

mechanics.
CORRESPONDING STATES, L A W OF. If
any two or more substances have the same
reduced pressure (the same fraction or mul
tiple of their respective critical pressure) and
are at equal reduced temperature (the same
fraction or multiple of their respective critical
temperature), their reduced volumes should
be equal. These substances are said to be in
corresponding states. (See also critical state.)
CORTI, ORGAN OF. A center of nerve
terminals located in the inner ear, adjacent to
the basilar membrane.
COSECANT-SQUARED
PATTERN.
An
antenna field in which the signal-power pat
tern in the vertical plane, above a prescribed
angle of elevation, varies as the square of the
cosecant of the elevation angle. W ith a co
secant-squared pattern approximately uni
form signal is obtained for echoes received
from objects at the same altitude, but at vary
ing distances.
(See antenna, cosecantsquared.)
COSET. If X is an element of a group G,
not contained in one of its subgroups H , then
the set of elements H X is called a right coset
and X H is a left coset. Cosets are not groups
because they do not contain F , the unit ele
ment. They are called in German, however,
Nebengruppen.
COSINE EMISSION L A W . A law relating
to the emission of radiation in different di
rections from a radiating surface. I f a small,
white-hot metal plate is viewed from a great
distance, its apparent candle power, measured
by a photometer, is greatest when it is per
pendicular to the line of sight, and reduces to
practically zero when it is turned edgewise.
If the observer now moves nearer, he finds
that this change is due to the smaller angle
subtended by the surface, that is, the smaller
cross-section of the beam proceeding from it
in his direction; and that the apparent bright
ness of the surface is the same however it is
turned. T o apply this, let the radiating sur
face, of area a, be emitting a luminous flux L
(lumens) in the normal direction (see fig
ure), and, in any other direction making an
angle 0 with the normal, the smaller quan
tity 1 /. Then since the apparent brightness is

unchanged, L'/a' = L/a. This gives L'/L

= a'/a. But a'/a = cos 0, hence V L cos
6) which means that the energy emitted in
any direction is proportional to the cosine of
rvm?,

\y

>

j<

O / 1 Area a'

(projection of a)

* ^ -A rea a

the angle which that direction makes with

the normal. This is the cosine emission law
of Lambert. It applies to thermal radiation
as well as to light, and to diffusely reflected
as well as directly emitted radiation. The
law is true only for a perfectly diffusing sur
face, strictly, for a black body, but it is a good
approximation to the behavior of many sur
faces.
COSINE L A W .
(1) Cosine emission law.
(2) See Knudsen cosine law.
(3) See
obliquity factor.
COSMIC RADIATION, CASCADE TH E
ORY OF. See cascade theory (of cosmic
radiation ).
COSMIC RAY D ECAY ELECTRONS. E lec
trons in the soft component of cosmic rays
which originate from the decay of mesons.
COSMIC RAY KNOCK-ON ELECTRONS.
Electrons in the soft component of cosmic
rays which originate in the direct impact of
fast mesons with the orbital electrons of the
oxygen and nitrogen atoms of the atmosphere.
COSMIC RAY MESONS OR MESATRONS.
A ny of several elementary particles found in
cosmic radiation. They m ay be charged with
either sign, or neutral, and are characterized
by masses intermediate between that of the
electron and the proton. They are unstable,
with mean lives ranging from 10-14 seconds
to 10 6 seconds. (See mesons and hyperons.)
COSMIC RAY M ETER, M ILLIKAN. A de
vice consisting of an ionization chamber and
quartz-fiber electroscope used to record the
intensity of cosmic radiation.
COSMIC RAYS. A highly penetrating radia
tion apparently reaching the earth in all di
rections from outer space. The existence of
this radiation was first suspected from the

discharge of electroscopes in air free from all

known ionizing influences, the rate of dis
charge increasing as the electroscope was car
ried to higher altitudes. (See ionized gases.)
The atmosphere apparently absorbs meas
urable portions o f the rays, but traces of their
effect persist even at depths of many feet be
low water or below the ground. The rays are
of nearly the same intensity from all parts of
the celestial sphere, and as they proceed
through an absorbing medium, they show evi
dence of unequal absorption rates. Experi
mental observations show that the cosmic rays
entering our atmosphere are almost entirely
composed of positively-charged atomic nuclei.
About 91.5 percent of these so-called primary
cosmic rays are protons, 7.8 percent are helium
nuclei, and the remainder are heavier nuclei
like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, etc.
Mesons and hyperons as well as nuclear
fragments of various kinds are present in cos
mic rays, being formed most generally by
collision of primary cosmic rays with air nu
clei, high in the atmosphere. In these col
lisions positively and negatively charged
7r-mesons, #c-mesons and hyperons are pro
duced, along with neutral 7r-mesons, and other
nuclear particles. The charged 7r-mesons de
cay principally into charged /-mesons and
neutrinos; and the fi-mesons decay in turn
into electrons and neutrinos. The uncharged
7r-mesons decay into -y-rays, which create in
the upper atmosphere cascade showers of elec
trons by electron pair-production and bremsstralung. All of these with the exception of
the primary particle are called secondary
cosmic rays. (See also Fermi theory of cosmic
ray acceleration.)
COSMIC RAYS, ALTITUDE EFFECT ON.
The intensity of cosmic rays as a function of
altitude shows a maximum at a distance be
low the top of the atmosphere corresponding
to a pressure of about 45 mm Hg. This maxi
mum is due to the interaction of primary cos
mic ray particles of extremely high energies
with atomic nuclei in the top layer of the
atmosphere.
COSMIC RAYS, EAST-WEST EFFECT ON.
The east-west asymmetry in the number of
charged cosmic ray particles observed on the
earth caused by the deflection of the cosmic
rays by the earths magnetic field in com bi

nation with the rotation of the earth from

west to east.

ticles with atomic numbers ranging from 2

to 41.

COSMIC RAY SHOWER. A phenomenon

characterized by the simultaneous appearance
of a number of downward-directed, light,
ionizing particles, sometimes accompanied by
photons, and having a common ultimate ori
gin in an event caused by one cosmic ray.
(See cascade shower, cascade theory.)

COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT. Coefficient

A of the extra term added to the Einstein law
of gravitation to make it:

COSMIC RAYS, LONGITUDE EFFECT

ON. The variation in cosmic ray intensity
along the equator as a function of longitude.
It may be interpreted as an indication that
the earth's magnetic field, even at great
heights, is not symmetrical.
COSMIC RAYS, M AGNETIC LATITUDE
EFFECT. The variation in cosmic ray in
tensity with magnetic latitude, caused by the
deflection of charged cosmic ray particles by
the earth's magnetic field.
COSMIC RAYS, PRIMARY.

See cosmic rays.

COSMIC RAYS, RELATION TO NEU

TRONS AND OTHER PARTICLES. N eu
trons in the atmosphere are probably the re
sult of interactions between cosmic ray par
ticles and atomic nuclei in the atmosphere.
The natural occurrence of C 14 in the atmos
phere is also a result of cosmic rays.
COSMIC RAYS, SECONDARY.
rays.

R^nv ~f" ^Qnv ==

SttTV

Introduced by Einstein in order that the proper

pressure:

be positive for an Einstein universe of radius

R.
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS.
Constructs
of the universe as a whole; specifically, m od
els of the universe based on the Einstein law
of gravitation.
(See Einstein unverse; de
Sitter universe; expanding universe; continu
ous creation hypothesis.)
COSMOTRON. A colloquial name for the 3
B ev proton synchrotron at the Brookhaven
National Laboratory, Long Island, N. Y . (See
also accelerators, particle.)
COTTON-MOUTON EFFECT. A dielectric
placed in a magnetic field may become
double-refracting with retardation 8 of the
ordinary ray over the extraordinary ray given
by:

See cosmic
X

COSMIC RAYS, SOFT COMPONENT OF.

That portion of cosmic radiation which is ab
sorbed in a moderate thickness of an absorber
(usually 10 cm of lead). It consists mainly
of electrons, positrons, and photons, but con
tains some slow mesons, slow protons, and
other heavy particles often present in cosmic
radiation.
(See cosmic rays; mesons and
hyperons.)

in which Cm is the C otton-M outon magnetic

birefringence constant, I is the distance in the
dielectric traversed by the light and H is the
magnetic field strength. This is not the mag
netic Kerr effect, which is a rotation of the
plane of polarization.
This effect is some thousand times greater
than the Voight effect and is not related to
the Zeeman effect.

COSMIC RAY TELESCOPE. An array of

cosmic ray counters connected in coincidence,
anticoincidence, or some combination of the
two and so arranged that a count will be re
corded only for a cosmic ray particle that is
incident from a given direction.

COTTRELL HARDENING. Impurity atoms

differing in size from those of the solvent can
relieve hydrostatic stresses in a crystal by
migrating to the dislocations about which
they cluster and form an atmosphere. The
dislocations are thus locked, and the mate
rial cannot yield readily to applied stress.

COSMIC RAY TRACKS, HEAVY. Tracks

found in cloud chambers and emulsions ex
posed to cosmic radiation at very high alti
tudes. They are due to relatively heavy par

COTTRELL LOCKING. The mechanism by

which an atmosphere of impurity atoms can
prevent the movement of a dislocation line.

COTTRELL M ETH O D . See boiling point,

methods of determining elevation of.
COUETTE FLO W .
A
two-dimensional
steady flow without pressure gradient in the
direction of flow and caused by the tangential
movement of the bounding surfaces. The only
practicable type is the flow between concentric
rotating cylinders, although the flow between
parallel planes with uniform relative velocity
is used in the elementary discussion of vis
cosity.
COULOMB. A unit of electrical charge, ab
breviation coul or Cb.
(1)
The absolute coulomb is defined as the
amount of electrical charge which crosses a
surface in one second if a steady current of
one absolute ampere is flowing across the sur
face. The absolute coulomb has been the
legal standard of quantity of electricity since
1950.
(2) The International coulomb, the legal
standard before 1950, is the quantity of elec
tricity which, when passed through a solu
tion of silver nitrate in water, in accordance
with certain definite specifications, deposits
0.00111800 gm of silver.
1 Int. coul =
0.999835 abs. coul.
COULOMB BARRIER. The potential bar
rier formed by the superposition of a repulsive
Coulomb potential and an attractive nuclear
potential. (See potential, nuclear (B ).)
COULOMB DEGENERACY.
Identity of
the energy levels of a charged particle bound
in a Coulomb field for different values of the
orbital angular momentum, provided that the
principal quantum number and spin state is
the same, e.g., the 2Si^ and 2P ^ states of the
hydrogen atom. (See Lam b shift.)
COULOMB ENERGY. T hat part of the
binding energy of a solid associated with the
electrostatic interaction of the ions and elec
trons. In the case of metals, where the elec
trons are not localized on the ions, this energy
has presented serious problems, which have
to some extent been overcome by the Bohm
and Pines method.
COULOMB EXCITATION. I f a high energy
charged particle passes close to the nucleus
of an atom, the time varying electric field
felt by the nucleus can cause it to undergo a
transition to an excited state. The necessary

energy for the transition can be looked upon

as having been radiated by the passing par
ticle and absorbed by the nucleus. This ex
citation by the coulomb field of the passing
particle is called coulomb excitation.
COULOMB FIELD
decay theory.

FACTOR.

See beta

COULOMB L A W (ELECTROSTATICS).
The force between two point charges in free
space is a pure attraction or repulsion, and is
given in rationalized mksa units by

4w e0r2
where qiy q2 are the magnitudes of the charges,
r is their separation, and c0 is a constant of
nature. The numerical value of c0 depends
upon the system of units used (see electric
constant). When the charges are immersed
in a homogenous medium, which extends to
distances much greater than r in all direc
tions
F -2 -.
4 tter2
where e is the permittivity, or absolute dielec
tric constant of the medium.
COULOMB L A W (M AG N ETISM ).
magnetic pole strength.

See

COULOMBMETER OF COULOMETER.
An electrolytic cell used for the measurement
of the quantity of electricity passing through
a circuit; also called *'voltameter. The in
ternational coulomb (and ampere) were based
on the amount of silver deposited in the elec
trolysis of a silver nitrate solution.
COULOMB POTENTIAL. The electric po
tential due to a positive point charge Q is, in
rationalized mksa units, V = Q/47re0r.
(See
Coulomb law.)
COUNT (RADIATION MEASUREMENTS).
(1) In a radiation counter, a single response
of the counting system. See also count, tube.
(2) The external indication of a device de
signed to enumerate ionizing events. It may
refer to a single detected event or to the total
registered in a given period of time. The
term is loosely used to designate a disintegra
tion, ionizing event or voltage pulse.

COUNT, BACKGROUND. (1) In a radia

tion counter, a count caused by radiation
coming from a source other than that being
measured.
(2) The totality of background
counts as defined in (1 ).
COUNT D O W N . In a transponder, the ratio
o f the number of interrogation pulses not
answered to the total number of interrogation
pulses received.
COUNTER. (1) A device for counting ioniz
ing events. The term m ay refer to a com
plete instrument or to the detector, usually a
device of the Geiger or scintillation type. (2)
A device capable of changing from one to
the next of a sequence of distinguishable states
upon each receipt of an input signal. (3) The
term counter is in some cases used to mean
accumulator. In mechanical analog-computers, a means for measuring the angular dis
placement of a shaft.
COUNTER, ANTICOINCIDENCE. An ar
rangement of counters and associated circuits
which will record a count if and only if an
ionizing particle passes through certain of
the counters but not through the others.
COUNTERBALANCING. Counterbalancing
means simply the application of extra mass
to a system in order to produce balance for
the system as a whole, and to offset the un
balance arising from some particular part.
R otating machinery, especially high-speed
machinery, needs to be counterbalanced if the
center of gravity of the rotating mass does
not lie on the axis of rotation. Hoists are fre
quently counterbalanced so that a descending
weight will supply some of the energy re
quired for hoisting the non-useful load. N u
merous examples of counterbalancing will be
found in everyday practice, but those cases
associated with the counterbalancing of high
speed rotating machinery are the most im
perative of solution. (See also balance, me
chanical.)
COUNTER, BORON. A counter filled with
B F 3 a n d /or having electrodes coated with
boron or boron compounds used for detecting
slow neutrons by the (n,a) reaction of B 10.
COUNTER CHAMBER, CYLINDRICAL.
A counter chamber consisting of a cylinder
acting as one electrode and fine wire coaxial
with the cylinder acting as the other electrode.

The cylinder is usually the cathode, and the

wire the anode.
COUNTER
CHAMBER,
PARALLELPLATE. A counter chamber with plane par
allel electrodes.
COUNTER CHARACTERISTIC CURVE.
The curve of the counting rate of a counter
o f the Geiger type, against applied voltage,
all pulses counted being greater than a cer
tain minimum size, determined by the sensi
tivity of the receiving circuit. (See counter
plateau; counting rate curves.)
COUNTER, COINCIDENCE. An arrange
ment of counters and circuits which records
the occurrence of counts in two or more de
tectors simultaneously or within an assignable
time interval, called the resolving time of the
coincidence circuit.
COUNTER, CRYSTAL. A counter utilizing
one of several known crystals which are ren
dered momentarily conducting by ionizing
events.
COUNTER D EAD TIME.

See time, dead.

COUNTER EFFICIENCY. O f a radiation

counter tube, the probability that a tube count
will take place with a specified particle or
quantum incident in a specified manner.
COUNTER ELECTROM OTIVE
See electromotive force, counter.

FORCE.

COUNTER, EXTE R N ALLY-Q U E N C H E D .

A radiation counter that requires the use of
an external quenching circuit to inhibit
reignition or continuous discharge.
COUNTER, FIELD EMISSION IN. The
emission of an electron from the surface of
the cathode of the counter under the influence
of the field o f an approaching ion.
COUNTER FILLING SYSTEM. A system
consisting o f a gas a n d /or vapor reservoir, a
manifold for attaching counters, and a va c
uum system, used for the evacuation and fill
ing of the counter tubes.
COUNTER, GAS, A radiation counter in
which the sample is prepared in the form of
a gas and introduced into the counter tube
itself.
COUNTER GAS AMPLIFICATION.
amplification, gas.

See

273

Counter, Gas-filled Counter, Proportional, for Neutrons

COUNTER, GAS-FILLED. A gas tube, in a

radiation counter, used for the detection of
radiation by means of gas ionization.
COUNTER, GAS F LO W . A radiation coun
ter in which an appropriate atmosphere is
maintained in the counter tube by allowing
a suitable gas to flow slowly through the
volume.
COUNTER, GEIGER.
(1) A radiation
counter designed to operate in the Geiger
region.
(2) A radiation counter having a
point or small sphere as its central electrode.
This usage is obsolescent.
(See counter,
point.)
COUNTER, GEIGER REGION OF.
Geiger region of a radiation counter.

See

potential of the wire is greater than the coun

ter overvoltage.
COUNTER OVERVOLTAGE. In a radia
tion counter, the amount by which the applied
voltage exceeds the Geiger-Mueller threshold.
COUNTER, PARALLEL-PLATE. A radia
tion counter using parallel plate electrodes.
COUNTER PLATEAU. The region of the
counter characteristic curve in which the
counting rate is substantially independent of
voltage. The counter is normally operated in
this region.
COUNTER, POINT. A radiation counter,
in which the central electrode is a point
(Geiger counter) or a small sphere (GeigerKlemperer counter).

COUNTER, GEIGER THRESHOLD OF.

See Geiger threshold of a radiation counter
tube.

COUNTERPOISE.
(1) See antenna, coun
terpoise.
(2) A mass used for counterbal
ancing.

COUNTER, INITIAL IONIZING EVENT.

See initial ionizing event.

COUNTER, PROPORTIONAL. A radiation

counter designed to operate in the propor
tional region.

COUNTER LIFE (T IM E ). The life or life

time of a radiation counter tube is the num
ber of counts which that counter tube is ca
pable of detecting before becoming useless due
to internal failure for any reason (e.g., gas
decomposition or wire pitting, etc.). The life
is not a time but a measure of the amount
of use.
COUNTER, LOCALIZATION
OF DIS
CHARGE IN. The discharge in the Geiger
region of a radiation counter normally spreads
the entire length of the central wire in both
non-selfquenching and selfquenching coun
ters. A reduction in the field near the central
wire by some artificial means, such as the
presence of an insulating head, will interrupt
or localize the spread of the discharge in a
selfquenching counter. This is not the case
in non-selfquenching counters, since photoelectrons from the cathode spread the dis
charge beyond the obstacle.
COUNTER OPERATING VOLTAGE. The
voltage across a radiation counter, when oper
ating, measured between the anode and the
cathode.
COUNTER OVERSHOOTING. A radiation
counter is said to overshoot if the change in

COUNTER,
PROPORTIONAL,
FOR
HEAVY (a AND p) PARTICLES. A radia
tion counter operated under conditions such
that the pulse produced is proportional to the
amount of ionization created by the incident
particle. It can thus be used to discriminate
heavy particles (a-particles, protons, and
deuterons) from P-ays and -y-rays; it can
also be used to obtain the energy spectrum
of the incident particles.
COUNTER, PROPORTIONAL, FOR NEU
TRONS (F A ST ). A radiation counter con
taining methane or other hydrogenous gas
or vapor together with a noble gas such as
argon. Fast neutrons collide with hydrogen
nuclei in the methane and give up their energy
to the latter. These recoil protons then ionize
the argon to produce a pulse.
COUNTER, PROPORTIONAL, FOR NEU
TRONS (S L O W ). A radiation counter con
taining a gas (normally boron trifluoride)
which produces a-particles through the re
action
n + 5B 10 -> 2H e4 + 3Li7 + Q.
The a-particle and L i7 nucleus then produce
an ionization pulse in the boron trifluoride gas.

The reaction has a cross section which is in

versely proportional to the velocity of the
incident neutron, hence the counter is used
for the detection of slow (thermal) neutrons.
COUNTER RECOVERY TIME. In a radia
tion counter, the minimum time from the
start of a counted pulse to the instant a suc
ceeding pulse can attain a specific percentage
o f the maximum value of the counted pulse.
COUNTER REIGNITION.
A process by
which multiple counts are generated within a
counter by atoms or molecules excited or ion
ized in the discharge accom panying a tube
count.
COUNTER RESOLVING TIME. The min
imum time interval between two counts that
will allow them to be recorded as two sepa
rate events, rather than as a single one. The
word m ay refer to an electronic circuit, to a
mechanical recording device, or to a radiation
counter. In the latter case, this quantity per
tains to the combination of tube and recording
circuit.
COUNTER, RING. A loop of interconnected
bistable elements such that one and only one
is in a specified state at any given time and
such that, as input signals are counted, the
position o f the one specified state moves in an
ordered sequence around the loop.
COUNTER, SCINTILLATION. A counter
used to detect photons and high energy par
ticles through the use of a phosphor, which
gives off a number of photons in the visible
or ultraviolet region of the spectrum as a
result of the decay of excited states produced
by the energy released by the stopping of the
incoming photon or particle. In the case of
the photon, the energy given up in the phos
phor comes from that lost by the Compton
electrons, photo-electrons, or positron-electron
pairs which the photon produces. The phos
phor is in optical contact with the photo
sensitive surface of a photo-multiplier tube in
order to make a complete scintillation counter.
The photo-m ultiplier puts out pulses whose
heights are proportional to the number of sec
ondary photons given off by the phosphor.
This means that the use of a phosphor whose
light output is proportional to the energy lost
to it will give a scintillation counter which
can be used to measure the energy of detected

particles. A wide variety of phosphors are in

use at present. They fall into four classes:
gaseous, liquid solutions, plastic solutions, and
crystals. Four substances which have been
used and are typical of each of the four types
are xenon, p-terphenyl dissolved in xylene, pterphenyl dissolved in styrene and then poly
merized, and sodium iodide with a slight thal
lium impurity.
COUNTER, SELFQUENCHED. A radia
tion counter in which reignition of the dis
charge is inhibited by internal processes.
COUNTER, SPARK. I f a potential difference
close to the sparking potential is applied to
a pair of electrodes in air, then a spark occurs
when an ionizing event occurs between the
electrons. Such an arrangement can be used
to detect the passage of ionizing particles,
often by the decomposition of organic mole
cules that form part of the gas in the counter.
COUNTER, SPURIOUS TUBE COUNTS.
Counts in radiation counter tubes other than
background counts and those caused by the
source measured. Spurious counts are caused
by failure of the quenching process, electrical
leakage, and the like. Spurious counts may
seriously affect measurement of background
counts.
COUNTER STARTING POTENTIAL. The
voltage which must be applied to a radiation
counter of the Geiger type to cause it to count,
with the particular recording circuit which
m ay be attached. The potential is not neces
sarily the same as, and generally is not equal
to, the Geiger-Mueller threshold although
there is some usage of the term threshold to
denote starting potential.
COUNTER,
TH IN -W IN D O W ,
THINW A L L . A radiation counter in which a por
tion of the enclosure is of low absorption to
permit the entry of short-range radiation.
COUNTER TIME LAG (STATISTICAL).
The time between the occurrence of the pri
mary ionizing event and the occurrence of the
count in the counter.
COUNTING CIRCUIT.

A scaling circuit.

COUNTING OF STATES. See weight factor,

statistical.

COUNTING RATE. The average rate of oc

currence o f ionizing events as observed by
means of a counting system.
COUNTING-RATE CURVES. A curve of
counting rate vs. applied voltage in a radia
tion counter generally shows an initial sharp
rise at the threshold voltage, a more-or-less
flat region (constant count rate) known as the
plateau, and then a sudden sharp rise. The
counter is usually operated in the plateau
region. (See also characteristic curve.)
COUNTING-RATE
METER.
A
device
which gives a continuous indication of the
average rate of ionizing events.
COUNTING-RATE
VERSUS
VOLTAGE
CHARACTERISTIC.
Counting rate as a
function of applied voltage for a given con
stant average intensity of radiation.
COUNT, TUBE.

coupled systems are shown in Fig. 1. In (a)

two mass-spring oscillators (m i, /ci) and (ra2,
k 2) are coupled through the third coupling
' / / / / // / // / // / / /A

JZJL

*2

w&y////???//////#
(a)

Fig. 1.

(b)

spring kc. In (b) two simple pendula are

coupled together by the spring. The oscilla
tions of such systems is strongly dependent
on the coupling (see oscillators, coupled).
Coupling in electrical systems can occur
through mutual inductances, capacitances,
etc. For examples, see Fig. 2. Coupling also

See tube count.

COUPLE. T w o equal, parallel and oppositely

directed forces acting on a body constitute a
couple. The perpendicular distance d between
the forces is called the arm of the couple. The
product of either force by the arm is called

Mechanically coupled systems.

/p

X "

_T

J
Fig. 2.

Electrically coupled systems.

occurs in continuous, or distributed, systems

and m ay be the necessary condition for trans
mission phenomena, such as the transmission
of sound waves through a gas, which results
from the elastic coupling between the gas in
one region and that in an adjoining region.
(See also normal modes; normal coordinates;
interaction.)

the moment of the couple. The resultant of

the forces of a couple is zero and therefore a
couple does not tend to produce translational
motion. The sum of the moments of the forces
of the couple is equal to the torque acting on
the body.
COUPLED OSCILLATOR,
coupled.

See oscillator,

COUPLED SYSTEMS. Tw o or more systems

are said to be coupled if they interact with
each other.
T w o examples of mechanical

COUPLER,
BETHE - HOLE
DIREC
TIONAL. A directional coupler (see coupler,
directional) in which directivity is obtained
by the simultaneous use of magnetic and elec
tric coupling from the main line to the auxil
iary line. Coupling takes place through a
hole in a broad face common to the two
guides, the electric and magnetic coupling are
made equal by rotating the auxiliary guide
about the coupling hole.
COUPLER, BIDIRECTIONAL,
guide coupler, bidirectional.

See wave-

COUPLER, CAPACITANCE-LOOP DIREC

TIONAL.
A combined magnetic-electric,
field-coupling, directional coupler in which a

coupling link, short in length compared to a

quarter wavelength, is placed lengthwise in a
waveguide. A t frequencies remote from the

riving at C have a phase difference, which

causes cancellation. Because of the depend
ence of the amount of phase shift upon the
5 *j

Capacitance-loop directional coupler. (By permission

from Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich
et al.f 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

guide cutoff frequency, this type of coupler

has little frequency sensitivity. (See coupler,
directional.)
COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL. A directional
coupler is a junction between four pairs of
terminals, as shown in the figure, having such

Basic directional coupler. (By permission from M i

crowave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.f
1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

characteristics that there is free transfer of

power, without reflection between terminals A
and B and no transfer of power between ter
minals A and C or between terminals B and D .
Thus an indication of power at point D indi
cates that power is flowing from A to B while
an indication at C indicates power flow from
B to A. The coupling factor is defined by
the relationship: coupling factor = 10 logi0
(Pa/Pd)doj while the directivity is de
fined by the equation: directivity = 10 logio
(P D/Pc )d 0. (See various entries under wave
guide coupler, directional.)
COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL, TW O-HOLE.
A type of directional coupler operating upon
the antenna-array principle. It consists of
two sections of waveguide with a common
side wall (wall parallel to the electric field)
in which are two holes spaced longitudinally
by the distance S. W aves traveling from A
to D through the two holes arrive in phase,
and reinforce each other, while the waves ar

Top view of 2-hole coupler. (By permission from

Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich et
al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

length S, this coupler is frequency-sensitive.

(See coupler, directional.)
COUPLER, NAVIGATIONAL. That portion
o f a navigational system which receives signals
o f one type from a sensor and transmits signals
of a different type to an actuator; i.e., a trans
ducer.
COUPLER, SCHWINGER.
A reversecoupling type of directional coupler (see
coupler, directional) in which coupling is be
tween the longitudinal magnetic field in one
guide, and the transverse magnetic field in
the other. Variation of directivity with fre
quency is small in this type of coupler.
COUPLE, THEOREMS ABOUT.
(1) The
moment of a couple has the same value when
moments of each force are taken about any
axis perpendicular to the plane of the couple.
(2) A rigid body acted upon by a couple is
in translational equilibrium, but not rota
tional equilibrium.
(3) A system of forces
acting on a rigid body can be replaced by a
single force acting at an arbitrary point of
the body and a couple whose axis is perpen
dicular to the line of action of the force.
COUPLING.
(1) An interaction between
systems, or between properties of a system.
When there is little interaction, the coupling
is sometimes said to be loose; with consider
able interaction, it is called tight.
(2) In
induction heating usage and other induction
apparatus, the percentage of the total mag
netic flux produced by an inductor which is

effective in heating a load or charge. (3) The

magnetic coupling between two circuits due
to flux linkage, resulting in a mutual induct
ance.

COUPLING
APERTURE
( COUPLING
H O LE) (COUPLING SLO T). See aperture,
coupling.
COUPLING, BEAM.

See beam coupling.

COUPLING CASES. (1) The different an

gular momenta in the molecule electron spin,
electronic orbital angular momentum, angular
momentum of nuclear rotation form a re
sultant that is always designated J, as in the
total angular momentum of an atom (in both
cases disregarding nuclear spin). I f the spin
S and the orbital angular momentum A of
the electrons are zero that is, if we have a
state the angular momentum of nuclear
rotation is identical with the total angular
momentum J. In all other cases one must
distinguish different modes of coupling of the
angular momenta, as was first done by Hund.
F or detailed discussion of the Hund coupling
cases, see Herzberg, Spectra of D iatom ic
M olecules, Second Ed. (Van Nostrand C om
pany, Inc., Princeton, 1950).
(2) See cou
pling, j-j; coupling, Russell-Saunders; angular
momentum, coupling and recoupling of.
COUPLING CHOKE. A coupling method
for electronic amplifiers in which the load
impedance for a given stage is a choke coil
or inductance. (See circuit, coupled.)
COUPLING COEFFICIENT, SMALL SIGNAL (FOR AN ELECTRON STREAM).
The ratio of (a) the maximum change in
energy o f an electron traversing the interaction
space to (b) the product of the peak alternat
ing gap voltage by the electron charge.
COUPLING CONSTANT. (1) A number as
signed, especially in the meson theory of
nuclear forces and beta decay theory, as a
measure of the strength of the interaction be
tween the particles involved, by analogy with
the electric charge, which is the coupling con
stant between electrons and radiation. In a
field theory, the total energy operator can be
written as H = H 0 + H ', where H 0 represents
the energy of the matter plus the energy of
the radiation (the term radiation used here
in the general sense, and covers for example,
the electron-neutrino field in the case of
/3-decay) and H ' represents the interaction
energy. Assuming that H ' is proportional to
a matrix element M or component thereof:
H ' = gM, the numerical factor g is called the

coupling constant.
Transition probabilities
are proportional to g2 as well as M 2. (See
Fermi constant; coupling weak and strong.)
(2) A constant specifying the degree of cou
pling (1).
It is often stated fractionally,
being unity for perfect (tight) coupling and
zero for no (loose) coupling. It may, how
ever, also be stated in absolute terms, as in
the specification of mutual inductance.
COUPLING, CRITICAL. In a tuned-pri
mary, tuned-secondary transformer, the de
gree of coupling which causes the maximum
secondary current. This condition also pro
vides maximum flatness of the passband. If
the primary and secondary are tuned to the
same frequency, the condition for critical cou
pling is:
coM = V RpRs
where w is the frequency in radians per sec
ond, M is the coefficient of coupling, and R p
and R 8 are primary and secondary resistances,
respectively. (See inductance, mutual.)
COUPLING, CROSS (IN A TRANSMISSION
M E D IU M ).
A measure o f the undesired
power transferred from one channel to an
other.
COUPLING, DIRECT. A coupling method
for electronic amplifiers which extends the
frequency response down to zero frequency
or d-c. This is achieved by connecting the
output of one stage to the input of the other
directly or through some non-frequency-sensitive element, such as a resistor or battery.
COUPLING,
(3 ).

INDUCTIVE.

See

coupling

COUPLING, j-j. The interaction between

two or more particles, all exhibiting spin-orbit
coupling.
(See coupling, spin-orbit; angular
momentum, coupling and recoupling of.) In
this form of coupling, in contrast to the more
common form (see coupling, Russell-Saun
ders), the 1 and s vectors of individual par
ticles combine to form a set o f j*. The total
angular momentum of the atom is a vector
sum J of the jf.
COUPLING, LINK. A rather common sys
tem of inductive coupling used in radio trans
mitter circuits. The diagram is almost selfexplanatory, the primary circuit has a cou

pling winding of a few turns coupled to it, this

being connected by a short transmission line
to a similar coil inductively coupled to the
second circuit. (See also circuits, coupled.)

Coupling Link

/7 \

Link-coupled tank circuits.

COUPLING LOOP.
COUPLING,
Saunders.

LS-.

See loop, coupling.

See

coupling,

Russell-

COUPLING,
M ECHANICAL - ACOUSTI
CAL. The interconnection of mechanical and
acoustical elements. An example is provided
by the production of acoustic vibrations in
the air by the mechanical vibrations of a
needle point, which, in turn, drives a dia
phragm.
COUPLING OF ANGULAR M OM ENTUM .
See angular momentum, coupling and re
coupling of.
COUPLING, POSITIVE. The coupling (or
mutual inductance) between a pair of coils
may be either positive or negative according
to the choice of reference direction in the cor
responding meshes. If an increasing current
in one coil induces a voltage in the other, hav
ing the same sense as an increasing current
in the second coil itself would produce, the
mutual inductance is positive. M ore specifi
cally, the inductance of 2 coils in series is
L = L i - f L 2 db 2M where L i and L 2 are the
self-inductances of the coils, and M is their
mutual inductance. The sign of the 2M term
depends on the connection of the coils and is
also the sign of the coupling.
COUPLING PROBE.

See probe, coupling.

COUPLING,
PSEUDO-SCALAR.
pseudo-scalar coupling.

See

COUPLING,
PSEUDO-VECTOR.
pseudo-vector coupling.

See

COUPLING, REFERENCE.

See dbx.

COUPLING,
RESISTANCE - CAPACI
TANCE. A coupling method used in elec
tronic amplifiers which employs resistance
elements for the load impedance of the stages.
A capacitor connects the output of one stage
to the input of the next for a-c and transient

signals without disturbing the d-c operating

points of either stage. (See coupled circuit.)
COUPLING, RUSSELL-SAUNDERS (LS-).
A form of interaction between the resultant
orbital angular momenta (L) and the re
sultant intrinsic angular momenta (or spins)
(S) of two or more particles. The orbital
angular momentum and the spin angular m o
mentum vectors of the individual particles
are added separately to obtain a resultant
orbital and a resultant spin angular momen
tum vector.
The two resultants are then
combined vectorially to obtain a series of
allowed total angular momentum vector. (See
also angular momentum, coupling and re
coupling of.)
COUPLING, SPIN-ORBIT. The interaction
between the intrinsic spin and orbital angular
momentum of a particle. (See also coupling,
Russell-Saunders; coupling, j-j; coupling,
transition types.)
COUPLING, TRANSFORMER.
Cascade,
electronic-amplifier coupling in which the load
impedance of one stage is the primary of a
transformer whose secondary drives the grid
o f the succeeding stage.
(See coupling cir
cuit.)
COUPLING, TRANSITION TYPES. Since
LS-coupling and j-j-cou p lin g (see coupling,
Russell-Saunders, and coupling, j-j-) represent
two extremes, transition cases occur. Thus,
as the value of Z is increased in the elements
of Group IV (C, Si, Ge, Sn, P b) the coupling
changes from pure LS in the first two mem
bers to a type which is closer to j-j-coupling
in the case of Pb. (See also angular momen
tum, coupling and recoupling of.)
COUPLING, W EAK AND STRONG. The
interaction energy V (r) between two identical
fundamental particles can, for any known
field, be expressed in the form:
V(r)

db

,2/ 0)

where r is the separation between the particles

and f ( r) is a dimensionless function of r which
is normalized to unity for r = 0. The con
stant g belonging to a given field is the
charge of the particle for the given field.
The g is sometimes referred to as the coupling
constant between the field and one of the par-

tides considered as a source of the field. The

dimensionless quantity g2/hc with fi being the
Dirac ft and c the speed of light, is sometimes
called the fundamental constant of the field
and is used as a measure of the strength of
the field, For the force field responsible for
nuclear forces g2/ fic
f r the electro
magnetic field it is V iz 7 j for the lepton field
and the other fields responsible for the non
parity conserving interactions between nu
cleons, mesons, and hyperons it is 10-23 and
for the gravitational field it is 10-47. Because
of the relative size of this fundamental con
stant for the various fields, the first two have
come to be called fields having strong coupling
to their sources while the coupling for the re
maining fields is called weak.
COURSE.
(1) The intended direction of
travel, expressed as an angle in the horizontal
plane between a reference line and the course
line, usually measured clockwise from the
reference line. (2) The intended direction of
travel as defined by navigational facility. The
term course is also com monly used as a syn
onym for course line. (3) The terms, course
and heading, are sometimes used interchange
ably to indicate direction of motion through
the supporting medium. They must be distin
guished from the track or the course made
good, which is the direction of the horizontal
component of the motion relative to a fixed
coordinate system.
COURSE, COMPASS. The direction in the
horizontal plane of intended travel with re
spect to the direction of magnetic north on the
compass card, usually measured clockwise.
COURSE, CORRECTED COMPASS,
as course, magnetic.
COURSE ERROR.

Same

See error, course,

COURSE ERROR, IN D ICATED .

course, indicated.

See error,

COURSE, FALSE. In navigation normally

providing one or more course lines, a spurious
additional course line indication due to un
desired reflections or to a maladjustment of
equipment.
COURSE LINE. The projection in the hori
zontal plane of the proposed path of travel.
COURSE (L IN E ) COMPUTER.
puter, course (line).

See com

COURSE LINE DEVIATION. The differ

ence between the track of a vehicle and the
course line expressed in terms of either angular
or linear measurement. In common parlance
navigators speak of deviating from course;
what is meant is that the track deviates from
the course line.
COURSE (L IN E ) SELECTOR. An instru
ment providing means to select the course to
be flown.
COURSE M ADE GOOD. The resultant di
rection of actual travel projected in the hori
zontal plane expressed as an angle from a
reference line to a line extending in the direc
tion of actual travel, usually measured clock
wise from the reference line. This is the equiv
alent of the bearing of the vehicle from the
point of departure.
COURSE, M AGNETIC. The direction in the
horizontal plane expressed as the angle of
intended travel with respect to the direction of
magnetic north.
COURSE, MULTIPLE. One of a fam ily of
lines of position defined by a navigational sys
tem, which may or m ay not be ambiguous, any
one of which m ay be selected as a course line.
COURSE PUSH (OR PU LL). An erroneous
deflection of the indicator of a navigational
aid, produced by altering the attitude of the
receiving antenna. (This effect is a manifesta
tion of polarization error and results in an
apparent displacement of the course line.)
COURSE
course.

SENSITIVITY.

See

sensitivity,

COURSE SOFTENING. The intentional de

crease in course sensitivity upon approaching
a navigational aid such that the ratio of in
dicator deflection to linear displacement from
the course line tends to remain constant.
COURSE, TRUE. A direction of intended
travel projected in the horizontal plane ex
pressed as an angle measured clockwise from
true north.
COURSE W ID T H . In navigation, the arith
metic sum of the plus and minus lateral devia
tions from the course line within which the
course defining parameters do not vary by a
detectable amount.
(See also sensitivity,
course and sensitivity, deviation.)

COVALENCE. A chemical linkage in which

the sharing of electrons occurs in pairs, each
pair being equivalent to one conventional
chemical bond. In the union there is a tend
ency for each atom to acquire an outermost
layer of eight electrons. In most cases, each
of the atoms joined by the bond furnishes one
electron of the pair, although there are many
exceptions (see covalence, dative). The term
covalence is opposed to electrovalence, in
which the atoms or radicals are joined by elec
trostatic forces due to the actual transfer of
electrons from the field of one atom to that
of the other. These differences in structure
are accompanied by resulting differences in
properties.
COVALENCE, DATIVE. A valence linkage
between two atoms in which both the electrons
forming a covalent bond are furnished by one
of the atoms.
COVALENT BOND, DIRECTED. Covalent
bonding (see bond, covalent) occurs as a re
sult of the overlap of atomic orbitals, leading
to the lowering of the energy by electron ex
change (see exchange energy). Naturally,
the bond formed by a given orbital will tend
to lie in the direction in which the orbital is
concentrated, so that there may be the maxi
mum degree of overlap. For example, in H 20
the H atoms are bonded by the p orbitals of
the 0 , which are at right angles, and the two
OH axes thus also tend to form nearly a right
angle.
COVALENT CRYSTAL. A crystal held to
gether b y covalent bonds (see bond, cova
lent) , as, for example, diamond.
COVARIANT.
See
vector, covariant.

tensor,

covariant and

COVARIANT EQUATION. Equation which

retains its form under transformation to quan
tities measured by another observer; more
particularly, under a Lorentz transformation.
COVERAGE DIAGRAM. In navigation, a
diagram depicting the service area.
COVERSINE. If 0 is an angle, coversine 0
= covers 0 = 1 sin 0.
COVOLUM E. The correction term applied
in certain equations of state, as in that of
van der Waals, to correct the volume of the
gas for the effect of the volume of the mole

cules.
itself.

This term is not the molecular volume

CPA AXIS, STATIONARY.

CPA axis.
CP, cp.

See stationary

Abbreviation for candlepower.

CP INVARIANCE. See beta decay theory;

invariance theorems and conservation in
quantum mechanics.
CPS.

Abbreviation for cycles per second.

CPS EMITRON.

A British camera tube.

CRAMER RULE. A means for solving a set

o f linear simultaneous equations. If they are:
n

y% ~ y i AikXjc]
k= 1

i 1, 2, 3, *, 7i)

the solutions are

s* = 7 7 7 (V iA u + y2A 2i H-------- h y nA ni) >
1^1
where |A |is the d e te r m in a n t of the coefficients
of A ^ and A k%is the c o fa c t o r of
CRATER LAMP.
A glow-discharge tube
having a solid cylindrical cathode with a
conical or crater-shaped depression in one end.
The electrode design is such that the discharge
takes place in the crater, producing a concen
trated light source.
CREATION HYPOTHESIS, CONTINUOUS.
See continuous creation hypothesis.
CREATION
creation.

OPERATOR.

See

operator,

CREEP. Plastic flow under constant stress.

A t low temperatures the creep rate is usually
low, the strain being often found to vary as
the logarithm of the time, but the effect in
creases rather rapidly with temperature. The
theory of creep is very incomplete.
CRESTATRON. A traveling -wave amplifier
in which voltage gain is achieved by the beat
ing together of three forward waves propagat
ing down the slow wave structure of the tube.
CREST FACTOR. The ratio of the peak
amplitude to the ring amplitude of a voltage
or wave.
CREST FACTOR OF PULSE.
crest factor of.

See pulse,

CREST FORW ARD ANODE VOLTAGE.

See voltage, anode, peak forward.
CREST INVERSE ANODE VOLTAGE.
See voltage, anode, peak inverse.
C RING. See magnetron, tuneable, meth
ods of tuning.
CRISPENING CIRCUIT, TELEVISION. A
circuit for providing, by non-linear means, a
picture with greater definition without in
creased bandwidth.
CRIT.
The mass of fissionable material
which, under a given set of conditions, is
critical. Sometimes applied to the mass of
an untamped critical sphere of fissionable
material. (See also critical mass; critical size;
multiplication factor or constant k.)
CRITH. A unit of mass equal to the mass
in grams of one liter of hydrogen at standard
temperature and pressure, 0.0906 g.
CRITICAL. In nuclear reactor technology,
capable of sustaining (at a constant level) a
chain reaction. Prom pt critical is capable of
sustaining a chain reaction without the aid of
delayed neutrons.
(See neutrons, delayed.)
CRITICAL ANGLE.

See total reflection.

CRITICAL ASSEMBLY.
An assembly of
fissionable material plus moderator which is
capable of maintaining a fission chain reac
tion at very low power level and which is used
mainly to study the behavior of the fission
able material under various conditions of
geometry, composition, etc.
CRITICAL COEFFICIENT.
An additive
property of substances which is also a meas
ure of the space actually occupied by the
molecules and is proportional to the critical
volume. It is expressed as the ratio between
the critical temperature T c and the critical
pressure P c, or

(Some writers define the critical coefficient as

Tc
the product: R T .)
c

CRITICAL COMPOSITION. Systems, con

sisting of two liquid layers that are formed by
the equilibrium between two partly-m iscible

liquids, frequently have a consolute tempera

ture or a critical solution temperature, be
yond which the two liquids are miscible in
all proportions.
A t this temperature, the
phase boundary disappears, and the two liquid
layers merge into one. The composition o f
the mixture at that point is called the critical
composition. There is, in some cases, a lower
consolute temperature as well as an upper
consolute temperature.
CRITICAL CONSTANTS. The temperature,
pressure and density at the critical point.
CRITICAL COUPLING.
ical.

See coupling, crit

CRITICAL DENSITY. The density o f a

substance which is at its critical temperature
and critical pressure.
CRITICAL EQUATION. In nuclear reactor
technology, an equation relating parameters
of a reactor which must be satisfied for the
reactor to be critical.
CRITICAL FIELD.

See field, critical.

CRITICAL FIELD, MAGNETRON.

magnetron critical field.
CRITICAL FREQUENCY.
critical.

See

See frequency,

CRITICAL HUMIDITY. The water content

of the atmosphere at which the partial pres
sure of water vapor is equal to the saturation
vapor pressure.
Condensation on suitable
nuclei will occur when the humidity reaches
or exceeds this value.
CRITICAL INDUCTANCE.
ance, critical.

See

induct

CRITICAL MASS. The mass o f fissionable

material in a critical reactor. (See reactor,
critical.)
CRITICAL OPALESCENCE.
The phe
nomenon produced when a homogeneous so
lution of two liquids at its critical composi
tion is cooled from a temperature above its
consolute temperature to one below that tem
perature. This phenomenon consists o f a blu
ish haze which is believed to be due to the
scattering of light brought about by local
variations of density within the liquid.
CRITICAL POINT. (1) A point where two
phases, which are continually approximating

each other, become identical and form but one

phase. W ith a liquid in equilibrium with its
vapor, the critical point is such a combination
of temperature and pressure that the specific
volumes of the liquid and its vapor are identi
cal, and there is no distinction between the two
states. (2) The critical solution point is such
a com bination of temperature and pressure
that two otherwise partially miscible liquids
become consolute.
CRITICAL POINT, TERNARY. The point
where, upon adding a mutual solvent to two
partially miscible liquids (as adding alcohol
to ether and w a ter), the two solutions become
consolute and one phase results.
CRITICAL POTENTIAL. In atomic phys
ics, the critical potential is used in general
as a measure of the amount of energy neces
sary to raise an electron from a lower to a
higher level. The term potential is used
because the quantity of energy is measured by
means o f electrons accelerated by applica
tion of a known potential, the energy of the
electrons being given by the product of the
accelerating potential and the electronic
charge.
T w o kinds of critical potentials are the
ionization potentials and the resonance poten
tials. The ionization potential represents the
work necessary to remove an electron from
a normal atom, wherein the electron may be
supposed to be in its lowest level, to an infi
nite distance, so that a positively charged ion
results. The resonance potential is a meas
ure of the work required to raise an electron
from the lowest level to any other level, and
therefore, there are first, second, etc., reso
nance potentials, corresponding to the trans
fer of an electron from the lowest level to the
next level, to the next-but-one level, etc. (See
also critical voltage.)
CRITICAL PRESSURE. (1) The pressure of
a vapor at its critical point, defined b y:
/d p \

/ d2p\

\ dvj t

Vdv2/

(2) I f a compressible fluid flows from a

container through an orifice or other constric
tion, the volume flow depends on the pressure
difference across the flow system only if the
final pressure exceeds a fraction o f the initial
pressure. I f either the initial or the final

pressure is held constant, there is a critical

pressure separating a regime of flow depend
ence on pressure difference from one of inde
pendence. The fraction depends on the na
ture of the fluid.
CRITICAL REGION.
The region in the
diagram of state of a substance in the neigh
borhood of the critical point.
CRITICAL SHEAR STRESS. The resolved
shear stress which is required to initiate slip
in a given crystallographic direction along a
given crystallographic plane of a single crys
tal o f a metal.
CRITICAL SIZE. A ny one of a set of physi
cal dimensions of the core and reflector of a
nuclear reactor maintaining a critical chain
reaction, the material and structure of the core
and the reflector having been specified. (See
also multiplication factor or constant k.)
CRITICAL SOLUTION TEMPERATURE.
For two partially miscible liquids, the com
position of the two conjugate solutions ap
proach each other with increasing tempera
ture. A t the critical solution temperature the
two solutions have identical compositions and
form one layer.
CRITICAL TEMPERATURE. (1) The max
imum temperature at which a gas or vapor
can be liquefied (by application of the criti
cal pressure). Above this temperature the
substance exists only as a gas.
(2) Of a
superconductor, the temperature T c at which
the superconducting transition takes place in
zero magnetic field.
CRITICAL VELOCITY OF FLOW .
If
above a certain velocity of flow the nature of
the flow changes qualitatively, the velocity is
critical for the particular flow system. The
criterion is always better expresssed as a criti
cal Reynolds number, Mach number, Froude
number or whatever the appropriate non-di
mensional parameter m ay be.
CRITICAL VOLTAGE, MAGNETRON.
magnetron voltage, critical.

See

CRITICAL VOLUME. The volume occu

pied by unit mass, commonly one mole, o f a
substance at its critical temperature and
critical pressure.

CRO.
scope.

Abbreviation for cathode-ray oscillo

CROLITE.
material.

Trade name for a type of ferrite

CROOKES DARK SPACE. See cathode dark

space.
CROOKES RADIOMETER. An apparatus
for detecting small quantities of radiant en
ergy, chiefly in the visible and infrared region
of the electromagnetic spectrum. It consists
of four arms, each terminating in a metallic
disc, silvered on one side and blackened on
the other, mounted on a shaft in an evacuated
glass bulb. Upon incidence of radiation the
assembly begins to rotate about the shaft.
This instrument is not a measure of light
pressure. The radiation absorbed by the
blackened sides of the discs causes those sides
to be warmer than the polished sides. The
remaining molecules of the gas rebound more
rapidly from the warm sides, and hence exert
a reactive force, which is larger if the mole
cules of residual gas have a mean free path
which is large compared with the distance be
tween the plates. In this instrument, the pol
ished sides of the discs advance and the dark
ened sides retreat.
CROOKES TUBE.

See tube, Crookes.

CROSS BOMBARDMENT. A method of de

termination of the atomic number of a radio
element, by producing it by a number of d if
ferent nuclear reactions. As an illustration,
in order to determine the atomic number of a
47-day, /2-active isotope of iron produced
by deuteron bombardment, cobalt oxide was
treated with neutrons of medium energy. It
was observed that a 47-day, /3-activity de
veloped, and that the isotope having this ac
tivity could be extracted by chemical methods
for iron. It was evident, therefore, that deu
teron bombardment of a stable isotope of iron,
and neutron bombardment of a stable isotope
of cobalt produced the same radioisotope of
iron.
CROSS-CONDUCTION.
In a reversible
magnetic amplifier, the simultaneous conduc
tion or gating of half-w ave elements con
nected in a mesh containing the a-c supply
voltage but not the load.
CROSS CONTROL.

See control, cross.

CROSS COUPLING (IN A TRANSMISSION

M E D IU M ). See coupling, cross (in a trans
mission medium).
CROSSED POSITION. When nicol prisms
or other polarizing systems are set with their
axes at right angles (crossed position) no
light passes. For any optically active mate
rial placed between the two, a resulting ro
tation o f the plane of polarization as pro
duced by the first or polarizing nicol will per
mit some of the radiation to pass through the
second or analyzing prism.
CROSSFIRE. Interfering current in one sig
naling channel resulting from signaling cur
rents in another channel.
CROSS-HAIR LINES.
Fine lines (spider
web, silk, fine metal wire, fine lines on a flat
glass plate) placed at the exact position of
the first real image in a telescope or m icro
scope for the purpose of aiding in pointing the
instrument at a particular point of the object.
CROSS-MODULATION.
cross.

See

modulation,

CROSSOVER CHARACTERISTIC CURVE.

In navigation, the graphical representation of
the indicator current variation with change of
position in the crossover region.
CROSSOVER FREQUENCY.
(1) As ap
plied to electric dividing networks, the fre
quency at which equal electric powers are
delivered to each of the adjacent frequency
channels when all channels are terminated in
the loads specified. (2) The transition fre
quency in a two-channel loudspeaker system
at which the low (woofer) and high (tweeter)
frequency units deliver equal power.
(See
also transition frequency.)
CROSSOVER NETWORK. See network, di
viding; crossover frequency; crossover.
CROSSOVER REGION. In an instrument
approach system, a zone in space close to the
localizer on-course line or glide slope in which
the pointer of the indicator is in a position be
tween the full-scale indications.
CROSSOVER SPIRAL.
over.
CROSS, POLARIZATION.
cross.

See groove, lead-

See polarization

CROSS SECTION,
(1) From its original
meaning of a section at right angles to an
axis, the term cross section has been extended
to mean a measure of the probability of a par
ticular process. It is expressed in units of
area, although it is not usually identical with
the geometric cross section across which the
process occurs. For a collision reaction be
tween nuclear or atomic particles or systems,
the cross section is an area such that the num
ber of reactions occurring is equal to the
product of number of target particles or sys
tems multiplied by the number of incident par
ticles which would pass through this area at
normal incidence. If nt is the number of target
nuclei or other particles per unit area of a sub
stance exposed to an incident beam consisting
of n0 particles, then o- = N /n0nty where N is
the number of reactions of a specified type.
(See also cross section, differential; cross sec
tion, total; and other entries below.)
(2) In radar, a term used in referring to the
equivalent echoing area of a target. This
usage is deprecated.
CROSS SECTION, ABSORPTION. (1) See
cross section, capture.
(2) In antenna the
ory, the ratio of the power absorbed to the
incident power.
CROSS SECTION, ACTIVATION.
The
cross section of formation for a particular
radionuclide. It is most com monly used for
neutron-induced reactions.
CROSS SECTION, CAPTURE.
section for radiative capture.

The cross

CROSS SECTION DETERM INATION, AC

TIVATION M ETHO D . The determination
of the thermal neutron absorption cross sec
tion of a substance by means of the measure
ment of the radioactivity of the product
formed by the neutron absorption.
CROSS
SECTION
DETERM INATION,
TRANSMISSION M ETHOD. The determi
nation of absorption and scattering cross sec
tion by means of the measurement of the loss
of intensity of the incident beam in passing
through the substance.
CROSS SECTION, DIFFERENTIAL. The
cross section for a nuclear process whereby
an angle is specified (relative to the direction
o f incidence) for the emission of particles or
photons per unit angle or per unit solid angle.

The cross section is given by the integral over

all angles, or solid angles, of the differential
cross section.
CROSS SECTION, DIFFERENTIAL SCAT
TERING. Cross section for scattering of a
particle from its initial velocity to a new
velocity, per unit solid angle per unit speed
at the new velocity.
CROSS SECTION, IONIZATION. In gen
eral, the probability that a particle or photon
traversing a gas, or other form of matter, will
undergo an ionizing collision while passing
through unit length of a volume just sufficient
to contain one atom. The term is used espe
cially in radiation counter technology, where
it is a measure of the probability that an elec
tron traversing a radiation counter will make
an ionizing collision with one of the counter
gas atoms. In the low voltage region the
ionization cross section increases linearly with
the electron energy.
CROSS SECTION, INTERACTION.
interaction cross section.

See

CROSS SECTION, MACROSCOPIC.

(1)
Cross section per unit volume (preferred).
(2) Cross section per unit mass or weight.
CROSS SECTION, MICROSCOPIC.
section per atom or molecule.

Cross

CROSS SECTION, PARTIAL. A cross sec

tion for a particular process among several
competing processes.
(See cross section,
total.)
CROSS SECTION, SCATTERING. (1) The
cross section for scattering of a particle or a
photon out of a beam. It is the integral over
the total solid angle of the differential scat
tering cross section. (See cross section, dif
ferential scattering, and the various entries
under scattering, e.g., scattering, Thomson.)
(2)
In antenna theory, the ratio of the
power scattered to the incident power.
CROSS SECTION, STOPPING. The same
as atomic stopping power.
(See stopping
power.)
CROSS SECTION, TOTAL. The cross sec
tion effective for removing an incident par
ticle from a beam. It is the sum of the sepa
rate cross sections for all processes by which

the particle can be removed from the beam.

For example, the total cross section of an
atom for a nuclear particle is essentially the
total of the absorption and scattering cross
sections; for a photon it is essentially the sum
o f the Compton scattering, photoelectric and
pair production cross sections.

then coupled from pair 2 to pair 3 where it is

measured, it is known as interaction crosstalk.
Pair 7
A

Pair 2

CROSSTALK. The sound heard in a re

ceiver associated with a given telephone chan
nel resulting from telephone currents in an
other telephone channel. In practice, cross
talk may be measured either by the loudness
o f the overheard sounds, or by the magnitude
of the coupling between the disturbed and
disturbing channels. In the latter case, to
specify the loudness of the overheard sounds,
the volume in the disturbing channel must
also be given. (See also magnetic printing.)
CROSSTALK,
crosstalk.

ANTENNA.

See

antenna

X .

------- > -

Pair 3

>-

Interaction crosstalk.

CROSSTALK, M AGNETIC.
magnetic.

See printing,

CROSSTALK, NEAR-END.
The crosstalk
between two transmission lines that is propa
gated in the disturbed pair in a direct opposite
Pair 1

CROSSTALK, FAR-END.
Crosstalk that
travels along the disturbed circuit in the direc
tion in which the signals travel in the circuit.
Pair i

Near-end crosstalk.

Far-end crosstalk.

T o determine the far-end crosstalk between

two pairs, 1 and 2, signals are transmitted on
pair 1 at station A, and the crosstalk level is
measured on pair 2 at station B.
CROSSTALK IN D EX. A statistically derived
number that is used to relate crosstalk cou
pling in dbx to the grade of performance (with
respect to crosstalk) to be expected from a
circuit. The index depends upon the number
of disturbing circuits; the busyness of these
circuits; and the distribution of talker v o l
umes, losses, room noise, and the listeners
hearing acuity.
CROSSTALK, INTERACTION.
Crosstalk
resulting from mutual coupling between two
paths by means of a third path. For example,
if a signal on pair 1 is coupled to pair 2, and

to that of the disturbing signal in the other

pair. In the most simple case, if signals are
sent into pair 1 at station A, the crosstalk
measured in pair 2 at station A is near-end
crosstalk.
CROSSTALK,
POSITIONAL
( M ULTI
BEAM CATHODE-RAY TUBES). The vari
ation in the path followed by any one electron
beam as the result of a change impresssed on
any other beam in the tube.
CROSSTALK, RUNAROUND. Crosstalk re
sulting from the coupling of the high level end
o f one repeater to the low level end of another
repeater. Often a third repeater or line is the
means of coupling; therefore, runaround cross
talk m ay be a form of interaction crosstalk.
CROSSTALK UNITS. The coupling between
two circuits can be measured in crosstalk
units (cu ). The number of crosstalk units
expressing this coupling has been defined as
one million times the ratio of the current or

voltage at the observing point to the current

or voltage at the origin of the disturbing sig
nal, when the impedance at these points are
equal. 31.6 cu is comparable to dbx reference
coupling.
CROVA W AVELENG TH . T h at wavelength
in the spectrum of a radiator at any given
temperature T whose intensity i\ varies at the
same relative rate as does the intensity I of
the total radiation. In mathematical form,
that value of wavelength A for which
dix/dT

ix

dl/dT

'

CROWBAR. A term used in the design of

electrical circuits. It refers to the technique
o f extending the period of an L C circuit by
shorting out the condenser at peak current
and allowing the current to decay with the
characteristic time of an LR circuit.
CROWN-OF THORNS.
See
tuneable, methods of tuning.
CRT.

magnetron,

A bbreviation for cathode ray tube.

CRUNODE.

See node.

CRYOGENICS. That branch of physics con

cerned with the production and measurement
o f very low temperatures, below ,80 degrees
Kelvin.
CRYOGENIC SYSTEM. A system in which
a local temperature lower than the surround
ing temperature is produced.
CRYOHYDRATE. An eutectic system con
sisting of a salt and water, having a concen
tration at which complete fusion or solidifi
cation occurs at a definite temperature (eu
tectic temperature) as if only one substance
were present.
CRYOHYDRIC POINT. The eutectic point
in cases in which the system contains water.
CRYOMETER.
mometer.

low-temperature

ther

CRYOSAR. A low temperature fast-operat

ing (1 0 ~ 8 second turn-on time) switch based
on ionization of impurities in germanium.
Name derived from cryogenic switching by
avalanche and recombination.
CRYOSCOPE. An instrument for measuring
the freezing or solidification point.
The

H ortvet cryoscope is used for the estimation

of added water in milk from the lowering of
the freezing point.
CRYOSCOPIC CONSTANT.
A quantity
calculated to represent the molal depression
of the freezing point of a solution, by the re
lationship
10001/
in which K is the cryoscopic constant, R is
the gas constant, T 0 is the freezing point of
the pure solvent, and lf is the latent heat of
fusion per gram. The product of the cryo
scopic constant and the molality of the solu
tion gives the actual depression of the freez
ing point for the range of values for which
this relationship applies. Unfortunately, this
range is limited to very dilute solutions, usu
ally up to molalities o f % ooCRYOSCOPY. Examination of the freezing
points of solutions.
CRYOSTAT.

A low-temperature thermostat.

CRYOTRON. A low-frequency device hav

ing a voltage-current characteristic which is
the dual of a high-vacuum triode. In the
device, the resistivity of the control element
is modulated by a magnetic field.
CRYPTOCRYSTALLINE. H aving a crystal
form (see crystallography) that is hidden
and difficult to recognize, so that the sub
stance appears to be amorphous, e.g., flint,
jasper, etc.
CRYSTAL. A megascopic sample of a solid
substance exhibiting some degree o f geometri
cal regularity, or symmetry, or capable of
showing these properties after suitable treat
ment (e.g., cleavage, etching, etc.). Alm ost
all pure elements and compounds are capable
of forming crystals.
A perfect crystal is one in which the crystal
structure would be that of an ideal space lat
tice. N o such crystals exist, all real crystals
containing imperfections which have a strong
influence on the physical properties of the
crystal.
CRYSTAL ANALYSIS.

See crystal structure.

CRYSTAL ANGLES. The characteristic con

stant angles between the faces of any given
crystal form.

CRYSTAL AXIS.

See crystallographic axes.

CRYSTAL, BIAXIAL. A doubly refracting

crystal which has two optic axes. There are
two directions parallel to which light travels
with one definite velocity independent of its
state of polarization. Examples: mica, sul
fur, turquoise. (See double refraction.)
CRYSTAL, BIMORPH
See bimorph cell.

PIEZOELECTRIC.

CRYSTAL, BIREFRINGEMENT.
fringence.

See bire

CRYSTAL BLANK. The result of the final

cutting operation on a crystal slab.
CRYSTAL CLASSES.

See symmetry classes.

CRYSTAL COUNTER.
CRYSTAL, COVALENT.
tal.

See counter, crystal.

See covalent crys

with m ajor surfaces parallel to the X - and

K-axes. (See piezoelectric phenomena.)
CRYSTAL
crystal.

DETECTOR.

CRYSTAL CUT, AT-CUT. A quartz plate

cut from a plane that is rotated about an
X -a xis so that the angle 6 made with the
Z-axis is approximately 35.5 degrees. It is
characterized by a substantially-zero tempera
ture coefficient at a temperature determined
by the exact value of 0.

detector,

CRYSTAL ELEMENTS. The angles, plus

the axial ratios or intercept ratios, in terms
of which the position of any crystal face may
be described. (See Miller indices.)
CRYSTAL, FACE-SHEAR. A piezoelectric
crystal designed to oscillate in the face-shear
mode of motion.
CRYSTAL FIELD. The electrostatic field
acting locally inside a crystal as a conse
quence of the microscopic arrangement of
atoms and ions in the lattice.
CRYSTAL, FLEXURE. A piezoelectric crys
tal designed to oscillate in the flexure mode
of motion.
CRYSTAL FORM.

CRYSTAL CUT. A plane section of a crystal

with two parallel, m ajor surfaces cut in any
orientation.

See

See crystallography.

CRYSTAL FREQUENCY MULTIPLIER.

(1) A quartz crystal made to oscillate in a
harmonic mode to increase the frequency of
oscillation without a decrease in crystal size.
(2) A semiconductor rectifier used to rectify
and thus, in the process, generate higher order
harmonics of the fundamental voltage.
CRYSTAL GROW TH. The direct growth of
an ideal perfect crystal is almost impossible,

CRYSTAL CUT, BT-CUT. A quartz plate

cut from a plane that is rotated about an
X -a xis so that the angle 0 made with the
Z-axis is approximately 49 degrees. It is
characterized by an essentially-zero tempera
ture coefficient.
CRYSTAL CUT, X-CUT. A quartz plate ob
tained by cutting a slab from the mothercrystal normal to the X -a xis (electric axis),
with m ajor surfaces parallel to the Y - and
Z-axes. (See piezoelectric phenomena.)
CRYSTAL CUT, Y-CUT. A quartz plate ob
tained by cutting a slab from the mothercrystal normal to the Y-axis (mechanical
axis), with m ajor surfaces parallel to the X and Z-axes. (See piezoelectric phenomena.)
CRYSTAL CUT, Z-CUT. A quartz plate ob
tained by cutting a slab from the mothercrystal normal to the Z-axis (optical axis),

1
11!
* t t t

Crystal growth (after F. C. Frank).

except at enormously high supersaturations,

because of the difficulty of nucleating a new
surface on a completed surface of the crystal.

But, if there is a screw dislocation present,

it is never necessary to start a new surface,
and growth proceeds in a spiral fashion by
the accretion of atoms at the edge of growth
steps.
The resultant growth spirals have
been observed, and it is believed that most
crystals grow in this manner.
CRYSTAL HABIT. The external shape of a
crystal, which depends on the relative devel
opment of the different faces, as well as upon
the interfacial angles characteristic of the
crystal.
CRYSTAL, HEM IHEDRAL. A crystal that
has half of its faces developed.
CRYSTAL, HOLOHEDRAL. A crystal that
has all of its faces developed.
CRYSTAL INDICES.
Bravais-Miller indices.

See Miller indices;

CRYSTAL INTERCEPTS.
graphic parameters.

See

crystallo-

CRYSTAL, IONIC. A crystal built up from

a lattice of ions and bound together by the
electrostatic attraction between them, e.g.,
NaCl.
CRYSTAL, ISOMORPHOUS. One of two or
more crystals which are similar in crystalline
form and in chemical properties and are re
lated in chemical composition in that one or
more of the atoms and radicals in one are of
similar chemical type to the corresponding
atoms or radicals in the other. Usually, one
or more of their other atoms or radicals are
identical.
CRYSTAL LATTICE.

See space lattice.

CRYSTALLINE ANISOTROPY ENERGY.

The energy associated with the effect observed
in certain ferromagnetic (see ferromagnetism)
crystals, whereby the magnetization tends to
be directed along certain definite crystallographic axes, called directions of easy mag
netization. (See anisotropy energy.)
CRYSTALLINE LENS. The lens of the eye
with index of refraction of about 1.437 and
located behind the aqueous humor and in front
of the vitreous humor.
CRYSTALLINE STATE.

See solid state.

CRYSTAL, LIQUID. A liquid having the

optical properties of a crystal. Such liquid

crystals are uniaxial, anisotropic, and also

cloudy, and have a definite temperature
(melting point) at which the crystalline opti
cal properties and cloudiness disappear.
CRYSTALLITE. One of the grains or small
crystals making up a polycrystalline material.
CRYSTALLIZATION. Crystals are formed
(1) from solution, (2) from a melt, (3) by
sublimation.
(1) The formation of crystals from solu
tion, starting with an unsaturated solution,
takes place when a solution is evaporated or
cooled below the saturation (6) point, except as
retarded by supersaturation. Supersaturation
is prevented by the addition of seed crystals
of the substance. Since, in the case of the
m ajority of soluble substances, solubility in
creases with increase of temperature, cooling
below the saturation point favors the form a
tion of crystals. A case of wide scope and
great importance is that of crystal formation
by precipitation upon mixing two solutions.
Actually, this is the same as for substances of
greater solubility, since the substance precipi
tated is first formed in solution and the excess
above the saturation point separates as pre
cipitate. As a rule the crystals are larger and
more perfect the slower their growth. C on
versely, when small crystals are desired, rapid
stirring and quick cooling are practical. The
smaller the crystals of a given substance, the
purer the material generally is. Small crys
tals may be increased in size by allowing them
to stand in the mother liquid before separa
tion.
(2) The formation o f crystals from a melt
takes place when the melted substance is
cooled sufficiently slowly near and below the
fusion point.
I f the cooling is rapid the
fusion may result in the formation of an un
dercooled liquid of rigidity corresponding to
a solid. (See vitreous (glassy) state.)
(3) The formation of crystals by sublima
tion takes place when the vapor of a substance
is condensed as a solid without passing
through the liquid phase in so doing. This
occurs when the temperature of the condenser
is below that of the melting point of the sub
stance. (See vapor pressure; crystal growth.)
CRYSTALLIZATION, NUCLEI OF. Small
solid particles placed in solutions upon which
crystals may form. Crystals of the dissolved

substance or of other substances which are

isomorphous with it, grains of dust, etc., m ay
serve as nuclei. Crystalline particles such as
nuclei are often referred to as seed crystals.
CRYSTALLOGRAM. The x-ray diffraction
pattern of a crystal, whence the crystal struc
ture m ay be obtained.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC
AXES.
Usually
three, sometimes four, lines meeting at a point,
which are so chosen as to bear a definite rela
tionship to the characteristic features of the
crystallographic symmetry. T hey may, for
example, be normal to the plane of symmetry,
or parallel to, or coincident with, the edge be
tween principal faces or the axes of symmetry.
Although the choice of axes is to some extent
arbitrary, some sets produce a simpler repre
sentation than others. Whenever possible, the
three axes are chosen to be at right angles to
each other.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC AXIAL RATIOS.
The ratios of the crystal intercepts, i.e., the
ratios of distances from the origin of the crys
tallographic axes to the points where they are
intercepted by the faces of the unit cell.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC
PARAMETERS,
The crystal intercepts, which are the distances
from the origin of the crystallographic axes
to the points where they are cut by the faces
bounding the unit cell of the crystal.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC
crystal systems.

SYSTEMS.

See

CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. The branch of phys

ical science which deals with the external
shapes of crystals and with the geometrical
relations between the atomic planes within
them. I f a solid crystal is broken, it is found
to have separated along certain cleavage
planes into polyhedral fragments, and meas
urements show that these planes were all orig
inally parallel to one or another of a few
standard planes. In most crystal systems,
each of the more prominent crystal faces be
longs to one of three plane-families, intersect
ing along the crystal axes (in hexagonal crys
tals there are four). It is observed (Haiiy
law) that if the ratio of the intercepts of two
crystal planes on one of these axes is a simple
fraction, the ratios of the intercepts on the
other axes are also simple fractions, and in
this way it is established that the intercepts

on any one axis must be multiples of a com

mon unit. A given fam ily of planes is then
labeled by its Miller indices or Bravais-Miller
indices, the reciprocals of the ratios of its
intercepts with each axis, expressed in terms
of the common unit for that axis, and reduced
to lowest integral terms. Study of the axial
ratios, indices, and angles shows that all crys
tals may be classified into seven crystal sys
tems. All the above properties are satisfied
if a crystal consists of a regular array of
atoms, molecules, ions, etc., in a space lattice,
and this is verified by the x-ray analysis of
crystal structure.
CRYSTALLOID. (Dispersoid.) A term used
by Graham to distinguish the crystalline sub
stances, which are soluble in water and dialyze
readily, from colloidal compounds, which
dialyze not at all or only very slowly. This
distinction now has little fundamental mean
ing. Moreover, there are some substances,
including some proteins, that crystallize but
do not dialyze.
CRYSTAL, LONGITUDINAL. A piezoelec
tric crystal designed to oscillate in the longi
tudinal mode of motion.
CRYSTAL, M IXED. A crystal consisting of
two or more chemical compounds, which may
have the same positive radical or the same
negative radical, and which, in their pure
form, are isomorphous; i.e., have the same
crystal form.
CRYSTAL, MOLECULAR. A crystal which
is made up of inert gas atoms, or saturated
molecules, bound together only by the van
der Waals forces between them, e.g., solid
argon.
CRYSTAL M OM ENTUM .
An expression
sometimes used for the quantity obtained by
multiplying a wave vector by Plancks con
stant, h. It has the dimensions of momentum,
but when it refers to an excitation or electron
wave in a crystal there is no real momentum
associated with it, and it is not necessarily
conserved in a collision.
CRYSTAL, MOTHER.
The raw material
from which some crystals, including those
commonly used in piezoelectric devices, are
prepared.

CRYSTAL, NEGATIVE.
tal.

See negative crys

CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR.
See oscillator,
crystal; also piezo-electricity and pyro-electricity.
CRYSTAL OVEN. A temperature-controlled
container for stabilizing the temperature and
resonant frequency of a crystal used in a
crystal-controlled oscillator.
CRYSTAL PARAMETERS. The lengths of
the intercepts on the crystallographic axes of
the standard plane that is, the lengths of
the sides of the unit cell of the lattice. In
general, only the axial ratios can be deter
mined directly by large scale observation.
CRYSTAL PHASES (<*-, 0-,
E T C .).
Certain alloy systems m ay form different
crystal structures, according to the relative
proportions of the constituents for example
C u-Zn for which no less than five different
phases are known. In many cases the same
crystal structure occurs with quite different
constituent metals, so that it is often possible
to use the one expression such, for example,
as /?-phase, to cover a wide variety of com
pounds all having the same basic structure.
This effect is explained by the Hume-Rothery
rules. Pure substances, as well as alloys, m ay
exhibit more than one crystal structure, de
pending on temperature and past history.
E.g., cobalt, iron, titanium.
CRYSTAL PICKUP. An electromechanical
transducer utilizing a piezoelectric crystal to
effect the transformation from mechanical
motion to an electrical effect. F or example,
many phonograph-pickups use crystals in
this way.
CRYSTAL, PIEZOELECTRIC. A crystal of
a substance having strong piezoelectric (see
piezoelectric effect) properties cut in such a
way that the coupling to some particular me
chanical mode of the crystal is emphasized.
Such crystals are valuable as electro-mechan
ical transducers, as in the crystal microphone.
The sharpness of the mechanical resonance
of a solid makes a crystal resonator one of
the most stable of frequency standards when
loosely coupled into an electronic circuit.
CRYSTAL PLANE.

See crystallography.

CRYSTAL PULLING. A method of crystal

growing in which the developing crystal is
gradually withdrawn from a melt.
CRYSTAL, RESONANCE FREQUENCY OF.
The frequency at which a piezoid has either
a maximum or minimum impedance, depend
ing upon whether parallel or series resonance
is employed.
CRYSTAL RESONATOR.
nating.

See piezoid, reso

CRYSTAL SET, A radio receiver employing

a crystal rectifier as a rectifier demodulator.
CRYSTAL SLAB.
A relatively thick cut
across a mother crystal from which crystal
blanks are to be obtained by subsequent trans
verse cutting.
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE. It was early sug
gested that the regular structure of crystals,
embodied in the laws of crystallography could
be explained if they were thought of as built
up by the repetition of equal polyhedral cells,
fitting together to fill space, each cell repre
senting a characteristic group of particles, per
haps the atoms and molecules of the com
pound. A rough calculation showed that the
spacing of these units in many ionic crystals
might be of the same order of magnitude as
the wavelengths o f x-rays, as deduced from
quantum theory. Von Laue suggested, and
verified, that diffraction of the x-rays occurs
when they are passed through a crystal, suit
ably oriented. This diffraction effect is char
acteristic of the type of crystal, and by ob
serving the relative magnitudes and orienta
tions of the various diffracted beams one has
clues to the crystal structure.
Although it is easy to calculate the diffrac
tion pattern for a given crystal structure, it is
quite another matter to deduce the crystal
structure directly from the diffraction pattern.
The first step is to determine the spacing of
the atomic planes from the Bragg equation,
and hence the dimensions of the unit cell. Any
special symmetry of the space group of the
structure will be apparent from space group
extinction. A trial analysis may then solve
the structure, or it m ay be necessary to meas
ure the structure factors and try to find the
phases for a Fourier synthesis. Various tech
niques can be used, such as the F2 series, the
heavy atom method, the isomorphous series,

anomalous atomic scattering, and the methods

below. (See also x-ray analysis.)

found that fits.

(See
method; Patterson map.)

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE-FOURIER SYN

THESIS M ETH O D . The intensity of the
x-ray beam diffracted in a given direction by
a crystal is a measure of the magnitude of

CRYSTAL SYMMETRY. It is an obvious

characteristic of a crystal that it possesses
the property of appearing unchanged after
the performance of some simple geometrical
operation, such as rotation about an axis, or
reflexion in a plane. This symmetry (see the
various classifications under the term sym
metry) is a consequence of the identical prop
erty of the underlying crystal lattice.

Patterson-Harker

CRYSTAL SYSTEMS. It can be shown by

geometry that there exist 32 different classes
of crystal symmetry, or point groups. These
are conveniently classified into seven (by
some authors, six) systems, characterized by
their axial angles and ratios. (See table on
p. 292; also crystallography.)
CRYSTAL,
TEM PERATURE - CONTROLLED. A crystal used in an oscillator
or filter, which has its characteristics stabil
ized by being placed in a constant-temperature oven.
CRYSTAL, THICKNESS-SHEAR. A piezo
electric crystal designed to operate in the
thickness-shear mode of motion.

Electron density and projection of anthracene (after

Robertson)

one of the Fourier components of the electron

charge density in the crystal. If the sign of
each component can also be estimated, or
guessed, it is possible to construct a contour
m ap of the electron density, showing the de
tailed structure. See figure.
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE PHASE DETER
MINATION BY CRYSTAL EXPANSION.
An ingenious method for determining the rela
tive phases of x-rays diffracted by a crystal,
in which the crystal is expanded by being
allowed to take up water, and the varying in
tensities of the different rays observed and
interpreted. This method is particularly suit
able for proteins.
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE TRIAL ANAL
YSIS M ETHO D .
Various possible crystal
structures are proposed, and their x-ray dif
fraction patterns calculated, using the known
atomic structure factors, and compared with
the observed pattern, until a structure is

CRYSTAL, TORSIONAL.
A piezoelectric
crystal designed to oscillate in the torsional
mode of motion.
CRYSTAL TRIODE.

See transistor.

CRYSTAL, TW IN . T w o crystals o f the same

substance having one common face, but not
having all axes in common.
CRYSTAL, UNIAXIAL. A doubly-refracting
crystal which has but one optic axis. Exam
ples: Iceland spar, quartz, tourmaline. (See
double refraction, optical.)
C SUPPLY. The supply for the C bias for
a vacuum tube.
CT. An abbreviation usually used in dia
grams to indicate the center-tap of a coilwinding.
CU. (1) Abbreviation for piezoelectric crys
tal unit. (2) Abbreviation for crosstalk units.
(3) Symbol for copper.
CUBATURE. The process of finding a nu
merical value of a definite double integral of

a function of two independent variables.

numerical integration.)

(See

CUBIC. (1) See equation, cubic. (2) H av

ing cubic symmetry.
(See crystal systems;
space lattice.)
CUBICAL. Relating to volume, e.g., cubical
expansion as equivalent to volume expansion.
CUM ULATIVE DOSE (R AD IAT IO N ). The
total dose resulting from repeated exposures
to radiation o f the same region, or of the
whole body.
CU M ULATIVE EXCITATION. An excited
atom, in the metastable state, may receive a
further increment of energy by collision, as
with an electron, and thus be raised to a still
higher energy state. This process by which
an atom is raised by collision from one excited

Systems

Crystallographic Elements

state to higher states is known as cumulative

excitation. In fact, it is possible for an atom
in the metastable state to receive sufficient
energy by this process to be ionized and this
process is designated as cumulative ionization.
CUMULATIVE IONIZATION.
under cumulative excitation.
CUMULATIVE
measurements.

M ETHOD.

Discussed

See

physical

CUMULIFORM. A general term applied to

all clouds having dome-shaped upper surfaces
which exhibit protuberances, the bases of such
clouds being generally horizontal. Cumuliform clouds are characteristically distinct and
separated from one another by clear spaces.
CUMULONIMBUS. The thunderstorm cloud.
It is tall, billowed, full of contrast from bril

Essential Symmetry

Number of
Point Groups

Cubic, or regular

Three axes at right angles: all equal.

ct = /8 == 7 = 90
a: b: c 1 :1 :1

4 triad axes; 3 diad, or 3 tetrad axes

Tetragonal

Three axes at right angles: two equal.

a = /8 == y = 90
a: b: c = 1 :1 :y

1 tetrad axis

Orthorhombic or
Rhombic

Three axes at right angles: unequal.

a = $ = y = 90
a: b: c =* x : l : y

3 diad axes, or 1 diad axis and 2 per

pendicular planes intersecting in a
diad axis

Monoclinic

Three axes, one pair not at right angles: 1 diad axis, or 1 plane
unequal.
a = y = 90
/3 5* 90
a: b: c = x : l :y

Triclinic or
Anorthic

Three axes not at right angles: unequal,

a, /3, y ^ 90
a: b: c = x : l : y

Hexagonal

1 hexad axis
Three axes coplanar at 60: equal.
Fourth axis at right angles to other
three.
a\\a,2'.az*b 1 :1 :1

Rhombohedral or
Trigonal

Three axes equally inclined, not at right 1 triad axes

angles: all equal.
a = /3 = y
90
a: b: c = 1 :1 :1

No axes or planes

liant white to inky black. M ost of the cloud

is composed of water droplets but the top
which penetrates above the freezing level is
composed of ice crystals. False cirrus often
develops at the top of anvil head. Cumulo
nimbus occur with bases from 500-15,000
feet and tops from 10,000-50,000 feet.
CUMULUS CLOUDS. Billowed heaps with
flat bases and tufted tops. They have con
siderable shadow and often are very dark on
the underside. Size and shape vary from flat
small balls of cloud-cotton to great towers
with valleys and ravines along the sides. The
cloud is a low type, but can be found with
bases from 500-1000 feet and tops as high
as 20,000 feet. It is composed of water drop
lets and m ay produce rain if well developed.
Flat, fair-weather types are known as cumulus
humilis and the well-developed variety as
cumulus congestus.
CURIE. A unit of radioactivity which was
originally defined as the amount of emanation
(radon) from or in equilibrium with one gram
o f radium. Because of experimental uncer
tainties this unit has been redefined by the
revised recommendations of the International
Commission on R adiological Units (July,
1953) as follow s: The curie is a unit of radio
activity defined as the quantity of any radio
active nuclide in which the number of disin
tegrations per second is 3.700 X 1010.
CURIE CONSTANT.

See Curie-Weiss law.

CURIE POINT (CURIE TEM PERATURE).

Ferromagnetic materials lose their perma
nent or spontaneous magnetization above a
critical temperature (different for different
substances).
This critical temperature is
called the Curie point. Similarly, ferroelec
tric materials lose their spontaneous polariza
tion above a critical temperature. For some
such materials, this temperature is called the
upper Curie point, for there is also a lower
Curie point, below which the ferroelectric
property disappears.
CURIE-WEISS L A W . The transition from
ferromagnetic to paramagnetic properties,
which occurs in iron and other ferromagnetic
substances at the Curie point, is accompanied
by a change in the relationship of the mag
netic susceptibility to the temperature. P.
Curie stated in 1895 that above this point the

susceptibility varies inversely as the absolute

temperature. But this was found to be not
generally true, and was modified in 1907 by
P. Weiss to state that the susceptibility of a
paramagnetic substance above the Curie point
varies inversely as the excess of the tempera
ture above that point. The susceptibility, x >
is thus given by x = C / {T - T c) where T is
the absolute temperature, T c the Curie point
temperature, and C is the Curie constant of
the material.
CURIUM.
Transuranic
Cm. Atom ic number 96.

element.

Symbol

CURL OF A VECTOR. A vector resulting

from the action of the operator del on a vector,
V, by vector multiplication, and defined in a
rectangular Cartesian coordinate system by

curl V = V X V i

+ j

dz

dx J

dV z

dVy

dy

dz

1 dx

dy J

d/dx

d/dy

d/dz

vx Vy vz
The curl is also called the rotation (abbre
viated rot). (See also Stokes theorem.)
CURRENT. (1) The term usually refers to
an electric current, which is the time rate of
flow of electric charge across a surface (see
current, electric). (2) The term is also used
for the time rate o f flow of other physical
quantities such as mass, quantum mechanical
probability, etc.
(See continuity equations;
current density; transport.)
CURRENT, AVERAGE. The average value
of a current (I) over a time interval (i, t2) is

r1

lit.

For a sinusoidally varying current, the aver

age value over a full cycle is zero, but the term
average is sometimes applied to the average
of the absolute value, which is 0.637 J0, Jo
being the amplitude.
CURRENT BALANCE. A system of fixed
and movable coils o f accurately known dimen
sions so arranged that the force developed

between the coils (by the passage of current)

can be balanced by the force of gravity acting
on a known mass. Such an arrangement is
used for the absolute determination of the
ampere.

to simply as current, as in neutron current.

(3) B y analogy with electric current, a vector
representing the time rate of flow of any quan
tity, such as mass or momentum, per unit area
in a transport process.

CURRENT, BEAM. The current carried b y

a beam of charged particles such as positive
ions or electrons, e.g., the proton current in a
high energy accelerator. The beam current I
is given by I = zN e where z is the number of
electronic charges (e) carried by the ion and
N is the number of ions crossing a plane, per
pendicular to the direction of flow, per unit
time. The beam current density, the time
rate at which charges cross a unit area per
pendicular to their velocity is zn ev, where n
is the number of particles per unit volume
and v is their velocity.

CU R R E N T, D IFFU SIO N .
rent.

CURRENT CIRCUITS, ENERGY OF A SYS

TEM OF. See energy of a system of current
circuits.
CURRENT, COLLECTOR, SATURATION.
See transistor current l Co, etc.
CURRENT, CONDUCTION. Electric cur
rent consisting of the flow of free charges, as
distinct from displacement current. (See also
current, displacement.)
CURRENT, CONTROL. See control current.
CURRENT, CONVECTION.
current.

See convection

CURRENT, DARK. A current that flows in

photoemissive and photoconductive detectors
(see detectors, infrared) when there is no ra
diant flux incident upon the electrodes (total
darkness). The dark current m ay vary con
siderably with temperature.
(See also elec
trode dark current.)
CURRENT DENSITY. (1) A vector repre
senting the time rate of flow of electric charge
per unit area. The direction of the vector
is the direction of positive charge flow; the
magnitude is the limit of the flow rate per
unit area as the area approaches zero. The
area considered is perpendicular to the direc
tion of flow. (See also current; current, dis
placement; continuity equation.) (2) In nu
clear physics, a vector such that its component
along the normal to a surface equals the net
number of particles crossing that surface per
unit area and unit time* Com m only referred

See diffusion cur

CU R R E N T, D IR E C T . (1) A current through

a specified surface, which does not change
sign. (N ote that current is a scalar.) (2) A
steady current.
C U R R E N T, D IS PLA C E M E N T . Consider a
parallel plate condenser being charged by a
current I. Charges ( + Q and Q ), are then
being built up on the plates at a rate dQ/dt
= I. For a parallel plate condenser of area
A the electric field strength between the plates
is given by E Q/eA (rationalized mksa
units), and the displacement, D = cE, is given
by D Q/A. The charging current is thus
related to the time rate of change of the elec
tric displacement, I = dQ/dt = AdD/dt. The
charging current I is discontinuous, being zero
in the region between the plates. As first
suggested by Maxwell, one can formally main
tain the idea of continuity of current, by as
suming that there is a current in the region
between the plates, the displacement current,
I D = AdD/dt.
This displacement current,
+

- o

+
i

though not due to an actual flow of charges,

is experimentally found to be accompanied by
a magnetic field that obeys Ampere's law.
Amperes law in its more general form thus
reads

H d l = I c + Id

where I c + I d is the total current enclosed,

both the convection current of real charges,
Ic , and the displacement current resulting from
a changing displacement D. The displacement
c u r r e n t d e n s ity is seen to be Jd dD/dt.
Although discussed above in terms of a
parallel plate condenser, the idea of displace

ment current density is generalized to any

region of space where the electric displacement
is changing, thus dD /dt is the displacement
current density at any point in space, and the
integral J (dD/dt)-dA gives the displacement
current passing through an area.
law m ay thus be stated as
dl =

(dB/dt) -dA +

The Ampere

J dA ,

where J is the conduction c u r re n t d en sity .

(See also M a x w e ll s e q u a tio n s .)
C U R R EN T(S), EDDY. Currents set up in a
substance by variation of an applied magnetic
field. (See Maxwell equations.) E ddy cur
rents result in both power loss and reduction
of magnetic flux. Transformer cores and dy
namo frames are laminated to break up the
iron structure into thin, insulated layers, to
reduce eddy currents. E ddy currents are used
in induction heating and in various damping
devices.
CURRENT,
EFFECTIVE
OR
ROOTMEAN-SQUARE.
The
root-mean-square
value of a current (I) over a time interval
(ti, t2) is

rh

I rms

VA

I i 2dt
Ju
-I

For a sinusoidal current, the rms value over

any integral number of periods is \/2/2 =
0.707 times the peak value. Since the p ow er
(e.g., heat in a resistor) depends on the square
of the current, the rms value is frequently
called the effective value. The term 'effective
value is deprecated in modern usage.
CURRENT, ELECTRIC. Broadly, the flow
of electric charge. M ore specifically, the time
rate at which charge crosses a given surface
is the current across the surface. There are
actually three types of current: conduction
current, convection current, and displacement
current. Conduction current is due to the
motion of charges in a neutral system (as
electrons in a conductor, or the motion of
electrons and holes, which contribute largely
to the current in semiconductors) ; convection
current is due to the motion of unneutralized
charge, as the motion of electrons in a vacuum
tube; displacement current is an effect of a
changing electric flux. Current is a scalar.

The current through a specified surface is

given by the integral over that surface of the
normal component of current density. In loose
usage, we often speak of the direction of a
current; actually, being a scalar, current has
a sense (plus or minus) but not a direction.
The positive sense of a current is convention
ally taken as the direction in which positive
charges would move if they were the carriers
of the current. In metals, where the current
is actually carried by negative electrons, the
flow of electrons is opposite to the positive
direction of the current. E.g., one coulomb
of negative charge passing to the left per sec
ond is one ampere of (positive) current to
the right. (See current, conduction; current,
displacement; Ohm law; electromagnetism;
Kirchhoff laws.)
CURRENT, ELECTRODE. In an electron
tube, the current passing to or from an elec
trode through the interelectrode space. The
terms cathode current, grid current, anode
current, plate current, etc., are used to desig
nate electrode currents for these specific elec
trodes. Unless otherwise stated, an electrode
current is measured at the available terminal.
CURRENT, ELECTRODE, AVERAGE. The
value obtained by integrating the instanta
neous electrode current over an averaging
time, and dividing by the averaging time.
(See current, average.)
CURRENT,
ELECTRODE,
AVERAGE
TIME.
The time-interval over which the
current is averaged in defining the operating
capabilities of the electrode.
CURRENT, ELECTRODE, DARK.
In a
phototube, the electrode current that flows
when there is no radiant flux incident on the
photocathode. Since dark current m ay change
considerably with temperature, temperature
should be specified.
CURRENT, ELECTRODE, FAULT.
The
current to an electrode under fault conditions,
such as arc-backs and load short circuits.
CURRENT, ELECTRODE, INVERSE. The
current flowing through an electrode in the
direction opposite to that for which the tube
is designed.
CURRENT, ELECTRODE, PEAK.
The
maximum instantaneous current that flows
through an electrode.

CURRENT, EMISSION.
rent.

See emission cur

CURRENT, EXCITING.
netizing.

See current, mag

CURRENT FEED. The connection of the

feed transmission line to the maximum current
point in an antenna system.
CURRENT FEEDBACK.
rent.

See feedback, cur

CURRENT, FILAM ENT.

rent.

See filament cur

CURRENT (OR STREAM) FUNCTION.

The stream or current function is a scalar
function of position used to describe steady
two-dimensional flow o f an incompressible
fluid. The current function,
is defined by
d\f/
u =
dy

d\fs
v = -------
dx

where u, v are the components of the v e lo city

parallel to Ox, Oy. It will be noticed that the
flow across any line from the point A to the
point B is
/5
/5
I (udy vdx) = I V\f/-ds = f a PaJa

Ja

CURRENT GAIN, TRANSISTOR.

sistor parameter

See tran

CURRENT, GAS (IONIZATION)

(IN A
VACUUM T U B E ) . Current flowing to a
negatively-biased electrode, and composed of
positive ions which are produced by an elec
tron current flowing between other electrodes.
Positive ions are a result of collision between
electrons and molecules of the residual gas.
CURRENT, GATE. The current through the
gate winding of a magnetic amplifier. This
current m ay be either a-c or pulsating d-c.
CURRENT, GRID, CRITICAL (M U LTI
ELECTRODE GAS TUBES).
The grid
current corresponding to the critical grid volt
age, before anode breakdown. The critical
grid current is a function of the other electrode
voltages or currents and of the environment.

to have positive charges, and are hence to be

associated with holes in the electron distribu
tion.
CURRENT, IMPRESSED. An electric net
work m ay be energized by applying (impress
ing) either known voltages or known currents
on its terminals. For purposes of analysis,
it is often convenient to consider given im
pressed currents, with the resulting voltages
as the unknowns to be solved for.
CURRENT IN CIRCUIT, G ROW TH AND
DECAY OF. When a step-wave, V = 0 for
t < 0, and V = Vo for t > 0, V being the volt
age, is applied to an R L (resistance-inductance) or R C (resistance-capacitance) circuit,
the current grows (or decays) exponentially
with time.
In the exponential expression
e ~ at, a 1 is called the time constant.
CURRENT,
INDUCED
( INDUCTION
HEATING USAGE). Current in a conductor
due to the application of a tim e-varying elec
tromagnetic field.
CURRENT INPUT, EQUIVALENT DARK.
The incident luminous flux that would be re
quired to give an output current equal to the
dark current. Since dark current may change
considerably with temperature, the tempera
ture should be specified.
CURRENT, INSTANTANEOUS.
The in
stantaneous value of a current which varies
with time.
CURRENT, IONIZATION.
(ionization).

See current, gas

CURRENT-JET THEORY. A proposed the

ory to explain the observation of filaments in
the suns atmosphere. This theory proposes
that the arcs and filaments are due to local
filamentary electric currents similar to the
bright striae observed in a discharge tube.

The current flowing

CURRENT, LEAKAGE. The current which

results from charge flowing or leaking along
the surface or through the body of an insu
lator. Except under abnormal conditions such
as dirty or moist surfaces or in electronic
circuits having very minute currents the leak
age is usually negligible.

CURRENT, HOLE. An electric current in a

semiconductor in which the carriers appear

CURRENT, LONGITUDINAL.
A current
which flows in the same direction in both
wires of a pair. This current uses the earth

CURRENT, HEATER.
through a heater.

or other conductors for its return path.

therefore basically a noise effect.

It is

CURRENT, LOOP. An electric current flow

ing in a closed loop. (See dipole, magnetic.)
CURRENT, M AGNETIC.
rent.

See magnetic cur

CURRENT, M AGNETIC FIELD OF.

magnetic field of a current.
CURRENT-MEASURING REACTOR.
onym for amplifier, magnetic.

See

Syn

CURRENT, NOISE, EQUIVALENT.

A
quantitative representation in current units of
the spectral density of a noise-current genera
tor at a specified frequency. The relation be
tween the equivalent noise current I n and the
spectral density W i of the noise-current gen
erator is
I n = (2^wi)/e
where e is the magnitude of the electronic
charge. The equivalent noise current in terms
of the mean square noise-generator current

i2 within a frequency increment Af is

/ = V (2 eA f).
CURRENT, OUTPUT, SIGNAL (CAM ERA
TUBES OR PHOTOTUBES). The absolute
value of the difference between output current
and dark current.
CURRENT, POLARIZATION. T hat com
ponent of displacement current (see current,
displacement) due to the time rate of change
o f polarization (2 ).
CURRENT, PRECONDUCTION. The small
value of electrode current in a gas-discharge
tube before a self-maintained discharge is
initiated.
CURRENT, PREOSCILLATION.
rent, starting.

See cur

CURRENT ( S ) , PUSH-PU SH. Currents flow

ing in the two conductors of a balanced line
which, at every point along the line, are equal
in magnitude and in the same direction. (See
also balanced currents.)
CURRENT RATING (R E LA Y ).
See coil
current, rated and contact current, rated.
CURRENT RELAY.

See relay, current.

CURRENT SATURATION.
voltage.

See saturation,

CURRENT SHEET. An infinitely thin sheet

carrying finite current per unit length normal
to the lines of flow. This current may be
either electric or magnetic.
(See magnetic
current.)
CURRENT, SINUSOIDAL. A current whose
variation with time is sinusoidal, i.e.,
I = A sin (a)t + <t>)j
where A , <o and <j> are constants.
CURRENTS, M ETALLIC. Currents of equal
magnitude that flow in opposite directions in
the two wires of a pair.
CURRENT, SPACE - CHARGE - LIM ITED
(O F A VACUUM T U B E ). The current pass
ing through an interelectrode space when a
virtual cathode exists therein.
CURRENT, STARTING (O F AN OSCIL
LATO R ). The value of eleptron-stream cur
rent through an oscillator at which self-sus
taining oscillations will start under specified
conditions of loading.
CURRENTS, TOTALLY UNBALANCED
( ON A BALANCED L IN E ). Push-push cur
rents.
CURRENT, THRESHOLD. The current at
which a gas discharge changes from a non
self-sustained to a self-sustained discharge.
CURRENT, TRANSFER (O F A GLOW-DISCHARGE COLD-CATHODE TU B E ). The
starter-gap current required to cause conduc
tion across the main gap. The transfer cur
rent is a function o f the anode voltage.
CURRENT TRANSFER RATIO, SHORTCIRCUIT FORWARD. See transistor param
eter s) f* /> h/ , hF, h 2i.
CURRENT TRANSFER RATIO, SHORTCIRCUIT REVERSE. See transistor param
eter aT.
CURRENT, TRANSISTOR COLLECTOR.
See transistor collector current.
CURRENT, TRANSISTOR EMITTER.
transistor emitter current entries.

See

CURRENT, ZENER. The current through

an insulator in a very intense electric field,

sufficient to excite an electron directly from

the valence band to the conduction band.
CURVATURE. A measure of the rate of
change of direction of a curve. If t is the
angle made with the O X -axis at a point P
on the curve and s is the arc length from some
fixed point on the curve to P, the curvature
at P is k = dr/ds. In Cartesian coordinates,
d2y/dx2
K = [1 + (dy/dx)2YA '
The radius of curvature is p = l/#c.
CURVATURE OF FIELD. One of the five
geometrical aberrations of lenses. I f a system
is corrected so that there is no spherical aber
ration, no coma, and no astigmatism, the
images of off axis points will lie on a curved
surface called the Petzval surface.
CURVATURE OF LENS, TOTAL.
quantity K , defined by the expression:

The

1
1
K = ----------n
r2
is called the total curvature of a lens.
for a thin lens:
i = (
f

1) ( Vi

- ) = (
r2J

Thus,

1) K .

(See also lens makers equation.)

CURVATURE (GAUSSIAN) OF SPACE
TIME. G g^G^p where g*v are the contravariant metric components and G> is the
contracted Riemann-Christoffel tensor. The
vanishing of G does not im ply that space
time is flat.

where Fw and F y are the components of the

resultant force acting on the particle. The
solutions of these equations give the para
metric equations for the motion of the par
ticle. The motion of a projectile, the motion
of the planets around the sun and the com
position of two perpendicular simple harmonic
motions are examples of this type of motion.
(See also Coriolis effects; coordinate system,
rotating.)
CUSP. (1) A singular point on a curve where
there are two coincident tangents. If there
is a branch of the curve on each side of the
double tangent, the cusp is of the first kind
(e.g., the semicubical parabola) ; if the two
branches lie on the same side of the double
tangent, the cusp is of the second kind. I f
the curve is represented by f ( x , y ) = 0, the
condition for a cusp, and also for a point of
osculation, is
/ d2/ \ 2

d2f d 2f _ o

\dxdy/

dx2 dy2

(2)
A hydromagnetically stable magnetic
field-plasma configuration considered in the
controlled thermonuclear project for storage of
heated plasma. It has also been called a
picket fen ce. One such configuration is shown
in the figure with the arrows indicating the
direction of the magnetic field lines.
(See
thermonuclear device.)
CUSP OR PICKET FENCE THERMONU
CLEAR REACTOR. An axially symmetric
magnetic field and plasma configuration as
shown in the figure.
Magnetic field cos

CURVATURE OF SURFACE. The curva

ture of a surface is the reciprocal of the radius
of curvature.
CURVATURE TENSOR.
Christoffel tensor.

See

Reimann-

CURVILINEAR CONE. A loudspeaker hav

ing an essentially parabolic-shaped cone.
CURVILINEAR MOTION OF A PARTICLE
IN A PLANE. The differential equations of
motion of a particle of mass m in a plane are
(in rectangular coord in ates):
mx = F x
my = F y

Cusp thermonuclear reactor.

This conception of a controlled thermonuclear

device is theoretically stable against hydromagnetic instabilities.
CUTOFF. (1) A particular point in a cycle,
or magnitude of a quantity, at which a mech

anism, electric circuit, or other system, cuts

off some flow to or from it. Thus, the steam
engine cutoff is that percentage of stroke ac
complished by the piston, when the inlet valve
closes and prevents more steam entering the
cycle from the boiler. The cutoff of a Diesel
cycle is the fraction of the stroke accomplished
when supply of fuel oil to the cylinder is
stopped. In electronic usage, the word cutoff
often appears as a contraction for cutoff fre
quency. (2) A technique used in theoretical
physics when the theoretical contribution to
the value of a physical quantity arising from
integration over part of the range of a certain
parameter is not to be believed, in particular
when such a contribution is infinite.
The
integral is cut off, usually at some high fre
quency limit, with the acknowledgment that
beyond this limit either the method of ap
proximation or the theory itself will have
to be modified in the future.
CUTOFF BIAS. The voltage which must be
applied to the grid in order to stop the flow
of anode or plate current in a vacuum tube.
It is a valuable reference point in the dis
cussion of vacuum tube characteristics, as
much of the tube behavior is determined by
where the bias voltage is set with respect to
the cutoff value. (See cutoff, voltage.)
CUTOFF FIELD.
ical.

See magnetron field, crit

CUTOFF FREQUENCY.
under frequency, cutoff.
CUTOFF VOLTAGE.

See various entries

See voltage, cutoff.

CUTOFF VOLTAGE (M AG N ETR O N ).

magnetron voltage, critical.
CUTOFF W AVELENG TH .
cutoff.

See

See wavelength,

CUT-SET. A set of branches of a network

such that the cutting of all the branches of
the set increases the number of separate parts
of the network, but the cutting of all the
branches except one does not.
CUTTER (CU TTIN G H E A D ). An electro
mechanical transducer (see transducer, elec
tromechanical) which transforms an electric
input into a mechanical output, typified by
mechanical motions which may be inscribed
into a recording medium by a cutting stylus.

CUTTER, CRYSTAL. A cutter in which the

mechanical displacements of the recording
stylus are derived from the deformations of a
crystal having piezoelectric properties.
CUTTER, MAGNETIC. A cutter in which
the mechanical displacements of the recording
stylus are produced by the action of magnetic
fields.
CUTTING HEAD.

See cutter.

C W . Abbreviation for continuous wave; also

for clockwise.
CYBOTACTIC GROUPS. A term introduced
by Stewart in connection with the structure
of liquids, particularly those liquids contain
ing long-chain molecules. A microcrystalline
structure is assumed in which the groups con
sist of molecules which are arranged side-byside, or end-to-end, in an orderly manner.
These groups are considered to be in dynamic
equilibrium with the molecules which have
random orientation.
CYBOTAXIS.
The three-dimensional ar
rangement of molecules of a substance; in
general, the term is applied to liquid, non
crystalline substances. T w o of the most com
mon arrangements are the end-to-end (AB
/ AB\
B A ) and the side-by-side I
) forms, with
Va b /
coordinate b o n d s , such as exist between cer
tain contiguous atoms or radicals, as indicated
by the dotted lines.
CYCLE. (1) The complete sequence of values
of a periodic quantity which occur during a
period. (2) A series of changes executed in
orderly sequence, by means of which a mech
anism, a working substance, or a system is
caused periodically to return to the same
initial condition, constitutes a cycle. M any
com plicated machines or assemblages of m a
chines work in definite cycles. An important
form of cycle is the heat-engine cycle, in which
a series of thermodynamic changes in a work
ing medium periodically return the system to
the same thermodynamic level.
(See Otto
cycle, Carnot cycle, Rankine cycle, regenera
tive cycle, etc.)
CYCLE, DUTY.

See duty cycle.

CYCLE, MAJOR. In a storage device which

provides serial access to storage positions, the

time interval between successive appearances

o f a given storage position.
CYCLE, MINOR. In a storage device which
provides serial access to storage positions, the
time interval between the appearance of cor
responding parts of successive words.
CYCLICALLY
MAGNETIZED
CONDI
TION. See magnetized condition, cyclically.
CYCLIC SHIFT.

See shift, cyclic.

CYCLIC VARIABLE ( CO O R D IN ATE). See

ignorable variable.
CYCLING. A periodic change of the con
trolled variable in an automatic controller.
CYCLOID. The path described by a point
on a circle as it rolls along a straight line and
a special case of a trochoid. I f the radius of
the circle is a, there are cusps in the curve,
separated by the distance 2?ra, every time the
point touches the line. (See also brachistochrone.)
CYCLONE. A wind system around low at
mospheric pressure. I f a barometric depres
sion is sufficiently low to be classed as a cy
clone, it develops or has associated with it
winds which flow around its center counter
clockwise in the northern hemisphere and
clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The
intensity of a cyclone depends on the pres
sure gradient between the systems center and
periphery, and on the characteristics of the
air masses involved.
Cyclones are divided
into two groups.
(1) Tropical cyclones are vortices with in
definite or short-lived frontal structures which
occur over the tropical and subtropical re
gions, particularly over the western half of the
A tlantic and Pacific and over the Indian
Ocean. They are known as hurricanes, t y
phoons, and baguios.
(2) E xtra-tropical or wave cyclones are
composed during development, youth and m a
turity of definite parts including warm and
cold sectors and warm and cold fronts, but
beyond m aturity approach vortex structure.
N early all the storms of the temperate zone
are wave cyclones.
CYCLOPHON. A name given to a generic
type of vacuum tube utilizing a beam of elec
trons as a switching or commutating element.

CYCLOSTROPHIC W IN D .
W inds which
blow as a result of a pressure gradient and
centrifugal force, but in the absence of Coriolis force. They are, of necessity, cyclonic
and restricted to equatorial zones which are
the only places Coriolis force is zero, or nearly
zero. The cyclostrophic component of a wind
is the difference between the gradient and the
geostrophic winds. Hurricanes are largely
cyclostrophic winds until they travel north
or south sufficiently to be affected by Coriolis
force.
CYCLOTRON. The magnetic resonance ac
celerator, a device developed in 1931 by Law
rence and Livingston for imparting very great
velocities to heavier nuclear particles without
the necessity of excessive voltages. The elec
trified particles (such as protons or helium
nuclei) are released in the region between two
large, flat, hollow, semicircular segments of
thin metal placed with their diametric edges
closely parallel, as if one had cut a pill-box
in two along a diameter and slightly separated
the halves.
(See figure.) These segments,

Diagrammatic plan of cyclotron. Ions released in

interspace I traverse hollow sector S in semicircles,
and are finally utilized or allowed to escape at K.

called dees, are given a high-frequency al

ternating potential difference, producing a
rapidly oscillating field in the space between
them, and thus causing a free particle to be
pulled first one way and then the other. A
strong, uniform magnetic field is applied per
pendicular to the plane of the segments. The
result is that, as a particle darts into one of
the segments, it follows a semicircular path
of radius proportional to the speed (as in a
mass spectrograph) and re-enters the inter
space on the other side of the center. The
time required for this semicircular journey
depends only upon the intensity of the mag
netic field, and does not change with the
velocity of the particle and the radius of its
path, as long as the speed o f the particle is

in the non-relativistic range (i.e., v/c<^ 1).

N ow if the field is adjusted so that this
time equals % the electric oscillation period,
the particle will always emerge into an electric
field so directed as to pull it in the direction
it is already going, and in this w ay its speed
increases at each crossing of the interspace.
Thus, starting near the center, the particle
spirals outward with speed increasing each
half-turn, until it finally escapes into a re
ceptacle K near the outer edge. The appara
tus must, of course, be in a vacuum.
CYCLOTRON FREQUENCY.
The fre
quency at which an electron traverses an orbit
in a steady, uniform magnetic field and zero
electric field. It is given by the product of
the electronic charge and the magnetic flux
density, divided by 2?r times the electron
mass.
CYCLOTRON
FREQUENCY
M AGNE
TRON. See magnetron, cyclotron frequency.
CYCLOTRON
FREQUENCY
M AGNE
TRON OSCILLATIONS. Those oscillations
whose frequency is substantially the cyclotron
frequency.
CYCLOTRON RESONANCE. See resonance,
cyclotron.

CYLINDER. A solid bounded by a cylindri

cal surface and two parallel planes. The
terms cylinder and cylindrical surface are
often used interchangeably but the former is
strictly a solid and the latter a surface.
CYLINDRICAL
SURFACE.
Frequently
called a cylinder, it is a limiting case of a
quadric surface where only two variables are
needed in the equation which describes it.
The surface may be generated by a line paral
lel to a fixed direction, called the axis, which
moves along a fixed curve. I f the axis is
chosen as the Z-axis, its equation is:
A x 2 + 2 H xy + B y 2 + 2Gx + 2Fy + C = 0.
Special cases for the surfaces, together with
their names, are: (1) ax2 + by2 = 1, elliptic;
(2) ax2 by2 = 1, hyperbolic; (3) y 2 cx,
parabolic. If a = b in case (1), the result is a
right-circular cylindrical surface. The names
are derived from the generating curves. (See
coordinate system, cylindrical; coordinate sys
tem, ellipsoidal; coordinate system, elliptic
cylindrical.)
CYTAC. The designation given to a form of
low-frequency loran system which has special
provisions for matching the radio-frequency
pulses received.

D
D. (1) Mass per unit volume or density (D,
but p is preferred).
( 2 ) Optical density or
absorbance (D ).
(3) Diameter (d or D ).
(4) Electric flux density or displacement (D).
(5) Coefficient of fluid diffusion (D ).
(6 )
D ioptric power (D). (7) Angular dispersion
(jD). ( 8 ) Deuterium (D ). (9) D extrorota
tory (d- or d -). ( 1 0 ) Differential (followed
by another letter or letters) (d). ( 1 1 ) Spac
ing of Bragg planes in a crystal (d).
(12)
Grating space ( d ) . (13) Distance between
lens units in an optical system (d ).
(14)
Angle of minimum deviation ( D ) . (15) Op
tical attenuation (D ). (16) In spectroscopy,
unresolved doublet (d).
(17) T ype of elec
tron with an azimuthal quantum number of 2
(d). (18) Spectral term symbol for L-value
of 2 (D ). (19) The differential operator d/dx
(D ). (20) Abbreviation for deci, multiplier
1 0 - 1 (D or d).
DAHL-KIRKAM TELESCOPE. In the cus
tom ary Cassegrainian telescope the collecting
mirror is parabolic and the secondary mirror
hyperbolic, thus involving two aspheric sur
faces.
In the D ahl-K irkam telescope, the
secondary mirror is spherical and the collect
ing mirror is given the necessary further cor
rection to eliminate spherical aberration.
D ALEMBERTIAN. The differential opera
tor
2
/a2
d2
d2
l d2\
Vdx 2

dy 2

dz2

c2 dt2)

It represents a four-dimensional contracted

covariant derivative of second order. For
any scalar <, n 2< is a Lorentz invariant and
20 = 0 is the wave equation for waves
traveling with the velocity of light.
In
Minkowski space the d Alembertian may be
written as an obvious Lorentz covariant oper
ator

2--------2- d

dXji dXji

D ALEMBERT PRINCIPLE. The principle,

first pointed out by d Alembert in 1742, that

the third Newton law holds for forces acting

upon bodies entirely free to move as well as
upon fixed bodies in stationary equilibrium.
The principle is most valuable in dealing with
a system of particles subject to constraints.
It then says that if the n particles are acted
on by a system of impressed external forces
Fij F 2y * * * F n, the effective force on the jth
particle,

m/ry = F? + fj,
where the f ) are called the constraint forces.
They are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the forces that would just maintain
the particles in equilibrium at any instant.
D ALEMBERT
vergence test.

TEST.

See

Cauchy

con

DALTON LA W . If several gases not react

ing chemically upon each other are introduced
into the same container, the pressure of the
resulting mixture is equal to the sum of the
pressures which would be observed if each gas
were separately enclosed in that container.
Like other gas laws, this law is approximately
valid only within limits. It holds universally
for ideal gases.
DAMPED LINEAR OSCILLATOR.
oscillator, damped linear.
DAMPER, FLYW HEEL.
wheeling.

See

See rectifier, free

DAMPING. This term usually refers to the

checking of a motion due to resistance, as by
friction or similar cause. It is of especial
significance in connection with the diminish
ing amplitude of an oscillation, as that of a
pendulum swinging in the air, or that of the
electricity vibrating in an oscillating circuit.
Unless energy is supplied during each cycle,
the amplitude of such a vibrator falls off at
each successive oscillation by an amount com
monly expressed in terms of the decrement,
or damping factor, which is the ratio of any
one amplitude to that next succeeding it in
the same sense or direction. (For a quanti

tative discussion, see oscillation, damped

harmonic.)
In so-called logarithmic damping, the am
plitude decays as e ~ 6t, where t is the time and
8, the logarithmic decrem ent, is a constant de
pending upon the effective resistance, induct
ance, and capacitance of the circuit.
An important instance of damping is found
in the reading of an oscillating index, like a
balance pointer, on a scale. If one m ay as
sume that the amplitude falls off by equal
amounts at each swing ( linear damping),
in order to find the equilibrium position, one
has only to average an even number of read
ings at one extreme and an odd number at the
other, and then find the mean of the two aver
ages. This linear damping assumption is an
approximation to the relationship e
= 1
U for small damping.
(See time-constant.)
D A M P IN G , C R IT IC A L .
That value of
damping which gives the most rapid transient
response which is possible without overshoot.
In a system in which the variable x obeys the
differential equation
d2x

D A M P IN G TUBE.

See tube, damping.

D A N G E R C O E F F IC IE N T . The danger co
efficient of a substance for a particular nuclear
reactor is the change in reactivity caused by
inserting that substance in the reactor. The
danger coefficient depends on the amount and
distribution of the substance inserted and is
usually quoted as reactivity change per unit
mass for a standard position in the reactor.
D A R A F. The unit of elastance or reciprocal
capacitance.
D A R C Y.
The permeability of a medium
through which a, liquid of one centipoise vis
cosity will flow, at a rate of one cubic centi
meter per square centimeter of area, when the
pressure gradient is one atmosphere per centi
meter.
D A R C Y L A W . If v is the volume of fluid
crossing a unit area per unit time under the
pressure gradient dp/dx, then
v = (k/rj) (dp/dx),

dx

where rj is the coefficient of viscosity of the

fluid and k is the permeability of the porous
structure.

the condition for critical damping is that

b = 2 Vac.
(See oscillation, damped harmonic.)
DAMPING FACTOR.
damping.

Defined in entry on

DAMPING, LINEAR.
damping.

Defined in entry on

DAMPING, LOGARITHMIC.
entry on damping.

Defined

in

R A D IA T IO N .

See

D A R K A D A P T A T IO N . The sensitivity of
the eye gradually decreases as the eye is ex
posed to increasing brightness. Eyes exposed
to no light or to only faint red light become
more sensitive as they become more dark
adapted.
DARK CONDUCTION.
trode dark current.
D A R K C U R R E N T.

radiation

The flow of elec

See current, dark.

DARK DISCHARGE.

D A M P IN G , O P T IM A L .
That value of
damping, with the damping ratio slightly less
than unity, at which an indicating system
such as a galvanometer will overshoot its final
deflection by less than the desired uncertainty
in reading the instrument. In general, op
tional damping results in faster readings than
does critical damping, with no real loss in
accuracy.
D A M P IN G ,
damping.

D A M P IN G R A TIO . The ratio of the actual

damping to the critical damping.

See discharge, dark.

D A R K F IE L D IL L U M IN A T IO N . For ob
serving very small particles or very fine lines
with a microscope, a condenser is used which
sends the light through the object at such
angles that it does not pass by a direct path
into the objective. Small particles or lines
serve to diffract the light so that a small par
ticle appears as a bright star against a dark
background.
DARK SPACE, ASTON.
space.

See Aston dark

DARK SPACE, FARADAY.

dark space.

See Faraday

DARK SPOT. A spot sometimes seen in a

television image, due to an electron-cloud
formation in front of a portion of the mosaic
o f a television camera tube. This condition
is corrected at the studio by the use of shad
ing signals.
DARLINGTON TRANSISTOR CONNEC
TION. See transistor, composite.
DASYMETER.
(1) An instrument used to
determine the density of a gas. It consists
of a thin glass globe which is weighed in the
(unknown) gas or mixture of gases and then
in a gas of known density.
(2)
An instrument used to determine the
com position of flue gas.
DATA H ANDLING CAPACITY. In naviga
tion, the maximum number of unit situations
that can be handled within a specified period
without deteriorating the performance below
certain minimum values.
D ATA STABILIZATION. In radar, stabili
zation of the display of signals with respect
to a selected reference regardless of changes in
radar-carrying vehicle attitude, e.g., azimuthstabilized PPI.
DAUGHTER ELEM ENT.
uct.

See decay prod

DAVISSON CHART. A chart relating thermionic-emission current density in terms of

cathode power dissipation. The coordinates
are skewed in a manner which causes the log
of current density as a function of the log of
power to be a straight line.
DAVISSON-GERMER EXPERIMENT.
In
1927, Davisson and Germer demonstrated the
wave nature of electrons by directing electron
beams at crystals; in particular at a crystal
o f nickel cut parallel to the (III) planes, and
upon varying the electron speed at a fixed
angle of incidence, they found not only a dis
tinct regular reflection but also a series of
diffraction maxima strikingly similar to those
obtained with the same crystal for x-rays of
varying wavelength.
The differences ob
served were satisfactorily explained as due to
the refraction by the nickel of the electron
waves.
This experiment confirmed the de
Broglie hypothesis of the wave nature of m a

terial particles, and so prepared the way for

wave-particle duality, and for the further de
velopment of wave mechanics. It was per
formed independently by G. P. Thomson.
DAVY EXPERIMENT. An experiment car
ried out by Humphrey D a vy in 1799, which
showed that two pieces of ice or other sub
stance with a low melting-point could be
melted by rubbing them together, without any
other addition of heat. The experiment helped
to disprove the caloric theory of heat.
DAYLIGHT FACTOR.
The ratio of the
daylight illumination at any point in a build
ing to the simultaneous illumination under
the open sky.
DAY, MEAN SOLAR. The average time be
tween successive transits of the sun across the
meridian at any given point on the earths sur
face. The mean solar day forms the basis of
all terrestrial time measurements.
DAY SYSTEM. A bandwidth-conservation
system which uses two quadrature carriers
individually amplitude-modulated by sepa
rate and different modulating waves. The two
modulated waves are added and applied to
the transmitting medium. A t the receiver,
the transmitted wave is applied to a pair of
product demodulators. Each demodulator is
supplied with a carrier in phase with the cor
responding component of the receiver carrier.
The spectrum occupied is the same as it would
have been for a single carrier.
DB.

Abbreviation for decibel.

DBA. Abbreviation for dbRN adjusted.

This is a unit used to show the relationship
between the interfering effect of a noise fre
quency or band of noise frequencies, and a
fixed amount of noise power com monly called
reference noise. (See dbRN.)
DBK. A bbreviation for decibels referred to
one kilowatt.
DBM.
(1) A sym bol for power level in
decibels with reference to a power of one
milliwatt (0.001 w att). (2) Abbreviation for
decibels referred to one milliwatt.
DBRAP. Abbreviation for decibels above ref
erence acoustical power, which is defined as
1 0 ~ 16 watts.

DBRN Dead Spot

305
DBRN. Abbreviation for decibels above ref
erence noise. This is a unit used to show the
relationship between the interfering effect of
a noise frequency, or a band of noise fre
quencies, and a fixed amount of noise power
com m only called reference noise. A tone of
1000 cps, having a power level of 90 dbm,
was selected as the reference noise power be
cause it appeared to have negligible interfer
ing effect, and would permit measurement of
interfering effect in positive numbers. B y
way of explanation, dbrn was originally de
termined by measuring the interfering effect
of noise in telephone circuits which used T ype
144 handsets. Later, an improved type of
handset (Western Electric T ype F I A ) came
into general use. This required an adjustment
o f the reference noise level and a different
unit. The reference level was changed to 85
dbm and the new unit was called dba.

atomic ions by a strong carbon arc in the

magnetic field. The atomic ions having ap
proximately half the molecular ion momentum

DBV. A bbreviation for decibel referred to

one volt.

D DM . Abbreviation for modulation, differ

ence in depth of.

D B W . Abbreviation for decibel referred to

one watt.

DEACCENTUATOR. A network used in

frequency-modulation reception to achieve
de-emphasis.

DBX. Abbreviation for decibels above refer

ence coupling. Reference coupling is defined
as the coupling between two circuits that
would be required to give a reading of 0 dba
on a 2-type noise measuring set connected to
the disturbed circuit when a test tone of 90
dba (using the same weighting as that used
on the disturbed circuit) is impressed on the
disturbing circuit.
D-C.

See direct current.

D -C /A -C CONVERTER, MAGNETIC.
magnetic modulator.
D-C BRAKING.
D-CENTER.

See

See braking, dynamic.

See color center.

D-C INSERTION.
storer, d-c.

See reinsertion, d-c; re

D CTL.
Abbreviation
transistor logic: logic
transistor amplifiers.

for direct-coupled
circuits employing

D C X (DIRECT CURRENT EXPERIMENT).

A controlled thermonuclear device which is
designed for a radial injection of a high energy
molecular deuterium ion into a cylindrical
magnetic field strengthened at both ends.
This molecular beam is dissociated into

D C X (Direct current experiment).

have a smaller Larmor radius and hence are

trapped in the field. B y continuous injection,
high ion densities are expected.
D-DISPLAY (ALSO D-SCAN OR D-SCOPE).
See display.

D EAD BAND. (1) In general, the range of

values through which the measured variable
which is the input to the automatic controller
can be varied without initiating effective re
sponse. (2) In a magnetic amplifier, a re
gion of input signal change which causes no
change in the output.
D E A D RECKONING. The procedure of ad
vancing a known position to give a position
at a later time by addition of one or more
vectors representing courses and distances.
In air navigation, it is customary to allow
for wind when determining dead reckoning po
sitions; however, the best marine usage now
excludes effects of wind, currents, etc., and
considers a dead reckoning position as one de
termined by advancing a known position of
course steered and speed through the water.
The expression estimated position is used
in marine navigation when allowance is made
for wind and current.
D EAD ROOM. A room which is character
ized by an unusually large amount of sound
absorption.
D EAD SPOT. (1) A location in which radio
reception over some band o f frequencies is

weak or non-existent. (2) A spot on a re

ceiver dial which has poor or no sensitivity,
due to improper receiver design. (3) In archi
tectural acoustics, a location in a room at
which there is destructive interference be
tween the direct sound waves and the waves
reflected from walls or ceilings.
D E AD TIME.
ery.

See time, dead; time, recov

tween electrons in the stream disperse the

electrons of a bunch,
DEBYE DIPOLE THEORY. A theory de
scribing the specific inductive capacity of a
liquid composed of molecules with a perma
nent dipole moment. I f the influence of one
dipole on another is only to m odify the mean
field, the theory leads to the Lorentz formula,
C 1

DE BROGLIE ATOM . Similar in all re

spects to the Bohr atom (see atom, Bohr) ex
cept that the quantum condition on the angu
lar momentum electron, mvr = nh, results not
as an ad hoc assumption but as a result of
imposing a condition on the wave length of
the de Broglie wave associated with the elec
tron (see de Broglie hypothesis). This wave
length, A , should fit an integral number of
times into the circumference of the circular
orbit, thus 27rr = n\. If this condition is com
bined with the de Broglie relation between
wave length and momentum, mv = h/A , the
Bohr condition results.
DE BROGLIE HYPOTHESIS. The hypothe
sis that a wave is associated with material
particles, with the wave length, A , and mo
mentum p = mv, of the particle related by
X h/p. A t high energies the relativistic
mass m = m0/ V l v 2/c2 must be used. (See
complementarity principle; wave mechanics;
atom, de Broglie.)
D E BROGLIE W AVELENG TH . A w ave
length ascribed to any particle having m o
mentum. For a relativistic particle, the value
of this wavelength is given by the expression:
h
X

mv

+ 2

DEBUNCHING. The action of forces of mu

tual repulsion between electrons causing the
bunches of electrons to spread, both laterally
and longitudinally.
DEBUNCHING, SPACE CHARGE. Any
process in which the mutual interactions be

9 kT

where c is the specific inductive capacity, x is

the strength of a single dipole, n is the num
ber density. For liquids such as water, the
degree of mutual orientation of dipoles in
each others fields is so great that an allow
ance for this effect is necessary.
DEBYE EQUATION FOR COMPLEX PER
MITTIVITY. The Debye dipole theory leads
to a dependence of complex permittivity on
frequency given b y :
k

,,
=k

,K 'a- K ' x
H -
;-----
1 + JUT

where K ' 8 and K ' are the static and optical

permittivities respectively, r is the relaxation
time constant for dipole rotation, <o is the
radian frequency, and j = V 1. (See also
dielectric constant, complex; Cole-Cole plot.)
DEBYE EQUATION FOR TOTAL POLARI
ZATION.
A relationship giving the total
polarization P M of an assembly of N mole
cules of polarizability a and dipole moment
fi, at absolute temperature T , in the form :
47r

PM - - N

m0v V 1 - 1,2A 2

where A is the de Broglie wavelength, h is the

Planck constant, mo is the rest mass of the
particle, v is its velocity and c is the velocity
of light. The observed mass of the particle is
m and the momentum is mv.

47T tx2n

(*
- *2
>7
\ + 3

This equation is used with the Clausius

Mosotti relatipn and the dielectric constant
to obtain the dipole moment.
DEBYE EQUATION OF STATE. The rela
tion between pressure p , and volume V ,
V

dU0

UD

----------------------[_ y

------------ ,

dV

where y is Grneisens constant, /0 is the in

ternal energy at 0 K , and UD is the contribu
tion to the internal energy due to the lattice
vibrations.

DEBYE-FALKENHAGEN EFFECT.
The
variation of the conductance of an electro
lytic solution with frequency. This effect,
which is noted at high frequencies, is also
called the dispersion of conductance.
DEBYE FREQUENCY. The frequency de
fining the Debye temperature , i.e., k/h,
where k is the Boltzmann constant and h is the
Planck constant.
DEBYE HEAT CAPACITY EQUATION.
See Debye theory of specific heat.
DEBYE-HUCKEL
EQUATION,
COM
PLETE. The D ebye-H iickel equation (which
is stated in the entry for Debye-Hiickel lim
iting law) corrected for finite size of the ions,
and the attraction between the ions and the
polar molecules of the solvent.
DEBYE-HUCKEL LIM ITING L AW . The
departure from ideal behavior in a given sol
vent is governed by the ionic strength of the
medium and the valences of the ions of the
electrolyte, but is independent of their chemi
cal nature. For dilute solutions, the loga
rithm of the mean activity is proportional to
the product of the cation valence, anion v a
lence, and square root of ionic strength giv
ing the equation:
- lo g / = A z+z_V \j..
(See electrolytes, theory of.)
DEBYE-HUCKEL, THEORY.
lytes, theory of.

See electro

DEBYE-HUCKEL, THEORY OF CONDUC

TIVITY OF ELECTROLYTES. See electro
lytes, theory of.
DEBYE
length.

RADIUS.

See

Debye

shielding

DEBYE-SCHERRER-HULL M ETHO D . A
technique of x-ray diffraction, in which a
beam of x-rays is directed on a powdered
sample of the material (hence the name
powder m ethod ) and the diffracted beams
received on a photographic plate. Because
the powder contains crystals in every orien
tation, the plate shows a pattern of concen
tric rings, which is characteristic of the m a
terial and may be used to identify it, or to
obtain very accurate estimates of the cell
dimensions.

DEBYE-SEARS CELL. A device for meas

uring velocity and attenuation of compressional waves in a transparent liquid.
(See
Debye-Sears effect.)
DEBYE-SEARS EFFECT. A piezoelectric
crystal vibrating in a longitudinal mode in a
liquid sets up acoustic waves consisting of re
gions of compression and regions of rarefac
tion in the liquid, which alternate at distances
of half a wavelength. Hence, if a parallel
beam of light shines through such a crystal
tank with plate-glass walls, the regions of
density and rarefaction act like a plane light
diffraction-grating. If the parallel beam from
the cell is focused on a single spot when no
sound waves are present, first and higher or
der diffraction-spectra will appear on either
side of the zero-order spot when sound waves
are present. From the spacings o f the d if
fraction orders, the sound wavelength can be
determined, which, together with the fre
quency, gives the velocity of sound in the
liquid.
DEBYE SHIELDING DISTANCE. A con
cept taken over from the theory of electro
lytes and applied to a plasma. The shielding
distance is a characteristic length in a plasma
outside of which the electric field of a charged
particle is shielded by charged particles of op
posite sign. In the neighborhood of a single
charge g, the electrostatic potential <, is given
by
q
<t>(r) = - exp [ t / \ d ]
r
where r is the distance from the charge and
\d is the D ebye shielding distance
Xn is
defined by
kT \ *
47tne2)
where k is the Boltzmann constant, T the tem
perature, n the electron density, e the elec
tronic charge in e.s.u.
When \D is small compared to the other
characteristic lengths of interest, an ionized
gas is called a plasma. XD also gives the ap
proximate thickness of the sheath which forms
at the boundary between a plasma and a solid
surface.
DEBYE SHIELDING LENGTH.
shielding distance.

See Debye

DEBYE T3 APPROXIMATION.
theory of specific heat.

See Debye

DEBYE UNIT. A unit equal to lO -18 electro

static unit of dipole moment.

DEBYE TEMPERATURE. See Debye theory

of specific heat.

DECALESCENCE. Absorption of heat, usu

ally by an alloy without rise of temperature,
due to an allotropic transformation.

DEBYE THEORY OF SPECIFIC HEAT.

An improvement on the Einstein equation for
heat capacity. Instead of assuming a fixed
frequency for all oscillations in the solid,
D ebye supposed that the spectrum (1) of the
thermal vibrations of a crystal lattice was
similar to that of a continuum, except that it
is cut off at a maximum frequency in such a
way that the total number of vibrational
modes is equal to the total number of degrees
of freedom of the lattice. This assumption
leads to the equation for the molar specific
heat at constant volume:

DECALESCENT POINT (OF A M ETAL).

The temperature at which there is a sudden
absorption of heat as the metal is raised in
temperature. (See decalescence.)
DECAY (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).
The reduction in magnitude of stored charge
by any cause other than erasing.
DECAY CHAIN.

See radioactive series.

DECAY CHARACTERISTIC.
ence characteristic.
DECAY COEFFICIENT.
disintegration constant.

where 0D is the D eb y e temperature, N is the

Avogadro number, k the Boltzmann constant,
T the absolute temperature, and D the D eb y e
jun ction :
3

D( x)

r x x3dx
x*dx
Cx

x3 0 ex 1

Here x = 6D/T and the D ebye temperature is

6d = hvD/k,
where i>d is the cut-off frequency
= [9/47(23 + 3)],
V being the specific volume, ct the speed of
transverse waves in the crystal, and the
speed of longitudinal waves.
A t temperatures much greater than (
1), D( x) approaches unity and Cv > 3Nk, as
required by the D u lo n g a n d P e t tit law .
W hen T <3CBd , it is found that
Cv

12Nk { T\s
5t

\6

i.e., that the specific heat varies as the cube

of the absolute temperature. This conclusion
is known as the D e b y e T 3 approximation and
is in reasonable agreement with experiment
except for metals, in which the electronic spe
cific heat becomes important at low tempera
tures.
See also Born-von Karman theory.

See persist

A synonym for

DECAY CONSTANT, SURFACE. The re

ciprocal of the lifetime of a carrier in a semi
conductor when this is governed by surface
recombination.
DECAY CURVE.
A n y activity curve in
which the activity decreases with increasing
time.
DECAY ELECTRONS, COSMIC RAY.
cosmic ray decay electrons.
DECAY FAMILY.

See

See radioactive series.

DECAY L A W , RADIOACTIVE.
nential law
N = N 0e~ u

The expo

which governs the decrease with time of the

number of atoms of a radioactive species, pro
vided the number is large. In the above equa
tion, N is the number of atoms present at
time t, No is the number of atoms present at
time zero and A , the decay constant. The
decay law is a statistical law so that if N is
the number of radioactive atoms present, the
number of which will disintegrate on the
average in unit time is \N. The number
which will disintegrate in any particular unit
of time m ay not be exactly AN } but if a large
number of measurements of the number of
disintegrations per unit time is made, the
values will show a Poisson distribution with
XN as the average value.

DECAY MODULUS. In a damped harmonic

oscillator, the time for the amplitude of os
cillation to diminish to 1/e of its initial value
is called the decay modulus. F or an oscil
lator with the equation of m otion
mx + R x + f x = 0
(See oscillation,

the decay modulus is 2m/R.

damped.)

DECAY OF A MAGNETIC FIELD. A mag

netic field embedded in a conducting medium
at rest has a characteristic decay described by
a simple diffusion equation:

where rj = (4^0-) _1 is called the magnetic diffu sivity , fx is the permeability, and o- is the
conductivity. For example, a magnetic field
in a copper sphere of 1 meter radius will have
a decay period of about 10 seconds.
DECAY OF MESONS AND HYPERONS.
See mesons and hyperons; beta decay theory.
DECAY OF SOUND IN A ROOM, EQUA
TION FOR. See Franklin equation.
DECAY PRODUCT. A ny nuclide, radioac
tive or stable, resulting from the radioactive
disintegration of a radionuclide, directly or
as a result of successive transformations in a
radioactive series.
DECAY, RADIOACTIVE. (1) R adioactive
disintegration (see radioactivity).
(2) The
decrease with time of the number of radio
active atoms in a, sample, because of their
spontaneous transformation.
DECAY SCHEME.
DECAY SERIES.
D ECAY TIM E.

See level scheme.

See radioactive series.

See time, decay.

DECAY TIM E OF A MAGNETIC FIELD.

The characteristic time of decay of a mag
netic field due to Joule heating in a conductor
or a plasma is given by
r =

47 tL 2<t/

c,

where cr is the electrical conductivity in

Gaussian units, L is a length such that L =
H/\ VH\, H being the magnitude of the mag
netic field, and c is the speed of light. See
relaxation and skin depth.

DECCA. A cw radio aid to navigation using

multiple receivers to measure and indicate the
relative phase difference of cw signals received
from several synchronized radio stations. The
system provides differential distance informa
tion from which position can be determined.
DECELERATING ELECTRODE.
trode, decelerating.
DECELERATION.

See elec

Negative acceleration.

DECI-. This prefix, used before the name of

a unit, m ay be read as one-tenth.
DECIBEL (DB). The decibel is one-tenth of
a bel. The abbreviation d b is commonly
used for the term decibel. W ith
and P 2
designating two amounts of power and n the
number of decibels corresponding to their
ratio,
n = 10 logio (P i/ P 2)When the conditions are such that scalar ra
tios o f currents or o f voltages (or analogous
quantities in other fields such as pressures,
amplitudes, particle velocities in sound) are
the square roots of the corresponding power
ratios, the number of decibels by which the
corresponding powers differ is expressed by
the following formulae:
n = 20 logio (J 1/ / 2)
n = 20 logio { V J V 2)
where / 1 / / 2 and V 1/ V 2 are the given current
and voltage ratios, respectively. B y exten
sion, these relations between numbers of deci
bels and scalar ratios of currents or voltages
are sometimes applied where these ratios are
not the square roots of the corresponding
power ratios; to avoid confusion, such usage
should be accompanied by a specific state
ment of this application.
DECIGRAM.

One-tenth gram.

DECIM AL NUMBER SYSTEM.

tion, positional.
DECIM AL POINT.

See nota

See point.

DECODER. (1) A device for the detection

and interpretation of a pulse-code modulated
(see modulation, pulse-code) signal. (2) In
computer terminology, a network or system in
which a combination of inputs is excited at one
time to produce a single output. Sometimes
called matrix.

Decoder, Color Definitions and Dimensions

DECODER, COLOR.

See color decoder.

DECOMPOSITION, SENSITIZED. A chem

ical decomposition that is brought about by
the presence of a second substance which ab
sorbs an exciting radiation. The essential
mechanism of the reaction is the excitation of
particles of the second substance by the radia
tion, followed by collisions between these ex
cited particles and molecules to be decom
posed. The process proceeds most effectively
if the energy difference between the ground
state and excited state of the sensitizer is
nearly equal to the energy of the decomposi
tion reaction.
DECOMPOSITION VOLTAGE. The mini
mum electromotive force which must be ap
plied to a given solution and given electrodes
to produce steady electrolysis. The value of
the decomposition voltage is not known pre
cisely because the rise in the current-voltage
curve does not begin at a sharply defined
point. Instead the curve at first rises very
slowly with increasing applied voltage; in the
neighborhood of the decomposition voltage
there is an abrupt change in slope (a sharp
bend) and thereafter the curve rises rapidly
with applied electromotive force.
DECREM ENT.

See damping.

DECREPITATION.
The emission of a
crackling sound, com m only by crystals on
shattering under the internal stresses result
ing from heating.
DE-ENERGIZE (RELAY). T o disconnect the
relay coil from its power source.
DEFECT. A term used to include various
types of point imperfections in solids, such as
vacancies, interstitial atoms, etc., as distinct
from extended imperfections such as disloca
tions. Lattice defects are particularly im
portant in ionic crystals, where they may be
created by heating in the vapor of one con
stituent, thus creating a stoichiometric ex
cess, by bombardment with x-rays and ener
getic particles, etc. A ny crystal must con
tain a certain equilibrium concentration of
defects, as a function of the temperature,
purely as a result of thermal agitation (see
Frenkel defect, Schottky defect). Defects are
responsible for the diffusion of ions, ionic
conductivity, and the complex phenomena re
lated to color centers.

D EFECT CONDUCTION.
defect.

310
See conduction,

DEFINITE. Non-zero. A positive definite

form is always greater than zero. A positive
indefinite form is equal to or greater than
zero. (See kernel.)
DEFINITION. Distinctness or clarity of de
tail or outline in a record sheet, or other re
production.
DEFINITION CIRCLE.
In impedance
matching, a circle of constant standing-wave
ratio surrounding a desired impedance on a
complex impedance plane.
DEFINITIONS AND DIMENSIONS. It has
become increasingly apparent during the last
half century that exactness in the definitions of
physical terms in general can be best achieved,
and that ambiguity can be best avoided, if
definitions are operational, i.e., if each defini
tion indicates a process by which the defined
quantity can be measured. The process of
measurement specified by the definition need
not be the one used practically, but the latter
must always be reducible in principle to the
former. For example, the distance between
two points is defined as the number of times
that a specified measuring rod must be suc
cessively applied along a straight line joining
the two points in order to cover this line com
pletely.
It would hardly be practical to
measure the distance from the earth to the
moon by this process, but the method of tri
angulation, by which this distance is measured,
m ay be shown to be equivalent to the succes
sive application of a rod.
E very physical measurement involves the
comparison of two quantities of the same na
ture, e.g., two lengths, two electrical currents,
etc. The same results will be achieved by two
different observers only if they have agreed
to use the same standard as one of these quan
tities. T o provide such standards, certain
fundamental units have been established by
custom, by national legislation, and by inter
national agreement.
The specification of a physical quantity
must tell both what standards were used in
the measurement and how the quantity com
pares with these standards. The quantity is
therefore expressed as the product of a pure
number, giving the latter piece of information,

and a unit which gives the former. T w o equal

quantities m ay be represented by quite differ
ent numbers if they are measured in different
units. Thus:
1 mile = 5280 feet ~ 1609 meters.
A ll quantities which can be expressed in the
same units are said to have the same physical
dimensions. Thus two square miles and ten
acres, while they are not equal, have the same
dimensions, those of area, or of length squared.
The great m ajority of physical quantities
can be measured in terms of derived units,
which are defined in terms of the fundamental
units. Thus velocity is defined as the time
rate of change of position and is determined
by a measurement of the change of position,
i.e., a length, Z, during a time interval, t. The
average velocity during this interval is v 1/t.
The unit of velocity is therefore a unit of length
divided by a unit of time, such as feet/second,
m iles/hour, meters/minute, etc. W hen quan
tities measured in terms of derived units are
given in this dictionary, their dimensions in
terms of fundamental units are usually speci
fied. T o avoid the com plexity that would re
sult if every quantity were expressed directly
in terms of fundamental units, the dimen
sions are often expressed in terms of de
rived units intermediate between those of
the defined quantity and the primary stand
ards. Thus the Planck constant, h, is given
dimensions of erg seconds. The erg itself has
the dimensions of force times distance, and
force has the dimensions of a mass times a
length divided by the square of a time. Hence,
letting m, Z, and t represent mass, length, and
time, respectively, we find that the dimensions
of the Planck constant are
[h] = [(m i/i2) (0(01 = ImP/t],
or that it could be expressed in units of the
gram centimeter squared per second.
W hich physical quantities should be chosen
as fundamental, or even how many should be
chosen, are matters of choice and convenience.
This is true because most physical laws ex
press proportionalities, rather than equalities.
As an example, we m ay consider the usual
statement of the second Newton law of mo
tion, that the acceleration, a, produced in a
body of mass m by a force, /, is directly pro
portional to the force and inversely propor

tional to the mass. This law m ay be written

as
a oc f/m.
It is usually convenient to change this propor
tionality to an equation b y the insertion of a
constant of proportionality, K :
K a f/m.
This equation involves three physical quanti
ties, a, /, and m. I f all three o f these are de
fined arbitrarily, either as fundamental units
or in terms of derived units, the dimensions of
K will be determined by the equation. On the
other hand, any two of the physical quantities
may be defined arbitrarily, and a further arbi
trary choice may be made as to the dimensions
and magnitude of K . The equation may then
be used as a defining equation of the third
quantity. W hether one or the other choice is
convenient depends on the problem to which
N ewtons second law is being applied. The
consequences of the various possible choices
in this case are discussed under mechanical
units.
DEFLECTION. (1) The lateral movement
of the cathode-ray beam produced by electric
or magnetic fields.
(2) A measure of the
movement of a pointer, light spot, or other
indicator, over the scale o f an instrument.
(3) The movement o f any portion o f a struc
tural member as the result of loading.
DEFLECTION ANGLE.
flection.

See angle of de

DEFLECTION CENTER. The intersection

of forward projection of the electron path
prior to deflection and the backward projec
tion of the electron path in the field-free
space after deflection.
DEFLECTION, ELECTROSTATIC.
The
deflection of an electron beam as a result of
its passing through an electrostatic field which
has a component perpendicular to the path of
the beam.
DEFLECTION FACTOR (O F A CATHODE-RAY T U B E ). The reciprocal o f the
deflection sensitivity.
DEFLECTION OF LIGHT.
light.
D EFLECTION PLANE.
tion.

See bending of

See plane, deflec-

D EFLECTION PLATES.
A system of
plates in a cathode-ray tube, usually consist
ing of two pairs of parallel plates, the pairs
being perpendicular to each other. The elec
trostatic field existing between each plate
pair causes angular displacement of the elec
tron beam.
DEFLECTION, REFERENCE. The deflec
tion to the meter-scale point marked 0 vu,
100 vu, or both. This is the deflection at
which the meter should be used.
D EFLECTION SENSITIVITY.
(1) Of an
electrostatic-deflection, cathode-ray tube, the
quotient of the spot displacement by the
change in deflecting potential. (2) Of a magnetic-deflection cathode-ray tube, the quo
tient of the spot displacement by the change
in deflecting magnetic field. (3) Of a magnetic-deflection cathode-ray tube and yolk
assembly, the quotient of the spot displace
ment by the change in deflecting-coil current.
Deflection sensitivity is usually expressed in
millimeters per volt applied between the de
flecting electrodes, or in millimeters per gauss
of the deflecting magnetic field.
D EFLECTION YOKE.

See yoke, deflection.

DEFORMABLE BODY. A
that undergoes changes in size
der the influence of external
deformation.) D istinct from a

material body
and shape un
stresses.
(See
rigid body.

DEFORMATION. The change in the shape

or size of a body which accompanies a stressed
condition is called deformation or strain. The
total amount of change in any one direction
is the total deform ation in that direction.
Unit deform ation is the deformation per unit
of length. Permanent deformation is known
as set. I f an axial load is applied to a body,
the length and lateral (cross-sectional) di
mensions are changed. Poissons ratio is the
ratio of lateral unit deformation to longitudi
nal unit deformation.
D eform ation which is the result of a flexural
stress (see flexure) is called bending deforma
tion. Shearing or shear deform ation is caused
by shearing stress.
DEFORMATION BANDS. Regions within
a metal crystal which have assumed different
orientations as a result of slip.

DEFORMATION POTENTIALS. The ef

fective electric potential acting on a free elec
tron in a metal or semiconductor as a result
of a local deformation of the crystal lattice.
The scattering of electrons by lattice vibra
tions may be analyzed in terms of the defor
mations produced by the vibrations, and hence
the corresponding potentials.
DEG.

Abbreviation for degree.

DEGASIFICATION.
Rem oval of gas, as
applied particularly to the removal of the last
traces of gas from wires used in vacuum tubes,
from metals to be plated, and from substances
to be used in other specialized applications.
DEGASSING OF GLASS. Glass always con
tains water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and
traces of other gases within it and on its sur
face, and these are ordinarily in a state of
equilibrium with the surroundings.
When
the pressure is reduced, however, the equilib
rium is upset, and these gases, being gradu
ally released from solution in and adsorption
on the glass, spoil the vacuum. It is usual to
drive the gases out of the glass by baking the
glass at a temperature o f about 350-500C ,
while on the pump.
DEGASSING OF METAL.
Degassing of
metal is necessary for the same reason as in
degassing of glass, but because of the larger
quantities of gas present in metals, more com
plex methods of degassing must be employed.
These include baking at high temperature,
eddy-current heating, electron bombardment,
etc.
DEGENERACY. (1) The term used to de
scribe the situation in which a quantum me
chanical system possesses more than one
eigenstate characteristic of the same eigenvalue(s) of the operator(s) corresponding to
a given (set of) dynamical variables ( s ). The
existence of degeneracy is an indication that
one has not specified values for as many d y
namical variables as quantum mechanics re
quires for a unique determination of the state
of the system. The additional dynamical
variables that must be specified can be found
by finding all of the additional operators
which will commutate with the set chosen and
with themselves. Specifying eigenvalues for
all of the dynamical variables found in this
way will eliminate the degeneracy. (2) Some

313

Degeneracy, Accidental Del

times the term degeneracy is used in the more

limited sense of describing the case in which
there is more than one energy eigenfunction
o f the Hamiltonian corresponding to the same
eigenvalue. The rem oval of degeneracy in
this more limited sense can often be accom
plished by the application of a perturbing
field leading to a different energy shift for
each one of the eigenfunctions involved in the
degeneracy. (3) The term degeneracy is also
used in classical eigenvalue problems such
as in the vibration of a square membrane.
Degeneracy here occurs when two different
characteristic modes of vibration have the
same frequency. A ny linear combination of
the two modes is then a possible vibration
state of the membrane at this frequency. (4)
See degenerate electron gas; Bose-Einstein
condensation.

dynamics (see thermodynamics, second law

of), because of the statement that the en
tropy o f an isolated system is increased by ir
reversible processes involving energy changes,
and that, therefore, the sum of the available
energy tends to decrease.

DEGENERACY, ACCIDENTAL.
resonance.

DEGREE OF FREEDOM. (1) See freedom,

degree of. (2) For degrees of freedom on a
mesh basis, see nullity. (3) For degrees of
freedom on a node basis, see rank.

DEGENERACY, COULOMB.
degeneracy.

See Fermi

See Coulomb

DEGENERACY, EXCHANGE.
change degeneracy.

See

ex-

DEGENERATE ELECTRON GAS.

An
electron gas which is far below its Fermi
temperature, that is, which must be described
by the Fermi distribution.
The essential
characteristic of this state is that a very large
proportion of the electrons completely fill the
lower energy levels, and are unable to take
part in any physical processes until excited
out of these levels.
DEGENERATE MODES.
generate.

See m ode(s), de

DEGENERATE OSCILLATING SYSTEM.

A vibrating system with several degrees of
freedom in which the frequencies associated
with two or more degrees of freedom may be
equal in magnitude.
DEGENERATE STATE.

See degeneracy.

DEGENERATION. Same as negative feed

back. (See feedback.)
DEGRADATION. Loss of energy by col
lision. Neutron degradation is also called
moderation.
DEGRADATION OF ENERGY, L A W OF.
A name applied to the second law of thermo

DEGRADING OF BAND. See band, shading

of.
DEGREE. (1) A unit of angular measure;
2?r radians equal 360; (2) the degree of a
polynomial is the exponent of its highest
power; (3) the degree of a differential equa
tion is the highest power of a derivative in it.
(4) A unit of temperature or temperature dif
ference.
DEGREE OF DISSOCIATION. The frac
tion of electrolyte dissociated into ions.

DE HAAS-VAN ALPHEN EFFECT.

At
very low temperatures the diamagnetic sus
ceptibility of the conduction electrons of
many complex metals shows a periodic varia
tion with changes of the applied magnetic
field component perpendicular to the principal
axis o f the crystal. The theory of the effect is
complicated, but it is related to the shape of
the Brillouin zones, arising apparently from
small pockets of electrons or holes.
DEHUM IDIFICATION. A process used in
air-conditioning in which air partially satu
rated with water is cooled to below the dew
point, so that part of the water vapor is con
densed.
DEIONIZATION POTENTIAL.
tial, deionization.
DEIONIZATION TIME.
tion; time, recovery.
DEKATRON.

See poten

See time, deioniza

A cold-cathode counting tube.

DEL. The differential operator used in vec

tor analysis, sometimes called nabla, and
usually written as V.
In Cartesian coordi
nates it is
(

d\

When applied to a scalar function it gives the

gradient; to vectors, it can give the diver
gence or the curl. There are six possible com
binations where the operator is applied twice,
although two of them equal zero identically.
If <f> is a scalar and V a vector, they are:
(1) V2</>, the Laplacian; (2) V2V ; (3) V (V -V );
(4) V X (V X V ) = (V-V) - V* VV;
(5) V X V0 = 0; (6) V V X V = 0.
DELAY, ABSOLUTE. In loran the interval
of time between the transmission of a signal
from the A station, and transmission of the
next signal from the B station.
DELAY BREAK (RELAY).
release.

A term for time,

DELAY CIRCUIT. A circuit used to cause

the delay for a certain period of time of the
starting of a waveform.
DELAY CODING. In a loran system, an
arbitrary time delay in the transmission of
pulse signals from the B stations to permit
the resolution of ambiguity that occurs in cer
tain cases.
The term coding as applied to the delaying
of an action in a radio navigation system after
the time when another phenomenon takes
places purely for reasons of improving the in
strumentation problem is deprecated. The
term suppressed time delay accurately ex
presses what is being accomplished and should
be employed instead.
DELAYED COINCIDENCE.
dence (in counter technology).

See

DELAY LINE.

DELAY-LINE
delay-line.

See line, delay.

REGISTER.

DELAY LINE, ULTRASONIC (ULTRA

SONIC STORAGE CELL). A contained me
dium (usually a liquid, e.g., mercury) in which
use is made of the propagation time of sound
to obtain a time delay of an ultrasonic signal.
DELAY, PHASE. In the transfer of a single
frequency wave from one point to another in
a system, the time delay of a part of the wave
identifies its phase. The delay phase is meas
ured by the ratio of the total phase shift in
cycles to the frequency in cycles per second.
DELAY SCREEN. A fluorescent screen used
in cathode-ray tubes which has the property
of phosphorescence. When this material is
used, the light intensity of any particular spot
dies out gradually after the beam moves to a
new position.
DELAY, TIME.

See time delay.

DELAY TIM E, TRANSISTOR, OHMIC. See

transistor parameter t<*.
DELAY, TRANSDUCER PULSE. The inter
val of time between a specified point on the
input pulse and a specified point on the re
lated output pulse. This is a general term
which applies to the pulse delay in any trans
ducer, such as receiver, transmitter, amplifier,
oscillater, and the like. Specifications may
require illustrations.
DELAY, TRANSPORTATION.
dead; dead band.

See equalizer, delay.

DELAY-LINE MEMORY.
lay-line.

See storage, de

coinci

DELAY, ENVELOPE. The time of propaga

tion, between two points, of the envelope of a
wave. The envelope delay is measured by the
slope of the phase shift in cycles plotted
against the frequency in cycles per second. If
the system distorts the envelope, the envelope
delay at a specified frequency is defined with
reference to a modulated wave which occupies
a frequency bandwidth approaching zero.
DELAY EQUALIZER.

DELAY-LINE STORAGE.
lay-line.

See memory, de
See

register,

See

time,

d-ELECTRON. An electron having an orbital

angular momentum quantum number o f two.
DELIQUESCENCE. The property of a sub
stance whereby it absorbs water vapor from
the atmosphere, eventually becoming a solu
tion. The condition for it is that the con
centrated solution has a vapor pressure
smaller than that of the water vapor in the
atmosphere.
The process continues until
these vapor pressures become equal.
DELLINGER EFFECT. The sudden disap
pearance of skywave signals as a result of
greatly increased ionization in the ionosphere
due to solar storms. The effect may last from
ten minutes to several hours.

DELOCALIZATION
nance energy.

ENERGY.

See reso

DELTA. (1) Finite difference ( A or 8). (2)

Sym bol for a double bond. (This is a com
mon chemical usage ( A ) . )
(3) Sym bol for
application of heat in the course of a chemical
reaction ( A) .
(4) Angle of deviation (8),
angle of minimum deviation (8m). (5) Devia
tion (8). (6) Difference in phase (8). (7)
Total elongation (deflection) (8). (8) Optical
length ( A) .
(9) Acoustic conductivity of an
opening (8). (10) Sag or deflection of a beam
(8). (11) Distance between adjacent foci of
two lens units ( A) . (12) Piezoelectric strain
constant or modulus (8).
(13) Electronic
state of molecule having a A-value of 2 ( A)
(see lambda (12)). (14) See selection, coin
cident current.

netizing field H a is acted upon by a net

magnetizing field,
H = H a AH,
where the demagnetizing field AH is inter
preted as being due to the poles induced on
the surface of the body. In the case of a per
manent magnet with H a = 0, the demagnetiz
ing field is readily seen to be the field of the
magnet itself, which always has such a direc
tion as to oppose the magnetization. The ex
istence of a demagnetizing field is a necessary
consequence of the fact that energy is stored
in the field external to the magnetized body,
and that the sum of this energy and the in
ternal energy must be minimized at equilib
rium. The demagnetizing field is approxi
mately proportional to the magnetization, M:
AH = N M

D E LTA
circuits.

CONNECTION.

D E LTA FUNCTION.
tion; Kronecker delta.

See

multiphase

See Dirac delta func

D ELTAM AX. Trade name for grain-oriented

50% nickel, 50% iron alloy.
D E LTA RAY. An electron that is ejected by
recoil when a rapidly-m oving charged particle,
e.g., an a-particle, passes through matter. The
use of the term delta ray is sometimes ex
tended to apply not only to electrons, but to
any secondary ionizing particles ejected by
recoil when a primary ionizing particle passes
through matter.
D E LTA RECTIFIER.
delta.

See rectifier, full-wave

DELTRAC. An electronic navigational sys

tem operating in the 12-to-16-kilocycle band.
The system consists of one to three master
stations, each master station having one slave
station. A ll stations operate on the same
frequency.
DEM AGNETIZATION CURVE. The por
tion of the hysteresis loop that lies in the
second quadrant.
DEM AGNETIZATION FACTOR.
See de
polarization factor; demagnetizing field.
DEM AGNETIZING FIELD.
A body of
magnetic material subject to an applied mag

The proportionality factor N is called the

demagnetizing factor, and depends primarily
on the shape of the body.
D EM AL SOLUTION. A solution which con
tains one gram-equivalent of solute per cubic
decimeter of solution. It is slightly weaker
than a normal solution, in the ratio of the
magnitude of the liter to the cubic decimeter.
The unit demal is used in conductivity meas
urements.
DEM ODULATION
(OR D E TE C TIO N ).
The process by which information is derived
from a, modulated waveform about the signal
imparted to the waveform in modulation.
DEM ODULATION,
ENHANCED - CAR
RIER. An amplitude-demodulation system
in which a synchronized local carrier of the
proper phase is added to the demodulator.
This has the effect of materially reducing the
distortion produced in the demodulation
process.
DEM ODULATION, TIME. The process by
which information is obtained from a timemodulated wave about the signal imparted
to the wave in time modulation.
DEMODULATOR. A device which effects the
process of demodulation.
DEMODULATOR, CHROMINANCE.
A
demodulator used in color television reception
for deriving video frequency chrominance

components from the chrominance signal and

a sine wave of chrominance subcarrier fre
quency.
DEM ODULATOR, DIODE. A rectifier de
modulator, sometimes an envelope demodu
lator.
(See demodulator, rectifier; and de
modulator, envelope.)
DEM ODULATOR, ENVELOPE. A recti
fier demodulator (see demodulator, rectifier)
whose output is shunted by a capacitance,
thus causing the output to be proportional to
the peaks of the rectified amplitude-modu
lated carrier. I f low distortion is desired,
this process m ay be used only where the ratio
of carrier to the highest modulation frequency
is quite large.
DEM ODULATOR, FREQUENCY.
A de
vice which will produce an output propor
tional to the variation of the instantaneous
frequency of the input voltage. Ideally it
will be insensitive to variations in the ampli
tude of the input wave.
DEM ODULATOR, PRODUCT.
A device
whose output is the product of its two inputs,
these being the amplitude-modulated carrier
and a locally-generated voltage of carrier
frequency. This is basically the same device
as a product modulator (see modulator, prod
uct), and with proper filtering, can produce
an output proportional to the original modu
lation.
DEM ODULATOR, RECTIFIER. A device
consisting of a diode or diodes through which
the amplitude-modulated carrier is passed.
The resulting rectified output has an average
value proportional to the original modulation.
W ith conditions approximating a perfect
rectifier, the linearity of the device is quite
good below 10% modulation.
DEM ODULATOR, SQUARE-LAW. A de
vice whose output voltage is proportional to
the square of its input voltage. An ampli
tude-modulated carrier passing through such
a device produces an output containing the
original modulation signal as well as distor
tion products. The distortion products in
crease rapidly as the percent modulation in
creases.
DE MOIVRE THEOREM. A ny power of a
complex number in polar form is given by

[r(cos 0 + i sin 0)]n = rn{cos nd + i sin n$).

This formula holds when n is a positive or a
negative integer. It also holds when n is frac
tional, but may then be written in the more
general form :
[r(cos 0 + i sin 0)]1/n
Jin

e + k -360
. 0 + k -360
c o s ------------------- b i s in ---------------n
n

where k takes the values of 0, 1, 2, , (n 1)

and where r l/n denotes the principal nth root
of r. The theorem gives all of the nth. roots
of any number.
DEMPSTER POSITIVE RAY ANALYSIS.
A method of separating particles of different
charge-to-mass ratios. The particles are caused
to fall through a definite potential difference.
A narrow bundle is separated out by a slit
and bent into a semicircle by a strong mag
netic field; the rays then pass through a sec
ond slit and fall on a plate connected to an
electrometer. The potential difference V, the
magnetic field iZ, and the radius of curvature
r determine the charge-to-mass ratio, since
(in emu)
q

2V

H l2J2
r

DENDRITE. A crystal, usually produced by

solidification of liquid, and characterized by
a treelike structure with many branches.
DENSE SET. A set whose accumulation
points include all points of the complement.
DENSIMETER.
termine density.

A ny instrument used to de

DENSITOMETER. An instrument for the

measurement of optical density (photographic
transmission, photographic reflection, visual
transmission, etc.) of a material.
DENSITOMETER, BAIRD.
sitometer.

See Baird den

DENSITY. (1) The ratio of the mass of a

homogeneous body to its volume. The aver
age density of a non-homogeneous body is
similarly defined, but the density of any por
tion of such a body is the ratio of the mass
o f that portion to its volume. (2) In lengthforce-tim e systems of units, the term density
is sometimes used to denote weight per unit

volume, rather than mass per unit volume.

(3) B y analogy, the ratio of the number of
particles or total amount of such a quantity
as energy or momentum, carried by or con
tained in a volume, to that volume. Thus one
speaks of energy density, electron density,
charge density, etc. (4) See optical density,
photographic. (5) In facsimile, a measure of
the light-transmitting or reflecting properties
of an area. It is expressed by the common
logarithm of the ratio of incident to trans
mitted or reflected light flux. (6) See surface
density.
DENSITY, ABSOLUTE.

DENSITY, PHOTOGRAPHIC.
density, photographic.

See optical

DENSITY, RADIANT. The radiant energy

(see energy, radiant) found in a unit volume
of space.
DENSITY, RELATIVE. The ratio of the
mass of a given volume of a substance to
that of the same volume of another substance
chosen as a standard. (Cf. specific gravity.)
DENSITY, SPECULAR. The logarithm of
the reciprocal of the specular transmittance.
(See transmittance, specular.)

See density (1 ).

DENSITY, DIFFUSE. A quantity defined as

the logarithm of the reciprocal of the diffuse
transmittance.
(See transmittance, diffuse.)
DENSITY, LUMINOUS. The luminous en
ergy (see energy, luminous) found in a unit
volume of space.
DENSITY MATRIX. If a system can be de
scribed by the quantum mechanical wave
function

* = E AmjUmai,

DENUMERABLE SET. A set whose points

can be placed in one-to-one correspondence
with the sequence of positive integers. Other
wise, the set is non-denumerable.
DEPARTURE, ANGLE OF. The angle be
tween the line of propagation of a radiowave
and the earths surface at the point of trans
mission.
DEPARTURE, FREQUENCY. See frequency
departure.
DEPLETION LAYER.

See layer, depletion.

ajm

complete,
orthogonal set of eigenfunctions of the
total angular momentum with eigenvalue

where

the

Umaj

constitute

j ( j + l)fi2, the 2-com ponent of the total

angular momentum with eigenvalue raft, and
any other operators whose eigenvalues are
designated by a ; then the matrix having as its
elements
.
A aj* A ,a'j'
Pajm,afj m '

DEPOLARIZATION. The process o f rem ov

ing polarization. Examples are: (1) depolari
zation of an electric cell, most com monly a
dry cell, as effected by the action of a de
polarizer; (2) electric depolarization or de
magnetization as effected by a depolarization
field, and as related by the depolarization
factor.

DENSITY, NORMAL. The mass of unit vol

ume of a gas under standard conditions (tem
perature at 0C , pressure at 760 millimeters
of mercury, at sea level, and at 45 latitude).

DEPOLARIZATION FACTOR OR D E
MAGNETIZATION FACTOR. The factor
N relating the depolarization field E to the
polarization P of the specimen, by the rela
tion E = N P. F or example, the depolari
zation factor for a sphere is 4tt/3 about any
axis. For a circular cylinder (long) it is 2w
about a transverse axis, and 0 about a longi
tudinal axis. For a thin slab, it is 4?r about
a normal axis, and 0 about an axis in a plane
o f the slab, etc. A ll the factors are given
in unrationalized units. (See demagnetizing
field.)

DENSITY OF MATTER IN UNIVERSE.

Values of the average density of matter in
the universe have been quoted between 10 26
and 10-30 g c m " 3.

DEPOLARIZATION FIELD. When an elec

tric or magnetic field is applied to a macro
scopic specimen, the field acting on a given
atom contains a contribution due to the

is known as the density matrix. For a more

general definition of the density matrix as ap
plied to quantum mechanical ensembles about
which less than maximum information is
known, see The Principles of Statistical M e
chanics, Richard C. Tolm an, Oxford Press
(1938), page 327 if.

charges or poles induced on the surface of

the specimen. This field opposes the external
applied field, and hence tends to reduce the
polarization of the material. (See demagne
tizing field.)
DEPOLARIZATION OF M ETAL DEPO
SITION. If a metal being deposited by elec
trolysis can form a compound with the cath
ode, which compound dissolves in the cathode
material, then deposition can occur at a p o
tential less cathodic than the reversible value.
DEPOLARIZER. An agent or means for the
prevention or removal of polarization. Thus,
an electrical depolarizer is a substance added
to a d ry battery (a cell used to generate
electricity by a chemical reaction) to prevent
the accumulation of reaction products that
interfere with the functioning of the cell. The
term electrical depolarizer is also applied to a
diaphragm placed in an electrolytic cell to
prevent mixing of the reaction products. An
optical depolarizer is a device for the resolu
tion of polarized light, although the term
analyzer is preferred in this connotation.
DEPOSITION, ELECTRICAL. The deposi
tion of elements from solutions of their com
pounds upon an electrode in an electrolytic
cell. One faraday is required for the deposi
tion of one gram-equivalent of any substance.
DEPRESSION. A region over which atmos
pheric pressure is lower than surrounding re
gions. A depression, of necessity, has cyclonic
winds. (See cyclone.)
DEPTH FINDING.

DEPTH OF MODULATION.
tion, depth of.

See depth of field.

DEPTH OF HEATING (DIELECTRIC

HEATING USAGE). The depth below the
surface of a material in which effective di

See modula

DEPTH OF PENETRATION (INDUCTION

HEATING USAGE).
The thickness of a
layer extending inward from the surface of a
conductor, which has the same resistance to
direct current as the conductor as a whole has
to alternating current of a given frequency.
DEPTH OF VELOCITY MODULATION.
See modulation, depth of velocity.
DERIVATIVE. The instantaneous rate of
change of a function with respect to its in
dependent variable.
The usual symbol is
dy/dx but y', f { x ) , and other designations
are also used. If the function y = f i x ) is
plotted in rectangular coordinates, the slope
of the curve at the point x = x 0 is its deriv
ative, dy/dx, at that point, and is

(\dx/X
- ) n = Limit
Ax -> 0

f ( x 0 + Ax) - f ( x 0)
Ax

(See also derivative, partial and derivative,

total.) The symbol y is often used to indicate
dy/dt where t is time.
DERIVATIVE, COVARIANT. If the com
ponents of the contravariant vector V are rep
resented as V a then
V a

See sonar.

DEPTH OF FIELD. A photographic term

referring to the distance over which satisfac
tory definition is obtained when the lens is in
focus for a certain distance. If, for example,
a lens is in focus for an object at a distance
of 25 feet and the definition is satisfactory on
objects from 20-40 feet, the depth of field ex
tends from 20-40 feet. Depth of field is fre
quently but incorrectly termed depth of focus,
which is the range of image distances cor
responding to the range of object distances
covered by the depth of field.
DEPTH OF FOCUS.

electric heating (see heating, dielectric) can

be confined when the applicator electrodes are
applied adjacent to one surface only.

dVa
fa
-------- h V
dX
\fl

is known as the a,fi component of the tensor

which is the covariant derivative of V (see
sum m ation convention). In this expression
is the Christoffel three
index sym bol, sometimes written as {i,a }.
If the vector V is a covariant vector with com
ponents V a, then the a component of its
covariant derivative is
the symbol

V a, SS
,P

dVa
------

i fi

j - V \

dx

M l a

The concept of the covariant derivative is

introduced in tensor calculus because the set
of ordinary partial derivatives of the com
ponents of a vector does not constitute the
components of a tensor except in a Cartesian

coordinate system, in which the second term

in the expression for the covariant derivative
becomes zero. In a general coordinate sys
tem, the divergence of a vector or the Laplacian of a scaler can be represented in terms
of the covariant derivative:
V 2</>
V-7

55

vaa.

D E R IV A T IV E , D IR E C T IO N A L . If u is a
unit vector, the quantity u*V</>, its scalar
product with the gradient of a scalar func
tion, is the rate of change of </> in the direc
tion of u or the directional derivative of <.
D E R IV A T IV E , H IG H E R . The derivative of
the derivative of a function y = fix ). The
derivative of the second order is written in
various forms, thus: d2y/dx2, D x2y, f " ( x ) , f xx,
y " . Similar notation is used for derivatives
of third and higher order. In general, the nth
derivative is the derivative of the (n l)th
derivative and it could be designated as
dny/dxn, />,"?/, f n) (x), or y (n).
D E R IV A T IV E , IN TR IN SIC . The N quantities obtained by taking the ordinary deriva
tive of each of the N components of a vector
with respect to some scalar parameter upon
which each of the components depends will
not, in general, be the components of a vector.
The concept of intrinsic differentiation was
introduced so as to obtain a set of quantities
which would be the components of a vector
and would, in Cartesian coordinates, be equal
to the ordinary derivatives of the components
of the original vector. The defining equation
for the a component of the intrinsic derivative
of a covariant vector A a(t) with respect to t
is
8Aa
dAa
dx&
A a{a(3,<r}
dt
dt
8t
where x$ is the pth coordinate, {ck/V } is the
Christoffel three index symbol, and summa
tion over the repeated indices o- and /3 is as
sumed. If the vector is the contravariant vec
tor A 01 then the intrinsic derivative is
8Aa
dA
dx&
----- s -------b A*[ap,0L}-----8t
dt
dt

D E R IV A T IV E O F A V E C T O R . See vector
derivative; coordinate system, rotating; de
rivative, covariant; derivative, intrinsic.
D E R IV A T IV E , P A R TIA L . Let u = f ( x , y }
z, ) be a function of two or more variables.
Keep all the variables constant except one, x
for example, and give x an increment Ax. If
Am is the corresponding increment in u, then
f Au\
the lim it lim I ) is the partial derivative of
x-+o \Ax/
du
u with respect to x. It is denoted by ux, or,
dx
especially in thermodynamics, by

(-)

\dx/yiZr
where the subscripts indicate the variables
held constant during the differentiation. The
partial derivatives du/dy, du/dz, etc., are de
fined similarly.
In general, the partial derivatives are them
selves functions of all the independent vari
ables. They may thus be differentiated again
to obtain partial derivatives of higher order:
d2u
dx2
d2u
dydx

d /du\

d U

dx \dx/ dxdy
d /du\

d3U

dy \ d x/ dx3

d / du\
dx \dy/
d / d2u\
dx \dx2/

The abbreviated notation u. Ux

etc.,
is often used.
If the first partial derivative of a function is
continuous, uxy = uyx.
(See also derivative, total.)
D E R IV A T IV E , T O T A L . I f u = f(x , y, z,
* *) is a function of several variables, each
of which itself is a function of a single inde
pendent variable , then the total derivative
is
du
du dx
du dy
du dz
= ---------- 1------------- 1-------------[-.
dt
dx dt
dy dt
dz dt
(See derivative, partial.)
D ESC A RTE S LA W S O F R E FR A C T IO N .
The incident and refracted rays (a) are in
the same plane with the normal to the sur
face, (b) they lie on opposite sides of it, and
(c) the sines of their inclinations to it bear
a constant ratio to one another, the ratio de
pending only on the two media involved, not
on the angles with the normal. Descartes

applied these laws only to ordinary isotropic

media.
D E SC A R T E S R U LE O F SIGNS. If in pass
ing from one coefficient of a polynomial equa
tion to the next, there is a change of sign
from plus to minus or from minus to plus,
this is called a variation of sign; a succession
of two like signs, either both plus or both
minus is called a permanence of signs. The
number of positive roots of a polynomial
equation P { x ) = 0 with real coefficients is not
greater than the number of variations of
sign in the polynomial, and the number of
negative roots is not greater than the num
ber of variations of sign in the polynomial

P(-x)DESENSITIZATION. The action of render

ing a photographic emulsion or other material
less subject to reactions brought about by
light.
D E SITTER UNIVERSE. M odel of the uni
verse in which the interval between two
events is given by that for the Einstein uni
verse with, however, dt2 replaced by

o - s M a y be regarded as the four-dimensional sur

face of a sphere imbedded in five dimensions.
D E SLA N D R E S, LA W S O F. 1st Law. In a
band spectrum, the frequencies of the lines
starting from one head form arithmetical
series. M ore than one such series can proceed
from the same head.
2nd Law. The differences in frequency of
the heads of the bands in each group form
an arithmetical series, but the arrangement
of the heads is reversed from that of the lines
forming each band.

DET.

Abbreviation for detector.

DETECTION.

See demodulation.

DETECTOR.
(1) A demodulator. (2) A
device used in a bridge circuit on other meas
uring device to indicate the existence of a
null or balance condition.
(3) Any device
which indicates the presence of an entity of
interest, such as radiant energy. (4) A mixer
in a superheterodyne receiver.
DETECTOR, AUTODYNE.
oscillating.

See detector,

DETECTOR, BALANCED. (1) Demodula

tor for frequency-modulation systems. In one
form the output consists of the rectified dif
ference of the two voltages produced across
two resonant circuits, one circuit being tuned
slightly above the carrier frequency and the
other slightly below. (2) A detector for bridge
or other null circuits, which include a balanced
amplifier. (See amplifier, balanced.)
DETECTOR,
oscillating.

BEATNOTE.

See

detector,

DETECTOR, CARBORUNDUM. An early

crystal rectifier which used the semiconduc
tor, carborundum.
DETECTOR, CHARGED POINT. A radia
tion counter which utilizes the principle that
the applied voltage necessary to produce a
breakdown discharge from a charged conducting-point can be greatly varied by ir
radiating the gas in the neighborhood of the
point with, for example, x-rays or a particles.
DETECTOR, CRYSTAL. A device consist
ing of a cats whisker bearing on a semi
conducting crystal, used in early radio sets.
It depends for its action on the rectifying
properties of the point contact, just as in the
type-A transistor.
(See transistor, type A.)

D E SO R P T IO N . The reverse of absorption

or adsorption, as in the release of one sub
stance which has been taken into another
by a physical process, or the release of a sub
stance which has been held in concentrated
form upon a surface.

DETECTOR, DIFFERENCE.
A detector
circuit in which the output is a function of the
difference of the peak amplitudes or rms am
plitudes of the input wave-forms.

See operator,

DETECTOR, GRID-LEAK. A type of envelope-demodulator (see demodulator, enve

lope) which employs the grid of a vacuum
tube as the rectifier. The grid circuit con
sists of the input, the grid-leak resistor, and

D E S T R U C T IO N O P E R A TO R .
annihilation.
D E S T R U C T IV E
interference.

IN TE R FE R E N C E .

See

DETECTOR, FIRST.

See superheterodyne.

the grid-ground terminals of the tube. A ca

pacitor is placed across the resistor so that
the reciprocal of their time constant is less
than the highest modulating-frequency, and
larger than the carrier-frequency. This ap
paratus is more sensitive than the basic diode
envelope-demodulator, because the equivalent
diode signal is amplified by the tube. H ow
ever, because of the inherently-poor operating
point required for this mode of operation, the
distortion is generally quite high.
DETECTOR, HOMODYNE.
A product
am plitude-demodulator
(see
demodulator,
product). When provided with suitable ac
cessory circuitry, it may also be used as a
frequency-m odulation discriminator.
DETECTOR, INFINITE IMPEDANCE. A
form of the plate detector (see detector, plate)
in which the detector load resistance is con
nected in the cathode circuit. The grid is nega
tive at all times, and thus draws no current.
The negative feedback action of the cathode
follower causes the distortion to be quite low.
DETECTOR, INFRARED. Infrared photog
raphy is more difficult than is photography of
the visible or ultraviolet regions, because an
infrared quantum does not have sufficient
energy to produce a latent image in most
photographic emulsions. However, emulsions
containing sensitizing dyes are available for
the near infrared, i.e., for wavelengths as
great as one to two microns. The instruments
com m only used for the measurement of the
absolute intensity of infrared radiation are
bolometers, thermistors, and vacuum thermo
couples (2), all of which can be constructed
in such a way that they absorb essentially all
of the energy falling on them and therefore
show a response that is nearly independent of
wavelength. Phototubes having cathodes of
very low work function and photoconductive
devices are often employed as detectors for
relative measurements at a fixed wavelength.
Schemes using induced fluorescence allow
entire fields to be observed when they are il
luminated with infrared radiation. M ost of
these depend on prior excitation of a phosphor
by visible or ultraviolet light. Some of the
electrons raised to the conduction band by this
excitation are captured in traps, from which
they may again be raised to the conduction
band by an infrared quantum. They then fall

to the valence band with the emission of visible

radiation.
Another detector in wide use today is the
infrared image tube. These tubes consist of
a very low work function photocathode from
which photoelectrons are ejected by incident
infrared photons, focused upon the photocath
ode by an optical lens system. The ejected
photoelectrons are then accelerated and fo
cused upon a phosphor by an electrostatic or
magnetic lens system (see particle optics).
On striking the phosphor, the electrons cause
it to emit light in the visible region of the
spectrum. In this way, the infrared image
formed on the photocathode of the image tube
is converted into a visible image on the phos
phor anode of the tube. This visible image
may be viewed directly by the eye or through
an optical lens system. Television systems
have also been used in which the work func
tion of the image tube in the camera is suffi
ciently low to make it sensitive to infrared
radiation.
DETECTOR, OSCILLATING (BEATNOTE
DETECTOR). A demodulator which is either
oscillating or fed from an external oscillator.
In either case the frequency of oscillation is
made to be sufficiently close to the unmodu
lated carrier being received so that an audible
heterodyne frequency is produced.
DETECTOR, PERIKON. An early form of
crystal rectifier used as a detector.
DETECTOR, PHASE-SENSITIVE.
A de
tector (2) which responds only to input signals
having the same frequency as the control sig
nal and gives maximal response with a signal
having a specified phase relative to a reference
input.
DETECTOR, PLATE. Sometimes called the
anode bend detector, it involves operation
towards the point of plate-current cut-off so
that non-linearity occurs, thus giving rectifi
cation. Sensitivity is generally fairly low, and
distortion is quite high.
DETECTOR, POWER. A detector which can
tolerate large signals without distortion.
DETECTOR, PYRON. A form of crystal de
tector employing iron pyrites.
DETECTOR, RATIO. An f-m discriminator
which utilizes the ratio of two intermediate-

frequency voltages whose relative magnitudes

are a function of frequency, rather than the
difference of those potentials as in the case of
the Armstrong discriminator circuit.
DETECTOR, RECYCLING. In the conven
tional detector (the linear-diode detector, for
example) the capacitor across the detector
output has an exponentially-decaying voltage
between carrier cycles. In the recycling de
tector the capacitor voltage remains un
changed until just before the next carrier
cycle, when it is intentionally reduced to zero
by a switching circuit. The results are higher
output and greater elimination of the carrier
in the output.
D ETECTOR, REGENERATIVE. A demodu
lator whose gain or conversion ratio is in
creased by the addition of positive feedback
or regeneration at the carrier frequency. The
sensitivity, small-signal selectivity, and dis
tortion are increased over that found in a
detector without regeneration.
DETECTOR, SECOND. The detector in an
a-m superheterodyne receiver which demodu
lates the intermediate frequency signal to
recover the original modulating signal.
D ETECTOR, SELF-QUENCHING. A superregenerative detector which is made to
squegg (see squegging) at a supersonic fre
quency, thus eliminating the necessity for an
external quenching oscillator.
DETECTOR, SILICON.
ductor rectifier or diode.

A silicon semicon

DETECTOR, SW ITCH. A detector which

extracts information from the input w ave
form only at instants determined by a selec
tor pulse.
D ETECTOR, SYNCHRONOUS. A detector
( 2 ) which is sensitive only to signals at or
near to a given frequency. This frequency is
identical with the frequency of a control sig
nal supplied independently. Synchronous de
tectors are used in bridge and other null cir
cuits as anti-noise devices. They are phase
sensitive as well as frequency selective. One
form consists of a balanced amplifier in which
the signal is applied to the grids of two tubes,
while the control signal is supplied to their
plates or to an additional grid. The differ
ence of their output currents, or of simple

functions of their output currents is then

measured. Sometimes called a lock-in ampli
fier. Other forms use rectifiers in a bridge
circuit or an electrodynamometer with its two
coils separately excited.
DETECTOR, TANTALUM. A rectifier de
tector consisting of a fine tantalum wire in
contact with a mercury pool.
DETECTOR, THERMAL. A device which
utilizes the ability of a radio-frequency cur
rent, voltage, or field to change the electrical
characteristics of the device as a result of
heating.
The barretter, thermocouple and
thermistor m ay be used as thermal detectors.
DETECTOR, TRAVELING. A device for
measuring electric field intensity in a wave
guide as a function of distance along the
guide.
DETECTOR, ULTRASONIC. A device for
the detection and measurement of ultrasonic
waves.
Such devices m ay be mechanical,
electrical, thermal, or optical in nature.
DETERMINANT. A square array contain
ing n2 elements and said to be of order n.
It may be developed to give a single number
or, more generally, a linear combination of
products. T o evaluate a determinant of or
der n , form all products, n\ in number, by
taking one element A ilc from each row and
column. The subscripts in the products, t,
i", and fc, fc', fc", will then include
all permutations of the numbers 1, 2, , n.
Rearrange the subscripts i so that these num
bers are in their natural order. The second
subscripts k will then require either an even
number or an odd number of interchanges to
return them also to the natural order 1, 2,
, n. The value of the determinant is de
fined as
|A |= det A = 2 ( - 1)hA lklA 2ki A nkn
where the summation is made over all permu
tations fci, k2) of the subscripts k and h
is the number of interchanges needed to re
store the natural order.
Another method of evaluation is the La
place development. For further properties of
determinants see minor, cofactor, rank, Cra
mer rule, linear equation.
(See also Gram
determinant, Jacobian, secular determinant,
Wronskian.)

D ETERM INANTAL
EQUATION.
The
equation obtained by setting the value of a
determinant equal to zero.
DETERM INANTAL W A V E FUNCTION.
For a system of N non-interacting particles a
wave function which is antisymmetric with
respect to interchange of any two particles is
given in terms of the one particle wave func
tions by the determinant:
1

where
is the ij entry in the determinant,
and represents the jth particle in the ith one
particle wave function. For a system of iden
tical particles of half-integral spin (fermions)
the total wave function of the system (space
and spin) must be antisymmetric with respect
to interchange of the particles.
D ETERM INATE STRUCTURE. A ny struc
ture in which the reactions and stresses can be
found by means of the equations of statics
only is a determinate structure. If a sufficient
number of such equations cannot be set up
from known conditions, the structure is not
statically determinate. If the number of pos
sible independent equations is greater than
the number of unknown stresses and reac
tions, the structure is over determined.
DETONATION.
A self-sustained shock
wave caused by release of chemical energy
through a chemical reaction.
DETUNING STUB.

See stub, detuning.

DEUTERIUM. The isotope of hydrogen of

atomic weight 2.0147, and mass number 2.
DEUTERON. The nucleus of the deuterium
atom (the atom of the hydrogen isotope of
mass number 2 ).
DEVELOPER. A reducing agent used in the
development of films and other materials
containing photosensitive substances which
have been exposed to the action of light.
DEVELOPM ENT. (1) In general, develop
ment is the growth and differentiation in the
structure of an entity, such as a crystal or an
organism, and the acquisition of new charac
teristics.
In photography, development is a process
whereby the exposed light-sensitive film or

other material is treated with a chemical

agent to reduce or otherwise change enough
of the photosensitive substance (such as sil
ver bromide to free silver) in order to pro
duce a visible (reverse) image of the object
photographed. This step is necessary because
the initial exposure merely transforms enough
of the photosensitive substance to serve as a
starting point (probably as a system of nu
clei) for the development. (See also emulsion,
photographic.)
(2) In descriptive geometry, the reduction
of any ruled surface to a plane figure which
may be bent or rolled, without distortion, into
the original surface.
DEVIATION.
(1) See average deviation;
standard deviation; Gaussian distribution.
(2) The angle through which a light ray is
bent by refraction or diffraction.
DEVIATION, ANGLE OF.
The angular
change in direction of a ray of light, or other
electromagnetic radiation, after crossing one
or more interfaces between different media.
(See angle of incidence.)
DEVIATION DISTORTION.
deviation.

See distortion,

DEVIATION, FREQUENCY. (1) In ampli

tude-modulated or continuous-wave trans
mission, the amount by which the carrier fre
quency varies from its assigned value. See
frequency departure in this connection. (2)
In frequency modulation, the peak-difference
between the instantaneous frequency of the
modulated wave and the carrier frequency.
DEVIATION LOSS, ANGULAR. Of a trans
ducer used for sound emission or reception,
an expression, in decibels, of the ratio of
the reference response observed on the prin
cipal axis to the transducer response at a spe
cified angle from the principal axis. (See also
directivity pattern.)
DEVIATION, M AXIM UM SYSTEM (FM
SYSTEM). The greatest frequency deviation
specified in the operation of the system.
DEVIATION, M INIM UM ANGLE OF. The
angle of deviation in a prism is a minimum
if the entrant and exit rays make equal
angles with the surfaces of the prism. This
angle is of particular interest in prism spec
troscopes because it can be easily determined

and a relatively simple formula connects the

angle of the prism (4), the angle of minimum
deviation (D ) and the index of refraction (n)
of the prism:
.

(A + D \

Sm V

DEW-POINT HYGROMETER.
eter.

See hygrom

DEW-POINT METHOD. See vapor pres

sure, methods of measurement.

(?)

D-F.

DEVIATION, PHASE. In phase and fre

quency modulation, the peak difference be
tween the instantaneous angle of the modu
lated wave and the angle of the carrier.
D EVIATION RATIO. In a frequency-m odulation system (see modulation, frequency),
the ratio of the maximum frequency devia
tion to the maximum modulating frequency
of the system.
DEVIATION SENSITIVITY.
deviation.

than in the case of drier air, so that the dew

point is an indication of the humidity of the
atmosphere.

See sensitivity,

DEVITRIFICATION.
Crystallization of
glass causing embrittlement and loss of trans
parency. The process occurs most rapidly
in the temperature range in which the viscos
ity of the glass is between 103 and 108 poises
and this temperature range is therefore called
the devitrification range.
D E W . I f air in contact with any surface is
cooled at the surface to a temperature below
its dew point, some of the water vapor pres
ent in the air will condense onto the cool
surface as liquid water or dew. When tem
peratures are below freezing, hoarfrost forms
instead.
D EW AR FLASK. A vessel with a double
wall, in which the region between the walls
has been evacuated, and in which the walls
bordering this space have been silvered. W ith
this construction the region within the inner
container is very well insulated from the out
side. The vessel is com monly used for stor
age of liquefied gases.
D E W LINE. A bbreviation for Distance Jarly
learning, a long-range radar system.
D E W POINT. The temperature at which the
actual content of water vapor in the atmos
phere is sufficient to saturate the air with
water vapor.
If the atmosphere contains
much water vapor the dew point is higher

Abbreviation for direction finder.

D-G ACHROMATISM. A correction for chro

matic aberration based on the yellow D and
blue G lines instead of the customary C and
F lines. D -G achromatism is common for
photographic achromats.
DIACAUSTIC.
tion.

A caustic caused by refrac

DIACTINISM. The property o f transmitting

chemically active radiation.
DIAGNOSTIC ROUTINE. See routine, diag
nostic.
DIAGONAL MATRIX.

See matrix, diagonal.

DIALOGUE EQUALIZER. A filter some

times used to decrease the low-frequency re
sponse of a wide-range audio system being
used for speech.
DIAL SIGNALING.

See signaling, dial.

DIALYSIS. The process of separating com

pounds or materials by the difference in their
rates of diffusion through a colloidal semi
permeable membrane. Thus, sodium chlo
ride diffuses eleven times as fast as tannin
and twenty-one times as fast as albumin.
(See dialyzer.)
DIALYSIS, ELECTRO. Dialysis which is
accelerated or otherwise modified by placing
the semipermeable membrane between elec
trodes to which a direct-current potential is
applied.
DIALYZER. An apparatus for carrying out
a dialysis, usually consisting of two chambers
separated by a semipermeable membrane of
parchment paper latex, animal tissue, or other
colloid.
In one chamber the solution is
placed, and in the other, the pure solvent.
Crystalline substances diffuse from the solu
tion through the membrane and into the sol
vent much more rapidly than amorphous sub
stances, colloids or large molecules.

D IAM AGNETIC.

See diamagnetism.

D IAM AGN ETIC RESONANCE.

tron resonance.

See cyclo

D IAM AGN ETIC

SUSCEPTIBILITY
OF
CONDUCTION ELECTRONS.
The free
electron gas in a metal is diamagnetic in
virtue of its charge, with a magnetic suscepti
bility
Xi = N^B2/2kTF
where fxB is the Bohr magneton, TF the Fermi
temperature, N the number of electrons per
unit volume, and k the Boltzmann constant.
This susceptibility is distinct from the para
magnetic susceptibility of the electrons, and
according to the band theory of solids varies
inversely as the effective mass. I f the effec
tive mass is very small, more exact theory
leads to the phenomena of the de Haas-van
Alphen effect.
DIAM AGNETISM. In diamagnetic materials
the magnetic susceptibility, x> is negative and
the relative permeability, j j l , is less than 1.
Unlike paramagnetic materials, whose atoms
or molecules have a net magnetic moment,
the atoms or molecules of a diamagnetic m a
terial have zero magnetic moment in the ab
sence of an external applied field. W ith the
application of an external magnetic field a net
dipole moment, opposing the field, is induced
in the atoms or molecules. In paramagnetic
materials there is also a diamagnetic effect
but it is much weaker than that of the para
magnetism.
DIAM AGNETISM, LANGEVIN FORMULA.
The equation for the diamagnetic susceptibil
ity for an assembly of N atoms per unit v o l
ume is, in Gaussian units:
Z e2N Y = ------------T
6me2
where r2 is the mean square radial distance of
the electrons from their nuclei, and Z is the
atomic number (e, m, c as usual). This for
mula was originally derived classically by
Langevin, and corrected quantum-mechanically by Pauli.
DIAM AGNETISM OF A PLASMA.
A
plasma or
conducting fluid surrounded
by a magnetic field expands in such a way
as to produce an induced surface current that

tends to reduce the impressed field in the

plasma to zero. Thus, the plasma acts as a
diamagnetic fluid.
DIAM OD. The name applied to a form of
rectifier modulator.
DIAPHANOMETER. An instrument used to
measure the degree of transparency o f sol
ids, liquids, or gases.
DIAPHRAGM.
(1) Usually a separating
wall which transmits or passes substances or
stresses selectively. Thus, a diaphragm with
many small openings is used in electrolytic
cells to permit passage of ions and yet to
segregate reaction products. Diaphragms with
a single opening, that may be adjustable in
size, are used to control flow of substances or
radiations, as in the camera. (2) In acous
tics, a vibrating element, as in the loud
speaker, telephone and other sound-sources;
and the diaphragm of the human ear.
(3)
For waveguide diaphragm, see entries on iris
diaphragm waveguide window.
DIATHERMANOUS.
infrared radiation.

H ighly transparent to

DIATHERMY. The use of high-frequency

electromagnetic waves to generate heat in
living tissue for therapeutic purposes.
DICHROISM. The property of exhibiting
two colors, especially of exhibiting one color
when viewed in reflected light and another
when viewed in transmitted light, as in the
case of solutions o f chlorophyll. Substances
which have this property are termed dichroic.
DICHROMATISM. (1) A type of color blind
ness in which the eye can distinguish two and
only two colors. (2) A substance with two
broad, but not equally deep, absorption bands
in the visible m ay appear to have a different
color as observed by transmitted light, depend
ing on the thickness of the plate of material.
Such a material is called dichromatic.
DICROSCOPIC EYEPIECE. An eyepiece
for a polariscope or polarizing microscope
which gives a comparison view of the same
object or field under illumination by the two
complementary rays of polarized light.
DIDYM IUM GLASS. M ost absorption bands
of solid materials are broad with not sharp
edges.
However, glass tinted with mixed

oxides of neodymium and praseodymium has

very narrow and sharp absorption bands.
One in particular falls at the wavelength of
yellow sodium light, so that the glass, which
is only faintly tinted to white light, is almost
opaque to the yellow sodium light.
DIELECTRIC. A material of low d-c elec
tric conductivity and hence a good insulator.
(See polarization; dielectric constant.)
D IELECTRIC ABSORPTION. (1) The per
sistence of electric polarization in some dielec
trics after the rem oval of the polarizing
electric field. W hen a condenser with glass
plates is connected with a battery, the charg
ing current m ay last, though gradually de
creasing, for some minutes or hours; and
when the charged condenser is short-circuited,
the discharge current m ay not cease entirely
with the first rush. A fter a Leyden jar has
been discharged and allowed to stand discon
nected for a time, another, smaller spark can
usually be obtained from it. This is called
a residual charge.
B y melting mixtures of wax and allowing
them to harden in a strong electric field,
Eguchi (Japan, 1925) succeeded in obtaining
dielectric absorption which persisted almost
undiminished for several years. Such a per
manently polarized body, singularly analo
gous to a permanent magnet, has been termed
an electret. (2) See dielectric loss.
D IELECTRIC AMPLIFIER. See amplifier,
dielectric and amplifier, parametric.
DIELECTRIC, ANISOTROPIC. In crystals,
the various physical properties often depend
upon the direction of an applied field, or the
direction of propagation of a wave, etc. This
dependence of properties on direction is called
anisotropy. An anisotropic dielectric has d if
ferent dielectric constants for electric fields
applied parallel to the various crystal axes.
In an anisotropic dielectric, the (scalar) di
electric constant, appropriate to isotropic m a
terials, is replaced by a tensor which relates
the electric flux density and the electric field
strength.
D IELECTRIC
BREAKDOWN.
Field
strengths of the order of 106 volts/cm can
cause breakdown in crystals of alkali halides.
The effect is attributable to the excitation of
further conduction electrons by electrons al

ready moving in the conduction band and ac

celerated by the field.
DIELECTRIC CONSTANT. (1) The abso
lute dielectric constant is the same as the per
mittivity e, and is the ratio of the electric field
strength E to the electric displacement D.
In isotropic media c is a scalar, in anisotropic
media e is a tensor (see constitutive equa
tions). The absolute dielectric constant may
also be defined through the Coulomb law for
two charges ( qi and q2) immersed in a hom o
geneous and isotropic dielectric medium that
extends in all directions to distances much
greater than r, the distance between the
charges: F = q ^ / ^ e r 2 in rationalized units.
In non-rationalized units, the corresponding
expression is F = qiq2/cr2.
(2) The relative dielectric constant K is the
ratio of the absolute dielectric constant for a
medium to that for free space (K = c/e0). In
the esu system of units the relative and abso
lute dielectric constants are the same (see
electrostatic units and electromagnetic units).
The relative dielectric constant, K , of an
ensemble of molecules, whether they consti
tute a gas, a liquid, or a solid, depends on the
polarizabilities and the dipole moments of the
individual molecules. In the absence of per
manent dipoles, it is given by the ClausiusMosotti equation. For dipoles of moment fi,
it is given by
4ttN h2
K = 1 H-------------------- >
3k (T - T c)
where Tc = 47r Njx2/9k, the temperature of the
polarization catastrophe. (N is the number of
molecules per unit volume and k is the Boltz
mann constant.) This expression should, per
haps, be corrected using the Onsager theory.
DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT, CLAMPED.
The dielectric constant of a material when
placed under mechanical stress so that it may
not be distorted by the applied electric field.
DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT, COMPLEX.
The ratio of the static capacitance C of a ca
pacitor filled with a dielectric medium to its
geometrical or vacuum capacitance is C/C0 =
e/e0 = K , where e and e0 are the permittivities
of the medium and of free space, respectively,
and K is the relative dielectric constant. If
the medium is dissipative (either because it is
not a perfect insulator, so that real currents

can flow through it, or because there is fric

tional resistance to induced polarization cur
rents), the a-c behavior of the capacitance is
equivalent to that of a resistance in parallel
with a capacitance. The effect of this re
sistance can be incorporated into the dielectric
constant, which then becomes a complex quan
tity denoted by k* = */<>, which can be writ
ten as k* k' jk ". The imaginary coeffi
cient (fc") is called the loss factor, tan 8 =
k /k' is called the loss tangent, and 8 is called
the loss angle.
D IELECTRIC CONSTANT OF A PLASMA.
A plasma in a magnetic field of magnitude H ,
can be considered to have a dielectric constant
e given by

where p is the mass density and c is the speed

of light. Here e and H are in emu.
DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT, RELATION
TO IN D EX OF REFRACTION. See Max
well relation between dielectric constant and
refractive index.
DIELECTRIC
DISSIPATION
FACTOR.
The cotangent of the dielectric phase angle
of a dielectric material.
DIELECTRIC HEATING. The heating of
a dielectric material by molecular friction in
it as a result of the application of a highfrequency, alternating electric field. (See di
electric constant, dielectric.)

DIELECTRIC POWER FACTOR.

sine of the dielectric phase angle.

The co

DIELECTRIC RELAXATION. That part

of the dielectric constant of a solid which de
pends on the orientation of the dipole mo
ments of the molecules is subject to the phe
nomenon of relaxation. A certain time is re
quired for the assembly of dipoles to come
into equilibrium with the applied field. (See
relaxation phenomena and related entries.)
DIELECTRIC STRENGTH. The maximum
potential gradient (electric field strength)
that a material can withstand without rup
ture.
DIELECTRIC W AVEGU ID E.
guide, dielectric.

See wave

DIELECTRIC W EDGES.
W edge-shaped
pieces of dielectric used to match an air-filled
waveguide to another guide, either partially
or completely filled with a dielectric.
DIELECTRIC W IRE.
guide.

A dielectric wave

DIESEL CYCLE. Although modified from

the inventors original conception, the m od
ern Diesel cycle retains the most important
feature, namely that of compression of air
to the ignition temperature, followed by timed
introduction of fuel. This cycle is shown in
the accom panying diagram. The solid line

DIELECTRIC HYSTERESIS. An effect in a

dielectric material analogous to the hysteresis
found in magnetic materials. (See ferroelec
tric; ferroelectric effect.)
DIELECTRIC, ISOTROPIC.
A dielectric
whose permittivity is independent of the di
rection of the applied field.
DIELECTRIC LOSS. The power loss in a
dielectric due to dielectric heating. (See di
electric constant, complex.
DIELECTRIC PHASE ANGLE. The angu
lar difference in phase between the sinusoidal
alternating voltage applied to a dielectric and
the component of the resulting alternating
current having the same period as the voltage.

Diesel cycle, showing the departure of the actual

cycle from the theoretical or air standard cycle.

indicates a theoretical cycle, the dotted line

shows how a slow-speed actual cycle may de
part from the theoretical. Typical tempera
tures are also indicated.
Beginning with
point D on the cycle, imagine that a cylinder
filled with air is closed at the end by a tightly
fitting piston. The piston is moved to com

press the air without addition or loss of heat

through the cylinder walls. As the air is de
creased in volume, the pressure rises adiabatically, and it arrives at the condition corre
sponding to point A. The piston is then re
versed in direction, and starts to move so as
to increase the volume of the air. The air
is very hot due to its adiabatic compression.
In fact, it is well above ordinary ignition
temperatures of petroleum products. As the
piston starts to move, carrying the cycle from
point A , fuel is injected or sprayed into the
cylinder just rapidly enough so that its com
bustion will keep the pressure up while the
volume is being increased, at least up to point
B. A t B when the outward stroke is partially
completed, the fuel is cut off, and the prod
ucts of combustion expand adiabatically from
B to C, thereby doing work on the piston.
A t C the exhaust valve opens, and the pres
sure drops to D . The line extending hori
zontally from D represents the theoretical ex
haust and suction stroke. Adiabatic expan
sion and compression are not possible in a
cylinder which must be well cooled in order
to maintain a lubricating oil film. Therefore
an actual cycle will not be expected to fol
low the adiabatic. Another difference between
actual and theoretical cases is the com posi
tion of the gas within the cylinder. T heo
retical studies are made assuming pure air in
the cylinder. A ctually there is a little burned
gas present during the compression, and a
great deal of it during the expansion strokes.
However, by assuming no friction loss, adia
batic compression and expansion, and air,
only, in the cylinder, an expression may be
derived for the efficiency of the cycle A B C D .
DIETERICI EQUATION. A form of the
equation of state, relating pressure, volume,
and temperature of gas, and the gas constant.
The Dieterici equation applies a correction
to the van der Waals equation to allow for
variation in density throughout a gas, due to
the higher potential energies of molecules on
or near the boundaries. One form of this
equation is
P

R T

e -a l R T V

V -b
in which P is the pressure of the gas, T is
the absolute temperature, V is the volume,
R is the gas constant, e is the natural logarithm
to the base 2.718- , and a and b are constants.

DIFFERENCE AMPLIFIER. An amplifier

having two inputs, and whose output is a
function of their difference.
DIFFERENCE BAND.
A spectral band
(see spectrum, band) in which the initial
state of the molecule is not the vibrationless
ground state.
DIFFERENCE, CENTRAL. If h is the in
terval between equally spaced values of the
argument in a difference table constructed
from y = / (x ) , it is convenient to define

ixf{x)

-5f(x).

A central difference, formed by the first of

these operators, is related to a finite differ
ence by the equation

^ Vnl2 = A

?/(n_ w)/2

where m and n are integers, both even or

both odd. These quantities are used near the
middle of a difference table, as in Bessels and
Stirlings formulas for interpolation.
DIFFERENCE, DIVIDED . If y 0, ylf y 2,
are values of y = f { x ) , corresponding to
Xo, Xx, x 2) * , not necessarily evenly spaced,
then
r
,
V i - yj
[XiXj] = ----------X'i Xj
is a first-order divided difference of f ( x ) .
Second-order differences, third-order differ
ences, etc., are defined in a similar way, thus
the nth order divided difference is
[x0x x - x ni] - [xxx 2 x n]
[x0x x x n] --------------------------------------------------x0 x n
These quantities are used for interpolation of
tabulated functions when the given data are
unequally spaced.
DIFFERENCE EQUATION.
difference.

See equation,

DIFFERENCE, FINITE. Let y0, ylf y2}

be values of y f (x ) and let corresponding
values of the independent variable, x 0, Xi, x 2}
* , be equally spaced so that xn x0 = nh,
where n is an integer. First differences are
then defined as

 = l - 2/2;

/i = /2 - i / i ;

ty n -l = - 2/1Second differences, third differences, etc., are

defined in a similar way and the (n + l)th
order differences are
A n+12/o =
A n +12/i =

A n /i -

A ni/2 ~

DIFFERENCE TRANSFER FUNCTION.

See feedback transfer function, difference.

/0 ;

2 /

DIFFERENTIAL. I f the variable y depends

on the single independent variable x, so that
y = f { x ) } their differentials are designated by
dy and dx. If d x ^ = 0 , the ratio of the d if
ferentials is the derivative of y with respect
to x

B y successive substitution, it is found that

Anyk = ( - 1 )r
where

J/fc+.-r,

is the binomial coefficient.

Quantities of this kind are called diagonal

or forward differences. Th ey are generally
displayed in a difference table and used for
interpolation.
See also difference, central;
difference, divided; difference, horizontal.
DIFFERENCE, HORIZONTAL. If Amy h is
a finite difference of mth order, or diagonal
difference,
Amy u = Am~ ly k+i - Am~ ly k
then a horizontal difference is defined as
^-\-

or
^mVn A Vnm

Interpolation formulas expressed in terms of

horizontal differences are sometimes simpler
than those using diagonal differences.
(See
difference, finite.)
DIFFERENCE LIM EN (DIFFERENTIAL
THRESHOLD) (JUST NOTICEABLE D IF
FEREN CE). The increment in a stimulus
which is just detected in a specified fraction
of the trials. The relative difference limen
is the ratio of the difference limen to the ab
solute magnitude of the stimulus to which it
is related. A ccording to the Weber law, the
relative difference limen is a constant. This
law is only approximately true.
DIFFERENCE
neutron excess.

NUMBER.

The

DIFFERENCE SIGNAL, LOOP.

back loop difference signal.

V = / (# ), together with corresponding values

of the argument, x 0, x ly x 2, and the finite
differences. Such a table is generally used
for interpolation. Both diagonal and hori
zontal arrangements of the differences are
used.

same

as

See feed

DIFFERENCE TABLE. A tabular arrange

ment of y 0, 2/i, y 2j , a set of values of

dy

f'{x )d x

dx

dx

(See also Pfaff expression; differential, total.)

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION. An equation
involving derivatives or differentials of an un
known function. W hen partial derivatives
occur the equation is a partial differential one,
otherwise an ordinary one. The order of the
highest derivative occurring is the order of the
equation and the highest power of the func
tion or its derivative is the degree. Equations
of the first degree are called linear, others are
non-linear.
Further classifications include
exact, total, systems, homogeneous, inhomogeneous, and singular. Solving the equation
means to find a function which satisfies the
equation. Solutions are particular, general, or
singular. Boundary conditions are normally
specified along with the equation and serve to
specify the particular solution.
Equations
frequently occurring are those of Bernoulli,
Euler, Clairaut, Bessel, Fourier, Laplace, Le
gendre, Laguerre, Poisson, and Weber, as well
as the hypergeometric and Sturm-Liouville
forms.
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, EXACT. A
total differential equation obtained by d if
ferentiating some function <t>(x,y) = C, hence
its form is:
P (x,y)d x + Q (x,y)dy = 0,
where P = d(j>/dx; Q = d^/dy and its lefthand side is thus an exact differential. The
necessary and sufficient condition for exact
ness is dP/dy dQ/dx, which is a special
case of the Cauchy-Riemann equations. In-

tegrating factors
inexact equations
finite number of
equation, or one
by such a factor,

may always be found for

in two variables and an in
them will exist. The exact
which has been made exact
is integrable by quadrature.

(See equations of

tial differential equations.

mathematical physics.)

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, HOM OGE

NEOUS. The term is used with two mean
ings: (1) A first-order equation, A dx + B dy
= 0 if A (x ,y ) and B (x ,y ) are homogeneous
functions of the same degree; (2) a differen
tial equation, f{x ,y ,y ',y " , ) = 0 is homoge
neous if / is a homogeneous function of y and
all of its derivatives. (See equation, linear.)

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, SOLUTION

OF. An ordinary differential equation has
as its general solution an expression contain
ing a number of arbitrary constants equal to
the order of the equation.
Imposition of
boundary conditions specifies the values of
the constants and yields a particular solution.
Certain special solutions, called singular solu
tions , occasionally occur which cannot be ob
tained from the general solution.
(See also
primitive.)

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, LINEAR.

One of the first degree. W hen written with
integral exponents, it is an equation in which
the unknown function and its derivatives o c
cur only to the first power.

DIFFERENTIAL
EQUATION
SYSTEM.
Each equation of the system contains one
independent variable and n dependent vari
ables. The system is composed of n such
differential equations.

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, ORDINARY.

A differential equation containing only two
variables, i.e., only one independent variable.
The order of an ordinary differential equation
is the order of the highest derivative that ap
pears.
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, PARTIAL.
A differential equation containing more than
one independent variable. Partial derivatives
of the unknown function are involved. The
general linear second-order partial differential
equation in two variables is:
a2/
d2f
d2f
+ C {x,y)
M x ,y ) + B (x,y)
dxdy
dy
dx2
= D {x,y) ~
dx

+ E (x,y) ~

+ G (x,y)f + H (x,y).

dy

The two families of curves given by

A dy = [ B (B 2 -

A C )]1Adx,

having solutions A, /x = constant, are the fam i

lies of characteristic curves. When the d if
ferential equation is rewritten with A, n as
independent variables, the equation is in nor
mal form. The three cases arising are el
liptic, hyperbolic, parabolic partial differen
tial equations. The boundary conditions ap
propriate to the various forms are different
but they are always needed to fix the func
tional form of the solution. Problems dealing
with the physics of fields usually lead to par-

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION, TOTAL.

equation of the form :

An

Pdx + Qdy + Rdz = 0,

where P, Q, R are functions of the independent
variables x,y,z. It m ay have a general solu
tion </>(x,yyz) = C, where C is a constant, for
total differentiation of this result gives
d<f>

d<f)

d<j>

dx H------dy H-------dz = 0
dx

dy

dz

and if the partial derivatives have a com

mon factor fi {jl = 1 is included), called an
integrating factor, so that
(iP

d<j)/dx;

uQ

dcj)/dy;

jlR = d<j>/dz

then a total differential equation of the form

indicated has been obtained. However, it does
not follow that every total differential equa
tion has such a solution for there may be no
integrating factor. A necessary and sufficient
condition for its existence, and hence for a
solution of the form assumed, is
P

d/ dx

d/ d y

d/ dz

This is the condition for integrability and, if

the determinant does not vanish, the total
differential equation is said to be non-integrable, the equation then being known as
Pfaffs problem.
Total differential equations in more than

three variables may also occur. W hen there

are only two, they are always integrable. (See
differential equation, exact.)
D IF F E R E N T IA L , E X A C T .
total.
D IF F E R E N T IA L GAIN .
tial.
D IF F E R E N T IA L PHASE.
ferential.

See differential,

See phase, dif

T H R E SH O L D .

See dif

D IF F E R E N T IA L , T O T A L . Given a func
tion of several independent variables, the
total or complete differential is a sum of terms
containing partial derivatives as coefficients
d<f>
d<p
d(f>
d<l>(x,y,z, ) = dx H------ dy H------- dz -\------- .
dx
dy
dz
T o emphasize the fact that the function d<j>
has been obtained by differentiation, it is also
called an exact or perfect differential. (See
also differential equation, exact.)
D IF F E R E N T IA L V E C T O R O P E R A TO R , v .
See del.
D IF F E R E N T IA T IN G
ferentiator.

C IR C U IT .

D IF F E R E N T IA T IN G N E T W O R K .
ferentiator.

See dif
See dif

D IF F E R E N T IA T IO N . The process of find

ing the derivative of a function. If there are
several independent variables partial deriva
tives result. (See also graphical differentia
tion; numerical differentiation.)
D IF F E R E N T IA T IO N , G R A P H IC A L .
graphical differentiation.

See

D IF F E R E N T IA T IO N , N U M E R IC A L.
numerical differentiation.

See

D IF F E R E N T IA T IO N U N D E R T H E IN
T E G R A L SIGN. For the differentiation of a
definite integral of a function f(x ,m ) con
taining a parameter m, when the limits of the
integral are constants a and b,
b

f(x,m )d x

See gain, differen

D IF F E R E N T IA L T H E R M O M E T E R .
See
vapor pressure, methods of measurement.
D IF F E R E N T IA L
ference limen.

and when the limits of the integral are u and v}

functions of m:

r hdf

f(x,m)dx = I dx
Ja dm

D IF F E R E N T IA T IO N , V E C T O R . See vec
tor derivative; derivative, covariant; deriva
tive, intrinsic.
D IF F E R E N T IA T O R (D IF F E R E N T IA T IN G
C IR C U IT ,
D IF F E R E N T IA T IN G
N E T
W O R K ). A transducer whose output wave
form is the time derivative of its input wave
form. Such a, network preceding a frequency
modulator makes the combination a phasemodulation m odulator; or, following a phasemodulation detector, makes the combination
a frequency-modulation detector. The ratio
of output amplitude to input amplitude of a
differentiator is proportional to frequency,
and the output phase leads the input phase
by 90.
D IF F L U E N C E . A region in which the spac
ing between streamlines increases in the di
rection of flow.
D IF F R A C T IO N .
(1) F or the use o f this
term in acoustics, see wave, diffracted. (2)
In any wave disturbance, the interference pat
tern resulting from the rays through different
parts of an opening, or from different points
around an opaque object as they unite at each
point. Diffraction and interference effects are
characteristic of all wave phenomena no mat
ter of what type. They are thus found in
electromagnetic waves (light, x-rays, etc.),
sound waves, water waves, and in matter
waves. Diffraction occurs whenever a wave
passes through a restricted aperture. It al
ways results in energy being carried into re
gions that it could not reach if the propaga
tion of the wave were strictly rectilinear. The
patterns produced are geometrically similar
whenever the ratio of the wavelength to the
dimensions of the aperture is the same. Thus
a radio wave in the A M broadcast range will
be diffracted in passing through a hole 15
meters in diameter to the same extent as blue
light passing through a pinhole of 0.001 mm.
diameter. See also electron diffraction; neu
tron diffraction; x-ray diffraction.

Fresnel Diffraction. The intensity at any

point is the resultant of disturbances coming
directly to that point from all parts of the
exposed wave front. In general, the wave
front is spherical or cylindrical, resulting from
a source at finite distance, and the point of
observation is also at finite distance.
Fraunhofer diffraction phenomena are ob
served when both the source and the point of
observation are effectively at infinite distance
from the diffracting object, obstacle, or aper
ture. This condition is sometimes brought
about by passing the light from the source
through a collimator before it is diffracted,
and then focussing the parallel diffracted rays
at the point of observation.
For a single slit of width a and light of
wavelength A, falling on the slit at normal
incidence, the intensity of light at an angle
0 from the normal to the slit is given by

Other diffraction patterns have been com

puted, but are more complicated. (See R o b
ertson, Introduction to Optics, 4th ed., 1954,
D . Van Nostrand Com pany, Inc., Princeton,
Chapters X and X I.)
DIFFRACTION, CIRCULAR APERTURE.
See Rayleigh criterion of dissolving power.
DIFFRACTION GRATING.
A series of
very fine, closely spaced parallel slits, or of
very narrow, parallel reflecting surfaces,
which, when light is incident upon it at a

definite angle, produces a succession of spec

tra. The complete optical theory is somewhat
complicated, but the action of a plane trans
mission grating may be explained approxi
m ately as follows.

A plane, monochromatic light wave W , in

cident at angle i (see figure), reaches the slits
at different times. A lens L receives the waves
emerging from any two adjacent slits, A and
B (among many others), after they have
traveled paths differing by CA + A D ; that
is, by S sin i + S sin 8, in which S = A B. If
the lens is so placed that this path difference
is a whole number of wavelengths, n\, the
successive wave-trains will reach it in the
same phase, so that when they are brought to
the focus F, they will be in synchronism and
will produce a bright image of the distant
source. Therefore any angle 8 for which this
result is possible is subject to the condition
S sin i + S sin 5 = rik,
or
riX
sin 8 ------- sin i.
S
Bright images will be produced for those angles
8 which correspond to n = 1, 2, 3, 4, ; the
numbers denote the orders of the images. It
is easily shown that for any order the total
deviation (i + 8) is least when 8 = i and
therefore when
n\

If the incident light is composed of various

wavelengths, the corresponding images of any
order will appear at different points, since 8
varies with A; and the result is a spectrum.
In short, the grating acts as a dispersion piece,
and as such is of great value in spectroscopes
and spectrographs.
DIFFRACTION,
HALF-PERIOD
ELE
MENTS OR ZONES. In Fresnel diffraction,
the intensity of radiation meeting any point
from a spherical wave front may be deter
mined by dividing the wave front into zones
such that radiation from one zone will reach
the given point one half-period out of phase
with the adjacent zones. The resultant am
plitude at the given point can be shown to be
equal to half the sum of the amplitudes from
the first and last zone. (See zone plate. See
Robertson, Introduction to Optics, 4th ed.,
1954, D . Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Prince
ton, Chapter X .)
DIFFRACTION INSTRUMENT. A ny de
vice employed for studying the structure of

matter or the properties of radiation by means

of the diffraction of waves; for example,
x-rays, electrons, or neutrons.
DIFFRACTION OF M ATERIAL PARTI
CLES. A ccording to the de Broglie hypoth
esis and quantum mechanics, a material par
ticle having a momentum of magnitude p
behaves as though it were associated with a
wave of wavelength A = h/p, where h is the
Planck constant. In any physical process in
which a particle interacts simultaneously with
two or more scattering centers, the waves as
sociated with the scattering from the various
centers will undergo interference with one an
other to produce diffraction analogous to that
which would be observed with light of the
same wavelength. A ccording to the principles
of quantum mechanics, the wave which is as
sociated with the particle is described by the
quantum mechanical wavefunction /'(?,)
which contains all of the inform ation concern
ing the state of the particle which one is
physically allowed to have. Born showed that
{r,t)il/(r,t)dr should be interpreted as the
probability that the particle will be found in
the volume element dr. Thus in regions where
the wavefunctions representing the scattering
from the different scattering centers give com
plete destructive interference, the probability
of finding the particle will be zero. In re
gions where constructive interference occurs,
the probability of finding the particle will be
enhanced.
The analogy between the diffraction of light,
x-rays, etc., on one hand and that of material
articles on the other becomes clear if we re
member that in the former phenomena it is the
probability of finding a photon in a given loca
tion that is determined by the square of the
absolute value of the wave amplitude. B e
cause it is relatively easy to use electrons or
neutrons having wavelengths of the order of
one Angstrom, electron and neutron diffraction
may be used to study crystal structure in a
manner very similar to x-ray diffraction.
Electrons do not penetrate as deeply into m at
ter as do x-rays, hence electron diffraction
reveals structure near the surface; neutrons
do penetrate easily and have the advantage
that they possess an intrinsic magnetic mo
ment that causes them to interact differently
with atoms having different alignments of their
magnetic moments.

DIFFRACTION SYMMETRY. Certain types

of symmetry of the crystal lattice lead to the
systematic extinction of certain beams in
x-ray diffraction. The observation of such
effects often allows the space group of the
crystal structure to be inferred (same as space
group extinction).
DIFFUSER. (1) Diverging duct designed to
reduce the velocity of a stream of fluid with
out loss of total head and so to recover pres
sure head as the kinetic head is reduced. Suc
cessful operation of a diffuser depends on hav
ing both a suitable shape of duct and a wellbehaved flow at the entrance. (2) A device,
such as a silk screen or a ground glass plate,
which converts a narrow pencil of radiant en
ergy into a much broader pencil.
DIFFUSE REFLECTION, REFRACTION
OR TRANSMISSION.
Reflection, refrac
tion, or transmission in all directions, not in
any sharply defined path.
DIFFUSE SERIES.
tra.

See series in line spec

DIFFUSE TRANSMISSION DENSITY.

transmission density, diffuse.
DIFFUSE TRANSMITTANCE.
mittance.

See

See trans

DIFFUSION.
(1) The process by which
molecules intermingle as a result of their
random thermal motion. In gases and in
liquids in the neighborhood of the critical
point, the molecular motion resembles a ran
dom walk, and the diffusion coefficient is of
order YscX, where c is the mean thermal
velocity of a molecule and A is the mean free
path of a free molecule. If the liquid is more
highly condensed, diffusion depends on ther
mally induced movements from one stable po
sition in the local lattice to another one, as
in diffusion of solids. Diffusion in liquids is
extremely slow, but it m ay be accelerated by
inducing a turbulent flow which mingles the
separate components intimately and allows
molecular diffusion to take place down greatly
increased local intensity gradients.
(2) The passage of particles through mat
ter in such circumstances that the probabil
ity of scattering is large compared with that
of leakage or absorption. It is often limited
to phenomena described by a member o f the

class of differential equations known as dif

fusion equations.

concentration. For application of this effect

see polarography.

DIFFUSION, AMBIPOLAR.
diffusion.

DIFFUSION EQUATION.
(1) The equa
tion for flow of a material under a simple
density or concentration gradient. The dif
fusion equation may be obtained from the
Fick law, J = D grad p, and the continuity
equation (conservation of m a ss):

See ambipolar

DIFFUSION ANALYSIS.
The determina
tion of the relative size or molecular weight
of particles by comparing their diffusion rates,
or by separating them by differential diffu
sion methods.
DIFFUSION BARRIER. A porous partition,
such as a thin sheet of silver-zinc alloy etched
by hydrochloric acid, which contains submicroscopic holes through which material trans
fer takes place by diffusion rather than by
ordinary hydrodynam ic flow.
DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT. (1) See dif
fusion, equation. (2) For thermal diffusion
coefficient, see thermal diffusion.
DIFFUSION COLUMN.
A vertical tube,
within which a radial temperature gradient is
maintained. As a result of convection, the
relative concentrations of heavy and light
molecules are different at the upper and lower
ends of the column. Used in the separation of
isotopes.
DIFFUSION CONSTANT.
equation (2 ).

See

diffusion

DIFFUSION CONSTANT (IN A HO M O

GENEOUS SEM ICONDUCTOR). The quo
tient of diffusion current density by the
charge carrier concentration gradient. It is
equal to the product of the drift mobility and
the average thermal energy per unit charge
of carriers.
DIFFUSION CURRENT. T he limiting cur
rent which is reached by electrolytic migra
tion of the ions in a solution under the appli
cation of a potential difference to the elec
trodes.
As the potential difference is in
creased the ion current to the electrodes in
creases rapidly at first but soon reaches a lim
iting value (the diffusion current value) as
the potential difference is increased. I f the
potential difference is increased still further,
a point is ultimately reached at which a new
ion species begins to discharge.
The current limit is set by the rate of d if
fusion (of the ion being discharged) through
the depleted layer surrounding the electrode.
This diffusion rate is proportional to the ion

dp
V -J =
dt
Thus

a where p is the density and D is the diffusion

coefficient. The equation may also be ex
pressed as:

= D V 2C,
dt
where C is the concentration expressed in
moles per unit volume, molecules per unit vol
ume, or mass per unit volume. If mass or
number of particles is not conserved, as in the
diffusion of neutrons through an absorbing
medium, the diffusion equation must be m odi
fied, see diffusion equation, general and dif
fusion equation, nonequilibrium.
(See also
diffusion, forced.)
(2) The general equation:
d</>
= a2V20
dt
applies not only to mass flow, where <j> is the
density or the concentration; it also applies to
other physical problems, for example to heat
flow, where <j> is replaced by the temperature
T, and to the skin effect, where <j> is replaced
by the electric current density vector J.
DIFFUSION EQUATION, GENERAL. In
nuclear reactor theory, a generalization of the
thermal neutron diffusion equation, in which
the density of thermal neutrons may change
with time, and in which scattering, leakage,
and absorption are taken into account.
DIFFUSION EQUATION, NONEQUILIB
RIUM. In nuclear reactor theory, the dif
fusion equation for thermal neutrons modi
fied to include a source term which describes
the increase in thermal neutron density due
to the slowing down of fission neutrons. The
equation can be written as:

DV2<35> -

dn
1 <90
2a<2> + 8 = = ------
dt
v dt

where <j> = nv is the neutron flux (n = num

ber of neutrons per unit volume, v = v e lo c ity ),
is the m acroscopic absorption cross section,
and S is the source term.
This equation applies only to monoenergetic neutrons, and only at distances greater
than 2 or 3 mean free paths from strong
sources.
DIFFUSION, EYRING TREATM ENT OF.
See Eyring treatment of diffusion.
DIFFUSION, FICK L A W . The rate of d if
fusion of particles across a given area is pro
portional in amount and opposite in sign to
the concentration gradient.
Thus J = D
grad p, where J is the current density, i.e., the
mass flow per unit area per unit time, D is the
diffusion coefficient, and p is the density. The
assumption of a linear dependence on the
gradient of the density, together with that of
conservation of mass, leads to the diffusion
equation.
DIFFUSION, FORCED. If, in addition to a
concentration gradient, there is a steady aver
age force F acting on the molecules, the simple
F ick law must be modified to read
/
nF\
J = D I grad n -------- J
V
kTj
where n is the concentration in molecules per
unit volume (see diffusion, Fick law). The
force F may, for example, be the force of
gravity mg as in sedimentation, or the electric
force zeE on an ion of valence z in an electric
field of intensity E.
DIFFUSION INDICATRIX.
A graph in
polar coordinates showing the intensity of re
flection of a given element of an illuminated
diffusing surface as viewed from various di
rections in a plane perpendicular to the ele
ment.
DIFFUSION IN SOLIDS. A phenomenon
which occurs rather slowly, but can be ob
served. Three basic processes m ay be re
sponsible: (a) D irect exchange of atoms on
neighboring sites, (b) M igration of intersti
tial atoms, (c) Diffusion of vacancies. The
first process requires very large energy. The
energy to make an interstitial migration is

rather large, but many atoms migrate easily.

Vacancies are fairly readily formed, and d if
fuse fairly easily. From the Kirkendall ef
fect it appears that (b) and (c) are the usual
processes. The diffusion coefficient is related
to the ionic mobility by the Einstein relation.
DIFFUSION LAYER. A layer of solution,
actually a double layer, that is in immediate
contact with an electrode during electrolysis.
DIFFUSION LENGTH.
The mean dis
tance traveled by a diffusing particle from the
point of its formation to the point at which it
is absorbed. (1) In nuclear reactor theory,
the particle is a neutron. (2) In a homogene
ous semiconductor, the particle is a minority
carrier. (See carrier, minority.)
DIFFUSION, NEUTRON. In passing through
disordered matter, neutrons m ay be elastically
scattered by nuclei; inelastically scattered,
leaving the nuclei in excited states; absorbed;
etc. If the neutrons are suprathermal (i.e.,
have kinetic energies greater than the mean
thermal kinetic energy of the nuclei of the
material through which they are passing) they
are slowed down by elastic collisions and
eventually reach thermal equilibrium with
their surroundings. Thermal neutrons con
tinue to diffuse through matter until captured.
(See diffusion equation, general; diffusion
equation, nonequilibrium; neutron diffrac
tion.)
DIFFUSION OF A PLASMA ACROSS A
MAGNETIC FIELD. In the presence of a
strong magnetic field, individual charged par
ticles of a plasma will diffuse across the field
only by a series of collisions. The diffusion
rate of such an ideal process is inversely pro
portional to B 2. Because a plasma is com
posed of particles of different masses, and be
cause instabilities, collective interactions, and
experimental deficiencies complicate particle
diffusion, no adequate general treatment or
experimental measurement of the diffusion of
a plasma across a magnetic field is available.
This is one of the unsolved problems of plasma
physics (1960).
DIFFUSION OF GASES. D rift of the mole
cules of a gas under a concentration gradient
(ordinary diffusion) or temperature gradient
(thermal diffusion). For different gases, the
rate of diffusion under a concentration gra

dient is inversely proportional to the square

root of the density (Graham L a w ).
DIFFUSION POTENTIAL.
When liquid
junctions exist where two electrolytic solu
tions are in contact, as in the case of two
solutions of different concentrations of the
same electrolyte, diffusion of ions occurs be
tween the solutions, and the differences in
rates of diffusion of different ions set up an
electrical double layer, having a difference of
potential, known as the diffusion potential or
liquid junction potential.
DIFFUSION PUMP. See pump, diffusion
and entries immediately following.
DIFFUSION PUMP BACK-STREAMING.
The streaming of mercury vapor towards the
high-vacuum side of a diffusion pump. (See
pump, diffusion.)
DIFFUSION PUMP, BOTTLE. A variation
of the Gaede diffusion pump (see diffusion
pump, Gaede), in which the mercury vapor
is condensed on the upper parts of the bottle
and in the high-vacuum and fore-vacuum
tubes, returned to the boiler, and used over
and over again.
DIFFUSION PUMP, CRAW FORD DIVER
GENT NOZZLE. A diffusion pump (see
pump, diffusion), in which the back streaming (flow of vapor toward the high vacuum)
is reduced by the use of a specially-designed
nozzle.
DIFFUSION PUMP, GAEDE. The earliest
form of diffusion pump (1915) (see pump,
diffusion), in which mercury vapor is made
to pass along a tube, with the vessel to be
evacuated connected to a side tube. Air from
the side tube is entrained by the mercury
vapor and is swept away, while any mercury
vapor that passes into the pumping tube is
condensed by a cold trap before it can reach
the vessel to be evacuated.

ing no features of design radically different

from the mercury vapor pumps. The oil d if
fusion pumps are used mainly in cases where
the requirements of ultimate vacuum are not
particularly exacting. For moderate vacuum,
an oil pump m ay often be operated without
a refrigerant, which is necessary with a mer
cury pump to condense vapor which may dif
fuse into the high vacuum connections.
DIFFUSION-PUMP STREAMING VELOC
ITY. The velocity with which vapor finally
issues from the mouth of the nozzle of a dif
fusion pump. (See pump, diffusion.)
DIFFUSION-PUMP STREAMING VELOC
ITY, M AXIM UM . The maximum value that
the streaming velocity can achieve in a proc
ess in which the vapor is accelerated by its
own expansion, as in the case of a divergent
nozzle diffusion pump, is the velocity of sound
in the vapor at the prevailing temperature.
DIFFUSION TIME OR LIFETIME, AVER
AGE. The average time spent by a diffusing
particle between the moment of its formation
and the moment of its absorption. In nuclear
reactor theory the particle is a thermal neu
tron and its diffusion time in most moderators
is a fraction of a second.
DIFFUSIVE
SUBSTANCES.
Substances
that readily dialyze through colloidal septa,
viz., crystalloids. (See dialysis.)
DIFFUSIVITY. Diffusion coefficient; a con
stant, relating the rate of change of concen
tration of material at any point in space to
the gradient of the concentration at that point
along a given direction. (See diffusion, Fick
law; thermal diffusivity.)
DIFFUSIVITY, MAGNETIC. The coefficient
7] in the equation describing the diffusion of a
magnetic field through a conducting medium
at rest:

DIFFUSION PUMP, LANGMUIR. A form

of diffusion pump (see pump, diffusion), in
which a nozzle is incorporated for the pur
pose of giving the mercury vapor in the pump
ing aperture a general direction away from
the high-vacuum side of the pump.

where r) = (47r/xcr) -1 is the coefficient of mag

netic diffusivity, ju, is the permeability of the
medium, and a is the electrical conductivity
in emu.

DIFFUSION PUMP, SIMPLE OIL. A d if

fusion pump (see pump, diffusion) using oil
instead of mercury vapor, but otherwise hav

DIG-IN ANGLE. In disk recording, the angle

(less than 90) between the cutting stylus and
the record when the stylus is positioned so that

it tends to dig into the record.

posite of drag angle.
DIGIT.

It is the op

See notation, positional.

D IG ITAL COMPUTER.
tal.

See computer, digi

D IG IT, SIGN. A character used to designate

the algebraic sign of a number.
DIGITS, SIGNIFICANT.
(1) In computer
work, the digits of a number can be ordered
according to their significance; the signifi
cance of a digit is greater when it occupies a
column corresponding to a higher power of
the radix. The significant digits of a num
ber are a set of digits from consecutive col
umns, beginning with the most significant
digit different from zero, and ending with the
least significant digit whose value is known
or assumed to be relevant. (2) In the expres
sion of the magnitude of a physical quantity,
the significant digits are those which are be
lieved to be closer to the true value than
any other digit would be. Thus the quantity
1830 2 has four significant digits, while the
number 1830 20 has only three and is pref
erably written as 1.83 X 103.
DIHEPTAL.
Designation for a particular
tube basing arrangement.
DILATANCY. The property of certain col
loidal solutions of becoming solid, or setting,
under pressure. Also known as inverse plas
ticity since there is an increase in the re
sistance to deformation with increase in the
rate of shear.
DILATATION. (1) The increase of volume
per unit volume of a continuous material. (2)
Dilatation of time, see slowing of clocks, clock
paradox.
DILATION.
The fractional increment
volume caused by a deformation.

in

DILUTION. (1) The act of increasing the

proportion of solvent to solute in any solution,
e.g., by the addition of the same or another
(miscible) solvent.
(2) Improperly used in
the same sense as concentration, to express
the amount of solute per unit volume of solu
tion.
DILUTION L A W (O ST W A L D ). For suffi
ciently dilute solutions, the activity coefficients
of the ions and neutral electrolyte are approx
imately unity, so that the dissociation constant
is approximated by a2c / (l a) where a is
the degree of dissociation, and c the total elec
trolyte concentration (in moles per liter).
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. Since the quan
tities represented by the two sides of an equa
tion must have the same dimensions, it is often
possible to arrive at the form of an equation
connecting physical quantities by a considera
tion only of the dimensions of the quantities
involved, without a detailed theory and with
out consideration of magnitudes. The equa
tions obtained in this way may be in error by
a multiplying constant, which can often be
determined empirically. Dimensional analysis
has been particularly useful in the develop
ment of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics.
DIMENSIONS OF PHYSICAL QUANTI
TIES. See definitions and dimensions.
DINA.
Abbreviation
analyzer.

for

digital

network

DINEUTRON. A combination of two neu

trons, considered to have a transitory exist
ence in nuclear reactions produced by tritons
which result in the formation of a proton
and nucleus having the same atomic number
as, but a mass number two units greater than,
the target nucleus.

DILATIO N NUMBER. R atio of the volume

of a liquid to the volume of a solid of the same
com position at the same temperature.

DIODE. A two-electrode device, having an

anode and a cathode, which has marked uni
directional characteristics.
(See tube, elec
tron; diode, crystal; diode, junction; diode,
semiconductor; rectifier.)

DILATOM ETER.
A n instrument used to
measure small increments in the volume of
liquids, as a solid phase separates or changes
in the length of a solid as the temperature,
tensile force, or other aspect of environment
changes.

D IO DE, BREAKDOWN. A junction diode

designed to effect non-destructive break
down from a very high resistance to a very
low resistance at a predetermined voltage
level. The voltage of breakdown is deter
mined by the control of junction conductivi

ties during fabrication and may be anywhere

from one volt to more than 1000 volts.
The mechanism producing high conductivity
is the same as the avalanche or Townsend dis
charge in gases where ionization is produced

applied a composite controlling voltage such

that the cathode current is the same as in the
triode or multigrid tube.
D IO DE, ESAKI. A semiconductor junction
diode developed by Esaki of Japan which has
a negative resistance region in its forward
volt-am pere characteristic.
Quantum-me
chanical tunneling allows electrons to pass
through the heavily-doped, narrow junction
at very high speeds without being raised to
energy levels corresponding to the potential
barrier. Its high speed negative resistance
effect allows it to be used as an amplifier,
oscillator, or switch at very high frequencies.
Because of its mode of operation, it is some
times referred to as a tunnel diode.
(See
penetration probability.)
DIO DE, FOUR-LAYER.
DIO DE, GAS.

b y high energy collisions between the current

carriers traversing the barrier region and the
electrons of the valence band.
These devices are sometimes referred to as
Zener diodes because it was first thought that
the mechanism of breakdown was attributable
to the Zener effect.
D IO D E, CATCHING.
A diode used to
catch or clamp a voltage at some point in a
circuit.
D IO D E CHARACTERISTIC (O F A M UL
TIELECTRODE TU B E).
The composite
electrode characteristic taken with all elec
trodes, except the cathode, connected together.
D IO D E, CRYSTAL. A diode consisting of a
semiconducting material, such as a germanium
or silicon, as one electrode, and a fine wire
whisker resting on the semiconductor as
the other electrode. Because of its low ca
pacitance, the device finds considerable ap
plication as a rectifier or detector of micro
wave frequencies.
D IO D E, DOUBLE.

See diode, PNPN.

See diode; tube, gas.

DIO D E, IDEAL NOISE. A diode that has

an infinite internal impedance and in which
the current exhibits full shot noise fluctua
tions.
D IO DE, JUNCTION. A semiconductor di
ode whose nonsymmetrical volt-ampere char
acteristics are manifested as the result of the
junction found between n-type and p-type
semiconductor materials. This junction may
be either diffused, grown, or alloyed.
D IO DE, PNPN. A structure which may be
regarded as a two-transistor structure with
two separate emitters feeding a common col
lector. This combination constitutes a feed
back loop which is unstable for loop gains
p
r

Jt
v

P
I

JL

See duodiode.

D IO D E, DOUBLE-BASE. See transistor, uni

junction. The use of the term diode, double
base is deprecated.
D IO D E, EQUIVALENT.
The imaginary
diode consisting of the cathode of a triode or
multigrid tube and a virtual anode to which is

greater than unity. This instability results in

a current which increases until ohmic circuit
resistances limit the maximum value. This

gives rise to a negative resistance region which

m ay be utilized for switching, or for wave
form generation.

be reversed north to south, the needle axis

should be reversed in its bearings, the mag
netization should be reversed, and for each of

D IO D E, SEMICONDUCTOR. A tw o-elec
trode semiconductor device having an asym
metrical voltage-current characteristic.
D IO D E, SHOCKLEY.
D IO D E, TUNNEL.
D IO D E, ZENER.

See diode, PNPN.

See diode, Esaki.

See diode, breakdown.

DIOPHANTINE EQUATION. An indeter

minate equation with integers as coefficients
and solutions also required to be integers.
DIOPTER (A U N IT ). The power of a lens
expressed as the reciprocal of its focal length
measured in meters.
DIOPTRIC SYSTEM. If an optical system
is convergent, it is called dioptric if both
focal lengths are positive. If an optical sys
tem is divergent, it is called dioptric if both
focal lengths are negative.
DIOTRON. A computer circuit utilizing an
emission-limited diode.
DIP, ANGLE OF.
DIP-CIRCLE.

See dip-needle.

See dip-needle.

DIPHONIA, DYNAM IC. The phenomenon

wherein slight movements of a listeners head
bring about abrupt shifts in apparent sound
source positions, as when stereo-loudspeakers
are not properly phased and the listener is
positioned between loudspeaker sound fields.
DIPLEXER. A device which is designed to
permit simultaneous transmission and recep
tion on a single antenna. Specific types in
clude switch, TR, and waveguide junction,
hybrid.
DIP NEEDLE. M ore properly called an in
clinometer. The instrument consists essen
tially of a magnetic needle poised to swing
on a horizontal pivot and thus to indicate the
dip or inclination of the earths magnetic
field. The zero diameter of the vertical grad
uated circle should be carefully leveled and
adjusted to the magnetic meridian. In order
to correct for errors of level, balance, mag
netization, and eccentricity, the circle should

k
Dip needle or magnetic inclinometer.

these positions both ends of the needle should

be read on the circle. A complete observa
tion is thus the mean of 16 circle readings.
DIPOLE.
(1) A combination of two elec
trically or magnetically charged particles of
opposite sign which are separated by a very
small distance.
(2) A ny system of charges
or currents, which has the properties that: (a)
no forces act on it in a uniform field; (b) a
torque proportional to sin 0, where 6 is the
angle between the dipole axis and a uniform
electric (or magnetic) field, does act on it; (c)
it produces a potential which is proportional
to the inverse square of the distance from it.
DIPOLE-DIPOLE
INTERACTION
EN
ERGY. The mutual energy of interaction of
two permanent dipoles of moments px and p2,
separated by a displacement r, is (in rational
ized u n its):
1

3(p1-r)(p2-r)'

DIPOLE, ELECTRIC.
Tw o electrically
charged particles of equal magnitude and op
posite sign, separated by a very small dis
tance. The electric potential due to static
electric dipole is (in rationalized mksa u n its):
V = p cos d/4Te0r2
where p qd is the magnitude of the dipole
moment.
The electric field due to a static dipole is
given by E = - V F (see grad). The torque
on a dipole in a field E is given by L =
p X E, and the force on a dipole in a non-uni-

form inhomogeneous field is given by F =

V (p-E) where ( p-E ) is the energy of the

(See dipole, electric; dipole (2); and dipole

field, static.)
DIPOLE M OM ENT, ELECTRIC. For an
electric dipole consisting of two charges, -\-q
and q, the dipole moment is the vector p =
qd, where d is the displacement of the positive
charge with respect to the negative charge.

dipole due to its orientation in the field E.

(See vector product, scalar product, div.)
DIPOLE FIELD (STA T IC ). A t the posi
tion r, 0, $ in a spherical polar coordinate sys
tem having its polar axis along the direction
of the dipole moment, the field due to a di
pole has the form, in rationalized units:
p cos 0
Er =

Eq =

27Tor3

p sin
;

= ,

4:7T q7*3

where p is the magnitude of the dipole mo

ment (p = qd for an electric dipole). For a
magnetic dipole, p = iA, where i is the current
and A is the area of the loop times the num
ber of turns, and H replaces E . These expres
sions are valid only when r, the distance from
the dipole to the point at which the field is
measured, is very much larger than any di
mension of the dipole. If this condition is
not satisfied, the effects of multipole moments
must be included in the field.
DIPOLE, FOLD ED.
dipole.

See antenna, folded-

DIPOLE, MAGNETIC. A circulating cur

rent loop, of dimensions small compared to
the distance at which it is being observed, acts
like a dipole of moment of magnitude m = iA }
where i is the current and A is the area of the
loop. The magnetic dipole m om ent can be
considered as a vector whose direction is
normal to the plane of the loop and whose
sense is taken as the direction o f progression
o f a right handed screw rotating with the cur
rent (see handedness, right and left).
The magnetic scalar potential <f> and the
magnetic flux density B produced by a static
magnetic dipole are given by expressions that
are identical, except for obvious changes of
symbols, to those for the potential V and elec
tric field E produced by an electric dipole.

DIPOLE M OM ENT, INDUCED. A dipole

moment induced in a system (e.g., in an atom
or molecule) because it is brought into an
electric or magnetic field. Thus distinguished
from dipole, permanent.
DIPOLE M OM ENT, MAGNETIC.
pole, magnetic; dipole field (static).

See di

DIPOLE M OM ENT, MOLECULAR. It is

found from measurements of dielectric con
stant (i.e., by its temperature dependence, as
in the Debye equation for total polarization)
that certain molecules have permanent dipole
moments. These moments are associated with
the distribution of charge within the molecule,
and provide valuable information as to the
molecular structure.
DIPOLE ORIENTATION.
The effect by
which the free rotation of the molecules in a
solid may be hindered, so that their dipole
moments may only take on certain orienta
tions. This may have a marked effect on the
dielectric constant. (See steric hindrance.)
DIPOLE, OSCILLATING. A dipole whose
dipole moment oscillates harmonically with
time, p = p0eia,i. Oscillating electric and mag
netic dipoles radiate electromagnetic waves.
(See dipole radiation.)
DIPOLE, PERMANENT. A dipole whose
dipole moment does not vanish in the ab
sence of an externally applied field. Thus
distinguished from dipole, induced.
DIPOLE RADIATION, ELECTRIC.
The
electromagnetic radiation sent out by an oscil
lating electric dipole, p = p0e
The elec
tric and magnetic fields at a distance r from
the dipole are (in spherical polar coordinates
and in rationalized mska u n its):
k2p0 sin $ej('kr~ u^
E e = -----47T
kp0 sin dej(kr~ ai)
=
= 0,

where k = w/c. The term is often applied

to radiation from quantized atomic or molecu
lar systems whose transitions produce radia
tion having the same dependence on 0 as does
the radiation from a classical electric dipole.
DIPOLE RADIATION, M AGNETIC. The
electromagnetic radiation sent out by an oscil
lating magnetic dipole, m = m0e_;coi where
ra0 = ioA. The structure of the field is iden
tical with that of the electric dipole (see di
pole radiation, electric) except that H replaces
E. Thus, the field is given b y :
k2 i ra0 sin SeJ(kr~t)
E = . / ---------------------------
9
4tt \
r

i0;

r X

<

Xq

The function u(x) = I 8(x)dx = j

J - oo
ll; x > z 0
is known as the unit step function.
The Dirac delta function is also known
simply as the delta function, but see also
Kronecker delta.
DIRAC ELECTRON THEORY. For a gen
eral discussion of some of the consequences of
this theory, see energy states, negative.
Relativistic quantum theory of the electron
proposed b y Dirac in 1927, and especially
remarkable for its prediction of the value
efi/2mc for the com ponent in a particular
direction of the magnetic moment of a n on relativistic electron. The theory is based on
the Dirac equation:

- k2m0 sin dej (kr- <

*t)

Hr = 0.
DIPOLE RELAXATION.
laxation.

See dielectric re

DIPOLE TRANSITIONS, ELECTRIC AND

M AGNETIC. Transitions from one energy
state to another, accompanied by the absorp
tion or emission of dipole radiation. D epend
ing on the nature of the initial and final states,
the radiation m ay be electric dipole radiation
or magnetic dipole radiation.
DIRAC CLASSICAL ELECTRON THEORY.
M ethod of defining the force on an electron
by subtracting the proper field from the ex
ternal field, the proper field being the average
of the retarded and advanced fields, and the
external field being one half of the difference
of these fields. Yields the radiation-damping
term in the equation of motion, but leads also
to solutions in which the electron would be
accelerated even in the absence of an external
field.
DIRAC D ELTA FUNCTION. The improper
function S(x X q ) ,
defined that

so

f
f(x )5 (x J 00
for any f (x ).

x 0)dx = f ( x 0)

It may be approximated by

f0;
8x = lim 11/ft;

10;

x x 0 < ft/2.
ft/2 < x xq < ft/2.
X

X q > ft/2.

dXp

ftc /i=i

(3C = me/ft) where

are the Dirac operators
and is the wave function of an electron under
the influence of the electromagnetic potentials
A^. In the representation in which the
are
4 X 4 matrices, ^ consists of four wave func
tions, and the equation becomes a set of four
first order partial differential equations.
The theory, regarded as a classical field
theory, describes with precision the behavior
of an electron in an electromagnetic field (see,
however, Lam b shift). Even in a central
electrostatic field the orbital angular m om en
tu m 1 of the electron is not a constant of the
motion, but it is found that the total angular
momentum j = 1 + s stays constant, where,
for example,
ifi
fi

Here

where the matrices are of dimension 4 X 4

because the o\- are the 2 X 2 Pauli spin
operators. Thus associated with the electron
is an intrinsic spin, a component of which has
the eigenvalues =tft/2.
In the limit of small velocities, the theory
deduces to nonrelativistic q u a n tu m m e
ch a n ic s with the inclusion of spin, though
both within and outside of this limit the elec
tron possesses an intrinsic oscillatory motion
(see zitte rb e w e g u n g ) of frequency 2E/%.

The latter is demonstrated most easily in the

Heisenberg representation since even for a

free particle the velocity does not commute
with the H am iltonian:

DIRAC OPERATORS. The

(n = 1, 2, 3, 4) where
The
are often written thus:
Yl

H = c a -p + /3mc2
and hence the velocity is not a constant of
the motion. The momentum of a free par
ticle, however, is a constant.
The anticommuting Dirac operators y m
( = z'Pa, p) have the property that if for a
free particle one operates on the Dirac equa
tion with the operator

the resulting equation is the Klein-Gordon

e qu a tio n which describes a particle of energy
Ej momentum p , where
E = =b (p2c2 + m2c4)
In virtue of this relativistic equation the
D irac theory includes as possible solutions
states of negative energy to which a positive
energy particle would make a transition un
der the influence of a perturbation (see Klein
paradox). It is therefore necessary to sup
pose that for a vacuum all such states are
filled and a free positive energy particle
would be prevented by the Pauli exclusion
principle from making such a transition. A
hole in this distribution of negative energy
electrons is then interpreted as a positron (see
positron theory). Although it is not strictly
necessary to use the concept of a negative
energy sea of electrons, one is forced to the
conclusion that the D irac theory is funda
mentally a theory of many real and virtual
electron-positron pairs, the creation and an
nihilation of which may be described by
means of quantized field theory. This more
complete m any-particle theory is able to de
scribe radiative corrections to the single par
ticle theory (see quantum electrodynamics;
operators, quantum mechanical; quantum me
chanics) .
DIRAC EQUATION
( UNQ UAN TIZED ).
See Dirac electron theory.
DIRAC ft.

See h-bar.

DIRAC NOTATION.
See
theory, quantum mechanical.

representation

?2<Tx,

Y2 =

P2V y ,

\3

operators
= 2bilv.

P2<T*,

\ 4 =

P3,

where <rx, <j v and a z are the Pauli spin opera

tors, and pip2 = p3, etc.
DIRECT CURRENT.

See current, direct.

DIRECT-CURRENT CIRCUITS. Unidirec

tional current is produced from batteries, from
dynamo machinery equipped with commuta
tors, or by means of rectifiers. The great dis
advantage of d-c is the fact that until recently
it has not been commercially expedient to
transform it from low voltage to the high volt
age necessary for long-distance transmission
of electrical power. Difficulties of commuta
tion prevent generation at high voltages. R e
cently the use of electron tubes, such as the
thyratron, has opened up new transmission
possibilities for d-c.
In lighting and heating apparatus there is
not much advantage of d-c compared to a-c,
but electroplating can be done only with d-c.
D -c motors are more expensive than a-c of
equivalent power rating, but they have better
operating characteristics and simpler speed
control. Inductance and capacitance are not
important factors in d-c transmission.
The basis for most d-c circuit calculations
is Ohms law.
(See also electric circuits;
Kirchhoff laws.)
DIRECT-CURRENT GENERATOR.
The
d-c generator is an ordinary dynamo machine
having a m ultiple-coil winding, the ends of
the coils of which are connected to a multiplesegment commutator. The armature is usu
ally rotating, and the field stationary. The
field sets up magnetic lines of force, which are
cut by the conductors on the revolving arma
ture, giving rise to a generated voltage, which
is led through the commutator to a unidirec
tional external circuit. The iron core is built
of laminations of iron insulated from each
other by mill scale, or lacquer, or japanning,
so that eddy currents which can be generated
in the iron core, will be a minimum. The
common d-c generator is classified on the
basis of the connection of the field current
circuit to the armature circuit. If the field is
so connected that the armature current flows
through it, it is known as a series field. In a

series machine, all of the armature current

flows through the field. This type of genera
tor is sometimes used to supply series street
lamp circuits. The more the armature cur
rent, the higher the generated voltage in this
type of machine. This characteristic serves to
overcome the voltage drop in a series light
circuit. A shunt-wound generator is a type
in which the field winding has a high resist
ance, and is composed of a large number of
coils of fine wire. The terminals of the shunt
field are connected across the commutator.
The shunt-wound generator has definitely
drooping voltage characteristics, for the cur
rent in the field is dependent on the gener
ated voltage in the armature. A compoundwound generator, having both a shunt and a
series field, partakes of the best features of
both of the other types. W hen the shunt field
is connected across the commutator only, the
compounding is called short shunt; when the
shunt field is connected across the series field
and the commutator, it is a long shunt gen
erator.
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION. A term,
used in the controlled thermonuclear program,
which refers to the direct transformation of
part of the energy released in the fusion re
actions into electrical energy.
D IRECT-HEATED
ment.

CATHODE.

See

fila

DIRECTION. The position of one point in

space relative to another without reference to
the distance between them. D irection m ay be
either three-dimensional or two-dimensional.
D irection is not an angle but is often indi
cated in terms of its angular difference from
a reference direction.
DIRECTIONAL CORRELATION OF SUC
CESSIVE -y-RAYS. When two -y-rays are suc
cessively emitted from the same nucleus, their
directions and planes of polarization are not
entirely independent. The directional corre
lation is experimentally observed as a change
in coincidence counting rate as the angle be
tween the lines joining the source with the two
counters is varied.
DIRECTIONAL COUPLER.
coupler, directional.
DIRECTIONAL GAIN.
dex.

See waveguide

See directivity in

D IR E C T IO N A L
RESPONSE
See directivity pattern.

PA TTE RN .

D IR E C T IO N COSINE. Let a set of rectan

gular coordinate axes in space be chosen and
let L be any line in space. Through the origin
of the coordinate system draw another line 1 /,
parallel to the given line L. Let a, /3, y be the
angles which U makes with the X -, Y -, Z-axes,
respectively. These angles are the direction
angles of the given line and their cosines A =
cos a, fi = cos /3, v = cos y are the direction co
sines of the line. When two direction cosines
are given, the third can be found, except for
sign, by the Pythagorean theorem:
A2 + M2 +

= 1.

D IR E C T IO N F IN D E R ( D F ) . A radio aid
to navigation that determines the direction
of arrival of a radio signal by measuring the
orientation of the wave-front or of the mag
netic or electric vector of a radio wave.
DIRECTION FINDER, ADCOCK. A radio
direction finder (see direction finder, radio)
which utilizes special antenna construction to
obtain more accurate results by the elimina
tion of polarization errors.
(See antenna,
Adcock.)
D IR E C T IO N F IN D E R , A U T O M A T IC . A
direction finder which automatically and con
tinuously provides a measure of the direction
o f arrival of the received signal. Data are
usually displayed visually.
D IR E C T IO N
F IN D E R ,
C A TH O D E -R A Y
H.F. A radio direction finder (see direction
finder, radio) using a cathode-ra,y presenta
tion to show the bearing of a station whose
transmission is being monitored. It is an ex
tremely fast method of bearing determination.
D IR E C T IO N -F IN D E R D E V IA T IO N .
The
direction-finder deviation is the difference be
tween the observed radio bearing and the cor
rected radio bearing. (It is the sum of all
known corrections to the indication of the
direction finder.)
This definition is depre
cated because of the confusion with the in
creasing use of deviation as pertaining to er
rors in the mathematical sense.
D IR E C T IO N F IN D E R , R A D IO . A sensi
tive radio receiver used in conjunction with a
directional antenna (see antenna, directional)
which will permit the determination of the

direction from which a transmission is being

sent.

logarithm to the base 10 of the directivity

factor.

DIRECTION FINDING, RADIO. Radiolo

cation in which only the direction of a source
of radio emission is determined by means of a
directive receiving antenna system.

DIRECTIVITY PATTERN (DIRECTION

AL RESPONSE PATTERN) (BEAM PAT
T ER N ). Of a transducer used for sound
emission or reception, a description, often
presented graphically, of the response of the
transducer as a function of the direction of
the transmitted or incident sound waves in a
specified plane and at a specified frequency.
A complete description of the directivity pat
tern of a transducer would require three-di
mensional presentation. The directivity pat
tern is often shown as the response relative
to the maximum response.

DIRECTION OF POLARIZATION.
polarization, direction of.

See

DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION.
propagation, direction of.

See

DIRECTIVE GAIN.
power gain.

The same as antenna

DIRECTIVE PATTERN.
tern.

A radiation pat

DIRECTIVITY. For an antenna, the value

o f the directive gain in the direction of its
maximum value.
DIRECTIVITY FACTOR,
(a) Of a trans
ducer used for sound emission, the ratio of
the intensity of the radiated sound at a re
mote point in a free field on the principal
axis to the average intensity of the sound
transmitted through a sphere passing through
the remote point and concentric with the
transducer. The frequency should be stated.
The point of observation must be sufficiently
remote from the transducer for spherical di
vergence to exist, (b) The directivity factor
of a transducer used for sound reception is
the ratio of the square of the electromotive
force produced in response to sound waves
arriving in a direction parallel to the princi
pal axis to the mean square of the electromo
tive force that would be produced if sound
waves having the same frequency and meansquare pressure were arriving at the trans
ducer simultaneously from all directions with
random phase.
The frequency should be
stated.
F or an electroacoustic transducer
obeying the reciprocity theorem, the directiv
ity factor for sound reception is the same as
for sound emission.
These definitions may
be extended to cover the case of finite fre
quency bands whose spectra must be speci
fied. D irectivity factor in acoustics is equiv
alent to directivity as applied to antennas.
DIRECTIVITY IN D EX ( DIRECTIONAL
G A IN ). Of a transducer, an expression of the
directivity factor in decibels, viz., 10 times the

DIRECTLY-HEATED CATHODE.
ment.

See fila

DIRECTOR. In an antenna array, a para

sitic element placed in front of a driven ele
ment. Its purpose is to sharpen the directiv
ity of the array, and to increase its gain. E.g.,
see antenna, Yagi.
DIRECT PRODUCT. Given a group G' of
order m with elements A lf A 2, * * , A m and a
second group G " of order n with elements B i,
B 2y *, B n such that every element of G'
commutes with every element of G ", then the
mn elements AJBj forms a group G = G ' X G "
o f order ran and called the direct product of
G ' and G ".
DIRECT RECORDING.
rect.
DIRECTRIX.
surface.

See recording, di

See conic section and conical

DIRECT SUM.
tions of a group,

The irreducible representa

T = c i r (1) + c2 r (2) H-------- .

It does not mean that the matrices r (i) are to
be added but simply indicates that the repre
sentation r has been decomposed into the
given irreducible representations and that
r (i) appears in the representation c* times.
DIRICHLET BOUNDARY CONDITION.
Specification o f the value of the solution to a
partial differential equation along a bounding
surface.

Dirichlet Discontinuous Factor Discharge, Electrodeless

345

DIRICH LET DISCONTINUOUS FACTOR.

The even function f ( x ) defined by:
=

1; |a:| < 1

/ ( x) =

|x| = 1

f ( x ) = 0;

|a:| > 1.

f(x )

It may be expressed as the Fourier integral

2 . 2
r1
f (x ) = - I cos uxdu I cos
i
utdt
7r J o
Jo
sm u cos ux
du
7T J0
which is generally known as the Dirichlet
discontinuous factor. (See also Dirac delta
function.)
DIRICH LET INTEGRAL. (1) One of the
form :
sin kx
J ra
I fix ) ------dx
o

sm x

or
sin kx
f ( x ) ---------dx.
o
x
It is the expression of the partial sum of the
Fourier series development of f { x ) . Con
vergence properties of the integral determine
the convergence of the Fourier series.
(2)
Another integral, also known by the name of
Dirichlet, occurs in statistics and statistical
mechanics. It is

/ / xr

ly8 V

dxdydz

in which the variables are given all pos

sible values consistent with the condition
that (x/ a)2 + (y / b )2 + (z/ c)2 + be not
greater than unity. The general integral in
volves gamma functions. The special case
for n variables with a = b = c = R
gives
nf 2
R \n
2 / r ( n /2 + 1)
which is the volume of a hypersphere with
radius R in n-dimensional space.
DISCHARGE.
(1) The removal of charge
from a capacitor. (2) The passage of elec
tric current through a gas. (3) The volume
of fluid passing a particular cross-section of

a stream in unit time. (4) The process in

which a storage battery delivers electrical
energy.
DISCHARGE, ARC. The electric arc, so
called because of the shape of the flame,
was discovered by D a vy about 1808. It is a
type of discharge between electrodes in a gas
or vapor which is characterized by a relatively
low voltage drop and a high current density.
The two types which are of considerable prac
tical importance are the arc in open air and
the arc in gases at low pressure. The familiar
carbon-arc (see arc lamp) and the electricarc furnace are examples of the former. The
mercury-arc tube is the most important ex
ample of an arc in a gas at low pressure.
Here the gas is the mercury vapor, the cath
ode is the mercury pool, and the anode is
usually carbon. The discharge in thyratrons
and other gas-filled hot cathode tubes is often
called an artificial arc discharge since it is
characterized by low voltage and high current
density. It is not a true arc, however, since
the cathode heat energy is supplied by an ex
ternal source and not by the discharge itself.
DISCHARGE, COEFFICIENT OF.
The
ratio of the actual discharge through an ori
fice to the discharge computed by assuming
uniform flow through the orifice with velocity
V 2 gh, where h is the head causing the dis
charge.
The coefficient depends on orifice
shape, on the fluid viscosity and on many
other factors.
DISCHARGE, CORONA.
The discharge
brought about as a result of the ionization of
gas surrounding a conductor, which occurs
when the potential gradient exceeds a certain
value but is not sufficient to cause sparking.
DISCHARGE, DARK. An electrical discharge
in a gas without the production of visible light.
DISCHARGE, ELECTRODELESS. A dis
charge in a gas tube produced not by poten
tials between its electrodes, but by the place
ment of the tube in intense high-frequency
electromagnetic fields. Thus the gas is not
subject to contamination or other change by
the presence of electrodes. This device is
frequently used in the study of the spectra of
gases and vapors.
(See also gas-discharge
and related entries.)

DISCHARGE, GASEOUS. The gaseous dis

charge is the basis of operation of many of
the electron tubes in common use. If two
electrodes have a gas at low pressure between
them and a gradually increasing voltage is
applied across them, a series of events takes
place as the voltage is raised. First a very
small current, of the order of microamperes,
will flow as the ions and electrons are at
tracted to the electrodes. These charged par
ticles are present because various cosmic ra
diations, radioactive radiations, etc., which
are always present except in specially shielded
enclosures, ionize the gas molecules. As the
voltage is raised the current finally begins to
increase rapidly because the electrons being
attracted towards the positive electrode have
gained sufficient energy to ionize atoms of the
gas and thus generate more carriers of the
current. Suddenly the current increases ex
tremely rapidly, and at the same time the
voltage across the tube drops. The value of
the voltage at which this occurs is the break
down voltage and the gas has broken into a
self-maintaining discharge called a glow. If
the current is not limited by circuit resistance
it continues to increase, almost instantane
ously, while the voltage drops to a low value
and the discharge becomes an arc. I f the
circuit has insufficient resistance the current
will reach an enormous value with probable
damage to the tube and other circuit elements.
The glow discharge is characterized by the
ability to pass moderate currents at moder
ate values of voltage, while the arc will pass
very large currents at low values of applied
voltage. (See also gas discharge and related
entries.)
DISCHARGE, GAS, N ON SELF-M AINT AIN ING. A conduction current in a gas which is
due to ionization of the gas from an external
source other than the applied voltage. Also
known as a field-intensified discharge or a
Townsend discharge.
DISCHARGE, GAS, SELF-MAINTAINING.
Ionic conduction in a gas caused by the ap
plication of an electric field sufficient to cause
creation of the necessary supply of ions by
collisions between electrons and molecules.
Breakdown may be due to an external ioniz
ing source, but once the discharge is initiated
it will continue unaided.

DISCHARGE, GLO W . A discharge of elec

tricity through a gas, characterized by (1) a
space potential in the vicinity of the cathode
that is much higher than the ionization poten
tial of the gas; (2) the presence of a cathode
glow.
DISCHARGE
IGNITOR
( SWITCHING
TUBES). A d-c glow discharge, between the
ignitor electrode and a suitably located elec
trode, used to facilitate radio-frequency ioni
zation.
DISCHARGE, SUBMERGED. A discharge
of liquid below the free surface of a container
as opposed to a free discharge or a surface
discharge.
DISCHARGE, TOROIDAL.
A discharge,
usually of a pinch-effect nature, in the toroidal
chamber of a thermonuclear device.
DISCHARGE, TOW NSEND.
A non-selfsustained gas discharge. (See discharge, gas,
nonself-maintaining.)
DISCHARGE TUBE.

See tube, discharge.

DISCONTINUITY. (1) For the meaning of

this term in mathematics, see function, con
tinuous. (2) The term applied in a special
sense by meteorologists to a zone within
which there is a com paratively rapid transi
tion of the meteorological elements, particu
larly the boundary surface separating air
masses of different temperatures.
DISCONTINUITY, CONTACT.
A sharp
boundary between two regions at different
pressures in a gas flow. It differs from a
shock wave in that there is no mass flow
across it. Contact discontinuities cannot o c
cur in steady-state flows.
DISCONTINUOUS CONTROL
TERISTICS. See snap action.

CHARAC

DISCRETENESS. (1) Referring to the dis

tribution of allowed values of a physical quan
tity over a given interval. The distribution is
discrete if only a denumerable set of values is
permitted. This is the case, for example, with
the allowed frequencies of vibration of a finite
stretched ring, and quantized quantities such
as the energy states of a bound system or the
quantized values of angular momentum. (2)
The atomicity of mass and charge.

DISCRIMINANT. A relation between the

coefficients of a polynomial which is useful
in a study of roots and other properties of the
function. It is an invariant of the function.
(See also quadratic equation in one or two
variables.)
DISCRIMINATION, COLOR.
differences between colors.

Perception of

DISCRIMINATION INDEX. The ratio of

the luminance to the differential luminance
threshold.
(See threshold, differential lumi
nance.)
DISCRIMINATOR.
(1) A device wherein
amplitude variations are derived in response
to frequency or phase variations. (2) A cir
cuit in which the output is dependent upon
how an input signal differs in some aspect
from a standard or from another signal.
DISCRIMINATOR, AMPLITUDE. A cir
cuit, the output of which is a function of the
relative magnitudes of two signals.
DISCRIMINATOR,
See pulse-demoder.

CONSTANT

DELAY.

DISCRIMINATOR, FOSTER-SEELEY. The

name of one of the more com monly used dis
criminators used in the detection of frequencymodulation signals.
DISCRIMINATOR, FREQUENCY.
modulator, frequency.

See de

DISCRIMINATOR, PULSE DURATION. A

circuit in which the sense and magnitude of
the output is a function of the deviation of the
pulse length from a reference.
DISCRIMINATOR, PULSE HEIGHT.
A
circuit designed to select and pass voltage
pulses of a certain minimum amplitude.
DISCRIMINATOR, TIME.
A circuit in
which the sense and magnitude of the output
is a function of the time difference of the oc
currence, and relative time sequence, of two
pulses.
DISH. Colloquialism for parabolic antenna.
(See antenna, parabolic.)
DISINTEGRATION.
(1) Loss of form or
powdering. (2) The passage of a metal into
colloidal solution when it is made an electrode
under certain conditions. (3) Transformations

of radioactive elements are termed disintegra

tions, when they result from radioactivity.
DISINTEGRATION CHAIN.
for radioactive series.

synonym

DISINTEGRATION
CONSTANT.
The
probability per unit time, A, that a given un
stable particle of system, such as a radioactive
atom, will undergo spontaneous transforma
tion. It is defined by the equation dN/dt =
X N , where N is the number of untransformed
particles or systems existing at time t. It is
the reciprocal of the mean life of the given
system before undergoing transformation.
DISINTEGRATION CONSTANT, PARTIAL.
One of disintegration constants of a particle
or system that undergoes more than one mode
of disintegration. (See branching.)
DISINTEGRATION ENERGY, GROUND
STATE. The disintegration energy of a nu
clear disintegration when all the reactant and
product nuclei end in their ground states.
(See disintegration, nuclear; beta-disintegration energy.)
DISINTEGRATION ENERGY, NUCLEAR.
The energy evolved, or the negative of the
energy absorbed, in a nuclear disintegration;
symbol Q. It is equal to the energy equiv
alence of the sum of the masses of the re
actants minus the sum of the masses of the
products.
(For each reactant or product
which is a nucleus, the appropriate mass is
that of the corresponding neutral atom.) If
the disintegration energy is positive, the disin
tegration is exothermic; if it is negative, the
disintegration is endothermie. Radioactive
disintegrations have positive Q-values; nu
clear reactions may have positive values of
either sign. Sometimes the term nuclear dis
integration energy is applied to the groundstate disintegration energy. (See disintegra
tion energy, ground-state; beta-disintegration
energy.)
DISINTEGRATION FAMILY.
for radioactive series.

A synonym

DISINTEGRATION, NUCLEAR. A ny trans

formation or change involving nuclei. If the
disintegration is spontaneous, it is said to be
radioactive; if it results from a collision, it
is said to be induced. Despite its literal mean
ing, the term nuclear disintegration refers

also to radiative capture, inelastic scattering,

beta-disintegration energy, and isomeric
transition.
(See radioactivity; reaction en
ergy, nuclear.)
D IS IN T E G R A T IO N SERIES.
tive series.

See radioac

D IS IN T E G R A T IO N V O L T A G E . In a hotcathode gas tube, the cathode is normally pro

tected from positive-ion bombardment by
electron space-charge. However, if the anode
potential is raised sufficiently, the space
charge is removed and destructive positive-ion
bombardment of the cathode occurs. The low
est voltage at which this action occurs is called
the disintegration voltage. The magnitude
of this voltage changes with cathode age and
temperature.
D IS K (S ), A C E T A T E . Mechanical recording
disks, either solid or laminated, which are
made of various acetate compounds.
DISK, IN STAN TANEOU S. A recording disk
designed to be played back immediately after
recording.
D IS K (S ), L A C Q U E R (C E L L U L O S E N I
T R A T E D IS K S ). Mechanical recording disks
usually made of metal, glass, or paper, and
coated with a lacquer compound (often con
taining cellulose nitrate).

A dislocation line may only terminate at

the surface of the crystal. The energy of a
dislocation (see dislocation, energy of) is
largely stored as strain in the surrounding
lattice. The important property of a disloca
tion is its ability to move quite easily through
the lattice, and hence to allow the rapid
propagation of slip. The general dislocation
defined above usually separates into its com
ponents, edge and screw dislocations, which
m ay be treated as rather stable entities in the
theory. Direct evidence for the existence of
dislocations is the observation of dislocation
networks in crystals of silver bromide, and,
for their motion, from the growth spiral pat
terns in crystals,
D IS L O C A T IO N (S ), D E N SITY OF.
The
concentration of dislocation lines, i.e., the
number intersecting a unit area in the crystal,
is believed to vary from about 108/c m 2 in
good natural crystals through 10 in good
artificial crystals, up to 1012/c m 2 in coldworked specimens. These estimates are based
on the energy stored by cold work, on x-ray
analysis, and on measurements of electrical
resistivity.
D IS L O C A T IO N , E D G E . A dislocation whose
Burgers vector is normal to the line of the
dislocation.
An edge dislocation may be
S l i p Ve ctor

D ISK, SCANNING. A nipkow disk, or, in

field-sequential color television, the tricolor
wheel used between the camera lens and the
subject.
D IS L O C A T IO N . A type of imperfection in
a crystalline solid generated as follows: A
closed curve is drawn within the solid, and
a cut made along any simple surface which
has this curve as boundary. The material on
one side of this surface is displaced by a fixed
amount (the Burgers vector) relative to the
other side. A ny gap or overlap is made good
by the addition or removal of material, and
the two sides are then rejoined, leaving the
strain displacement intact at the moment of
rewelding, but afterwards allowing the me
dium to come to internal equilibrium. If the
Burgers vector represents a translation vector
o f the lattice, the weld is invisible, and the
dislocation is characterized only by the orig
inal curve, or dislocation line and by the
Burgers vector.

Edge dislocation. The symbol at the center is used

to denote an edge dislocation of this sign. The ar
rangement of atoms in this region is only approxi
mate. (By permission from Read, Dislocations in
Crystals/ Copyright McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.,
1953.)

thought of as caused by inserting an extra

plane of atoms terminating along the line of
the dislocation for example, if the disloca
tion were along the Z-axis and its Burgers
vector along the X -axis, then one might think

of an extra half plane of atoms being inserted

at the surface x = 0, y > 0. Such a disloca
tion would be of positive sign. An edge dis
location may move easily only parallel to its
Burgers vector, i.e., in its slip plane.

displaced by an amount more than can be

represented fairly as a strain. A screw dis
location (see dislocation, screw) may have a
substantial hole down the dislocation line,
through which impurity atoms may diffuse.

DISLOCATION, ENERGY OF.

This is
measured per unit length of dislocation line
and is given approximately by

DISLOCATION NETWORKS.
Hexagonal
networks of dislocation lines have been ob
served in crystals of silver bromide, probably
corresponding to grain boundaries.

^b2
47t (1 v)

In

where i is the shear modulus, b is the length

of the Burgers vector, v is Poissons ratio for
an edge dislocation or zero for a screw dis
location. Here, ri and r0 are rather indeter
minate, being respectively the distance to the
next dislocation (or to the edge of the
crystal) and the radius of the singular region,
surrounding the dislocation line where ordi
nary elasticity theory does not hold (say 10- 7
cm ). M ost of this energy is thus stored as
elastic deformation at large distances from
the dislocation.
DISLOCATION, EXTEND ED. In the closepacked structures it is possible to construct
an extended dislocation by laying down a strip
of stacking fault edged by two lines across
which slip has occurred (dislocations, partial).
In each case the slip is not a whole lattice con
stant, but only into one of the alternative
stacking positions. However, the whole struc
ture is equivalent to an edge dislocation (see
dislocation, edge), and it is believed that this
is the normal form of such a dislocation in
these lattices.
D ISL O C A T IO N (S), FORCES BETW EEN.
Edge dislocations (see dislocation, edge) of
the same sign repel each other along the line
between them, but are most stable when ar
ranged vertically above each other. Edge dis
locations of opposite signs attract one another,
but otherwise prefer to lie so that the line
between them makes an angle of 45 with
their slip planes. Screw dislocations (see dis
location, screw) of opposite sign attract, of
like sign repel.
DISLOCATION LINE. The curve separat
ing displaced and undisplaced portions of a
crystal, and thus at the center of a disloca
tion. W ithin a distance of one or two lattice
constants of the dislocation line the atoms are

DISLOCATION, PARTIAL. The line at the

edge of an extended dislocation (see disloca
tion, extended) where slip has occurred, but
not through a whole lattice constant.
DISLOCATION, SCREW.
A dislocation
whose Burgers vector is parallel to the line
of the dislocation. In a screw dislocation the
atomic planes are joined together in such a

Screw dislocation. The dislocation AD (of which

only the end A is visible) is parallel to the line BC
which is parallel to the slip vector. (By permission
from Read, Dislocations in Crystals, Copyright
1953, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.)

way as to form a spiral staircase, winding

round the line of the dislocation. A screw
dislocation is capable of easy movement in
any direction normal to itself. The growth
spirals formed in crystal growth appear where
such dislocations intersect the surface.
DISLOCATION, STRESS CONCENTRA
TION DUE TO. About an edge dislocation
(see dislocation, edge) the stresses may be
written:
nb
sin 0
<Jrr = vee = - ------- r ------ *
2w(l v) r
lib
(TrQ =

cos 0

---------------------------

2tt(1 v)

where r and 9 are polar coordinates about the

line, 0 being measured from the slip plane.
For a screw dislocation in the -direction
(see dislocation, screw) the stresses are
aXZ

fib
y

9 ;
2 7r

x + y

fib
ayZ ~

2ir x

x
o '
+

yo

ib
aez ~ 2Vr
(b is the Burgers vector, /, the shear modulus,
v, Poissons ratio).
DISORDER, ENTROPY OF.
disorder.

See entropy of

DISORDER PRESSURE. The contribution

to the pressure that arises through the exist
ence of a contribution to the entropy of a
liquid through molecular disorder, i.e., from
the communal entropy.
DISPATCHER. That part of a digital com
puter which performs the switching determin
ing the sources and destinations for the
transfer of words.
DISPERSE M EDIUM .
(Dispersive or dis
persion medium, continuous phase.) The me
dium in which a colloid is dispersed, in a man
ner analogous to that of the solvent in a true
solution.
DISPERSE PARTICLES. (Disperse phase.)
The particles of colloid in a colloidal system.
DISPERSE PHASE. The distributed phase
in a colloidal system, i.e., the phase which is
composed of the distributed particles.
DISPERSE SYSTEM. A colloidal system,
consisting of two phases: the disperse phase
(the one forming particles) and the dispersion
medium (the medium in which the particles
are distributed).
DISPERSING SYSTEM. A system used to
separate various wavelengths of radiant en
ergy.
DISPERSION. (1) The process of separat
ing a radiation, a complex sound wave, etc.,
in accordance with some characteristic such
as frequency, wavelength or energy, into com
ponents. For example, a prism or grating dis
perses white light by sending light of different
wavelengths in different directions. (2) Quan
t ita t iv e ^ a general measure of such disper

sion is the derivative of the deviation with

respect to that variable (wavelength, fre
quency, etc.).
(3) Dispersion of a medium
is also expressed as the rate of change of in
dex of refraction with wavelength (or fre
quency, etc.).
(See velocity, group; disper
sion of light, classical theory of.)
DISPERSION, ACOUSTIC. The separation
o f a complex sound wave into its various fre
quency components, usually caused by a vari
ation with frequency of the wave velocity of
the medium. The rate of change of the veloc
ity with frequency is used as a measure of the
dispersion.
DISPERSIONAL FREQUENCY. The fre
quency corresponding to the anomalous dis
persion (see anomalous dispersion) at an ab
sorption discontinuity.
DISPERSION, ANGULAR. (1) In the dis
persion of light by a prism, the difference be
tween the angles (6) of deviation of two rays.
(2) Under the same circumstances, the rate of
change of angle with wavelength, i.e., dd/dX.
DISPERSION, ANOMALOUS.
lous dispersion.

See anoma

DISPERSION EFFECT. The attraction be

tween electrically neutral molecules arising
from the tendency of their temporary dipoles
to align themselves in a manner so as to pro
duce a net attractive force.
(See van der
Waals forces; dispersion forces.)
DISPERSION, ELECTRIC. The prepara
tion of colloidal solutions by means of the
electric current. Tw o methods are commonly
employed: (1) cathode dispersion, in which
the cathode is made of the material which is
to form the disperse phase, the anode is of
platinum or other inert metal, and a high p o
tential is used; (2) electric arc formation be
tween wires of various metals under water.
M any metals (platinum, silver, iridium, cad
mium, etc.) give metal sols by method 2; other
metals (thallium, zinc, iron, aluminum, etc.)
give hydroxide sols only. Metals which are
above hydrogen in the electromotive force
series are not likely to yield metal sols in
water.
DISPERSION ELECTRON.
of light, classical theory of.

See dispersion

DISPERSION FORCES. (1) The force of at

traction between molecules possessing no per
manent dipole. The interaction energy is
given by

where h is Planck s constant, v0 a character

istic frequency of the molecule, r the distance
between the molecules and a the polarizability.
(2) See dispersion theory.
DISPERSION FORMULA.
formula; Hartman formula.

See

Cauchy

netism are used. An electron set into oscil

latory motion by an incident electromagnetic
wave will in turn emit electromagnetic radia
tions (see dipole radiation, electric and mag
netic) . It will thus act like a forced damped
harmonic oscillator and the radiation it
emits will be out of phase with the incident
radiation (see oscillator, forced). If there are
N k electrons per unit volume with natural fre
quency wk and damping constant gk, the re
fractive index gas will be given (in mksa units)
by
_
1 ^ ( N i c e 2 / me0) (cofc2 - co2)
2 T

DISPERSION IN GASES, RELAXATION

THEORY TREATM ENT OF SOUND. The
analysis of sound dispersion in gases in which
it is assumed that the passage of the sound
wave disturbs the equilibrium of energy dis
tribution among transitional, rotational and
vibrational degrees of freedom. The time lag
involved in the return to equilibrium results
in an increase in the speed of sound at higher
frequencies, as well as an absorption of the
sound energy.
DISPERSION, IRRATIONAL. A phenom
enon exemplified b y the case in which two
prisms of different substances but of such
refracting angles as to give equal angular
separation between two spectral lines will not,
in general, give equal angular separations be
tween one of the lines and some third line,
even if it lies between the initial two lines.
DISPERSION, LINEAR.
The derivative
dx/dX, where x is distance along the spectrum
and A is the wavelength. Linear dispersion
is usually expressed as millimeters per Ang
strom.
(See also dispersion, reciprocal
linear.)
DISPERSION OF AN INSTRUMENT. The
dispersion of a dispersing instrument is com
m only expressed as dL/dX or dO/dX where L
is distance along the final image, and 0 is the
angle of deviation.
DISPERSION OF LIGHT, CLASSICAL
THEORY OF (FOR GASES). In this theory
atoms are considered as including electrons,
not rigidly fixed, which can oscillate about
equilibrium positions when acted up by oscil
latory forces (see atom, Thomson).
The
classical laws of motion and of electromag

(*2 - co2) 2 + wV

where the summation is carried over the d if

ferent types of dispersion electrons. This
equation accounts for the phenomena of
anomalous dispersion at frequencies close to

DISPERSION OF ROTATION. The angle

of rotation of the vibration plane in optically
active substances is p = K/X2 - f a where K is
constant and a depends on natural free periods
of vibration in the crystal. This relation is
called the dispersion of the rotation.
DISPERSION, RECIPROCAL LINEAR.
derivation dX/dx, where X is wavelength
x is the distance along the spectrum.
reciprocal linear dispersion is usually
pressed in Angstroms per millimeter.

The
and
The
ex

DISPERSION RELATIONS.
As used in
plasma physics, the term refers to the rela
tion between the radian frequency w and the
wave vector k for the various kinds of wave
motions and instabilities which can occur in a
plasma.
DISPERSION RELATIONS (NUCLEAR).
(1) In many nuclear reactions the cross-section
for a given effect shows a dependence on the
wave length of the incident wave that is simi
lar to classical dispersion formula, with max
ima occurring due to resonance (see resonance
level, nuclear; resonance capture). The BreitWigner formula is an example. (2) See dis
persion theory.
DISPERSION THEORY (QUANTUM M E
CHANICAL). In the solution of problems
dealing with the transformation of a quantum
mechanical system from some initial state at
time t = cc to some final state at time

t = + 0 0 the scattering or collision matrix S

of Heisenberg plays a central role. Once the
matrix S has been obtained for the situation
at hand, the problem of finding the probability
for a given possible transformation between
initial and final states of the system is essen
tially solved. In its broadest sense, as used
today, the term dispersion theory refers to
methods which are being developed to obtain
exact relations between the individual ele
ments of the S-matrix.
These particular
methods do not depend upon the use in any
form of series expansions, of which the ap
plication of perturbation theory would be
one special case, but rather are based upon
an investigation of the analytic properties of
the elements of the S-matrix as a whole. The
mathematical basis for the dispersion relations
stands on the Cauchy integral formula. The
physical basis follows from the use of the
principles of unitarity (see matrix, unitary),
covariance, and causality as conditions im
posed upon the S-matrix. The use of these
physical principles b y several investigators
has led to proofs, having various degrees of
generality, that the elements of the S-matrix,
considered as functions of the energy E , are
analytic in the upper half of the complex
plane. This makes it possible to use the
Cauchy integral formula to perform an ana
lytic continuation of the matrix elements
from the real axis into the upper half of the
complex plane. Such a continuation can then
lead to the establishment of a relationship be
tween the real and imaginary parts of any
function g( E) . This relationship turns out to
have a form very similar to the dispersion re
lations of classical electrodynamics which re
late the real and imaginary parts of the index
of refraction. In a special case, it can be
shown that the Breit-Wigner formula will fol
low as a consequence of the dispersion rela
tionships. In this formula, the similarity to
the classical dispersion formula of optics is
clear.
DISPERSITY. The degree of dispersion of a
colloid, i.e., the extent to which the dimen
sions of the individual particles have been re
duced. Expressed quantitatively in terms of
specific surface.
DISPERSIVE POWER. (1) The ratio of the
difference in deviation of light of two differ
ent wavelengths relative to the deviation for

light whose wavelength is an average of the

two. Thus, if D a, D b are the deviations for
wavelength A = A and A = B and if D c is
that for light of some intermediate w ave
length A = C = y2 (A + B ) , then the disper
sive power is given by
D a Db
a ------------------Dc
(2)
A quantity which is approximately
equal to the reciprocal of the dispersive power,
also referred to as the A bbe number or as
v-value,. is defined by lens designers and man
ufacturers of optical glass as
nn 1

v ------------

Up 71(7
where nD, nF and nc are the refractive indices
of the glass for the D, F, and C Fraunhofer
lines.
DISPERSIVE REGION. An operating point
on the characteristic curve of a traveling-wave
tube designed to am plify a relatively narrow
band of frequencies.
DISPERSIVITY.
Differential refractivity.
The difference in refractivity of the same
medium for various wavelengths of radiant
energy.
DISPERSIVITY, MOLAR. The difference in
molar refraction at two wavelengths.
DISPERSIVITY, SPECIFIC. The difference
between the specific refractions of two wave
lengths of radiant energy.
DISPERSOID. A colloidal system in which
the dispersity is relatively great, as in emulsoids and suspensoids.
DISPLACEMENT.
(1) The vector repre
senting the change in position of a particle.
In one-dimensional motion such as a simple
harmonic oscillator, the displacement can be
considered as a scalar.
(See also displace
ment, angular; linear.)
(2) In a piston and
cylinder mechanism, the volume swept out
by the piston face. It is assumed that the
face of the piston is coplanar. Given the bore
and stroke as D and L, the number of cylin
ders n, the displacement is:
7TD 2Ln
~~4

(3) The portion of a ship which is im

mersed displaces a certain weight of water.
According to Archimedes, principle, a body
immersed in water is buoyed up by a force
equal to the weight of water displaced by the
body. Hence the displacement of a ship in
tons of water is equal to the weight of the
ship and of its contents. Various legal and
conventional definitions of the displacement
of a ship are related, but not equal, to the
buoyancy.
(4) See displacement, electric (D).
(5)
See displacement, gravitational.
DISPLACEMENT, ANGULAR. If the vec
tor ri is displaced to the new position r2, the
angular displacement 6 is defined as the angle

Angular displacement.

between the two vectors. For an infinitesimal

angle d6, the angular displacement is a vector
parallel to the axis of rotation and having a
sense given by the screw rule (see handedness,
right and left) ; it is not a vector for finite dis
placements.
DISPLACEMENT ANTIRESONANCE.
antiresonance, displacement.

where the surface integral is taken over a

closed surface (c.s.) and q is the total charge
enclosed. In nonrationalized units the integral
is equal to 47rq.
The time rate of change of the electric
displacement is the d is p la c e m e n t c u r re n t
density, 3 D /dt, and by the M a xw ell law s this
displacement current density produces a mag
netic field identical to that produced by an
equivalent real current density.
DISPLACEMENT, GRAVITATIONAL.
A
vector, also known as gravitational flux den
sity, equal to the product of the gravitational
field strength and the gravitational constant.
(See also Gauss law for gravitation.)
DISPLACEMENT
INTERFEROMETER.
An optical instrument consisting of an ar
rangement of mirrors, and used in conjunction
with a dispersive system for measuring small
displacements.
DISPLACEMENT LAW S.
(1) See Wien
laws. (2) Statements of the changes in atomic
number Z and mass number A of a nuclide
that accom pany the various types of radio
active disintegration. The name originated
from the circumstance that a change in atomic
number results in a displacement of the
daughter relative to the parent in the periodic
table of the elements.

See

T able

Type of Disintegration

DISPLACEMENT, COMPLEX. In solving

for the transient and steady state behavior of
a vibrating system undergoing forced oscilla
tions, it is often mathematically useful to con
struct a complex displacement x c x + ixf,
where x is the real, and xf, the imaginary part.
DISPLACEMENT CURRENT.
displacement.

See current,

Alpha
f electron

emission
Beta i positron emission
[ electron capture
Isomeric transition

SZ

SA

-2

-4

-1

-1

DISPLACEMENT, LINEAR. The position

of a particle P i may be specified by a vector

DISPLACEMENT, ELECTRIC. Also called

electric flux density and electric induction. In
an isotropic medium of permittivity e the elec
tric displacement is D = eE where E is the
electric field intensity (see also constitutive
equations). In the mksa system the units of
D are C b /M 2, in the esu system they are the
same as those of E. The electric displacement
satisfies Gauss law in the form, in rationalized
units,
Iviuear displacement

ri, drawn from a fixed reference point in a

primary inertial system. When the particle
changes its position to P 2, a new vector r2
must be drawn to specify the new position.
The vector ri2 = r2 ri represents the dis
placement of the particle. If, during the in
terval under consideration, the instantaneous
direction of r2i remains fixed in direction, the
displacement is linear.

DISPLAY, B-. In radar, a rectangular dis

play in which targets appear as blips with
bearing indicated by the horizontal coordinate
and distance by the vertical coordinate. See
figure.
DISPLAY, C-. In radar, a rectangular display
in which targets appear as blips with bearing
indicated by the horizontal coordinate and

DISPLAY. In navigation the pattern repre

senting the output data of any navigational
system employing a graphic presentation.
DISPLAY, A-. In radar, a display in which
targets appear as vertical deflections from a
line representing a time base. Target dis
tance is indicated by the horizontal position
of the deflection from one end of the time
base. The amplitude of the vertical deflec
tion is a function of the signal intensity. See
figure.
Bearing

C-display.

angles of elevation by the vertical coordinate.

See figure.
DISPLAY, D-. In radar, a C-display in which
the blips extend vertically to give a rough esti
mate of distance.

Distance

DISPLAY, E-. In radar, a rectangular display

in which targets appear as blips with distance

A-display.

DISPLAY A AND B. An A -display, any por

tion of which may be expanded.

Distance

E-display.

Bearing

B-display.

indicated by the horizontal coordinate and

elevation by the vertical coordinate. See fig
ure.

DISPLAY, F-. In radar, a rectangular display

in which a target appears as a centralized
blip when the radar antenna is aimed at it.

slope of which is in proportion to the sine of

the angle of target elevation. See figure.

Bearing

F-display.

Horizontal and vertical aiming errors are

respectively indicated by the horizontal and
vertical displacement of the blip. See figure.

H-display.

DISPLAY, I-. In radar, a display in which a

target appears as a complete circle when the
radar antenna is correctly pointed at it and

DISPLAY, G-. In radar, a rectangular dis

play in which a target appears as a laterallycentralized blip when the radar antenna is
aimed at it in azimuth, and wings appear to

Two targets (A, B)

at different distances.
Radar aimed on target A

I-display.

G-display.

grow on the blip as the distance to the target

is diminished. Horizontal and vertical aim
ing errors are respectively indicated by hori
zontal and vertical displacement of the blip.
See figure.
DISPLAY, H-. In radar, a B -display m odi
fied to include indication of angle of elevation
the target appears as two closely-spaced blips
which approximate a short bright line, the

in which the radius of the circle is propor

tional to target distance. When not correctly
pointing at the target, the circle reduces to a
segment of a circle, the segment length being
inversely proportional to the magnitude of
the pointing error and its angular position be
ing reciprocal to the direction of pointing
error. See figure.
DISPLAY, J-. In radar, a modified A -display
in which the time base is a circle. The target
signal appears as a radial deflection from the
time base. See figure.

Two targets (A, B)

at different distances

J-display.

DISPLAY, K-. In radar, a modified A -display

in which a target appears as a pair of vertical
deflections or blips instead of a single deflec
tion. W hen the radar antenna is correctly
pointed at the target in azimuth, the blips are
o f equal height. W hen not correctly pointed,

Horizontal pointing error

two targets, A & B at different distance.
Radar aimed on target A

L-display.

DISPLAY LOSS. See visibility factor (dis

play loss) (radar).
DISPLAY, M-. In radar, a type A -display in
which target distance is determined by m ov
ing an adjustable pedestal signal along the
baseline until it coincides with the horizontal

Distance
(two targets, A & B)

K-display.
Distance

the difference in blip height is an indication

o f direction and magnitude of azimuth point
ing error. See figure.
DISPLAY, L-. In radar, a display in which
a target appears as two horizontal blips, one
extending to the right and one to the left, from
a central vertical time base. When the radar
antenna is aligned in azimuth at the target
both blips are of equal amplitude. W hen not
correctly pointed the relative blip amplitude
indicates the pointing error. The position of
the signal along the baseline indicates target
distance. The display may be rotated 90 de
grees when used for .elevation instead of
azimuth aiming. See figure.

M-display.

position of the target signal deflections. The

control which moves the pedestal is calibrated
in distance. See figure.
DISPLAY, N-. In radar, a display similar to
the type K -display in which the target ap
pears as a pair of vertical deflections or blips
from the horizontal time base. Direction is
indicated by the relative amplitude of the ver
tical deflections; target distance is determined
by moving an adjustable pedestal signal along
the baseline until it coincides with horizontal
position of the vertical deflections. The pedes
tal control is calibrated in distance.

DISPLAY, P-.

See plan position indicator.

DISPLAY, PIP-MATCHING. In navigation,

a display in which the received signal appears
as a pair of blips, the comparison of the char
acteristics of which provides a measure of the
desired quantity. (See, for example, display,
K-; display, L-; and display, N-.)
DISPLAY PRIMARIES.
play.

See primaries, dis-

DISPLAY, SECTOR. In radar, a limited dis

play in which only a sector of the total service
area of the radar system is shown. Usually
the sector to be displayed is selectable.
DISSECTOR TUBE. A pick-up tube having
a continuous photo cathode on which is
formed an electron current density image, the
electron optical image of which is moved over
a scanning aperture.
DISSIPATION. (1) The interaction between
matter and energy incident upon it, such that
the portion of the energy used up in the inter
action is no longer available for conversion
into useful work.
(2) A persistent loss of
mechanical energy because o f the presence of
frictional or frictionlike forces or resistances.
(3) In free oscillatory motion, a persistent loss
of mechanical energy due to presence of fric
tion-like resistance to motion which eventu
ally exhausts the total energy of the system
and causes it to come to rest. Such motion is
said to be damped. (See oscillations, damped
harmonic.)
DISSIPATION, ELECTRODE. The power
dissipated in the form of heat by an electrode
as a result of electron an d /or ion bom bard
ment.
DISSIPATION ELEM ENT, ACOUSTIC. An
element which brings about dissipation of
some or all of the acoustic energy flowing
through it.
DISSIPATION FACTOR.
Q, the storage factor.

The reciprocal of

DISSIPATION FACTOR, DIELECTRIC.

See dielectric dissipation factor.
DIS SIPATIONLE SS LINE.
tionless.
DISSIPATION LOSS.

See line, dissipa-

See loss, dissipation.

DISSIPATION, PLATE. The power loss oc

curring at the plate of an electronic tube,
which is of considerable importance in highvoltage vacuum tubes.
The electrons in
traversing the space between electrodes under
the influence of the applied voltage acquire
kinetic energy which must be dissipated when
the electron is brought to rest upon striking
the plate. This power is equal to the product
o f the plate current and plate voltage (it
should be noted that this is the voltage at
the plate and not necessarily the voltage ap
plied to the circuit since there is usually a
drop in the load ).
DISSIPATIVE FORCE. A ny force which
opposes motion and whose action converts
mechanical into thermal energy. The power,
or the rate at which mechanical energy is con
verted into thermal energy, is given by F v
where F is the magnitude o f the force applied
against the opposing frictional force, and v is
the speed o f the motion.
DISSIPATIVE FUNCTION (RAYLEIGH).
One half the rate of decrease of total mechan
ical energy in a dissipative system. The func
tion is equal to [R /2) [dx/dt)2 where R is
the effective resisting force constant and dx/dt
is the instantaneous velocity.
(See oscilla
tion, damped harmonic.)
DISSIPATIVE SYSTEM. (1) A mechanical
system in which dissipation takes place. (2)
In an electrical system, composed of a capaci
tance, resistance and inductance, free oscil
lations can be set up which eventually damp
out. The electrical energy originally stored
in the condenser is dissipated into thermal
energy in the resistance.
DISSOCIATION CONSTANT.
(1) The
equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction
which breaks up one molecule to form two or
more simpler molecules. (2) Following from
(1 ), the equilibrium constant for the ioniza
tion of an electrolyte. It is given by the
product of the activities of cation and anion,
divided by the activity of the unionized elec
trolyte. (See mass action law.)
DISSOCIATION CONTINUA.
Continuous
absorption spectra (see spectrum, absorption)
corresponding to a dissociation.
DISSOCIATION, DEGREE OF.
of dissociation.

See degree

DISSOCIATION ENERGY.
The energy
needed to dissociate a molecule AB into the
separated atoms A and B.
DISSOCIATION, M OLECULAR. The proc
esses of breaking up of a molecule into atoms,
or into groups of atoms or ions.
DISSOLVING. The complete mixing with a
liquid of a gas or solid composed of different
molecules.
DISSONANCE. (1) When two or more mu
sical tones played simultaneously produce an
unpleasant effect (due to beats) on the lis
tener, the tones are said to be in dissonance.
(2) The formation of maxima and minima by
the superposition of two sets of interference
fringes from light of two different w ave
lengths.
DISSYMMETRICAL NETWORK.
ducer, dissymmetrical.

See trans

DISSYMMETRY FACTOR OR ANISOT

ROPY FACTOR. A quantity used to ex
press conveniently the magnitude of circular
dichromism (refer to the Cotton effect). It is
defined by the following formula:
(aq Kr)

g = ------------
K

where g is the dissymmetry factor, ki and Kr

are the absorption indices for the left- and
right-circularly p o la riz e d lig h t, and k is the
absorption index for ordinary light of the same
wavelength.
DISTANCE.
The distance between two
points is the length of the straight line join
ing the two points, i.e., the number of times
that a specified measuring rod must be suc
cessively applied to cover this line completely.

D ISTA N C E M ARK.

See mark, distance.

D ISTA N C E , M A X IM U M . The maximum dis

tance at which a navigational system will
function within its prescribed tolerances.
D ISTA N C E M EASU RIN G E Q U IPM E N T. A
radio aid to navigation which provides dis
tance information by measuring total roundtrip time of transmission from an interrogator
to a transponder and return.
D ISTA N C E , M IN IM U M . The shortest dis
tance at which a navigational system will
function within its prescribed tolerances.
D IS TA N C E R E SO LU TIO N . The ability of a
radar to differentiate targets solely by distance
measurements.
Distance resolution is gen
erally expressed as the minimum radial dis
tance by which targets must be separated to
be separately distinguishable.
D ISTA N C E , SKIP. As the frequency of a
radio wave is increased the minimum angle
of incidence at which the wave will be re
flected from the ionosphere rather than pass
on through becomes greater. This means that
the higher the frequency the farther from the
transmitter the reflected sky wave strikes the
earth. This distance between the transmitter
and the point closest to it at which the sky
wave can be received is the skip distance.
The ground wave is attenuated more rapidly
the higher the frequency so that at high fre
quencies there m ay be a region in which the
ground wave has become too weak for use
and in which the sky wave cannot be received
because of its skip. A bove about 4 mega
cycles this effect becomes very noticeable, the
dead region for higher frequencies running to
a distance of a few hundred miles from the
transmitter.

DISTANCE, ELECTRICAL. The distance

between two points expressed in terms of the
duration of travel of an electromagnetic wave
in free space between the two points. A con
venient unit of Electrical Distance is the Light
M icrosecond or approximately 983 feet (300
m eters). In the use of this unit, the Electrical
Distance is numerically equal to the transmis
sion time in microseconds.

DIS TA N C E , SLANT. The distance between

two points not at the same elevation. Used
in contrast to ground distance. (See distance,
ground.)

DISTANCE, GROUND. The mean sea-level

great-circle component of distance from one
point to another*

D IS TO R TIO N . (1) One of the five geomet

rical aberrations of optics with spherical sur
faces. This aberration is due to the variation

D IS T A N T PA R A LLE LISM . Property of a

space if any vector, when taken by parallel
displacement (see affinely connected space)
around any closed curve, returns to itself.

in magnification with the distance from the

axis.
(2) In acoustics, a change in w ave
form. Noise and certain desired changes in
wave form, such as those resulting from
modulation or detection, are not usually
classed as distortion. (3) In electromagnetics,
an undesired change in waveform.
DISTORTION, AMPLITUDE.
A type of
distortion that occurs in an amplifier or other
device when the amplitude of the output is
not exactly a linear function of the input am
plitude.
(See also distortion, amplitude-frequency and distortion, harmonic.)
D IST O R T IO N , AM P LITU D E -FR E QUENCY. Distortion (2) due to an undesired
am plitude-frequency
characteristic.
The
usual desired characteristic is flat over the
frequency range of interest. Am plitude-frequency distortion is sometimes called ampli
tude distortion or frequency distortion.
DISTORTION AND NOISE METER. An
instrument which removes the fundamental
frequency of the signal being measured by
means of a null network. That which re
mains after the removal of the fundamental
m ay be measured as total distortion and noise.
DISTORTION, APERTURE. Distortion of a
television signal due to the size of the electron
scanning beam. The result is a loss of detail
or resolution.
DISTORTION, BARREL (CAMERA TUBES
OR IM AGE TUBES). A distortion (I) which
results in a m onotonic decrease in radial mag
nification in the reproduced image away from
the axis of symmetry of the electron optical
system. F or a camera tube, the reproducer is
assumed to have no geometric distortion.
DISTORTION, BIAS TELEGRAPH.
Dis
tortion in which all mark pulses are lengthened
(positive bias) or shortened (negative bias).
It may be measured with a steady stream of
unbiased reversals, square waves having
equal-length mark- and space-pulses.
The
average lengthening or shortening gives true
bias distortion only if other types of distor
tion are negligible.
DISTORTION, CHARACTERISTIC TELE
GRAPH. Distortion which does not affect
all signal pulses alike, the effect on each
transition depending upon the signal previ

ously sent, due to remnants of previous transi

tions or transients which persist for one or
more pulse lengths. Lengthening of the mark
pulse is positive, and shortening, negative.
Characteristic distortion is measured by trans
mitting biased reversals, square waves hav
ing unequal mark- and space-pulses. The
average lengthening or shortening of markpulses, expressed in per cent of unit pulselength, gives a true measure of characteristic
distortion only if other types of distortion are
negligible.
DISTORTION, DELAY.
velope delay.

See distortion, en

DISTORTION, DEVIATION. Distortion in

an F M receiver caused by inadequate band
width, inadequate amplitude-modulation re
jection, or inadequate discriminator linearity.
DISTORTION, ENVELOPE DELAY. That
form of distortion which occurs when the rate
o f change of phase shift with frequency of a
circuit or system is not constant over the fre
quency range required for transmission. En
velope delay distortion is usually expressed as
one-half the difference in microseconds be
tween the maximum and minimum envelope
delays existing between the two extremes of
frequency defining the channel used.
DISTORTION,
FORTUITOUS
TELE
GRAPH.
Distortion which includes those
effects that cannot be classified as bias or
characteristic distortion, and is defined as
the departure, for one occurrence of a par
ticular signal pulse, from the average com
bined effects of bias and characteristic distor
tion. Fortuitous distortion varies from one
signal to another and is measured by a process
of elimination over a long period. It is ex
pressed in per cent o f unit pulse.
DISTORTION, FREQUENCY. A term com
monly used for that form of distortion in
which the relative magnitude of the different
frequency components of a complex wave are
changed in transmission. W hen referring to
the distortion of the phase versus frequency
characteristic, it is recommended that a more
specific term such as phase-frequency distor
tion or delay distortion be used.
DISTORTION, GEOMETRIC. In television,
any aberration which causes the reproduced
picture to be geometrically dissimilar to the

perspective plane-projection of the original

scene.

DISTORTION, OVERTHROW.
An
cessive signal condition in facsimile.

DISTORTION, HARMONIC. Nonlinear dis

tortion characterized by the appearance in the
output of harmonics other than the fundamen
tal component when the input wave is sinu
soidal.
Harmonic distortion is sometimes
called amplitude distortion.

DISTORTION, PHASE-FREQUENCY. Dis

tortion due to lack of direct proportionality
of phase shift to frequency over the frequency
range required for transmission. D elay dis
tortion is a special case. This definition in
cludes the case of a linear phase-frequency
relation with the zero frequency intercept d if
fering from an integral multiple o f w.

DISTORTION, HYSTERESIS. The distor

tion of voltage a n d /or current waveforms in
circuits containing magnetic components,
which is caused by the non-linear hysteresis
effect.
DISTORTION, INTERM ODULATION. D is
tortion resulting from intermodulation. In
audio systems intermodulation distortion is
measured in several different ways. One of
the most common methods of measurement
involves the determination of the rms value of
all the sidebands produced when the system
is simultaneously subjected to a low-frequency
signal (40-100 cps) and a high-frequency sig
nal (4000-8000 cps). B y this method, per
centage intermodulation is expressed as the
ratio of the rms sideband voltages to the rms
value of the high-frequency (carrier) fre
quency signal, when the magnitude of the
high-frequency signal is one-fourth that of the
low-frequency signal.
DISTORTION,
KEYSTONE
(CAMERA
TUBES). A distortion such that the slope or
the length of a horizontal line trace or scan
line is linearly related to its vertical displace
ment. A system having keystone distortion
distorts a rectangular pattern into a trape
zoidal pattern.
DISTORTION, LINEAR. A ny form of dis
tortion which is independent of the amplitude
of the signal.
DISTORTION, NONLINEAR.
Distortion
caused by a deviation from a desired linear
relationship between specified measures of the
output and input of a system. The related
measures need not be output and input values
of the same quantity; e.g., in a linear detector,
the desired relation is between the output sig
nal voltage and the input modulation envelope.
DISTORTION, OVERSHOOT.
tion, overthrow.

See distor

DISTORTION POLARIZATION.
duced polarization.
DISTORTION, PHASE.
phase-frequency.

See

See

ex

in

distortion,

DISTORTION, PINCUSHION (CAMERA

TUBES OR IMAGE TUBES). A distortion
which results in a monotonic increase in radial
magnification in the reproduced image away
from the axis of symmetry of the electron op
tical system. For a camera tube, the repro
ducer is assumed to have no geometric distor
tion.
DISTORTION, QUANTIZATION (QUAN
TIZATION NOISE). Inherent distortion in
troduced in process of quantization (of signal
levels).
DISTORTION, S.

See distortion, spiral.

DISTORTION,
SPIRAL
(IN
CAMERA
TUBES OR IMAGE TUBES USING MAG
NETIC FOCUSING). A distortion in which
image rotation varies with distance from the
axis of symmetry of the electron optical sys
tem.
DISTORTION,
TOTAL
TELEGRAPH.
Telegraph transmission impairment, expressed
in terms of time displacement of mark-space
and space-mark transitions from their proper
positions relative to one another, in per cent
of the shortest perfect pulses called the unit
pulse.
(Time lag affecting all transitions
alike does not cause distortion.) Telegraph
distortion is specified in terms of its effect
on code and terminal equipment.
Total
M orse telegraph distortion for a particular
mark or space pulse is expressed as the alge
braic sum of time displacements of spacemark and mark-space transitions determining
the beginning and end of the pulses, meas
ured in per cent of unit pulse. Lengthening
of mark is positive, and shortening, negative.

Total start-stop telegraph distortion refers

to the time displacement of selecting-pulse
transitions from the beginning of the start
pulse expressed in per cent of unit pulse.
DISTORTION, TRACING.
The nonlinear
distortion introduced in the reproduction of
mechanical recording because the curve traced
by the motion of the reproducing stylus is not
an exact replica of the modulated groove.
DISTORTION, WAVEFORM-AM PLITUDE.
Nonlinear distortion in the special case where
the desired relationship is direct proportion
ality between input and output. Nonlinear
distortion is also sometimes called amplitude
distortion.
DISTRIBUTED CAPACITANCE.
pacitance, distributed.

See ca

DISTRIBUTED
CONSTANT
(FOR
A
W A VEG U ID E). A circuit parameter that
exists along the length of a waveguide. For
a transverse electromagnetic wave on a trans
mission line, the distributed constants are se
ries resistance, series inductance, shunt con
ductance and shunt capacitance per unit
length of line.
DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENT. The ratio
between the concentrations of a solute in two
immiscible solvents which are in contact.
(See distribution, law of.) Called also parti
tion coefficient.
DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENTS. The tri
stimulus values of monochromatic radiations
of equal power.
Generally represented b y overscored, lower
case letters, such as x, y , z in the CIE system.
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS. Let x rep
resent the value of a physical quantity. The
probability of obtaining in a measurement
various values of x can be obtained from a
distribution function P ( x ) . P {x )d x represents
the probability of x having a value between x
and x + dx. Similarly
P (x)d x
XI

represents the probability of x having a value

between x\ and x2. Ordinarily, P {x ) is nor-

/oo

malized, i.e., I
J

P (x)d x = 1, so that the prob-

oo

ability of x having some value oo to oo is

unity, i.e., a certainty. Graphically, the area

under the curve between x\ and x 2 represents
the probability of x having a value between
these limits. The average value of x, or of
functions of x can also be obtained from the
distribution function P (x ). Thus
/

I xP (x)d x,

Xa v =
J

oo

00

(x 2) a v =

I
J

x 2P (x )d x ;

oo

etc. Depending on the nature of the physical

problem, different distribution functions ap
ply. Examples of distribution functions are:
the Gaussian distribution, or normal error
curve; the Poisson distribution; the MaxwellBoltzmann distribution; the Bose-Einstein dis
tribution; the Fermi-Dirac distribution; the
absolute square of a Schrdinger wave func
tion.
DISTRIBUTION, L A W OF. (1) (The par
tition law, distribution law of N em st.) If two
partly or nearly immiscible liquids are in con
tact and a substance which is soluble in both
liquids be added to the system, the addend
will be distributed between them in such a
way that the ratio of the concentrations of
the two solutions formed is a constant regard
less of the quantity of solute. (Measurable
deviations from this law take place, especially
in concentrated solutions, because of associa
tion, ionization, chemical action, etc.) The
constant is termed the distribution ratio, con
stant, or coefficient, and the partition coeffi
cient. (2) See Maxwell-Boltzmann distribu
tion; distribution of molecular velocities;
Bose-Einstein distribution; Fermi distribu
tion; Fermi-Dirac distribution law; and re
lated entries.
DISTRIBUTION L A W OF M AXW ELL.
See Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.
DISTRIBUTION OF MOLECULAR VE
LOCITIES, L A W OF. A t any given tem
perature different molecules of a gas have
different velocities which range from very
small to very large values. A large m ajority
of molecules have velocities falling in a nar
row range, but a small fraction of molecules
have very low or high velocity. As the tem
perature is raised the maximum in the veloc
ity distribution curve shifts to higher veloci
ties and flattens out.
(See Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution.)
DISTRIBUTIVE LA W . An operator A obeys
this law if its effect on a sum of functions is

A ( /1 +

/2

/3

+' * ) ^ ./1 +

^ - /2

+ Afs +

*. The trigonometric functions do not obey

the distributive law since sin (x + y + z +
) =7^ sin x + sin y -f- sin z + .
DISTURBANCE.
A local departure from
the normal or average wind condition of any
part of the world or, in other words, a feature
of what is sometimes called the secondary
circulation of the atmosphere, as distinguished
from the general circulation. In every-day
usage disturbance has come to be synonymous
with cyclone and depression.
DISTURBANCE. 2.4.9.
mand.

An undesired com

DISTURBANCE, SECONDARY.
secondary.
DISTURBED-ONE OUTPUT.
coincident current.

See selection,

DISTURBED-ZERO OUTPUT.
tion, coincident-current.
DITETRAR.

See front,

See selec

Designation for a tube base.

DIVERGENCE. The scalar product of the

differential vector operator V (del) and a
vector. In Cartesian coordinates

are said to be divergent if the width of the

beam increases as the beam progresses.
DIVERGING LENS.

See lens, diverging.

DIVERSITY RECEPTION.
diversity.

See reception,

DIVERTOR. A device used in the controlled

thermonuclear program to remove impurities
and charged reaction products from the fusion
reaction region before they bombard the ma
terial walls in the chamber.
DIVIDER, FREQUENCY. A device deliver
ing output voltage at a frequency that is a
proper fraction of the input frequency. Usu
ally the output frequency is an integral sub
multiple or an integral proper fraction of the
input frequency. (See also transducer, harmonic-conversion.)
DIVIDER, VOLTAGE. The ordinary threeterminal resistance is often used as a voltage
divider. If no current is taken from the inter
mediate tap the voltages will be in proportion
to the resistance included between the taps.
In many applications a potentiometer is used
as a voltage divider so the voltage may be
adjusted by varying the position of the tap.
If current is drawn from the tap the exact
distribution of the voltage is altered but the

dVx
dVy
SV z
V -V = d iv Y = ------+ - + -------dx
dy
dz
I f V represents at each point in space the
direction and magnitude of flow of some fluid,
such as water or a gas, thermal, or electrical
flux, then div V equals the rate of decrease
of fluid per unit volume.
(See also Gauss
theorem; Green theorem; derivative, covari
ant.)
DIVERGENCE, ANGLE OF. The maximum
angle of deflection experienced by electrons
in an electron beam due to debunching.
DIVERGENCE LOSS.

See loss, divergence.

D IVERGENCE THEOREM.
theorem and Green theorem.

See

Gauss

DIVERGENT. (1) I f an infinite series does

not converge, it is said to be divergent. The
sum of the series m ay be positively infinite,
negatively infinite, or it may oscillate between
either finite or infinite values. ( 2 ) See lens,
diverging. (3) Beams of light or of particles

~T~

Variable

_L

..

Voltage dividers.

total voltage applied across the divider is still

divided between the various sections. The
figure shows some typical arrangements.
DIVISION, FREQUENCY.
A process of
propagating two or more information-bearing
signals over a common path by using a differ
ent frequency band for the transmission of
each signal.
(See frequency-division multi
plex.)
DIXONAC. An aqueous coating of graphite
used as a conductive coating on the inside of
some electron tubes such as kinescopes. Also
known as Aquadag.
D-LINE. Fraunhofer lines Di at 5889.95 and
D 2 at 5895.92 A. Hence the yellow sodium
spectrum lines at these wavelengths.

DM E.

See distance measuring equipment.

D O G H OUSE. A small structure housing

tuning-apparatus, placed at the base of a
transmitting antenna.
D O L D R U M S. The tropical regions of the
Equatorial B elt characterized by calms and
light, shifting winds with frequent thunder
storms, squalls and heavy showers.
D O M A IN .
(1) A region of space, together
with its bounding points, curves or surfaces.
(2) O f a function, the range of the independent
variable (s) for which the function is defined.
(3) A region of spontaneous magnetic or
electric polarization in a single direction in a
ferroelectric of ferromagnetic crystal. Inside
a domain the polarization is saturated, and is
a function only of the temperature. The size
and shape of a domain depends on the m a
terial and its treatment. The boundary be
tween domains is known as a Bloch wall.
D O M A IN STR U C TU R E . The theory of the
m acroscopic behavior of ferromagnetic and
ferroelectric crystals depends on their consist
ing of large numbers of domains, each polar
ized to saturation but pointing in different

Domain structure. Flux closure domain configura

tion in a uniaxial crystal.
(By permission from
Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, Copy
right 1953, John W iley & Sons, Inc.)

directions so as to minimize the energy. An

applied field tends to make those domains
grow which are already favorably oriented,
at the expense of those opposed to the field.
Owing to the anisotropy energy, domains tend
to be oriented along certain directions of easy
magnetization, but the detailed arrangement
of domains in a crystal is a complicated com
promise between the tendency of each domain

to be as large as possible and the necessity

of creating closed loops of magnetic flux.
D O M A IN STRU CTU RE O F SUPERCON
D U C T O R . The pattern of intermingled nor
mal and superconducting regions character
istic of the intermediate state. (See super
conductivity and related entries.)
D O M A IN TH E O R Y.
and domain (2).

See domain structure

D O M IN A N T M O D E O F PR O PA G A TIO N
(TRANSM ISSION ). The mode of propaga
tion of the dominant wave. (See wave, dom
inant.)
D O M IN A N T W A V E L E N G T H . The wave
length of light of a single frequency which
matches a color when combined in suitable
proportions with a reference standard light.
Light of a single frequency is approximated in
practice by the use of a range of wavelengths
within which there is no noticeable difference
of color. Although this practice is ambiguous
in principle, the dominant wavelength is usu
ally taken as the average wavelength of the
band used in the mixture with the reference
standard matching the sample. M any differ
ent qualities of light are used as reference
standards under various circumstances. Usu
ally the quality of the prevailing illumination
is acceptable as the reference standard in the
determination of the dominant wavelength of
the colors of objects.
D O N N AN E Q U ILIB R IU M .
I f a solution
containing a salt with a non-diffusible ion is
separated from a solution of an electrolyte
containing diffusible ions by a semipermeable
membrane, then at equilibrium, an electro
static difference of potential termed a mem
brane potential will be established between
the two solutions separated by the membrane.
A difference in osmotic pressure will also be
established at equilibrium. Proteins in the
presence of simple salts exhibit this phenom
enon.
D O N O R (IN A SE M IC O N D U C T O R ).
impurity, donor.

See

D O N O R EN ERGY L E V E L . An energy level

associated with a donor impurity in a semi
conductor. (See impurity, donor.)
D O N O R IM PU RITY.

See impurity, donor.

364

Donut, Doughnut Doppler-Fizeau Principle

DONUT, DOUGHNUT.
tube of toroidal shape.
DONUTRON.

An

accelerating

A form of tunable magnetron.

DOOR-KNOB TUBE.

See tube, door-knob.

DOPING. Addition of impurities to a semi

conductor, or production of a deviation from
stoichiometric composition, to achieve a de
sired characteristic.
DOPING COMPENSATION.
Addition of
donor impurities (see impurity, donor) to a
P -type semiconductor (see semiconductor, Ptype) or of acceptor impurities (see impurity,
acceptor) to an N -type semiconductor. (See
semiconductor, N-type.)
DOPPLER BROADENING. A spreading of
radiation frequencies that are potentially all
the same, with a resulting broadening of the
corresponding spectral line, which takes place
when radiating nuclei, atoms or molecules do
not all have the same velocity relative to
the observer, so that they give rise to different
Doppler shifts. F or example, since molecules
of luminous gases have a Maxwell distribution
of velocities, these effects produce a range of
observed frequencies symmetrically distrib
uted about the frequency of the atoms at rest,
this range increasing with increasing tem
perature; and there is a distribution of in
tensities throughout the broadened line that
is determined by the M axwell distribution of
velocities. In absorption spectra, a similar
broadening of the lines can result from the
motions, relative to the observer, of the ab
sorbing atoms or molecules. In nuclear phys
ics, thermal motions of the nuclei in the m a
terial under examination can contribute ap
preciably to the widths of resonance lines,
many of which (for instance, in slow neutron
absorption) have natural widths of about
1 ev.
DOPPLER EFFECTS. The effects upon the
apparent frequency of a wave train produced
(1) by motion of the source toward or away
from the stationary observer, and (2) by m oV.
(

with reference to the (supposedly stationary)

medium.
The D oppler effects are of great importance
in the case of light (for which it is quite im
possible to distinguish between them because
only the relative velocity of observer and
source is of relativistic im portance).
The slight abnormality (Doppler shift) in
the positions of the spectrum lines from a star,
for example, affords a fairly accurate value of
the relative speed with which the star and the
earth are approaching or receding from each
other (the radial velocity). M any double
stars (spectroscopic binaries) are recognized
as such only by the doubling of their spectrum
lines due to the components moving in op
posite directions. The spectrum lines of gases
are often broadened because of the various
speeds of the molecules.
For sound waves, the observed frequency
/o, in cycles/sec, is given by
v + w vo

fo = ;------ fa
V + w vs

where v is the velocity of sound in the medium,

v0 is the velocity of the observer, vs is the ve
locity of source, w is the velocity of wind in the
direction of sound propagation, and f s is the
frequency of source.
For optical waves
c+ v

fo fs

c v

where v is the velocity of the source relative

to the observer and c is the speed of light.
Since v is normally much less than c, this can
be expanded in a power series in /3 = v/c:
fo f s [1 + P +_20 H------ L
or
fo f s = 5/ =

fs(P

+ h&2 H------)

The above equations are for the longitudinal

Doppler effect, in which angle between v and
axis of observation is zero. If this angle, 0, is
not zero, the observed frequency is given by
(1 _ f y A
fo =

fs

1 jS cos 0

l
; length.

tion of the observer toward or from the sta

tionary source; the motion in each case being

DOPPLER-FIZEAU PRINCIPLE. The prin

ciple underlying the Doppler effects as ap
plied by Fizeau to the shifting of spectrum
lines.

DOPPLER RADAR.

See radar, Doppler.

DOPPLER SHIFT. The magnitude of the

change in the observed frequency of a wave
due to the Doppler effects. The unit is the
cycle per second.
DORN EFFECT, The production of a po
tential difference by a powder falling through
a liquid, arising from the presence of an elec
trical double layer around the particles of
powder.
DOSE (DOSAGE). In radiology a dose is a
quantity of ionizing radiation to which a b io
logical sample is exposed, or which it absorbs.
In the older terminology the roentgen (r) was
used for both exposure dose and absorbed
dose, with the associated units of rep and rem
being used to express the effective (absorbed)
dose when the absorbing material was other
than air and the ionizing radiation was other
than x- and low energy gamma-radiation.
The ICRU recommended in 1956 that a clear
distinction be made between the exposure dose,
to be measured in roentgens (r) and the ab
sorbed dose to be measured in rads (see dose,
exposure and dose, absorbed). The exposure
dose is measured in terms of the ability of the
radiation to produce ionization in a given
amount of air and is specifically restricted to
x- and y-radiation. The absorbed dose is
measured in terms of the energy imparted by
the incident ionizing radiation per unit mass
of the absorbing material of interest.
The term relative biological effectiveness
(R B E ) is used to express that fact that equal
absorbed doses of different kinds of radiation
are not equally effective in producing a given
biological effect or response. For example, a
dose of one rad of a-radiation is (approxi
m ately) as effective as a dose of ten rads of
x- or y-radiation. Therefore, the R B E (rj) of
-radiation relative to x- or y-radiation is 10.
This is stated sym bolically by r}ya = 10. The
R B E of two radiations is not a constant, but
depends on such variables as the absorbed
dose, the absorbed dose rate, temperature, etc.
(See also dose, RBE.)
DOSE, ABSORBED. The energy imparted
to matter by ionizing particles per unit mass
of irradiated material at the place of interest.
The unit of absorbed dose is the rad, equal to
100 ergs/gm (ICRU, 1956). (See also dose,
RBE.)

The integral absorbed dose in a certain re

gion is the energy imparted to matter by ion
izing particles in that region and is obtained
by integrating the absorbed dose throughout
the region. It is measured in units of gram
rads (1 gram rad = 100 ergs).
The absorbed dose rate is measured in rad
per unit time.
DOSE, ABSORBED (DETERMINATION
OF). According to the ICRU report of 1956,
absorbed dose m ay be estimated from the
ionization in a gas filled cavity at the place of
interest in the material irradiated. The en
ergy, E m, in ergs absorbed per gram of ma
terial, is related to the ionization per gram of
the gas, Jm, by the equation E m = JmW sm
where W is the average energy expended by
the ionizing particles per ion pair formed and
sm is the ratio of the mass stopping power of
the medium to that of the cavity gas for these
ionizing particles. The absorbed dose in rads,
D , is then D = 0.01 E m rad. For x- and
gamma-radiation of 20 kev or greater, W can
be taken as 34 ev (or 5.4 X 10-11 erg).
DOSE, AIR (X-RAYS). X -r a y dose expressed
in roentgens delivered at a. point in free air.
In radiologic practice it consists only of the
radiation of the primary beam, and that scat
tered from surrounding air.
DOSE, EXPOSURE. The exposure dose of
x- or gamma-radiation at a certain place is a
measure of the radiation and is based upon its
ability to produce ionization. The unit of ex
posure dose is the roentgen (r). Exposure
dose rates are measured in roentgens per unit
time.
DOSE, M AXIM UM PERMISSIBLE.
maximum permissible dose.

See

DOSE, RBE. The product of the dose in

rads and an agreed conventional value of the
relative biological effectiveness (RBE) with
respect to a particular form of radiation effect.
The standard of comparison is x- or y-radia
tion having a LET in water of 3 k ev/^ deliv
ered at a rate of about 10 rad/m in. The unit
of the R B E dose is the rem. Report of the
ICRU, 1956.
DOSIMETER. An instrument that measures
ionizing radiation dose. Tw o of the common
est types of dosimeters are the film badge and
the ionization chamber. In the former the

degree of blackening of a photographic film is

a measure of the radiation absorbed by the
film. In the latter the amount of charge lost
by an initially charged electrometer is a
measure of the ionization produced in the
chamber. Dosimeters are usually calibrated
to read in roentgens ( r ) , milliroentgens (m r),
roentgen equivalent, physical (rep), etc.

strength. The discontinuity in the potential

is given by
A 7 = r /e 0

DOT-SEQUENTIAL. Pertaining to the as

sociation of the several primary colors in se
quence with successive picture elements. E x
am ples: Dot-sequential pickup, dot-sequential
display, dot-sequential system, dot-sequential
transmission.

where t is the surface density of dipoles (dipole

moment per unit area).
Actual double layers m ay sometimes be
treated from a m acroscopic view as hypo
thetical double layers of infinitesimal thick
ness. However, a microscopic atomistic view
is often necessary, in which case the discon
tinuous atomistic nature of a double layer
must be taken into account. Double layers of
interest are for example those that occur at
p-n junctions of p and n type semiconductors.

DOUBLE AM PLITUDE.
peak-to-peak.

DOUBLE LAYER POTENTIAL.

trokinetic potential.

See elec-

DOUBLE - MAKE CONTACTS

See contact nomenclature.

(RELAY).

See

amplitude,

DOUBLE-BASE D IO D E. See transistor, uni

junction. The use of the term double-base
diode is deprecated.
DOUBLE-BETA DISINTEGRATION.
A
radioactive disintegration, involving the emis
sion of two beta particles, in which the atomic
number changes by two units and the mass
number does not change. I f the neutrino and
the antineutrino are different, two D irac anti
neutrinos must be emitted in this process. If
the neutrino and the antineutrino are identical
(Majorana neutrino theory), no neutrino emis
sion will take place a neutrino will be emitted
and reabsorbed and the probability of the
process is much higher. The process is prob
ably impossible if the present two component
neutrino theory is correct. (See beta decay
theory.)
DOUBLE-BREAK CONTACTS
See contact nomenclature.

(RELAY).

DOUBLE COMPTON SCATTERING. P roc

ess in which a photon is incident on a charged
particle and two photons are given off.
DOUBLE D IO DE.

See duodiode.

DOUBLE LAYER, ELECTRIC. A surface

distribution of electric dipoles, i.e., a layer of
positive and a layer of negative charge sep
arated by a very small distance. For the ideal
double layer the separation is infinitesimal.
On passing through such an infinitesimal
double layer there is a discontinuity in electric
potential, but no discontinuity in electric field

DOUBLE-PRECISION NUMBER.
for number, double-length.

Synonym

DOUBLER CIRCUIT. A type of self-saturating, magnetic-amplifier circuit with a-c

output. (See amplifier, magnetic.)
DOUBLE REFRACTION, ELECTRIC AND
M AGNETIC. See electric and magnetic dou
ble refraction.
DOUBLE REFRACTION, FORCED.
forced double refraction.

See

DOUBLE REFRACTION, LORENTZ.

Lorentz double refraction.

See

DOUBLE REFRACTION, OPTICAL. I f a

crystal of one of certain substances, such as
calcite (calcium carbonate, a common min
eral) is held between the eye and a pinhole
in a card, two bright dots are seen. If the
crystal is rotated around the line of sight, one
dot travels in a circle around the other, which
remains fixed. Evidently there are two re
fracted rays; with the light normally incident
on the natural crystal face, they make (within
the crystal) an angle of about 6 9'. The two
refracted rays reveal a difference in refractive
index. The one which remains fixed as the
crystal revolves, called the ordinary ray, cor
responds to a greater index than does the
other, called the extraordinary ray.
For
sodium light the two indices of calcite are,
respectively, 1.658 and 1.486. A simple test
shows that the two rays consist of plane-

polarized light, one vibrating at right angles

to the other.
These phenomena were explained b y H u y
gens (1678) as due to the fact that the ordi
nary wave has a spherical wave front, travel
ing with the same speed in all directions, just
as if the medium were isotropic; while the
extraordinary wave has either a maximum
or a minimum speed along the optic axis, so
that its wave front is either an oblate (doorknob-shaped) or a prolate (football-shaped)
spheroid.
M an y crystals have two optic axes. In this
case the double wave surface is a much more
com plicated system in which there are four
points of intersection, corresponding to the
two axes.
DOUBLER, FREQUENCY.
doubler.
DOUBLER, VOLTAGE.
bler.

See frequency

DOUBLET.
(1) Tw o electrons which are
shared by two atoms so as to form a non
polar valence bond.
(See bond, non-polar.)
(2) A pair of spectral lines resulting from
transitions between a common state and two
states which differ only in total angular m o
mentum (J), i.e., have identical values of
orbital (L) and spin (S) angular momenta.
(3) Tw o stationary states having common
values of (L) and (S), but different values
of (J). (4) A lens, particularly an achromat,
having two components.
D OUBLE-THROW CONTACTS
See contact nomenclature.

DOUBLE TRIODE.

(RELAY).

See antenna,

See duotriode.

DOUBLE Z I G - Z A G RECTIFIER.
Two
three-phase, half-w ave zig-zag rectifiers (see
rectifier, zig-zag) operating with their outputs
effectively in parallel, but with their relative
phase voltages differing by 60. The result
is equivalent to a six-phase half-w ave system.
(See rectifier, polyphase.)
D O W OSCILLATOR.
tron-coupled.

DRAG ANGLE. In recording, the angle be

tween the cutting stylus and the record when
the stylus is positioned so that its tip tends
to drag behind the cutting head. It is the
opposite of dig-in angle.
DRAG COEFFICIENT. The drag coefficient
of a body in an inviscous fluid of density p and
flow velocity v is

Fd
(p / 2 )

See oscillator, elec

DRAG. In aerodynamics and hydrodynamics,

that component of the force on a body which

v 2a

where F d is the force on the body in the direc

tion of the flow and A is an effective cross sec
tional area of the body. (See also lift coeffi
cient.)
DRAG-CUP MOTOR.

See voltage dou

DOUBLET, OSCILLATING.
oscillating doublet.

is in the direction of the mean fluid flow rela

tive to the body.

See motor, drag-cup.

DRAG EFFECT. The effect of interionic

attraction in reducing the freedom of an ion
to move in an electrical field, because of the
interference of the ions of opposite charge by
which a given ion is surrounded. The drag
effect is an essential part of the explanation
of the Debye-Huckel theory of the anomalous
properties of concentrated solutions of strong
electrolytes.
DRAG (ETHER).
drag.

See Fresnel coefficient of

DRAG FORCE. In hydromagnetic theory,

the force represented by the inelastic collisions
of electrons and ions. Because of the fluid
nature of the hydromagnetic equations, the
collisional effects are averaged. In the force
equation they are represented by a term pro
portional to the velocity.
DRAG, FRESNEL COEFFICIENT OF.
Fresnel coefficient of drag.

See

D REGION. The region of the ionosphere

up to about 90 kilometers above the earth's
surface.
DRIFT. (1) Random variations in direction.
(2) Random variations in a characteristic of
an electromagnetic wave or signal which are
continuously in one direction or the other for
periods of a second or more. (3) In a mag
netic amplifier (see amplifier, magnetic) drift
is a change in the control characteristic due
to unassignable causes. It is expressed in

terms of the signal (usually given in watts)

required to restore a specified output current
to its original value. Unless otherwise stated,
the time interval is 24 hours; the amplifier
is operated at its rating except for the output
current which is at the lower value given in
the response time definition; and all effects
other than changes of supply voltage, fre
quency and ambient temperature are in
cluded. (4) In a balanced amplifier, drift is
any unbalance which occurs with time or
change in operating conditions after the bal
ance control has once been set. (5) See drift
tube. (6) See drift velocity.
DRIFT, ABSOLUTE. In a magnetic ampli
fier, absolute drift is expressed in terms of
the input signal required to rebalance the am
plifier. It may be measured in terms of watts,
current, or ampere-turns.
DRIFT MOBILITY (IN A HOMOGENEOUS
SEMICONDUCTOR).
The average drift
velocity of carriers per unit electric field. It
is to be noted that in general the mobilities of
electrons and holes are different.
DRIFT, PER CENT. Of a balanced mag
netic amplifier, the ratio of the output drift
to the rated output.
DRIFT, PER CENT SIGNAL. Of a balanced
magnetic amplifier, the ratio between the in
put drift measured in ampere-turns and the
maximum signal ampere-turns.
DRIFT RATE (VOLTAGE REGULATORS
OR REFERENCE TUBES). The slope at a
stated time of the smoothed curve of tube
voltage drop with time at constant operating
conditions.
DRIFT SPACE.

See space, drift.

DRIFT TUBE. In linear particle accelerators

the ions pass through a series of hollow cylin
drical conductors or drift tubes, with potential
differences applied between successive tubes.
The ions travel through the field-free drift
tubes with uniform speed and are accelerated
only at the gaps between successive tubes.
DRIFT VELOCITY. (1) The average veloc
ity with which any carrier drifts under the in
fluence of an electric field, and hence carries
current in a semiconductor or conductor. (2)
The average velocity with which particles,
such as molecules, move under the influence of

temperature, pressure or other gradient, lead

ing to the transport of mass, momentum, en
ergy or similar entities.
DRIVE.

See excitation.

DRIVEN ELEMENT. In an antenna array,

the element or elements which are connected
to the receiver (or transmitter).
DRIVE-HOLE. Hole in a recording disk de
signed to be engaged by the drive-pin to pre
vent slippage between the disk and the turn
table.
DRIVE PATTERN.

See pattern, drive.

DRIVE-PIN. An off-center pin on a record

ing turntable designed to engage the drivehole to prevent slippage of the recording disk.
DRIVE-PIN HOLE.

See hole, drive-pin.

DRIVER STAGE. The stage designed to

supply the input signal power required by
the last or final stage of an amplifier.
DRIVING-FORCE RESONANCE.
onance, frequency of.

See res

DRIZZLE.
Numerous very small liquid
droplets whose diameter is less than 0.5 mm
and whose rate of fall is usually less than
3 m per sec. N orm ally the drops seem to float
downward.
DROP. A small volume of liquid, bounded
almost completely by free surfaces.
DROP CHANNEL. This refers to a type of
operation where one or more channels of a
multichannel system are terminated (dropped)
at some point intermediate between the end
terminals o f the system.
DROP FORMATION. The simplest way to
form drops is to allow liquid to flow slowly
from the open lower end of a vertical tube
of small diameter. W hen the pendent drop
exceeds a certain size it is no longer stable
and detaches itself and falls. Drops m ay also
be formed by condensation o f a supercooled
vapor or by atomization of a larger mass of
liquid.
DROP-OUT VALUE (RELAY).
drop-out (relay).
DROP REPEATER.

See value,

See repeater, drop.

DROP W EIG H T. The weight of the largest

drop that can hang from the end of a tube
of radius, a, is nearly
mg = 2iray cos a,
where y is the surface tension of the liquid,
a is the angle of contact with the tube. (See
also surface tension, methods of measure
ment.)
DRUDE EQUATION.
A relationship be
tween the specific rotation of a substance that
exhibits optical activity and the wavelength
o f the light, of the form :

where [a] is the specific rotation, X the wave

length, and k and X02 are constants, known as
the rotation constant and the dispersion con
stant of the substance.
D RUDE THEORY OF ELECTRONS IN
METALS. The original form of the free elec
tron theory of metals in which the electrons
were treated as a gas of classical particles.
This theory is capable of explaining the high
electrical conductivity o f metals, but attrib
utes to them far too large a specific heat, and
has to be supplemented by the postulate that
the electrons obey Fermi-Dirac, rather than
Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics.
DRUMSKIN ACTION. The vibration of a
wall as a whole under the action of an inci
dent sound wave.
DRUM SPEED.
D-SCAN.
D-SCOPE.

See speed, drum.

See display.
See display.

DUALITY OF DESCRIPTION.
plementarity principle.
D UAL NETWORKS.
turally dual.

See com

at least one of the sources being a recording.

(See also re-recording.)
D UCT, ATMOSPHERIC.

See atmospheric.

DUCTILITY. The property of being ductile,

i.e., capable of being drawn out in a wire.
It is generally possessed to the greatest degree
by certain metals.
DUCT, LINED OR ABSORBING. Tubes
used in ventilator and exhaust systems to pro
vide a high degree of attenuation for audio
frequency waves while offering low resistance
to continuous flow of air. For rectangular
conduit lines with absorbing material, the at
tenuation, in d b /ft, is given empirically by
P
attenuation (d b /ft) = 12.6a1'4
where P = perimeter in inches, A = crosssectional area in square inches, a = absorp
tion coefficient of lining.
DUFFIN-KEMMER MATRICES.
Pn(ji = 1, 2, 3, 4) satisfying
/^/1

4"

Matrices

d
me]
------- 1------ \[/ = 0 then de-

dx^
ft J
scribes particles of spin 0 or U.

DUFOUR EFFECT. Abnormal Zeeman ef

fect. Individual lines show Zeeman effect in
band spectra, if observed in a direction paral
lel to field and if circular vibrations are con
verted into plane ones with a quarter-wave
plate, through Nicol prism.
DUHEM-MARGULES EQUATION. A rela
tionship between the partial vapor pressures
of a two-com ponent liquid system and the
concentration of the constituents:

See networks, struc

Na

=
\

O N

/ p ,t

Nb
\

d N s

/ p tT

or
DUANE AND HUNT L A W . X-rays gener
ated by electrons striking a target cannot have
a frequency greater than eV/h where e is the
electronic charge, V the exciting voltage and
h is Plancks constant. This is a simple con
sequence of quantum mechanics.
DUBBING. The combining of two or more
sources of sound into a complete recording,

d In pA

d In ps

d In N

d In N

where N a = mole fraction of component A,

Nb = mole fraction of component B , pa =
partial pressure of component A , the vapor
behaving as an ideal gas, pb = partial pressure
of component B , the vapor behaving as an
ideal gas, P = total pressure, T = tempera

ture. This relation m ay only be applied at

constant temperature.

D UODIODE. See tube, electronic for dis

cussion of double diode.

DULONG AND PETIT L A W . The product

of the atomic weight and the specific heat of
many solid elements (i.e., their atomic heats
or thermal capacities) have almost the same
value, about 6 calories per C. Dulong and
Petit expressed this relationship by stating
that the specific heats of elements are in in
verse proportion to their atomic weights.
This law tends to be obeyed best at high
temperatures.
(C f. Einstein equation for
heat capacity; Debye theory of specific heats;
Bom-von Karman theory of specific heats.)

DUO-DIRECTIONAL AMPLIFIER.
amplifier, balanced (push-pull).

DUMAS M ETH O D FOR VAPOR PRES

SURE. A small quantity of the liquid the
density of whose vapor is required is inserted
into a weighed glass bulb which has a neck
drawn to a point. The bulb is heated to about
30C above the boiling-point until the liquid
disappears, the vapor being rapidly expelled
and carrying the air in the bulb with it. After
measuring barometric pressure and tempera
ture of the bath, the bulb is sealed off, cooled,
and re-weighed. The end of the neck is then
broken off under water, when the water com
pletely fills the bulb. The weight of the bulb
is again found, full of water, giving its in
ternal volume. From the readings the weight
of a known volume of vapor is found, and
hence its density. The method is frequently
used when a more accurate method than the
Victor Meyer method is required. M odifi
cations have been made at lower pressures
and higher temperatures.
DUM M Y INDICES. The repeated indices v,
cr, etc., in an expression of the form
^ v AfxpBvaCffT

v,a,

*.

The term is used particularly in relativity

theory, in which the summation convention
implies summation over the values 1 to 4
o f all dummy indices without explicit indica
tion by the use of the summation symbol 2.
D UM M Y LOAD.
dummy.
DUO D EC AL.

See load, dummy; antenna,

Designation for a tube base.

D UO DICAL. Designation for a particular

tube basing arrangement.

DUOTRIODE.
velope.

See

Tw o triodes in a single en

DUPLET. A pair of electrons that is shared

by two atoms and that corresponds to a single
valence bond.
DUPLEX CAVITY.

See cavity, T.R.

DUPLEXERS (TRANSMIT-RECEIVE CIR

CUITS). Circuits that make possible the use
of the same antenna for both transmission and
reception, by preventing the flow of damaging
amounts of power to the receiver during trans
mission, without at the same time reducing
excessively the input to the receiver during
reception.
Consider a basic circuit shown
below. During reception, the open-circuited,

Receiver
Duplexers. Basic circuit showing placement of T -R
and anti-T-R tubes. (By permission from M icro
wave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.} Copy
right 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

quarter-wavelength branch containing the

a n ti-T -R tube produces an effective short cir
cuit at the junction of this branch and the
transmitter branch, and therefore prevents
loss of received power to the transmitter. A
quarter of a wavelength away, at the junc
tion of the antenna and receiver lines, this
short circuit appears as an open circuit. D u r
ing transmission, both tubes break down and
short-circuit the lines in which they are
placed. Since the short circuits occur at a
distance of a quarter-wavelength from the
transmitter-antenna line, the receiver and
a n ti-T -R lines present an infinite (ideally)
impedance across the transmitter-antenna
line, and therefore divert negligible power.
It is possible to use only the T -R tube but
this necessitates careful adjustment of the
transm itter-to-junction distance which, in the

scheme shown, is not a critical factor.

transmit-receive switch.)

(See

DUPLEX, HALF. Transmission in one di

rection at a time over a single channel. Thus,
in a, half-duplex telegraphy system, inform a
tion can be transmitted in only one direction
at a time.
DUPLEXING ASSEMBLY (RADAR),
switch, TR.

See

DUPLEX OPERATION. The operation of

associated transmitting and receiving appara
tus in which the processes of transmission and
reception are concurrent.
DUPLEX, SEMI-. A method of operation of
a communication circuit where one end is du
plex and one end is simplex. Sometimes used
in mobile systems with the base station du
plex and the mobile station simplex.
DUSHMAN EQUATION.
Dushman equation.

See Richardson-

DUST DEVIL. Whirlwinds over sandy areas

which pick up dust and sand, swirling the par
ticles upward. They sometimes become fairly
strong and reach hundreds of feet upward.
DUST STORM. Over dusty, dry or desert
areas strong winds which have picked up con
siderable dust and carried it to great heights.
Sand storms are similar to dust storms. Three
factors are necessary in the development of
a dust or sand storm: (1) a dusty or sandy
surface, (2) strong winds which can strike at
the ground and pick up dust particles, and
(3) a steep lapse rate, i.e., unstable air, which
permits the dust to be carried to great heights.
V isibility in dust storms is usually only a
few yards and sometimes reduced to night
like darkness.
DUTY CYCLE. See duty ratio. The use of
the term duty cycle is deprecated in radar.
D UTY FACTOR. In a pulse carrier com
posed of pulses that recur at regular intervals,
the product of the pulse duration and the
pulse-repetition frequency.
DUTY FACTOR, PULSE. The ratio of the
average pulse duration to the average pulse
spacing. This is equivalent to the product of
the average pulse duration and the pulse
repetition rate.

DUTY RATIO. In a pulse radar or similar

systems, the ratio of average to peak pulse
power.
D X. Abbreviation used to indicate distance
in communication, as between distant stations.
DYADIC. An operator, related to a tensor
of the second rank, which transforms one
vector into another. Thus

aB = c.
The dyadic d in n dimensions has n2 com po
nents A ij in the coordinate system
x2,
x n. The definition of a dyadic requires that
the components of (X in a new coordinate sys
tem, x 'i, x f2, x 'n, be given by
,A N
\hmhn dxm dxn
( t f )' = 2^7T7T A mn<
m , n h { h j dx i dx j
where
h j = (

W J

) +

W J

) H------ ^ .

W J

Dyadics differ from tensors in the factor in

volving the scale factors, hm, etc. Tensors
have the factor hmhn or 1/h'ih'j but not both.
The advantage of the dyadic form is that its
dimensionality does not change upon trans
form ation, whereas that of a tensor may
change.
A dyadic is often written symbolically as a
vector product, the usual dot or cross being
omitted. Thus, <2 = BC. The components
of Gt are the various products BiCk and are
therefore homogeneous quadratic functions of
the vector components.
Dyadics are used in the study of crystal
structure, rotation of bodies in mechanics, and
in elastic deformation.
DYKANOL.
Trade name for an askarel
(chlorinated synthetic) impregnant for paper
capacitors.
DYNAM ICAL ANALOGIES.
The formal
similarities among the differential equations
of electrical, mechanical and acoustical sys
tems which make possible the reduction of
mechanical and acoustical systems to elec
trical networks and the solution of such prob
lems by electrical circuit theory. (See analogs
and analogy.)
DYNAMICAL SIMILARITY. Tw o systems
are dynamically similar if the ratio of corre

sponding forces is constant. This requires that

all possible Froude numbers must be the same
in the two systems. The inertia forces, grav
ity forces, viscous forces, etc., must be in the
same ratio.
In making model experiments the Reynolds
number is usually the most important when
gravity does not directly effect the flow, but
the Richardson and ordinary Froude numbers
are important in modelling flows of stratified
fluids, and the Rayleigh number in Stokes
flows which transfer buoyancy (or heat).
D YNAM ICAL SIMILARITY OF FLUID
FLO W .
T w o geometrically similar fluid
flows are dynam ically similar if the flow field
of one may be transformed into the flow field
of the other by the same change of length and
velocity scales that was necessary to make
the boundary conditions identical.
I f the
equations of motion of the flow are made
non-dimensional by expressing velocities and
lengths as fractions of these scales, these equa
tions contain a, number of non-dimensional
coefficients that determine the character of
the flow. The general condition for dynam
ical similarity is that all these coefficients
should be the same for the two flows. The
coefficients com m only used are the Reynolds
number, the Prandtl number, the Grashof (or
R ayleigh) number, the Mach number and the
Froude number.
DYNAM ICAL VARIABLES.
Those vari
ables in terms of which classical mechanics is
built up, and which can be given an opera
tional definition. Examples are the coordi
nates, and the components of velocity, mo
mentum, and angular momentum of particles,
and functions of these quantities.
DYNAM IC CHARACTERISTIC (OF AN
ELECTRON TUBE). See load characteristic
(of an electron tube).
DYNAM IC COOLING. Decrease in tem
perature of air when caused by its adiabatic
expansion in moving to a higher altitude or
other region of lower pressure.
DYNAM IC MICROPHONE.
phone, moving-coil.
DYNAM IC PICKUP.
oil,

See

micro

See pickup, moving-

DYNAMIC PINCH. An experimental device

using the pinch effect to heat and confine an
ionized gas along the axis of a cylinder or
along the minor axis of a torus. This was
one of the first proposed thermonuclear de
vices but proved to be hydromagnetically
unstable after the first contraction of the cur
rent. (See pinch effect; hydromagnetic insta
bilities.)
DYNAMIC PRESSURE (TOTAL HEAD).
The pressure that moving fluid would attain
if it were brought to rest by isentropic flow
up a pressure gradient. For an incompressible
fluid, the dynamic pressure is the sum of the
local pressure and the kinetic energy per unit
volume.
DYNAM IC REPRODUCER.
moving-coil.

See

pickup,

DYNAMICS. Of, or pertaining to the de

scription of the motion of systems of particles
under the influence of forces. Dynam ics deals
with the causes of motion, as opposed to
kinematics, wThich deals with its geometric
description, and to statics, which deals with
the conditions for lack of motion.
DYNAMO. A member of a general class of
machines capable of transformation of elec
trical into mechanical energy, or vice versa.
The word is a shortened form of dynamoelectric. A feature of all dynamo machines
is the employment of magnetic induction in
effecting the transformation. The essential
parts of an ordinary dynamo are the arma
ture and the field. One of these is mounted
on a rotating shaft, and the other is stationary.
In ideal cases, such as d-c dynamos and sepa
rately-excited a-c dynamos, the machine is
reversible, i.e., it may be used as either a
motor or a generator.
DYNAMOMETER. An instrument for meas
uring force, such as a spring balance. M ost
writers, however, apply the term to certain
devices for the measurement of mechanical
power. The principal classification is derived
from the fact that some types of dynamom
eters absorb all of the power, which is con
verted into heat, whereas others transmit the
power they receive to some other absorber
of power, measuring it during the process.

These are called, respectively, absorption and

transmission dynam om eters.
In the absorption dynamometer class there
are types which convert the mechanical to
heat energy through the medium of mechani
cal friction. Th ey are all similar to the Prony
brake.
(See brake horsepower.) The fric
tion surfaces are variously wooden blocks
against metal drums or pulleys, bands with
wooden cleats, ropes, or friction-surfaced
brake bands. Also there are hydraulic dyna
mom eters which absorb the power by fluid
friction. One common arrangement is similar
to a centrifugal pump, except that the casing,
instead of being rigidly fixed to a bed plate,
is freely supported on the propeller shaft. It
is restrained from rotating by an attached
arm. The restraining moment in the brake
arm is measured by platform or spring scales.
The energy absorbed appears as a heating of
the water in the dynamometer. T o prevent
it boiling it must be steadily renewed. Thus
the energy is carried off in a stream of water
entering the dynamometer cool and leaving
warm. A ir friction has also been set to use
in the fan brake absorption dynamometers.
One of the most convenient means for meas
uring power is to convert it to electrical power
(w atts).
In an electrical dynam om eter a
generator is slightly modified. The stator is
mounted, free to revolve, but restrained from
revolving by a brake arm which is attached
to it, and to which are fastened weighing
scales. The tendency of the casing to rotate
with the rotor which is connected to the source
of the power is opposed by the brake arm.
The force shown on the scales becomes a
torque when multiplied by its lever distance
from the center of rotation. Since power is
torque multiplied by rotative speed, the only
other reading necessary from the dynam om
eter is the speed of the rotor shaft. In all ab
sorption dynamometers the casing is mounted
free to revolve under the action of mechanical
friction, fluid friction, or magnetic drag. A c
tual rotation is prevented by the attached
brake arm. Power is measured as a torque
operating at the rotative speed of the driven
shaft.
A transmission type dynam om eter is illus
trated by the torsion type, in which a shaft
delivering power is twisted through a small

angle by the torque. Such a shaft may be

calibrated at rest by measuring the torsional
deflection obtained under known torque load
ings. This dynamometer has its greatest field
of usefulness where the other types are im
practical. Measurement of power output from
a large marine engine is typical.
DYNAMO
THEORY
OF
M AGNETIC
FIELDS. A theory which attempts to explain
the observed magnetic fields of the earth and
stars by ascribing the maintenance of the
magnetic field to electric currents induced in
the core material as a result of its motion
across the lines of force.
DYNAMOTOR. A double-armature rotating
electrical machine. One of the armatures is
wound for low voltage direct current, and
serves as a motor armature. The other arma
ture is wound for a high d-c voltage and serves
as a generator winding. The machine is used
for supplying plate voltage to portable radio
equipment, being operated from storage bat
teries on the m otor end and supplying the
high voltage d-c from the generator winding.
DYNATROL. Trade name for a solenoidoperated control motor.
DYNATRON.

See oscillator, dynatron.

DYNE. The cgs unit of force. The force

necessary to impart an acceleration of 1 cm
per second to a mass of 1 gram. (See me
chanical units.)
DYNETRIC BALANCING.
An electronic
method of balancing rotating parts. The test
apparatus can locate and measure the degree
of unbalance.
DYNISTOR.
PNPN.)

A trade name.

(See diode,

DYNODE. (1) An additional electrode in a

photomultiplier tube, which undergoes sec
ondary emission upon bombardment by photo
electrons, and thus effects amplification. (2)
A photo-multiplier tube having one or more
dynodes (1).
DYNODE CURRENT.

See electrode current.

DYNODE SPOTS (IMAGE ORTHICONS).

A spurious signal caused by variations in the

secondary-emission ratio across the surface of

a dynode which is scanned by the electron
beam.

DYOTRON.

A microwave oscillator tube

(see tube, microwave oscillator) containing a
single cavity and three electrodes.

DYSPROSIUM.
ment.

Rare earth metallic

Symbol D y. Atom ic number 66.

DYSTECTIC M IXTURE.

ele

A mixture of two
or more substances in such proportions as to
yield the maximum melting point, so that upon
altering the proportions the melting point is
lowered. Correlative of eutectic mixture.

E
E. (1) Sym bol for an electron or its electric
charge (e).
(2) The number e (see e, the
num ber), the natural logarithmic (Napierian)
base ( e). (3) Electromotive force ( or E).
(4) Electrode potential (8 or E).
(5) The
Einstein un it of energy (E).
(6) Total
energy ( E).
(7) Kinetic energy (Ek).
(8)
Potential energy (Ep). (9) Energy of vibra
tion (Ev). (10) Electric field strength (E).
(11) Illum inance (E). (12) Y o u n g s m odu
lus of elasticity (E). (13) Coefficient of resili
ence or restitution (e). (14) Radiant flux den
sity (S). (15) In spectroscopy, enhanced at
electrode (e), enhanced in spark as compared
with arc (E).
e (THE NUMBER). A transcendental num
ber, used as the base of the system of natural
or Napierian logarithms. It is defined by

tions of the electrode voltages.

Early effect.

EARNSHAW THEOREM. N o charge can be

in stable equilibrium in an electric field under
the influence of electric forces alone.
EARPHONE (RECEIVER).
An electro
acoustic transducer (see transducer, electro
acoustic) intended to be closely coupled
acoustically to the ear. The term receiver
should be avoided when there is risk of am
biguity.
EARPHONE COUPLER. A cavity of pre
determined shape which is used for the testing
of earphones. It is provided with a micro
phone for the measurement of pressures de
veloped in the cavity.
(See also ear, artifi
cial.)
EARPHONES, INSERT.
Small earphones
which fit partially inside the ear.

e = lim ( l + - )
71/

EARTHED.

or by
e = lim (1 + x ) llx.
x>0

It is represented b y the infinite series

e = 1+ -

1!

1
+ -

2!

+ -

3!

This is the

+ -

4!

+ ... + + ...

n\

and has the approximate value of 2.71828.

EAGLE M OUNTING. A method of m ount
ing a diffraction grating so as to use the d if
fracted light, which is returned back along
nearly the same path as the incident beam.

See grounded.

EARTH, EFFECTIVE RADIUS OF THE.

An effective value for the radius of the earth,
which is used in place of the geometrical
radius to correct for atmospheric refraction
when the index of refraction in the atmos
phere changes linearly with height. Under
conditions of standard refraction, the effec
tive radius of the earth is 8.50 X 106 meters,
or % of the geometrical radius.

EAR, ARTIFICIAL. A device for the meas

urement of earphones which presents an
acoustic impedance (see impedance, acous
tic) to the earphone equivalent to the im
pedance presented by the average human ear.
It is equipped with a microphone for measure
ment of the sound pressures developed by the
earphone.

EARTH, FIGURE OF THE. The exact shape

and size of the earth, as determined by ter
restrial surveys in conjunction with the ob
servation of celestial bodies from various
points on the surface, or in conjunction with
measurements of the acceleraton due to grav
ity. The earth is approximated closely by
an oblate spheroid, with an equatorial radius
o f 6.378 X 106 meters and a polar radius of
6.357 X 10 meters but the southern hemis
phere is slightly larger than the northern.

EARLY EFFECT. As in silicon capacitors,

the effective junction capacitance and ef
fective base thickness in a transistor are func

EARTH INDUCTOR. A coil rotated in the

earths magnetic field to permit determination
of the magnetic field strength.

EARTH INDUCTOR COMPASS. An induc

tion compass. (See compass, induction.)
EAST TERMINAL. Conventions have been
established in order to minimize interference
between operating companies. For this rea
son, the E ast terminal of a carrier system
must be so arranged that the frequency allo
cation of the outgoing and incoming channels
corresponds to the established pattern. It is
important that such conventions be respected
so as to guard against possible future conflict.
Geographically, an East terminal is usually
located at the east or north end of a circuit.
EBERHARD EFFECT.
Eberhard gave a
photographic plate a uniform exposure through
a metal plate with openings of various sizes
and found that the density of the exposed
areas varied, the density decreasing with the
size of the area. The amount of the variation
in density increases with the thickness of the
emulsion coating and is decreased by an ex
posure of the background or by general fog.
The effect is produced by all organic develop
ers but not by ferrous oxalate and is consid
ered to be due to the effect of the accumula
tion of restraining by-products of the process
of development. The Eberhard effect is a
factor affecting the fidelity of photograph
ically recorded sound, and the accuracy of
the photographic image in astrophysical and
photometric investigations.
EBULLIOSCOPE.
A ny instrument that
measures a property by a deviation from a
normal known boiling point. Thus this term
is applied to an apparatus in which the per
centage of alcohol in a mixture is estimated
b y an observation of the boiling point. Beck
mann s apparatus for molecular weight deter
mination is an ebullioscope.
EBULLIOSCOPIC CONSTANT. A quan
tity calculated to represent the molal eleva
tion of the boiling point of a solution, by the
relationship:

in which K is the ebullioscopic constant, R is

the gas constant, T0 is the boiling point of the
pure solvent, and le is the latent heat of evap
oration per gram. The product of the ebullio
scopic constant and the molality of the solu
tion give the actual elevation of the boiling

point for the range of values for which this

relationship applies. Unfortunately, this range
is limited to very dilute solutions, not extend
ing to solutions of unit molality.
EBULLIOSCOPY. Determination of molec
ular weight by measurement of elevation of
boiling point.
EBULLITION (BOILING). The vaporiza
tion of a liquid due to the escape of bubbles
of its vapor formed where heat is applied
below the surface.
ECCENTRIC. A machine element employed
to convert rotating to reciprocating motion.
Its function is similar to that of the crank.
The eccentric is used chiefly for short throws,
where it would be undesirable to break the
shaft, as is necessary in the case of a crank.
It consists of a disk mounted on a shaft in
such a way that the geometric center of the

disk does not coincide with the center of rota

tion. The distance between the center of rota
tion and the geometric center of the eccentric
is the throw. This corresponds to the crankarm distance of an equivalent crank. The
eccentric is chiefly used to drive auxiliaries
such as valve gear, and where reciprocation
of small magnitude is needed. The cam and
crank may be employed to provide similar
motion.
ECCENTRIC
ANOMALY
(CELESTIAL
MECHANICS). The eccentric anomaly E is
the arc cosine (a r) /at where a is the semi
m ajor axis of an elliptical planetary orbit, r
is the radius vector from the focus to the
path, and c is the eccentricity of the ellipse.
E appears in the Kepler equation M = E e
sin E , where M is the mean anomaly. The
solution o f the Kepler equation with a given
value of M permits E and hence r to be de
termined.
ECCENTRIC GROOVE. See groove, locked.
ECCENTRICITY.
(1) See conic section.
(2) In disk recording, the displacement of the

center of the recording groove spiral, with re

spect to the record center hole.
ECCENTRIC SPIRAL.

See groove, locked.

ECCLES-JORDAN CIRCUIT.
Eccles-Jordan.

See circuit,

ECH ELETTE GRATING.

A diffraction
grating in which the lines, grooves, have been
shaped so as to concentrate much of the radia
tion of a given wavelength into one particular
order. Particularly useful in the infrared por
tion of the spectrum.
ECHELLEGRAMS.
Spectra on a photo
graphic plate caused by an echelle grating.
ECH ELLE GRATING. In studies of high
resolution diffraction gratings, it is observed
that resolving power at a given wavelength
depends only on the ruled width of the grating
and the angles of illumination and observa
tion, and not explicitly on the number of
ruled grooves. The ruling of many inches of
a grating with a few tens of thousands of lines
per inch is an almost impossible task. An
echelle grating has very fine lines ruled much
farther apart than is customary. Such a grat
ing has very high resolution, but over only
a quite narrow band of wavelengths. Hence
it is customary to cross an echelle grating with
a second grating (or prism) of lower re
solving power, thus producing what is essen
tially a two-dimensional spectrogram or
echellegram.
ECHELON. A highly specialized form of
diffraction grating, devised by Michelson. It
consists of a row of glass plates of exactly

ECHO. A wave which has been reflected at

one or more points with sufficient magnitude
and time difference to be perceived in some
manner as a wave distinct from that of the
main transmission.
ECHO BOX. In radar, a calibrated resonant
cavity which stores part of the transmitted
pulse power and gradually feeds this energy
into the receiving system after completion of
the pulse transmission.
ECHO DEPTH SOUNDING.
The deter
mination of the depth of water by the meas
urement of the time interval required for a
sonic or supersonic pulse to reach the trans
mission point after being reflected from the
bottom.
ECHOES, TERRAIN.

See clutter, ground.

ECHOES, TYPES OF NATURAL. These

include: (1) The discrete single echo.
(2)
The discrete multiple echo (a number of suc
cessive reflections). (3) The overlapping mul
tiple echo reverberation.
(4) The diffuse
echo, due to the scattering of sound by many
small objects.
(5) The harmonic echo, due
to the greater scattering of an overtone than
of the fundamental. (6) The musical echo,
due to reflection from, or scattering by, a
series of objects spaced at uniformly increas
ing distances from the source.
ECHO, FLUTTER. A rapid succession of
reflected pulses resulting from a single initial
pulse.
ECHOING AREA.
cient B.

See back-scattering coeffi

ECHO LEVEL.
P in
Echelon.

equal thickness, packed together to form a

miniature stairway of equal risers. The light
enters normally to the largest plate at one end
(see figure) and emerges at deviation A
through the low risers.
The echelon may also be used as a reflec
tion instrument, the light being reflected from
the steps. W ith 40 plates, a resolving power
over 106 may be obtained, a resolving power
rivaled only by the Fabry-Perot etalon and
the Lummer-Gehrcke plate.

Ie

E = 10 log *

Ir
where E = echo level in decibels, I e = inten
sity of returning sound signal, I r = reference
intensity.
ECHO, MUSICAL. A flutter echo (see echo,
flutter) that is periodic and has a flutter whose
frequency is in the audible range.
ECHO, PAIRED. A method of analyzing the
effects of phase distortion, which represents
the presence of a non-ideal, phase character
istic by two small echo signals.

ECHO, PERMANENT. In a primary radar

system a signal reflected from an object fixed
with respect to the radar site.
ECH O , RADAR.
ECHO RANGING.

See radar "echo.

See ranging, echo.

ECHO, SECOND-TIME-AROUND. An echo

received after an interval exceeding the pulse
repetition interval.
ECHO, SPIN.

See spin echo.

ECHO SUPPRESSOR.

See suppressor, echo.

ECO. Abbreviation for electron-coupled os

cillator.
EDDING TON THEORY. Theory proposed
by A. S. Eddington to describe the observed
values of the proton-electron mass ratio, the
fine structure constant, and other dimensionless ratios. Based primarily on the idea that
in describing a physical system it is not legiti
mate to ignore the presence of the rest of the
universe. It has not yet been possible to put
the theory into a precise form.
ED DY CURRENT(S).

See current(s), eddy.

E D D Y CURRENT ENERGY.
eddy current.
EDGE
edge.

DISLOCATION.

See

See energy,
dislocation,

EDGE EFFECT. In a capacitor comprising

two parallel plates, the electric field is normal
to the plates except near the edges, where the

the small plate and the large plate is given

by the simple theory. A similar edge effect
occurs at the edges of a cylindrical condenser,
and this also may be corrected by guard rings.
Similar edge effects occur in other types of
physical apparatus, such as equipment used
for electrical resistivity or thermal conductiv
ity measurements. Properly designed guard
rings may also be used in such cases to mini
mize edge effect errors.
EDGE, LEADING. The initial, rising portion
of a pulse.
EDGE TONES. The tones produced by the
splitting of an air-jet by a sharp edge main
tained in the jet.
EDISON BATTERY.
EDISON EFFECT.
emission.

See cell, iron-nickel.

Synonym for thermionic

E-DISPLAY (ALSO CALLED E-SCAN AND

E-SCOPE). See display.
EDSER-BUTLER M ETHOD OF CALI
BRATING A SPECTROMETER. B y pass
ing light through an etalon of known thick
ness and then into a spectrometer, the inter
ference bands may be used to determine a
curve giving the relation between wavelength
and position in the spectrum. This method
was invented by Fizeau and Foucault (1850),
used by Esselbach (1885), but brought into
common use by Edser and Butler (1896).
EFFECT, ANTENNA.

See antenna effect.

EFFECTIVE ANGULAR VELOCITY. The

effective angular velocity at a point is the
root mean square value of the instantaneous
angular velocity over a complete cycle at the
point. The unit is the radian per second.

EFFECTIVE AREA, ANTENNA.

tenna area, effective.

See an

Edge effect.

field lines bulge outward. This edge effect

introduces a correction to the capacitance as
computed from the parallel field idealization.
B y giving one plate greater area than the
other, and surrounding the smaller plate with
an auxiliary guard ring maintained at the
potential of the smaller plate, the edge effect
is eliminated, and the capacitance between

EFFECTIVE
FORCE
(EFFECTIVE
M ECHANOM OTIVE FORCE).
(1) The
root mean square of the instantaneous force
(see force, instantaneous) over a complete
cycle. The unit is the dyne. (2) See poten
tial, effective.
EFFECTIVE HEIGHT,
antenna height, effective.

ANTENNA.

See

EFFECTIVE MASS. A parameter of the

dimensions of a mass which is often used in
the band theory of solids. A definition cover
ing all its uses is difficult to frame, but one
may say that electrons at the bottom of a
band, and holes near the top of a band, behave
in many respects as if they were free particles
with masses rather different from the mass of
a free electron.
EFFECTIVE POWER OF A LENS.
reciprocal of the back focal length.

The

EFFECTIVE VALUE. The root-mean-square

quantity.
EFFECTIVE VELOCITY.
The effective
velocity at a point is the root mean square
value of the instantaneous velocity over a
complete cycle at that point. The unit is the
centimeter per second, the meter per second,
etc.
EFFECTIVE W AVELEN G TH . The w ave
length of a monochromatic beam having the
same penetration in a given medium as a
beam of ordinary light.
EFFICIENCY. The general significance of
this term as applied to a device or machine,
in which either a transfer of energy from one
place to another or a transformation of en
ergy from one form to another occurs, may
be expressed as the ratio of useful output to
total input of energy or of power. The ratio
is customarily expressed as a percentage. If
a d-c motor, for example, is operating on 4
amperes at 100 volts (the power input is
400 watts), and if the m otor actually delivers
only 280 watts of mechanical power, its effi
ciency at that load is 280 watts -r- 400 watts,
or 70 per cent. In general, the efficiency of a
machine varies somewhat with the conditions
under which it operates. Usually there is a
load for which the efficiency is a maximum.
This may be illustrated by a heavy blockand-tackle. For a small load the efficiency
would be very low, because of power wasted
in bending the ropes; for an excessive load it
would again be low, on account of the large
friction which would then develop; while for
intermediate loads, higher efficiencies would
prevail.
The concept may be extended to other than
purely mechanical systems. Thus, the effi
ciency of an electric lamp may be expressed

in candles or lumens of luminous flux (out

put) per watt of electric power (in p u t); or
that of an automobile horn in watts of acous
tic power (noise) per watt of electric input.
Various types of heat engine exhibit different
thermodynamic efficiencies, i.e., the ratio of
the work derived in the engine to the heat
energy applied to it. (See thermal efficiency.)
EFFICIENCY, AVAILABLE POWER. Of
an electroacoustic transducer used for sound
reception, the ratio of the electric power avail
able at the electric terminals of the transducer
to the acoustic power available to the trans
ducer.
For an electroacoustic transducer
which obeys the reciprocity theorem, the
available power efficiency in sound reception
is equal to the transmitting efficiency. In a
given narrow-frequency band, the available
power efficiency is numerically equal to the
fraction of the open-circuit mean-square
thermal noise voltage present at the electric
terminals which is contributed by thermal
noise in the acoustic medium.
EFFICIENCY, CIRCUIT (OF THE OUT
PUT CIRCUIT OF ELECTRON TUBES).
The ratio of (1) the power at the desired fre
quency delivered to a load at the output ter
minals of the output circuit of an oscillator or
amplifier to (2) the power at the desired fre
quency delivered by the electron stream to the
output circuit.
EFFICIENCY, CONVERSION. In vacuum
tube amplifier and oscillator circuits, the a-c
(usually radio frequency) power output di
vided by the d-c power input to the plate
circuit. It is also called the plate efficiency.
It varies quite widely with different classes
of amplifiers, running as high as about 80%
in some class C ampliers, from 30 to 70%
(depending upon conditions) in class B and
being of the order of 20% in the usual class
A amplifier.
EFFICIENCY, COUNTING (RADIATIONCOUNTER TUBES). The average fraction
of the number of ionizing particles or quanta
incident on the sensitive volume that produce
tube counts. The operating conditions of the
counter and the condition of irradiation must
be specified.
EFFICIENCY, ELECTRONIC. The ratio
o f (1) the power at the desired frequency de

livered by the electron stream to the circuit

in an oscillator or amplifier, to (2) the average
power supplied to the stream.
E F F I C I E N C Y , E L E C T R O N -S T R E A M
TRANSMISSION. A t an electrode through
which the electron stream passes, the ratio of
(1) the average stream current through the
electrode to (2) the average stream current
approaching the electrode. In connection with
multitransit tubes, the term electron stream
should be taken to include only electrons ap
proaching the electrode for the first time.
EFFICIENCY, LOAD-CIRCUIT.
(1) The
ratio between useful power delivered by the
load circuit to the load and the load-(anode-)
circuit power input. (2) In induction heat
ing and dielectric heating usage, the ratio of
the power absorbed by the load to the power
delivered at the generator output terminals.
EFFICIENCY, LUMINOUS. The ratio of
the luminous flux to the radiant flux. Lumi
nous efficiency is usually expressed in lumens
per watt of radiant flux. It should not be con
fused with the term efficiency as applied to
a practical source of light, since the latter is
based upon the power supplied to the source
instead of the radiant flux from the source.
For energy radiated at a single wavelength,
luminous efficiency is synonymous with lumi
nosity.
EFFICIENCY, OVERALL ELECTRICAL.
The ratio of the power absorbed by the load
material to the total power drawn from the
supply lines.
EFFICIENCY, PLATE (ANODE). The ra
tio of load circuit power (alternating current)
to the plate power input (direct current).
EFFICIENCY, PROJECTOR.
transmitting.

See efficiency,

EFFICIENCY, QUANTUM.
efficiency.

See quantum

EFFICIENCY, RADIATION. The ratio of

the power radiated to the total power sup
plied to an antenna at a given frequency.
EFFICIENCY, STAGE. The ratio of useful
power delivered to the load (alternating cur
rent) to the plate power input (direct current).

EFFICIENCY, TRANSMITTING (PROJEC

TOR EFFICIENCY). Of an electroacoustic
transducer (see transducer, electroacoustic)
the ratio of the total acoustic power output to
the electric power input. In computing the
electric power input, it is customary to omit
any electric power supplied for polarization
or bias.
EFFICIENCY, TRANSPONDER REPLY.
The ratio of the number of replies emitted by
a transponder to the number of interrogations
which transponder recognizes as valid. The
interrogations recognized as valid include both
those properly coded and those accidentally
combined to form recognizable codes, the lat
ter normally being computed statistically.
EFFLORESCENCE. The property of hy
drated salts (i.e., chemical compounds of salts
with water) whereby they lose some or all of
their water of crystallization to the atmos
phere. The necessary condition is that the
water-vapor pressure of the salt is greater
than the partial pressure of water vapor in
the atmosphere. The process continues until
the vapor pressure of the salt is nearly equal
to the partial pressure of the water in the
atmosphere.
EFFU SIOMETER.
Any instrument meas
uring rates of effusion of material from an
orifice.
EFFUSION. A general term denoting a proc
ess of discharge, that is also used specifically
to denote the passage of a gas under pressure
through a small orifice. This process is also
called diffusion. (See Graham law.)
EHF.

Abbreviation for extra-high frequency.

EHRENFEST ADIABATIC L A W .
For a
virtual and infinitely slow alteration of the
coupling conditions, the quantum numbers of
the atomic system do not change, and the
number of terms also does not change.
E-H TEE.

See waveguide tee, E-H.

E-H TUNER.

See waveguide tuner, E-H.

EIGENFUNCTION. (1) If a differential or

integral equation possesses solutions satisfying
the given boundary conditions for only certain
values of a parameter A, such a value of A
is an eigenvalue (proper or characteristic
value) and the corresponding solution is the

eigenfunction belonging to the eigenvalue.

Thus, given the linear operator O, the solu
tions u\ to the equation O u = ku are the
eigenfunctions of the operator O belonging to
the respective eigenvalues A. I f the set of all
eigenfunctions of a linear Hermitian operator
are non-degenerate they will form an orthog
onal set which is normalizable. If the orig
inal set of eigenvalues is degenerate, it is pos
sible to form a new set from linear com bina
tions of the old one, such that the new set
will be orthogonal and will be a set of eigen
functions of the given operator which is also
normalizable. N o specific case has been found
where the set is not also complete.
(2) As used in quantum mechanics, the
eigenfunctions of a quantum mechanical op
erator (see operators, quantum mechanical).
(3) Often used as a synonym for energy
eigenfunction (see quantum mechanics, nonrelativistic; Schrdinger equation).
EIGENSTATE. Let ^(r,i) represent the state
(2) of a quantum mechanical system. ^(r,)
is said to be an eigenstate of the quantum me
chanical operator A if it satisfies the eigen
value equation A ^ (r ,t) a\p{r,t) where a is a
constant (the eigenvalue). A measurement
of the dynamical variable corresponding to
the operator A will then certainly yield the
result a.
EIGENVALUE. (1) See eigenfunction. (2)
I f A is a, scalar parameter, A a square matrix
of order n, and E the unit matrix of the same
dimension, then K = [AE A] is the char
acteristic matrix of A. The equation det K =
0 = An + a1\n~ 1 H------+ an, where the a* are
functions of the elements of A, is the char
acteristic equation of A and its roots are the
eigenvalues or characteristic roots. The trace
of A is the sum of the eigenvalues. Tw o
matrices related by a similarity transforma
tion have the same eigenvalues and hence the
same trace. (3) See integral equation. (4)
As used in quantum mechanics, the eigen
values of a quantum mechanical operator.
Th ey represent the possible results of a meas
urement of the dynamical variable correspond
ing to the operator. F or example the eigen
values of the Hamiltonian operator are the
possible allowed energy values of the system,
and similarly for the eigenvalues of the total
angular momentum operator, its ^-component,
etc. It is often found that as a result of the

imposition of boundary conditions and/or con

ditions of good behavior (see well-behaved),
such as finiteness and single valuedness, solu
tions to an eigenvalue equation exist only for
discrete eigenvalues. This quantization of the
eigenvalues can be specified in terms of num
bers called quantum numbers that arise from
the mathematics of the boundary value prob
lem. (See also operators, quantum mechani
cal.)
EIGENVALUE EQUATION. An equation
of the form
= A^ where P is a linear oper
ator and A is a constant. $ is called the
eigenfunction of the operator P correspond
ing to the eigenvalue A.
EIGENVECTOR.
A n eigenfunction, re
garded as a vector in an abstract space. (See
state vector; Hilbert space.)
EIGHTAR.

Designation for a tube base.

EIGHT BALL. A spherically-shaped, nondirectional microphone.

EIKONAL EQUATION. The fundamental
equation determining the path o f a ray:
IVPF j2 = n2(x,y,z),
where n is the index of refraction for the
waves and W (x,y,z) is a function defining the
wave fronts of the wave.
EIKONOMETER. A scale, attached to the
eyepiece of a microscope, which is seen super
imposed on the image, and is used to measure
the dimensions of the objects viewed.
EINSTEIN-BOSE STATISTICS.
Einstein statistics.

See Bose-

EINSTEIN COEFFICIENTS. Discussed un

der Einstein transition probabilities.
EINSTEIN CONDENSATION.
Einstein condensation.

See Bose-

EINSTEIN-DE HAAS M ETHOD. A tech

nique for measuring the gyromagnetic effect
by reversing the magnetization of a freely
suspended specimen and observing the re
sulting rotation.
EINSTEIN DIFFUSION EQUATION. An
equation for the mean square displacement of
spherical colloidal particles in a gas or liquid,
due to Brownian movement.
The mean

square displacement from its original position

after a time r is
x

RT
= -------- - r.
SwTjrN

where R is the gas constant, T is the absolute

temperature, r is the radius of the particle,
7] is the viscosity, N is Avogadros number.
This relationship is only valid for particles of
such size that they obey Stokes law (1).
EINSTEIN EQUATION FOR H EAT CA
PACITY. A quantum relationship for the
heat capacity at constant volume of an ele
ment, of the form :
C = ZR
v
\/c t )

\(eh' /kT -

\
l ) 2/

in which Cv is the heat capacity at constant

volume for one gram-atom of an element, R
is the gas constant, h is Plancks constant, k
is the Boltzmann constant, v is the character
istic frequency of oscillation of the atoms of
the element, T is the absolute temperature,
and e is the natural logarithmic base. This
type of function represents the contribution of
the optical modes to the specific heat of a
solid, which is otherwise more accurately
given by a Debye function.
The Einstein equation was the first approxi
mation to a quantum theoretical explanation
o f the variation of specific heat with tempera
ture. It was later replaced by the Debye the
ory of specific heats and its modifications.
EINSTEIN FORMULA FOR MASS-ENERGY
EQUIVALENCE. The equivalence of a quan
tity of mass m and a quantity of energy E by
the formula E = me2.
(See mass-energy
equivalence.)
EINSTEINIUM. On February 1, 1954, the
A tom ic Energy Commission announced the
discovery of the element of atomic number
99. The mass number of the nuclide reported
is 247, and it resulted from bombardment of
atoms of uranium 238 by nitrogen nuclei. The
report stated that this nuclide is radioactive
and short-lived, changing into berkelium, and
that it is not fissionable.
EINSTEIN L A W OF GRAVITATION. The
equation R ^ 8?tT ^ where T^v is the en
ergy momentum tensor and R ^ = G^
VzQ^vG is the contracted Riemann-Christoffel

tensor, G is the curvature. In empty space the

law becomes G^v = 0. (See cosmological con
stant.)
EINSTEIN L A W OF PHOTOCHEMICAL
EQUIVALENCE. See Stark-Einstein law.
EINSTEIN
PHOTOELECTRIC
EQUA
TION. An equation giving the kinetic energy
o f an electron ejected from a system in the
photoelectric effect, where the electron is
ejected by an incident photon, absorbing all
the energy of the latter. This equation is:
E k = hv -

where E k is the kinetic energy of the ejected

electron, h is the Planck constant, v is the fre
quency associated with the absorbed photon,
and W is the energy necessary to remove the
electron from the system.
EINSTEIN RELATIONSHIP BETW EEN
MOBILITY AND DIFFUSION CONSTANT.
The mobility /jl of charges in a semiconductor,
or ionic solution is related to the diffusion
coefficient D by
H eD/kT
where e is the magnitude of the charge, k is
the Boltzmann constant, and T is the absolute
temperature.
EINSTEIN SHIFT. A shift toward the red
in the spectral lines of light, this shift result
ing from a slight reduction in frequency of
the light as it emerges from a strong gravita
tional field, such as that of a dense star.
EINSTEIN
TRANSITION
PROBABILI
TIES. In Einsteins derivation of the Planck
radiation formula for a black body three co
efficients were introduced which are of im
portance in the consideration of spectral in
tensities. Assume two quantum states m and
n of a system such that the energy level E m
is higher than E n ; then transition from the
upper to the lower state is accompanied by
emission of radiation o f frequency
Em

Vmn ~

"
h

En

Assume further that there are a large number

of identical systems (atoms or molecules) in
equilibrium with black body radiation at a
temperature T. Then the rate at which sys-

383

Einstein Unified Field Theories Elastic After-effect or Lag

terns pass spontaneously from state m to n, b y

emission of radiation, is given b y

f dNA
\ dt A "

n ,r

where A mn is known as Einsteins coefficient of

spontaneous emission, and N m is the number of
systems in state m. But the rate at which
systems can pass from the upper to lower state
is also dependent upon the density of the radi
ation, p (% n), so that there is a second process
defined b y the relation,

where B mn is known as Einsteins coefficient of

induced emission.
Furthermore, the system can pass from the
lower to the upper state b y absorption of radi
ation, and the rate of this reaction will be given
by

where N n = number of systems in quantum

state n, and B nm is known as Einstein s coeffi
cient of absorption.
EINSTEIN UNIFIED FIELD THEORIES.
A series of attempts by Einstein, between
1931 and 1948, to obtain a unified theory of
gravitation and electromagnetism.
These
represented his dissatisfaction with the in
determinacy of quantum theory, and his
search for a unifying principle more general
than those which he had discovered in gen
eral and special relativity theory (see rela
tivity, general theory, and relativity, special
theory). One attempt (Einstein and M ayer,
1931) was a generalization of Kaluza theory
based on a five-dimensional tensor calculus
of functions which depended on only four
dimensions. A later theory (Einstein, Bargmann and Bergmann, 1941) was based on a
five-dimensional continuum with the hope that
it would lead to indeterminacy when expressed
in terms of four dimensions. A third theory
(1948) was based on a complex but Hermitian
metric, the real part of which described the
gravitational potentials, the imaginary part
describing the electromagnetic field strengths.
General arguments by Johnson (1953) indi
cate that this theory is inconsistent with the
laws of Newton and of Coulomb, although

Einstein believed that such general arguments

were not applicable.
EINSTEIN UNIT.
A photochemical unit
quantity defined under the heading StarkEinstein equation.
EINSTEIN UNIVERSE. M odel o f the uni
verse in which the interval between two events
is given by
dr2
ds2 c2dt2 r2(dd2 + sin2 6d(j>2) ------------ - -
'
1 - r2/R2
where R is the radius of the universe. The
model may be regarded as a four-dimensional
cylindrical surface embedded in five-dim en
sional space.
EINSTEIN VISCOSITY EQUATION (FOR
SOLS). For a suspension of rigid spheres
V
Vsp ~

Vo

=2 .50 ,

where tj8P is the specific viscosity, rj0 is the

viscosity of pure solvent, and </> is the volume
fraction of the disperse phase, and is equal
to the volume of the spheres (or particles),
divided by the total volume.
In the derivation the following assumptions
are made:
1. The radii of the spheres are large com
pared with those of the solvent, but small
compared with the dimensions of the ap
paratus.
2. The distance between the spheres is large
compared with their radius, i.e., the vol
ume concentration of the particles is
small.
3. The effects of gravitation and inertia
are negligible.
EISNER-LACHS THEOREM. The theorem,
proved by Eisner and Lachs in 1947, states
that in a nuclear reaction produced with an
unpolarized beam of given orbital angular mo
mentum incident on an unpolarized target,
the angular distribution of the outgoing in
tensity cannot be more complicated than that
of the incoming intensity.
(See also Yang
theorem on angular distributions.)
ELASTANCE. The reciprocal of capacitance,
measured in darafs.
ELASTIC AFTER-EFFECT OR LAG. The
time delay which some substances exhibit in

returning to original shape after being stressed

within their elastic limits. There is some evi
dence that the magnitude of this time depends
on the homogeneity of structure of the sub
stance. For instance, quartz, which has a
homogeneous structure, shows almost no lag.
Glass, which is a mixture of aggregates, can
have a time delay of the order of hours.
ELASTIC AXIS.

See flexure.

ELASTIC
COEFFICIENTS,
LATTICE
THEORY OF.
The elastic constants and
elastic moduli of crystals may be calculated
on the assumption that the only forces are
those between near neighbors in the lattice.
Such a calculation gives reasonable results
for ionic crystals, but is quite unsatisfactory
for metals, where the Cauchy relations are
not obeyed. The free electron gas in a metal
is not easily compressed but scarcely opposes
shear.
ELASTIC CONSTANTS (ALSO KNOW N
AS COMPLIANCE CONSTANTS). The co
efficients of the relations by which the com
ponents of the elastic strain are expressed as
linear functions of the stress components. In
general there are 21 different coefficients, but
the number m ay be reduced by the crystal
symmetry of the solid. (See also Voigt nota
tion.)
ELASTIC CURVE. The curve of the neutral
surface of a structural member subjected to
loads which cause bending is called the elastic
curve. The ordinates between this curve and
the original position of the neutral surface
represent the deflections due to bending.
ELASTIC HYSTERESIS CONSTANT. The
ratio of the area (expressed in energy units)
of the stress-strain hysteresis loop, for a unit
volume of the material, to the square of the
maximal strain.
ELASTICITY. The property whereby a body,
when deformed, automatically recovers its
normal configuration as the deforming forces
are removed. Each of its several types is
probably due to the action of intermolecular
forces which are in equilibrium only for cer
tain configurations.
D eform ation or, more briefly, strain is of
various kinds; in each case its measure is a
certain abstract ratio. For example, the elon
gation of a rod under tension is expressed as

the ratio of the increase in length to the un

stretched length. Linear compression is the
reverse of elongation. They are both accom
panied by a fractional change in diameter,
the ratio of which to the elongation is called
the Poisson ratio. Shear is a strain involv
ing change of shape, such that an imaginary
cube traced in the unstrained material be
comes a rhombic prism. The measure of shear
is the tangent of the angle through which the
oblique edges have been made to depart from
their original perpendicular direction. V ol
ume strain is the ratio of a decrease in volume
to the normal volume. Flexure or bending,
and torsion or twisting, are combinations of
these more elementary strains. A straight
rod bent into a plane curve undergoes elonga
tion on the convex side and linear compression
on the concave side, while there is an inter
mediate neutral layer which suffers neither.
For every strain there arises, in an elastic
substance, a corresponding stress, which rep
resents the tendency of the substance to re
cover its normal condition. Stress is expressed
in units of force per unit area. Tensile stress,
for example, is the ratio of the force of tension
to the normal cross-section of the rod sub
jected to it. Shearing stress is the force tend
ing to push one layer of the material past the
adjacent layer, per unit area of the layers.
Pressure, expressed in like units, is the stress
corresponding to volume compression, etc.
For each type of strain and stress there is
a modulus, which is the ratio of the stress to
the corresponding strain. In the case of elon
gation or linear compression, it is commonly
called the Young modulus; we also have the
bulk modulus and the shear modulus or
rigidity.
In engineering design the Young modulus
is used for tension and compression and the
rigidity modulus for shear, as in torsion
springs. (See Hooke law.)
ELASTIC LIM IT. The maximum unit stress
which can be obtained in a structural material
without causing a permanent deformation is
called the elastic limit.
ELASTIC M ODULI (OR STIFFNESS CON
STANTS). The coefficients of the relations
by which the components of stress are ex
pressed as linear functions of the components
of the elastic strain. The number of these
depends on the crystal symmetry of the raa-

terial. (See also Voigt notation and elastic

constants.)
ELASTIC
elastic.

SCATTERING.

E LAYER.

An ionized layer in the E region.

See

collision,

ELECTRA. A specific radio navigation aid

that provides a number (usually 24) of equisignal zones.
Electra is similar to Sonne
except that in Sonne the equi-signal zones as
a group are periodically rotated in bearing.
ELECTRALLOY.
An alloy of iron fre
quently used for chassis or panels in elec
tronic equipment.
ELECTRET. A permanently-polarized piece
of dielectric material; the analog of a mag
net.
Barium titanate ceramics, preferably
containing a small percentage of lead titanate,
can be polarized by cooling from a tempera
ture above the Curie point in an applied elec
tric field.
Electrets are also produced by
solidification of mixtures of certain organic
waxes in a strong electric field.
ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT SYMBOL STAND
ARDS. I.R .E . standards for electrical circuit
notation are as follows:
102.11. Instantaneous values of current,
voltage, and power which vary with time are
represented by the lower-case letter of the
proper symbol.
Exam ple: i, e , p, ig, ea.
102.12. Maximum, average, and root-m eansquare values are represented by the upper
case letter of the proper symbol.
Exam ple: / , E , P, I p, E p.
I f necessary to distinguish between maxi
mum, average, or root-mean-square values:
M aximum values may be represented by the
subscript ra.
Exam ple: E m, I m, E pm.
Average values m ay be represented by the
subscript a v
Example: E av, Ipav
Root-m ean-square or effective values m ay
be represented by the upper-case letter with
out subscript.
Exam ple: E 7 7, E gi I p.
ELECTRICAL
CONDUCTIVITY IN A
PLASMA. The ratio of the current density
to the rate at which electrons in a unit volume
gain momentum from collisions with positive

ions. In the absence of a magnetic field and

for hydrogen, the electrical conductivity is
m h o/cm deg ^

T y%

6.5 X 103

In A

where T is the electron temperature in K and

In A is a factor relating to the Debye radius
and is approximately equal to 10 over a wide
range of charge density. In the presence of a
magnetic field the electrical conductivity be
comes a tensor, i.e., the components are de
pendent on the direction with respect to the
magnetic field.
ELECTRICAL DISTANCE.
electrical.
ELECTRICAL EFFICIENCY,
See efficiency, overall electrical.

See distance,

OVERALL.

ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC DOUBLE

REFRACTION. In 1875 Kerr discovered that
glass and many other isotropic, transparent
solids and liquids exhibit double refraction
like crystals, when placed in a strong electric
field; and in 1905 C otton and M outon, after
some preliminary results by Kerr and others,
demonstrated the corresponding phenomenon
with a magnetic field. These are now known
respectively as the Kerr effect and the CottonMouton effect. In both cases the magnitude
o f the effect, as measured by the phase differ
ence produced per unit thickness of medium,
is, for a given substance, wavelength, and tem
perature, proportional to the square of the
field intensity. The optic axis of the doubly
refracting substance corresponds to the direc
tion of the imposed field.
Of the two phenomena the Kerr effect is
much more pronounced and is as yet the only
one of practical importance. The Kerr cell,
in which nitrobenzene, a liquid, is commonly
employed because of its large and quick re
sponse to the electric field, has in recent years
been extensively used as an electro-optical
control or shutter for light beams, for exam
ple, in the recording of sound pictures. R e
cently, ferrites have been used to rotate the
plane of polarization of microwaves, in the
presence of a magnetic field.
ELECTRIC (AL) AXIS. That axis o f a crys
tal along which the electrical resistance is
m inim al

ELECTRIC (AL)
CONDUCTIVITY.
conductivity, electrical.

See

ELECTRIC CONSTANT. (Sym bol e0.) The

electric constant pertinent to any system
of units is the scalar dimensional factor o
appearing in the Coulomb law of force be
tween two charges in vacuo:
F = qiq2/kr2.
ELECTRIC CURRENT.
trie.
ELECTRIC DEGREE.

See current, eleo

dB
V x E ------------dt
or alternatively
(e ds = - - T b dA.
J
dt J
(See Maxwells Equations; Faraday law of
electromagnetic induction.)
ELECTRIC FLUX DENSITY (INDUC
TION). See displacement, electric.

See degree.

ELECTRIC DEPTH FINDER.

An electric field is also produced by a changing

magnetic field, and is then given by

See sonar.

ELECTRIC DISPLACEMENT.
placement, electric.

See

dis

ELECTRIC DISPLACEMENT
See electric flux density.

DENSITY.

ELECTRIC DOUBLE LAYER.

layer, electric.

See double

ELECTRIC EYE. (1) Colloquial name for

any type of photoelectric or photovoltaic cell.
(2) Colloquial name for the cathode ray tun
ing indicator used on some radio receivers.
ELECTRIC FIELD. See field; electric field
strength; electromagnetic field.
ELECTRIC FIELD STRENGTH (INTEN
SITY. The force (vector) per unit positive
charge, E = F /q, where q is the magnitude of
the test charge. In the mksa system of units
it is measured in newtons/coulomb, or equiv
alently in volts/meter. For its units in other
systems see electromagnetic units. The mag
nitude of the electric field strength at a dis
tance r from a point charge Q is, from Cou
lombs Law, E Q/4:7roT2 (mksa units) and
its direction is along r, outward from the
charge Q if Q is positive. The electrostatic
field strength due to a number of stationary
charges is
E X /47re0?*i3,
i

where the summation is a vector sum. The

field due to stationary charges is a conserva
tive field and the field strength may therefore
be represented as the negative gradient of a
potential F,
E = grad V V F.

ELECTRIC GENERATOR.
and direct-current generator.
ELECTRIC IMAGE.
ages, method of.

See alternator;

See electrostatics; im

ELECTRIC INSULATION. A ny dielectric

is an electric insulator, but experience has
demonstrated the value of certain solids, such
as glass, porcelain, rubber, mica, silk, paraffin,
etc., for practical use. Oil and air also are
often used where very high voltages are em
ployed.
W ith solid insulators, mechanical
strength is often a consideration; as are also
incombustibility, flexibility, non-hygroscopic
character, high surface-resistance, the ability
to withstand high temperatures, the possibil
ity of being machined or molded, and m od
erate cost. Low dielectric constant would also
be desirable in cases where distributed capaci
tance is to be minimized. The primary re
quirement of an insulator, however, concerns
its insulating strength, that is, the maximum
voltage per unit thickness which the material
will sustain without electric breakdown or
sparkover. (This is quite apart from its re
sistivity.) In reckoning this with alternating
voltages, the maximum or peak voltage must
be used, which is \/2 or 1.41 times the effec
tive voltage at which the service is rated.
(Thus the insulation on an 11,000-volt line
must be able to sustain 15,600 volts.)
ELECTRICITY. See Introduction and en
tries under electric and electro-.
ELECTRIC JUNCTION EQUATION.
Kirchhoff laws.
ELECTRIC LAMP,

See lamp, electric,

See

ELECTRIC(AL) LENGTH. See length, elec

trical).
ELECTRIC (AL) M ETHO D FOR LATENT
H EAT OF FUSION. The substance is first
cooled below its freezing point, and then elec
trically heated in a (vacuum) calorimeter. As
the melting point is reached, heat has to be
supplied without a rise in temperature tak
ing place. Once the substance has been com
pletely melted, heating will again take place
as the liquid phase is warmed above the melt
ing point. The energy supplied during the
interval when the temperature was steady is
the heat of fusion. F or an accurate deter
mination, knowledge of the specific heats of
the solid and liquid forms near the melting
point is essential.
ELECTRIC (AL)
M ODULATION.
modulation, electric(al).
ELECTRIC M OM ENT.
dipole moment.
ELECTRIC MOTOR.

See

See electrostatics;

See motor, electric.

ELECTRIC (AL)
MUSICAL
INSTRU
MENTS. A ny musical instrument which em
ploys electrically or electronically operated
sound generators or amplifiers. These include:
1. Vibration pickup attached to sounding
board, amplifier and loudspeaker (e.g.,
electric guitar).
2. Electric pianos in which string vibrations
are converted to electrical variations.
3. Electric organs either with or without
direct use of electric oscillations.
4. H armonic synthesizers.
5. Electric carillons with tuned coiled v i
brators, magnetoelectric translators, am
plifiers and reproducers.
ELECTRIC NETW ORK.
tric.

See network, elec

ELECTRIC - NETW ORK RECIPROCITY

THEOREM. See reciprocity theorem, electric-network.
ELECTRIC NETWORKS, LAW S OF. See
Kirchhoff laws of networks, reciprocity
theorem, Thevenins theorem; Nyquists sta
bility criterion.
ELECTRIC (AL)
NEUTRALITY
IN
A
PLASMA. A basic property of a plasma is its
tendency to remain electrically neutral due to

the very large space charge forces which re

sult when approximate electrical neutrality is
not maintained. The Debye shielding dis
tance measures the distance over which the
electron charge density can deviate appre
ciably from the ion charge density.
ELECTRIC (AL) NOISE.
trical.

See noise, elec

ELECTRIC OSCILLATIONS AND ELEC

TRIC WAVES. The most important early
researches in this field were carried out by
Heinrich Hertz, who, about 1888, discovered
that when an electric discharge takes place
in a circuit having suitable inductance and
capacitance, the resulting oscillations of the
electricity therein give rise to radiation, usu
ally some meters in wavelength. The exist
ence of the radiation was predicted by the
Maxwell equations and was proved by its in
ducing oscillations in a similar circuit set up
at a distance. He found that this Hertzian ra
diation can be reflected by metal surfaces and
refracted by large blocks or prisms of dielec
tric material, just as light is reflected and re
fracted, and that it exhibits corresponding
interference phenomena. The applications of
Hertzian waves in radio are treated elsewhere.
Electric waves may be propagated on long
wires or through waveguides and coaxial lines,
somewhat as sound waves travel through a
long tube. B y suitably terminating the line,
the waves may be reflected and made to form
interference nodes as do sound waves in an
organ pipe. The wavelength may be thus de
termined by what is known as the Lecher
oscillator method.
ELECTRIC (AL) POTENTIAL. See poten
tial, electric; and electromotive force.
ELECTRIC RESET
electric (relay).

(RELAY).

See reset,

ELECTRIC (AL) RESISTIVITY.

Compare
discussion of conductivity, electrical.
ELECTRIC SCALAR
wave potentials.

POTENTIAL.

See

ELECTRIC
electric.

SCREENING.

See screening,

ELECTRIC
electric.

SHIELDING.

See screening,

ELECTRIC VECTOR.
tensity.

See electric field in-

ELECTRIC VECTOR
wave potentials.

POTENTIAL.

See

ELECTRIC W AVES.
See #lectric oscilla
tions and electric waves.
ELECTRIFICATION BY INDUCTION.
induction, electrification by.

See

ELECTRO ACOUSTICAL
RECIPROCITY
THEOREM. See reciprocity theorem, elec
tro acoustical.
ELECTROCAPILLARITY. The surface ten
sion or interfacial tension between two con
ducting liquids in contact, such as mercury
and a dilute acid, is sensibly altered when an
electric current passes across the interface.
As a result, when the contact is in a capillary
tube, the pressure difference on the opposite
sides of the meniscus is affected by a current
traversing the capillary column, to an extent
dependent upon the direction of the current
across the boundary. This has been utilized
in different forms of capillary electrometer.

Capillary electrometer.

In the Dewar type, two small vessels of mer

cury are joined below the mercury level by
a horizontal capillary tube, the mercury in
which is interrupted by a short space filled
with dilute acid. Upon applying a small p o
tential difference to the two bodies of mercury,
the equilibrium is disturbed and the drop of
acid moves toward the low-potential end until
the resultant capillary pressure is balanced
b y the hydrostatic pressure of the mercury.
Since this effect is approximately proportional
to the potential difference, the apparatus
serves as an indicator for potentials of a few
hundred millivolts.

For hydrogen it is 0.00001036 g, and this figure

multiplied by the gram-equivalent weight of
any substance will furnish its electrochemical
equivalent.
(2) Of electricity, the faraday.
ELECTRODE. In an electric circuit, part
of which is composed of other than the usual
conductor of copper, or other metal, the ter
minal connecting the conventional conductor
and the conducting substances is an electrode.
Examples of electrodes are to be found in the
electric battery, where they dip in the elec
trolyte; the electric furnace, where the elec
trodes connect the external circuit with the
heating a rc; and the metallic elements in
thermionic tubes and gas-discharge devices,
and in semiconductor devices, where they per
form one or more of the functions of emitting,
collecting or controlling by an electric field
the movements of electrons and ions.
ELECTRODE (ELECTRON TUBES).
A
conducting element that performs one or more
of the functions of emitting, collecting, or
controlling by an electromagnetic field, the
movements of electrons or ions.
(See elec
trode accelerating; anode (electron tubes);
backplate (camera tubes); cathode; collector;
control electrode; control grid; electrode, de
flecting; dynode (electron tubes); filament;
electrode, focusing; grid; electrode, ignitor;
electrode, intensifier; electrode, modulating;
starter (gas tubes); target (camera tubes).)
ELECTRODE, ACCELERATING.
In a
cathode-ray tube, the accelerating electrode is
also known as Anode No. 2. This electrode
serves to increase the kinetic energy of the
electron stream by increasing its velocity so
that upon impact on the screen a visible radia
tion will be emitted.
ELECTRODE ADMITTANCE (OF THE
;T H ELECTRODE OF AN n-ELECTRODE
ELECTRON TUBE). See admittance elec
trode (of the ;th electrode of an n-electrode
electron tube).

ELECTROCAPILLARY CURVE. The curve

obtained by plotting the interfacial tension
of a mercury surface in contact with an aque
ous solution of an electrolyte as a function
of the applied potential.

ELECTRODE, ANTIMONY. An electrode

of metallic antimony that has sufficient anti
mony oxide (Sb^Os) on its surface to function
as an oxide electrode for the measurement of
pH.

ELECTROCHEM ICAL EQUIVALENT. (1)

The mass of any chemical substance liberated
by one coulomb of electricity in electrolysis.

ELECTRODE, CALOMEL.
A standard
electrode of mercury, mercurous chloride
(calom el), and potassium chloride. Its po-

tential relative to the normal hydrogen elec

trode, if a m olar potassium chloride solution
is used, is 0.2800 volt at 25C.
(See also
electrode, Hildebrand.)
ELECTRODE
CAPACITANCE
(n-TERMINAL TUBE). See capacitance, electrode
(n-terminal tube).
ELECTRODE CHARACTERISTIC. A rela
tion, usually shown by a graph, between the
electrode voltage and the current to an elec
trode, all other electrode voltages being main
tained constant. (See also characteristic equa
tion.)
ELECTRODE CONCENTRATION
See cell, electrode concentration.
ELECTRODE CONDUCTANCE.
ductance, electrode.

CELL.
See con

ELECTRODE, CONTROL. See control elec

trode.
ELECTRODE, CONVERGENCE. An elec
trode whose magnetic field converges two or
more electron beams.
ELECTRODE CURRENT. See current, elec
trode.
ELECTRODE DARK CURRENT.
rent, dark.

E L E C T R O D E , GAS. An electrode that con

tains a gas by adsorption, absorption, or other
means and thus presents a gaseous surface to a
solution in contact with the electrode.
E L E C T R O D E , GLASS. A thin-walled glass
membrane, separating a solution of known
pH from another solution whose pH is to be
determined. A standard electrode dips into
each of these two solutions. From the total
electromotive force of the cell and the pH
o f the standard solution, the pH o f the un
known may be calculated.
E L E C T R O D E , H IL D E B R A N D . T w o elec
trodes bear the name of Hildebrand. (1) A
modified calomel electrode (see electrode,
calomel).
(2) A platinum electrode in an
apparatus containing hydrogen and used as
a hydrogen electrode. (See electrode, hydrogen.)

See cur

ELECTRODE, DECELERATING.
In an
electron-beam tube, an electrode the potential
of which provides an electric field to decrease
the velocity of the beam electrons.
ELECTRODE, D EFLECTING.
An elec
trode the potential of which provides an elec
tric field to produce deflection of a beam of
electrons or other charged particles.
ELECTRODE DISSIPATION.
tion, electrode.

E L E C T R O D E , FO CU SIN G. A metal cylin

der in a cathode-ray tube, otherwise known as
Anode No. 1. The electrostatic field produced
by this electrode in combination with the con
trol electrode, and the accelerating electrode
acts similarly to an optical lens in focusing
the electron stream to a small spot on the
screen.

See dissipa

ELECTRODE, DROPPING. An electrode

consisting of a steady flow of droplets of mer
cury into the electrolyte of a cell.
ELECTRODE EQUIVALENT DARK-CUR
RENT INPUT. The incident luminous flux
that would be required to give an output cur
rent equal to the electrode dark current.
Since dark current may change considerably
with temperature, temperature should be
specified.

ELECTRODE, HYDROGEN. (1) An electrode in which hydrogen gas at atmospheric

pressure bubbles past a platinum-black elec
trode maintained in contact with an acid solu
tion. (2) M ore generally, any electrode which
can be used in the measurement of hydrogen
ion concentration, such as the quinhydrone
electrode, the glass electrode, and many others.
ELECTRODE
IG N IT O R
(SW IT C H IN G
TU BES). An electrode used to initiate and
sustain the ignitor discharge.
E L E C T R O D E IM P E D A N C E . The recipro
cal of the electrode admittance.
E L E C T R O D E , IN T E N S IF IE D A post-ac
celerating electrode. (See cathode-ray tube,
after-acceleration.)
E L E C T R O D E L E S S D ISC H A R G E .
charge, electrodeless.

See dis

E L E C T R O D E , M O D U L A T IN G .
An elec
trode to which a potential is applied to con
trol the magnitude of the beam current.

ELECTRODE, NORMAL CALOMEL. An

electrode of mercury in contact with a normal
solution of potassium chloride saturated with
calomel.
ELECTRODE, NULL. An electrode having
a thermodynamic potential of zero; i.e., an
electrode in which there is actually no differ
ence of potential between the metal and the
ionic solution. It is believed, however, that
no such electrodes have been prepared. E lec
trodes are known whereby, due to relative
motion, it is possible to obtain an electrokinetic potential of zero, but it does not fol
low that their reversible potential is zero.
ELECTRODE OF THE SECOND ORDER.
An electrode of metal in contact with one of
its difficultly soluble salts in the presence of
a solution of a salt which has the same anion
as the less soluble salt. E.g.,
H g /H g 2C l2/K C l.
Electrodes of this type are not essentially
different from an ordinary electrode in con
tact with a solution of one of its salts.
ELECTRODE, OXIDATION-REDUCTION.
An inert (e.g., platinum) electrode in a m ix
ture of oxidized and reduced ions, such as
ferric-ferrous, stannic-stannous, quinone-hydroquinone.
ELECTRODE, PAD. One of a pair of elec
trode plates between which a load is placed
for dielectric heating.
ELECTRODE POTENTIAL. The potential
of a metal in equilibrium with a solution of
its ions. The establishment of electrode p o
tential is regarded as the resultant of the rates
of two processes, passage of ions from the
electrode into solution, and discharge of ions
from solution upon the electrode. Thus, the
potential of an electrode is the component of
cell potential (see cell, electric) associated
with the reaction at one electrode.
ELECTRODE POTENTIAL, STANDARD.
The potential of a given electrode relative to
the hydrogen electrode when all the elements
in both electrodes are in their standard states.
ELECTRODE, QUINHYDRONE. An elec
trode of quinhydrone, which accepts protons
(hydrogen ions) to yield hydroquinone, and
donates protons to yield p-benzoquinone, and

has, therefore, a definite relation between its

potential and the pH of the solution. Its
values have been recorded at definite tem
peratures, and it is used as a standard elec
trode in pH measurement.
ELECTRODE RESISTANCE. The recipro
cal of the electrode conductance. This is the
effective parallel resistance and is not the real
component of the electrode impedance.
ELECTRODE, REVERSIBLE. An electrode
used in a reversible electrochemical reaction.
There are three types of reversible electrodes
used in reversible cells. The first type con
sists of a metal which is in contact with a
solution containing its ions. The second type
consists of a metal and one of its insoluble
salts in contact with a solution containing a
soluble salt with the same anion. This type
of electrode is reversible with respect to the
anions. The third type of electrode is a metal
which is resistant to acids and bases, in con
tact with a solution which contains ions in
two valence states. Oxidation or reduction is
the reversible reaction which occurs at this
type of electrode. (See also electrode of the
second order and electrode, oxidation-reduction.)
ELECTRODE, SELF. In emission spectros
copy, an electrode composed of the material
being analyzed.
ELECTRODES, HORIZONTAL DEFLECT
ING. The pair of electrodes located in the
vertical plane in an electrostatic-deflection
cathode-ray tube which are used to produce
beam deflection in the horizontal plane.
ELECTRODE, SIGNAL. In a camera tube,
an electrode from which the signal output is
obtained.
ELECTRODE(S), SLIDING. An arrange
ment whereby electrodes enclosed within a
glass vessel m ay have several different con
figurations. F or example, a movable system
may be mounted in such a way that it can
slide along a wire or glass-rod framework into
different positions.
ELECTRODE, SOUNDING. A probe used
to make measurements in a gas discharge.
ELECTRODE, SUPPORTING. In emission
spectroscopy, an electrode, other than a self

electrode, on or in which the sample is sup

ported.

paper has a pitch black layer which is ex

posed by the sparking.

ELECTRODE VOLTAGE.
trode.

ELECTROKINETIC
EFFECTS.
M ov e
ments of particles under the influence of an
applied electric field.

See voltage, elec

ELECTRODIALYSIS. The removal of elec

trolytes from a colloidal solution by a com
bination of electrolysis and dialysis. Usually
the colloidal solution is placed in a vessel with
two dialyzing membranes with pure water in
compartments on the other side of the mem
branes. Tw o electrodes are inserted in the
pure water compartments and an applied emf
causes the ions to migrate from the colloidal
solution.
ELECTRODYNAMICS.
As distinct from
electrostatics, the branch of electricity and
magnetism that deals with moving electric
charges and their interactions.
ELECTRODYNAM IC
electrodynamometer.

VOLTM ETER.

See

ELECTRODYNAM OM ETER. A meter hav

ing both a fixed coil and a movable coil, whose
deflection depends on the interaction of the
magnetic fields produced by the currents of
the two coils. The coils may be either in
series or in parallel to yield a square-law
meter for measurement of voltage or current.
Such a meter can be calibrated on d-c and
used for a-c measurements. B y connecting
one coil across a load, and the other in series
with the load, the electrodynamometer be
comes a wattmeter.
ELECTROENDOSMOSIS.
Electrophoresis
in which the solid is stationary and the water
phase is displaced and migrates toward the
electrode.
ELECTROFAX. Trade name for an electro
photography process.
ELECTROFORMING. The electrolytic dep
osition of metal upon a conducting mold, to
make a desired metal object, such as precision
tubing or medals. The mold is often of graph
ite-coated wax, so that it can be removed by
melting. (See electroplating.)
ELECTROGRAPHY.
A recording process
utilizing a spark to record an image on a me
dium, usually paper. A special paper called
Teledeltos has been developed for this appli
cation. Beneath the light gray surface the

ELECTROKINETIC (ZETA) POTENTIAL.

The difference in potential between the im
movable liquid layer attached to the surface
of a solid phase and the movable part of the
diffuse layer in the body of the liquid.
ELECTROLUMINESCENCE.
The
con
version of electrical energy in a semiconduc
tor directly into light. This may result either
from the recombination of an electron and a
hole, or from the electron impact excitation of
an activator atom.
ELECTROLYSIS. The process of decompos
ing a chemical compound by passing a cur
rent of electricity through it either in its nat
ural form, or in solution, or in molten form.
ELECTROLYSIS, FARADAY LAWS
See Faraday laws of electrolysis.

OF.

ELECTROLYTE. (1) A ny substance whose

solutions have the property of conducting the
electric current. All soluble acids, bases, and
salts are electrolytes. (2) A solution which
conducts the electric current.
ELECTROLYTE (S),
ANOMALY
OF
STRONG. The Arrhenius theory of ioniza
tion is quite satisfactory for predicting the
properties of dilute solutions of strong elec
trolytes, but it fails for their concentrated
solutions.
The Debye-Huckel theory re
solves this difficulty by recognizing that strong
electrolytes are nearly completely ionized in
water solution, and that there are practically
no un-ionized molecules present. Instead, it is
considered that the free ions become bound
by acquiring an ionic atmosphere which re
duces their mobility.
ELECTROLYTE, COLLOIDAL.
A com
pound having a long hydrocarbon chain ter
minating in a group that can ionize. Colloidal
electrolytes resemble nonelectrolytes in some
of their properties and electrolytes in others.
Thus, the alkaline salts of the fatty acids, for
example, have the osmotic properties of a non
electrolyte, but they show a marked electrical
conductance and other properties of weak
electrolytes.

ELECTROLYTE,
CONDUCTANCE
See conductance of electrolyte.

OF.

ELECTROLYTE, MEAN ACTIVITY

See mean activity of an electrolyte.

OF.

ELECTROLYTES, THEORY OF. The fun

damental idea underlying the modern view
of electrolyte behavior, as formulated by
D ebye and Huckel, is that as a consequence
of electrical attractions between positive and
negative ions there are, on the average, more
ions of unlike than of like sign in the neigh
borhood of any ion. Every ion may, there
fore, be regarded as being surrounded by an
ionic atmosphere of opposite charge. As long
as the system is stationary, that is to say,
it is not exposed to an applied electric field
or to a shearing force which tends to cause the
liquid to flow, the ionic atmosphere has cen
tral symmetry. W hen a current is passed
through the solution, however, so that the ions
of a particular sign move, say, to the right,
then each ion during its motion will constantly
have to build up its ionic atmosphere to the
right, whereas the charge density to the left
will die out. If this formation and destruc
tion of the ionic atmosphere occurred instan
taneously, there would be no net force of at
traction on the m oving ion, but in effect there
is a definite time of relaxation during which
the atmosphere to the right is building up to
its equilibrium value and that to the left is
decaying. Since the charge of the ionic at
mosphere is opposite to that of the moving
ion, there will be an excess of ions of opposite
sign to the left and these will retard the m o
tion. The influence on the velocity of the ion
is known as the relaxation effect, or sometimes
as the asym m etry effect, because it arises from
the lack of symmetry in the electrical atmos
phere of a moving ion. In addition to the
foregoing, another factor will help to oppose
the motion of the ions: this is the tendency
of the applied emf to m ove the ionic atmos
phere, with its associated molecules of solvent,
in a direction opposite to that in which the ion,
accompanied by solvent molecules is itself
moving. The additional retardation arising
in this manner is called the electrophoretic e f
fect, since it is analogous to that opposing the
movement of a colloidal particle in an electric
field. Finally, the migration of the ion is
opposed by the normal frictional resistance of
the medium; this is determined by Stokess

law, and depends on the speed of the ion, its

radius and the viscosity of the medium.
When the ion moves with steady velocity the
three retarding forces are just balanced by the
electrical force due to the applied emf. A t
infinite dilution the asymmetry and electro
phoretic effects are virtually zero, and the
speeds of the ions, and hence the equivalent
conductance, are determined only by the fric
tional force of the medium. The difference
between the equivalent conductance at infinite
dilution and at an appreciable concentration
is, therefore, a direct consequence of the two
electrical forces, assuming the viscosity of the
solution to be little different from that at
infinite dilution, i.e., that of the solvent.
(Glasstone, T extbook of Physical Chemistry,
2d ed., Van Nostrand (1946), q.v. for further
treatment.)
ELECTROLYTE, STRONG. One of a group
of substances, comprising strong acids, strong
bases and many salts, characterized by hav
ing an equivalent conductance (see conduct
ance, equivalent) which drops rapidly as the
concentration is increased.
ELECTROLYTE, W EAK. One of a group
of substances, mainly organic acids and bases,
characterized by equivalent conductances (see
conductance, equivalent) that drop slowly as
the concentration is increased.
ELECTROLYTIC CONDUCTOR. Electro
lytes, conductors in which the passage of elec
tricity is accompanied by the transfer o f mat
ter, as distinguished from electronic conduc
tors, such as metals.
ELECTROLYTIC
DISSOCIATION,
AR
RHENIUS THEORY OF.
See Arrhenius
theory of electrolytic dissociation.
ELECTROLYTIC POLISHING.
ess of producing a smooth lustrous
a metal by making it the anode in
lytic solution and preferentially
the protuberances.

The proc
surface on
an electro
dissolving

ELECTROLYTIC SOLUTION PRESSURE.

The tendency of a metal or other substance
to dissolve in solution with the formation of
ions: a now obsolete concept used by Nernst
to explain electrode potentials. The estab
lishment of electrode potential is now regarded
as the resultant of the rates of the two proc
esses, passage of ions from the electrode into

ELECTROM AGNETIC
D EFLECTION
COIL. The coil used to produce electromag
netic deflection.
In cathode-ray tubes the
assembly containing one or more of these
coils is called the yoke.

along the wire the lines of force move with

them. According to the theory of M axwell, it
is the motion of these lines of electric force
that sets up the magnetic field transverse to
them. M ore generally, a variable electric
field is always accompanied by a magnetic
field; and conversely, a variable magnetic
field, is accompanied by an electric field. The
joint interplay of electric and magnetic forces
here described is what is called an electromag
netic field, and is considered as having its own
objective existence in space apart from any
electric charges or magnets with which it may
be associated. An essential feature of the
theory is that this process, whatever it is,
represents a flow o f energy at right angles to
both electric and magnetic components when
the fields vary with time. The flux density of
this energy (corresponding to the intensity of
radiation) is represented by what is known as
the Poynting vector. Electromagnetic radia
tion is, on this theory, the propagation of elec
tric and magnetic stresses through space with
the speed of light, somewhat as the much
slower waves of elastic stress are propagated
through steel. The conditions in an electro
magnetic field are expressed mathematically
by the well-known Maxwell equations. When
an electric charge is set into motion, it builds
about itself an electromagnetic field, and this
implies a distribution of energy throughout
space. The density of this energy at any
point of the field is proportional to the prod
uct of the electric and magnetic vector com
ponents and the sine of the angle between
them (vector p rod u ct). The total field energy
can be obtained by suitable integration, and
is greater than that of the purely electric field
of a stationary charge. The Maxwell theory
treats this excess as kinetic energy, thus en
dowing the moving charge with an electro
magnetic mass and an electromagnetic m o
mentum inherent in its electrical character.
(See also the entry immediately following.)

ELECTROM AGNETIC FIELD. It is com

monly stated that a wire carrying an electric
current is surrounded by a magnetic field
whose lines of force are circles with the wire
as their axis. This statement implies that
the magnetic field is directly traceable to the
moving electricity in the wire. There is, how
ever, another aspect of the matter. Each
electric particle projects into space a field
of electric force, and as the particles move

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD (THE CLAS

SICAL TREATMENT AND THEORY OF).
An electromagnetic field is characterized by
the four field vectors, E, D, H, and B, which
satisfy the field equations known as the
Maxwell equations (see also field, electric;
magnetic field; electromagnetism; field the
ory; fields, classical). The effect o f an elec
tromagnetic field is to exert forces on charged
particles, the force on a charge q moving with

solution, and discharge of ions from solution

upon the electrode.
ELECTROLYTIC TANK. A device used in
determining the equipotentials in the neigh
borhood of a particular geometric arrange
ment of electrodes maintained at specified po
tential differences. Electrodes of the same
shapes and relative sizes as those being stud
ied are placed in a tank containing an electro
lyte. The electrodes are maintained at the
desired relative potentials, and a test elec
trode is used to plot the equipotentials for
steady current flow.
ELECTROMAGNET. A magnet whose field
is produced by an electric current, and which
is largely demagnetized upon cessation of the
A ir

c
o

Gap

Core

Exciting

Co/7
Electromagnet. Sketch of electromagnet having two
poles; one of a large variety of designs.

current, is an electromagnet. In order to ob

tain the strongest field possible, highly per
meable soft iron or steel is employed for the
core of electromagnets.
(See also magnetic
circuit.)
ELECTROM AGNETIC
CONSTANT.
A
term sometimes used as synonymous with
speed of light.

a velocity v (v < c, the speed of light) being

F = g (E + v X B ), (see also electromagnetic
field, transformation equations for). It is the
coupling between the electric and magnetic
fields as expressed by M axw ells equations that
results in the concept of the electromagnetic
field as having its own objective existence in
space apart from any charges with which it
m ay be associated. A time varying electric
field is always accompanied by a magnetic
field (see displacement current) and a time
varying magnetic field is always accompanied
by an electric field (see Faraday law of induc
tion). It is this interplay which leads to the
existence of electromagnetic waves, since
wave equations for the field vectors may be
derived from M axw ells equations, the speed
o f propagation being c, the speed of light.
Energy is required to set up an electromag
netic field, and according to the field concept
this energy is considered to be residing
throughout the volume in which the field
eixsts, the energy density being given by
% ( E - D + B -H ) in rationalized units. E lec
tromagnetic waves carry energy along with
them, the vector flow of energy per unit area
per unit time (intensity) being given by the
Poynting vector S = E X H
(rationalized
units). Electromagnetic waves also have mo
mentum, the momentum density in the wave
being given by S/c2 where S is again Poyntings vector and c is the speed of the wave.
When an electromagnetic wave is reflected or
absorbed at a boundary between two media,
the effect of this momentum is evidenced as a
pressure exerted on the boundary (see radia
tion pressure).
Charged particles both are sources of the
electromagnetic field and interact with it.
Since charged particles can exchange energy
and momentum with the field, the conservation
laws only hold for the combined system of
charges plus their fields. In fact, the m o
mentum of a moving charged particle can be
looked upon as largely located in the m o
mentum of the electromagnetic field that it
creates. On this view an electron of radius
r0 and charge e , moving with a velocity
v { v < < c ) would have a momentum of
e2y/4:7r0r0c2 (rationalized MKS u n its). I f this
momentum is set equal to rav, where m is the
observed rest mass of the electron, one obtains
the so-called classical radius of the electron,
r0 = e2/4rre0m c2, or r0 = e2/mc2 in esu. The

value of r0 is 2.818 X 10 13 cm. Relativistic

calculations show that not all of the observed
rest mass of the electron can be accounted for
in this way. (See also radiation damping.)
ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELD
FOURTENSOR. The antisymmetric second rank
tensor whose components are
dAv

fv ~ ~

dAp

dxv

where A is a four vector potential whose com

ponents are (A x, A Vy A Z1 /). Maxwells
equations m ay be written in terms of the
electromagnetic field four-tensor as:
dfnv

= w
oxv
dfva

d fffa

dxa

dxv

d fav ^

dx<r

ELECTROMAGNETIC
FIELD, TRANS
FORMATION EQUATIONS FOR.
The
Lorentz transformation equations for the elec
tric and magnetic fields, E and B, are

B'o = Bu
/
' - , ( . -

v X E\

E'i =
E'j_ =

t (E_l

+ v X B),

where, for example, and B represent the

com ponents of parallel and perpendicular
respectively to the direction of the velocity
vector v, and (1 v2/c2) V2. When these
transformed fields are used in Maxwell s
equations, these equations are relativistically
invariant.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FOCUSING. A sys
tem of focusing electrons in which magnetic
fields parallel to the streaming motion of the
electrons are used to confine the electrons to a
narrow beam.
ELECTROMAGNETIC
INDUCTION.
Probably the most noteworthy of the many
scientific contributions of the renowned M i
chael Faraday was his discovery in 1831 of
electromagnetic (or more logically, magnetoelectric) induction. As exhibited in the usual
experimental arrangements, this phenomenon

is the setting up, in a circuit, of an electro

motive force by reason of the variation of the
magnetic flux linked with the circuit; the mag
nitude of that electromotive force being, as
Faraday found, proportional to the rate at
which the flux through the circuit, or the
linkage, varies. If the flux linkage with
the circuit, in weber-turns is expressed by N<f>
(the actual flux, <j>, times the number of turns,
AO, the electromotive force generated by its
variation, in volts, is:
d(t>
E = TV
dt
The negative sign represents the fact that the
electromotive force has such a direction that
any current set up by it creates a magnetic
field that opposes the change in flux (Lenz
Law). Another example of electromagnetic
induction occurs when a conductor moves
through a magnetic field, or if a magnetic field
sweeps over a conductor, in such a way that
the conductor cuts across the lines of force.
The electric charge in the conductor then ex
periences forces at right angles to the field
and to the (relative) motion. M ore general
s

ffi

ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY OF D I
ELECTRIC REFLECTION AND REFRAC
TION. Light being an electromagnetic wave,
the application of proper boundary conditions
to the Maxwell equations give the laws of
reflection and refraction.
The principal
boundary condition applicable is that at a
boundary, the components parallel to the sur
face of both the electric and the magnetic
fields must have no discontinuity at that
boundary.
(See also Maxwell relation be
tween dielectric constant and refractive
index.)
ELECTROMAGNETIC UNITS.
A t least
eight or ten different systems of electrical and
magnetic units are in common use. Each of
these is based on a particular choice of a con
stant of proportionality in an experimentally
verified physical law. Some systems start
with Coulom bs law, which states that the
force, /, between two electrical charges, qi
and q2, separated by a distance r in empty
space is directly proportional to the product of
the charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them, i.e.:
/ = K eqiq2/r\

Wire W moving to the left across an upward mag

netic field has induced in it an emf away from the
observer.

still is the M axwell concept that when mag

netic lines of force move sidewise, their m ove
ment results in an electric field at right angles
to the magnetic lines and to their motion.
(See also Faraday law of electromagnetic in
duction; force on moving charges and cur
rents; electromagnetic field; Maxwell equa
tions.)
ELECTROM AGNETIC MASS.
magnetic field.

ELECTROMAGNETIC REPULSION. The

force of repulsion between two circuits when
a current is supplied to one, and thence in
duces a current in the other.

See electro

ELECTROM AGNETIC
MICROPHONE.
See microphone, variable-reluctance.
ELECTROM AGNETIC RADIATION.
See
radiation; Maxwell laws; -y-rays, x-rays; ultra
violet radiation; light; infrared radiation; mi
crowaves; radio waves; electromagnetic field.

where K e is a constant that may be chosen

for convenience. Such systems are known as
electrostatic systems. The choice of K e as
unity and dimensionless, together with the use
of the dyne and the centimeter as units of
force and length, leads to the cgs electrostatic
system in which the unit of charge, the statcoulom b, is the charge which repels an exactly
similar charge, separated from it by one centi
meter in vacuo, with a force of one dyne. This
system is frequently called the esu system.
Another choice, which is sometimes convenient,
takes K e as a dimensionless constant equal to
y47r. This leads to the rationalized cgs electro
static system. In either of the two systems,
charge has the dimensions of dyne^cm, equiv
alent to cm%gm1/2sec_ 1 . All other electrical
quantities also have identical dimensions in
the two systems, although the sizes of their
units differ.
In distinction to the electrostatic systems
are the electromagnetic system s (emu sys

tem s), which start with the law of attraction

between currents. If two currents of magni
tudes 7i and /2 flow in long parallel wires,
separated by a distance d in vacuo, they at
tract each other with a force per unit length,
f h given by
/ , = K mI J 2/d.
Here the constant of proportionality, K mt may
be chosen quite arbitrarily. The cgs emu sys
tem is based on the dyne and the centimeter
as units of force and length and on the choice
of K m as a dimensionless constant of magni
tude two. The emu of current, the abampere,
then has the dimensions of dyne1/2, or cm^2gm1/2sec_ 1 .
The emu of charge, the abcoulomb, is de
fined as the charge which passes a given sur
face in one second if a steady current of one
abampere flows across the surface. Its dimen
sions are therefore cm ^gm 1/2, which differ from
the dimensions of the statcoulomb by a factor
which has the dimensions of a speed. This
relationship is connected with the fact that the
ratio 2K e/K m must have the value of the
square of the speed of light in any consistent
system of units. It follows further that
1 abcoulomb = 2.998 (1 0 )10 statcoulomb,
the speed of light in vacuo being 2.998 (1 0 )10
cm /sec.
A rationalized emu system, in which K m is
taken as %tt, has also been developed, but it is
not used in this volume.
The electrostatic system is convenient for
problems in which the principal equations m ay
be deduced from C oulom bs law. Similarly,
the electromagnetic system is convenient for
problems involving the interactions between
currents. In many physical problems, both
electrical and magnetic interactions take place.
Both systems suffer from certain inconveni
ences under these circumstances, and the
Gaussian system of units has, as a result,
gained wide popularity. In this system, mag
netic quantities, such as magnetic field strength
aiid magnetic flux density, are expressed in
emu, while electric field strength, charge, and
current are expressed in esu. T o maintain
self-consistency, it is essential that a factor c,
the speed of light, be introduced into many of
the equations which describe electromagnetic
phenomena. It is our practice, whenever con
fusion might otherwise arise, to state equa
tions appropriate both to the simple systems

(esu, emu, etc.) and to the mixed Gaussian

system. Whenever the factor c occurs in such
equations, it is the speed of light in vacuo,
having the dimensions of cm /sec, not a pure
number. A rationalized Gaussian system is
sometimes employed, but it is not used in this
volume.
In all of the systems discussed thus far, cgs
mechanical units have been employed. New
systems of electrical units evolve if other sets
of mechanical units are substituted. Only two
such systems, both based on the mks mechan
ical units, have found wide acceptance. Of
these two, only the rationalized mksa system
is used here. The arbitrary choice which leads
to this system is that of the unit of current.
The absolute ampere is defined as exactly onetenth of an abampere. W ith this choice, and
with the newton and the meter as the units of
force and length, the two constants which
were chosen arbitrarily in the esu and emu
systems are determined and have dimensions.
They become:
K e 8.986(10)9 A;m3s_4a2,

and
K m = 2.000(10) ~ 7 kms~2a2.
One virtue of the mksa system is that nearly
all of the electrical quantities expressed in it
coincide closely with the practical system of
units which grew up during the nineteenth cen
tury. Thus the volt, the ampere, the henry,
the farad, and the ohm are all units in the
mksa system. In fact, the legal electrical
units have been fixed by international agree
ment since 1950 as the absolute mksa units.
Prior to that time, the International system of
electrical units had been used. This system
had been intended to coincide with the abso
lute system, but had been defined in terms of
fixed standards, which are slightly in error.
There are therefore small differences between
the two sets of electrical quantities, of the or
der of a few parts in ten thousand. Because
many quantities stated in the literature are
expressed in international units, these obso
lescent definitions are included here.
One more remark needs to be made in re
gard to the dimensions of certain electromag
netic units. Tw o electrical quantities, the
field strength E and the displacement D , are
closely related, as are two magnetic quanti
ties, the field strength H and the flux density
B. In the electrostatic system, E and D have

(The dimensions of the various quantities are shown in square brackets)

Equivalents in Other Systems

Quantity

Permittivity of
empty space

(eo)
Permeability of
empty space

A*0
Charge (Q)

mksa (Abso
lute) System

cgs esu
System

Old International
System

1.1126(10)-21
[cm 2S2]

1.1126(10) 21
[cm -2S2]

[Dimensionless]

[Dimensionless]

1.000165
Int. Coulomb

2.998Q0)9
Statcoulomb
[cm^gm^s-1 ]

0.1
Abcoulomb
[cm^gm^]

2.998(10)9
Statcoulomb
[cm^gm^s-1 ]

8.855 (10)~12
Farad/M
[m~3k~1s4a2]

8.859 (10)-12
Int. Farad/M

1.2566(10)-
H enry/M
[mks~2a~2]

1.2560(10)~6
Int. H enry/M

1 Coulomb
[sa]

Gaussian
System

cgs emu
System

[Dimensionless]

[Dimensionless]

Potential differ
ence (F)

1 Volt
[m2ks~3a_1]

0.999670
Int. Volt

3.336(10) 2
Statvolt
[cm^gm^s-1 ]

(10)8
Abvolt
[cm^gm^s-2 ]

3.336(10)~2
Statvolt
[cm^gm^s-1]

Current (I)

1 Ampere
[a]

1.000165
Int. Ampere

2.998Q0)9
Statampere
[cm^gm^s-2 ]

0.1
Abampere
[cm^gm^s-1 ]

2.998(10)9
Statampere
[cm^gm^s-2 ]

1 Ohm
[m2ks~3a~2]

0.999505
Int. Ohm

1.1126 (IO) 12
Statohm
[cm_1s]

(10)9
Abohm
[cms 1]

1.1126(10)12
Statohm
[cm_1s]

1.000165
Int. C oulom b/M 2

(IO) 5
2.998(10)5
2.998(10)5
Statcoulomb/cm2 Abcoulom b/cm 2 Statcoulomb/cm2
[cm '^gm ^]
[cm ^gm^s_1]
[cm '^gm ^s 1]

1 Farad
[m~2k 1s4a2]

1.000495
Int. Farad

8.988(10)11
cm
[cm]

Abfarad
[cm-1s2]

8.988(10)n
cm
[cm]

Magnetic dipole
moment

1 Ampere M 2
[m2a]

1.000165
Int. Ampere M 2

3.336(10) 6
Statmaxwell / cm
[cm_ ^gm^]

(10)6
Maxwell/cm
[cm^gm^s-1]

(10)5
Maxwell/cm
[cm^gm^s-1]

Magnetic field
strength (H )

1 Ampere turn/M
[m_1a]

1.000165
Int. Ampere turn/M

3.767(10)8
Statoersted
[cm^gm^s-2 ]

1.257(10)-2
Oersted
[cm_ ^gm^s_1]

1.257(10) ~2
Oersted
[cm_ ^gm^s-1 ]

Magnetic flux
density (B )

1 W eber/M 2
[ks-2 a-1 ]

0.999670
Int. volt S /M 2

3.336(10)-7
(10)4
Statmaxwell/cm2 M axwell/cm2
[cm ^gm^]
[cm ^gm^s_1]

(10)4
Gauss
[cm-^gm ^s-1]

Inductance (L )

1 Henry
[m2ks~2a 2]

0.999505
Int. Henry

1.1126(10)12
Stathenry
[cm_1s2]

(10)9
cm
[cm]

(10)9
cm
[cm]

Power

1 Watt
[m2ks3]

0.999835
Int. Watt

(10)7
erg/s
[cm2gm s~3]

(io)7

(io)7

erg/s
[cm2gm s 3]

erg/s
[cm2gm s 3]

Resistance (R )

Electric dis
1 C oulom b/M 2
placement (D ) [m_2sa]

Capacitance (C)

(io)~9

the same dimensions and are identical in mag

nitude in empty space; in the electromagnetic
system, H and B have a corresponding rela
tion. Thus in air, the electrical properties of
which are practically those of empty space,
the flux density is identical with the magnetic
field strength if both are expressed in emu.
The old unit of field strength, the gauss, has
therefore been used to denote both H and B.
In an attempt to avoid confusion, the name of
the emu unit of H was changed to the oersted
about 30 years ago. The gauss had become so
well established, however, that it is still used,
and its meaning (either oersted or maxwell
per square cm) must be judged from context.
The relations among the five systems of
electrical units which we employ are displayed
in the table. (See page 397.)
ELECTROM AGNETIC W AVE.
A wave
characterized by variations of electric and
magnetic fields. Electromagnetic waves are
known as radio waves, heat rays, light rays,
etc., depending on the frequency. (See elec
tromagnetic field.)
ELECTROM AGNETIC
WAVE,
SINU
SOIDAL. In a homogeneous medium an elec
tromagnetic wave whose electric field strength
is proportional to the sine (or cosine) of an
angle that is a linear function of time, of dis
tance, or of both. (See electromagnetic field.)
ELECTROMAGNETISM. The pioneer dis
covery of the magnetic effect of the electric
current was made by Oersted at Copenhagen
in 1820. In experimenting with battery cur
rents, he happened to bring a compass needle
near a wire in which there was an electric
current, and noted that the needle was de
flected. Such a wire is surrounded by a mag
netic field so that, to one looking along the
wire in the direction from the positive to the
negative battery-term inal (the so-called di
rection of the current ), the direction of the
field, as indicated by the north pole of the
compass needle, is clockwise (Ampre rule).
If the wire carrying the current is placed
in a magnetic field perpendicular to its direc
tion, this field reacts with that due to the cur
rent in such a way as to give the wire a lateral
thrust, perpendicular to both the wire and the
field in which it is placed. For a wire of
length I carrying current I and placed across
flux of density B, this lateral force is given

by the equation / = B lI ; which follows from

the definition of the ampere. An electric
motor may be driven by forces thus produced.
If the wire is bent into a circular loop of
radius r, still carrying current 7, there is pro
duced at its center, perpendicular to the plane
of the loop, a magnetic field of intensity H =
I/2r. This, and the statement in the preced
ing paragraph, may be shown to be interde
pendent. If more loops are added, forming
a coil of n equal turns close together, the re
sulting field is n times as great. B y winding
the n turns along a cylinder, forming a helix
of radius r and axial length a, one obtains
something greatly resembling a bar magnet,
the ends of the helix corresponding to the
poles. The field intensity at the center of the
axis of this helix is
nl

a / 4 r2 + a2

The above expressions are all appropriate in

the rationalized mksa system; they may be
converted to forms appropriate to other sys
tems with the help of the table given on page
397. If we now insert an iron core, we have
an electromagnet, and the helix supplies the
magnetomotive force n l for a magnetic cir
cuit composed partly of iron and partly of
air. M ore general calculations of electromag
netic effects are based upon the Ampre law,
the Biot-Savart law, and the Maxwell equa
tions.
ELECTROMAGNETISM, ENERGY
OREMS OF. See Poynting theorem.

THE

ELECTROMETER. An instrument for meas

uring electric charge, usually by mechanical
forces exerted on a charged electrode in an
electric field. It consists, therefore, of a sensi
tive voltmeter operating on the principles of
electrostatic attraction and repulsion. Thus,
if the movement of the gold-leaf in an electro
scope is observed through a microscope whose
ocular is provided with a calibrated scale, the
instrument becomes an electrometer, capable
of measuring potential differences in m illi
volts. (Some forms of electrostatic voltmeter
operate on the same principle.) If the capaci
tance of the charged system is known, the rate
of movement of the electrometer index may be
used to measure the current from the discharg
ing bod y; ionization currents are often thus
measured.

The quadrant electrom eter has a thin, ob

long, metal plate suspended horizontally in
the interior of a flat, circular metal box cut
into four quadrants. One pair of opposite

ELECTROMETER, DYNAMIC CAPACI

TOR. See electrometer, vibrating reed.
ELECTROMETER, HOFFMAN. A m odi
fication of a quadrant electrometer, using
binants instead of quadrants.
The needle
is mounted asymmetrically in an almost un
stable position, yielding high sensitivity.
ELECTROMETER, IONIZATION. An elec
trometer which records the ionization pro
duced by radioactivity in the neighborhood
o f an ionization chamber.

Quadrants and strip of quadrant electrometer.

quadrants and the suspended strip are con

nected to the source of potential, the other
pair of quadrants is grounded. This causes
the strip to turn toward the grounded pair
against the torsion of the suspending wire.
Several electrometers have been designed, de
pending upon the lateral deflection of a lightly
stretched, silvered or platinized quartz fiber

ELECTROMETER, KELVIN. An attracteddisc voltmeter (for very high voltages) with

a guard-ring around the movable plate to
avoid field-fringing effects.
ELECTROMETER, LINDEM ANN. A very
small, portable, quadrant electrometer, de
signed to be insensitive to changes in level.
The needle deflection is observed through a
microscope.
ELECTROMETER, QUADRANT. Discussed
under electrometer.

r - l\Flbres
- 1

JQuartz. spring
Quartz fiber electrometer.

in an electric field; they are called string elec

trom eters. The W ulf electrom eter employs
two such fibers side by side; on being charged,
they bulge apart. The displacement of the
fibers is observed in a micrometer microscope.
Some of the special electrometers used for
work with cosmic rays are of this type.
In modern work, vacuum tube electrom
eters, which are specially designed amplifiers
with high input impedance, have replaced
quadrant and string electrometers to a large
extent.
ELECTROM ETER, CONNECTION OF. A
quadrant electrometer may be used in either
of two w ays: (1) in the heterostatic connec
tion, with a high voltage needle and the ob
served voltage across the quadrant-pairs, or
(2) in the idiostatic connection, with the
needle connected to one quadrant-pair. The
latter connection is less sensitive, but may
be used for a-c measurements since it has a
square-law response.

ELECTROMETER, STRING. An electrom

eter in which a very fine conducting fiber is
held under slight tension between two op
positely-charged plates, and is viewed through
a microscope provided with an etched scale
in its eyepiece. The charging of the fiber
causes it to shift toward the plate of oppo
site sign.
ELECTROMETER, VACUUM TUBE.
A
d-c amplifier characterized by very high input
impedance, often about 1012 ohms or more.
The potential difference across this input may
either be indicated by the deflection of an out
put meter or it may be balanced by the ad
justment of a potential divider, so that the
device becomes a null instrument. Currents
may be measured as a consequence of the
potential drop across an input resistor through
which they flow or by observation of the rate
of charging of a capacitor connected across
the input. Vacuum tube electrometers have
largely replaced the quadrant, string, and
similar types because of their greater rugged
ness and convenience, but no instrument yet
available can be used with as high an imped
ance as a good instrument of the older type.
Further, they are subject to drift (4), particu
larly during a period of minutes to an hour

or more after operating voltage is applied

to the tu b e(s). Current measurements with a
vacuum tube electrometer may be complicated
by the fact that the grid current in the elec
trometer tube may not be a linear function
of the potential of that electrode.

ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE, BACK.

An
electromotive force which acts in a direction
opposite to the applied electromotive force.
It is a counter-electromotive force.

ELECTROM ETER, VIBRATING REED.

An electrometer using a vibrating condenser
to measure a small charge. This term is often
applied to denote the combination of an ion
ization chamber and a vibrating reed elec
trometer.

ELECTROM OTIVE FORCE, COUNTER-.

The electromotive force generated by a run
ning motor, by virtue of its generator be
havior, by an inductive circuit element through
which the current is increasing with time, by
a capacitance in which charge is being stored,
etc. Th e total emf in the circuit is the im
pressed emf minus the counter em f; the cur
rent is given by the ratio of this total emf
to the resistance in the circuit.

ELECTROMETER, W U LF.
der electrometer.
ELECTROM OTANCE.
tromotive force (emf).

Discussed un

Synonym for elec

ELECTROM OTIVE FORCE (EMF). The

electric potential difference between the ter
minals of any device which is used or may be
used as a source of electrical energy, i.e., to
supply an electric current. M ore strictly, the
limiting value of that potential difference
which is found as the current flowing from the
source approaches zero. T o avoid ambiguity,
the strict sense of the term is often indicated
by the use of the qualifying term open cir
cuit or no load.
The open circuit electromotive force of a
cell is identical with its reversible potential
difference; that of a rotating electrical ma
chine is the potential difference existing across
its terminals when the machine is neither re
ceiving nor delivering electric power, i.e., is at
the transition point between being a generator
and being a motor. W hen a potential source
of electrical energy, such as a capacitor, an
inductor, or a rotating machine, is receiving
energy from the external circuit, it is said to
develop a counter-electromotive force. (See
also Kirchhoff laws.)
ELECTROM OTIVE FORCE, AVERAGE.
F or an alternating voltage (with no d-c com
ponent) the average value is zero. The term
is often misused to mean the average absolute
em f:
1 r T
t

|s|*-

F or a sine wave, this is 2/ir times the peak

value.

ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE, CELL.

cell emf.

See

ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE, EFFECTIVE

OR ROOT-MEAN-SQUARE. The rms value
of an emf is

[? j H "
which for a sine wave is l/ y/2 times the peak
value.
ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE, IMPRESSED.
The open-circuit (no load) electromotive
force of a source connected into a network.
ELECTROM OTIVE FORCE, MOTIONAL.
The electromotive force induced in a circuit
by virtue of motion of the conductor across
a magnetic field:

8 = JvXBdl,
where v is the velocity of the conductor, B is
the magnetic flux density, and the integral
extends over the length of the conductor, dl
being an element of length. (See force in mov
ing charges and currents.)
ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE SERIES. An
arrangement of elements in order of decreas
ing potentials of their electrodes in equilib
rium with solutions of their ions. Since the
electrode potential of a metal in equilibrium
with a solution of its ions cannot be measured
directly, the values in the electromotive force
series are, in each case, the difference between
the electrode potential of the given metal in
equilibrium with a solution of its ions, and
that o f hydrogen in equilibrium with a solu
tion of its ions. In experimental procedure,

the hydrogen electrode is used as the standard

with which the electrode potentials of other
substances are compared.
ELECTRON. An elementary particle of rest
mass me = 9.108 X 1 0 ~ 28 g and charge of
4.803 X 10 10 statcoulomb, and a spin of onehalf unit, i.e., of ft/2 = h/A.Tr. Its charge may
be positive or negative, although the term
electron is com m only used for the negative
particle, which is also called the negatron.
The positive electron is called the positron.
ELECTRON AFFINITY. (1) Degree of elec
tronegativity, or the extent to which an atom
holds valence electrons in its immediate neigh
borhood, compared to other atoms of the
molecule. (2) The work required to remove
an electron from a negative ion, and hence
to restore the neutrality of an atom or m ole
cule is called the electron affinity of the atom
or molecule.
ELECTRON ANOMALOUS M AGNETIC
M OM ENT.
See anomalous magnetic mo
ment (electron).
ELECTRON AVALANCHE.
effect.
ELECTRON BEAM.

See avalanche

See beam, electron.

ELECTRON BEAM, SPACE CHARGE IN.

See space charge.
ELECTRON-BEAM TUBE.
tron-beam.

See tube, elec-

ELECTRON, BONDING. An electron in a

molecule which serves to hold two adjacent
nuclei together.
ELECTRON CAPTURE.
A radioactive
transformation of a nuclide in which a bound
electron is captured by the nucleus, decreasing
the atomic number by 1, and leaving the
mass number unchanged in the new nuclide
formed. The fundamental process involved
is represented by the equation p + e~
n + v) in words, a proton is transformed to a
neutron within the nucleus, a bound electron
is taken up, and a neutrino emerges with
energy equal to the difference between the
disintegration energy and the original bind
ing energy of the electron. The bound elec
tron comes most com monly from the K - or Lshell of the atom. In these cases, the terms

K-electron capture or L-electron capture, etc.,

are used.
As a result of the removal of an inner-shell
electron, there is emission of x-rays and Auger
electrons characteristic of the product ele
ment. y-rays are also emitted in certain cases
where the product nuclei are left in excited
states. The value of the disintegration energy
determines whether the electrons are captured
chiefly from the K-shell or from other shells,
or whether positron emission may occur as a
competing process. The last process is more
probable than electron capture for light ele
ments, while the converse is true for heavy
elements.
ELECTRON CLOUD. In the Bohr atom the
hydrogen electron was thought of as moving
in a well defined, quantized, orbit. In the
Schrdinger wave mechanics, on the other
hand, the electron cannot be thought of in this
way. Rather, its position cannot be defined
except in terms of a probability distribution
function. It is sometimes convenient to con
sider the electron charge as smeared out in a
cloud around the nucleus, with the charge
density distribution being identical with that
of the probability distribution function. H ow
ever, it is a time averaged charge distribution,
not the electron itself, that is smeared out.
ELECTRON COLLECTION. A technique
in ionization chamber measurements which
takes advantage of the high mobility of free
electrons as compared with ions.
ELECTRON
CONCENTRATION.
The
ratio of the number of valence electrons to
the number of atoms in a molecule. This
quantity is useful in studying the intermetallic compounds, where it is correlated with the
crystal structure.
ELECTRON, CONDUCTION. An electron
which plays an important part in electrical or
thermal conduction by solids, i.e., by metals or
semiconductors, e.g., the electrons in the con
duction band, which are free to move under
the influence of an electric field.
ELECTRON COUPLING. The combination
of the orbital and spin angular momentum
vectors for a group of electrons. Various
types of electron coupling have been postu
lated for different groups of electrons, espe
cially those of the elements; and have been

applied in calculating resultant quantum num

bers, which are useful in interpreting the
multiplet terms in spectra. (See also coupling,
j-j; coupling, Russell-Saunders; coupling, spin
orbit; angular momentum, coupling and re
coupling of.)
ELECTRON CYCLOTRON FREQUENCY.
The frequency at which an electron of charge
q (in esu) and mass m rotates in a steady
uniform magnetic field o f flux density B (in
emu). This frequency is given by

2wme
so the angular velocity is co = qB/m.
ELECTRON D EVICE. A device in which
conduction by electrons takes place through
a vacuum, gas, or semiconductor.
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION.
Beams of
high-speed electrons exhibit diffraction phe
nomena analogous to those obtained with
light, thus showing the w ave-like character
of electron beams. Such patterns are useful
in the interpretation of the structure of gases
or solids. (See also Davisson-Germer experi
ment and diffraction, particle.)
ELECTRON DISTRIBUTION. An arrange
ment of electrons, especially the arrangement
of electrons in orbits or shells around the
nucleus of an atom or an ion.
ELECTRON DONOR. (1) W hen a valence
bond between two atoms is that type of co
valent linkage in which both the electrons of
the duplet are supplied by one atom, then that
atom, or portion of the molecule of which it
forms a part, is called the electron donor, and
the other atom in the linkage is called the
electron acceptor.
(2) See impurity, donor.
ELECTRON DUPLET. A pair of electrons
which is shared by two atoms, and is equiva
lent to a single, nonpolar chemical bond.
ELECTRONEGATIVE ELEM ENT. An ele
ment which has a relatively great tendency
to attract electrons, whereby the bond energy
of its linkage with another and different atom
is found to exceed the mean of that found in
linkages between the two pairs of identical
atoms (i.e., the X - Y bond energy exceeds the
mean of the values for X - X and Y - Y ) . E lec
tronegative elements are, generally, acid form

ing; their outer shell contains four or more

electrons, and they tend to add electrons to
complete it. They are commonly nonmetals.
ELECTRONEGATIVITY. The extent, rela
tive to other atoms, to which a given atom
or group of atoms tends to attract and hold
valence electrons in its immediate neighbor
hood.
ELECTRON EMISSON.
tron.

See emission, elec

ELECTRON(S), EQUIVALENT. See equiv

alent electrons.
ELECTRON, EXCESS. In a semiconductor,
an electron which represents an excess over
and above those required to complete the bond
structure in the neighborhood.
ELECTRON, EXTRANUCLEAR.
In an
atom, any one of the electrons that surround
the positive nucleus.
ELECTRON, FREE. (1) An electron which
is not restrained to remain in the immediate
neighborhood of a nucleus or an atom. (2)
The term free electron is also applied to any
electron in the outer electronic shell of an
atom, when that electron is not shared by an
other atom, and especially when that electron
is free to be so shared (to form a covalent
bond).
ELECTRON GAS. A system of mobile elec
trons, generally as it exists within a metal.
(See free-electron theory of metals; Fermi
distribution.)
ELECTRON GROUP OR SHELL. A num
ber o f electrons occupying similar relative
positions, as those electrons in an atom
which possess the same principal quantum
number. (See quantum number, principal.)
ELECTRON GUN.
electron.

See entries under gun,

ELECTRON-GUN DENSITY MULTIPLI

CATION. See multiplication, electron gun
density.
ELECTRONIC. Of or pertaining to devices,
circuits, or systems utilizing electron devices.
Examples: electronic control, electronic equip
ment, electronic instrument, and electronic
circuit.

ELECTRONIC BAND SPECTRA. Spectra

arising from electronic transitions in m ole
cules.
ELECTRONIC BUG. Colloquialism for a
code-transmitting key which is semiautomatic
in its operation. Lever movement in one di
rection causes a single dash, while movement
in the opposite direction activates a spring
contact that sends a series of equally-spaced
dots.
ELECTRONIC CHARGE.
mentary.

See charge, ele

ELECTRONIC CHARGE, SPECIFIC. The

ratio e/m6 of the electronic charge to the restmass of the electron; e/me = 1.759 X 107
abcoul gm - 1 .
ELECTRONIC ENERGY OF DIATOM IC
MOLECULES. In the R eport on N otation
for Spectra of D iatom ic M olecules, M ullikan,
Phy. R e v . 36, 623 (1930), the electronic
energy is defined as the energy E e, the total
internal energy of a molecule in a definite
electron state with the nuclei stationary (this
condition m ay be realized in imagination by
making the masses infinite) at their equilib
rium distance (re) apart. E e consists of (a)
kinetic energy of the electrons, plus (b) their
potential energy with respect to the nuclei and
to one another, plus (c) the mutual potential
energy of repulsion of the two nuclei.
ELECTRONICS.
(1) That field of science
and engineering which deals with electron de
vices and their utilization. (2) Of or pertain
ing to the field of electronics.
Examples:
electronics engineer, electronics course, elec
tronics laboratory, and electronics committee.

(?r2/6 ) (T /T F) of the electrons can actually

contribute to the specific heat. Since this
fraction is of the order of 10-3 at room tem
peratures, the electronic specific heat is neg
ligible compared with the lattice specific heat
except at temperatures of a few degrees abso
lute.
In the band theory of solids cv is
roughly proportional to the effective mass of
the electrons.
ELECTRONIC STATES, MANIFOLD OF.
See manifold of electronic states.
ELECTRONIC THEORY OF VALENCE.
The explanation of the nature of chemical
bonds, i.e., the forces linking atoms to form
molecules, as well as certain higher aggre
gates, in terms of the electrostatic forces be
tween negatively-charged electrons and positively-charged atomic nuclei. Certain differ
ences in characteristics of substances are ex
plained by differences in the method by which
these forces are established. Thus the electrovalent bond arises in compound formation
where there is transfer of an electron from one
atom to another, resulting in the formation
of oppositely charged ions which attract each
other. Covalent bonds arise by the sharing
of electrons between atoms. Compounds hav
ing electrovalent bonds usually ionize and ex
hibit electrolytic properties; while the covalent
bonds are characteristic of organic substances.
There are, of course, other types of linkages
within these two groups, as well as special or
intermediate cases. These statements are gen
eral and the ultimate statements of structure
must be made in terms of quantitative meas
urements of bond distances and energies.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE. A microscope
in which streams of electrons function in es
sentially the same way as rays of light do in
an ordinary optical microscope. When it is
recalled that moving electrons exhibit proper
ties characteristic of trains of waves (see wave
mechanics), the analogy becomes still more
striking; while the very short wavelength as
sociated with electron waves serves to give
the electron microscope extraordinary resolv
ing power, thus making available magnifying
powers far beyond the reach of any optical
instrument.

ELECTRONIC SPECIFIC HEAT. In the

original formulation of the Drude free elec
tron theory of metals, it was assumed that the
electrons formed a classical gas whose spe
cific heat is just 3Nk (N being the number
of particles, k, Boltzmanns constant). N o
such specific heat was observed, but it was
pointed out by Sommerfeld that the elec
trons should be treated as a Fermi-Dirac gas,
for which the specific heat per unit volume
is given by
C v = \ir2N kT /TF

ELECTRON MIRROR.

where TF is the Fermi temperature. This

formula suggests that only the fraction

ELECTRON,
MULTIPLICATION,
multiplication, electron,

A dynode.
See

ELECTRON MULTIPLIER.
electron.

See multiplier,

of the electron shells or orbits under the in

fluence of external electric fields.

ELECTRON MULTIPLIER TUBE.

See
tube, electron multiplier; phototube, multi
plier.

ELECTRON-POSITRON PAIR.
An elec
tron and positron produced at the same time
in the process of pair production.

ELECTRON-NEUTRINO FIELD.
lepton.

ELECTRON RADIUS, CLASSICAL.

A
quantity given by the expression: r e2/mec2
where e is the electronic charge, me is the
electronic rest mass, c is the velocity of light,
and r is the electron radius. This expression,
which has a value of 2.82 X 10 13 cm, is ob
tained by equating the rest-mass energy
mec2 of the electron, to its electromagnetic
self-energy, e2/r; e being in esu. See also
electromagnetic field, classical theory and
treatment of.

See field,

ELECTRON, NUCLEAR. An electron which

is emitted from the nucleus of an atom. Its
formation within the nucleus is believed to
be due to the transformation of a neutron into
a proton. It is not now believed that elec
trons exist as such inside the nucleus.
ELECTRON OCTET. An electron group or
electron shell containing eight electrons.
ELECTRON OPTICS. The control of the
movement of free electrons by means of elec
tric fields, and their utilization in research
investigation of electronic diffraction phe
nomena, in direct analogy to the effect of
lenses on light. Electron beams are used to
determine the microstructure of crystals and
many other materials.
(See also electron
microscope, electron diffraction, and diffrac
tion of material particles.)
ELECTRON, ORBITAL.
An electron re
maining with a high degree of probability in
the immediate neighborhood of a nucleus,
where it occupies a quantized orbital.
ELECTRON PAIR. A general feature of the
architecture of many molecular structures, in
which neighboring atoms or nuclei are bonded
by sharing a pair of valence electrons, form
ing a nonpolar bond. (See bond, nonpolar.)
ELECTRON, PAIRED. One of two electrons
which are shared by two atoms to form a
valence bond.
ELECTRON, PHOTO. An electron ejected
from a substance by the action of light or
other radiation. Usually only those electrons
which absorb the full energy of a photon are
counted as photoelectrons, i.e., electrons
ejected by Compton scattering, or resulting
from pair production are excluded. See pho
toelectric effect.
ELECTRON POLARIZATION. The part of
the total induced polarization of a molecule
that is due to the distortion or deformation

ELECTRON, RELATIVISTIC CORREC

TIONS FOR. A t electron-volt energy levels
above about 10,000 electron-volts, the mass of
the electron is increased sufficiently due to the
relativity theory to require modification of
the simple expression {y 2m v2) for kinetic
energy. For any velocity the kinetic energy
of an electron may be expressed as:
nuJ2
(1 - v2/c2) y>

mc

where m is the electron mass of 9.11 X 10 31

K g, v is the velocity of the electron and c
that of light.
ELECTRON, SECONDARY. (1) An elec
tron deriving its motion from a transfer of
momentum from primary radiation, which
m ay be either particulate or electromagnetic.
(2) See secondary emission.
ELECTRON SHELL. The arrangement of
extranuclear electrons in different groups of
orbitals which are characterized by different
principal quantum numbers.
(See quantum
number, principal.) In the old Bohr model
of the atom, all electrons in a given shell
moved in orbits o f approximately the same
distance from the nucleus. Different shells
are then characterized by different dimensions
o f the electronic orbits.
ELECTRON SPIN. The intrinsic angular
momentum of an electron, independent of
any orbital motion. Spin ( = ft/2) contributes
to the total angular momentum of the elec
tron and is quantized. It gives rise to multi-

plicity in line spectra, which may be char

acterized by introduction of the spin quan
tum number. (See also spin (2) and StemGerlach experiment.)
ELECTRON THEORY (CLASSICAL)
SCATTERING AND DISPERSION.
dispersion, classical theory of.

OF
See

ELECTRON THEORY, DIRAC CLASSI

CAL. See Dirac classical electron theory.
ELECTRON TRANSFER. The process of
the shifting of an electron from one electrical
field to another, as in the formation of an electrovalent bond, in which an electron moving
in an orbit about one atom shifts to m ove in
an orbit about the two bonded atoms.
ELECTRON TUBE.

See tube, electron.

ELECTRON TUBE CIRCUIT SYMBOL

STANDARDS. I.R .E . standards for electron
tube notation are as follows:
102.21. External. Values of resistance, im
pedance, admittance, etc., in the external
circuit of an electrode m ay be represented b y
the upper-case symbols for the quantities with
the proper electrode subscripts.
Exam ple: R j, Zj, Yj, Rp, Zp, Yp, Cgp.
102.22. Inherent. Values of resistance, im
pedance, admittance, etc., inherent in the tube
m ay be represented b y the lower-case symbol
with the proper electrode subscripts.
Exam ple: rjk,
y h rP) zp, Up) cgv

deflecting, reflecting, or repelling elec

trode (electrostatic type).

Example,
Epkj Ep, Ggp.
102.33. Grid subscripts for multigrid tubes
are developed b y a numerical addition to the
subscript. Grids are numbered according to
position out from the cathode.
When no
numerical subscript appears, reference to the
control grid is assumed.
Example: eg\, eg2, cg\g2, eg.
102.34. Deflection electrode subscripts for
cathode-ray tubes are developed by a numerical
addition to the subscript.
Example: CdU2 , ^did2 , ^< 4 *
102.35. In a double-subscript symbol, when
the direction of the relationship is significant,
the first subscript should designate the electrode
circuit in which the effect (product of the
multiplying operation) is measurable; and the
second subscript should designate the electrode
circuit in which the cause (operand or multipli
cand) is measurable. This subscript sequence
conforms to the mathematical convention for
writing determinants from a set of fundamental
K irchhoffs equations.
Example: j2ji, pgy gp
102.36. When necessary to distinguish be
tween components of current and voltage
encountered in electron-tube circuits, the
following symbols m ay be used. Their appli
cation to the case of a tube having a small
varying component in the plate circuit is
illustrated in the accom panying diagram.
-Ip (RMS Varying component value)

102.3. Applications for Electron Tubes

Ip (Instantaneous Varying - component value)

102.31. Sym bols for quantities in electrode

circuits of electron tubes are developed from
the proper quantity sym bol and subscripts
representing the electrodes concerned. When
one of the electrodes concerned is the cathode,
the subscript k m ay be omitted and the
single subscript understood to mean with
respect to the cathode.
102.32. The electrode abbreviations to be
used as subscripts are:

j
/
h
k
g
p
s

general (convention for any electrode)

filament
heater
cathode
grid (c also used: see 102.36)
plate or anode (b also used; see 102.36)
metal shell, or other self-shielding en
velope

plpm (Maximum varying \

component value)

3
|

Time

102.361. Instantaneous current and voltage

values of a varying com ponent m ay be repre
sented by lower-case symbols with the sub

scripts g and p for grid and plate, respec

tively.
Example: ep, igy eg3.

102.862. Instantaneous total values o f cur

rent and voltage (no-signal dc value plus
varying-com ponent value) may be represented
b y lower-case symbols and the subscripts b
for plate and c for grid.
Exam ple: i b, ec, i c2.
102.363. Root-mean-square and maximum
current and voltage values of a varying com
ponent m ay be represented b y upper-case
symbols and the subscripts given in 102.361.
Exam ple: E g, I P) Epm.
102.36 4 . Values of current and voltage for
the no-signal or static condition m ay be repre
sented b y upper-case symbols and the sub
scripts given in 102.362.
Exam ple: E c3, I b, E c.
102.365. Average values of current and
voltage for the with-signal condition m ay be
represented b y the addition of the subscript
s to symbols determined in accordance with
102.364.
Exam ple: l bs, E c38, E bs.
102.366. Supply voltages for electron tube
elements m ay be represented by upper-case
symbols and doubling the electrode subscripts
indicated in 102.362 plus f f for the case of
heater or filament supply.
Exam ple: Eff) E CCJ E hby E cc2.
ELECTRON, VACUUM.
tron.

See vacuum elec

ELECTRON, VALENCE. The electrons in

the outermost shell of the structure of an atom.
Since these electrons constitute the means by
which the atom enters into chemical com bina
tions either by giving them up, or by add
ing others to their shell, or by sharing elec
trons in this shell these outermost electrons
are called valence electrons.
ELECTRON-VOLT. The energy received by
an electron, or by a particle having the same
charge, in falling through a potential dif
ference of one volt. 1 ev is equal to 1.60203
X 10 12 erg. An ev is associated through
the Planck constant with a photon of w ave
length 1.2395 microns.
ELECTRON W AVELENG TH . The w ave
length, A , of the wave train which character
izes electrons moving with momentum p.
These two quantities are related by the equa
tion A = h/p, where h is the Planck constant.
(See also de Broglie wavelength.)

ELECTRO-OPTICAL SHUTTER. A device

for controlling or cutting off a beam of light
by means of the Kerr effect.
ELECTRO-OPTIC EFFECT.
The altera
tion of the refractive properties o f an optical
medium by the application o f a strong electric
field. In a liquid medium it is called the
Kerr Effect, in a piezoelectric crystalline me
dium it is called the Pockels Effect.
ELECTRO-OSMOSIS, ELECTRO-ENDOSMOSIS. The movement of liquid with re
spect to a fixed solid (e.g., a porous diaphragm
or a capillary tube) as a result of an applied
electric field.
ELECTROPHONIC EFFECT. The sensa
tion of hearing produced when an alternating
current of suitable frequency and magnitude
from an external source is passed through an
animal.
ELECTROPHORESIS.
The movement of
colloidal particles through a fluid under the
action of an electric field.
Positive sols
(metallic oxides and hydroxides, basic dyestuffs) migrate to the cathode, and negative
sols (metals, sulfur, metallic sulfides, acid
dyestuffs) migrate to the anode.
ELECTROPHORESIS
BY
TISELIUS
M ETHOD. A moving-boundary method for
use with colloidal systems. The apparatus is
basically of the U-tube variety with the Utube of rectangular cross section, and built
in sections. The lower section of the U-tube
is filled with the colloidal solution and the
top with pure solvent. The boundary between
the two is sharp and stable, and on application
of an electric field the boundary moves and
is observed b y the Schlieren technique.
ELECTROPHORETIC EFFECT. Discussed
under electrolytes, theory of.
ELECTROPHORUS.
The simplest of all
static machines; devised by Volta in 1816.
It consists of a slab of some resinous sub
stance, such as sealing wax or vulcanite, which
is negatively charged by rubbing with fur.
A metal plate provided with an insulating
handle is placed upon the electrified slab.
The contact is localized at a few points, so
that instead of taking the negative charge
off the slab, the metal plate becomes charged
by induction, positively on the under side and

negatively on the upper. The negative in

duced charge is now removed by grounding
with the finger, and, upon being lifted by
means of the handle, the plate becomes posi
tively charged all over, often strongly enough
to yield bright sparks. V ery little of the nega
tive charge on the slab is removed in this
process, and it may thus be used over and over
to induce an indefinite number of positive
charges.
ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY.
A recording
technique in which a light image is captured
as an electric charge. Xerography is an ex
ample of this procedure.
ELECTROPLATING. The coating of an ob
ject with a thin layer of some metal through
electrolytic deposition. (See electroforming.)
ELECTROPOLISHING.
Production of a
smooth surface on metals by electrolytic
means. (See also electrolytic polishing.)
ELECTROSCOPE. An instrument for de
tecting small charges of electricity, or for
measuring small voltages, or sometimes, indi
rectly, very small electric currents, by means
of the mechanical forces exerted between elec
trically-charged bodies. One of the earliest
sensitive electroscopes consists of two narrow
strips of gold-leaf hanging together in a glass
jar. Upon being charged, they stand apart
on account of their mutual repulsion. One
leaf m ay be replaced by a stiff strip of brass,
so that only the remaining leaf can move.
The W ilson electroscope has a single gold-leaf
which, on being charged, is attracted by a
grounded metal plate tipped at such an angle
as to give maximum sensitivity.
ELECTROSCOPE, LAURITSEN. A rugged
yet sensitive electroscope employing a metal
lized quartz fiber as the sensitive element.
ELECTROSCOPE, WILSON.
der electroscope.

Discussed un

ELECTROSOL. A colloidal solution pro

duced by electrical means, as by passing a
spark between metal electrodes in a liquid.
ELECTROSTATIC FIELD* A n electric field
produced by stationary charges. (See electro
statics; field, electric; electric field strength.)
ELECTROSTATIC FOCUSING. See focus
ing, electrostatic; lens, electron; particle op
tics.

ELECTROSTATIC MEMORY TUBE.

tube, electrostatic.
ELECTROSTATIC RECIPROCITY
OREM. See reciprocity theorem.

See
THE

ELECTROSTATICS. That branch of elec

tromagnetism that deals with the effects of
stationary (as opposed to moving) electric
charges. The basic law of electrostatics is
the Coulomb law (see also electrostatics, laws
of). Materials are conveniently classed into
conductors and non-conductors (dielectrics).
In the former, charges are free to move within
the conductor and any charge placed on a con
ductor will so distribute itself over the surface
that the electric field within the conductor is
zero and so that the conductor is an equipotential. When an uncharged conductor is
placed in an electric field, produced for ex
ample by a neighboring charged body, a sep
aration of charge on the surface will occur
(see induction (1); images, method of). A
charge placed on a non-conductor will remain
where it was placed. N o material is a perfect
non-conductor, but many approximate one
very closely. When a non-conductor is placed
in an electric field, electric dipoles are induced
within it (see induced polarization).
Static electric charges may be built up on a
body by friction, by electrostatic induction,
and by other means.
(See electrophorus;
static machines; electrostatic generator; accel
erators, particle.)
ELECTROSTATIC
screening.

SHIELDING.

See

ELECTROSTATICS, LAWS OF. The laws

of electrostatics are expressed in terms of elec
tric charges, q , charge densities p = dq/dV,
electric field strengths E = F /g , and electro
static potentials

<j>

= J* E-ds.

The basic law of electrostatics is the C o u lo m b

law of force between charges:

<M2r

= ----- -
4 t qT

with the resulting field due to a single point

charge q:
qer
E = ------- - (rationalized m k sa units),
47r0rJ

where e r is a unit vector pointing in the direc

tion of increasing r. The field due to a number
of discrete charges is the v e c to r sum

4we0 i

Ti

while that due to a continuous distribution of

charges is
E _

4ttoJ

f Pe rdV

r2

The potential at some point in space due to a

single point charge, referred to an origin of
potential at infinity, is 0 = q/4we0r, while the
potentials due to a number of discrete charges
or to a continuous distribution of charges are
respectively
* = _ L

4:7ro j

and

^ =

T *T

47 60

again referred to an origin of potential at in

finity. If the potential function <t> has been
determined, then the electric field m ay be
determined from E = V0 where V0 is the
g r a d ie n t of 0. Alternatively, if the field E has
been determined, the potential 0 may be
obtained from

00
The basic law of electrostatics, the C ou
lom b law, m ay alternatively be expressed
either as the Gauss law or as the Poisson equa
tion. In the absence of local charges, the Pois
son equation reduces to the special case of the
Laplace equation.
The electrostatic field is a conservative field,
which leads to the fact that is possible to set
up a potential function 0. This fact m ay be
alternatively stated in terms of the closed line
integral
^ E*ds = 0,
or in terms of the c u r l of E :V X E = 0.
ELECTROSTATIC UNITS.
of units.

See esu system

ELECTROSTATIC VALENCE. The type of

valence which involves electron transfer. It
is also known as ionic valence.
ELECTROSTATIC
VOLTM ETER.
voltmeter, electrostatic; electrometer.

See

ELECTROSTATIC W AVE. W ave motion in

a plasma in which the restoring forces are
electrostatic in nature are termed electrostatic
waves. On a fluid type of analysis two kinds
of longitudinal waves exist. These are elec
tron or plasma oscillations near the plasma
frequency and positive-ion oscillations.
ELECTROSTRICTION.
The phenomenon
wherein some materials experience an elastic
strain as the result o f an applied electric field,
this strain being independent of the polarity
of the field.
(See electrostrictive effect on
crystals.)
ELECTROSTRICTIVE EFFECT ON CRYS
TALS. In addition to the first-order piezo
electric effect found only in crystals having
particular symmetry properties and being
linear in D , all crystals have a second-order
electrostrictive effect in which a distortion
occurs which is proportional to the square of
the electric displacement. The effect is large
in ferroelectric crystals, such as barium titanate, and is apparently due to the stresses
induced by changing the alignment of the
ferroelectric domains upon electrification.
(C f. magnetostriction.)
ELECTROVISCOUS EFFECT. The change
in viscosity of a liquid when placed in a strong
electrostatic field. The effect is very small
and occurs only in polar liquids.
ELEM ENT.
(1) A quantity identified by
two symbols designating a row and column
in an array, such as a matrix element or an
element of a determinant. As used in calculus
see integral, line; surface; volume.
(2) A
collection of atoms of one type which cannot
be decomposed into any simpler units by any
chemical transformation. T o date 101 d if
ferent elements are known; these may be
grouped into an ascending series according to
the nuclear charge; some elements (those in
the so-called radioactive series) spontaneously
decompose into simpler elements; radioactive
decomposition can be induced artificially
where it does not occur in nature and for each
element there is known a number of isotopes,
i.e., atoms with the same nuclear charge but
different nuclear masses which m ay vary
within certain limits.
There are also in
stances in which atoms have the same nuclear
charge and nuclear mass, but differ only in
nuclear energetics, and hence stability and

behavior. (3) A n y electrical device (such as

inductor, resistor, capacitor, generator, line,
electron tube, or semiconductor) with termi
nals at which it m ay be directly connected to
other electrical devices. (4) An integral part
of a device (e.g., of an electron tube or of
a semiconductor) which contributes to its
operation. (5) A parameter in an acoustical
system which defines a distinct activity in its
part of the system.
ELEM ENT (ANTIRECIPROCAL) (NONRE
CIPROCAL) (RECIPROCAL). See network
element (antireciprocal) (nonreciprocal) (re
ciprocal).
ELEM ENTAL AREA.

See area, elemental.

ELEM ENT, ARITHMETIC.

element.

See arithmetic

ELEM ENT, ARTIFICIAL RADIOACTIVE.

A radioactive element produced from another
element, or from an isotope of the same ele
ment, by the bombardment of protons, neu
trons, deuterons, -yrays, or other particles or
radiations.
ELEMENTARY CHARGE. See charge, ele
mentary; Millikan oil drop experiment.
ELEMENTARY PARTICLE. Originally this
term was applied to any particle of matter
which was considered to have a unique set of
intrinsic properties and a permanent and in
dependent existence. It has since been found
that certain of these particles can convert
into one or more other particles, or to radia
tion. Therefore the term elementary particle
is now applied quite loosely to the electron,
positron, neutron, proton, the various mesons
and hyperons, the neutrino and to other par
ticles that are under investigation or whose
existence has been postulated. Photons are
com m only included, even though their intrin
sic properties, such as spin and parity, are not
fixed, but depend on the radiation field they
represent.
ELEMENTARY QUANTUM OF ACTION.
See Planck constant.
ELEM ENT, CODE.

See code element.

ELEM ENT, LOGICAL.

ELEM ENT, NETW ORK.
ment.

See logical element.

See network ele-

ELEM ENT, RADIATING.

ment.

See radiation ele

ELEM ENT, RADIOACTIVE. An element

(2) that disintegrates spontaneously with the
emission of various rays and particles. M ost
com monly the term denotes radioactive ele
ments such as radium, radon (emanation),
thorium, promethium, uranium, which occupy
a definite place in the periodic table because
of their atomic number. The term radioac
tive element is also applied to the various
other nuclear species (which are produced by
the disintegration o f radium, uranium, etc.)
including the members of uranium, actinium,
thorium, and neptunium families of radioac
tive elements, which differ markedly in their
stability, and are isotopes of elements from
thallium (atomic number 81) to uranium
(atomic number 92), as well as the partly
artificial actinide group, which extends from
actinium (atom ic number 89) to californium
(atomic number 98), and includes the transuranic elements neptunium (atom ic number
93), plutonium (atomic number 94), amer
icium (atomic number 95), curium (atomic
number 96), berkelium (atom ic number 97),
californium (atomic number 98), einsteinium
(atomic number 99), fermium (atomic num
ber 100), and mendelevium (atomic number
101). The radioactive nuclides produced from
nonradioactive ones are discussed under ele
ment, artificial radioactive.
ELEMENTS, PARALLEL.
(1) Tw o-ter
minal elements are connected in parallel when
they are connected between the same pair of
nodes (2).
(2) Two-term inal elements are
connected in parallel when any cut-set includ
ing one must include the others.
ELEVATION, ANGLE OF. The angle meas
ured at the observer between the horizontal
plane and the line to the object.
ELIMINATION BAND.

See stop band.

E-LINE. (1) A contour representing a con

stant electrostatic field strength with re
spect to some reference plane. (2) A Fraun
hofer line.
ELLIPSE. A conic section obtained by a
cutting plane parallel to no element of a right
circular conical surface. It is the locus of a
point which moves so that the sum o f its dis
tances from two foci, Fi and F 2} is a constant*

Its eccentricity is less than unity.

ard equation m ay be taken as:

The stand

The curve is a central conic for it is sym

metric about both the x - and t/-axes, see fig
ure. W hen placed in this standard position,

with a > c, so that its m ajor axis is along the

X -a xis of the coordinate system and its minor
axis along the Z-axis. There are then two
possibilities: (1) rotate the ellipse about its
m ajor axis and the result is a prolate spheroid
with a > b = c; (2) rotate about the minor
axis and obtain an oblate spheroid, a = b > c.
Sections through the surfaces are circles in
both cases: when taken parallel to the plane
x = 0 for the prolate case; parallel to z = 0
for the oblate case.
In the final degenerate case, a = b = c, the
surface is a sphere.
ELLIPSOIDAL COORDINATE.
dinate system, ellipsoidal.

See coor

ELLIPSOID, M OM ENTAL (ELLIPSOID

OF POINSOT). For a rotating body with no
resultant external torque acting on it

co H = 2 T

the center of the ellipse is the coordinate ori

gin, the major axis of length 2a is along the
x-axis, and the minor axis of length 2b is along
the 7/-axis. The distance from the center to
either focus is 's/a2 b2; the eccentricity e

where H is the vector angular m om en tu m ,

o> is the resultant vector angular velocity and
T is the total kinetic energy. When expressed
in component form, this becomes the equation
of an ellipsoid in angular velocity space:
Ixx^x2 + lyyUy2 + Izz^z

2 T.

is given by ae y a2 b2; the length of the

latus rectum, I, is 2b2/ a ; the equations for the
directrices D iD i and D 2D 2' are x = a / e.
The distance from any point on the ellipse
to a focus is a focal radius and the sum of
two focal radii equals 2a.
If the sem i-m ajor axis equals the semi
minor axis (a = 6 ), the ellipse degenerates
into a circle.

h x, lyy and I zz are the moments of inertia with

respect to the principal axes fixed in the body.
<dx, My, o)z are the components of angular veloc
ity with respect to the principal axes fixed in
the body. The length of the radius vector
from the origin to the surface of the ellipsoid
represents a value of the angular speed con
sistent with the total kinetic energy and angu
lar momentum.
(See inertia, momenta and
products of; rigid body, kinetic energy of.)

ELLIPSOID. A central quadric, given in its

standard form, with center at the coordinate
origin, as:

ELLIPSOID OF INERTIA.
lipsoid.

where a, 6, c are the semi-axes. Sections

parallel to each of the coordinate planes are
ellipses.
If two of the axes become equal, the sur
face is a spheroid, which can be generated
as a surface of revolution.
Consider an
ellipse in the X Z -p la n e:

See inertia el

ELLIPSOMETER. An instrument for deter

mining the thickness of very thin transparent
films deposited on solid surfaces. It utilizes
the fact that a plane polarized beam will be
come elliptically polarized upon reflection.
The degree of ellipticity in the reflected beam
will vary with the thickness of the film.
ELLIPTIC. See function, elliptic; integral,
elliptic; coordinate system, elliptic.
ELLIPTIC (AL) COORDINATE. Often used
to mean an ellipsoidal coordinate but more
correctly the two coordinates locating a point

in a plane, when referred to a system of confocal conics. (See coordinate system, ellip
tic.)
ELLIPTIC CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE.
See coordinate system, elliptic cylindrical.
ELLIPTICITY.

See axial ratio.

ELLIPTIC
PARTIAL
DIFFERENTIAL
EQUATION. A special case of the general par
tial differential equation where A { x , y ) C (x,y)
5 > B 2(x,y)
for all x, y.
The characteristic
curves become complex functions. W riting
(u
i v ) , the other solution is i =
(u iv) and the normal form of the equation:

d2^

d2\f/

H ------ =
du*
dv

d\p
+ T(u,v) + U (u,v)t.
dv
du

(u ,v )

The specification of Dirichlet or Neumann

conditions along a closed boundary assures a
unique solution.
The Laplace, Helmholtz,
and Poisson equations are of elliptic type.
ELONGATION. The increase in length along
the direction of application of a stress.
EM ANATING POWER.
The fraction of
radioactive inert-gas atoms formed in a solid
or solution that escape.
EM ANATION. A name often given to ele
ment 86 (radon).
EMBOSSED GROOVE RECORDING.
A
method of disk recording which employs a
com paratively blunt stylus to push aside the
material in the modulated groove. N o ma
terial is removed from the disk. Frequently
employed in dictating machines because the
disks can be heated and reused, and also be
cause there is no refuse to be cleaned away
during the recording operation.
EMBRITTLEMENT. An increase in the sus
ceptibility of a metal to fracture under stress
caused by the introduction of gas or other
foreign atoms, by segregation of brittle con
stituents, by internal oxidation, or by certain
types of corrosion.
EMF.

Abbreviation for electromotive force.

EM INENCE.

See anticyclone.

EMISSION. See emission, electron; emission,

field; emission, field-enhanced photoelectric;
emission, field-enhanced secondary; emission
current (of a cathode), field-free; emission

current, flection-point; emission, grid; emission

current, inflection-point; emission, reverse
(back emission); emission, Schottky; emission,
secondary; emission, secondary grid; emission,
thermionic; emission, thermionic grid (pri
mary grid emission).
EMISSION, AUTOELECTRIC. The emission
of electrons from a cold cathode due to the
application of an intense electric field at its
surface.
EMISSION, BACK.

See emission, reverse.

EMISSION CHARACTERISTIC. The rela

tion between the emission and a factor con
trolling the emission, such as temperature,
voltage, or current of the filament or heater.
(See characteristic curve.)
EMISSION, COLD.

See field emission.

EMISSION CURRENT, FIELD-FREE (OF

A CATHODE). The electron current (see
current, electron) emitted by a cathode when
the electric field at the surface of the cathode
is zero.
EMISSION CURRENT, FLECTION-POINT.
That value of current on the diode character
istic for which the second derivative of the
current with respect to the voltage has its
maximum negative value. This current cor
responds to the upper flection point of the
diode characteristic.
EMISSION
CURRENT,
INFLECTIONPOINT. That value of current on the diode
characteristic for which the second derivative
of the current with respect to the voltage is
zero. This current corresponds to the inflec
tion point of the diode characteristic, and is
an approximate measure of the maximum
space-charge-limited emission current.
EMISSION, ELECTRON. The liberation of
electrons from an electrode into the surround
ing space. Quantitatively, it is the rate at
which electrons are emitted from an electrode.
EMISSION, FIELD. The emission of elec
trons from unheated metal surfaces, produced
by sufficiently strong electric fields. (See also
microscope, field emission; Schottky effect.)
EMISSION,
forced.

INDUCED.

See

transition,

EMISSION, PHOTOELECTRIC. The ejec

tion of electrons from a solid or liquid by
electromagnetic radiation.
(See emission,
photoelectric, field-enhanced; photoelectric
effect.)
EMISSION, PHOTOELECTRIC, FIELDENHANCED.
The increased photoelectric
emission resulting from the action of a strong
electric field on the emitter.
EMISSION, PRIMARY GRID.
thermionic grid.

See emission,

EMISSION, REVERSE (BACK EMISSION)

(VACUUM TUBES). The inverse electrode
current from an anode during that part of a
cycle in which the anode is negative with re
spect to the cathode.
EMISSION, SCHOTTKY.
The increased
thermionic emission resulting from an electric
field at the surface of the cathode.
EMISSION, SECONDARY. The ejection of
electrons from a solid or liquid as a result of
charged-particle impact. (See emission, sec
ondary, field-enhanced.)
EMISSION,
SECONDARY,
FIELD-EN
HANCED. The increased secondary emis
sion resulting from the action of a strong elec
tric field on the emitter.
EMISSION, SECONDARY, GRID. Electron
emission from a grid, resulting directly from
bombardment of its surface by electrons or
other charged particles.
EMISSION, SECONDARY, RATIO. The av
erage number of electrons emitted from a sur
face per incident primary electron. The re
sult of a sufficiently large number of events
should be averaged to ensure that statistical
fluctuations are negligible.
EMISSION, SPONTANEOUS. See transition,
spontaneous.
EMISSION, STIMULATED.
forced.

See transition,

EMISSION, THERMIONIC.
phenomena.

See thermionic

EMISSION, THERM IONIC, GRID (PRI

MARY GRID EMISSION).
Current pro
duced by electrons thermionically emitted
from a grid.

EMISSIVE POWER. The emissive power of

a body is equal to its absorptive power multi
plied by the emissive power of a black body
at the same temperature. The emissive power
of a black body (perfect or complete radiator)
is the total radiation from the black body per
unit area of radiating surface.
EMISSIVITY. The ratio of the radiation
emitted by a surface to the radiation emitted
by a complete radiator (black body) at the
same temperature and under similar condi
tions. The emissivity may be expressed for
the total radiation of all wavelengths ( total
em issivity), for visible light ( luminous emis
sivity) as a function of wavelength (spectral
em issivity) or for some very narrow band
of wavelengths (m onochrom atic em issivity).
Excepting for luminescent materials, the emis
sivity can never be greater than unity.
EMITRON.
tube.

A type

of television camera

EMITTANCE. The radiant emittance of a

source is the power radiated per unit area of
the surface. This m ay be either the radiant
emittance per unit range in wavelength, the
spectral radiant em ittance, or its integral over
all wavelengths, the total radiant emittance.
If the radiant emittance is evaluated by the
standard luminosity function, it is called
luminous emittance. For a perfectly diffus
ing surface, the luminous emittance is equal
to 7r times the intensity luminance.
EMITTER (OF A TRANSISTOR).
ter, majority and emitter, minority.
EMITTER JUNCTION.
ter.

See emit

See junction, emit

EMITTER, MAJORITY (OF A TRANSIS

TOR). An electrode from which a flow of
majority carriers enters the interelectrode
region.
EMITTER, MINORITY (OF A TRANSIS
TOR). An electrode from which a flow of
minority carriers enters the interelectrode re
gion.
EMITTER RESISTANCE,
See transistor parameter re.

TRANSISTOR.

EMITTER, THORIATED.
A thermionic
emitter (see thermionic phenomena, also
emission, thermionic) consisting of a di

rectly-heated tungsten filament to which has

been added a small quantity of thorium oxide.
During the evacuation process, some of the
thorium oxide is converted to metallic tho
rium which covers the cathode area in a thin
coat. The resultant work function is consid
erably less than that for a pure tungsten fila
ment.
EMMETROPIC EYE. A n eye in which light
from a distant object is focused exactly at the
retina when accommodation is entirely re
laxed.
EMPHASIZER. A filter used in an audio
system to emphasize some portion of the fre
quency spectrum.
EMPTY M AGNIFICATION. I f the image
formed by a telescope or microscope is not
magnified enough, some detail of the object
which is resolved by the instrument m ay not
be seen by the eye. The detail may be cor
rectly represented in the image formed by the
instrument, but its size in that image m ay be
so small that it cannot be resolved by the eye.
M agnification which gives an image up to the
size such that each detail resolved by the in
strument shall be large enough to be resolved
by the eye is useful magnification. A ny mag
nification in excess is called empty magnifica
tion since it does not reveal any fresh detail
in the object.
EM U. An abbreviation for any electrical unit
in the emu system of units. N ow obsolescent,
having been replaced by the prefix ab- at
tached to the name of a unit in the practical
system. E.g., abampere, abvolt. (See electro
magnetic units.)
EMULSIFICATION.
ing an emulsion.

The process of prepar

EMULSIFICATION, THEORY OF. A the

ory to explain the formation of oil-in-water
and water-in-oil emulsions. It is found ex
perimentally that alkali-metal soaps when
used as emulsifying agents tend to give oilin-water emulsions while heavy-m etal soaps
give w ater-in-oil emulsions.
According to
Bancroft the emulsifying film may be con
sidered as three molecules thick, consisting of
an oil molecule, an emulsifying agent molecule
and a water molecule. When the interfacial
tension at the water-emulsifying agent inter
face is less than at the oil-emulsifying agent

interface, the film tends to bend and becomes

convex on the water side forming an oil-inwater emulsion, and vice versa. Harkins pro
posed an oriented wedge theory of emul
sions. This stated that for soaps such as the
monovalent soaps for which the cross section
of the metal ion is smaller than the paraffin
chain, the emulsion would be of the oil-inwater type so as to form an interfacial film
of the greatest density, and vice versa. There
are, however, a number of exceptions to this
theory.
When solid powders are used as emulsify
ing agents, if the solid is preferentially wetted
by one phase, then since the powder tends to
be taken up at the interface, more particles
can pack into the interface if this is curved
and convex to that phase. Thus if the powder
is wetted more strongly by water then oil-inwater emulsions will tend to be formed. This
may be regarded as an extension of the Ban
croft theory.
EMULSION. A lyophobic colloid system in
which the particles making up the internal
phase (dispersed phase) consist of globules
of a liquid which is immiscible with the liquid
external phase (dispersion medium).
EMULSION, NUCLEAR.
A photographic
emulsion especially designed for detection of
ionizing particles. W hen high speed charged
particles, such as electrons, protons, mesons,
etc., traverse a photographic emulsion they
cause ionization in the silver halide grains
that they pass through. When the film is de
veloped, the paths of the particles are shown
up as tracks of silver grains (see latent photo
graphic image; development). The nature
and the energy and momenta of the particles
m ay be deduced from their range in the emul
sion, from the grain density of their tracks
(grains per unit length of path) and from
their curvature in a magnetic field. Nuclear
events such as nuclear disintegrations can be
studied by observing the particle tracks and
the angles between them.
( See also cloud
chamber.)
EMULSION, PHOTOGRAPHIC. An emul
sion consisting of silver halide grains dispersed
throughout a gelatin. Upon exposure to light,
x-rays, high speed particles, etc., a latent pho
tographic image is formed which causes the
effected silver halide grains to be reduced to
silver when treated with a chemical developer

(see development). The emulsion is usually

deposited either on a plastic film or on a glass
plate.
EMULSION TECHNIQUE.
nuclear.

See emulsion,

ENANTIOMORPHS. Crystals that possess

neither a plane nor a center of symmetry and
cannot be brought into coincidence with their
reflected image. They are distinguished as
right and left forms and com monly exhibit
optical activity, the right and left forms rotat
ing the ray of polarized light in opposite direc
tions. (Cf. isomerism, optical.)
ENANTIOTROPY. The property possessed
by a substance of existing in two crystal forms,
one stable below, and the other stable above,
a certain temperature called the transition
point.
ENCODER. A network or system in which
only one input is excited at a time and each
input produces a combination of outputs.
Sometimes called matrix.
ENCODER, COLOR.

See color coder.

END-AROUND CARRY.

See carry.

ENDOERGIC. The same as endothermie,

i.e., requiring input of heat or energy. (See
disintegration energy, nuclear.)
END-OF-COPY SIGNAL.
copy.

See signal, end-of-

ENDOSMOSIS. A type of osmosis in which

the solvent dialyzes into the system. E xos
mosis is the reverse process. The two proc
esses m ay be illustrated by the conditions in
the living cell ; when the plasma is hypertonic,
solvent passes from the cell into the plasma
(exosmosis) ; when the plasma is hypotonic
the solvent passes from the plasma into the
cell (endosm osis).
The movement of the liquid relative to col
loidal particles under an applied electrical
field is termed electro endosmosis.
ENDOTH ERM IC. Characterized by the ab
sorption of heat. Endothermal reactions ab
sorb heat as they progress. An endothermal
cell is an electrical cell in which the produc
tion of a current is attended by an absorption
of heat. (See also disintegration energy, nu
clear.)

END PRODUCT. The final product of a re

action or process. In radioactive series, the
stable nuclide constituting the last member
of the series.
ENERGIZE (RELAY). T o apply rated volt
age to the coil of a relay.
ENERGY. Energy is often defined as the
ability to do work. Thus, a capacitance of
magnitude C, carrying a charge Q, possesses
electrical energy in the amount Q2/2 C , and can
do this much work in the process of being dis
charged. In this instance, the energy is con
sidered to reside in the electric field between
the plates of the capacitor. In other cases,
e.g., that of kinetic energy, the energy is con
sidered to reside in the body itself. The
mechanical or electrical energy of a system is
always measured as the maximum amount of
work that the system can do in coming to
static equilibrium.
When other forms of energy than electrical
or mechanical are concerned (e.g., thermal
or chemical energies) the elementary defini
tion is not completely satisfactory, since the
amount of work that can be done depends
on the surroundings as well as on the state
of the body. In such cases, the definition
given above is that of the free energy, and
the total energy is better defined as the m axi
mum amount of work that the system can do
in coming to static equilibrium at the abso
lute zero of temperature. Even this defini
tion breaks down, however, if the system
possesses zero point energy.
In special relativity, energy and mass are
equivalent, being connected by the Einstein
equation E = me2 where c is the speed of
light.
Hence, when relativistic mechanics
must be applied, e.g., when speeds comparable
to c are involved, the energy of a system in
cludes the rest energy m0c2 of all the bodies
in the system. Here m0 is the mass of a body
at rest with respect to the observer.
Energy is particularly important because
it is a conserved quantity, which can be
neither created nor destroyed. It may, how
ever, be exchanged among various bodies or
may be converted from one form to another,
or interconverted with mass as in the Einstein
equation above. (See also work; conservation
of energy, law of.)
ENERGY, ACTIVATION. The excess energy
over the ground state which must be acquired

by an atomic or molecular system in order

that a particular process m ay occur. Exam
ples are: the energy needed by a molecule to
take part in a chemical reaction, by an elec
tron to reach the conduction band in a semi
conductor, by a lattice defect to move to a
neighboring site.
ENERGY, ACTIVATION FOR LIQUID
F LO W . If a liquid is regarded as an imper
fect solid, the yielding to an applied shear
stress takes place at a rate that depends on
the frequency with which molecules leave
their positions in the im perfect crystal lattice.
The variation of this frequency with tempera
ture is described by the energy required for an
interchange of a molecule between the lattice
and the free volume in the liquid. If this
activation energy is linearly dependent on
temperature at constant pressure, the slope
of the loge rj versus 1/kT plot gives the activa
tion energy at low temperatures.
ENERGY, ACTIVATION, RELATION BE
T W EEN THERM AL AND OPTICAL. For
a process such as the emission of an electron
from an impurity center, the thermal and op
tical activation energies are not usually equal.
In optical emission the surrounding ions do
not move (Franck-Condon principle). The
energy required is thus larger than in thermal
activation, when the surrounding ions will
necessarily be in the most favorable orienta
tion for the transition to take place.
ENERGY,
energy.

AVAILABLE.

See

available

ENERGY BALANCE. In nuclear reactions,

the amount of energy, Q, released per individ
ual reaction. It is positive when energy is re
leased, and negative when it is absorbed. (See
disintegration energy, nuclear.)
ENERGY BAND.
A continuous range of
energies in which there exist energy levels.
Usually shortened to band.
ENERGY, BINDING. There are a number
of definitions for this term.
(See binding
energy; binding energy, electron; binding
energy, proton; binding energy, nuclear; etc.)
ENERGY, COHESION. The energy which
would be required to break up a solid or liquid
into its constituent atoms or molecules. The
cohesion energy is often expressed as the en

ergy per mole of a body of such extent that

the surface energy is negligibly small.
ENERGY, CONSERVATION OF. (1) Gen
eral An accepted principle which states that
energy can never be created or destroyed, but
can only be changed in form, as discussed in
the entry on energy and conservation of en
ergy, law of the.
(2) For a conservative
mechanical system If all the forces acting
on the system are conservative forces, the
total mechanical energy of the system is con
stant, and equal to the sum of the potential
and kinetic energies.
(See conservative sys
tem; and energy integral.)
ENERGY CONTOUR. A contour of constant
energy, mapped out on a diagram whose co
ordinates are some physical parameters of a
system, or which define various states of the
system, as for example the energy of an elec
tron in a metal as a function of its crystal
momentum.
ENERGY, CRITICAL.

See energy, threshold.

ENERGY, DEGRADATION.
Changes in
form of energy take place in the direction of
increasing entropy, hence lesser availability.
ENERGY
DENSITY
(ELECTROMAG
NETIC).
The energy required to set up
electric and magnetic fields can be thought of
as residing in the fields. The energy density
is then the field energy per unit volume.
The energy required to set up an electric
field, E, in space, or in an isotropic medium, is
given, if rationalized units are used, by
f h E 2dr,
where dr is a volume element. The expression
eE2 is the electric energy density.
Similarly, the energy required to set up a
magnetic field, H , is
f i/tH dr,
and the expression M>/x#2 is the magnetic
energy density.
In an electromagnetic wave the instantaneous
value of the energy density is }/2 eE2 + }4fxH2
where E and H are the instantaneous m agni
tudes of the electric and magnetic fields.
For anisotropic media the terms eE2 and
jlH 2 used above should be replaced by E D

and H B respectively.
If n on-rationalized
units are employed, the factor Yi is replaced
by 3^7r.

taneously rotating about an axis through its

center of mass with an angular velocity w,
possesses a kinetic energy

ENERGY, DISGREGATION. The energy a

body possesses by virtue of the tendency of
its particles to repel each other.

E = \mv2 + /o>2,

ENERGY DISSIPATION RATE, ACOUS

TIC. The rate at which the energy in a sound
wave is dissipated into heat energy.
ENERGY, EDDY-CURRENT.
The energy
lost due to eddy currents.
(See current,
eddy.)
ENERGY EIGENFUNCTION.
An eigen
function of the Hamiltonian operator. The
associated eigenvalue is often called the en
ergy eigenvalue. (See also Schrdinger equa
tion.)
ENERGY EIGENSTATE.
function.
ENERGY, FREE.
ENERGY GAP.

See energy, eigen

See free energy.

See gap, energy.

ENERGY INTEGRAL. The first integration

of the Newton equation of motion m i = F,
in which r is the position vector of the par
ticle of mass m and F is the resultant (vector)
force acting in it, yields an integral of the
form :
itmv - j F d r = C,
where v is the velocity at any instant and C is
a constant of integration. This is usually called
the energy integral, since l^mv2 is the kinetic
energy.

If F is a conservative force,

F dr

depends only on the position of the particle

and is therefore called the potential energy.
The constant C becomes the total energy and
the existence of the energy integral implies the
conservation of mechanical energy.
ENERGY, INTERNAL.

See internal energy.

ENERGY, KINETIC. That part of the energy of a body which the body possesses as a
result of its motion. A particle of mass m,
moving with a speed v, has a kinetic energy
E = y2m v2 according to classical mechanics,
i.e., if
c , the speed of light. Similarly, a
rigid body of mass m, whose center of mass
is moving with a speed v and which is simul

where I is the moment of inertia of the body

about the axis of rotation.
When the speed of a particle is sufficiently
high so that relativity theory must be used, the
kinetic energy is
1
E = (m m0)c2 = m0c2

V
.(1 - v2/c2) A
where m is the observed mass of the body and
ra0 is the rest mass. This expression always
gives a higher kinetic energy than does the
classical one; it is approximated by the class
ical form when v <^c and increases without
limit as v approaches c. The kinetic energy
of a body, in either classical or relativistic
mechanics, is different for two observers who
are in relative motion.
The separation o f the total energy of a mass
into kinetic and other forms o f energy depends
on the scale of observation. Thus, the speed
of the center of mass of a large scale body is
the quantity that enters into the computation
of its kinetic energy, whereas the individual
molecules that make up the body may be
moving at high speeds relative to the center
of mass, and so the sum of their kinetic en
ergies m ay be much greater than the kinetic
energy of the body as a whole. The kinetic
energies associated with the random motion
of the molecules contribute to the internal en
ergy of the body.
ENERGY, LATTICE. The potential energy
of a crystal lattice, which is a measure of the
stability of the atomic or ionic lattice system.
(See also energy, cohesion.)
ENERGY LEVEL. A stationary state of
energy of any physical system. The existence
of many stable, or quasi-stable states, in
which the energy of the system stays constant
for some reasonable length of time, is an es
sential characteristic of quantum-mechanical
systems, and is the basis of large areas of
modern physics.
ENERGY LEVEL, ACCEPTOR. An accep
tor impurity atom in a crystal is equivalent
to an excess negative charge, since its atomic
core is insufficiently charged to neutralize its

share of the covalent bonding electrons. C on

sequently, it can attract a positive charge,
such as a hole in the electron distribution,
forming bound states which lie just above the
top of the valence band. The promotion of an
electron to one of these levels frees a hole for
conduction, as in a p-type semiconductor.
(See semiconductor, p-type.)
ENERGY LEVEL DIAGRAM. In general
terms, any diagram in which the energies of
states of a system, or of parts of a system,
are shown by the distances of a series of hori
zontal lines from a zero level. Such diagrams

mechanical energy does not exist for a non

conservative system. However, the concept
is so useful that it is customary to treat a
dissipative system (see, for example, forced
oscillator with dissipation) as a system whose
energy (defined for the equivalent non-dissipative system) decreases with the time.
This makes possible an important connection
with non-mechanical forms of macroscopic en
ergy, for example, heat.
ENERGY-MOMENTUM TENSOR. Set of
16 quantities, not necessarily all different,
which specify the energy density, momentum
density and stresses in a distribution of matter
or radiation, and which transform as a tensor.
Once the Lagrangian L describing a system
of fields \j/a has been specified, an energy-momentum tensor given by
Txv LV

<a
dxv

dL

( d^a\
\dxj

Other energy-momentum tensors may be de

fined, differing from this by a divergence.
ENERGY, MUTUAL.

are of the greatest value in all branches of

physics, e.g., band schemes, nuclear energy
levels, etc.
ENERGY, LUMINOUS. The value of radiant
energy (see energy, radiant) in terms of its
ability to produce brightness.
ENERGY, M ECHANICAL. For a conserva
tive dynamical system the mechanical energy
is the invariant of the motion which is equal
to the sum of the kinetic energy (see energy,
kinetic) and the potential energy (see energy,
potential). This invariant or constant results
from a first integration of the equations of
motion and the first integral is usually known
as the energy integral. Strictly speaking the

See interaction energy.

ENERGY, NEGATIVE KINETIC.

(1) In
quantum mechanics there may be a finite
probability of finding a particle in the classi
cally forbidden region where the total energy
of the particle is less than its potential energy.
In such a region, the kinetic energy, given as
the difference between the total energy and the
potential energy, would be negative. If an
attempt is made to observe a particle in this
classically forbidden region, one gives to the
particle an indeterminate amount of energy,
sufficient to lead to a positive measured value
for its energy (Heisenberg uncertainty prin
ciple), with the result that negative kinetic
energy is not observable.
Particles pass
through such classically forbidden regions of
negative kinetic energy in the tunnel effect.
(2) The term is also used to describe the
energy states of particles in those energy lev
els that were first predicted by the Dirac elec
tron theory. (See energy state, negative, in
which these states are shown in the diagram
on page 419.
ENERGY OF A CHARGED SYSTEM. If
the charges
are varied on a set of con-

ductors at potentials Vit the resulting change

of energy of the system is given by
dU = V4qi.
i
Expressed in terms of coefficients of potential
(see potential, coefficients of)
du =

vm A i

which yields upon integration

u = i E E PijMi = i E ViQi
i

= i E E ciiViVj,
i

where the c# are the coefficients of induction.

(See induction, coefficients of.)
ENERGY OF A SYSTEM OF CURRENT
CIRCUITS. The magnetic fluxes through a
set of circuits carrying steady currents Ij can
be written
4*1

^ M ijlj,
j

where the M i} = M a are the mutual induc

tances, and M u = Li is the self-inductance of
the zth circuit. I f the circuits are of constant
length, i.e., they m ay be non-rigid, but have
no sliding contacts, the induced em fs are
Si = d<t>i/dt
= -

E M ijdlj/dt j

X IjdM ij/dt.
i

Establishing the currents requires doing work

at the rate
dW
2 / i&i,
dt
hence
dW = - S / A - d i
= WMijlidlj + WIJjdMij.
If the circuits are held stationary so that no
mechanical work is done, the work becomes
stored energy of the system, and
dU = W M ijlid lj,
U = ^ M ijljj.
ENERGY OF INTERACTION.
tion energy.

See interac

ENERGY OF ORIENTATION OF A D I
POLE. See energy states, magnetic; dipole,
electric.
ENERGY, POTENTIAL. The negative of
the work done by the forces of a conservative
system when the particles of the system move
from one configuration to another is the p o
tential energy of the second configuration rela
tive to the first configuration. This quantity
is independent o f the path followed by the
particles in changing their configuration and
is a function of the initial and final positions
only.
An equivalent definition states that the po
tential energy is that particular function of
the coordinates V (x ,y ,z) whose negative gra
dient exists and is equal to the force, i.e.,
F = -V F .
The existence of V implies a conservative
force field.
If the force between two particles separated
b y a distance r is given by F = K/r2 (see
inverse squ a re law s) the mutual potential
energy of the particles when separated by a
distance r is
r rK

- I -fdr,
r2

where r0 is the distance of separation in the

initial or standard configuration. For conven
ience, r0 is often taken as infinity, in which
case the potential energy at infinity is con
sidered to be zero and the potential energy of
the final configuration is then K/r. Actually
the numerical value of the potential energy is
arbitrary because the initial configuration can
be chosen arbitrarily. A ny constant can be
added to the potential energy function and the
condition F = V V will still be satisfied.
A particle on the surface of the earth is
acted upon by a force mg, where m is the
mass and g is the acceleration of gravity at the
point. If the particle is raised a height h
centimeters above the surface of the earth,
where h is small in comparison with the radius
of the earth, the potential energy of the par
ticle with respect to the earths surface be
comes mgh. For example, a 10 gram mass at
a distance of 100 cm above the ground has a
potential energy of about (10 gm) (100 cm)
(980 cm /sec2) = 980,000 ergs. If the mass
were allowed to fall to the ground in a vacuum,
the potential energy would be converted com

pletely into 980,000 ergs of kinetic energy,

thus exemplifying the conservation of energy.
(See also conservative force.)
ENERGY PRODUCT. The product of the
magnitudes of B and H at any point on the
demagnetization curve. The maximum value
o f this product is the best single criterion for
a material to be used in permanent magnets.
(See hysteresis.)
ENERGY, RADIANT.
Energy which is
transferred by electromagnetic waves without
a corresponding transfer of matter.
ENERGY, RELATIVE. The energy of par
ticles in the center of mass (coordinate) sys
tem.
ENERGY, SPIKE LEAKAGE (TR AND PRETR TUBES). The radio-frequency energy per
pulse transmitted through the tube before and
during the establishment of the steady-state
radio-frequency discharge.
ENERGY STATE. See state, energy and en
ergy eigenfunction.
ENERGY STATE, NEGATIVE.
(1) A ny
bound state, in which the sum of the kinetic
energy and the potential energy, the latter
reckoned relative to zero at infinity, is less
than zero. The existence of such states is
essential for the stability of any system that
is not surrounded by a region of positive po
tential energy, such as the Coulomb barrier.
(2) A consequence of the Dirac electron
theory is that there exist electron states of
negative total energy (including both rest
mass energy and kinetic energy). Electrons

......

Positive
9/

-------

...... ....
+mQc 2

in such states of negative energy are unob

servable, only electrons of positive total en
ergy being observable. The allowed positive
and negative states are shown in the diagram

(only E > m0c2 and E < m0c2 are allowed

in a field-free region). I f a y-ray photon of
energy greater than 2m0c2 (where m0 is the rest
mass energy of the electron) is absorbed by
an electron of negative energy, it will be lifted
into a positive energy state and will become
observable. The positron is identified with the
hole that is left behind. (See pair produc
tion; positron theory.)
The negative energy states are ordinarily
com pletely filled with electrons, with no room
for further electrons, a consequence of the
Pauli exclusion principle. However, when a
hole is created, an electron of positive energy
near by may fall into it (pair annihilation)
with the emission of y-rays.
A similar picture may be developed for any
pair composed of a particle and its anti-particle, the latter being the result of the lifting
of the particle from a state of negative energy
to one of positive energy.
ENERGY STATES, M AGNETIC. A magnetic
dipole of moment \l in a magnetic field of flux
density B has an energy that depends on orien
tation, E fiB cos 6, or in vector notation
E = (jl-B, in mksa units
in emu). In
atomic and nuclear systems the orientation of
relative to B is quantized, only certain val
ues of cos 0 being allowed. Transitions be
tween these allowed magnetic energy states
may take place with the emission or absorp
tion of electromagnetic (magnetic dipole) ra
diation of frequency given by the Bohr condi
tion:
v = AE/h, or co = AE/.
Particles such as electrons, protons, nuclei,
etc., have intrinsic magnetic moments |i =
egfil/2M, where I is the spin angular m o
mentum, g the g - f actor of the particle, and
M is the mass of the electron or the mass of the
proton. The magnetic energy states are thus
given by E = - e g l-B / 2 M = egmB/2M.
Here 77i is the magnetic quantum num ber,
which can take on the values
( I 1),
*. (7 1), 7 where 7 is the spin quantum
number (J^ for electrons and protons). The
energy is also often written E = ixsgmB or
jLNgmB where xb and nN are the Bohr
m agneton and nuclear m agneton respec
tively. The magnetic quantum number can
only change by = tl as a result of the emission
of radiation, so that there is only one emission
or absorption frequency co = egB/2M. (See

also resonance, m ag ne tic; L arm or fre

quency.)
EN E R G Y STO R E D IN A C H A R G E D C A
P A C IT O R . The electrical work that must be
done to charge a capacitor is C V 2/2 = Q2/2C
= QV/2, where Q is the charge separation, C
is the capacitance, and V is the potential dif
ference between the electrodes of the ca
pacitor. This work is stored in the electric
field of the capacitor. (See also energy of a
charged system; energy density.)
E N E R G Y STO R E D IN A SELF IN D U C
TA N C E . The electrical work that must be
done to set up a current I in a self-inductance
L is L I2/2 . This amount of energy is consid
ered as stored in the magnetic field associated
with the current in the self inductance. (See
also energy of a system of conductors; energy
density.)
E N E R G Y STO R E D IN A SPRING. W hen an
elastic spring, of spring constant /c, is stretched
a total distance x, work must be done against
the restoring force. This work is fcx2/2 , which
is then stored as potential energy in the spring.
E N E R G Y SU RFACE. The surface, in fc-space,
within which the states are occupied by the
electrons in a solid at the absolute zero of
temperature. For a free electron gas, accord
ing to the Fermi-Dirac distribution function,
this surface is a sphere with
k = i(* r /2 ) H(3 n )* ,
where n is the density of electrons. W hen the
variations in potential are taken into account
(see band theory of solids and Wigner-Seitz
method), the energy surface becomes more
complicated, but it always retains the sym
metry of the reciprocal lattice.
EN E R G Y TH E O R E M S O F E L E C T R O M A G
N ETISM . See Poynting theorem.
EN ERGY, UNITS O F.
1. Absolute System.
a. M etric cm gm sec.
The unit of energy is the erg which
is the work done by a force of one
dyne in moving a distance of one
centimeter.
b. M etric m kgm sec.
The unit o f energy is the joule which
is the work done by a force of one

newton moving a distance of one

meter. One joule = 107 ergs,
c. English ft lbm sec.
The unit of energy is the footpoundal which is the work done by
a force of one poundal moving a
distance of one foot.
2. Gravitational System.
a. English lb-force ft sec.
The unit of energy is the foot-pound
which is the work done by a force
of one pound (force) moving a dis
tance of one foot.
(See also mechanical units.)
E N F O R C E D D IP O L E M O M E N T .
bidden lines (4).
EN G IN E.

See for

See heat engine.

E N G IN E E FF IC IE N C Y . See heat engine.

E N G L E R VISC O SIM E TE R .
measurement of.

See viscosity,

E N H A N C E D - C A R R IE R
DEM ODULA
TIO N . See demodulation, enhanced carrier.
E N H A N C E D LIN E . A spectral line from a
spark or other very hot source whose intensity
is out of proportion with that of other lines
as compared with an arc or a flame spectrum.
E N IA C .
The first
digital computer.

electronic,

high-speed

E N R IC H M E N T . A ny process which changes

the isotopic ratio; in reference to uranium, it
is a process which increases the ratio of U-235
to U-238 in uranium by separation of isotopes.
Enrichment processes include thermal dif
fusion, gaseous barrier diffusion, and centrif
ugal and electromagnetic separation.
E N R IC H M E N T F A C T O R . The ratio of iso
topic ratios after enrichment to that before
enrichment. (See isotope separation factor.)
E N SEM BLE. (1) As used in the Gibbs for
mulation of statistical mechanics, an ensemble
is a virtual collection, or set of replicas, of
identical macroscopic thermodynamic systems.
Each system (m acroscopic) consists of the
same number of constituents (i.e., molecules,
atoms, etc.) in thermal equilibrium with the
same surroundings, but without other restric
tions on the coordinates and momenta of the
constituents. Average values are taken over
the collection of replica macroscopic systems.

(2) As used in the Fow ler-Darw in formula

tion of statistical mechanics, an ensemble is
a single m acroscopic collection of identical
m icroscopic systems (i.e., atoms, molecules,
etc.).
Average values are taken over the
m icroscopic possible states of the single m acro
scopic collection (ensemble) of microscopic
systems, rather than over a set of replicas of
a m acroscopic system.
ENSEMBLE, CANONICAL. A n ensemble
in statistical mechanics in which the distribu
tion in energy of the systems is given by the
Boltzmann factor.
ENSEMBLE, COOPERATIVE. An ensemble
in statistical mechanics in which the inter
actions between the systems composing the
assembly are not negligible. The state of a
given system is largely determined by the
states of the neighboring systems.
ENSEMBLE, IDEAL. An ensemble in sta
tistical mechanics in which the interactions
between the systems composing the assembly
can be neglected, such as a perfect gas or an
ideal solution.
ENSEMBLE, MICROCANONICAL. An en
semble in statistical mechanics in which the
variation in energy (or other independent
variable) of all the systems lies within an
infinitesimal range. Over this range, the as
sembly is in statistical equilibrium.
ENSI.
Abbreviation
sideband input.

for equivalent noise-

ENTHALPY. A thermodynamic potential, i?,

defined by the equation H = U + pV where U
is the internal energy of the system, p the pres
sure and V the volume. A t constant pressure
the change in enthalpy is equal to the heat flow
into the system from the surroundings.
ENTRAINMENT. A process whereby fluid
adjacent to a moving stream is caused to move
with the stream, either on account of the
viscous drag in the shearing layer which
bounds the stream in laminar flow, or on ac
count of the turbulent mixing at the edge of
the stream. Turbulent entrainment is particu
larly important at the boundaries of a jet.
Entrainment also occurs on the boundary
of a mass of buoyant fluid as it rises through
otherwise stationary surroundings, provided
that the fluids are miscible. The volume of

the buoyant mass is thereby increased and the

whole mass is decelerated.
ENTRANCE-PORT, EXIT-PORT. Same as
entrance and exit pupil of an optical instru
ment.
ENTRANCE PUPIL. The image of the aper
ture stop as viewed from the object.
ENTRANCE SLIT. A narrow slit in an
opaque screen through which light enters a
spectrometer. The spectrum formed is the
image of this slit in each wavelength of light
present. A narrow slit is necessary for good
resolution to avoid great overlapping of these
images. However the smaller the entrance
slit, the less radiation enters the spectrometer.
Hence a slit width must be used which is a
compromise between the resolution desired
and the necessary light intensity for proper
observation or detection of continuous spectra.
ENTROPY. (1) In the mathematical treat
ment of thermodynamic processes there oc
curs very often a quantity, now relating en
ergy to absolute temperature, now associated
with the probability of a given distribution of
momentum among molecules, and again ex
pressing the degree in which the energy of a
system has ceased to be available energy.
Its mathematical form suggests that these are
all aspects of a single physical magnitude.
Application of the second law of thermo
dynamics leads to the conclusion that if any
physical system is left to itself and allowed
to distribute its energy in its own way, it
always does so in a manner such that this
quantity, called entropy, increases; while
at the same time the available energy of the
system diminishes. This law applies to the
universe as a whole, hence the proposition
that the total entropy increases as time goes
on. An interesting conclusion as to entropy in
the vicinity of absolute zero is expressed by
the Nernst heat theorem; viz., that all physical
and chemical changes in this region take place
at constant entropy. A ny process during
which there is no change of entropy is said to
be isentropic. This is true, for example, of
an adiabatic process in which there is no dis
sipation of energy, i.e., one which is also a
reversible process. In thermodynamic dis
cussions entropy is com m only classed, along
with temperature, pressure, and volume, as
one of the variables defining the state of a

body, and is often graphed as such on thermo

dynamic diagrams. From thermodynamics,
the quantitative definition of entropy is dS =
dQ/T where dS is an infinitesimal change of
the entropy o f a system, dQ is the infinitesimal
heat energy that enters the system and T is
the K elvin temperature of the system. From
statistical mechanics, the entropy, S, of a sys
tem in equilibrium is defined as S = k loge P +
constant, where k is the Boltzmann constant
and P is the statistical probability of the sys
tem. It can be shown that the two definitions
are equivalent.
(2)
For use of the term entropy in inform a
tion theory, see information content, average.
ENTROPY, COM MUNAL. The contribution
to the entropy of a gas due to the fact that the
molecules occupy a common volume. Its value
is nk where n is the number of molecules pres
ent and k is the Boltzmann constant.
ENTROPY, CONDITIONAL.
tion theory.

See informa

ENTROPY, CONFIGURATIONAL. In crys

talline alloys, the entropy of mixing. F or a
binary alloy with N a atoms of type A and N
atoms of type B , the configurational entropy
is
Sc/

= k log[(N a + Nb) \/Na\, N hl\,

if the lattice sites are equivalent.

Ising model.)

(See also

ENTROPY OF DISORDER. That part of

the entropy of a substance that is due to a
disordered arrangement of the molecules as
opposed to a similar but ordered arrangement.
The most clear-cut example is the order-disorder transition in binary alloys, in which
virtually the whole entropy change is of this
kind. The entropy change on fusion of a
solid is largely due to entropy of disorder.
(See also entropy, configurational.)
ENTROPY OF FUSION. The unavailable
energy during a fusion, which is the quantity
obtained when the heat absorbed in the con
version of a given substance from the solid
to the liquid state is divided by the Kelvin
temperature at which the process takes place.

sum o f the entropies of the components o f the

mixture.
ENTROPY OF VAPORIZATION. The increase in entropy of a substance on changing
from the liquid to the vapor state.
ENTROPY, PRACTICAL.
tropy.

See virtual en

ENTROPY, SPIN (MAGNETIC). The en

tropy of a system of N paramagnetic ions of
spin J, at high enough temperatures so that
the spin system is com pletely disordered, is
given by
S = Nk \oge (2J + 1).
This entropy is reduced by the application of
a magnetic field, which tends to order the
spins in a preferential direction.
(See also
adiabatic demagnetization, cooling by.)
ENTROPY, STANDARD. The total entropy
of a substance in a state defined as standard.
Thus, the standard states of a solid or a
liquid are regarded as those of the pure solid
or the pure liquid, respectively, and at a
stated temperature. The standard state of a
gas is at 1 atmosphere pressure and specified
temperature, and its standard entropy is the
change of entropy accompanying its expan
sion to zero pressure, or its compression from
zero pressure to 1 atmosphere. The standard
entropy of an ion is defined in a solution of
unit activity, by assuming that the standard
entropy of the hydrogen ion is zero.
ENTROPY VECTOR. The four-vector ob
tained by multiplying the proper entropy
density by the local four-velocity in the rela
tiv ists theory of classical thermodynamics.
ENTROPY, VIRTUAL.

See virtual entropy.

ENVELOPE. A curve that is tangent to each

of a given fam ily of curves. The envelope
of the fam ily of curves f { x , y }t) = 0, where t
is the variable parameter of the family, is
given by the pair of equations:
f(x ,y ,t) = 0;

= ft(x,y,t) = 0.
ot

See

These parametric equations of the envelope

may be used to eliminate the parameter.

ENTROPY OF M IXING.
The difference
between the entropy of the mixture and the

E 0 T V 6 S EQUATION. A relation for the

rate of change of molar surface energy with
temperature of liquids. Ideally, this quantity,

ENTROPY OF IONS, STANDARD.

ion(s), standard entropy of.

d [y(M v)*]
k = ------------------- dT
should be a constant for all liquids. Actually,
deviations are frequently encountered. In the
above relationship, y is the surface tension
o f the liquid, v is its specific volume, M is its
molecular weight, T is temperature, and k is,
ideally, a constant for all liquids.
EPICADM IUM . Neutron energies above the
cadmium cut-off (about 0.3 ev).
EPITAXY.
Oriented intergrowth between
two solid phases. The surface of one crystal
provides, through its lattice structure, pre
ferred positions for the deposition of the sec
ond crystal.
E-PLANE
E-plane.

BEND.

See

waveguide

E-PLANE TEE JUNCTION.

junction, E-plane tee.
EPOCH ANGLE.

bend,

See waveguide

Same as phase angle.

EPR. Abbreviation for electron paramag

netic resonance.
(See resonance, paramag
netic.)

EPSILON.

(1) Dielectric coefficient or ca

(2) Permittivity (e).

(3)
Permittivity of free space (e0). (4) Relative
permittivity (er).
(5) Emittance (e).
(6)
Emissivity (e'). (7) Total emissivity (e' or
e't). (8) Spectral emissivity (e\). (9) Ex
tinction coefficient (e). (10) Self-energy (e).
pacitivity (e).

EQUALIZATION,
FREQUENCY-RESPONSE. The effect of all frequency dis
criminative means employed in a transmis
sion system to obtain a desired over-all fre
quency response.
EQUALIZER. A network inserted in a sys
tem to m odify the overall frequency response
in a desired manner. This term is also used
for the series of connections made in paral
leled, cumulatively-compound d-c generators
to prevent system instability. In general, any
frequency-sensitive network may be adapted
for some specific equalizer application.
EQUALIZER, ATTENUATION. An equal
izer used to compensate for amplitude-frequency distortion in a system.
EQUALIZER DELAY. A corrective network
which is designed to make the phase delay
(see delay, phase) or envelope delay (see de
lay, envelope) of a circuit or system substan
tially constant over a desired frequency range.
EQUALIZER INDUCTOR(S), GROUND.
See inductor(s), equalizer, ground.
EQUALIZER, LINE. An equalizer inserted
in a transmission line to m odify the frequency
response in a desired manner.
EQUALIZER, PHASE. A network designed
to compensate for phase-frequency distortion
in a system.

Luminous energy (e). (11) Natural logarith

mic base (e but e is preferred). (12) Epoch
angle (e). (13) Eccentricity (e or e).

EQUALIZER, SLOPE. A device or circuit

used to change the gain a n d /or attenuation of
an amplifier circuit to make the attenuation
of a section of transmission line constant over
the frequency band.

EQUAL-ENERGY
equal-energy.

EQUALIZING SIGNALS.
izing; signals, equalizing.

SOURCE.

See

source,

EQUALITY. A statement that two mathe

matical expressions are equal. Equalities are
of two kinds: identical equalities or identities
(see), and conditional equalities or equations
( = ).
EQUALIZATION. The process of adjusting
the amplitude-phase vs. frequency response
characteristics of a given system to some de
sired value. This is a necessary procedure,
for example, in feedback systems, in order that
the necessary margins of gain and phase may
be achieved.

See pulses, equal-

EQUATION. An equality involving two or

more functions. Equations are classified by
terms describing the functions in them or may
be given the name of a mathematician who
discovered or studied the equation. (See also
entries following; differential equation; in
tegral equation.)
EQUATION, CUBIC. An algebraic equation
of the third degree in one or more variables.
If there is one variable, the general form is:
ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0,

where a, b, c, d are constants and x is the

variable.
EQUATION, DIFFERENCE. An equation
connecting values of an unknown function at
two or more equally spaced values of the in
dependent variable, as, for example,
u(x + h) u(x) = 2x + 1,
or
u (x + 2 h) + 2xu (x + h) u(x) = x 2.
A linear difference equation is one in which
the unknown linear function occurs linearly
and the coefficients are functions of the inde
pendent variable only. A homogeneous differ
ence equation contains no term independent
o f the unknown function u.
EQUATION, HOMOGENEOUS.
tion, linear.

See equa

EQUATION, INDETERM INATE. One con

taining two or more variables and, in general,
satisfied by an infinite number of values for
each of the unknowns.
(See diophantine
equation.)
EQUATION, LINEAR. (1) A linear alge
braic equation has the form a^x^ + a2x 2 +
+ anx n = a0, where the a* are constants
and the Xi are the variables. (2) A set of
simultaneous linear equations is
n

^2 at j bi',
i=l

i =

2 , * , n>

where ay and bi are constants.

differential equation is:

(3) A linear

A 0{x)y + A x(x )y f + A 2(x )y "

H-------- h A n(x )y (n) = /Or),
where the A i(x ) are functions of the inde
pendent variable only and y% y " , are the
first, second, etc., derivatives. These equa
tions are also inhomogeneous. I f the righthand side is zero in any case, the equation is
still linear but homogeneous.
EQUATION OF M OTION.

See kinematics.

EQUATION OF MOTION OF A RIGID

BODY, GENERAL.
See kinematics; rigid
body (general equation of motion).
EQUATION OF STATE.
A relationship
which defines, or partly defines, the physical

conditions of a homogeneous system by relat

ing its pressure, temperature, volume or con
centration, and the gas constant. Further
more, all equations of state, except the simple
P V = R T , contain additional constants or
variables. (Also see characteristic equation;
equation of state, general; thermodynamic
equation of state; Keyes equation; Berthelot
equation; Beattie and Bridgman equation;
van der Waals equation; Dieterici equation;
and Clausius equation.)
EQUATION OF STATE, GENERAL. The
most general form of the equation of state,
relating the pressure, volume, and tempera
ture of a gas, and the gas constant. It is of
the form :
/
B
C
D
PV = R T[ 1 + - + _ + _

v2

vs )

in which P is the pressure, V the molar vol

ume, T the absolute temperature, R the gas
constant, and B, C, D , etc., are constants, de
pendent upon the temperature and called virial
coefficients. The equation is sometimes re
ferred to as the virial equation of state.
EQUATION OF STATE, THERMODY
NAMIC. See thermodynamic equations of
state.
EQUATION, PARAMETRIC. A plane curve
is usually described by a single equation in
two variables representing rectangular or
polar coordinates. Sometimes it is preferable
to represent the curve by parametric equa
tions expressing the coordinates separately in
terms o f a third variable, the parameter.
Parametric equations of surfaces and of
curves in space are also useful.
EQUATION, POLYNOMIAL. An equation
of the form P (# i, x 2, , xn) = 0, where P(Xi)
is a polynomial in one or more variables. The
case which occurs most frequently is the p oly
nomial equation in one variable, a0x n +
a1xn~ 1 + + an = 0. For it, the funda
mental theorem o f algebra states that there
exists one and only one set o f constants, xi,
%2, *j %n, such that
(x

X i)

(x x 2) (x x 3) (x x n) = 0.

The constants are the roots of the polynomial

equation. They may be real or complex, but
they need not all be different. If k ~ n roots
are equal to each other, the root is said to be

/c-fold.
roots :

The following relations hold for the

xi

+ x 2 -\--------- b x n = - a i / a 0;

x ix 2 + x 2x3 H--------- b Xn^Xn = a2/a0;

x\x2x% -b * * -b x n2x n\xn =

xix 2x3

a$/q]

= ( l)na/a0.

The roots of linear, quadratic, cubic, and

quartic equations may be obtained in terms
of algebraic expressions containing the co
efficients but polynomials of degree higher
than four cannot be solved in this way. A p
proximate values of the roots of equations of
any degree may be determined by graphical
or numerical methods. For the latter proce
dures see Horners method, Newtons method,
Graeffes method, iteration method. Proper
ties of the roots can be found by Descartes
rule and Sturms theorem.
EQUATION, QUADRATIC.
An algebraic
equation of the second degree in one or more
variables. If there are two variables, the
resulting curves are conic sections (see quad
ratic equation in two variables) ; if three
variables, quadric surfaces are obtained.
EQUATION, QUARTIC. An algebraic equa
tion of the fourth degree in one or more vari
ables. Also called a biquadratic equation.
EQUATIONS OF CONTINUITY.
tinuity equation.

See con

EQUATIONS OF M ATHEM ATICAL PHYS

ICS. One of the partial differential equations
which were the principal object of study in
classical mathematical physics.
They are:
(1) the Laplace equation,

the differential equations of quantum me

chanics, particularly the Schrdinger wave
equation, must be included.
EQUATION SOLVER. A computing device,
often of the analog type, which is designed
to: (1) solve systems of linear simultaneous
(nondifferential) equations, or (2) find the
roots of polynomials, or both.
EQUATION,
TRANSCENDENTAL.
An
equation which is not algebraic and contain
ing one or more transcendental functions.
Such an equation is generally designated by
the name of the transcendental functions
which it contains. It cannot be solved by
direct analytical methods in the usual case.
Approximate roots may be found by the
methods of Regula Falsi, Newton, or itera
tion. Graphical methods are also possible,
especially if only a few significant figures,
are wanted.
EQUATION, TRANSMUTATION. An equa
tion for the change of one atom into another,
which differs from it in nuclear charge, mass,
or stability. Such changes occur in natural
radioactive processes, but the general need
for a systematic notation for expressing them
came only with the investigation of artificial
radioactivity, and the great number of changes
discovered.
Tw o representative transmutation equations
are,
i 3Al27 + o^1
i2M g27 + xH1,
which shows the transmutation of aluminum
atoms of mass number 27, b y bombardment
with neutrons, to magnesium atoms of mass
number 27, with the emission of a proton, and
4Be 9 -b o^1 * 4Be 10 -b

V24> = 0;
and its inhomogeneous analogue, the Poisson
equation; (2) the equation of wave motion,
c2V2<j> = d2<t>/dt2)
(3) the diffusion equation, which also applies
to thermal conduction,
a 2 V 2 < =

d<f>/dt;

(4) the equation of telegraphy,

ad2<t>/dt2 + bd/dt = d2<f>/dx2.
The parameters are observable quantities and
t is the time. In modern theoretical physics,

which shows the transmutation of beryllium

atoms of mass number 9, under neutron bom
bardment, to beryllium atoms of mass number
10, with the emission of a gamma ray.
The two reactions above may also be ex
pressed in condensed form as:
A l27 (n; p) M g27
and
Be9 (n; 7 ) Be10.
EQUILIBRIUM.
(1) A condition in which
all the forces or tendencies present are exactly
counterbalanced or neutralized by equal and
opposite forces and tendencies. In a state of

equilibrium, at least some of the quantities

describing the system are independent of time.
See the various entries given below and also
state, steady. (2) In statistical mechanics an
ensemble is in equilibrium when it is in the
state of most probable distribution. Fluctua
tions about this most probable state upset the
statistical equilibrium but not the m acroscopic
equilibrium. (3) See mass action, law of.
EQUILIBRIUM, APPARENT. (False equi
librium.) A condition o f apparent equilibrium
in a system which is brought about by the
interference o f some factor (usually acci
dental) that prevents the system from pro
ceeding to a true equilibrium.
(See also
metastable state; metastable system; equilib
rium, metastable.)

shown that for a chemical reaction in a dilute

solution,
K =

[ ( M 0 \ I >n
( ------

\1000po/

EQUILIBRIUM, CONDITIONS OF M E
CHANICAL. See equilibrium of forces on
a rigid body.

where Ci, C2 Cn are the concentrations of

the components in moles per liter, M 0 the mo
lecular weight of the solvent, p0 its density. In
this case, since the initial factor in the expres
sion is constant, an equilibrium function:
K f = { C i lC2

C n Vn\

EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT IN TERMS

OF M OLE FRACTIONS. From the general
definition of equilibrium constant it can be
shown that for a mixture of ideal gases
K = {XxVlX2V2 -

EQUILIBRIUM, CHEM ICAL. A system is

said to be in chemical equilibrium if the rela
tive masses of the various components are not
functions of time.
This implies that the
chemical potentials are constant throughout
the system. (See mass action, law of.)

p 1
Cnvn\

Xnnpviv2" mvn} ~ 1,

where xi, x 2 x n are equilibrium values of

the m o lar fractions, and p, the total pressure.
EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT IN TERMS
OF PARTIAL PRESSURES. From the gen
eral definition of equilibrium constant it can
be shown that for a mixture of ideal gases,
K =

{ p i > / 2 Vnv* ] - \

where pi, p2 are the equilibrium p a rtia l

EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT.
A complex
phase consisting of n components A lf A 2
Any reacting according to the equation:

v\Ai

v2A2 H------ vnAn

0,

(products of the reaction have negative values

of v) will be in chemical equilibrium when
^lMl + P2M2 H------ vnnn = 0,

where ^ is the chemical potential o f the rth

component. W riting
Mr = Mr0 + R T In ar,
where /v is standard chemical potential, and
ar the activity, then

VrVLr = - R T 'Z In ar\

r

The left-hand side is a constant depending only

on the temperature and is written as R T In K ,
where K is the equilibrium constant, i.e.,
K = ar~Vlar- V2 * an~Vn.
EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT IN TERMS
OF CONCENTRATIONS. From the general
definition of equilibrium constant, it can be

pressures of the components.

EQUILIBRIUM DIAGRAM.
A graphical
representation, com monly plotted from tem
perature and composition, or pressure data,
which shows the condition of equilibrium be
tween various phases o f a substance, or sys
tem of substances.
EQUILIBRIUM,
HETEROGENEOUS.
(Polyphase equilibrium.)
Equilibrium be
tween two or more phases, as between a solid
and a gas, or a liquid and its saturated vapor.
The system calcium oxide-calcium carbonatecarbon dioxide is an example of an hetero
geneous equilibrium state.
EQUILIBRIUM, HOMOGENEOUS. Equi
librium conditions in a system that constitutes
a single phase, i.e., reactions in solution or
among gases the products of which remain
in the same phase as the reactants.
EQUILIBRIUM, ISOTHERMAL. An equi
librium reached by a system that remains at
constant temperature during the entire proc
ess.

427

Equilibrium, Metastable Equilibrium, Principle of Separate

EQUILIBRIUM, METASTABLE. A definite

equilibrium state which is not the most stable
equilibrium under the given conditions. A
metastable system will often undergo a spon
taneous change upon addition of the stable
phase, or frequently under the action of vibra
tory forces.
EQUILIBRIUM M ETHOD.
See
point depression measurement.

freezing

EQUILIBRIUM OF A FLEXIBLE STRING.

See funicular polygon.
EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE.
ics.

See stat

EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE ON A
ROUGH SURFACE. The condition for equi
librium is the same as that for any particle.
The force of friction must be included when
determining the forces acting on the particle.
(See statics; friction, coefficient of static.)
EQUILIBRIUM OF A RIGID BODY.
statics.

See

EQUILIBRIUM OF A RIGID BODY W IT H

RESPECT TO ROTATION. A rigid body,
initially at rest, is in rotational equilibrium if
the algebraic sums of the torques about each
of three mutually-perpendicular axes are zero.
This is identical with the second condition for
equilibrium of forces on a rigid body.
EQUILIBRIUM OF A RIGID BODY W IT H
RESPECT TO TRANSLATION.
A rigid
body is said to be in equilibrium with respect
to translation if the vector sum of all the
forces acting on the body is equal to zero.
This condition is identical with the first con
dition for equilibrium of forces on a rigid
body, and also with the single condition for
equilibrium of a particle. The condition im
plies that the center of mass of the rigid body
is not subject to any resultant force.
EQUILIBRIUM OF A SYSTEM OF CON
NECTED PARTICLES. If a system of con
nected particles (e.g., joined by strings or
rods, etc.) is acted on by external forces, the
equilibrium of the whole can be studied by
examining the equilibrium of each particle
separately under the influence of all the forces
which act on it. This is called the principle
of separate equilibrium. It is useful in the
study of flexible jointed cables. (See statics.)

EQUILIBRIUM OF FORCES ON A RIGID

BODY. A state of balance between or among
forces. The much used term equilibrium is
here confined to its dynamical sense; such
subjects as thermal equilibrium, radioactive
equilibrium, etc., are treated in appropriate
places elsewhere. Unless otherwise specified,
the term refers to that set of conditions to
which a system of forces must be adjusted in
order that a free body acted upon by them
will experience no acceleration.
This is
termed static equilibrium, to distinguish it
from the kinetic equilibrium with which
DAlemberts principle is concerned.
Tw o conditions are necessary for the equi
librium o f a set of forces: (1) The vector sum
of the forces must be zero; then if they are
resolved into rectangular components, the
algebraic sums of the X , the 7 , and the Z
components must separately reduce to zero,
or sym bolically, %FX = 0, %Fy = 0, and 2 F z
= 0. (2) The algebraic sum o f the torques
of the forces about each of any three mutually
perpendicular axes must be zero; the body
then has no tendency to rotate about any axis.
(See also rigid body; torque; statics.)
EQUILIBRIUM, ORDER OF. A method of
classifying chemical equilibria. Equilibria of
the first order embrace cases where only one
component is present; equilibria of the second
order embrace two-com ponent systems and so
on for higher orders.
EQUILIBRIUM, PHASE. See phase rule;
phase diagram; states of matter.
EQUILIBRIUM, PHOTOCHEMICAL.
A
position of equilibrium reached in a reversible
chemical change in which one or both of the
reactions are sensitive to light, and with the
presence of the effective radiation postulated
as one of the conditions under which the equi
librium is reached.
EQUILIBRIUM POINT. The external con
ditions (such as temperature or pressure) at
which a system is in equilibrium.
EQUILIBRIUM, PRINCIPLE OF SEPA
RATE. The principle whereby the equilib
rium of several particles can be studied by
examining the equilibrium of a single particle
in the group with respect to all the forces
acting on it. (See statics; equilibrium of a
system of connected particles.)

EQUILIBRIUM, RADIOACTIVE. In a sys

tem containing two or more radioactive ele
ments, in which each element (except the first)
is formed by radioactive disintegration of the
element preceding it in the series present,
radioactive equilibrium is reached when the
rate of formation of any element from its par
ent is equal to its own rate of disintegration.
This statement does not apply to the terminal
element of the series present, which is non
radioactive.
EQUILIBRIUM, STABLE. An equilibrium
state of a system of one or more particles such
that the potential energy of the system is a
minimum. (Contrast equilibrium, unstable.)
EQUILIBRIUM, THERMAL. A system is
said to be in thermal equilibrium if the tem
perature is uniform throughout the system and
is the same as that of the surroundings.
EQUILIBRIUM, THERM ODYNAMIC.
A
system is said to be in thermodynamic equi
librium if it is simultaneously in mechanical,
thermal and chemical equilibrium. F or a
chemical system this means that the therm o
dynamic variables temperature, pressure and
thermodynamic
potentials
are
constant
throughout the system and are the same as
those of the surroundings.
EQUILIBRIUM, UNSTABLE. An equilib
rium state of a system of one or more par
ticles such that the potential energy of the
system is a maximum. For example, con
sider a particle located on the top of a spher
ical surface in a gravitational field. The po
tential energy of the particle will be a m axi
mum with respect to other values which it
might possess at other points on the sphere.
If the sphere were turned over and the particle
placed inside the sphere at the lowest point,
then the potential energy would be a minimum
and the equilibrium would be stable.
EQUIPARTITION OF ENERGY. If a great
number of perfectly elastic, rapidly moving
particles are turned into an enclosure together
and are allowed time to mingle, darting about
and striking or otherwise encountering each
other, the kinetic energy which they possess
becomes distributed in accordance with the
famous principle of equipartition of energy,
or M axwell-Boltzm ann law, as enunciated by
B o ltz u m n . Each particle has a number of

degrees of freedom, determined by its char

acter, and equal to the number of coordinates
necessary to describe its position and orienta
tion. (For the molecules of a diatomic gas,
such as nitrogen, the effective number is 5;
plus some others not ordinarily concerned
with thermal energy.)
The equipartition
principle states that the average energy taken
up by motions in each of the several degrees
of freedom is the same, and is independent of
the sizes and masses of the particles. (For
a gas it is equal to % the product of the
Boltzmann constant by the absolute tempera
ture of the gas.) Thus when heat energy is
imparted to a pure diatomic gas, % of it goes
into each degree of molecular freedom which
heat can affect. Three of these degrees of
freedom are concerned with motions of trans
lation, so that % of the energy takes this
form. And indeed, when one calculates the
change in translational energy due to raising
the temperature o f one gram of the gas one
degree (see kinetic theory), it is found to
be almost exactly % of the specific heat as
measured at constant volume, which repre
sents the total imparted energy. One of the
strongest supports of the principle comes from
quantitative observations on the Brownian
movement. M any other examples occur in
physics. The principle of equipartition of
energy breaks down when at low temperature
or under any other conditions in which the
influence of the quantum principle becomes
dominant.
EQUIPHASE SURFACE.
phase.
EQUIPHASE ZONE.

See surface, equi-

See zone, equiphase.

EQUIPOTENTIAL CATHODE. See cath

ode, unipotential; cathode, indirectly-heated.
EQUIPOTENTIAL REGION. A field-free
region. I f the potential is uniform in a region,
V0 = 0,
there is no electric field.

Conversely if </> is

E = V<f> = 0,
independent of position.
EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACE. A surface
on which the potential is independent of posi
tion. A t each point of the surface, the gra
dient V<f> crosses perpendicularly, i.e., equi-

429

Equisignal Localizer Ergodic Hypothesis

potential surfaces are normal to the lines of

force. In electrostatics the surfaces of con
ductors are equipotential surfaces.
(See
images, method of.)
EQUISIGNAL LOCALIZER.
equisignal.

See localizer,

EQUISIGNAL SECTOR.
The region in
which the transmissions from an equisignal
radio-range beacon m ay be received with
equal intensities.
EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE OF RELA
TIVITY. (1) In special relativity theory, the
equivalence of any two inertial frames. (2)
In general relativity theory, the principle that
it is always possible at a point in space-time
to transform to a (in general accelerated) co
ordinate system such that the effects of grav
ity will disappear over a differential region in
the neighborhood of the point. As a particular
case, if there are two observers, one uniformly
accelerated with acceleration g and not in a
gravitational field, the other not accelerated
but held in a uniform gravitational field g,
the results of mechanical and optical experi
ments performed by the two observers will be
identical.
(See relativity theory, general.)
EQUIVALENCE THEOREM. The field in
a source-free region bounded by a surface
could be produced by a distribution of electric
and magnetic currents (current-sheets) on that
surface that would be equivalent, for points
inside the surface, to the actual external
sources. (See induction theorem.)
EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT.
See
equivalent; circuit, equivalent.

network,

EQUIVALENT ELECTRONS. For an atom,

electrons in the same orbital (whereby they
have the same principal quantum number and
the same azimuthal quantum num ber). For
a molecule, electrons having the same quan
tum numbers, apart from spin, and the same
symmetry g or u.
See

MATRICES.

matrix,

See

EQUIVALENT NOISE PRESSURE.

transducer equivalent noise pressure.

See

EQUIVALENT NUCLEI.
Sets of those
nuclei in a molecule which can be transformed
into one another by the symmetry operations
permitted by the molecule (e.g., the three H
atoms in C H 3 CC13 are equivalent).
EQUIVALENT STOPPING POWER.
stopping power.

See

EQUIVALENT THICKNESS.
The thick
ness, expressed in terms of the mass per unit
area, of a foil which will just prevent the pas
sage of a-particles of known range in air.
The equivalent thickness in m g/cm 2 is equal
to the product of the range (in cm) and the
density (in m g/cm 3). (See stopping power.)
EQUIVOCATION. The conditional informa
tion content of an input symbol given an out
put symbol, averaged over all input-output
pairs.
ERASE (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).
T o charge or discharge storage elements to
eliminate previously stored information.
ERASING HEAD.
ERBIUM.
Symbol Er.

See head, erasing.

Rare earth metallic

Atom ic number 68.

element.

E REGION. The region of the ionosphere

between about 90 and 160 kilometers above
the earths surface.
ERF.

EQUIVALENT CONSTANT POTENTIAL

(X-RAYS).
The constant potential which
must be applied to an x-ray tube to produce
radiation having an absorption curve in a
given material closely similar to that of the
beam under consideration.

EQUIVALENT LOUDNESS LEVEL.

loudness level.

EQUIVALENT
equivalent.

See error function.

ERG. A unit of work or energy in the c gm s

system of units, being the work done when a
steady force of one dyne produces a displace
ment of one centimeter in the direction of the
force.
(See energy, units of; mechanical
units.)
ERGODIC HYPOTHESIS. For a system of
n atoms or molecules enclosed in a fixed vol
ume, the instantaneous state of the system
can be represented by a point in a 6n dimen
sional space (see phase space) where the coordinate axes represent the 3n coordinates
and 3n momentum components of the par
ticles. If the energy of the system is a con
stant, the representative point in phase space

will describe an orbit on the surface E (p*, qi)

= constant. The ergodic hypothesis states
that the orbit of the representative phase
point on this surface will eventually pass
through every point on the surface.
The
quasi ergodic hypothesis states that the orbit
o f the representative phase point will come
arbitrarily close to every point on the surface.
A consequence of the ergodic hypothesis is
that all the various microstates of the system
are equally probable.
(See Liouville Theo
rem (2).)
ERGON. A quantum of energy e, which is
calculated for any given oscillator by multi
plying the frequency of the oscillator by
Planck's constant.

of measurements is generally taken as the

best estimate of the true value of the quantity,
and the spread o f the individual observations
about this mean is used to estimate the un
certainty of this mean. Among the quanti
ties used for this purpose are the average
deviation, the probable error, and the stand
ard deviation. (See also error function and
error, propagation of.)
ERROR, COURSE. The angular difference
between the course and the course made good.
The use of this term course error is depre
cated, since its meaning is the same as that of
the more expressive term, drift angle.
ERROR, COURSE, INDICATED. In navi
gation, an instrumental error resulting in a
discrepancy between the actual line of posi
tion, offered by a navigation facility, and the
intended line of position.

ERIOMETER. An apparatus for measuring

small diameters, such as those of textile fibers,
by observing the diameter of the diffraction
pattern which they produce when viewed
through the apparatus.

ERROR CURVE, NORMAL.

distribution; error function.

ERP.
Abbreviation
power,

ERROR-DETECTING CODE.
forbidden-combination.

for

effective radiated

ERROR. (1) In mathematics, the difference

between the true value and a calculated or ob
served value. A quantity (equal in absolute
magnitude to the error) added to a calculated
or observed value to obtain the true value is
called a correction. (2) In a computer or
data-processing system, any incorrect step,
process, or result. In addition to the mathe
m atical usage, in the computer field the term
is also com m only used to refer to machine
malfunctions as machine errors and to hu
man mistakes as human errors. It is fre
quently helpful to distinguish between these
as follow s: errors result from approximations
used in numerical methods; mistakes result
from incorrect programming, coding, data
transcription, manual operation, etc.; m al
functions result from failures in the operation
of machine components such as gates, flipflops, amplifiers, etc.
ERROR, ACCIDENTAL. In repeated ob
servations of a quantity which is in principle
constant, it is in general found that slightly
different values are obtained. Errors of this
type, which are beyond the control of the
observer under the particular conditions of
measurement, are known as accidental errors.
The mean of the values obtained in the series

See Gaussian
See check,

ERROR, ESTIMATED.
The amount by
which a measured or calculated quantity is
believed likely to depart from the true value.
(See error, accidental and error, propagation
of.)
ERROR FUNCTION.

The improper integral

2
r t
erf (t) = I e""^dy.
o
When the results of a series of measurements
are described about an average by a Gaussian
distribution, erf (ha) is the probability that
the error of a single measurement lies between
a , where h is the precision index. The in
tegral cannot be evaluated in closed form but
must be expanded in a power series and inte
grated term by term. Values of the integral,
as functions of t, have been tabulated. (See
also Fresnel integral.)
ERROR, GEOMETRICAL. In navigation,
(1) a systematic error due to calibrating a
system on the basis of a spherical rather than
the oblate spheroidal earth; (2) a synonym
for ionospheric height error. (See error, iono
spheric height.)
ERROR, HEIGHT.
height.

See error, ionospheric

E R R O R , IN STR U M E N T A L . A ny error in
measurement which results from the proper
ties of the instruments used in the measure
ment. Instrumental errors may be divided
into scale errors, which result from improper
calibration of the instrument, and reproduc
ibility errors, which result from the failure
of the instrument to give the same indication
whenever it is subject to the same input signal.
The latter type may be treated as accidental
errors, the former may not.
E R R O R , IO N O SP H E R IC . In navigation, the
total systematic and random error (see errors,
random and errors, systematic) resulting from
the reception of the navigational signal after
ionospheric reflections. It may be due to (1)
variations in transmission paths, (2) non-uni
form height of the ionosphere, or (3) nonuni
form propagation within the ionosphere.
E R R O R , IO N O SP H E R IC H E IG H T . In navi
gation, the systematic component of the total
ionospheric error due to the difference in geo
metrical configuration between ground paths
and ionospheric paths.
ERROR, LOOP.

See feedback loop error.

E R R O R , PE RSON AL. A ny error which re

sults from the tendency of an observer to mis
read an instrument, e.g., to read consistently
high or low. Personal errors are not distrib
uted in the same manner as accidental errors,
and their magnitudes may be estimated only
by the comparison of observations made by
different observers.
E R R O R , P O L A R IZ A T IO N . In navigation,
the error arising from the transmission or re
ception of a radiation having a polarization
other than that intended for the system.

where 8x is the uncertainty of x and 8z is the

corresponding uncertainty of z.
(2)
If the quantity z is a function of two or
more measured quantities, e.g., if z = z(x,y),

- [ ( s W "
These rules apply only if the errors are sym
metrically distributed about the mean, i.e., if
positive and negative errors are equally prob
able.
E R RO R, PR OBABLE. A measure (pe) of
the uncertainty of an experimentally deter
mined quantity, such that the true value of
the quantity is equally likely to depart from
the measured value by more or less than pe.
If the accidental errors are distributed ac
cording to the normal Gaussian distribution
the probable error is defined by the integral
equation:
2
erf (pe) = p
\ / it J

Cpe .
I ev dy =

The other com m only used measures, the aver

age deviation a.d. and the standard deviation
a are then related to the probable error:
pe = 0.846 a.d. = 0.674o\
ER RO R, Q U A D R A N TA L. An angular error
of a measured bearing caused by disturbances
due to the characteristics of the vehicle or sta
tion.
ER RO R, R E F L E C T IO N . In navigation, the
error due to the presence of wave energy
reaching the receiver by virtue of undesired
reflections.
E R R O R R E FR A C T IO N . In navigation, er
ror due to bending of one or more wave paths
by undesired refraction.

E R R O R , PR O P A G A T IO N O F.
When a
quantity is calculated as a function of one
ER RO R, R E P E T IT IV E . The maximum de
or more measured quantities, instead of being
viation of the controlled variable in an auto
measured directly, it is often necessary to
matic controller from the average value upon
estimate the uncertainty in the calculated
successive return to specified operating con
quantity which results from the estimated
ditions following specified deviation there
errors of the measured quantities. T w o dis
from. Related to scale error (see error, instru
tinct cases arise.
mental.)
(1)
I f the quantity z is a function of a
E R RO R, R E SID U AL. The sum of the ran
single measured quantity x, i.e., z = z (x ) ,
dom errors (see error, accidental) and the un
dz
corrected systematic errors (see errors, sys
8z =*
tematic) .
dx

ERROR, ROUND-OFF.
rounding off.

Error resulting from

ERROR, SCALE. A ny error in measurement

which results from a miscalibration of an in
strument, e.g., the use of a linear scale with
an instrument which departs slightly from
linearity of response to the input signal. (See
also error, instrumental.)
ERROR, SITE. In navigation, error due to
the distortion in the radiated field by objects
in the vicinity of the navigational equipment.
ERROR, SKY (ERROR, SKY-WAVE).
error, ionospheric.

See

ERRORS, RANDOM.
Those errors which
can be predicted only on a statistical basis.
(See also error, accidental.)
ERROR, SYNCHRONIZATION. In naviga
tion, the error due to imperfect timing of two
operations; this m ay or m ay not include sig
nal transmission time.
ERRORS, SYSTEMATIC. Those errors hav
ing an orderly character and which can be cor
rected by calibration. (See also error, instru
mental and error, personal.)
ERROR, TERRAIN. In navigation, the error
resulting from the distortion in the radiated
field by the nonhomogeneous characteristic of
the terrain over which the radiation in ques
tion has propagated.
ERROR, TILT.
In navigation, the com
ponent of the ionospheric error due to nonuniform height. (See error, ionospheric.)
ERROR, TRACKING. In lateral mechanical
recording, the angle between the vibration
axis of the mechanical system of the pickup
and a plane containing the tangent to the un
modulated record groove which is perpendicu
lar to the surface of the recording medium at
the point of needle contact.
ERROR, TRUNCATION. In computer ter
m inology, error resulting from the approxi
mation of operations in the infinitesimal cal
culus by operations in the calculus of finite
differences.
ESCLANGON EFFECT. The deviation of
a ray o f reflected light, due to motion of the
mirror in a direction oblique to its surface.

ESR. (1) Abbreviation for effective signal

radiated. (2) Abbreviation for electron spin
resonance. (See resonance, paramagnetic.)
ESTIMATED ERROR.

See error, estimated.

ESTIMATED POSITION.
ing.

See dead reckon

ESU. An abbreviation for any unit in the

esu system of units.
ESU SYSTEM OF UNITS. A non-rationalized system of units based on the choice of
the permittivity of empty space as unity and
dimensionless. The units are usually denoted
by the prefix stat- attached to the name of a
unit in the practical system. E.g., statvolt,
statoersted. (See electromagnetic units.)
ETA. (1) Efficiency (77). (2) Coefficient of
viscosity (77). (3) Electric susceptibility (77).
(4) Transverse acoustic displacement (77).
(5) Displacement component of sound-bear
ing particle (77). (6) Electronic state of mole
cule having A-value of 5 (H).
ETALON.

See Fabry and Perot etalon.

ETHER HYPOTHESIS. Postulate, widely

held in the nineteenth century, that all space
is filled with a fluid which is transparent, undispersive, incompressible, continuous and
without viscosity. This fluid was supposed
to act as a medium for the propagation of
light analogous to the manner in which sound
is propagated through matter. Later it was
regarded as a seat of all electromagnetic
energy and attempts were made to describe
matter in terms of vortices in this fluid.
The hypothesis appeared to find experi
mental verification in the result due to Fresnel
that the velocity of light relative to the ether
on passing through a medium of refractive
index n, velocity v (in the same direction) is

n /

and in the Airy experiment on aberration.

This theory required, however, that matter
moving through the ether should m odify the
velocity of the ether and that because of dis
persion the relative velocity of medium and
ether would be different for different wave
lengths, thus requiring a different ether for
each wavelength. The chief difficulty which
the hypothesis encountered, however, arose

from the juxtaposition of the two well-established theories of non-relativistic Newtonian

dynamics and of M axwell's electromagnetism.
Under a Galilean transformation the equa
tions of the former are invariant while those
o f the latter are not. Thus at any point there
should be one special coordinate system, at
rest relative to the local ether, relative to
which M axw ells equations assume their usual
form. M otion relative to this ether should
therefore be detectable, although various at
tempts to observe it (e.g., the MichelsonMorley experiment) had been unsuccessful.
T o avoid this difficulty the Lorentz-Fitzgerald
contraction hypothesis was advanced, but the
ether theory was finally abandoned when the
Galilean transformation and the dynamics of
N ewton received their modifications in the
Einstein special relativity theory.
ETTINGHAUSEN EFFECT. When a con
ductor carries a current I and is in the pres
ence of a magnetic field H, a temperature
gradient appears at right angles both to the
direction of current flow and to the direction
of the magnetic field. If the current and the
field are normal to each other, and there is
no thermal flow in the direction of the cur
rent, the temperature gradient is

measure the volume changes in the combus

tion of gases.
EULER ANGLE. One of three parameters
describing the orientation of a rigid body rela
tive to a Cartesian coordinate system (x,y,z)
fixed in space. Suppose another coordinate
system {x',y',z') is fixed in the body. Then
the two systems m ay be made coincident by
three successive rotations, applied in the ap
propriate order, and the three angles of rota
tion are the Euler angles. The order of per
forming the rotations and the symbols for the
angles have been given in different ways by
various authors so that some confusion exists
in the literature of mechanics, where these
parameters are most frequently used, as to
the definition of the angles. (See also EulerRodrigues parameter, Cayley-Klein parame
ter.)
EULER CRITERION.
relation.

See Euler reciprocity

EULER EQUATION.
integral

The condition that the

have a stationary value is

V T = P J X B,
where J is the electric current density, B is the
magnetic flux density, and P is the E ttinghausen coefficient. The direction of the gradi
ent is given by the direction of the vector
product J X B if P is positive, but some met
als and semi-conductors, notably iron, have a
negative coefficient. The Ettinghausen effect
is closely related to the Hall effect, the Nernst
effect, and the Righi-Leduc effect.
EUCLIDEAN SPACE. Riemannian space in
which it is possible to introduce a coordinate
system with respect to which g^v =
at
every point ( g ^ is the metric,
is the Kronecker delta).
EUCOLLOID. A colloid composed of rela
tively large particles, i.e., exceeding 0.25
micron in length.
EUDIOM ETER. A graduated tube closed at
one end, in one form of which two platinum
wires are sealed so that a spark may be passed
through the contents of the tube. Used to

dl
d dl
------------------= 0 .
dy
dx dy'
A solution y = f ( x ) satisfying this equation,
if it exists, is an extremal and is a maximiz
ing or a minimizing curve. (See calculus of
variations.)
EULER EQUATIONS OF MOTION. For a
rigid body with one point fixed and coordi
nates fixed in the body and coinciding with
the principal axes, the equations of motion
of the body can be written as:
Ixx&x

Iyy& y
Izz& z

f~

( J ZZ

lyy^My^Z

L XJ

(IXX

Izz)U z^X

Lyj

(Jyy

I x x ) w x (-O y

L zJ

where I m j I y y and l zz are the moments of

inertia about the principal axes, L x, L y and L z
are the components of torque about the prin
cipal axes, mX} <ay and
are the components
of the angular velocity about the principal
axes.
(See moments of inertia; rotational
motion.)

E U L E R FO RM U LA (COLUMNS).

A for
mula which gives the maximum axial load
that a long, slender ideal column can carry
without buckling. An ideal column is one
which is perfectly straight, homogeneous and
free from initial stress. This maximum load,
sometimes called the critical load, causes the
column to be in a state of unstable equilib
rium, that is, any increase in the loads or the
introduction of the slightest lateral force will
cause the column to fail b y buckling. The
Euler formula for columns is:
K tt2E I
P =

I2

in which P = maximum or critical load, E =

modulus of elasticity, I = moment of inertia
of cross-sectional area, I = unsupported length
of column, K = a constant whose value de
pends upon the conditions of end support of
the column. For both ends free to turn K = 1;
for both ends fixed, K = 4; for one end free
to turn and the other end fixed K = 2 approxi
mately, and for one end fixed and the other
end free to m ove laterally

EU LE R IA N ANGLE.

See Euler angle.

EU LE R IA N CO LU M N.
(columns).

See Euler formula

EU LE R IA N M E T H O D O F ANALYSIS O F
F L U ID M O T IO N. The method of analysis
of fluid motion which considers the distribu
tion of fluid velocities in space as a function
o f time. In general, the method is better
suited to the analysis of fluid motion than the

Lagrangian method.
E U L E R INT EGRAL.
gamma function.

See beta function and

EULER-MACLAURIN

FORM ULA.
An
equation for evaluating a definite integral.
(See integral and integral, definite Riemann.)

If / (x ) is known explicitly and its derivatives

are finite at both limits of the integral, or if
the derivatives m ay be determined numer
ically, the formula m ay be used. Its form is

where y 0 and y n are the values of f { x ) at x = a

and x = b, respectively; y lf y 2, are inter
mediate values at equally spaced intervals h
of the independent variable; Bn are the
Bernoulli numbers; y n(k) and y 0(k) are the
fc-th derivatives at x b and x = a, respec
tively. The formula m ay also be used to
evaluate the finite sum indicated by the first
term on the right-hand side of the equation,
provided the integration can be performed.

EULER-MASCHERONI CONSTANT,
gamma function.

See

E U LE R M E T H O D F O R N U M ERICA L
SOLUTION O F A D IF F E R E N T IA L EQUA
TION. An iteration method for solving a
differential equation, y f = f ( x }y) j where ini
tial values of x 0, y0, y'0 are known. If the
interval between successive values of the in
dependent variable is small enough to write
Ax = h, then an approximate solution of the
differential equation at Xi = x 0 + h is lyi =
Vo + hy'0. An approximation to y f at xi is
y'i = f{%ilyi), which gives an improved value

of 2/ 1 , S2/1 = 2/o + (h/2) (y'i + 2/'o)-

The

process is then repeated. The method just

described is actually a modification of that
proposed by Euler. However, both it and
the original Euler method are slow in con
verging and give results of low accuracy.
While they are suitable for starting the solu
tion of a differential equation, more accurate
methods are preferred for continuing the solu
tion.

E U LE R REC IP RO C IT Y RELATION.

If Z
is a single-valued function of the variables
x and y , the total or exact differential dZ may
be written
dZ = X d x + Ydy,
where X and Y are also functions of x and y.
Then it can be shown that

h
\dy/x- n
\ d x/ y
This is known as the Euler criterion, or reci
procity relation. It is useful for deriving
thermodynamic relationships, e.g., the Max

well relations.

f(x )d x = h

+ 2/1 + 2/2 -I------- h

hk+1
B b+1[yn(k) - yoik)]>

- z
odd k +

1) I

EULER-RODRIGUES PARAMETER. One

of four parameters used to describe the orien
tation of a rigid body. They are functions
o f three direction cosines and they form the

components of a quaternion. (See also Euler

angle, Cayley-Klein parameter.)
EULER THEOREM ON HOMOGENEOUS
FUNCTIONS. See function, homogeneous.
EUREKA. The ground transponder of R ebecca-Eureka, a secondary radar system.
EUROPIUM. Rare earth metallic element.
Sym bol Eu. A tom ic number 63.
EUTECTIC. A minimum temperature and
corresponding composition (in other words, a
minimum point upon a temperature-composition diagram) at which a liquid consisting of
two or more components is in equilibrium with
its components in the solid state, or with a
particular group of solid substances derived
from its components, and which may include
one or more elements, compounds or solid
solutions.
Material of this composition is
often called an eutectic ; and the tempera
ture of this point is sometimes called the
eutectic temperature. It represents the low
est melting point of the system. This tem
perature is constant, and is analogous in many
respects to constant boiling mixtures of
liquids.
EUTECTIC HALT. An arrest point in the
equilibrium diagram o f two or more com po
nents, due to the appearance of the eutectic
mixture.
EUTECTOID. A point that has the same
properties as a eutectic, but occurs in a com
pletely solid region.
EV.

Abbreviation for electron volt.

EVAPORATION. The conversion of a sub

stance from the liquid state into the vapor
state. (See vaporization.)
EVAPORIMETER. An instrument for meas
uring the rate of evaporation of water into
the atmosphere.
EVASION COEFFICIENT. A factor which
expresses the number of milliliters of a gas
under standard conditions evolved per minute
from one square centimeter of the surface of
its solution in a liquid.
EVEN.

See even function.

EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI. Nuclei which con

tain an even number of protons and an even
number of neutrons.

EVEN-ODD NUCLEI. Nuclei which contain

an even number of protons and an odd num
ber of neutrons, or an odd number of protons
and an even number of neutrons.
EVENT. A physical occurrence involving the
interaction between two or more physical en
tities. For example, the collision between two
bodies; or the emission of a photon by an ex
cited atom as a result of its interaction with
the radiation field. Events are described as
occurring at specified positions and times in a
given coordinate system, or frame of ref
erence. The special theory of relativity treats
such problems as the descriptions of the same
event, or the simultaneity of two events, as
viewed by observers in two equivalent inertial
frames of reference.
EVENT, ABSOLUTE FUTURE OF.
absolute future of an event.
EVENT, ABSOLUTE PAST OF.
lute past of an event.

See

See abso

EVEN TERM OF ATOM. A term for which

2 Z*, summed over all the electrons of the atom,
is even. The eigenfunctions for even terms
remain unchanged for a reflection of all par
ticles at the origin. See term, energy state.
For 2Z<, see quantum number and entries im
mediately following, also coupling, RussellSaunders.
EVENT, IONIZING.

See ionizing event.

EVJEN M ETHOD. A method for the evalua

tion of lattice sums in which charges of op
posite signs are taken together in neutral
groups, so that the contribution of each group
is small and the sum converges rapidly.
EVOLUTION. The operation of extracting
a root of a number. It is the process inverse
to involution.
EW ALD-KORNFELD M ETHOD. An exten
sion of the Ewald method for lattice sums to
dipole arrays.
E W A L D M ETHOD. A technique for eval
uating lattice sums in which the series are
made rapidly convergent by certain mathe
matical devices.
EW IN G THEORY OF FERROMAGNET
ISM. Ewing was one of the first to attempt
to explain ferromagnetic phenomena in terms

of the forces between atoms. He assumed

that each atom was a permanent magnet free
to turn in any direction about its center, and
assumed the orientations to depend only on
magnetic forces: applied fields and mutual
interactions. His theory leads to good quali
tative results, such as the hysteresis curve,
but quantitatively is unsatisfactory by several
orders of magnitude.
EXALTATION. The positive difference be
tween the observed and the calculated values
o f the molar refractivity of a substance. (See
optical exaltation.)
EXCHANGE.
(1) A quantum mechanical
concept based on the idea of identical particles.
F or example, suppose that two electrons are
in states that allow them to come close to
gether. Then, because they are indistinguish
able particles, one could not tell the difference
if they exchanged states. Thus the wave
function of the system must be such that an
exchange of the electrons leaves the magni
tude of the wave function unchanged, except
possibly for sign, i.e., the wave function must
be either symmetric or antisymmetric to an
exchange of the two particles. Particles whose
total wave function (including both space and
spin coordinates) is symmetric under an ex
change operator obey the Bose-Einstein sta
tistics. Particles whose total wave function
is antisymmetric obey the Fermi-Dirac statis
tics.
(2)
Exchange is also used more specifically
as the exchange of one particle between two
others, as in the exchange of the single elec
tron between the two identical protons in the
hydrogen molecular ion, or the exchange of a
meson between two nucleons.
EXCHANGE DEGENERACY. An exchange
process which does not entail a change in value
or configuration. For example, by the HeitlerLondon theory, the essential reason for the
strong attraction (or repulsion), of the two
H -atom s in the H 2 molecule is the exchange
degeneracy, i.e., the fact that for very large
internuclear distance, by exchange of the two
electrons of the two atoms a configuration
results that is indistinguishable from the orig
inal configuration. Therefore, as they ap
proach, there arises an interaction between
them which may be treated mathematically
as electron exchange.

EXCHANGE ENERGY. A specifically quan

tum-mechanical effect (see quantum mechan
ics) which has no classical analogue. It is
due to the interaction between two systems
that arises, or could arise, from the continuous
exchange of a particle between them. Sup
pose, for example, that two electrons are in
states that allow them to come close together.
Then, because they are indistinguishable par
ticles, one could not tell the difference if they
exchanged states. That is, one must combine
with the original description (i.e., wavefunction) a function in which the electrons
have actually changed places. It can easily
be shown that two such combined states are
possible the symmetric and antisymmetric
combinations and that in each of these the
energy is significantly different from that of
the original state. The magnitude and sign of
the effect depends upon the exchange integral.
Exchange energy is the origin of covalent
bonding, of ferromagnetism and antiferromag
netism, probably of nuclear forces (where ex
change energy could arise by exchanging of trmesons between nucleons, giving rise to an
effective potential which involves an operator
which exchanges the spins, isotopic spins
a n d /or positions o f the particles) and of nu
merous other physical phenomena.
EXCHANGE FORCES. N on-classical, quan
tum mechanical forces, that arise from the
phenomena of exchange and that account for
the exchange energy. The binding of a hydro
gen molecule and the covalent bonding in
molecules can be looked upon loosely as due
to the exchange of electrons among the atoms.
The Coulomb force between charged particles
can be looked upon (in quantum electrody
namics) as due to the exchange of photons.
The nuclear force between nucleons, can be
looked upon as due to the exchange of charged
or neutral 7r-mesons.
(See also Majorana
force; Heisenberg force; Wigner force.)
EXCHANGE INTEGRAL.
the form :
f f * S ( r a ) * 2 * ( r b)

JJ

An expression of

|ra r6|
^ i ( n ) M r a)drad rbj

where ^i,
are electronic wave functions. It
can be thought of as the Coulomb interaction
between the state in which electron a, at ra,

has wave function fa and electron b has wave

function fa, and the state in which the elec
trons have interchanged places.
(See ex
change energy.)
EXCHANGE OF STABILITY.
principle of exchange of.

E X C H A N G E OPERATOR.
change.

See stability,

See operator, ex

EXCHANGES, PREVOST L A W
Prevost law of exchanges.

OF.

See

EXCITATION. (1) Addition of energy to a

system, whereby it is transferred from its
ground state to a state of higher energy, called
an excited state. ( 2 ) The field excitation of
dynamo machines, meaning the current or
voltage of the field circuit. (3) In electrontube circuits, the input signal of any stage is
com m only called the excitation. Thus in a
radio receiver, the signal picked up by the
antenna supplies the excitation for the first
stage, the output of the first supplies the ex
citation for the next, and so on.
EXCITATION ANODE.
der excitron.

See description un

EXCITATION BY ELECTRONS, PROB

ABILITY OF. The number of excited atoms
per unit electron current per unit path length
per unit pressure at 0 C.
EXCITATION, COULOMB.
excitation.

See Coulomb

EXCITATION, CUM ULATIVE. See cumula

tive excitation.
EXCITATION CURVE. In nuclear physics,
a graphical relationship between the energy
of the incident particles or photons, and the
relative yield of a specified nuclear reaction.
EXCITATION CURVE, THICK TARGET.
A nuclear excitation curve for an infinitelythick target.
EXCITATION CURVE, THIN TARGET.
A nuclear excitation curve in which the ordi
nates are proportional to the cross sections for
the specified nuclear reaction.
EXCITATION DRIVE. A signal voltage ap
plied to the control electrode of an electron
tube.

EXCITATION ENERGY. The energy neces

sary to change a system from its ground state
to an excited state. Of course, for each ex
cited state there is associated a corresponding
excitation energy.
EXCITATION FUNCTION, ATOMIC. The
cross section for the excitation of an atom
to a particular excited state expressed as a
function of the energy of the incident electrons.
EXCITATION
FUNCTION,
NUCLEAR.
The cross section for a particular nuclear re
action expressed as a function of the energy
of the incident particle or photon. The term
excitation function is sometimes used also as
a synonym for excitation curve.
EXCITATION, IMPULSE. A method of pro
ducing oscillator current in a circuit in which
the duration of the impressed voltage is rela
tively short compared with the duration of
the current produced.
(See also excitation,
shock.)
EXCITATION LEVELS.

See excited state.

EXCITATION PURITY.
tion ).

See purity (excita

EXCITATION, SHOCK. The type of ex

citation supplied by a voltage or current varia
tion of relatively short duration. The term is
also used to indicate the initiation of motion
in a mechanical system by an impulse of short
duration.
EXCITED. As applied to a molecule, atom
or nucleus, the term excited means having a
higher energy than in the ground state.
EXCITED STATE. A stationary state hav
ing an energy higher than that of the ground
state.
EXCITER. ( 1 ) In antenna terminology, the
portion of a transmitting array (see array,
transmitting), of the type which includes a
reflector, which is directly connected with the
source of power.
( 2 ) In transmitters, the
oscillator which supplies the carrier or sub
carrier frequency voltage to drive the stages
which ultimately lead to the final power out
put stage. In FM systems this unit includes
all the frequency generating, modulating and
frequency multiplying circuits o f the trans
mitter. (3) In photoelectric reproduction of
film, the lamp which supplies a light source of

constant amplitude. (4) A generator used to

supply the field currents of a larger direct cur
rent generator or of an alternator.
EXCITING CURRENT.
netizing current.

Synonym for mag

E XCITING INTERVAL. In magnetic am

plifier terminology, the portion o f the a-c
supply cycle in which the supply voltage is
absorbed by the gate winding. The magni
tude of this interval varies inversely with the
magnitude of average gate current.
EXCITING REGION.
The region in the
control characteristic of a magnetic amplifier
where the gate current is determined pre
dominantly by the magnetizing current rather
than the control current.
EXCITO N. A com bination of an electron
and a hole in a semiconductor or insulator in
an excited state. The hole behaves as a posi
tive charge, and it is supposed that the elec
tron is attracted to it to form a state akin to
that of a hydrogen atom. The probability of
the electron falling into the hole is limited
b y the difficulty of losing the excess energy, so
that the exciton m ay have a relatively long
life. The existence of these states m ay be
inferred from the absorption of light asso
ciated with their excitation.
(Cf. positronium.)
Alternatively, an exciton may be
thought of as an excited state of an atom or
ion, the excitation wandering from one cell
o f the lattice to another.

EXIT SLIT. A narrow opening in an opaque

screen; when a spectrum is produced upon the
screen, by a spectrometer, the slit passes only
a small portion of the spectrum, which is then
focused onto a detector.
EXOERGIC. The same as exothermic, i.e.,
giving forth heat or energy. (See disintegra
tion energy, nuclear.)
EXOSMOSIS. An osmotic process by which
a diffusible substance passes from the inner
or closed, to the outer parts of a system, as in
the loss of substances from a portion of a
plant root to water in the surrounding soil.
EXOTHERMIC CHANGE. A physical or
chemical change which proceeds with the de
velopment of heat.
EXPANDER. The part of the communication
circuit designed to expand the volume range
back to the original value as it is normally
compressed for transmission.
(See com
pressor, volume.)
EXPANDING UNIVERSE. N on-static iso
tropic homogeneous model of the universe de
scribing the mutual recession of nebulae and
not in disagreement with the observed density
of matter. Based on the Einstein law of grav
itation including the cosmological constant.

See Pauli exclu

EXPANSION.
( 1 ) Com monly a process in
which a constant mass of a substance under
goes an increase in size (length, width, area or
volu m e). In thermal expansion this is brought
about by raising the temperature of the sub
stance. (See expansion, coefficient of; Charles
Law.)
( 2 ) The form a quantity takes when
written as a sum of terms, as a continued prod
uct, or in general in any type of expanded
(extended) form. (E.g., series, power; Fou
rier series; expansion in orthogonal functions.)
(3) The act, or process, of obtaining the ex
panded form of a quantity. (4) A process in
which the effective gain applied to a signal
is varied as a function of the signal magni
tude, the effective gain being greater for large
than small signals. (See expander.)

EXICON. An x-ray viewer employing a fly

ing-spat scanner for improved optical per
formance.

EXPANSION, ADIABATIC. An expansion

of a substance or system of substances with
out gain or loss of heat by the substance or
system.

E X IT PUPIL. The image of the aperture

stop as viewed from the image.

EXPANSION, COEFFICIENT OF THER

MAL. A quantity of dimension deg- 1 , which

EXCITRON.
A steel-tank, m ercury-pool
cathode-rectifier which employs a solenoidoperated mercury jet to initiate the arc.
Energization of the solenoid throws a jet of
mercury from the pool upwards to the excita
tion electrode. W hen the mercury falls back,
an arc is formed and the cathode spot is kept
alive by an auxiliary d-c power source supply
ing the excitation anode. The grid may then
be used to determine the time of firing of the
main anode.
EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE.
sion principle.

expresses the relative rate of increase of length

or volume with temperature. The coefficient
of linear expansion is defined as

a = {l/L)(dL/dT)p,
where L is a linear dimension of a solid at
temperature T. The derivative is taken with
the pressure (p) constant. The coefficient of
cubical expansion, or of volume expansion} /?,
is defined similarly, with the volume ( V ) re
placing L. Because the coefficients are very
small, the approximate relation ^ = 3a is usu
ally a good approximation. For most solids
at or near room temperature, a varies between
1 0 - 6/ q an(j 3 x i o - 5/ C ; for liquids, p is
usually somewhat greater than three times
these values; for gases, /? approximates the
value 1/T, where T is the absolute tempera
ture. The last named value is characteristic
o f an ideal gas. (See also thermal expansion
of solids; ideal gas law.)
EXPANSION, FREE. The expansion of a
gas in which no external work is done nor is
any heat energy exchanged with the surround
ings.
A free expansion is an irreversible
process. (See throttling process.)
EXPANSION IN ORTHOGONAL FUNC
TIONS. See complete set of orthogonal func
tions, expansion in.
EXPANSION
OF
SOLIDS, MEASURE
M ENT OF LINEAR. The various methods
for determining the coefficient of linear ex
pansion depend mostly on comparison of the
change in length of the sample under investi
gation with a standard substance. I f the
sample is available in rod form, a simple
comparator method can be used in which the
change of length is measured against a rod
or tube of the standard substance.
The
Fizeau method uses a sample in form of a
disc with plane-parallel surfaces. The upper
surface is opposed by a glass plate which,
close to the sample, rests on supports of the
standard substance. The differential expan
sion is then observed through the movement
of fringes, owing to the variation of the airgap between sample and glass plate. Essen
tially the same arrangement is used in an elec
trical method in which the top surface of the
sample and the bottom surface of the glass
plate are m etal-coated to form a condenser.
B y making this v a r ia b le c o n d e n se r part of a

resonant circuit, the differential expansion can

be measured with great accuracy.
EXPECTATION VALUE. The average of
the results of a large number of determina
tions of a single quantity, and hence the ex
pected result of a single measurement.
EXPERIMENT. An operation conducted for
the purpose of determining some unknown
fact or of obtaining knowledge concerning a
general principle or truth.
EXPLOSION M ETH O D FOR SPECIFIC
HEAT AT CONSTANT VOLUME. The gas
under investigation is enclosed with a known
amount of explosive mixture into a bomb
which is closed by a corrugated steel mem
brane, acting as manometer. The maximum
temperature reached on ignition is deduced
from the adiabatic pressure change. If Q is
the heat of reaction, tx the initial and t2 the
final temperature, Q = (t2 1 ) (W i + W 2 ),
where W i is the heat capacity of the gas and
W 2 that of the combustion products.
EXPONENT. The power to which an alge
braic expression is raised. It can be positive
or negative, integral or fractional. Same as
index. (See power and indicial equation.)
An exponential function is transcendental,
an example being y = abx, where a, b are
constants and x is the independent variable.
EXPONENTIAL. A function of a variable,
defined as
/( * ) = 6 ,
where a is a constant and e is the base of the
natural logarithm.
Sometimes written as
exp (arc).
EXPONENTIAL CONNECTOR. An acous
tic connecting tube whose cross-sectional area
increases exponentially with the distance from
one end. It is used to increase transmission
between tubes of different cross-section. On
the basis of horn theory, the power transmis
sion ratio P r for an exponential connector of
length I and cross-sectional area S = S0 exp
mx is given by
1
Pr

---------------------------------------

------sin 2 (l^/k2 m2/x)

m /x)

where k = 2tt/\ (X = wavelength).

EXPONENTIAL
metric flare-out.

FLARE-OUT.

EXPONENTIAL
line, exponential.

LINE.

See

alti-

photographic emulsion and has a magnitude

approximately equal to unity.

transmission

EXPOSURE TIME.
The interval during
which the receiver is irradiated. It is impor
tant to distinguish this term from exposure.

See

EXPONENTIAL PILE. An assembly of fis

sionable material and moderator which con
tains too little fissionable material to sustain
a chain reaction. When used with an ex
traneous source of neutrons, it provides in
formation about the material buckling from
measurements of the steady-state thermal
neutron flux distribution throughout the as
sembly.
EXPONENTIAL W E L L.
clear.

See potential, nu

EXPOSURE - DENSITY
RELATIONSHIP.
The response of a sensitive material, as shown
by the relationship between density and ex
posure, is usually represented by a curve in
which density is plotted against the logarithm
of the exposure. This curve is known as (1)
the D log E cu rve; ( 2 ) the H & D curve, after
Hurter & Driffield, two English investigators
who were the first to plot such curves; and
(3) as the characteristic curve since it indi
cates the principal characteristics of a sensi
tive material insofar as the relationship be
tween exposure, development and density is
concerned.
EXPOSURE DOSE.

See dose, exposure.

EXPOSURE METER. An instrument used in

measuring light for the purpose of determin
ing the proper photographic exposure. The
measurement m ay be made by observing the
output of a photocell which transforms light
into an electric current or in a more simple
type by visually comparing the radiation with
a step gray scale. Some exposure meters are
designed to measure the light reaching the
subject, while others measure the light re
flected b y the subject. M ost exposure meters
include some sort of computing system for
translating the measurement into the best ex
posure time and f-number to be used with
film of a given speed.
EXPOSURE, PHOTOGRAPHIC. The prod
uct of illuminance I and time t of exposure.
This definition assumes that the reciprocity
law holds. Sometimes the exposure is taken
as I t p, where p is a constant of the particular

EXSECANT. If 0 is an angle, exsecant 0 =

exsec 0 = sec 0 1 .
EXTEND ED CUTOFF TUBE.
cutoff tube.

A remote-

EXTENSION SPRING (R E LA Y). See spring,

restoring (relay).
EXTENSIVE QUANTITY. A property of a
system that is equal to the sum of the values
of that property for the constituents of the
system. Used for quantities such as the in
ternal energy, and the various thermody
namic potentials, which are proportional to
the mass of a system in equilibrium, other
things remaining equal.
(See also intensive
quantity.)
EXTERNAL FEEDBACK.
external; feedback, current.

See feedback,

EXTERNALLY QUENCHED COUNTER

TUBE. See counter tube, externally quenched.
EXTERNAL Q, EFFECTIVE.
nal, effective.

See Q, exter

EXTERNAL TERMINATION.
tion, external.

See termina

EXTINCTION COEFFICIENT.
tion coefficient*

See absorp

EXTINCTION PHOTOMETER.
A pho
tometer in which the luminous intensity of a
source of light is judged by the thickness of a
given absorbing material necessary to render
it just invisible.
EXTINCTION POTENTIAL.
extinction.

See potential,

EXTRACT. T o form a new word by juxta

posing selected segments of given words.
EXTRAORDINARY G LO W .
normal.

See glow, ab

EXTRAORDINARY INDEX. The index of

refraction for the extraordinary ray in a dou
ble refracting crystal measured perpendicular
to the optic axis (in which direction its value

differs most from the index for the ordinary

com ponent).

EYEPIECE, CODDINGTON.
ton eyepiece.

EXTRAORDINARY RAY. See double refrac

tion, optical.

EYEPIECE, FILAR.

EXTRAORDINARY-WAVE COMPONENT.
The magneto-ionic wave component in which
the electric vector rotates in the opposite sense
to that for the ordinary-wave component.
EXTRAPOLATED RANGE.

See range.

EXTRAPOLATION. A ny process by which

the value of a function is estimated for a
value of the independent variable outside of
the range in which the function has been
determined.
EXTREM AL.
maximum.

See calculus of variations and

EXTREM E PATH.

See Fermat principle.

EXTREM E RELATIVISTIC LIM IT. Limit

to which a formula describing the behavior
o f a particle tends when the energy of the
particle is large compared with its rest energy.
EXTRINSIC PROPERTIES (O F A SEMI
CONDUCTOR). The properties of a semi
conductor as modified by impurities or im
perfections within the crystal.
EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR.
conductor, extrinsic.
EYE LENS.

See semi

See discussion of field lens.

EYE OF STORM. A t the center of a hurri

cane there is usually a very small area in
which winds are light and the sky nearly clear.
This is known as the eye of the storm. A
similar eye of the storm sometimes exists
in temperate-zone cyclones.
EYEPIECE. The lens, or system of lenses,
which is closest to the eye in an optical in
strument such as a telescope or a microscope
is known as the eyepiece or ocular. The eye
piece is usually a m agnifying device used for
the purpose of detailed examination of the
real image formed by the objective of the in
strument. It is usually designed to act as a
collimator to the light from the objective so
that the light from each point of the image
formed by the objective emerges in parallel
or nearly parallel rays.

See Codding-

See filar micrometer.

EYEPIECE, HUYGENS. An ocular consist

ing of two thin lenses of the same sort of
glass, and separated a distance equal to one
half the sum of their focal lengths. This
ocular is free from chromatic aberration with
respect to focal length. It is not good for use
with cross-hair lines.
EYEPIECE, KELLNER.
piece.

See Kellner eye

EYEPIECE MICROMETER (MEASURING

EYEPIECE). A finely-divided scale placed
in the focal plane of the eyepiece of a m icro
scope for the purpose of measuring the dimen
sions of objects viewed with the instrument.
Sometimes a movable cross-hair line is pro
vided, and its position is adjusted by a mi
crometer screw.
EYEPIECE, NEGATIVE. An eyepiece that
is placed inside the principal focus of the ob
jective, such as the Huygens type.
EYEPIECE, POSITIVE. An eyepiece which
is essentially a simple magnifier focussed upon
a real image from the objective, such as the
Ramsden eyepiece.
EYEPIECE, RAMSDEN. The Ramsden eye
piece or magnifier com monly used in instru
ments with cross-hairs consists of a com bina
tion of two converging lenses of equal focal
length separated by a distance equal to tw othirds of their common focal length. The
real image of the objective lens and the cross
hairs should be placed about one-fourth the
common local length from the field lens of the
eyepiece. Tw o plane convex lenses with con
vex sides adjacent to each other will give de
creased aberrations. The total magnifying
power of a Ramsden eyepiece is equivalent
to that of a single lens of a focal length threefourths of that of either of the two lenses.
EYKMAN FORMULA. An empirical rela
tionship for the molal refraction of a liquid,
of the form :
_ M in 2 -

1) _ V (n2 -

d(n + 0.4)

1)

n + 0.4

in which R is the molal refraction for a given

optical frequency, n is the index of refraction

for that frequency, M is the molecular weight,

V is the molecular volume, and d is the
density.

where a = average sound a b s o rp tio n co e ffi

c ie n t of the walls, c = speed of sound, s =
surface area of room, V = volume of room.

EYRING FREE VOLUM E THEORY.

A
theory that seeks to account for the properties
of a liquid by assuming that each liquid m ole
cule m ay move freely within a certain free
volume, but in the liquid state all holes are
available to the molecules, in distinction to
the solid state. (See also Eyring treatment of
diffusion and Eyring treatment of viscosity.)

EYRING TREATMENT OF DIFFUSION.

Diffusion takes place through the formation
of holes in the liquid into which the diffusing
molecules can move. The ratio of the dif
fusion coefficient to the fluidity is proportional
to the absolute temperature, i.e., the activa
tion energy for diffusion is equal to the activa
tion energy for liquid flow.

EYRING GENERAL ENERGY EQUATION.

The energy level in a room, initially at E 0, is
given as a function of the time t (measured
from the cutting off of the sound source) as

EYRING TREATMENT OF VISCOSITY.

The rate of yielding of a liquid in response to
an applied shear stress is assumed to be pro
portional to the rate of formation of holes in
the liquid. It follows that the activation en
ergy for liquid flow should be of the same
order of magnitude as the heat of vaporization.

C8 log (1 ) t

E = E 0e

F
F. (1) Function ( /) .
(2 ) Force (F or / ) .
(3) Form ality ( F) . (4) Frequency ( /) . (5)
Photoelectric threshold frequency ( / 0 but v0 is
preferred). ( 6 ) Fugacity (/). (7) Faraday
constant or equivalent ( F) . (8) Farad (unit
of electrical capacity) ( / or F) . (9) Faraday
(unit of electrical quantity) (F) . (10) M a g
netomotive force ( ^ ) .
( 1 1 ) Degree of free
dom (F or / ) . ( 1 2 ) Free energy, a common
usage, but G is used in this book ( F) . (13)
Resonant frequency ( /r).
(14) Distribution
function ( / or F) .
(15) Focal length of ob
ject space ( /) .
(16) Focal length of image
space ( /') . (17) Hyperfine quantum number
( F) . (18) Luminous flux (F) . (19) Relative
humidity ( /) .
(2 0 ) Narrow, fine spectral
structure ( /) .
(2 1 ) T ype of electron with
an azimuthal quantum number of 3 ( / ) .
(2 2 ) Spectral term symbol for L-value of 3
( F) .
(23) Hyperfine quantum number, sum
o f J and I ( F) . (24) Rotational part of the
energy of a molecule (F) . The usage in (24)
assumes separability of the energy into three
parts, T = T e + G + F, expressed in kaysers
or megacycles.
(25) Abbreviation for fila
ment on diagrams of vacuum-tube circuits
( / or F) .
FABRY AND BAROT M ETHOD. W hile the
simplicity of the method of minimum devia
tion (see deviation, angle of minimum) makes
it the most common technique for determining
the index of refraction of a prism, Fabry and
B arot developed a method which has certain
definite advantages when working in the in
visible ultraviolet or infrared. The prism of
angle A is set up in a fixed position so that
the entrant beam is normal to the emergent
face. This can be done with visible light.
Then the index of refraction of the prism for
radiation detected (photographic or infrared
detector) at an angle of deviation D is given
by
_
#
sin 2 D
n = 1 + 2 cot A sin D H--------
sin A
(See R evu e dOptique 7, 429 (1928).)

FABRY AND PEROT ETALON. A multiplereflection instrument of very high resolving

power, simpler than the Michelson type of
interferometer. (See Robertson, Introduction
to Optics} 4th Ed., page 172 if.)
FABRY-PEROT INTERFEROMETER.
A
multiple-beam interferometer consisting of
two parallel plates of glass or quartz sepa
rated a short, known distance, and with the
adjacent surfaces partially silvered so as to
increase reflection without being fully opaque.
This instrument is capable of very high resolu
tion of two, very close spectral lines.
FACE-CENTERED STRUCTURE. A type
of crystal structure in which atoms occupy
the corners and centers of the faces of a cube
or other parallelepiped. The face-centered
cubic structure is close-packed.
FACSIMILE (IN ELECTRICAL COM MU
NICATIONS). The process, or the result of
the process, by which fixed graphic material
including pictures or images is scanned and
the information converted into signal waves
which are used either locally or remotely to
produce in record form a likeness (facsimile)
of the subject copy. (See transmission, fac
simile.)
FACSIMILE CONVERTER.
facsimile.
FACSIMILE RECEIVER.
simile.
FACSIMILE
facsimile.

See converter,

See receiver, fac

RECORDER.

See

recorder,

FACSIMILE SYSTEM. An integrated as

sembly of the elements used for facsimile.
FACTOR.

See specific entries.

FACTORIAL. If n is a positive integer, fac

torial n means the product 1 2 3 * n. It may
be denoted by the symbols |n or n\, but the
latter form is generally preferred. B y conven
tion, 0! = 1. Generalization of such a product

to include negative numbers or those which

are not integers results in the gamma function.
FACTOR OF SAFETY. A number expressing
the relation between the utmost endurance of
a structural part, or of a complete structure,
to the maximum actual demand that may be
expected ever to be made upon it. It is a
com bination of allowances made in the use of
data.
FACTOR, RELEASE (RELAY). The ratio,
expressed in per cent, of drop-out current (see
current, drop-out) to rated current or the
analogous voltage ratio.
FACTOR THEOREM OF ALGEBRA. If
(x r) is a factor of a polynomial P ( x ) , then
x = r is a zero of the polynomial function
P ( x ) , and a root of the polynomial equation
P ( x ) = 0. Conversely, if x = r is a zero of
the polynom ial or a root of the equation, then
(x r) is a factor of P { x ) . (See also algebra,
fundamental theorem of.)
FADE.
(1) In broadcast terminology, to
change signal strength gradually. ( 2 ) T o un
dergo partial loss of color of a substance or
material on exposure to radiation.
FADE IN.

T o fade to a higher signal level.

FADEOM ETER. An instrument for deter

mining the resistance to fading of substances
and materials upon exposure to the action of
radiant energy (com m only artificial sunlight
or ultraviolet light) under controlled condi
tions.
FADE OUT. (1) T o fade to a lower signal
level. ( 2 ) A disruption of radio communica
tions due to severe ionospheric disturbances.
FADER. A m ultiple-volume control used to
fade out one channel as another channel is
being faded in. The signal level is constant
at all times.
FADING. The fading of radio signals is in
herent in the transmission of such signals and
at best can only be partially compensated for
in the receiver by avc circuits, diversity re
ception, etc. The compensation m ay often
be made entirely satisfactory if the fading is
of the simplest type, but if it is selective,
compensation is not always satisfactory.
R adio waves going out from the transmitter
travel along various paths to the receiver,

some of the waves travel along the ground,

others are reflected from the ionosphere. In
the broadcast band fading is usually caused
by signals which have been reflected from the
ionosphere combining vectorially with signals
which have traveled along the earth (these are
called respectively sky wave and ground
wave). The sky wave does not return to the
earth near the transmitter so there is no fad
ing in this region, and at great distances from
the transmitter the ground wave has died out
so again there is no fading due to this cause.
In the intermediate region both waves may
be present and, if the phase of the two signals
is such that they interfere, fading results.
Since the ionosphere is continually changing,
the phase of the reflected sky wave may cause
cancellation at one instant and addition of
the signals at the next. Different frequencies
travel somewhat different paths in the iono
sphere so the time to reach the receiver is
different for the different sideband frequen
cies. Thus one frequency may reach the re
ceiver to add to the ground wave, while an
other may cancel. This produces what is
known as selective fading and the output of
the receiver is badly distorted. The other
type o f fading, in which all portions of the
modulated wave are attenuated by the same
amount, is called amplitude fading.
FAHRENHEIT SCALE.
(F.)
A thermo
metric scale devised by Fahrenheit (16861736), on which the freezing point of water
is 32 degrees, and the boiling point 212 de
grees, both at standard pressure. (See also
temperature scale, Fahrenheit.)
FAIRBAIRN AND TATE M ETHOD FOR
VAPOR PRESSURE. T w o glass bulbs A and
B contain different amounts of the liquid, that
in A being less than that in B , and the spaces
above the liquid contain only saturated
vapor. The lower ends o f the bulbs com
municate through a tube containing mercury
which thus seals the liquid in the bulbs, and
allows the pressure difference between the
bulbs to be measured. On warming the ap
paratus, a point will come when B still con
tains liquid, while that in A has just disap
peared. The difference in pressure, which has
hitherto been zero, will now increase suddenly,
since the pressure o f the saturated vapor in
B increases more rapidly with temperature
than the pressure of the unsaturated vapor

in A. Knowing the mass of substance in A ,

and the volume of the bulb, the saturated
density of vapor can be calculated.
FALL TIM E.

See time constant.

FALL OUT.
(1) The settling to earth of
radioactive particles released into the upper
atmosphere by nuclear bomb explosions. ( 2 )
The radioactive materials accumulated as a
result of such settling.
FALL-W IND. A wind blowing down a moun
tainside; or any wind having a strong down
ward component.
Fall-winds include the
Foehn, mistral, bora, etc.
f^. Sym bol for frequency, alpha-cutoff.
FALSE CIRRUS. Cirrus resulting from anvil
heads of thunderstorms.
FALTUNG THEOREM.

See convolution.

FAMILY. (1) A group of elements character

ized by similar chemical properties such as
valence, solubility of salts, behavior toward
reagents, etc. The alkali fam ily includes so
dium, potassium, lithium, rubidium, cesium,
and francium. The halogen fam ily consists
o f fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and
astatine. (2) Same as series in the sense of
a radioactive series. (3) A group of surfaces
or curves, all of which have the same basic
equation but different values of parameters,
e.g., a fam ily of confocal ellipses.
FAN MARKER.

See marker, fan.

FAN-TYPE MARKER.

See radio range.

FARAD. A unit of capacitance, abbreviation

f or fd. The farad is the capacitance of a
capacitor (or condenser) which acquires a
charge of one coulomb when a steady poten
tial difference of one volt is maintained across
its terminals. The m icrofarad (10 ~ 6 f ) and
the m icrom icrofarad (pico farad) ( 1 0 ~ 1 2 f)
are used as units of capacitance much more
often than is the farad.
FARADAY. The quantity of electric charge
associated with one gram equivalent of an
electrochemical reaction. It is equal to the
product of Avogadros number and the charge
on the electron. It has the value 9.651 abamperes per gram equivalent or 96.51 coulombs
per gram equivalent.

FARADAY CYLINDER.
bucket experiment.

See Faraday ice-

FARADAY DARK SPACE. The nonluminous

region between the negative glow and the
positive column in a gas-discharge tube
(Crookes tube) at moderate pressure.
FARADAY DISC MACHINE. A copper disc,
rotated so that it cuts the flux between the
poles of an electromagnet, serves as a low
voltage d-c generator by virtue of the induced,
radial electromotive force. One output brush
contacts the axle; the other, the rim beyond
the magnet pole-gap.
FARADAY EFFECT. W hen a transparent
isotropic medium is in a strong magnetic field
there is a rotation of the plane of vibration
o f polarized light which is transmitted through
the medium in the direction of the field. The
direction of rotation depends on whether the
velocity of the light is parallel or antiparallel
to the magnetic field. The angle of rotation
a is given by
a oolH
where I is the length of the path traversed in
a magnetic field of strength H and w (some
times C) is known as the Verdet constant.
The Faraday effect is one of the special cases
mentioned under rotation of the vibration
plane. (See Robertson, Introduction to Op
tics, page 285, 4th ed., D . Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.) The Faraday effect is not restricted to
optical frequencies but can also be obtained
with microwave and radio frequencies. (See
also gyrator; gyromagnetic and gyroelectric
media.)
FARADAY ICE-BUCKET EXPERIMENT.
If a metal bucket is connected to a gold-leaf
electroscope, and a charged metal body low
ered into the pail without contact, the electro
scope leaves repel each other.
When the
charged body is well inside the pail, the leaves
have attained a maximum separation, and
further motion into the pail has no effect. If
the charged body is touched to the bottom
of the pail, there is still no change, but upon
withdrawal of the body the leaves retain their
maximum separation. Furthermore, the body
is found to have lost all its charge.
The experiment demonstrates that charge
resides on the outside surface of a conductor.
This fact is indirect evidence for the inverse

square dependence of force on distance in the

Coulomb law (electrostatics).
FARADAY L A W OF ELECTROM AGNETIC
INDUCTION. The electromotive force in
duced in a circuit is

FAST FISSION FACTOR. In reactor theory,

the ratio of the total number of fast neutrons
produced by fissions due to neutrons of all
energies, to the number resulting from ther
mal neutron fission.
FAST SPIRAL.

dt

where <f> is the magnetic flux linking the cir

cuit. The Faraday Law m ay be rewritten:

f E 'ds = ~ i t

dA,

where E is the electric field strength and B

is the magnetic flux density. The integral on
the left is taken around a closed loop which
bounds the surface over which the integral on
the right is taken. W ritten in this form it is
one of Maxwell's equations. (See also electro
magnetic induction.)
FARADAY LAW S OF ELECTROLYSIS. ( 1 )
The amount of chemical decomposition pro
duced by a current, that is, the amount of any
substance deposited or dissolved, is propor
tional to the quantity (charge) of electricity
passed.
(2) The amounts of different sub
stances deposited or dissolved by the same
quantity of electricity are proportional to
their chemical equivalent wreights (the equiv
alent weight of an element is its atomic
weight divided by its valence in the particu
lar state in question).
FARADAY SHIELD.
screen, electrical.
FARBZENTER.

See shield, Faraday;

See F-center.

FAR FIELD . The acoustic radiation field

(see sound field) at large distances from the
source.
FARNSWORTH
IM AGE
DISSECTOR
TUBE. See tube, image dissector.
FAR POINT OF TH E EYE. T he nearest
point on which the eye is focused when fully
relaxed.
FAR ZONE. F or a distributed radiation
source, the far zone o f its field is that region
whose distance from any point in the source
is much larger than any source dimension. E f
fectively, the region is so far distant from the
source that the source looks like a point.

See groove, fast.

FATHOMETER. An instrument employing

sonic echo ranging (see sonar, direction and
ranging) to determine and record the depth
o f the sea.
FATIGUE.
(1) The tendency for a metal
to fracture under repeated stressing consider
ably below the ultimate tensile strength. In
a common method of test, a polished specimen
is rotated rapidly and subjected to alternate
flexure. The fatigue limit or endurance limit
of a metal or alloy is that stress below which
failure will presumably not occur in an infinite
number of cycles. When such a limit does
not exist, the term is often applied to the
stress causing fracture in a specified large
number of cycles. The endurance ratio is
the endurance limit divided by the tensile
strength. For most carbon and alloy steels
this ratio is approximately 0.5 while for nonferrous alloys it m ay be less than 0.25 or
greater than 0.5. Sharp notches reduce the
endurance limit of most materials. Corrosion
o f the metal surface during the cyclic stress
ing leads to corrosion fatigue, and causes a
pronounced decrease in the endurance limit
in many metals. ( 2 ) See also fatigue, elastic.
FATIGUE, ELASTIC. An increase in the
damping factor of an elastic solid which oc
curs after a large number of oscillations. I f
the substance is permitted to rest, recovery
takes place and the damping factor returns
to its normal value. (See damped harmonic
oscillator.)
FAX.

A bbreviation for facsimile.

F-BAND. The optical absorption band char

acteristic of F-centers in alkali halide crystals.
FC.

Abbreviation for foot-candle.

FCC. (1) Abbreviation for Federal Commu

nications Commission. ( 2 ) Abbreviation for
face centered cubic.
F-C E N TE R .
The simplest type of color
center in an alkali halide crystal, consisting
of a negative ion vacancy to which is bound

an excess electron moving as if in a hydrogen

atom orbit about the positively charged center.
The name comes from the German Farbzenter.
F2+ CENTER.

See color center.

F-DISPLAY (ALSO CALLED F-SCAN OR

F-SCOPE). See display.
FEATHER ANALYSIS. A technique estab
lished by N. Feather (1938) for the determi
nation of the range in aluminum of the p-rays
of a species by comparison of the absorption
curve with the absorption curve of a reference
species, usually B i 210 (R a E ). It is assumed
that the attenuation of the /3-beam by the
amount of absorber, expressed as a fraction
of the range, is the same in the limit, for the
/2-particles under study as those of B i210.
Taking the range for B i 210 as 476 m g /cm 2 of
aluminum the attenuations of B i 210 radiations
at 0 .1 , 0 .2 , 0 .3 , * * of this amount of absorber
are used to identify trial values of the range
of the species under study. These trial values
are plotted against the numbers 0.1, 0.2, 0.3,
* and extrapolated to obtain a value at 1 .0 .
Maximum /3-energies may be estimated from
these extrapolated range values, as for in
stance by an empirical equation given by
Feather. (See range-energy relationships.)
FECHNER COLORS. Visual sensations of
color induced by intermittent achromatic
stimuli.
FECHNER FRACTION. If the eye can just
distinguish an object whose brightness differs
by an amount dB from a large field of bright
ness B , the contrast sensitivity may be meas
ured by dB/B, sometimes called the Fechner
fraction. The term is used for sensations
other than that of brightness (see Mackensie
equation).
FECHNER LAW .
FEED.

See Mackenzie equation.

T o provide a signal at some point.

FEEDBACK. (1) Feedback, or the transfer

of energy from a high level point to a low
level point, in communications circuits may
be either positive or negative. Positive feed
back is that in which the signal fed back is
in phase with the input signal; thus we might
say that some of the output is sent back
through the circuit to add to the regular signal
present. For amplifiers this effect is normally

very undesirable, although in some amplifiers

it is used to increase the gain. I f enough
energy is fed back positively the input can
be removed entirely and the signal kept going
through the amplifier by the feedback. This
is possible since a small signal at the input
produces a much larger one at the output and
only a small part of this needs to be returned
to the input to keep the process going. When
this condition is reached the amplifier oscil
lates or howls. W hile smaller amounts than
this may be used, to increase the gain of an
amplifier it is always at the expense of stabil
ity and fidelity. An oscillator is really an
amplifier with a large amount of positive
feedback. N egative feedback is that in which
the signal fed back to the input is in phase
opposition with the input. W hile this cancels
part of the input it has such desirable effects
that it is almost universally used for highgrade amplifiers. Negative, or inverse, feed
back increases the stability, improves the fre
quency response, lowers distortion and noise
and has other similar desirable results. The
improvement along these lines is approxi
mately proportional to the amount of feed
back, but a compromise value which will not
decrease the gain too much and yet give de
cided improvement in the other characteristics
is used. Since many feedback circuits have
phase and amplitude characteristics which
vary with frequency, an amplifier m ay have
negative feedback at one frequency and posi
tive at another. If the amplifier has sufficient
gain in the positive feedback region it will
oscillate. If the signal fed back is propor
tional to the output current it is termed cur
rent feedback and stabilizes the current, while
if it is proportional to the output voltage it
is voltage feedback and stabilizes the voltage.
(2 )
In a magnetic amplifier, feedback is a
circuit connection by means of which an ad
ditional magnetomotive force, which is a func
tion of the output quantity, is used to influence
the operating condition.
FEEDBACK, ACOUSTIC. The returning of
a fraction of the output of an acoustical de
vice to the input of the same device.
FEEDBACK ADMITTANCE.
tance, feedback.
FEEDBACK
feedback.

AMPLIFIER.

See

See

admit

amplifier,

FEEDBACK CONTROL LOOP. A closed

transmission path, which includes an active
transducer and which consists of a forward
____ LOOP
INPUT
/" X ACTUATING
SIGNAL _ (MIXING\ SIGNAL
l POINT ,

loop

LOOP
OUTPUT
FORWARO SIGNAL
TRANSFER
FUNCTION
FORWARD PATH

LOOP
FEEDBACK
SIGNAL
FEEDBACK
TRANSFER
FUNCTION
FEEDBACK PATH
Diagram of feedback system, showing control loop.

path, a feedback path, and one or more m ix

ing points arranged to maintain a prescribed
relationship between the loop input signal and
the loop output signal. See diagram.
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM. A con
trol system, comprising one or more feedback
control loops, which combines functions of the
controlled signals with functions of the com
mands to tend to maintain prescribed relation
ships between the commands and the con
trolled signals,
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM, LINEAR.
A feedback control system in which the rela
tionships between the pertinent measures of
the system signals are linear.
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM, NON
LINEAR. A feedback control system in which
the relationships between the pertinent meas
ures of the system input and output signals
cannot be adequately described b y linear
means. A system can be either quasi-linear
or nonlinear, depending upon operating con
ditions and performance requirements.
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM, QUASILINEAR. A feedback control system in which
the relationships between the pertinent meas
ures of the system input and output signals
are substantially linear despite the existence
o f nonlinear elements. A system can be either
quasi-linear or nonlinear, depending upon op
erating conditions and performance require
ments.
FEEDBACK,
CURRENT
(EXTERNAL
FEEDBACK). In a magnetic amplifier, a
feedback in which the output quantity em
ployed is the rectified output current. Simple

series magnetic amplifiers using this type of

feedback are often referred to as external
feedback magnetic amplifiers; however, this
nomenclature is discouraged.
FEEDBACK, ELECTRIC. In magnetic am
plifier terminology, feedback through an elec
trically conductive network, as differentiated
from feedback produced by currents in wind
ings having coupling to the control windings
(m agnetic feed b a ck ).
FEEDBACK,
INDUCTIVE.
Feedback
through an inductive-coupling network.
FEEDBACK LOOP ACTUATING SIGNAL.
The signal derived by mixing the feedback
loop input signal and the feedback loop sig
nal.
FEEDBACK LOOP DIFFERENCE SIG
NAL. The output signal from a summing
point of a feedback control loop produced by
a particular feedback loop input signal ap
plied to that summing point. The loop d if
ference is a specific type of feedback loop
actuating signal.
FEEDBACK LOOP ERROR. The desired
value minus the actual value of the feedback
loop output signal.
FEEDBACK LOOP ERROR SIGNAL. The
feedback loop actuating signal in those cases
in which it is the feedback loop error.
FEEDBACK LOOP INPUT SIGNAL. An
external signal applied to a feedback control
loop.
FEEDBACK LOOP OUTPUT SIGNAL. The
controlled signal extracted from a feedback
control loop.
FEEDBACK LOOP RETURN SIGNAL. The
signal returned via a feedback control loop
to a summing point, in response to a feedback
loop input signal applied to that summing
point, and subtracting from the loop input
signal. The loop return signal is a specific
type of loop input signal.
FEEDBACK LOOP SIGNAL. The signal de
rived as a function of the feedback loop out
put signal and fed back to the mixing point
for control purposes.
FEEDBACK LOOP TRANSFER FUNC
TION. The transfer function of the trans

mission path formed by opening and properly

terminating a feedback loop. One example
of proper termination is a zero impedance gen
erator driving the opened loop, and an output
termination for the opened loop equal to the
impedance facing the generator.
FEEDBACK LOOP TRANSFER RATIO.
The transfer ratio of a feedback loop return
signal to the corresponding feedback loop dif
ference signal.
FEEDBACK, NEGATIVE. Feedback which
results in a decrease in the amplification.
(See also degeneration.)
FEEDBACK OSCILLATOR.
feedback.

system will depend on the method of opera

tion of that system.
FEEDBACK RETURN TRANSFER FUNC
TION. In a feedback control loop, the feed
back transfer function which relates a feed
back loop return signal to the corresponding
feedback loop input signal.
FEEDBACK SIGNAL. A signal responsive
to the value of the controlled variable in an
automatic controller. This signal is returned
to the input of the system and compared with
the reference signal to obtain an actuating
signal which returns the controlled variable
to the desired value.

See oscillator,

FEEDBACK PATH. In a feedback control

loop, the transmission path from the feedback
loop output signal to the feedback loop feed
back signal.
FEEDBACK PATH, FORW ARD. In a feed
back control loop, the transmission path from
the feedback loop actuating signal to the feed
back loop output signal.
FEEDBACK PATH, THROUGH. In a feed
back control loop, the transmission path from
the feedback loop input signal to the feedback
loop output signal.
FEEDBACK, POSITIVE. Feedback which
results in increasing the amplification. (See
also regeneration.)
FEEDBACK RATIO, NOMINAL. Of a sim
ple series magnetic amplifier with current
feedback, the ratio of the number of turns
of the feedback winding to the number of
turns of the output winding.
FEEDBACK RATIO, TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameters hry hB;

See

FEEDBACK REGULATOR.
A feedback
control system which tends to maintain a
prescribed relationship between certain system
signals and other predetermined quantities.
( 1 ) This definition is intended to point out
the fact that some of the system signals in a
regulator are adjustable reference signals.
( 2 ) It should be noted that servomech
anism and regulator are not mutually ex
clusive terms; their application to a particular

FEEDBACK, STABILIZED. Feedback em

ployed in such a manner as to stabilize the
gain of a transmission system or section
thereof with respect to time or frequency or
to reduce noise or distortion arising therein.
The section of the transmission system may
include amplifiers only, or it may include
modulators.
FEEDBACK TRANSFER FUNCTION. In a
feedback control loop, the feedback transfer
function of the feedback path.
FEEDBACK TRANSFER FUNCTION, AC
TUATING. In a feedback control loop, the
feedback transfer function which relates a
feedback loop actuating signal to the corre
sponding feedback loop input signal.
FEEDBACK TRANSFER FUNCTION, D IF
FERENCE. In a feedback control loop, the
feedback transfer function which relates a
feedback loop difference signal to the corre
sponding feedback loop input signal.
FEEDBACK TRANSFER FUNCTION, FOR
W ARD.
In a feedback control loop, the
feedback transfer function of the forward
path.
FEEDBACK
TRANSFER
FUNCTION,
THROUGH. In a feedback control loop, the
feedback transfer function of the through
path.
FEEDBACK
feedback.

W INDINGS.

See

windings,

FEEDER. (1) In electrical circuits, the lines

running from a main switchboard to branch
panels in an installation. (2) In radio cir

cuits, the transmission line from the trans

mitter to the antenna.
FEED, NUTATING. In a tracking radar an
oscillating antenna feed for producing an oscil
lating deflection of the beam in which the
plane of polarization remains fixed.
FEELING, THRESHOLD OF SOUND (OR
DISCOMFORT, TICKLE, OR PAIN). For
a specified signal, the minimum effective
sound pressure of that signal which in a
specified fraction of the trials will stimulate
the ear to a point at which there is the sensa
tion of feeling (or discomfort, tickle, or p a in ).
Characteristics of the signal and the measur
ing technique should be specified in every
case. This threshold is customarily expressed
in decibels relative to 0 .0 0 0 2 microbar or to
1 microbar.
FELICI BALANCE. An a-c bridge for the
measurement of mutual inductance.
FELIX. An experimental thermonuclear de
vice o f the mirror type, used at the Livermore
L aboratory with moderate deuterium ion in
jection and subsequent compression.
(See
mirror device.)

collisions. It is assumed that the slowing

down takes place by a very large number of
very small energy changes. Phenomena due
to the finite size of the individual energy
losses are ignored. See age.
FERMI BRIM.

Same as Fermi level.

FERMI CONSTANT. A universal constant

appearing in beta decay theory, expressing
the strength of the interaction between the
transforming nucleon and the electron-neutrino field. Its value is (1.41 0.01) X 10_4d
erg cm3, and it is usually denoted by the sym
bol g or G. (See also coupling constant.)
FERMI-DIRAC
DISTRIBUTION
FUNC
TION. In a Fermi-Dirac gas the number of
particles, ni, in a state of energy Eiy at the
absolute temperature T is proportional to
1
W*'

e (Et - E F)lkT +

where k is the B o ltz m a n n constant and Ep

is the F erm i energy. If kT <E p, this func
tion is nearly unity for Ei < Ep and nearly

FENESTRATION. A surgical operation in

which a new window is opened to the inner
ear in order to improve hearing.
FERGUSON
CLASSIFICATION
OF
BRIDGES. See bridges, Ferguson classifi
cation of.
FERM AT PRINCIPLE. A ray of light from
one point to another, including reflections and
refractions, will follow that path which can
be followed in the least time. Hence also
called the principle of least time. In most
general form also called the law of extrem e
path.
M athem atically
dI

n ds = 0

JA

in the notation of the calculus of variations,

n being the index of refraction at the location
of the element of path ds.
FERMI. (1) A unit of length, 1 0 13 centi
meters. (2) A unit of area, equal to the barn.
FERMI AGE M ODEL. A model for the study
of the slowing down of neutrons by elastic

Sketch of Fermi-Dirac distribution function for ab

solute zero and for a low temperature. The region
over which the distribution is affected by temperature
is the order of kT in width. (By permission from
Introduction to Solid State Physics by Kittel,
Copyright 1953, John Wiley & Sons.)

zero for E{ > E p. The gas is then said to be

degenerate, and only the particles in the range
of energy levels of width kT about Ep are
available for conduction, etc.
FERMI-DIRAC GAS. An assembly of inde
pendent particles obeying Fermi-Dirac statis
tics. The essential property of such particles
is that they obey the Pauli exclusion principle
of quantum mechanics, which requires that
no two particles may be in exactly the same
state. If the gas is very dense, this require
ment may mean that the particles must oc
cupy a wide range of energy levels, much

larger perhaps than can be supplied by ther

mal energy. It can be shown by statistical
mechanics that in such a degenerate gas (of
which the free electrons in a metal are the
standard example) only a small proportion of
the particles contribute to such properties as
the susceptibility, specific heat, conductivity,
etc.
FERMI-DIRAC STATISTICS.
statistics.

See quantum

FERMI DISTRIBUTION. The energy dis

tribution of the electrons in a metal. Because
the electrons constitute a highly degenerate
Fermi-Dirac gas, this distribution is simply
characterized as one in which all the levels
are filled below the Fermi level, and all empty
above it, except for a thin layer, of thickness
of the order of k T , about this level.
(See
Fermi-Dirac distribution function.)
FERMI ENERGY. According to the free
electron theory of metals the electrons form
a dense Fermi-Dirac gas, whose energy is very
high even at very low temperatures. The
Fermi energy is a measure of this, but the
term seems to be used indiscriminately to refer
either to (a) the energy E F occurring as a
parameter in the Fermi-Dirac distribution
function and measuring the highest occupied
level at very low temperatures, or to (b) the
average energy of the electrons, which is %
E f . In most metals the Fermi energy is of
the order of a few electron volts. The usage
(b) is recommended, (a) being referred to
as the Fermi level (it being, in fact, the
chemical potential of the electrons).
FERMI FUNCTION.

See beta decay theory.

FERMI HOLE. The depletion region sur

rounding an electron in the energy band theory
of solids. As a result of electron correlations
and exchange effects, there is a region sur
rounding each electron in which there is less
than normal probability of finding other elec
trons.
FERMI
INTERACTION,
UNIVERSAL.
See universal Fermi interaction.
FERMI LEVEL. The point on an energy
level diagram corresponding to the top of the
Fermi distribution; or the energy level (in a
semi-conductor) for which the Ferm i-D irac

distribution function has a value of % .

band theory of solids.)
FERMI MATRIX ELEM ENT.
cay theory.

(See

See beta de

FERMION. A particle described by FermiDirac statistics. (See quantum statistics.)

FERMI PERTURBATIONS.
onance.
FERMI PLOT.
theory.

See Fermi res

See Kurie plot; beta decay

FERMI POTENTIAL. The energy of the

Fermi level interpreted as an electric poten
tial, i.e., the ratio of the Fermi level to the
electronic charge.
FERMI RESONANCE. In polyatom ic mole
cules, two vibrational levels belonging to d if
ferent vibrations (or combinations of vibra
tions) may happen to have nearly the same
energy, and therefore be accidentally degen
erate. As was recognized by Fermi in the
case of CO 2 such a resonance leads to a
perturbation of the energy levels that is very
similar to the vibrational perturbations of
diatomic molecules.
FERMI SELECTION RULES.
rules, also beta decay theory.

See selection

FERMI SURFACE.
The constant-energy
surface, pictured in the same space as a Brillouin zone, corresponding to the Fermi level,
of which it is, in a sense, the three dimensional
analog.
FERMI TEMPERATURE. The degeneracy
temperature of a Fermi-Dirac gas, defined by
E F/kj where E F is the energy of the Fermi
level, occurring as a parameter in the FermiDirac distribution function.
For the free
electrons in a metal, this temperature is of the
order of tens of thousands of degrees, so that
the gas is highly degenerate.
FERMI THEORY OF BETA DECAY.
beta decay theory.

See

FERMI THEORY OF COSMIC RAY AC

CELERATION. A theory in which colli
sions are assumed to take place between
charged cosmic ray particles and the mag
netic fields associated with turbulent inter
stellar gas clouds. A charged particle will be
reflected with increased energy if the gas

cloud is moving toward it, and with decreased

energy in an overtaking collision. Since more
collisions per unit time will occur with gas
clouds moving toward a particle than away
from it, an average net gain of energy per
collision results. M any such collisions can
account for the high energies found in cosmic
ray particles.

FERRITE. The inorganic salts of the for

mula M F e 20 4, where M represents a bivalent
metal. Alm ost all o f these materials are m ag
netic, and cores made of sintered powders
find considerable high-frequency application
because of the extremely low core losses. (See
also gyromagnetic and gyroelectric media;
gyrator.)

FERMIUM. On M arch 1,1954, simultaneous

announcement was made by Argonne N ational
Laboratories and the University of California
o f the product o f element # 1 0 0 . Atoms of
plutonium of mass number 239 were trans
muted in the nuclear reactor, by absorption
of 15 neutrons for each atom irradiated to
atoms of fermium of mass number 254. In the
process 6 p-particles are emitted. In a sep
arate study fermium was produced from ein
steinium by irradiation in the materials test
ing reactor. The half-life of this nuclide of
fermium is approximately 3 hours, and it de
cays by emission of -particles of approx
imately 7.2 mev energy. Its properties are
similar to those of the earlier actinide ele
ments.

FERROELECTRIC. Some dielectric mate

rials, notably Rochelle salt, potassium dihy
drogen phosphate, and barium titanate, ex
hibit spontaneous polarization and hysteresis
between polarization and field. B y analogy
with ferromagnetic materials, these substances
are called ferroelectric. See also antiferro
electric,

FERRACTOR. A name sometimes applied to

magnetic amplifiers employing ferrite core
materials.
FERRAMIC.
ferrite.

The trade name of one form of

FERREL L A W . W hen a mass of air starts

to m ove over the earths surface, it is deflected
to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, and
to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, and
tends to move in a circle whose radius de
pends upon its velocity and its distance from
the equator. (See Coriolis effects.)
FERRIELECTRIC.

See antiferroelectric.

FERRIMAGNETISM. A type of magnetism,

m acroscopically similar to ferromagnetism,
but m icroscopically more like antiferromag
netism in that the magnetic moments of neigh
boring ions tend to align antiparallel. These
moments are, however, of different magni
tudes, and hence m ay still have quite a large
resultant magnetization. Ferrimagnetism is
observed in the ferrites and similar com
pounds.
FERRISTOR. Trade name for a ferrite core
magnetic amplifier designed for high speed
operation.

FERROELECTRIC EFFECT. The phenom

enon whereby certain crystals m ay exhibit a
spontaneous dipole moment (which is called
ferroelectric by analogy with ferromagnetic
exhibiting a permanent magnetic moment).
The effect in the most typical case, barium
titanate, seems to be due to a polarization
catastrophe, in which the local electric fields
due to the polarization itself increase faster
than the elastic restoring forces on the ions
in the crystal, thereby leading to an asym
metrical shift in ionic positions, and hence
to a permanent dipole moment. Ferroelectric
crystals often show several Curie points, do
main structure hysteresis, etc., much as do
ferromagnetic crystals.
FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS. The di
electric analog o f ferromagnetic materials.
Their uses parallel those o f ferromagnetic ma
terials in such applications as magnetostric
tive transducers, magnetic amplifiers, and
magnetic inform ation storage devices. R o
chelle salt was the first ferroelectric material
to be discovered.
FERROGRAPHY.
A magnetic recording
process in which magnetic powder is attracted
to the magnetic image of a master. A per
manent copy is then printed by picking up the
powder image on a gummed paper laid over
the master.
1
FERROMAGNETIC RESONANCE.
Very
similar to paramagnetic resonance (see res
onance, magnetic; resonance paramagnetic).
The apparent permeability of a magnetic ma
terial at microwave frequencies is affected (in

the presence of a transverse, steady field) by

the precession of electron orbits in the atoms.
I f the m icrowave frequency equals the preces
sion frequency, resonance occurs and the ap
parent permeability reaches a sharp maxi
mum. The resonance frequency depends upon
the strength of the transverse field. Thus, a
thin film of a ferromagnetic substance placed
in a static magnetic field H is found to be
capable of absorbing from an oscillating field
whose magnetic vector is perpendicular to H
at a frequency given by

(\2-mf
)

( BH)

in mksa units, where B is the magnetic flux

density associated with the magnetic field
strength H, e and m are respectively the
charge and mass of the electron and g is very
near to 2, the Lande factor for free electrons.
FERROMAGNETISM. The property of cer
tain materials that gives them relative perme
abilities noticeably exceeding unity, in prac
tice from 1.1 to 106. Such materials generally
exhibit hysteresis, hence can be used for per
manent magnets. Ferromagnetism is an ex
treme case of paramagnetism, and results from
the spontaneous alignment of the electron
magnetic moments associated with spin even
in the absence of an externally applied field.
(See also Ewing theory of ferromagnetism;
Weiss theory of ferromagnetism; Heisenberg
theory of ferromagnetism; domain structure.)
FERRORESONANT CIRCUIT.
A non
linear resonant circuit employing a capacitor
and an inductor with a saturable core. Opera
tion equivalent to that of resonance is achieved
by varying circuit voltage (or current) at a
specified frequency to some critical value
which causes the non-linear inductance to
have the correct value of reactance to resonate
with the capacitor. A t the point of resonance,
the current (or voltage) jumps abruptly to a
much higher value.
FERROSPINEL.

A ferrite.

FERROXCUBE.

Trade name for a ferrite.

FERRY-PORTER L AW . The critical fusion

frequency (the frequency at which a flicker
disappears) for the fovea of the eye is pro
portional to the logarithm of the luminance.

FERTILE MATERIAL. Material which is

not in itself fissionable, but which, in a re
actor, m ay be transformed into fissionable
material through a nuclear transformation;
e.g.:
T h 232 + n - T h 233

13

23 min

Pa2

>u2337,

27.4 daysa

the U 233 is fissionable.

FEYNMAN DIAGRAM. Sketch in Minkow
ski space of the development of a process
involving the interaction of particles and/or
electromagnetic radiation, including a pic
torial representation of the intermediate states
through which the system m ay go. An elec
tron is represented by a time-like line with
an arrow pointed towards the future, and a
positron by such a line with an arrow pointed
towards the past. Particularly useful for rep
resenting many different intermediate states
on the one diagram and, since with each dia
gram is associated a matrix element for some
transition, for arriving more directly at the
cross-section for a process. Some examples
are given below, a photon being denoted by a
w avy line:

Compton scattering from an

electron at rest (lowest order)

Space
Pair production resulting from
electron - electron scattering

A radiative correction to
the Compton scattering shown in
the diagram to the left

Feynman diagrams.

(See quantum
field theory.)

electrodynamics;

quantized

FEYNMAN - GELL-MANN THEORY.

beta decay theory.

See

FEYNM AN POSITRON THEORY. In 1949

Feynman developed a theory the purpose of
which was to simplify all calculations involv
ing positrons and electrons interacting with
external fields. The theory was then extended
to include interactions between the particles,
and the resulting theory was proved equiva
lent to the standard procedure of quantized
field theory, Feynmans theory gives a com
pletely new physical viewpoint for the in te r
action process, permitting visualization and
ease of understanding. W e first illustrate it
for the non-relativistic theory.
Consider the Schrdinger equatio n for a
single particle ihdt \t) = H\t). The state vec
tor at time |t2) is related to the one at time
l^i) b y the time-translation operator U(t2lti)
= exp ( iH (t2 h)/K)\t2)
= U(f2 ,ti)\ti) = exp [ - i n f o - ti)/h\\ti). ( 1 )
In the Schrdinger position representation
(see representation theory, q u a n tu m - m e
chanical).
= (z|) is the Schrdinger
wave fu n c tio n at time t, in terms of which ( 1 )
becomes

[ifi\ - H (x 2)]K (x 2t2;x 1/ 1)

= ih8(x2 xi)8(t2 ti)

(5)

which vanishes for t2 < t\. A perturbation

theory can easily be developed in this formula
tion. Assume that H = H 0 + V and that the
problem is soluble for H = H 0j i.e., when V =
0. Let us denote b y K 0 the Greens function
for V 0, i.e., for the free particle. Then the
solution of (5) which satisfies the boundary
condition K = 0 for t2 < t\ is the solution of
the integral equation
K ( 2,1) = K 0(2,l)

*- J K 0(2,3) V (3 )K (3 ,l)d %

(6)

where K ( 2 , 1 ) stands for K (x 2t2)xiti) and d4x

d3 xdt. That ( 6 ) is a solution of (5) is readily
verified b y operating with [ifidt2 H 0(2)] on
both sides of the equation; also since K 0(2 , 1 )
is zero if t2 < 1, K ( 2 , 1 ) likewise vanishes for
t2 < 1. The Neuman-Liouville expansion of
( 6 ) yields

<x2 |*2) = ^ 2 , k )

(2,1) = * 0(2,1) - ^ f d 4x3K 0(2,3)V(3)

= J * ( x 2 1U(t2,h) I x 1) ( x 11ti)d3x t

= J d3x 1Z ( x 2i2;xi<i)^(x1i1)

(2)

K0(3,l) + ( - ^ )

d^xaf dixiK 0{2,3)

V ( 3 ) if o ( 3 ,4 ) F ( 4 ) .K 'o ( 4 ,l)

(7 )

where
K {x 2t2\xiti)
= <x2 | r/(M i)|xi>
= E (x 2 1E )(E Iexp [ - i f f f o -

*i)/]|Xl>

= E

ue ( x 2) ue ( x 1)

e x p [ - i E ( t 2 - h)/K[

(3)

in the Greens fu n c tio n for Equation ( 1 ). In

(3) the states |E ) are the eigenfunctions of H ,
which is assumed to be time-independent. W e
have adopted the notation uE(x) = (x|2).
From the completeness of the set {|E ) } f i.e.,
from the fact that E I E ){E \ = 1 , we note that
E

( 3 ) implies
K (x 2t;xit) = (x 2 |xi) = 5(x2 -

xi)

(4)

as should be. From the fact that U(t2,h) van

ishes for 2 < h, K (x 2t\xit), likewise vanishes
for 2 < h- The above Green's functions K is
therefore that solution of

which can be interpreted as follows: the first

term represents the particle traveling freely
from 1 to 2 . The second term represents the
particle moving freely from 1 to 3 being scat
tered at 3 (due to V (3)) and again traveling as a
free particle from 3 to 2. (The integration
over 3 is evident.) The third term represents
double scattering at 3, and at 4, etc.
A corresponding treatment of the Dirac
equation can be given. For a free particle
the latter reads
( i y ^ m)\f/(x) = 0

(8 )

(where we have set fi = c = 1 ). The Greens

function K 0 connecting the wave function
at
2 to that at 1 is now a 4 X 4 m a trix , which sat
isfies
- m )K o(2 , 1 ) = 5(2,1)
[5(2,1) = 5(x2 -

x i)5 ( /2 - i)].

A particular solution of this differential equa

tion is given by
K0 = Z

un(x2)u n(x) exp [ iE n{l2 x)]

E> 0

(K + replaces K 0.) The various terms in the

series expansion of this integral equation can
be visualized by means of space-time Feynman
diagrams. The first term K + { 2,1) represents
a free particle traveling from 1 to 2 and will

u (x i)u (x t) exp [ iE n(t2 ix)],

E n< 0

for t2 > h
K 0 = 0,

for 2 < h

(10)

where un are energy eigenfunctions of the Dirac

equation. The negative energy solutions must
be included in order that for time t2 = h>
K 0(2,1) = >(x2 xi) [since only with the in
clusion of the negative energy solutions is the
set un{x) complete].
This choice of K 0 corresponds to the oneelectron theory rather than to the correct hole
theory. This can be seen as follows: Consider
an electron being scattered by a potential V
which vanishes for t < T and for t > T.
The result of a perturbation calculation
[Equation (7 )] is then that for
the
wave function of the electron will contain
components corresponding to positive as well
as negative energy solutions of the Dirac
equation, implying a non-vanishing probabil
ity for finding the particle in a negative energy
state which is clearly unphysical. The correct
Greens function can be obtained by noting
that according to the hole theory, the negative
energy states are occupied, hence they are not
available to the electron after scattering. This
requires that for t2 > ti, K is a sum over posi
tive energy states o n ly ; K must, however, still
satisfy (9) in order that it be a Greens func
tion. This can be done by subtracting from
the solution K 0 given by (10) the following
solution of the homogeneous equation:

X ) wn

En < 0

(x2)u n(x 1) exp [ iE n(t2 l)].

This yields
the new Green s function K + with the prop
erties that
K + = 23 un(x2)un(x 1) exp [ ~ i E n(t2 -

1)],

for t2 > ti
K+ = -

un(xi)u n(xi) exp [ - i E n(t2 ^ <0

= -

/ 1)],

*for 2
, <
^ /1

X ) Wn(zi)tt(z2) exp [ i\En \\t2 i|],

En<

for t2 < t\.

(11)

If a potential is present, an integral equation

which is the analogue of (7) can be written.

Fig. 1.

be represented by a directed straight line

(Figure 1 ). The second term
( - t ) J K + (2 ,3 )V (3 )K + (3 ,l)d 4x 3

(12)

represents a single scattering. If the region

where V is different from zero is represented
by a bounded region S in a space-time plot,
then this term ( 1 2 ) can be represented by the
diagram indicated in Figure 2.

The diagrams drawn in Figure 3 represent the

two possibilities represented by the third term
in the perturbation expansion:

(13)
Case (a). As one follows the world line
from 1 to 2 time always increases, so that in
K + only positive energies occur.
Case ( 6 ). As one follows the w orld line, in
going from 4 to 3 time goes backward and
in i + (4,3) negative energy sums occur. In
Feynm ans interpretation this represents a
positron propagating from 3 to 4. Alterna
tively, proceeding in the direction of increas
ing time one can interpret the sequence of
events as follows: An electron-positron pair
is created at 3; the electron propagates toward
2, the positron propagates toward 4, at which
point it annihilates the incoming electron.

Both situations are included in the single

term (13) since one is to integrate over all
times 3 and 4. The term (13) is therefore

where the first term runs over the positive

energy solutions and the second over negative
energy solutions of the D irac equation in this
external field; bn is a destruction operator
for an electron in the positive energy state
<t>n{x) and dn* a creation operator for a posi
tron. W e shall assume A E time independent
and sufficiently weak so that stationary solu
tion <f>n{x) = un{x) exp ( iEnt) can be de
fined for which a gap exists between positive
and negative energy eigenvalues. Under these
circumstances a vacuum state
exists which
has the property that bn^ 0 = dn^ 0 = 0 , for all
n. The probability amplitude of finding an
electron at time t2 at x2 if there was one at
time ti at xi with t2 > h can then be obtained
from the quantity

(2)o,0(l)*o) = (0llK2)7olKl)o)
or more generally from the quantity

iv(2,l) = (*o,7,(iA(2)<?(l)1ifo)
only represented by a single diagram, either
Figure 3a or 36, since whichever is chosen the
other can be obtained from it by letting the
time component of 3 move relative to that of 4.
The above prescription for the propagation
kernel K + can be shown to be equivalent to
the hole theoretic formulation, the minus sign
in 10(b) being a reflection of the Pauli exclu
sion principle. The formalism can be extended
to the case of many particles interacting
through the quantized electromagnetic field.
The connection of the Feynman formalism
to the quantized electron-positron field can be
established as follows:
In the presence of an external electrom ag
netic field, the electron-positron field is de
scribed by a Heisenberg field operator $ ( x )
which obeys the following field equation and
equal time anticommutation rules (see oper
ators, quantum-mechanical)
(

+ m)<k(x) = 7 mA / ( z ^ e i x )
Hi
\ t ( x ) d * ( x ' ) } xo = x'o = S ( x - x ' )

and which has the following expansion in terms

o f creation and annihilation operators
^ f {x )

^ 1 bji<j>n { x ) ~h y

n,E

4>n { % ) d n

n, E~

where T is the W ick chronological product.

One can verify that y2iSFe(2 ,l) = K + ( 2,1)
where K + is the Feynman propagator in the
presence of the potential y^ A ^ .
FEYNMAN THEORY OF LIQUID H E
LIUM. An extension of the Landau theory
of liquid helium II, in which the liquid is
treated as more like a solid than a gas. The
presence of phonons and rotons is predicted
as well as the freezing out of the rotons be
low 0.6K .
(See also helium II, two fluid
theory; superfluid.)
FHF.

Deprecated.

See band(s), frequency.

FICK DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT FOR

NEUTRON FLUX. The Fick law of diffusion
(as applied to neutron flux) is:
J = D grad 0 ,
where J is the net number of (thermal) neu
trons flowing in unit time through a unit area
normal to the direction of flow, cf> ( = nv) is
the neutron flux, and D is the diffusion co
efficient for flux, having the dimensions of
length, and being equal to D 0/v, where Do
is the conventional diffusion coefficient, and
v is the neutron velocity.
FICK LAW .

See diffusion, Fick law.

FIDELITY. The degree with which a system,

or a portion of a system, accurately reproduces

at its output the essential characteristics of

the signal which is impressed upon its input.
FIELD. (1) For the most generalized con
ceptions of this term, see fields, classical and
the discussions of the various field theories.
( 2 ) A field of force. (3) An electromagnetic
field. (4) A sound field (see field, sound).
(5) A field of view. ( 6 ) In electric motors and
generators, the field is the part of the machine
which furnishes the magnetic flux which reacts
with the armature to produce the desired ma
chine action. The field may be the fixed part
of the machine or, as is usually the case in
synchronous motors and generators, the field
m ay be the rotating part of the machine. (7)
The electromagnetic energy radiated from an
antenna system of a radio transmitter. It is
the interaction of these fields with the receiv
ing antenna which causes the signal voltage to
be induced in the antenna, and hence intro
duced into the main receiver-circuit. ( 8 ) In a
cathode-ray tube one set of scanning lines
making up a part of the final picture. In
present standards, pictures are transmitted in
two fields of 262% lines each, which are inter
laced to form 30 complete frames per second.
FIELD, ATOM IC. The region surrounding
an atom in which the repulsion forces for
other particles are considerable.
FIELD CORRECTOR, COLOR.
field corrector.

See color

FIELD, CRITICAL. (1) The magnetic field

H c below which the superconducting transi
tion takes place at a given temperature. Em
pirically, a relation is observed of the form
H C = H 0{ 1 - (T /T c) 2}
where H 0 is a parameter characteristic of the
material, and Tc is the critical temperature of
the superconductor. ( 2 ) See also magnetron,
field, critical.
FIELD,
critical.

CUTOFF.

See

magnetron field,

FIELD , ELECTRIC. The attraction (or re

pulsion) exerted by one electric charge on an
other can be described quantitatively in terms
o f the electric field produced by the first
charge. B y definition, the field at any point
is the ratio of the force (a vector, having mag
nitude and direction) exerted on a positive

test charge placed at that point to the magni

tude of the charge. Hence an electric field is
a specific type of force field. The path that
would be followed by an inertia-less test par
ticle is called a line of force. It follows from
the Coulomb law that the field of a point
charge in free space has the magnitude

4w e0r2
where q is the charge, e0 is the permittivity, r
is the distance from the charge, and ration
alized units are employed. (See flux, electric.)
An electric field is produced not only by a
static arrangement of charges; it may also be
produced by a changing magnetic field. (See
Faraday law of electromagnetic induction;
Maxwell equations.)
FIELD, ELECTROMAGNETIC.
tromagnetic field.

See elec

FIELD, ELECTRON-NEUTRINO. See field,

lepton.
FIELD EMISSION. The liberation of elec
trons from a solid or liquid by a strong elec
tric field at the surface.
FIELD
EQUATIONS
(ELECTROMAG
NETIC). See Maxwells equations.
FIELD, FREE. A field (wave or potential)
in a homogeneous, isotropic medium free from
boundaries. In practice it is a field in which
the effects of the boundaries are negligible
over the region of interest. In acoustics, the
actual pressure impinging on an object (e.g.,
electroacoustic transducer) placed in an other
wise free sound field will differ from the pres
sure which would exist at that point with the
object removed, unless the acoustic impedance
(see impedance, acoustic) of the object
matches the acoustic impedance of the
medium.
FIELD FREQUENCY.

See frequency, field.

FIELD, GRAVITATIONAL.
See Newton
law of universal gravitation; field of force;
fields, classical; relativity theory, general.
FIELD, IMPRESSED. (See field, reflected.)
The electromagnetic field which would exist
if the body of interest were not present, or
the field that would exist in free space with
the given source distribution.

FIELD , INDUCTION.
FIELD INTENSITY.

See induction field.

See field strength.

FIELD INTENSITY, FREE-SPACE.

The
field intensity that would exist at a point in
the absence of waves reflected from the earth
or other reflecting objects. Used in the dis
cussion of electromagnetic or acoustic radia
tion.
FIELDISTOR.

See transistor, field-effect.

FIELD LENS. The lens of a compound

ocular farthest from the eye, the other lens
being called the eye lens.
(See eyepiece,
Huygens; Ramsden.)
FIELD , LEPTON. In the Fermi theory of
beta-decay, the nuclear transition involving
the emission of an electron and an antineutrino
is treated in a w ay which is analogous to the
treatment of electromagnetic transitions. As
an analog to the electromagnetic field, Fermi
introduced the concept of the electron-neutrino
field or, as it is now called, the lepton field.
This field is described m athematically as be
ing the sum of products of electron and anti
neutrino wave functions plus a sum of prod
ucts of positron and neutrino wave functions.
(See Fermi theory of beta-decay.)
FIELD , LOCAL. The field at the site of an
atom, or other particle, due to the super
position of an externally impressed field and
the field due to the polarization of the atoms
o f the sample.
(See Lorentz field; crystal
field.)
FIELD , M AGNETIC.
FIELD , MESON.

test-particle has a definite magnitude and

direction for each possible location of the
test-particle.
The totality of these force
vectors, or the vector function of position, is
called a field of force.
A ny path that
would be followed by an inertia-less test-par
ticle in a force field is called a line of force.
It is convenient to decide arbitrarily how
close together possible lines of force are inde
pendent, so that there will be a finite number
of lines, and the concept can be made quanti
tative. Conventionally a unit source radiates
47r lines, or one per unit solid angle in un
rationalized systems, and a single line (l/4*r
per unit solid angle) in rationalized systems.
(See also fields, classical.)
FIELD OF PLANE MIRROR. The words
applied to an optical system apply to a plane
mirror. The exit pupil is the pupil of the
observers eye, the entrance pupil is the behind-the-mirror virtual image of the observers
eye pupil. The field stop is the edge of the
mirror. The region in front of the mirror is
the object field, and the region behind the
mirror is the image field.
FIELD OF V IE W . The area or solid angle
visible through an optical instrument.
FIELD OPERATOR. In quantized field the
ory, an operator which represents the crea
tion or annihilation of a particle.
FIELD PARTICLE. A term used to describe
a general particle in a system, to distinguish
it from the test particle which is being singled
out for consideration.

See magnetic field.

See meson field theory.

FIELD , NUTATION.
The time variant
three-dimensional field pattern of a directional
or beam-producing antenna having a nutating
feed. (See feed, nutating.)
FIELD OF FORCE. E lectric charges exert
force upon other electric charges, magnets ex
ert forces upon other magnets, matter exerts
gravitational force upon other matter. All
these action-at-a-distance phenomena are
conveniently described in terms of the force
field set up by a source. The force exerted
per unit test-particle (unit charge, unit pole,
unit mass) is a vector function of position of
the test-particle. That is, the force on a unit

FIELD, PSEUDO-SCALAR.
scalar field.

See

pseudo

FIELD, PSEUDO-VECTOR.
vector field.

See pseudo

FIELD, REFLECTED.
The electromag
netic field in the presence of perturbing ob
jects or regions of a different medium is con
veniently considered to comprise an impressed
field that would obtain in the absence of the
perturbation, thus a field reflected from the
object, and a field transmitted into the object.
The difference between the actual field (out
side the object) and the impressed field is the
reflected field.
FIELD, SCALAR.

See scalar field.

FIELDS, CLASSICAL.
The gravitational
interaction between masses, the Coulomb
interaction between charged particles, the
interaction between two magnets, etc., were
originally viewed as examples of action-at-adistance.
Tw o charged particles, for ex
ample, were thought to exert forces directly
on each other. Starting with Faraday and
M axwell, a different approach, the field con
cept has been developed. According to this
view a charged particle, for example, changes
the properties of the space surrounding it by
creating a field in that space. This field is
characterized at every point by a vector, the
electric field strength, equal to the force act
ing on a unit charge placed at that point. A n
other charged particle placed near the first is
then not affected directly by the first particle
but rather by the field created by the first.
The interaction thus takes place through the
intermediary of the field.
A field is a non-localized entity with its
properties distributed throughout part or all
of space, these properties being functions of
the space coordinates and, except for static
fields, of time. The properties that character
ize the fields may be scalars, as for example in
the scalar fields of temperature, pressure,
gravitational potential, electrostatic potential.
They m ay be vectors, as for example the elec
tric field strength of the electrostatic field, or
the gravitational field strength of the gravita
tional field. They may be tensors, as for ex
ample the strain tensor of an elastic medium,
the electromagnetic field tensor in four-space,
or the contracted Riemann-Christoffel tensor
in the general theory of relativity (see also
field of force).
Fields obey field equations, which are par
tial differential equations defining the field
properties. For example, the Laplace equa
tion and the Poisson equation for static scalar
potential fields; the Maxwell equations or the
electromagnetic wave equations for the elec
tromagnetic field, etc. Disturbances in fields
are governed by these field equations and are
propagated with a finite speed, less than or
equal to the speed of light (the speed of propa
gation of a disturbance in an electromagnetic
field in v a cu o ). This reinforces the view ex
pressed above that one body does not directly
affcct another, but rather acts through the
intermediary of its field. For example, if the
distance between two charges is suddenly in

creased by a displacement of one of them, the

second will not immediately experience a
change in the force acting on it. There will be
a time delay before the disturbance in the
electric field reaches it. (See also field theory;
energy density, electromagnetic; retarded po
tentials.)
FIELD-SEQUENTIAL.
In television, per
taining to the association of individual pri
mary colors with successive fields. Examples:
field-sequential pickup, field-sequential dis
play, field-sequential system, field-sequential
transmission.
FIELD SEQUENTIAL COLOR TELEVI
SION. See television, field sequential, color.
FIELD, SOUND.
waves.

A region containing sound

FIELD STOP. An opening, usually circular,

in an opaque screen which determines the
field of view of an optical instrument.
FIELD STRENGTH. A vector characteriz
ing a field.
(See electric field strength;
gravitational field strength; magnetic field
strength.)
FIELD STRENGTH METER. A calibrated
radio receiver for measuring the electric or
magnetic field strength of a radio frequency
electromagnetic wave.
FIELD STRENGTH, PEAK (ffm).
netizing force, peak.

See mag

FIELD THEORY. (1) See fields, classical.

(2) Theory of the dynamical motion of a set
of electromagnetic or matter fields, in which
the electromagnetic potentials A^ and the mat
ter wave functions ipa are represented by func
tions of position and time. Usually but not
always a field theory is developed in accord
ance with the postulates of special relativity
theory (see relativity theory, special) so that
if it is designed to describe nuclear forces the
principle of relativity will be extended to in
clude the impossibility of detecting absolute
uniform motion of the laboratory by means of
nuclear experiments conducted therein.
In
this type of field theory the equations of m o
tion are derived from a Lagrangian density,

being, for the \p,

d / dL \

dL

=1 d x n ( / dxPa\ I

dipa

y.dx^/
F or other properties of L see gauge invari
ance; energy-momentum tensor. Since it is
possible to derive the Maxwell equations and
the Dirac electron theory in this w ay, it has
been hoped to formulate in analogous fashion
a satisfactory meson theory of nuclear forces.
Field theories m ay also be developed in
accordance with general relativity theory
(see relativity theory, general and field the
ories, unified) and for non-relativistic theories
(e.g., sound waves, theory of an oscillating
string or membrane). (See also field theory,
quantized.)
FIELD THEORY, NON-LOCAL. Field the
ory in which the Lagrange density involves
products of wave-functions taken at different
space-time points and multiplied by a form
factor which causes the term to be important
only when such points are close to each other.
This provides a method of introducing a rela
tiv is ts cut-off at the very beginning of the
development of the theory.
FIELD THEORY, PROJECTIVE. Unified
field theories of gravitation and electromag
netism in which 4-dimensional space-time is
represented by 5 homogeneous coordinates.
A ll points in 5 dimensions which have the
same coordinate-ratios project into the same
point in 4 dimensions.
Such theories are
essentially equivalent to the Kaluza theory.
FIELD THEORY, QUANTIZED. Field the
ory in which the electromagnetic and matter
fields are represented by operators obeying
certain commutation relations (see also Jordan-Wigner commutation relations).
This
quantization of the fields is developed by
analogy with the passage from classical me
chanics to quantum mechanics and is most
easily described by reference to the theory of
a vibrating string. Considered as a set of
discrete mass points, such a string m ay be
described by classical particle mechanics, but
in the limit when it is considered as a con
tinuous medium the number of degrees of
freedom tends to infinity and the equations
o f motion are most easily written down in
terms of classical field theory. Even although
classical, such a theory leads to some quantum

properties of the system. If now the discrete

mass points were described by quantum me
chanics and then the limit of a continuous
medium were considered, the displacement
and velocity of the string at any point would
appear as operators obeying certain commuta
tion rules. Although this last procedure is
quite unnecessary for a macroscopic string, it
is important for a particle or electromagnetic
field. The operators specifying the field are
then found to describe the elementary proc
esses of creation and annihilation of particles
or photons. The effects of such processes in
intermediate states then lead to small radia
tive corrections to the consequences of the
corresponding classical field theory.
FIELD THEORY, UNIFIED. In the strict
sense, this term refers to any theory which
unites two or more physical theories, the uni
fication leading to predictions that could not
be deduced from either theory alone. Thus
Maxwell's electromagnetism is a unified field
theory of the electric and magnetic fields.
Usually, however, the term is applied to at
tempts to unify M axw ells theory with general
relativity theory (see relativity theory, gen
eral) . In the same way that Newtonian me
chanics indicates that by no mechanical lab
oratory experiment could the uniform motion
of the laboratory be detected, special rela
tivity theory (see relativity theory, special)
indicates that by no optical laboratory experi
ment could such uniform motion be detected,
and general relativity theory shows that by
no mechanical experiment could even accel
erated motion be detected, so unified field
theories are essentially based on the idea that
by no laboratory experiment of any kind
could any motion of the laboratory be de
tected. Attempts to develop this (see Kaluza
theory; field theories, projective; field theory,
W eyl unified; Einstein unified field theory)
have so far failed to produce a single new
prediction that may be compared with the re
sults of observation.
For unified field theory of a different type,
see Born-Infeld theory.
FIELD THEORY, W EYL UNIFIED. The
ory of gravitation and electromagnetism based
on a non-Riemannian geometry in which the
length of a vector may change under parallel
displacement
dl
= A^dx^.

The Ap are interpreted as the electromagnetic

p o te n tia ls . W ith this interpretation, multi
plying a length as (r,t) b y exp [X(r,t)] leads to
the gauge transformation
A^ =

+ d^X.

(See gauge invariance, second kind.)

FIELD , THRESHOLD (MAGNETIC) (H0).
The least magnetizing force in a direction
which tends to decrease the remanence which,
when applied either as a steady field of long
duration or as a pulsed field appearing many
times, will cause a stated fractional change
in the remanence.
FIELD VECTORS. The vectors that de
scribe a field (see, for example, electric field
strength; displacement, electric; displacement,
gravitational; gravitational field strength; flux
density, magnetic; magnetic field strength).
FIELD , ZERO POINT.

See zero point field.

FIERZ INTERFERENCE.
theory.

See beta-decay

FIFTH ORDER THEORY. M ore com pli

cated corrections to lens design than are in
volved in third-order theory, in which the first
three terms of the expansion
e5
e7
sin 0 = 0 --------- 1---------------- 1-----3!
5!
7!
03

FIGURE OF MERIT. ( 1 ) General term for

various graphical relationships which sum
marizes certain desirable features of am plify
ing devices (see gain-bandwidth product;
gain margin; phase margin; mu criterion).
For a magnetic amplifier, the figure of merit
has been defined specifically as the ratio of
power amplification of a given control wind
ing to the response time of the magnetic am
plifier, under specified control circuit condi
tions. (2) The current required to produce
one division deflection (usually 1 mm on a
scale at a distance of 1 m) of a galvanometer.
(3) A ny quantity which expresses quantita
tively the performance of a measuring device.
FIGURE, SIGNIFICANT.
nificant.

FILAMENT.
The resistive element in a
thermionic tube through which current is
passed to provide the temperature required
for thermionic emission. The surface of the
filament m ay supply the emission, or the fila
ment m ay be employed as a heater for an
indirectly-heated cathode.
FILAM ENT CURRENT.
ment.
FILAMENT LAMP.
FILAM ENT NOISE.

FIGURE EIGHT. A term used in the con

trolled fusion project and which refers to an
early model of the stellarator, a specific
thermonuclear device.

See current, fila

See lamp, filament.

See noise, filament.

FILAMENT VOLTAGE.
ment.

are used. In general, fifth order theory is

largely replaced by the more useful methods
of ray tracing.

See digit(s), sig

See voltage, fila

FILAR MICROMETER. An instrument for

measuring distances in the field of an eye
piece. It consists of two parallel wires, one
of which is fixed and the other capable of m o
tion in the direction perpendicular to its
length by means of an accurately cut screw.
The pitch of the screw is carefully determined
for various temperature conditions and the
head of the screw is graduated so that whole
revolutions and fractions thereof may be read.
FILLED BAND. An energy band in which
every level is occupied by an electron.
FILLER. In mechanical recording, the inert
material of a record compound as distin
guished from the binder.

Section AAr
Field lines into paper

Section BB'
Field lines into

paper

Figure eight.

FILM. ( 1 ) A ny thin sheet of material used

for covering, coating or wrapping, or any thin
layer that enters into the structure, usually
on or near the surface, of a substance or object.
(2) The monomolecular layer which is formed

on the surface of a solution or at an interface

between two immiscible liquids. The adsorp
tion is of such a nature that the free surface
energy is a minimum. Insoluble and non
volatile substances placed on the surface of
a liquid such as water m ay also under certain
conditions spread out on the water surface to
give a monomolecular film. Adsorbed films
of gases or liquids are also formed on solids
such as mica, sodium chloride, glass and
metals. In some cases, such as the adsorp
tion of vapors on solids at relatively high pres
sures, it seems that the films m ay be thicker
than one molecular layer and m ay attain
thicknesses of three or four molecules. (See
also film theory.)
F IL M C O N C E P T . The hypothesis that there
exists, at surfaces of contact between solids
and fluids (liquids or gases) which are in m o
tion relative to one another, a relatively
slowly moving film of the fluid, which de
creases in thickness with increasing velocity,
parallel to the surface of the main body of
fluid.
FILM , CONDENSED. A surface film in
which the molecules are closely packed and
steeply oriented to the surface. The m olec
ular packing approaches that observed in the
crystalline state.
F IL M , E X P A N D E D . A state of film intermediate in area and other properties between
gaseous and condensed films.
(See film,
gaseous and film, condensed.)
F IL M , GASEOUS. In the gaseous film the
molecules move about independently on the
surface and their lateral adhesion for each
other is very small. A t low surface pressures
(tt) and large areas (A ) a gaseous film obeys
the relation ttA kT. A t higher pressures an
equation of the form (ttA A 0) = x k T holds,
where x is a constant. In both cases, A is the
area per adsorbed molecule and 7r has the
dimensions of force per unit length.
F IL M , L IQ U ID E X P A N D E D . See film, expanded. The liquid-expanded film occupies
a much larger area than a condensed film but
is still a coherent film. It can form a separate
phase from a gaseous film with which it is in
equilibrium, and obeys the relation:
( 7r 7t0)(A -40) = C ,

where 7r is the surface pressure, A the surface

area, and A 0 the co-area of the molecule.
F IL M , M O N O M O L E C U LA R . A monomo
lecular layer, i.e., a film of a substance, pro
duced on the surface of a liquid or solid by ad
sorption or by other means, that has a thick
ness of the order of molecular dimensions.
F IL M TH E O R Y O R B OU N DARY LAYER
TH E O R Y. The film theory as applied to heat
or mass transfer has to do with the analysis
of the physical way in which material or heat
is transferred across a phase boundary where
one or both of the phases may be flowing
fluids. Examples of such a transfer would
be heat flowing from a pipe to water moving
inside, or water vapor passing from a wet sur
face into an air stream flowing over it. Any
study of such processes must be concerned
primarily with the m ajor resistance to the
flow. It is known that transfer by convection
(heat) or mixing (mass) is very much faster
than by conduction (heat) or diffusion (m ass).
I f any part of the process involves conduction
or diffusion, then this part will undoubtedly
offer the greatest resistance to the transfer and
hence will be the controlling variable.
Even though the fluid be moving past the
surface in a turbulent manner, there will still
be, next to the surface, a relatively stagnant
film of the fluid. Through this film the heat
or mass must pass, respectively, by conduc
tion or by diffusion. Calculations involving
transfer of heat or mass into a flowing stream
are mainly concerned with the effective thick
ness and the properties of the film. Methods
of increasing the rate of transfer are usually
based on changes designed to reduce the film
thickness or to change the properties of the
fluid and hence increase the rate of transfer.
Increasing the turbulence of the fluid tends
to scrape off the film, thereby making it thin
ner; and raising the temperature (for liquids)
lowers the viscosity of the film and makes it
more easily rubbed away by the flowing fluid.
Also, raising the temperature increases the
rate of diffusion, and usually increases the
heat conductance.
The actual film thickness is seldom known,
but the way in which various factors (such as
the viscosity, velocity, density, etc., of the
fluid) affect it are often known, so that ex
perimentally determined values for the rate of
transfer under one set of conditions can usu

ally be used to calculate the rate under a

different set of conditions.

(see capacitor, shurit) is the first element after

the rectifier.

FILTER. An entity or device for eliminating

(or reducing) certain waves or frequencies
while leaving others relatively unchanged.
The waves m ay be sound waves, or electro
magnetic waves in the electrical or communi
cations region (see filter, wave and derived
terms) or they may be waves in the optical
region. (See filter, light.)

FILTER, CAVITY-COUPLED. A wave filter

consisting of two identical chambers coupled
by a third chamber.

FILTER, ACOUSTIC.

See filter, wave.

FILTER, BAND-ELIMINATION.
for filter, band-rejection.

Synonym

FILTER, BAND-PASS. A wave filter whose

transducer gain is near unity for a certain
ne

T
T

T
TT

T
High Pass

Low Pass

" I

3
Band Pass

Some typical filter circuits.

FILTER,
ceramic.

CERAMIC.

See

transformer,

FILTER, CHOKE-INPUT. A power-supply

wave filter in which the first filter-element is
a series choke. For best operation the mag
nitude of the inductance (henries) must be
made larger than the magnitude of the load
resistance (ohms) divided by 1 1 0 0 .
FILTER, CHRISTIANSEN.
A solid-inliquid suspension used to pass a narrow region
of the spectrum while scattering all other re
gions. In general the indices of refraction of
liquids change more rapidly with wavelength
(and with temperature) than do the indices of
solids. Hence a solid and a liquid may have
the same index at one wavelength which will
pass freely through the suspension while dif
fering at all other wavelengths which will be
scattered by the suspension. Close tempera
ture control is necessary, and the wavelength
passed may be shifted appreciably by chang
ing the temperature of the filter.
FILTER, CLICK. A wave filter designed to
suppress key clicks.
FILTER, COLOR. An apparatus or material
capable of absorbing certain wavelengths of
light and transmitting others.

band of frequencies, but falls to low values

at frequencies above and below this band.
FILTER, BAND-REJECTION. A wave filter
whose transducer gain is very low over a cer
tain band of frequencies.
FILTER, BANDSTOP. A band-elimination
filter. (See filter, band-rejective.)
FILTER, BYPASS. A filter that provides a
low attenuation path for a particular fre
quency band around a piece of equipment.
For example, a carrier frequency filter is used
to bypass a physical telephone repeater.
FILTER, CAPACITOR-INPUT. A powersupply wave filter in which a shunt capacitor

FILTER, COMB. A wave filter whose fre

quency spectrum consists of a number of equispaced elements resembling the tines of a
comb.
FILTER, COMPOSITE W AVE. A selective
transducer comprising a combination of two
or more filters which may be of the low-pass,
high-pass, band-pass, or band-elimination
type.
FILTER, DECOUPLING. In most multi
stage amplifiers there are certain circuits, such
as voltage supplies, etc., common to more than
one stage. Since these common circuits pro
vide a path through which energy may be fed
from the output back into the input of some
stages, serious feedback problems would re
sult if something were not done to prevent

them. The usual remedy is to insert a wave

filter in those plate and grid leads which con
nect to points common to other plate or grid
leads. These filters are frequently resistances
in series with the lead and a by-pass condenser
from the plate or grid side of the resistor to
ground. The resistance used must be low
enough not to cause a serious drop of voltage
and the condenser should have a reactance
which is low compared with the resistance at
the lowest frequency for which the circuit is
designed. Where the resistance would pro
duce too much d-c voltage drop or where it
does not give enough filtering action, an in
ductance is sometimes used. For still more
effective filtering a second resistance and con
denser in cascade m ay be used.

tivity to strong adjacent-channel, image or

intermediate-frequency transmissions.
(3)
An optical device which transmits only a nar
row band of wavelengths, other wavelengths
being suppressed by the destructive interfer
ence (3) of waves transmitted directly through
the filter and those reflected 2 n times, where
n is an integer (from back and front faces of
the filter).

FILTER, DIRECTIONAL. A filter that sep

arates bands of frequencies that are traveling
in opposite directions on a transmission sys
tem. The directional filters (directional sep
aration filters) may be conventional lowpass,
highpass, or bandpass filters used for this par
ticular application.

FILTER, LINE. A filter associated with a

transmission line. In some applications, line
filter m ay imply a filter used to separate the
speech frequencies from the carrier frequen
cies; in other applications, it m ay imply di
rectional separation, etc.

FILTER, FABRY-PEROT.
ference.

See filter, inter

FILTER, FREQUENCY. A wave filter (see

filter, wave) designed to select or pass certain
bands of frequencies with low attenuation,
and cause very high attenuation to other fre
quencies. They are among the most im por
tant components of most communications sys
tems. In the common radio receiver, filters
are used to smooth out the pulsating direct
current from the rectifier to give a steady
output of the power supply. Telephone car
rier circuits are possible because of filters
which are used to separate the various chan
nels, and route the signals to the proper paths.
The ordinary tuned or resonant circuit might
be regarded as a special form of filter, but is
not com m only considered as such, since it does
not have a flat pass-band.
FILTER, HIGH-PASS. A wave filter (see
filter, wave) having a single transmission
band extending from some critical or cutoff
frequency, not zero, up to infinite frequency.
FILTER, INTERFERENCE.
(1) A filter
used to suppress man-made interference en
tering a receiver from the power line. ( 2 ) A
filter which effectively increases the selec
tivity of a receiver, thus decreasing its sensi

FILTER, JUNCTION. A combination o f a

highpass and a lowpass filter which is used to
separate frequency bands for transmission over
separate paths.
FILTER, LIGHT. A device which modifies
the spectral composition of radiant energy by
selective absorption or reflection.

FILTER, LINE, BALANCE. A network de

signed to maintain phantom group balance
when one side of the group is equipped with a
carrier system. Since it must balance the
phantom group for only voice frequencies, its
configuration is usually quite simple compared
with the filter which it balances.
FILTER, LOW-PASS. A wave filter (see
filter, wave) having a single transmission
band extending from zero frequency up to
some critical or cutoff frequency, not infinite.
FILTER, LUMPED IMPEDANCE THEORY
OF ACOUSTIC. A theory of acoustic filtra
tion in which it is assumed that the various
components o f the filter (see filter, wave) can
be treated as separate or lumped elements, in
each section of which the medium moves as
a whole. Application of the theory is limited
to filters the dimensions of whose components
are small compared with the wavelength of
the sound.
FILTER, MECHANICAL. A sharply-tuned
filter consisting of appropriately-shaped metal
rods which act as a series of coupled me
chanical resonators. Electrical coupling into
and out of the filter may be accomplished by
piezoelectric transducers.
Since successful
operation of these filters m ay be achieved
up to several hundred kilocycles, the filters

find frequent application in the intermediatefrequency amplifiers of very selective super

heterodyne receivers.
FILTER, M ICROW AVE. A wave filter to
be used at microwave frequencies. It is gen
erally made up of distributed parameters. (In
contrast, see filter, lumped-impedance theory.)
FILTER, MID-BRANCH POINTS. The con
nection points between identical sections of a
n -section filter. (See filter, II-section.)

in parallel. The ends of the main guides are

short-circuited a guide quarter-wavelength
past the last resonator, so that the resonators
are at a high-voltage position along the main
guides.
FILTER, II-SECTION (PI-SECTION).
A
wave filter, one section of which can be drawn
schematically as

FILTER, MID-BRANCH SECTION. A sin

gle section of a n-section filter. (See filter,
II-section.)
FILTER, MID-SERIES POINTS. The con
nection points between identical sections of
a T-section filter. (See filter, T-section.)
FILTER, MID-SERIES SECTION. A single
section of a T-section filter.
(See filter, Tsection.)

Pi-section filter.

FILTER, RESISTANCE-CAPACITANCE. A
circuit sometimes used to lower the ripple con
tent of a rectifier power supply. In its sim
plest form it consists of a series resistor, fol
lowed by a shunt capacitor.

FILTER, M ODE. A selective device designed

to pass energy along a waveguide in one or
more modes of propagation and substantially
reduce energy carried by other modes.

FILTER, RESONATOR. See filter, cavity;

filter, paralleled-resonator.

FILTER, NEUTRAL DENSITY.

tral-density filter.

FILTER, ROOF. A lowpass filter used in re

peater and terminal equipment to reduce the
unwanted higher frequencies.

See neu-

FILTER, NOISE. A filter inserted between

the power source and electronic equipment to
prevent the entry of unwanted frequencies.
FILTER, NOTCHING. (1) A filter employed
in a television transmitter to provide attenua
tion at the low-frequency edge of the channel
to prevent possible interference with the sound
channel of the lower adjacent channel. ( 2 )
A ny band-rejection filter which produces a
sharp notch in the transfer characteristic
of a system. (See filter, band-elimination.)
FILTER, PARALLELED-RESONATOR. A
band-pass filter (see filter, band-pass) in
which output and input waveguides are cou
pled together through several resonators.
The resonators are resonant, coaxial lines
with a center tuning-screw for alignment
purposes. The coaxial resonators are coupled
to the input and output guides by means of
screws, which distort the field in the main
guides. The phase of the coupling depends
upon whether the screw is inserted into the
bottom or the top of the waveguide. The
coaxial resonators are placed a guide half
wavelength apart, so that they are effectively

FILTER, R-F BRANCHING.

diplexer.

A duplexer or

FILTER, SENDING. A filter used to restrict

the transmitted frequency band.
FILTER, SEPARATION. As the name im
plies, a filter, or more accurately, a combina
tion of filters used to separate one band of fre
quencies from another. Often used to separate
carrier and voice frequencies for transmission
over individual paths.
FILTER, TRANSFORMER. A filter which
provides at all frequencies a certain trans
formation (step-up or step-down) in imped
ance, in addition to having attenuation-constant and phase-constant characteristics.
FILTER, T-SECTION. A wave filter, one sec
tion of which can be drawn schematically as

T-section filter.

FILTER, W AVE . ( 1 ) A transducer or net

work for separating waves on the basis of their
frequency. It introduces relatively small in
sertion loss to waves in one or more frequency
bands, and relatively large insertion loss to
waves of other frequencies.
( 2 ) Another
usage of the term wave filter, or wave type
filter, is for a filter which acts primarily upon
the mode rather than the frequency of the
wave. The examples indicate four varieties
and the modes they suppress. (See also grat
ing, wire, conformal.)
FILTER, W AVEG U ID E. A wave filter em
ploying
appropriately-m odified
waveguide
sections to produce a desired, band-pass char
acteristic. (See also phase section, differen
tial; dielectric wedges; filter, wave; grating.)
FINE STRUCTURE. In atomic spectra, the
occurrence of a spectral line as a doublet,
triplet, etc., due to the interaction or cou
pling between the orbital angular momentum
and the spin angular momentum of the elec
trons in the emitting atoms. (See multiplet.)
FINE-STRUCTURE CONSTANT.
A uni
versal constant a evaluated by the expression:
a = 2we2/ch
e i s t h e e l e c t r o n i c c h a r g e , c i s t h e veloc
ity o f light a n d h i s t h e Planck constant. I t

w h e re

h a s

th e

le a s t

sq u a re s

a d ju s te d

o u tp u t

v a lu e

of (7.29698 .00005) X 1 0 "3.

FINE STRUCTURE OF ALPHA PARTICLE
SPECTRUM. See alpha particle spectrum.
FIRING. ( 1 ) In a magnetic amplifier, the
transition from the unsaturated to the satu
rated state of the saturable reactor during the
conducting or gating alternation. Firing is
also used as an adjective m odifying phase or
time to designate when the firing occurs. ( 2 )
The initiation of discharge in a gas discharge
tube.
FIRING ANGLE.

See angle, gate.

FIRING VOLTAGE. See voltage breakdown.

The use of the term firing voltage is depre
cated.
FIRST DETECTOR.

See superheterodyne.

FIRST L A W OF THERMODYNAMICS.
thermodynamics, first law of.

See

FIRST ORDER THEORY. (1) Any theory

which involves only the most important terms,
such as the terms proportional to a; in a series
expansion of f { x ) about x = 0. M any physi
cal theories are of first order. (2) (Optics)
A n expansion o f the sine of an angle into a
series in terms of the angle itself is
6s
65
sin 6 = 6 --------- 1-------------3!
5!
First order theory or Gauss theory neglects
all but the first of these terms.
FISSILE,

Capable of undergoing fission.

FISSIONABLE. Capable of undergoing nu

clear fission. (See fission, nuclear.)
FISSION CHAIN OR FISSION
CHAIN.
The successive p-decays
with a fission product and ending in
nucleus of the same mass number.
ample:
64X

e -

55Cs 140
57L a 140

56B

DECAY
starting
a stable
For ex

a- ^

----- > 5sCe 140 (stable).

FISSION CHAMBER. A device for the de

tection of slow neutrons in which the wall of
an ionization chamber is lined with a thin
layer of uranium. A slow neutron will cause
a fission in the uranium, and the highly ioniz
ing fission fragments are detected in the
chamber.
FISSION, DEFORMATION ENERGY OF.
In the liquid-drop model o f fission the de
formation energy is the energy required to
deform the nucleus from a spherical shape
to an ellipsoid. If e is a parameter represent
ing the degree of deformation, the deformation
energy is given b y :
Z2 \
( 5.2 A y* 0.117
When the deformation energy is zero, or nega
tive, the spherical nucleus will deform and,
consequently, undergo fission spontaneously.
The condition for spontaneous fission is, there
fore:
Z*
> 45.
A
FISSION EXPECTATION, ITERATED.
iterated fission expectation.

See

FISSION NEUTRONS. Neutrons emitted as

the result of nuclear fission. (See fission, nu
clear.) They are characterized by a contin
uous spectral distribution with a maximum
at about 1 0 ev, and that extends to higher
energies according to the expression:
sinh V 2 E exp ( - E ) .
FISSION NEUTRONS, DELAYED.
Delayed neutrons emitted by the products of a
nuclear fission. (See neutrons, delayed.)
FISSION NEUTRONS, PROMPT. Neutrons
emitted during a nuclear fission. (See fission,
nuclear.)
FISSION, NUCLEAR. The division of a
heavy nucleus into two approximately equal
parts. Nuclear fission ^reactions are distin
guished from spallation in which relatively
smaller fragments are ejected, leaving behind
only one large residual nucleus. Nuclear fis
sion of such nuclides as U 235, U 233, Pu239,
which follow the capture of slow neutrons,
release large quantities of energy. Fission
can also be induced by charged particles and
photons.
(When induced by photons, it is
called photofission.)
FISSION, PHOTO-. Nuclear fission induced
by photons. (See fission, nuclear.)
FISSION PRODUCT POISONING PROC
ESS. When a nuclear reactor operates, cer
tain nuclei with larger cross sections for the
capture of thermal neutrons are produced,
either as direct fission products or from the
decay of the latter. These act as poisons
in the reactor. (See poison.)
FISSION PRODUCTS.
The radioactive
nuclei formed in the fission process. They
exhibit a wide range of atomic numbers,
atomic masses, half-lives, decay energies, etc.
FISSION SPECTRUM. The distribution in
energy of the neutrons arising from fission.
(See fission neutrons.)
FISSION, SPONTANEOUS. Nuclear fission
which takes place without particles or photons
entering the nucleus from outside. The halflives for decay by this process, which is ex
hibited by only the heaviest elements, are
very long.

FISSION, TERNARY. The division of a nu

cleus into three parts. There is question as
to whether this term should be applied to the
frequently-observed type of fission wherein a
small, charged nuclear fragment, such as a
proton, -particle, triton, etc., is emitted dur
ing the process of splitting into two large frag
ments, or whether the term should be reserved
for the phenomenon of splitting into three
massive fragments, a process which has not
been conclusively observed.
FISSION YIELD. The fraction of fissions,
usually expressed as a percentage, that gives
rise to a specified nuclide or a group of isobars.
Since there are two products per fission, the
total of all fission yields for a given fission
process is 200 per cent. The fission yield
curve is different for each mode of induced
fission.
FISSION YIELD, CHAIN. For a particular
mass number, the sum of the independent
fission yields of all the isobars having that
mass number.
FISSION YIELD CURVE. The characteris
tic fission yield curve (yield vs. mass number)
is of the so-called double-hump shape. In
the case of U 235 the two broad peaks are at
masses 85-104 and 130-149, showing the prev
alence of asymmetric fission.
There is a
trough between them in the mass region
corresponding to symmetric fission whose
yield is of the order of 0 .1 per cent of the
most probable asymmetric yields.
FISSION YIELD, INDEPENDENT.
The
percentage of fissions giving rise to a. par
ticular fission product nuclide only by direct
formation from fission, not by decay from
earlier members of its fission chain. Also
called primary fission yield.
(See fission
yield.)
FITZGERALD FACTOR.
/

The quantity

v2\'A

originally appearing in the Fitzgerald-Lorentz

contraction hypothesis, and later in special
relativity theory.
FITZGERALD-LORENTZ CONTRACTION
HYPOTHESIS.
Hypothesis proposed by
Fitzgerald in 1893 to account for the null

result of the Michelson-Morley experiment,

that in moving through the ether with veloc
ity v a body contracted in the direction of
such motion in the ratio

Applied in 1895 to the Lorentz theory of the

electron. The special relativity theory (see
relativity theory, special) yields the same
contraction, but ascribes it to the relative m o
tion of the body and the observer rather than
to the motion of the body through the ether.
(See Introduction.)
FIX. Position determined without reference
to any former position.
FIXATION.
( 1 ) The process of removing
silver halides remaining in photographic emul
sions after development. Fixation is most
com m only accomplished by bathing the emul
sion in sodium thiosulfate solution ( h ypo ).
(2) The concentration of the eye on an estab
lished point, i.e., the maintenance of the eye
in such a position that the image of the point
falls in the center of the fovea.
FIXED
SCALE.

POINTS
OF
TEMPERATURE
See thermometry.

FIXED-POINT SYSTEM.

See point.

FIX, ELEMENTS OF A. The specific values

of the navigation co-ordinates necessary to
define a position.
FIZEAU EXPERIMENT. Confirmation of
the conclusion of the ether-drag hypothesis
that the velocity of light increases by an
amount

when m oving through a medium, of refractive

index n, which itself is moving with velocity
v. A beam of light was divided into two
parts which were sent in opposite directions
through two tubes filled with flowing water,
and interference fringes were observed as a
function of the velocity of the water. The
result is also a consequence of special rela
tivity theory. (See relativity theory, special.)
FIZEAU TOO TH ED
W H EEL.
Fizeau
measured the speed of light by passing a
beam through a rapidly-rotating, toothed

wheel to a distant mirror, and returning the

light through the same wheel. A t low speeds
the light returned through the same opening
that it had started through. A t higher speeds,
no light could get back through the wheel
since the wheel had advanced by one-half the
distance from the center of one tooth to the
center of the next tooth. A t still higher wheel
speeds, the returning pulse of light would pass
through the next tooth opening. This type of
experiment was soon replaced by a rotating
mirror for experimental measurement of the
velocity of light.
(See Foucault rotating
mirror and Michelson rotating mirror.)
FL.

Abbreviation for foot-lambert.

FLAG.
( 1 ) The small metal piece which
holds the getter in a vacuum tube prior to
exhaustion. ( 2 ) A light shield for a television
camera.
FLAG ALARM. A semaphore-type indicator
in certain types of navigation instruments to
warn that the readings are unreliable.
FLAME.
A reaction or reaction-product,
partly or entirely gaseous, which yields heat
and more or less light, as the result of a chem
ical reaction, com monly oxidation.
FLAME, LUMINOUS.
A pale or bright
colored flame, as a candle flame or a sodium
light. This term is also applied to the inner
cone or reducing portion of the Bunsen flame,
and to the inner parts of other gas flames that
show two portions.
FLAME, NONLUMINOUS. A flame that is
dark in color, and of little brightness; or the
oxidizing or outer part of the Bunsen flame,
and outer parts o f other gas flames that show
two portions.
FLANGE, CHOKE.
flange.

See waveguide, choke

FLANKING EFFECT. The effect on filter

characteristics of connecting additional filters
in parallel.
FLARE-OUT. T hat portion o f the approach
path of an aircraft in which the vertical com
ponent is modified to lessen the im pact of
landing.
FLARE-OUT, HYPERBOLIC.
A flare-out
obtained by changing the guide slope from a

straight line to a hyperbolic curve at an ap

propriate distance from touchdown.
FLASHOMETER. A device for studying the
time-intensity distribution of flashes of light.
FLASH POINT. The lowest temperature at
which a substance will decompose to an in
flammable gaseous mixture, demonstrable
through its explosive quality.
FLASH SPECTRUM.
ond or third contact
eclipse the edge of the
photosphere o f the sun

A t the instant of sec

during a total solar
moon is tangent to the
as shown in the figure.

W ith the photosphere (B ) covered, the highly

heated atmosphere of the sun, known as the
reversing layer and the chromosphere (A ),
flashes into view. W ith the photosphere cov
ered the continuous spectrum of the sun is
cut off and the bright-line spectrum radiated
by the atmosphere m ay be observed.
FLAT SPACE-TIME. Space-time for which
the Riemann-Christoffel tensor vanishes. The
metric can then always be chosen thus:
Qxv

^xvj if >^4

let.

FLAT SPOT. In navigation, a point of zero

incremental deviation sensitivity occurring
with the crossover region.
F 2 LAYER. The single ionized layer normally
existing in the F region in the night hem
isphere, and the higher of the two layers nor
m ally existing in the F region in the day
hemisphere.
F LBF S SYSTEM OF UNITS. A ny system
of units based on the choice of the foot, the
pound force and the second as fundamental
quantities. (See mechanical units.)
FLEM ING VALVE.
An early thermionic
diode used as a detector,
FLETCHER-MUNSON CONTOURS. Equal
loudness curves for pure tones (see tone,
simple), plotted as contours on a sound pres
sure-sound frequency graph.

FLEXION-POINT EMISSION CURRENT.

That value of current on the diode character
istic for which the second derivative of the
current with respect to the voltage has its
maximum negative value. This current cor
responds to the upper flexion point of the di
ode characteristic, and is an approximate
measure of the temperature-limited emission
current.
FLEXOW RITER. A special electric type
writer designed especially as an input-output
device for digital computers.
FLEXURE. A term which is used to denote
the curved or bent state of a loaded beam.
A horizontally located beam, transversely
loaded with vertically directed load, offers an
example of load-carrying ability derived
through flexure. In flexure, an elastic struc
tural material undergoes a deflection sufficient
to set up in its material stresses which will
support the load. Deflection under load is an
essential and necessary part of the process of
load carrying by a beam, for until the deflec
tion has occurred, there are set up in the beam
no resisting forces. Thus if an unloaded beam
is perfectly straight and horizontal, it must
assume a slightly curved position if any exter
nal load is supported by it. The only w ay
in which a loaded beam could be straight
would be to have had an initial deflection in
a direction opposite to the loading.
FLICKER. (1) In general, the sensation pro
duced by a fluctuation in brightness at a rate
com parable to the reciprocal of the period of
persistence of vision. (2) In television, a flut
tering sensation which results from the peri
odic fluctuation of light. Flicker frequencies
usually lie in the range from a few cycles per
second to a few tens of cycles per second.
FLICKER, CHROMATICITY.
ticity flicker.
FLICKER, COLOR.

See chroma-

See color flicker.

FLICKER EFFECT. Minute variations in

the cathode current of thermionic vacuum
tubes which m ay be caused by random
changes in cathode activity or positive ion
emission.
FLICKER, LUMINANCE.
flicker.
FLICKER, NOISE.

See luminance

See noise, flicker.

FLICKER
PHOTOMETER
HEAD.
A
bench photometer head in which, by means
o f a rotating sector-disk, the two illumina
tions to be compared are presented to the ob
server in rapid alternation (but not too
rapid), any difference between them being
detected as a noticeable flicker. This type of
photometer is especially useful when the
sources are not of exactly the same color.
FLIGHT, D IRECTED REFERENCE. That
type of stabilized flight (see flight, stabilized)
which obtains control information from ex
ternal signals which m ay be varied as neces
sary to direct the flight. For example: flight
of a guided missile or a target aircraft.
FLIGH T PATH.
a vehicle.

A line in space planned for

FLIGHT PATH COMPUTER. A computer

including all of the functions of a course-line
computer and, in addition, providing means
for controlling the altitude of an aircraft in
accordance with a desired plan of flight.
FLIGH T PATH DEVIATION. The difference between the flight track of an aircraft and
the flight path expressed in terms of either
angular or linear measurement.
FLIGHT-PATH DEVIATION-INDICATOR.
An instrument providing a visual indication
of deviation from a flight path.
FLIGH T - PATH - REFERENCE
FLIGHT.
That type of stabilized flight (see flight, sta
bilized) which obtains control information
from a navigational system capable of pro
viding heading or altitude guidance, or both,
with respect to a desired flight path. For ex
ample: flight in which information derived
from V O R , D M E , ILS and the like is fed into
a conventional automatic pilot.
FLIGHT, STABILIZED. That type of flight
which obtains control information from inertia-stabilized references such as gyroscopes.
Example: flight in which the lateral, longi
tudinal, and vertical attitudes of an aircraft
are maintained constant by a conventional
automatic pilot.
FLIGHT, TERRESTRIAL - REFERENCE.
That type of stabilized flight (see flight, sta
bilized) which obtains control information
from terrestrial phenomena. Example: flight
in which basic information derived from the

earths magnetic field, atmospheric pressure,

and the like is fed into a conventional auto
matic pilot.
FLIGHT TIM E (RELAY).
transfer (relay).

A term for time,

FLIGHT TRACK. The path in space actually

traced by a vehicle. Flight track is the threedimensional equivalent of track.
F-LINE.

Fraunhofer line at 4861.3 A.

FLIP-FLOP.
(1) A name which is collo
quially applied to both the monostable and
bistable multivibrators. ( 2 ) The use of this
term in color television for color-phase alter
nation should be avoided.
FLIP-FLOP (COMPUTER).
( 1 ) A device
having two stable states and two input ter
minals (or types of input signals) each of
which corresponds with one of the two states.
The circuit remains in either state until caused
to change to the other state by application
of the corresponding signal.
( 2 ) A similar
bistable device with an input which allows it
to act as a single-stage binary counter.
FLIP-FLOP, M AGNETIC. A bistable cir
cuit employing one or more magnetic ampli
fiers so arranged as to have two discrete levels
o f output which m ay be obtained by adjusting
the control voltage or current.
FLOATING BODY, STABLE EQUILIB
RIUM OF. See stable equilibrium of floating
body.
FLOATING BODY, UNSTABLE EQUILIB
RIUM OF.
See unstable equilibrium of
floating body.
FLOATING
trolled.

CARRIER.

See carrier, con

FLOATING-POINT SYSTEM.
FLOATING
floating.

POTENTIAL.

See point.
See potential,

FLOATING POTENTIAL, TRANSISTOR.

See transistor parameter V Cf > etc.
FLOATING ZONE M ETHOD OF REFIN
ING. A fractionation method of producing
high purity materials, particularly of semi
conductors such as germanium. A solid ingot
of the material is passed through a series of
heated regions, usually heated by induction.

A thin zone of molten material is thus sand

wiched between two solid sections. Impure
solid melts at the leading edge of each zone,
while pure solid freezes at the trailing edge.
Thus impurities are left behind as the ingot
advances, so that the end of the ingot that has
passed through a number of heated regions is
of high purity. B y this method, germanium
containing less than 1 part in 1 0 11 of impuri
ties has been produced.
FLOOD
flood.

PROJECTION.

See

(See flow,

FLO W , MEASUREMENT OF. For measure

ments of total flow along a pipe or channel,
various sorts of flow meter are used. For
measuring the flow velocity at a point, some
form of anemometer is required. The most
common is a Pitot-static tube, although hot
wires, vane anemometers, pressure plates and
many other methods have been used.

projection,

FLOQUET THEOREM. Given a linear dif

ferential equation with periodic coefficients
that are one-valued functions of the inde
pendent variable, such as Mathieus equation,
then there exists a solution of the form y ==
e ^ P i x ) , where P ( x ) is a periodic function and
fj, is a constant.
The general solution of
the differential equation is y = A e ^ P ix ) +
B e ~ ^ P ( x ) , where the constants of integra
tion are A and B .
F L O W CHART (DIAGRAM). A graphical
representation of a sequence of operations.
(See computer flow diagram.) In machine
computation, a diagram with labeled boxes,
arrows, etc., showing the logical pattern of a
problem, but not ordinarily including m a
chine commands.
(See also program; com
puter, digital.)
F L O W CURVE. A graphical representation
of the flow of a fluid. It may take the form
of a graph of total shear against time, which
would be linear for a Newtonian fluid (see
fluid, Newtonian), but has a more complex
shape for a thixotropic fluid (see fluid, thixotropic).
FLO W IN G JUNCTION. A method of set
ting up a junction between tw o electrolytes,
which has important advantages for use in
electrochemical measurements, especially of
electrode potential. In its simplest form, this
arrangement consists of an upward current of
the heavier electrolyte meeting a downward
current of the other at a point where a hori
zontal outlet tube joins the vertical tube
through which the liquids enter.
F L O W , IRROTATIONAL.
irrotational.

another, as in streamline flow.

streamline.)

See fluid motion,

F L O W , LAMINAR. Flow in which sheets

(or lamina) of fluid slide steadily over one

F L O W METER. An instrument for measur

ing rate of flow, that is, the volume flow along
a pipe or channel. Examples are the Ven
turi meter, the orifice plate, weirs of various
forms and displacement meters.
F L O W OF A FLUID. The nature of fluid
flow depends on the physical properties o f the
fluid substance. The most simple behavior is
shown by frictionless fluids, particularly in ir
rotational motion, but a considerable amount
is known of the flow of Newtonian fluids (see
fluid, Newtonian) in which the shear stress is
proportional to the rate of strain. The flow
of more complex fluids, e.g., Maxwellian and
thixotropic fluids, presents problems of great
difficulty. (See fluid, Maxwellian, and fluid,
thixotropic.)
FLO W , ROTATIONAL. Flow in which the
vorticity is appreciable and no velocity poten
tial function can be set up. Classes of rota
tional flow are the slow motion of a viscous
fluid, motion of rotating fluids and turbulent
motion.
F LO W , SECONDARY. The flow in pipes
and channels is frequently found to possess
components at right angles to the axis. These
components which take the form of diffuse
vortices with axes parallel to the main flow
form the secondary flow. Three types m ay be
mentioned: (i) Secondary flow in curved pipes
or channels, being a motion outwards near
the flow center and inwards near the walls,
(ii) Secondary flow in straight pipes and chan
nels of non-circular section, being a motion
along the walls toward corners or places of
large curvature and from there to the center
o f the flow. This only occurs in turbulent
flow (see flow, turbulent), (iii) Secondary
flow in pulsating flow. This is due to second
order effects and is particularly striking with
ultrasonic waves.

F L O W , SEPARATION OF. The flow of a

slightly viscous fluid past a solid body closely
resembles that of an inviscid fluid so long as
the thin layer of retarded fluid near the wall
is not brought to rest by the pressure gradi
ents of the flow. I f it is brought to rest, the
whole flow separates from the surface and the
direction of flow is reversed downstream of
the position of flow separation.
FL O W , STEADY. Flow in which the flow
velocity at a point fixed with respect to the
coordinates is independent of time. I f the
flow is turbulent, a flow in which the mean
values are independent of time. M any com
mon flows m ay be made steady by a suitable
choice of the coordinates.
(See also state,
steady (2 ).)
F L O W , STREAMLINE. Flow in which fluid
particles move along the streamlines. This
m otion is characteristic of viscous flow at low
Reynolds numbers or of inviscid, irrotational
flow. (See also flow, laminar; and flow, rota
tional.)
F L O W , TURBULENT. Flow in which the
fluid velocity at a fixed point fluctuates with
time in a nearly random way. The motion is
essentially rotational, and is characterized b y
rates o f momentum and mass transfer consid
erably larger than in the corresponding lami
nar flow. (See flow, laminar.)
F L O W , UNIFORM. Flow steady in time,
or flow which is the same at all points in
space.
FLUCTUATION NOISE.

See noise, random.

FLUCTUATIONS AND FLUCTUATION

PHENOMENA. Basic to the ideas of kinetic
theory is the assumption that we ordinarily
deal with systems containing such large num
bers of atoms or molecules that we only ob
serve the average behavior, with the fluctua
tions being smoothed out. However, there are
m any situations where the atom icity of nature
makes itself felt, and the effects of the ran
dom fluctuations in behavior of the individual
atoms, etc., are observable. Examples are
Brownian motion, thermal noise in electrical
conductors, shot noise in vacuum tubes, den
sity fluctuations leading to opalescence in a
system close to its critical temperature, den
sity fluctuations in the air particles leading

to the blueness of the sky

Rayleigh).

(see scattering,

FLUCTUATIONS, ZERO POINT.

point fluctuations.

See zero

FLUID. A state of matter in which only a

uniform isotropic pressure can be supported
without indefinite distortion; so, a gas or a
liquid. The distinction between highly vis
cous liquids and solids is a difficult one, the
same material acting as an ordinary liquid
under some circumstances and as a solid un
der others.
FLUID, CONVERGENCE OF. T h e local
accumulation of fluid accom panying a nega
tive divergence o f the flow velocity.
FLUID DENSITY. The mass per unit v o l
ume of fluid, measured in gm cm - 3 , lb in . - 3
or lb f t - 8 . It m ay be measured using areometric methods, floating hydrometers, specific
gravity bottles, etc.
FLUID, DIVERGENCE OF. The rate of
decrease of the fluid density p is given by the
equation of continuity:
dp
+ div (pu) = 0 ,
at
where u is the flow velocity. A divergence o f
the mass flow pu implies that the density is
decreasing.
FLUID DYNAMICS. The study of the m o
tion of Newtonian fluids (see fluid, Newto
nian) , including viscid and inviscid, compres
sible and incompressible flow together with
the phenomena associated with free surfaces
and buoyancy forces caused by gravitational
fields. The phrase carries the implication
that the study is carried out from the physi
cal standpoint rather than the standpoint of
practical engineering.
FLUID, ELASTIC. A fluid for which elastic
stresses and hydrostatic pressures are large
compared with viscous stresses.
FLUID
EQUATION OF CONTINUITY.
See continuity equation.
FLUID EQUATION OF MOTION. In the
Eulerian description of fluid motion, the equa
tion of motion is, in tensor notation:

dUi
p

dui

FLUID, IN VISCOUS (INVISCID). A fluid

which can support no shearing stress. (See
also fluid, Newtonian and fluid, viscous.)

dpij

+ puj

dxj

dt

dXj

where Ui is the fluid velocity at position Xi and

time t, p is the flu id density, pij is the stress
in the Oxi direction transmitted across an area
with normal parallel to Oxj, Fi is the external
force acting.
In the Lagrangian description, it is:
dui

dPij

dt

dXi

+ F it

where Ui is now the velocity of a fluid particle

which at time tQwas at the position 0Xi. (For
further detail see W . Band, Introduction to
Mathematical Physics, D . Van Nostrand Co.
Inc., 1959.)
FLUID EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACE. A
surface on which the velocity potential of the
motion has a constant value, and consequently
one everywhere at right angles to the flow, or,
in hydrostatics, a surface of constant gravita
tional potential and consequently a surface of
constant pressure.
FLUID F L O W .

See flow of a fluid.

FLUID F L O W STAGNATION POINT.

stagnation point, fluid flow.

FLUID, ISOTROPIC. A fluid whose local

properties are independent of rotation of the
axes of reference. A fluid may become aniso
tropic as a result of shearing flow, proximity
to a wall or application of a strong electric
field.
FLUIDITY. The property o f a substance
that expresses its ability to flow, as contrasted
with viscosity, which is the resistance to flow.
Fluidity is a measure of the rate at which a
fluid is deformed by a shearing stress, and is
mathematically the reciprocal of the viscosity.
FLUIDITY, UNITS OF. The unit of fluid
ity in the cgs system of units is the inverse
poise, i.e., gm - 1 cm sec.
FLUID, M AXW ELLIAN .
A visco elastic
fluid in which the stress tensor pi} is related
to the rate of strain

by:
See

FLUID FRICTION. The stresses which are

set up in a fluid when it is distorted and which
tend to convert the mechanical energy of the
system to heat. M any simple liquids and
most gases under ordinary conditions exhibit
Newtonian viscosity, but suspensions and
highly viscous liquids have more complicated
responses to distortion.
FLUID HOMOGENEOUS. A fluid whose
properties are the same at all points.
FLUID, INCOMPRESSIBLE. A fluid whose
density is substantially unaffected by change
of pressure. The behavior of a real fluid is
similar to that of an incompressible fluid only
if the pressure variations in the flow are small
compared with the bulk modulus of elasticity.
For a fluid in motion in a gravitational field
with velocities of order v , it is necessary that
both v and yjgh should be small compared
with the velocity of sound in the fluid, (h is
the depth of the fluid and g the acceleration
due to gravity.)

(
(

dUi

dUj\

dxj

dxj

d p ij\

( dUi

dU j\

where rj is the fluid viscosity for steady motion,

and tm is the relaxation time of the elastic
stresses set up by a sudden deformation.
FLUID MECHANICS. The study of the
mechanical properties of fluids, including hy
drostatics, hydraulics, hydrodynamics and
gas dynamics (compressible flow ). It is im
plied that problems of practical engineering
are kept in mind.
FLUID M OTION, ENERGY EQUATION
FOR. The expression of the conservation of
energy for fluid motion takes two forms, de
pending on whether the flow is represented in
Eulerian or Lagrangian specification. Using
the Eulerian method of analysis, the energy
equation is:

div [fp(u-u)u + pu] + (PU) + pg-u = 0,

dt

where p is the fluid density, u is the (vector)

velocity at a fixed point in space, p is the
local pressure, U is the internal energy per
unit mass, g is the external force field.

Using the Lagrangian method, the energy

equation refers to the energy of a particular
mass of fluid and is essentially the B er
noulli equation. (See Bernoulli law.)
FLUID M OTION, IRROTATIONAL. Flow
in which the curl of the flow velocity is every
where zero, and so a flow that can be described
by a velocity potential. If the flow is also
incompressible, the velocity potential obeys
the Laplace equation and solutions m ay be
found by standard methods.
FLUID, NEW TONIAN. A fluid in which
the viscous stresses are proportional to the rate
o f distortion. The constant of proportional
ity is the fluid viscosity rj. In symbols,

FLUID VELOCITY POTENTIAL. A func

tion of position in the flow, such that its gra
dient equals the fluid velocity everywhere. A
velocity potential cannot be set up unless the
flow is irrotational.
FLUID, VISCOUS. A fluid with an appre
ciable fluid friction, usually one in which the
frictional stresses are described by a single
Newtonian coefficient of viscosity, i.e., the
stress tensor pa is related to the rate of strain
tensor
1 /dUi
duj\
2

dxj

\dXj

by:

( du<
dXj

dU i

dxj

d U j\

where rj is the fluid viscosity.

where pij is the viscous stress in the direction

of flow, transmitted across a surface parallel to
1 (dUi
is the rate of strain
the flow. - (
2 \dxj

dU{

tensor.

P~

FLUID PARTICLE. A fluid particle or m a

terial particle is a hypothetical particle that
moves with the flow velocity of the fluid.
Owing to molecular diffusive movement, it
m ay not be identified with a particular m ole
cule, but the concept is useful in discussing
the flow of fluids.
FLUID, PERFECT.
A frictionless fluid
which offers no resistance to flow except
through inertial reaction.
FLUID, SLIP ALONG A SURFACE,
slip of a fluid along a surface.

FLUID, VISCOUS, EQUATION OF M O

TION OF. The equation of motion o f a vis
cous, incompressible fluid with a Newtonian
viscosity is:

See

FLUID, SLOW M OTION OF SPHERE IN

INCOMPRESSIBLE VISCOUS.
See slow
motion of sphere in incompressible viscous
fluid.
FLUID, THIXOTROPIC. A fluid whose vis
cosity is a function not only of the shearing
stress, but also of the previous history of m o
tion within the fluid. The viscosity usually
decreases with the length of time the fluid has
been in motion. Such systems com m only are
concentrated solutions of substances of high
molecular weight, or colloidal suspensions.
(See thixotropy.)

dt

dUi

+ Puj ~

dxj

dp

b yV Ui,

dXi

where U{ is the flow velocity, p is the fluid

density, p is the hydrostatic pressure, rj is the
viscosity, V2 is the Laplacian operator,

dm
If the motion is very slow, stresses due to
acceleration of the fluid m ay be neglected in
comparison with the viscous stresses, and the
velocity field satisfies the equation:

d x fd x j2

0,

where \p is a current function for the flow.

FLUID, VISCOUS, F L O W BETW EEN RO
TATING CYLINDERS. The only practical
realization of Couette flow. For low relative
velocities of rotation of the cylinders, the flow
is laminar (see flow, laminar) and the trans
mitted torque is, per unit length,

G = 4-7T77 ^

2 jp

1 ^2

t 2

(fi2 - fil)
1

where rj is the fluid viscosity, R, R 2 are the

radii of the inner and outer cylinders, C2i, Cl2
are the angular velocities of the inner and
outer cylinders.

If the angular momentum of flow decreases

outwards from the axis, i.e., if the inner cy l
inder only rotates, the flow becomes unstable
to small disturbances at a com paratively low
velocity of rotation. If the angular momen
tum increases outwards, the flow is stable to
small disturbances and laminar flow persists
to much higher velocities of rotation, and, in
this form, the arrangement is suitable for the
measurement of the viscosity of liquids and
gases of small viscosity.
FLUID,
VISCOUS,
STEADY
F LO W
THROUGH CIRCULAR PIPE. For small
flow velocities, the flow of a viscous fluid
through a circular pipe of radius r and length
I is laminar (see flow, laminar), the velocity
profile is parabolic and the relation between
volume flow and longitudinal gradient of h y
drostatic pressure is

where 7rr2Um is the volume flow, 77 is the fluid

viscosity, (pi P2) /1 is the pressure gradient.
The flow is laminar and steady if the
Reynolds num ber of the flow, 2prUm/r}, is less
than 2 0 0 0 , and then the measurement of total
flow for a known head provides a convenient
and accurate method of measuring viscosity.
FLUORESCENCE.
(1) The original usage
of this term, still rather widely employed, de
noted the process of the emission of electro
magnetic radiation as the result of the absorp
tion of energy by the fluorescent system, the
common sources of this energy being either
electromagnetic radiation from a separate
source or a stream of charged particles inci
dent on the system. The term has often been
used to indicate that the emitted radiation
continues only as long as the excitation con
tinues, i.e., fluorescence has been considered
as distinct from phosphorescence which con
tinues for some time after excitation has
ceased. The dividing line between these two
types of luminescence has often been taken as
a decay time of 10 8 second. If this definition
is strictly followed, only relatively simple sys
tems, such as atoms or molecules, exhibit fluo
rescence solid and liquid phosphors usually
show a slower decay of the luminescence.
(See also Stokes laws (2); antistokes lines;
Raman effect.)
( 2 ) The term fluorescence

may also be applied to the radiation emitted,

as well as the luminescent process. (3) See
fluorescence, x-ray. (4) The term is also used
for gamma radiation scattered by nuclei when
the process involves excitation to and radia
tion from an excited state. See scattering,
resonance.
(5) See fluorescence, resonance
and resonant radiation.
FLUORESCENCE, IMPACT.
fluorescence.

See impact

FLUORESCENCE,
RESONANCE.
Also
called resonance radiation. The emission by
an excited atom or other quantum system of
a radiation of the same frequency as the ex
citing radiation.
(See resonance, radiation;
scattering, resonance.)
FLUORESCENCE, X-RAY. In x-ray termi
nology, the term fluorescence may be used in
the more specific sense (than given in the gen
eral definition above) to denote the character
istic x-rays (see x-rays, characteristic) emitted
as a result of the absorption of x-rays of
higher frequency.
FLUORESCENCE YIELD. The probability
that an atom whose electronic structure has
been excited will emit an x-ray photon, in
the first transition, rather than an Auger elec
tron. The value of the fluorescence yield lies
between 0 and 1 , characteristic of the par
ticular state of excitation of an atom of a
particular element. The K-shell fluorescence
yield increases with increasing atomic number,
and is the sum of the K - * L n , K L m *
transitions.
FLUORESCENT SCREEN.
rescent.

See screen, fluo

FLUORINE. Gaseous element.

Atom ic number 9.

Symbol F.

FLUOROMETER.
( 1 ) An instrument for
the measurement of fluorescence. ( 2 ) A de
vice for photometric measurements in the
ultraviolet by means of the fluorescence pro
duced by it.
FLUOROMETRY. Measurement of the in
tensity and color of fluorescent radiations.
FLUOROSCOPE. ( 1 ) An apparatus for the
determination of fluorescence by visual com
parison, by means of an optical system, with
a standard. ( 2 ) A screen of fluorescent ma-

teria .1 used to transform invisible radiation

(x-rays, -y-rays, etc.) to visible light.
FLUTTER. In communication practice, (1)
distortion due to variations in loss resulting
from the simultaneous transmission of a sig
nal at another frequency, or ( 2 ) a similar
effect due to phase distortion. (3) In record
ing and reproducing, the deviations in repro
duced sounds from their original frequencies,
which result in general from irregular motion
during recording, duplication or reproduction.
The colloquial term wow is defined in the
same way, but is com monly applied to rela
tively slow variations (for example, one to
five or six repetitions per second) which are
recognized aurally as pitch-fluctuations, in
contradistinction to the roughening of tones,
which is the most noticeable effect of rapid
fluctuations. A constant difference in pitch
such as results from a difference in the aver
age speeds during recording and reproduction
is not included in the meanings of the terms
w ow, flutter, and drift. B y an exten
sion of their meanings, the terms flutter and
w ow are used to designate variations in
speed itself or variations in recorded w ave
lengths. Although most recorded sound com
prises multitudes of tones, it is convenient to
refer to flutter as variations in frequency, as
suming the recorded sound to have been a
single, steady tone. (4) The effect of a varia
tion in the transmission characteristics of a
telephone circuit caused by the action of super
posed d-c telegraph currents on magnetic m a
terials associated with the circuit.
FLUTTER IN D EX. A measure of the per
ceptibility of frequency modulation in a single
tone. Based on data presented in an article
entitled Analysis of Sound Film D rives, by
W . J. Alberscheim and D . M acK enzie, Jour.
Soc. M ot. Piet. Eng., 37, 453, 1941. An ap
proximate formula for flutter index for con
tinuous tones in a moderately live room is as
follow s:
Afx
kfx
r

lOOr

where A/ is the rms deviation of frequency

from mean cycles, / is the frequency of tone,
k is per cent rms flutter, I is flutter index, r
is flutter rate, x is % for rates greater than
5 cps.

For flutter rates of 1 to 5 cps, the following

relation is suggested:
r

from which, when / = 3000 cps, I k.

For flutter rates less than 1 cps, the follow
ing relation is suggested:

from which, when / = 3000 cps, I = fcr.

For the general case, wherein x = % , the
flutter index, when multiplied by 6 \ / 2 , is the
argument of the Bessel functions of the first
kind, and the coefficients of the various orders
of the Bessel functions have been shown to
represent the amplitudes of the corresponding
orders of the side-frequencies present in a fre
quency-m odulated tone.
For flutter rates above 5 cps, the ear ap
parently hears the side-frequencies as ex
traneous effects, and therefore will perceive
approximately the minimum-flutter at the
same value of flutter index over a wide range
of signal-frequencies, percentages of flutter,
and rates (assuming relatively constant acous
tic conditions). For flutter rates less than 5
cps, the ear apparently distinguishes the timefrequency variation rather than the discrete
side-frequencies, and so the expression which
describes the phenomena becomes more com
plicated. The flutter index of any given de
vice having a constant per cent flutter will
vary with the signal-frequency so that the
test-frequency should always be stated, the
flutter index will be assumed to refer to a
standard test tone of 3000 cycles per second.
FLUTTER, PER CENT. The per cent flutter
in a reproduced tone is the root-mean-square
deviation from the average frequency, ex
pressed as a percentage of average frequency.
FLUTTER, PER CENT TOTAL. Per cent
total flutter is the value of flutter indicated
by an instrument which responds uniformly to
flutter of all rates from 0.5 up to 200 cycles
per second. Except for the most critical tests,
instruments which respond uniformly to flutter
of all rates up to 1 2 0 cycles per second are
adequate, and their indications may be ac
cepted as showing per cent total flutter.

FLUTTER RATE. The number of frequencyexcursions in cycles per second, in a tone which
is frequency-modulated by flutter.
Each
cyclical variation is a complete cycle of devia
tion, for example, from m aximum-frequency
to minimum-frequency and back to maximumfrequency at the rate indicated. If the over
all flutter is the resultant of several com po
nents having different repetition rates, the
rates and magnitudes of the individual com
ponents are of primary importance.
(See
flutter index.)

point of interest, and the flux density which

would exist at that point, for the same mag
netizing force, if the medium were a vacuum:
B = ju0H + Bj,
where mo is the magnetic permeability of free
space. In unrationalized systems of units, the
intrinsic flux density is defined by
B i = 47TjU0 M,
whereas in rationalized systems,
B* = jU0M

FLUX. ( 1 ) A quantity proportional to the

surface integral of the normal (perpendicu
lar) force field intensity over a given area.
Flux = K J

f n cIS

where F N is the normal component of a field,

(e.g., gravitational, electric, m agnetic), and
K is the constant of proportionality between
the field and the flux density (permittivity,
permeability, etc.).
(See also electric flux
density; magnetic flux density.)
(2) A term
which denotes the volume or mass of fluid or
particles transferred across a given area per
pendicular to the direction of flow in a given
time.
There are many specific applications in
physics of the term flux. For electromagnetic
radiation, it signifies the energy per unit time,
or the power passing through a surface. For
photons or particles, flux is the number per
unit time passing through a surface. In nu
clear physics, flux com m only means the prod
uct nVj where n is the number of particles per
unit volume and v is their mean velocity.

where M is the m a g n e tiz a tio n of the medium.

FLUX DENSITY, PEAK (Bw). The maximum
flux density in a magnetic material in a speci
fied cyclically magnetized condition.
(See
magnetized condition, cyclically.)
FLUX DENSITY, RESIDUAL (Br).
The
magnetic flux density at which the magnetiz
ing force is zero when the material is in a
symmetrically cyclically magnetized condi
tion. (See magnetized condition, cyclically;
remanence.)
FLUX DENSITY, SATURATION. See induc
tion, saturation.
FLUX, ELECTRIC. The total electric flux
through an area is given by
J D -d A ,
where D is the electric displacement, or flux
density. (See Gauss law.)
FLUX EXCLUSION.

See Meissner effect.

See hystere

FLUX-GATE COMPASS. See compass, fluxgate; magnetometer, flux-gate.

hysteresis

FLUX, GRAVITATIONAL. See gravitational

flux.

FLUX DENSITY. A vector representing the

flux passing per unit area normal to the vector.
(See displacement electric; magnetic flux
density; Poynting vector; displacement, gravi
tational.)

FLUX GUIDE. In induction-heating usage,

magnetic material to guide electromagnetic
flux in desired paths. The guides may be used
either to direct flux to preferred locations or
to prevent the flux from spreading beyond
definite regions.

FLUX-AMPERE-TURN LOOP.
sis loop.
FLUX-CURRENT
loop.

LOOP.

See

FLUX DENSITY, INTRINSIC, (Bt) (IN

TENSITY OF M AGNETIZATION). The in
trinsic flux density (induction) or magnetic
polarization of a medium is the vector differ
ence between the magnetic flux density at the

FLUX LINKAGE. Since magnetic induction

(flux density) is solenoidal
(V-B = 0),

any closed contour links a definite amount of

flux. This flux linkage

of a second. This return time is termed fly

back. (See retrace.)

<*>= J B - d S

FLYW H EEL. A heavy wheel with a large

moment of inertia (generally obtained by con
centrating most of the mass on the rim) such
that small fluctuations in the torque do not
affect the uniform ity of the motion appre
ciably.

plays an important role in the basic relations

of electromagnetism.
FLUX, LUMINOUS. The time rate of flow
of luminous energy or the radiant flux (see
flux, radiant) evaluated by means of the
standard luminosity function.
FLUX, MAGNETIC.

See magnetic flux.

FLUX OF DISPLACEMENT.
tion, electric.

See induc

FLUX, RADIANT. The time rate of transfer

o f radiant energy. (See energy, radiant.)
FLU X REFRACTION. W hen a ferromag
netic body composed of two pieces of different
magnetic permeability is placed in a magnetic
field, or when a dielectric composed of two
adjacent portions of different dielectric con
stant is placed in an electric field, the lines of
magnetic induction in the former case, and
the lines of electric displacement in the latter,
if oblique to the interface, abruptly change
their direction.
The phenomenon is thus
somewhat analogous to the refraction of light.
B ut the law is different. Whereas, in the case
of light the ratio of the sines of the angles
of incidence and refraction is constant, in the
case of flux refraction it is the ratio of the
tangents of the angles that is constant.
For an electric current flowing across a
boundary between two conductors of different
electrical resistivity, there is a refraction of
the lines of flow, likewise obeying the tangent
law.
The refraction is a result of the boundary
conditions on the electromagnetic field vec
tors.
FLY-BACK. ( 1 ) The shorter of the two in
tervals o f time which comprise a sawtooth
wave. (See wave, sawtooth.)
( 2 ) The re
trace motion of an electron-beam, as, for
example, in a cathode-ray tube. In scanning,
the spot is m oved across the screen at a def
inite rate in one direction for each scanning
line. Thereupon, it is necessary to restore it
to the start of the next line in a very short
interval of time, say three or four millionths

FLYW H EEL DAMPER.

wheeling.

See rectifier, free

FLYW H EEL EFFECT. The ability of a

resonant circuit, because of its energy storage,
to operate continuously from short pulses of
energy of constant frequency and phase.
FM.

Abbreviation for frequency modulation.

F-NUMBER.

See F/system.

FOCAL ISOLATION. The focal length of

an ordinary single lens is greater for longer
wavelengths. B y placing a screen with a pin
hole at the proper distance from a simple
crystal-quartz lens, long wavelength infrared
radiation focused on the pinhole will pass
through, while very little of other wavelengths
not focused on the hole will pass through and
these can be further eliminated by a small
screen. The method o f focal isolation is now
largely obsolete.
FOCAL LENGTH.

See lens equations.

FOCAL LENGTH, FRONT.

length.

See front focal

FOCAL LENGTH, REDUCED. The first

focal length of a spherical-refracting surface,
or of a lens, divided by the index of refraction
of the medium in which the light is incident;
or the second focal length divided by the re
fractive index of the medium into which the
rays emerge.
FOCAL LINE. One of the two very short
lines in the principal sections of a narrow
astigmatic bundle of light rays, characterized
by the fact that all o f the rays intersect these
two lines.
FOCAL PLANE OF A LENS. A plane nor
mal to the optical axis of a lens and passing
through a focus of that lens.
(See power,
lens.)

FOCAL POWER. A somewhat objectionable

name for the reciprocal of the focal length of
a lens, mirror or optical system.

FOCUS OF A CATHODE-RAY TUBE. A

cathode-ray tube is said to be focused when
the spot of light on the screen is smallest.

FOCOMETER. An instrument for measur

ing the focal length of an optical system.

FOCUS, PRINCIPAL OR FOCUS POINT.

See lens equations.

FOCUS. ( 1 ) See conic section.

equations.

FOEHN W IN D . On the lee side of moun

tains, air flowing downhill dry-adiabatically
with attendant heating.

( 2 ) See lens

FOCUSING. The process of controlling the

convergence and divergence of an electron
beam, or of a beam of radiation.
FOCUSING, ALTERNATING GRADIENT.
See alternating gradient focusing.
FOCUSING AND SW ITCHING GRILLE
(COLOR PICTURE TUBES). A color-selecting-electrode system in the form of an array
of wires including at least two m utuallyinsulated sets of conductors in which the
switching function is performed by varying
the potential difference between them, and
focusing is accomplished by maintaining the
proper average potentials on the array and on
the phosphor screen.
FOCUSING COIL OR FOCUSING M AG
NET. An assembly producing a magnetic
field for focusing an electron beam.
FOCUSING CONTROL.
ing.

See control, focus

FOCUSING D UE TO ELECTRON D E
FLECTION.
A ny electrostatic deflection
system is also a converging cylindrical lens.
Thus, it will cause a beam of electrons travel
ing in a parallel path to focus at some point
after passing through the deflection system.
F O C U S IN G ,
D Y N A M IC
(P IC T U R E
TUBES). The process of focusing in accord
ance with a specified signal in synchronism
with scanning.

FOG.
( 1 ) Extra-spectral blackening of a
photographic emulsion. (2) A two-phase sys
tem consisting of liquid or solid particles or
droplets dispersed in a continuous gaseous
phase. Condensation and consequent form a
tion o f water droplets (or ice crystals) in the
air at the earths surface will produce a fog.
Fogs are classified in many ways. One of the
simplest is the use of formation cause or
process as a basis for differentiation among
the various types, which has been followed
in the following definitions.
FOG, ADVECTION. Fog that owes its exist
ence to the flow of air from one type of sur
face to another. Surface temperature con
trast between two adjacent regions is neces
sary in causing the formation of advection
fogs. ( 1 ) The usual type of advection fog is
formed when relatively warm and moist air
drifts over much colder land or water surfaces.
Examples of this type are found over land
when moist air drifts over snow-covered areas,
or over water when moist warm air drifts over
currents of very cold water. The latter hap
pens with southerly or easterly winds blowing
from the Gulf Stream over the Labrador cur
rent.
( 2 ) Coastal and lake advection fog
forms when warm and moist air flows offshore
onto cold water (summer), or when warm
moist air flows onshore over cold or snowcovered land (winter). (3) Sea smoke, arctic
fog, or steam fog forms in very cold air when
it flows over warm water.

FOCUSING, ELECTROSTATIC. A system

in which electric fields are employed to con
fine the electrons emitted in a tube of the
cathode-ray type, to a thin stream.

FOG CHAMBER. A confined space in which

supersaturation of air or other gas is produced
by reduction of pressure, cooling, or other
means, in order to study the movement and
interaction of electrified particles by the con
densation (fog tracks) they produce.
(See
cloud chamber.)

FOCUSING, M AGNETIC. A method of fo

cusing an electron beam by the action of a
magnetic field. (See electron lens.)

FOG DENSITY. The density of an unex

posed portion of a sensitometric strip. The
density due to fog is not the same in the ex

FOCUSING ELECTRODE.
focusing.

See electrode,

posed steps as in the unexposed portion of the

sensitometric strip. The relation between the
fog density and the total density is com pli
cated, but in general it m ay be said that, as
the total density increases, the fog density
becomes less and less. This is due to the fact
that the by-products released in the develop
ment of the exposed silver halide restrain the
development of fog. Hence, in the higher
densities, the development of fog is restrained
to a greater degree than in the lower densities.

FOOT. Unit of length, abbreviation ft or f.

( 1 ) British: One-third of an imperial yard.
(2) U.S.: one-third yard or 1200/3937 meter.

FOG, PRECIPITATION. A fog formed in

layers of air which are cooler than the pre
cipitation which is falling through them. The
greater the temperature difference between
relatively warm rain (or snow) and the colder
air layer, the more rapidly will the fog de
velop. Fogs associated with fronts are largely
precipitation fogs.

FOOTLAMBERT. A unit of luminance equal

to 1/4?r candle per square foot, or to the uni
form luminance of a perfectly diffusing sur
face emitting or reflecting light at the rate of
one lumen per square foot. A footcandle is a
unit of incident light and a footlambert is a
unit of emitted or reflected light. For a per
fectly reflecting and perfectly diffusing sur
face, the number of footcandles is equal to the
number of footlamberts.

FOG, RADIATION. A fog that develops in

nocturnally-cooled air in contact with a cool
surface. Radiation fog forms over land and
not over water because water surfaces do not
appreciably change their temperature during
hours of darkness.
FOG TRACKS. Linear regions of condensa
tion, produced in air or other gases that are
supersaturated with water vapor, by the pas
sage of electrified particles. Fog tracks are
useful in following the courses and collisions
of such particles. (See cloud chamber.)
FOG, UPSLOPE. A fog caused by dynamic
cooling in air flowing uphill. Upslope fog
will form only in air that is convectively stable
(see atmospheric stability) never in air that
is unstable, because instability permits the
formation of cumulus clouds and vertical cur
rents.
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION. An equa
tion similar to the Boltzmann transport equa
tion except that the collision integral terms
in the Boltzmann equation are replaced by
derivative terms which describe the additive
effect of tw o-b ody encounters. It is thought
that the Fokker-Planck equation is basically
more correct for an ionized gas due to the
presence of long-range Coulomb forces.
FOLLOW ER, CATHODE.
common-plate.
FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM.
servomechanism.

See

amplifier,

Colloquialism for

FOOTCANDLE. A unit of illuminance based

upon the foot as the unit of length. It is the
illuminance on a surface one square foot in
area on which there is a uniformly distributed
flux of one lumen, or the illuminance at a sur
face all points of which are at a distance of
one foot from a uniform source of one candle.

FOOT POUND. ( 1 ) A unit o f work or en

ergy in the f lbf s system of units, being the
work done when an average force of one pound
(force) produces a displacement of one foot in
the direction of the force.
(2 )
A unit of moment or torque f lbf s sys
tem of units, being the time rate of change
of angular momentum produced by a force
of one pound acting at the end of, and per
pendicular to, a radius of one foot from the
axis of rotation. M ore com m only referred to
as a pound fo o t (to distinguish from the unit
o f w o rk ).
FORBIDDEN BAND. In the band theory
of solids, a range of energies in which there
are no electronic levels.
FORBIDDEN TRANSITION.
rules.

See selection

FORCE. ( 1 ) In dynamics, the physical agent

which causes a change of momentum, meas
ured by the time rate of change of momentum.
If the speeds involved are low compared with
that of light, a force may be defined as pro
portional to the mass m of a body and to the
acceleration a of the body which is produced
by the force. Thus f = fcma, where k is a
constant for a given system of units, and has
the dimensionless value unity in length-mass
time systems or 1/g in length-force-time sys
tems, g being the acceleration due to gravity.
Force is a vector quantity, requiring both a

magnitude and a direction for its complete

specification.
( 2 ) In statics, the physical agent which
produces a strain in a body.
(3) From its initial conception, which was
purely mechanical as expressed in ( 1 ) and
( 2 ), above, the term force extends to denote
loosely any operating agency.
(See special
entries under this term which follow.)
FORCE, ATTRACTIVE. A force acting on
a particle such that the acceleration of the
particle is in the direction of the agency re
sponsible for the force. This agency can be
another single particle, a collection of par
ticles or a region acting as the source of a
field.
FORCE, CENTRIFUGAL.
force.

See centrifugal

FORCE CONSTANT. In an elastic system

obeying the Hooke law, the magnitude of the
applied force F, and the elongation x , are re
lated by F = kx, where the constant k is called
the force constant.
FORCE CONSTANTS OF LINKAGES. E x
pressions of the forces acting between nuclei
to restrain relative displacement. They pro
vide the means of measurement of the re
sistance to stretching of the valence bond and
the resistance to deformation of the valence
angle, and they express these factors mathe
matically.
FORCED DOUBLE REFRACTION. Dou
ble refraction produced in an otherwise iso
tropic medium as a result of strain.
FORCED
forced.

VIBRATION.

See

oscillation,

FORCE, EFFECTIVE.

See effective force.

FORCE, EXCHANGE.

See exchange force.

FORCE FACTOR, (a) The force factor of

an electromechanical transducer (see trans
ducer, electromechanical) is: ( 1 ) the complex
quotient of the force required to block the
mechanical system divided by the correspond
ing current in the electric system; ( 2 ) the
complex quotient of the resulting open-circuit
voltage in the electric system divided by the
velocity in the mechanical system.
Force
factors (a l) and (a 2 ) have the same magni
tude when consistent units are used and the

transducer satisfies the principle of reciproc

ity.
(See reciprocity theorem, acoustical.)
It is sometimes convenient in an electrostatic
or piezoelectric transducer to use the ratios
between force and charge or electric displace
ment, or between voltage and mechanical dis
placement.
(b) The force factor of an electroacoustic
transducer (see transducer, electroacoustic)
is: ( 1 ) the complex quotient of the pressure
required to block the acoustic system divided
by the corresponding current in the electric
system; ( 2 ) the complex quotient of the re
sulting open-circuit voltage in the electric
system divided by the volume velocity in the
acoustic system. Force factors (b l) and (b 2 )
have the same magnitude when consistent
units are used and the transducer satisfies the
principle of reciprocity.
FORCE
FIELD, CONSERVATIVE.
A
field whose force can be derived by taking the
negative gradient of a scalar potential
function, V, i.e., F = VV\ The work done
b y a conservative force on a particle in its
motion between two given points is independent
of the path. Alternative definitions are (a)
that

(j) F-ds = 0 (see integral, line), and

(b) that V X F = 0 (see Stokes Theorem).

An example of a conservative force field is the
inverse square law field of electric charges or
of gravitational masses.
F O R C E FU N C TIO N . The negative of the
potential energy of a mechanical system.
FORCE,
force.

HEISENBERG.

See

Heisenberg

FO R C E , IM PRESSED. Any external force

acting on a particle in a dynamical system.
The resultant force on each such particle can
always be resolved into a resultant external
impressed force and a resultant internal con
straint force. Thus in the case of a particle
suspended by a string, the weight is the im
pressed force and the tension in the string is
the constraint force. (See constraint.)
FORCE, INSTANTANEOUS (INSTANTA
NEOUS
M ECHANOM OTIVE
FORCE).
The instantaneous force at a point is the
total instantaneous force.
F O R C E , LIN E QF,

See field o f force.

FORCE, LINE OF ACTION OF. The direc

tion along which a force acts. This direction
can be specified in terms of the direction co
sines o f the force vector with respect to the
coordinate system used.

and
=
__

ZZIiljdMij/dh

from the expression for the energy of a system

of circuits. Therefore

F t = * 2 2 IJjdMa/dZt
and the forces are such as to increase the
mutual inductances. As in the case of a
charged system, the energy of the system in
creases as it does w ork; the set of electromo
tive forces maintaining the currents does work
at twice the rate that mechanical work is
done. Substitution of torque for force, and
rotation for displacement in the foregoing
yield the torques on the rigid elements of a
system of circuits.
Line of action of force.

If F x = F cos a, F y = F cos 0 and F z = F cos

7 then a, /3 and 7 specify the direction of the
line of action of the force.
FORCE, LOST. In the application of the
dAlembert principle by the method of M ach,
the lost force on the ;th particle of a d y
namical system is equal to the difference be
tween the external impressed force and the
effective force, the latter being equal to the
mass times the acceleration of the ;th particle.
FORCE, MAJORANA.

See majorana force.

FORCE, M AXIM UM (M AXIM UM MECHANOM OTIVE FORCE).

The maximum
force for any given cycle is the maximum
absolute value of the instantaneous force dur
ing that cycle.
FORCE ON A RIGID CIRCUIT. (See en
ergy of a system of current circuits.) I f the
circuits are rigid, motion will change the
mutual inductances, M y, but not the self
inductances, Li == Mij. The change of energy
of the current system, with motion of the
circuits, is:
dU = W M ijU d lj + 'ZSIJjdM ij -

= WMijUdL + 2 S 2 7 J V

dM ij
dti

HFrfti

-dh

'EFid^i

FORCE ON M OVING CHARGES AND

CURRENTS. A charge dq moving with ve
locity v through a steady magnetic field of
flux density B experiences a force
F = dq(v X B).
If the charge is m oving along a conductor,
dqy = Idl, so the force on an element dl of a
conductor is
F = X B.
(See also electric field strength; vector multi
plication.)
FORCE PEAK (PEAK MECHANOM OTIVE
FO R CE). The peak force for any specified
interval is the maximum absolute value of the
instantaneous force during that interval.
FORCE, RESTORING.
The elastic force
which acts on a particle or portion of a me
chanical system when displaced from equilib
rium and whose direction is such as to return
the system to equilibrium. In simple cases,
the restoring force is linear, i.e., proportional
to the first power of the distance. (See Hooke
Law; force constant.) For some physical sys
tems, however, the restoring force may be pro
portional to the second or higher power of the
distance.
FORCES, CONCURRENT.
A system of
forces such that there exists a single point
common to all the lines of action of the forces.

so for constant currents:

/dU\
dM ^
( ) = 2 2 7 ------- - Ft
df,

FORCES, COPLANAR. A system of forces

such that the lines of action of all the forces
lie in a single plane.

FORCE, SHORT-RANGE.
force.

See short-range

FORCES, PARALLEL. A system of forces

such that the lines of action of all the forces
are parallel to each other.
FORCES, PARALLELOGRAM OF. A geo
metrical representation by which the sum or
difference of two concurrent forces A and B
can be considered as the diagonals of a paral
lelogram. The two adjacent sides are propor
tional in length to the magnitude of the forces
and their directions coincide with the lines of
action of the forces. The diagonal represent-

charges are held constant, dqi = 0 , and we

have

If the potentials are held constant, write

d (U -

= - X qidVi - ZFidti.

But
U -

= ^ V iqi -

dU = HqidV i + S i 1idi
and

ing the sum passes through the origin of the

two vectors. The diagonal representing the
difference passes through the extremities of
the two vectors.

See statics.

FORCE, TANGENTIAL. A force associated

with a wheel or disk always acting perpen
dicular to the radius, e.g., frictional force be
tween rolling wheel and a surface, or frictional
force between a belt and a pulley wheel.
See tensor force.

FORCE, TWO-BODY.
FORCE, W IGNER.

(-)
can readily be expressed in terms of

See spin-de-

FORCES, TRIANGLE OF. The special case

of the polygon of forces in which three and
only three concurrent forces act at a point.
(See statics.)

FORCE, TENSOR.

N ote that for constant potential, the energy of

the system increases at the same rate mechan
ical work is done; the sources of potential sup
ply twice as much energy as needed for the
mechanical work. The derivatives

Parallelogram of forces.

FORCES, POLYGON OF.

= -T J

(see energy of a charged system), so that

FORCE, SPIN-DEPENDENT.
pendent force.

-*

See two-body force.

See Wigner force.

FORCE W IT H IN A CHARGED SYSTEM.

If the conductors of a charged set are allowed
to move, hence to let the system do work, the
energy change of the system is given b y :

dpij
----%

and

using the expressions for the energy of a

charged system in terms of coefficients of po
tential and induction. R eplacing force (F4)
by torque (T {), and linear displacement (dfr)
by rotation (ddi), the foregoing relations yield
the torques of the charged system.
FORENSIC SPECTROSCOPY. The use of
spectroscopy as an aid in criminal investiga
tions.
FORK BEAT.

See carrier beat.

FORMANT. A group of resonances near a

maximum in the transmission of a vowel in
the vocal tract.
FORM, BILINEAR. A homogeneous poly
nomial in 2 n variables x ly x 2, * *, xn; y 1} y 2,
, y n. If A is a symmetric matrix; x, a row
vector; y a column vector, then the p oly
nomial may be written in matrix form:

dU = HV idqi IZFidZi,
where F{ is the force, in the direction of the
displacement
on the ith conductor. If the

dcij
----->
do

4 (x , y) = xAy =

A ijXiVr
i,j

The quadratic form results when xt = yi . I f

the variables are complex and the matrix is
Hermitian, the form is also called Hermitian:
H (x, x) = 'LHijXi*Xj = x+Hx;

Hij = Hji*,

where the asterisk denotes the complex con

jugate and the dagger the associate matrix.
FORM FACTOR. (1) Factor introduced into
a theory, usually by physical and non-rigorous arguments, to allow consequences of the
theory to be computed without contributions
from values of a parameter for which the
theory is not applicable (see cut-off). ( 2 ) A
means for describing one attribute of the
shape of an alternating-current wave. The
strength of a-c constantly varies in magnitude
and direction. The effective value of a-c is
the root-mean-square (rms) value. The form
factor is the ratio of the rms value of the wave
to its full-wave rectified average value; the
factor is unity for a square wave, and 1 .1 1 for
a pure sine wave. It is of importance in the
measurement of waves containing harmonics,
for it is the ratio of the reading on an rms
meter to that on an ideal rectifier-type meter.
(3) For atomic form factor, see atomic scat
tering factor.
FORMING, ELECTRICAL (APPLIED TO
SEMICONDUCTOR D E V IC E S) .
Process
of applying electrical energy to a semicon
ductor device in order to m odify permanently
the electrical characteristics.
FORMULA, ELECTRONIC. A formula that
shows the electronic state of each atom in a
compound, i.e., the number of positive or nega
tive elementary charges which the atom has
acquired by loss or gain, respectively, of its
valency electrons.
FORMULA, IONIC. The formula of an ion.
In the case of a m ono-atom ic ion, this formula
would consist only of the symbol of the ele
ment and the number of elementary charges,
positive or negative, carried by the ion. In
the case of an ionized radical, it would con
sist o f the symbols of all elements contained,
their atomic proportions (number of gramatomic weights), and the number of net ele
mentary charges carried by the ionized rad
ical, positive or negative. E.g., Na + , S 0 4 = ,
etc.

FORMULA, LEWIS-LANGMUIR.
A for
mula for a substance which shows each atom
and the electrons that participate in the
valence bonds uniting it to other atoms. For
example, this type of formula for methane,
H
H : C : H,
H
shows the central carbon atom joined to four
hydrogen atoms, in each case by a valence
bond composed of a pair of shared electrons.
T o consider another type of compound, the
formula for sodium chloride,

N a :C l:,
shows an ionized sodium atom joined to an
ionized chlorine atom by electrostatic forces.
(See atom, Lewis-Langmuir.)
FORMULA, MOLECULAR. A formula that
indicates the com position of a substance
which contains two or more molecules. H y
drates, for example, are commonly represented
by molecular formulas, as C u S 0 4 -5H 20 or
CaS 0 4 *2 H 20 . In such formulas the period
() indicates the intramolecular valence bond
or bonds.
FORMULA, POLARITY. A formula which
indicates in some manner whether a pair of
bonding electrons is located equidistantly be
tween the two atoms bonded, as in the case
of methane, illustrated under formula, LewisLangmuir, or whether it is displayed toward
one of the atoms, as in the case of a dative
bond or the extreme case of sodium chloride,
where the bond has become truly electrovalent.
FORSTERLING PRISM TRAIN. A prism
train so designed that it gives constant devia
tion with dispersion equivalent to that of
three 60-degree prisms.
FORTRAN. Abbreviation of formula trans
lation, an automatic programming system for
the IB M 704 computer.
FORTRAT PARABOLA. A graph obtained
by plotting an empirical relationship for the
wave number of the individual lines in spec

tral bands (e.g., that of C N ).

ship is of the form :

This relation

v = c + dm + em2
where c, <2 , and e are constants, and m is a
whole number which numbers the successive
lines. As is obvious from the equation, the
graph is a parabola, and has been called a
Fortrat parabola.
M any such spectral bands have one line
missing, and the practice is to give the miss
ing line the value m 0 (whence it is called
the zero line or null line and the empty space
in the band, the zero gap or null-line gap).
Then the values of m to one side of the zero
gap become positive and those to the other
side negative. The series of lines correspond
ing to the positive values of m is called the
'positive branch or R -bran ch; that correspond
ing to the negative values is called the nega
tive branch or P-branch. In many band sys
tems, there is a third branch which is called
the Q-branch or zero branch. The lines of the
Q-branch lie on a parabola whose vertex lies
almost on the abscissa axis. In the formula
for the Q-branch, the quadratic term agrees
with that for the other two branches.

FORTUITOUS
TELEGRAPH
DISTOR
TION. See distortion, fortuitous telegraph.
FORW ARD CURRENT TRANSFER RATIO,
SHORT-CIRCUIT.
See transistor param
eters, GIF) au hfj ^Fj ^ 21 FORW ARD DIRECTION. The polarity of
the voltage applied to a rectifier such that the
current flows easily.
FORW ARD TRANSFER ADM ITTANCE,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter yf,
etc.
FORW ARD
TRANSFER
IMPEDANCE,
TRANSISTOR, SHORT-CIRCUIT. See tran
sistor parameter zfs, etc.

FORW ARD VOLTAGE TRANSFER RATIO.

See transistor parameter |i/;
etc.
FOUCAULT CURRENT.

An eddy current.

FOUCAULT DIFFRACTION.
tion.

See diffrac

FOUCAULT
GYROSCOPE
OR GYROSCOPIC COMPASS. A compass device of
practical
navigational
application
which
makes use of the tendency of a spinning body
to maintain its axis of rotation in a fixed di
rection against the action of external forces.
(See gyroscope.)
FOUCAULT KNIFE-EDGE TEST. A con
cave mirror or a lens may be tested by plac
ing a pinhole-source of light at twice the focal
length behind the lens or at the center of
curvature of the mirror (or as near the center
as possible). The eye placed at the image
of the pinhole should see the entire lens or
mirror illuminated.
A knife-edge moved
across the image immediately in front of the
eye will determine where the image is located
and will show defects in the lens or mirror by
irregular darkening of the image. This is the
customary test used by amateur telescopemirror makers. A diffraction grating m ay be
tested in a similar manner using a slit instead
of a pinhole.
FOUCAULT PENDULUM. In 1851 Fou
cault performed his celebrated pendulum ex
periment at Paris, designed to give physical
proof that the earth is in rotation about an
axis. The pendulum, consisting of a very
large iron ball suspended by a steel wire over
2 0 0 ' long, was suspended from the center of
the dome of the Pantheon. Great care was
exercised in the support for the wire so that
no external forces should be effective at this
point other than a vertical force to prevent the
system from falling. On the floor, immedi
ately under the pendulum, a layer of fine sand
was placed so that the direction of the swing
could be observed. The pendulum was started
by drawing it to one side with a fine thread
and, after the system was at rest, the thread
was burned off, thus avoiding any initial lat
eral motion.
A fter such a pendulum is started swinging
in one plane, it is soon observed that the plane
of swing is apparently deviating slowly (in the
clockwise direction in the northern hemi

sphere and the opposite in the southern). The

rate at which the plane of swing deviates is
equal to 15 per sidereal hour (cf. time) mul
tiplied by the sine of the latitude. Thus at
the pole it would make a complete rotation in
one sidereal day, while at the equator it would
not rotate at all. A t Paris (latitude 48 5(X
N .) the rate of deviation is about 11 18' per
hour.
Foucault reasoned quite correctly that, in
accordance with the Newton laws of motion,
the direction in space of the plane of swing
should not change unless the pendulum was
acted upon by some external force other than
that of gravitation and the counteracting force
parallel to the direction of gravitation at the
support. That the direction of the plane does
apparently change can be accounted for only
on the hypothesis that the earth is in rotation.
Foucaults demonstration attracted wide sci
entific and popular attention and was accepted
as a conclusive proof that the earth does ro
tate upon an axis, a fact which was not uni
versally accepted at that time.
FOUCAULT ROTATING MIRROR. Fou
cault arranged a light-source, lens, rotating
mirror and distant mirror. W hile light was
traveling from the rotating mirror to the dis
tant mirror ( 2 0 meters) and back, the rotat
ing mirror turned slightly so that after the
second reflection from the rotating mirror the
reflected beam was slightly displaced ( 2 ' 40")
from its original path. From these data and
the angular speed of the rotating mirror, F ou
cault computed a velocity of light as 2.98 X
1010 cm /sec. The faintness o f the returned
beam prohibited use of a greater light-path.
(See Michelson rotating mirror; and Fizeau
toothed wheel.)
FOUNTAIN EFFECT.
properties of.

See helium liquid,

FOUR-ADDRESS CODE.
tion.

See code, instruc

FOUR CURRENT DENSITY. A four vector

representing current density in relativity the
ory, J = poVw where p0 is the charge density in
a system in which the charges are at rest and
y u is the four-velocity of the charges.

This equation gives the multiplication factor

in an infinite thermal reactor, i.e., one with
no leakage, rj is the average number of fast
fission neutrons emitted as a result of the cap
ture of one thermal neutron in fuel material.
is the fast-fission factor, the ratio of the total
number of fast neutrons produced by fissions
due to neutrons of all energies, to the number
resulting from thermal neutron fissions alone.
p is the fraction of the fast (fission) neutrons
which escape capture while being slowed
down. / is the ratio of the number of thermal
neutrons absorbed in fuel to the total number
of thermal neutrons absorbed (in fuel plus
moderator),
k, the infinite multiplication
factor, is the ratio o f the average number of
thermal neutrons produced (and hence ab
sorbed) in one generation to the number in
the preceding generation; unless k exceeds
unity, a critical system of finite size is im
possible.
FOUR-FORCE. The four-vector describing
the rate of change of four-momentum along
the space-time path of a particle:
m0

ds
(m0 is the rest mass.)
FOURIER ANALYSIS. The process o f find
ing the representation of a function in a
Fourier series.
FOURIER-BESSEL
functions defined by

= Ivepf].

TRANSFORM.

The

f (y ) = f F (x )J m(xy)xd x;
'o
F( x) = f f(y)Jm (xy)ydy
are a pair of Fourier-Bessel transforms. The
quantity Jm is a Bessel function o f order m.
FOURIER COEFFICIENTS.
The
cients an and bn in the Fourier Series.

coeffi

FOURIER INTEGRAL. A relation obtain

able from the Fourier transform, which is a
generalization of the Fourier series for the
range oo < x < oo. It can be written as

FOUR-FACTOR FORMULA.

dVfjL

/( * ) = T -

or, if f ( x ) is real, in a more com mon form :

/ 0*0 = ~ f f
27T

/() cos y(x -

)dydt

The an of the complex exponential form and

the an and bn of the real trigonometric form
are related b y :
dn <Xn 1 ex.n,

FOURIER, L A W OF. The rate of heat flow

at a given point in a body is proportional to
the area of the cross-section and the tempera
ture gradient, both at the given point. The
form of this relationship is:

where Q is quantity of heat, t is time, fc is the

proportionality constant (thermal conductiv
ity), A is the cross-sectional area, T is tem
perature, and I is distance in the direction of
heat flow, here taken normal to A .
FOURIER SERIES. A single-valued func
tion, continuous except possibly for a finite
number of finite discontinuities in the interval
7T to 7T, and with only a finite number of
maxima and minima in that interval, may be
represented within the interval by a Fourier
series:
00

/0*0 = E

an

sin nx + %b0 + E

n= 1

bn

COS

nx,

71= 1

where the coefficients are given b y

1 r T
On = - I /() sin (n0d;
TTJ 7T

& = = - ( * /( ) cos (n)d|.

7T J _ 7 T

A change of variable m ay be made so that

the interval extends from 0 to x, 0 to 2 x, I to
i, etc. The series m ay be generalized to
permit the expansion of a function of several
variables. If the function is periodic, with
period 27r, the Fourier series represents it for
all values of x.
The Fourier series m ay be written in the
complex exponential form as well as in the real
trigonometric form. This form is:
f(x) =

*neinx,

n = 00

where the coefficients an are given b y

r 2T
a = I f(x ) e mxdx.
2x J o
1

Oinl)

When the period is allowed to become infinite,

the discrete Fourier series passes over into the
continuous Fourier transform.
FOURIER SYNTHESIS. The inverse process
to the expansion of a periodic function in a
Fourier series, i.e., the combination of terms
of the typ es:
A n sin ncot,

B n cos nut,

Cne in(at,

to form a periodic function. In the elemen

tary case in which a single independent vari
able is involved, such synthesis may be per
formed numerically, mechanically (e.g., by
adding displacements produced by appropri
ate cam s), or electrically (e.g., by adding
voltages of the proper frequencies and ampli
tudes). Synthesis in two dimensions, e.g., to
form functions of the form:
E Ann cos 2 t (mx + nz)
m

00

bn = 'ii&n

are important in the Patterson-Harker method

of X -r a y crystal structure determinations.
Methods for performing such synthesis are
discussed by Lipson and Cochran in The D e
termination of Crystal Structures, G. Bell and
Sons, London, 1953.
FOURIER TRANSFORM. Subject to cer
tain restrictions, f ( y ) is the Fourier transform
of F {x), where
f ( y) =

f eixyF (x)d x;
V 2 tt J - oo

F(x) = - J
e ~ ixvf(y)d y.
V 2tt J _ oo
In some applications, the factors l/\/2w are
modified.
FOUR-MOMENTUM OF A CLASSICAL
PARTICLE.
The four-velocity times the
rest-mass of the particle.
FOUR-POLE NETWORK. See network, twoterminal pair.
FOURTH DIMENSION. The time at which
an event occurs, represented as the fourth
coordinate of Minkowski space.

ai

FOUR-VECTOR. A set of four quantities

which transform under a Lorentz transforma
tion as a vector in Minkowski space.
FOUR-VECTOR POTENTIAL.
The fourvector having as its X l7 X 2, and X 3 com po
nents the three components Ai of the magnetic
vector potential and as its X 4 = ict com po
nent
where <f> is the electric scalar potential.
FOUR-VELOCITY.

The four quantities

dx

Vu =

ds

describing the velocity o f a classical particle

in relativity theory, where d/ds denotes d if
ferentiation with respect to the proper time
of the particle. The four-velocity is a fourvector of length i, and thus depends on only
three independent variables, the ordinary
velocity components.
F O V E A . The central portion of the retina of
the eye, where vision is most distinct. The
fovea of a normal eye subtends an angle of
about 2 .
FO W LER FUNCTION. T he photoelectric
yield for a metallic surface can be expressed
as Y = a A T 2(j>{x)j where <#>(x) is the Fowler
function. A is the constant appearing in the
Richardson-Dushman equation. The param
eter x is given b y x = (hv hv0)/kT , where
vo is the photoelectric threshold frequency.
The fraction of those electrons incident at the
surface per unit area per unit time that absorb
a quantum and escape (for unit intensity of
incident radiation) is denoted by a.
FPM .
A bbreviation
minute.
F R A C T IO N .
quantities.

for

foot

(feet)

per

An indicated quotient of two

F R A C T IO N , C O M M O N .
The indicated
quotient of two integers. I f the quotient is
less than one, the fraction is proper; other
wise, improper.
F R A C T IO N , C O N T IN U E D .
quence {sn} with members:
So =

An infinite se

s\ = b0 + ai/bi;

b0 +
a2
61 +

b2 + ^3/^ 3

formed from the sequences aiy a2, 13, * and

bo, b i,b 2, . When there are a finite number
of terms, the fraction is called terminating; if
there are an infinite number of terms, non
terminating.
FR A C T IO N E X C H A N G E . A number, vary
ing from 0 to 1 .0 , denoting the progress of an
isotopic exchange reaction, which is defined
by the expression:
5 ~ S0

/ = -----------
Sao
S0
where / is the exchange fraction and s, s0 and
Sao are the specific a ctiv itie s of one of the re
actants at time t, zero-time and infinite time
(i.e., at equilibrium), respectively.
F R A C T IO N , P A R TIA L . When a given ra
tional fraction is resolved into a sum of sim
pler fractions the individual terms in the sum
are called partial fractions. The process of
resolving a fraction in this way is the inverse
process to that of reducing to a common de
nominator. If the fraction is of the form
f ( x ) / g ( x ) , where the degree of the numerator
is less than that of the denominator, g( x)
m ay be written as
g(x) = ao(x x i)ri(x x 2)r2
(x2 + 2 blX + c t f ' i x 2 + 2b2x + c2y 2 + - .
Here ai is one of the real roots of g(x) = 0, it
being repeated Ti times. The quadratic ex
pressions arise from conjugate complex roots
of the polynomial, each occurring
times.
Each linear factor in g(x) gives rise to terms of
the form :

Ar

Ai
x a

(x a)r

(x a)1

where the Ai are constant factors, a is any one

of the ai roots and r corresponds to rit Sim
ilarly, if Q(x) (x2 + 2bx + c), the quadratic
factors give terms of the form :

ax
B\ + C\X

B 2 h C2X
I

B s + Csx
I

Q8

The undetermined coefficients A i} B h Ci in

these fractions may be obtained by clearing
of fractions and equating coefficients of like
powers of x on both sides of the equality,
which is an identity in x; or by other special
devices, such as substituting special values of
x. An integral m ay often be evaluated by
converting the integrand into a sum of partial
fractions.
FRAME. (1) In television, one of a series of
complete pictures that are successively viewed
so as to simulate moving scenes. ( 2 ) In fac
simile, a rectangular area, the width of which
is the available line and the length of which
is determined by the service requirements.
(3) Of a relay, the structure on which the
coil and contact assembly are mounted. (4)
Of a motor or generator, the structure within
which the stator and rotor are mounted.
FRAME, FREQUENCY. In television, the
number of times per second that the frame
is scanned.
FRAME OF REFERENCE. A set of lines or
surfaces used for defining coordinates that de
fine positions, directions, velocities, etc. (See
also inertial frame of reference.)
FRAME OF REFERENCE, INERTIAL. A
frame of reference in which a free body (i.e.,
one subject to no forces) is not accelerated.
Newtons laws of motion are obeyed in all in
ertial frames. The special theory of relativity
is based on the postulates: (a) that all iner
tial frames of reference are equivalent for the
description of physical phenomena, and (b)
that the speed of light has the same value in
all inertial frames of reference. (See also in
ertial system, primary.)
FRAMER. In facsimile, the control which
positions the reproduced image correctly with
regard to the original.
FRAMING. In television, the adjustment of
the picture to a desired position in the direc
tion of line progression.
FRAMING CONTROL.
ing.

See control, fram

FRAMING SIGNAL. In television, a signal

used for adjustment of the picture to a desired
position in the direction of line progression.

FRAMEWORK. A system of rigid or de

formable bodies of arbitrary sizes and shapes
fastened together to form a whole, which can
be in equilibrium under the action of suitable
forces. For example, a bridge truss.
FRANCIUM. Radioactive element.
Fr. Atom ic number 87.

Symbol

FRANCK-CONDON PRINCIPLE. An elec

tronic transition in a molecule or crystal takes
place so rapidly that the positions and veloci
ties of the nuclei are virtually unchanged in
the process.
Therefore, the positions and
velocities of the nuclei are practically un
changed during electronic transitions, which
can therefore be represented by vertical lines
on the potential energy curves. Only transi
tions satisfying these conditions occur with
reasonable probability.
FRANCK-HERTZ EXPERIMENT. Determ i
nation of the excitation and ionization poten
tials of gases by the measurement of the losses
of kinetic energy of electrons passing through
a gas or vapor. This experiment furnished
direct proof of the existence of quantized en
ergy levels. (See critical potentials.)
FRANKLIN EQUATION. The sound intensity, E in a room as a function of time after
cutting off the source:
caS

E = E 0e~ W \
where 2?0 is the initial sound intensity, c is the
velocity of sound, S is the exposed surface area,
V is the volume of room, t is the time, a is the
mean sound absorption coefficient.
For dead rooms, this equation must be re
placed by the Eyring general energy equation.
FRANK-READ SOURCE. A mechanism for
the continuous generation of dislocations, and
hence allowing for plastic deformation of
crystals. A segment of dislocation line (1)
anchored at its ends, A , B , can be pulled out
into an arc ( 2 ), which may then fold back
round the anchored ends (3) until it meets it
self (4 ), whereupon a closed dislocation loop
is detached, whilst the original line is reformed
(5). This process may evidently be repeated

indefinitely, the successive dislocation loops

moving out to the surface of the crystal.

E
F
G
H

Iron
Hydrogen
Iron and Calcium
(group)
Calcium

5270 A
4861 A
4308 A

(green)
(blue)
(violet)

3968 A

(extreme
violet)

The lines of solar origin are due to absorp

tion by gases and vapors in solar atmosphere.

Frank-Read mechanism for multiplication of dislo

cations, showing successive stages in the generation
of a dislocation loop by the segment A B of a dislo
cation line. The process can be repeated indefinitely.
(By permission from Introduction to Solid State
Physics by Kittel, Copyright 1953, John W iley &
Sons.)

FRASER M ETH O D FOR OSMOTIC PRES

SURE. The apparatus consists of a clay cell
with a membrane, usually copper ferrocyanide, deposited on its exterior. The cell is
filled with solvent and is connected to a glass
U -tube open to the atmosphere. A bronze
cylinder surrounds the cell and contains the
solution. Attached to the cylinder is a pressure-measuring device to record the excess
pressure as the solvent passes through the
membrane into the solution.
FRAUNHOFER DIFFRACTION.
under diffraction.

Discussed

FRAUNHOFER LINES. The dark lines con

stituting the absorption spectrum exhibited
by sunlight are frequently called the Fraun
hofer lines. There are thousands of these
lines, of which Fraunhofer, early in the 19th
century, first observed the most prominent.
T o these particular lines he assigned letters
for reference purposes. These lines, together
with their origin and approximate w ave
lengths, are listed as follow s:
A

Terrestrial oxygen

7594 A

B
C
Dx
D2

Terrestrial oxygen
H ydrogen
Sodium! I , , ,
Sodium !

6867
6563
5896
5890

A
A
A
A

(extreme
red)
(red)
(red)
(yellow)
(yellow)

FRAUNHOFER REGION. In antenna ter

m inology, that region of the field in which the
energy flow from an antenna proceeds essen
tially as though coming from a point source
located in the vicinity of the antenna. I f the
antenna has a well-defined aperture D in a
given aspect, the Fresnel region in that aspect
is com monly taken to exist at distances greater
than 2D 2/\ from the aperture, A being the
wavelength.
FREDHOLM EQUATION. A special type
of integral equation, the one of second kind
being:
<t>(x) = f ( x) + X f i(x,z)tf>(z)dz,
'a

where a, b , A are constants; the kernel, K( x, z )

and f ( x ) are given; <j> is sought as a function
of x , the independent variable. If the lefthand side of the equation equals zero, it be
comes of the first kind. Either could also be
homogeneous, i.e., f ( x ) = 0 .
FREDHOLM M ETHOD. A method of solv
ing integral equations when the resolvent (see
Liouville-Neumann series) is the ratio of two
infinite series.
FREE-BODY DIAGRAM. A diagram of a
body, or part of a body, with the forces acting
upon it indicated.
FREE DISCHARGE,
free.

See under discharge,

FREEDOM, DEGREES OF. (1) The num

ber of independent coordinates necessary for
the unique determination of the position of
every particle in a dynamical system is the
number of degrees of freedom. Each degree
of freedom is represented by a coordinate
which can vary with time independently of
all the rest. Thus a single particle which may
move anywhere in three-dimensional space
has three degrees of freedom. A particle con

strained to m ove on a surface has two degrees

of freedom, etc.
(2) In the statement of the phase rule,
one of that number of variable factors such
as pressure, temperature or concentration,
which must be fixed to define com pletely the
state of the system.
(3) The number of independent meshes,
or the number of independent cut-sets that
may be selected in a network.
(4) In statistical mechanics, the number of
independent coordinates necessary to specify
the motion of one of the systems forming an
ensemble. In the case of a monatomic gas
this is three, the number of coordinates that
specify the center of mass. In the case of a
diatomic gas, there are two additional degrees
of freedom due to rotational motion of the
m olecule; if vibrational motion occurs, it in
troduces two more degrees of freedom. In
multiatomic gases, the number of degrees of
freedom can become quite large.
(See also
equipartition of energy.)
FREE ELECTRON THEORY OF METALS.
The most characteristic property of a metal
is its electrical conductivity. It was early
recognized (by Drude) that this could be ex
plained if the electrons in the metal were rela
tively free to move. A model of a metal as a
gas of free electrons, moving in the region of
nearly uniform positive potential created by
the ions of the crystal lattice, although satis
factory in some respects, led to serious difficul
ties, until it was pointed out by Sommerfeld
that the electrons must obey the Pauli exclu
sion principle and hence constitute a highly
degenerate Fermi-Dirac gas. On this basis,
one can calculate the electronic specific heat,
magnetic susceptibility, Hall coefficient,
Wiedemann-Franz ratio, thermionic emission,
and other physical properties.
The reason for the success of this simple
theory is that in certain elements, notably the
alkali metals, the outer electrons are only
very loosely bound to the remainder of the
atom, and when the atoms are brought to
gether to make up the crystal lattice these
electrons can jump from ion to ion as if they
were free. T o understand the behavior of the
more complex metals, and of semiconductors,
it was necessary to introduce the further com
plications of the band theory of solids.

FREE ENERGY. There are two quantities

to which this term has been applied. ( 1 ) The
Gibbs free energy, which is also called the
Gibbs function and the thermodynamic po
tential, is most generally understood when
the term free energy is used without qualifi
cation. It is defined by the equation:
G = U TS + pV ,
where U is the internal energy (see energy,
internal), T, the absolute temperature, S, the
entropy, p, the pressure, V, the volume and
G , the Gibbs free energy (the letter F is also
widely used to denote this quantity).
(See
also free energy change; thermodynamic po
tentials.)
( 2 ) The Helm holtz free energy,
which was called the psi function, and which
is perhaps most commonly known as the work
function. It is defined by the equation:
A = U -

TS,

where U is the internal energy, T , the abso

lute temperature, S, the entropy and A , the
Helmholtz free energy. (The letter ip or the
letter F are sometimes used instead o f A for
this quantity.) The decrease in A is equal to
the maximum work done on the system in a
constant-temperature, reversible change. In
terms of the partition function, A = R T In
Z. Like the Gibbs free energy, the Helmholtz
free energy is a thermodynamic potential, al
though the latter term is commonly used to
refer specifically to the Gibbs free energy.
FREE ENERGY CHANGE. The change in
the Gibbs free energy (see free energy (1))
for a chemical reaction, defined as
n

AG = X ) "rffr,
T= 1
where gr is the molar Gibbs free energy of
the rth component in the pure state, under
the same conditions of temperature and pres
sure as those in which the reaction takes
place. vr is the stoichiometric coefficient of
the rth component.
This quantity AG is equal to the maximum
net work available (i.e., work, other than
work of expansion, in a reversible process)
for a given change in state under constant tem
perature and pressure.
(See also standard
free energy increase.)

FREE ENERGY FUNCTION. Used particu

larly in connection with homogeneous gas re
actions. Given by the expressions:
G -

U0

FREE W AVE.

G - H 0

-------------- o r ---------------- ,
T

FREEZE.

where G is the molar Gibbs free energy (see

free energy ( 1 ) ) , and U0 the internal energy
at the absolute zero, which is equal to the
enthalpy at the absolute zero, H 0. The su
perscripts 0 refer to the standard state (for a
gas, 1 atmosphere pressure). These expres
sions are also equal to
Z
R In
N
where R is the gas constant, Z the partition
function of the ideal gas in the standard state,
and N the Avogadro number.
FREE ENERGY INCREASE, STANDARD.
See standard free energy increase.
FREE-FIELD ROOM.
FREE M OLECULAR
Knudsen flow.

See anechoic room.

DIFFUSION.

See

FREE RADICAL. An unsaturated molecu

lar fragment in which some of the valence
electrons remain free, i.e., do not partake in
bonding. Examples are methyl (C H 3-) or
phenyl (C 6H 5-) radicals. Clear experimental
evidence is available of their existence in vari
ous systems (see paramagnetic resonance).
Although their half-life period is of the order
of 1 0 ~ 3 sec in gaseous systems, they may be
trapped for long periods of time in solid sys
tems.
FREE-RUNNING.

See astable.

FREE SURFACE. A phase boundary be

tween two fluids. In hydrostatic equilibrium
such a surface must coincide with a gravita
tional equipotential (neglecting the effects of
surface ten sion ), and its movements about the
equilibrium position are considered in the
theory of surface waves.
FREE VIBRATION.

free movement of the molecules. The con

cept o f free volume is used in several theories
of the liquid state.

See oscillation, free.

FREE VOLUM E. A liquid differs from a

solid having the same type of packing of the
molecules in having a certain additional vol
ume, the free volume, which provides the
necessary looseness in the structure to permit

See wave, free progressive.

T o solidify from the liquid state.

FREEZING CURVE. A plot of the tempera

ture (or of any quantity which is a function of
temperature) against time, obtained as a sub
stance is allowed to cool from above its freez
ing point to below that temperature. Freez
ing curves are used in the calibration of ther
mocouples and other temperature measuring
devices.
FREEZING, MAGNETIC (R ELAY). The
sticking of a relay armature to the core, after
de-energization, due to the residual magnetism
of the core.
FREEZING POINT.
The temperature at
which a liquid becomes a solid. This is not
always identical with the melting point of the
solid, for many mixtures, particularly of fats
and waxes, do not solidify until they have
been cooled several degrees below their melt
ing points. If a liquid be cooled under pres
sure the freezing point rises if the solid is of
higher density than the liquid; if it is of lower
density, as in the case of water, the freezing
point is lowered. Since the freezing point
varies slightly with pressure, the pressure
should be stated in reporting a freezing point.
However, atmospheric pressure is commonly
understood unless otherwise specified.
(See
also liquidus curve; solidus curve.)
FREEZING POINT DEPRESSION, MEAS
UREMENT OF. In the Beckmann method
the freezing point of pure solvent and of solu
tion is measured by a special type thermom
eter, the Beckmann thermometer.
The
solvent or solution is contained in a double
walled glass apparatus and placed in a freez
ing mixture not more than 5C below the
freezing point of the solvent. B y rapid stir
ring when the liquid has supercooled about
y2 crystallization is induced and the tem
perature rises to the freezing point.
In the equilibrium method a relatively large
amount of solvent crystals are allowed to form
and the system allowed to come to equilibrium.
The temperature is recorded and some of the
solution withdrawn and analyzed.
In the R ast method, camphor is used as

solvent. This substance has a very high m o

lar depression constant, and R ast devised a
m icro-m ethod for the determination of m olec
ular weights. M elting points m ay be meas
ured with an ordinary thermometer.
FREEZING POINT, DEPRESSION OF.
The freezing point of a solution is, in gen
eral, lower than that of the pure solvent and
the depression is proportional to the active
mass of the solute. For dilute solutions
AT = K m ,
where AT is the lowering of the freezing point,
K the cryoscopic constant for the given sol
vent, and m the m olality of the solution.
FREEZING POINT, M AXIM UM . A twocomponent or multi-component liquid system
in which, for a particular composition, the
freezing point is higher than that for any
other composition or for the pure components
is said to have a maximum freezing point at
that temperature.
F REGION. The region of the ionosphere
above the E region.
FRENCHICON. Trade name for a cathoderay tube used in navigational systems.
FRENKEL D EFECT.
A lattice vacancy
created by removing an ion from its site and
placing it at an interstitial position within the
lattice.
The equilibrium concentration of
Frenkel defects is
n = CF(N N 'yAe - wl2kT,
where N, N ' are the densities of lattice points
and interstitial positions, W is the work
necessary to make the defect, and Cf is a
numerical factor of the order of 1 0 0 .
FRENKEL - HALSEY - HILL
See adsorption isotherm.

ISOTHERM.

FREQUENCIES, PICTURE. In television,

the frequencies which result solely from scan
ning subject copy. They do not include fre
quencies which are part of a modulated car
rier signal.
FREQUENCY. (1) In general, the number
of repetitions of a periodic process per unit
time, i.e., the inverse of the periodic time. ( 2 )
In electricity, frequency is the number of
complete alternations per second of an alter
nating current. Sixty cycles per second is be

coming the standard frequency for a-c gen

eration in the United States. Elsewhere 25
and 50 cycles per second have some vogue.
In an alternator, the number of alternations
per second of the output is the speed, in revo
lutions per second, multiplied by half of the
number of poles. The number of poles in
alternators is usually 2 or 4 for steam turbinedriven alternators, or 24, 26, 28, 30, 36, 48, or
60 in the case of engine-driven alternators.
(3) In acoustics, the frequency represents the
number of sound waves passing any point of
the sound field per second. (4) In the case of
light or other electromagnetic radiation, fre
quency may be expressed in this same way but
is usually so enormous (500 million million
per second for yellow light) that wavelengths
or wave numbers (reciprocal of wavelength
measured in cm) are ordinarily used instead.
Radio frequencies are commonly given in
thousands of cycles (kilocycles) or millions of
cycles (megacycles) per second. ( 5 ) See fre
quency angular or radian.
FREQUENCY ALLOCATION.
The as
signed carrier-frequency of a radio-trans
mitting station.
FREQUENCY, ALPHA-CUTOFF. The fre
quency at which h/& (alpha) has dropped to
70.7% f its low frequency value.
FREQUENCY, ANGULAR OR RADIAN.
The frequency expressed in radians per sec
ond. It is equal to the frequency in cycles per
second multiplied by 2 tt.
FREQUENCY, ANTIRESONANT. That fre
quency at which the impedance of a given
system (electrical, acoustical, dynamical) is
very high in contradistinction to its reso
nant frequency at which its impedance is very
low. The commonly-used unit is the cycle
per second. In cases where there is a possi
bility of confusion it is necessary to specify
the type of antiresonant frequency, e.g., dis
placement antiresonant frequency or velocity
antiresonant frequency.
(See antiresonance,
displacement, and antiresonance, velocity.)
FREQUENCY, AUDIO. A ny frequency cor
responding to a normally audible sound wave.
Audio frequencies range roughly from 15 to
20,000 cycles per second. The word audio
may be used as a modifier to indicate a de

vice or system intended to operate at audio

frequencies.
FREQUENCY BAND.
(1) The band or
channel of frequencies associated with a car
rier under modulation. ( 2 ) A group of d if
ferent carrier frequencies all designated for
the same purpose. In this sense there may be
many frequency channels within the given
band. Thus the standard AM broadcast band
contains many broadcast channels, each hav
ing its carrier spaced 1 0 kc from the next.
In some types of radio service the only re
striction on the carrier value is that it be
kept within the allocated band.
FREQUENCY BAND OF EMISSION. In
communications, the band of frequencies ef
fectively occupied by that emission, for the
type of transmission and speed of signaling
used.
FREQUENCY BAND NOMENCLATURE.
In accordance with the Atlantic C ity R adio
Convention of 1947, frequencies should be ex
pressed in kilocycles/second at and below
30,000 kilocycles, and in m egacycles/second
above this frequency. The band designations
as decided upon at Atlantic C ity and as later
modified by Comit Consultatif International
R adio Recomm endation No. 142 in 1953 are
as follows

Band
Number

4
5

6
7
8
9

10
11
12

Frequency Range

30
3300
30 3,000
3003,000- 30,000
30 300
3,000
3003,000- 30,000
30,000- 300,000
300,000-3,000,000

kc
kc
kc
kc
me
me
me
me
me

should not be used to describe the range 300

to 3000 me.
In addition to the unofficial bands listed in
the table below, it should be noted that the
term C-band is used to designate a band in
the 5 to 8 kmc region. Also, the designation
u following a band designation, infers the up
per region of that band (i.e., iw-band in the
upper part of the i-ban d).
FREQUENCY, BASIC.
Of an oscillatory
quantity having sinusoidal components with
different frequencies, the frequency o f the
component considered to be the most impor
tant. In a driven system, the basic frequency
would, in general, be the driving frequency,
and in a periodic oscillatory system, it would
be the fundamental frequency.
FREQUENCY, BEAT. When two signals of
different frequencies are applied to a non
linear circuit, they will combine, or beat to
gether, and give, among other components,
one which has a frequency equal to the differ
ence of the two applied frequencies. This
difference frequency is known as the beat fre
quency.
FREQUENCY, BREAK. The frequency at
which an abrupt change in slope occurs
on log-log, asymptotic, frequency-amplitude
characteristic.

Atlantic City
Frequency Subdivision

Metric Subdivision

Myriametric waves
Kilometric waves
Hectometric waves
Decometric waves
Metric waves
Decimetric waves
Centimetric waves
Millimetric waves
Decimillimetric waves

N ote that band N extends from 0.3 X 10*

to 3 X 10* cy ; thus band 4 designates the
frequency range 0.3 X 104 to 3 X 1 0 4 cy. The
upper limit is included in each band; the lower
limit is excluded.
Description of bands by means of adjectives
is arbitrary and the C C IR recommends that
it be discontinued, e.g., ultra-high frequency

VLF
LF
MF
HF
VHF
UHF
SHF
EHF

Very-low frequency
Low frequency
Medium frequency
High frequency
Very-high frequency
Ultra-high frequency
Super-high frequency
Extremely-high frequency

FREQUENCY, CARRIER. In a periodic car

rier, the reciprocal of its period. The fre
quency of a periodic pulse carrier often is
called the pulse-repetition frequency (prf).
FREQUENCY, CENTER. ( 1 ) The average
frequency of the emitted wave when modu
lated by a sinusoidal signal.
( 2 ) The fre

quency of the emitted wave without modula

tion.
FREQUENCY CHANGER. W herever there
is to be an interchange of electrical energy be
tween two systems which operate at different
frequencies, the tie together must be through
the medium of a frequency changer, since it
is impossible to have two units, e.g., alterna
tors, electrically connected to the same line
operating at different frequencies. The one
operating at higher frequency will tend to
motor the other, and take unto itself enough
of the load so that through the slowing down
of it, and the speeding up of the slower, their
frequencies will coincide. The simplest plan
for connection of two such systems, and the
one usually employed, is to couple, mechani
cally, two rotating machines of the synchro
nous motor or generator type, which have,
respectively, the correct number of electrical
poles to permit one to operate at the frequency
of one system, while the other is at the fre
quency of the other system, both, of course,
having the same rotative speed. This is rela
tively simple in the case of the drawing of
power, say, from a 60-cycle system to supply
energy for 25-cycle use, but has serious dis
advantages as a means of interconnecting two
power systems of different frequency, each
having considerable amount of generating
equipment. A ny slight alteration in the rela
tive frequencies of these two systems results
in heavy fluctuations of the frequency changer
load, and necessitates the employment of ex
tremely large and bulky frequency changers.
Nevertheless, this is the system usually em
ployed. Fortunately, the necessity for such
frequency changing is rare in this country at
the present time.
(See also multiplier, fre
quency; divider, frequency.)
FREQUENCY CHANNEL.
The band of
frequencies which is associated with a, single
unit of intelligence in a communications sys
tem. Thus it applies to the band of frequen
cies radiated by a broadcast station, or to the
band of frequencies which must be handled by
a carrier system to handle a single conversa
tion. In the various systems the application
of intelligence to a given frequency will gen
erate certain other frequencies which are then
associated with the original in some manner
to convey the intelligence to the receiver.
This band of frequencies then determines the

response characteristics which the receiver

(or other units of the system) must have for
satisfactory results.
Thus in conventional
broadcasting the various stations use channels
about 10 kc wide; in frequency modulation
the present channel is about 2 0 0 k c ; in televi
sion it is 5 or 6 m egacycles; in carrier teleph
ony it is only about 3 kc.
(See also radio
communication; frequency channel.)
FREQUENCY, COMPLEX. In systems hav
ing a time dependence described by e lcoi, co
may be either real, imaginary, or complex. If
it is real, the quantity e l<at is periodic in time.
When oj is complex, however, the exponent may
be written as i(u rt + io)i)t = io)rt corf, where
o)r is the real part, and co* the imaginary part
of co, the radian frequency. The quantity is
then damped, with a logarithmic decrement
2wo)i/o)r.
FREQUENCY
CONVERSION
TRANS
DUCER. See transducer, conversion; trans
ducer, heterodyne conversion.
FREQUENCY CONVERTER.
ducer, conversion; transducer,
conversion.
FREQUENCY-CONVERTER
tube, mixer.

See trans
heterodyne

TUBE.

See

FREQUENCY,
CRITICAL
(ELECTRO
MAGNETIC W AVE).
The limiting fre
quency below which a magneto-ionic wave
component is reflected by, and above which
it penetrates through, an ionospheric layer at
vertical incidence.
FREQUENCY, CRITICAL, RECTIFIER.
The frequency at which the real part of the
rectifier impedance has fallen to half its lowfrequency value.
FREQUENCY, CRITICAL, THERMISTOR.
That frequency at which the dynamic or a-c
impedance of the thermistor becomes zero.
FREQUENCY, CROSSOVER.
( 1 ) As ap
plied to electric dividing networks, the fre
quency at which equal electrical power is de
livered to each of the adjacent frequency
channels when all the channels are terminated
in the loads specified. ( 2 ) The transition fre
quency in a two-channel loudspeaker system
at which the low (woofer) and high (tweeter)
frequency units deliver equal power.

FREQUENCY, CUTOFF (CUTOFF).

(1)
Of a transducer, either a theoretical cutoff
frequency or an effective cutoff frequency
(see cutoff frequency, effective and cutoff
frequency, theoretical). ( 2 ) Of a wave filter,
the frequency at which the attenuation begins
to increase sharply. In the ideal filter, the
attenuation would go to infinity at the cutoff
frequency, but in a practical filter the rise in
attenuation is not so abrupt, and never reaches
infinity, but does usually go to a very high
value. (3) F or a given transmission mode in
a non-dissipative, uniconductor waveguide,
the frequency below which the propagation
constant is real.
FREQUENCY, CUTOFF, ABSOLUTE. The
lowest frequency at which a (lossless) wave
guide will propagate energy without attenua
tion,
FREQUENCY, CUTOFF, EFFECTIVE (EF
FECTIVE CUTOFF). A frequency at which
the insertion loss of a transducer between
specified terminating impedances exceeds by
some specified amount the loss at some refer
ence point in the transmission band.
FREQUENCY, CUTOFF, THEORETICAL
(THEORETICAL CUTOFF). A frequency
at which, disregarding the effects of dissipa
tion, the image attenuation constant of a
transducer changes from zero to a positive
value, or vice versa.
FREQUENCY DEPARTURE. The amount
of variation of a carrier frequency or center
frequency from its assigned value. The term
frequency deviation, which has been used
for this meaning, is in conflict with this essen
tial term as applied to phase and frequency
m odulation
(see modulation, phase and
modulation, frequency) and is, therefore, to
be avoided for use in the above sense.
FREQUENCY D EVIATION.
frequency.

See deviation,

FREQUENCY DISCRIMINATOR.
criminator.

See dis

FREQUENCY DISTORTION.
See distor
tion, frequency; distortion, amplitude fre
quency.
FREQUENCY DIVIDER.
quency.

See divider, fre

FREQUENCY DIVISION.
quency.

See division, fre

FREQUENCY DOUBLER. A device deliv

ering output voltage at a frequency that is
twice the input frequency.
FREQUENCY DRIFT. The change in fre
quency of an oscillator as a function of time.
The change may be due to changes in tem
perature, supply voltages, humidity, or physi
cal dimensions caused by wear.
FREQUENCY, FIELD. The repetition rate
of the field of a cathode-ray tube, which in
present television system is 60 per second
and is twice the frame frequency.
FREQUENCY
quency.

FILTER.

See

filter,

fre

FREQUENCY, FRAME. In television, the

number of times per second the picture area
is com pletely scanned.
FREQUENCY, FREE-RUNNING. The fre
quency at which an oscillator operates in the
absence of a synchronizing signal.
FREQUENCY, FROGGING.
The inter
changing of the frequency allocations of car
rier channels to prevent singing, reduce cross
talk, and to correct for line slope. It is ac
complished by having the modulators in a
repeater translate a low-frequency group to a
high-frequency group, and vice-versa. B e
cause of this frequency inversion process, a
channel will appear in the low group for one
repeater section and will then be translated
to the high group for the next section. This
results in nearly constant attenuation with
frequency over two successive repeater sec
tions, and eliminates the need for large slope
equalization and adjustment. Also, singing
and crosstalk are minimized because the high
level output of a repeater is at a different fre
quency than the low level input to other re
peaters.
FREQUENCY, FUNDAMENTAL. (1) The
lowest possible frequency of vibration of a
system characterized by normal modes of v i
bration (for example, a vibrating string or
organ pipe). (See wave, stationary.)
(2 )

Otherwise stated as the greatest common

divisor of the component frequencies of a
periodic wave or quantity. (3) Of a periodic
quantity, the frequency of a sinusoidal quan

(See also scanning, inter

tity which has the same frequency as the pe

riodic quantity.

successive scans.
laced.)

FREQUENCY HARMONICS. The permis

sible characteristic frequencies of a vibrating
system subject to boundary restrictions (for
example, a stretched string fastened rigidly
at both ends, an organ pipe open at both ends,
etc.). The lowest permissible frequency is
called the fundamental. The higher frequen
cies are called the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., har
monics. The fundamental is ordinarily re
ferred to as the first harmonic.
(See over
tone.)

FREQUENCY, INTERMEDIATE.
tries under intermediate frequency.

FREQUENCY, HORIZONTAL LINE.

In
television, the number of horizontal lines per
second: 15,750.
FREQUENCY-HYSTERESIS. An effect pro
duced by coupling an oscillator to a load
through a transmission line very long in com
parison to a wavelength.
(See long-line ef
fect.)
FREQUENCY, IMAGE. In heterodyne frequency-converters in which one of the two
sidebands produced by beating is selected, an
undesired input frequency capable of produc
ing the selected frequency by the same process.
The word image implies the mirror-like
symmetry of signal and image frequencies
about the beating oscillator frequency or the
intermediate frequency, whichever is the
higher.
FREQUENCY, INFRASONIC (SUBSONIC
FREQUENCY). A frequency lying below the
audio-frequency range. (See frequency, au
dio.) The word infrasonic may be used as
a modifier to indicate a device or system in
tended to operate at infrasonic frequencies.
FREQUENCY, INSTANTANEOUS.
The
time rate of change of the angle of a wave
which is a function of time. If the angle is
measured in radians, the frequency in cycles
is the time rate of change of the angle divided
by 2 ?r.
FREQUENCY INTERLACE. In television,
the relationship of intermeshing between the
frequency spectrum of an essentially periodic
interfering signal and the spectrum of har
monics of the scanning frequencies, which rela
tionship minimizes the visibility of the inter
fering pattern by altering its appearance on

FREQUENCY KEYING.
source frequency.

See en

See keying, two-

FREQUENCY, LANGMUIR.
plasma.

See frequency,

FREQUENCY, LINE. In television, the num

ber of times per second that a fixed vertical
line in the picture is crossed in one direction
by the scanning spot. Scanning during verti
cal return intervals is counted.
FREQUENCY, SCANNING, LINE. The rate
at which the lines or sections of an image are
scanned. Present standards set the rate at
525 horizontal lines for each % 0 of a second,
or 15,750 per second.
FREQUENCY, LOWEST-USEFUL HIGH.
The lowest high frequency effective at a speci
fied time for ionospheric propagation of ratio
waves between two specified points. This is
determined by factors such as absorption,
transmitter power, antenna gain, receiver
characteristics, type of service, and noise
conditions.
F R E Q U E N C Y , M A X IM U M
K E Y IN G
(F U N D A M E N T A L S C A N N IN G F R E
QUENCY).
The frequency in cycles per
second numerically equal to the spot speed
divided by twice the scanning spot X dimen
sion.
FREQUENCY, M AXIM UM MODULATING.
The highest picture frequency required for
the facsimile transmission system. The maxi
mum modulating frequency and the maximum
keying frequency are not necessarily equal.
FREQUENCY, M AXIM UM USABLE. The
upper limit of the frequencies that can be used
at a specified time for radio transmission be
tween two points and involving propagation
by reflection from the regular ionized layers
of the ionosphere. Higher frequencies may
be transmitted by sporadic and scattered re
flections.
FREQUENCY MEMORY.
quency.

See memory, fre

FREQUENCY METER. M ost modern fre

quency meters for radio use are not instru
ments in the usual sense but are really several
instruments and associated apparatus. The
old absorption type wavemeter might be
called a single instrument, but it is not used
except for rough measurements. It consists
of a coil and condenser in series with some
sort of indicator. M odern precision measure
ment of frequency utilizes a comparison proc
ess. The fundamental for this is the rotation
of the earth. H igh-grade crystal oscillators
are used to generate medium values of radio
frequency, the output being compared with
the rotation of the earth b y synchronous
clocks or b y comparison with another oscil
lator which is so checked. Associated with
this oscillator are various multi-vibrator oscil
lators serving as frequency dividers to give an
extensive series of accurately known frequen
cies. The frequency to be measured is com
pared with the closest of these known fre
quencies by heterodyning and the resultant
difference frequency (an audio frequency)
determined in one of several ways.
(See
heterodyne.) V ery high frequencies are meas
ured by exciting standing waves on an open
or shorted transmission line and measuring
the linear distance between nodes or anti
nodes of these waves. The frequency is then
obtained by dividing the velocity (3 X 1010
cm /sec) by the wavelengths in centimeters.
F or very accurate measurements several cor
rections must be applied to this method but
it is sufficiently accurate for many purposes
without the corrections. (See Lecher wires.)
A common frequency-measuring instrument
used for commercial power circuits is the v i
brating reed instrument.
This consists of
many reeds, each tuned to a different fre
quency (com m only a half-cycle apart), which
are set in vibration by the alternating flux of
a solenoid connected across the circuit to be
measured.
Another and more accurate frequency-m eas
uring instrument for commercial circuits de
pends for its operation upon the effect on the
m oving element of the currents in two shunt
circuits. One of these contains inductance
and the other capacitance, so the effect of a
change in frequency is opposite in the two
circuits. Since they are connected across the
circuit to be measured their currents change

with frequency and hence the moving element

is deflected. (See also monitor, frequency.)
FREQUENCY METER, ABSORPTION. A
device which utilizes the characteristics of a
resonator which cause it to absorb maximum
energy at its resonance frequency when
loosely coupled to a source. The absorption
wavemeter consists of some form of calibrated
resonator, a device for detecting resonator en
ergy (voltage, current), and some means of
lightly-coupling the wavemeter to the un
known source. The measurement process con
sists of providing coupling, adjustment of
resonator for maximum energy-indication, and
observation of the point at which the cali
brated resonator is set, which will be an indi
cation of the unknown frequency.
FREQUENCY
METER,
CAVITY
RES
ONATOR. A cavity resonator used to deter
mine frequency of an electromagnetic wave.
(See also frequency meter, absorption.)
FREQUENCY METER, HETERODYNE. A
frequency measuring device which compares
the unknown frequency with a calibrated fre
quency standard in a beatnote detector cir
cuit.
FREQUENCY M ODULATION (FM). Angle
modulation (see modulation, angle) of a sinewave carrier in which the instantaneous fre
quency of the modulated wave differs from
the carrier frequency by an amount propor
tional to the instantaneous value of the m od
ulating wave. Combinations of phase and
frequency modulation are commonly referred
to as frequency modulation.
FREQUENCY - M ODULATION
BROAD
CAST BAND. The band of frequencies ex
tending from 8 8 to 108 megacycles, which in
cludes those assigned to non-commercial edu
cational broadcasting.
FREQUENCY - MODULATION
BROAD
CAST CHANNELS. A band of frequencies
2 0 0 kilocycles wide, designated by its center
frequency. Channels for F M broadcast sta
tions begin at 8 8 .1 megacycles and continue
in successive steps of 2 0 0 kilocycles to and
including 107.9 megacycles.
FREQUENCY - M ODULATION
BROAD
CAST STATION. A station employing fre
quency modulation (see modulation, fre

quency) in the F M broadcast band and li

censed primarily for the transmission of radio
telephone emissions intended to be received
by the general public.
FREQUENCY - M ODULATION
UNIT. See exciter.

EXCITER

FREQUENCY M ODULATION, G.E. SYS

TEM.
A system which accomplishes fre
quency modulation with a special tube called
a phasitron. (See tube, phasitron.)

frequency (usually designated F m). It will

be noted that the amplitude becomes zero at
several points. The first point at which this
occurs (when the audio-modulating voltage is
increased upward from zero) is at the point
where the modulation index equals 2.405.
If we can identify this point, and if we know
the modulating frequency, we can figure how
much frequency swing is occurring, because:
Modulation index = 2.405 = Fd/Fm.
Hence

FREQUENCY-MODULATION MEASURE
MENTS BY BESSEL-ZERO M ETHOD.
The Bessel-Zero method of measurement of
the frequency deviation and audio-frequency
response of an F M transmission is based on
the fact that the amplitude of the center-frequency component of the energy emitted from
an F M transmitter varies as the amplitude or
frequency of the audio-modulating signal is
changed. Thus, if the frequency of the m od
ulation is held constant and the amplitude
varied, the amount of energy radiated at the
center or carrier frequency will vary through
wide limits. The reason for this variation is
that the modulation energy is distributed over
the frequency spectrum; diversion of energy
to side current frequencies takes centerfrequency power.
These variations in the
center-frequency power can be calculated by
means of Bessel functions. Ordinarily, they
are plotted as a curve of amplitude against
modulation index as shown below. The

F d = 2.405Fm.
FREQUENCY-MODULATION MONITOR.
See monitor, frequency-modulation.
FREQUENCY - M ODULATION
See pickup, frequency-modulation.

PICKUP,

FREQUENCY - MODULATION PRODUC

TION BY ARMSTRONG METHOD.
A
phase-shift modulation system developed by
E. H. Armstrong, which modulates a carrier
at very low level and frequency. The de
sired carrier-frequency and deviation-ratio are
achieved by passing the signal through sev
eral frequency-multiplier amplifier stages.
The low-level modulation is achieved by the
use of a balanced modulator (see modulator,
balanced) which has a quadrature carrier re
inserted in its output.
FREQUENCY - MODULATION PRODUC
TION BY REACTANCE TUBE METHOD.
See reactance tube.
FREQUENCY-MODULATION, WESTINGHOUSE FREQUENCY CONTROL CIR
CUIT. A pulse-controlled, frequency-modulation system.
FREQUENCY MONITOR.
quency; frequency meter.

Diagram showing the Bessel-Zero points may be

found. As level of audio input is increased, the
amplitude of the center frequency decreases and be
comes zero when F d/Fm = 2.405, 5.52, etc. (By per
mission from The Radio Manual by Sterling and
Monroe, 4th Ed., Copyright, 1950, D. Van Nostrand
C o , Inc.)

modulation index, which is the abscissa, of

the curve, is the ratio of the frequency swing
(usually designated Fa) to the modulating

See monitor, fre

FREQUENCY MULTIPLIER.
See multi
plier, frequency; transducer, harmonic con
version.
FREQUENCY, NATURAL. Of a body or
system, a frequency of free oscillation. (See
oscillation, free.) This term is commonly ap
plied to coils and antennas in communication
circuits. In the former it designates the fre
quency at which the inductance of the coil
and its distributed capacity produce reso
nance. Referred to the antenna, it means

the lowest frequency at which there will be

a standing wave on the antenna.
FREQUENCY, NATURAL (CIRCUIT). A
simple tuned-circuit will respond to an im
pulse by ringing, or produce an exponentiallydecaying, sinusoidal oscillation.
The fre
quency of this oscillation is the natural fre
quency of the circuit. It is given by
, _
H
2 tt \ LC

Z .
4L 2

for a circuit composed of a resistance R , an

inductance L and a capacitance C, all con
nected in series. Circuits of greater com plex
ity m ay often be reduced to an equivalent
series circuit, although some may have more
than one natural frequency and hence con
stitute coupled oscillators.
(See oscillations
in electric circuits; oscillation, damped elec
tric.)
FREQUENCY OF AM PLITUDE RESO
NANCE. The frequency of maximum ampli
tude of an oscillator.
FREQUENCY OF A PERIODIC QUAN
TITY. The frequency of a periodic quantity
in which time is the independent variable,
is the number of periods occurring in unit
time. If a periodic quantity, y , is a function
of the time, t> such that
V = / ( 0 = A 0 + A x sin (cot + ai)
+ A 2 sin ( 2 cot + a2) + ,
then the frequency is u /2t . Unless otherwise
specified, the unit is the cycle per second.
FREQUENCY OF ENERGY RESONANCE.
For a forced harmonic oscillator the frequency
for which the velocity and the energy dissipa
tion of the system are maxima is given by

1
^

Ik

2w \ m

where k is the stiffness and m is the effective

mass. (See oscillation, forced.)
FREQUENCY OF M AXIM UM AMPLI
TUDE OSCILLATION.
See oscillation,
forced.
FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION.
oscillation, frequency of.

See

FREQUENCY, OPERATING (RELAY). The

rated a-c frequency of the supply voltage at
which the relay coil is designed to operate.
FREQUENCY, OPTIMUM WORKING. The
most effective frequency at a specified time
for ionospheric propagation of radio waves
between two special points. In predictions
of useful frequencies, the optimum working
frequency is com monly taken as 15 per cent
below the monthly median value of the maxi
mum usable frequency (see frequency, maxi
mum usable), for the specified time and path.
FREQUENCY OVERLAP.
quency.
FREQUENCY, PILOT.

See overlap, fre

See channel, pilot.

FREQUENCY, PLASMA (LANGMUIR FRE

QUENCY). A characteristic frequency of a
plasma defined by
47me2\ 1/2
m

where n is the electron density, m the electron

mass, and e the electronic charge.
FREQUENCY PULLING.
quency; pulling figure.

See pulling, fre

FREQUENCY PULSING.
A phenomenon
sometimes found in oscillators in which two
likely frequencies of oscillation exist. As the
oscillation at one frequency builds up, the
electronic admittance developed by the tube
m ay change in such a manner as to cause an
oscillation at the second frequency to start
building up which, in turn, may cause the first
oscillation to cease. The oscillator may alter
nate between the two oscillation frequencies,
or both may exist simultaneously.
FREQUENCY
figure.

PUSHING.

See

pushing

FREQUENCY, QUENCHING.
The fre
quency of the local quenching oscillator (see
oscillator, quenching) of a superregenerative
receiver.
FREQUENCY RANGE (OF A D EVICE).
The range of frequencies over which the de
vice may be considered useful with various
circuit and operating conditions. Frequency
range should be distinguished from bandwidth,
which is a measure of useful range with fixed
circuits and operating conditions.

FREQUENCY RECORD.
quency.

See record, fre

FREQUENCY, RECORDING
speed, stroke.

LINE.

See

FREQUENCY, REPETITION. See repetition

rate.
FREQUENCY, RESONANCE, OF A CA
PACITOR. A (physical) capacitor possesses
not only capacitance, but also inductance and
resistance. A t high frequencies, the inductance
of the terminal leads becomes important, and
results in series resonance at some frequency.
Similarly, an inductor (or a resistor) may
exhibit a resonance because of its distributed
capacitance (and inductance).
FREQUENCY, RESONANT. (1) For a gen
eral discussion of resonance frequency, see
forced oscillations.
(2) A frequency for
which some measure of the response of a cir
cuit element is maximum (or minimum).
Thus amplitude resonance occurs at that fre
quency for which a given amplitude stimulus
yields a maximum amplitude response, phase
resonance occurs when the response is in phase
with the stimulus (i.e., at the frequency yield
ing zero reactance), and period resonance o c
curs when the driving-force frequency is the
natural frequency o f the circuit element. (3)
The frequency of a mode of elastic vibration
of a crystal such as quartz, which is coupled
through the piezoelectric effect to an elec
trical system.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE. The range of
frequencies passed with an allowable loss by
a circuit or device, such as an audio ampli
fier, a microphone or a loudspeaker.
FREQUENCY RESPONSE CHARACTER
ISTICS OF THE EAR. The various response
characteristics of the ear which depend on
frequency.
These include loudness, pitch,
masking, non-linearity of the ear, vibrato,
timbre, auditory localization, and minimum
perceptible difference.

FREQUENCY,
stroke.

SCANNING.

See

speed,

FREQUENCY SENSITIVITY.
effect.

See long-line

FREQUENCY SEPARATOR.
frequency.

See separator,

FREQUENCY-SHIFT KEYING.
frequency-shift.
FREQUENCY SHIFT, SIGNAL.
frequency shift.
FREQUENCY, SIDE.
of a sideband.
FREQUENCY
frequency.

See keying,
See signal

One of the frequencies

STABILITY.

See stability,

FREQUENCY STABILIZATION. The proc

ess of controlling the center frequency so that
it differs from that of a reference source by
not more than a prescribed amount.
FREQUENCY STANDARD.
frequency.

See standard,

FREQUENCY, SUBSONIC.
infrasonic.

See frequency,

FREQUENCY, SUPERSONIC.
quency, ultrasonic.

See

fre

FREQUENCY, SWEEP. The rate at which

a complete sweeping cycle occurs.
(See
sweep.)
FREQUENCY SWING. In frequency modu
lation the peak difference between the maxi
mum and the minimum values of the in
stantaneous frequency.
(See deviation, fre
quency.)
FREQUENCY TOLERANCE OF A RADIO
TRANSMITTER. The extent to which the
carrier frequency of a transmitter m ay be
permitted to depart from the frequency as
signed.

FREQUENCY - RESPONSE
EQUALIZA
TION. See equalization, frequency-response.

FREQUENCY TRANSFER UNITS. A de

vice consisting of a heterodyne frequency
meter (with harmonic generating circuits) and
a heterodyne detector which is utilized in
transferring an unknown frequency for meas
urement against a frequency standard.

FREQUENCY, RESTING. The center fre

quency or carrier frequency of a frequencymodulation transmitter.

FREQUENCY, TRANSITION (CROSSOVER

FREQUENCY). Of a disk recording system,
the frequency corresponding to the point o f

intersection of the asymptotes to the constant

amplitude and the constant velocity portions
of its frequency response curve. This curve
is plotted with output voltage ratio in deci
bels as the ordinate and the logarithm of the
frequency as the abscissa.
FREQUENCY TRANSLATION.
Often in
communication circuits it is desirable to move
a frequency channel bodily to another part
o f the spectrum. This process is frequency
translation and is performed by beating the
frequencies to be moved with another fixed
frequency.
The sum or difference of the
original frequencies and the beating frequency
then gives the same channel at another point
in the spectrum and b y the proper choice of
the beating frequency this new location can
be fixed as desired.
FREQUENCY TRIPLER. A device deliver
ing output voltage at a frequency that is three
times the input frequency.
FREQUENCY, ULTRAHIGH. The band of
frequencies between 300 and 3000 megacycles
per second.
FREQUENCY,
ULTRASONIC
(SUPER
SONIC FREQUENCY). A frequency lying
above the audio frequency range. (See fre
quency, audio.) The term is com m only ap
plied to elastic waves propagated in gases,
liquids, or solids. The word ultrasonic may
be used as a modifier to indicate a device or
system intended to operate at ultrasonic fre
quencies. The use of supersonic in this sense
is deprecated, this modifier being used in con
nection with speeds higher than that of sound.
FREQUENCY, VERY HIGH. The band of
frequencies between 30 and 300 megacycles
per second.
FREQUENCY, VERY L O W . The band of
frequencies between 10 and 30 kilocycles per
second.
FREQUENCY, W A V E . In the case of har
monic waves the frequency is the number of
wave crests which pass any given point in
space in unit time. It is the reciprocal of the
period.
FRESNEL. A unit of frequency equal to 1012
cycles per second.

FRESNEL-ARAGON, LAW (S) OF. ( 1 ) Tw o

rays of light polarized in the same plane in
terfere in the same manner as ordinary light.
( 2 ) Tw o rays polarized at right angles do not
interfere.
( 3 ) Tw o rays polarized at right
angles from ordinary light and brought into
the same plane of polarization, do not inter
fere in the ordinary sense.
(4) Tw o rays
polarized at right angles (obtained from plane
polarized light) interfere when brought into
the same plane o f polarization.
FRESNEL
biprism.

BIPRISM.

See

prism, Fresnel

FRESNEL COEFFICIENT OF DRAG. The

ratio, according to Fresnel, of the velocity of
the ether in a m oving transparent medium to
the velocity of the medium itself. Supposed
to have the value 1 (l/ n 2) where n is the
refractive index of the medium. Experimen
tally verified by the Airy experiment, but the
explanation today rests on relativity theory
rather than ether drag. (See also Fizeau ex
periment.)
FRESNEL DIFFRACTION. ( 1 ) The radia
tion field transmitted through an aperture in
an absorbing screen at distances large com
pared to the wavelength, and to the dimen
sions of the aperture, and yet small enough to
require consideration of the effect of the phasedifferences between secondary wavelets, even
along the normal to the screen. (See Fraun
hofer region, Fresnel region.)
( 2 ) The dif
fraction effect obtained when either the source
of the radiation or the observing screen or
both are at a finite distance from the diffract
ing aperture or obstacle, that is, the wave
fronts are spherical rather than plane as in
the case of Fraunhofer diffraction.
FRESNEL EQUATIONS. Equations giving
the intensity in each of the two polarization
components of light in a less dense medium
reflected or transmitted (refracted) at the sur
face of a more dense transparent medium. In
the equations as given below, i is the angle of
incidence, r, the angle of reflection, I 0, the in
tensity of the incident light, and / , the inten
sity of the reflected light.
Vibrations normal to the plane of the inci
dent and reflected beams:
/

sin 2 (i r)

I0

sin2 (i + r)

Vibrations in the plane of the incident and

reflected beams:
I

tan 2 (i r)

I0

tan 2 (i + r)

These may be com bined for normal incidence

into the more familiar equation

for air as one medium.

The corresponding equations for the trans
mitted intensity, I t, are obtained b y setting

FRESNEL EQUATIONS FOR M ETALLIC

REFLECTION. F or strongly absorbing m a
terials like metals, the index of refraction n
of the simple Fresnel equation, should be re
placed by its complex form

n = n (l in),
where k is the absorption index. Introducing
this and multiplying b y the complex conju
gate gives for the reflection coefficient

(n l ) 2 +

u2k2

(n + l ) 2 + n2K2

flection from the two mirrors will show inter

ference bands in the region where the light
reflected from one mirror overlaps the light
reflected from the other mirror. (See R obert
son, Introduction to Optics} 4th ed., page 150,
D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)
FRESNEL REGION. In antenna terminol
ogy, the region between the antenna and the
Fraunhofer region. If the antenna has a welldefined aperture D in a given aspect, the
Fresnel region in that aspect is commonly
taken to extend a distance 2 D 2/\ in that
aspect, X being the wavelength.
(See also
Fresnel diffraction.)
FRESNEL RHOMB. A glass rhomb with
acute angles o f about 55 degrees. Planepolarized light incident normally upon an end
of the rhomb, with plane of vibration making
an angle of 45 degrees to an edge of the rhomb,
will emerge from the opposite end circularlypolarized.
This is essentially true for all
wavelengths, since the effect is the result of
internal total reflection.
FRESNEL ZONES. The zones discussed in
diffraction, half-period elements.
FREUNDLICH
ADSORPTION
THERM. See adsorption isotherm.

ISO

FRICTION. The resistance offered to the

motion o f one body upon or through another.

N ote that when k is very large, the reflection

coefficient is nearly unity.

FRICTIONAL ELECTRICITY.
electrification.

FRESNEL INTEGRAL. I f the error func

tion, for real values of the variable , is sepa
rated into real and imaginary parts,

FRICTION, ANGLE OF. The angle whose

tangent is equal to the coefficient o f static
friction. (See friction, coefficient of static.)

1 erf (0 = C(t) - iS(t).

(1 + i)

The resulting real functions are the Fresnel

integrals:

r1 wx2

C(t) = I cos dx,

Jo

r 1

2
ttx2

S(t) = I sin dx.

Jo

(See also Cornu spiral.)

FRESNEL MIRRORS. T w o plane mirrors
almost, but not quite, in the same plane.
Light from a point source or slit after re

FRICTION BEARING.
of.

See tribo-

See bearings, types

FRICTION, COEFFICENT OF DYNAM

ICAL. A quantity, defined for Brownian mo
tion, which gives the rate at which particles
in a velocity distribution slow down a test
particle due to collisions. It is used in deriv
ing the diffusion coefficients in gases and
plasmas.
FRICTION, COEFFICIENT OF KINETIC
(SLIDING). For two surfaces, the ratio o f
the tangential force which is required to sus
tain motion without acceleration of one sur
face with respect to the other, to the normal
force which presses the two surfaces together.

It is generally less than coefficient of static

friction.
FRICTION, COEFFICIENT OF STATIC.
For two surfaces, the ratio of the maximum
tangential force which is required initially to
produce motion of one surface with respect
to the other, to the normal force which presses
the two surfaces together. It is generally
greater than coefficient of kinetic friction.
(See friction, coefficient of kinetic.)
FRICTION, CONE OF. A conical surface
which always contains the resultant of the
force of friction between two surfaces and the
normal force pressing the two surfaces to
gether. The half angle at the apex of the
cone is equal to the angle of friction. (See
friction, angle of.)
FRICTION LAYER. The lower layer of air,
below the free atmosphere, where friction
with the earths surface affects its flow. D e
pending upon conditions, its thickness is usu
ally from 1500 to 3000 feet.
FRICTION, M ECHANICAL.
The chief
causes of friction are the interlocking of the
minute irregularities on the rubbing surfaces,
adhesion between the surfaces, and the in
dentation of the softer by the harder body.
Friction between solid bodies may be classified
as sliding and rolling. The laws of sliding
friction were investigated by Coulomb, who
found that, approximately and within limits,
( 1 ) the friction between two surfaces is
slightly greater just before motion begins than
when the surfaces are in steady relative m o
tion; ( 2 ) the friction is proportional to the
force pressing the surfaces together; (3) it is
independent of the area of contact, and (ex
cept at start) of the speed of relative motion.
The constant ratio of the friction to the force
pressing the surfaces together is called the
coefficient o f friction, some typical values o f
which are as follow s:
D ry wood on dry w ood............ .0.35
Leather on m etal....................... 0.55
Iron on stone..............................0.50
W ood on stone........................... 0.40
Stone on stone or brick............ .0.65
Well-oiled metals....................... .0.05

B y means of such coefficients, it is possible

to calculate what the friction will be between
two bodies, as a wooden sill on a stone founda

tion, when the force pressing them together is

given.
The tangent of the angle at which a plane
surface must be inclined for a solid block to
slide steadily down it is the coefficient of slid
ing friction between plane and block. Lubri
cation greatly reduces the coefficient by sepa
rating the solid surfaces. Rolling friction, due
to the indentation of the surfaces in rolling
contact, is much less than sliding friction, as
illustrated by the use o f ball-bearings. The
viscosity of liquids and gases is sometimes
called internal friction, as is the dissipation
o f energy in a vibrating solid.
FRICTION, SLIDING.
cient of kinetic.

See friction, coeffi

FRICTION, STATIC. See friction, coefficient

of static.
FRIEDEL LA W . In electron or x-ray dif
fraction patterns from crystals, the effect of
an apparent center of symmetry appears,
even though the crystal may have no center of
symmetry.
FRINGES,
fringes.

HAIDINGER.

See

Haidinger

FRINGES OF EQUAL INCLINATION.

Haidinger fringes.
FRINGE SHIFTS.
ferometer.
FRINGING, COLOR.

See

Michelson

See
inter

See color fringing.

FROGGING, FREQUENCY.
frogging.

See frequency

FROHLICH-BARDEEN THEORY (1955).

An attempt to explain superconductivity in
terms of the interaction between the conduc
tion electrons and the lattice vibrations of the
metal, as suggested by the isotope effect. (See
Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieifer theory. )
FRONT, COLD. A front along which colder
air replaces warmer.
FRONT, FRONTOGENESIS, AND FRON
TOLYSIS. Surfaces of discontinuity between
air masses are called frontal surfaces. The
intersections of these frontal surfaces with the
surface of the earth are called fronts. Frontal
surfaces are also loosely spoken of as fronts.
Actually the discontinuity usually extends
through a varying zone of transition which

is known as the frontal zone. B y convention

the exact frontal surface is taken as the
boundary between the warm air and the
frontal zone. Frontogenesis is the formation
or intensification of a frontal surface. Frontolysis is the disintegration or weakening of a
frontal surface. Practically all frontal zones
have clouds associated with them. Some are
accompanied b y precipitation. A great per
centage of temperate-zone precipitation and
weather is directly the result of frontal ac
tivity.
FRONT, INTERTROPICAL. The boundary
between the trade wind system of the north
ern and southern hemispheres. It manifests
itself as a fairly broad zone of transition com
monly known as the doldrums.
FRONT, OCCLUD ED . A front along which
a cold front overtakes a warm front.
(See
also occlusion.)
FRONT PORCH. In television, that portion
o f a composite picture signal which lies be
tween the leading edge of the horizontal blank
ing pulse, and the leading edge of the corre
sponding sync pulse.
FRONT, QUASI-STATIONARY. The ideal
stationary front is seldom found in nature, but
it often occurs that the frontal movement is
such that no appreciable displacement takes
place. The front is then said to be quasistationary.
FRONT, SECONDARY. A second front of
similar nature to and following fairly closely
behind a primary front. A disturbance con
nected therewith is called a secondary dis
turbance.
FRONT, STATIONARY. A front along which
one air mass does not replace the other.
FRONT-TO-REAR RATIO. In antenna ter
minology, the ratio of the effectiveness of a
directional antenna (see antenna, directional)
toward the front and toward the rear.
FRONT, W ARM .
A front
warmer air replaces colder.
FROTH.

along

which

A gas-in-liquid dispersion.

FROUDE NUMBER. The flow of an inviscid, incompressible fluid in two geom et

rically similar flow systems is dynamically
similar if the Froude number of the two sys

tems is the same. The number is defined as

V / (g l)1/2, where V is the velocity scale and I
the length scale o f the system considered, and
g is the acceleration due to gravity. This
criterion is only relevant if a free surface is
present. N aval architects use an equivalent
parameter, the speed-length ratio, defined as
the quotient of the speed of the ship (or ship
model) in knots divided by the square root of
the length in feet.
FROZEN-IN FIELDS.
In hydromagnetic
theory, if a fluid that has negligible electrical
resistance is in motion and contains a mag
netic field, the behavior of the field is gov
erned b y:

which implies that the field changes are the

same as if the magnetic lines of force are
constrained to move with the material. In
other words, the field lines are frozen into
the material.
F 2-SERIES.
FSK.
ing.

See Patterson-Harker method.

Abbreviation for frequency-shift key

FS TO AM CONVERTER.
facsimile, receiving.
f-SUM
KUHN.

See converter,

RULE
OF
THOMAS-REICHEThe expression:
Z /a a

/ . = Z,
e

where the first sum refers to all possible ab

sorption transitions of a given atom in a given
state, and the second sum to all emission
transitions of this state, and Z is the number
of effective electrons per atom. (For neon,
Z is between one and two, since only one, or
at the most, two electrons take part in absorp
tion.)
F/SYSTEM . A method of designating the
relative aperture of photographic lenses. The
/ number expresses the ratio of the diameter
of the effective diaphragm aperture to the
focal length of the lens. Thus, with a lens
having an effective diaphragm of 1 " and a
focal length of 8 ", the ratio is 1 : 8 which is
written / / 8 . Following the recommendation
of a committee of the R oyal Photographic So
ciety of Great Britain, at ratios greater than

1 :4 ( //4 ) lenses are marked so that the ex

posures increase as the power of 2. Thus:
//number..................... 4
Relative exposure___ 1

5.6
2

8
4

11.3
8

16
16

22
32

The difference in exposure for tw o //v a lu e s

is the ratio of the squares of the numbers. The
difference in exposure, for example, in / / 4 and
/ / 1 6 is
162
256
4^ ~~ 16

16

FT.
( 1 ) Sym bol for comparative lifetime.
(See lifetime, comparative.)
( 2 ) A bbrevia
tion for foot or feet.
FTC.

Abbreviation for fast time constant.

FUCHS THEOREM.
I f a second-order
linear differential equation has regular singu
lar points at oo and at
k = 1 , 2 , , n , and
no other singularities, its general form is:
P (n -l)(x )y '

+ ----- ^
F (x)

P 2(n -l)(x )y

-----= >
F 2(x)

where F (x ) = (x x j {x x 2) (x x n)
and P i(x) is a polynomial in x of degree
Such an equation is said to be of Fuchsian
type. The theorem m ay be extended to equa
tions of any order.
FUGACITY. A quantity which measures the
true escaping tendency of a gas, a sort of
idealized pressure.
If primes and double
primes refer, respectively, to an ideal gas and
a real gas, then dG' = V'dp = R T d l n p , and
dG = V "dp = R T d l n f , where dG is a
change in free energy or chemical potential,
produced by a change in pressure, d p ; V is
the volume of the gas at the absolute tem
perature Tj f is its fugacity and R is the gas
constant.
FULCRUM.

See lever.

FULGURATOR. An apparatus used in spec

troscopy, consisting of an atomizer to spray
salt solutions into a flame.
FUM E. Fine particles ( 0 .2 to 1 micron in
diameter) of a solid or liquid suspended in a
gas; technically fumes are colloidal systems
formed from chemical reactions like combus
tion, distillation, sublimation, calcination, and
condensation.

FUNCTION. A mathematical expression de

scribing the relation between variables; the
function taking on a definite value, or values,
when special values are assigned to certain
other quantities, called the arguments, or in
dependent variables, of the function. If there
is one independent variable, the dependent
variable y m ay be determined by the equa
tion y = f ( x ) ; if there are several independent
variables, by y f ( x 1} x2, *, x n) . Functions
m ay be classified in many ways, as: explicit
or implicit; continuous or discontinuous; alge
braic or transcendental. There are further
subdivisions of these functions. Frequently
a function is named in honor of a mathemati
cian who discovered or studied it.
FUNCTIONAL. A function whose argument
or independent variable is a curve or surface
(or a corresponding function). It may also
be described as a function of a function.
FUNCTION, CONTINUOUS. A function of
one variable f ( x ) is continuous at a value
x c when / ( c ) has a definite finite value
which is equal to the limit of f ( x ) when x - > c.
A function is continuous in an interval (a, 6 )
when it is continuous at every point of the
interval, it being sufficient at the end points
that

lim /(x) - /(a);

x-+a+

lim /(*)=/(& ),
x^b

the conditions on the limits being that the

lower limit is approached from x > a, and the
upper from x < b.
It has a discontinuity at a point where it is
not continuous. The usual type of discon
tinuity is a point at which the function be
comes infinite, or where it has a finite jump
(also called a saltus).
Important properties of a continuous func
tion are: ( 1 ) if it is continuous in a closed
interval (a,b ), then among the different values
of f { x ) in this interval, there is a greatest
value M and a least value m ; ( 2 ) if its in
terval of continuity is (a,b) , then between
every two values X\ and x 2 of x in this inter
val, f ( x ) takes at least once every value be
tween f i x i) and f i x 2).
A function of two variables, f i x , y ) 7 is con
tinuous at a point (a, 6 ) if
lim f(x ,y ) = f(a,b).
x>a

y>b

FUNCTION, CYLINDRICAL.
differential equation.

See Bessel

FUNCTION, ELLIPTIC. A transcendental

function, defined as the inverse of an elliptic
integral. It is a doubly-periodic function of
the complex variable with no singularities ex
cept poles in the finite plane. Special forms
o f them are known as Jacobi and Weierstrass
elliptic functions.
FUNCTION, EVEN. A function such that
f ( x ) = / ( #) , typical examples being x 2 and
cos x. (See function, odd.)
FUNCTION, EXPLICIT. A function, de
fined by a relation between the variables, giv
ing an equation expressing one variable di
rectly in terms of the other without the neces
sity of solving the equation; for example,
y = f (x ,z ) . (See also function, implicit.)
FUNCTION, HARMONIC. A ny solution of
the Laplace equation which has continuous
derivatives of first and second order.
(See
also harmonic.)
FUNCTION, HOMOGENEOUS. A function
f ( x i , x 2, *,#) is homogeneous in all of its
variables if, for any parameter t, f ( t x ly tx2y
, txn) = tnf ( x i, x 2, ' *, xn) . The exponent
n is the degree or order of the function. The
behavior of such a function is known as the
Euler theorem .
FUNCTION, IMPLICIT. A function defined
by a relation between variables as }(x ,y ,z )
0. (See also function, explicit.)
FUNCTION, INTEGRAL.
Defined for a
real or complex variable by a power series
which converges for all finite values of the
variable.
This includes polynomial func
tions as special cases. An integral function
m ay also be defined as a function of a com
plex variable which is analytic at all finite
points of the complex plane. Simple exam
ples, in addition to the polynomials, are the
exponential functions, and the trigonometric
functions.
FUNCTION, INVERSE. I f y = f ( x ) is a
given function of x y then x regarded as a func
tion of y is the inverse function of the given
function. Examples of pairs of inverse func
tions are: the square of a variable and the
square-root function; the exponential func

tion and the logarithmic function; the trigo

nometric or hyperbolic functions and their in
verse functions.
F U N C T IO N , LIN E A R. A polynomial func
tion of first degree in the variables.
(See
equation, linear.)
FU N C T IO N , M U LT I-V A L U E D .
point.

See branch

F U N C T IO N , O D D .
A function which
changes sign when the sign of the dependent
variable is changed: / ( x) f ( x ) . T y p i
cal examples are x 3 and sin x. (See function,
even.)
FU N C T IO N , O R T H O G O N A L .
gonality.

See ortho

F U N C T IO N , P E R IO D IC .
A function for
which a constant a exists so f ( z ) = f ( z + na) ,
where n is an integer. The function repeats
itself periodically with the fundamental pe
riod a. T ypical examples are sin z, cos 2 ,
with fundamental period 2 tt-; ez, with funda
mental period 2 ?ti. Functions may be doubly
periodic such that the periods are of the form
(na + n'af) , both n and n' integers but not
both zero.
(See elliptic functions; trigono
metric functions; exponential functions; etc.)
F U N C T IO N , STEP. A piece-wise constant
function. For example, f ( x ) = 0 for x < 0
and f ( x ) = 1 for x > 0 .
F U N C T IO N SW ITC H . A network or sys
tem having a number of inputs and outputs,
and so connected that signals representing in
formation expressed in a certain code, when
applied to the inputs, cause output signals to
appear which are a representation of the in
put information in a different code.
F U N C T IO N SW IT C H , ONE-M ANY.
A
function switch in which only one input is
excited at a time and each input produces
a combination of outputs.
F U N C T IO N ,
TR A N S C E N D E N T A L .
A
function which is not algebraic. The follow
ing include the more important types: trig
onometric functions, inverse trigonometric
functions, exponential functions, hyperbolic
functions, logarithmic functions, gamma
functions, beta functions, elliptic functions,
Bessel functions, etc.

FUNCTION UNIT.
A device which can
store a functional relationship and release it
continuously or in increments.
FUNCTION, UNIT SAMPLING. The syn
chronizing or gating pulse-train used in pulseamplitude modulation systems.
(See modu
lation, pulse-amplitude.)

p is the weight per unit horizontal distance

and T h is the constant horizontal component
of the tension. Hence d2y/dx2 = p/Tn and
the cable assumes a parabolic shape, with the
vertex at the lowest point.

FUNCTION, W EIG H TIN G. See weighting

function; Sturm-Liouville Equation.
FUNDAM ENTAL COMPONENT. The fun
damental frequency component in the har
monic analysis of a wave.
FUNDAM ENTAL FREQUENCY. See fre
quency, fundamental; vibration, fundamen
tal mode of.
f
FUNDAM ENTAL PARTICLE.
tary particle.

See elemen

FUNDAM ENTAL
S C A N N IN G
FRE
QUENCY. See frequency, keying, maximum.
FUNDAM ENTAL SERIES. See series in line
spectra.
FUNICULAR POLYGON. Another name for
the polygon of forces (see statics), most com
m only used when the system being analyzed
is a chain or cable stretched between two
points and subject to vertical loadings. As
Fig. 1 indicates, the tension changes as each

(a) Loaded cable

(b) Funicular polygon,

showing tensions
in cable

Fig. 1.
load point is passed, but the horizontal com
ponent of the tension is everywhere constant.
W hen the cable is equally loaded at equally
spaced horizontal distances, as it may be in
a suspension bridge, the state of affairs is that
indicated in Fig. 2. W hen one passes to the
limit of the polygon shown there, by consid
ering the load to be uniform ly distributed
(horizontally), it is found that the change in
the slope o f the cable over any horizontal
component of distance, dx, is pdx/Thj where

Fig. 2.

If the load consists only of the weight of

the cable itself, rather than external weight,
the change in the vertical component of the
tension between any two points is propor
tional to the length of the cable between those
points, instead of to the horizontal component
of the length. Under these circumstances the
cable takes the shape of a catenary:
y = (T h/2p)(epxiTl + e~pxlTh - 2 )
= (T h/p) cosh (px/Th) -

1,

where p is the weight per unit length of the

cable.
FURRY THEOREM. The contribution to
any process in quantum electrodynamics
arising from an electron-positron closed loop
which is connected to an odd number of pho
ton lines, vanishes identically.
(See Feyn
man diagram.)
FUSE. A fuse is a common protective or cir
cuit breaking device for low-voltage electric
circuits. It is an over-current protector, and
since the current must first heat the metal,
there is a time delay in fuse blowing that
is inversely proportional to the current. This
characteristic is called inverse time element.
The ordinary fuse consists of a calibrated
length of conductor whose resistance is so
chosen that, when a certain current through it
is exceeded, it fails to lose by radiation enough
o f the resistance heat to keep its temperature
below melting.
FUSION. A change from the solid to the liq
uid phase of matter. In crystalline bodies,
and in many other solids not exhibiting welldefined crystal structure, the atoms are held
in positions o f stable equilibrium by intermolecular forces. They of course move with
thermal agitation, but their movements are

oscillatory and do not carry them outside a

limited range of distance from their equilib
rium positions. I f a solid body is sufficiently
heated, the molecules break loose from their
stable configuration and wander about or d if
fuse among each other. When this condition
has become general, the body exhibits the
characteristics of a liquid, and we say it has
undergone fusion. In some cases, such as ice,
the change is quite abrupt, the substance hav
ing a well-defined melting point; in others,
like glass or pitch, it is gradual. The differ
ence is probably due to the more uniform
potential energy of the atoms in the former
case, so that they all break loose at the
same stage of thermal agitation; while in the
latter case some atoms require more energy to
dislodge them than others. In any case the
process requires a supply of energy which is
recognized as the heat of fusion. W ith most
substances, fusion is accompanied b y an in
crease in volum e; but with some, like ice, the
volume becomes definitely less.

FUSION, COLD. Nuclear fusion reactions

(see fusion, nuclear) mediated by negative x
or 7r mesons. When a negative meson is cap
tured by a hydrogen nucleus to form a hydro
genlike neutral mesic atom (see atom, mesonic), the radius of the first Bohr orbit is
much smaller than that of ordinary hydrogen.
As a consequence, a molecule formed of two
such mesonic atoms has a much smaller inter
atomic bond distance, to the extent that a
fusion reaction may take place between the
two nuclei.

FUSION
AS
AN
ORDER-DISORDER
TRANSITION. The concept that fusion of a
crystalline solid is essentially a change from
the almost perfectly ordered solid state to a
disordered liquid state. The vacant spaces in
the crystal lattice correspond to the other
com ponent in the binary alloys which un
dergo order-disorder transition in the pure
form. Evidence from X-ray diffraction meas
urements indicates that short-range order is
retained during fusion but long-range order
is lost.

Fusion reactions can take place only if the

reacting nuclei possess sufficiently high ener
gies to overcome their mutual Coulomb re
pulsion and to approach within the range of
nuclear forces, hence they are favored by
high temperatures. (See also thermonuclear
reaction, carbon cycle, proton-proton chain.)

FUSION, NUCLEAR. The combination of

two light nuclei to form a heavier nucleus,
with the release of the difference of the nu
clear binding energy of the products and the
sum of the binding energies of the two light
nuclei. Examples are:
1D 2

1D 2

> 2He 3 -f- o^-1 f* 3.22 M ev,

iD 2 -f- 3Li 7 > 4Be 8 -|- o'W-1 4" 15.1 M ev.

FUTURE OF AN EVENT, ABSOLUTE.

absolute future of an event.
FUZE, PROXIMITY.

See

See proximity fuze.

G
G. (1) Gram (g ). (2 ) Acceleration due to
gravity (g ), local gravitational acceleration
( 0 L), standard gravitational acceleration
( 0 o). (3) Acceleration of free fall (g ). (4)
Newtonian gravitation constant ((? ).
(5)
Electrical conductance (g or G ).
( 6 ) Grid
or input conductance {gg) } thus g designates
the grid of a tube, either as a subscript or as a
symbol on a circuit diagram. (7) Plate con
ductance (gp).
( 8 ) Degeneracy (statistical
weight) (g ). (9) M odulus of shear elasticity
(G ).
(10) Gibbs function (or free energy)
(G y though F is also in common use). The
Gibbs function per molecule or atom (g or
gm)j per mole (G, g, or GM), and per unit
mass (g ).
(11) Gyromagnetic ratio (g ).
( 1 2 ) Lande factor (g ). (13) Transconduct
ance, grid-plate (gpg or gm). (14) Coupling
constant (g ).
(15) In spectroscopy, ghost
(g ). (16) T y p e of electron with an azimuthal
quantum number o f 4 (g ).
(17) Spectral
term symbol for L-value of 4 (G ). (18) V i
brational part of the energy of a molecule
(G ). The usage in (18) assumes separability
of the energy into three parts, T = T e +
G + F, expressed in kaysers or megacycles.
GADOLINIUM .
Rare earth metallic ele
ment. Sym bol Gd. A tom ic number 64.
GAIN (TRANSMISSION GAIN).
(1) A
general term used to denote an increase in
signal power in transmission from one point
to another. Gain is usually expressed in deci
bels and is widely used to denote transducer
gain.
(See also amplifier; antenna, direc
tional.)
(2) The ratio of the output of a
transducer to the input, even when these
quantities are not measured in terms of power.
Thus we refer to the voltage gain or current
gain o f an amplifier.
GAIN-ADJUSTING AMPLIFIER.
plifier, peak-limiting.
GAIN, AMPERE-TURN.
ampere-turn.

See am

See amplification,

GAIN-BAND MERIT. The maximum band

over which a matched insertion power-gain
of unity (zero db) m ay be obtained in an
amplifier stage.
GAIN-BAND W ID T H PRODUCT. The gain
bandwidth product is equal to the product
of amplification of an amplifier stage at m id
band, multiplied by the bandwidth of the
amplifier in megacycles. The bandwidth is
defined as the difference A/ between the two
frequencies at which the power output is a
specified fraction, usually one-half, of the
midband (resonance) value.
For a stage
having a single resonant circuit (in its out
put) this product is found to be
gm
gain-bandwidth = -----------megacycles,
2 t (2C )
where gm is the transconductance (micro
mhos) of the stage and 'EC is the total ca
pacitance (picofarads) across the output.
GAIN, BRIDGING. The ratio of the power
a transducer delivers to a specified load im
pedance under specified operating conditions,
to the power dissipated in the reference im
pedance across which the input of the trans
ducer is bridged. I f the input a n d /or out
put power consist of more than one com po
nent, such as m ultifrequency signal or noise,
then the particular components used and their
weighting must be specified. This gain is
usually expressed in decibels.
GAIN CONTROL.

See control, master gain.

GAIN CONTROL CIRCUIT, DIFFEREN

TIAL. That portion of a system which ad
justs the gain of a single radio receiver or
circuit to obtain desired relative output levels
from two or more sequential unequal input
signals. Exam ple: The circuits in the Loran
receiver which adjust the gain between suc
cessive pulses.
GAIN-CONTROL,
TEMPORAL
(SENSI
TIVITY TIME CONTROL).
(Also called
gain-time control or time-gain.)
That por

tion of a system which varies the amplifica

tion o f a radio receiver in a predetermined
manner as a function of time.
G A IN , C O N V E R SIO N , A V A IL A B L E (O F A
C O N V E R SIO N T R A N S D U C E R ). The ratio
of ( 1 ) the available output-frequency power
from the output terminals of the transducer
to ( 2 ) the available input-frequency power
from the driving generator. The maximum
available conversion gain o f a conversion
transducer (see transducer, conversion) is ob
tained when the input termination admit
tance, at input frequency, is the conjugate
of the input-frequency driving point admit
tance (see admittance, driving point) of the
conversion transducer.
G A IN , C O N V E R SIO N V O L T A G E (O F A
C O N V E R SIO N T R A N S D U C E R ). The ratio
of ( 1 ) the magnitude of the output-frequency
voltage across the output termination, with
the transducer inserted between the inputfrequency generator and the output termina
tion, to ( 2 ) the magnitude of the input-fre
quency voltage across the input termination
of the transducer.
GA IN ,
D IF F E R E N T IA L
(IN
T E L E V I
SION). In a video transmission system, the
difference in the gain of the system in deci
bels for a small high-frequency sinewave sig
nal at two stated levels (see level (2 )) of a
low-frequency signal on which it is superim
posed. The two frequencies should be spe
cified.
G A IN , D IR E C T IV E .
power gain.

The same as antenna

GA IN , IN SE R T IO N (O F A T W O -P O R T
L IN E A R TR A N S D U C E R ). A t a specified
frequency, the ratio of ( 1 ) the actual signal
power transferred from the output port of the
transducer to its load, to ( 2 ) the signal power
which the same load would receive if driven
directly by the source.
G A IN , IN SE R TIO N V O L T A G E (O F AN
E L E C T R IC T R A N S D U C E R ). The complex
ratio of ( 1 ) the alternating component of
voltage across the external termination of the
output with the transducer inserted between
the generator and the output termination, to
( 2 ) the voltage across the external termina
tion of the output when the generator is con
nected directly to the output termination.

GAIN , M A T C H E D P O W E R . The power gain

achieved when the load impedance is matched
to the effective output impedance of the driv
ing stage. (See gain-band merit.)
G AIN , P O W E R (A N TE N N A ).
power gain.

See antenna

GAIN , P O W E R (O F A T W O -P O R T L IN E A R
T R A N SD U C E R ). A t a specified frequency,
the ratio o f ( 1 ) the signal power that the
transducer delivers to a specified load, to ( 2 )
the signal power delivered to its input port.
The power gain is not defined unless the input
impedance of the transducer has a positive
real part.
G A IN , PO W E R , A V A IL A B L E (O F A TW O PO R T LIN E A R TR A N S D U C E R ).
At a
specified frequency, the ratio of ( 1 ) the avail
able signal power from the output port of the
transducer, to ( 2 ) the available signal power
from the input source. The available signal
power at the output port is a function of the
match between the source impedance and the
impedance of the input port.
G AIN , SATU RATIO N . The power gain in
decibels by a traveling wave amplifier tube
operating at saturation power output. This
gain figure is usually lower than the maxi
mum gain figure of the tube obtained at
smaller signal levels.
G AIN , SM ALL SIGNAL. The power gain in
decibels provided by a traveling wave am
plifier at input power levels (usually 7 deci
bels or more) below the level required for
tube saturation.
G A IN -TIM E C O N T R O L .
temporal.

See gain control,

GAIN , TR A N SD U C E R . The ratio o f the

power that the transducer delivers to the
specified load under specified operating con
ditions to the available power of the specified
source. If the input a n d /or output power con
sist of more than one component, such as
multifrequency signal or noise, then the par
ticular components used and their weighting
should be specified. This gain is usually ex
pressed in decibels.
G AIN , TR A N SD U C E R (O F A TW O -P O R T
L IN E A R TR A N SD U C E R ). A t a specified
frequency, the ratio of ( 1 ) the actual signal
power transferred from the output port of the

transducer to its load, to ( 2 ) the available

signal power from the source driving the
transducer.
GAIN TURN D O W N . In a transponder, the
automatic receiver gain control incorporated
for the purpose of protecting the transmitter
from overload.
GALAXY NOISE.

vided into four quarts, 8 pints, or 128 fluid

ounces.
U.S. gallon
= 3.78543 liters.
1 imperial gallon = 4.54345 liters.

GALVANIC CELL.

See cell, voltaic.

GALVANOLUMINESCENCE.
cence.

See lumines

See noise, galaxy.

GALE. W ind with an hourly velocity ex

ceeding some specified value. In the Beau
fort scale, the various gale winds have veloci
ties above 32 miles per hour.
GALILEAN RELATIVITY.
Invariance of
the equations of classical Newtonian dynam
ics under a transformation to a coordinate
system m oving with constant velocity. Thus
by no mechanical experiment in a laboratory
could an observer measure the absolute ve
locity of the laboratory or its velocity rela
tive to the fixed stars. (See frame of refer
ence, inertial.)
GALILEAN TELESCOPE. A form of tele
scope which has a divergent lens for ocular
and in which no real image is formed. The
field of view is small, but the whole telescope
is shorter than with conventional telescopes
of comparable power.
Com m only used in
opera glasses.
GALILEAN
TRANSFORMATION.
The
transformation to a system moving with con
stant relative velocity according to non-relativistic kinematics:
dxf = dx vxdt
dy' dy Vydt
dzf dz vzdt
dtf = dt.
(See relativity, Newtonian; Lorentz transfor
mation.)
GALLIUM . M etallic element.
Atom ic number 31.

Sym bol Ga.

GALLON. A unit of liquid measure. The

United States gallon is 231 cubic inches in
volume. The imperial gallon used in England
contains 277.46 cubic inches and is equivalent
to 1.20032 U.S. gallons. The U.S. gallon of
water weighs 8.345 pounds at 4C and is di

GALVANOMETER.
An instrument for
measuring electric currents, usually by means
o f their magnetic effect. Observations are
made by noting the deflection produced by the
torque exerted between an electric circuit and
a magnet. Galvanometers m ay be divided
broadly into two classes, according to whether
the coil is stationary and the magnet turns,
or vice versa.
Perhaps the most highly developed of the
first type is the Kelvin astatic galvanometer
(see galvanometer, Kelvin astatic). Among
galvanometers of the second type, the best
known is the d Arsonval galvanometer (see
galvanometer, dArsonval). There are also
string galvanometers, in which a straight,
slender wire carrying the current is thrust to
one side by the magnetic field; and vibration
galvanometers in which the string vibrates in
synchronism with the alternating current
traversing it.
GALVANOMETER, ASTATIC. The galva
nometer which gives readings independent of
the earths magnetic field by means of a con
struction feature in which readings of cur
rent are obtained by passing the current
through a coil around a system of two m ov
able needles with opposing magnetic moments.
GALVANOMETER, BALLISTIC. A galva
nometer which is used most commonly to
measure the total quantity of electricity in
a transient current, and is accordingly de
signed to have a long period of swing (high
moment of inertia) o f its moving element.
GALVANOMETER CONSTANTS. The per
formance of a galvanometer can be described
in terms of either of two sets of constants.
The structural constants are: moment of in
ertia, damping, torsion constant, and motor
constant. The behavior or working constants
are:
sensitivity, galvanometer resistance,
critical damping resistance (see damping,
critical), and free period. The values of either

set of constants are derivable from those of

the other set. (See galvanometer equation.)

the applied voltage and R , the total circuit

resistance.
(See galvanometer constants.)

GALVANOMETER, D ARSONVAL. A m oving-coil galvanometer in which the magnet

is a fixed, permanent magnet of the horseshoe

GALVANOMETER, KELVIN ASTATIC. A

stationary-coil galvanometer which has two
magnets equally magnetized but antiparallel,
mounted on the same suspension, one above
the other, and each magnet is surrounded by
a coil. The two coils are joined in series and
are oppositely wound, so that a current
through them will turn their respective mag
nets in the same direction. The earths uni
form field has no effect upon such an astatic
pair of magnets; but there is a large control
magnet, placed above the pair, against whose
field the current turns the suspended system.
The movement is observed by the usual mirror-and-scale or optical lever device. G alva
nometers of this type are now nearly obsolete.

Conducting
Suspensiori

M irror

M a g n et P oles

Essential parts of D Arsonval galvanometer.

or double-horseshoe form, with a light, rectan

gular coil suspended in the strong field be
tween its poles, the suspension carrying the
feeble current. The current causes the coil
to turn in the field. Often a fixed iron core is
supported inside the m ovable coil to concen
trate the field.
I f these galvanometers are undamped, they
will give a throw when a charge of elec
tricity is sent through them, and the charge
can be thereby measured. Such an instru
ment, with a heavy coil, called a ballistic
galvanometer, is useful in capacitance meas
urements. The oscillations m ay be damped
by shunting.
GALVANOMETER, EINTHOVEN. A string
galvanometer
(see galvanometer, string)
which is made very sensitive by the use of a
strong magnet and a fine quartz or metallic
thread, whose movement is observed opti
cally.
GALVANOMETER EQUATION. The equa
tion of motion of a galvanometer:
dH

p 5? +

GE
/
G \ dB
[ K + ) + ue = ------ r
R
\
R ) dt

where P is the moment of inertia, K , the me

chanical damping coefficient, [/, the restoring
torque constant, G, the m otor constant, E ,

GALVANOMETER, MIRROR. A ny galva

nometer in which the deflection is measured
by the motion of a light-beam reflected from
a mirror attached to the galvanic element.
GALVANOMETER, M OVING - COIL.
A
galvanometer in which a current-carrying coil
is deflected by a fixed magnetic field.
GALVANOMETER, OSCILLOGRAPH. A
d'Arsonval galvanometer (see galvanometer,
cTArsonval), for use in a mechanical-deflection oscillograph.
GALVANOMETER RECORDER. A com
bination of mirror and coil suspended in a
magnetic field. The application of a signal
voltage to the coil causes a reflected light
beam from the mirror to pass across a slit in
front of a moving photographic film, thus
providing a photographic record of the signal.
Other galvanometer recorders use a photo
electric system so arranged that the motion
of the mirror drives a slave coil which car
ries a pen and records the magnitude of the
signal on a moving paper chart.
GALVANOMETER, STRING.
A fixedmagnet galvanometer, in which a straight,
slender wire carrying the current is thrust to
one side by the magnetic field.
GALVANOMETER, TANGENT. A galva
nometer in which the sensing element is a
magnetic needle pivoted at the center o f a
thin circular coil. In equilibrium, the needle
points in the direction of the vector resultant

of ( 1 ) the earths magnetic field, and ( 2 ) of

the magnetic field produced by the current in
the coil.
GALVANOMETER, VIBRATION.
A gal
vanometer in which a straight, slender wire
in the field of a magnet vibrates in synchro
nism with the frequency of the alternating
current traversing it. Vibration galvanom
eters ordinarily operate at a fixed frequency,
and include provision for the tuning of the
moving system to resonance at this frequency.
GALVANOMETRY. The art and process of
detecting and measuring the strength of elec
tric currents,
GAMM A (y). The one-millionth part of a
gram. (2) A unit of magnetic field intensity,
10 - 5 oersted, or 10~ 3/4ir ampere turn/meter.
(3) The tangent of the angle of the straightline portion of the D log E curve and the log
E axis is a measure of the degree of develop
ment and was termed b y Hurter and D rif
field the developm ent factor and designated
by the Greek letter y (gam m a). Gamma m ay
also be defined as
Z>2 D\
y ------------------------ ,
log E 2 log E i
where D 2 and D i are densities on the straightline portion o f the D log E curve produced
by log E 2 and log E x, respectively, and where
E 2 and E i are exposures (see exposure, photo
graphic; also exposure-density relationship).
(4) In television, the exponent of that power
law which is used to approximate the curve of
output magnitude vs. input magnitude over
the region of interest.
For quantitative
evaluation it is customary to plot the log
o f the output magnitude (ordinate) versus
the log of the input magnitude (abscissa), as
measured from a point corresponding to some
reference black level, and select a straight
line which approximates this plot over the re
gion of interest and take its slope. If the
plot departs seriously from linearity it can
not be adequately described by a single value
o f gamma. Even when the plot is reasonably
linear the procedure for determining the ap
proximation should be prescribed.
The letter gamma is also used as a symbol
for: (A ) Activity coefficient, molal basis ( y ) .
(B ) Specific weight or weightivity ( y ) . ( C )
R atio of specific heats of a gas ( y ) .
(D )

Angular magnification ( y ) . (E ) Surface ten

sion ( y ) . (F ) Permeance ( r ) . (G ) Propaga
tion constant ( y ) .
( H ) Gruneisen constant
(y).
(I) Gamma-ray ( y ) .
GAMMA CORRECTION. In television, the
introduction of a nonlinear output-input
characteristic for the purpose of changing the
effective value of gamma (4).
GAMMA FUNCTION. The infinite integral,
sometimes called Euler}s second integral
T(z) =

e -H ^ d t.

It co n v erg es for all positive values of z. Its

properties include:
T(z + 1 ) = zT (z);
r (i) = v ^ ;

r ( z ) T ( l z) = 7r csc nz;
r (n ) = ( i)!,

when n is a positive integer, and ! indicates a

factorial.
The Weierstrass definition of the function is:

= c* ni (V i + n- V
* /n
r (*)
)
where C is the Euler-Mascheroni constant;
C = lim ( 1 +
n >00 \

-------- 1-------- In n\
n
/

= 0.5772Another definition is that of Euler:

(n - 1)!

r(z ) = l i m ----------------------- --------------- nz.

-*0 z(z + 1) * (z + n 1)
GAMM A RAY. A quantum of electromag
netic radiation emitted by a nucleus as a re
sult of a quantum transition between two
energy levels of the nucleus. Gamma ray
energies range upward from 1 0 4 ev, with cor
respondingly short wavelengths and high fre
quencies, and their ability to penetrate mat
ter is high. They follow transitions that leave
the product nuclei in excited states, as well
as in many induced nuclear reactions and
isomeric transitions.
GAMMA-RAY EMISSION, MEASURE OF.
The International Commission on R adiologi
cal Units (July 1953) recommended that
y-ray emission be expressed in terms of
roentgens per millicurie-hour at 1 centimeter

from point source. This quantity is differ

ent for every radionuclide.
GAMMA-RAY ENERGIES, DETERM INA
TION OF. The most direct procedure is to
determine the wavelength, hence the fre
quency, by using a crystal as a diffraction
grating. Other methods are to measure the
energy of photoelectrons, Compton recoil
electrons, electron-positron pairs or the ab
sorption of y-rays in matter.
GAMM A RAY SPECTRUM. One or more
sharp lines each corresponding to an intensity
and energy characteristic of the source. The
term is sometimes applied to x-ray photons
and annihilation radiation photons, having
high energies in the y-ray range, but which
differ from y-rays in their origin.
GAMOW-CONDON-GURNEY THEORY OF
ALPHA-DECAY. An early quantum mechan
ical treatment, developed independently by
Gamow and by Condon and Gurney, which
considering that the a-particle penetrates the
accounts for the Geiger-Nutall relation by
nuclear barrier by a tunneling process.
G AM O W FACTOR. A term used for the
penetration probability for
low
energy
charged particles in a Coulom b field.
GAM OW -TELLER M ATRIX
See beta decay theory.

ELEM ENT.

GAM OW -TELLER SELECTION RULES.

See selection rules and beta decay theory.
GAP. See gap, input; gap, interaction; gap,
main (glow-discharge tubes); gap, output;
gap, resonant (TR tubes); gap, starter (gas
tubes).
GAP AD M ITTANCE, CIRCUIT.
tance, gap, circuit.

See admit

GAP ADM ITTANCE, ELECTRONIC.

admittance, gap, electronic.

See

GAP, AIR. (1) This term is com m only used

in connection with various magnetic circuits,
and denotes a gap left in the magnetic mate
rial. In the construction of various chokes
and transformers used in communications cir
cuits, a short gap is usually left in the core
material to prevent the material being satu
rated b y the d-c which often flows in such
circuits. (See amplifiers and power supplies.)

In rotating electrical machinery the rotating

part of the magnetic circuit must of course,
be separated by a gap. In these machines
this gap is kept as small as consistent with
adequate mechanical clearance. In most in
stances the gap introduces no desirable elec
trical or magnetic characteristics, and necessi
tates the application of additional electrical
magnetomotive force to overcome its reluc
tance. Thus in a relay, the air gap is the
contact separation or magnetic air gap. (2)
A spark gap, comprising two conducting elec
trodes, separated by air.
GAP, BUNCHER. In a velocity-m odulation electron tube the pair of electrodes which
causes the beam to become modulated. The
buncher gap is more frequently called sim
ply the input gap.
GAP CODING.

See coding, gap.

GAP, CONTACT
gap (relay).

(RELAY).

See contact

GAP, ENERGY (OF A SEMICONDUCTOR).

The energy range between the bottom of the
conduction band and the top of the valence
band. (See also forbidden band.)
GAP FACTOR OR MODULATION COEF
FICIENT. In traveling-wave tubes, the ra
tio of peak energy gained (electron volts) to
the peak resonator voltage.
GAP INPUT. An interaction gap (see gap,
interaction) used to initiate a variation in an
electron stream.
GAP, INTERACTION.
between electrodes.

An interaction space

GAP LENGTH.
In longitudinal magnetic
recording, the physical distance between ad
jacent surfaces of the poles of a. magnetic
head. The effective gap length is usually
greater than the physical length and can be
experimentally determined in some cases.
GAP LOADING, MULTIPACTOR.
The
electronic gap admittance (see admittance,
gap, electronic) resulting from a sustained
secondary emission discharge existing within
a gap as a result of the motion of the sec
ondary electrons in synchronism with the elec
tric field in the gap.
GAP LOADING, PRIMARY
ANGLE.
The electronic gap

TRANSITadmittance

(see admittance, gap, electronic) that results

from the traversal of the gap by an initially
unmodulated electron stream.
This is ex
clusive of secondary emission in the gap.
GAP LOADING, SECONDARY ELEC
TRON. The electronic gap admittance (see
admittance, gap, electronic) which results
from the traversal of a gap by secondary
electrons originating in the gap.
GAP, M AGNETIC AIR (RELAY).
The
nonmagnetic portion of a magnetic circuit.
GAP, M AIN (OF A GLOW-DISCHARGE
COLD-CATHODE TUBE). The conduction
path between a principal cathode and a prin
cipal anode.
GAP OUTPUT.
An interaction gap by
means of which usable power can be ab
stracted from an electron stream. (See gap,
interaction.)
GAP, RESIDUAL (RELAY). The length of
the magnetic air gap (see gap, magnetic air)
between the pole-face center and the nearest
point on the armature when the armature
is in the energized position.
GAP, RESONANT (TR TUBES). The small
region in a resonant structure interior to the
tube, where the electric field is concentrated.

GAS AMPLIFICATON.
gas.

GAS BALANCE. An instrument for measur

ing the density of a gas. Regnault used a
globe or balloon which was filled with gas
and weighed, its weight when evacuated being
known. The W hytlaw -G ray microbalance is
a delicate buoyancy apparatus.
GAS CLEANUP.

See cleanup.

GAS CONSTANT. The constant of propor

tionality R in the equation of state of a per
fect gas pv R T , when referring to one
gram-molecule of gas. R has the value of
1.985 calories per mole degree (C ) or 8.312
joules/m ole degree. (See ideal gas law.)
GAS (IONIZATION) CURRENT.
rent, gas (ionization).

GAP VOLTAGE, PEAK ALTERNATING.

The negative of the line integral of the peak
alternating electric field taken along a speci
fied path across the gap. The path of inte
gration must be stated.
GAS. ( 1 ) A state of matter, in which the
molecules m ove freely, and consequently the
entire mass tends to expand indefinitely, occu
pying the total volume of any vessel into
which it is introduced. Gases follow, within
considerable degree of fidelity, certain laws
relating their conditions of pressure, volume,
and temperature (see equations of state);
they mix freely with each other; and they
can all be liquefied. (2) The term is some
times used as distinct from vapor, particu
larly to indicate a substance having a critical
temperature below room temperature.

See cur-

GAS, DEGENERATE. A gas o f either fermions or bosons at low enough temperatures

so that their behavior must be described by
quantum statistics and not by the approxi
mate classical Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics.
The electron (fermion) gas in a metal at low
temperatures and helium (of mass number
4) at low temperatures are examples of the
two types of degenerate gases. (See degen
erate electron gas; Helium II; superfluid.)
GAS DISCHARGE.

GAP, STARTER (GAS TUBES). The con

duction path between a starter and the other
electrode to which starting voltage is ap
plied.

See amplification,

See discharge, gaseous.

GAS DISCHARGE, FIELD-INTENSIFIED.

See discharge, gas, nonself-maintaining.
GAS DISCHARGE, NONSELF-MAINTAIN
ING. See discharge, gas, nonself-maintain
ing.
GAS DISCHARGE, SELF-MAINTAINING.
See discharge, gas, self-maintaining.
GAS ELECTRODE.

See electrode, gas.

GAS FOCUSING. A method of concentrat

ing an electron beam by the action of ionized
gas. The positive ions produced in the gas
compensate for the negative space charge of
the electrons.
GASH. Guanidine aluminum sulfate hexahydrate.
A ferroelectric material with a
square hysteresis loop.
GAS, IDEAL. The theoretical concept of a
gas whose molecules have mass but no finite
size, and do not exert forces upon each other

(See also ideal gas law; Joule experiment;

gas, real.)
GAS, IMPERFECT.

See gas, real.

GAS, INERT. A gas that does n ot react

chemically, such as helium, argon, neon,
krypton, and xenon.
GAS M AGNIFICATION.
gas.

See amplification,

ment the gas (preferably hydrogen or helium)

is enclosed in a glass or fused quartz bulb
that is connected to a mercury manometer,
and facilities are provided to bring the gas
always to the same volume and to indicate the
gas pressure. The most common form, de
signed by Jolly (1874), is shown diagramm atically by the figure, in which B repre-

GAS MANOMETER. A pressure gauge used

for gases, particularly one in which the gas
pressure is determined by the difference in
height of the liquid columns in the two sides
of the U-tube.
GAS MULTIPLICATION.
cation.
GAS NOISE.

See gas amplifi

See noise, gas.

GAS, PERFECT.

See gas, ideal.

GAS, PERMANENT. Oxygen, nitrogen, hy

drogen, and other gases which require low
temperatures for their liquefaction. In the
early days o f scientific investigation, before
methods had been developed for obtaining
these conditions, it was believed that these
gases could not be liquefied at all, and hence
they were called permanent gases.
(See
also gas (2 ).)
GAS RATIO. The ratio of the ion current
in a vacuum tube to the electron current that
produces it.
GAS, REAL. Actual gases, even those with
the simplest molecules (e.g., helium and h y
drogen), do not obey the ideal gas law over
all temperatures and pressures. Deviations
from the ideal gas law occur as a result of
the fact that atoms and molecules are not
infinitely small, perfectly elastic spheres with
no forces of interaction. (See kinetic theory
of gases.) Various theoretical and empirical
equations have been devised to represent the
behavior of real gases. (See Van der Waals
equation; equation of state; virial coefficient;
Keyes equation.)
GAS THERMOMETER. W hen the stand
ard measure of temperature was fixed upon
as the pressure of a gas kept at constant vol
ume, the constant-volume gas thermometer
became the final arbiter of temperature meas
urement (see thermometry). In this instru

Sketch of essential parts of constant volume gas

thermometer.

sents the bulb, T the flexible tube of the

manometer, M the constant-volume mark at
zero level, and P the level o f the mercury
indicating the pressure. The pressure is regu
lated by m oving the right-hand mercury col
umn up or down the scale. Slight corrections
are necessary for the expansion of the bulb
and for the difference o f temperature between
the gas in the bulb and that in the connecting
tube C.
GAS TUBE.

See tube, gas.

GAS TURBINE. In the gas turbine a sta

tionary nozzle discharges a jet of gas (usually
products of combustion) against the blades on
the periphery of a turbine wheel. The jet is
thereby deflected and slowed while the blades
receive an impulse force which then leads to
a mechanical torque on the shaft. The pros
pective jet speed is sometimes sufficiently
high to warrant dividing the expansion into a
series of stages with a set of nozzles and a row
o f blades in each stage, all blade wheels being
mounted on the same shaft. B y limiting the
gas expansion per stage the blade speed and
rpm of the shaft are suitably decreased. Were
the blades themselves so shaped as to be vir
tual nozzles, some expansion would also take
place in the gas as it went through the blad
ing. The latter in consequence would receive
a reaction thrust distinct from impulse ac
tion. M any gas turbine designs have em
ployed the reaction principle.
A properly designed nozzle can produce al
most an ideal (isentropic) adiabatic expan
sion of the gas. A ny failure of the gas tur

bine to convert all the ideal available energy

into work at the shaft is mainly attributable
to the blading its clearance, friction, leak
age, and residual gas velocity.
GAS, TWO-DIM ENSIONAL. A layer of ad
sorbed gas, of monomolecular thickness.
GATE (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS).
A circuit, such as is found in electronic com
puters, having an output and a m ultiplicity of
inputs so designed that the output is ener
gized when and only when certain input con
ditions are met. (See also gate, and-gate;
gate, or-gate.) Sometimes gate is used
for and-gate. (2) A signal used to enable
the passage of other signals through a cir
cuit.
(3) That part of a saturable reactor
which exhibits thyratron or gate action. (4)
See gating waveform.
GATE, AM PLITUDE.

See limiter; clipper.

GATE, AND-GATE. A gate whose output is

energized when and only when every input is
in its prescribed state. An and-gate performs
the functions of the logical and.
GATE ANGLE (FIRING ANGLE).
The
angle at which the gate impedance changes
from a high to a low value. This angle is also
called the firing angle.
GATE CIRCUIT. A circuit which amplifies
or passes a signal only in the presence of an
appropriate synchronizing or gating pulse
which opens the gate. The following cir
cuit is a simplified example o f one form
which gating circuits m ay take:

ciently large to cause the triode to operate in

its linear mode when they are present. When
synchronizing pulses are absent, the triode is
cut off, and the output is zero.
Several gate circuits may merge into the
load; the latter circuit is then called the load
circuit, and the total current flowing through
the load is called the load current.
GATE CIRCUIT A-C SUPPLY VOLTAGE.
The a-c voltage source appearing in the gate
circuit of a magnetic amplifier, the function of
which is to drive the saturable reactor core
flux from the present level to saturation. In
general this voltage source is also the load
voltage source and supplies power to the load
during conducting intervals of the cycle.
GATE CURRENT.

See current, gate.

GATE IMPEDANCE.

See impedance, gate.

GATE, M AGNETIC.
used as a gate.

A magnetic amplifier

GATE, OR-GATE. A gate whose output is

energized when any one or more of the inputs
is in its prescribed state. An or-gate per
forms the function of the logical inclusiveor.
GATE RESISTANCE.

See resistance, gate.

GATE, SAMPLING.
A device which ex
tracts information from the input waveform
only when activated by a selector pulse. (See
pulse, selector.)
GATE, SYNCHRONOUS.
A time gate
wherein the output intervals are synchron
ized with an incoming signal.
GATE, TIM E. A transducer which gives out
put only during chosen time intervals.

Simplified drawing of a gate circuit.

In this circuit, pulses from the receiving

equipment are combined with rectangular
pulses from the synchronizer, and impressed
upon the grid of a triode along with a nega
tive, biasing voltage. Pulses from the syn
chronizer are of positive-polarity, and suffi

GATE VOLTAGE.

See voltage, gate.

GATE W INDIN G.

See winding, gate.

GATING. (1) The process of selecting those

portions o f a wave which exist during one or
more selected time-intervals, or which have
magnitudes between selected limits. (2) The
function or operation of a saturable reactor
or magnetic amplifier which causes it, during
the first portion of the conducting alteration
of the a-c supply voltage to block substan
tially all of the supply voltage from the load;
and during latter portion allows substantially
all of the supply voltage to appear across the

load; is called gating or gating action. The

gate is said to be virtually closed before
firing and substantially open after firing.
GATING CIRCUIT. A time-selection trans
ducer.
(See transducer, time-selection.)
GATING HALF-CYCLE. The half-cycle of
the supply voltage during which gating takes
place and a gate current m ay flow.
GATING, RECEIVER. The application of
operating voltages to one or more stages of a
receiver only during that part of a cycle of
operation when reception is desired.
GATING W AVEFORM . A waveform (some
times called the gate) applied to the con
trol point of a circuit in such a way as to alter
the mode of operating of the circuit while
the waveform is applied.
GAUGE. An instrument or device for com
paring some physical characteristic, such as
size, pressure, temperature, water level, force,
radiation intensity, etc.
(See, for example,
pressure gauge.)
GAUGE, ALPHATRON.
An
ionization
gauge (see gauge, ionization) in which the
ionization is produced by -particles obtained
from a radioactive source, instead of by elec
trons emitted from a hot filament. It is use
ful at pressures above 10 3 mm H g, where
filament life is seriously shortened b y positive-ion bombardment, chemical reaction with
the residual gas, etc.
GAUGE, BAYARD AND ALPERT.
An
ionization gauge (see gauge, ionization) in
which the ion collector consists of a fine wire
located along the axis of a helical grid func
tioning as anode. In this manner photo-electron emission from the collector caused by
soft x-rays originating in the anode is re
duced, and lower pressures may be read.
GAUGE, BELLOWS. A pressure gauge in
which the expansion and contraction of a
flexible metal bellows is transmitted to an
optical lever, a high sensitivity being achieved
by the use of multiple reflections. It can be
used for the measurement of pressure d if
ferences as small as 2 X 10 3 mm H g at any
level of pressure, from vacuum up to several
atmospheres.

GAUGE, COPLEY, PHIPPS AND GLASSER.

A form of ionization gauge (see gauge, ioni
zation) in which a metal deposit on the in
side of the glass envelope is used as ion col
lector.
GAUGE, DUSHMAN AND FOUND.
A
form of ionization gauge (see gauge, ioniza
tion) in which the grid (ion collector) is geo
metrically outside the anode. Electrons os
cillate between the filament and grid before
striking the anode and with their longer path
length is associated a correspondingly greater
probability of ionization.
GAUGE, EDWARDS. An ionization gauge
(see gauge, ionization) in which a platinumalloy ribbon filament containing barium and
strontium metal is used as a source of elec
trons.
GAUGE, FIBER. A pressure gauge in which
the rate of damping of the vibrations of a
fiber o f some suitable material is used as a
measure of pressure. If the pressure is suffi
ciently low for the mean free path to be large
compared with the thickness o f the fiber, and
the gauge is at a given temperature, then
pV m

= - +
t

where M is the molecular weight o f the gas,

A and B are constants characteristic o f the
fiber, and t is the time it takes for the ampli
tude of the vibration to fall to a given frac
tion of its initial value.
GAUGE, FOGEL. An ionization gauge (see
gauge, ionization) in which the source of elec
trons is an oxide-coated ribbon filament of
hairpin form placed symmetrically between
two parallel plates of nickel, one of which
serves as anode, the other as ion collector. A
shield is provided near the base of the wire
supporting the ion collector to insure that
part of the glass surface between this wire
and the other supports shall be kept free from
any deposit of metal distilled from the elec
trodes. The leakage resistance is thus kept
very high, allowing pressure readings down to
1 0 " 8 mm Hg.
GAUGE, FRYBERG AND SIMONS. A form
of radiometer gauge (see gauge, radiometer)
in which the leaf is made rigid and is hung

from a wire, the ends of which are pivoted so

that the leaf moves without distortion.
GAUGE, GAS DISCHARGE. A gauge in
which the appearance of a gas discharge gives
an indication of the pressure of the system.
It is used for a variety of measurements in
physics and related fields.
GAUGE, HALE. A Pirani gauge (see gauge,
Pirani) in which the thermal contact at all
supports is definite, thus eliminating a com
mon source o f error in gauges of this type.
GAUGE, HUNTOON AND ELLETT. An
ionization gauge (see gauge, ionization) in
which all three electrodes are in the form of
tungsten spirals, each mounted at the ends
on two current leads. It permits degassing
o f the individual elements by passing a cur
rent directly through them.
GAUGE INVARIANCE (FIRST K IN D ).
Property that a Lagrangian describing a field
^ should be invariant under the transforma
tion if/
\j/eis (where s is a real constant).
The charge-conservation law follows from this
property.
GAUGE INVARIANCE (SECOND K IN D ).
The property of the Maxwell equations of
being invariant under the transformation:
Ap Ap + - >
dxM
where A^ is the potential four-vector and
x = 0 ( = (TAlembertian).
(See field
theory, W eyl unified.)
GAUGE, IONIZATION. A gauge in which
the rate of collection of positive ions on an
electrode is used as a measure of the residual
gas pressure in the tube.
GAUGE, KNUDSON LEAF. An early form
o f radiometer gauge (see gauge, radiometer)
in which the construction is similar to that of
a gold-leaf electroscope.

adapted particularly for use in kinetic metal

vacuum systems. The aluminum leaf is sus
pended between adjacent parallel plane faces
of copper jackets, in one of which steam is
circulated, while the other is kept cool by
tap water.
GAUGE, M AKIN SON AND TREACY. An
ionization gauge (see gauge, ionization) in
which the ion collector is a thin coating of
Aquadag graphite on the cylindrical tubewall,
the anode is a wire along the axis, and the
tungsten filament is near the collector and
parallel to the axis. The electron paths are
lengthened by the application of an axial
magnetic field.
GAUGE, McLEOD.

See McLeod gauge.

GAUGE, MEMBRANE OR SURFACE.

A pressure gauge in which the rate of damp
ing of the vibrations of a very thin, light silica
membrane is used as a measure of pressure.
(See gauge, fiber.)
GAUGE, MORSE AND BOW IE. An ioniza
tion gauge (see gauge, ionization), the chief
features of which are an ion collector consist
ing of a thin deposit of platinum over a por
tion of the inner wall of the tube, a hairpin
tungsten filament, and a double spiral tung
sten anode. It has a high sensitivity, attrib
uted to the relatively larger volume between
the anode and ion collector and to the open
nature of the anode.
GAUGE, MULTIPLYING. A liquid manom
eter arranged so that the movement of an
interface caused by a pressure difference is
much greater than the head of liquid that
would produce the pressure difference. C om
mon examples are the inclined tube manom
eter, and two-fluid manometers such as the
Chattock gauge.

GAUGE, LANDER.
An ionization gauge
(see gauge, ionization) in which, by the use
of two ion collectors of different sizes, it is
possible to overcome to a large extent the
limitation on sensitivity arising from photo
electron emission from the collector.

GAUGE, NELSON HYDROGEN. A gauge

consisting of an evacuated and sealed-off ion
ization manometer connected to a vacuum
system, via a heated palladium tube. The
palladium allows hydrogen to pass through
it, but no other gas, so that the device is useful
as a leak detector. When hydrogen is intro
duced into the vacuum system at the leak,
the pressure in the gauge increases.

GAUGE, LOCKENVITZ LEAF.

A leaf
(radiometer) gauge (see gauge, radiometer)

GAUGE, PHILIPS IONIZATION. A vacuum

gauge in which a linear magnetic field causes

the ionizing electrons to traverse tight spiral

paths, thus increasing the ionization prob
ability for a given linear distance. The posi
tive ions produced are accelerated in a gap,
strike a negative electrode, and cause second
ary emission of electrons for further ioniza
tion. The current collected by the electrodes
is a measure of the concentration of molecules
in the gauge and thus of the pressure in the
system.
GAUGE, PIRANI. A gauge in which the part
of the energy lost by a heated wire which is
due to conduction by the residual gas is taken
as a measure of the pressure. W hen a wire,
heated by a current, is in equilibrium, it loses
heat (a) by radiation, (b) by conduction to
the ends and other supports, and (c) on ac
count of the fact that, on the average, m ole
cules of residual gas colliding with or con
densing on it leave it (on rebounding or reevaporating) with a greater kinetic energy
than that with which they arrived. If the
mean free path of the molecules is not too
small compared with the distance between
the filament and the walls of the vessel, the
energy loss under item (c) is, for a given gas
and filament temperature, proportional to the
pressure. Items (a) and (b) are functions of
the filament temperature only.
A Pirani gauge in practice might consist of
a filament lamp, the filament of which forms
one arm of a Wheatstone bridge. The change
is resistance due to cooling by the gas is then
a measure of the gas pressure.
GAUGE, RADIOMETER. A pressure gauge
in which the repulsion between adjacent hot
and cold plates in an enclosure in which the
residual gas molecules have a mean free path
large compared with the distance between the
plates is a measure of the pressure. It can
be shown that subject to certain simplifying
approximations the pressure is given b y:
2f

where / is the repulsive force per unit area

between the plates, and T x and T 2 are the ab
solute temperatures of the hot and cold plates,
respectively. In practice, because of the ap
proximations inherent in the formula, the
gauge is calibrated against a McLeod gauge.

GAUGE, STRAIN. An instrument used to

measure linear deformations or strains. There
are many different types but one of the most
common is the bonded wire gauge based on the
change in electrical resistance that occurs
when a metallic wire is deformed elastically.
(See W . C. Michels, Electrical M easurements
and Their Applications (Van Nostrand, 1957),
pp. 271-280.)
GAUGE, VACUUM. A ny instrument used to
measure pressures in vacuum system.
(See
the various types of gauges.)
GAUGE, W ERNER LEAF. A leaf gauge in
which a leaf of gold, silver or aluminum foil,
3 -6 cm long, is suspended along the axis of
a vertical glass tube to which are applied ex
ternally, opposite the two faces of the leaf,
two well-fitting water jackets maintained at
different temperatures.
GAUGE, W ILLIAM S. A form of leaf gauge
in which the hot surface is one face of a heated
massive copper block, mounted opposite one
side of an aluminum vane.
GAUSITRON. A mercury-arc rectifier-tube
which utilizes a high-voltage arc for starting.
GAUSS. The emu unit of magnetic induction
(flux density), one maxwell per square centi
meter. (See electromagnetic units.)
GAUSS ERROR
function.

FUNCTION.

See

error

GAUSS EYEPIECE. A Ramsden eyepiece

which has a thin plate of glass at 45 to the
optical axis placed between the two lenses.
Useful in setting a telescope normal to a
plane-reflecting surface.
GAUSS HYPERGEOMETRIC EQUATION.
A canonical form of the Riemann-Papperitz
equation, where the regular singular points
have been shifted to x = 0, 1, oo. Its form is:
x ( l x )y " + [7 ( + 0 + 1 );% ' <*Pv = 0,
in which a, /3, 7 are parameters related to the
exponents of the equation. Its general solu
tion around the point x = 0 and convergent
for |a; |< 1, provided 7 is not a positive or
negative integer or zero, is
y = AF(ct, /3, 7 ; z)

+ B x ^ F il + a - y } l + 0 -

2 - 7;*).

In this solution F (x ) is the Gauss hypergeo

metric function and A , B are constants of
integration.
GAUSS HYPERGEOMETRIC FUNCTION.
A series solution of the Gauss hypergeometric
equation,

r ( 7)
T(a)T()

^
r ( a + n) r(/3 + n)
Li
, s ,
x >

r ( 7 + n)n!

where r is the gamma function.

cient of the general term x k is

The coeffi

l ) ( a + 2)

(a + k 7 (7

x P (x)d x = 0,
and the mean square value of x is

F (a, , y , x)

ja(a+

and error function). The constant <r deter

mines the width of the distribution, and is
known as the standard deviation. The mean
value of x is

l)( + 1) ( + k -

1)

+ 1 ) ( 7 + k 1 )fc!

M any well-known functions, including the

Legendre and other polynomials, are com
pactly represented by the hypergeometric
series. Thus F ( 1, , ; x ) is the ordinary
geometric series and F (a, , \ x) is the
binomial expansion of ( 1 x) ~ a.
GAUSSIAN
CURVATURE
OF
SPACE
TIM E. See curvature (Gaussian) of space
time.
GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTION. The Gaussian
distribution is often called the normal distri
bution. It is given b y :
p ~ x * l 2a*

P (x ) =

/ : x 2P (x)d x =

a2.

The root mean square deviation and the

standard deviation are the same (i.e., o-). The
probable error pe is defined as a value of x
such that the probability of x lying inside (or
outside) of
is
(pe = 0.674<r.)
In many experimental situations the Gaus
sian distribution describes the deviations of
repeated measurements from the mean. It has
the characteristics that positive and negative
deviations are equally likely, and small devia
tions are much more likely than large ones.
The distribution of successive counts from
counter tubes is not symmetric about the
mean, since negative counts do not occur, and
some other distribution function must be used
in the statistical analysis of counting data,
e.g., the Poisson distribution.
GAUSSIAN FUNCTION.
tribution; error function.

See Gaussian dis

GAUSSIAN IMAGE POINT. For a system

with spherical aberration, the image point
to which the paraxial rays converge.

a\/ 2tt

The area under the curve from X\ to x2 repre

sents the probability of obtaining a value of x
between
and x2 (see distribution functions

GAUSSIAN UNITS. A nonrationalized mixed

system of units in which electrical quantities,
such as electric charge and electric potential
are carried in the esu system, while currents
and magnetic quantities are carried in the
emu system. The constant c is then carried
in the equations where it is needed, as a con
version factor. (See electromagnetic units.)
GAUSSIAN W A V E GROUP.
for which

A wave group

gOc) = ae- (*-*o)\

Here k is the wavelength constant but actu
ally the independent variable, while a and k0
are arbitrary constants.
GAUSSIAN W ELL.
Gaussian distribution.

See potential, nuclear.

GAUSS LAW . The total electric flux passing

out from a closed surface (c.s) is (in rational

ized units) equal to the total charge, q, en

closed within the surface. In unrationalized
units the flux is equal to 4tt times the enclosed
charge q.
In integral form, Gauss law may be written
(in rationalized M K S u n its ):
f

D dA =

c.s.

60E -d A = q = fp d V ,

'c.s.

=f

f{x)d x,

is replaced b y
4>(x)dz = A 0y0 + A iy i H-------- b A ny n}

J
a

where D is the electric flux density, E is the

electric field strength, p is the electric charge
density, and e0 is the permittivity of free space.
Applying Gauss theorem, the law m ay be
put in the differential form,
V -D = p,

GAUSS M ETH O D FOR QUADRATURES.

The integral to be evaluated,

or

V -E = p/eo-

Using
E = -V 7
the law may be put into still another form,
the Poisson equation:
V27 = - p / e o.
GAUSS L A W FOR A M AGNETIC M E
D IUM . Applying the Gauss law to the mag
netic case:
J* B d cr = 47tj * pdV,
V B = 47rp,

where B is the magnetic induction, and p the

density of magnetic charge. Since free mag
netic charge does not exist in nature, p = 0,
and the Gauss law states:
J* B d<r = 0,
V B = 0.
GAUSS L A W FOR GRAVITATION. The
total gravitational flux passing out from a
closed surface is, in rationalized units, equal
to the negative of the total mass enclosed
within the surface, or to 4tr times the total
mass enclosed in the more usual case of un
rationalized units.
GAUSS L A W OF NORMAL GRAVITA
TIONAL FORCE. The surface integral of
the normal component of the gravitational
force on a particle of unit mass, taken over
any closed surface is equal to 4nrG times the
total mass enclosed by the surface.
(See
flux.)

as in the Newton-Cotes method, and the dif

ference between the two integrals is minimized
by fixing the values of 2 (n + 1) quantities:
(n + 1) values each of the coefficients A k and
the dependent variable y k. The latter do not
result from equally spaced intervals in x, the
independent variable, as is the case for most
quadrature formulas. The 2 ( n + l ) param
eters are determined by solution of simultane
ous equations, which in turn depend on the
real roots of the Legendre polynomials. N u
merical tables for these parameters are avail
able.
GAUSS PRINCIPLE OF "LEAST CON
STRAINT.
(1) The motion of connected
points is such that, for the elementary m o
tion actually taken, the sum of the products
of the mass of each particle into the square
of the distance of its deviation from the posi
tion it would have reached if free, is a mini
mum.
(2) The motion of a system of material
points interconnected in any way and sub
mitted to any influences, agrees at each in
stant as closely as possible with the motion
the points would have if they were free. The
actual motion takes place so that the con
straints on the system are the least possible.
For the measurement of the constraint, during
any infinitesimal element of time, take the
sum of the products of the mass of each point
by the square of its deviation from the posi
tion the point would have occupied at the
end of the element o f time, if it had been free.
GAUSS THEOREM. A relation between a
volume integral and a surface integral, which
in Cartesian coordinates is:
du

f x dx

dv

dw\

dy

dz /

_|-------1
----- j dxdydz
= I (Xu + fiv + vw)dS.
Js

The quantities u,v,w are functions of x,y,z

having continuous first derivatives within a
volume t and they approach their values on
the bounding surface continuously. The out
ward normal to the surface has direction
cosines
A vector form, known as the divergence
theorem, is:
V -V dr

f V -dS ,

where the vector V has components u,v,w.

However, the first form of the theorem holds
even when u,VjW are not components of a
vector.
A physical interpretation of the vector equa
tion m ay be made, for if V represents the
flux density of an incompressible fluid, V -V
is the amount of fluid which flows from a
volume dr per second. The volume integral
is thus the total loss of fluid, which must equal
the rate of flow across all boundaries of the
volume, and that equals the surface integral.
This theorem is also called Greens theorem
or lemma.
GAUSS THEORY.

See first order theory (2 ).

GCA.
Abbreviation
approach.

for

ground-controlled

GCI. Abbreviation for ground- (or ship-)

controlled interception.
G-DISPLAY (ALSO CALLED G-SCAN OR
G-SCOPE). See display.
GEAR PATTERN.

See pattern, drive.

GEDANKEN EXPERIMENT. A thought

experiment. A hypothetical but possible ex
periment proposed and analyzed (but not per
formed) for the purpose of testing some h y
pothesis. F or example, for several years after
the uncertainty principle was first proposed,
many gedanken experiments were proposed
as illustrating violations of the principle.
However, in each case careful analysis showed
that there was no violation of the uncertainty
principle.
GEE. A vhf radio navigation system trans
mitting synchronized pulses.
H yperbolic
lines of position are determined by the meas
urement of the difference in the time of arrival
of these pulses.

GEE-H. A combination of the GEE and H

systems o f navigation.
GEGENBAUER FUNCTION.
the differential equation:

A solution of

(z2 1)u " + (2n + 1)zu' a(a + 2n)u = 0.

For integral values of a, the solution becomes
the Gegenbauer polynomial. This function
is a special case of the Gauss hypergeometric
function.
GEIGER COUNTER.

See counter, Geiger.

GEIGER FORMULA.
A relationship be
tween the initial velocity of -particles and
their range. This relationship, which was de
rived from measurements on radium C and
was later found to apply to -particles from
various sources, which have ranges from 3 to 7
cm in air, is of the form:
Vo3 =

aR,

where V 0 is the initial velocity of the -p a r

ticles at the source; a is a constant having
the same value for -particles from various
sources, namely 1.03 X 1027, provided V0 is
given in centimeters per second; and R , the
usual range of the -particles, is given in the
number of centimeters of air at 15 C and a
pressure of one atmosphere, which the -p a r
ticles traverse from their source to a point at
which they no longer produce appreciable
ionization.
GEIGER-MUELLER
COUNTER
TUBE.
A counter of the Geiger type (see counter,
Geiger) having a fine wire as its central elec
trode.
GEIGER-MUELLER REGION OF A RADI
ATION COUNTER TUBE.
(See plateau
characteristic.) The range of applied voltage
in which the charge collected per isolated count
is substantially independent of the nature of
the initial ionizing event.
GEIGER-MUELLER THRESHOLD OF A
RADIATION COUNTER TUBE. The lowest
applied voltage at which the charge collected
per isolated tube count is substantially inde
pendent of the nature of the initial ionizing
event.
GEIGER-NUTALL RELATION. An empir
ical relationship between the -particle range

and disintegration constant of natural -em it

ting radionuclides, of the form :
log R = A + B log X,
where R is the -particle range, X is the dis
integration constant, A is a parameter having
different values for the three natural radio
active series, and B is constant. This rela
tionship was more closely applicable to the
members o f the natural series than it is to the
more recently discovered -em itters, especially
those produced artificially. Current theory
does not substantiate the relationship except
for the general trend.
(See also GamowCondon-Gurney theory of ac-decay.)
GEISSLER TUBE. Geissler manufactured a
variety of gas discharge tubes at moderate
exhaustion, which exhibited bright glow dis
charges and sometimes marked fluorescence
effects. A form very useful in spectroscopy
consists of two elongated bulbs, one containing
the cathode and one the anode, and con
nected by a straight capillary section. The
glow is most intense in the capillary, which
is by its shape especially adapted to be placed
in front of a spectroscope slit. Such tubes
may be conveniently operated by an induction
coil or a small transformer; though the latter
is likely to overheat them and may even fuse
the electrodes, unless a protective series re
sistor is employed.
GEL. A two-com ponent colloidal system of
a semi-solid nature, rich in liquid. The gel
ling component is usually of the lyophilic type
and present in concentrations less than about
10 per cent. The gel, or semi-solid form of
a colloidal system, is related to the sol, or
liquid form, in that they are usually mutually
transformable.
G E L (S ), ELASTIC AN D NON-ELASTIC.
Gels are sometimes classified according to
their behavior when the dispersing medium
is removed. Elastic gels such as gelatin and
agar retain their elasticity, remain coherent
and do not become amorphous when desol
vated.
N on-elastic gels, such as gels of
chromic oxide and silica, lose their elasticity
and appear amorphous on drying.
GELLING POINT.
The temperature at
which various colloidal solutions, or other
semi-liquids, become solid. It is a function
of the concentration.

GENERAL CIRCULATION.
The grand
wind system o f the entire earth, also called
atmospheric circulation.
GENERALIZED
COORDINATES
AND
MOM ENTA. See coordinates and momenta,
generalized.
GENERALIZED M OM ENTA. See coordi
nates and momenta, generalized.
GENERALIZED VELOCITIES. In particle
mechanics, the time rates of change of the
generalized coordinates.
GENERAL RELATIVITY
relativity theory, general.

THEORY.

See

GENERATING FUNCTION. A method of

representing a function in terms of another
function containing one or more variables.
These generating functions give the function
to be generated as coefficients involving the
new variable parametrically. Some examples
follow :
1. Legendre polynomials
(1 -

oo
2xy + y 2)~'A = P n(x )y n
=0

2. Associated Legendre polynomials

(2m )l(l -

2 - . ! ( l - 2 !/ + r ,) " +

, ,

" WV

3. Bessel functions of integral order

exp

(u -

J n(x)u n

4. Hermite polynomials
exp [x2 -

(z -

- H n(x)z"
x )2] = 2 - , ------ -
n=o
n\

5. Laguerre polynomials

(I

-.)"1exp (f^-)=
\1 Z/
n=0

L (x )zn
n\

6. Associated Laguerre polynomials

( - D * ( l - 2 ) ' ( ^

P (fZ ^ )
=
n-k

L n\ x )z n
n

7. Tschebyscheff polynomials
1

xy

1 - 2 xy + y z

n=o

GENERATION RATE (IN A SEMICON

D U C T O R ). The time rate of creation of
electron-hole pairs.
GENERATION TIME.
The average time
between successive generations of thermal
fissions, in a nuclear reactor. It is equal to
the sum of the slowing down time of the fast
fission neutrons and the diffusion time (life
time) of the thermal neutrons. (See neutrons,
fast and neutrons, thermal.)
GENERATOR.
See alternator; generator,
current; generator, noise-current; generator,
noise-voltage; generator, voltage; direct cur
rent generator; generatrix.)
GENERATOR, ACOUSTIC. A transducer
which converts electric, mechanical, or other
forms of energy into sound.
GENERATOR,
ALTERNATING - CUR
RENT. See alternator.
GENERATOR, BAR. In television, the gen
erator of pulses which are uniformly spaced
in time and are synchronized to produce a sta
tionary bar pattern on a television screen.
GENERATOR, CURRENT. A two-terminal
circuit element with a terminal current inde
pendent of the voltage between its terminals.
A current generator has zero internal admit
tance.
GENERATOR, DIRECT CURRENT.
direct current generator.

See

GENERATOR, DOT. A generator whose out

put, when fed into a correctly-operating tele
vision system, will cause a field of regularlyspaced dots to appear on a kinescope screen.
Used for alignment purposes.
GENERATOR, DOUBLE-CURRENT.
A
generator having both commutator and sliprings, so that a-c and d-c m ay both be taken
from it.
GENERATOR, ELECTRIC.
and direct current generator.

See alternator;

GENERATOR, ELECTROSTATIC. A highvoltage generator in which the potential is

produced by the work done in mechanical

transport of electric charges. A Van de Graaf

generator employing a system of conveyor belt
and spray points to charge an insulated elec
trode to a high potential is an electrostatic
generator which m ay be used to accelerate
charged particles to sufficiently high energies
to induce nuclear reactions. (See also accel
erator, particle.)
GENERATOR, GASEOUS TUBE. A power
source comprising a gas-filled electron tube
oscillator, a power supply, and associated con
trol equipment.
GENERATOR, IMPULSE. A device for pro
ducing very short pulses of high voltage, usu
ally by charging capacitors in parallel and
discharging them in series.
GENERATOR, INDUCTION. When an in
duction motor is driven by mechanical means
above synchronous speed its slip becomes nega
tive and the machine will act as a generator
if it has the proper excitation. The induction
generator draws its exciting current from the
line, which puts a definite limit on the useful
ness of the machine. For the line current to
produce the correct field the load must take a
leading current from the generator. This re
quirement for a capacitive load may be met by
static condensers (almost never used) or syn
chronous machines on the line. The speed of
the induction generator does not determine
the frequency, which is fixed by synchronous
machines on the same system.
GENERATOR NOISE-CURRENT. A current
generator (see generator, current) the output
of which is described by a random function of
time. A t a specified frequency, a noise-current
generator can often be adequately character
ized by its mean-square current within the
frequency increment A/, or by its spectral
density. I f the circuit contains more than one
noise-voltage generator or noise-current gen
erator, the correlation coefficients among the
generators must also be specified.
GENERATOR NOISE-VOLTAGE. A volt
age generator (see generator, voltage) the
output of which is described by a random func
tion of time. A t a specified frequency, a
noise-voltage generator can often be ade
quately characterized by its mean-square
voltage within the frequency increment A/ or
by its spectral density. If the circuit contains

more than one noise-voltage generator or

noise-current generator, the correlation coeffi
cients among the generators must also be spec
ified.

GENERATOR, STAIRCASE. A generator

whose output, as displayed on a linear timebase, oscilloscope presentation, has the ap
pearance of a staircase.

GENERATOR, PULSE. M any electronic de

vices or circuits utilize sharp pulses of current
or voltage as a basic part of their operation.
Such pulses must frequently be of very short
time duration (microseconds) and accurately
spaced in time. Others need not be repeated
at regular time intervals but are initiated by
some signal and are single narrow pulses each
time a signal is received. The various types
of circuits for generating these are termed
pulse generators. As a simple illustration we
might examine a basic pulse generating circuit
as shown in the figure. The wave patterns

GENERATOR, ULTRASONIC. A device for

the production of sound waves of ultrasonic
frequency.

r\ j

J \ J \

r f f h

_J L-

f
Pulse Generator

above the circuit diagram represent the wave

form at the respective points in the circuit.
A sine wave is applied to the grid of the first
tube, which is biased so it clips the wave to
the form shown applied to the second tube.
This in turn clips the rounded top and gives
the square wave shown at its output circuit.
B y passing this through a condenser-resistor
circuit a series of triangular pulses is obtained.
These pulses are applied through a grid re
sistor to the grid of a tube as shown. This
tube levels them to produce a series of very
narrow pulses spaced at the same intervals as
the cycles of the original sine wave. The par
ticular shapes shown in the diagram are ob
tained by the proper choice of grid bias and
condenser-resistor values in the coupling cir
cuits. W hen the condenser has a low react
ance compared to the resistance in series,
the wave is passed without appreciable change
o f shape but, when the relative values are
reversed, the wave form is materially changed
as shown in the grid circuit of the final tube.
W hile the circuit shown is relatively simple,
it does illustrate some of the possibilities of
shaping circuits. (See oscillator, blocking.)
GENERATOR, SIGNAL.
A wide-range
radio-frequency oscillator, usually with pro
visions for modulation, used for test purposes.

GENERATOR, VOLTAGE. A two-terminal

circuit element with a terminal voltage inde
pendent of the current through the element.
A voltage generator has zero internal imped
ance.
GENERATRIX. Also called generator.
conical surface; ruled surface.)

(See

GEODESIC.
That curve connecting two
fixed points which has an extreme length
(maximal or m inim al). In three-dimensional
Euclidean geometry, the geodesic is clearly a
straight line; if the path is constrained to the
two-dimensional surface of a sphere, it is a
segment of a great circle. In the non-Euclidean geometries appropriate to the general
relativity theory, the geodesic is the path fol
lowed by a particle upon which no electro
magnetic forces act.
(See relativity theory,
general.)
GEODIMETER.
An optical device using
modulated light beams to measure the distance
between two points with high accuracy.
GEOMETRICAL FACTOR. In navigation,
the ratio of the change in a navigational co
ordinate to the change in distance, taken in
the direction of maximum navigational-coordi
nate change; that is, the magnitude of the
gradient of the navigational coordinate.
GEOMETRICAL OPTICS. This branch of
physics treats light as if it were actually
composed of rays diverging in various direc
tions from the source and abruptly bent by
refraction or turned back by reflection into
paths determined by well-known laws. The
idea that light travels in straight lines is here
uppermost, while its wave character and other
physical aspects are lost sight of. Thus the
image of a point A , if real, is simply another
point B through which the rays diverging from
A ultimately pass after the several reflections
or refractions produced by the mirrors, lenses,
etc., of the optical system. If the image B is
virtual, the rays appear to be diverging from

it, but only because their direction has been so

changed that if produced backward, the lines
along which they now travel would intersect
at B. A real image of a lamp may easily be
formed by a reading glass; a virtual image,
by a plane mirror. (See optical instruments,
eyepieces, spherical aberration, etc.)

poor geom etry refers to the case where the

source and detector are close together, sub
tending a large angle. The terms good and
poor do not necessarily carry their usual
connotations; in certain experiments poor
geometry may be preferable to good geom
etry. (See good geometry.)

GEOM ETRICAL SIMILARITY OF FLUID

FL O W . T w o fluid flows are geometrically
similar if the boundary conditions of one may
be transformed into the boundary conditions
o f the other by a simple change in the scales
o f length and velocity, i.e., one flow is a model
of the other.

GEOMETRY, ANALYTIC. Study of geom

etry by algebraic methods. In two dimen
sions, considerable attention is given to conic
sections; in three dimensions, to quadric sur
faces. Also called coordinate geom etry.

GEOMETRIC CAPACITANCE.
tance, geometric.

See capaci

GEOMETRIC DISTORTION.
tion, geometric.

See

distor

G E O M E T R IC M EAN . The nth root of the

product of n positive quantities x%\
G = (xix2x3 x n) lln.
GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION. A sequence
o f the form a, ar, ar2, ar3, . The last term,
I = arn~'1. (See series, geometric.)
GEOMETRY.
(1) Study of the properties,
measurement, and relations between lines,
angles, surfaces, and solids. In Euclidean
geometry, the axioms and postulates of Euclid
are used. Plane geometry is concerned mostly
with angles, triangles, polygons, circles, and
other figures which can be drawn with ruler
and com pass; solid geometry involves figures
in three dimensions, such as planes, spheres,
cubes, polyhedrons. Non-Euclidean geometry
discards one or more of the Euclidean postu
lates. Other specialized geometries are ana
lytic, descriptive, differential, projective, syn
thetic.
(2)
The physical relationship and sym
metry of the portions of an assembly. In
neutron calculations, plane, cylindrical, and
spherical geometries are arrangements having
the corresponding symmetries. In cross-section measurements, good geom etry refers to
the case where very few detected neutrons
have suffered a collision in the target. In
poor geometry almost all particles leaving
the target are detected.
In general, good
geometry refers to the case where the source
subtends small angles at the detector, and

GEOMETRY, DESCRIPTIVE.
Graphical
description of objects in three dimensions; the
mathematical technique of mechanical or tech
nical drawing.
GEOMETRY, DIFFERENTIAL.
A pplica
tion of differential calculus to the study of
curves and surfaces. Methods of tensor cal
culus are frequently used.
GEOMETRY FACTOR (RADIATION). The
average solid angle at the source subtended
by the aperture or sensitive volume of the
detector, divided by the complete solid angle
(4?rr2).
Frequently used loosely to denote
counting yield or counter efficiency.
GEOMETRY, NON-EUCLIDEAN.
Geom
etry in which not all the axioms and postu
lates of Euclid are assumed. In particular,
the classical non-Euclidean geometries are
obtained by replacing the parallel postulate
of Euclidean geometry by other assumptions.
In hyperbolic geom etry, usually credited to
Lobachevsky, all o f E uclids axioms are
adopted with the exception of the parallel
postulate, which is replaced by the assump
tion that through any point there are two
or more lines which do not intersect a given
line in the plane. M any theorems are the
same as in Euclidean geometry, but many are
different; for example, the sum of the three
angles o f a triangle is less than two right
angles.
In elliptic geom etry, the parallel postulate
of Euclid is replaced by the assumption that
through a given point all lines intersect a
given line in the plane.
GEOMETRY, PROJECTIVE. Study o f geo
metric figures projected on a plane. (See also
geometry, synthetic.)

GEOMETRY, RADIATION. Refers to a de

scription of the dimensions and relative spa
tial positions of the source, detector, and any
object or materials which can absorb, scatter,
or alter the radiation being measured.
Loosely, geometry factor.
(See also geometry ( 2 ).)
GEOMETRY, SYNTHETIC. A pplication of
synthetic or deductive methods to the study
of geometry.
The term is often used as
synonymous with pure geometry ( 1 ).
GEON. Entity consisting of an electromag
netic field held together by the gravitational
attraction arising from the energy, and hence
mass, of the field. N ot observed, but the pos
sibility of its existence is a consequence of
classical electromagnetic and gravitational
theories.
GEOSTROPHIC W IN D . The wind that is
the result of a balanced pressure gradient and
Coriolis force. Geostrophic winds blow in
straight or nearly straight lines. L ow pres
sure is to the left of the wind direction in the
northern hemisphere when the observer stands
with back to the wind.
GERMANIUM. M etallic element.
Ge. A tom ic number 32.

Symbol

GETTER. A metallic deposit in a vacuum

tube whose function is to absorb residual gas.
The best getters are the electropositive metals
such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, cal
cium, strontium, and barium. In recent years,
titanium has been found to be a very effective
getter at extremely low pressures.
GETTER FILM , DISTILLATION M ETHOD
OF FORMING. A method of depositing a
film of sodium or potassium in a vacuum ves
sel in which successive distillations are per
formed within, and finally from, a side tube
provided with a series of sealed-off constric
tions.

a high potential relative to the source of elec

trons, a current will pass, carried by electrons
between the thermionic cathode and the inner
surface of the glass, and by ions within the
glass. The only ions in the glass that are
mobile are sodium ions, and thus pure sodium
is released at the inner surface of the en
velope.
GETTERING, "CON TACT. The absorp
tion of gas resulting from its contact with the
already dispersed getter film.
GETTERING, DISPERSAL. The absorption
of gas during the dispersal of the getter
through the vacuum tube.
GETTERING,
ELECTRIC-DISCHARGE.
Absorption of gas m ay be greatly accelerated
by passing an ionizing electron discharge
through the gas. The gas is ionized, and the
ions are neutralized when they impinge on an
electrode, so that the final product is neutral
gas atoms. These are then easily absorbed
by the getter.
g-FACTOR.

See Lande splitting factor.

GHOST(S). (1) In spectroscopy, false images

of a spectral line produced by irregularities in
the ruling of diffraction gratings. Rowland
ghosts are false images grouped symmetrically
on both sides of the true line. Lym an ghosts
are false orders of spectra for which the order
is not an integer. (2) In television, a sec
ondary picture formed on a television re
ceiver because the signal from the transmit
ter reaches the antenna b y more than one
path. Ghosts are most com monly caused by
the radio signal being reflected from objects
within approximately one mile of the receiver
antenna.
GHOST IMAGE.

See image, ghost.

GHOST PULSE.

See signal(s), ghost.

GHOST SIGNALS.
GHOST SMEAR.

GETTER
FILM ,
ELECTROLYTIC
M ETH O D OF FORMING. A method of
forming a deposit of sodium, available where
the vacuum vessel is of lime-soda glass. It
is well known that sodium m ay be electrolyzed through lime-soda glass. If, therefore,
a thermionic source of electrons is provided
inside an evacuated sealed-off vessel, part of
which is dipped into a suitable liquid kept at

See signal(s), ghost.

See smear, ghost.

GIANT AIR SHOWER. The same as exten

sive shower. (See shower, extensive.)
GIAUQUE-DEBYE M ETHOD.
See
abatic demagnetization, cooling by.

adi

GIBBS ADSORPTION EQUATION.

An
equation relating adsorption and surface ten
sion, derived by thermodynamics. For a two-

component system involving a solvent (1) and

solute (2 ), the surface excess T2 is given by
ti

tent) of a system, from certain other data.

Tw o useful general forms of this equation are:
/d (A A )\

dy

AA AU = T [ - - )
\ dT / v

T 2 ~ ~ R T d \ n ( f 2N 2)
where f 2 is the activity coefficient of com po
nent 2, N 2 is the mole fraction of component
2, y is the surface tension of the solution.
For ideal solutions (see solution, ideal)
/2 = 1 , and in dilute solutions the concentra
tion c2 is proportional to the mole fraction
N 2.
1
dy
r 2 = --------------- *
R T d In c2
From this equation it is apparent that when
the surface tension decreases with solute con
centration, the surface excess is a positive
quantity. Conversely the surface excess is
a negative quantity for those substances which
increase the surface tension.
(The surface
excess is the surface concentration of solute
(com ponent 2 in above equations) per unit
area of interface.)
GIBBS-DUHEM EQUATION. In a system
o f two or more components at constant tem
perature and pressure, the sum of the changes
for the various components, of any partial
molar quantity, each multiplied by the num
ber of moles of the component present, is zero.
The special case of two components is the
basis of the Gibbs-Duhem equation of the
form :
__
UidXi = n2d X 2,
in which tti and n2 are the number of moles of
the respective components and X\ and X 2 are
the partial molar values of any extensive prop
erty of the components.
GIBBS FREE ENERGY.
free energy ( 1 ).

Defined under

GIBBS FUNCTION (PO TEN TIAL). D e

fined under free energy ( 1 ). (See also thermo
dynamic potential.)
GIBBS-HAMILTON NOTATION. The no
tation, used in vector calculus, that employs
the del operator to express the gradient, curl,
Laplacian, and other differential functions.
GIBBS-HELMHOLTZ EQUATION. A ther
m odynam ic relationship useful in calculating
changes in the energy or enthalpy (heat con

AG -

/d(A G)\
AH = T ( ~ - ) .
V dT ) P

in which A is the Helmholtz free energy, U is

the internal energy of the system, T is the
absolute temperature, V is the volume, P is
the pressure, G is the Gibbs free energy (see
free energy ( 1 ) ) , and H is the enthalpy of
the system.
(See thermodynamic poten
tials.)
GIBBS-HELMHOLTZ EQUATION FOR A
REVERSIBLE CELL. If the heat of the
chemical reaction taking place in the cell is
AH, F is the Faraday constant and the reac
tion takes place by the migration of an ion
bearing a charge j, then

where 8 is the e .m .f. of the cell.

GIBBSIAN ENSEMBLE.

See ensemble (1 ).

GIBBS PHASE RULE. See phase rule.

GIBBS PHENOMENON. Unusual behavior
shown by a function with a discontinuity,
when it is approximated by a finite number
o f terms in a Fourier series. As a simple
example, consider f ( x ) = 1, 0 < x < tt; f ( x ) =
1, tt < x < 2tt. The sum of the first n
terms in the Fourier series converges to 1
as f t oo; except at the discontinuities, where
it converges to zero. However, the maximum
value of the first n terms approaches 1.179.
A Fourier expansion for a function with a
discontinuity should be examined carefully
for this phenomenon.
GIGA-.

A prefix meaning 109.

Abbreviated

gGILBERT. The unit of magnetomotive force

in the emu system.
One gilbert = 10/4tt
ampere turns.
GILL-MORREL OSCILLATOR.
Barkhausen oscillator.

A form o f

GIMMICK. The colloquial name given to

a small capacitor (below 5 picofarads)

formed from two insulated wires twisted to

gether.
G L A D ST O N E -D A L E L A W . W hen a sub
stance is compressed, or its temperature
varied, the density alters and there is a cor
responding variation in the refractive index.
The form of this relationship is:

slope, the sector being bounded

below by radial lines from the
transmitter, along each of which
there exists a specified difference
modulation.

above and
glide-slope
radial lines
in depth of

GLIM MSCHICHT M ETHOD.

sion of cathode glow.

See discus

GLINT, TARGET.
P

where n is the index of refraction, p is the

density, and k is a constant. (See, however,
Lorentz-Lorenz relation.)
G L A N C IN G A N G LE .
(1) The angle be
tween a ray and the tangent plane to a sur
face. The complement of the angle of inci
dence. (2) The term is often used as a m odi
fier, to indicate the incidence of a beam at a
very small angle with the surface.
G L A N S P E C T R O P H O T O M E T E R . An in
strument similar to an ordinary spectrometer,
but with certain modifications making pos
sible the comparison of two sources.
GLASS, GLASSY STA TE.

See vitreous state.

G L ID E -P A T H . The path used by an aircraft

in approach procedures as defined by an in
strument-landing facility.
G L ID E PLA N E .
(1) A symmetry element
of a space lattice, such that the lattice remains
unchanged after a reflection in the plane, fol
lowed by a translation parallel to the same
plane. (2) Same as slip plane in theory of
dislocations.
G L ID E -SLO P E . An inclined surface which
includes a glide path and which is generated
by an instrument-landing facility.
G L ID E -S LO P E A N G LE .

See slope angle.

G L ID E -S LO P E D E V IA T IO N .
The differ
ence between the projection in the vertical
plane of the actual path of movement of a ve
hicle and the planned slope for the vehicle,
expressed in terms of either angular or linear
measurements.

See scintillation.

GLOBAR ( GLOBAR LA M P). A ceramic rod

consisting largely of silicon carbide (Carbo
rundum) which has some electrical conduc
tivity at room temperature and which can be
heated to an almost white heat in air without
rapid deterioration. It radiates almost like
a black body. Globars are com monly used as
a radiation source like Nernst glowers in infra
red spectrometers. They have the advantage
over Nernst glowers of not requiring a second
ary heat source for starting and in being
more rugged; however they cannot be made
as small as Nernst glowers and, in general,
some sort of cooling device, such as a water
jacket, is necessary.
GLORY. A series of concentric colored rings
around the shadow of the observer, or of his
head only, cast upon a cloud or fog bank.
GLOSSIMETER. An instrument for meas
uring the ratio of the light regularly or spec
ularly reflected from a surface to the total
light reflected.
G LO W , ABNORMAL. In a glow-discharge
device, the flow of current equal or greater
than the magnitude which causes the cathode
to be com pletely covered with glow.
G LO W , CATHODE.
G LO W DISCHARGE.
GLOW-DISCHARGE
glow-discharge.

See cathode glow.

See discharge, glow.
TUBE.

GLO W , EXTRAORDINARY.
normal.

See

tube,

See glow, ab

The means of

GLO W , NEGATIVE. The luminous region in

a gas-discharge at moderately-low pressure,
as in a Crookes tube, between the cathode
dark space and the Faraday dark space.

G L ID E -S LO P E SECTO R. In an equisignal
glide-slope, the sector containing the glide-

G LO W POTENTIAL. The potential across

a glow discharge which is less than the spark
ing potential, but greater than the ionization

G L ID E -S LO P E F A C IL IT Y .
providing a glide slope.

potential of the gas. This potential is quite

constant as a function of the current in the
normal glow region, where the cathode is not
com pletely covered with glow. As the cath
ode becomes covered with glow, an increase
in current causes an increase in voltage, and
the glow is now abnormal. Sufficient excur
sion into the abnormal glow region will cause
an abrupt drop in potential, and the discharge
will be an arc.
Gm.

See transconductance.

GND.

Abbreviation for ground.

GOBO, ( 1 ) A flag used to shield the lens of

a television camera from the direct rays of
light.
(2) A sound shield placed around a
microphone to reduce unwanted sounds.
GOLAY PNEUMATIC CELL.
A small
transparent cell containing gas which is used
to detect radiation. A very thin film within
the cell absorbs incident radiation, which in
creases the cell temperature and pressure.
Changes in pressure are recorded as indica
tions of the amount of incident radiation.
GOLD.
M etallic
A tom ic number 79.

element.

Symbol

Au.

G OLD NUMBER.
W hen certain colloids
(hydrophilic), such as gelatine, are added to
a gold sol, the gold sol is strongly protected
against the flocculating action of electrolytes.
This protective action on red gold sols m ay
be measured by utilizing the color change red
to blue which indicates the first stage of co
agulation. The gold number as defined by
Zsigm ondy is the weight in milligrams of pro
tective colloid which is just sufficient to pre
vent the change from red to blue in 10 cm3
of a standard gold sol (0.0053 to 0.0058 per
cent Au) after the addition of 1 cm3 of a 10
per cent sodium chloride solution.
GOLDSCH M IDT L AW . The structure of a
crystal is determined by the ratio of the num
bers, the ratio of the sizes, and the properties
o f polarization of its structural units, i.e.,
atoms or ions.
GONIOMETER.
(1) An instrument for
measuring the angles between the reflecting
surfaces of a crystal or a prism. (2) A radio
receiver and directional antenna system for
determining the angle o f arrival of trans
mitted waves

GO, NO-GO DETECTOR. An instrument

which has only two stable states of indication,
and which therefore will give full response to
any stimulus capable of actuating it. For
example, a common fuse is a go, no-go de
tector, since either it is intact, or it is burned
out. An ammeter, however, can respond con
tinuously to the same current.
GOOD GEOMETRY. (See geometry (2 ).)
In nuclear physics measurements, an arrange
ment of source and detecting equipment such
that the use of finite source size and finite de
tector aperture introduces little error. For
example, consider the measurement of the re
action energy Q, in the reaction A + B - C
+ D + Q. Here particles B are supposed to
strike target nuclei A , releasing the disinte
gration particles D and producing the recoil
nuclei C. The measurement of Q depends
upon the measurement of the energy of the
particles D j and this in turn is dependent on
the angle of emission of D relative to the direc
tion of incident particles B. The necessarily
finite sizes o f the target and the detector aper
ture introduce an uncertainty in this angle.
Good geom etry is said to prevail when the
resultant uncertainty in the measurement of
Q is not much larger than the errors introduced
by other factors such as the target thickness
and the energy inhomogeneity of the incident
particles.
GOUDSMIT AND UHLENBECK ASSUMP
TION.
The assumption of electron spin,
which was advanced to explain the multiplic
ity of many spectra, which is due to the con
tribution which the spin makes to the total
angular momentum, and which is quantized
in the spin quantum number.
GOUDSMIT T-SUM RULE. For a given
electron configuration, the sum of the V values
corresponding to a given value of the mag
netic quantum number M is independent of
the field strength H.
(For discussion of r ,
see Lande T-permanence rule.)
GPI. Abbreviation for ground position indi
cator.
GRADIENT. (1) A vector obtained by the
application o f the vector differential opera
tor V to a scalar point function. In rectangu
lar coordinates it is

6$

d(j>

d<f>

g r a d <t> = V 0 = i -------- | - j -------- b k

dx

dy

dz

where i, j, k are unit vectors. It expresses,

both in magnitude and direction, the greatest
space rate of change of the scalar <f>. A t any
point P, it is normal to the surface <(,?/,2 ) =
constant, which passes through P. (2) The
vector gradient of a vector field V is written as
grad-V. It is a tensor given by the dyadic
m ultiplication of the del operator with the
vector field V. (3) The increase or decrease
o f a meteorological element with respect to dis
tance, either horizontal or vertical, e.g., a baro
metric gradient of plus 10 millibars per 1000
miles, or a vertical temperature gradient of
minus 4 C per 1000 feet altitude, the latter
being more com m only called the lapse rate.
GRADIENT COUPLING. T y p e of postu
lated coupling between nucleons and other
particles (mesons, (3 -particles and neutrinos)
in which the interaction energy depends ex
plicitly on the first order derivatives of the
wave functions with respect to position and
time.

lute magnitudes are |rx \p = m i; |r2 \p =

m2/m1; ; \rn \p = mn/m n__1, where p = 2s.
The signs of the roots must be found in some
other way. Appropriate modification of the
method also furnishes the complex roots, which
occur in pairs.
GRAHAM LA W .

See diffusion of gases.

GRAIN. (1) A small particle. (2) A unit

of mass in the English system equal to the
480th part of an apothecaries ounce, or equal
to the 5760th part of an apothecaries pound.
The conversion factors of grains to avoirdu
pois units, and to metric units, are as follows:
437.5 grains = 1 avoirdupois ounce
15.4324 grains = 1 gram
1 grain = 0.0648 gram.
(See also grain boundary and grain, photo
graphic.)
GRAIN BOUNDARY. The surface separat
ing two regions of a solid in which the crystal
axes are differently oriented. It has been

GRADIENT W IN D . The wind which blows

when the pressure gradient, Coriolis force,
and centrifugal force are balanced, and when
there is no acceleration. In clockwise systems
in the northern hemisphere Coriolis force bal
ances both centrifugal force and the pressure
gradient; in the counterclockwise system, the
pressure gradient balances both centrifugal
force and Coriolis force.
GRADIOMETER.
A flux-gate magnetom
eter arranged to give an output proportional
to the gradient of a magnetic field.
GRAEFFE M ETHO D . A procedure for ob
taining approximate values of the roots of a
polynomial. K nown also by the names of
Dandelin and Lobachevsky, its advantages
over other methods are that no first order ap
proximation to the root is needed and that all
roots, both real and complex, are obtained in
one operation.
The given polynomial, conveniently written
in the form : xn + axxn~ 1 H-------- \~ an = 0, is
repeatedly squared and the coefficients of
equal powers of x are collected. After this has
been done s times, the coefficients are the num
bers 1, mi, m2, mn. If 7*1, r2, , rn are
the real roots of the polynomial, their abso

A simple grain boundary. The plane of the figure

is parallel to the cube face and normal to the axis
of relative rotation of the two grains, which have a
common cube axis and an angular difference in ro
tation 0.
(By permission from Dislocations in
Crystals by Read, Copyright 1953, McGraw-Hill
Book Co.)

shown that such a boundary may be thought

of as built up of an array, or network of dis
locations, whose spacing D depends on the tilt
6 of the axes across the surface. The energy

(per unit area) of a grain boundary is given

by
E/Em = ( 0 / O U - ln(0/ffm) l ,
where E m and 6m are parameters depending on
the material.
GRAIN BOUNDARY RELAXATION.
A
source of internal friction in solids due to the
motion of grain boundaries under stress.
GRAININESS, PHOTOGRAPHIC. The vis
ible coarseness of a photographic material,
under specified conditions, due to silver grains
in a developed photographic film.
GRAIN, PHOTOGRAPHIC. A small par
ticle of metallic silver remaining in a photo
graphic emulsion after development and fix
ing. In the agglomerate, these grains form
the dark area of a photographic image.
GRAM. (1) A unit of mass, abbreviation gm
or gr. One one-thousandth of a kilogram.
(2) A unit of force, abbreviation gf or gr. The
weight of a gram mass at the earths surface.
I f greater precision is needed, it is specified
that this weight should be measured at a point
where the acceleration due to gravity is
980.665 cm /sec2.
GRAM-ATOM. That quantity of an element
having a mass in grams numerically equal
to the atomic weight. One gram atom con
tains the Avogadro number of atoms.
GRAM-ATOMIC W EIG H T.
a gram-atom.

The weight of

GRAM DETERM INANT. Used in testing

functions for linear dependence or independ
ence. Let vectors Ui, u2, , u be given in
an n-dimensional space. Then the Gram de
terminant has as elements Ui-uy, the scalar
product, or the Hermitian scalar product if
the vector space is complex. I f the determi
nant vanishes, this is a necessary and suffi
cient condition that the vectors are linearly
dependent; if the determinant does not van
ish, the vectors are independent. A similar
procedure may be used for n functions <j>lf
<f>2 ) > <#>n and the elements of the determi
nant

become J

(See

also

Wron-

skian.)
GRAM-EQUIVALENT.
The gram-atomic
weight of an element (or formula weight of a

radical) divided by its valence. In the case

of multivalent substances there will be more
than one value for the gram-equivalent, viz.,
F e + + = 27.92 gm, F e + + + = 18.61 gm, and
the proper value for the particular reaction
must be chosen.
GRAM-MOLECULAR VOLUME. The vo l
ume occupied by 1 mole of an element at 0C
and 760 mm pressure. For an ideal gaseous
element it is 22.242 liters.
GRAM-MOLECULAR
W EIG H T.
That
amount of a pure substance having a mass
in grams numerically equal to the molecular
weight. One gram-molecular weight contains
the Avogadro number of molecules. It is also
designated as the mole or mol.
GRAM-RAD. A unit of the integral absorbed
dose. It is 100 ergs. (See dose, absorbed.)
(ICRU, 1956.)
GRAPH. A line drawing expressing a relation
between two variables; or more generally, any
record produced by physical methods.
GRAPHECHON. A signal-converter storage
tube with electrostatic focus, magnetic deflec
tion, indirect-conductivity writing, and capacitive-charge reading.
GRAPHECON. Trade name for a double
gun, scan-conversion cathode-ray tube used
for navigational display.
GRAPHICAL DIFFERENTIATION. Esti
mation of the derivative of a curve by meas
uring the slope o f a tangent to the graph of
the curve.
GRAPHICAL INTEGRATION.
Obtaining
the value of an integral by measuring the
area under the graph of the function, by count
ing the squares, or by cutting out and weigh
ing the graph. (See also planimeter, polar.)
GRAPHICAL STATICS. The method of so
lution of problems in statics in which the
polygons of forces are drawn to scale and
measured to determine the conditions for equi
librium. (See statics.)
GRASHOF NUMBER. A non-dimensional
parameter appearing in the theory of flows
caused by free convection. It is

where 6 is the temperature difference produc

ing the convection, a is the coefficient of ther
mal expansion of the fluid, d is the length
scale of the system, v is the kinematic viscos
ity.
Flows without large density changes
caused by the temperature differences are d y
namically similar if the Grashof and Prandtl
numbers are equal.
GRASS. The pattern on the cathode-ray-tube
display of a radar or similar system, which is
produced by the random noise output of the
receiver.
GRATICULE. A reticle composed of lines
ruled on a transparent plate, instead of the
usual fine threads or wires.
GRATING. A ny fram e-work or lattice-work,
consisting of a regular arrangement of bars,
rods, or other long, narrow objects with inter
stices between them. A diffraction grating
consists of rulings upon the surface of a lighttransmitting or light-reflecting substance; it
is used for the production of spectra.
GRATING, CONCAVE.
ing.

See concave grat

GRATING, CONFORM AL W IRE. A wave

filter made of wires bent to conform to the
lines of electric field that are characteristic of
the wave that is to be reflected.
GRATING
CONSTANT,
ULTRASONIC.
The distance between diffracting centers of
an ultrasonic wave which is producing par
ticular light diffraction spectra.
(See also
ultrasonic space grating.)
GRATING, RADIAL.
An E mode (zero
order) suppressor for a circular waveguide,
consisting of radial wires placed in the guide.
GRATING,
radial.

REFLECTING.

See

grating,

GRATING, REFLECTION.
grating.

See reflection

GRATING
grating.

See

REFLECTOR.

GRATING, REPLICA.

reflector,

See replica grating.

GRATING, SHEET. M etal fins, usually at

least a guide-wavelength long, placed longi
tudinally inside a waveguide to suppress un
desirable modes of propagation.

GRATING, ULTRASONIC CROSS. A space

grating resulting from the crossing of beams
of ultrasonic waves having different directions
o f propagation. This m ay be tw o- or threedimensional.
(See also grating, ultrasonic
space.)
GRATING, ULTRASONIC
ultrasonic space grating.

SPACE.

See

GRATING, ULTRASONIC SPACE (GRAT

IN G ). A periodic spatial variation of the
index of refraction caused by the presence of
acoustic waves within the medium.
GRAVITATIONAL CONSTANT.
ton law of universal gravitation.

See New

GRAVITATIONAL DISPLACEMENT (OR

FLUX DENSITY). See displacement, gravi
tational.
GRAVITATIONAL FIELD.
A region in
which a particle is subject to a gravitational
force. (See Newton law of universal gravita
tion; field of force; fields, classical.)
GRAVITATIONAL FIELD
STRENGTH.
The force per unit mass resulting from the
gravitational attraction of other masses which
produce a gravitational field.
GRAVITATIONAL FLUX. The total gravi
tational flux passing through a surface is the
integral of the normal component of the gravi
tational flux density (see displacement, gravi
tational) over the area. (See also Gauss law
for gravitation.)
GRAVITATIONAL MASS. Mass of an ob
ject, regarded as the generator o f a gravita
tional field. On the Newtonian theory, the
gravitational potential due to a particle of
gravitational mass m is Gm/r at a point
distant r from the particle. The equality of
gravitational mass and inertial mass is a con
sequence of the principle of equivalence. (See
equivalence principle.)
GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL.
For a
point in a gravitational field (see field, gravi
tational) , the negative of the amount of work
which must be done on a particle of unit mass
to move it from the point to infinity. It be
comes equal to the potential energy per unit
mass at the point in question if the potential
energy is taken to be equal to zero at infinity,
which is usually the case.

GRAVITATIONAL RADIUS. The gravita

tional radius of a mass m is the length Gm/c2
(G is the gravitational constant, c, the veloc
ity of light in vacuo). For the sun this is
1.47 km, for the earth 5 mm.
GRAVITATION, EINSTEIN L A W OF.
Einstein law of gravitation.

See

GRAVITATION, N EW TO N L A W OF UNI
VERSAL. See Newton law of universal gravi
tation.
GRAVITATION, THEORY OF. See relativ
ity theory, general; Whitehead theory; Nord
strom theory; Newton law of universal gravita
tion.
GRAVITY.
gravitation.

See Newton law of universal

GRAVITY CELL.
GRAY BODY.

See cell, gravity.

See radiator, non-selective.

GRAY FILTER.

See neutral-density filter.

GRAY SCALE. A series of achromatic tones

ranging from black to white. A gray scale
m ay be divided into three or more steps but
10 is a common number of divisions. A gray
scale is sometimes included with the subject
when making a color photograph so that
measurements of its densities on the separation
negatives or tripack will give the density
range of that stage in the reproduction. A
gray scale is helpful in controlling the process
ing stages in the analysis and synthesis of a
color photograph.
GREEN FORMULA. W hen the Lagrange
identity is integrated between the limits (a,6 ),
the result is Greens form ula:

equation and its boundary conditions into an

integral equation. It is defined to have the
properties: (1) it is continuous over the range
a ^ x ^ b and has continuous derivatives of
orders up to (n 2 ), where n is the order of
the differential equation; (2) its derivative of
order (n 1 ) is discontinuous at a point z
within the range (a,b) ; (3) it satisfies the d if
ferential equation everywhere except at x = z.
The Green function is of particular use in
the solution of the inhomogeneous wave equa
tion:
d2u

dt

- Ci3V- Vu + C22V

x vx U

- F(r,t),

and of the inhomogeneous diffusion equation,

particularly when its use is combined with
that of the Dirac delta function. (For further
detail, see W illiam Band, Introduction to
M athem atical P hysics, Van Nostrand, 1959.)
GREEN TENSOR. W hen the quantity on
the right of the inhomogeneous wave equation
shown under Green function is a vector, F (r,)
rather than a scalar, the Green function is a
tensor, having components corresponding to
xxf, xy', etc., where x , y , z are the coordinates
of the point of observation and xf, y 'y z' are the
coordinates of the point of origin of the dis
turbance. The solution u is then the integral
of the product of this Green tensor and F,
taken over all space in which F is non-vanishing. (See also chapter by P. M . M orse (Chap.
7, Part 3) in the Condon-Odishaw Handbook
of Physics, M cG raw -H ill, 1958.)
GREEN THEOREM. I f F , G are scalar
functions and the vector V = F G , the
Gauss theorem in vector form gives

\vL(u)

u L (v)}d x -

[P(u,v) la6.

VF-VGdr +

f FV2Gdr =

I f the pair of adjoint equations is of order n,

the right-hand side of the formula is a bi
linear form in the 2n quantities:
u(a), u'(a), * *, w(n 1}(a);
u(b), u'(b),

f FVG-dS,
J s

where the integrals on the left are taken over

a volume r and that on the right over the
surface or surfaces enclosing the volume.
On exchanging F and G and subtracting the
result from this equation, the Green theorem
results:

v(a), v'(a), *, v ^ ^ i a ) ;
( f t ) , ! / ) , y n- 1)(&).
GREEN FUNCTION. A symmetric kernel
G (x,z) used to convert a Sturm-Liouville

f (FV2G - GV2F)dr = f (FVG - GVF) -S.

t

J s

These relations are also sometimes known as

Gauss theorem or the divergence theorem.

GREGORIAN TELESCOPE.
A reflecting
telescope with a concave secondary mirror
which reflects the light through an opening in
the primary mirror, and forms a real image
behind the primary mirror.
(See Cassegrainian telescope.)
GREGORY FORMULA.
F or numerical
evaluation of an integral. It is obtained from
the Newton formula for interpolation and
may be written:

/ a f(x )d x

cap-like element with a single hole for the

passage of the electrons.
GRID BASE. The region of grid voltage be
tween that which causes plate-current cutoff
and that which causes grid current flow (posi
tive grid region ).
GRID BEARING.
GRID BIAS.

See bias, grid.

GRID BIAS, AUTOMATIC.

automatic.
GRID-BIAS CELL.

- [ *

Vi

+ 2/2 H------- V

- (Ay n - 1 -

Vn

Ai/o)

See bearing, grid.

See bias, grid,

See bias cell.

GRID CHARACTERISTIC.
characteristic.

See electrode

GRID, CONTROL. A grid, ordinarily placed

between the cathode and an anode, for use as
a control electrode.

h
-

24

(A zj/_2 + A 22/o)

19h

- ^

(A

(a42 /"-4 + a42 /)-------

160

~ A Vo)

where h is the interval between equallyspaced values of the independent variable x

and the quantities Amy k are finite differences.
Gregorys formula is equivalent to the trape
zoidal rule, with correction terms in these d if
ferences.
GREGORY-NEWTON FORMULA FOR IN
TERPOLATION. See the Newton formula
for interpolation.
GRID. An electrode having one or more
openings for the passage of electrons or ions.
As used in electron tubes, the grid acts pri
marily to exercise control (by a voltage im
pressed on it) on the passage of electrons
across the tube-space, without collecting more
o f them than are necessary. The screen grid
is an additional, open-type element inserted
between the control grid and the anode to re
duce the interelectrode capacitance between
them. The suppressor grid is inserted be
tween the screen and anode to reduce second
ary emission. In many gas-filled tubes, and
in the cathode-ray tube, the grid is a solid

GRID CURRENT.

See current, electrode.

GRID CURRENT, CRITICAL.

In a gas
tube, the instantaneous value of grid current
when the anode current starts to flow.
GRID-DRIVE CHARACTERISTIC. A rela
tion, usually shown by a graph, between elec
trical or light output and control-electrode
voltage measured from cutoff.
GRID DRIVING POWER.
The average
product of the instantaneous values of the
grid current and of the alternating com po
nent of the grid voltage over a complete cycle.
This comprises the power supplied to the bias
ing device and to the grid.
GRID EMISSION, SECONDARY.
sion, secondary, grid.

See emis

GRID EMISSION, THERMIONIC.

emission, thermionic, grid.

See

GRID, FREE. The grid of an electron tube

which has no electrical connection to it. Such
a condition is highly undesirable, especially in
vacuum tubes, since the grid will accumulate
a charge which cannot leak off, and which will
alter the operation of the tube. I f the charge
remained fixed it would not be so serious, but
the accumulated charge is very sensitive to
external conductors, thus bringing the hand
near a tube with a free grid will cause a re
distribution of the electrons accumulated on

the grid and cause the plate current to vary

erratically.

virtual cathode in a region adjacent to the

grid.

GRID, INJECTION. The grid in a super

heterodyne mixer which injects the effect of
the local oscillator signal into the electron
stream. In tubes designed especially for this
purpose, this grid has little or no interaction
with the other grids.

GRID, SUPPRESSOR. A grid that is inter

posed between two positive electrodes (usu
ally the screen-grid and the plate), primarily
to reduce the flow of secondary electrons from
one electrode to the other.

GRID LEAK. The resistance in the grid

circuit of a vacuum tube. (See tube, vacuum.)
GRID NORTH. An arbitrary reference direc
tion used in connection with the grid system of
navigation. The reference direction is the top
of a grid which, for polar navigation, is a grid
of rectangular coordinates superimposed over
the polar regions. One line on this grid coin
cides with the Greenwich Meridian. North of
this grid is the direction upward on the chart,
usually the direction of the North Pole from
Greenwich.
GRID, PHOTO-ISLAND. The photoemissive
surface of an image-dissector tube.
GRID POOL TANK.
A grid-controlled,
m ercury-pool rectifier.
Examples are the
excitron and some forms of the ignitron.
GRID, SCREEN. A grid placed between a
control grid and an anode, and usually main
tained at a fixed positive potential, for the
purpose of reducing the electrostatic influence
of the anode in the space between the screen
grid and the cathode.
GRID-SEPARATION CIRCUIT.
In light
house tube oscillator and amplifier circuits, an
arrangement whereby the input and output
cavities are separated by the grid and the posi
tion of the resonators in contact with the griddisk. The low-frequency, lumped-parameter
equivalent of this circuit would be the
grounded-grid circuit.
GRID SHIELD (GAS TUBES).
A grid
which shields the control grid (see grid, con
trol) from electrostatic fields, thermal radia
tion, and deposition of thermionic emissive
material, and which m ay also be used as an
additional control electrode.
GRID, SPACE-CHARGE. A grid, usually
positive, that controls the position, area, and
magnitude of a potential minimum or of a

GRID VOLTAGE.

See voltage, electrode.

GRIEBE AND SCHIEBE M ETHOD.

A
method for observing the piezoelectric charac
teristics of small crystals. In this procedure
a number of grains of the substance are in
serted between two electrodes which are
placed across the resonant circuit of an os
cillator. The frequency of the oscillator is
changed by changing the resonant circuit and,
if a resonance of one of the piezoelectric crys
tals occurs near the oscillator frequency, the
frequency of the oscillator will briefly be con
trolled by the crystal resonance. As the reso
nant circuit is tuned further, the natural fre
quency of the oscillator becomes far enough
away from the crystal resonance so that it
cannot control the oscillator frequency, and
a jump occurs from the crystal frequency to
a different frequency controlled by the oscil
lator constants. This jump in frequency is
accompanied by a change in the plate cur
rent, so that if a pair of headphones or a loud
speaker is attached to the plate-circuit of the
oscillator, a click is heard.
GRIEBHARDS RINGS. A method of obtain
ing an electric field analog in which lines of
constant color are created on a sheet of copper
corresponding to equipotential lines of the
field.
GRIFFITHS M ETHO D FOR M ECHANI
CAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT. An elec
trical method in which the rise in temperature
of a known mass of water is compared with a
measurement of electrical energy necessary to
effect this rise, which is based on determina
tions of electromotive force, resistance and
time.
GROOVE. In mechanical recording, the track
inscribed in the record by the cutting or em
bossing stylus, including undulations or modu
lations caused by the vibration o f the stylus.
GROOVE ANGLE. In disk recording, the
angle between the two walls of an unmodu

lated groove in a radial plane perpendicular to

the surface of the recording medium.
G R O O V E , BLANK .
lated.
GROOVE,
locked.

See groove, unmodu

C O N C E N T R IC .

See

groove,

G R O O V E , FA ST (FAST SPIRA L). In disk

recording, an unmodulated spiral groove hav
ing a pitch that is much greater than that of
the recorded grooves.
G R O O V E , LE A D -IN . The blank groove of
high pitch used to guide the stylus into the un
modulated grooves of a disk recording.
GROOVE,
L E A D -O U T
(T H R O W -O U T
S P IR A L ). In disk recording, a blank spiral
groove at the end of a recording generally of a
pitch that is much greater than that of the re
corded grooves and which is connected to
either the locked or eccentric groove.
GROOVE,
L E A D -O V E R
(CR O SSO V ER
SPIRA L). In disk recording, a groove cut
between recordings of small durations which
enables the pickup stylus to travel from one
cut to the next.
GROOVE,
LOCKED
(C O N C E N T R IC
G R O O V E ). In disk recording, a blank and
continuous groove at the end of modulated
grooves whose function is to prevent further
travel of the pickup.
G R O O V E SHAPE. In disk recording, the
contour of the groove in a radial plane per
pendicular to the surface of the recording me
dium.
G R O O V E SPEED. In disk recording, the
linear speed of the groove with respect to the
stylus.
G R O O V E SPEED, C O N STA N T. A phono
graph recording system in which the linear
speed of the groove with respect to the stylus
is constant regardless of the groove diameter.
Em ployed in embossed recordings.
GROOVE
U NM ODULATED
( BLANK
G R O O V E ).
In mechanical recording, a
groove made in the medium with no signal ap
plied to the cutter.
G R O O V E W ID T H .

See core, tape-wound.

GROTTHUSS-DRAPER, L A W OF.
Only
those radiations which are absorbed by the
reacting system are effective in inducing chem
ical change.
GROUND.
An electrical conductor con
nected to earth, or a large conductor whose
potential is taken as zero (e.g., the steel frame
o f a car). A ground may be undesirable, in
advertent, or accidental path taken by an
electrical current; or it may be the deliberate
provision of conductors well connected to the
ground by means of plates buried therein, or
similar device.
GROUND CLUTTER.
ground.

See clutter; clutter,

GROUND-CONTROLLED APPROACH. A
ground radar system providing information by
which aircraft approaches may be directed via
radio communications. A GC A system con
sists of a PAR and an SRE.
GROUND - CONTROLLED
INTERCEP
TION. A radar system by means of which a
controller may direct an aircraft to make an
interception of another aircraft.
GROUNDED ANTENNA.
Marconi or grounded.

See

antenna,

GROUNDED-CATHODE AMPLIFIER.
amplifier, common-cathode.

See

GROUNDED-GRID
AMPLIFIER.
amplifier, common-grid.

See

GROUNDED-PLATE AMPLIFIER (CA TH

ODE FOLLOW ER ). See amplifier, commonplate (cathode follower).
GROUND NOISE.

See noise, ground.

GROUND-PLANE ANTENNA.
tenna, counterpoise.

See

GROUND-POSITION INDICATOR.
indicator, ground position.
GROUND RETURN (R AD AR ).
ground.
GROUND SPEED.

an

See

See clutter,

See speed, ground.

GROUND STATE. The state of a quantized

system, e.g., a nucleus, atom or molecule, which
is that of lowest energy.
GR O U N D W A V E .

See wave, ground.

GROUP. A set of elements satisfying the

following conditions: (1) There is a defined
operation by which to each ordered pair of
elements A and B in the group G there is as
sociated an element C of G, denoted by C =
A B and called the product of A and B. (2)
For this operation the associative law holds:
(A B )C = A (B C ) = A B C for any three ele
ments A , B , C of G. (3) There exists: (a) a
unit element E in G such that EA A for
every element A of G, and (b) to each ele
ment A of G there exists a reciprocal (or in
verse) element A ~ x of G such that A -1 A = E.
Groups which have special properties are
often given special names; see Abelian group
and some of the following entries.
GROUP, ALTERNATING. A group which
contains the even permutations of n objects;
its order is nl/2; and it is a subgroup of the
symmetric group of order n!.
GROUP, CHARACTER OF A.
ter ( 1 ).

See charac

GROUP, CONTINUOUS. A group with a

non-denumerable infinity of elements.
An
infinite group whose elements are denumerable is a discrete group.
GROUP, CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC.
metry classes.

See sym

through 2w/rij indicated by C (</>), and the im

proper rotations, S(4>), which transform the
polygon into itself constitute D n. (For an ex
planation of the symbols, see symmetry
classes.)
GROUP, DISCRETE.
ous.

See group, continu

GROUP, DIRECT PRODUCT.

product.

See direct

GROUP DISPLACEMENT LA W .
dioactive displacement, law of.
GROUP, FACTOR,

See ra

See group, quotient.

GROUP, FINITE. A group containing a finite

number of elements n. Its order is therefore
also ti.
GROUP, FULL LINEAR. The collection of
all non-singular matrices of order n, with
matrix multiplication as the law of combina
tion. Its order is infinite since its elements
are the infinite number of linear transforma
tions of one vector into another.
GROUP, HOMOMORPHIC (OR ISOMOR
PHIC ). See isomorphism ( 1 ).
GROUP, INFINITE.
number of elements.
ous.)

Containing an infinite
(See group, continu

GROUP, CYCLIC. An Abelian group formed

from a single element A and its integral pow
ers: A, A 2, A 3, , A n~ 1J A n = E, where E
is the unit element.

GROUPING.
(1) Nonuniform spacing be
tween the grooves of a disk recording. (2) In
facsimile, periodic error in the spacing of re
corded lines.

GROUP-DIFFUSION M ETHOD. A theo

retical treatment of nuclear reactors in which
it is postulated that the energy of the neu
trons, from the source energy (fission) to
thermal energy, can be divided into a finite
set of energy intervals, or groups. Within
each group the neutrons are assumed to d if
fuse without energy loss until they have suf
fered the average number of collisions re
quired to decrease their energy to that of the
next lower group.

GROUP M ODULATION.
group.

GROUP, DIHEDRAL. T he group consist

ing of the elements Cn = E, S2 = E y SC =
C ~ 1S, designated by D w and of order 2n.
Consider a regular polygon in the X 7-plane
with coordinates of the n corners x k = r cos
2ttk/n, y k = r sin 27rk/n, k 0, 1, *,
(n 1 ). The proper rotations of this object

See modulation,

GROUP, ORTHOGONAL. A subgroup of

the unitary group, its elements are all real
n-dimensional square unitary matrices. The
determinant of these matrices is 1 ; if + 1 ,
they are proper orthogonal matrices, if 1,
improper orthogonal matrices. The subgroup
of the orthogonal group containing only
proper orthogonal matrices is the rotation
group of order n. I f n 3, the proper or
thogonal matrices correspond to rotations
about an axis passing through the origin, while
the improper matrices correspond to such ro
tations, followed by reflections in a plane per
pendicular to the axis of rotation.
These
conceptions m ay be generalized for n -dimen
sions and specialized for two dimensions.

GROUP, PERMUTATION. Its elements are

the various permutations or rearrangements
of a standard arrangement of symbols or ob
jects. A typical element is

S =

(s
1
\1

S2

SY

n)

meaning that the operation S replaces 1 by

Si, 2 by s2, etc.
(See group, alternating;
group, symmetric.)
GROUP, POINT.

GROW TH SPIRAL. A structure observed

on the surfaces of crystals, after growth. In
its ideal form, it consists of a growth step
winding in an Archimedean spiral (r = aO)
from the center downwards and outwards to
the edge of the crystal, and is evidence of the
growth of the surface about a screw disloca
tion. In some cases the spiral m ay be dis-

See symmetry classes.

GROUP, QUOTIENT. Suppose H is an in

variant subgroup of a group G and that H X ,
H Y , * * * are its cosets. The quotient (or fac
tor) group, frequently designated by G/H , is
isomorphous with G . Its unit element is H
and its remaining elements are the cosets.
GROUP, REPRESENTATION OF.
resentation of a group.
GROUP, ROTATION.
onal.
GROUP, SPACE.

See rep

See group, orthog

See space group.

GROUP, SYMMETRIC. The group of all

permutations of n letters or objects. Its order
is n\.
GROUP, SYMMETRY. A group whose ele
ments are those operations which transfer
regular bodies into themselves, e.g., the tetra
hedral group. (See also symmetry classes.)
GROUP THEORY. Study of the algebra and
other mathematical properties of groups.
GROUP, UNITARY. A subgroup of the full
linear group, it contains all n-dimensional
square unitary matrices.
GROUP VELOCITY.
GROW N JUNCTION.

See velocity, group.

See junction, grown.

G RO W TH CURVE. (1) An activity curve

in which the activity increases with time, or
that portion of an activity curve showing
such an increase. (2) A theoretical or experi
mental curve showing, as a function of time,
the number of atoms, or the mass, or the ac
tivity of a nuclide being produced in a radio
active transformation or in an induced nu
clear reaction.

Step formation during crystal growth (after F. C.

Frank).

torted so that the step follows certain pre

ferred crystallographic directions, with sharp
corners, especially after very rapid growth.
(See figure.)
GROW TH STEP. A ledge, one or more lat
tice spacings high, on the surface of a crystal,
where crystal growth m ay take place. In
growing, the ledge moves over the surface,
leaving a new layer of atoms behind it.
GRNEISEN CONSTANT (OR GRNEI
SEN GAMM A). The constant y occurring
in the relation connecting the linear expansion
coefficient /3 with the compressibility K and
the specific heat CV, i.e.,
p = K y C v/3V,
where V is the volume. This relation is reason
ably well satisfied for cubic crystals. A ccord
ing to the theory by which it is deduced,
Vd&
7 ~ ~ @ dv
where is the Debye temperature.
GRNEISEN FORMULA.
An empirical
formula for the variation of the electrical re
sistivity of a very pure metal with tempera
ture, of the form :
P CC TG(%/T),

where
s ds
G{x)

J 0 (es

There is good theoretical justification for a

formula of this type, but the parameter <s>
should not be taken literally as a measure of
the Debye temperature.
G STRING. Colloquialism for a round, solid,
dielectric-coated single wire used as a wave
guide for the transmission of microwave en
ergy. F or many frequencies ordinary copper
magnet wire coated with enamel or synthetic
enamel may be employed.
Also, a string
tuned to the G-tone, as is the lowest string
on a violin.

GUN, ELECTRON, RECTILINEAR FLOW .

An electron gun having an electron beam con
trolled with rectilinear symmetry.
GUN, KINESCOPE. The electron gun for a
kinescope or picture tube.
LIMITING APERTURE

GETTER SUPPORT
MOUNT SPACER SUPPORT
GRID N0.3
(ACCELERATOR
' ELECTRODE )

MOUNT SPACER & GRID

NO. 3 CONTACT

CERAMIC INSULATOR

GRID NO.?
(ACCELERATOR
ELECTRODE)
GRID-N0.2 LEAD

GUARD CIRCLE.
An inner concentric
groove inscribed, on disk records, to prevent
the pickup from being damaged by being
thrown to the center of the record.
GUARD RING.

CERAMIC
INSULATOR
GRID N0.1
(CONTROL
ELECTRODE)
LEAD-SEAL
SHIELD

See capacitor, guard ring.

GUIDED W AVE.

See wave, guided.

GUIDING CENTER.
The motion of a
charged particle in a slowly varying (both
spatially and tem porally) electromagnetic
field can be approximated by a rapid gyra
tion around a moving point. This point is
called the guiding center of the particle and
the approximation is termed the guiding cen
ter theory.
GUIDING CENTER DRIFTS. In the guid
ing center approximation, the motion of the
guiding center is described in terms of a drift
velocity.
An electric field E produces a
zeroth order drift velocity v given by
E X H
v=

H2

where H is the magnetic field and all quan

tities are measured in emu.
GUN, ELECTRON. That part of a cathoderay tube in which the electrons are emitted
and formed into a beam.

STRUCTURE
OF A
KINESCOPE GUN
Cutaway drawing of the electron gun structure used
in a kinescope CRO tube. (Courtesy of Radio Cor
poration of America.)

GUSETRON.

Same as gausitron.

GUSTS. Transient but rapid fluctuations of

wind velocity. Gusts are the result of turbu
lent air flow.
Gusty winds usually vary
radically in direction.
GYRATOR. A microwave device utilizing
the rotation of the plane o f polarization in a
magnetic field (Faraday effect) in ferrites at
microwave frequencies.
(See also gyromagnetic and gyroelectric media.)
GYRATOR CIRCUIT.

GUN, ELECTRON, AXIALLY SYMMETRI

CAL. An electron gun having an electron
beam controlled with symmetry about the
axis of the beam.

See circuit, gyrator.

GYROCOMPASS. Any compass which de

pends for its action on the conservation of the
angular momentum of a spinning body. (See

gyroscope.)
In the usual gyrocompass, a
m otor-driven wheel is mounted on an axis in
gimbals. The combined use of friction and
of a gravitational restoring torque insure that
the equilibrium position of the axis of rota
tion is along the north-south horizontal line,
so the gyrocompass indicates true north re
gardless of the orientation in which it is
started.
GYROMAGNETIC AND GYROELECTRIC
M EDIA. (1) A gyromagnetic medium is one
in which the magnetic induction B and a
periodic magnetic field H, superimposed on
a steady magnetic field H 0, are related by B =
OOH, where (/>1) is the tensors

Hi

IK

IK flI

(m) =

-0

M3-

The electric displacement D and field strength

E are related by D = cE where c is an iso
tropic scalar, either real or complex, c and the

components of (x) are functions of the fre

quency, and of the permanent field H 0.
Ferrites approximately satisfy the above
relations, with the result that they show a
large Faraday effect (see also gyrator).
(2) A gyroelectric medium is one in which
the dielectric constant is a tensor:

M =

*1

te

ief

*1

3J

L0

while the magnetic permeability fx is a scalar.

Rarefied, ionized gases approximately sat
isfy these relations.
GYROMAGNETIC EFFECT. W hen a sub
stance is magnetized, it acquires a certain
amount of angular momentum. Because the
magnetic moment of each electron is asso
ciated with its spin or orbital angular momen
tum, changing the total magnetic moment
requires a change in the total angular m o
mentum. The effect is small, but can be
measured for ferromagnetic substances, either
by the Barnet or Einstein-de Haas method.
(Also see discussion of magnetostriction.)
GYROMAGNETIC
radius.

RADIUS.

See Larmor

GYROMAGNETIC RATIO.
(1) The ratio
of the magnetic (dipole) moment of a system
to its angular momentum. The angular m o
mentum of an electron traveling around a cir
cular orbit of radius r with an angular ve
locity cois mer2 co, where m6 is the mass of the
electron. Since the electron carries a charge
of magnitude e, it also produces a current as
it moves in the orbit and this current pro
duces a magnetic (dipole) moment of %ecor2
in mksa units, or 1/2eur2/c in gaussian units.
The gyromagnetic ratio is therefore g0 =
e/2me in mksa units or g0 = e /2 mec in gaus
sian units.
An electron has an intrinsic angular m o
mentum (spin) of y2 (h/2ir) and an intrinsic
magnetic moment that is very closely equal
to eh/4xrme. Its gyromagnetic ratio is there
fore g = e/mec = 2g0.. This anomalous gyro
magnetic ratio cannot be explained on any
classical grounds, but is predicted by the
more recent Dirac electron theory. Refined
experiments show that the factor 2 in the
gyromagnetic ratio is really 2.002 and this
has been shown to be due to radiative effects
that can be calculated from quantum electro
dynamics. (See also Bohr magneton. )
(2)
Gyromagnetic ratios are often measured in
units of go defined above. In this case the
gyromagnetic ratio of a classical electron
moving in a circular orbit is 1. The intrinsic
gyromagnetic ratio of an electron is then 2
according to the Dirac theory and its experi
mental value is 2.002. (3) The gyromagnetic
ratio is occasionally defined as the inverse of
that given in (1 ), i.e., as the ratio of the
angular momentum to the magnetic moment.
GYROMAGNETIC RATIO, NUCLEAR. The
ratio of the magnetic moment of the nucleus,
/x, to the nuclear angular momentum quantum
number, I. (See nuclear magnetic resonance.)
GYROSCOPE. A heavy symmetrical disk
free to rotate about an axis which itself is
confined within a framework such that it is
free to take any orientation in space. If the
disk is set spinning, the direction of its axis
of rotation will remain fixed in space no mat
ter what motion the outer framework un
dergoes. Gyroscopes are used to provide fixed
reference directions for such instruments as
the gyrocompass on ships, the similar gyrosteering mechanism in a torpedo and the
orientation indicators of an aircraft.

H
H. (1) Planck constant (h). (2 ) Dirac h (ft).
(3) The gauss (H ). (4) Magnetic intensity,
m agnetic field, or magnetizing force (H).
(5) The henry or Henry law constant (H ).
(6) Height, depth or thickness (h). (7) H our
(h). (8) Ham iltonian function or operator
(H ). Perturbing Hamiltonian function or oper
ator (3C). (9) Heat of phase change, total (AH ),
per atom or molecule (Ah or Ahm), per m ole
(AH, AHm or Ah), per unit mass (Ah). (10)
Enthalpy, total (H ), per atom or molecule
(h or hm), per mole (h, H or hm), per unit mass
(h). (11) Boltzm ann function (H ). (12)
H um idity (H ). (13) Degree of electrolysis or
hydrolysis (h). (14) Miller index (h, k, I).
(15) Hydrogen (H ). (16) Radius of lens zone
(h). (17) Altitude (h). (18) Hydrodynam ic
head (h). (19) Radiant flux density (H ).
(20) In spectroscopy, hazy, diffuse or nebulous
(h), very hazy, diffuse or nebulous (H ). (21)
Nuclear-spin hyperfine structure (hfs). (22)
T ype of electron with an azimuthal quantum
num ber of 5 (h). (23) Spectral term -sym bol
for L-value of 5 (H ). (24) Circuit-diagram
symbol for heater-connection on vacuum
tubes.
H is also the name of a radar air-navigation system using an airborne interrogator
to measure distance from two ground responder-beacons. H is also a name applied
to certain aerophares. (See shoran.)

HAIL (SMALL). Small ice particles consist

ing of a nucleus of soft hail with a shell of
ice about it. They do not rebound when strik
ing a hard surface, are not compressible or
crisp. Usually small hail is wet, and falls at
a temperature near or slightly above 32F.
HAIR TUNING BAR.
A hairpin-shaped
metal bar used to vary the electrical length
o f a dipole antenna (see antenna, dipole)
without changing the position of the elements.
HALATION. The halo which is sometimes
observed in photographic images of bright
objects, or sources of light, is known as hala
tion when due to light reflected back into the
emulsion from the rear of the support. Or
dinarily, the halo produced by halation is in
distinguishable from that due to the spread
ing of light within the emulsion which is
known as irradiation.
In a cathode-ray tube, the ring of illumina
tion which surrounds the point at which the
electron beam strikes the fluorescent screen.
HALF-ADDER.

HALF-CELL.
An electrochemical system
consisting of a single electrode and an elec
trolytic solution, with usually a (reversible)
ionization process in progress between elec
trode and electrolyte.
HALF DUPLEX.

HAFNIUM . M etallic element.

A tom ic number 72.

See adder; "half-adder

See duplex, half.

Sym bol H f.

HAIDINGER FRINGES. Interference fringes

seen with thick, flat plates near normal in
cidence. The fringes of the Fabry-Perot inter
ferometer are of this type. They are also
known as constant angle or constant deviation
fringes.
HAIL. Stones of ice ranging from about %
in diameter to as much as 4 or 5". Hail stones
are often transparent, but more frequently
translucent, being formed of alternate layers
o f clear and opaque ice. H ail usually falls
from thunderstorms.

HALF-LIFE. The time required for disinte

gration of one-half the atoms of a sample of
a radioactive substance. Its relation to the
disintegration constant and the mean life is
as follows:
In 2
0.693
t ----- = --------- = 0.6937,
X
X
'
where t% is the half-life, X is the disintegration
constant and r is the mean life.
HALF-LIFE, BIOLOGICAL. The time in
which a living tissue, organ or individual
eliminates, through biological processes, onehalf of a given amount of a substance, often

a radioactive substance, which has been intro

duced into it.
HALF-LIFE, EFFECTIVE. H alf-life of a
radioactive isotope in a biological organism,
resulting from the combination of radioactive
decay and biological elimination.
Effective half-life
Biological half-life X Radioactive half-life
Biological half-life + Radioactive half-life
HALF-SHADE PLATE.
A semicircular,
half-w ave plate (see elliptically-polarized
light) of quartz set between the polarizer and
analyzer and close to the former. Useful in
making precision settings with a polariscope.
(See also prism, Cornu-Jellet.)
H ALF SILVERED. A surface coated with a
metallic film of such thickness that it trans
mits approximately half of the light falling on
it at normal incidence and reflects approxi
mately half is said to be half silvered.

H ALFW ID TH . If y = f ( x ) is a function
such that it has a maximum y m at x m and falls
off rapidly on each side of this maximum, the
halfwidth of the function is the difference
x 2 Xi between the two values of x for which
y = y m/2) e.g., the halfwidth of the error
function integrand e ~ yl is 1.67.
H A LFW ID TH OF A SPECTRAL LINE.
The intensity within a spectral line may be
expressed as I ( x ) , where x is a measure of
wavelength, frequency, or wave number, and
where I ( x )d x is a measure of the contribu
tion to the intensity between x and x + dx~
The halfwidth of the line is the halfwidth of
the function I (x ) .
HALL ANGLE. The ratio of the electric field
E Vi developed across the current, to the field
E X) generating the current, in the magnetic
field H z, as a result of the Hall effect.
HALL COEFFICIENT.
Hall effect is

The measure o f the

Ey

HALF-STEP.

See tone, semi-.

HALF-THICKNESS. The thickness of a par

ticular absorber that will reduce the intensity
of a beam of radiation to one-half its initial
value. If the absorption is exponential, the
half-thickness is related to the linear or mass
absorption coefficient and the mean free path
as follows:
In 2
0.693
dH = ------ = --------- = 0.693Z,
where dy2 is the half-thickness, fx is the absorp
tio n coefficient and I is the m e an free p a th .
H ALFTONE CHARACTERISTIC. A rela
tion between the density of the recorded copy
and the density of the subject copy. The
term m ay also be used to relate the ampli
tude of the facsimile signal to the density
of the subject copy or the record copy when
only a portion of the system is under con
sideration. In a frequency-modulation sys
tem an appropriate parameter is to be used
instead of the amplitude.
HALF-VALUE PERIOD.
cient.
H ALF-W AVE PLATE.
polarized.

See decay coeffi

See light, elliptically-

Rh =

jxH z

where E y is the electric field developed in the

^/-direction when a current of current density
j flows in the x-direction through a magnetic
field H z in the ^-direction. According to the
free electron theory of metals, the Hall co
efficient should be given by
1
Rh =

N ee

where N is the number of free electrons per

unit volume, of charge e (in esu), and c is
the speed of light.
The observed result
that for some metals the carriers would seem
to have positive charges is explained by the
band theory of solids. In a nearly filled band
the wave functions of the electrons near the
top o f the band are so modified that it is the
holes in the band that behave like particles
Since a hole represents the absence of nega
tive charge, it behaves as if positively charged.
HALL CONSTANT.

See Hall coefficient.

H ALL EFFECT.
The development of a
transverse, electric potential-gradient in a
current-carrying conductor upon the applica
tion of a magnetic field.
(See Hall coeffi
cient.)

HALL MOBILITY. The mobility o f elec

trons or holes in a semiconductor as measured
by the Hall effect. It is given by

= c6/Hz,

hh

where 6 is the Hall angle in the magnetic field

H z, and c is the speed of light, and E and
H are measured in Gaussian units.
HALLW ACH S EFFECT. A name for the
photoelectric effect whereby a negativelycharged body in a vacuum is discharged by
irradiating it with ultraviolet light.
HALO. (1) A faint colored ring seen about
a light source as viewed through light clouds
or fog. The size of the ring depends on the
size of the scattering particles. A halo is not
a rainbow. (2) A ring surrounding a photo
graphic image of a bright source, due to light
being scattered in any one of several possible
ways. (See also halation.)
HALOGEN. A member of the seventh group
of elements, i.e., those lacking just one elec
tron to make a closed outer shell. These ele
ments are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine
and astatine.
HAM ILTON EQUATIONS.
nian function.

See Hamilto

H AM ILTONIAN FUNCTION. In classical

particle mechanics a function of n general
ized coordinates and momenta qt and
Pi, respectively, and com monly symbolized by
H. It is defined b y :
n

H = 2

i= 1

PiQi - L ,

where L is the Lagrangian function. I f the

Lagrangian function does not contain time
explicitly, H is equal to the total energy, E,
of the system. An equivalent form is, under
these circumstances:
H = T + V,
where T is the kinetic energy of the system
expressed in terms of the generalized coor
dinates and momenta and V is the potential
energy of the system. As an example the
Hamiltonian function for a linear harmonic
oscillator is H = p 2/2m + kx2/2, and, for an
ideal oscillator with no friction, H = E. The

Hamiltonian function satisfies the canonical

equations of m otion:

dH

dH

dpi

dq%

- Pi.

HAM ILTONIAN, INTERACTION.

For a
system composed of particles and their fields,
the Hamiltonian function of the system can
be expressed as the sum of three terms, one
referring to the field, one to the particles,
and the third to the interaction between the
field and the particles. The latter is the inter
action Hamiltonian. (See also quantum elec
trodynamics; field theory, quantized.)
HAM ILTONIAN OPERATOR. In quantum
mechanics, an operator associated with the
Hamiltonian function of classical physics.
F or a single particle the classical Ham il
tonian function in rectangular cartesian co
ordinates is given by

P ,2 + Vy2 + pJ2 , TT/

N
H = -------------------------- h V (x,y,z),
2m

where px is the x-com ponent of the momentum,

etc., m is the mass and V (x ,y ,z) is the poten
tial energy of the particle. B y the rules of
Schrdinger wave mechanics for associating
operators with dynamical variables (see op
erators, quantum mechanical; momentum op
erator; and position operator) the H am ilto
nian operator in the Schrdinger representa
tion becomes
n2
H =
V2 + V (x,y,z),
2m
where V2 is the L a p la cia n . Since the operator
associated with the total energy of a system is
d
ifi , one obtains, as the analogue to the equadt
tion H = E in classical physics, the time de
pendent S c h r d in g e r e q u a tio n (for one par
ticle)
n2 0
d$
Hx[/ = = -------- v V + V (x,y,z)\l/ = ih
2m
dt
(See also wave function.)
HAMILTON-JACOBI
equation:

EQUATION.

dS

dS

dqx

dqn

dS

H(qu ? , - - , - , O H -------= 0,
dt

The

Hamilton Principle Handedness, Right and Left

547

where H is the Hamiltonian function, qi is a

generalized coordinate and S is called H amil
tons principal function or transformation
function. (See canonical transformation.)
HAM ILTON PRINCIPLE. A variation prin
ciple which, in general form, states that the
m otion of a mechanical system can be ex
pressed by the equation:
r%t2

essing, and for defining the response charac

teristics to light of photographic emulsions.
(See gamma.)
HANDEDNESS, RIGHT AND LEFT. D e
fined in terms o f the motion o f a screw. A
right handed screw, when rotated in the sense
of Fig. 1(a) (counterclockwise looking down
at the page), will move out of the page; when
rotated in the sense of Fig. 1 (b ), a right

I (SK+ F , v ri)<ft = o,
i= 1

Jtx

where 8K is the variation in kinetic energy and

n

Y , F ie' 8r{ is the v irtu a l w o rk done b y all the

1
impressed external forces. If the impressed
forces form a conservative system with poten
tial energy V, the principle takes the form :
h
8(K -

V)dt = 0,

where K V = L, the Lagrangian function.

It should be emphasized that the variations
in all quantities (represented by $K or SL,
etc.) must vanish at the time instants i and
2, i.e., all varied paths implied in the prin
ciple must correspond to the same time in
terval.
For a conservative system the principle
m ay be stated: the time integral of the
Lagrangian function has a stationary value
for the actual path compared with all other
possible paths having the same end-points and
performed in the same time. In most cases
encountered in practice the stationary value
is a minimum.
H AM M ER TRACKS. Tracks produced in
nuclear emulsions which are attributed to the
expulsion of a L i8 nucleus from a heavier
nucleus as a result of cosm ic-ray bom bard
ment. The L i8 is radioactive and undergoes
p-decay with a half-life of less than a second
to form B e8; this is unstable and splits in
stantaneously into two -particles which are
expelled in opposite directions and at right
angles to the L i8 track, thus producing a
hammer-like track.
H AND D CURVE (HURTER AND DRIF
FIELD CURVE). A characteristic curve of
a photographic emulsion which is a plot of
density against the logarithm of exposure. It
is used for the control of photographic proc

Fig. 1.
handed screw will move into the page. A
left handed screw will move into the page in
(a) and out of the page in (b ). The mirror
image of a right handed screw is left handed
and vice versa.
The vector product is also defined in terms
of a right handed screw. Thus A X R = C
where the magnitude of C is |A| |B| sin 6, and
the direction of C is given by the direction of
progression of a right handed screw rotating
in the sense of rotating A into R through the
smaller angle (0). C is thus a vector point
ing into the page in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Coordinate systems are also classed as right

or left-handed. In Fig. 3, coordinate system
(a) is right handed, since rotation of the unit

Fig. 3.

vector i into the unit vector j would make a

right handed screw progress in the direction
of k, i X j = k and also j X k = i, k X i = j.

Thus in a right handed coordinate system, the

above cyclic relations among the unit vectors
hold. Coordinate system (b), on the other
hand, is lefthanded, i.e., it would take a left
handed screw to carry the unit vectors into
each other in cyclic order of vector multiplica
tion.
Circular polarization of electromagnetic
waves is described as right handed or left
handed depending on whether the direction of
rotation of the electric vector and the direc
tion of progression of the electromagnetic
wave are related to a right handed or a left
handed screw. (See light, elliptically polar
ized.)
HANGOVER. (1) A fault condition in tele
vision and facsimile picture reproduction, in
which the signal does not decay as rapidly as
dictated by the original signal. Caused by
improper transient response, the effect is often
called tailing. (2) The production of sound
from an im properly-loaded loudspeaker for a
short time after removal of the driving signal,
and due to under-damped oscillations in the
mechanical system. (See tailing.)
HANKEL FUNCTION. Also called Bessel
functions of the third kind, the Hankel func
tions are of two kinds:
H na) = i csc mr[e~niriJ n(x) J -n (x )];
H n = i esc mr[enTiJ n(x) J _ n(x)]}
where Jn(x) is a Bessel function. Equivalent
definitions are H n(1>2) (x) = Jn{%) iN n(x ) ,
where N n(x) is a Neumann function. If n
is not an integer or zero, a general solution
o f the Bessel differential equation is:
y = A H na) + B H ,
with A , B as the two integration constants.
HANKEL TRANSFORM. Provided certain
conditions are satisfied, f ( y ) is the Hankel
transform of F (x ) and of order n:
f ( y ) = I J n(xy)F (x)xd x;
Jo
F (x) = f J n (xy)f(y)yd y,
Jo
where Jn is a Bessel function.
HARCOURT LAMP.

See lamp, Harcourt.

HARD. (1) Hard radiation means very pene

trating radiation. X-rays with wave lengths
less than 0.1 Angstroms are called hardf those
with longer wave lengths are called soft.
Cosmic radiation is often divided into hard
and soft components. The soft components,
easily absorbed by matter, include the sec
ondary radiation composed of electrons, posi
trons, mesons, and low energy -y-rays. The
hard components include the primary particles
and high energy y-rays. (2) Hard magnetic
materials have very pronounced hysteresis,
with large remanence and large coercive
force. In soft magnetic materials hysteresis
is not very pronounced and the remanence
and coercive forces are small.
(3) Vacuum
tubes are called hard as distinct from gas
discharge tubes which are called s o f t
HARDNESS. The property of firmness or
resistance possessed by solids and very viscous
liquids. The degree of hardness of a sub
stance is shown by its resistance to cutting,
scratching, or abrasion. Hardness also means
the presence in water of certain salts which
form insoluble deposits in boilers, which form
precipitates with soap, and which have other
objectionable effects.
HARDNESS, BIERBAUM.
The relative
hardness of a micro-constituent of an alloy,
determined by an instrument called the Bierbaum microcharacter. The method involves
the measurement of the width of a scratch
produced by a standard diamond point, under
a standard pressure.
HARDNESS, BRINNELL. A measure of the
relative hardness of the surface of a substance,
obtained by measuring the depth of indenta
tion of a standard steel ball at a standard
pressure; and then computing the hardness by
an expression whereby the value obtained is
directly proportional to the applied pressure,
and inversely proportional to the depth of
penetration.
HARDNESS, ROCKW ELL. A measure of
relative hardness of the surface of a substance,
based on the indentation made by a % 6" ,
or ^4" standard steel ball, or a conical
diamond with an apex angle of 120. The
results are reported by using numbers to de
note the load in kilograms, and letters to de
note the ball or diamond producing a given
indentation.

HARDNESS SCALE, M OH. A system in

which all solid substances are classified in
order of increasing hardness, so that the hard
ness of any particular substance may be ex
pressed by a number. The numbers were
established b y assigning the integers from
one to ten to arbitrarily chosen substances of
increasing hardness, ranging from talc which
was given the number one, to diamond which
was given the number ten. This was the orig
inal M oh scale and is still generally used. In
the new M oh scale, fifteen substances are
used, and diamond has the number fifteen.
The hardness of any substances not on the
scale is determined by the scratch test, i.e.,
b y comparing its hardness with that of the
various substances in the standard scale, uti
lizing the principle that the harder of the two
substances will scratch the softer one, and will
not be scratched by it. W hen a substance is
found to have hardness between two of the
standard substances in the scale, this fact is
expressed by use of decimal notation. Thus,
the mineral having hardness of 6.65 would be
harder than feldspar 6, and softer than quartz
7.
T he original M oh s scale assigned the in
tegral numbers as follow s: 1 T a lc; 2 G y p
sum; 3 C alcite; 4 Fluorite; 5 A patite;
6 O rthoclase; 7 Q uartz; 8 T o p a z ; 9
Corundum ; 10 Diam ond. In the new M oh s
scale the numbers above five have been re
assigned as follows: 6 Orthoclase, Periclase;
7 Vitreous Pure Silica; 8 Quartz, Stellite;
9 T op a z; 10 Garnet; 11 Tantalum Car
bide, Fused Zirconia; 12 Tungsten Carbide,
Fused Alum ina; 13 Silicon C arbide; 14
Boron Carbide; 15 Diamond.
HARDNESS SCALE, SHORE. A scale of
relative hardness based on the elastic rebound
of a heavy plummet, with a standard hard
point, which is dropped on the surface of the
specimen from a fixed height.
HARKER-KASPER INEQUALITIES.
The
x-ray analysis of crystal structures is com pli
cated by the fact that the phase factors of
the structure factors are not known. H ow
ever, use can be made of inequality relation
ships between the structure factors, based on
the positivity of the electron density.
HARMONIC.
(1) A solution of Laplaces
equation. An infinite number of harmonic

functions satisfy the conditions and in general

they are transcendental. The most familiar
ones are solid spherical harmonics which are
homogeneous in the variables x, y , z. A
spherical surface harmonic is the special set
taken on the surface of a unit sphere and usu
ally given in spherical polar coordinates. The
angular dependent parts can be taken as
Y nm(0,4>) = e 1* P nm (cos 0),
where P nm is the associated Legendre poly
nomial. The surface harmonic is tesseral if
m < n; sectoral, if m = n ; zonal7 if m = 0.
When Laplaces equation is solved in other
curvilinear coordinate systems, the solutions
are also called harmonics.
Examples are
cylindrical harmonics or Bessel functions;
ellipsoidal harmonics or Lam functions;
toroidal harmonics or H icks functions.
(2) In physical terms, a harmonic is a si
nusoidal quantity having a frequency which
is an integral multiple o f the fundamental fre
quency of a periodic quantity to which it is
related. For example, a wave, the frequency
of which is twice the fundamental frequency,
is called the second harmonic.
(3) In musical terms, a harmonic is a par
tial whose frequency is an integral multiple
o f the fundamental frequency.
(See fre
quency, fundamental.)
HARMONIC ANALYSIS. N ot only is it pos
sible to combine two or more simple harmonic
motions of different period, amplitude, and
phase to form a complex motion, but there are
also means of analyzing the resultant motion,
when the latter is given, to find its component
harmonics. For example, if the wave form
of such a complex tone as that produced by a
bell or a saxophone is accurately graphed by
means of a phonodeik (see vibrations and
waves, and musical sounds), the equation of
the vibratory motion can be deduced in such
form as to show the separate components.
Fourier showed that the same analysis is pos
sible for any periodic motion, however com
plicated. The equation, called the Fourier
series, may be written:
y a sin 2ttnt + b cos 2wnt + c sin 4ttnt
+ d cos 4wnt + e sin 6irnt + / cos Qt nt + ,
in which y is the displacement o f the vibrat
ing particle and t is the time. The funda-

mental frequency n and the constants a, b, c f

d, etc., must be calculated from the given
wave form or the data from which it is plotted.
There is a type of instrument, called a har
monic analyzer, which automatically com
putes the coefficients ; or it may be done
m athematically, though the process is very
laborious. The accom panying figure shows

Records of a complex sound and 12 of its components

(after D. C. M iller).

the wave form and the twelve components of

a complex tone, analyzed by Professor D . C.
Miller.

straight line, of such character that the dis

placement of the body from its equilibrium
position (or m id-point of the motion) varies
sinusoidally with time, i.e.,
x = a cos (cot + 0),
where x is the displacement and a, <*>, and <
are constants. The frequency of the motion is
w/2tt. Such a motion occurs whenever a body
moves on a straight line under the action of a
restoring force proportional to the displace
ment, i.e., f = lex, with no other forces act
ing. A mass suspended by a spring that obeys
the Hooke law is the simplest example. The
term is also applied to motions that approxi
mate simple harmonic; for example, the m o
tion of a pendulum bob approximates simple
harmonic motion very closely for small am
plitudes. Similarly, the addition of a small
dissipative frictional force results in a motion
which m ay be described as a simple harmonic
motion with an amplitude that decreases with
time.
(See oscillation, damped harmonic
and related entries.)
The term harmonic motion (without the
qualifier simple ) is used to describe rotary
and other motions in which some variable,
such as an angular displacement, varies si
nusoidally with time.
Tw o simple harmonic motions of the same
frequency, at right angles to each other, e.g.,
x = a cos cot

HARMONIC ANALYZER. A machine for

analyzing a periodic function into the har
monic components of a Fourier series repre
sentation.
HARMONIC, AURAL.
A harmonic gen
erated in the auditory mechanism.
HARMONIC BAND. See band, second har
monic; band, third harmonic.
HARMONIC
CONVERSION
TRANS
DUCER. A conversion transducer (see trans
ducer, conversion) in which the useful output
frequency is a multiple or a submultiple of
the input frequency. Either a frequency mul
tiplier or a frequency divider is a special case
of harmonic conversion transducer.
HARMONIC DISTORTION.
harmonic.

See distortion,

HARMONIC MOTION.
Simple harmonic
motion is the to and fro motion of a body in a

and

y = b cos (cot + 0),

lead to an elliptical motion. Special cases

occur for <\> = 0, when the ellipse degenerates
to a straight line, and for a = b and <f> = 90,
when it degenerates to a circle. If the fre
quencies are unequal but commensurate, the
motion is a Lissajou figure.
HARMONIC MOTION, DAMPED. See os
cillation,
damped
harmonic;
oscillation,
forced.
HARMONIC M OTION, PERIOD OF. The
time for one complete oscillation, that is, the
reciprocal of the frequency. It is equal to
2?r\/m//c, where m is the mass and k is the
constant relating the restoring force to the
displacement. (See harmonic motion.)
HARMONIC MOTION, SIMPLE ELLIP
TIC. A compounded oscillatory motion con
sisting of (simple) harmonic motion in two
fixed perpendicular directions with equal fre

quencies. The resultant trace of the motion

is in general an ellipse, which depending on
the relative phase and amplitudes of the two
components m ay take the special form of a
circle or straight line.
H ARM ONIC, Nth. The harmonic of fre
quency N times that of the fundamental com
ponent.
HARMONIC
OPERATION,
IM PEDED
(CONSTRAINED
M AGNETIZATION,
FORCED M AGNETIZATION). That type
o f operation which takes place in a magnetic
amplifier in which the impedance of the con
trol circuit and any circuit closely coupled
to it is so great as to substantially prevent
the flow o f all harmonic currents in such
circuits.
HARM ONIC OPERATION, UNIMPEDED
(NATURAL
MAGNETIZATZION, FREE
M AGNETIZATION). That type of opera
tion which takes place in a magnetic amplifier
in which the impedance of the control circuit
or any circuit closely coupled to it is so small
as to permit substantially unimpeded flow of
all harmonic currents in such circuit.
HARMONIC OSCILLATOR.
Any system
including one or more parts which undergo
harmonic motion, damped or undamped, after
being disturbed.
HARMONIC PROGRESSION.
The se
quence a, 6, c, if their reciprocals 1 /a,
1 /6 , 1 /c ,
form an arithmetic progression.
The harmonic mean between two numbers is
the middle term of a harmonic progression
whose first and last terms are the given num
bers. The harmonic mean between a and b is
given by H = 2ab/(a + b ). If A , (?, and H
are respectively the arithmetic, geometric, and
harmonic mean of two numbers then G2 = A H .
HARMONIC SERIES OF SOUNDS.
A
series of sounds in which each basic frequency
in the series is an integral multiple of a
fundamental frequency.
(See frequency,
basic and frequency, fundamental.)
HARMONICS,
netic amplifier.

SUPPRESSED.

See

HARTLEY. A unit of information content

equal to the information content of a mes
sage, the a priori probability of which is onetenth. I f in the definition of information con
tent, the logarithm is taken to the base ten,
the result will be expressed in hartleys.
HARTLEY FORMULA FOR TIME-FREQUENCY DUALITY. As implied by the
Fourier transform, a time function cannot be
confined within a small region on the time
scale when the steady-state transmission char
acteristic is confined to a narrow range of
frequencies. For example, it is well known
that, if a telegraph dot is made narrower and
narrower, its corresponding significant-frequency spectrum becomes broader and broader
until, in the limit when the dot becomes an
impulse, its significant-frequency spectrum is
o f infinite extent. Tw o mathematical equa
tions which express this relationship are
9(f)

c (f) cas 2?rftdf

00

c (f) = 9(f) cas 2irftdt

J 00
where / is the cyclic frequency, t is time, and
cas denotes cosine added to sine.
HARTLEY PRINCIPLES (W ITH REGARD
TO INFORMATION CAPACITY OF A
TRANSMISSION CHANNEL). The amount
o f information that can be transmitted is pro
portional to the width of the frequency range,
and the time it is available. Information
content is equated to the total number of
code elements, multiplied by the logarithm
o f the number of possible values a code ele
ment may assume. Information content is
independent of how the code elements are
grouped. B y quantizing, the continuous mag
nitude-time function used in ordinary teleph
ony may be transmitted by a succession of
code symbols such as are employed in teleg
raphy. And, to obtain the maximum rate of
transmission of information, the signal ele
ments need to be spaced uniformly.

mag

HARRIS FLOW . A type of electron flow in

a cylindrical beam in which space-charge di
vergence is overcome through the use of a
radial electric field.

HARTMANN DIAPHRAGM.
der Hartmann test.

Discussed un

HARTMANN DISPERSION FORMULA. A

very useful dispersion formula which suggests
the anomalous dispersion near an absorption

band, but does not provide for more than one

such band and hence can be used over only a
limited range of wavelengths. It is o f the
form :
c
n = no +
X - X0
where n0, c and X0 are empirical constants.
HARTMANN F L O W . The term used to de
scribe the steady laminar flow of an elec
trically conducting fluid between two par
allel plates with a uniform magnetic field
imposed perpendicular to the walls. The re
sulting velocity profiles are a function of the
Hartmann number M .
HARTMANN NUMBER. In hydromagnet
ics, a dimensionless number which indicates
the conditions of laminar flow in a channel:
A
l
M = fxH0L ( )
where H 0 is the initial magnetic field com
ponent perpendicular to the direction of flow,
L is the width of the channel, <t is the elec
trical conductivity, v is the kinematic vis
cosity and p is the mass density. A low H art
mann number indicates that viscosity dom
inates over induction drag; a large Hartmann
number indicates that viscosity is unim
portant except at the boundary.
HARTMANN TEST. (1) Hartmann test for
telescope mirrors. F or a perfect mirror, light
from all points on the mirror should come to
the same focus. B y covering the mirror with
a screen, in which regularly spaced holes have
been cut, and then permitting the reflected
light to strike a photographic plate placed
near the focus, the failure of dots on the plate
to be regularly-spaced indicates a fault of
the mirror.
(2)
Hartmann test for spectrometers. Light
is passed through different parts o f the en
trance slit. A ny change in the spectrum as
different parts o f the slit are used indicates a
fault of the instrument. A Hartmann dia
phragm is one device for using only one part
of the entrance slit at a time.
HARTREE EQUATION.
A relationship,
credited to D . R . Hartree, applicable to mag
netrons, which shows the theoretical minimum

anode-voltage at which oscillation is possible

in the different modes.
This relationship suggests that the rotating
field, which has a non-sinusoidal space dis
tribution at any instant, may be expressed as
the sum of an infinite number of sinusoidal
traveling waves rotating about the cathode
with angular velocities
a> =

2ra/n

-------------

Nm + n

where w is in radians/second; f n is the fre

quency of oscillations in the nth. m ode; N is
the number of resonant gaps ; n is the mode of
oscillation; and m is zero or any integer.
Electrons may transfer energy to or from
the field only when they rotate with the same
angular velocity which in this case is a func
tion of d-c anode voltage and axial d-c mag
netic field.
The components of the rotating field cor
responding to values of m different from zero
are called Hartree harmonics.
The lines of constant m and n plotted as a
function of d-c anode supply voltage and
axial d-c magnetic field are referred to as
Hartree lines.
HARTREE-FOCK APPROXIMATION. Also
called H artree-Fock-Slater approximation. A
method for the solution of a many electron
problem, e.g., that which arises in consider
ing the band theory of solids or an atom with
more than one electron. The anti-symmetric
wave function for the iV-electron system is
expanded as a linear combination o f deter
minants of order N , having as elements one
electron wave functions. This procedure in
troduces exchange terms in the Hamiltonian,
of the form :

i [
where r12 is the separation of the points defined
b y the vectors rx and r2. (For a detailed dis
cussion, see the chapter by H. B. Callen in the
Condon-Odishaw Handbook of Physics, M c
Graw-Hill, 1958.)
HARTREE
equation.

HARMONICS.

HARTREE LINES.

See

Hartree

See Hartree equation.

HARTREE M ETH O D .
field method.
HARTREE UNITS.

See self-consistent

See atomic units.

HASH. Electrical noise produced b y a m e

chanical vibrator or by the brushes of a
generator or motor.
HAUY L A W . The fundamental law o f crys
tallography stating that for a given crystal
there exists a set of axial ratios such that the
intercepts o f every crystal plane on the crys
tal axes are expressible as rational fractions
of these ratios. (See Miller indices.)
H AVELOCK L A W .
HAVERSINE.
6 hav 0

See Kerr constant.

I f 6 is an angle, haversine
vers 6.

HAYNES-SHOCKLEY EXPERIMENT. The

experiment performed in 1949 to demonstrate
the injection of holes (m inority carriers) into
an n-type semiconductor and the drift of these
holes under the action of an electric field.
Observation of the time of arrival of the pulse
at a collector electrode and of the size of the
pulse on arrival allow the determination of
the lifetime of the carriers and of their mo
bility.
HAZE. V ery small particles of salt and dust
in the air reduce visibility and cause the at
mosphere to appear off-color. Against a dark
background the veil appears bluish, and
against a bright background it seems yellow
ish or orange. This is known as dry haze.
V ery small water droplets cause a haze more
grayish than dry haze, known as damp haze
or mist.
Ti-RAR OR
Sym bol for Dirac-'R, the uni
versal constant h/2ir, where h is the Planck
constant.
H-DISPLAY
(ALSO
H-SCAN
SCOPE).
See display.

OR

H-

H EAD . (1) Pressure expressed as the height

of the liquid column necessary to develop that
pressure at the base. Its use is particularly
convenient for considering the flow of the
liquid.
(2) A recording head.
(See mag
netic head.)
H EAD , CUTTING.

See cutter.

HEADER (RELAY). The part of a hermeti

cally sealed relay or a tube, through which
the electrical terminals pass.
HEAD, ERASING. A device for obliterating
any previous recordings. It may be used for
preconditioning the magnetic media for re
cording purposes.
H EAD , ERASING, A-C. In magnetic re
cording, a magnetic head (see head, mag
netic) which uses alternating current to pro
duce the magnetic field necessary for erasing.
A -C erasing is achieved by subjecting the
medium to a number of cycles of a magnetic
field of a decreasing magnitude. The medium
is, therefore, essentially magnetically neu
tralized.
H EAD, ERASING, D-C.
In magnetic re
cording, a magnetic head (see head, mag
netic) which uses direct current to produce
the magnetic field necessary for erasing. D -C
erasing is achieved by subjecting the medium
to a unidirectional field. Such a medium is,
therefore, in a different magnetic stage than
one erased by alternating current. (See head
erasing, A-C.)
H EAD, ERASING, PM. A magnetic head
(see head, magnetic) which uses the fields
of one or more permanent magnets for erasing.
HEADING.
The horizontal direction in
which a vehicle is directed, expressed as an
angle between a reference line and the line
extending in the direction the vehicle is
headed, usually measured clockwise from the
reference line. (See also course.)
HEADING, COMPASS. The angle in the
horizontal plane between the direction of
magnetic north on the compass card and the
line along which the vehicle is pointing, usu
ally measured clockwise.
H EADING, GRID. A direction in the hori
zontal plane expressed as an angle from grid
north to a line along which a vehicle is
pointed, usually measured clockwise.
HEADING, TRUE. A direction in the hori
zontal plane expressed as an angle measured
clockwise from true north to a line which a
vehicle is pointed.
HEAD, KINETIC ENERGY. The pressure,
possibly expressed as a head, equal to the

kinetic energy
volume.

o f the fluid flow per unit

H EAD
M AGNETIC,
DOUBLE
POLEPIECE. A magnetic head (see head, mag
netic) having two separate pole pieces in
which pole faces of opposite polarity are on
opposite sides of the medium. One or both
o f these pole pieces m ay be provided with an
energizing winding.
H EAD, M AGNETIC REPRODUCING. In
magnetic recording, a magnetic head (see
head, magnetic) for converting variations on
magnetic media into electric variations.
H EAD ,
M AGNETIC,
SINGLE
POLEPIECE. A magnetic head (see head, mag
netic) having a single pole piece on one side
of the recording medium.
HEADPHONE
STEREOPHONY.
stereophony, headphone.
H EAD , PLAYBACK.
graph.

See

See pickup, phono

H EAD , RING. A magnetic head (see head,

magnetic) in which the magnetic material
forms an enclosure with one or more air gaps.
The magnetic recording medium bridges one
o f these gaps and is in contact with or in close
proxim ity to the pole pieces on one side only.
H EAD , TOTAL. The head measured by a
Pitot tube, that is, the sum of the hydrostatic
pressure and the kinetic energy head.
HEARING AID.
A complete reproducing
system, consisting of microphone, amplifier
and loudspeaker, which increases the sound
pressure over that normally received by the
ear. Vacuum tube amplifiers are gradually
being replaced b y transistor amplifiers in these
devices.
HEARING LOSS (DEAFNESS). A t a speci
fied frequency, the ratio, expressed in decibels,
of the threshold of audibility (see audibility,
threshold of) for a given defective ear to the
corresponding threshold for the normal ear.
HEARING LOSS FOR SPEECH. The d if
ference in decibels between the speech levels
at which the average normal ear and the de
fective ear respectively reach the same intelli
gibility^ often arbitrarily set at 50 per cent.

HEARING LOSS, PER CENT (PER CENT

DEAFNESS).
A t a given frequency, 100
times the ratio of the hearing loss in decibels
to the number of decibels between the normal
threshold levels of audibility and feeling. A
weighted mean of the per cent hearing losses
at specified frequencies is often used as a
single measure of the loss of hearing. The
American M edical Association has defined
percentage loss of hearing for medicolegal use.
(See the Journal of the American M edical
Association 133, 396, 397, February 8, 1947.)
HEARING MECHANISM. The entire sys
tem of the human ear, consisting of the outer
ear (external ear or pinna, and the ear canal
terminating in the eardrum ), the middle ear
(hammer, anvil and stirrup bones which trans
mit vibrations from the eardrum to the oval
window of the inner ear), and inner ear or
cochlea (a bony structure of spiral form con
taining three parallel canals, one of which, the
organ of Corti, contains the nerve terminals
which are stimulated by vibrations in the
coch lea ).
HEARING, PER CENT. The per cent hear
ing at any given frequency is 100 minus the
per cent hearing loss (see hearing loss, per
cent) at that frequency.
HEAT. The term has been used in two re
lated, but distinctly different, senses. (1) A c
cording to best modern usage, heat is energy in
the process of transfer between a system and
its surroundings as a result of temperature
differences. (See M ark W . Zemansky, H eat
and Thermodynamics, third edition, M cG raw Hill, 1951.) (2) According to the older (and
still current) usage, heat is the energy con
tained in a sample of matter, including both
potential energy resulting from interatomic
forces and kinetic energy associated with the
chaotic motion of the molecules of a sub
stance.
In the range of temperatures in
which quantum effects are not of importance,
the average kinetic energy per molecule is
one-half of the Boltzmann constant times the
Kelvin temperature for each degree of free
dom, in accordance with the principle of the
equipartition of energy. The average poten
tial energy per molecule in monatomic solids,
under the same conditions, is equal to the
average kinetic energy; the Dulong and Petit
law is explained by this fact.

In accordance with the second definition,

terms such as heat content, specific heat, etc.
are used as measures of the internal energy of
matter.
Although we now recognize that heat is
energy, it is still customary to express quan
tity of heat in the old water-temperature
measure, by means of British thermal units
or of calories; and whenever heat quantities
so expressed are used in therm odynamic cal
culations, it is necessary to use the mechan
ical equivalent of heat as a conversion factor
between these and the ordinary dynamic units
of energy (foot-pounds, joules, or ergs). (See
temperature, calorimetry, thermal convection,
thermal conduction, thermal radiation, ther
modynamics, etc.)
H EAT, ATOM IC. The product of the gramatomic weight of an element and its specific
heat. The result is the atomic heat capacity
per gram-atom. For many solid elements, the
atomic heat capacity is very nearly the same,
especially at higher temperatures, and is ap
proximately equal to 3R, where R is the gas
constant (Law of Dulong and Petit).
(See
also Debye theory of specific heat; Born-von
Karman theory of specific heat.)
H EAT CAPACITY.
The amount of heat
necessary to raise the temperature of a sys
tem, entity, or substance by one degree of
temperature. It is most frequently expressed
in calories per degree centigrade. I f the mass
of a substance is specified, then certain de
rived values of the heat capacity can be ob
tained, such as the atomic heat, molar heat,
or specific heat.
(See heat, atomic; heat,
molecular; and heat, specific.)
HEAT CAPACITY, ELECTRONIC.
electronic specific heat.
HEAT CONTENT
See enthalpy.

(HEAT

See

FUNCTION).

HEAT ENGINE. As used in thermodynamics

the term denotes a thermodynamic system,
e.g., a sample of gas, carried through a cyclic
process in such a w ay that a closed path is
traced out on a pressure-volume (P -V ) dia
gram, and positive work is done by the sys
tem. I f Qi is the positive amount of heat
energy absorbed by the system, Q2 the posi
tive amount of heat energy rejected by the
system and W the net amount of work done

by the system, then the first law of thermo

dynamics (conservation of energy) gives
W = Qi Q2. The efficiency of the engine
is defined as

Qi

Qi

For an engine following a reversible Carnot

cycle (Carnot engine) the efficiency is given
by rj = (T i T2)/ T i where Ti is the Kelvin
temperature of the reservoir at which Qi is
absorbed and T2 is the Kelvin temperature
at which Q2 is rejected. The second law of
thermodynamics states that no engine work
ing between these same two temperatures can
have a greater efficiency than that of the Car
not engine.
A thermodynamic engine run backwards be
comes a refrigerator. Thus a positive amount
of heat Q2 is absorbed at a low temperature,
work W is done, and positive heat Qi is re
jected at a higher temperature. The first law
now gives Qi = W + Q2. The ratio Q2/W is
known as the coefficient of perform ance of the
refrigerator. (See also thermodynamics, first
law; thermodynamics, second law; Otto
cycle.)
HEATER.
(1) An electric heating element
for supplying heat to an indirectly-heated
cathode. (2) A source of heat for industrial
or domestic use.
(See also the entries im
mediately following.)
HEATER (RELAY).
thermal relay.
HEATER COIL.

Same as coil for a

See coil, load.

HEATER, HYSTERESIS. An induction de

vice in which a charge or a muffle about the
charge is heated principally by hysteresis
losses due to a magnetic flux which is pro
duced in it. A distinction should be made
between hysteresis heating and the enhanced
induction heating in a magnetic charge.
HEATER, INDUCTION, AUTOREGULA
TION. An induction heater in which a de
sired control is effected by the change in char
acteristics of a magnetic charge (load) as it is
heated at or near its Curie point.
HEATER, INDUCTION-CONDUCTION. A
heating device in which electric current is
conducted through but is restricted by induc
tion to a preferred path in a charge (load).

HEATER, INDUCTION, CORE TYPE. A

device in which a charge is heated by induc
tion and a magnetic core links the inducing
winding with the charge.
HEATER, INDUCTION, CORELESS TYPE.
A device in which a charge is heated by in
duction and no magnetic core material links
the charge. M agnetic material may be used
elsewhere in the assembly for flux guiding
purposes.
HEATER, INDUCTION, DOM ESTIC.
A
cooking device in which the utensil is heated
by current, usually of commercial line fre
quency, induced in it by a primary inductor
associated with it.
HEATER,
INDUCTION,
D UAL
FRE
QUENCY. A heater in which the charge re
ceives energy by induction, simultaneously or
successively, from a work coil or coils operat
ing at two different frequencies.
HEATER,
INDUCTION,
H IGH
FRE
QUENCY. A device for causing electric cur
rent flow in a charge to be heated, the fre
quency of the current being higher than that
customarily distributed over commerical net
works.
HEATER, INDUCTION, HORIZONTAL
RING. A device for melting metal, compris
ing an angular horizontally-placed open
trough or melting channel, a primary induc
tor winding and a magnetic core which links
the melting channel with the primary wind
ing.
HEATER,
INDUCTION,
LOW -FRE
QUENCY.
A device for inducing current
flow of commercial power line frequency in a
charge to be heated.
HEATER, INDUCTION, MOTOR FIELD.
An induction heater in which the inducing
winding typifies that of an induction motor
of rotary or linear design.
HEATER, INDUCTION-RING. A form of
core-type induction heater adapted princi
pally for heating electrically conducting
charges of ring or loop form, the core being
open or separable to facilitate linking the
charge.
HEATER, INDUCTION, SUBMERGED RE
SISTOR. A device for melting metal, com

prising a melting hearth, a depending melting

channel closed through the hearth, a primary
induction winding and a magnetic core which
links the melting channel and the primary
winding.
HEATER TUBE.
heater-type.

See tube, hot cathode,

HEAT F L O W EQUATION. The equation

for conduction of heat under a temperature
gradient and in the absence of thermal sources
or sinks:
CdT

V2T

=-----
dt
k

where C is the heat capacity of the material

per unit volume and k is the thermal conduc
tivity. This equation is obtained from the
equation for thermal conduction, J = k
grad T , where J is the heat energy flowing
across unit area in unit time (see conduction,
thermal), and from the conservation of energy
expressed as:

(see continuity equation). The heat flow

equation is analogous to the diffusion equa
tion.
HEAT FLUSH. A method of separating a
mixture of H e3 and H e4 by means of a flow
of heat in superfluid helium.
HEATING, DEPTH OF. In dielectric heat
ing usage, the depth below the surface o f a
material in which effective dielectric heating
can be confined when the applicator electrodes
are applied adjacent to one surface only.
HEATING, GLUE LINE. In dielectric heat
ing usage, an arrangement of electrodes de
signed to give preferential heating to a thin
film of material of relatively high loss factor
between alternate layers of relatively low loss
factor.
HEATING, INDUCTION. The heating of a
nominally conducting material in a varying
electromagnetic field due to its internal losses.
HEATING INSTABILITY. An unstable con
dition of a stellarator type thermonuclear de
vice that results when the heating current,
which flows in the direction of the impressed
magnetic field becomes large enough to de

form the initial magnetic field configuration

beyond a critical value called the Kruskal
limit.
HEATING PATTERN. The distribution of
temperature in a load or charge.
H EATING STATION. Location which in
cludes load coil or applicator and its asso
ciated production equipment.
HEATING TIM E,
cathode heating.

CATHODE.

See

time,

H EATING TIM E, CATH ODE (OF A GAS

TUBE). The time required for the cathode
to attain operating temperature with normal
voltage applied to the heating element.
H EATIN G TIM E, CATH O DE (OF A VAC
UUM TUBE). The time required for the
time rate of change of the cathode current to
reach maximum value. A ll electrode voltages
should remain constant during measurement.
The tube elements should all be at room tem
perature at the start of the test.
H EATING TIM E, TUBE.
tube.

See time, heating

H EATING VALUE. The heating, or calo

rific, value of a fuel is the quantity of heat
produced by the combustion, under specified
conditions, of unit weight or volume of the
fuel.
H EATING, W AVE. The heating of a m a
terial by energy absorption from a traveling
electromagnetic wave.
H EAT, INTERNAL.
heat.

See internal energy;

H EAT IN THE ATMOSPHERE. H eat re

ceived from the sun is the primary source
of energy for the earth. Some slight amount
of heat is received from the earths interior
by virtue of radioactive rocks, but this need
not be considered in view of its comparable
smallness. T otal heat received from the sun,
directly below the sun, at the outer limits of
the atmosphere (the amount that would be
received at the earths surface if passage were
unaffected by the atmosphere and clouds) is
very nearly 1.94 gram-calories per sq cm per
min.
H EAT, LATENT. H eat which is gained by a
substance or system without an accom pany

ing rise in temperature during a change of

state.
(See heat of fusion, latent; heat of
sublimation, latent; and heat of vaporization,
latent.)
HEAT LOSS.

See loss, heat.

HEAT, M ECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF.

The conversion factor between any unit com
monly employed to express mechanical energy
and a unit com monly employed to express
thermal energy, e.g., 4.1840 joules/calorie.
(See also thermal units.)
HEAT, M ECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF,
M ETHODS FOR. See Callendar and Barnes
method; Griffiths method; Jaeger-Steinwehr
method; Joule-Rowland method; Laby and
Hercus method; Osborne, Stimson and Jen
nings method; Reynolds and Moorby method;
Schuster and Gannon method.
HEAT, MOLECULAR. (HEAT, MOLAR.)
The product of the gram-molecular weight of
a compound and its specific heat. (See heat,
specific.) The result is the heat capacity per
gram-molecular weight.
HEAT OF ACTIVATION. The increase of
heat content accom panying the transforma
tion of a substance from a less active to a
more reactive form.
This process applies
com monly to enzymes, and to many instances
of the excitation of atoms or molecules, as
well as to the irradiation of molecules.
HEAT OF ADSORPTION. The increase of
heat content when one mole of a given sub
stance is adsorbed upon another specified sub
stance. It is also necessary to state whether
the adsorption is of the van der W aals type or
of the activated type, since higher values are
obtained from the latter process. Since gase
ous adsorption is frequently a function of the
pressure, one defines a differential heat of ad
sorption, as the difference between values of
the heat of adsorption at two different neigh
boring pressures. (See Langmuir adsorption
isotherm.)
HEAT OF AGGREGATION. The increase
of heat content accompanying the formation
of various aggregates of matter, such as crys
tals, etc.
HEAT OF ASSOCIATION. The increase of
heat content when one mole of a coordination

compound is formed from

molecules or other particles.

its

constituent

H EAT OF COMBUSTION. The increase in

the heat content when one mole of a sub
stance undergoes oxidation, whereby the prod
ucts obtained in complete combustion are pro
duced. The heat of combustion is very nearly
an additive property; it depends, however,
slightly upon molecular constitution, so that
isomers do not give identical heats of com
bustion.
H EAT OF CONDENSATION. The increase
of heat content when unit mass, or one mole
of a vapor is converted into liquid at its boil
ing point under isobaric conditions without
change of temperature. This quantity is the
reverse of the latent heat of vaporization.
H EAT OF COOLING. An increase in the
heat content o f a substance or system at cer
tain temperatures on its cooling curve, be
cause of an internal change, com m only to an
allotropic m odification, which produces an in
crease in heat content. (See heat of transi
tion.)
H E AT OF CRYSTALLIZATION.
The in
crease in the heat content of one mole o f a
substance attributable to its transformation
to the crystalline state.
HEAT OF DECOMPOSITION. The change
of heat content when one mole of a com
pound is decomposed into its elements. This
is equal in quantity, but opposite in sign, to
the heat of formation.
H EAT OF D ILUTION, DIFFERENTIAL.
The increase in heat content of a system re
sulting from addition of an infinitesimal quan
tity of solvent to the solution.
H EAT OF DILUTION, INTEGRAL. The
increase in heat content occurring when a
specified amount of the solvent is added to a
solution. This quantity is called the integral
heat of dilution (or the total heat of dilution)
in contrast with the differential heat of dilu
tion.
H EAT OF DISSOCIATION. The increase
of heat content occurring as a result of the
breaking apart of molecules or, in general, in
the rupture of valence linkages.

H EAT OF FORMATION. The increase of

heat content of the system when one mole of
a substance is formed from its elements. If
the physical state of the various elements are
not specified they are assumed to be in the
state at which they would normally exist at
atmospheric pressure and ordinary tempera
ture.
H EAT OF FUSION, LATENT.
The in
crease of heat content when unit mass, or one
mole of a solid is converted into a liquid at
its melting point (without change of tem
perature). The value of this quantity is com
m only determined at constant pressure.
HEAT OF FUSION (LATENT), METHODS
FOR. See Bunson ice calorimeter method,
electrical method, and method of mixtures.
HEAT OF HYDRATION. The increase of
heat content when one mole of a hydrate is
formed from the anhydrous form of the com
pound, and from liquid water.
H EAT OF IONIZATION. The increase of
heat content accom panying the complete
ionization of one mole of a substance.
HEAT OF LINKAGE. The bond energy of
a particular valence linkage between atoms,
as determined by the average amount of en
ergy required to dissociate bonds of that type
in one mole of a given compound. This is
illustrated by the case of methane, in which
the bond energy of the C H bond is taken
to be one-quarter of the heat required to dis
sociate one mole of methane into carbon and
hydrogen atoms.
HEAT OF NEUTRALIZATION.
The in
crease in heat content of a system undergoing
a neutralization reaction involving molar
quantities of reactants.
HEAT OF SOLIDIFICATION.
The in
crease in heat content upon the formation of
one mole of a solid from a substance com
monly in the liquid state.
HEAT OF SOLUTION, DIFFERENTIAL.
A partial differential quantity obtained by
differentiating the total heat of solution (see
heat of solution, integral) with respect to the
molal concentration of one component of the
solution, while the concentration of the other
component or components, the temperature,
and pressure remain constant.

HEAT OF SOLUTION, INTEGRAL. The

difference between the heat content of a solu
tion, and the heat contents of its components.
H EAT OF SUBLIMATON, LATENT. The
increase of heat content when unit mass, or
one mole, of a solid is converted into a vapor
under isobaric conditions.
HEAT OF TRANSITION. The increase in
heat content when one mole of a substance
changes to an allotropic form, at the transi
tion temperature.
HEAT OF VAPORIZATON, LATENT.
vaporization, heat of.

See

H EAT OF VAPORIZATION (LATENT),

M ETHODS FOR. See Awberg and Griffiths
method; Berthelot condensation method;
Henning method; low temperature evapora
tion method.
HEAT PROPAGATION IN CONDUCTING
M EDIUM . A process governed by the gen
eral equation:
d2T
d2T
d2T
cP dT
V2T = --------1---------- 1-------- = ----------
dx2
dy2
dz2
K dt
where T is the temperature, c, the specific
heat, p, the density, K , the th e rm a l conduc
tivity, x , y, z, rectangular coordinates, and ,
the time.
(See also heat flow equation.)
For the case of radial heat flow (spherical c o
ordinates) the equation is
dzT

2 ST

pc dT

Or2 ^ r dr

K dt

where r is the radius.

For the case of radial heat flow in one plane
(cylindrical coordinates), the equation is:
d2T

1 dT

pc dT

dr2 ^ r dr

K dt

H EAT PUMP. A device which transfers heat

from a colder to a hotter reservoir, with the
expenditure of mechanical energy, particu
larly when the primary purpose is the heating
of the hot reservoir rather than the refrigera
tion of the cool one. (See also heat engine.)
H EAT, SPECIFIC.
(1) H istorically, the
term specific heat arose with the meaning of
the ratio of the quantity of heat required to

raise the temperature of a body (without

change of phase to the quantity o f heat re
quired to raise the temperature of an equal
mass of water by an equal amount. When
used in this sense, the specific heat is a dimensionless ratio.
(2) Because of the obvious limitations of the
older usage, the term specific heat has increas
ingly come to mean the quantity of heat, per
unit mass (or sometimes per unit volume) and
per unit temperature rise, required to increase
the temperature of a substance without change
of phase. It is thus equal to the ratio of the
heat capacity of a body to the mass (or v o l
ume) of the body and may appropriately be
called the specific thermal capacity. It may
be measured in a variety of units, such as
calories per gram degree, joules per kilogram
degree, or ergs per gram mole. When the first
of these is used, the specific heat has a nu
merical value essentially equivalent to that
of the older definition.
The specific heat includes not only the tem
perature rate of change of internal energy per
unit mass, but also any energy required to do
work, e.g., to expand a body against the pres
sure of the surrounding atmosphere. Specific
heats must be specified as being measured
under particular conditions, e.g., constant v o l
ume or constant pressure. For theories of
specific heat see Debye theory of specific heat;
Born-von Karman theory; Einstein equation
for heat capacity.
HEAT, SPECIFIC, AT CONSTANT PRES
SURE. The amount of heat required to raise
unit mass of a substance through one degree
of temperature without change of pressure.
Usually denoted by Cp, when the mole is the
unit of mass, and cv when the gram is the unit
of mass.
HEAT, SPECIFIC, AT CONSTANT PRESSURE, METHODS FOR.
See Blackett,
Henry and Rideal method; Holbum and
Henning method.
HEAT, SPECIFIC, AT CONSTANT VOL
UME. The amount of heat required to raise
unit mass of a substance through one degree
of temperature without change of volume.
Usually denoted by Cv, when the mole is the
unit of mass, and cv when the gram is the unit
of mass.

H EAT, SPECIFIC, AT CONSTANT VOL

UME, M ETHODS FOR.
See explosion
method, Joly steam calorimeter, Nemst vac
uum calorimeter.
H EAT, SPECIFIC, OF SOLIDS. See Dulong
and Petit Law; Debye theory of specific heat;
Einstein equation for heat capacity; Born-von
Karman theory of specific heat.
H EAT TRANSFER. H eat can be transferred
b y three different methods: by conduction,
where the heat must diffuse through solid ma
terials or through stagnant fluids; by convec
tion, where the heat is carried from one point
to another by actual movement of the hot m a
terial (com m on in flu id s); and by radiation,
where heat is transferred by means of electro
magnetic waves.
H EAT TRANSFER, COEFFICIENT OF.
The rate of flow of heat through a medium
or a system, expressed as the amount of heat
passing through unit area, per unit time, and
per degree temperature difference.
In the
English system of units, the coefficient of heat
transfer is usually expresssed in B.t.u. per
square foot per hour per degree Fahrenheit.
(See also conduction, thermal; thermal con
ductivity; heat propagation in conducting
medium.)
H EAT UNITS, C.G.S.
mal units.

See calorie; erg; ther-

H EAT UNITS, ENGLISH.

mal unit.

See British ther

H EAT UNITS, MKS. The joule, which is

also the unit of work: work done by 1 newton
m oving its point of application parallel to
itself by 1 meter. One newton is the force
required to produce an acceleration of 1 me
te r/sec2 in a mass of 1 kilogram. 4.184 joules
are equivalent to 1 standard calorie.
HEAVISIDE LAYER.

See ionosphere.

HEAVY. (1) Am ong the isotopes of an ele

ment, those of the larger mass number are
called heavy. Thus heavy hydrogen is the
less common hydrogen isotope of mass num
ber 2, heavy oxygen is the less common oxy
gen isotope of mass number 17. The adjec
tive is also used to denote molecules made
with these heavy atoms, e.g., heavy water.
(2) See heavy particle.

HEAVY ATOM M ETHOD.

analysis.

See direct x-ray

HEAVY PARTICLE. A term used in atomic

and nuclear physics to refer to a particle
having a mass equal to or greater than that
of the proton.
HECTO-.

A prefix meaning one hundred.

HECTOGRAM.
HECTOMETER.

One hundred grams.

One hundred meters.

HEELPIECE (RELAY). The part of a relay

magnetic structure at the end of the coil
opposite the armature. It generally supports
the armature and completes the magnetic path
between the coil core and the armature.
HEFNER LAMP. A standard light source
which burns amyl acetate and has an intensity
of 0.9 U.S. standard candles when the flame is
at a height o f 40 mm.
HEIGHT, EFFECTIVE. See antenna height,
effective.
HEIGHT
height.

ERROR.

See error, ionosphere

HEIGHT MARKERS (RADAR).

ers, calibration.

See mark

H EIGHT, VIRTUAL. The apparent height

of an ionized layer determined from the time
interval between the transmitted signal and
the ionospheric echo at vertical incidence,
assuming that the speed of propagation is
the speed of light in a vacuum over the
entire path.
HEIL CIRCUIT.

See oscillator, Heil.

HEILIGENSCHEIN.
A diffraction effect
seen from considerable altitude due to the
reflection of sunlight from dew drops on vege
tation.
HEINE FORMULA. An integral representa
tion for Legendre polynomials:
Pnm{x) = in + l)(n + 2 ) ( + m )( l )m/2
X - f [% + V z 2 1 cos <] cos m<j>d<j>.
7TJq
HEISENBERG EQUATION OF MOTION.
According to the quantum theory of a d y
namical system described by the Hamiltonian

H, the time rate of change of an observable

represented by the operator X is

where [X , H ] is the commutator of X and H.

HEISENBERG FORCE.
Phenomenologically postulated force between two nucleons
derivable from a potential in which there ap
pears an operator which exchanges the spins
and positions of the two particles.
HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE OF INDETER
MINANCY.
See Heisenberg uncertainty
principle.
HEISENBERG REPRESENTATION. R ep
resentation of the equations of motion in
quantum mechanics and in quantized field
theory (see field theory, quantized) where the
vector describing the state is treated as con
stant and the time dependence is transferred
to the operators which operate on this state
vector. This m ay be represented in Hilbert
space by choosing as base vectors eigenfunc
tions of the Hamiltonian operator which are
simultaneously eigenfunctions of all other op
erators commutating with it. In this picture,
operators are represented as dependent m at
rices. The theory developed in this repre
sentation is therefore called matrix mechanics.
(See Schrdinger representation, interaction
representation; representation theory, quan
tum mechanical.)
HEISENBERG THEORY OF FERROMAG
NETISM. The exchange interaction (see dis
cussion of exchange energy) between elec
trons in neighboring atoms can be shown to
depend on the relative orientations of the
electronic spins. If it should turn out that
parallel spins are favored, there is a strong
tendency for all the spins in the lattice to be
come aligned, the transition to the ordered
state corresponding to the Curie point. The
concept of localized spins (e.g., d-electrons in
the transition metals) is confirmed by neu
tron diffraction, but the theory is incomplete
at the stage of calculating the actual magni
tude and sign of the interaction.
HEISENBERG
UNCERTAINTY
PRIN
CIPLE. A principle set forth by Heisenberg,
which asserts that in the simultaneous meas
urement of the values of two canonically con

jugated variables, the product of the smallest

possible uncertainties in their measured values
is of the order of magnitude of the Planck
constant h. If Aq is the range of values that
might be found for the coordinate q of a par
ticle, and Ap is the range in the simultaneous
determination of the corresponding com po
nent of its momentum p, then Ap Aq ^ h.
Similarly if AE and At are the uncertainties
in the simultaneous determination of the en
ergy and the time, A E - A t ^ h .
(See opera
tors, quantum-mechanical.)
HEISING MODULATION.
constant-current.

See modulation,

HEITLER-LONDON THEORY OF CO
VALENT BONDING. A treatment of the
exchange forces between atoms in which the
two interacting electrons are assumed to be
in atomic orbitals about each of the nuclei,
these orbitals being then combined into sym
metric and anti-symmetric functions.
The
theory gives a good first approximation to the
correct orbitals, but ignores effects such as
the possibility of two electrons being simul
taneously on the same atom.
HELIATRON. A voltage-tuned microwave
oscillator. Electron focusing is accomplished
by balancing centrifugal force against a radial
electric force and R F field interaction is both
radial and angular. The electron beam travels
in a helical path interacting with the R F field
which is provided by an internal circuit struc
ture.
HELICAL INSTABILITY.
stability.

See corkscrew in

HELICITY. The scalar product <r p where

& is a unit vector in the direction of the par
ticles spin and p is a unit vector in the direc
tion of the particles momentum. (See polari
zation; chirality.)
HELIOSTAT. An arrangement of mirrors
driven by clockwork used to reflect a beam of
sunlight in a fixed direction as the sun moves
across the sky.
HELIUM.
Gaseous element. Symbol He.
Atom ic number 2. (See also helium, liquid.)
HELIUM LIQUEFACTION.
Helium was
first liquefied by Kamerlingh Onnes in Leiden
in 1908.
Onnes used the Linde-Hampson
method o f liquefaction, in which the cooling.

in the lower range, is obtained by the JouleKelvin effect.

H E L IU M LIQ U E F IE R S. Besides the LindeHampson method used by Kamerlingh Onnes
in his first liquefaction of helium, a number
of liquefiers have been developed which are
based on expansion with external work.
Simon has used a very simple device in which
helium, cooled to temperatures obtainable
with liquid hydrogen, is expanded from 100
or 150 atmospheres to 1 atmosphere. The
heat capacity of the pressure cylinder in
which the expansion is carried out is very
small at these temperatures, and with a single
expansion filling, extremely effective opera
tion can be obtained. K apitza has developed
a reciprocating engine for cooling helium,
which has been further improved by Collins.
These devices have the advantage that they
do not require liquid hydrogen for the lique
faction of helium. Another method due to
Simon is based on the cooling obtained when
helium gas is desorbed from charcoal.
H E L IU M , L IQ U ID , FO RM S I A N D II. L iq
uid helium undergoes a change in its physical
properties at 2.189K, the so-called lambdapoint. The form stable between the critical
temperature and the lam bda-point is called
liquid helium I, and that stable between the
lam bda-point and absolute zero is called liq
uid helium II. Since the transformation is
one of higher order, without latent heat at
the lam bda-point, the two liquid forms are
never co-existent. The lambda-transformation does not occur in liquid helium with the
isotopic weight 3. (See helium II, two fluid
theory.)
H E L IU M ,
L IQ U ID ,
FR IC T IO N -F R E E
F L O W IN. The flow of liquid helium II
through narrow capillaries or slits is highly
independent of pressure head, and of the
length of the tube, suggesting freedom from
friction. B y measuring pressures along the
tube, it has been shown that up to a critical
velocity which depends on temperature, the
flow inside the tube is com pletely free of fric
tion, all dissipation occurring at the ends of
the tube. The complete freedom from fric
tion has also been demonstrated for the he
lium II film.
H E L IU M , L IQ U ID , PR O PE RTIE S OF. L iq
uid helium is a remarkable substance as, ow

ing to its high zero-point energy, it has a

very low density and will not solidify under
its own saturation pressure. Even at abso
lute zero, an external pressure of about 25
atmospheres is required for solidification.
The density has a maximum at the lambdapoint. Whereas helium I has, apart from its
low density, most of the properties of a nor
mal liquid, helium II shows a very anomalous
behavior. Its viscosity is vanishingly small,
and its heat conductivity is much higher than
that of any other substance. M oreover, there
exists a thermomechanical (fountain) effect.
If two vessels containing helium II are con
nected by a narrow capillary and heat is sup
plied to one of them, a flow of helium in the
direction of the higher temperature will take
place. Conversely, in the mechanocaloric ef
fect, a forced flow of helium II through a
capillary will result in a cooling of the liquid
leaving the capillary. Also, pulses of heat
created in the liquid will be propagated in it
similarly to density pulses in sound, and the
phenomenon has therefore been called second
sound. (See also helium II film; helium II,
two fluid theory; superfluid; sound, first and
second.)
H E L IU M , L IQ U ID , SU B-CRITICAL F L O W
IN FILM S OF. Mass transport through the
helium II film takes place at a constant rate
which depends only on temperature. It has
been shown that in film transport below this
critical rate, the flow of mass is completely
free of friction.
H E L IU M , SO L ID IF IC A T IO N . Helium will
not solidify under its own vapor pressure
down to absolute zero. In order to obtain
solid helium the liquid has to be subjected to
external pressure (K eesom ).
The melting
pressure, which is about 140 atmospheres at
the normal boiling point, has a value of 25
atmospheres at absolute zero.
H E L IU M II F IL M . Solid surfaces in con
tact with liquid helium II (see helium, liquid)
are covered with a film of 50 to 100 atoms
thickness, along which frictionless flow of
liquid can take place.
H E L IU M II, T W O F L U ID TH EO RY. B e
low the A-transition point (2.1 9K ), liquid
helium (o f mass number 4) is thought to con
sist of two fluids, normal fluid and a super
fluid.

Between 0 K and 2.19K the relative pro

portions of the two fluids varies continuously,
from pure superfluid at 0 K to the pure nor
mal fluid at 2.19K and above. The viscosity,
specific heat, thermal conductivity, etc. of
helium II are explained in terms of the two
fluids.
(See also Landau theory of liquid
helium; Feynman theory of liquid helium.)
H ELIX. A curve traced on a cylindrical or
conical surface in such a way that all ele
ments of the surface are cut at a constant
angle. A circular helix lies on a right cir
cular cylindrical surface.
In parametric
form, its equation is:
x = a cos 6,

y = a sin 0,

z = bO,

HELMHOLTZ FREE ENERGY (POTEN

TIAL). Defined under free energy (2). (See
also thermodynamic potentials.)
HELMHOLTZ INSTABILITY. In the field
of fluid dynamics this is the instability which
occurs at the boundary between two fluids
which are in relative motion.
HELMHOLTZ - KETTELER
The dispersion formula:

FORMULA.

where D f is a constant, G\2 is the term repre

senting the frictional force, X is the wave length
and the sum is taken over s, the Xs being the
resonant wave lengths of the medium.

where a, b are constants and 0 is a parameter.

The thread of a screw is often a circular helix.

HELMHOLTZ RECIPROCAL THEOREM.

See reciprocity theorem, acoustical.

H ELM H O LTZ COILS. A pair of coaxial

coils of radius a, separated by a distance a,
and carrying a current I in the same sense.
The field midway along the axis between them
is nearly uniform. The term is sometimes ap
plied to pairs of coils of shape other than cir
cular.

H ELM HOLTZ RESONATOR.

Helmholtz.

H ELM H O LTZ EQUATION.

tion of the form

See resonator,

HEMERAPHOTOMETER. A type of pho

tometer used for measuring daylight factor.
HEM ICOLLOID.
A colloid composed of
particles o f small size, i.e., ranging from 0.005
to 0.0025 micron in length.

(1) An equa
HEM IHEDRAL CRYSTALS.
rity.

riiyi tan 0i = n2y2 tan 62 ,

expressing the relation between the linear and
the angular magnification at a spherical re
fracting interface. 7/ 1, y 2 are linear dimen
sions of object and image,
62 the angles
made by focal rays and axis at object and
image points and nly n2 are refractive indices
of object and image space. Also called L agrange-Helmholtz equation.
(See, however,
the Abbe sine condition.) A spherical sur
face cannot satisfy both these equations for
finite angles. Hence a spherical surface can
never make a perfect image.
(2) The equation V2\p + k2\p = 0, where k is
a real constant. This equation may be ob
tained from the wave equation V2tf> = ( 1/v2)
(d2<t>/dt2) when it is assumed that < has a
sinusoidal dependence on time, < = \p sin cot.
In this case the constant k2 in the Helmholtz
equation is 0? /v2.
H ELM H OLTZ F LO W .
Flow
streamlines or vortex sheets.

with

free

See hemihed-

HEMIHEDRITY. A term describing crystal

symmetry operations, to indicate that only
half of a symmetrical structure undergoes
modification. For example, if in truncating
a cube the process is carried out symmetri
cally on four out of the eight solid angles the
resulting structure exhibits hemihedral sym
m etry.
HENNING M ETHO D FOR LATENT HEAT
OF
VAPORIZATION.
An
evaporation
method similar to that used earlier by Grif
fiths. W ater is evaporated under constant
pressure at any temperature between 30C
and 180C, and the electrical energy needed
to evaporate a given amount of water (de
termined by subsequent condensation) is
measured.
HENRY. A unit of self or mutual inductance,
abbreviation h or hy. (1) The self-inductance
of a coil in which an emf of one volt is re
quired to change the current at the rate of
one ampere per second. (2) The mutual in

ductance of two coils, of such geometry and

so arranged that an emf of one volt is in
duced in one if the current in the other is
changing at the rate of one ampere per sec
ond. The mutual inductance remains un
changed if the roles of the two coils are inter
changed, i.e., if the current is changed in the
first and the emf is measured across the sec
ond. The millihenry (m h ), equal to 0.001 hy,
is com m only used as a unit of inductance.
(See also electromagnetic waves.)
HENRY L A W . The mass of gas dissolved
by a given volume of liquid at a given tem
perature is proportional to the pressure of gas
with which it is in equilibrium. The Henry
law is strictly true only for ideal solutions
(which are approached in their properties by
dilute solutions), if the gas is in the same
molecular state in the solution as in the gas.
Departure from ideal gas behavior also re
sults in deviations from the Henry law. The
Henry law and the Raoult law may be shown
to be related.
HEPTODE. A seven-electrode electron tube
containing an anode, a cathode, a control
electrode, and four additional electrodes that
are ordinarily grids.
HERCUS AND LARY M ETHO D , HEAT
TRANSMISSION OF GASES.
The most
satisfactory method of measuring the ther
mal conductivity of gases.
It consists in
measuring the temperature gradient across a
thin slab of gas of large area of cross section,
using a known heat current. The area is de
fined by two silver-plated circular sheets of
copper, one heated electrically, the other
cooled by flowing water. Convection effects
are eliminated by arranging for the heat flow
to take place vertically downwards. Lateral
heat flow is eliminated by surrounding the
hotter plate by a guard ring, and loss of heat
in an upward direction, by means of another
plate above it, both being maintained at the
same temperature as the hotter plate. A tem
perature difference of about 20C was used
for the original experiments, and a correction
of about 5/o was necessary for heat transfer
by radiation.
HEREDITARY MECHANICS. The field of
mechanics involving boundary conditions ex
tending over continuous intervals of space and
time and demanding integrals for their repre

sentation. For example, in the application of

stress to a deformable elastic medium, the
final strain at any instant depends not only
on the stress at that instant but on the whole
previous stress to which the medium has been
exposed. A nalytically
t
5(0 = kX (t) + f 6(t, r)X(r)dr,
where 8 is the final strain at time , X ( t ) is
the instantaneous stress at time t and the in
tegral represents the effect of the stress hered
ity of the system. The quantity 0{t, t ) is
called the coefficient of heredity. The above
equation may be considered an integral equa
tion for the evaluation of X when 8 is known.
HEREDITY, COEFFICIENT OF.
reditary mechanics.

See he

HERING THEORY. A theory of color vision

which postulates in the retina two mutually
exclusive processes (a) anabolism, a building
of tissue and (b) catabolism, a breaking down
of tissue. It accounts only partly for color
blindness.
HERMANN-MANGUIN SYMROLS. A no
tation sometimes used to describe the sym
metry classes of crystals. T w o-, three-, fourand six-fold rotation axes are represented by
the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6. Three**, four- and
six-fold inversion axes have symbols 3, 4, 6.
Asym m etry has the symbol 1. A center of
symmetry has the symbol I.
A plane of
symmetry is represented by m (m irror). The
first number denotes the principal axis. If a
plane of symmetry is perpendicular to an axis,
this is represented by n/m (e.g., 2/m , 4 /m ,
6 /m ). Then follow the symbols for the sec
ondary axes, if any, and then any other sym
metry planes.
HERMITE EQUATION.
differential equation:
" 2x y f + 2ny = 0;

second-order

ft, a constant.

The Hermite polynomials are solutions. It

occurs in the quantum mechanical problem
of the harmonic oscillator. (See also Weber
equation.)
HERMITE POLYNOMIAL. A solution to
the Hermite differential equation. The poly
nomial of degree n is:

n(n 1)
.
H n(x) = (2x)n - --------- - (2x)n
1!

rials may be made sensitive to the infrared

by exposing to red light after exposure.

n(n 1)(n 2)(n 3)

.
+ --------- -- --------- -- --------- - (2x)n~* +
2!

HERTZIAN W AVES. A nearly obsolete term

for electromagnetic waves in the radio fre
quency range.

It can also be represented by the relation:

dne~ x2
H n(x) = ( - l ) V

dxn

or by a generating function.
HERM ITIAN. (1) Describing a matrix for
which the elements A if = A#*, where the as
terisk indicates the complex conjugate. If
the variables in a bilinear form are complex
conjugate to each other and if the matrix is
Hermitian, the form is also Hermitian. (2)
Linear integral operators m ay also be H er
mitian.
(See operators, quantum mechan
ical.)
HERM ITIAN CONJUGATE. (1) See matrix,
associate.
(2) The Hermitian conjugate of
an operator is that operator whose matrix
representation is the Hermitian conjugate of
the matrix representation of the original
operator.
(See representation theory, quan
tum mechanical.)
HERM ITIAN OPERATOR.
quantum mechanical.
HERM ITIAN PRODUCT.

See operators,

See vector space.

HERPOLHODE.
The curve along which
the cone traced out by the angular velocity
vector intersects the invariable plane tangent
to the momental ellipsoid and perpendicular
to the angular momentum vector, in the case
of a rotating rigid body not subject to any
external torque. (See polhode.)
HERRINGER-HULSTER
EFFECT
MAGNETRONS. See phase-focusing.

HERTZ. A unit of frequency equal to 1

cycle per second.

IN

HERSCHEL EFFECT. A photographic ef

fect observed first by F. W . Herschel in 1839.
Herschel observed that an image on printingout-paper
(silver chloride)
is destroyed
(bleached out) upon exposure to red light.
This is now known as the visual Herschel
effect. The destruction of a latent image in
a gelatin emulsion (which must not be dyesensitized)
is now known as the latent
H erschel effect.
N on-color sensitive mate

HERTZ VECTOR, II. Also known as the

polarization potential, it is a vector from
which the electromagnetic vector potential A
and scalar potential </> m ay be derived. Thus,
in mksa units,
1 dll
^ ~~ C2 dt
HESSIAN. A functional determinant defined
by the equation:
H (F ) =

d(u,V,w)
d(x,y,z)

F xx

F xy

F xz

F xy

Fyy

Fyz

F xz

F yz

F zz

where u,v,w are differential coefficients of an

other function, F (x,y,z) :

u = SF/dx = Fx,

v = F y,

w = F z;

d2F/dx2 = F xx, etc.

(See also Jacobian and Wronskian.)
HESS-IVES PHOTOMETER. A colorimeter
using numbered series of colored glass slides
to match and designate the color of a sub
stance or solution.
HESS L AW .
law of.

See constant heat summation,

HETERODYNE. T w o alternating currents

of different frequency, when mixed in a
non-linear impedance device such as a recti
fier, generate a current having the sum- and
difference-frequencies, either or both of which
may be selected by properly tuning or filter
ing the output. This phenomenon is known
as heterodyne action, and is put to practical
use in the superheterodyne radio receiver cir
cuit.
HETERODYNE CONVERSION, TRANS
DUCER (CONVERTER).
A conversion
transducer (see transducer, conversion) in
which the useful output frequency is the sum
or difference of the input frequency and an in

tegral multiple of the frequency of another

wave.
HETERODYNE DETECTOR.
beatnote.

See detector,

HETERODYNE W AVEM ETER.

dyne frequency meter.

A hetero

HETERODYNE W HISTLE.
The steady
tone heard in the output of an amplitudemodulation receiver due to the beating of two
carriers having a small frequency difference.
HETEROION.
A com plex ion consisting
of a simpler ion adsorbed upon a molecule.
The term is com m only applied in cases where
the adsorbing molecule is large, e.g., a pro
tein molecule.
HETEROSTATIC M ETHO D (OF USE OF
QUADRANT ELECTROM ETER). See elec
trometer, connection of.
HETEROTOPIC. H aving a different atomic
number or nuclear charge, the opposite of
isotopic.
H EXAD EC IM AL.

See positional notation.

HEXAGONAL. See crystal systems5 space

lattice; close packed structure.
H EXOD E.
A six-electrode electron tube
containing an anode, a cathode, a control
electrode, and three additional electrodes that
are ordinarily grids.
h-f. A bbreviation for high frequency, which
is generally considered to be the band of fre
quencies between 3 and 30 megacycles per
second. (See band(s), frequency.) The use
of the term high frequency is deprecated.
hf, hfi, life, hfa hzi> ^ 2i 6, 7*21c, h 2tesistor parameter hf.

See tran

hF) hFB, hFE, hFC. See transistor parameter hF.

hi, his, hIC, hIE. See transistor parameter fe/.
h i,

fcib, h ic, h i ey h l l y hub,

sistor parameter hi.

h n c , h u e.

See tran

HIGH. A region over which the atmospheric

pressure is greater than the surrounding area;
an abbreviation for region of high pressure.
Anticyclonic winds blow about a high.
H IG H - EFFICIENCY
REFLECTING
FILMS. In optical instruments it is some

times desirable to divide a beam of light into

two beams of predetermined relative intensity.
This can be done by coating glass with a thin
film of aluminum. However, in this case for
equal reflected and transmitted beams, about
30% of the light is absorbed by the film. B y
using a thin film o f low refractive index,
covered by a thin film of high refractive in
dex, the thickness of the films may be ad
justed to give the desired reflection and trans
mission with almost no absorption.
H IGH FIDELITY. The quality of a sound
reproducing system such that the acoustical
characteristics of the reproduced sounds (usu
ally musical) match as closely as possible the
characteristics of the original sounds when
made under their normal conditions. Thus a
high fidelity reproduction of a symphonic
work should sound the same to the listener as
if he were present in a concert auditorium,
listening to the orchestra directly, even though
the sounds used in the recording were actually
transcribed in a recording studio with ex
tremely artificial acoustical characteristics.
HIG H - PRESSURE PHENOMENA.
The
earlier researches in this field were associated
with the study of the liquefaction and the
critical states of gases; for example, the work
of Andrews (1861). The critical pressure of
water, for example, has a value above 2000
kilograms per cm2. The hydrostatic pressure
at the greatest ocean depths must be about
1000 kilograms per cm2. But these would
now hardly be considered high pressures,
since with modern technique it is possible to
attain pressures as great as 30,000 kilograms
per cm2. The usual means of attaining high
pressures is the intensifier, which is merely
a double free piston, that is, a straight rod
with a large piston on one end and a small
one on the other, each in its own cylinder.
A ny pressure applied to the larger piston is
multiplied in the smaller cylinder by the ratio
of the two areas. The chief problem is that
of packing to prevent leaks, and this has been
met by special devices perfected by Bridg
man, Poulter, and others.
(See pressure
gauges.)
Substances often exhibit unfamiliar prop
erties at high pressure. F or example, the
minimum volume of water, at 4C under nor
mal pressure, occurs at lower and lower tem
peratures as the pressure is increased; and

finally, at about 2500 kilograms per cm 2, a

minimum no longer exists. Solid bismuth
kept at 250C melts at a pressure of 5600
kilograms per cm2; but liquid sodium at 150C
solidifies at 7200 kilograms per cm 2. Some
oils behave like sodium, so that they cannot
be used as the media in high-pressure ap
paratus. The thermal expansion of liquids
under great pressure decreases with tempera
ture instead of increasing as it norm ally does.
W hen liquids are subjected to 12,000 k ilo
grams per cm2, the work of compression causes
them to become almost boiling hot. M any
other properties have been studied in detail,
such as density, electrical resistance, thermal
conductivity, viscosity, dielectric constant,
and polym orphic transitions.
HIGH-SPEED CARRY.

HILBERT SPACE. Space defined b y a set

of orthonormal functions fa such that a func
tion / = 'Zcifa m ay be regarded as a vector
in the space with coordinates C{.
Integral

trans

1 C* T
(x y) 1
f ix ) = J
1^1 + c o t ------J 4>iy)dy,

4>{y) = ^ J*

+ cot

'- - j f(x)d x.

HILDEBRAND RULE. The entropy of va

porization, i.e., the ratio of the heat o f vapor
ization to the temperature at which it occurs,
is a constant for many substances if it is
determined at the same molal concentration
of vapor for each substance.
H ILL AND D ALE RECORDING.
cording, vertical.

HINGE (RELAY). A joint which fastens the

armature to the remainder of the relay frame
or heelpiece.
HIPERCO. Trade name for a magnetic alloy
composed o f 35% cobalt, 0.5% chromium,
and the balance iron, which has high perme
ability and a high saturation flux-density.
HIPERNIK. Trade name for an isotropic
magnetic alloy whose composition is approxi
mately 50% nickel, 50% iron.
HIPERNIK V. Trade name for a magnetic
alloy similar to Hipernik in chemical com
position, but with grain-oriented properties.
HIPERSIL. Trade name for a highly grainoriented, silicon-iron magnetic alloy.

See carry.

HILBERT TRANSFORM.
forms defined b y :

denoted by 0 (zero ohms) and 1 (infinite

ohms). (2) See steric hindrance.

See re

H IL L DETERM INANT. A determinant of

infinite order which occurs for differential
equations with periodic coefficients, like
Mathieus equation. Its solution determines
a parameter in the solution of the differential
equation and the eigenvalues required to give
solutions which are also periodic.
HINDRANCE.
(1)
In switching-circuit
terminology, the description of the impedance
provided by switch contacts is referred to as
hindrance. The two values of hindrance are

HIRAN. An improved version of Shoran,

with greater accuracy.
HITTORF DARK SPACE.
space.

See cathode dark

HITTORF M ETHO D (FOR TRANSPORT

NUMBER). Comparison of the change in
concentration of electrolyte near the cathode
and near the anode, due to the passage of a
known amount of electricity, can yield the
transport numbers of the anion and cation of
the electrolyte. This is the basis of the H ittorf method.
HITTORF PRINCIPLE. An application of
the Paschen law, which states that discharge
between electrodes in gas at a given pressure
will not always occur between the closest
points of the electrodes if the distance between
these points corresponds to a point to the left
of the minimum of the ignition potential
curve. Also known as the short-path prin
ciple.
HITTORF TUBE. An early form of cathoderay tube.
H-LINES. A contour along which the electro
magnetic field strength is constant with re
spect to some reference plane.
HLSP.
Abbreviation
Slater-Pauling theory.
theory.)
H NETWORK.

for H eitler-London(See Heitler-London

See network, H.

ho,

h 0B

5 h oc,

h 0 E*

See transistor parameter

ho .
h oy h 0b, h ocy h oe

, /i22> ^226? ^22c? ^22e See tran

sistor parameter

h 0,

HODECTRON. A mercury-vapor tube in

which the discharge is initiated by means of
a magnetic pulse.
HODOSCOPE. An arrangement of radiation
counters used in cosmic ray detection. (See
also cosmic ray telescope,)
HOFFM AN ELECTROMETER.
trometer, Hoffman.

See elec

H OFM ANN M ETH O D FOR VAPOR PRES

SURE. A graduated glass tube about 1 meter
long is filled with mercury and inserted in a
trough of mercury, the upper part of the tube
being surrounded by a constant-temperature
jacket through which is circulated at a known
temperature the vapor whose density is re
quired. A small, stoppered, glass vessel con
taining a known weight of the liquid is in
serted into the tube containing mercury, and
the liquid vaporizes, forcing off the stopper.
The mercury level is depressed, the depression
giving the volume of vapor at the pressure
and temperature of the experiment. Hence
the vapor density is found.
HOFMEISTER SERIES. A definite order of
arrangement of anions and cations according
to their powers of coagulation when their salts
are added in quantity to lyophilic sols. Thus,
the order o f cations is M g + + > C a + + >
Sr+ + > B a + + > L i+ > N a + > K + > R b +
> C s+ . The Hofmeister series is also called
the lyotropic series, and the effect is called
salting-out, a term applied strictly to the
effect of electrolytes upon true solutions.

potentials by electron bombardment.

also beam, holding.)

(See

HOLD-BACK AGENT. The inactive isotope

or isotopes of a radioactive element (s) or an
element of similar properties or some reagent
which m ay be used to diminish (hold-back)
the amount of the radionuclide coprecipitated
or adsorbed on a particular carrier or adsorb
ent. The hold-back agent, because of its rela
tively high concentration compared to the
radionuclide, is presumed to play the m ajor
role in saturating the active spots on the
carrier or adsorber, thus reducing the amount
of the radionuclide carried or adsorbed.
HOLE. In general, a state or energy level
not occupied by a particle, particularly when
adjacent levels are filled. The term is ap
plied particularly to the case of electrons in
a metal, or semiconductor, where it is more
convenient to describe an energy band as con
taining just a few holes, rather than as nearly
full of electrons. This usage is reinforced by
the circumstance that the electrons in such
states, near the top of a band, have anomalous
properties, such as negative effective mass,
whereas the holes, representing the absence of
such anomalous electrons, are mobile, and be
have otherwise as if they were normal par
ticles (although, o f course, of opposite electric
charge). The same idea is at the heart of
D ira cs theory of the positron, and is useful
in the theory o f nuclear shell structure, of
atomic energy levels, etc.
H OLE, COUPLING.
HOLE CURRENT.

See aperture, coupling.

See current, hole.

HOLE DENSITY. The density of holes in

an otherwise full band, as in a semiconductor.

HOHLRAUM . A name for a black body,

since the only physically-possible black body
is a uniform temperature cavity.

H OLE, DRIVE-PIN. In disk recording, a

hole in a disk record which accommodates
the turntable drive pin.

HOLBURN AND HENNING M ETHO D

FOR SPECIFIC H EAT AT CONSTANT
PRESSURE. An improved method similar
to that used by Regnault, by which the spe
cific heat of gases can be determined up to
1400C.

HOLE-ELECTRON PAIR.

H O LD (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).

T o maintain storage elements at equilibrium

See exciton.

HOLE INJECTION. A sharp metallic point

applied to the surface of an n-type semicon
ductor (see semiconductor, n-type) can emit
holes into the bulk of the material, where they
are capable of carrying a current. This is
the basis of the action of certain types of
transistor. (See emitter.)

HOLE THEORY OF ELECTRODYNAM

ICS. See positron theory.
HOLE THEORY OF LIQUIDS.
Liquids
differ from solids in having a sufficient num
ber of unoccupied positions, holes, in the
lattice that com paratively free movement o f
molecules is possible by movement into un
occupied sites. The volume of the holes is
the free volume.
H O LLO W -CATH O DE TUBE.
Discharge
tubes with an atmosphere of inert gas have
been designed in which radiation is emitted
almost exclusively from the cathode glow in
side a hollow electrode closed at one end.
Spark lines of the metal comprising the cath
ode occur in the spectrum.
HOLOHEDRAL CRYSTAL. A crystal in
which the full number of faces are developed,
corresponding to the maximum and complete
symmetry of the system.
HOLOMORPHIC.

See analytic.

HOLONOM IC CONSTRAINT.
straint, holonomic.

See

con

HOMING. (1) The process of approaching

a desired point by maintaining constant some
indicated navigational parameter (other than
altitude).
(2) In missile guidance, the use
of radiation from a target to establish a col
lision course. (3) A qualifying term applied
to a stepping relay where the wipers, upon
com pletion of an operational cycle are stepped
around or back to the start position.
HOM ING, DIRECTIONAL. The process of
homing wherein the navigational quantity
maintained constant is the relative bearing.
HOM ING, TRACK.

See track homing.

HOMING, TRUE. The process of following

a course such that the true bearing of a v e
hicle as seen from an objective is held con
stant.
HOMOCENTRIC RAYS. R ays having the
same focal point. (It may be at infinity; in
other words, the rays m ay be parallel.)
HOM ODYNE.

See detector, homodyne.

HOMOGENEOUS. (1) A substance is said

to be homogeneous if it has the same basic
properties at every point, i.e., if its properties
are independent of position. (2) In mathe

matics, a term used with several different

meanings.
(See function, homogeneous;
equation, homogeneous; differential equa
tion, homogeneous; integral equation; bound
ary conditions, homogeneous.) (3) See homo
geneous multiplying system; reactor, homo
geneous.
HOMOGENEOUS
MULTIPLYING
SYS
TEM. A nuclear reactor in which the fuel is
homogeneously distributed throughout the
moderator, as, for example, a uranium salt
dissolved in water.
HOMOMETRIC PAIRS. Tw o crystal struc
tures having the same X-ray diffraction pat
tern. This is possible because, basically, a
diffraction pattern depends only on the rela
tive vector distances between the atoms in
the lattice, not on their absolute positions in
space.
HOMOMORPHISM.
( 1).

Same as isomorphism

HOMOPOLAR BOND.
A covalent bond
(see bond, covalent) which has no resultant
dipole moment.
HOOKE LA W . The law relating small de
formations of elastic bodies to the applied
stress. The elongation, compression, or shear,
called the strain, is proportional to the stress
(force per unit area) within the elastic limit.
(See stress; Young modulus; force constant.)
HOOK, p-n. A current multiplying device in
certain types of transistor, whereby a thin
region of p-type semiconductor is sandwiched
between regions of n-type semiconductor in
such a way as to create a potential hook,
where holes are trapped and greatly enhance
the flow of electrons.
HOP. The path taken by a radio wave which
reaches the point of reception after one or
more reflections from the ionosphere.
HORIZON, RADIO. The locus of points at
which direct rays from the transmitter become
tangential to the earths surface.
On a
spherical surface the horizon is a circle. The
distance to the horizon is affected by atmos
pheric refraction.
HORIZONTAL BLANKING.
horizontal.

See blanking,

HORIZONTAL FLYRACK. See retrace, hori

zontal.
HORN, ACOUSTIC. A tube of varying cross
section having different terminal areas which
provide a change of acoustic impedance (see
impedance, acoustic) and control of the di
rectivity pattern.
HORN, RICONICAL. An electromagnetic
horn, consisting of two cones with their
vertices coinciding or adjacent. This horn
gives a uniform pattern in a plane perpen
dicular to the axis and highly directional in
any plane containing the axis.
HORN, COMPOUND.
( 1 ) A loudspeaker
system consisting of a single diaphragm mech
anism with one side of the diaphragm coupled
to a straight-axis horn and the other side
coupled to a long, folded horn. (2) An elec
tromagnetic horn (see horn, electromagnetic)
o f rectangular cross section, the four sides of
which diverge in such a way as to coincide
with, or to approach four planes, with the
provision that the line of intersection of two
opposite planes does not intersect the line of
intersection of the remaining planes.
The
electromagnetic field in such a horn is not
simply expressed in terms of a fam ily of cy
lindrical coordinates or a fam ily of spherical
coordinates.
HORN, CONICAL.
A horn whose crosssectional area increases as the square of the
axial length.
HORN, ELECTROM AGNETIC. Horn ra
diators are used to obtain directional radiation
characteristics which could not be obtained
as conveniently with simple antennae. As
such directors they are used both with con
ventional antennae and with wave guides, but
in either case they serve to direct the radia
tion in a pattern from the open end of the
horn in a manner determined by the dimen
sions of the horn. The important dimensions
are the horn opening (in terms of wavelength
o f the radiation) and the flare angle. W hile
theoretically an infinitely long horn will give
a radiation pattern whose angle conforms to
that of the horn, those of practical length do
not confine the beam to quite this degree. For
example a horn with an angle of 15 may give
a radiation pattern which spreads 23. For
types of electromagnetic horns, see horn, biconical; horn, pyramidal; horn, sectoral, etc.

HORN EQUATION, FUNDAMENTAL. The

equation for the velocity potential < at a
point x along a horn is:
d2<t>

dt2

9 d<t> d
c2 --- ---- Qn $ )
dx dx

9 d2<t>

dx

where S = cross-sectional area of horn at x,

c = velocity of sound.
HORNER M ETHOD. A method of succes
sive approximations for finding the approxi
mate value of an irrational root of a poly
nomial equation. Locate the root between
successive integers; the smaller integer is the
integral part of the root. Now transform the
given equation P ( x ) = 0 into another equa
tion P i(x ) 0, whose roots are those of
P (x ) 0 diminished by the integral part of
the root, so that P\{x) = 0 has a root be
tween 0 and 1. Locate the root between suc
cessive tenths; the smaller tenth is the tenths
part of the root. Continue this process as
long as desired, transforming each time to
a new equation P i(x ) = 0 and finding the lo
cation of the roots as before. Synthetic di
vision should be used for the various trans
formations.
HORN, EXPONENTIAL.
A horn whose
cross-sectional area increases exponentially
with axial distance. If S is the area of a plane
section normal to the axis of the horn at a
distance from the throat of the horn, and
So is the area of the plane section normal to
the axis of the horn at the throat, and m is a
constant which determines the rate of taper
of flare of the horn, then
S = S0emx.
(See also horn, finite exponential.)
HORN, FINITE CONICAL. A horn con
sisting of a truncated right circular cone of
finite length. The acoustical impedance at
the throat of such a horn, ZA1, is expressed by
sin k(l 02) '
sin kd2
Pc

-]----- sin kl
S2
Zai =

sin k(l + 01 + 02)

%A2

sin kdx sin kd2

ipc sin k(l + 0j)
S2

sin kdi

where Si is the area of the throat in cm 2, S2 is

the area of the m outh in cm 2, I is the length of
horn in cm, k$i is tan-1 (kxi), kd2 is tan-1 (kx2),
Xi is the distance from apex to throat in cm,
x 2 is the distance from apex to mouth in cm,
k is 27t/X, X = wavelength in cm, c is the
velocity of sound in cm /sec, p is the density
of air in g m /cm 3, and Z a 2 is the acoustic im
pedance at the m outh of the horn in acous

tical ohm s.
HORN, FINITE CYLINDRICAL. A horn
consisting of a right circular cylinder of finite
length. The acoustic impedance at the throat
of such a horn, ZA1, is given by

pc (S {Z a 2 c
oskl ipc sin kl\
Z a \ == ( -----------------------------------)
Si xISi Z az sin kl + pc cos kl/
where p is the density of air in g m /cm 3, k is
2tt/X, X is the wavelength in cm, c is the veloc
ity of sound in cm /sec, Si is the cross-sectional
area of cylinder in cm 2, I is the length of horn
in cm, and Z a 2 is the acoustic impedance at
the mouth of the horn, in acoustical ohm s.
HORN, FINITE EXPONENTIAL. A horn
with a circular cross-section, the area of which
is given by S = S\emx, where Si is the area at
the throat and x is the distance measured
along the axis of the horn. The acoustic im
pedance at the throat of such a horn, ZA1,
is given by
pc rS2Z A2{cos (bl + 0) + ipc sin bl}~
Zai

Si L iS2ZA 2 sin bl + pc cos (bl 0) _

where Si is the area of throat in cm 2, S2 is the

area of mouth in cm 2, I is the length of horn
in cm, Z A 2 is the acoustic impedance at the
mouth, in acoustical oh m s, 0 is tan-1 a/by a is
m /2 , b is (3 ^ ) V 4 k2 m2, k is 27t/X, X is the
wavelength in cm, p is the density of air in
g m /cm 3, and c is the velocity of sound in
cm /sec.
HORN, FOLD ED. A horn in which the path
from throat to mouth is folded or curled, so
that a larger path length is obtained for a
given volume.

infinite length. The acoustic impedance ZA

at the throat of such a horn is given by
pc ikxi
Z a = ----------------
Si 1 -I- kxi
where x x is the distance of the throat from
apex in cm, Si is the area of throat in cm 2,
k is 27t/X, X is the wavelength in cm, p is the
density of air in g m /cm 3, and c is the velocity
of sound in cm /sec.
HORN, INFINITE CYLINDRICAL. A horn
consisting of a right circular cylinder which
extends to infinity in one direction.
The
acoustic impedance o f such a horn, ZAl is
given by

where p is the density of air in gm /cm 3, c is

the velocity of sound in cm /sec, and Si is the
cross-sectional area of horn in cm 2.
HORN, INFINITE EXPONENTIAL.
A
horn with a circular cross-section and infinite
length (i.e., of length >>> X) whose area is given
b y S = /Siew*, where Si is the area at throat,
in cm 2, x is the distance measured along the
axis of the horn in cm. The acoustic im ped
ance at the throat of such a horn, Z a , is given
by
2ikpc
A

$i[m + V / 4/c2 m2]

where p = density of air in g m /cm 3, k is 2w/\,

X is the wavelength in cm, and c is the velocity
of sound in cm /sec.
HORN, INFINITE HYPERBOLIC. A horn
whose cross-sectional area along the axis is
expressed by
S = >Si(cosh a + T sinh a )2,
where T is the family parameter; in the hyper
bolic horn, T < 1, a is x /xq, the dimensionless
axial distance, x is the axial distance from
throat in cm, x0 is the reference axial distance
in cm, and Si is the area at throat in cm.
The acoustic im pedance at the throat of
such a horn, Z a , is given by

HORN, HYPEX. A n acoustic horn designed

to give accentuated response at low fre
quencies.
HORN, INFINITE CONICAL. A horn con
sisting of a truncated right circular cone of

where jl is kx0, k being 2t/\ and X, the wave

length in cm.

HORN, INFINITE PARABOLIC. A horn

whose cross-section area S is given b y S =
S ix/ xiy where Si is the area in cm 2 at the
throat j (x = Xi). T h e acoustic impedance at
the mouth of such a horn, Z a , is given by
ipc Jo(kx) iY 0(kx)
Za

J'oikx) - iY 'oikx)

where J 0 is the Bessel function of the first kind

o f order zero, F 0 is the Bessel function of the
second kind of order zero, J '0, Y'0 are deriva
tives of Jo, Yo, respectively, p is the density
o f air in g m /cm 3, c is the velocity of sound
in cm /sec, k is 2t/\, and X is the wavelength
in cm.
HORN M OUTH. N orm ally the end of an
acoustic horn with the larger cross-sectional
area.
HORN, M ULTICELLULAR. A cluster of
horns with juxtaposed mouths which lie in
a common surface. The purpose of the cluster
is to control the directional pattern of the
radiated energy.
HORN, MULTIPLE CHANNEL, M ULTI
PLE-. A loudspeaker system consisting of a
low -frequency folded horn unit and a multicellular horn unit for the reproduction of the
higher frequencies.

source (see source, plane circular surface)

vibrating at the throat of a finite conical horn.
HORN SOURCE, EXPONENTIAL. A sound
source consisting of a plane circular surface
source (see source, plane circular surface)
vibrating at the throat of a finite exponential
horn.
HORN SOURCE, PARABOLIC. A sound
source consisting o f a plane sound source (see
source, plane) (either circular or rectangular)
vibrating at the throat of a finite parabolic
horn (of either circular or rectangular crosssection) .
HORN THROAT.

See throat, horn.

HORN-TYPE ANTENNA. See antenna, horntype; radiator, horn.

HOROPTER. The locus of those points in
the field of binocular vision which are seen
single; the images of which fall on the cor
responding retinal points.
HORSE LATITUDE. The regions of calms
in the subtropical anticyclone belts. (See at
mosphere, circulation of the.)
HORSEPOWER. (1) Historically, the rate
at which a horse can do work. (2) Defined
by James W att as 33,000 ft lbf/m in , equiva
lent to 746 watts.

HORN, PYRAMIDAL. An electromagnetic

horn (see horn, electromagnetic), the sides of
which form a pyramid. The electromagnetic
field in such a horn would be expressed basi
cally in a fam ily of spherical coordinates.

HORSEPOWER, FRENCH OR METRIC.

A unit of power defined as the power required
to raise 75 kilograms through one meter in one
second.

HORN RADIATOR.

"H O T . A colloquial term meaning highly

radioactive.

See radiator, horn.

HORN, SECTORAL.
An electromagnetic
horn, two opposite sides of which are parallel,
and the two remaining sides of which diverge.
The electromagnetic field in such a horn
would be expressed basically in a fam ily of
cylindrical coordinates.
HORN, SINGLE CHANNEL, MULTIPLE-.
A loudspeaker system consisting of a large
number of multiple flare horns, each driven
b y a diaphragm.
HORN, SINGLE CHANNEL, SINGLE-. A
loudspeaker system consisting of a single horn
driven by a single diaphragm.
HORN SOURCE, CONICAL.
A sound
source consisting of a plane circular surface

H OT CATHODE.

See cathode, thermionic.

HOT CATHODE-TUBE.
tube, hot cathode.

See cathode, hot;

HOT-W IRE M ETHO D FOR HEAT TRANS

MISSION OF GASES. A method for deter
mining the thermal conductivity of a gas, con
sisting in the measurement of the temperature
difference between a heated wire and a cy l
inder placed coaxially with it, the space be
tween containing the gas. Corrections are
necessary for end-effects, for the accommoda
tion coefficient at the wire and for convection
and radiation.
Convection effects become
very small below a pressure of about 15 cm
of mercury.

HOUR. One twenty-fourth part of a mean

solar day, 3600 seconds.
H O W L . Acoustic output of a receiver or
sound system due to an undesirable electrical
or acoustic feedback at some point in the
system.
HP.
Abbreviation
horsepower.

for high pass and for

/i-PARAMETER. See transistor, parameters,

^11? ^12? ^21 and ^22*
H-PLANE BEND.
plane.

See waveguide bend, HSee principal H

H-PLANE TEE JUNCTION.

junction, tee, H-plane.

See waveguide

See transistor parameter

Jtr, hrb? hro ^rej ^i 2> ^i 26> ^ 12 c> ^i 2e See transistor parameter hr.
HR.

HUBBLE CONSTANT. The reciprocal of T

in the equation d = vT , where v is the veloc
ity of recession of a galaxy which is at a dis
tance d.
T = 8 X 10 years is sometimes
called the age of the universe, although there
is no evidence that the name should be taken
literally.
HUBBLE LA W .

H PLANE, PRINCIPAL.
plane.

hR, hRB, hRC, hRE.

hR.

velocity, and V is the volume. He demon

strated that H is a quantity which decreases
in all possible processes involving deviations
from the equilibrium value of /, and is there
fore analogous to negative entropy.

Abbreviation for hour.

H SECTION. In many circuits, particularly

in the telephone field, it is necessary to have
both sides of a circuit balanced to ground to
reduce the effect of interfering influences (see
inductive interference). This is accomplished
by dividing any series impedance into two
.----- -AAA/S/---------1-----------WAA/-----

-------------V \A A /------ 1

AA / W

H section.

equal parts and inserting one in each line,

rather than putting the total amount in one
line. (See figure.) (See also network, H.)
H-THEOREM. The entropy of a system al
ways increases, as concluded by Boltzmann
from his calculations of the kinetics of ideal
gases. Boltzmann defined a function H by
the equation:
H = No J*In / / d dri d dV,
where N 0 is the number of molecules, / is the
distribution function for all the molecules,
, r], and are components of the molecular

See discussion of red shift.

HBNER RHOMB. A rhombic glass prism

used for comparison of two illuminated sur
faces in photometry.
HUE. The attribute o f color perception that
determines whether it is red, yellow, green,
blue, purple, or the like. This is a subjective
term corresponding to the psychophysical
term dominant (or complementary) wave
length. W hite, black, and gray are not con
sidered as being hues.
HUE CONTROL.

See control, phase.

HUM.
(1) The 60- or 120-cycle tone, or
some harmonic thereof, sometimes heard in
the output of communication equipment. It
may be introduced in the circuit in a num
ber of ways, inductive or capacitive coupling
with adjacent circuits carrying 60-cycle cur
rent, by the use of a-c for heating the fila
ments of vacuum tubes or by induced effects
from the heaters of indirectly heated tubes,
by improper filtering of the output of the
rectifiers supplying the d-c voltages for the
operation o f the system, etc. (2) In a relay,
the sound caused by mechanical vibration
resulting from alternating current flowing in
the coil.
HUME-ROTHERY RULES. W hen alloy sys
tems form distinct phases, it is found that
the ratio of the number of valence electrons
to the number of atoms is characteristic of the
phase (e.g., /?-, y-, e-) whatever the actual
elements making up the alloy. Thus, both
N a3iP b 8 and N i5Zn2i are y-structures, with
the electron-atom ratio 21:13. The rules are
explained by the tendency to form a structure
in which all the Brillouin zones are nearly
full, or else entirely empty.

HUM IDIFICATION. A process for increas

ing the water content of air or other gases.
HUM IDITY, ABSOLUTE.
The mass of
water vapor in a specified volume. It can be
expressed in any convenient units: ounces per
cu y d ; grams per cu meter. Exam ple: 22
grams per cu meter.
H UM IDITY, RELATIVE. The fraction or
percentage of the actual vapor pressure of
the water vapor contained in the atmosphere
at a given temperature, to the maximum or
saturated vapor pressure o f water vapor at
the same temperature.
HUMPHRIES EQUATION. An expression
for the ratio of specific heats of moist air, of
use in the calculation of the velocity of sound
in the atmosphere:
Cp/Cv = t = 1.40 - 0.1 e/p,
where y is the ratio of specific heats, p is the
total atmospheric pressure, e is the water
vapor pressure.
H U ND
RULES
(FOR DETERM INING
NORMAL TERM). For electronic configura
tions containing equivalent p - or d- electrons.
Hund suggested the following rules:
(1)
The normal term is that with highest
value of the multiplicity. (2) For atoms in
which the valence shell contains less than half
the maximum number of electrons the deepest
component of a multiplet is that for which
J = L S, J has the lowest possible value.
Such multiplets are known as regular. (3)
W hen the shell is more than half-filled, the
com ponent of the multiplet which has lowest
energy is that for which J L + S has the
highest value. Such multiplets are designated
as inverted.
HUNTING. A condition o f instability, as
for example in a mechanical system or an
autom atic-control system, which is essentially
an uncontrolled oscillation due to excessive
feedback or underdamping. The oscillator
swings about a predetermined reference point
without seeming to approach it.
HURRICANE.
Over all oceans, near the
equator, with the exception of the South A t
lantic, there develop occasionally tropical
cyclones which are intense vortices covering
relatively large areas. A ll are the same type
of storm. Surface pressure in a hurricane is

very low at the center or eye of the storm

but rises rapidly outward toward the periph
ery. Because of the large pressure gradient,
winds are of high velocity, blowing counter
clockwise in the northern hemisphere and
clockwise south of the equator.
HURTER AND DRIFFIELD CURVE. See
H and D curve; exposure-density relationship;
see also gamma.
HUYGENS PRINCIPLE.
A well-known
method of analysis applied to problems of
wave propagation. It recognizes that each
point of an advancing wave front is in fact
the center of a fresh disturbance, and the
source of a new train of waves, and that the
advancing wave as a whole may be regarded
as the resultant of the secondary waves aris
ing from points in the medium already tra
versed. This view of wave propagation facili
tates the study o f various phenomena, such
as diffraction.
HUYGENS REVERSE W A V E. It has been
objected that Huygens principle would also
result in a disturbance traveling backward.
It can be shown that the amplitude of the
reverse wave at any given point is half the
amplitude which would be produced by the
first wave alone. Since the obliquity factor
for the wave traveling in the backward direc
tion from the first zone is zero, the whole
amplitude o f the reverse wave is zero. (For a
full discussion, see B. Rossi, Optics (1951),
pp. 18-44, Addison-W esley Publishing Co.)
H W AVE. A transverse electric wave.
wave, transverse, electric.)

(See

HYBRIDIZATION OF EIGENFUNCTIONS.
Strictly speaking, this term means any linear
com bination of the eigenfunctions o f one prob
lem used to represent an eigenfunction of an
other problem. It is applied to problems of
electronic bonding, where the true bonding
orbitals m ay be hybrids of, for example, both
s and p type atomic orbitals.
HYBRID JUNCTION.
tion, hybrid.

See waveguide junc

HYBRID PARAMETERS, TRANSISTOR.

See transistor parameter, h entries.
HYBRID RING. See waveguide junction,
hybrid ring (rat-race).

HYBRID TEE.
brid tee.

See waveguide junction, hy

HYDRATED ION. An ion which is in com

bination with one or more water molecules,
as H + (H 20 ) , or H 30 + .
HYDRAULIC RADIUS. The ratio of the
cross-sectional area of flow to the wetted
perimeter of a pipe or channel. B y using the
hydraulic radius, flow in pipes and channels
of different sections may be conveniently cor
related. The success of the method implies
that the shear stress on the walls is nearly
constant. This constancy is due to the pres
ence of a secondary flow in non-circular chan
nels, whose origin is not well understood.
HYDRAULICS. The science of the dynamics
and statics of liquids, particularly water, in
connection with engineering problems.
HYDRODYNAMICS. The study of the d y
namics of fluid motion, especially the steady
motions of an incompressible, inviscid fluid.
HYDROGEN. Gaseous element.
A tom ic number 1.

Sym bol H.

HYDROGEN, ISOTOPES. Three isotopes of

hydrogen are known: protium which has a
mass of 1.00756 (on the chemical atomic
weight scale) is by far the most abundant
isotope and is denoted by the symbol p or H 1;
deuterium which has a mass of 2.0136 (on the
chemical atomic weight scale) and is denoted
by the symbol d, D or H 2; and tritium which
has a mass of 3 .0 2 2 1 (on the chemical atomic
weight scale) and is denoted by the symbol
t, T or H 3. Deuterium is called heavy h y
drogen.
HYDROGEN, ORTHO AND PARA. Tw o
forms of hydrogen, which constitute about
7 5 % , and 25% , respectively, of ordinary h y
drogen at room temperature, and which differ
somewhat in their physical properties, espe
cially in their specific heats. A t very low
temperature, as for liquid hydrogen, the para
form is present to the extent of 99.7%. The
difference between the two forms is explained
on the assumption that the two nuclei in the
H 2 molecule have their spins in anti-parallel
directions in the case of para hydrogen and in
parallel directions in ortho hydrogen.
HYDROGEN SCALE (FOR ELECTRODE
POTENTIALS). Since there is no reliable

method for determining the absolute potential

of a single electrode, electrode potentials are
measured against a reference electrode whose
potential is arbitrarily taken as zero. The
arbitrary zero in general use is the potential
o f a reversible hydrogen electrode, with gas
at 1 atmosphere pressure, in a solution of h y
drogen ions of unit activity.
H Y D R O M A G N E T IC
EQ U ATIO N S.
The
time dependent equations which describe the
behavior of a plasma in a magnetic field, as
suming that the plasma is a compressible
fluid and the plasma pressure P is a scalar.
These equations are:
d\
1. p = j X B + tfE V P + pg
at
dp
2- V (pV )

= ~ ~~

dt
V
1
3. E -1-----x B = - (cj q\)
c-------------- <T
1 dP
y dp
P dt

p dt

5. V X B = 4Trj +

Id E
c dt

6. V B = 0
1 dB

7. V X E = -----------

c dt
8. V*E = 47rq

The first equation is a force equation in

cluding gravitational forces.
The second
equation is a statement of mass conservation,
while the third is analogous to Ohms law.
Number four is a statement of the adiabatic
condition of the motion where 7 is the ratio
of specific heats of the plasma. The next
four equations are the familiar Maxwell equa
tions with no distinction made for B and H
and D and E because all currents and charges
are treated explicitly. The electromagnetic
quantities are given in mixed Gaussian units
and the conductivity a in esu. The last equa
tion defines the Eulerian derivative d/dt.
HYDROMAGNETIC INSTABILITIES.
In
plasma physics those instabilities of a plasmaelectromagnetic field configuration which are
associated with the weakening of the mag

netic field by an outward perturbation of the

plasma.
H ydrom agnetic instabilities are
sometimes called interchange instabilities.
(See plasma instabilities, plasma oscillations.)
HYDROMAGNETICS (MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS). An extension of the discipline
o f hydrodynamics to fluids that are elec
trically conducting, and the study of the inter
action of such compressible and incompres
sible fluids with magnetic fields. (See also
hydromagnetic equations, plasma, plasma
oscillations.)
HYDROM AGNETIC W AVES (MAGNETOHYDRODYNAM IC W AVES). Wave motion
in a plasma or conducting fluid with a strong
prevailing magnetic field, at frequencies
small compared to the ion cyclotron frequency
is termed hydromagnetic. There are various
types of such waves, involving both the mag
netic pressure and the material pressure, and
o f both longitudinal and transverse charac
ter. As the frequency increases, some of these
waves become the usual electromagnetic
waves.
(See plasma oscillations; Alfven
waves.)
HYDROMETEORS. Condensation products
o f atmospheric processes often appear as h y
drometeors or bodies of falling liquid and
solid water. (See rain, snow, drizzle, sleet,
hail, snow pellets, hail (small).)
HYDROMETER. An instrument for meas
uring the density of liquids. Essentially, it
is a long slender glass float, weighted at the
lower end so that it floats in the vertical posi
tion and provided with a scale measuring
depth of immersion. I f the float section at
the free surface is constant, the depth of im
mersion is a linear function of the recipro
cal of density.
HYDROPHONE. An electroacoustic trans
ducer (see transducer, electroacoustic) which
responds to water-borne sound waves and de
livers essentially equivalent electric waves.
In a manner similar to the use of the adjec
tive line in the definition of line hydrophone
(see hydrophone, line) and line microphone
(see microphone, line), the adjectives pres
sure, velocity, gradient, omnidirec
tional, unidirectional, carbon, capaci
tor, crystal, magnetic, magnetostric
t io n /7 m oving-coil, and m oving-conduc-

tor, when applied to a hydrophone, have

meanings similar to those that apply in the
case of a microphone. (See sonar.)
HYDROPHONE, DIRECTIONAL.
A hy
drophone the response of which varies signifi
cantly with the direction of the sound inci
dence.
HYDROPHONE, LINE. A directional h y
drophone (see hydrophone, directional) con
sisting of a single straight line element, or an
array of contiguous or spaced electroacoustic
transducing elements disposed on a straight
line, or the acoustic equivalent of such an
array.
HYDROPHONE, SPLIT. A directional h y
drophone (see hydrophone, directional) in
which electroacoustic transducing elements
are so divided and arranged that each divi
sion m ay induce a separate electromotive
force between its own electric terminals.
HYDROSOL.

See sol.

HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE. Strictly, the

pressure in a fluid at rest, caused by the weight
of the superimposed column of fluid. Con
siderations of equilibrium show that the pres
sure transmitted across a small surface in the
fluid is independent of the orientation of the
surface. Frequently used for the negative of
the mean normal stress in a moving fluid, or
for the pressure which would satisfy the equa
tion of state of the fluid.
HYDROSTATICS. The study of the static
equilibrium of fluids.
HYDROSTATICS, FUNDAMENTAL EQUA
TIONS OF. I f F is the vector force per unit
mass due to an external field of force,
pF = grad p,
where p is the hydrostatic pressure, and p is
the local fluid density, from considerations of
equilibrium. If the external force field is a
potential field, both density and pressure must
be constant over equipotential surfaces of the
force field.
HYDROSTATIC SOUND PRESSURE. See
pressure, static.
HYGROMETER.
An instrument used to
measure the absolute or relative water con
tent of air. The most common types are the

psychrometer, the hair hygrometer (see hy

grometer, hair), and the dew-point hygrom
eter (see hygrometer, dew point). There are
also absorption hygrometers, diffusion h y
grometers, optical hygrometers and other
types.
(See also humidity, absolute and
humidity, relative.)

ordinate origin is its center. The transverse

axis, coincident with the X -axis, is of length
2a; the conjugate axis, along the Y-axis, has

HYGROMETER, D E W POINT. An instru

ment which measures the temperature at the
time of formation and evaporation of dew. A
mean of the temperature at time of formation
and evaporation is approximately the actual
dew-point temperature.
Some instruments
require visual observation of dew drops on
the instrument and the disappearance of the
same drops, but others use photoelectric cells
to determine the time of dew formation and
evaporation.
HYGROMETER, HAIR. A n instrument in
which strands of human hair mounted under
tension expand with increasing relative hu
midity and contract with decreasing relative
humidity. One end of a set of strands is fixed
and the other end operates a set of levers
whose initial movement is magnified mechani
cally to cause a pointer or other indicating
device to ride over a calibrated scale.
HYGROSCOPIC. Becoming wet, or capable
of becoming wet, by absorption of water from
the atmosphere. Substances exhibiting this
behavior at atmospheric temperature and hu
m idity are called hygroscopic substances.
HYLLERAAS COORDINATES.
nates, Hylleraas.

See coordi

H YM U 80. Commercial name for a high per

m eability magnetic alloy having 79% nickel,
4% m olybdenum and the balance iron.
HYPERROLA. A conic section obtained by
a plane cutting both nappes of a right cir
cular conical surface. It is the locus of a
point which moves so that the difference of its
distances from two foci, F i and F 2, is a con
stant. Its eccentricity is greater than unity.
The standard equation m ay be taken as:

length 2b ( 6 < a ) .
The distance from the
center of the hyperbola to either focus is
\ /a 2 + 62; the eccentricity, e = y/a2 + b2/a\
the length of the latus rectum, I, is 2b2/a\ the
equations for the directrices D iD 'i and D 2D ' 2
are x = d= a/e, the same as for the ellipse.
The distance from any point on the hyperbola
to a focus is a focal radius and the difference
between any two focal radii equals 2a. The
lines y = bx/a are asymptotes to the h y
perbola. I f the lengths of the transverse and
conjugate axes become equal (a = b ), the
curve is an equilateral or rectangular hyper
bola.
HYPERROLIC FUNCTION. Combinations
of e z with properties similar to those of the
trigonometric functions. They are defined
b y:
1
z^
z^
sinh z - (ez e~z) = z -\--------1--------1------
2
3!
5!
1
z2
z4
cosh z - (ez + e~z) I -\------- 1--------1------;
2
2!
4!

sinh z
tanh z -------- ;
cosh z
co th z = 1 /ta n h z ;

The curve is a central conic for it is sym

metric about both the X - and Y-axes when
placed in this standard position and the co

sech z = 1/cosh z;
csch z = 1/sinhz.

For real z, their geometric representation is

related to the hyperbola as the trigonometric
functions are related to a circle. The two
sets of functions are connected by the equa
tions
sinh iz = i sin z ;

stant. Traces parallel to the X Y - and X Z planes are hyperbolas and traces parallel to
the YZ-planes are ellipses, provided x > a.
W hen b = c, the sections by planes x = const,
are circles and a surface of revolution results
when the hyperbola x 2/a2 y 2/c2 = 1 is ro
tated about its X - or transverse axis.

cosh iz = cos z;
tanh iz = i tan z.
HYPERBOLIC LOGARITHM. A logarithm
to the base e ; a natural logarithm.
HYPERBOLIC PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL
EQUATION. A special case of the general
partial differential equation where B 2{x,y)
> A (x ,y )C (x,y) for all x,y. The character
istic curves are real and the normal form is
d2\I/
=

dyp

oAa/i

d\[/
t I-

aA

d fx

Specification of boundary values and normal

derivatives (Cauchy conditions) assure a
unique solution unless the boundary coincides
with a characteristic. W hen the boundary is
closed, the Cauchy conditions overdetermine
the solution. The wave equation is an exam
ple of a hyperbolic equation.
HYPERBOLOID. A central quadric with
one or two negative terms in its equation. I f
there is only one, so that
x2

y2

z2

a2

b2

c2

______ l : ___________ =

the surface is a hyperboloid of one sheet,

given this name because any point on the sur
face m ay be reached from any other point
on the surface. A plane parallel to the X Y plane gives an ellipse but if the sections are
parallel to the X Z - or YZ-planes the results
are hyperbolas. W hen a = b, the sections by
planes z = constant are circles and the sur
faces can be generated by revolving the h y
perbola, x?/a2 z2c2 = 1 about its conju
gate axis, the Z-axis.
If there are two negative terms in the equa
tion:
= 1,
the surface is a hyperboloid of two sheets,
separated into two parts symmetrically lo
cated above and below the planes x = con

HYPERCONJUGATION.
The description
o f the properties of a molecule in terms of
resonance structures in which an atom or
group is not joined by any sort of bond to
the atom to which it is ordinarily considered
linked. Also called no-bond resonance.
HYPERFINE STRUCTURE. In general, a
set o f very closely spaced lines making up a
spectral line, or paramagnetic resonance line.
There may be many causes of hyperfine struc
ture, including: (1) For a single atomic spe
cies or nuclide, the occurrence of spectral lines
as doublets, triplets, etc., due to the interac
tion, or coupling, o f the total angular momen
tum of the orbital electrons with the nuclear
spin and associated magnetic moment. (2)
F or an element consisting of several isotopes,
the occurrence of components for each spec
tral line that is observable under high reso
lution, each isotope contributing one or more
components. This type of hyperfine struc
ture is often called isotope structure to dif
ferentiate it from the first type of hyperfine
structure discussed above.
HYPERGEOMETRIC. Name given to a cer
tain differential equation and its solutions,
studied by Gauss.
(See Gauss hypergeo
metric equation and Gauss hypergeometric
function.)
HYPERON.

See mesons and hyperons.

HYPEROPIA (HYPERMETROPIA). A con

dition of the eye in which parallel rays are
focused behind the retina; farsighted.
HYSTERESIS. In general, the phenomenon
exhibited by a system whose state depends on
its previous history. This term usually refers
to magnetic hysteresis. When a ferromag
netic material such as iron is placed in a
magnetic field, a certain amount of energy
is involved in bringing about its magnetiza
tion. I f the field is a rapidly alternating one,
the material may become noticeably warm.
It appears that the repeated changes of orien
tation in whatever it is within the substance

that responds to the reversals of field are op

posed by something like viscous friction.
A quantitative study of the process indi
cates that, as the magnetic field H increases,
the magnetic induction B also increases in a
manner characteristic of the substance. This
is conveniently represented by a graph, which
is called the magnetization curve (see figure).
Its initial slope is the initial permeability
(/*o) If H is carried to some maximum value
H m and then reduced (to H m), B follows
the dotted hysteresis curve. B does not fall
off as it was built up (solid lin e ); the residual
induction B r is the induction remaining when
H has been reduced to zero; the reverse H
needed to reduce B to zero is called the coer
cive force {H c). From this point the cycle
proceeds to describe the closed curve shown
by the dotted lines, which is called the hys
teresis loop. The initial portion (solid line)
is not retraced. The amount of energy con
verted into heat is proportional to the area of
the cycle.

Br-. /
1
I1
1
1
1
t
hc-

)
s/
-3

-2

,Bjn
/5*N '"Hm
( S
LOPE-/m
!/

}
(r -
i

t" Ba

HYSTERESIS, FREQUENCY.
effect.

JL

Jt

See long-line

HYSTERESIS HEATING. The temperature

rise caused by the expenditure of hysteresis
energy.

- 1 0
1
2
3
FI ELD STRENGTH, H, IN OERSTEOS

HYSTERESIS, CONTROL. A control char

acteristic which is double valued. This may
be encountered in amplifiers with excessive
amounts of positive feedback, or in some
forms of magnetic amplifiers with inductive
load. Sometimes called snap action.
HYSTERESIS ENERGY. The energy used
per cycle of operation to overcome the effect
of hysteresis. (See also Steinmetz coefficient.)

.--SLOPE=jU0
x'SLOPE*Uk

1
1

below the proportional limit also undergo

hysteresis. If B represents positive or tensile
stress and H represents positive strain or elon
gation, the action of an elastic metal under
cyclic or reversed stress can be represented
by OSC'S'CS. By definition of the propor
tional limit the line OS should be straight;
however, highly sensitive measurements show
a slight curvature, leading to the development
of a loop of appreciable thickness. The area
within the loop is proportional to the loss of
energy in a complete cycle of reversed stress.
(See also magnetization curve.)
Hysteresis of an oscillator is a behavior
that may appear in an oscillator wherein
multiple values of the output power and/or
frequency will correspond to give values of an
operating parameter.
Hysteresis of a radiation counter tube is
the temporary change in the counting rate
versus voltage characteristic caused by pre
vious operation.

4,

Hysteresis loop (dotted).

Some important mag
netic quantities are illustrated. (By permission from
Ferromagnetism by Bozorth, Copyright 1951, D.
Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

Electric hysteresis is a somewhat analogous

phenomenon exhibited by dielectrics in the
electric field and gives rise to heating in a-c
condensers (see ferroelectrics).
Some solids exhibit what is called elastic
hysteresis, in which the variables correspond
ing to H and B in the magnetic case are the
stress and the strain or deformation. Elastic
bodies such as metals operating at stresses

HYSTERESIS LOOP.
magnetization curve.

See hysteresis and

HYSTERESIS LOOP, DYNAMIC (A-C HYS

TERESIS LOOP, FLUX-CURRENT LOOP,
FLUX-AMPERE-TURN LOOP). Of a core,
the curve of magnetization versus applied
magnetomotive force per unit length obtained
when the magnetic material is cyclically m ag
netized at some specified rate. The magneti
zation at any instant is the average flux den
sity over the entire core section. The applied
magnetomotive force per unit length at any
instant is that required to provide the flux
and rate-of-change of flux implicit in the test

or operating specifications.
metz coefficient.)

(See also Stein

HYSTERESIS LOSS. Since the change of

magnetic energy accom panying a change of
magnetization is dE = H dB per unit volume,
a cyclic change requires the total expenditure
of
H dB

HYSTERESIS, ROTATIONAL. I f a disc of

magnetic material is placed in a magnetic
field parallel to a diameter, and rotated
slowly about an axis perpendicular to the
disc, the hysteresis of the material makes the
magnetization non-parallel to the applied
field. This results in a resisting torque, L,
and therefore net energy loss per rotation of

J f2ir
Ldd.

= area inside the B H curve followed.

This energy is converted to heat and is called
hysteresis loss.

o
HYSTERESIS CONSTANT.
coefficient.

See Steinmetz

I
I.
(1) Areal moment of inertia (J).
(2)
M om ent of photographic plate (i). (3) Vant
Hoff factor (i). (4) Ionic strength ( / ) . (5)
V apor pressure constant (i).
(6) Nuclear
mechanical magnetic moment, or spin quan
tum number (J).
(7) Radioactivity, initial
(Jo), at time t (I ). (8) Candlepower or lu
minous intensity (J).
(9) Integration con
stant for free energy (Gibbs) equation (J).
(10) T otal electron emission (saturation)
(12)
(J*).
(11) Conduction current (J).
Average current (I avJ J).
(13) Convection
current (J). (14) Effective rms current (J).
(15) Instantaneous current (i or J).
(16)
M aximum current (I max or Jm).
(17) Peak
current (J, J, Ip*). (IB) Saturation current
(I8). (19) Imaginary unit, V 1 (i). (20)
Unit vector in X -d irection (i). (21) Acoustic
intensity (J).
(22) Angle of incidence (t).
(23) Isotopic fine structure (i).
IC. An abbreviation used to indicate an in
ternal connection.
ICAS. Abbreviation for intermittent com
mercial and amateur service.
ICE CRYSTAL CLOUDS. A t temperatures
below about 15F water vapor changes to
solid water directly without the intermediate
liquid-water stage. Cloud particles form di
rectly on sublimation nuclei as ice crystals,
and such clouds are then composed o f icecrystal particles. C irro-form clouds are of
the ice-crystal group.
ICELAN D SPAR.

See calcite.

ICE POINT. An old fixed point for thermom

etry. The temperature of a mixture of melt
ing ice and water at normal atmospheric pres
sure, defined as 0C. N ow replaced officially
by the triple point of water. (See thermal
units.)
ICI.

See CIE.

Ico- Sym bol for the collector current of a

transistor measured with the emitter opencircuited.

ICONOSCOPE.

See tube, iconoscope.

ICONOSCOPE, IMAGE.
scope, image.
ICONOTRON.

See tube, icono

See tube, iconoscope, image.

ICRP. A bbreviation for International Com

mission on R adiological Protection.
ICRU. Abbreviation for International Com
mission on R adiological Units and Measure
ments, a permanent commission operating
under the auspices of the International C on
gress o f Radiology.
IC W . An abbreviation for interrupted con
tinuous wave.
(A continuous wave that is
interrupted at a constant audio-frequency
rate.)
ID . Abbreviation for inside diameter or in
side dimension.
ID EAL BUNCHING. The idealized condi
tion in velocity-modulation tubes which
would produce electron bunches containing
electrons all of the same velocity and phase
(i.e., all would pass a given point simultane
ously) .
IDEAL GAS.

See gas, ideal.

IDEAL GAS L A W . A n ideal gas would,

if kept at a constant temperature, behave as
respects volume and pressure in strict accord
with the Boyle law. If now the temperature
is also allowed to vary, we must combine the
law of Charles (or o f G ay Lussac) with
B oyles law, yielding the Boyle-Charles law:
pv = p0v0(l + at),

(1)

in which PqVq is the value of the pressurevolume product pv when the temperature t is
zero, a is the coefficient of expansion of the
gas, practically the same for all gases, and in
the ideal case equal to the reciprocal of the ab
solute temperature of the scale zero. If the
centigrade scale is used, the value of a is

582

Ideal Gas Temperature Scale Identity Period

approximately 1/273.2 per degree.
tuting this, Eq. (1) may be written:
pv =

273.2

Substi

(f + 273.2),

(2)

which is one expression for the ideal gas law.

The factor t - f 273.2 will be recognized as
the absolute temperature T of the gas. And
since the ideal gas obeys B oyles law, the
product poVo is constant however po and v0
may vary between themselves. W e may thus
denote the coefficient po^o/273.2 by a single
constant sym bol, say K , and the ideal gas
equation then takes the usual form
pv = K T .

(3)

The value of K depends, of course, upon the

quantity of gas used, since at any pressure p0
it is proportional to the volume v0. For 1 gram
g cm 2
of air, K equals about 2,868,000 ------- . A t
sec2 deg
the zero of temperature and at any given pres
sure po, the g ram m olecular weights, or
moles, of all pure gases have equal volumes.
(This follows from the Avogadro law.) Hence
if one mole of any pure gas is used, K will always
have the same value, R in c.g.s. units about
g cm 2
8.314 X 107 ; ------ ; which is called the ideal
sec deg
gas constant. M an y physical formulae in
volve a quantity which m ay be regarded as the
ideal gas constant per molecule, that is, the
above molar gas constant divided by the num
ber of molecules in a mol, 6.065 X 1023, giving
gem 2
1.3803 X 10 16
------ . This is the Boltzsec deg
m a n n c o nstan t, k.
Since actual gases, even those with the
simplest molecules, hydrogen and helium, do
not obey the ideal gas law exactly, various
empirical equations o f state or characteristic
equations have been devised to represent their
behavior.
ID EAL GAS TEMPERATURE SCALE.
ideal gas law.
IDEM FACTOR.
properties

A unit dyadic

IDEMPOTENT. An operator, generally a

matrix, which satisfies the relation:
A 2 = A.
The unit matrix is always idempotent, but
others can be found, for example

[-! aIDENTICAL PARTICLES. Particles having

the same intrinsic properties, such as rest mass,
charge, spin, etc.
In classical Newtonian
mechanics and in classical Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics it is assumed that it is pos
sible to distinguish between such identical
particles. In quantum mechanics and quan
tum statistics, on the other hand, it is assumed
that it is impossible to distinguish between
identical particles, and the fact of this im
possibility is built into quantum theory. (See
exchange; exchange integral.)
IDENTIFICATION. In radar, the process
of determining the identity of a particular
displayed target (who are you ? or the deter
mination o f which of a number of blips) rep
resents a specific target (where are y o u ?).
IDENTIFICATION, FRIEND OR FOE. A
method of automatic identification of an air
craft or ship. A coded, challenging transmis
sion received by a correctly adjusted receiver
in a friendly vessel causes the automatic trans
mission of an identification signal on another
frequency. Generally known by its initials
IF F.
IDENTITY. An equality in which both mem
bers are equal for all values of the symbols
for which the members are defined. Either
member can be transformed into the other by
use of the fundamental rules of operation.
An identity involves a difference of form but
not of value. It is frequently indicated by
putting the symbol = between the two mem
bers. Thus,

See

with the

6 = a ia i + a2a2 + a3a3
and

tf-V = V,
where a* is a unit vector and V is any vector.

(a + b)(a -

b) s (a2 - b2).

IDENTITY PERIOD. The distance between

identical atomic groupings in the chain mole
cule of an associated or polymerized substance
or in a crystal lattice. The magnitude of this
dimension, which is com monly expressed in
Angstrom units, plays an important part in
descriptions of structure.

ID IO C H R O M A T IC . A crystal having pho

toelectric properties characteristic of the ma
terial of the pure crystal itself and not due
to foreign matter. Also called intrinsic.
ID IO M O R P H O U S.
crystals.

Appearing

in

distinct

ID IO S T A T IC M E T H O D (O F USE O F
Q U A D R A N T E L E C T R O M E T E R ). See elec
trometer, connection of.
I-D ISPLAY (ALSO I-SCAN O R I-SC O PE ).
See display.
ID L E R .

See amplifier, parametric.

IES.
Abbreviation
neering Society.
I-F.
Abbreviation
quency.

for Illumination
for

intermediate

Engi
fre

IFF. Abbreviation for identification, friend

or foe.
IG N IT E R R O D . A high-resistivity, pencil
shaped rod of some material such as carbo
rundum, which is not wetted by mercury, that
is employed to initiate the arc in an ignitron.
IG N IT IO N T E M P E R A T U R E . In the ther
monuclear program, the kinetic temperature
at which the nuclear energy production rate
in the form of charged particles is just bal
anced by all energy loss rates including radia
tion, diffusion, etc.
See electrode ignitor (switching

IG N IT O R .
tubes).
IG N IT O R
trode.

CURRENT.

See current, elec

IG N IT O R
CURRENT
TEM PERATURE
D R IF T (TR , PRE-TR, A N D A T T E N U A T O R
TU BES). The variation in ignitor electrode
current (see current, electrode) caused by a
change in ambient temperature of the tube.
IG N IT O R IN T E R A C T IO N (TR , PRE-TR,
A N D A T T E N U A T O R TU BES). The differ
ence between the insertion loss (see loss, in
sertion) measured at a specified ignitor cur
rent and that measured at zero ignitor cur
rent.
IG N IT R O N .

See tube, ignitron.

IG N O R A B LE V A R IA B LE (C O O R D IN A T E ).
If the Hamiltonian function, H , does not con

tain the generalized coordinate qk} then the

canonical equation involving qk becomes:
8H/dqk = - d p k/dt = 0.
The conjugate momentum p k is then a con
stant of the system, and qk is said to be an
ignorable coordinate.
IL L IA C . The name of a particular digital
computer.
IL LU M IN A N C E (IL L U M IN A T IO N ).
The
density of the luminous flux on a surface; it
is the quotient of the flux by the area of the
surface when the latter is uniformly illumi
nated.
IL LU M IN A N C E , R E T IN A L .
A psychophysiological quantity, partially correlated
with the brightness attribute of visual sensa
tion, and measured in trolands.
IL L U M IN A N T , STA N D A R D . Certain spe
cial lamps and filters, which are used as stand
ard sources for colorimetry. For a discussion
of standard illuminants, see The Science of
Color, by the Committee on Colorimetry of
the Optical Society of Am erica (1953).
IL L U M IN A T IO N .
The illumination of a
surface is the luminous flux which it receives
per unit area.
IL L U M IN A T IO N , A PE R TU RE .
ture illumination.

See aper-

IL L U M IN A T IO N , D IR E C T .
(1) Lighting
by visible radiation that passes from light
source to object without reflection.
(2) In
m icroscopy, light falling directly on the stage
of a microscope from above without being re
flected by the mirror.
IL L U M IN A T IO N , IN D IR E C T .
(1) Light
ing by visible radiation that undergoes one or
more reflections in its journey from light
source to object.
(2) In m icroscopy, light
which strikes the object at right angles to the
direction of the axis of a microscope.
IL L U M IN A T IO N IN TENSITY.
The
density of light incident upon a surface.
IL L U M IN A T IO N SENSITIVITY.
sitivity, illumination.

flux

See sen

IL L U M IN O M E T E R , M A C B E TH . A device
for optically matching the brightness of a

surface with
brightness.

known,

variable,

surface-

ILLUM INOM ETER OR ILLUMINATION

PHOTOMETER. An instrument for measur
ing illumination. The older, standard forms
of this instrument em ploy a photometer of
ordinary type to measure the luminous inten
sity due to light reflected from a white matt
surface or diffused by a white translucent
screen exposed to the illumination to be meas
ured. The balance may be secured as usual
by the bench photometer method, by screen
ing down the comparison lamp, or by turning
the diffusing surface through a known angle
and relying upon the cosine law (see illumina
tion). A different type, known as a footcandle meter, utilizes the Bunsen screen prin
ciple, there being however a long row of trans
lucent spots lighted from behind by a lamp
at one end, hence unequally along the row. A t
some point in the row this balances the illumi
nation from in front, which is to be meas
ured, and a scale indicates the foot-candles
directly. In a still more recent instrument
the illuminated element is a copper oxide
photovoltaic cell (see photovoltaic effects)
connected to a sensitive current meter reading
directly in foot-candles. A ll of these instru
ments must, of course, be portable to be of
practical use.
I.L.S. A bbreviation for instrument landing
system.
IMAGE.
See
method of.
IM AGE
image.

geometrical

ADM ITTANCE.

optics; images,
See admittance,

IM AGE ATTENUATION CONSTANT.

real part of the transfer constant.
IM AGE BURN.

The

See image, retained.

IM AGE CHARGE.

See images, method of.

IM AGE CONVERTER TUBE.

age.

See tube, im

IMAGE FREQUENCY.
age.

See frequency, im

IMAGE ICONOSCOPE.
scope, image.
IMAGE IM PEDANCE.
age.

See tube, icono

See impedance, im

IMAGE INTERFERENCE.
ence, image.
IMAGE-INTERFERENCE
image ratio.

See

interfer

RATIO.

See

IMAGE, INVERTED. A real image formed

by a single lens or mirror is always inverted,
i.e., upside down with respect to the object.
IMAGE ORTHICON.
image.

See tube, orthicon,

IMAGE PHASE CONSTANT. The imag

inary part of the transfer constant. The pre
fix image m ay be omitted when there is no
danger of confusion.
IMAGE PLANE. The plane, perpendicular
to the optical axis of an optical system, in
which the image is formed.
IMAGE RATIO. The ratio of (1) the field
strength at the image frequency to (2) the
field strength at the desired frequency, each
field being applied in turn, under specified
conditions, to produce equal outputs.
(See
image interference.)
IMAGE, REAL. An image formed in such a
w ay that the light which passes through an
optical system from a point of the object ac
tually passes through or close to a point of the
image. If a screen or photographic plate is
placed at a real image, a picture of the object
will be formed on the screen or plate. The
image formed on the emulsion by a camera
is a typical real image.
IMAGE RECONSTRUCTOR.
kinescope.
IMAGE REPRODUCER.
scope.

See

tube,

See tube, kine

IM AGE DISSECTOR. A television camera

tube developed by P. T. Farnsworth in which
the photoelectrons are moved over a pick-up
aperture by deflection circuits.

IMAGE RESPONSE. The degree of response

by a superheterodyne receiver to an image
frequency signal.

IM AGE FORCE. The force between an elec

tric charge and its image.
(See images,
method of.)

IMAGE, RETAINED (IMAGE BURN). A

change produced in or on the target which
remains for a large number of frames after

the removal of a previously stationary light

image and which yields a spurious electrical
signal corresponding to that light image.
IMAGES, M ETHODS OF. (1) W hen elec
tric charges are placed in the neighborhood
of conductors, charges are induced on the sur
faces of the conductors. The surface distri
bution of charges together with the externally
placed charges) is such as to make the con
ducting surface an equipotential surface.
The electric field and electrostatic potential
external to the conductors is then the result
ant field due to both the externally placed
charges and the induced surface charges. In
the method of images the field and potential
external to the conductors are determined by
imagining that the conductors are removed
and that additional image charges are placed
in such a w ay that equipotential surfaces are
formed at what had been the conducting sur
faces. For example, the field and potential
in the region to the right of the x = 0 plane
is the same in Figures (a) and (b ). In Figure

Induced surface
charge

/"

\
OV ' N

' \ W

/
- / A
- ,

, , .

+ ,,

* J

111

-W
< r
\ s
: /
y
-__

f Equipotentials
'

1
i1
1
1

/> -

i (((C r i*
i

^Equipotentials

x0

x= 0
(a)

IMAGES, POINT.

(b)

( b ) the fictitious charge q is the image of

the real charge + q. A ll images must be placed
in regions of space that are separated from
the actual charges by the surface or surfaces
at which the boundary conditions are to be
satisfied. The method of images m ay also be
used to solve problems involving dielectric
rather than conducting boundaries. In this
case the image charges are chosen so as to
satisfy the boundary conditions on D and E
at the boundaries between different dielectrics.
(See boundary conditions on the electromag
netic field vectors.)
(2) Similarly, the method of images may
be used for the solution of magnetostatic, h y
drodynam ic, and other problems in which
boundary conditions at the interface between

See images, method of.

IMAGE VERICON. Trade name of a tube

similar to the image orthicon.
IMAGE, VIRTUAL. In the case that light
which passes through an optical system from
a point of the object appears to be coming
from a new point at which no actual real
image is formed, then the system is forming
a virtual image of the object. A screen placed
at a virtual image will not show a picture of
the object. An image seen in a plane mirror
is a typical example of a virtual image. This
image is as far behind the mirror as the ob
ject is in front, yet no light passes through
the mirror.
IMAGINARY NUMRER.
able.
IM M ITTANCE.
tance.

!
i

two media determine the solution. In such

cases, fictitious image magnetic dipoles,
sources or sinks of fluid, etc., are introduced
to satisfy the boundary conditions over the
surfaces o f the interfaces.

See complex vari

Impedance a n d /or admit

IMPACT. The action of two bodies in colli

sion, whereby the velocity of one or both
bodies is changed. In the case of direct im
pact, the velocity of the moving bodies is in
the direction of the normal (perpendicular)
to the bodies at the point of contact. Other
wise the impact is oblique. The impact is
central when the centers of gravity of the two
bodies lie on the line of impact (normal to
the bodies at the point of contact). The
momentum of a body is its mass multiplied
by its velocity. A law of impact is that the
sum of the momenta o f the two masses before
and after impact is the same. (See momen
tum, conservation of.)
IMPACT, ELASTIC. A collision between two
objects which, though deformed in the col
lision, immediately regain their original size
and shape. Such an impact is characterized
by a coefficient of restitution equal to 1. The
kinetic energy associated with the direct m o
tion of the objects is conserved in such an
impact.
IMPACT
shock.

EXCITATION.

See

excitation,

IM PACT FLUORESCENCE. Fluorescence

of a material due to bombardment of the m a
terial by high energy molecules of some other
material.
IMPACT, INELASTIC.

See impact, plastic.

IMPACT PARAMETER. A term used in

elastic scattering (see collision, elastic) to de
note the perpendicular distance from the ini
tial position of the scattering center to the
original line of motion of the scattering par
ticle. The use of the term has been extended
to apply to any nuclear reaction (see reaction,
nuclear), where it is the perpendicular dis
tance from the target nucleus to the original
line of m otion of the incident particle.
IMPACT, PLASTIC. A collision between two
bodies whose coefficient of restitution has a
value less than unity. In such a collision
kinetic energy is lost. The amount of energy
lost is given by the formula:
AK = \M y(e2 -

1)u u 2 + | M 2(e2 -

1)u2c2,

where M is the mass of the first body, M 2

is the mass of the second body, e is the coeffi
cient of restitution between the two bodies,
ulc is the final velocity of the first body with
respect to center of mass, u2c is the final veloc
ity of the second body with respect to center
of mass.
The total momentum remains unchanged in
a plastic impact. (See coefficient of restitu
tion; center of mass coordinates; impact.)
A collision in which the coefficient of resti
tution is zero is often called a perfectly in
elastic impact.
IM PACT RADIATION.
cence.

See impact fluores

IM PEDANCE. The term is used to express

the relation between a sinusoidally varying
quantity (such as force, pressure, voltage,
electric field strength, temperature) and a
second quantity (such as velocity, current,
magnetic field strength, heat flow) which is
a measure of the response of a physical sys
tem to the first. For most systems, the im
pedance depends on the frequency of the dis
turbance. W hen the impedance is stated for
a given frequency, it connects the disturbing
quantity and the response only when a steady
state is reached during the transient period

the response to a sinusoidal disturbance is

not, in general, itself sinusoidal.
The most common use of the term is in con
nection with alternating current circuits, in
which the impedance Z is defined as the (com
plex) ratio of the (complex) potential differ
ence V applied across a circuit element to
the (com plex) current I flowing in the ele
ment:
Z = V / I = (V 0/IQ)e%
where F 0 and 70 are the amplitudes of the
sinusoidally varying potential differences and
current, respectively, and <f> is the phase
angle. (See also alternating current cir
cuit.)
If the disturbing quantity is a sinusoidally
varying force acting on a mechanical system,
the force m ay be written in the complex form
F = Foetoit and the velocity of motion as
Y = VQe%^utm~*\ The mechanical impedance is
then
Zm = F / y = (F0/V oW+.
Thus, for a mass M , subject to a restoring
force equal to kx (where x is the displace
ment of the mass from its equilibrium position
and & is a constant) and to a dissipative force
equal to Rmdx/dt, where R is a constant, the
mechanical impedance is
Zm = R m + i(ooM k/o)).
Here R m is exactly analogous to electrical re
sistance (i2 ), M to inductance (L ), and k to
inverse capacitance ( C ) in an electric circuit
having R , C, and L in series. The elements
of the mechanical system (mass, springs, re
sistive effects) are thus analogs of circuit ele
ments. The quantity (wM fc/w) is the m e
chanical reactance of the system.
The concept of impedance as outlined above
is satisfactory as long as the physical dimen
sions of the electrical circuit elements, or their
mechanical analogs, are sufficiently small so
that the currents or velocities m ay be consid
ered to be the same everywhere throughout
them. When this condition is not satisfied,
it must be recognized that any disturbance
will be propagated as a wave. Under such
circumstances, the impedance offered to an
electromagnetic wave is taken as E /H , where
E is the (com plex) electric field strength at
any point and H is the (com plex) magnetic
field strength at the same point. The im
pedance is measured in ohms, as is the im

pedance for circuits with lumped parameters.

For a longitudinal acoustic wave, the imped
ance is defined as the ratio of the (complex)
pressure excess to the (complex) volume ve
locity, i.e., the velocity times the area per
pendicular to the direction of motion. This
ratio is known as the acoustic impedance. In
the cgs system of units it is measured in acous
tical ohms (gm cm - 4 sec*-1 ).
(See also entries immediately following.)
IM PEDANCE, ACOUSTIC.
The acoustic
impedance of a sound medium on a given
surface lying in a wave front is the complex
quotient of the sound pressure (force per unit
area) on that surface by the flux (volume
velocity, or linear velocity multiplied by the
area), through the surface. When concen
trated, rather than distributed, impedance of
a portion of the medium is defined by the
complex quotient of the pressure difference
effective in driving that portion, by the flux
(volume v e lo c ity ), the acoustic impedance
may be expressed in terms of mechanical im
pedance, acoustic impedance being to the
mechanical impedance divided by the square
of the area of the surface considered. The
com monly used unit is the acoustical ohm.
Velocities in the direction along which the
impedance is to be specified are considered
positive. This definition pertains to single
frequency quantities in the steady state and
to systems whose properties are independent
of the magnitudes of these quantities. V ari
ous other definitions have been proposed, but
their application has been less widespread:
(a) the quotient of the force by the particle
velocity (C ra n d a ll); (b) the quotient of the
sound pressure by the volume displacement
(W e b s te r); (c) the quotient of the sound
pressure by the partial velocity (Brillie).
IM PEDANCE,
ACOUSTIC,
MEASURE
M ENT BY ACOUSTICAL M ETHOD.
A
method, due to Stewart, in which measure
ment is made of the change in acoustical
transmission through a long uniform tube
when the unknown acoustic impedance (see
impedance, acoustic) is inserted as a branch.
IM PEDANCE,
ACOUSTIC,
MEASURE
M ENT BY IM PEDANCE TUBE M ETHOD.
A method in which the acoustical material is
used as the termination of a long tube. B y
means of a m ovable probe connected to a

pressure microphone, amplifier, detector and

meter, the difference in decibels between max
imum and minimum sound pressure can be
measured. The impedance of the sample can
then be calculated from this standing wave
ratio. (See wave, standing.)
IM PEDANCE, BLOCKED.
Of a trans
ducer, the impedance at the input when the
impedance of the output system is made in
finite. For example, in the case of an electro
mechanical transducer, the blocked electric
impedance is the impedance measured at the
electric terminals when the mechanical sys
tem is blocked or clam ped; the blocked me
chanical impedance is measured at the me
chanical side when the electric circuit is opencircuited.
IM PEDANCE, CATHODE COATING. The
impedance, excluding the cathode interface
(layer) impedance, between the base metal
and the emitting surface o f a coated cathode.
IM PEDANCE, CATH ODE INTERFACE
(LAYER). An impedance between the cath
ode base and coating of a coated cathode.
This impedance may be the result of a layer
of high resistivity or a poor mechanical bond
between the cathode base and coating.
IM PEDANCE, CHARACTERISTIC (OF A
CIRCULAR W AVEGU ID E). For the dom i
nant (T E u ) mode of a lossless circular uni
conductor waveguide at a specified frequency
above the cut-off frequency, (1) the ratio of
the square of the rms voltage along the diam
eter where the electric vector is a maximum
to the total power flowing when the guide is
match-terminated, (2) the ratio of the total
power flowing to the square of the total rms
longitudinal current flowing in one direction
when the guide is match-terminated, (3) the
ratio of the rms voltage along the diameter
where the electric vector is a maximum to the
total rms longitudinal current flowing along
the half surface bisected by this diameter
when the guide is match-terminated. Under
definition (1) the power W = V2/ZiWfV) where
V is the voltage, and Z (W>r) the characteristic
impedance defined in (1 ). Under definition
(2) the power W = I 2Z {W,n where I is the
current and Z(w,n the characteristic imped
ance defined in (2). The characteristic im
pedance Z (f, 7) as defined in (3) is the geo
metric mean of the values given by (1) and

(2 ). Definition (3) can be used also below

the cut-off frequency.
(See frequency, cut
off.)
IM PEDANCE, CHARACTERISTIC (OF A
LINE OR GUIDE). W aves are often trans
mitted over lines (2) or wave-guides. The
impedance of such a guide, at any particular
frequency, depends on the length of the guide
and on the conditions at the far end of the
line. F or example, a coaxial cable that is
one-eighth wavelength long and has a short
circuit at the far end, acts like an inductance,
while one three-eighths of a wavelength long,
similarly short circuited, acts like a capaci
tance. These variations in impedance result
from reflections of the wave from the far end.
W ere the guide infinitely long there would be
no effect of reflections. The impedance of a
guide of infinite wavelength is known as the
characteristic impedance of the guide. It fol
lows that a finite guide having as a termina
tion an element with impedance equal to the
characteristic impedance will have no reflec
tions from its far end such a termination is
equivalent to an infinite length of line extend
ing beyond the end. The characteristic im
pedance of a lossless line is equal to the square
root of the product of the inductance per unit
length and the capacitance per unit length.
The characteristic impedance of either an
electromagnetic or an acoustic wave guide is
a pure resistance, whose magnitude is de
pendent on the dimensions of the cross-sec
tion of the guide and on the medium in which
the wave is transmitted, but is independent
o f frequency.
(See also entries immediately following.)
IM PEDANCE, CHARACTERISTIC (OF A
M ED IU M ). As indicated under impedance,
characteristic (of a line or guide), this quan
tity depends on the dimensions of the crosssection of the guide. I f a plane sinusoidal
wave is being propagated through space with
out a guide, the ratio of the amplitude of the
electric field strength to that of the magnetic
field strength (or of the pressure amplitude
to the velocity amplitude) at any point is the
same as at any other. This ratio is the char
acteristic impedance o f the medium in which
the wave travels.
For an electromagnetic
wave in a non-dissipative medium it is equal
to the square root o f the ratio of the absolute

permeability to the permittivity, i.e., Zc =

v V A (377 ohms for empty space). For a
compressional acoustic wave it is the square
root of the product of the bulk modulus and
the density, i.e., Zc = \/Bp. The latter quan
tity is also called the specific acoustic impedance and is often expressed in acoustic ohms
centimeters squared (gm cm - 2 sec- 1 ).
IM PEDANCE, CHARACTERISTIC (OF A
RECTANGULAR W AVEGU ID E). For the
dominant (T E i0) mode of a lossless rectan
gular uniconductor waveguide at a specified
frequency above the cut-off frequency, ( 1 )
the ratio of the square of the rms voltage
between midpoints of the two conductor-faces
normal to the electric vector to the total
power flowing when the guide is match-terminated, (2) the ratio of the total power flow
ing to the square of the rms longitudinal cur
rent flowing on one face normal to the electric
vector when the guide is match-terminated,
(3) the ratio of the rms voltage between m id
points of the two conductor-faces normal to
the electric vector to the total rms longi
tudinal current flowing on one face when the
guide is match-terminated. Under definition
(1) the power W = V2/Ziw,v> where V is the
voltage, and Z iWtV) the characteristic imped
ance defined in (1 ). Under definition (2) the
power W = I 2Z iWfI) where I is the current and
Z ( w ,d the characteristic impedance defined in
(2 ). The characteristic impedance Z {VtI) as
defined in (3) is the geometric mean of the
values given by (1) and (2). Definition (3)
can be used also below the cut-off frequency.
IMPEDANCE, CHARACTERISTIC (OF A
T W O - CONDUCTOR
TRANSMISSION
LINE). For a traveling, transverse electro
magnetic wave, the ratio of the complex volt
age between the conductors to the complex
current on the conductors in the same trans
verse plane, with the sign so chosen that the
real part is positive. (See impedance; imped
ance, characteristic (of a line or guide).)
IMPEDANCE CIRCLE. Consider a nondissipative transmission line terminated by a
fixed impedance. As the line length is varied,
the (complex) input impedance describes a
circle in the R , X plane, i.e., when reactance
(X ) is plotted as a function of resistance.

589

Impedance Concept, Wave Propagation Problems Loaded Applicator

IM PEDANCE CONCEPT IN W A V E PROP

AGATION PROBLEMS.
See impedance;
impedance, characteristic.
IM PEDANCE, CONTROL CIRCUIT.
control circuit impedance.
IM PEDANCE, DRIVING-POINT.
mittance, driving-point.

See

IM PEDANCE, ELECTRODE. The recipro

cal of the admittance, electrode.
IM PEDANCE,
FORW ARD
TRANSFER,
SHORT-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter z
etc.
IM PEDANCE, FREE. Of a transducer, the
impedance at the input of the transducer when
the impedance of its load is made zero. The
approximation is often made that the free
electric impedance of an electroacoustic trans
ducer designed for use in water is that meas
ured with the transducer in air.
IM PEDANCE, FREE MOTIONAL. Of a
transducer, the complex remainder after the
blocked impedance has been subtracted from
the free impedance.
(See impedance, free;
impedance, blocked.)
The impedance of

IM PEDANCE, IMAGE.
That impedance
which causes maximum power transfer, as
dictated by the Thevenin theorem, from the
transducer to which it is connected.
IM PEDANCE, INPUT.
The impedance
presented by the transducer to a source, or
by a network to the input terminals of a
device.
IM PEDANCE,
TRANSISTOR.

E2

See ad

IM PEDANCE, ELECTRICAL. See alternat

ing current circuits; impedance.

IM PEDANCE, GATE.
one gate winding.

tron stream for a given power in the inter

action circuit. It m ay be expressed by the
following equation:

INPUT, O P E N -C IR C U IT
See transistor parameter Zi.

IM PEDANCE, INPUT, SHORT-CIRCUIT,

TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter h
transistor parameter z*.
IM PEDANCE, INPUT, TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameter, h

See

IM PEDANCE,
INTERACTION
(OF
A
TRAVELING-W AVE TUBE). A measure of
the radio frequency field strength at the elec

where E is the peak value of the electric field

at the position of electron flow, m is the angu
lar frequency, v is the interaction circuit
phase velocity and P is the propagating
power. If the field strength is not uniform
over the beam, an effective interaction imped
ance may be defined.
IM PEDANCE, INTRINSIC.
electromagnetic constants.

See secondary

IMPEDANCE IRREGULARITY.
A term
used to denote impedance mismatch in a trans
mission medium. For example, a section of
cable in an open-wire line constitutes an im
pedance irregularity.
IM PEDANCE, ITERATIVE. T hat imped
ance which, when applied to one pair of ter
minals of a four-terminal transducer will
cause the same impedance to appear between
the other pair of terminals.
IMPEDANCE LEVEL. The value of circuit
impedance which is used in matching several
networks to each other or to their terminal
impedances is called the impedance level in
that part of the circuit.
IMPEDANCE, LOAD. The impedance pre
sented by the load to a transducer.
IM PEDANCE, LOAD DIAGRAM (OF AN
OSCILLATOR). A chart showing perform
ance of the oscillator with respect to varia
tions in the load impedance. Ordinarily, con
tours of constant power and of constant fre
quency are drawn on a chart whose coor
dinates are the components of either the com
plex load impedance or of the reflection coeffi
cient. (See Rieke diagram.)
IM PEDANCE, LOADED. Of a transducer,
the impedance at the input of the transducer
when the output is connected to its normal
load.
IM PEDANCE, LOADED APPLICATOR.
In dielectric heating usage, the complex im
pedance measured at the point of application

with the load material at the proper position

for heating, at a specified frequency.

(see impedance, characteristic) of the wave

guide.

IM PEDANCE, LOAD, PLATE (ANODE).

The total impedance between anode and
cathode exclusive of the electron stream.

IMPEDANCE OF NETWORK BRANCH.

The impedance of a network branch is the
(complex) ratio of the voltage across the
branch to the current through the branch.
The voltage and current are both expressed
as complex numbers.

IM PEDANCE, M ATCH ED.

That imped
ance which, when connected to a transducer,
will cause maximum power transfer.
IM PEDANCE MATCHING. The technique
o f minimizing the standing-wave ratio when
two devices having unlike impedances are
coupled together. This process, at the same
time, maximizes power flow between the two
devices, assuming one to be a source and the
other a sink. (See also image impedance.)
IM PEDANCE, M ECHANICAL. The com
plex quotient of the alternating force applied
to a system to the resulting linear velocity in
the direction of the force at its point of ap
plication. The unit is the mechanical ohm.
(See ohm, mechanical.)
IM PEDANCE,
M ECHANICAL
ROTA
TIONAL (ROTATIONAL IMPEDANCE).
The complex quotient of the alternating torque
applied to the system by the resulting angu
lar velocity in the direction of the torque at
its point of application. The unit is the rota
tional ohm.
IM PEDANCE,
MESH
(SELF-IMPEDANCE). The ratio of voltage to current in a
mesh, all other meshes being opened.
IM PEDANCE, M OTIONAL (LOADED M O
TIONAL IM PEDANCE). Of a transducer,
the complex remainder after the blocked im
pedance has been subtracted from the loaded
impedance.
(See impedance, blocked; im
pedance, loaded.)
IM PEDANCE, M UTUAL. The impedance
that is common to two meshes of a network
is their mutual impedance. Equivalently, if
a set of voltages and currents are related b y :
E\

Z u li

Z12I2

En

Z n J i

Z n 2^2

Z lnI n,

+ *+

Z n J n ,

IMPEDANCE OF TRANSMISSION LINE

INPUT. See impedance, characteristic.
IMPEDANCE, OUTPUT.
The impedance
presented by the transducer to a load.
IMPEDANCE, OUTPUT, OPEN-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter z0,
etc.
IM PEDANCE, OUTPUT, SHORT-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR.
See transistor parameter
etc.
IMPEDANCE,
REVERSE
TRANSFER,
OPEN-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter zr.
IMPEDANCE,
REVERSE
TRANSFER,
SHORT-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter zr8, etc.
IMPEDANCE, ROTATIONAL.
ance, mechanical rotational.

See imped

IMPEDANCES, CONJUGATE. Impedances

having resistance components which are equal
and reactance components which are equal in
magnitude but opposite in sign. Conjugate
impedances are expressible by conjugate com
plex quantities.
IM PEDANCE, SELF.

See impedance, mesh.

IM PEDANCE, SENDING-END. The input

impedance (see impedance, input) of a trans
mission line.
IMPEDANCES, IM AGE, OF A
TRANS
DUCER. The impedances which will simul
taneously terminate all of the inputs and
outputs of the transducer in such a w ay that
at each of its inputs and outputs the imped
ances in both directions are equal.

the coefficient Zij Zji is called the mutual

impedance between the ith. and jth meshes.

IM PEDANCE, SOURCE. The impedance

presented by the source to a transducer.

IM PEDANCE NORM ALIZED (W ITH RE

SPECT TO A W AVEG U ID E). An imped
ance divided by the characteristic impedance

IM PEDANCE,
SPECIFIC
ACOUSTIC
(UNIT AREA ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE).
A t a point in the medium, the complex ratio

of sound pressure to particle velocity. (See

velocity, particle.)
IM PEDANCE,
SURFACE
TRANSFER.
W hen an electromagnetic wave is guided
along the surface of a conductor having finite
conductivity, the ratio of tangential electric
field at the surface to the current in the con
ductor is called the surface transfer imped
ance.
IM PEDANCE,
SYNCHRONOUS.
The
source impedance of an alternator, at operat
ing frequency. It depends both on the sta
tionary impedance of the machine, and its
armature reaction effects.
IM PEDANCE, THROAT ACOUSTIC. The
acoustic impedance (see impedance, acoustic)
at the input end of a horn.
IM PEDANCE, TRANSFER. Between two
points of a transducer, the complex ratio of
the applied sinusoidal potential difference,
force, or pressure at one point to the resultant
current, velocity, or volume velocity at the
other point, all inputs and outputs being
terminated in any specified manner.
IM PEDANCE, U NLOADED APPLICATOR.
The complex impedance measured at the
point of application, without the load m a
terial in position, at a specific frequency.
IM PEDED
HARMONIC
OPERATION.
Synonym for magnetic amplifier.
IMPEDOMETER. An impedance-measuring
device for the very-high-frequency band and
above, which consists of two directional cou
plers and a voltage probe in a short trans
mission line.
IMPEDOR.
pedance.

A circuit element having im

IMPERFECTIONS IN SOLIDS.
M any
properties of solids depend on the presence
of structural imperfections, that is, deviations
from a perfect homogeneous crystal lattice.
Such properties include luminescence, atomic
diffusion, color center absorption, crystal
growth, plasticity, semiconduction, etc. The
various types of imperfection fall into groups,
of which the main ones are vacancies, inter
stitial atoms, dislocations, and foreign atoms,
or impurities. One might also refer to mosaic
structure, polygonization, growth spirals, slip

lines, and other m acroscopic features. The

term imperfection is not usually applied to
the thermal vibrations of the lattice, since
these must be present in the most perfect lat
tice.
IMPLODE. A verb describing the violent
shattering of a vessel or container in which
the internal pressure is less than the external,
e.g., in a highly-evacuated cathode-ray tube
when the glass envelope is suddenly broken.
Due to the atmospheric pressure against all
sides of the tube, the glass moves inward with
tremendous force.
IMPORTANCE FUNCTION, NUCLEAR. A
measure of the importance to the chain re
action in a nuclear reactor of a neutron at a
given position and with a given velocity. The
relative importance of two types of neutrons,
A and B, is given by the number of neutrons
of type A that must be supplied to make up
for the removal of one neutron of type B, the
process being carried out so that the level
of the chain reaction is not affected. The
iterated fission expectation is a particular
normalization of the importance function.
IMPREGNATED TAPE.
powder-impregnated.
IMPROPER.
proper.

See

See tape, magnetic

fraction;

integral,

im

IMPROPER LORENTZ
TRANSFORMA
TION. See proper Lorentz transformation.
IMPROVEMENT THRESHOLD. In anglemodulation systems (see modulation, angle),
the condition of unity for the ratio of peak
carrier voltage to peak noise voltage, after
selection and before any nonlinear process
such as amplitude limiting and detection.
IMPROVEMENT, W ID E BAND.
band improvement.

See wide

IMPULSE. A vector quantity defined by the

time integral of the force F acting on a par
ticle over a finite interval, for example,
/h
I FdJt
Jti
for the interval from t\ to 2. The impulsemomentum theorem states that the impulse
equals the change in momentum experienced

b y a particle during the corresponding time

interval.

IMPURITY SEMICONDUCTOR.
conductor, impurity.

IMPULSE TRANSFORMER.
transformer.

IMPURITY, STOICHIOMETRIC. A crys

talline imperfection arising from a deviation
from stoichiometric composition.

See peaking

IMPULSE W H E E L OR PELTON W H EEL.

One of the two principal types of turbines, in
which the whole available head is transformed
into kinetic energy before reaching the wheel.
The wheel is so shaped and run at such a speed
that the fluid leaving the wheel is moving very
slowly, having communicated nearly all its
kinetic energy to the moving wheel.
IMPULSIVE SOUND(S). Sounds that consist of short bursts rather than sustained
tones. Examples are hand clap, typewriter
noise, syllabic sound.
IMPULSIVE SOUND EQUATION.

IMPURITY, ACCEPTOR. An impurity, in a

semiconductor, which m ay induce hole con
duction. Such an impurity is capable of ac
cepting an electron from the valence band,
forming an acceptor energy level.
IMPURITY, CHEM ICAL. An atom, within
a crystal, which is foreign to the crystal.
IMPURITY, DONOR (IN A SEMICONDUC
TOR). An impurity which m ay induce elec
tronic conduction. The mechanism involves
thermal ionization of the donor, with the
transfer of an electron to the conduction
band.
HARDENING.

See

INCH. Unit of length, abbreviation in. (1)

Br. One thirty-sixth of an Imperial yard.
(2) U.S. E xactly 1 meter/39.37 (Coast and
Geodetic S u rv e y ); exactly 2.54 centimeters
(American Standards Association).
INCIDENCE, ANGLE OF PRINCIPAL.
Plane-polarized light incident at an angle
upon a metallic surface becomes in general
elliptically-polarized. There is one particular
angle of incidence, called the principal angle
o f incidence, for which one axis of the ellipse
lies in the plane of incidence.
INCIDENCE, PLANE OF. When a wave
strikes a surface, the plane containing the
incident direction of propagation of the wave
and the normal to the surface.

where E is the total sound energy produced

b y a single impulse, V is the volume of room,
a is the mean s o u n d a b s o r p tio n co e ffic ie n t,
S is the exposed surface area, t is the duration
of impulsive sound, and c is the velocity of
sound.

IMPURITY
hardening.

See semi

Cottrell

IMPURITY LEVELS. Energy levels outside

the normal band scheme of a solid due to the
presence of impurity atoms. Such levels are
capable of making an insulator semiconduct
ing.
(See impurity, acceptor; impurity, do
nor.)

INCLINED PLANE. A simple machine in

which the force required to lift an object
through a given vertical distance is reduced
by constraining the motion of the object to
an inclined plane. The idealized mechanical
advantage is equal to the reciprocal of sin
6, where 0 is the angle of inclination to the
horizontal.
INCLINOMETER.

See dip-needle.

INCOHERENCE, ISOTOPIC.
In the in
terpretation of neutron diffraction the presence
of isotopes in the diffracting material results
in the introduction of incoherence. I f two
isotopes, having scattering cross sections <ri
and <72 are present in the relative numbers
7ii and n2, then the cross section for coherent
scattering is
<rc = (n1<TiH + n2<T2 H) 2,
while that for incoherent scattering is
<Ti = n 1n2(<r

02 ^ )2.

INCOMPRESSIBLE VOLUME. That por

tion of the total volume of a gas which con
sists of the actual bulk of the gas molecules,
rather than the spaces between molecules. It
is because of the large amount of empty space
between molecules that gases are easily com
pressible; the ideal gas law describes the be

havior of a (hypothetical) gas which has no

incompressible volume. Related to the quan
tity b in the van der Waals equation. (See
co-volume.)

tion of lateral forces, beams with built-in end

supports, beams fixed at one end and simply
supported at the other end and beams con
tinuous over a number of supports.

INCONGRUENT MELTING. In some sys

tems, solid compounds are formed that do not
melt to a liquid having the same composition,
but instead decompose before such a melting
point is reached. Thus,

INDEX. (1) An integer placed above a rad

ical sign to indicate the root which is to be
extracted. It is usually omitted for a square
root.
(2) An exponent. (3) A superscript
or subscript used in the symbol for a tensor.
A repeated index is called a dummy or umbral
index, see summation convention.
(4) In
group theory, the order of the group divided
by the order of a subgroup.

3A120 3 S i0 2 > A120 3 + Solution.

INDEPENDENT PARTICLE M OD EL OF
NUCLEUS. See nucleus, independent par
ticle, model of.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE.
independent.

See variable,

INDETERM INANCY
PRINCIPLE.
Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

See

INDETERM INATE FORM. Limiting proc

esses applied to special combinations of func
tions sometimes result in meaningless expres
sions such as 0 /0 , co/oo, 0-oo, oo co, l 00,
0, oo, etc. These are called indeterminate
forms. The method of differential calculus
m ay be used to interpret such expressions.
(See L Hospitals rule.)
INDETERM INATE STRUCTURE. A stat
ically indeterminate structure is one which
cannot be solved by the equations for static
equilibrium. If the axial stresses in the mem
bers of a structure are changed by altering
the length of one of the members a very
small amount, the structure is classified as
indeterminate.
W hen there are more reactions than equa
tions for static equilibrium the structure is
externally indeterminate. A fter these reac
tions have been calculated the stresses in the
members of the structure become statically
determinate unless it is internally indeter
minate, that is, if it contains redundant mem
bers.
Examples of indeterminate structures are
triangular frameworks containing redundant
members (e.g., a six-member structure form
ing a parallelogram with two diagonal mem
bers that can resist either tension or com
pression) , rigid frames having loads trans
mitted by the rigidity of the joints, fixed or
2-hinged arches, suspension bridges with stif
fening trusses, building frames under the ac

IN D EX OF COOPERATION, SCANNING
OR RECORDING LINE.
In rectilinear
scanning or recording, the product o f the to
tal length of a scanning or recording line by
the number of scanning or recording lines per
unit length. The International Index of C o
operation (diametral index of cooperation)
is based on drum diameter and is defined by
the International R adio Consultative C om
mittee (C C IR ). It is 1/w times the scanning
line index of cooperation. For a scanner and
recorder to be compatible the indices of co
operation must be the same.
IN D E X OF MODULATION.
tion index.

See modula

IN D EX OF REFRACTION. (1) The phase

velocity of radiation in vacuo divided by the
phase velocity of the same radiation in a speci
fied medium. In accordance with the Snell
law, the index of refraction m ay also be de
fined as the ratio of the sine of the angle of
incidence (in vacuo) to the sine of the angle
of refraction. Because the index of refrac
tion of air is only about 1.00029, indices o f
refraction are frequently measured with re
spect to air rather than with respect to free
space (vacuum ). W ith the exception of a
few very special cases (x-rays; light in metal
films) the index o f refraction is a number
greater than unity.
A few representative
values are:
^water = 1*34,

Tfcglass = 1*51.9,

^germanium = 4.25 (infrared radiation).

(2) The square root of the relative dielectric
constant of a medium Ve/co- (See Maxwell
relation between dielectric constant and re
fractive index.) The index of refraction is

invariably a function of the frequency or

wavelength of the radiation. When definition
(2) is used, the appropriate value of e is often
not the permittivity observed with static
fields.

INDICATOR, MOVING-TARGET. A radar

presentation which shows only targets which
are in motion. Signals from stationary tar
gets are subtracted out of the return signal
by the output of a suitable memory circuit.

IN D EX OF REFRACTION, COMPLEX.
For absorbing media, it is sometimes con
venient to use a complex index of refraction,

INDICATOR, VOLUM E, STANDARD. A

device for the indication of volume having the
characteristics prescribed in the specification
of the American Standards Association, ASA C16.5.

ft = n( 1 u)j

where n is the customary index of refraction,

#c is the absorption index and i is the square
root of 1. (See absorption index; Fresnel
equations for metallic reflection.)
IN D EX OF REFRACTION, M ODIFIED.
In the troposphere, the index of refraction at
any height increased by h/a, where h is the
height above sea level and a is the mean geo
metrical radius of the earth. W hen the index
of refraction in the troposphere is horizontally
stratified, propagation over a hypothetical flat
earth through an atmosphere with the m odi
fied index of refraction is substantially equiv
alent to propagation over a curved earth
through the real atmosphere.
IN D EX OF REFRACTION, RELATION TO
DIELECTRIC CONSTANT. See Maxwell
relation between dielectric constant and re
fractive index.
INDICATING INSTRUMENT. A ny meas
uring device which m ay be read by the obser
vation of the position of a pointer on a scale.
Indicating instruments are distinguished from
null instruments, in which the measurement is
obtained by the adjustment of parameters to
values indicative of the quantity being meas
ured.
INDICATOR. A term used formerly in nu
clear physics for tracer. The latter is now
the more common usage.
INDICATOR, AIR-POSITION (API).
An
airborne computing system which presents a
continuous indication of the aircraft position
on the basis of aircraft-heading, air speed and
elapsed time.
INDICATOR GROUND POSITION. A com
puter, similar to an air position indicator (see
indicator, air-position), with provision for
taking account of drift.

INDICATOR, STANDING-WAVE. See de

tector, traveling; waveguide coupler, bidirec
tional.
INDICATOR, TO-FROM. A sensing device
to show whether the numerical reading of an
omnibearing selector for an on-course indi
cation of the course line deviation indicator
and flight path deviation indicator represents
the bearing toward or away from an omni
range.
INDICATOR, TUNING. In radio circuits
with automatic gain control the output is
held constant for an appreciable amount of
mistuning of the circuits. Thus the loudness
of the output is not a satisfactory indication
of when the set is correctly tuned. T o remedy
this, various types of tuning indicators are
used. These respond to the carrier amplitude
and hence are not affected by the age. F or
merly various instruments were used for this
purpose, but now instruments are used only
in communications receivers while ordinary
home receivers use a special vacuum tube.
This tube, often called a magic eye, has a willemite-coated cone-shaped plate upon which
the electrons impinge, causing the coating to
fluoresce. B y connecting the grid so the car
rier magnitude can control the number or pat
tern of the electrons hitting this coating, it
can be used to indicate relative carrier
strength. In any tuning, the correct setting
for a given station is that which makes the
carrier amplitude maximum.
INDICIAL ADM ITTANCE.
tance, indicial.

See

admit

INDICIAL EQUATION. In the solution of

a differential equation in series the substitu
tion
00

y =

ko

akxk+'

is made. W hen k is put equal to zero, the

coefficient of the lowest power of x remaining
is set equal to zero and this is the indicial
equation, which serves to determine the values
o f s. T hey are called the exponents of the
differential equation.
The indicial equation m ay be: (1) inde
pendent of s, in which case no series solution
of the type assumed exists; (2) a polynomial
in Sj of degree equal to the order of the d if
ferential equation; depending on the nature
of the roots of the indicial equation, there m ay
then be n distinct series solutions of the d if
ferential equation or fewer; (3) the degree
of the polynom ial is less than the order of the
differential equation and series solutions are
again impossible, in the usual case.
INDIUM .
M etallic
A tom ic number 49.

element.

Sym bol In.

IN D U C ED NUCLEAR DISINTEGRATION.
See reaction, nuclear.

rents for establishing an operating point and

then superimpose the a-c signal. The d-c
produces a certain amount of saturation in
the core so the flux conditions presented to the
a-c are not the same as if no d-c were present.
When the core is in this partially saturated
condition the flux changes produced by the
a-c are not as great as they would be other
wise and hence the back e.m.f. of the coil or
its inductive effect is reduced. Since the ac
tual inductance presented depends upon the
degree of saturation the rating of a coil which
is designed to carry both types o f current
should include both the d-c value of the cur
rent and the inductance (which is understood
in this case to be the incremental inductance).
The effect on incremental inductance is due
to the change of the permeability of the core,
the permeability which is effective in this case
being called the incremental permeability. It
is given by
AB

IN D UCED POLARIZATION. The polariza

tion brought about by the action of an electric
field on a dielectric that does not contain
permanent dipoles or that part of the polariza
tion that does not result from the reorientation
of permanent dipoles.

where jua is the incremental permeability, AB

the change in flu x d e n s ity produced by the
a-c and AH the change in m a g n e tiz in g fo r c e
produced by the a-c.

IN D U C ED RADIOACTIVITY. Radioactiv
ity resulting from nuclear reactions.
(See
reaction, nuclear.)

INDUCTANCE, LEAKAGE. That induct

ance which causes the leakage reactance com
ponent of impedance in transformers. (See
reactance, leakage.)

INDUCTANCE. See inductance, self and in

ductance, mutual.
IN DUCTANCE, CRITICAL. The minimum
self inductance required to prevent the cur
rent from going to zero during any part of the
cycle in the input choke of a choke input
filter for a full-wave rectifier circuit. The
value o f this inductance (in henries) is equal
to the load resistance (ohms) divided by three
times the supply frequency (radians per sec
on d). The input choke must have a value
equal to or greater than the critical value if
the best performance in the w ay of regulation
is to be realized.
IN DUCTANCE, INCREMENTAL. The self
inductance which an iron-cored coil will offer
to a-c when it is superimposed on d-c through
the coil.
This condition occurs very fre
quently in communication and electronic cir
cuits since many of these involve direct cur

INDUCTANCE, MUTUAL. The mutual in

ductance, My between two circuits or two
circuit elements is defined as the ratio M =
<j>/I where < is the flux linked by one and be
ing produced by a current I in the other.
From the Faraday law of electromagnetic in
duction, the voltage, 7 , induced in the first
circuit or circuit element is given by V =
M d l/ d t, where dl/dt is the time rate of
change of the current in the second circuit or
element. Mutual inductances are measured
in henries. (See also inductance, self; alter
nating current circuits.)
INDUCTANCE, SELF. The self inductance,
L, is defined as the ratio L = <>/1, where <j> is
the magnetic flux linked and produced by a
circuit or circuit element and I is the current
in the same circuit or element. From the
Faraday law of electromagnetic induction the
back emf is given by V L dl/dt. Self

inductances are measured in henries. (See also

inductance, mutual; energy of a system of
current circuits; energy stored in a self in
ductance; coil; henry; solenoid.)
INDUCTANCE-TUBE M ODULATION.
tube, reactance.

See

INDUCTION. (1) In electrostatics, the par

tial separation of positive and negative
charges in a conductor by the approach of an
electrically charged body. This partial sep
aration of charges modifies the external field
produced b y the charged body.
(See also
images, method of; induced polarization.)
(2) In magnetostatics, the creation of mag
netic dipoles in a magnetizable material in
the presence of a magnetic field due to neigh
boring magnets, steady currents flowing in
neighboring coils, etc. (See also magnetiza
tion.)
(3) See displacement, electric.
(4)
See magnetic induction; electromagnetic in
duction; Faraday law of electromagnetic in
duction.
(5) Nuclear induction.
(6) See
induction, mathematical.
INDUCTION, ACCELERATOR.
or rheotron.

A betatron

INDUCTION, COEFFICIENTS OF. The

charges on a set of conductors are linear func
tions of the conductor potentials:

Ql = C\\Vl H- 12^2 + * * * + ClnVn

Q2 = ^2 1 ^ 1 + ^2 2 ^ 2 + * * + C2nVn

Qn = C n l 7 l + n 2 ^ 2 + * * * + CnnV n.

The coefficients c# = c# are known as coeffi

cients o f induction.
(See potential, coeffi
cients of.)
INDUCTION COIL.

See coil, induction.

INDUCTION DRAG. A velocity dependent

resistive force which acts on a conducting
fluid (see plasma) to dampen its motion per
pendicular to the magnetic lines of force.
INDUCTION EFFECT. An attractive force
between molecules, or a component of such
force, due to the moment induced by an ad
jacent dipolar molecule.
INDUCTION,
ment, electric.

ELECTRIC.

See

displace

INDUCTION,
ELECTRIFICATION
BY.
The proxim ity of positive charge to a con

ductor attracts negative charge to the nearby

portions of the conductor, and leaves free, re
pelled positive charges. These latter can be
removed by temporarily grounding the con
ductor. W ithdrawal of the proximate posi
tive charge then leaves the conductor nega
tively charged, by induction.
INDUCTION, ELECTROMAGNETIC.
electromagnetic induction.

See

INDUCTION FIELD. A loop or coil carry

ing a steady, direct current is surrounded by
a steady magnetic field which decreases with
the cube of the distance. When sinusoidal
current is passed through the coil, the result
ing magnetic field oscillates with the same
frequency as the current, and now comprises
three components. The first of these has an
inverse-cube dependence on distance; it is
given by the same formula as the field for
steady current, but multiplied by an oscillat
ing, sinusoidal factor. It is in phase with
the current. Thus component is therefore
often called the quasi-static field. One of
the new components varies inversely with the
square of the distance, and is in phase quadra
ture with the current. This phase quadra
ture implies zero power factor; the energy
in this component flows alternately away
from the coil and back into the coil, with
no net loss. This component is called the
induction field and is responsible for
the characteristic back-voltage of an induc
tance, and the induction of emf in another
coil by mutual inductance. The last new
component varies inversely as the distance,
and is in phase with the current. The inphase relation represents real power loss; the
energy is radiated away from the coil, never
to return. A t relatively large distance, this
component predominates; it is called the ra
diation field.
(See dipole radiation, mag
netic.)
INDUCTION FURNACE.
duction.

See heater, in-

INDUCTION LOUDSPEAKER.
speaker, dynamic.
INDUCTION, MAGNETIC.
induction.

See loud

See magnetic

INDUCTION, M ATHEM ATICAL. A gen

eral method of proof in which a positive in
tegral variable is involved. It consists of

two main parts: (1) direct verification of the

theorem for the smallest admissible value of
the positive integer involved; (2) the alge
braic proof that if the theorem is true for any
value of the integer, it is true for the next
greater value. In conclusion, the theorem is
proved by combining the two parts.
INDUCTION, NORMAL. The limiting in
duction in a material which is in a symmetri
cally, cyclically-m agnetized condition.
(See
magnetized condition, cyclically.)
INDUCTION, NUCLEAR.
duction.

See nuclear in

INDUCTION, RESIDUAL (Br). The mag

netic flux density in a magnetic sample after
removal of a saturating magnetizing force.
(See hysteresis.)
INDUCTION, SATURATION (p*).
The
maximum intrinsic induction possible in a
material (see induction, intrinsic). Satura
tion induction is sometimes loosely referred
to as saturation flux density.
INDUCTION THEOREM. Consider a me
dium comprising two homogeneous regions
(which m ay have different or identical prop
erties) separated by a closed surface S. An
impressed electromagnetic field E*, Hi gives
rise to an induced field; the induced field is
composed of a field reflected from the surface
and a field transmitted by the surface. The
induced field is the same as that produced by
electric and magnetic current-sheets on the
surface, of densities:
J n X H t,
M = Ei X n,
where n is the unit vector normal to the sur
face. This is a consequence of the Green
theorem applied to the Maxwell equations.
INDUCTIVE LOAD.
An electrical load
whose impedance has a positive imaginary
com ponent; i.e., it acts like a combination of
resistance and inductance, as contrasted with
resistance and capacitance. (C f.: capacitive
load.)
INDUCTIVE POST.
inductive.

See waveguide post,

INDUCTIVE W IN D O W .
window, inductive.

See

waveguide

INDUCTOMERIC EFFECT. A tim e-variable effect operating by the inductive mech

anism; i.e., a general displacement of elec
trons in a molecule under the influence of
electrical fields. (See also induction effect.)
INDUCTOMETER.
A variable inductor,
used for varying the inductance in a net
work, as in balancing a bridge. It usually
consists of two or more coils connected in
series, the adjustment being accomplished by
variation of their relative positions and hence
of their mutual inductance (s).
INDUCTOR. (1) A device the primary pur
pose of which is to introduce inductance into
an electric circuit or network. (2) A con
ductor or bundle of conductors on an electric
machine in which voltage is induced by the
cutting of lines of flux, e.g., the main con
ductors along the surface or in the slots o f
a generator armature.
INDUCTORS,
GROUND
EQUALIZER.
Coils of relatively low inductance, placed in
the circuit connected to one or more of the
grounding points of an antenna to distribute
the current to the various points in any de
sired manner.
INELASTIC COLLISION.
elastic; impact, plastic.

See collision, in

INEQUALITY. The notation a < b means:

a is less than 6, and the notation a > b
means: a is greater than b. The notation
a ^ b means: a is either less than or equal
to b ; similarly for a ^ b . The rules for op
erating with these relations, which are called
inequalities, are: (1) if a < 6, and b < c,
then a < c; (2) if a < 6, then (a + c) <
(6 + c ) ; (3) if a < b and c > 0, then <z-c
< b - c ; (4) if a < b and c < 0, then a -c >
b c. If the sense of the inequality is the same
for all values of the symbols for which its
members are defined, the inequality is called
an absolute or unconditional inequality. If
the sense of an inequality holds only for cer
tain values of the symbols involved, but is
reversed or destroyed for other values of the
symbols, the inequality is called a conditional
inequality. The sense of an inequality is not
changed if both members are increased or de
creased by the same number nor is it changed
if both members are multiplied, or divided,
by the same positive number. The sense of an

inequality is reversed if both members are

multiplied, or divided, by the same nega
tive number.
(See also Bessel inequality;
Schwartz inequality.)
INEQUALITY OF CLAUSIUS. The entropy
o f a system undergoing an irreversible cyclic
process tends to increase. This is one of the
statements of the Second Law of Therm ody
namics.
(See thermodynamics, second law
of.) It is equivalent to the statement that
the entropy of the universe tends toward a
maximum.
INEQUALITY THEOREMS, M ETHO D OF.
A technique for the X-ray analysis of crystal
structure in which use is made of certain fun
damental inequalities, which must be satis
fied by the structure factors, to estimate their
phases.
INERTANCE,
ACOUSTIC
MASS). See mass, acoustic.

(ACOUSTIC

INERTEEN. Trade name for an Askarel

(chlorinated-synthetic) paper capacitor im pregnant.
INERTIA.
A property manifested b y all
matter, representing the resistance to any al
teration in its state of motion. Mass is the
quantitative measure of inertia.
INERTIA ELLIPSOID. In rigid body ro
tations, it is convenient to consider the ellip
soid:
Ixx%2 + lyyV2 + IzzZ2
2Iy Zyz

2 Ixzxz = 1.

The reciprocal of the square of the radius

vector to any point on the surface of this
ellipsoid gives the moment of inertia for ro
tation about an axis through the origin and
pointing in the direction of the radius vec
tor. The principal axes of this ellipsoid are
the principal axes of the rigid body. If trans
formation to these principal axes is made, the
equation of the ellipsoid becomes
I \ X P2 +

12 V 2 +

I s zp2 =

INERTIAL FRAME. A frame of reference

or coordinate system attached to an inertial
system.
INERTIAL SYSTEM. See frame of reference,
inertial.
INERTIAL SYSTEM, THE PRIMARY. A
reference system of coordinates based on the
so-called fixed stars. (See, however, frame
of reference, inertial.)
INERTIA, MOMENTS AND PRODUCTS
OF. In the general case of the motion of a
particle or aggregate o f particles with respect
to a single fixed point, the angular momentum
can be written as having three components
with respect to a coordinate system based at
the fixed point.

Hx = 0>x2mi(yi2 + z,-2) cj)y'Zm,ixiyi

INERTANCE, SPECIFIC.
The coefficient
which, when multiplied by 2tt times the fre
quency, gives the positive imaginary part of
the specific acoustic impedance. (See imped
ance, specific acoustic.)

2I XyXy

(See also ellipsoid, momentum; inertia, mo

ments and products of.)

o)z2m,iXiZi
H y = wxZmiXiyi + Wy2mi(xi2 + z 2)
- u^rmyiZi

H%

o)y2iiTt%y%z^

+ cOgErriifxi2 + y 2)
where coXi o>y, wz = components of angular
velocity, rrti = mass of ith particle, #*, yi, z*
= coordinates of ith particle.
The terms 'Erriiiy2 + z*2), 'Zm i(x2 + z 2),
'Emi(x2 + y 2) are called moments of inertia
with respect to the x , y , and z axes, respec
tively, and are symbolized by I xxy I yy and I zz.
The terms XmiXiy'LmiXiZi, etc., are called
the products of inertia and are symbolized by
%xyi Ixzy etc.
For a continuous rigid body the summa
tions are replaced by integrals over the vol
ume of the body. In a rigid body, it is some
times easier to choose coordinate axes, called
moving axes, which are fixed in the body.
There always exists one set of such axes,
called principal axes, such that the products
of inertia vanish and the angular momentum
can be expressed in terms of the moments of
inertia alone. The moments of inertia with
respect to the principal axes are called the
principal moments of inertia and possess
either maximum or minimum values.
(See
inertia ellipsoid; rigid body.)

INERTIA TENSOR.
lar momentum.
INFINITE LINE.

See discussion of angu

See line, infinite.

INFORMATION RATE
(THROUGH A
CHANNEL, PER SYMBOL). See transinfor
mation, average.

INFINITESIMAL. A quantity which may

become smaller than any assigned number
and thus become zero in the limit.

INFORMATION RATE
(THROUGH A
CHANNEL, PER SECOND). The product
of the average transinformation (see trans
information, average) per symbol and the
average number of symbols per second.

INFLECTION, POINT OF. A point on a

curve, y = f ( x ) , where the second derivative,
d2y/dx2, changes sign. Geometrically, it is
the point at which a plane curve changes from
concavity toward a fixed line to convexity to
ward it.

INFORMATION RATE (FROM A SOURCE,

PER SECOND). The product of the average
information content (see information content,
average) per symbol and the average num
ber of symbols per second.

INFORMATION CONTENT (OF A MES

SAGE OR A SYMBOL FROM A SOURCE).
The negative of the logarithm of the proba
bility that this particular message or symbol
will be emitted from the source. The choice
of logarithmic base determines the unit of in
form ation content.
(See bit and hartley.)
The probability of a given message or symbol
being emitted m ay depend on one or more
preceding messages or symbols. The quan
tity has also been called self-inform ation.
INFORMATION
CONTENT, AVERAGE
(PER SYMBOL) (INFORMATION RATE
FROM A SOURCE, PER SYMBOL). The
average of the information content per sym
bol emitted from a source. The terms en
tropy and negentropy are sometimes used to
designate average information content.
INFORM ATION
CONTENT,
CONDI
TIONAL (OF A FIRST SYMBOL GIVEN A
SECOND SYMBOL). The negative of the
logarithm of the conditional probability of the
first sym bol, given the second symbol. The
choice o f logarithmic base determines the unit
of information content. (See bit and hartley.)
The conditional inform ation content of an in
put sym bol given an output symbol, averaged
over all input-output pairs, is the equivoca
tion.
The conditional information content
o f output symbols relative to input symbols,
averaged over all input-output pairs, has been
called spread, prevarication, irrelevance, etc.
INFORM ATION,
hartley and b it
INFORMATION,
formation.

MEASURE

MUTUAL.

OF.

See

See transin

INFORMATION RATE (FROM A SOURCE,

PER SYMBOL). See information content,
average.
INFORMATION THEORY. A mathematical
theory relating to the problems of the process
ing and transmission of information. Infor
mation is measured quantitatively in terms
o f equally likely yes or no decisions called
bits. A communication channel is charac
terized by a capacity measured in bits per
second. The capacity determines the maxi
mum rate at which the channel can convey
information. The central problem in infor
mation theory is that of finding methods o f
coding information which make for the most
efficient use of a channel.
INFORMATION
transinformation.

TRANSFERRED.

See

INFORMATION,
transinformation.

TRANSMITTED.

See

INFRA-BLACK REGION.
The blackerthan-black region of a television signal cor
responding to an illumination level below the
level created by the blanking signal.
INFRARED ABSORPTION. The absorption
of infrared radiation by crystals is due to the
excitation of lattice vibrations in which ions
o f opposite charge move relative to one
another (i.e., optical modes). Such vibra
tions occur in a relatively narrow band of fre
quencies, with a maximum at the Reststrahlen
wavelength.
INFRARED DETECTOR.
frared.

See detector, in

INFRARED
PHOTOGRAPHY.
Infraredsensitive films and plates may be divided into
two classes: (1) materials of relatively high

speed to the extreme red and infrared, i.e.,

from approximately 700 to 900 millimicrons,
and (2) materials sensitive to much longer
wavelengths but of lower sensitiveness. The
former are used for general photography, for
aerial photography and cinematography; the
latter for spectroscopy in the infrared and
other scientific applications requiring sensi
tivity to wavelengths longer than about 900
m/t. A ll infrared-sensitive materials are sen
sitive to violet and blue and to the extreme
visible red as well. For true infrared photo
graphs, a visually opaque filter transmitting
the infrared only must be used. N o filter,
however, is required when photographing hot
bodies such as an electric flatiron, hot cast
ings, or high-pressure boilers, provided these
show no visible glow. The limit of infrared
photography is presently (1960) about 1200
m 1 .
INFRARED PROBLEM.
Consequence of
quantum electrodynamics that, calculated to
the lpwest order, the cross-section for the
production of low-energy photons in the
double Compton effect and in bremsstrahlung
diverges logarithmically. The difficulty dis
appears when radiative corrections to the the
ory of this process are computed.
INFRARED RADIATION.
The band of
electromagnetic wavelengths lying between
the extreme of the visible (circa 0.75 microns)
and the shortest microwaves (circa 1000 m i
crons) .
Because many molecular-energy
levels correspond to radiation in this range,
infrared absorption spectra are of great use
in chemical analysis, particularly of organic
compounds. Since all bodies (not at absolute
zero) radiate in this range, infrared systems
are of increasing importance to the military,
since warm targets can be detected in the
dark by their own radiation as distinguished
from the necessity of illuminating a target to
make it visible. Infrared radiation is some
times called heat radiation because warm
bodies emit the radiation and bodies which
absorb the radiation are warmed.
The infrared region is sometimes subdi
vided as follow s:
Wavelength in
Microns
Near infrared___ Circa 0.75- 3.0
Middle infrared..
3 .0 -3 0 .0
Far infrared........
30.0 -circa 1000

INFRASONIC.

See frequency, infrasonic.

INHOMOGENEOUS.
mogeneous.

The opposite of ho

INHIBITING INPUT. A gate input which, if

in its prescribed state, prevents any output
which might otherwise occur.
INHIBIT PULSE.

See pulse, inhibit.

INHOUR. A measure of nuclear reactivity.

If zero reactivity is defined as that reactivity
which causes a nuclear reactor to operate
with constant power (infinite period), the re
activity in inhours is equal to the reciprocal
of the reactor period, provided it is long.
INHOUR (INVERSE HOUR) FORMULA
FOR NUCLEAR REACTORS. The inhour
formula is:

---------------b 52
3600k eff
i t i 1 + 3600X*
where pIh (in inhours) is the reactivity corre
sponding to a reactor period T (in seconds);
I is the mean lifetime of thermal neutrons in
the (finite) reactor; k eff is the multiplication
factor for the finite reactor; /2* is the fraction
of total neutrons corresponding to the ith de
layed neutron group, and Ai is the decay con
stant (in sec- 1 ) of the ith delayed neutron
group. Sometimes other formulas for reac
tivity are called the inhour formula.
INITIAL CONDITION.
problems.

See boundary value

INKOMETER. A device for measuring ad

hesion of liquids. The rotation of one drum
transmits a torque to another by virtue of
the liquid placed in contact with both, and
the magnitude of the torque is measured.
INNER PRODUCT. A distributive opera
tion defined on pairs of vectors or functions in
some space to yield a scalar, and such that
the result is real and non-negative when the
two vectors or functions are the same. In the
latter case it m ay be taken to represent the
squared length, and thus a metric is defined.
For ordinary vectors the inner product is
generally taken to be the ordinary scalar
product. In function space one first prescribes

a nondecreasing real function <r, and defines

the inner product of <j> and $ to be

IN PU T SIGNAL, L O O P.
input signal.
IN SCRIBER.

foilW = d<r.

(101 + <*202,

= ai(0i, iM+ 2 (^2, $)>

and
(0, M l +

== /^l(0, ^ l) + 02(0, ^ 2),

where 1, a2) Pi, P2 are scalars.

(See also

in n e r pro d u ct o f tensors; vector m u ltip li

cation.)
INNER PRODUCT OF TENSORS (TENSOR
FIELDS).
The tensor (see tensor field)
formed from the outer product of two tensors
b y setting a covariant index on one of the
tensors (see tensor, covariant) equal to a contravariant index (see tensor, contravariant)
on the other tensor and summing over the
range of values appropriate to the repeated
index in accordance with the summation con
vention. In Cartesian tensor analysis, the
Cartesian tensor (see tensor field, Cartesian)
formed from the outer product of two C ar
tesian tensors by setting a subscript on one of
the Cartesian tensors equal to a subscript on
the other and summing in accordance with the
summation convention.
INPUT ADM ITTANCE, TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameter t/i.

See

INPUT EQUIPMENT. The equipment used

for introducing inform ation into a computer.
INPUT
IM PEDANCE,
OPEN-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter ziy
etc.
INPUT IM PEDANCE, SHORT-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameters hi,
Zis, etc.
INPUT IM PEDANCE, TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameter h*.
INPUT, INHIBITING.

See

See inhibiting input.

INPUT RESISTANCE, STATIC VALUE,

SHORT-CIRCUIT. See transistor parameter
hi*
INPUT SET.

See transcriber, input.

IN SE RTIO N , D -C .

To say that the operation is distributive means

that

See information theory.

See feedback loop

See reinsertion, d-c.

IN SO LA T IO N . Solar radiation, as received

by the earth or other planets; also, the rate
of delivery of the same, per unit of horizontal
surface.
IN STA B ILITY . The condition under which a
variable quantity increases spontaneously or
oscillates with an amplitude that so increases.
For simple linear systems, in which the time
dependence can be expressed as ei(at, the sys
tem is stable when o> is real and unstable when
the coefficient of i in the imaginary part of <0
is less than zero. If the coefficient is greater
than zero, the system is overstable; when
co = 0, it is neutrally stable. (See stability;
corkscrew instability; heating instability; kink
instability; plasma instability. For a fuller
discussion, see R. von Mises, The Theory of
Flight, Chapter X I X (M cG raw -H ill, 1945).)
IN STA B ILITY C O N STA N T O F C O M P L E X
ION . See ion, instability constant of com
plex.
IN STAN TANEOU S R E C O R D IN G .
instantaneous.
IN STR U CTIO N .

A disk,

See code, instruction.

IN STR U C T IO N C O D E .
tion.

See code, instruc

IN STR U C TIO N , E X T R A C T . In a digital

computer, the instruction to form a new word
by juxtaposing selected segments of given
words.
IN STR U M E N T A PP R O A C H . The process of
making an approach to a landing by the use
of navigation instruments without direct vis
ual reference to the terrain.
IN STR U M E N T A P P R O A C H SYSTEM. In
navigation, a system furnishing guidance in
the vertical and horizontal planes to aircraft
during descent from an initial-approach alti
tude to a point near the ground. Completion
of a landing requires guidance to touchdown
by other means.
IN STR U M E N T
ment.

CODE.

See code, instru

IN STR U M E N T L A N D IN G SYSTEM. As a
general term, a system which provides, in the
aircraft, the lateral, longitudinal and vertical
guidance necessary for a landing.
IN STR U M E N T RE LA Y.
ment.
IN SU L A TIO N ,
insulation.

E L E C T R IC .

See

electric

IN SU L A TO R , M E T A L L IC . A shorted sec
tion of transmission line or waveguide an odd
number of quarter-wavelengths long.
The
section offers a very high impedance to a
waveguide, and m ay be employed as a me
chanical support.
A whole number.

IN T E G R A B L E SQUARE.
having the property that

/ f* (x )f(x )d x

1
C f(t)
dt
= I

Jnt z

See relay, instru

IN SU LA TO R , E L E C T R IC . A body of very
low conductivity used to support or separate
conductors without introducing an additional
path for electric current.

IN T E G E R .

then the function m ay be represented by the

Cauchy integral:

for any value of z inside the curve. The only

singularity of the integrand within the con
tour is the simple pole at t = z. (See also
calculus of residues.)
IN T E G R A L , C IR C U LA T O R Y .
line; circulation.

is integrable square (/* is the complex con

jugate of / ) .
IN T E G R A L . (1) An integer. (2) In calcu
lus, <j>ix) is an integral of f ( x ) if d<j>/dx =
f ( x ) . The process of finding an integral is
integration or the inverse of differentiation.
If C is any real number, then <f>(x) + C is
also an integral of f ( x ) 9 the integrand, and
C is a constant of integration. Thus, if one
integral exists, an infinite number of others
may be obtained by adding an arbitrary con
stant. These are called indefinite integrals
and indicated sym bolically as

See integral, loga

IN T E G R A L , D E F IN IT E (R IE M A N N ). (1)
The difference between values of an indefinite
integral for two given values of the independ
ent variable. The definite integral of f i x )
between the limits a and b is denoted by the
sym bol

A function / ( * )

< 00

See integral, line.

IN T E G R A L , C O N TO U R .
IN T E G R A L , C OSIN E.
rithmic.

See integral,

f(x )d x .

Its properties include

I f(x )d x = I f(x )d x ;
Ja
Jb
/%b
yc
/6
I f(x )d x = I f(x )d x + I f(x )d x .
Ja

Ja

* c

(See also differentiation under the integral

sign.)
(2)
The definite integral, in the Riemann
sense, is defined in terms of a limiting process.
Geometrically, I f(x )d x is the area between
Ja

the curve f ( x ), the x-axis, and the lines x = a

and x = b. It is given by
n

f(x )d x = 0 (x) + C.

Elimination of the constant by appropriate

means gives a definite integral. (3) See in
tegral line; circulation; integral, definite (Riemann); integral, Stieltjes.
INTEGRAL, CAUCHY. I f a function of the
complex variable, f ( z ) is analytic and single
valued inside and on a simple closed curve C,

Lim X l/O iK * -

z -i),

A xi*0 i = l

where the closed interval (a, b) has been

divided up into n non-overlapping subinter
vals of width Axi = Xi X i-i , and where
f(x i) is the value of f(x ) at some point in the
ith subinterval Ax. The Xi take on values
from Xo = a to x n = b. A function f(x ) is
integrable in the Riemann sense if: f(x ) is
bounded on (a, b) and if

Lim ^2 f(xi)A X i

and

Lim ^2f(X i)A X i

A xi>0 = 1

Ax*0 = 1

both exist and are equal. Here f(x i) and

f(x i) represent the upper and lower bonds of
fix ) in the interval (xi, x i _ i).

m e an value theorem for integrals; in te

gral, Lebesgue; integral, Stieltjes, etc.)
A n y integral of

the type
J f{x,'\ / R )dx}
where / is a rational function of its two ar
guments and R is a third or fourth degree
polynomial in x , with no repeated roots. They
m ay be reduced, by suitable change of vari
able, to a sum of elementary integrals and one
or more of the following types:
dt

Ui

V(1 - i2)(l

- I
*

k2t2)

dw

- I o V 1 k2 sin2 w
x
u2

jl -

= f

g(z)4>(x) = f ix ) + X f K{x,z)<j>iz)dz.
The known functions are g i x ), / ( # ) , and
K(XjZ), the latter being called the kernel or
nucleus. The limits of the integral, a and b,
are either known functions of x or constants
and A m ay be either an absolute constant or
a parameter. The unknown quantity, found
by solving the integral equation, is <j> as a
function of the independent variable z.
Special cases are Fredholm and Volterra
equations. Non-linear equations also occur.
I f one or both limits, or the kernel, become
infinite, the equation is singular. If f i x ) = 0,
the equation is homogeneous. General meth
ods for solving integral equations include the
Liouville-Neumann series, the Fredholm
method, the Schmidt-Hilbert method.
A differential equation, together with its
boundary conditions, m ay be formulated into
a single expression as an integral equation.
The resulting functions are particularly use
ful in eigenvalue or Sturm-Liouville equa
tions, which frequently occur in mathematical
problems. (See also Abel integral equation.)
INTEGRAL, EXPONENTIAL.
logarithmic.

k2t
dt

J0 V

INTEGRAL EQUATION. The general lin

ear equation, said to be of the third kind, is

The value of

the definite integral I f(x )d x is given by

'a
F (b) F(a)j where F ix) is the indefinite
integral of fix ) (see integral (2)). (See also

IN T EGRA L, E L L IP T IC .

cause they were first studied in order to de

termine the circumference of the ellipse.

1 - t 2

INTEGRAL, IMPROPER.
x a, the integral

us

I f / ( ) - > oo as

y/\ k2 sin2 w dw;

f
pX

See integral,

J 0 (t2 a )V (1 -

f(x)dx,

"a

dt

defined by
t2)( 1 -

k2t2)
f f(x )d x = lim i* fix )d x ; 8 > 0
'a
50 'a-fS

dw

- l o (sin2 w a) y / l k2 sin2 w
These are incom plete elliptic integrals of the
first, second, third kind, respectively. When
expressed in terms of t = sin w> they are
Legendres normal forms. The constant k
(0 < k 2 < 1) is the modulus and a is an arbi
trary constant. I f < = tt/2, the integrals are
called com plete.
Series evaluation of the elliptic integrals
may be made and numerical tables for them
are available. They are called elliptic be

is an improper integral. Integrals of this kind

are said to be convergent.
Similarly, if
fix ) * oo as x b:

pb

pb5

I f(x )d x =
'a

If fix )
and b:

'a

f(x )d x ;

8 > 0.

50 'a

oo as x * c, where c is between a

*%b
I

lim I

*%c8

fix )d x lim I
5>0

r%b

fix )d x + lim I
t
0

fix )d x .

These improper integrals are also called con

functions

<j>i

and

<2,

and

the

Lebesgue-

vergent.
I f(x)d(j>(x) is defined as

Stieltjes integral
INTEGRAL, INFINITE. If f ( x ) is contin
uous for x ^ a and if the definite integral

Ja

f f(x )d fa (x ) * a

If

f(x )d fa (x ).

F(S)

as

Ja

f f(x )d x
Ja

defined above is summable on [0(a), <t>(b)],

i(x ) is summable on [a, 6], and

approaches a limit as t * oo, this limit is de

noted by

<t>(x) = f 6{x)dx

f f(x )d x

'a

for some summable function 0(z), then

Ja

and called an in fin ite integral.

J f*b

s%b
j{x )6 (x )d x = I f(x)d<j>(x),

The integral
a

f(x )d x

the former being a Lebesgue integral.

J GO

is defined in a similar way and

/0
/fl
/^
I f(x )d x = I f(x )d x + I f(x)d x.
oo

oo

** a

'a

INTEGRAL, LEBESGUE. A more general

form of the definite integral than that of R iemann (see integral, definite (Riemann)). A
function which has a Riemann integral neces
sarily has a Lebesgue integral, but not con
versely.
(For further detail, see M a th e
matics D iction ary, second edition, D. Van
Nostrand, 1959.)
INTEGRAL, LEBESGUE-STIELTJES. Let
a summable fu n ction /(# ) and a monotonically
increasing function (>(x) be defined on an inter
val [a, b]. Define F() for (>(a) < < <j>(b) b y
the relations: (1) F() = f(x ) if there is a
point x such that =
(2) if 0 ^ <!>(%)
for any x y then it follows that there is a unique
point of discontinuity x 0 of <>0*0 such that

INTEGRAL, LINE. Given a vector function

of position \ ( x }y ,z ), which is defined for all
points on a curve such as A -B in the figure,
one m ay replace the curve approximately by
a series of equal, directed chords AiS, A2S,
AnS. The magnitude and direction of the
vector V may then be determined at some
point in each segment of the curve. The sum
of the scalar products:
n

V yA A
i= l
can then be obtained.
defined as

The line integral is

n

I
**A

V -d S = Lim

Yj-AjS.

71>00 j = l

The usefulness of the line integral will be im

mediately recognized if a special case is con
sidered. Suppose that V is the force acting

<p(x0 0) < o < <t>(%o + 0)

and F(%o) is defined as /( x 0). If the Lebesgue
/.*(&)
integral I
F()d exists, its value is de<Ma)
fined to be the Lebesgue-Stieltjes integral of
f (x ) with respect to <t>(x), written

f(x)d<t>(x).

'a
If 4>(x) is of bounded variation, it is the
difference fa fa of monotonie increasing

on a particle in a field of force. Then the line

integral is just the work done on the particle

as it moves from A to B under the action of

the force.
W hen the line integral is taken over a closed
path, or contour, starting and ending at the
same point, it is usually denoted as

fy-d S

or

IN T E G R A L O P E R A TO R . An operator L in
volving integrals, usually of some such form as

j)VdS,

and is sometimes called a contour integral or

a circulatory integral.
The choice of the direction in which dS
shall be counted as positive is a matter of con
vention, but cases arise (e.g., in connection
with Stokes theorem ) when consistency of
convention must be assured. The magnitude
of the integral is related b y Stokes theorem
to the integral of V X V (curl V) over any
surface bounded b y the path.
In the particular case in which V is the
gradient of a p o te n tia l <t>,

// AA'
J

IN T E G R A L , M U LT IPL E . An expression re
quiring more than one integration in order to
find the integral. (See integral, surface and
integral, volum e.)

Y -d S <I>b ~ <t>Ay

L f(x ) =

f(x)K (x,8 )d s,

Ja
in several variables, where the function K (x ,s )
is called the kernel of the operator.
IN T E G R A L , PA R TIC U LA R . An integral in
which the constant o f integration has been
assigned some special value. The term usu
ally refers to an integral found as the solu
tion of a differential equation.
IN T E G R A L , RIEM AN N-STIELTJES.
Let
a = xOf Xij X2 , , x n = be a subdivision of
the interval [a, b] and let
sn = max |Xi x%_\| ( = 1, 2, * , n).

i.e., to the difference of potential between B

and A . Over a closed contour, then,

Let f(x ) and () be bounded real-valued

fu n c tio n s defined on [a, b] and
n

Y -d S = 0

Sn = 2 /(& )[< K s i)
=1

and the field of V is described as irrotational.

IN T E G R A L , L O G A R IT H M IC .
integral

The definite

dt
li(z)

J q In t

If z = ex, the function is also called the ex

ponential integral
iir
E i (ix) = Ci (x) + i Si (x) + *

where Ci (x), Si (x) are the improper integrals

called the cosine integral and sine integral,
respectively:

J - cos t

where & are arbitrary numbers satisfying

Xi- 1 <
< Xi. If lim Sn exists as n becomes
infinite in such a way that sn approaches
zero, and if the limit is independent of the
choice of & and of the manner of the
successive subdivisions, then this limit is the
Riemann-Stieltjes integral of f(x ) with respect
to ()} written

I
I f I f(x)d<l>(x) exists, then I <i>{x)df{x) exists
Ja

and

J f(x)d<f>(x) + j

------ dt
t

i)],

4>(x)dj(x)

x (1 cos t)dt
= + IniX
:

'

C* sin t
J , - sin t
dt9
dt = - - I
t
2
Jx
t

Jx

and is the Euler-M ascheroni constant.

= /) If f(x ) is bounded on [a, b] and () is of

bounded variation on [a, b], then

n.

exists if, and only if, the total variation of

<(x) over the set of points of discontinuity of
f ix ) is zero (i.e., the set of all points <j>(x)
on the interval [0(a), <t>(b)] for which / is dis
continuous at x is of measure zero, <j>(x) being
taken as the interval between <l>(x 0) and
<j>(x + 0) if <j> is discontinuous at x).
INTEGRAL, SINE. See integral, logarithmic.
INTEGRAL, STIELTJES.
mann-Stieltjes.

See integral, Rie-

INTEGRAL, SURFACE.
T o integrate a
function f (x ,y ) over a given surface in the
X O F -p la n e, the methods of calculus show
that the result is a definite double integral,
usually called the surface integral
ndi /02
I
I f(x,y)d xd y,
'i hi
where the limits of the integration are chosen
so that the entire surface S is covered. Vector
methods are useful for discussing such inte
grals, for the surface element dS may be treated
as a vector, dS = dx X dy. If <t>, V are scalar,
vector functions, respectively, there are three
possible surface integrals:
(l)f* d S ;

Js

(2 ) f v - d S ;

Js

(3) f V X dS,

Js

which give a vector, a scalar, a vector. It is

convenient to write only one integral sign, in
general, and to understand by the symbol S
that the limits of integration are suitably
chosen.
In case (2 ), if V is the product of density
and velocity of a fluid (or electric, magnetic,
gravitational force; heat, etc.), the integral is
the flux of V through the surface. (See also
area.)
INTEGRAL TRANSFORM.

See transform.

INTEGRAL, VOLUM E. In elementary cal

culus the idea of a surface integral is extended
to treat the case of the volume of a solid. I f
the bounding surface of the solid is given by
f (x ,y ,z ) , then the volume is the definite triple
integral:

if f

dxdydz,

where the limits of integration are chosen as

required in each case. In vector notation, the

element of volume dr = dxdydz is a scalar.

There are thus two possible volume integrals:

(i)

(2 )JT Ydr,

where <f> is a scalar and V, a vector. The in

tegrals are, respectively, a scalar and a vector.
As is frequently the custom, only one integral
sign is used and the symbol r as a reminder
that the integration is triple and that appro
priate limits of integration are to be supplied.
(See also volume.)
INTEGRATED X-RAY REFLECTION. A
measure of the intensity of the beam of X-rays
reflected by a given atomic plane, obtained
by rotating the crystal through a small angle
about the general direction of the beam, and
averaging the intensity. This is necessary
because the beam is never quite sharply de
fined, owing to mosaic structure in the crystal.
It is usually written:
p =

Eoo/I,

where E is the total reflected energy, co the

angular velocity of rotation, and I the total
incident radiation energy per second.
INTEGRATING FACTOR.
A
quantity
which converts a differential equation into
an exact differential. The equation is then
integrable by quadrature.
INTEGRATING METERS.
The ordinary
electric service meter measures the total elec
tric energy used over a period of time. It is
in principle much like a wattmeter, except
that the movable coil is replaced by a motor
armature rotating against a magnetic damp
ing arrangement. The speed of revolution is
proportional to the torque, which, in turn, is
proportional to the product of current and
electromotive force. The total revolution of
the armature is recorded on dials by pointers
suitably geared to the armature shaft. Since
angle = revolution speed X time, the reading
of the dial is proportional to current X elec
tromotive force X time, that is, to amperes X
volts X hours or watt-hours. Other integrat
ing meters m ay record such quantities as total
charge
id ,

or total change in m a g n e tic flu x d e n s ity

J (dB/dt)dt.
(See also integrator.)
INTEGRATING
PHOTOMETERS.
The
usual types of photometer give the luminous
intensity of a source as viewed from one direc
tion only. A still more significant quantity
is the mean spherical candle pow er, that is,
the average luminous intensity from all direc
tions. T o obtain such averages, some type
of integrating photometer is used. The most
common device at present is the sphere or
globe photometer. This has a large hollow
globe, painted white inside with barium sul
fate paint. The lamp is mounted at any con
venient point inside, and the resulting diffuse
illumination of a transparent screen covering
an opening in one side is measured by a pho
tometer. (The screen must be protected from
the direct rays of the lamp.) It was shown
by Sumptner that under these conditions, the
illumination on the screen is proportional to
the mean spherical candle power, and is inde
pendent of the orientation or the position of
the lamp.

It frequently happens that a given function

is not integrable directly but a solution may
be found by this method. For a definite in
tegral the formula may be written:

f(x)d g (x) = [J(x)g(x)]a -

r6

I g(x)d/(x).

INTEGRATION, GRAPHICAL.
ical integration.

See graph

INTEGRATION, VIDEO.
A method of
utilizing the redundancy of repetitive signals
to improve the output signal-to-noise ratio, by
summing the successive video signals.
INTEGRATOR. A device whose output is
proportional to the integral of an input signal.
In electronic computers, an integrator is:
(1) A device whose output is proportional to
the integral of an input signal. (2) In cer
tain digital machines, a device for numerically
accomplishing an approximation to the mathe
matical process of integration.
INTEGRATOR, CAPACITOR.
A
which makes use o f the relationship:

device

INTEGRATION. The process of finding an

integral, thus the process inverse to differen
tiation. I f the integrand is simple in form,
the integral m ay be solved by remembering
what function would give the integrand by
differentiation. In most cases, the integrand
must be converted into one or more such ele
mentary integrals by various means. These
include: integration by parts; substitution of
a new variable; conversion into partial frac
tions; use of reduction formulas. Collected
results of this kind are found in tables of
integrals.
If these devices fail, other possibilities in
clude: graphical and numerical integration,
series integration.
(See also quadrature;
cubature.)

found in a capacitor. A current proportional

to the function to be integrated is fed into
the capacitor, and the capacitor voltage is
read as being the desired integral.

INTEGRATION BY PARTS. If u and v are

functions of a single independent variable,
differentiation of their product gives d {u v) =
UdV + vdu. The inverse formula is that for
integration by parts

INTELLIGIBILITY, DISCRETE W ORD.

The per cent intelligibility (see articulation)
obtained when the speech units considered are
words (usually presented so as to minimize
the contextual relation between them ).

INTEGRATOR, MILLER. A capacitor in

tegrator utilizing capacitance produced by the
Miller effect.
INTELLIGENCE
BAN DW IDTH .
bandwidth, intelligence.
INTELLIGIBILITY.

See

See articulation.

INTELLIGIBILITY,
DISCRETE
SEN
TENCE. The per cent intelligibility (see
articulation) obtained when the speech units
considered are sentences (usually of simple
form and content).

INTENSIFICATION. A process for increas

ing the density and contrast of a photographic

image by depositing thereon silver, or a com

pound of mercury, copper, lead, uranium, or
other metal.
Intensification m ay also be
effected by mordanting dyes to the image, but
this method is not in general use.
INTENSIFIER ELECTRODE.
An elec
trode in a cathode-ray tube, otherwise known
as Anode No. 3, which imparts additional
kinetic energy to the electron stream after de
flection. This post-acceleration results in an
increase in light intensity without a large de
crease in deflection sensitivity.
INTENSIFYING SCREEN.
A fluorescent
screen or layer placed in close contact with a
photographic plate used in x-ray or ultra
violet work, the fluorescent light from which
adds its effect to that of the invisible rays in
producing an image on the plate.
INTENSITOMETER. A device for deter
mining relative x-ray intensities during radi
ography, in order to control exposure time.
INTENSITY
brightness.

CONTROL.

See

control,

INTENSITY DIFFERENCE, M INIM UM

PERCEPTIBLE. For any given frequency,
the minimum difference in intensity of two
sounds that can be distinguished by the hu
man ear. (See difference limen.)
INTENSITY, ELECTRIC.
and field, electric.
INTENSITY LEVEL.
level.

See field strength;

See sound intensity

INTENSITY, LUMINOUS.
tensity.

See luminous in

INTENSITY M ETHO D OF MEASURING

TOTAL ABSORPTIVITY. A method, due to
Knudsen, of measuring the total absorptivity
(see sound absorption coefficient) of a room,
in which the maximum steady state energy
density is measured before and after the addi
tion of a known amount of absorption. The
total absorptivity a can then be determined by
the relation:
a'
a = ---------------
Emax
^
77F/
max

where E rmax is the maximum steady state en

ergy density after a! units of absorption have
been added.
INTENSITY OF A SOURCE OF PARTI
CLES. The total number of particles emitted
per unit area per unit time.
INTENSITY OF A SPHERICAL SOUND
W A VE , FORMULA FOR. The intensity of
a spherical sound wave in a dissipative ho
mogeneous, isotropic medium is given by
p e-ar
/ =

W ~

where I = intensity in ergs/cm 2-sec, P =

power output of source in ergs/sec, r = dis
tance from source in cm, a = amplitude ab
sorption coefficient in nepers/cm.
INTENSITY OF MAGNETIZATION.
induction, intrinsic.

See

INTENSITY OF RADIATION. The energy

or the number of photons or of particles, flow
ing through unit area per unit time. For
parallel radiation, the area refers to a sur
face normal to the direction of propagation.
INTENSITY OF RADIOACTIVITY.
The
number of atoms disintegrating per unit time,
or derivatively, the number of scintillations
or other effects (roentgens per hour at one
meter) observed per unit time.
INTENSITY, RADIANT (OF A SOURCE).
The rate of transfer of radiant energy (see
energy, radiant) per unit solid angle.
INTENSIVE PROPERTY. A property that
is independent of the mass of a system, for ex
ample pressure, temperature, specific volume,
chemical potential. (See also extensive prop
erty and thermodynamic property.)
INTENSIVE QUANTITY. A quantity that
is independent of the mass of a system, for
example pressure, temperature, specific vol
ume, chemical potential. (See also extensive
quantity.)
INTERACTION.
Whenever two or more
bodies exert mutual forces on one another,
they are said to interact. The term interac
tion is often used loosely for the force of inter
action, i.e., the mutual force exerted by one
body on another. (See the various types of

interaction and also the various entries under

coupling.)
INTERACTION, AXIAL
beta decay theory.
INTERACTION, BETA.
ory.

VECTOR.

See

See beta decay the-

INTERACTION CIRCUIT PHASE VELOC

ITY. See phase velocity, interaction circuit.
INTERACTION CIRCUIT, TRAVELINGW A V E TUBE. See tube, traveling-wave, in
teraction circuit.
INTERACTION, COULOMB (OR ELEC
TROSTATIC). That part of the total inter
action between two charged particles that is
due to the Coulomb force between them. (See
Coulomb field.)
INTERACTION CROSS SECTION.
The
interaction cross section is given by a = 1/nX,
where n is the number of nuclei per unit vol
ume and X is the interaction mean free path.
INTERACTION ENERGY. The energy of
interaction is the work that must be done
against the force (s) of interaction to estab
lish a physical system, referred to infinity as
an origin.
INTERACTION,
change force.

EXCHANGE.

INTERACTION, FERMI.
Fermi interaction.

See

See

universal

INTERACTION, GAMOW -TELLER.

beta decay theory.
INTERACTION GAP.

ex

See

See gap, interaction.

INTERACTION
HAM ILTONIAN.
Hamiltonian, interaction.

See

INTERACTION IMPEDANCE.
ance, interaction.

See imped

INTERACTION, MAJORANA.
rana force.

See Majo-

INTERACTION, MANY BODY.

body force.

See many-

INTERACTION MEAN FREE PATH. The

average distance which a given particle
travels before experiencing an interaction with
another particle.

INTERACTION,
NEUTRON-ELECTRON.
A weak attractive force exists between the
neutron and the electron. Such an interac
tion m ay result from the partial dissociation
of a neutron into a proton and a negative
pion; intranuclear forces.
INTERACTION, NEUTRON-PROTON. See
neutron-proton exchange forces; nuclear
forces.
INTERACTION, NUCLEAR.
forces; intranuclear forces.

See nuclear

INTERACTION POTENTIAL. The poten

tial due to a force of interaction.
INTERACTION, PROTON-PROTON.
nuclear forces; intranuclear forces.

See

INTERACTION, PSEUDOSCALAR.
beta decay theory.

See

INTERACTION REPRESENTATION. R ep
resentation of the equations of motion, espe
cially in quantized field theory, where the
time dependence is carried partly by the state
vector and partly by the operators.
(See
representation theory, quantum mechanical;
Heisenberg representation.)
INTERACTION, SCALAR.
theory.

See beta decay

INTERACTION, SELF.
In the quantum
theory of fields, the elementary particles are
thought of as continually emitting and reab
sorbing the field quanta (see virtual quanta;
field theory, quantized). For example, an
electron is surrounded by a cloud of virtual
photons, which it is emitting and reabsorb
ing. In addition to accounting for the Cou
lomb interaction between charged particles,
there is a self-interaction between the elec
tron and the virtual photon that it emits and
reabsorbs. This leads to slight changes in the
rest mass, charge and magnetic moment of
electron (see renormalization of mass; self
charge; anomalous magnetic moment). Simi
lar self-interactions occur due to the virtual
meson cloud surrounding protons and neu
trons.
INTERACTION SPACE. A region of an
electron tube in which electrons interact with
an alternating electromagnetic field.
INTERACTION, SPIN-LATTICE. Due to
the random thermal motion of the nuclei and

electrons in a solid, there are generated fluc

tuating charges which in turn produce fluctu
ating magnetic fields. These fluctuating mag
netic fields can interact with the magnetic
moments associated with the spin of the par
ticles and cause changes in spin orientations.
INTERACTION, SPIN-ORBIT. The coupling
between the orbital and spin angular mo
menta (see coupling, spin-orbit) and the re
sulting energy of interaction between the or
bital and spin magnetic dipole moments. (See
coupling, Russell-Saunders and coupling, j-j.)
INTERACTION, SPIN-SPIN. The coupling
between spins (see coupling, Russell-Saun
ders) and the resulting energy of interaction
between the magnetic dipole moments asso
ciated with spin. (See Heisenberg theory of
ferromagnetism.)
IN T E R A C T IO N STREN G TH .
constant.
IN T E R A C T IO N , TEN SOR.
beta decay theory.
IN T E R A C T IO N ,
body force.

TW O

See coupling

See tensor force;

B ODY.

See

IN T E R A C T IO N , U N IV E R SAL F E R M I.
beta decay theory.
IN T E R A C T IO N , V E C T O R .
theory.
IN T E R A C T IO N ,
forces.

YU KAW A.

two-

See

See beta decay

See

nuclear

IN T E R C H A N G E . The mixing of tracer and

added isotopic carrier such that the two par
ticipate to the same degree in any reaction,
showing that mixing has occurred in whatever
chemical forms the tracer may have originally
been distributed.
IN T E R C H A N G E IN STA B ILITY . A hydromagnetic instability which consists of an inter
change of the magnetic lines of force which
carry the plasma particles with them.
IN T E R C O M M U N IC A T IN G
SYSTEMS.
Loudspeaking telephones for use in communi
cating between two rooms. The simplest sys
tems consist of a master unit amplifier,
microphone, loudspeaker, and a talk-listen
switch and a remote unit microphone, loud
speaker and a talk-listen switch.

IN T E R F A C E . A surface which forms the

boundary between two phases or systems.
IN T E R F A C E C A PA C ITA N C E .
tance, cathode interface.
IN T E R F A C E RESISTAN CE.
cathode interface.

See capaci

See resistance,

IN T E R F A C IA L SU RFACE ENERGY. The

work required to increase an interface be
tween two immiscible or partly miscible
liquids by 1 cm2.
IN T E R F A C IA L TEN SION . The contractile
force of an interface between two liquids, re
sulting from their surface tensions, and the
attraction between the molecules of the two
liquids. It is com monly determined by meas
uring the interfacial surface energy.
IN T E R F E R E N C E .
(1) The variation of
wave amplitude with distance or time, caused
by the superposition of two or more waves.
As most com m only used, the term refers to
the interference of waves of the same or nearly
the same frequency. W ave interference is
characterized by the phenomenon of the oc
currence of local maxima and minima of wave
amplitude, which cannot be described by the
ray approximation to solutions of the wave
equation. In terms of the Huygens approxi
mation, interference can occur whenever wave
disturbance can be propagated from a source
to a region of space by two or more paths of
different length. This is destructive inter
ference if the phases and amplitudes of the
disturbances arriving by the various routes
are such as to reduce the square of the re
sultant amplitude below the sum of the
squares of the amplitudes of the components.
Constructive interference occurs if the phases
and amplitudes are such as to increase the
square of the resultant amplitude above that
of the sum of the square o f the component
amplitudes. T w o or more sources may only
be used if there is a fixed phase-relation be
tween them (coherent radiation). (2) Sound
interference results when the waves concerned
are sound waves. (3) Optical interference oc
curs with light waves. Thus, a beam of radia
tion m ay be separated into two parts, follow
different paths and then brought back to form
a single beam. Unless the two paths are of
identical optical length, the two beams may
not be in phase, and can destructively inter

fere at some points (dark) and constructively

interfere at other points (bright). From the
principle of conservation of energy, it is
known that there is not a loss in energy due
to interference. The energy missing at dark
points will be found in the bright points.
Interference patterns are com monly light and
dark bands, all of equal width. Light beams
which can cause interference patterns are
called coherent} while beams which cannot
cause interference patterns are incoherent.
(4) Interference effects are also observed with
other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
such as radio waves and x-rays. (5) Inter
ference effects in matter waves account for
the phenomena of electron and neutron d if
fraction as well as being important in many
problems of wave mechanics.

INTERFERENCE, INTERMODULATION.
Interference in superheterodyne receivers
caused by the intermodulation of two unde
sired signals having frequencies which differ
by an amount equal to the intermediate fre
quency. The intermodulation may occur in
the radio frequency amplifier, the mixer or
both.

INTERFERENCE, ADJACENT-CHANNEL.
Interference in which the extraneous power
originates from a signal of assigned (author
ized) type in an adjacent channel.

INTERFERENCE, RADIO. A ny noise which

interferes with the reception of a desired sig
nal.

INTERFERENCE M AXIM A AND MINIMA.

See interference (3).
INTERFERENCE OF POLARIZED LIGHT.
See Fresnel-Aragon, law(s) of.
INTERFERENCE, OPTICAL.
ence (3).

See interfer

INTERFERENCE, ORDER OF.

of interference.

See order

IN T E R F E R E N C E ,
A T M O S P H E R IC
(SPHERICS). The interference in caused
radio reception by natural electric disturb
ances in the atmosphere.

INTERFERENCE,
SECOND - CHANNEL.
Interference, in which the extraneous power
originates from a signal of assigned (author
ized) type in a channel two channels removed
from the desired channel.

INTERFERENCE, CO-CHANNEL.
Inter
ference between two signals of the same type
in the same radio channel.

INTERFERENCE THRESHOLD. A meas

ure of the signal-to-noise requirement for vir
tually error-free transmission and reception.

INTERFERENCE ELIMINATOR. An in
terference filter. (See filter, interference.)

INTERFERENCE,
ence.

INTERFERENCE FILTER.
ference.

See filter, inter

INTERFERENCE FRINGES.
ence (3).
INTERFERENCE GUARD
bands, interference guard.

See interfer

BANDS.

See

INTERFERENCE, IMAGE. The reception

of a station by a superheterodyne receiver at
a dial setting differing from the frequency of
the station by twice the intermediate fre
quency. This effect is due to the fact that
there are two frequencies which may beat with
a given oscillator frequency to produce the
correct intermediate frequency. Properly de
signed equipment attenuates one of these sig
nals (it m ay be either the high or low fre
quency signal) well below audibility.
(See
heterodyne and receiver.)

WAVE.

See

interfer

INTERFEROMETER, ACOUSTIC. A de
vice for measuring velocity and absorption of
sonic or ultrasonic waves in a gas or liquid.
The waves are established by a vibrating
quartz crystal, and the absorption or lack
thereof is measured by observing the strength
of the pattern of standing-waves, established
in the medium between the sound source and
a reflector, as the latter is moved, or the fre
quency is varied. The separation of peaks in
the standing wave pattern provides inform a
tion for determining the wavelength and this
m ay be combined with the known frequency
to yield the speed at which the waves travel.
INTERFEROMETER, OPTICAL. A ny ar
rangement whereby a beam of light from a
large, luminous area (as a sodium flame) is
separated into two or more parts by partial
reflections, the parts being subsequently re
united after traversing different optical paths.

The two components then produce interfer

ence. The best known instrument is that of
M ichelson, shown diagrammatically in the ac
com panying figure. The original beam a is

fore, that the properties of strong electrolytes

depart from those calculated under the Ar
rhenius ionic theory is not solely attributable
to incomplete ionization, but involves the
electrostatic attractions between ions of op
posite charge, and the repulsions between ions
of like charge. In solution, each positive ion
is surrounded, on the average, with an ionic
atmosphere o f negative ions, and vice versa.
(See also theory of electrolytes.)
INTERLACE. See frequency interlace; scan
ning, interlaced.
INTERLACED SCANNING.
interlaced.

Diagram of Michelson interferometer.

separated at the surface A M of a glass plate,

part of it (1,1') going to a mirror M i and part
(2,2') going on through a second, exactly sim
ilar plate B to the mirror M 2. They reunite
at A M and are observed together at E. One
of the mirrors, M i, is mounted on a m icrom
eter screw so that its distance from A M can
be varied, the phase difference of the reunited
beams thereupon passing through a series of
cycles. I f M i or M 2 is not quite perpendicular
to the beam reflected by it, the field at E is
crossed by interference fringes, which move
across the field as the mirror M i is moved.
Each complete cycle corresponds to a dis
placement of M i equal to a half-wavelength.
The Fabry and Perot interferometer is some
what simpler in design, but utilizes multiple
reflection and produces very sharp fringes
(high resolving pow er). For a discussion of
other interferometers, see Robertson, In tro
duction to Optics, 3rd ed. (1941), D . Van N os
trand Com pany, Inc., Princeton.
Interferometers are used for precise meas
urements of wavelength, for the measurement
o f very small distances and thicknesses by
using known wavelengths, for the detailed
study of the hyperfine structure of spectrum
lines, for the precise determination of refrac
tive indices, and, in astrophysics, for the
measurement of double-star separations and
the diameters of very large stars.
INTERGROW TH.

See overgrowth.

INTERIONIC
ATTRACTION
THEORY.
Even in concentrated solutions, there is a
high degree of ionization. The reason, there

See scanning,

INTERLACE, PROGRESSIVE. A system of

interlace in which all odd lines are scanned
in one field, and all even lines are scanned
in the next field. The standard television
transmission in the United States employs
this system.
INTERM EDIATE FREQUENCY (IF). The
frequency in superheterodyne reception re
sulting from a frequency conversion before
demodulation.
INTERM EDIATE - FREQUENCY - HAR
M ONIC INTERFERENCE. In superhetero
dyne receivers, interference due to radio-fre
quency circuit acceptance of harmonics of an
intermediate-frequency signal.
INTERM EDIATE - FREQUENCY INTER
FERENCE RATIO.
See intermediate-frequency response ratio.
IN T E R M E D I A T E - F R E Q U E N C Y R E
SPONSE RATIO. The ratio of (1) the field
strength at a specified frequency in the in
termediate frequency band to (2) the field
strength at the desired frequency, each field
being applied in turn, under specified condi
tions, to produce equal outputs.
INTERM EDIATE STATE. (1) The state of
a superconducting material in an external
magnetic field approaching the critical field.
From the Meissner effect, magnetic flux be
comes concentrated in certain regions, which
become normal; the flux redistributes itself
in such a way that the whole system has mini
mum free energy, the result being usually a
com plicated, fine-grained domain structure of
alternately normal and superconducting re
gions.
(2) In the transition of a quantum

mechanical system from an initial state to a

final state, the system m ay pass through
intermediate states. For example, in a /?decay process, the daughter nucleus m ay be
left in an excited state from which it decays
to the final, ground state.
INTERM EDIATE SUBCARRIER.
carrier, intermediate.

See sub

INTERM ETALLIC COMPOUND. In cer

tain alloy systems distinct phases occur where
the constituent atoms are in fixed integral
ratios, e.g., CuZn (/?-brass). Such a com
pound is held together by metallic bonds
and m ay form a very com plicated crystal
structure. The constitution of such an alloy
is often governed by the Hume-Rothery rules.
In some cases, if the electron concentration is
such as to just fill a band, the material may
even be semiconducting (e.g., InA s).
INTERM ITTENCY EFFECT. The depar
ture from the reciprocity law when the expo
sure of a photographic emulsion is made in a
series of discrete installments rather than in a
continuous exposure to the same total energy.
INTERM ODULATION. The modulation of
the components of a com plex wave by each
other as a result of which waves are produced
which have frequencies equal to the sums and
differences of integral multiples of those of
the components of the original, complex wave.
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. An
engine in which combustion of a fuel takes
place within the cylinder, and the products of
combustion form the working medium during
the power stroke.
INTERNAL CONVERSION. The emission
of an electron called a conversion electron in
the de-excitation of a nucleus by direct cou
pling between the excited nucleus and an extranuclear electron, com m only from the i-,
L - or ilf-shell.
Kinetic energy, equal in
amount to the difference between the transi
tion energy and the emitted electrons bind
ing energy, is possessed by the electron. The
direct emission of the excitation energy in the
form of a gamma ray photon is a competing
process. The internal conversion is followed
by emission of Auger electrons or character
istic x-rays (see x-rays, characteristic) in
consequence of the necessary rearrangement

o f the atomic electrons.

transition.)

(See radiationless

INTERNAL
CONVERSION
COEFFI
CIENT. (1) The ratio of the probability of
an internal conversion transition to the prob
ability of a gamma-ray transition between the
same two nuclear states. This coefficient has
different values for the ejection of electrons
from the K , L, etc., shells, and the total in
ternal conversion coefficient is the sum of the
K , L, etc., conversion coefficients. (2) For
merly, the internal conversion coefficient was
defined as the probability that a conversion
electron rather than a y-ray photon would
be emitted.
INTERNAL ENERGY. The energy ascribed
to a given state of a system, which is deter
mined only by the state itself not including
the kinetic energy of bulk motion or poten
tial energy in external force fields. B y ther
modynamics, the change in the internal en
ergy when the system goes adiabatically
from one state to another is equal to the ex
ternal work performed in bringing about the
change. On a molecular scale, the internal
energy is the sum of the kinetic energy of the
thermal motion of the molecules and the sum
o f their potential energies in each others fields
o f force. B y the first law of thermodynamics,
the change of internal energy in any process
is equal to the difference of the heat gained
and the external work done. The symbol XJ
norm ally is used for internal energy; however,
E is also in general use.
INTERNAL FRICTION. (1) The damping
of elastic vibrations of a solid, i.e., anelasticity. (2) For internal friction o f a liquid, see
viscosity.
INTERNAL ROTATION, RESTRICTED.
See restricted internal rotation.
INTERNAL STANDARD LINE. A spec
tral line of an internal standard, with refer
ence to which the radiant power of an ana
lytical line is measured.
INTERNAL TRANSMITTANCE.
mittance.

See trans

INTERNATIONAL. W hen used before the

name of an electrical unit, the term Interna
tional indicates the unit accepted by the In
ternational Conference held in London 1908

and used as a legal unit prior to 1950. The

relations of the International units to the
present legal standards are treated under
electromagnetic units.
INTERNATIONAL ANGSTROM. A unit of
length used in measuring the wavelength of
light and defined so that the wavelength of
the red cadmium line shall be 6438.4696 In
ternational Angstroms. N ote that the ang
strom is ordinarily defined as 10 8 centi
meters.
INTERNATIONAL
RADIO
SILENCE.
Three-minute periods, starting 15 minutes
and 45 minutes after the hour, when all radio
stations (especially radiomarine) m ay cease
transmission and listen to the international
distress frequency of 500 kc.
INTERPHASE. The boundary surface be
tween two phases.
INTERPHASE REACTOR.
transformer.

An interphase

INTERPOLATION. A process by which an

appropriate value is placed between tabu
lated, experimentally determined, or other
wise known values of a function. Linear in
terpolation is based on a principle of propor
tional parts; when the variable (or argument)
changes by a small amount, the change in the
tabulated function is very nearly proportional
to the change in the variable. For more ac
curate work, the relation between the two
variables is usually approximated by a poly
nomial, and finite differences are used with
formulas of Newton, Lagrange, Bessel, Stir
ling, etc. (See also interpolation, linear.)
INTERPOLATION, INVERSE. Given y =
f ( x ) , in tabulated numerical form, a process
of finding x for a value of y intermediate be
tween two tabulated values. Possible proce
dures include: Lagranges formula for inter
polation; successive approxim ations; rever
sion of series applied to other interpolation
formulas.
INTERPOLATION, LINEAR.
I f (x 1}yi)
and (^ 2,3/ 2 ) are neighboring entries in a nu
merical table, a value of the dependent vari
able y for a value of the argument x between
Xt and x 2 is given by

The procedure assumes that y varies linearly

with x over the interval considered. It is
commonly used for logarithms, trigonometric
functions, etc., where the values of the argu
ment are closely spaced.
INTERPOLE. An auxiliary pole placed be
tween the main poles of a d-c motor or gen
erator to give a flux which will aid in com
mutation.
INTERROGATION. Transmission of a radio
signal or combination of signals intended to
trigger a transponder or group of transpond
ers.
INTERROGATION, PULSE. The triggering
of a transponder by a pulse or pulse mode.
INTERROGATOR. The transmitting com
ponent of an interrogator-responsor.
INTERROGATOR-RESPONSOR (IR).
A
radio transmitter and receiver combined to
interrogate a transponder and display the re
sulting replies.
INTERRUPTED SPEECH. Speech signals
used in intelligibility (see articulation) test
ing in which speech is regularly cut off for
very short intervals, with a definite repeti
tion rate.
INTERSTICE.
A small space within a
phase or, more com monly, between particles.
INTERSTITIAL ATOM. An atom occupy
ing an interstitial position, that is, squeezed
between the regular lattice sites in a crystal.
Such atoms form parts of Frenkel defects.
INTERSTITIAL COMPOUNDS OR STRUC
TURES. Certain crystal lattices have quite
large holes in them, in which it is possible
to entrap other atoms of suitable dimensions.
Even the inert gases may be bound into stable
crystals in this way, with quite a large pro
portion of the vacant spaces actually filled.
INTERSTITIAL POSITION. A position not
one of the proper lattice sites in a crystal.
INTERVAL BETW EEN EVENTS. I f two
events occur at the positions and times repre
sented by
and X + dx* (/x = 1, 2, 3, 4),
the interval between is given by

(x2 - x x)

ds2 = gtlvdxiXdxv)

is the m etric of space-time In

M inko w ski space, the interval is given b y :

where g

ds2 = c2dt2 dr2.

INTERVAL, CLOSED.
closed.
INTERVAL, PULSE.

See set (or interval),

INTRINSIC TEMPERATURE RANGE (IN

A SEMICONDUCTOR). The temperature
range in which the electrical properties of a
semiconductor are essentially not modified by
impurities or imperfections within the crystal.
INTRINSIC VISCOSITY.
trinsic.

See pulse spacing.

See viscosity, in

INTERVAL, SATURATION. That portion

of the supply cycle, expressed in per cent or
degrees, during which the core of a saturablecore device is saturated, and the gate wind
ing cannot absorb or support voltage.

INVAR. Trade name for a nickel alloy fre

quently employed in strain gauges, tuning
forks and other applications, because of its
extremely low temperature coefficient of ex
pansion.

INTERVAL-SELECTOR CIRCUIT. A timeselector transducer.

(See transducer, timeselector.)

INVARIANCE. The property of remaining

invariant (2 ) (i.e., unchanged in form) during
a transformation or operation.
(See also
adiabatic invariant; invariance principle.)

INTERVAL, SOUND. The interval between

two sounds is their spacing in pitch or fre
quency, whichever is indicated by the con
text. The frequency interval is expressed by
the ratio of the frequencies or by a logarithm
of this ratio.
INTRANUCLEAR FORCES (n-p, p-p, n-n).
It is believed that the attractive (n -n ), (neutron-neutron), and (p -p ), (proton -p roton ),
forces are virtually equal, but that the latter
is apparently decreased to some extent be
cause of electrostatic repulsion between the
protons. The (p -n ), (proton-neutron), force
is believed to be somewhat greater than the
(p-p) or (n-n) forces.
(See also nuclear
forces.)
INTRINSIC. See idiochromatic and entries
immediately below.
INTRINSIC-BARRIER TRANSISTOR.
transistor, PNIP or NPIP.
INTRINSIC COERCIVE FORCE.
ercive force, intrinsic.

See

See co

INTRINSIC MOBILITY. The mobility of

electrons in an intrinsic semiconductor, or
one having a very low concentration of im
purity. It is limited only by scattering of the
electrons by thermal vibrations of the lattice
and varies as T ~
INTRINSIC PROPERTIES (OF A SEMI
CONDUCTOR). The properties of a semi
conductor which are characteristic of the
pure, ideal crystal.
INTRINSIC Q.

See Q, unloaded.

INVARIANCE, GAUGE.
ance.

See gauge invari

INVARIANCE PRINCIPLE. An invariance

principle states that some physical law must
be invariant under certain transformations.
(1) Some invariance principles are based on
symmetry operations. For example, physical
laws must be invariant under a pure rotation
of spatial coordinate systems.
(2) The
equivalence principle of special relativity is
an invariance principle, namely that the laws
of physics must be invariant under a trans
formation from one inertial system to another
(relativistic invariance or Lorentz invariance).
(3) The invariance principle of general rela
tivity states that the laws of motion are in
variant for all observers, whether accelerated
or not. This leads to the equivalence of gravi
tational and accelerated frames of reference.
INVARIANCE THEOREM AND CONSER
VATION LAWS IN QUANTUM M ECHAN
ICS. In a treatment of most quantum me
chanical systems, an exact solution for the
problem is not possible and approximation
procedures are used. They often involve, as
a first step, the neglect of second order terms
in the energy of the system. In this approx
imation, many systems can be considered as
a combination of two non-interacting sys
tems that can be considered separately. For
instance, if the interaction energy between an
atom and an electromagnetic field is neglected,
the atom-radiation field system can be treated
by considering the atom as one independent
system and the radiation field as another.

W hen one of these sub-systems is treated, a

series of possible stationary states is found,
for which wave functions m ay simultaneously
be eigenfunctions of one or more quantum
mechanical operators corresponding to various
dynamical variables. Since, in this approxi
mation, these variables will be constant in
time, they are referred to as conserved quan
tities of the system. W hen the interaction
of this sub-system with the other sub-system
is taken into account, it is seen that the
stationary states of the sub-systems are
not really stationary, since energy can be
exchanged with the rest of the system. D u r
ing such exchanges of energy, during the
interaction, it m ay happen that some of the
conserved quantities of the sub-system may
change without a compensating change in the
rest of the system. In such a case, it is said
that these quantities are not conserved dur
ing the interaction. The question of whether
a given dynamical variable of a system is or
is not conserved during an interaction is de
termined by the invariance of the interaction
under various types of spatial transforma
tions. F or instance, the interaction between
parts of a system will be invariant under
space rotation if and only if there is no net
torque acting on the system. Thus invariance
o f an interaction under spacial rotation has as
a consequence the conservation of total an
gular momentum and vice-versa. Invariance
under spatial inversion through origin implies
parity conservation. Invariance under spatial
translation means linear momentum conserva
tion, etc. (See also invariant and adjoining
entries.)
INVARIANT. (1) An adjective used to de
scribe a quantity that remains unchanged, or
a relationship that remains unchanged in
form, during some operation. E.g., an invari
ant subgroup; a vector whose magnitude re
mains unchanged upon rotation o f a coor
dinate system; a physical law which remains
unchanged in form with respect to a coor
dinate transformation, as for example, New
tons laws of motion, which are invariant un
der a Galilean transformation, but are not in
variant under a Lorentz transformation. (See
also invariance; invariance principle; covari
ant equation; covariant vector; conservation
laws.) (2) A noun used to denote a quantity
that is invariant. Thus the speed of light is

an invariant of all inertial frames moving

with uniform speed relative to one another.
Conserved quantities are invariants of a sys
tem. (3) An expression involving the coeffi
cients of an algebraic function which remains
constant when a transformation, such as
translation or rotation of coordinate axes,
is made.
(See quadratic equation in two
variables; discriminant; Lorentz transforma
tion.)
(4) See adiabatic invariant.
INVARIANT POINT. State of a given sys
tem where the number of degrees of freedom
is zero, e.g., the triple point: the condition that
solid, liquid, and vapor phases shall exist in
equilibrium completely determines the state
of the system. (See freedom, degree of (2 ).)
INVASION COEFFICIENT. A factor used
to denote the number of milliliters of a gas
under standard conditions absorbed by one
square centimeter of surface in one minute.
INVERSE. (1) If y f ( x ) , the inverse func
tion is x = g( y ) . The inverse of an opera
tion is one that undoes what has been done:
addition, subtraction; multiplication, divi
sion; differentiation, integration. (2) The re
ciprocal of a group element or of a matrix.
INVERSE HYPERBOLIC FUNCTION. If
y = sinh z, then z the inverse function is the
angle whose hyperbolic sine is y and, in sym
bols, z = sinh ~ 1 y = arc sinh y . From the
definition of the hyperbolic functions, the fol
lowing relations may be obtained:
sinh" 1 z = In (z + V 22 + 1 ),
cosh 1 z = In (z V z 2 1 ) ,
tanh

coth

_i

1
1
z
z = In --------
2
1 - z
2

1
z
= - In
2
z -

1 V l - z2
sech 1 z = In -

csch 1 z = In

1+

IN VERSE PLA STIC ITY.

Vl+z

See dilatancy.

INVERSE SQUARE LAW S.

(1) Laws of
force in which the force of interaction be
tween two particles varies as 1 /r 2 where r is
the distance of separation between the par
ticles. The gravitational force and the C ou
lomb law of force between electrical charges
follow inverse square laws. (2) The intensity
of radiation from a point source emitting iso
tropic radiation decreases as 1 /r 2 from the
source in a non-absorbing medium. This law
is a consequence of the law of conservation of
energy.
INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTION.
The inverse function to y = sin z is the angle
whose sine is y, or sym bolically, z = arc sin
y = sin- 1 y.
Other inverse trigonometric
functions are indicated in a similar way. If
y 2 < 1, the following series expansions may
be used:

sin

| 2/3 |

1*3

y = y + + y*
6
2 -4 -5

1 3 5 2/7
H------------------ 1-
2 -4 -6 7

INVERSION, CENTER OF.

center of.

------cos 1 y>

2
tan

y = y - %yA + i y 5 - W

and, for y 2 > 1,

tan

x
1
1
1
y = -------- t_ r - 7 _5 +
2
y
3 y3
byb

sec

1-3
y

6y3

2 - 4 5y5

1 -3 -5
2 -4 -6 -7 y
=

------- CSC

INVERSION LAYER.
INVERSION LINE.

= - - cot 1 y;

occur in the lower 5000 ft above the surface.

In low latitudes the stratosphere has a slight
inversion more or less permanently. (2) The
transformation of an optically-active sub
stance into one having the opposite rotatory
effect, without essential change o f chemical
composition.
(3) A form of speech-scrambling which essentially inverts the original
frequency-spectrum of the signal. This may
be accomplished by modulating the signal
with a relatively low-frequency carrier, and
then discarding the carrier and upper side
band. (4) The mathematical transformation
of all points outside a circle or sphere into
points inside, and vice versa. Each point at a
distance r from the center is mapped as a
point at a distance r2 from the center, lying
on the same radius as the first point, with
r1r2 = r2, r being the radius of the circle. (5)
See Joule-Thomson inversion temperature.
(6) The alteration of the normal Boltzmann
distribution in such a manner that the popu
lation of the higher energy levels is greater
than that of the lower.
(See temperature,
negative.) (7) See spectrum, inversion. (8)
See inversion of coordinates.

1 y.

INVERSION.
(1) The temperature below
the stratosphere normally decreases with alti
tude. W hen temperature increases with alti
tude, normal conditions are inverted, and the
condition is said to be an inversion. Inver
sions in the troposphere are usually restricted
to shallow layers of air which most frequently

See symmetry,

See inversion (1).

See spectrum, inversion*

INVERSION OF COORDINATES. Strictly,

the transformation of a coordinate system
that carries each coordinate into the negative
of itself; for example, in the rectangular
Cartesian coordinate system, the transforma
tion X > X, y > y , z z.
The term is sometimes used loosely to in
dicate a transformation that reverses the
sign of one or more, but not all, of the co
ordinates. For example in a mirroring trans
formation only one of the three spatial co
ordinates is inverted and the other two are
left invariant. Another example is in Min
kowski four dimensional space, where spatial
inversion inverts the three spatial coordinates
and leaves the time coordinate invariant; or,
alternately, time inversion, which inverts the
time coordinate but not the spatial co
ordinates. (See parity.)
INVERSION TEMPERATURE.
perature, neutral.

See tem

INVERTED SPEECH.
sion (3).

The result of inver

INVERTED VOLTM ETER.

step-down.

See amplifier,

first tube, hence their outputs are likewise

displaced. If the tap on the output resistor
of the first tube is adjusted correctly just

INVERTER. A device for converting d-c

into a-c but the term is com m only employed
to designate a gas-filled electron-tube circuit
for performing this function.
Out

U
t

Hr

enough voltage is applied to the grid of the

second to cause its output to be equal that
of the first. These equal and opposite volt
ages may then be applied to the push-pull
grids of the following stage.
Self-excited parallel-type inverter.

A basic self-excited inverter circuit is

shown. This circuit is so set up that the
tubes conduct alternately, causing the d-c to
switch back and forth through the primary
of the output transformer. This will induce
a-c voltage in the secondary. There are nu
merous variations of inverter circuits but all
use the tubes to switch the d-c supply back
and forth to produce an a-c output. Tran
sistorized devices for this application are gen
erally called converters.
INVERTER, PHASE. The push-pull ampli
fier has numerous advantages over single
ended ones but does require a push-pull con
nection for driving the grids. Since the usual
amplifier has low-level stages operating single
ended, this requires some method of getting
two equal voltages 180 out of phase to drive
the push-pull grids. One method is to use a
transformer to couple the single plate to the
push-pull grids b y center-tapping the sec
ondary. However, for resistance coupling a
phase inverter m ay be used. Referring to
the figure, part of the output voltage of the
upper tube is coupled back into the grid of
the lower tube. Since the output of a tube
is 180 out of phase with the input, the input
to the second tube is 180 from that of the

INVERTER, RELAXATION. A relaxation

oscillator (see oscillator, relaxation), fre
quently employing gas-tubes, used to con
vert d-c power to a-c.
INVERTER, SPEECH. See scrambler cir
cuit; secrecy systems; inversion (3 ).
INVISCID.

See fluid, inviscid.

INVOLUTION.
The operation of
numbers to powers. (See evolution.)
IODINE. N on-m etallic element.
Atom ic number 53.

raising

Symbol I.

ION. An atom or molecularly-bound group

of atoms which has gained or lost one or more
electrons, and which has thus a negative or
positive electric charge; sometimes a free
electron or other charged subatomic particle.
Ions m ay be produced in gases by the action
of radiation of sufficient energy; ionic solids
are built up of ions bound together by their
electrostatic forces, and when dissolved in a
polar liquid, such as water, the salt dissoci
ates into its ions, which have an independent
existence.
ION, AMPHOTERIC. An ion which carries
both a positive and a negative charge, com
monly at opposite ends of a long, or fairly

long, chain, as in the case of ions of amino

acids.

sity B in emu. It is equal to w = qB/mc,

where c is the speed o f light.

ION, AQUO. A complex particle consisting

o f an ion combined with one or more m ole
cules of water, as H + ( H 20 ) or H 30 + . The
strongly-ionizing solvents are considered to
form such complex ions with all, or virtually
all, the ions in solution.

ION CYCLOTRON RESONANCE H EAT

ING. A form of magnetic pumping in which
the frequency of the applied magnetic field
is chosen such that it equals the ion cyclotron
frequency.

ION BEAM. A beam of charged particles

other than electrons, all moving with essen
tially the same speed in a nearly common
direction. Ion beams are produced by the ap
plication of electrical forces to ordinary ions
and other particles, as in the production of a
beam of a-particles by applying potentials in
the millions of volts to the particles from a
helium discharge tube; or as in the accelera
tion of ionic particles to great velocities by
use of the cyclotron.

ION-DIPOLE INTERACTION. A reaction

between an ion and a dipole (i.e., a molecule
having a dipole moment) which results in
the formation of an aggregate of particles,
in which the ion is at the center, surrounded
by a number of molecules which are oriented
so that their regions of polarity of sign unlike
the charge on the ion, are closest to it. Thus,
if the ion has a negative charge, the neigh
boring molecules will orient so that their
regions of positive polarity are closest to the
ion.

ION BEAM SCANNING. The process of

analyzing the mass spectrum of an ion beam
either by changing the electric or magnetic
fields of the mass spectrometer, or by moving
a probe.
ION BLEMISH, NEGATIVE.

An ion spot.

ION BURN IN CATHODE-RAY TUBES. A

deactivation of a small spot of the phosphor
of a cathode-ray tube, caused by bom bard
ment by heavy negative ions in the beam.
The effect is noticeable only in magnetic-deflection systems, since an electrostatic deflec
tion system deflects the negative ion through
the same deflection angle as the electrons.
Magnetic-deflection tubes require an ion trap
to prevent permanent damage.
ION CLUSTER. A group of ion pairs pro
duced at or near the point of a primary ioniz
ing event. The ion cluster includes the pri
mary ion pair (see ion pair, primary) and any
secondary ion pairs formed, as by a delta ray.
ION, COMPLEX. A ny electrically charged
radical (2 ) or group of atoms such as
A g ( C N ) 2_ or C u (N H 3) 2+ + , which may be
formed by the addition to an ion of another
ion or ions, or of an electrically-neutral radi
cal or molecule.
ION CYCLOTRON FREQUENCY. The fre
quency at which an ion of charge q in esu
and of mass m rotates in an orbit in a steady
uniform magnetic field of magnetic flux den

ION ENERGY SELECTOR. A dispersive

device for ion beams, i.e., one which separates
ions having different energies. One form con
sists of a pair of capacitor plates shaped like
coaxial cylindrical shells. Ions with a given
mass and initial velocity m ay be forced to
travel in a circular course with radius r, be
tween the shells, assuming the proper radius
and potential difference between the plates.

Diagram showing action of ion energy selector. (By

permission from Electronics by Williams, Copy
right 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

Ions with different mass or initial velocity

experience different magnitudes of force than
those mentioned above, and will not reach the
exit before striking one of the shells. Thus
the ions which do succeed in passing through
will have approximately the same kinetic en
ergy. This device is sometimes used as a
part of a mass spectrograph. (See selector,
velocity.)

IO N E X C H A N G E . A chemical process in
volving the reversible interchange of ions at
a phase boundary, as between a solution and
a particular solid material, such as an ionexchange resin consisting of a matrix of in
soluble material interspersed with fixed ions
of opposite charge. Although most applica
tions of the phenomenon occur in systems in
volving electrolyte solutions and ionic solids,
the distribution of electrolytes between im
miscible solutions of electrolytes, for exam
ple, may be considered an ion-exchange phe
nomenon.
IO N H E A T IN G .

See magnetic pumping.

IO N , H ETE RO -.

See heteroion.

IO N , H Y D R A T E D .

See hydrated ion*

IO N IC A TM O SPH E R E . As outlined under

the entry electrolytes, theory of, an ion in an
electrolyte attracts ions of opposite sign.
Therefore, there are more ions of unlike than
of like sign in the neighborhood of any indi
vidual ion in a solution and it is, in effect,
surrounded by an ionic atmosphere of opposite
charge.
IO N IC BON DS.

which aggregates of ten or more of the anions

form ionic micelles containing a number of
water molecules.
IO N IC M IG R A T IO N .
The movement of
charged particles of an electrolyte toward the
electrodes under the influence of the electric
current.
IO N IC M O B ILIT Y. ( 1 ) The ratio o f the
average drift velocity of an ion in solution
to the electric field. It is expressed by the
relationship
X+ or X_
M+ or
= ----- ------in which /+ or //,_ is the m obility of the ion,
+ or _ is the ion conductance, i.e., the con
tribution of the particular ion to the equiva
lent conductance, and F is the Faraday con
stant.
(2) For gaseous ions in an electric
field, the quantity defined by the relation
ship: = vp/E, where v is the drift velocity,
p, the gas pressure, and E } the electric field.
IO N IC PO T E N T IA L . The ratio of the charge
on an ion to its radius.

See bond, electrostatic*

IO N IC C H A R G E . Either the total charge

carried by an ion, or the charge carried by
an ion which has unit charge. Since ions owe
their charges to gain or loss of electrons, unit
charge is the charge on an electron, and all
ionic charges are either equal in magnitude
to this value, or integral multiples of it.
IO N IC C RYSTAL. A crystal which consists
effectively of ions bound together by their
electrostatic attraction.
IO N IC E Q U ILIB R IU M . In any ionization,
at any particular temperature and pressure,
the conditions at which the rate of dissocia
tion of unionized molecules, or other particles
to form ions, is equal to the rate of com bina
tion of the ions to form the un-ionized mole
cules, or other particles so that activities and
concentrations remain constant as long as the
conditions are unchanged.
IO N IC FO CU SIN G .

See gas focusing.

IO N IC M IC E L L E S. Aggregates of ions ex
hibiting characteristic properties. The con
ception was applied by M cB ain to explain the
behavior of soaps in very dilute solutions, in

IO N IC RADIU S. The repulsive force be

tween two ions increases so rapidly at the
distance at which their electron shells begin
to overlap that it is possible to assign a more
or less fixed radius to each ion. These radii
fix the dimensions and structure of ionic crys
tals. Values of ionic crystal radii have been
calculated by Pauling (Nature of the Chemi
cal Bond, Cornell University Press, 1960).
Examples of their values (in Angstroms) are:
Li + , 0.60, Na + , 0.95, K + , 1.33, R b + , 1.48,
Cs + , 1.69; C 4 + , 0.15, Si4 + , 0.41, T i 4 + , 0.68,
Zr4+ , 0.80, Ce 4 + , 1 .0 1 ; C4 , 2.60, Si4~ , 2.71,
Ge4 _ , 2.72, and Sn4 , 2.94.
IO N IC STREN G TH . A mathematical quan
tity used to evaluate the effectiveness of the
forces restricting the freedom of ions in an
electrolyte, and defined as one-half the sum
of the terms obtained by multiplying the total
concentration of each ion by the square of its
valence, i.e., x =
where / is the ionic
strength, is ionic concentration and z is
valence.
IO N IC
ceive.

SW IT C H .

See switch, transmit-re-

IONICITY OR DEGREE OF IONICNESS.

A term applied to Mullikan to excited states,
and denoting a fractional ionic character of
the molecule in its ground state. Its numeri
cal value depends upon the particular zero
approximation used in defining it.
ION(S), INSTABILITY CONSTANT OF
COMPLEX. The dissociation constant for
the break-up of a complex ion into simple
ions.
IONIUM.
Naturally occurring radioactive
nuclide. It is an isotope of thorium (atomic
number 90), and has a mass number of 230.
IONIZATION. A process which results in
the formation of ions. Such processes occur
in water, liquid ammonia, and certain other
solvents when polar compounds (such as
acids, bases, or salts) are dissolved in them.
Dissociation of the compounds occurs, with
the formation of positively- and negativelycharged ions, the charges on the individual
ions being due to the gain or loss of one or
more electrons from the outermost orbits of
one or more of their atoms. The ionization of
gases is a process by which atoms in gases
similarly gain or lose electrons, usually
through the agency of an electrical discharge,
or passage of radiation, through the gas. (See
also ionizing radiation.)
IONIZATION BY COLLISION.
The re
m oval of an electron from an atom as the re
sult of the energy gained in a collision with
a body possessing sufficiently large energy.
IONIZATION BY ELECTRONS, PROB
ABILITY OF. The number of ions per unit
electron current, per unit path length, per
unit pressure at 0 C.
IONIZATION CHAMBER. One of a variety
o f enclosures used in the study of ionized
gases or of ionizing agencies. The essential
features are a closed vessel containing a gas
at normal or altered pressure, and furnished
with two electrodes kept at different poten
tials. These may be in the form of parallel
plates or of coaxial cylinders, or one of them
m ay be the vessel itself with the other inside
and insulated from it. W hen the gas between
the electrodes is ionized by any means, as by
x-rays or radioactive emission, the ions move
to the electrodes of opposite sign, thus creat
ing an ionization current which may be meas

ured by a galvanometer or an electrometer.

(See also counting tube.)
IONIZATION CHAMBER, AIR-WALL. An
ionization chamber in which the materials of
the wall and electrodes are so selected as to
produce ionization essentially equivalent to
that in a free air ionization chamber. This is
possible only over limited ranges of photon
energies. Such a chamber is more appropri
ately termed an air-equivalent ionization
chamber.
IONIZATION
CHAMBER,
COMPEN
SATED. A device consisting of two ioniza
tion chambers connected in parallel, but with
potentials reversed. One of these (the com
pensating chamber) is provided with a source
of ionizing radiation such as uranium, which
can be so altered in position that the amount
of ionization it produces in its chamber can
be adjusted. The entire arrangement is then
so balanced that the ionization received in the
main chamber is exactly equal to that pro
duced in the compensating chamber, and the
instrument is used as a null indicator which
shows both increases and decreases in the
main chamber ionization from normal condi
tions.
IONIZATION
CHAMBER
COUNTING.
The detection of radiation by means of an
ionization chamber.
IONIZATION
CHAMBER,
DIFFEREN
TIAL.
A two-section ionization chamber
with the electrode potentials so arranged and
controlled that the output current is equal
to the difference between the separate ioniza
tion currents of the two sections. (See ioniza
tion chamber, compensated.)
IONIZATION CHAMBER, EXTRAPOLA
TION. An ionization chamber designed to
make a series of measurements, in which one
factor is varied in suitable steps. The data
derived from these measurements are plotted
in appropriate form and the desired result is
obtained by extrapolation of the curve.
IONIZATION CHAMBER, FREE AIR. An
air-filled ionization chamber in which a de
limited beam of radiation passes between the
electrodes without striking them or other in
ternal parts of the equipment. The electric
field is maintained perpendicular to the elec
trodes in the collecting region; as a result the

ionized volume can be accurately determined

from the dimensions of the collecting electrode
and the limiting diaphragm, and the sec
ondaries are produced only in air and are
fully utilized. This is the basic standard in
strument for x-ray dosimetry, at least within
the range from 5^100 kv.
IONIZATION CHAMBER, INTEGRATING.
An ionization chamber whose collected charge
is stored in a capacitor for subsequent meas
urement.
IONIZATION
CHAMBER,
PROPOR
TIONAL. An ionization chamber in which
the initial ionization current is amplified by
electron multiplication in a region of high
electric field strength, as it is in a proportional
counter; used for measuring ionization cur
rents or charges over a period of time, and not
for counting.
IONIZATION CHAMBER, PULSE.
An
ionization chamber employed to detect indi
vidual ionizing events.
IONIZATION CHAMBER, THIMBLE. A
small cylindrical or spherical ionization cham
ber, usually with walls of organic material.
IONIZATION COEFFICIENT.
send coefficient, first.
IONIZATION CURRENT.
(ionization).

See Town

See current, gas

IONIZATION, DEGREE OF.

The ratio,
usually stated as a percentage, of the number
or the concentration of the particles in a sys
tem which become ionized, to those which re
main unionized. I f the system is a solution,
the reference particles are the molecules of a
specified component.
IONIZATION, GASEOUS. The process by
which charged particles are formed from neu
tral atoms or molecules of gases.
IONIZATION, MEAN FREE PATH. The
average distance an electron must travel in
the gas of a radiation counter before making
a collision with a gas atom that results in an
ionizing event.
IONIZATION, MINIM UM.
The smallest
possible value of the specific ionization (see
ionization, specific) that a charged particle
can produce in passing through a particular
substance. W hen the specific ionization pro

duced along the path of a charged particle is

plotted as a function of the particle energy,
minimum ionization appears as a broad dip,
bound on one side by a rather sharp rise for
decreasing particle energy, and on the other
side by a gradual rise for increasing particle
energy. For singly-charged particles in ordi
nary air, the minimum ionization is about 50
ion pairs per centimeter of path. In general,
it is proportional to the density of the medium
and the square of the charge of the particle.
It occurs for particles having velocities of 95%
of the velocity of light, which corresponds to
a kinetic energy of 1 mev for an electron, 2
bev for a proton and 8 bev for an a-particle.
IONIZATION POTENTIAL,
The energy
per unit charge, for a particular kind of atom,
necessary to remove an electron from the atom
to infinite distance. The ionization potential
is commonly expressed in volts, and is nu
merically equal to the work done in removing
the electron from the atom, expressed in electron-volts.
The difficulty in defining ionization poten
tial arises from the fact that the ionization
potential has perfectly definite values in the
case of one-electron and two-electron con
figurations where the ionization process in
volves the removal o f an s-electron. In the
case of more complex configurations, such as
the normal oxygen atom with its s2p 4 elec
tronic configuration, and five different orien
tations of the orbits and spins of the four
^-electrons, the atom can be ionized in many
different ways, each of which requires a
slightly different energy, and hence represents
a different ionization potential from all the
others. It has therefore been proposed that
the ionization potential be defined as the en
ergy corresponding to the passage from the
most stable state of the atom to the most
stable state of the ion.
The first ionization potential is the energy
to remove the most loosely bound electron
from the neutral atom ; the second ionization
potential is the energy to remove the most
loosely-bound electron from an atom from
which one electron has already been removed,
etc.
IONIZATION, SPECIFIC. The number of
ion pairs formed per unit distance along the
track of an ion passing through matter. This
is sometimes called the total specific ioniza

tion to distinguish it from the primary specific

ionization, which is the number of ion clusters
produced per unit track length. The relative
specific ionization is the specific ionization for
a particle of a given medium relative either to
that for ( 1 ) the same particle and energy in a
standard medium, such as air at 15C and 1
atm, or ( 2 ) the same particle and medium at
a specified energy, such as the energy for
which the specific ionization is a maximum.
(See ion; Bragg curve; ionization, minimum.)
IONIZATION SPECTROMETER. See Bragg
spectrometer.
IONIZATION TIM E (OF A GAS TUBE).
See time, ionization.
IONIZATION, TOTAL. (1) The total elec
tric charge on the ions of one sign when the
energetic particle that has produced these ions
has lost all of its kinetic energy. For a given
gas the total ionization is closely proportional
to the initial energy and is nearly independent
of the nature of the ionizing particle. It is
frequently used as a measure of particle en
ergy. ( 2 ) The total number of ion pairs pro
duced by the ionizing particle along its entire
path.
IONIZING ENERGY. The average energy
given up by an ionizing particle in producing
an ion pair in a specified gas.
IONIZING EVENT. An interaction by which
one or more ions are produced.
IONIZING EVENT, INITIAL. An ionizing
event that initiates a count in a radiation
counter tube.
IONIZING EVENT, PRIMARY.
as ionizing event, initial.

The same

The ionizing particle thus leaves behind it a

trail of ion-pairs. Since such ionization re
quires energy, the primary charged particle
loses energy after each such inelastic colli
sion with an atom. Eventually it loses all of
its energy and is brought to rest. Some of the
secondary electrons m ay themselves receive
sufficient energy to cause additional ioniza
tion.
( 2 ) Uncharged high speed particles, such
as neutrons, do not cause ionization directly.
If, however, a neutron collides with the nu
cleus o f a light element (e.g., a proton) it
transfers some of its energy to this nucleus.
This nucleus then becomes a charged ioniz
ing particle.
A neutral particle thus can
move large distances through matter, produc
ing not a trail of ionization in its wake, but
rather producing an occasional secondary ion
izing particle.
(3) High energy electromagnetic radiation
such as x- and y-ray photons are like the
neutral particles o f ( 2 ) in that they only oc
casionally interact with atoms, knocking out
secondary electrons, which then act as the
ionizing radiation. The secondary electrons
are produced by the photo-electric effect, the
Compton effect, or b y pair production.
ION, MOLECULAR. A charged molecule,
com m only produced by electrical discharges
through gases in which a gaseous molecule
has lost (or gained) one or more electrons.
ION, NEGATIVE. An ion carrying a nega
tive charge; an anion.
IONOGENIC. Forming or furnishing ions,
e.g., all electrolytes.

IONIZING PARTICLE. A particle that pro

duces ion pairs directly in its passage through
a substance. It usually is a charged particle,
with a kinetic energy considerably greater
than the ionizing energy of the medium.

IONOSPHERE. The region o f the atmos

phere in which ionization exerts its greatest
effect upon the radio frequency waves. This
region lies between 30 and 250 miles (about
50 and 400 kilometers) above the earths sur
face, with some seasonal and day-to-night
variation. (See E-region; F-region.)

IONIZING RADIATION.
(1) High speed
charged particles, such as a-particles, p-particles (electrons), protons, mesons, are able
to exert electromagnetic forces on the outer
electrons of the atoms they pass.
These
forces may be of sufficient strength to remove
one of the outer electrons, and thus to produce
an ion and a secondary electron (ion -p a ir),

ION PAIR. (1) A positive ion and a nega

tive ion or electron, having charges of the
same magnitude, and formed from a neutral
atom or molecule by the action of radiation
or by any other agency that supplies energy.
( 2 ) As postulated in the Debye-Hiickel the
ory, in concentrated solutions of strong elec
trolytes (two or m ore), ions m ay occasionally

approach each other so closely that they may

form pairs (or groups) without entering into
permanent chemical combination.
ION PAIR, PRIMARY. An ion pair (1) pro
duced directly by the causative radiation.

from bombarding the screen and thus produc

ing an ion burn.
ION TRAP, BENT-BEAM. An ion trap em
ploying a bent electron-gun. The electrons
are successfully deflected so that they pass
through, while the ion beam strikes the side
of the gun. (See kinescope.)

ION-PAIR YIELD. The quotient of the num

ber of molecules, M , of a given kind produced
or converted divided by the number, N , of
ion pairs resultant from high energy radia
tion. The M /N ratio.

ION, ZWITTER-.

ION, POSITIVE.
charge; a cation.

An ion carrying a positive

IR. Abbreviation for interrogator-responder,

infrared.

IONS, DRIFT VELOCITY OF. The mean

velocity with which ions move under the in
fluence of an electric field.

IRE. Abbreviation for Institute of R adio E n

gineers.

IONS, MOBILITY OF.

See ionic mobility.

ION SOURCE.
In such devices as mass
spectrographs, high energy accelerators, etc.,
a source of ions is needed. Such a source is
often produced by admitting gas of the de
sired type into a chamber and then ionizing
the gas as for example by electron bom bard
ment. The ions m ay then be pulled out of
the chamber b y a high voltage probe. A sec
ond type of source is obtained by coating a
metallic electrode with a salt that contains
ions of the desired type and by heating the
coated electrode in the presence of a field that
accelerates the ions away from it.
ION SPOT (ON A CATHODE-RAY-TUBE
SCREEN). ( 1 ) An area of localized deteri
oration of luminescence caused by bom bard
ment with negative ions. (See also ion burn,
blemish.)
(2) The spurious signal resulting
from the bombardment or alteration of the
target or photocathode by ions.
ION(S), STANDARD ENTROPY OF. The
quantity called the standard entropy of an
ion is really the relative partial entropy of the
ion in a solution of unit activity, that of the
hydrogen ion being assumed to be zero.
ION(S), STANDARD FREE ENERGY OF.
The free energy o f formation of the particu
lar ions, taking that for the formation of
hydrogen ions at unit activity from the gas
at 1 atmosphere pressure to be zero.
ION TRAP. An arrangement whereby the
ions within an electron beam are prevented

ION YIELD. The number of ion pairs pro

duced per incident particle or quantum.
See zwitterion.

IRIDESCENCE. The exhibition of the colors

of the rainbow, com monly by interference of
light of the various wavelengths reflected
from superficial layers in the surface of a
substance.
IRIDIUM.
M etallic
Atom ic number 77.

element.

Symbol Ir.

IRIS DIAPHRAGM. ( 1 ) A diaphragm intro

duced into an optical system as a stop, and
which is so constructed that the diameter of
the opening m ay be changed continuously
throughout a considerable range. The iris of
the eye has this property, so as to keep the
intensity of the light falling on the retina
within proper bounds. The effective f-number
of a good camera is changed by adjusting the
iris diaphragm to a desired value to fit the
illumination and exposure time to the sensi
tivity of the film used. ( 2 ) In a waveguide,
a conducting plate or plates, of thickness small
compared to a wavelength, occupying a part
of the cross section of the waveguide. When
only a single mode can be supported, an iris
acts substantially as a shunt admittance. (See
waveguide window entries.)
IRIS, RESONANT. A form of resonant win
dow (especially a circular waveguide) so
called because of its similar appearance to
an optical iris. (See window, resonant.)
IRON.
M etallic element.
A tom ic number 26.
IRON-VANE METER.
vane.
IRRADIANCE.

Sym bol

Fe.

See voltmeter, iron-

See radiant flux density.

IRRADIANCE (OF A SURFACE). The radiant flux (see flux, radiant) incident per unit
area of the surface.

represents perfect order. W hen any two atoms

are interchanged, e.g., if the above array
becomes

IRRADIATION. Subjection to radiation, as

for example, subjection to ultraviolet radia
tion for the formation of vitamin D from
various sterols and related compounds.

A B B A A B A B ..

IRRATIONAL. A number which is not an

integer or a quotient of integers. An irra
tional junction is one containing radicals and
an irrational equation is one containing such
functions.
IRREDUCIBLE.
See representation of a
group; tensorial set, irreducible.
IRREDUCIBLE REPRESENTATION.
representation of a group.

See

IRREVERSIBLE PROCESS. A process oc

curring in a system such that, in order to
reverse the direction of the process, a finite
change in the parameters of the system must
be made, e.g., the compression or expansion
of a gas in a cylinder by means of a piston,
when friction is present between piston and
cylinder.
IRROTATIONAL FLUID.
When v is a
velocity vector in a fluid, such that V X v (curl
v) is everywhere zero, lines of flow never close
on themselves and the flow is said to be irrotational. For a fuller discussion see W . Band,
Introduction to M athem atic Physics (Van
Nostrand, 1959), pp. 35-40 and 82-109. For
this and other uses of the term irrotational,
see integral, line.
(See also vector, irrota
tional.)
IRROTATIONAL VECTOR.
rotational.

See vector, ir

ISENTROPIC CHANGE. A change that is

accomplished without any increase or decrease
of entropy.
ISING M OD EL. A model of a binary alloy,
in which it is assumed that the two types, A
and B , of atoms are arranged in a regular
array. In the state of perfect order, all A
atoms are on -sites and all B atoms on /?sites, so chosen that each atom has the same
neighbors as do others of the same type.
Thus, in one dimension, the array
A B A B A B A B

the change in the in tern al energy of the crys

tal may be computed by considering the num
ber of pairs of the types A B , A A , and
B B that have been created or destroyed.
Thus in the case considered above, the in
crease in internal energy is
*BB + CAA 2 ABf
where bb, *a a , and eab are the energies of the
pairs of the types indicated b y the subscripts.
The entropies of the ordered and disordered
states m ay also be calculated.
The model has been of great value in the
consideration of order-disorder transitions, but
is of limited validity, even when next nearest
neighbors are considered.
(See also order-disorder phenomena; order
parameter.)
ISO ALLOB AR (S). Lines joining points hav
ing equal time rates of change of atmospheric
pressure on a synoptic map (weather m ap).
ISOALLOBARIC FIELD. Isoallobars taken
together constitute an isoallobaric field.
ISOBAR.
( 1 ) A line connecting points at
equal pressure, such as that which appears
on a meteorological chart. The pressures on
such a chart are not the observed pressures,
but are corrected for elevation, i.e., to sea
level. (2) One of two or more atomic species,
or elements, which have the same mass num
ber, but which differ in other respects, such as
atomic number. (See isobar, nuclear.)
ISOBARIC.
pressure.

Occurring without

change

of

ISOBARIC SPACE. Defined under entry for

quantum number, isobaric spin.
ISOBARIC SPIN.
Same as isotopic spin.
(See quantum number, isotopic spin.)
ISOBARIC SPIN QUANTUM NUMBER.
See quantum number, isobaric spin.
ISOBAR, NUCLEAR. One of two or more
nuclides having the same number of nucleons
in their nuclei and therefore having identical
mass numbers, and about the same atomic
mass.

ISOCHORE OR ISOMETRIC. A graph rep

resenting the state of a system as a function
o f two variables (e.g., pressure, temperature),
the volume remaining constant. Hence any
process that occurs without a change of v ol
ume.
ISOCHROMATIC. Of the same color, as of
lines of the same tint in the interference fig
ures of biaxial crystals.
ISOCHRONE. A line connecting points hav
ing the same time values, as points of the
same gelation time for colloidal solutions.
ISOCLINIC LINE. A line, on the surface of
the earth, along which the angle of the dip is
constant. (See dip needle.)
ISODESMIC STRUCTURE. An ionic crys
tal structure in which there are no distinct
groups formed within the structure, i.e., where
no bond is stronger than all the others.
ISODIAPHERE. One of two or more nu
clides having the same difference between the
number o f neutrons and protons in their
nuclei.
ISODIMORPHISM
(DOUBLE ISOMOR
PHISM). The condition in which both crys
talline forms of a dimorphous substance
which is isomorphous with a second dimor
phous. compound are isomorphous with both
forms of the second compound. Example:
arsenious oxide and antimonious oxide, which
crystallize in rhombs and also in regular
octahedra.
ISOELECTRIC POINT. In solutions of pro
teins and related compounds, the hydrogen ion
concentration at which the dipolar ions are
at a maximum is the isoelectric point. A t
this point the solution shows minimum con
ductivity, osmotic pressure, and viscosity. A t
this pH the protein shows the least swelling
with water and does not undergo electro
phoresis. That is, the colloidal particles move
toward neither electrode. Proteins coagulate
best and contain the least amount of inorganic
matter at their isoelectric points.
ISOELECTRONIC.
Pertaining to similar
electronic arrangements.
This term is ap
plied, for example, to two or more atoms
or atomic groups having an analogous ar
rangement of the same number of valency
electrons, and similar physical properties.

ISOELECTRONIC SEQUENCE. A series of

atoms having the same extranuclear electronic
configuration.
ISOGONIC CHART. A chart showing lines
of equal magnetic declination, or lines on
which the variation of the magnetic needle
from true north is the same.
ISOLATED SYSTEM. A system which is iso
lated from, and therefore does not react with,
its surroundings. The conservation laws of
energy, momentum, and angular momentum
only hold in systems which are isolated with
respect to the agents that cause changes in
the conserved quantities. Thus an isolated
system for the conservation of energy is one
on whose boundaries no work is done and
across whose boundaries no heat flows. Simi
larly, momentum is conserved only in a sys
tem isolated in the sense that no net force
acts across its boundaries.
ISOLATION OF A PLASMA.
ment of a plasma.

See confine

ISOLATOR. A device employing either the

Hall effect or Faraday effect to produce a
nonreciprocal system. An example of common
application is the Faraday rotation ferrite
isolator used as a one-way transmission line
between a microwave source and its load. The
isolation provided prevents undesirable fre
quency pulling. (See gyrator; gyromagnetic
and gyroelectric media.)
ISOLUX.
intensity.

A curve or surface of equal light

(Also called isophot.)

ISOMAGNETIC. Lines connecting points at

which some property of the earths magnetic
field (such as the magnitude, the vertical
component, or the horizontal component) re
mains constant. Isomagnetic lines may indi
cate local magnetic anomalies such as caused
by magnetic ore bodies, magnetic minerals in
sediments, or the vertical rather than the
horizontal deviation of the compass or mag
netic needle.
ISOMER. (1) One of two or more substances
which have the same elementary composition,
but differ in structure, and hence in proper
ties. ( 2 ) One of two or more nuclides which
have the same mass number and atomic num
ber, but differ in energetics and behavior.
(See isomer, nuclear.)

ISOMERIC TRANSITION.
A radioactive
transition from a given nuclear isomer (2 ) to
one of lower quantum energy. The de-excita
tion of the nuclei in the metastable state may
take place by gam m a-ray emission, or by
internal conversion followed by emission of
x-rays an d /or Auger electrons. It is a type
of forbidden transition.
(See isomer, nu
clear.)
ISOMERISM, NUCLEAR. The occurrence
o f nuclear isomers. (See isomer, nuclear.)
ISOMERISM, OPTICAL. A type of isomer
ism in which the isomers are identical in com
position, constitution, molecular weight, chem
ical properties, and most physical properties
and differ only in the w ay their solutions (or
liquid states) affect the rays of polarized
light.
ISOMER, NUCLEAR. One of two or more
nuclides having the same atomic number and
the same mass number, but existing for meas
urable time intervals in different states. One
state, that of lowest energy, is the ground
state; and all those of higher energy are
metastable states. M etastable isomers are de
noted by adding the letter m to the mass num
ber where it appears in the symbol for the
nuclide, as B r80m.
ISOMER SEPARATION. The chemical sep
aration of the lower energy member of a pair
of nuclear isomers (2 ) from its higher energy
precursor, made possible by chemical changes
occurring as a result of the atomic or m olec
ular excitation associated with the isomeric
transition.
ISOMETRIC. (1) See isochore. (2) A form
of approximately perspective drawing, in
which parallel lines are represented as parallel
and dimensions along three mutually perpen
dicular axes are kept to scale.
ISOMORPH. (1) One of two or more sub
stances that crystallize in the same form. ( 2 )
One of a group of elements whose compounds
with the same other atoms or radicals crystal
lize in the same form. The elements m ay be
classified on this basis into eleven groups.
ISOMORPHISM. (1) T w o groups G and G'
are isomorphous if to each element A , B , C,
of G there corresponds an element A ', B f,
C 'y * * of G' so that if AB = C , then

A 'B ' = C ', for every product. The isomor

phism is simple if there is one unique element
A in G for A ' in (?', but it may be multiple,
i.e., several elements A 1} A 2, * m ay be iso
morphous with one element A '. M athem ati
cians use the term homomorphism for this,
restricting the term isomorphism to simple
isomorphism.
( 2 ) A term applied to sub
stances of different composition, which crys
tallize in the same form, or different elements
which, when combined with the same atoms or
radicals, crystallize in the same form. (See
isomorph.)
ISOMORPHISM, CONDITIONS FOR. In
order that two compounds be isomorphous, it
is necessary that they have the same formula
type, and that the respective structural units
(atoms or ions) have the same relative sizes
and the same polarization properties. For the
formation of solid solutions or overgrowths,
the unit cell dimensions must not differ by
more than 1 0 % .
ISOMORPHOUS SERIES TECHNIQUE. A
method of x-ray analysis o f crystal structure
in which the change in the x-ray diffraction
pattern when one atom is substituted for an
other is used to determine the phases. The
two crystal structures must be identical in
all respects, except for this substitution.
ISOPERIMETRIC PROBLEM. In the cal
culus of variations, the problem of making an
integral stationary, while one or more integrals
involving the same variables are to be kept
constant (accessory conditions).
It is socalled from a particular example, that of find
ing the figure of maximum area with a fixed
perimeter. The method of Lagranges multi
pliers m ay be used.
ISOPHOT.

See isolux.

ISOPLERE.

See isochore.

ISOPLETH.

See nomograph.

ISOPOLYMORPHISM. The phenomenon of

each of two forms of a polym orphic (see poly
morphism) substance being isomorphous (see
isomorphism) with two forms of another poly
morphic substance, e.g., S n 0 2 and T i 0 2, which
are isotrimorphous.
ISOPYCNAL.

See isochore.

ISOROTATIONAL L A W . If a plasma or
conducting fluid has an electrical conductivity
that is high enough to have frozen in mag
netic fields and if it is rotating nonuniformly
around an axis, then any steady magnetic
field it possesses must be axially symmetric,
and each line of force will trace out a surface
symmetric with the rotational axis. All points
on this surface will rotate with the same angu
lar velocity. This law is usually applied to
the stellar fields.

ISOTHERMAL ATMOSPHERE. A ny layer

of air in which the temperature does not vary
with altitude is known as an isothermal layer;
if the whole atmosphere were of constant tem
perature in the vertical it would be an iso
thermal atmosphere.

ISOSTERES. Pairs of compounds which show

notable agreement in physical properties (as
carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide; carbon
monoxide and nitrogen) and which (according
to the octet theory) have the same number
and arrangement of electrons in the m ole
cule. The term applies also to radicals and
groups of atoms which hold pairs of electrons
in common. These are termed isosteric com
pounds, and the phenomenon is called isosterism (Langm uir).

ISOTHERMAL EXPANSION.
Expansion
during which the temperature remains con
stant. In general, this will entail flow of heat
into or out of the system.

ISOTEMPERATURE LOCI.
Lines on a
chromaticity diagram connecting points hav
ing equal correlated color temperatures. (See
temperature, correlated color.)
ISOTENISCOPE.
An instrument used to
measure vapor pressure. It consists essen
tially of a U-tube containing the liquid of
which the vapor pressure is to be measured.
One arm of the tube connects with a closed
vessel containing the same liquid; the other
arm is connected to a manometer. The pres
sure in the latter is adjusted to the value at
which the liquid levels in both arms of the
U -tube are the same. This is the vapor pres
sure of the liquid at the temperature of the
test.
ISOTHERM(S). (1) Lines joining points of
equal temperature. Isotherms can be drawn
for any surface or cross-section.
( 2 ) M ore
generally stated, a relationship, or its an
alytical or graphical expression, for which the
temperature is constant.
ISOTHERMAL.
(1) Of constant tempera
ture.
Isothermal processes are those con
ducted without temperature change.
(2 ) A
line or curve expressing a relationship between
variables such as pressure and volume, for all
values of which the temperature remains con
stant. (3) A line joining points at the same
temperature.

ISOTHERMAL COMPRESSION. Compres

sion during which the temperature remains
constant. In general, this will entail flow
of heat into or out of the system.

ISOTONE. One of two or more nuclides

having the same number of neutrons in their
nuclei.
ISOTOPE. One or two or more nuclides hav
ing the same atomic number, hence constitut
ing the same element, but differing in mass
number. In addition to this fundamental
meaning of the term isotope, it is used for
certain specialized meanings. One of these is
as a synonym for isotopic tracer, a radio
nuclide used as a tracer for a substance with
which it is isotopic. Another is as a synonym
for a preparation of an element with a special
isotopic composition (allobar) as an article
of commerce, which may also find use as an
isotopic tracer.
ISOTOPE CHARTS (Z-2V, Z-A, A-Z, A-2Z,
TRILINEAR). A ny of a set of charts in
which the properties of atomic nuclei, includ
ing their modes of radioactive decay, are sum
marized. In the trilinear chart, the neutron
number A -Z is plotted against the atomic
number Z, the axes being inclined at an angle
of 60 degrees; the result is that nuclides with
the same mass number are found in the same
vertical row, while each horizontal row con
tains species with the same neutron excess
A-2Z.
ISOTOPE EFFECT. The effect of nuclear
properties other than atomic number on the
non-nuclear chemical and physical properties
of nuclides, leading to variations in the prop
erties of isotopes.
Such effective nuclear
properties are size, mass, spin, statistics,
parity, magnetic dipole moment and electric
quadrupole moment. Isotope effects can be
observed in such properties as density, rate

of diffusion, isotope shift, equilibrium distri

bution and rate of reaction; and they are
utilized in isotope separation.
ISOTOPE EFFECT IN SUPERCONDUC
TIVITY.
The critical temperature T c of
superconductors varies with the isotope mass
M . The relation Tc oc M ~ ^ suggests that the
superconducting transition depends on the
velocity of sound, a result predicted by the
Frohlich-Bardeen theory.
ISOTOPE SEPARATION.
The field of
knowledge and practice concerned with chang
ing the relative abundances of isotopes.
ISOTOPE SEPARATION FACTOR.
The
ratio of the abundance ratio of two isotopes
after processing to their abundance ratio be
fore processing. It is given by the following
equation:
n 'i / n '2
n i /n 2
where n i and n 2 are the mole fractions of iso
topes of mass numbers mi and m 2 initially,
and n 'i and n' 2 are the corresponding quan
tities after processing. The term enrichment
factor is sometimes used for r 1 .
ISOTOPE SEPARATION METHODS.
A
number of methods have been developed for
the separation of isotopes. These methods
differ in their efficiency and applicability to
various substances, although there are in
stances, notably the case of uranium-235
uranium-238, in which several of the meth
ods have been successfully used in large scale
separation of the same substances. Among
the methods of isotope separation are:
(1) Separation by Centrifuge. A method
in which a mixture of isotopes in the gaseous
or liquid state is caused to spin at high speeds.
The radial forces, which are very high com
pared to ordinary gravitational forces, cause
an increase in concentration of the heavier
isotopes near the periphery and correspond
ingly an increase in concentration of the
lighter isotopes near the axis of the chamber.
(2) Separation by Diffusion Pumps. An
application of the process of separation by
diffusion through a gas, in which a gaseous iso
topic mixture diffuses through a vapor stream
into the jet of a diffusion pump. The lighter
molecules are pumped preferentially by the

streaming vapor, producing a separation

effect.
(3) Separation by Diffusion Through Gas.
A method in which a gas that is an isotopic
mixture is allowed to diffuse through another
(preferably heavier) gas. Separation of the
various isotopes is based on the principle that
the lighter isotopic molecules diffuse through
the heavier gas more readily than the heavier
isotopic molecules.
(4) Separation by Electrolysis. The sep
aration of isotopes by electrolytic decomposi
tion of a solution, as in the electrolysis of
water for the concentration of deuterium.
The method depends on the differing rates of
discharge of isotopic ions, and hence is a func
tion of the chemical properties of the different
isotopes.
(5) Separation by Electromagnetic Method.
A separation of ions of varying mass by a
combination of electric and magnetic fields.
In the most common application an isotopic
mixture of ions is produced either by electron
bombardment o f a gas or by thermionic emis
sion. The ionized particles are accelerated
and collimated into a beam by a system of
electrodes, and the beam is projected into a
magnetic field where the paths of the ions
depend on their mass-to-charge ratio. Prop
erly located collectors can be placed to receive
ions of specified masses.
The foregoing
method is based on the principle of the mass
spectrograph.
( 6 ) Separation by Fractional Distillation.
A method whereby isotopes in liquid form are
separated in a fractionating tower by evapora
tion and re-condensation.
The distillation
process results in an upward-directed stream
of vapor and a downward-directed stream of
liquid, the two being in intimate contact and
constantly exchanging molecules.
(7)
Separation by Gaseous Diffusion
Through a Barrier. A method in which a gas
that is an isotopic mixture is allowed to d if
fuse through a porous wall or barrier. Sep
aration o f the various isotopes is based on
the principle that the lighter molecules, M lt
diffuse through the porous wall more readily
than the heavier molecules, ilf2. The effective
simple process factor is generally less than
V M 2/M i because of insufficiently-long mean
free path, back diffusion, impoverishment of
gas in front of the barrier (cut correction,
mixing inefficiency) etc.

( 8 ) Separation b y Ion M obility. A process

based on the difference in mobility of different
ions in an electrolytic solution under the in
fluence of an electric field.
(9) Separation by Thermal Diffusion (see
Clusius column). A method based on the ob
servation that in many mixtures a tempera
ture gradient causes the concentration of one
type of molecule in the warmer region and of
the other type in the colder region. In the
Clusius column a temperature gradient is
established between two concentric vertical
cylinders, and the counter-current circulation
set up b y thermal convection produces cas
cading of the effect. Either a gas or liquid
m ay be employed as the working medium.
ISOTOPE SEPARATIVE POWER. A meas
ure of the useful amount of separation ac
complished in unit time by a separative ele
ment. It is proportional to the circulation
which can be handled and, for separation
factors only slightly greater than one, to the
square of the excess over unity of the effec
tive simple process factor.
ISOTOPE SHIFT. In atomic spectroscopy,
a slight difference in wavelength for a given
spectral line of one isotope as compared with
another.
ISOTOPE STRUCTURE.
structure (2 ).

See

hyperfine

ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCE.
The relative
amount (expressed as number of atoms) of
a particular isotope in a sample of an element.
ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCE, FRACTIONAL.
The ratio of the number of atoms of a par
ticular isotope to the total number of atoms
of the element, both in a given sample. It is
usually expressed as a percentage.
ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCE, RELATIVE. The
number of atoms of a particular isotope rela
tive to a specified number of atoms of a speci
fied isotope, both in a given sample. Usually
the meaning is more specific, as the number
of atoms of a particular isotope relative to
1 0 0 atoms of the most abundant isotope, or
to 1 atom of the least abundant isotope.
ISOTOPIC ATOM IC W EIG H T. The com
parative atomic weight of an isotope, or a
distinct atomic species, calculated on the basis
of an atomic weight of 16.0000 for the lightest

isotope of oxygen.
This differs from the
standard chemical practice, which uses as
standard an atomic weight of 16.0000 for ordi
nary oxygen, which contains small percentages
of isotopes having approximate isotopic
atomic weights (mass numbers) of 17 and 18.
ISOTOPIC DILUTION ANALYSIS. A spe
cial method for determining the concentration
of an element in a system. A compound con
taining a radioactive isotope of the element
at known concentration is added to the sys
tem. A pure sample of the compound is then
isolated from the system. From the decrease
in activity of the tracer element the original
concentration of the element in the system
can be computed.
ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE.
(1) A process
whereby atoms of the same element in two
different molecules or in different sites in the
same molecule exchange places. Thus
H C 13N U) + C 12N - (aa.)
H C 12N (g) + C 13N - (o,.).
The equilibrium in such an exchange reaction
is influenced slightly b y the relative masses
o f the two atoms which exchange; and it forms
the basis of one o f the methods of isotope
separation and concentration. ( 2 ) The trans
fer of isotopically tagged species, without net
chemical reaction, from one chemical form
or valence state of an element to another.
This m ay come about by exchange of tagged
atoms, by exchange o f other atoms in the
chemical complex or by transfer of electrons.
ISOTOPIC INDICATOR.
topic tracer.
ISOTOPIC MASS.
atomic mass.

The same as iso

A term formerly used for

ISOTOPIC NUMBER.
excess.

The same as neutron

ISOTOPIC SPACE. The same as isobaric

space.
Defined under quantum number,
isobaric spin.
ISOTOPIC SPIN QUANTUM NUMBER.
The same as isobaric spin quantum number.
(See quantum number, isobaric spin.)
ISOTOPIC TRACER.

See tracer.

ISOTRIMORPHISM
(TRIPLE ISOMOR
PHISM). The condition in which two isomor-

phous substances are each trimorphous and

each of the three pairs of forms is isomorphous. (Cf. isodimorphism.)

arising from the daughter neutrons of a given

neutron. This is a specific normalization of
the importance function.

ISOTRON. A device for isotope separation

based on the electrical sorting of ions. Ions
of different mass accelerated to a given energy
have different velocities. B y synchronizing
the field on a deflector grid to pulses in the
ion source, ions of different velocities (hence
different masses) m ay be collected.

ITERATION, M ETHO D OF. A process of

successive approximations used in the nu
merical solution of algebraic or transcendental
equations, differential equations, for inter
polation, etc. Suppose, for example, the real
roots of a numerical equation f { x ) = 0 are
desired and that the equation can be written
in the form x =
Find an approximate
root Xo, graphically or otherwise, and calcu
late x i = <l>(xo), which is a better approxima
tion than x 0. Continue, and calculate x 2 =
</>(#i ) ;
= <t>(x2) ; ; xn = <f>{xn- 1), until
the required number of significant figures is
obtained.

ISOTROPIC M EDIUM . A medium whose

properties are the same, in whatever direction
they are measured. Such a medium has only
two independent elastic moduli or constants,
and only one refractive index, dielectric con
stant, magnetic susceptibility, etc.
ISOTROPIC SOLIDS, ELASTIC PROPER
TIES OF. See Young modulus, Poisson ratio,
compression modulus.
ISOTROPISM. Possessing isotropic proper
ties, i.e., properties whose physical magnitude
is independent of orientation.
ISOVOLUME.
ISOVOLUMIC.
of volume.

An isochore.
Occurring without change

ITERATED FISSION EXPECTATION. In

a critical assembly, the value after large time
o f the number of fissions per generation time

IUPAP. Abbreviation for International Union

of Pure and Applied Physics.
IVES-STILWELL EXPERIMENT. An ex
periment in which the longitudinal Doppler
shifts of spectral lines for both directions of
motion of the source are averaged. The first
order shifts cancel, leaving only the second
order effect.
IXION.
An experimental thermonuclear
device at the Los Alamos Scientific Labora
tory, using a magnetic mirror field configura
tion and employing a rotating plasma to test
mirror confinement. (See magnetic mirror.)

J
HFuFa, - , F n )
d(ui},u2, f Un)

J. (1) Joule (J ). ( 2 ) Joule mechanical or

electrical equivalent of heat (J ). (3) Radi
ant intensity (J ), spectral radiant intensity
( A ) . (4) H eat transfer factor (J ). (5) Gramequivalent weight (J). ( 6 ) Action variable
(J).
(7) Electric current density (J). ( 8 )
Imaginary unit, V 1, in electric circuits ( ;).
(9) Polar moment of inertia (J ). (10) Inner
quantum number (quantized total angular
momentum of electron) ( ;) . (11) Total inner
quantum number (quantized total angular
momentum of systems of two or more elec
trons) (J).
(12) Unit vector in ^/-direction
(j). (13) Total emissive power (/), m ono
chromatic emissive power (J\ or Jv) .
JACK. A connecting device arranged for the
insertion of a plug. One or two circuits may
be carried by the ja ck and, in addition, it may
perform one or more switching functions upon
insertion or removal of the plug.
JACKFIELD.

A field of jacks.

JACK-SCREW. A simple machine in which

the force required to m ove an object is re
duced b y applying the force on a lever arm
connected to a screw. The theoretical me
chanical advantage is equal to 2irR/h where
h is the pitch of a screw and R is the length
of the lever arm. Because of friction the ac
tual mechanical advantage is very much less
than this.
JACOBIAN. L et Fx and F 2 be two functions
o f u and v . Then
dFx

dF i

du

dv

dF 2

dF 2

du

dv

dFi

dFi

dFi

dUi

du2

dUfi

dF 2

dF2

dF 2

dUi

dtl2

dun

dF n

&Fn

dFn

dU\

du2

du^

(See also Hessian.)

JACOBI ELLIPTIC FUNCTION. I f an in

complete elliptic integral of the first kind is
indicated by z , then z is defined as a function
o f k and <, where k is the modulus of z and
<f> is the amplitude of the integral. Calling the
integral Uj designating the inverse function
</> = am u, then x = sin (am u ). The latter
quantity, generally written x = am u, is a
Jacobian elliptic function. Related ones are
cn u = cos

(am u) = d b V I #2; dn u =

V 1 k 2x 2. T h ey have simple poles, are

doubly periodic, and are generalizations of
the trigonometric and hyperbolic functions,
which are singly periodic.

JACOBI POLYNOMIAL.
differential equation:
z ( l x )y " + [c -

A solution of the

(a + 1)x]y'
+ n(a + n)y = 0,

w it h a, c r e a l; c > 0 ; a > (c 1 ) ; n, an in teg e r.

T h e n th p o ly n o m ia l is g iven b y th e se rie s:

dFx dF 2
du

dv

dFx dF 2
dv du

is the functional d eterm in a n t or Jacobian of

F i and F 2 with respect to u and v. It is fre
quently denoted b y d (F i,F 2 )/d(u,v).
In general if F i
F n are functions of
ui, u2, , un, then

Jn(a,c,x) = 1 +

(p, ^ tC)(cl

(-1 )*

V) (a, -{- 7i

c(c + 1 ) (c + * -

k 1)

1)

where c is not a negative integer. The p oly

nomials are a special case of the Gauss hyper

geometric function

J n(o,,CjX)

= F (n,a +

rijCjX),

while the Legendre and Tschebyscheff poly

nomials are special cases of the Jacobi p oly
nomials
P nix) = J

T n{x) =

where 2 z = (1 x).
JAEGER M ETH O D FOR SURFACE TEN
SION. A method whereby the pressure neces
sary to cause air to flow from a capillary tube
immersed in the liquid is measured. It is
particularly suitable for investigating the
variation of surface tension with temperature.
JAEGER-STEINWEHR
M ETH O D
FOR
M ECH ANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT.
A rise-of-temperature method similar to the
Griffiths method. Improvements consist in
(a) the use of a large mass of water, (b) small
rise in temperature, (c) efficient stirring of
the water and (d) controlled temperature of
the surroundings.
JAMIN EFFECT. A capillary tube filled
with a column of air bubbles separated by
liquid can withstand a substantial pressure
difference between its ends without continued
flow. This resistance to flow arises from pres
sure differences due to surface tension which
arises when the air-liquid interfaces are dis
torted by the initial displacement.
JAMMING. Transmission of a signal or sig
nals to cause interference in the reception of
another station or radar.
J ANTENNA.

See antenna, J.

JANUS. A Doppler radar navigational sys

tem in which received echoes from more than
one beam are mixed prior to final detection.

JETEC. Abbreviation for Joint ElectronTube Engineering Council.

JET ENGINE. Technically this term might
include any device for propulsion which uses
the reaction force obtained from the accelera
tion of a fluid stream (see jet propulsion).
In many engineering applications, the interest
is in combustion jets, wherein the reaction
of a powerful jet of products of combustion
expelled rearward from the engine is the
source of propulsion.
Present-day jet en
gines meeting this specification are classified
as follows: ( 1 ) Gas turbine systems or turbo
jets; ( 2 ) Resonance ducts; (3) Aero-therm o
dynamic ducts.
A ll of these draw in air for combustion from
the surrounding atmosphere, and it is in this
respect that they differ from rocket motors.
JET, GAS. As gas is a compressible fluid, the
velocity attained in a jet cannot be evaluated
from Bernoullis principle. If one uses adi
abatic expansion from P i to P 2 in a properly
shaped nozzle, the ideal velocity of the gas
jet is:
RTX
ft per sec.
R and z are characteristics of the gas, R being
the common gas constant (i.e., 53.4 ft-lbs per
degree for air), and z being (cp c v)/cp wherein
the cs are sp ecific h e a ts, B .T.U . per lb per
degree, at constant pressure and constant vol
ume.
z = .286 for air under 1 0 0 0 F.
z = .23 to .28 for products of combustion of
fuels.
T i is the absolute temperature at pressure P i.

JEANS VISCOSITY EQUATION. An equa

tion relating the viscosity of a gas to the tem
perature, having the form rj = k T n, where k
is a constant, T is the absolute temperature,
and n is an empirical constant differing for
different gases.

JET PROPULSION. Jet propulsion, as com

monly practiced, is reaction propulsion. In
other power plants where both action and re
action exist, it is the action that is sought for
use, and the reaction claims attention chiefly
on account of the need for providing anchor
age or support. But jet propulsion uses the
reaction.

JET. A jet is produced when fluid is dis

charged through an orifice into a free space.
A liquid jet may be free if it is discharged into
a gas or submerged if it is discharged into
a body of the same liquid.

JET STREAM. Tw o circumpolar air currents

moving in a highly-irregular, periodicallyvariable, east-to-west direction. Their general
location is about 35,000-55,000 ft above the
earths surface, and to middle-to-northern and

J-DISPLAY.

See display.

middle-to-southern latitudes; thus the north

ern hemisphere jet stream passes over the
United States and the Mediterranean, with
loops much further north. The velocity varies
from 100 to 500 miles per hour.
JITTER.
( 1 ) Small, rapid variations in a
wave-form due to mechanical disturbances or
to changes in the supply voltages, in the char
acteristics of components, etc.
(2) In fa c
simile, raggedness in the received copy caused
by erroneous displacement of recorded spots
in the direction of scanning.
JITTER, PULSE. (1) A relatively small var
iation of the pulse spacing in a pulse train.
The jitter m ay be random or systematic, de
pending on its origin, and is generally not
coherent with any pulse modulation imposed.
(2) The term is also used to refer to small
variations in the time interval between the
occurrence of a triggered pulse and the event
that triggers it.
j-\ COUPLING.

See coupling,

JOG. A step in a dislocation line, brought

about by the intersection of dislocations with
one another.
JOHNNIAC.

A type of digital computer.

JOHNSON AND LARK-HOROWITZ FOR

M ULA. A formula for the resistivity of a
metal or degenerate semiconductor due to the
presence of impurities which scatter the elec
trons. It may be written
p = 6270n- ^ ohm-cm
where n is the number density of impurity
atoms per cm 3.
JOHNSON NOISE.
JOINT, BUTT.
JOINT,
joint.

See noise, thermal.

See waveguide, joint, butt.

CHOKE.

See

waveguide

choke

JOLY BLOCK SCREEN. A bench pho

tometer head composed of two blocks of opal
glass or paraffin with an opaque partition be
tween them. W hen the sides of the blocks are
equally illuminated, the two front faces are
lighted up equally by diffusion from within.
JOLY STEAM CALORIMETER. A differ
ential method of measuring specific heats of
gases at constant volume, based upon the d if

ference in amount of condensation of steam

on an evacuated metal sphere and that on an
identical sphere filled with the gas under in
vestigation.
JORDAN
COSMOLOGICAL
THEORY.
Theory that the total energy of the universe
is zero, based on the observation that the rest
energy and gravitational potential energy are
of the same order of magnitude and of oppo
site sign. B y equating large dimensionless
ratios derived from astronomical and atomic
observations, the theory leads to the conclu
sion that the gravitational constant is de
creasing as A - 1 , and the mass increasing as
A 2, where A is the age of the universe.
JORDAN - W IGNER
COMMUTATION
RULES. Rules obtained for a quantized field
theory by replacing the commutators in the
canonical commutation rules by anticommu
tators. These rules lead to the Pauli exclu
sion principle and are applicable to fermions.
JOSHI EFFECT. An electric current through
a gas or vapor is changed, i.e., increased or
decreased, by irradiating the gas or vapor
with light.
JOULE. A unit of energy or work in the
MKS system of units, abbreviation J. The
work done when a force of one newton pro
duces a displacement of one meter in the direc
tion of the force.
1 J = 107 erg = 0.2390 calorie.
JOULE-CLAUSIUS VELOCITY.
A quan
tity used in describing the kinetic behavior
of gases, and defined by the equation p =
YsdG2, where p is the pressure of the gas, d
is the density, and G is the Joule-Clausius
velocity.
JOULE CYCLE. A quantity of ideal gas is
taken through the following reversible proc
esses: (a) from a pressure P 2 and volume V,
compressed adiabatically to pressure P i; (b)
heated at constant pressure P i; (c) expanded
adiabatically to pressure P 2; (d) cooled at
constant pressure P 2 to initial volume V .
The efficiency of a Joule engine is
71

where y is the ratio of the sp e cific h ea ts.

JOULE EFFECT.
netostriction.

See discussion of mag

JOULE EFFECT, INVERSE.

of magnetostriction.

See discussion

JOULE EXPERIMENT.
Experiment de
signed to detect the presence of intermolecular attractions in a gas. The gas, contained
in a small steel vessel, was allowed to ex
pand into another vessel which was evacu
ated, thereby increasing the potential energy
due to the intermolecular forces. This in
crease takes place at the expense of the k i
netic energy of the molecules, the system be
ing isolated, i.e., a temperature drop should
occur. The original experiment failed to de
tect this drop owing to the large thermal ca
pacity of the apparatus. The effect would be
zero in the case of an ideal gas, where there
are no intermolecular attractions. (See also
Joule-Thomson effect.)
JOULE HEATING (O F A PLASM A).
ohmic heating.

See

JOULE L A W . The quantity of heat gener

ated by a steady electric current is propor
tional to the resistance of the conductor in
which the heat is generated, to the square of
the current, and to the time of its duration:
H = K R P t . If the resistance is in ohms, the
current in amperes, the time in seconds, and
the heat in calories, the constant K has the
value 0.2390 calories/joule.
JOULE-ROWLAND M ETH O D FOR M E
CHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT.
This is Joules well-known method in which
the mechanical energy of a paddle wheel is
dissipated in a calorimeter filled with water.
The original experiments of Joule yielded poor
values for J, but were much improved by the
modifications to his apparatus introduced by
Rowland.
JOULE-THOMSON COEFFICIENT.
The
ratio of the change in temperature to the
change in pressure when a gas expands at
constant enthalpy to a lower pressure through
a small aperture or porous plug.
JOULE-THOMSON EFFECT. In passing a
gas at high pressure through a porous plug or
small aperture, a difference of temperature
between the compressed and released gas may
be noticed. H ydrogen and helium become

warmer and all other gases cooler at ordinary

temperatures and pressures. This phenome
non is called the Joule-Thom son effect. It is
due to the departure of real gases from the
ideal gas laws. W ith a perfect gas no d if
ference should be observed.
JOULE-THOMSON
INVERSION
PERATURE. The temperature, or one
two possible temperatures, at which the
Thomson coefficient changes its sign
given gas.

TEM
of the
Joulefor a

JOURNAL. The region of surface contact

between a rotating member and a fixed sup
porting member.
Generally impregnated
with some form o f lubricant to reduce fric
tion. (See bearing.)
J-RULES.

See selection rules.

JUMP. T o (conditionally or unconditionally)

cause the next instruction to be selected from
a specified storage location.
JUMP, CONDITIONAL.
An instruction
which will cause the proper one of two (or
more) addresses to be used in obtaining the
next instruction, depending upon some prop
erty of one or more numerical expressions or
other conditions.
JUMP, UNCONDITIONAL. An instruction
which interrupts the normal process of ob
taining instructions in an ordered sequence,
and specifies the address from which the next
instruction must be taken.
JUNCTION. ( 1 ) In a semiconductor device,
a region of transition between semiconducting
regions of different electrical properties. (See
also barrier layer.) (2) A point or region in
a waveguide at which provision is made for
the flow of energy into two or more paths.
See also entries immediately following.
JUNCTION, ALLOY (IN A SEMICONDUC
TO R ). A junction formed by alloying one or
more impurities to a semiconductor crystal.
JUNCTION, COLLECTOR (O F A SEMI
CONDUCTOR D E V IC E ). A junction nor
mally biased in the high-resistance direction,
the current through which can be controlled
by the introduction of minority carriers. (See
carrier, minority.)

JUNCTION, DIFFUSED (IN A SEMICON

D U C T O R ).
A junction which has been
formed by the diffusion of an impurity within
a semiconductor crystal.
JUNCTION D IO DE.

See diode, junction.

JUNCTION, DOPED (IN A SEMICON

D U C T O R ). A junction produced by the ad
dition of an impurity to the melt during crys
tal growth.
JUNCTION, EMITTER (IN A SEMICON
D U C T O R ). A junction normally biased in
the low-resistance direction to inject minority
carriers (see carrier, minority) into an inter
electrode region.
JUNCTION E-PLANE TEE.
junction, tee, E-plane.

See waveguide

JUNCTION, FUSED (IN A SEMICON

D U C T O R ). A junction formed by recrystal
lization on a base crystal from a liquid phase
o f one or more components and the semi
conductor.
JUNCTION, GROW N (IN A SEMICON
D U C T O R ).
A junction produced during
growth of a crystal from a melt.
JUNCTION, H-PLANE TEE. See waveguide
junction, tee, H-plane.
JUNCTION, HYBRID.
tion, hybrid.

See waveguide junc

JUNCTION, N-N (IN A SEMICONDUC

T O R ). A region of transition between two
regions having different properties in n-type
semiconducting material.
(See semiconduc
tor, n-type.)
JUNCTION, P-N. The boundary surface be
tween p -type and n-type semiconducting m a
terial, produced by varying the impurities
during the growth of a single crystal from
the melt. Such junctions have strong rectify
ing properties, the forward current being ob
tained when p is positive to n. This is readily
explained on an energy band picture, and is

of great importance in the theory and applica

tion of transistors.
JUNCTION, P-N (IN A SEMICONDUC
T O R ). A region of transition between p- and
n-type semiconducting material.
(See semi
conductor, p-type and semiconductor, ntype.)
JUNCTION POINT.

See node.

JUNCTION, P-P (IN A SEMICONDUC

T O R ). A region of transition between two
regions having different properties in p-type
semiconducting material.
(See semiconduc
tor, p-type.)
JUNCTION, RATE-GROWN (IN A SEMI
COND U CTOR ).
A grown junction (see
junction, grown in a semiconductor) pro
duced by varying the rate of crystal growth.
JUNCTION RECTIFIER.
junction; junction, p-n.

See

rectifier,

JUNCTION SERIES TEE.

junction, tee, series.

See waveguide

JUNCTION, SHUNT TEE.

junction, shunt tee.

See waveguide

JUNCTION, TAPERED RIDGE.

guide junction, tapered-ridge.

See wave

JUNCTION, TEE.
tee.

See waveguide junction,

JUNCTION, W YE.
wye.

See waveguide junction,

JUNCTION, Y. See waveguide junction, wye.

JURIN L A W . The height of rise of a liquid
in a capillary tube of internal radius a is
2 y cos a
h = --------pga

where 7 is the surface tension of the liquid,

a is the c o n t a c t a n g le with the capillary,
p is the liq u id d e n sity .
JUST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE.
difference limen.

See

K
K.
(1) Proportionality constant in forcemass equation (K ). ( 2 ) Torsion constant, or
torque per unit twist (fc). (3) Unit vector in
Z-direction (k).
(4) Miller index
(5) Degree Kelvin ( K ).
(6 ) R eaction v e
locity constant (fc). (7) Luminous efficiency
( K ) ; m onochromatic
luminous
efficiency
(K k ).
( 8 ) M agnetic volume susceptibility
(fc). (9) Mass transfer coefficient (K or k ).
(10) Thermal conductivity (fc). (11) Com
pressibility factor (k ).
(12) Equilibrium
constant (K ). (13) Boltzmann constant (fc).
(14) Curvature (K ).
(15) Force constant
(fc).
(16) Radius of gyration (fc).
(17)
Kerr constant (K ).
(18) Spring constant
(k ). (19) Grid conductance, at 0 frequency
and constant plate potential (kg). (20) Po
tassium (K ). (21) Proportionality constant
in Coulombs law ( K e). (22) Proportionality
constant in law of attraction between cur
rents (K m).
(23) Kayser, proposed unit of
wave number cm - 1 ( K ).
(24) Absolute
value of vibronic angular momentum of p oly
atomic molecule {K , used in case where elec
tron is zero or loosely-coupled).
(25) Circuit-diagram designation for cathode of va c
uum-tube (fc). (26) Reproduction factor, nu
clear process (fc). (27) Abbreviation for kilo
( 1 0 3 m ultiplier).
Ka BAND.

See radar frequency bands.

KALUZA THEORY. Unified field theory of

gravitation and electromagnetism based on a
five-dimensional continuum, the fields being
independent of the fifth coordinate in a special
coordinate system. Momentum of a particle
in the fifth direction is interpreted physically
as the electric charge of the particle.
KAMPOMETER.
An instrument used to
measure radiant energy, especially in the ther
mal region.
KAPNOMETER. An apparatus used to de
termine the concentration of solid or liquid
particles dispersed in a gas, such as the den
sity of smoke or fog.

KARMAN CONSTANT.
An absolute nu
merical constant, fc, relating the mean velocity
U and distance z from a plane wall to the shear
stress r and density p in rectilinear steady
turbulent flow parallel to the wall, accord
ing to

It is required that the shear stress be inde

pendent o f distance from the wall. The ve
locity profile is logarithmic.
T o demonstrate the existence of this con
stant it is necessary to assume that the motion
is similar at all distances from the wall (or,
in mixing length terminology that the mixing
length, or eddy size, is proportional to dis
tance from the wall) and that the level of
turbulence is in equilibrium with the pressure
field producing the m otion and that it is at
large Reynolds number (viscous stresses
negligible in the mean m otion). According to
experiments, fc = 0.4 approximately.
KARMAN STREET OF VORTICES. B e
yond a critical flow Reynolds number, the
laminar wake of a long cylinder is unstable
and develops into a double row o f diffuse
vortices, arranged alternately in two rows as
are street-lamps. T . von Karman investi
gated the stability o f a double row of line
vortices in an inviscid fluid, and showed that
only one alternating arrangement is stable,
and that the computed ratio o f spacing of the
vortices to separation of the rows agrees well
with observation.
KATABATIC W IN D .
C old-air drainage
downhill toward lower terrain. In desert ra
vines katabatic winds locally reach high ve
locities.
KATHAROMETER. An instrument for de
termining the composition of a gas mixture
by measuring variations in its thermal con
ductivity.
KATOPTRIC SYSTEM. If an optical sys
tem is convergent, it is called katoptric if the

object space focal length is positive and the

image space focal length is negative. If a lens
system is divergent, it is called katoptric if
the object space focal length is negative and
the image space focal length is positive.
KAYSER. A unit of wave number, the recip
rocal centimeter (cm - 1 ).
K-BAND.

See radar frequency bands.

K-CAPTURE.

See K-electron capture.

K-DISPLAY
(ALSO
SCOPE). See display.

K-SCAN

OR

K-

KEEP ALIVE. See electrode, ignitor. The

use of the term keep alive is deprecated.
KEEP-ALIVE ANODE. A holding or exci
tation anode. The use of the term keep
alive is deprecated.
KEEP-ALIVE ARC. See discharge, ignitor.
The use of the term keep-alive arc is depre
cated.
KEEP-ALIVE CIRCUIT. In a TR or antiTR switch, a circuit for producing residual
ionization for the purpose of reducing the
initiation time of the main discharge. (See
ignitor; discharge, ignitor.)
KEESOM RELATIONSHIP. A relationship
between molecular attraction and the inter
action of dipoles. The resultant attraction
depending on the relative orientation of the
dipoles of the molecules m ay be expressed in
terms of the mean interaction potential en
ergy Uq between two polar molecules

- - v
Uo ~ 37 k T
where ^ is the dipole moment, r, the distance
between the molecules, k, the Boltzmann
constant, and T, the absolute temperature.
K-ELECTRON. An electron having an orbit
of such dimensions that the electron consti
tutes part of the first shell of electrons sur
rounding the atomic nucleus; orbitals in the
K-shell are characterized by the principal
quantum number value of unity, i.e., it is the
innermost shell.
K-ELECTRON CAPTURE. Capture by a
nucleus of an electron of the K shell, or the
innermost shell of electrons surrounding the

nucleus. This process competes with positron

emission and can take place as the only mode
of decay when j3 + decay is not energetically
possible.
KELLNER EYEPIECE. A Ramsden eye
piece in which the eye lens is an achroma
tized, cemented doublet.
KELLOGG EQUATION.
An equation of
state, relating the pressure, absolute tem
perature, and density of a gas. It is of the
form :

V - KT + [B.RT - A . -

in which p is the pressure, T the absolute

temperature, p the density, R the gas con
stant, and A 0, B 0, C0, a, b, and c are constants.
KELVIN CIRCULATION THEOREM.
circulation theorem (Kelvin).
KELVIN EFFECT.
nomena.

See

See thermoelectric phe

KELVIN
EQUATION
TENSION.

FOR

SURFACE

where U8 is the surface energy per unit area,

y is the surface tension, T is absolute tem
perature.
KELVIN L A W . When a system of rigid cir
cuits does mechanical work under constant
current conditions, the energy of the circuits
increases at the same rate as work is done.
(See force on rigid circuits; force on a sys
tem of conductors.)
KELVIN M ETH O D OF MEASURING GAL
VANOMETER RESISTANCE. In a W heat
stone bridge (see bridge, Wheatstone) at
balance, shorting the detector branch has
no effect. Hence, if a galvanometer is used
as one bridge-arm, and a shorting-switch as
the detector, balance of the bridge will yield
the resistance o f the galvanometer.
KELVIN TEMPERATURE
temperature scale, Kelvin.

SCALE.

See

K E L V I N - V A R L E Y S L I D E . An arrangement
often used in p o te n tio m e te rs, wherein a ver
nier v o lta g e -d iv id e r is moved as a unit along

a coarse divider, maintaining a constant net

divider resistance for all settings.
A spurious pattern or
other distortion in a fa c s im ile record caused
by unwanted modulation products arising from
the transmission of a c a r r ie r signal and ap
pearing in the form of a rectified baseband
that interferes with the lower sideband of the
carrier.
This occurs principally when the
single sideband width is greater than half the
facsimile carrier frequency.

u (z ) G ( x ,z ), where G (x ,z) is symmetric. It

may be transformed into a symmetric kernel
by a change of the dependent variable. A
definite kernel, positive or negative, satisfies
the requirement

KEN D A LL EFFEC T .

KEN D A LL

E Q U A T IO N

FO R

V IS C O S IT Y .

For solutions of non-electrolytes,

J / ( x ) d x f K ( x )z)f(z)dz ^ 0 ,
where f ( x ) is any finite function defined over
the range for which the kernel is defined. A
s in g u la r k e rn e l has a discontinuity, one or
more singular points within its integration
limits, or an infinite integration limit. A
solving kernel or resolvent is an infinite series
of ite ra te d kernels which appears in the
L io u v ille - N e u m a n n se rie s.

The total flux at a

point resulting from a distribution of sources
throughout space is given by
K E R N E L , D IF F U S IO N .

= xlVl'A + X2t)2A
for a binary mixture, where x and rj are m o le
fra c tio n and v is c o s ity respectively.
K E N N E D Y - T H O R N D IK E

E X P E R IM E N T .

M odified form (1932) of the M ich e lso n -M o rle y e xp e rim e n t in which the path lengths of
the split beam were made unequal. The
F itz g e r a ld - L o r e n tz

c o n tra c tio n

h yp o th e sis

would then be unable to explain the null re

sult.
LA YER.
A re
gion of the atmosphere, usually taken as
identical with the io n o sp h e re .

K E N N E L L Y - H E A V IS ID E

<Kr o) =

S (r 0)G (r 0,r)dr0.

'all space

In this expression the term (?(r0,r) is called

the kernel, and its form depends on the geom
etry. /S(r0) is the source strength at the point
r0. The common kernels are the point, plane,
line, spherical shell, and cylindrical shell.
K E R N E L , G A U S S IA N
k e rn e l, slo w in g d o w n .

(F E R M I A G E ).

See

G R O U P - D IF F U S IO N .
An ap
proach to the problem of determining the spa
tial distribution of the slowing down density
of neutrons in an infinite medium, as a func
tion of energy, in which it is postulated that
the energy of the neutrons is divided into a
finite set of groups.
(See gro up d iffu sio n
KERN EL,

K E N O P L IO T R O N .
A
diode-triode v a c
u u m tu b e in which the ca th o d e of the trio d e
element is the an o de of the d io d e element.
K E N O T R O N . A high-vacuum diode rectifier
tu b e . The tube contains a hot ca th o d e , either

filament or indirectly heated type, and an

an o d e.
Since electrons are emitted by the
cathode and may be drawn to the anode when
the latter is positive but the reverse process
cannot take place, the tube will pass current
in only one direction, hence serves as a r e c ti
fie r.
K E P L E R , LA W S O F.

See la w s o f K e p le r .

K E R N E L . A known function, also called a

n u c le u s , K(x,z) which occurs in an in te g ra l
e q u a tio n .
It is s y m m e tric if K{x,z)
K{z,x ) ;
H e r m it ia n
if K(x,z) = K * (z ,x )m
,
sk e w
H e r m it ia n
if
K (x,z ) = K*(z,x),
where the asterisk indicates the c o m p le x co n
ju g a te . A p o la r kernel has the form K(x,z) =

m e th o d .)

A generali
zation of diffusion kernels (see k e rn e l, d iffu
sio n ) in which the slowing-down density from
a distributed source is expressed in terms of
slowing-down kernels, which represent the
probability that a neutron will go from one
position to another while slowing down
through a specified energy range.

K E R N E L , S L O W IN G D O W N .

A cell with electrodes which

can hold a suitable dielectric fluid for observ
ing the K e r r e ffe ct. B y placing such a cell
between crossed n ic o ls , a pulse of light of very
short duration may be passed by applying a

KERR C ELL.

potential difference to the electrodes for a

very short time.
K E R R CO N STAN T.
See K e r r
m ag n e to -o p tica l e ffe ct.

e ffe ct and

M any iso tro p ic substances

when placed in an e le c tric fie ld behave like a
uniaxial crystal (see c r y s ta l, u n ia x ia l) with
the o p tic a x is in the direction of the field. If
n is the index of the substance in the absence
of the field and np and n 8 are the indices for
the magnetic vector parallel and perpendicu
lar to the field, it is shown that np n 8 =
\ K E 2, Kerr law, where K is the Kerr constant
and E is the electric field strength. The re
lation np n = 2 {n 8 n) is the H avelock
law.
KERR EFFEC T.

V ector in H ilb e r t sp a ce de
scribing the state of a dynamical system in
q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic s. Denoted by the symbol
|A ). (See also b r a vector.)

K E T VECTO R.

KEV. Sym bol for 1000 e le c tro n v o lts , a unit

of energy.
A hand-operated switch used for sig
naling purposes.

KEY.

an abrupt m o d u la tio n of the output of a di

rect-current or an alternating current source
as, for example, by interrupting it or by sud
denly changing its amplitude, or frequency
or some other characteristic.
K E Y IN G , B A C K -S H U N T .
A method of
k e y in g a tra n s m itte r in which the radio-fre

quency energy is fed to the antenna when the

telegraph key is closed, and to an a r tific ia l
lo a d when the key is open.
A method of operat
ing a radiotelegraph communication system
in which the receiver is capable of receiving
signals during transmission sp acin g in te rv a ls .
K E Y IN G , B R E A K - IN .

K E Y IN G C H IR P .

A k e y c lic k .

K E Y IN G , E L E C T R O N IC .
A method of
k e y in g whereby the control is accomplished

solely by electronic means.

K E Y IN G ,

F R E Q U E N C Y - S H IF T ,

OR

FSK.

That form of frequency modulation (see m o d

u la tio n , fre q u e n c y ) in which the modulating
wave shifts the output frequency between pre
determined values, and the output wave is
coherent with no phase discontinuity.
K e y in g effected by inter
rupting the plate-supply circuit.

K E Y C L I C K . The sharp transient heard in

lo u d sp e a k e rs or h ea d p h o n es when a k e y is

K E Y IN G , P L A T E .

open or closed.

K E Y IN G , S IN G L E - T O N E .
That form of
k e y in g in which the m o d u la tin g w a v e causes
the c a r r ie r to be modulated with a single

K E Y - C L IC K F I L T E R .

See filte r , c lic k .

K E Y E R . A device which changes the output

of a tra n s m itte r from one value of ampli

tude or frequency to another, in accordance

with the intelligence to be transmitted. This
applies generally to telegraphic keying.
An e q u a tio n o f state
for a gas, deduced from the concept of the
nuclear atom. This equation is designed to
correct the v a n d e r W a a ls e q u a tio n for the
effect upon the term b of the surrounding
molecules. The equation is written as:
K E Y E S E Q U A T IO N .

RT
A
p = -------------------------------------- ,
V - B e - aiv
( V + I) 2
in which P is pressure, T is absolute tempera
ture, V is volume, R is the gas co n sta n t, e is
the base of natural logarithms, 2.718* *, and
A, a, B , and I are constants for each gas.
The forming of signals, such as
those employed in telegraph transmission, by

K E Y IN G .

tone for one condition, which may be either

marking or spacing, and the carrier is
unmodulated for the other conditions.
K E Y IN G ,
TW O -S O U R C E
See k e y in g , fre q u e n c y s h ift.

FREQ U EN C Y.

K E Y I N G , T W O - T O N E . That form of k e y
in g in which the m o d u la tin g w a v e causes the

carrier to be modulated with a single tone for

the marking condition and modulated with
a different single tone for the spacing con
dition.
K E Y IN G W A V E .

See w a v e , m a rk in g .

( 1 ) A distorted field
or background noticed in some cases with te le
v is io n pictures, where the opposite edges are
not parallel. ( 2 ) A similar effect observed in
an optical system when the image plane is not
perpendicular to the axis.
KEYSTO N E E F F E C T .

K IC K B A C K .

See fly b a c k .

K IC K B A C K S U P P L Y .

See fly b a c k s u p p ly .

SO RTER.
A British and Canadian
term for p u lse -h e ig h t a n a ly z e r.

K IC K

A series of spectral lines

obtained by directing an e le c tro n stream
against the surface of a c r y s ta l, due to the
s c a tte rin g of electrons b y layers of atoms in
the crystal structure.

K IK U C H I L IN E S .

A prefix used with many physical

units, denoting one thousand. Thus 1 k ilo
meter = 1 0 0 0
meters;
1
kilowatt = 1 0 0 0
watts.

K IL O - .

Unit of energy, abbrevia

tion K cal or Cal.
One thousand c a lo rie s .
The energy required to raise one kilogram
of water through a temperature rise of one
degree C e ls iu s , without any vaporization.
When greater precision is needed, the kilocalorie is defined as 4,184.0 jo u le s .

K IL O C A L O R IE .

K IL O C U R IE .

One thousand c u rie s .

(1 ) Unit o f mass, abbrevia

tion K or Kg. A mass equal to that of the
International prototype kilogram, a platinum
body kept at Sevre.
(2) Unit of force. The weight of one k ilo
gram mass.
W hen extreme precision is
needed, it is specified that this weight shall
be measured at a point on the earths surface
where the acceleration due to gravity is ex
actly 9.80665 m eters/sec2.

K IL O G R A M .

M ETER.
A unit of w o r k in
the gravitational system defined as the work
done in raising a mass of one k ilo g ra m through
a distance of one m e te r against gravity. It
equals 98,066,500 ergs.

K IL O G R A M

K IL O J O U L E .

One thousand jo u le s .

K IL O L IT E R .

One thousand lite r s .

K IL O M E T E R .

One thousand m e te rs.

K I L O W A T T . A unit of p o w e r defined as
1 0 0 0 w a tts which ordinarily serves as the

com mercial measure for electrical power.

Electrical power of one kilowatt used steadily
for one hour involves an energy consumption
of one k ilo w a tt-h o u r. A kilowatt is equal to
about 1.34 h o rse p o w e r.
A commercial unit of
energy equal to 1000 w a tth o u rs or 3,600,000

K IL O W A T T H O U R .
jo u le s .

R E L A T IV IT Y .
R elativity
theory developed by Milne and based fun
damentally on the equivalence o f observers
who are receding from each other with con
stant velocity. Thus related directly to the
e xp a n d in g u n iv e rs e , the H u b b le la w being a
postulate of the theory. A kinematic time t
and a dynamic time r are introduced, the age
of the universe being finite in -time and in
finite in r-time. On T-time, dimensions are
constant, there is no expansion, but atomic
frequencies increase.
One criticism of the
theory is that the first and last of these are
not consistent.

K IN E M A T IC A L

The geometry o f abstract

motion, without regard to forces or bodies of
matter. Tw o aspects need special considera
tion: the motion of points and the motion of
rigid figures. W hatever system of space co
o rd in a te s is found simplest may be used, and
may be transformed from one system to an
other as desired.
The motion of a point is com pletely speci
fied by giving each of its three rectangular
coordinates (for example) as a function of the
tim e; that is, by writing its equations of m o
tion :

K IN E M A T IC S .

* =

2( 0 ,

(1)

s=
In many cases the information represented b y
these equations is supplied only indirectly in
the statement of a problem. For example, an
expression m ay be given for the component
of the linear v e lo c it y or the linear a c c e le ra
tio n , as a function of either the time or the
distance. In such cases a d iffe re n tia l e q u a tio n
is first obtained. Thus if it is specified that
the X -com ponent of the acceleration is con
stant and equal to a, the differential equation
is

d2x

= a:

(2)

and the corresponding equation of (uniformly

accelerated) m otion is its solution,

x = \ai2+ v0t+ x0)

(3)

in which the integration constants x 0, vq,

stand respectively for the initial distance
(value of x when t = 0 ) and the initial veloc
ity. B y eliminating t from the equations of

motion ( 1 ) three geometric equations may

be arrived at, one in x, y, one in x, z, and one
in y , z y any two of which determine the path
o f the m oving point in space.
In discussing the kinematics of rigid bodies,
the motion of some point in the body may
be specified by a set of equations similar to
( 1 ), but one must also introduce a set of
equations expressing the orientation of the
body relative to a set of coordinate axes hav
ing this point as an origin and undergoing
translation without rotation.
(See Euler
angle; rectilinear motion of a particle.)
KINESCOPE. A name sometimes applied to
a cathode-ray tube used as a picture tube.
(See tube, kinescope.)
KINESCOPE GUN.
KINETIC ENERGY.

See gun, kinescope.

See energy, kinetic.

KINETIC ENERGY, NEGATIVE.

ergy, negative kinetic.

See en

KINETIC M OM ENTUM . Kinetic momen

tum of a charged particle in an electromag
netic field A, cf>, is the vector p (e/ c)A,
where p is the momentum. Name arises from
analogy with the kinetic energy W e<, where
W is the total energy.
KINETIC
function.

POTENTIAL.

KINETIC REACTION.
and acceleration.

See

Lagrangian

The product of mass

KINETICS. (1) The branch of physics which

deals with the effect of forces or of torques
upon the motions of material bodies. The
basis of this subject, so far as the classical
theory is concerned, consists in the Newton
laws of motion, which m ay be extended to
include the dAlembert principle of kinetic
equilibrium. The motions of a particle or of
a rigid body may be either free or con
strained ; that is, it may be at liberty to move
in any manner in obedience to the applied
forces or torques, or there may be present
material barriers which limit its linear m o
tion to a certain path or surface, or its ro
tation to a certain axis. ( 2 ) In chemistry,
the study of time-dependence of chemical
reactions.
KINETIC-THEORY
ELASTICITY
OF
LIQUID. Part of the total elasticity of a

liquid can be thought of as the change in

stress, caused by a given deformation, aris
ing from increased interaction between mole
cules as a result of their thermal motion, dis
tinct from change of stress due to distor
tion o f the lattice structure. This first part
is the kinetic theory elasticity.
KINETIC THEORY OF GASES. An expla
nation of gas phenomena under the hypotheses
that (a) they are composed of large numbers
of atoms or molecules, (b) that in the inter
action of gas molecules with each other and
with the walls of the container the classical
laws of conservation of energy and momen
tum are obeyed, and (c) that statistical
methods can be used to calculate the average
behavior of the gas molecules. The m acro
scopic behavior of the gas is determined by
this average behavior. For example, the pres
sure on the walls o f the container can be ex
pressed in terms of the average force exerted
by the molecules as they rebound from the
walls.
The most elementary form of the theory
neglects the effects o f the finite size o f the
molecules and of interactions among them. It
leads to the result that the pressure p is
p = ^N m (v 2)av/V,
where N is the number of identical molecules,
each of mass n, V is the volume, and (v2)av is
the m ean-square velocity of the molecules.
When this is combined with the idea of
equipartition o f energy, it agrees with the
ideal gas law. Extensions of this simple
theory lead to the understanding of transport
phenomena, such as thermal conductivity,
viscosity, diffusion, etc., as well as to under
standing of the departures of real gases from
ideal gases.
KINK. In navigation, a point in a crossover
region where the deviation sensitivity (see
sensitivity, deviation) reverses sign.
KINK INSTABILITY. In the thermonuclear
program an observed configuration of gas cur
rent which appears as a series of sausages of
irregular length. This configuration occurs
in the cylindrical dynamic pinch discharge
tube and is a specific type of hydromagnetic
instability.
KIPP RELAY.

See relay, Kipp.

KIRCHHOFF FORMULA FOR VAPOR

PRESSURE. See vapor pressure, Kirchhoff
formula for.
KIRCHHOFF LAW S OF NETWORKS. (1)
Tw o laws relating to electric networks carry
ing steady currents. The general case is that
of n points or junctions, each one of which is
connected with each of the n 1 remaining
points by a conductor containing a source of
electromotive force.
K irch hoffs two state
ments are as follow s:
(a) I f conductors forming part of a net
work carrying a steady current meet at one
point, the sum of the currents flowing toward
the point is equal to the sum of those flowing
away from it; or the algebraic sum of all the
currents in these conductors is zero.
(b) Starting at any one of the junctions of
such a network and following any succession
of the conductors which form a closed path,
around either w ay to the starting point, the
algebraic sum of the products formed by mul
tiplying the resistance of each conductor by
the current through it is equal to the algebraic
sum of the electromotive forces encountered
on the journey.
(In this reckoning, we call
all currents m oving with us positive, and all
electromotive forces tending to cause such
currents positive.)
M axwell has set forth a general method of
calculating the currents and the relative p o
tentials of the junctions when the resistances
and electromotive forces in the several
branches of a network are given. For a net
work of n points, this method involves the
solution of n 1 simultaneous, first-degree
equations. The work is often simplified, how
ever, by the circumstance that some of the
conductors or some of the electromotive forces
are absent.
( 2 ) The Kirchhoff laws also hold when A -C
rather than D -C currents are flowing in cir
cuits if the instantaneous currents and volt
ages are used. T hey do not necessarily hold
for the average currents and voltages, since
for circuit elements other than resistances
(i.e., capacitance and inductance) the cur
rent and voltage are not in phase. Formally,
if complex voltages, complex currents and
complex impedances are used, with V = IZ,
the Kirchhoff laws are applicable to alternat
ing current circuits.

KIRCHHOFF RADIATION LAW . The ratio

between the absorptivity and emissive power
is the same for each kind of rays for all bodies
at the same temperature, and is equal to the
emissive power o f a black body at that same
temperature.
KIRKENDALL EFFECT.
When markers
are placed at the interface between an alloy
(CuZn) and a metal (C u ), and the whole
heated to a temperature where diffusion is
possible, the markers move towards the alloy
region. This is explained by assuming that
the zinc diffuses more rapidly than the cop
per, and thus diffuses out of the alloy. Such
a process is impossible if the diffusion is by
direct exchange of atoms.
KIRKW OOD APPROXIMATION. An ap
proximation used in the kinetic theory of
liquids. The force on one molecule of a set
of molecules is assumed to be the sum o f the
forces exerted, neglecting in turn all but one
other molecule of the set. In this way an
equation may be obtained for the radial dis
tribution function.
KLEIN-GORDON EQUATION.
tion:
/ d

ie

\ / d

W ; h cA 7 ^

ie
~

The equa

/mc\ 2

j c Av * = w

to describe the motion of a spinless particle of

charge e, rest-mass m (for example, a tt m es
on) in an electromagnetic field described
b y the potentials
KLEIN-NISHINA FORMULA. ( 1 ) Expres
sion derived from the Dirac electron theory
without radiative corrections for the differen
tial cross section for scattering by an electron
at rest of a quantum with momentum k0 to
give a quantum with momentum k in the ele
ment of solid angle d o :
d(j>

r02 7 k 2 /Q
=
dil - ( 4
k0 \ k +

k
k~
0

2 + 4 cos 2 0

( 0 = angle between directions of polarization

of k and k0.)
( 2 ) The integral Klein-N ishina formula
gives the total cross section for scattering, not
being restricted to an element of solid angle.
(See Compton effect.)

KLEIN PARADOX.
Consequence of the
Dirac electron theory that a particle could
penetrate a potential barrier of greater than
1 mev by making a transition from a positive
energy state to a negative energy state. The
transition probability is small, however, un
less such a potential change occurs over a
distance of the order of the electron Compton
wavelength.
KLEIN-RYDBERG M ETH O D .
For con
structing the potential energy curve of a di
atomic molecule (e.g., H 2) point by point
from observed vibrational and rotational
levels without assuming an analytical expres
sion for the potential function. For an an
alytical formulation of this method, see A.
L. G. Rees, P roc. Phys. S o c London, 59, 1008
(1947).

tial applied to the first resonant cavity struc

ture, causing this structure to serve as an
anode. These electrons pass through the grids
into the cavity which is called the buncher.
Here the standing waves in the cavity act on
the electrons and cause them to change speed
so they arrive at the second cavity, called the
catcher, in bunches (having passed out of the
first into a field free space and then into the
second through the grids in the sides of the
cavities). Here the energy of the electrons is
absorbed by the field and contributes to the
useful output and normally supplies also the
driving energy for the buncher. The electrons
then pass on to the collector and return to the

K-LINE. ( 1 ) One of the characteristic lines

in the x-ray spectrum of an atom produced by
K-electron excitation.
( 2 ) The designation
used for a strong line in the emission spec
trum of calcium, useful in fixing spectrographic positions.
K /L RATIO. The ratio of the number of
internal conversion electrons from the K-shell
to the number of internal conversion electrons
from the L-shell, emitted in the de-excitation
of a nucleus. This is equal to aK/aL where
a: is the K -electron conversion ratio, and
a t the L-electron conversion ratio.
KLYSTRON. An electron tube of the veloc
ity-m odulated type used in ultra high fre
quency circuits.
A t these extremely high
frequencies (measured in terms of some tens
of thousands of m egacycles) the conventional
vacuum tubes become useless because of lead
and electrode inductance and capacitance, and
transit-time effects, so a radically different
approach is necessary. The klystron is one
solution of the problem. This vacuum tube
consists of a cathode, grid and perforated
anode somewhat like the electron gun of the
cathode ray tube (however, here the electrodes
are grid-like structures rather than the cap
with a single hole) followed by two cavity
resonators separated a calculated distance and
finally a collector. A ll electrodes except the
collector have grid-like surfaces so the elec
trons can pass on through them. The beam
of random -velocity electrons passing through
the grid is accelerated by the positive poten

cathode. B y proper adjustment of the volt

ages and spacings of the cavities the circuit
may be made to oscillate or am plify as de
sired. A circuit of a modulated tw o-cavity
klystron oscillator is shown.
(See also kly
stron, reflex.)
KLYSTRON, ADM ITTANCE - COMPRES
SION FACTOR. The approximate ratio in
which the transadmittance of a tw o-cavity
klystron is reduced from its small-signal value
as the bunching parameter is increased.
KLYSTRON AMPLIFIER (TW O -CA V ITY).
See klystron.
KLYSTRON, CASCADE-AMPLIFIER.
A
klystron which contains three resonant cavi
ties for increased power amplification and
output. The third resonator lies between the
input and output resonators and has no ex
ternal connection.
It is excited by the
bunched beam that emerges from the inputresonator gap, and it produces further bunch
ing of the beam.
KLYSTRON ( S ) DEPTH OF MODULATION
IN. See modulation, depth of (klystron);
modulation, velocity.

645

Klystron Oscillator Klystron, Two-gap, Single-resonator

KLYSTRON OSCILLATOR.
klystron.

See oscillator,

KLYSTRON, REFLEX.
A single-cavity
klystron. As in the tw o-cavity klystron, elec
trons are accelerated in the direct field be
tween the cathode and the cavity resonator.
A fter passing through the cavity resonator,
where they are given changes in velocity, they
are brought to rest and returned to the cavity

the same time as those with smaller velocities.

B y proper adjustment of the repeller voltage
relative to accelerating voltage, the electrons
can be made to return to the resonator in
bunches at an instant in the cycle of alternat
ing resonator field such that they are retarded
by the resonator field. They therefore de
liver energy to the cavity resonator. I f the
power delivered to the resonator exceeds the
losses in the resonator and circuits coupled
to it, sustained oscillations may take place.
KLYSTRON REPELLER. The negative elec
trode in a reflex klystron (see klystron, reflex)
which forces the electron beam to pass through
the resonator a second time.
KLYSTRON, TW O-CAVITY.
having two resonant cavities.

klystron

KLYSTRON, TW O-CAVITY, APPLEGATE

DIAGRAM FOR. See Applegate diagram
( two-cavity klystrons).
KLYSTRON, TWO-GAP, SINGLE-RESONATOR. A klystron, useful as an oscillator,
which has one resonator instead of two in
order to simplify the tuning procedure.
Where the two-gap resonator shown below is
in resonance, in the indicated mode, the gap

Type 2K29 10-cm. reflex klystron.

(Courtesy Bell

Technical Journal.)

by means of a negative electrode called the

reseller. Those electrons which make this
first transit through the cavity during the
half of the cycle in which they are accelerated
b y the alternating field emerge with increased
velocity. Those which make their first transit
during the following half-cycle are retarded,
and emerge with decreased velocity.
The
electrons with the higher velocities approach
closer to the repeller than those with the
smaller velocities, and hence take a longer
time to return to the resonator. Since they
left earlier, however, they may arrive at about

Two-gap klystron resonator. (By permission from

Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

voltages are in phase and the transit angle

must be n + % where n is any integer.
KM or km. A bbreviation for kilomega, 109
multiplier. The prefix giga-, abbreviated g, is
preferred.
KNEE OF TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC
( TUBE, IM AGE O R TH IC O N ). The region
o f maximum curvature in the transfer char
acteristic.
KNIGHT SHIFT. The change in the mag
netic flux density or in the frequency for nu
clear magnetic resonance that results from
the magnetic field of the oriented conduction
electrons. (For further detail, see F. J. M il
ford, Arner. J. Physics, 28, 511 (I96 0).)
KNOCKED-ON-ATOM. An atom of a solid
which recoils after collision with an energetic
particle such as a neutron, fission fragment,
ion or atom moving through the solid. The
knocked-on-atom m ay be displaced from its
lattice position and m ay possess sufficient
energy to displace other atoms.
KNUDSEN
ABSOLUTE
MANOMETER.
Instrument for absolute measurement of very
low pressures up to about 5 dyne cm - 2 . A t
higher pressures, the manometer is not abso
lute, but must be calibrated against some
other absolute instrument. The principle of
operation is to measure the repulsion exerted
between two plates a short distance apart in
the gas, when a small temperature difference
is maintained between them.
KNUDSEN COSINE L A W . It can be shown
from kinetic theory that for a gas at rest at
a uniform temperature, the number of m ole
cules striking or leaving an area dS of the
wall in a solid angle do making an angle 0
with the normal is given by
dS
nc cos ddu,
47T
where n is the number of molecules per cm 3,
and c the mean velocity. This is known as the
cosine law. Knudsen assumes that it holds for
each molecule individually, that the direction
of a molecule on leaving the wall is independent
of its direction before striking, and that the
law gives the probability of a molecule leaving
the wall in a given direction. The laws are
probably true for irregular surfaces, but do not

hold in such cases as that of the d iffr a c tio n of

molecules from crystal la ttice s , which have a
regular arrangement.
KNUDSEN FLOW .
(Also known as free
molecule diffusion.) Flow of a gas through
a long tube at pressures such that the mean
free path is much greater than the tube radius.
KNUDSEN FORMULA FOR GAS FLOW .
The formula for the quantity of gas passing
any point (along a tube) per second in terms
of the pressure gradient along the tube, the
diameter, and the density of the gas at unit
pressure and at the prevailing temperature is :

V zir
q~

dz(vi ~ P2 )
lV~p

where d is the internal diameter of the tube,

(Pi P2 )/l the pressure gradient, and p the
density at unit pressure and the prevailing
temperature.
KNUDSEN M ETH O D FOR VAPOR PRES
SURE OF METALS. The method consists in
measuring the rate of effusion of the vapor
through a small aperture. The metal is con
tained in a silica pot with an aperture of
known dimensions, and kept at an accuratelyconstant temperature. The silica pot is at
the bottom of a long tube which is highly
evacuated, and the vapor molecules stream
through the aperture, condensing on the cool
upper parts of the tube. From the rate of
loss of weight the vapor pressure can be cal
culated. V apor pressures of the order of 10
mm of mercury have been measured in this
way.
KNUDSEN NUMBER. A number used to de
scribe the flow of a viscous fluid o f low density.
It is given b y X/L where X is the mean free
path of the molecules and L is a characteristic
length of the flow.
KOHLRAUSCH, L A W OF.
The conduc
tivity of a neutral salt in dilute solution is
the sum o f tw o values, one of which depends
upon the cation, the other upon the anion. In
other words, each ion contributes a definite
amount to the total conductance of the elec
trolyte, independent of the nature of the other
ion.
KONEL METAL. An alloy of nickel, cobalt,
iron, and titanium frequently employed as the

base material for an indirectly-heated cath

ode.
K ONOW ALOFF RULE. An empirical con
clusion reached by K onow aloff independently
of the fundamental theoretical deductions of
physical chemistry. It states that the vapor
over a liquid system is relatively richer in the
component whose addition to the liquid mix
ture results in an increase of the total vapor
pressure.
KOPP L AW . The molar heat of a solid com
pound is equal approximately to the sum of
the atomic heats of its constituents.
KOSSEL-SOMMERFELD DISPLACEMENT
LA W . The arc spectrum (normal atom spec
trum) of an element is similar, especially as
regards multiplet structure, to first spark spec
trum (singly-ionized atom spectrum) of the
element one place higher in the periodic table,
to the second spark spectrum (doubly-ionized
atom spectrum) of the element two places
higher, etc.
KOSTINSKY EFFECT. A photographic ef
fect discovered by the Russian, Kostinsky
(1906). It was found that if two areas of
high density, e.g., star images, are close to
gether, the restraining by-products formed in
the process of development retard the develop
ment of the adjacent portions of the images
so that the distance separating the two images
is greater than is actually the case.
KOVAR. An alloy of nickel, cobalt and iron
used extensively for metal-to-glass seals, be
cause its temperature coefficient of expansion
matches that of many types of glass over wide
temperature ranges.
K-RADIATION.
The radiation, or rather
radiations, emitted when K-electrons are ex
cited. These radiations are x-rays of rela
tively high frequency, and of similar spectral
distribution for the various elements, except
that they are displaced in the direction of
decreasing wavelength as the atomic number
of the element increases. T hey are com monly
obtained by bombardment with high-speed
electrons of the particular element, usually
in the form of the metal. (See also Moseley
law.)
KRAMERS-KRONIG DISPERSION FOR
MULA. Relation between the real and imag

inary parts of the refractive index of electro

magnetic waves in passing through matter,
arising from the fact that a signal cannot be
propagated with a velocity greater than that
of light in vacuo.
KRONECKER DELTA.
A discontinuous
factor, usually designated by 8<y, which is
taken to be unity when i = j and otherwise
zero. It is a mixed tensor of second rank.
KRONIG-PENNEY M ODEL. A one-dimen
sional periodic potential for which the wave
equation may be solved exactly, and shows
band structure, thus providing a mathemat
ical model in which certain properties of
metals m ay be verified by rigorous calcula
tions.
KRS-5 (KRYSTALL, SYNTHETISCH NO. 5).
An eutectic mixture of thallium bromide and
thallium iodide. K R S -5 is transparent to the
infrared radiation extending from the red end
of the visible to past 30 microns. It is rather
soft and difficult to polish, but is used for
infrared windows, lenses and even prisms, be
cause of its remarkable range of transparency.
KRUSKAL LIM IT. An experimentally ob
served and theoretically predicted upper limit
to the axial heating current in the Stellarator
thermonuclear device.
A bove this limiting
current the configuration becomes unstable.
This instability is the result of the deforma
tion of the initial magnetic field configuration
by the B d field produced by the axial current.
(See heating instability.)
KRYPTON. Gaseous element.
Atomic number 36.

Symbol Kr.

KRYTRON. Trade name for certain coldcathode trigger tubes.

K-SERIES.

The series of K-lines.

K-SHELL. The innermost shell of electrons

surrounding the atomic nucleus; this shell con
sisting of the K-electrons.
k-SPACE. An abbreviation for momentum
space, or wave-vector space, i.e., the space
mapped out by the wave-vectors k, e.g., of the
various electronic wave functions in a metallic
crystal. It has the same symmetry properties
as the reciprocal lattice of the crystal.
Ku-BAND.

See radar frequency bands.

KUNDT CONSTANT. The Verdet constant

divided by the magnetic susceptibility. In
the case of ferromagnetic substances having
variable susceptibility, the Verdet factor is
not constant, but is proportional to the sus
ceptibility. For such substances the Kundt
factor has a constant value.
KUNDT EFFECT. The rotation of the plane
o f polarized light by certain liquids and gases
when they are placed in a magnetic field.
KUNDT M ETHO D . A method of measuring
the speed of sound by means of longitudinal
vibrations set up in a metal rod placed so as
to develop stationary waves in air or other
gas within a glass tube. A light powder, spread
over the interior of the tube, is lumped to
gether at the nodal points.
KUNDT RULE. W hen the refractive index
o f a solution increases, because of changes in

composition or other causes, its optical absorp

tion bands are displaced toward the red.
KUNDT TUBE. A glass tube used in the
Kundt method for the speed of sound.
KURIE PLOT. A graph of the p-particle
spectrum in which the Fermi probability
equation is rearranged in the form :
K (N / f)y> = C -

(E + 1)

where N is the number of /2-particles of m o

mentum (or energy) lying within a certain
narrow range, the Fermi function / is a com
plex function of the corresponding /2-particle
energy E as worked out by Fermi, and K and
C are constants. The plot of (N/f ) 1/2 against
(E + 1 ), often called a Kurie plot, is generally
a straight line for allowed transitions and
some forbidden transitions, in other words,
the equation holds ; and is used in determining
the character of the ^-transition and the maxi
mum energy. (See also beta decay theory.)

L
L.
( 1 ) Relative heat constant (L ).
(2)
Latent heat per unit mass (Z). (3) Levorotatory (Z-).
(4) Length (Z or L ) . (5) Rest
length (Z0).
( 6 ) Lorentz number (L ).
(7)
Miller index (h, k , I). ( 8 ) Direction cosine
(Z, m, n ). (9) Free path or mean free path
(Z or A ). (10) T ait free path (lT or XT) . (11)
Length of heat flow path (L or Z). ( 1 2 ) La
grange function (L ). (13) Inductance (L ).
(14) M utual inductance (L i2).
(15) A zi
muthal or orbital quantum number (quantized
orbital angular momentum of electron) (I).
(16) Total azimuthal or orbital quantum num
ber (sum or resultant orbital angular momen
tum of two or more electrons) (L ).
(17)
Kinetic potential (L). (18) In spectroscopy,
shaded or displaced to longer waves (Z).
(19) Abbreviation for lambert (I).
LABELED COMPOUND. A compound con
sisting, in part, of labeled molecules, i.e., m ole
cules containing a radioactive isotope or an
isotope that occurs rarely in the usuallyoccurring form of the compound. B y ob
servations of radioactivity or isotopic com
position this compound or its fragments may
be followed through physical, chemical, or b io
logical processes.
LABORATORY SYSTEM. A frame of refer
ence attached to the observers laboratory
and thus usually at rest relative to the surface
of the earth. In analyzing collision or scatter
ing processes it is often convenient to use two
frames of references. One is the laboratory
system in which the experiment is performed
and to which the experimental data refer.
The other is the center-of-mass system in which
theoretical calculations are often easier to per
form. Consider the scattering of an incident
particle of mass m ly with initial velocity v0 (in
the laboratory system) by a particle of mass
ra2, initially at rest (in the laboratory system ).
Let the incident particle be scattered through
an angle 6 (m the laboratory system ). In the
center of mass system the two particles are
each scattered through the same angle where
0 and are related by the equation:
sin 0
tan 6 = ------ ---------------- -
(W i/W 2) + cos

LABY AND HERCUS M ETHO D FOR M E

CHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT. A
continuous-flow method similar to that of
Reynolds and Moorby, in which an electro
magnetic brake instead of a hydraulic brake
is used. The method allows very high ac
curacy.
LACQUER ORIGINAL. See master, lacquer,
LADD-FRANKLIN THEORY. This theory
of vision assumes that in the rods and cones
of the retina exist types of molecules which
are affected and modified by the action of
light.
LADD IC. A ladder-like structure cut from
rectangular hysteresis-loop ferrite. All mag
netic paths are flux-limited. B y controlling
the actual switching path any Boolean func
tion of n can be produced.
LADENBURG F VALUE. The quantum me
chanical analog of the number of dispersion
electrons per atom. It is related to the Ein
stein transition probability coefficients by the
formula:
2Jn + 1
fn n '

me

____ A ,

2 2 2
Jn, + 1 8 tt2V

nn >

where n and nr refer to the two states between

which transitions are taking place, m is the
electron mass, c is the speed of light, v is the
frequency of the radiation involved in the
transition between states, and e is the elec
tronic charge in esu,
LADENBURG, L A W OF. The speed of a
photoelectron is proportional to the square
root of the excitation voltage. Valid only
when the speed is small compared with that
o f light.
LAG (CAM ERA TUBES). A persistence of
the electrical-charge image for a small num
ber of frames.
LAG, ANGLE OF. When two related quan
tities, such as an alternating voltage and an
alternating current, vary sinusoidally with

time and have the same frequency, they may

be expressed as:
i sin]
Qi A |
[ (cot + <t>),
IcosJ
f sin 1
Q2 = B \
cat,
IcosJ
where A , B, and co are constants. It is then
said that Q 2 lags (behind) Qi and (j> is known
as the angle of lag if it is positive. If $ is nega
tive its magnitude is the angle of lead and Q 2
is said to lead Qi.
LAGRANGE BRACKET. Lagrange bracket,
of two dynamical variables x,y of a classical
dynamical system with generalized coordi
nates qk, generalized momenta pk, is

( d$k dPk

d<?k dPk\

-----k \dx dy
dy dx /

(See coordinates and momenta, generalized.)

LAGRANGE DENSITY. Integrand L of an
integral which is such that the conditions that
it should be an extreme are the equations of
motion of a dynamical system of fields. L is
a function of the fields, their time and space
derivatives, and the coordinates and time.
For example, in the case of a one dimen
sional continuous elastic system the L agrangian density is

where
is the mass per unit length, Y is the
Young modulus, and r\ is the displacement
from equilibrium. In the case of the electro
magnetic field the Lagrangian density may
be written

L= ( B - H - E - D ) + ( J - A - p *) .
(See also Lagrange field equations; field the
ory ( 2 ).)
LAGRANGE EQUATIONS (SOMETIMES
CALLED
EULER - LAGRANGE
EQUA
TIO N S). A set of equations of motion for a
dynamical system. In the case where the
system is conservative the equation of motion
for the ith particle is written:
d dL

dL

dt dqi

dqi

where L is the Lagrangian function or kinetic

potential; qi is the generalized coordinate of ith
particle (i = 1, 2, 3, n, where n is the
number of degrees of freedom of the system );
q{ is the generalized velocity of ith particle.
These equations have the advantage over
N ewtons equations that any kind of coordi
nates may be used.
(See coordinates and
momenta, generalized.)
For non-conservative systems a set of equa
tions can be written:

d dK

dK

T ~
dt dqi

dqi

~ Qi>

where Qi is the generalized force such that

Qibqi represents work done by Ql when the
coordinate qi changes by 5ql; K is the kinetic
energy of the system.
LAGRANGE FIELD EQUATIONS.
The
equations, for any field if/ix^) (jl = 1 4,
x 4 = constant times the time)
dL _ V d /
dt
M=i

dL

where L is the Lagrange density, assumed

here not to involve derivatives higher than
the first of the fields with respect to the co
ordinates and time.
LAGRANGE FORMULA FOR INTERPO
LATION. Used when (n + 1) pairs of values
are given for y = f ( x ) , but not necessarily at
equally-spaced increments of x or y. Let the
given number pairs be (x 0}y 0) 9 (i,2/i), **,
(Xn,yn)- Then for any desired value of x
within this interval:
(x x x)(x x2) (x x n)
V

(*o - 3i)0&o - x2)

- (xo - x n) V

(x x 0)(x x2) (x xn)

_|------------------------------------------------------------- y J
(*1 (x -

*o )(*l -

*2 ) (Zl -

x 0)( x -

X].) ( x -

( x n x 0) ( x n X i )

( x n -

x n)
X _ i)
X n_ i )

Because of the symmetry in the result, x and y

m ay be interchanged so that inverse interpo
lation may be effected.
LAGRANGE - HELMHOLTZ
See Helmholtz equation.

EQUATION.

LAGRANGE IDENTITY.
tion.

See adjoint equa

LAGRANGE MULTIPLIER. A method of

solving isoperimetric problems in the calculus
of variations. Suppose u = f ( x i, x 2, * * *, $n)
and that m < n accessory conditions <f>i(xi,
%2, *, xn) = 0 ; 0 2 = 0 ; ; 0 m = 0 are also
given. Use m constants, L* called the La
grange multipliers, and form the equation:

= / +

1 0 1 +

2 0 2 + +

dF/dx2 0;

jn

nl

dxn

(e~xx n+k)
-x ){

o \n

iJ

i\

The special case of k = 0 gives the Laguerre

polynomials
+

m 0m *

If the n derivatives are required to vanish,

dF/dxi = 0;

px r k

; dF/dxn = 0.

These relations, together with the m conditions

= 0 , make it possible to determine the
(m + n) variables so that an extremal or sta
tionary value of u results.

0i

LAGRANGE THEOREM. For a single re

fracting surface of sufficiently small aperture,
the Abbe sine condition reduces to:
nyO = n'y'd',
which is known as the Lagrange theorem;
sometimes called the Sm ith-Helmholtz law.
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION OR KINETIC
POTENTIAL. The difference between the
kinetic energy and potential energy of a d y
namic system. It is generally symbolized
by L.
LAGUERRE DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION.
The linear equation:
x y " + (1 x )y f + ny = 0 ,
having a simple pole at the origin. Its solu
tions are the Laguerre polynomials. D iffer
entiation of the equation k times and replace
ment of the fcth derivative by y gives:
x y " + (k + 1 - x)y' + (n k)y = 0 ,
which is the associated Laguerre equation with
solutions as associated Laguerre polynom ials.
These functions occur in the quantum me
chanical problem of the hydrogen atom.
LAGUERRE POLYNOMIAL. A solution of
the Laguerre differential equation. The as
sociated polynomials may be defined by the
equivalent expressions

Both kinds may also be expressed in terms

of the Gauss hypergeometric series and by
generating functions. They are also related
to the Hermite polynomials and the Bessel
functions.
LAMBDA. ( 1 ) Free path or mean free path
(A or I).
( 2 ) T a it free path (Ar or lT).
(3 )
Latent heat of evaporation (A. or L ).
(4)
Equivalent conductivity (A) . (5) M icroliter
(A). (6 ) Wavelength (A). ( 7 ) Linear charge
density (A). ( 8 ) Nuclear dissociation energy
( A ) . (9 ) Mass per unit length ( A ) . (1 0 ) D is
integration or decay constant (A). (1 1 ) Level
width ( A ) .
(1 2 ) Absolute value of the pro
jection of the resultant orbital angular mo
mentum on the molecular axis (H unds cases
a and b) ( A ) .
( 1 3 ) Absolute value of the
component of the orbital angular momentum
of a single electron parallel to the molecular
axis (A).
LAM BDA LIM ITING PROCESS. M ethod
of defining a point electron as the limiting case
in which a tim e-like vector A^ tends to zero.
Thus the field at the space-time coordinate
Xn of the electron is
Lt E (x VL+ AM)
X/i>0

with

AMXM < 0 .

LAM BDA POINT (X-POINT). ( 1 ) The tem

perature at which the transition of helium I to
helium II takes place. Under orthobaric con
ditions, liquid helium undergoes this change
at 2 . 1 9 K ; but the temperature at which this
change occurs decreases with increasing ex
ternal pressure. (See also helium, liquid.)
( 2 ) The temperature at which the specific
heat of a substance reaches a sharp maximum
and then drops suddenly with increasing tem
perature. Such A-points are characteristic of
many second-order phase changes, such as
those which take place in order-disorder tran

sitions and at the Curie point o f ferromag

netic or ferroelectric materials.
LAMBERT. A unit of luminance equal to
I / 7r candle per square centimeter, and, there
fore, equal to the uniform luminance of a
perfectly diffusing surface emitting or reflect
ing light at the rate of one lumen per square
centimeter.
LAMBERT COSINE L AW .
sion law.
LAMBERT L A W .
Beer law.

See cosine emis

See Bouguer law and

LAMB-RETHERFORD SHIFT.
shift.

See Lamb

LAMB SHIFT. According to the Dirac elec

tron theory for the fine structure of hy
drogen and hydrogen-like ions, levels with the
same qu an tu m num bers n and j, but dif
ferent quantum numbers I, have the same
energy. The fact that this does not hold
strictly was first demonstrated b y Lamb and
Retherford (1947), who measured a shift of
1057.70 0.15 M c/sec between the 2 2Sy2 level
and the 2 2p h level of hydrogen. (See figure.)

0.3652 cmri

1057.70 0.15 M c/sec

_____ I.....
2 P

'/2

According to Bethe, Schwinger, Weisskopf and

others, all levels of H, H e+ , etc., are shifted
compared to the Dirac levels on account of the
interaction of the electron with the radiation
field. This quantum electro-dynamical shift is
largest for S states for which it is given b y
8Z4

A U ( n ,0 , ) =

a3

n 6 37T

3 m\

me2

~M/ l 1Og2fc0(n,0)

+ 3TT + 37rZa[frH- 2 1S 2]

For P, D,

states the shift is given b y

8 Z4 a3
(
3m \ [
R
AE(n,l,f) = Rx ( i - ) I log
k0 {n,l)
n 3 3ir

8(j+i)(2Z+l)where the d= sign corresponds with j = I 1 .

Here a is Sommerfelds fine structure con
stant, and A*0 is the so-called average excitation
energy (fco = 16.646 RhcZ 2 for 2>S^), m and M
are the masses of electron and nucleus respec
tively, R is the Rydberg constant, and Z is
the atom ic n um b e r. As seen from the above
formula the Lamb shifts are proportional to Z 4
and inversely proportional to n3.
The experimental methods of Lamb depend
on the long life of the metastable 2 2Sy2 states
( ~ 3 sec.). Roughly speaking, the experiments
consist in making a beam of hydrogen atoms
and exciting the atoms by electron bombard
ment. M ost of the excited atoms in the 2 2Sy2
state, but not those in the 2 2Py 2 or 2 2P%. levels,
would live long enough to reach a detector. If
now a radio frequency field of the correct fre
quency to induce transitions from the 2 SiA
level to one of the 2 P levels is placed in the
path of the atoms, then the decay of the atoms
in the 2 P states would result in a reduction of
the atoms detected and thus indicate a radio
frequency resonance. In the actual experi
ment, the beam along most of its path transverses a homogeneous m agnetic field provided
b y an external magnet. In this way the Zee
m a n components of 2 2Sy2 and 2 2P are sep
arated and the likelihood of decay from the
2 2Stf through mixing with the 2 2Py 2 is de
creased. There exists also an important ex
perimental advantage in performing the ex
periment in a magnetic field. This is that the
radio frequency source can then be used at a
fixed frequency, as the resonances of the Zee
man components can be explored by varying
the strength of the magnetic field keeping the
frequency fixed.
L A M ELASTIC CONSTANTS. The two
proportionality constants, X and /4 in the rela
tionship :

Tij

\AStj + 2neij,

between the stress tensor T7#, the strain tensor

ey, and the dilation ASy. The constant p is
also called the rigidity or the modulus of
rigidity. The constant X is called Lam es

lambda.
ory of.)

(See elastic coefficients, lattice the

LAM ELLAR (L A M IN A R ).
rotational.

See vector, ir-

LAM INAR NAVIGATION, ANTI-COLLISION. An aircraft radio navigation system

consisting of airborne interrogator and ground
transponder equipments with height-coding of
the airborne interrogator pulses.
LAMP. In its derivation, this term denoted
a device for producing light by com bustion;
its application has been extended to cover a
wide range of devices for giving light an d /or
other radiant energy.
LAMP, ARC. A source of light consisting
essentially of electrodes between which an
electric arc is maintained.
LAMP, ELECTRIC. The principal electric
lamps are the arc lamp, vapor lamp, the in
candescent resistance lamp and the fluorescent
lamp. The common vapor lamps in use now
are the m ercury-vapor, giving a bluish-green
light, and the sodium lamp, giving a yellow
or orange light. Other gases are used for
special purpose lamps such as advertising dis
plays where a wider range of colors is desir
able.
In the ordinary incandescent lamp, light is
emitted from a highly heated resistance wire
having a high melting point so that it m ay re
main in a state o f incandescence many hours
without fusing or breaking. The resistor, or
filament, is hermetically sealed in a glass
bulb, which is evacuated, or which is filled
with inert gas, such as nitrogen. M ost m od
ern incandescent lamps have filaments of
drawn tungsten wire.
A more recent development in the lamp
field is the fluorescent lamp, which is a type
o f vapor lamp, but converts the radiation from
the ionized vapor into a more usable type by
means of a fluorescent coating on the inside
of the lamp. These lamps are tubular in form,
contain a filament-type electrode at each end,
have the inner wall of the tube coated with
some phosphor (a material which will fluoresce
under ultra-violet excitation) and are filled
with mercury vapor at low pressure. The dis
charge is rich in ultra-violet radiation which
excites a visible radiation in the fluorescent
coating of the tube. The ballast limits the

current to a safe value since the discharge is

not inherently self-limiting. The color of the
light may be controlled by the type phosphor
used for coating the lamp. The efficiency is
much higher than incandescent lamps, for ex
ample, a 40-watt fluorescent lamp will pro
duce about the same number of lumens as a
150-watt incandescent lamp. The better con
trol of color of light and the better efficiency
are causing a widespread change-over to this
type lighting in many applications.
LAMP, FILAM ENT. A device for producing
light by an electrically-heated wire in a glass
bulb that has been evacuated, or filled with an
inert gas.
LAMP, GLOBAR.

See globar.

LAMP, HARCOURT.
A standard of in
tensity of illumination, which produces light
by the combustion of pentane.
LAMP, KROMAYER. A mercury vapor lamp,
used as a source of ultraviolet radiation.
LAMP, MERCURY VAPOR. A lamp con
taining mercury in a previously-evacuated
bulb or tube. The m ercury-vapor conducts
electricity between the electrodes, and yields
a blue-green light, rich in ultraviolet and near
infrared, as well as visible radiation.
The mercury vapor may also be excited to
radiation in an electrodeless tube by a high
frequency current in a coil surrounding the
tube. B y using mercury 198 (H g198) obtained
from atomic piles, in the tube, spectral lines
are obtained which are superior to those of
cadmium as wavelength standards.
LAMP, NERNST (NERNST GLOW ER). An
electric lamp whose luminosity proceeds from
a short slender rod of ceramic material, largely
zirconium oxide, heated by an electric current.
The lamp must be separately heated to start,
since at room temperature the material is es
sentially an insulator. The lamp has a nega
tive temperature coefficient of resistance and
hence the current should be controlled by a
ballast resistance. The lamp does not need
to be enclosed, hence is frequently used as
a light source for infrared spectrometers,
thereby avoiding the absorption losses of any
enclosing glass bulb. (See also globar.)
LAMP, PILOT. A small electric lamp used to
indicate the condition of given circuit or net

work (e.g., on, off, ready, w ait ). The

incandescent versions are sometimes used as
baretters while the gas-filled lamps are some
times employed as voltage regulators or relax
ation oscillators. (See tube, glow discharge,)
LAMP, QUARTZ. A lamp having a quartz
bulb to transmit ultraviolet radiation; such
lamps are com m only of the m ercury-vapor
type, or of other light-source rich in ultra
violet radiation.
LAMP, SPECTRUM. A lamp giving a nonluminous flame, used in the spectroscopic
examination of radiation from solids, liquids,
or solutions introduced into the flame.
LANAC. Abbreviation for laminar naviga
tion, anti-collision.
LAND. The surface between adjacent grooves
of a phonograph record or of a diffraction
grating. The term also applies to the high
spots in an incompletely ground or polished
optical surface.
LANDAU DAMPING. W hen electron plasma
oscillations are treated by the use of the Boltz
mann-Vlasov equations, the perturbed electron
density and electric field are found to decay
in time. This damping was predicted by
Landau and is due physically to the electrons
m oving with the phase velocity of the wave.
LANDAU DIAM AGNETISM. See diamag
netic susceptibility of conduction electrons.
LANDAU THEORY OF LIQ UID HELIUM
II. T w o types of normal modes may be ex
cited in liquid helium, longitudinal modes and
rotational modes. The quanta of excitation
are respectively the phonon and the roton.
Each mode contributes to the specific heat.
Below 0 .6 K the roton contribution is negli
gible, while at higher temperatures both are
present and they interact with each other.
In the two fluid theory of helium II, the
superfluid has zero excitation, and the nor
m al fluid consists of the phonons and rotons.
These latter act like a gas imbedded in the
superfluid background. (See also helium II,
two fluid theory; Feynman theory of liquid
helium.)
LAND BREEZE. A t night air in contact with
land cools faster than that in contact with
water. When sufficient difference in tempera
ture arises between the land and the sea air,

there springs up a breeze flowing off-shore

from cold land onto warm water. This wind
is known as the land breeze. Its basic cause
lies in the fact that constant pressure and
density surfaces intersect and form a solenoidal field; the resulting circulation tends
to bring the density surfaces parallel with the
pressure surfaces.
LANDfi T-PERMANENCE RULE (SPEC
TROSCOPY ). For a given multiplet spectral
term, i.e., given S and L, or given ji and ; 2,
the sum of all the r factors for terms with
the same magnetic quantum number M is a
constant independent of the field strength.
The r factor is defined for an electron by
the expression:
r = a V l ( l + 1 ) V s(s + 1 ) cos (Is)

IUU + 1) - 1(1+ 1) - *( + 1)),

where I, s and j are vectors and a is a constant

for the given multiplet.
For any doublet level, the wave num ber is
given b y the expression:
v

V0

T,

where v0 is the value for the center of gravity

of the doublet.
LANDfi SPLITTING FACTOR (g-FACT O R ). ( 1 ) A quantity (gr) which appears in
the formula for the change in energy in a
magnetic field for a level of quantum number
J, which takes the form :
AE = Mhga
where AE is the change in energy, M is a mag
netic qu an tu m num ber which can take on
the values J, J 1, *, / + 1, J, J is the
total angular m om en tu m quantum number
(J = L + S), h is the Planck constant, and
<r = eH/^irmc in Gaussian units or a = eB/m
in m ksa units. (2 ) For particles with intrinsic
angular momentum (spin) and intrinsic mag
netic m om ents the g-factor is g = ix/Vat^I,
where p. is the magnetic moment, ian,b is either
the Bohr m agneton jlb or the nuclear mag
neton hn, and I is the spin angular momentum
vector, |I| = \/ 1 ( 1 + 1 ), I being the spin
quan tu m num ber.
(See also m agnetic
energy states.)

Land 6 deduced for g in a weak field, and

with LS-coupling the empirical relation,
J (J + 1) + S(S + 1 ) L (L + 1 )
g = 1 H---------------------------------------------------------2
J (J + 1 )
LANDING BEACON. A radio transmitter
used to generate a landing beam.
LANDING BEAM. A radio beam, highly
directional in both elevation and azimuth,
used to guide aircraft to safe landings during
poor visibility conditions.
LAND O LT BAND. A dark band sometimes
appearing in the field of crossed nicols with
an intense source such as the sun; due to the
light being not strictly parallel.
LANDSBERGER M ETH O D .
See boiling
point, methods of determining elevation of.
LANE. In navigation, the indicated naviga
tional parameter of which is cyclic, the surface
bounded by adjacent lines of position having
the same value of the cyclic parameter.
LANGEVIN FORMULA. The Weiss theory
of ferromagnetism yields an expression for
the quotient of the average component of
atomic magnetic moment, parallel to the field,
by the atomic moment,
ma
Ma H
kT
= c t n h ----------------
HA

kT

Ha H

The expression on the right is known as the

Langevin function; it enters into the theories
of electron dispersion, paramagnetism, and
ferromagnetism.
For haH
kT, as it is in paramagnetic
materials, the atomic susceptibility is
N 0va
**

= ~H~

Nq^a 2
3 kT

e 2H r 2
Am = ^
4 me T
which implies a susceptibility per atom of
e2r 2/4 ra c 2 or N 0 times as much per gramatomic weight. Averaging over all orbital
radii and orientations, the atomic suscepti
bility becomes
N 0e

(See also Langevin formula.)

LANGMUIR ADSORPTION ISOTHERM.
The relation between the amount of gas ad
sorbed in a unimolecular layer by a definite
mass of adsorbent, and the pressure. One
form of this relationship is the following:

+ bp

where 9 is the fraction of the surface covered

b y adsorbed gas, b is a constant, p the gas pres
sure. This equation is com m only known as the
Langmuir isotherm. It can be obtained in the
form :

V
X/m

___
K XK 2

K 2'

in which X is the amount of gas absorbed, m

is the mass of adsorbent, p is the gas pressure,
and K i and K 2 are constants. As is evident
V
from the relationship, by the plotting o f ------X/m
against p, a straight line should be obtained.
(See monomolecular layers.)
LANGMUIR-BLODGETT FILM.
molecular layers.

See mono-

LANGMUIR DARK SPACE. The dark space

surrounding a negative electrode, positioned
in the positive column of a glow discharge.

where N 0 is the number of atoms per gramatom. (See also Langevin theory of diamag
netism.)

LANGMUIR FREQUENCY.
quency.

LANGEVIN THEORY OF DIAM AGNET

ISM. Langevin considered the orbital motion
of an electron in an atom to be an equivalent
current loop. Application of a magnetic field
induces an emf in the orbit, speeding up the
electron and increasing the magnetic moment
of the current loop by the amount

LANGMUIR M ETHO D FOR THE RATE

OF VAPORIZATION OF METALS. Lang
muir used a dynamical method based on the
measurement of the rate of loss of weight of
a metal wire heated in a vacuum. The wire
was contained in a bulb, and was heated by
an electric current, the temperature being

See plasma fre

measured optically. A t the low pressures used

in the experiments, the mean free path of the
molecules was long compared with the size of
the bulb, and consequently all the molecules
leaving the wire struck the walls, to which
they adhered, since the temperature of the
walls was com paratively low. In these condi
tions it can be shown from kinetic theory that
the maximum rate of evaporation /x in grams
per unit area per second, is given by

n = PV

/2ttRT,

where M is the molecular weight of the vapor,

R the gas constant, T the absolute tempera
ture, and p is the vapor pressure when the
metal is in equilibrium with its vapor.
Langmuir assumed that the actual rate of
evaporation was given by this expression, i.e.,
that the coefficient of condensation was unity.
Later work appears to show that this view
was not justified.
LANGUAGE (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS). (1) A system consisting of (a)
a well-defined, usually finite, set of characters;
(b) rules for combining characters with one
another to form words or other expressions;
and (c) a specific assignment of meaning to
some of the words or expressions, usually for
communicating inform ation or data among a
group of people, machines, etc. (2) A system
similar to the above but without any specific
assignment of meanings. Such systems may
be distinguished from ( 1 ) above, when neces
sary, by referring to them as formal or un
interpreted languages. Although it is some
times convenient to study a language inde
pendently of any meanings, in all practical
cases at least one set of meanings is eventually
assigned. (See also code; language, machine.)

marked with developers of low reduction p o

tential, particularly hydroquinone, and is
hardly apparent with developers of high re
duction potential.
LANTHANIDE CONTRACTION. The de
creasing sequence of crystal radii of the tri
positive rare-earth ions with increasing atomic
number in the group lanthanum through lu
tecium (i.e., in elements of atomic numbers
from 57 through 71, the so-called lanthanide
series).
LANTHANIDE SERIES.
The rare earth
elements of atomic number 58 through 71,
which have chemical properties similar to
lanthanum (number 57).
LANTHANUM. Rare earth metallic element.
Sym bol La. A tom ic number 57.
LAP (O PT IC A L ). (1) A disk, com m only of
cast iron, mounted to rotate on an axis nor
mal to the face of the disk. The face may be
either flat or curved. Used to grind optics
prior to polishing. (2) The process of grind
ing optics prior to polishing. Comm only op
tics are ground to approximate shape by use
of a loose abrasive and water. Carborundum
(silicon carbide) and corundum or emery
(aluminum oxide) of different particle size are
the conventional lapping-compounds.
L ap
ping is now being replaced by cutting or mill
ing with diamond tools.
LAPLACE DEVELOPM ENT OF A D E
TERMINANT. A method of finding the nu
merical value of a determinant. Let its order
be n and A i1c be the cofactor to the element
A ik. Then
n

|A I = det A = X A ikA ik
-=1
n

LANGUAGE, M ACHINE. (1) A language,

occurring within a machine, ordinarily not
perceptible or intelligible to persons without
special equipment or training. ( 2 ) A transla
tion or transliteration of ( 1 ) above into more
conventional characters but frequently still
not intelligible to persons without training.
LANIER EFFECT. A photographic effect
observed by A. Lanier (1896) involving ac
celeration of development by the addition of
potassium iodide to the developer, or by bath
ing the plate or film in a solution of potassium
iodide before development. The effect is more

= ' Z A kiA hi;

k = 1 ,2,

il

LAPLACE EQUATION.
A second-order
partial differential equation which, in vector
form, is v 2</> = 0. It is the homogeneous
case of Poissons equation. Its solutions, the
scalar quantity </>, occur in problems involv
ing steady-state temperatures, gravitational
and electric potentials, hydrodynamics of
ideal fluids, and many other physical phe
nomena. The equation is usually solved by
the method of separation of variables in a
suitable curvilinear coordinate system and

with boundary conditions imposed by physi

cal requirements. Such solutions are called
harmonic functions. In two dimensions, an
analytic function of the complex variable must
satisfy Laplaces equation.
(See also Laplacian.)
LAPLACE EQUATION, SOLUTIONS OF.
In three dimensions, the Laplace equation is
satisfied by any linear combination of terms
of the types:
rnP nm{cos
r - (n+ 1 )P nm(cos OW'1"*,
where r, 0 , cf> comprise a spherical coordinate
system. The solutions on the surface of a
unit sphere are P nm{cos 0 )e jm$ and are called
tesseral harmonics (of nth degree and mth
order). Those of zeroth order, P n(cos 0 ) , are
called zonal harmonics.
In general, any
solution of the Laplace equation is called a
harmonic junction . The zonal harmonics are
also known as Legendre polynomials, and the
tesseral harmonics as associated Legendre
polynomials.
In two dimensional, rectangular coordinates,
any analytic function of the complex variable
z = x + jy satisfies the Laplace equation by
virtue of the Cauchy conditions for analyticity. In fact, the real and imaginary parts of
f ( z) satisfy Laplaces equation separately, and
the curves R e f ( z ) = C i, Im f { z ) = C 2 inter
sect at right angles. These relations are im
portant in the theory of conformai mapping
and its application to electrostatic problems.
LAPLACE EQUATION, USE IN FLUID
DYNAMICS. An irrotational incompressible
flow can be specified by a velocity potential
which satisfies the Laplace equation at all
points in the flow. The problem of determin
ing the velocity potential function from the
boundary conditions of the flow system may
be solved by methods that usually involve
suitable expansion in orthogonal functions,
the choice of the functions depending on the
particular type of symmetry. (See complete
set of orthogonal functions, expansion in.)
M any problems lend themselves to representa
tion in spherical polar coordinates and then the
general solution is
H rM )
= Z

( w * + a2r - n- 1 ) P nm(cos $)eim+

where r, 0 ,< are the coordinates, P nm(cos 0) is-a

L e g e n d re p o ly n o m ia l, n,m are integers.
LAPLACE L A W .

See Ampere law.

LAPLACE TRANSFORM.
The function
f { p) is the Laplace transform of F( x ) , where
f(p ) = f

e~ pxF (x)d x;
2

C+tQO

F (x) = I
epxf(p )d p .
Zttz _nr**\
In the latter form, the constant c is any real
number such that

e~ cx\f{x)\dx

is bounded. (Refer also to the entry for the

Fourier transform.)
LAPLACIAN.

( 1 ) The vector operator

div grad = V V = V2.

In rectangular coordinates it is
d2/dx2 + d2/dy2 + d2/ d z 2.
For its expression in other coordinate sys
tems, see operators, vector differential, in
various coordinate systems.
(2) This term has been used, in nuclear
technology, in place of the negative of buck
ling.
LAPSE RATE. The rate at which tempera
ture decreases or lapses with altitude. It is
the vertical temperature gradient. Since tem
perature normally decreases with altitude in
the troposphere, it is convenient to assign
positive values to the rate of temperature
change with altitude. Lapse rate, therefore, is
defined as the rate of change of temperature
with altitude and is positive when the tem
perature decreases. The rate of change of the
temperature of dry air (or moist air in which
the water vapor enters into no change of state)
with altitude as it rises (or falls) adiabatically
in the atmosphere is defined as the dry-adiabatic lapse rate.
LAPSE RATE, AUTOCONVECTION.
autoconvection lapse rate.

See

LARMOR PRECESSION. The precession of

a system of angular momentum L and mag

netic moment jjl when influenced by the torque

resulting from an external magnetic field. The
cases of greatest interest are those of elec
trically charged systems in which the charge
density at every point in the system is pro
portional to the mass density. If the relativistic effects which lead to the Thomas pre
cession are neglected, any such system will
have a magnetic moment jjl which is propor
tional to its angular momentum L, as can
be seen by the following consideration. The

Thus the angular velocity <oL of Larmor pre

cession will be wL = eB/2m. I f this is ex
pressed in the Gaussian system of units rather
than the mksa system, it becomes wL =
eB/2mc. I f the system under consideration
is a spinning electron, it is found experi
mentally and shown by the Dirac electron
theory that the gyromagnetic ratio is one half
that found above. This leads to an angular
velocity of Larm or precession for the electrons
spin in an external magnetic field
= eB/mc.
For the electron in the magnetic field which
it sees as a result of its motion in the electric
field of the nucleus (i.e., the magnetic field
due to the motion o f the nucleus around the
electron ), the Thomas precession reduces the
angular velocity o f spin precession to wT =
eB/ 2 m c, which would be the classically ex
pected value.
(See also magnetic energy
states; Zeeman effect.)
LARMOR RADIUS. The radius of curva
ture of a charged particle moving in a uniform
magnetic field is called the Larm or radius and
is equal to
cmv I

angular momentum of the system about an

axis through its center of mass will be
L = j*pr X [co X r]dr,
where p is the mass density as a function of the
position vector r, co is the angular velocity of
the system, and dr is an element of volume.
The magnetic moment of the system is
|i = ^ fpr X [<o X r}dr - fp r X [a> X r]dr,
J
2m J
where pe is the electric charge density (pe/e =
p /m ), e is the total charge on the system and m
is its total mass. From this it is seen that the
gyromagnetic ratio gr = L/|X = 2 m/e. If the
system is placed in an external magnetic field of
flux density B, the torque T on the system
will be T = |x X B = (e/2m)L X B.
Since
dh/dt = T = (e/2m) L X B, it follows that
this torque will lead to a precession of the vec
tor L around B. From the figure, it is seen that
if L makes an angle 0 with B, the angle A4>
through which L will precess in the time At is
e L X B

e L B sin 9

eB

A <f> = ---------------- At = ------------------- At = At.

2m

L sin 6

2m L sin 6

2m

j----------

where v and
are respectively the velocity
com ponent perpendicular to the direction of
the field and the fraction of the total kinetic
energy associated with this velocity com
ponent, q is the electric charge in esu, m is the
m ass, H is the m agnetic field strength in
em u , and c is the speed of light. This radius
is sometimes called gyromagnetic radius.
LARMOR THEOREM.
sion.

See Larmor preces

LARSEN POTENTIOMETER.
tiometer, Larsen.

See poten

LARYNX, ARTIFICIAL. A reed actuated by

the air from an opening in front of the throat,
through which breathing takes place. The de
vice assists the speech of a person on whom a
tracheotomy has been performed.
LATENT PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE. The
invisible, but developable, image formed on
exposure of a light-sensitive emulsion to light.
A complete theory of the latent image has
not yet been developed but it seems certain
that minute sensitivity-centers of silver sul

phide or colloidal silver attached to the silver

halide crystals are involved.
LATERAL M AGNIFICATION. Linear mag
nification measured normal to the optical
axis. I f dy is an element of distance in ob
ject space normal to the optical axis of a sys
tem and d y' is the conjugate element in image
space, then d y/dy is the lateral magnifica
tion.
LATERAL
SPHERICAL
ABERRATION.
The difference between the reciprocals of the
image distances for paraxial and rim rays.
I f S' and S\ are the image distances for par
axial rays and rays which strike a lens a dis
tance h from its center, respectively, then
S' S'h is the longitudinal spherical aberra
tion, and (I/S '* ) ( I /S ') is the lateral
spherical aberration.
LATTICE. ( 1 ) A regular array of points in
space, as for example, the sites of atoms in a
crystal.
(See space lattice.)
( 2 ) In a nu
clear reactor, structure of discrete bodies of
fissionable material and non-fissionable mate
rial (especially moderator) arranged in a reg
ular geometrical pattern. M ost heterogeneous
reactors have a lattice structure.
(3) In
mathematics, a partially-ordered set in which
any two elements have a greatest lower bound
and a least upper bound, the greatest lower
bound of a and b being an element c such
that c a, c b, and if d a, d b, then
c < d. The least upper bound is defined anal
ogously.
(4) In navigation, a pattern of
identifiable intersecting lines of position laid
down in fixed positions with respect to the
transmitters that establish it.
LATTICE
COMPOUNDS.
Compounds
formed
between
definite
stoichiometric
amounts of two molecular species which owe
their stability to packing in the crystal lat
tice, and not to ordinary valence forces.
LATTICE CONSTANT. A ny one of the dis
tances that specify the lengths of the edges of
a unit cell in a space lattice or of the angles
that specify the angles between the edges of
the lattice. The three linear constants are
usually denoted by a, b , and c, the angles con
stants by a, /?, and y. The angle a is that be
tween the axes along which b and c are meas
ured,
between the axes along which a and c
are measured, y between the axes along which

b and a are measured. For the cubic lattice

a b = c and a = /2 = y = 9 0; for other
systems less simple relations exist among the
constants.
LATTICE DEFECT.

See defect.

LATTICE DYNAMICS. A branch of the

theory of the solid state, dealing with the
properties of the thermal vibrations of crystal
lattices.
LATTICE ENERGY OF CRYSTAL. The
decrease in energy accom panying the process
of bringing the ions, when separated from
each other by an infinite distance, to the p o
sitions they occupy in the stable lattice. It
is made up of contributions from the electro
static forces between the ions, from the re
pulsive forces associated with the overlap of
electron shells, from the van der Waals
forces, and from the zero-point energy. (See
Born-Mayer equation.)
LATTICE NETWORK.
LATTICE PLANE.

See network, lattice.

See atomic plane.

LATTICE SITE. A ny position within a unit

cell which is normally occupied by an atom.
LATTICE SUM. In general, any sum whose
terms are functions of the positions of points
in a space lattice. The term is applied par
ticularly to those sums involved in evaluat
ing the Coulomb energy of an ionic crystal,
where the magnitude of each term depends
on the inverse distance of the lattice point
from the origin, with a sign depending on the
charge of the ion at that point. Such sums
are difficult to evaluate directly, as they con
verge only very slowly, but special methods
have been devised to calculate them.
(See
Evjen method, Ewald method.)
LATTICE VIBRATION.
tion of a crystal lattice.

A thermal vibra

LATTICE W AVE.

See phonon.

LATUS RECTUM.

See conic section.

LAUE CONDITIONS. The conditions in Xray defraction expressed by the three equa
tions:

(u u 0)-ai = ni\,
(u u 0)*a2 = n2X,
(u - u 0)-a3 = n3X,

where u0 is a unit vector in the direction of the

incident X -r a y beam, u is a unit vector in
the direction of the scattered beam, A is the
wavelength, and ax, a2, a3 are the crystallo
g ra p h s axial vectors.
LAUE
PHOTOGRAPH
M ETHO D .
A
method of X-ray analysis of crystal structure
in which a beam of X -ra y s of all wavelengths
is passed through a thin slice of the crystal
and the diffracted beams received as a series
o f spots on a photographic plate. It can
easily be seen, from the Bragg equation, that
each atomic plane will give rise to a spot,
which fixes its orientation, and hence the sym
m etry of the crystal structure. It is difficult,
however, to determine the structure factors
directly by this method, because of uncer
tainty in the spectrum of the incident X -rays.
LAUNCHING.
The name sometimes ap
plied to the process of transferring energy
from a coaxial cable or transmission line to
a waveguide.
LAURENT HALF-SHADE PLATE.
The
Laurent half-shade plate consists of a semi
circular half-wave plate of quartz or other
birefringent crystal set between the polarizer
from a coaxial cable or transmission line to
optic axis at a small angle with the principle
section of the polarizer.
LAURENT POLARIMETER. A polarimeter
consisting of a m onochromatic filter, a p o
larizing nicol, a half-shade plate, a tube for
unknowns to be studied, an analyzing nicol
and an eye lens focused on the half-shade
plate. Used to measure the rotatory power
o f liquids and crystals.
LAURENT SERIES. A generalization of the
Taylor series, making it possible to develop a
function of the complex variable about a
singular point z = Zq. The result is a tw oway power series (positive and negative pow
ers)

condition that f ( x ) shall be analytic every

where within the circle, except at the singu
larity. I f there are an infinite number of
negative powers in the series, f ( z) has an
essential singularity at zq; if a _ fc is not zero
and all other coefficients an = 0 for n < fc,
the singular point is a pole of order fc.
LA W . A statement describing a general truth
or general relationship, which formulates the
conditions applying to various phenomena or
their relationships.
L A W OF APPEARANCE OF UNSTABLE
FORMS. The unstable forms of monotropic
substances are obtained from a liquid or v a
por state before the stable form appears.
L A W OF AREAS. A particle in motion un
der the influence of any central force moves
in such a way that the radius vector sweeps
out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
The law is a direct consequence of the conser
vation of angular momentum. K eplers sec
ond law (see laws of Kepler) is a special case.
L A W OF COMPOSITION OF FORCES.
See equilibrium; forces, parallelogram of;
forces, polygon of.
L A W OF CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR
M OM ENTUM . I f the total external torque
on a rigid body or a system of particles about
a point vanishes, the total angular momentum
of the system about this point is a constant.
(See also moment of momentum.)
L A W OF CONSERVATION OF M ECHANI
CAL ENERGY. For a conservative system
the mechanical energy, which is equal to the
sum o f the kinetic energy (see energy, ki
netic) and potential energy (see energy, po
tential) is always equal to a constant deter
mined by the initial conditions of the motion.
(See also conservation of energy, law of.)
L A W OF RADIOACTIVE
radioactive decay, law of.

DECAY.

See

00

/0 0 =

Z ) a(2 w=00

2o)

with coefficients given by

a = f
^ dt
n - 2 tr i J c (t - z0)n+1'
The contour consists of a circle about z = z0.
The size of the circle is limited only by the

LAW
OF RADIOACTIVE DISPLACE
M ENT. See radioactive displacement, law
of.
L A W OF RATIONAL INTERCEPTS.
Hatiy law.

See

L A W OF SINES (THREE FORCES ACT

ING AT A PO IN T). I f a particle is in equi
librium under the influence of three forces

acting at a point, the ratios of each force to

the sine of the angle between the other two
forces are equal. (See equilibrium.)
L A W R E N C E TU BE.

See chromatron.

L-CAPTURE.

L A W S O F K E PLE R. Three laws o f plane

tary m otion first enunciated by Kepler at the
beginning of the seventeenth century.
(1 )
The planets describe, relatively to the sun, el
lipses of which the sun occupies a focus. ( 2 )
The radius vector of each planet traces out
equal areas in equal times. (3) The squares
of the periods of revolution of any two plan
ets vary as the cubes of the m ajor axes of
their orbits.
L A Y E R C A P A C IT A N C E .
cathode interface (layer).
LA Y E R , C A T H O D E .

See capacitance,

See cathode interface.

LA Y E R , D E P L E T IO N (IN A SE M IC O N
D U C T O R ). A region in which the mobile
carrier charge density is insufficient to neu
tralize the net fixed charge density of donors
and acceptors.
L A Y E R (S ), E , F ( F x A N D F 2), A N D D .
E layer, F layer, and D layer.

See

LA Y E R L A T T IC E . A solid structure con

sisting of sheets of atoms, not necessarily in
one plane, extending throughout the whole
crystal and separated from one another by a
distance which is too large for chemical bond
ing. Graphite is the familiar example, and
shows the characteristic cleavage into thin
flakes.
L A Y E R LINES. In the rotating crystal type
of apparatus for the X-ray analysis of crys
tal structure, all lattice planes having the
same spacing in the direction parallel to the
axis of rotation will produce diffraction spots
lying on more or less horizontal lines.
LA Y E R O F C H A R G E . A simple layer is
a sheet of charge of one sign, such as the
surface charge on a charged conductor. (See
also double layer.)
LA Y E R O F C H A R G E , STR E N G TH OF.
The strength of a double layer is the dipole
moment per unit area.
L-BAN D.

See radar frequency bands.

LC .
Abbreviation
tance.

for

LCAO.
A molecular orbital that is con
structed by taking a linear combination of
atom ic orbitals.

inductance-capaci-

See L-electron capture.

L-DISPLAY (ALSO L-SCAN OR L-SCOPE).

See display.
LEAD.
M etallic
Atom ic number 82.
LEAD, ANGLE OF.

element.

Sym bol

Pb.

See lag, angle of.

LEAD CONTROL. The control of the sta

bility of feedback systems by the use of lead
networks.
LEAD-IN SPIRAL.

See groove, lead-in.

LEAD SCREW. ( 1 ) The screw which drives

the cutting head across a recording disk in
the initial recording process.
The groove
pitch produced may be constant, or in later
high-fidelity systems, may be adjusted ac
cording to the signal strength being recorded.
( 2 ) The screw which controls the longitudinal
motion of a tool on a lathe, grating engine, or
similar device.
LEAKAGE, CURRENT.
age.

See current, leak

LEAKAGE, NEUTRON. The loss o f neu

trons of a specified energy range from a given
region of a nuclear reactor due to their m o
tion. The leakage spectrum is the energy dis
tribution of neutrons leaving the reactor.
LEAKAGE
leakage.

RADIATION.

See

radiation,

LEAKAGE REACTANCE. See inductance,

leakage; reactance, leakage.
LEAKAGE RESISTANCE.
leakage.

See resistance,

LEAK, CARRIER. See carrier leak.

LEAK DETECTOR. An instrument for lo
cating leaks in a vacuum system. A com
m only used detector is the Tesla coil, which
gives visible sparks when it passes over a small
hole into which gas is leaking. Other leak de
tection methods consist of probing its pas
sage into the system by the color of a gas dis
charge or by an increase in the reading of a
selective ion gauge, such as a mass spectrom
eter.

LEAST ACTION, PRINCIPLE OF. This

principle, first enunciated rather loosely by
Maupertuis in the 18th century, states that
the actual motion of a conservative dynamical
system from P i to P 2 takes place in such
a w ay that the action has a stationary value
with respect to all other possible paths be
tween P i and P 2 corresponding to the same
energy. (C f. Hamilton principle.)
LEAST-ENERGY PRINCIPLE. A principle
relating to stable equilibrium, and having
very wide application.
I f a system is in
stable equilibrium, any slight change in its
condition or configuration requiring the per
formance of work will put it out of equilib
rium, so that, if the system is now left to itself,
it will return to its former state and in so
doing will give up the energy imparted when it
was disturbed. Consider, for example, a block
o f w ood floating in a pail of water. I f the
b lock is lifted slightly, work is done and the
center of mass of the w ood-w ater system as
a whole is raised, so that it now has more p o
tential energy. The same would be true if the
block were pushed a little farther into the
water. In either case, when the block is re
leased, it oscillates with decreasing amplitude
about its former level and the energy of the
system diminishes to its former minimum value
as the extra energy is dissipated in work
against the viscous forces. This illustrates
the general principle, which is that a system
is in stable equilibrium only under those con
ditions for which its potential energy is at a
minimum.
The principle of least energy is one aspect
o f the principle of virtual work. (C f. poten
tial energy; least work.)
LEAST SQUARES FITTING. A method of
combining experimental data, which show the
value of a dependent variable y for various
values of the independent variable x, in such
a w ay as to establish the best relation between
y and x. As an example of the simplest and
most common application, it is assumed that
y = a + bx, where a and b are constants
whose values are to be determined.
The
method leads to values of a and b such that
the sum of the squares of the deviations of the
observed values of y from the values predicted
by the equation is minimized. For a detailed
discussion see W orthing and Geffner, T reat
ment of Experimental Data, W iley (1943).

LEAST TIM E, PRINCIPLE OF.

mat principle.

See Fer

LEAST WORK. The three equations of static

equilibrium are insufficient to determine the
analysis of certain types of structures which,
in consequence, are called statically indeter
minate structures. The analysis of such struc
tures belongs to the general subject of mathe
matical theory of elasticity. Several methods
of attack have been devised, but none has had
so wide an application as the principle o f least
work. W hen a structure, either simple or
complex, is loaded, there is a certain amount
of energy stored in it by virtue of the deforma
tion of its several elastic components. The
theory of least work is based on the fact that
the natural phenomena attending the deflec
tion of a stressed structure is that the indi
vidual parts will be so deflected that the load
will be carried with a minimum storage of
energy in the elastic members. In the leastwork theory, there are two basic propositions.
The first is that the linear displacement of the
point of application of a load of an indetermi
nate structure, in the direction of the load,
equals the first derivative of the energy stored
in the elastic structure, taken with respect to
the load. The second theorem is that the
magnitudes o f statically indeterminate reac
tion forces are such as to make the elastic
energy of the system the least possible. (C f.
equilibrium.)
LEBESGUE INTEGRAL.
besgue.

See integral, Le-

LE CHATELIER PRINCIPLE. A general

law for physical systems which states that:
If a system is subjected to a constraint where
by the equilibrium is modified, a change takes
place, if possible, which partially annuls the
constraint. (See also Lenz law.)
LECHER OSCILLATOR. See oscillations in
electric circuits; electric waves.
LECHER WIRES. A special type of trans
mission line used primarily for the measure
ment of frequencies in the high radio-fre
quency range (see frequency meter). Basi
cally they consist of two parallel wires a few
wavelengths (in terms of the frequency to
be measured) long, which are adjustable in
length. W hile usually adjusted by sliding a
shorting bar along the wires they are some

times fixed in physical length, either open or

short-circuited at the remote end, and varied
electrically by tuning a series condenser. In
any event, if the system is coupled to a source
o f high frequency the induced waves will be
reflected from the end and, if the line is
electrically an integral number of half-w avelengths long, standing waves will result. The
nodes or anti-nodes of these may be detected
with a suitable detector and the spacing of
corresponding points will be a half-wavelength
apart, thus allowing the frequency to be cal
culated.
LEFT-HANDED.
left.

LEFT-HAND RULE (FOR

TION ) . See right-hand rule.

A second-order

x2) y " 2 xy' + n (n + 1 )y = 0 .

x 2) y " -

(2 >! L
2 (n !) 2 L
n(n -

n (n

x n-2

2(2n -

1) { n - 2 )(n -

1)
3) ^ n _ 4 ^

2A (2n l)(2 n 3)

The first definition, in terms of the nth de

rivative, is called the Rodrigues formula. A
second set of polynomials, linearly independ
ent of Pn, is composed of polynomials of the
second kind, Qn. The general solution of the
Legendre equation is then

where A, B are arbitrary constants. M any

other definitions and relations for these p oly
nomials are known. (See Schlaflis formula,
generating function, Heine formula.)
LEIBNITZ RULE. A formula for the nth
derivative of the product of two functions in
terms of the successive derivatives of the
factors:
dn

dnu

/n\dn

dv

dxn

\ 1 / dxn 1

dx

(uv) = ----- v + I ) ------r

0

dxm

1
dn

P ( x ) r r ~ : t t (x ~ 1)
2 nn\dxn

2 xy'

T
+ |^n(w + 1 )

dmP n{x)

y = A P n(x) + BQn(x)

It is a special case of the associated Legendre

equation
(1 -

,2\m/2
X2)

MOTOR AC

LEG. ( 1 ) The d-c lead over which d-c signals

are received or transmitted to a telegraph re
peater or carrier panel. ( 2 ) A side or branch
circuit off a main circuit or system.
LEGENDRE EQUATION.
differential equation:

= (-1)"(1 -

and the special case, m = 0, is the Legendre

polynomial of degree n

See handedness, right and

LEFT-HANDED POLARIZED W AVE. See

wave, left-handed (counter-clockwise) polar
ized; handedness, right and left.

(1 -

P rT ix )

m2 1
_ - 2j y = 0 ,

which in turn is a special case of the Gauss

hypergeometric equation.
B oth Legendre
equations have singular points at x = 1 , oo
and if m,n are integers the solutions are
Legendre polynomials.
F or non-integral
values of these parameters, the solutions are
Legendre functions.
(See also harmonic,
spherical.) These differential equations oc
cur in the quantum mechanical problems of
the rigid rotator and the hydrogen atom.
LEGENDRE POLYNOMIAL. A solution of
the Legendre differential equation. The as
sociated polynomials may be defined by the
expression

dn~ 2u d2v

dnv

dxn ~ 2 d i? + ' ' + U chi"

/n\ dn~ku dkv

~ To W

dxn~k dxk'

The coefficients are binomial coefficients.

L-ELECTRON. An electron having an orbit
of such dimensions that the electron consti
tutes part of the second shell of electrons sur
rounding the atomic nucleus, counting out
from the nucleus; orbitals in the L-shell are
characterized by the principal quantum num
ber value of 2 (i.e., the L-shell follows the
K -, or innermost, shell).
L-ELECTRON CAPTURE. Electron capture
from the L-shell by the atomic nucleus. (See
electron capture.)

is known as the scattering length. It may be

negative, as shown in the figure, or positive, as
LENGTH. ( 1 ) The length of a straight line
would be the case if the wave functions slope
is the number of times that a specified meas
is negative at the nuclear radius. The scat
uring rod must be successively applied to
tering length is essentially the radius of a
cover the line completely.
hard sphere which would produce the same
(2 )
The length of a curve is equal to the
scattering. (For a more detailed discussion,
length of a flexible, but inextensible, measur
see R. Evans, The Atom ic Nucleus, M cG raw ing rod which can be made to coincide exactly
Hill, 1955, p. 319.)
with the curve.
One of the three fundamental units in me
LENGTH, UNITS OF.
(1) M etric The
chanics.
(See also mass, time, mechanical
meter is the standardized unit. The common
units.)
unit is the centimeter (cm ) which is y 100 of

LENARD RAYS.

See cathode rays.

LENGTH, ELECTRIC ( A L ) . The physical

length of a transmission line or its equivalent,
corrected for any inhomogeneities that may
effect the speed of propagation, and expressed
in wavelengths, radians, or degrees.
LENG TH OF PLATEAU. The voltage in
terval corresponding to the portion of the
plateau characteristic in which a GeigerMuller counter tube can be reliably oper
ated.
LENGTH, RELAXATION. In nuclear re
actor usage, the distance in which the intensity
o f a beam of neutrons or y-rays (in a given
medium) is reduced to a fraction 1 /e of its
initial value due to absorption in the medium.
LENGTH, SCATTERING. A term used in
the theory of the scattering of particles of very
low energy (e.g., thermal neutrons) from a
nucleus. The particle has essentially zero
kinetic energy when it is outside the range of
the nuclear force. Hence the radial part of
the wave function has a zero second derivative
in this region and thus is a straight line of such
a slope as to match at the nuclear radius the
slope of the wave function inside the nucleus

a meter. Also used are the decimeter

meters and the kilometer = 1 0 0 0 meters.
English The yard is the standardized
The common unit is the foot which is %
yard. Also used are the inch =
of a
and the mile = 5280 ft = 1760 yards.
also inch.)

= 10
(2 )
unit.
of a
yard
(See

LENNARD-JONES AND
DEVONSHIRE
THEORY. A theory of the liquid state which
describes fusion as a dissociation of the crys
tal lattice, molecules moving from the lattice
sites to inter-lattice holes. The dissociation
energy decreases with thermal expansion and
the theory gives a roughly quantitative de
scription o f fusion.
LENS. (1) An optical component consisting
of one or more pieces of glass or other mate
rial transparent to the radiation being used,
which has the surfaces so curved, ordinarily
spherical, that radiation coming from an ob
ject will, after passing through the lens, form
an image, real or virtual, o f that object. A
simple lens consists of a single piece of trans
parent material. Simple lenses may be of
any of these forms:
C O N V ER G IN G

0
Double Convex
or Biconvex

Plano
Convex

Concavo Conivex

or

P o sitiv e Meniscus

(see figure). The intercept of this external

wave function, indicated by a in the figure,

Double
Concave

D IV ER G IN G

Plano
Concave

Convexo Concave
or
Negative Meniscus

In the double-convex and double-concave

cases, the two curvatures m ay be alike, equiconvex or equiconcave, or they may be d if
ferent.
( 2 ) In communications, a structure trans
parent to radio waves, and with a relative
dielectric constant different from unity, de
signed in such manner as to produce a desired
pattern. Such structures m ay employ dielec
trics or metallic configurations. (See antenna
lens; antenna lens, pathlength; antenna lens,
dielectric; antenna lens, delay; antenna lens,
metallic.)
(3) In electron optics, a configuration of
electric or magnetic fields arranged to pro
duce the desired electron-beam pattern. (See
particle optics.)
(4) A magnetic lens is an arrangement of
coils and magnets so disposed that the re
sulting magnetic fields produce a focusing
force on a beam of charged particles.
LENS, ACHROM ATIC. A compound lens
(see lens, compound) of at least two kinds
of glass, which has the same focal length and
the same magnification for light of two d if
ferent wavelengths and nearly the same focal
length for all intervening wavelengths. Cer
tain thick lenses and certain compound lenses
of a single sort of glass can be made achro
matic, but such lenses are not com monly used.
(See also achromat.)
LENS, APOCHROMAT. A compound lens
(see lens, compound) constructed so that the
focal length for three different wavelengths
will be identical.
This reduces chromatic
aberration over a wider range of wavelengths
than a simple achromatic lens, which brings
to identical focal length light of only two
different wavelengths.
LENS COM BINATION, ZERO POWER. It
is possible to introduce into an optical system
a lens of zero power which makes no essential
change in the principal focal plane, but which
does reduce certain aberrations, particularly
coma.
LENS, COMPOUND. The aberrations in
herent to all single optical lenses can be re
duced by constructing a compound lens of
several simple lenses. These simple lenses
are not ordinarily all of the same type of
glass or other transparent material.
(See
lens, achromatic; lens, apochromatic.)

The simple lenses

gether, or they may be
or in the case of three
may be cemented and
spaces.

may be cemented to
separated by air spaces,
or more elements, some
others separated by air

LENS, CONVERGING. A lens (see lens (1))

with positive focal length is called converg
ing, since it causes light parallel to its axis to
converge to a real focus.
LENS, CONVERTIBLE. A camera lens (see
lens ( 1 )) made up of two separable systems,
each separately corrected so that either sys
tem or the total combined system may be
used, thus giving greater flexibility o f equip
ment.
LENS, CYLINDRICAL. A lens (see lens
( 1 )) one surface of which is a portion of the
surface of a cylinder. Cylindrical lenses have
many uses, but the most common is for cor
recting astigmatism in the eye. They may
be either concave (negative) or convex (posi
tive) .
LENS DISK. In some older forms of me
chanical television, the rotating scanning disk.
LENS, DIVERGING. A lens (see lens (1))
with a negative focal length is called diverging
because it causes light parallel to its axis to
diverge, as if coming from a point which is the
virtual focus of the lens.
LENS, ELECTRON. A systematic arrange
ment of electromagnetic or electrostatic fields,
having symmetry about the axis of a cathoderay tube, as to their radial components, estab
lished for the purpose of controlling the di
vergence and convergence of the electrons.
LENS, ELECTROSTATIC. An arrangement
of electrodes so disposed that the resulting
electric fields produce a focusing effect on a
beam of charged particles.
LENS EQUATION. A ny equation connect
ing the position of a point object to the posi
tion of its image, the two distances being
measured relative to some well defined refer
ence point or pair of reference points on the
optical axis of the lens. The m ost widely
used lens equations deal only with the com
ponent along the axis of the displacement of
the object or image point from the appropriate
fixed point, and are based on the assumption

that the rays involved in the image formation

are paraxial.
In the following discussions of the various
lens equations, it is assumed that the system
is viewed in such a way that light passes from
left to right. W e employ a sign convention
that is com m only used. The equation will be
changed somewhat if a different convention is
adopted.
In the Gaussian form of the lens equation,
particularly suitable for thin lenses, only one
reference point is used; it is at the center of
the lens. The equation is:
1

where p is the ob ject distance, q is the image

distance, and / is the focal length. The equa
tion in this form requires that object distances
be considered positive when the object is to
the left of the lens and image distance posi
tive when the image is to the right, and re
quires that the focal length of a converging
lens be taken as positive and that of a diverg
ing lens be taken as negative. The focal
length is a constant for a given lens if the
same optical medium is present on both sides
o f the lens, otherwise the equation must be
modified.
The N ewtonian form of the lens equation
takes the two principle foci of the lens as the
reference points. Image distances (q/) are
measured to the right from the first principal
focu s, which is the point to which rays coming
through the lens and being parallel to the axis
will converge or from which they will appear
to diverge. O bject distances (pf) are meas
ured to the left from the second principal
focus, which is the location of the point at
which an object (real or virtual, as required)
must be located so as to produce rays that are
parallel to the axis and travelling to the right,
after refraction by the lens. This form of the
equation is:

p'q' = f .
For a thick lens, the Newtonian form ap
plies equally w ell; if the Gaussian form is used
the distances p and q must be measured from
the second and first principal points, P 2 and
P i respectively. These points are on the axis,
P i being at the focal length / from the first
principal focus and P 2 at the focal length /
from the second principal focus (both toward

the lens). The focal length may be determined

from the Newtonian form of the equation.
The planes perpendicular to the axis through

lens.
For the cases in which there are different op
tical media on the two sides of the lens, see
Robertson, Optics, Geometrical and Physical,
4th ed., Van Nostrand, 1954.) (See also lens
makers equation; magnification.)
LENSES, ALTERNATE POSITIVE AND
NEGATIVE. A method of focusing an elec
tron beam by the use of a series of alternating
converging and diverging lenses (see lens (3))
of equal strength.
LENSES, CAMERA. Great effort has been
put into the design of camera lenses and each
manufacturer has designs and names of his
own. However many modern camera lenses
are elaborations of the Cooke Triplet which
consists of a negative lens spaced unsymmetrically between two positive lenses. The
famous Tessar lens is a Cooke triplet in
which the rear crown lens is replaced by a
doublet. The H ector series replaces each of
the three lenses of the Cooke triplet with a
doublet.
LENSES, COATED. Lenses coated with low
reflectance films. (See low reflection films on
glass.)
LENSES, ELECTRIC, APERTURES AS. An
aperture connecting regions of different po
tential gradients will distort the field in its
vicinity. This distortion may be used to focus
an electron beam passing through the aper
ture. (See also lens, electron.)
LENS, FIELD. An auxiliary lens (see lens
( 1 )) used to focus light which has passed
through one or more stages of a long optical
system, before it passes to later stages.

LENS, M AGNETIC.
An arrangement of
coils, electromagnets, or magnets so disposed
that the resulting magnetic fields produce a
focusing force on a beam of charged particles.
(See also lens, electron.)
LENS MAKERS EQUATION.
ship:

1 = /n2 - nA n
f

ni

The relation

_ 1\

) \rx

r2)

between the focal length of a thin lens and

the radii of curvature r and r 2 of its two sur
faces. ni and n 2 are the respective relative
indices of refraction of the lens material with
respect to the optical media on each side of the
lens. (See sign convention (lens and mirror);
lens equation.)
LENS, MENISCUS. A lens (see lens (1))
whose two surfaces have curvatures of the
same sign; convexo-concave or con cavo-con
vex.
LENS, M ETALLIC.
lens, metallic.

See lens ( 2 ) ; antenna

LENSOMETER. An instrument designed for

the measurement of the optical characteristics
of spectacle lenses.
LENS SIGN CONVENTION.
vention.

See sign con

LENS SYSTEM, CARDINAL POINTS OF.

See cardinal points of a lens system; lens equa
tion.
LENS, THICK. N o useful single com pletely
accurate formula can be written giving full
object-im age relation in terms of the proper
ties of the lens forming the image. Hence
many formulas with varying degrees of ap
proximation are used. A thin lens is a lens
(see lens ( 1 )) being used in a computation
which neglects the actual thickness of the lens
itself. A thick lens is a lens being used in
a com putation which takes into consideration
the thickness of the lens itself.
(See lens
equation; also Robertson, Introduction to Op
tics, Geom etrical and Physical, 4th ed., Chap
ters I I I and IV .)
LENS, THIN. A ny lens (see lens ( 1 ) ) , the
thickness of which m ay be neglected for the
process under consideration, as is done in
many approximate computations.
(See lens
equation.)

LENS, TORIC. A lens (see lens (1 ) ) , one

surface of which is a portion of the surface
of a torus (a surface generated by a circle
rotating about an axis in its own plane, but
not through the center of the circle). W idely
used in spectacles.
LENS, W EAK. A lens in which the focal
lengths are long compared with the extent of
the lens field.
LENTICULAR PROCESS.
A process of
color photography in which minute semicylindrical lenses (lenticules) on the film base,
in conjunction with a banded color filter on
camera and projector lenses, act as an optical
color-separation system for both analysis and
synthesis. The lenticular process is thus es
sentially a screen method in which the screen
is formed optically on the film during ex
posure.
LENZ LA W . A general law of electromag
netic induction, stated by H. F. E. Lenz in
1833. It points out that the electromotive
force induced by the variation of magnetic
flux, with reference to a conductor, in the
manner discovered by Faraday, is always in
such direction that, if it produces a current,
the magnetic effect of that current opposes
the flux variation responsible for both electro
motive force and current. The effect known
as magnetic damping depends upon this prin
ciple. A copper disk, when spun between the
poles of a strong magnet, quickly comes to
rest because of the opposing torque. (See also
Le Chatelier principle.)
LEPRECHAUN.
computer.

Trade name for a digital

LEPTON. A particle of small mass. In

cluded in this class are the electron, positron,
neutrino, antineutrino and the positive and
negative mu-mesons.
LEPTON CONSERVATION. Experimental
evidence seems to indicate that all processes
in which leptons are produced or annihilated
proceed in such a way that for every lepton
produced (or annihilated) there is the pro
duction (or annihilation) of an anti-lepton or
the annihilation (or production) of another
lepton. The term anti-lepton is used here to
refer to an anti-particle corresponding to a
lepton. Since a lepton and an anti-lepton of
the same species, e.g., and electron and a posi

tron or a positive and negative mu-meson, can

annihilate each other with the production of
nothing but electromagnetic radiation, which
contains no leptons, the total number of leptons in the system is defined as the number of
leptons in the system minus the number of
anti-leptons in the system. If this number is
negative then it means that in the net the
system contains this number of anti-leptons.
W ith this definition of the number of leptons
in a system, the experimental evidence seems
to indicate a conservation of the net num
ber of leptons in any physical process. This
does not mean conservation of leptons of the
same species. If conservation of leptons is
postulated as a basic physical law, it becomes
a powerful tool in limiting the number of pos
sible interaction choices in the construction
of theories of various processes.
LET. Abbreviation for linear energy trans
fer. It is the linear rate of loss of energy
(locally absorbed) by an ionizing particle
traversing an absorbing medium.
(See also
ionization, specific; range.)
LETHARGY, NEUTRON. The value of the
lethargy of a neutron is, to within an additive
constant, the negative of the natural logarithm
of the energy of the neutron.
LEVEL. The difference of a quantity from
an arbitrarily specified reference quantity.
( 1 ) In audio techniques, the quantities of in
terest are often expressed in decibels, thus
their difference is conveniently expressed as
a ratio. Hence, level is widely regarded as
the ratio of the magnitude of a quantity to an
arbitrary reference magnitude. (2) In tele
vision, level is (a), signal amplitude measured
in accordance with certain specified tech
niques (see IR E Proceedings 39, M a y 1950);
or ( b) , a specified position on an amplitude
scale applied to a signal waveform, as the
term is used in such definitions as reference
white level and reference black level. (3) A
single bank or series of contacts as applied to
a stepping relay. (See relay, stepping.) (4)
In charge storage tubes, a charge value which
can be stored in a given storage element and
distinguished in the output from other charge
values. (5) A term used in the description of
quantum mechanical systems having discrete
energy eigenvalues. It is essentially synony
mous with energy eigenstate. ( 6 ) In the

sense of a liquid level or the height of the sur

face of a liquid above some reference point.
LEVEL ABOVE THRESHOLD (SENSA
TION L E V E L ). Of a sound, the pressure
level of the sound in decibels above its thresh
old of audibility (see audibility, threshold of)
for the individual observer. Similar defini
tions are used for the other psychophysical
stimuli, such as light.
LEVEL, BLACK.

See black level.

LEVEL, BLANKING.

See blanking level.

LEVEL INDICATOR. (1) A device or in

strument which indicates liquid level height,
as in a tank.
( 2 ) A device or instrument
which indicates the amount of radiation (see
monitor) present in the vicinity of the in
strument. (3) A V-U meter.
LEVEL, INTENSITY. See intensity level.
LEVEL, NOISE.

See noise level.

LEVEL OF ENERGY. The value of an

energy, as for example an electrostatic poten
tial, measured relative to some fixed origin.
N ot the same as energy level.
LEVEL, OVERLOAD. The overload level of
a system, component, etc., is that level at
which operation ceases to be satisfactory as
a result of signal distortion, overheating, dam
age, etc.
In electroacoustics the overload
level is most frequently set by signal distor
tion.
LEVEL, POWER.

See power level.

LEVEL, QUANTIZATION. See quantization

level.
LEVEL SCHEME.
gram.

See energy level dia

LEVEL, SENSATION.
threshold.
LEVEL, TRANSMISSION.
level.

See

level

above

See transmission

LEVEL W ID T H . A measure of the spread

in excitation energy of an unstable state of a
quantized system. In emission or absorption
spectra, variations in the intrinsic line widths
show that some energy levels in atomic or
nuclear systems are broad and others are
narrow.
In nuclear physics, level widths

have been observed chiefly in connection

with neutron and charged-particle resonances,
which are found to have non-uniform breadths
in energy. The level width is related to the
mean life of the level by the expression:
T = fi/r
where r is the level width, ft is the Dirac %, and
r is the mean life. Level widths usually show
themselves as the widths of resonance peaks
observed when the cross section for the par
ticular reaction is plotted as a function of the
energy of the incident particle. The quantita
tive value of the level width is usually taken
as the full width at half maximum of the
resonance peak.
If a system at a given level has several alter
nate modes of disintegration, there is associated
with each a partial level width proportional to
the probability of disintegration b y the par
ticular mode. The total level width is the sum
of the partial level widths.
LEVER. A simple machine consisting funda
mentally of a rigid bar or body which can
rotate about a rigid point of support or ful
crum. The application of a force to the bar
will produce motion of a load on the bar in ac
cordance with the principle of torques. The
mechanical advantage is equal to the ratio of
the arms where an arm is the distance from
point of application of force or load to the
fulcrum.
LEVER CONTACT (R E LA Y ).
movable (relay).

See contact,

LEVER, OPTICAL. A common device for

am plifying and measuring small rotations.
The object rotated carries a small mirror,
which, reflecting a beam of light, deflects it
through twice the angle of rotation to be
measured.
LEVI-CIVITA TENSOR DENSITY.
Ujk = 0 for any tw o indices identical,
= 1 otherwise,
the sign depending on whether ijk form an
even ( + ) or odd ( ) permutation of the in
tegers 1, 2, 3.
LEVOROTATORY. Capable of rotating the
plane of polarized light in a counterclockwise
sense as seen along the direction of the light
beam. (See handedness, right and left.)

LEYDEN JAR. A high-voltage, low -capacitance capacitor using a glass jar as the di
electric.
LF. Abbreviation for low frequency, a depre
cated usage. (See band(s), frequency.)
L HOSPITAL RULE. A method for evaluat
ing an indeterminate form. Suppose / (a) =
<(a) = 0 , then
r
/( * )
r
fix )
l im ------ = l im ---------x *a ^(x)
x-*a 0 (x)
If the first derivatives do not exist, continue
the differentiation until one derivative does
not vanish at x = a.
Other indeterminate
forms m ay also be evaluated by suitable
modifications of this rule.
(The spelling
L H opital is also found.)
LIBRATION. In general terms, a quivering
or swaying motion, applied more specifically
to an oscillating rotary motion, as of the
moon about its axis or of a molecule in a
solid where it has insufficient energy to make
complete free rotations.
LICHENBERGER FIGURES. A method of
obtaining an electric field analog employing
photographic paper. The paper is exposed
to an electric discharge caused by a high
transient voltage. The pattern brought out
by development of the photographic image
represents the streamlines of the field.
LID . A term often used to denote a tempera
ture inversion in the atmosphere. Since the
air in an inversion is stable, convectional cur
rents cannot exist within it. For this reason
an inversion is called a lid, since it prevents
the air below and above it from mixing.
LIEBMANN EFFECT. Visual perception of
contrasting forms, as on a printed page, is
more difficult when the forms have the same
luminances and differ in chromaticity, than
in the converse case.
LIESEGANG RINGS. The formation of a
banded precipitate by ions which react by
diffusion through certain gels. Thus, for ex
ample, if silver nitrate is dissolved in a warm
gelatin sol which is then allowed to set, and
a drop of sodium dichromate solution is de
posited on its surface, the resulting silver
chromate precipitate will appear in the gel
as a series of rings, with clear areas between

Life, Half- - Light

670

them. Theories have been advanced to ex

plain the formation of Liesegang rings based
on the formation of nuclei in supersaturated
solutions.
LIFE, HALF-.

See half-life.

LIFE, MEAN.
The average time during
which an atom or other system exists in a
particular form, e.g., the mean time between
the appearance and disappearance (birth and
death) of a particle. Five examples are: (1)
The mean life of mesons before undergoing
transformation.
(2) The mean life of ex
cited nuclei or atoms before losing their energy
of excitation.
(3) For a radionuclide, the
mean life is the reciprocal of the disintegra
tion constant. For branching decay, it is
given by
_ 1 _
1
A

X i

X2

A3

* * *

where Ai, A2, A3, are the partial disintegra

tion constants for the various modes involved.
(4) For a thermal neutron, the mean time
interval between the instant when the neutron
becomes thermal, and when it disappears from
the reactor by absorption or leakage. For a
homogeneous medium, the infinite and finite
lifetimes refer to the lifetime in infinite- and
given finite-sized regions of the medium. (5)
W hen excess carriers are injected into a semi
conductor, they will eventually recombine
with others of the opposite sign. Experiment
shows that in the bulk material this mean
life may be rather long, because the recom
bination process between holes and electrons
requires the emission of a photon or phonon.
The process is much enhanced at the surface,
as shown by the Suhl effect.
LIFETIM E.
(1) The mean life
mean). (2) The half-life.

(see life,

LIFETIM E, COMPARATIVE. The product

of the mean life of a ^-disintegrator and a
function (com m only represented by the symbol
/ ) which expresses the theoretical probability
per unit time that a /^-transition would occur
in a given nucleus if the nuclear matrix ele
ment for the transition were unity. The func
tion / depends chiefly upon the (3-disintegra
tion energy, and to some extent, also upon
the atomic number of the product nucleus.
The use of the comparative lifetime puts all
the /^-disintegrators on the same basis so far

as the disintegration energies and atomic num

bers are concerned. Thus these values are
measures of the nuclear matrix elements of
the ^-transitions.
(See also beta-decay
theory.)
LIFETIM E, VOLUME. The average time
interval between the generation and recom
bination of minority carriers (see carrier,
minority) in a homogeneous semiconductor.
LIFT COEFFICIENT. The lift coefficient of
a body in an inviscous fluid of density p and
flow velocity v is
Fi

Cl ~ (p/2 )v2A '

where Fi is the force on the body transverse
to the flow velocity and A is an effective cross
sectional area of the body. (See also drag
coefficient.)
LIGAND. A com plex-form ing anion. For
example, a cation M m ay form a series of
complexes with a ligand L, such as M L , M L 2,
etc.
LIGASOID. A colloidal system, in which the
dispersed particles (or the dispersed phase)
are liquid, and the dispersion medium (or the
continuous phase) is gaseous.
LIGHT. In the most strict sense, the term
refers to that form of radiation that is capable
o f detection by the human eye. It may be
demonstrated experimentally that the various
phenomena that m ay be observed with such
radiation, such as reflection, refraction, inter
ference, polarization, fixed speed of propaga
tion in vacuo, etc. are consistent with a model
which supposes that light consists of electro
magnetic radiation. H ence the term light is
often broadened to include any electromagnetic
radiation, rather than radiation characterized
b y the limited range of wavelengths (about
0.40 micron to 0.75 micron) that is effective
in vision. One, therefore, speaks of ultraviolet
light, infrared light, or even of x-rays as light.
The fact that the basic definition of light
has its origin in human perception has resulted
in a number of terms that are of psychophysi
cal origin and yet are used in a purely physical
sense. Thus white light denotes electromag
netic radiation that is spread over a consider
able range o f wavelengths or frequencies and
the adjective monochromatic is used to denote

radiation of a single frequency or wavelength.

(The analogy is carried even further in such
phrases as white noise or monochromatic
electron beam ).
These extensions of the word light and of
terms intimately related to it generally cause
little confusion, but one must be careful to
distinguish between those terms that deal with
sensation, such as illuminance, brightness, or
color, and those that deal with the physical
radiation itself, such as energy density or
wavelength. There is seldom, if ever, a oneto-one correspondence between any psycho
physical measure and the most nearly related
physical measure of the radiation.
LIG H T, CIRCULARLY-POLARIZED.
See
discussion under light, elliptically-polarized;
polarization.
LIGHT CONE THROUGH AN EVENT. All
events at position r, time t, relative to the
event, where r2 = c 2t2.
LIGHT, CORPUSCULAR THEORY. An old
theory that light consisted of particles (cor
puscles) of a luminous flux, later superseded
by a pure wave theory. Present day theory
of light combines the properties of waves and
of particles (quanta) into a single consistent
quantum theory of light ( electromagnetic
radiation).
LIGHT, DISPERSION OF. See dispersion;
dispersion of light, classical theory of.
LIGH T,
ELLIPTICALLY
POLARIZED.
Consider a thin section of double-refracting
crystal with the optic axis of the crystal
parallel to the face of the section. I f now
a beam of plane-polarized light (see light,
plane-polarized) is incident normally on a
face of the section with the plane of vibration
of the incident beam making an angle A with
the optic axis of the crystal, the beam will be
divided into two components, the ordinary
and the extraordinary, which travel with dif
ferent speeds. Upon emergence, the two com
ponents will, in general, have different phases
and will combine to form elliptically polarized
light. If the retardation in phase corresponds
to an even number of half-wavelengths d if
ference in path, the ellipse will degenerate into
a line parallel to the incident plane of vibra
tion. If the retardation in phase corresponds
to an odd number of half-wavelengths (a half

wave plate) the ellipse will be again a line, but

will make an angle 2A with the plane of vibra
tion o f the incident light. I f the retardation
corresponds to an odd number o f quarterwavelengths ( quarter-wave plate) the emer
gent light will be elliptically polarized. I f in
addition A is 45 degrees, circularly polarized
light results. (See also polarization ( 2 ).)
LIGHT, ENERGY OF. Light is a form of
energy, and at a wavelength of 555 millimi
crons, one watt of radiant power gives about
685 lumens of light flux.
LIGHT FILTER.
A homogeneous optical
medium that is characterized by its absorp
tion in certain regions of the spectrum. A
filter is used to change or control the total or
relative energy distribution of a beam of light.
In photography a filter may be placed over
the light source or in some part of the optical
path traversed by the light in reaching the
photographic emulsion, generally over the
camera lens. (See also filter, interference.)
LIGHT-FILTER FACTOR. Light filters ab
sorb a part of the incident light and, therefore,
transmit less than was present before filtra
tion. In photography the quantity o f light
present determines the exposure given to the
emulsion. Every filter, therefore, has a filter
factor that applies to conditions o f use and
is the increase in exposure necessary to com
pensate for the light absorbed by the filter.
The filter factor is generally determined by
the exposure increase necessary with the filter
when photographing a neutral gray subject,
such as a gray scale.
LIGHT FLUX. Flow of radiant energy com
monly measured in lumens.
LIGHTING, BIAS. See bias lighting.
LIGHT-MICROSECOND.
The distance a
light wave travels in free space in one-m il
lionth of a second. (See distance, electrical.)
LIGHT
light.

M ODULATOR.

See

modulator,

LIGHT, M ONOCHROMATIC. Light which

consists of only one wavelength. Actually no
light is absolutely monochromatic. The near
est approach is certain lines in the spectrum
of mercury 198, excited in an electrodeless dis
charge tube. M ost so-called monochromatic

light, e.g., sodium light, is actually a narrow

band of wavelengths.

plane normal to the boundary surface.

reflection; Fresnel equations.)

LIGHT-NEGATIVE. Decreasing in electrical

conductivity under the action of light. M ost
photoconductive substances are light-positive.

LIGHT, REFRACTION OF.

equations; Snell law.

LIGHTNING. The electrical condition of the

earths surface and of the atmosphere is quite
different in stormy weather from its normal,
fair-weather state. Over a level stretch of
country in fine weather, there is distributed
a negative surface charge estimated at about
0.00027 electrostatic unit per sq cm or 0.0014
coulomb per sq mile. A bove this, the electric
potential of the atmosphere increases with
elevation at the rate of about 100 volts per
meter, the upper atmosphere being, appar
ently, positively charged. The earth, the at
mosphere, and the ionosphere thus form a
vast condenser, through the dielectric of which
there is constant leakage because of ioniza
tion. W hat maintains the charges against
this leakage is not well understood. During
some stormy weather, the vertical potential
gradient becomes great enough to produce di
electric breakdown with momentary arc dis
charges referred to as lightning.
LIGHT, PLANE-POLARIZED.
ized light.

See Fresnel

LIGHT SENSITIVE. (1) Possessing photoconductive, photovoltaic, or photoelectric

emission effects. (2) Responsive to light in
other ways, as by a change of color.
LIGHT-SENSITIVE TUBE.

See phototube.

LIGHT-SOURCE SCANNING.
Synonym
for flying-spot scanning. (See scanner, flyingspot.)
LIGHT SOURCES, STANDARD. The stand
ard sources adopted by the C.I.E. (Interna
tional Commission on Illumination) in 1931
are:
(1) A gas filled lamp with a color tempera
ture (see temperature, color) 2848K.
(2) The above lamp with a specified D avisGibson liquid filter to convert its color
temperature to 4800K .
(3) The above lamp with a specified D avisGibson liquid filter to convert its color
temperature to 6500K.

See polar

LIGHT-POSITIVE. H aving a photoconduc

tivity which increases with an increase of light.
LIGH T PRESSURE.

(See

See radiation pressure.

LIGHT, PROPAGATION OF. Light consists

o f transverse electromagnetic waves propa
gated through empty space with a speed of
about 2.99776 X 1010 cm /sec. The speed in
other media is this figure (velocity in vacuo)
divided by the index of refraction. (See elec
tromagnetic field.)
LIGHT, QUANTUM THEORY OF. W hen
light interacts with matter, the energy of the
light appears to be concentrated in quanta
called photons, each of which has an amount
of energy equal to the frequency of the light
multiplied by the Planck constant, 6.624 X
10-27 erg seconds. (See quantum.)
LIGHT, REFLECTION OF. A light ray
meeting a boundary between two media is
ordinarily partly- or totally-reflected, so that
the angle of incidence equals the angle of
reflection, and both angles lie in the same

In 1951, at Stockholm, the C.I.E. changed

the definition of Source (1) to read: A gasfilled tungsten-filament lamp, operated at a
color temperature of 2854K. According to
the International Temperature Scale o f 1948.
Earlier standards included the standard can
dle, the Hefner amyl acetate lamp, a black
body at the temperature of the freezing point
of platinum. A definite dilemma is caused by
the impossibility of reconciling the desire to
give heterochromatic photometry a thoroughly
objective status since it is, in fact, basically
subjective.
LIGHT-SPOT SCANNER.
ing-spot.

See scanner, fly

LIGHT, TRANSMITTED. Light that has

traveled through a medium without being ab
sorbed or scattered.
LIGHT VALVE. A device whose light trans
mission can be made to vary in accordance
with an externally applied electrical quantity,
such as voltage, current, electric field, mag
netic field, or an electron beam.
(See also
Kerr cell; Kerr effect.)

LIG H T, VELOCITY OF.

gation of.

See light, propa

LIGH T, W A V E THEORY OF.

Light is
shown to have the properties of waves by the
phenomena of interference and diffraction.
This is not in contradiction to the quantum
theory of light, but is a supplement to quan
tum theory. (See electromagnetic field.)
LIM IT. A finite number s approached by a
sequence {sn} if, for every positive number
> 0, there exists a number N such that
|s s| < for all n > N. The sequence is
then said to converge to the limit s, or sym
bolically,
sn
s; n >
or
lim sn = s.
n>00

If the lim it does not exist, the sequence is

divergent. (See convergence.)
LIM ITED PROPORTIONALITY, REGION
OF. The part of the characteristic curve of
pulse size versus voltage in which the gas
amplification depends on the number o f ions
produced in the initial ionizing event, and also
on the voltage.
Used in connection with
counters ( 1 ).
LIMITER. A transducer whose output is
constant for all inputs above a critical value.
A limiter m ay be used to remove amplitude
modulation and transmit angle modulation
(see modulation, amplitude; and modulation,
angle). (2) In television, the last I-F stage
(or tw o) in an F -M receiver. The purpose
of this stage is to eliminate all amplitude dis
tortion, or variation in the F -M signal.
A limiter m ay act essentially instantane
ously as in a limiter, peak. The undesirable
harmonic distortion created by this process
can be largely eliminated if the limiting is
modified as in a volume-limiting amplifier or
compressor so that the weighted maximum
average or rms value of the output level is
held constant or limited.
LIM ITER CIRCUIT.
vides limiting,

A circuit which pro

LIM ITER, CLIPPER. A transducer which

gives output only when the input lies above a
critical value, and a constant output for all
inputs above a second higher critical value.

This is sometimes called an amplitude gate, or

slicer.
LIMITER, DOUBLE.
cade.

T w o limiters in cas

LIMITER, INVERSE. A transducer, the out

put of which is constant for input of instan
taneous values within a specified range and
a linear or other prescribed function of the
input above and below the range.
This term describes a device used generally
to remove the low-level portions of signals
from an output wave. It is sometimes used
to eliminate the annoying effects of crosstalk
in a system at the expense of some distortion.
LIMITER, NOISE, A clipper circuit (see
circuit, clipper) which tends to reduce the
interference caused by impulse noise (see
noise, impulse) by limiting the peak voltage
excursion to a value only slightly greater than
that of the signal. (See codan.)
LIMITER, PEAK. A clipping circuit used
to eliminate from the output peaks which
exceed a predetermined value.
LIMITING. In communications, the action
performed upon a signal by a limiter.
LIM ITING CURVES. A ny line on a phase
diagram, or other graphical representation of
the conditions of a system, at which two
phases are coexistent. Usually these limiting
curves are the plotted curves that separate
phases.
LIM ITING DENSITY. The value which the
density of a gas approaches as its pressurevolume relationship approaches the constant
value (at constant temperature) of an ideal
gas.
LIM IT OF RESOLUTION (TELESCOPE).
Using the Rayleigh criterion for the resolution
of diffraction patterns, it can be shown that
the limit of resolution of a telescope with cir
cular aperture is given by

6 = 1.220A/a,
where a is the diameter of the circular aper
ture, that limits the beam forming the pri
mary image, A is the wavelength of the light
and 6 is the minimum angle of resolution of
the telescope.

LIM IT OF RESOLUTION, RAYLEIGH

CRITERION. See Rayleigh criterion of re
solving power.
LINDECK POTENTIOMETER.
tiometer, Lindeck.

See poten

LINDEM ANN ELECTROMETER. See elec

trometer, Lindemann.
LINDE M ETHO D .
See low temperature
production by Linde method.
LINE. (1) The path described by a moving
point. If, as is generally meant, the line is
straight, its equation in a plane and in rec
tangular coordinates is A x + B y + C = 0,
which is a degenerate conic. Other forms of
its equation are: (a) y mx + b , where m
is the slope and b the ^/-intercept; (b) x/a +
y/b = 1, where a,b are the ^-intercepts, re
spectively; (c) y y i = m (x Xx), where
is a point on the line; (d) ( y y i ) /
(2/2 - Vi) = (x - x 1 ) /{ x 2 - Xx), where (x2,
y 2) is another point on the line; (e) x cos
0 + y sin 6 = p, where the perpendicular from
the origin to the line has length p and makes
an angle 0 with the X -axis.
I f the straight line is located in a threedimensional rectangular coordinate system,
its equation may be taken as:
(x -

X i ) / \ = (y -

yi)/n = (z - Zi)/v

or
(x -

X !)/(X 2 ~

Zi) = ( y ~

= 0 -

yi)/(y2
Z i)/(z 2 -

V i)

Zi),

where (a?i,2/i,S i), (x2,2/ 2^ 2 ) are points on the

line and A, /*, v are its direction cosines or
numbers proportional to them. A straight line
in space is also determined by the equations
of two planes intersecting to form the given
line. (2) A system for transfer of electrical
energy between two points of an electric cir
cuit.
(3) The path traced by the moving
electron spot of a cathode-ray tube. The in
tensity of the spot along this path is altered
to create that portion of the picture. In some
present television systems 525 lines make up
the complete picture. (See also transmission,
facsimile; and trace.) (4) See spectrum, line.
LINEAC.
tor.

A bbreviation for linear accelera

L INE(S) , ACTIVE. In television, in scan

ning an image, those lines that are responsible
for imparting the information of the image.
The beam is inactive when moving rapidly
from right to left, or from the bottom of the
picture to the top.
LINEAR. Given the quantities x lf x 2, x 3,
, x, a linear combination of them is
aiXi + CL2X2 + + a nxn- The quantities x t
are linearly dependent provided that one of
them is a linear combination of the others;
otherwise, they are linearly independent. The
test for such dependence may be made by
means of the Gram determinant or the Wronskian. For other uses of linear see equation,
linear and transformation, linear.
LINEAR ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT.
See absorption coefficient, linear.
LINEAR ACCELERATOR. See accelerators,
particle.
LINEAR ARRAY.

See source, straight-line.

LINEARITY CONTROL.
ity.

See control, linear

LINEARITY REGION. In an instrument ap

proach and similar guidance systems, that re
gion in which the deviation sensitivity (see
sensitivity, deviation) remains within speci
fied values.
LINEAR M AGNIFICATION. For each op
tical surface in a system, the linear size of
the image, /*, is to the linear size of the ob
ject, Oiy as is the distance of the image, Qiy
to the distance of the object, P*. Then

Ii/Oi

Qi/Pi

ffli.

The total linear magnification of the sys

tem is then the products of the magnifications
of the parts.
LINEAR OPERATOR.
LINEAR RANGE.

See operator, linear.

See range.

LINE, ARTIFICIAL. A network which sim

ulates the electrical characteristics of a trans
mission line.
LINEAR VECTOR FUNCTION.
function; dyadic.

See vector

LINE, AVAILABLE. The portion of the

scanning line which can be used specifically
for picture signals.

LINE BALANCE. The degree to which the

conductors of a transmission line are alike in
their electrical characteristics with respect to
each other, other conductors, and ground.
(See line, transmission.)
LINE-BALANCE CONVERTER.

See balun.

LINE, BALANCED (TW O -C O N D U C TO R ).

A transmission line consisting of two con
ductors in the presence of ground, capable of
being operated in such a way that when the
voltages of the two conductors at all trans
verse planes are equal in magnitude and op
posite in polarity with respect to ground, the
currents in the two conductors are equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction. A bal
anced line may be operated under unbalanced
conditions, and the aggregate then does not
form a balanced line system. (See line, trans
mission.)
LINE, CENTER. The locus of the points
equidistant from two reference points or lines.
LINE, COAXIAL. A transmission line in
which one conductor com pletely surrounds the
other, the two being coaxial and separated by
a continuous solid dielectric or by dielectric
spacers with gas as the principal insulating
material. Such a line is characterized by no
external field, and by having no susceptibility
to external fields from other sources. It is
extensively used for radio-frequency transmis
sion lines and is installed as a multichannel
telephone carrier and television program line.
(See line, transmission.)
LINE CONCENTRIC.
LINE, COURSE.

See line, coaxial.

See course line.

LINE, DELAY.
(1) Originally a device
utilizing wave propagation for producing a
time delay of a signal. (2) Commonly, any
device for producing a time delay of a signal.
(See propagation constant.)
LINE, DISSIPATIONLESS. An ideal trans
mission line with zero series resistance and
zero shunt conductance. (See line, transmis
sion.)
LINE FILTER.

See filter, line.

LINE, FLAT. A non-resonant line.

line, non-resonant.)
LINE FLYBACK.

(See

See retrace, horizontal.

LINE, FORBIDDEN. A spectral line pro

duced by a forbidden transition.
LINE FREQUENCY. The number of lines
scanned each second in a cathode-ray tube.
In any system it is equal to the number of
scanning lines per frame, multiplied by the
framing frequency.
LINE GROUP. The frequency spectrum o c
cupied by a group of carrier channels as they
are applied to a transmission facility.
LINE, INFINITE. A theoretical transmis
sion line(2 ) of infinite length.
LINE LENGTH, SCANNING.
The total
length of scanning line is equal to the spot
speed divided by the scanning line frequency.
This is generally greater than the length of
the available line. (See line, available.)
LINE LEVEL.

See level.

LINE, LOW-LOSS. A transmission line (2)

in which the fractional power loss per unit
length is small enough to be neglected for
most practical purposes. (See line, transmis
sion.)
LINE, M ATCH ED.
A transmission line
terminated in its characteristic impedance (see
impedance, characteristic) in order to max
imize power flow and minimize voltage stand
ing-wave ratio.
(See termination, matched;
impedance, matching; line, non-resonant; line,
transmission.)
LINE, NON-RE SONANT.
A transmission
line terminated at the receiving end by its
characteristic impedance.
In this state,
standing waves do not exist on the line. (See
line, transmission.)
LINE OF FORCE (ELECTRIC F IE L D ).
See field, electric; field, magnetic; and fields
of force.
LINE ( S ) OF FORCE, THEOREMS OF. See
lines of induction; fields, vector; the Gauss
law; field of force; Stokes theorem; boundary
conditions on the electromagnetic field vec
tors.
LINE(S) OF INDUCTION. The original
concept attributing physical reality to lines
of force led to speaking of lines of induction,
whereas we now speak just of induction, but
in engineering often use the line as a unit of

measure. A line of flux is a maxwell (10 - 8

weber), the unit of flux in the cgs system.
LINE OF NODES.

See node.

LINE OF POSITION (LOP). The intersec

tion of two surfaces of position.
LINE PAD. In broadcasting, a resistanceattenuation network, or pad, which is inserted
between the program amplifier and the trans
mission line to the transmitter. The purpose
o f this pad is to isolate the output of the
amplifier from the impedance variations of
the line. (See also line, transmission.)
LINE PAIR. In spectroscopy, an analytical
line and the internal standard line with which
it is compared.
LINE PAIRING.

See pairing.

V X (E + MV X H) = 0,
where E and H are the electric and magnetic
field strengths respectively.
(See frozen in
fields.)
LINE SPECTRUM.

See spectrum, line.

LINE SQUALL. Extremely turbulent, rolltype, squall cloud usually found at the lead
ing edge of squall lines associated with rap
idly moving cold fronts.
LINE STRENGTH, ATOMIC. As defined by
Condon and Shortley (1935), the strength of
a spectral line resulting from a transition be
tween an atomic state described b y the quan
tum numbers
and / and one having quan
tum numbers a and j is
S (aj, a 'f ) = X I (aJm IP Ia'j'm') \2,
mm'

LINE, PARALLEL-WIRE. A transmission

line composed of two parallel wires.

where P is the electric dipole m o m e n t of the

electrons, given b y P = e ^ r* with r* being

LINE, PULSE FORMING. In a radar m od

ulator a continuous line or ladder network
whose parameters are selected to give a speci
fied shape to the modulator pulse.

the position vector of the i th electron. The

(ajm |P |a'j'm') is the quantum mechanical
m atrix elem ent of P between the states a'j'm'
and ajm .

LINE, REFERENCE. A line(l) from which

angular measurements are made.

LINE STRETCHER. A section of wave

guide whose physical length is variable.

LINE, RETRACE. The line traced by the

electron beam in a cathode-ray tube in going
from the end of one line or field to the start
of the next line or field.

LINE SYSTEM, BALANCED. A system con

sisting of generator, balanced line, and load,
adjusted so that the voltages of the two con
ductors at all transverse planes are equal in
magnitude and opposite in polarity with re
spect to ground.

LINES, ACTIVE. In television the number

o f lines which are actually used to display p ic
ture information.
LINE, SCANNING. A single continuous nar
row strip containing highlights, shadows, and
halftones which is determined by the process
o f scanning.
L I N E( S) , SCANNING, NUMBER OF. In
television, the ratio of line frequency to frame
frequency.
LINES OF FORCE, M OTION OF MAG
NETIC. A velocity can be ascribed to the
magnetic lines of force in an infinitely con
ducting field, although electromagnetic theory
does not provide a unique definition o f the
motion of a line of force. The condition that
the lines of force are frozen into the material
and move with the velocity V is

LINE, TRANSMISSION. The conducting sys

tem for electrical energy between two or more
points.
In communication circuits, certain
properties of the line become important. This
is due to the much shorter wavelengths used in
such circuits so the lines used will frequently
be several wavelengths long. Thus at 60
cycles (commercial power frequency) a line
would have to be a little over 3000 miles long
to be a wavelength while in the middle of the
audio range (5000 cycles) it would only need
to be about 37 miles and at the ultra high
radio frequencies only a few inches. I f a
line has a length of the order of a wavelength
or more and is not matched (see matching)
reflection and consequent standing waves will
result. Often this is a serious drawback to
its useful function but for high radio fre

quencies this property is used to great advan

tage. A line having standing waves appears
at its input terminals to be a resonant circuit
(alternately as a series and a parallel type)
when adjusted to multiples of a quarter-wave
in length. Since at the very high radio fre
quencies a quarter-wavelength line is only a
few inches long, such lines are often used to
serve as resonant circuits or tanks in oscil
lators, amplifiers, etc. Used in this connection
they are superior to ordinary lumped induc
tance and capacitance circuits as they have
a much higher Q and when properly con
structed will cause much lower radiation losses.
I f these lines are adjusted in length to some
thing other than quarter-wave multiples they
act as inductance or capacitance, depending
upon the exact length. Such lines are used
for a variety of functions, e.g., tanks, radio
frequency chokes, tuning elements, coupling
elements, etc. T h ey are widely used at fre
quencies of a hundred or so megacycles and
at still higher frequencies are the only satis
factory means for tuning and coupling cir
cuits. In these applications the co-axial line
or waveguide are ordinarily used since they
do not radiate but at the lower frequencies
parallel lines are sometimes used for conven
ience. Various short- and open-circuited lines
are useful for impedance matching at radio
frequencies. In power circuits the losses of
the line, while important from an efficiency
standpoint, are not too serious but in telephone
circuits these losses may be an appreciable
part of the total power and consequently are
a serious problem. Also a line which is long
enough to be comparable to a wavelength will
produce appreciable phase shift and this may
cause trouble in communication circuits. Im
portant constants o f lines may be summed up
in the following equations:
y = y/^y

\I\ = \Is \e~al

T = ot + j/3
Z0 =

I = I se~ yl

where z is the series impedance of the line

per unit length, y the shunt admittance per
unit length, y the propagation constant, a the
attenuation constant, ft the wavelengh or
phase constant, Z 0 the characteristic imped
ance, |/| the magnitude of I the vector current
at a distance I from the sending end, I 8 the

sending end current, e the base of the natural

logarithms. Th e phase shift along the line
m ay be found from
Phase fft.
(See also balanced line; coaxial line; wave
guide.)
LINE, TRANSMISSION, COAXIAL (CO N
CE N TR IC). A transmission line consisting
o f two coaxial cylindrical conductors.
(See
also line, coaxial.)
LINE, TRANSMISSION, EXPONENTIAL.
A two-conductor transmission line whose char
acteristic impedances vary exponentially with
electrical length along the line.
LINE, TRANSMISSION, RADIAL. A pair
o f parallel conducting planes used for propa
gating uniform, circular-cylindrical waves
having their axes normal to the planes.
LINE, TRANSMISSION, SHIELDED.
A
transmission line whose elements essentially
confine propagated electrical energy to a finite
space inside a conducting sheath.
LINE, TW IN . Colloquialism for a parallelwire transmission line.
LINE, USEFUL.

See line, available.

LINE W ID T H . A measure of the spread in

wavelength (or energy) of radiation that is
normally characterized by a single wavelength
(or energy) value. In practice, the width is
usually measured at one-half the maximum
intensity of the line. (See level width; Dop
pler broadening; spectrum, line.)
LINE W ID T H , MAGNETIC RESONANCE.
In magnetic resonance experiments, the width
o f the absorption lines depends on the inter
actions of the spins with each other and with
the crystal lattice. It m ay be measured by
the random fluctuating magnetic field exerted
on a spin by its neighbors, i.e., is of the order
of
AH = /a?
where x is the magnetic moment of each spin
and a is the interatomic spacing. In liquids,
however, the motion o f the molecules is so
rapid that this effect averages out to nearly
zero. The line width in ferromagnetic reso
nance is anomalously large.

L IN E W ID T H , N O M IN A L. The average
separation between centers of adjacent scan
ning or recording lines(2 ).

If no new systems are created or destroyed, P n

will satisfy the Liouville equation:
dpN

LIN K A G E . (1) The bond used in constitu

tional formulas to represent one valency.
D ouble and triple linkings refer to double and
triple bonds. See the various terms under
bond for definitions of many types of link
ages, and their descriptions in terms of con
ceptions of molecular structure.
(2) Any
connected assemblage of mechanical com po
nents (other than shafts, gears, wheels, and
belts) designed to transmit motion from one
part of a mechanism to another.
LIN K A G E , C A TE N A R Y.
The linking of
molecules to one another end to end, as oc
curs when amino acids unite to form p oly
peptides.
L IN K A G E , SIN G LE T. A valence bond be
tween two atoms which consists of a single
electron. This linkage can exist only under
rather exceptional circumstances, as where
the electron m ay resonate between a position
close to one atom and one close to the other,
and this condition would require little, if any,
difference in energy between its two positions.

jL (

PNPi

i r + , V ~N~+
where
Vj = d/dqj

and

5y == d/dpj.

LIOUVILLE-NEUMANN SERIES.
finite series

An in

00

4>(.x)

= x n0(a;),
7L 0

which is a unique, continuous solution of a

Fredholm integral equation of the second
kind. If the nth iterated kernel is defined as
K n(x,z) =
f f

K ( x , y i)K (y 1,2/2 )
K(,yn-i,z)d y id y 2 dyn- u

then
<t>n(x) = J K n(x,z)f(z)dz.
The resolvent or solving kernel is given by
00

K (x,z;\ ) =

\nK n+ i(x,z),

71= 0

L IN K C O U PLIN G .

See coupling, link.

L IN K M E C H A N ISM .
A system of rigid
members joined together with constraints
such that motion can be both amplified and
changed in direction. (See linkage (2).)
L IN K N E U T R A L IZA T IO N .
tion, link.
L IN -L O G R E C E IV E R .

See neutraliza-

See receiver, lin-log.

L IN O T E T R A R . Designation for a particular

transistor basing arrangement.
L IO U V IL L E E Q U A T IO N . In the statistical
mechanics of an ensemble of systems, each
containing N particles of mass m, it is useful to
introduce a density or probability function P #
( Q n , V n ) , representing the probability that a
system of the ensemble will have its point in
phase space fall within the volume bounded
b y tfi, 02 , , Pi, P2 , ' - , P n , and 0 i + 50 i, 02
+ 5502, * * *, Pi + Pi, P2 + &P2 ) * * *, PN + 5ptf.

hence the solution of the integral equation be

comes
<i>(x) = f (x ) + x / K (x,z;\)f(z)dz.
The Volterra equations are solved similarly.
LIOUVILLE THEOREM. I f / ( z ) , a func
tion of the complex variable, has no singular
point for z finite or infinite, then f ( z ) is a
constant. A theorem more familiar to the
physicist and known by the same name o c
curs in statistical mechanics, and states that
all elements of equal volume in phase space
have equal a priori probabilities. This state
ment is also known as the ergodic hypothesis.
LIPPICH PRISM.

See prism, Lippich.

LIPPMANN FRINGES. A film of special

fine-grained photographic emulsion is backed
by mercury, which serves as a reflector.
M onochrom atic light falling normally upon
the film and reflected by the mercury gives

rise to interference in standing waves whose

nodes and antinodes are in planes parallel to
the reflector. A t the antinodes the photo
graphic action is a maximum, while at the
nodes there is none. Hence when the film is
developed the silver deposits in layers corre
sponding to the antinodes, one-half wave
length apart. The laminar structure, there
fore, depends upon the color of the light.
LIQUEFACTION.
Transformation (phase
change) to the liquid state; com monly, the
change from the gaseous to the liquid state,
particularly of substances that are gaseous at
normal temperatures and pressures.
LIQUEFACTION OF GASES.
under low temperature.

See entries

LIQUID. M atter in a fluid state but rela

tively incompressible. An ideal liquid offers
no permanent resistance to a shear stress but
is incompressible. It has then a constant vol
ume and incompletely fills any container of
less than this volume. A real liquid is appre
ciably compressible, and the liquid state of a
substance might be defined as the denser, and
less compressible, phase of the two-phase
fluid system which can exist in equilibrium at
temperatures below the critical temperature.
LIQ UID AS AN IMPERFECT GAS. Par
ticularly at temperatures near the critical
temperature, it is possible to regard a liquid
as essentially a gas whose molecules have a
finite volume and attract one another. The
molecules are in no way ordered, and the
equation of state resembles the van der Waal
equation.
L IQ UID AS AN IMPERFECT SOLID. Par
ticularly in the neighborhood of the meltingpoint, the arrangement of molecules in a liq
uid shows a degree of short-range order. In
these conditions, shear flow of the liquid re
sembles closely the high temperature creep
of crystalline solids. A number of theories
of the liquid state have this concept as their
starting point.
LIQUID, ASSOCIATED. A liquid contain
ing associated molecules, as water is believed
to contain associated groups such as (H 20 ) 2,
etc., due possibly to the formation of hydro
gen bonds between H 20 molecules.
Polar
liquids associate readily.
(See polar mole
cule.)

LIQUID, COMPLEX. A liquid in which the

rate of shear is not simply a linear function
of the shearing stress. The simplest form of
a complex liquid is probably a Maxwellian
fluid (see fluid, Maxwellian) which behaves
elastically for stresses of short duration but
viscously for stresses of long duration.
LIQUID CRYSTALS. A term applied by
Lehmann to liquids which are doubly-refract
ing and in which give interference patterns
in polarized light. An example is the turbid
liquid formed on melting cholesteryl benzoate.
Solutions of other large organic molecules also
exhibit birefringence, particularly those parts
of the solution near the walls or those under
going shear. This effect is due to the tend
ency of the solute molcules to assemble in
large swarms, all oriented parallel to one
another, and so leading to an anisotropic be
havior. When there is a velocity gradient
with lamellar flow, and in layers of the liquid
of the same order as the chain lengths, this
anisotropy is most pronounced. The longrange order is one of orientation only. (See
also mesomorphic state.)
LIQUID-DROP NUCLEAR M ODEL.
nuclear models.

See

LIQUID JUNCTION.
T o avoid the un
known liquid junction potential in measur
ing the potential of a half-cell against a ref
erence electrode, the two half-cells are fre
quently connected via a salt bridge, usually
a concentrated solution of potassium chloride.
Since its anion and cation have almost the
same velocity, a negligible diffusion potential
is set up across the liquid junctions at the ends
of the bridge.
LIQUID JUNCTION POTENTIAL OR DIF
FUSION POTENTIAL. The potential dif
ference across the boundary between aqueous
solutions of an electrolyte at different concen
trations, or between aqueous solutions of d if
ferent electrolytes.
LIQUID, KINETIC THEORY ELASTIC
ITY OF. See kinetic theory elasticity of
liquid.
LIQUID, NORMAL.
Also called a non
polar or nonassociated liquid. It is a liquid
in which the molecules do not aggregate or
form coordinate bonds.

LIQ UID , POLAR. A liquid whose molecules

have dipole moments.

temperatures at which fusion is just com

pleted for the various compositions.

LIQUIDS,
INTERM OLECULAR
DIS
TANCE IN. Although ordinary liquids ex
pand on melting, the increase in volume is
due not so much to an increase in the sepa
ration of a molecule from its nearest neigh
bors as to a decrease in the number of its
nearest neighbors. The distribution of intermolecular distance m ay be specified by the
radial distribution function. A t higher tem
peratures, short-range order disappears and
intermolecular distances do increase.

LISOLOID. A colloidal system made up o f

a liquid phase(3) surrounded by a solid phase.

LIQUIDS, LOOSE PACKING IN. The con

cept of a liquid as an im perfect crystal re
quires that the molecules in a liquid are
packed sufficiently loosely for com paratively
free movement, i.e., the energy required to
move a molecule from a lattice site to a v a
cant space is not large compared with thermal
energies.
LIQUIDS, SHORT-RANGE ORDER IN.
A t temperatures not far removed from the
m elting-point, the crystalline structure of the
solid persists over volumes comparable with
the intermolecular distances, but cannot be
traced beyond. This local or short-range or
der means that the average molecule is at any
moment surrounded b y a number of m ole
cules occupying nearly the same relative p o
sitions as they would in the solid state. The
degree of short-range order is described by
the radial distribution function.
LIQUIDS, STRUCTURE OF. X-ray diffrac
tion experiments show that, near the meltingpoint, the molecules of a liquid show a con
siderable degree of short-range order and that,
in small volumes, they are arranged much as
in a solid crystal. In larger volumes the order
is less evident and the liquid is sometimes seen
as a collection of molecular clusters, each
being a small im perfect crystal. The volume
o f the liquid in this state does not greatly ex
ceed that of the solid, the extra volume being
required to provide vacant sites in the lattice
which permit free flow. A t much higher tem
peratures and lower densities, the short-range
order disappears, and the liquid m ay be
treated as a highly condensed gas.
LIQUIDUS CURVE. In a tem perature-concentration diagram, the line connecting the

LISSAJOUS FIGURES.
When two sine
waves, varying about axes at right angles, are
combined, the resultant figure is no longer a
sine wave but varies with the relative time
phase of the waves and with their relative
frequency. For example, if the waves have
the same frequency the resultant is a straight
line when they are in time phase (or 180
out of phase) and is an ellipse for all other
values of phase position. For equal ampli
tudes of the original waves and 90 phase the
ellipse is the special case o f the circle. If the
frequencies of the two waves are not the same
the resultant becomes more com plicated but
gives a definite pattern whenever the fre
quencies are in the ratio of whole numbers to
one another. The figure shows a graphical
construction for a frequency ratio o f 1 :2.

Such figures are obtained when the re

sultant motion of two simple harmonic mo
tions at right angles to each other is exam
ined. The figures can be produced in a cathode-ray tube by supplying each deflectioncircuit with harmonically-related voltages.
The figures are used thus for phase and fre
quency measurements.

LITER. The unit of volume in the metric

system, defined as the volume of one kilogram
o f water at 4C , and one atmosphere pres
sure.
liter = 1 0 0 0 milliliters
1 liter = 1000.028 cubic centimeters
1 liter = 33.82 fluid ounces.
1

LITER-ATMOSPHERE. A unit of work de

fined as the work done in raising a piston of
one square decimeter area one decimeter in a
cylinder against a pressure of one atmos
phere.
1

liter-atmosphere = 24.25 calories.

LITTRO W M OUNTING OF PRISM AND

PLANE MIRROR. A plane mirror is mounted
nearly normal to the radiation emerging from
the dispersing prism in a prism spectroscope,
so that the radiation having passed through
the prism is reflected and passes again through
the prism. The spectrum is scanned by ro
tating the Littrow mirror instead of the prism,
as in some other mountings.
LITTR O W PRISM.

See prism, Littrow.

LITZ W IRE. Fine-stranded wire in which

each strand is individually insulated. It has
reduced skin effect, and thus lower resistance
at radio frequencies than other forms of wire
of equivalent size.
LIVE ROOM. A room which is characterized
by an unusually small amount of sound ab
sorption, or stated conversely, a room that has
an appreciable reverberation time.
L-LINE. One of the lines in the L-series of
x-rays, which are characteristic of the various
elements, and are produced by excitation of
the electrons of the L-shell.
LLOYD MIRROR. Light from a slit is re
flected at nearly the grazing angle from a
plane mirror.
An interference pattern is
formed on a screen between the light thus re
flected and light which passes directly from
the slit to the screen. For a screen in contact
with the end of the mirror, very near the
point of contact where the two light-paths
are ever so nearly the same, an interference
minimum is found indicating that a phase
reversal has occurred in the reflected light.
LLOYD MIRROR EFFECT IN ACOUS
TICS. Destructive interference near an in
terface between a sound source located close

to the interface and its effective image just

beyond the interface.
LM .

Abbreviation for lumen.

L /M RATIO. The ratio of the

internal conversion electrons from
to the number from the M -shell,
the de-excitation of a nucleus.
ratio.)

number of
the L-shell
emitted in
(See K /L

LN.

See log.

LO.

A bbreviation for local oscillator.

LOAD.
(1) A ny force which is supported
by a body is called a load. The forces which
in turn support the given body are called re
actions. A concentrated load is a theoretical
force having a contact area negligibly small
compared with the area of the surface of the
body upon which the force acts. A distrib
uted load is one whose area of contact covers,
wholly or partially, the area of the supporting
surface of the body. Distributed loads are
uniform if the intensity is the same for each
unit of area covered by the load. When this
intensity varies, the distributed load is nonuniform. ( 2 ) In communications, the load is
the signal power delivered by a transducer,
or the element to which it is delivered. ( 3 )
In induction heating and dielectric heating
usage, the material to be heated, or the charge.
(4) In general electrical usage, the devices or
circuit elements to which power is delivered.
LOAD, ARTIFICIAL.

See antenna, dummy.

LOAD, CAPACITIVE. An electrical load (4)

whose reactance component is negative, hence
a load that acts like a combination of re
sistance and capacitance.
(Cf. inductive
load.) Capacitive loading m ay be the result
of actual capacitors, or o f virtual capacitors
in the form of long transmission lines, or over
excited, synchronous, rotating equipment.
M ost a-c apparatus, such as motors, coils, etc.,
draw from the line a current which lags the
voltage, and the use of some capacitive load
is desirable in order to bring the total current
and voltage more nearly in phase, and thus
raise the power factor.
LOAD ( D YN A M IC ) CHARACTERISTIC
(O F AN ELECTRON TUBE CONNECTED
IN A SPECIFIED OPERATING CIRCUIT,
AT A SPECIFIED FREQUENCY). A rela
tion, usually represented by a graph, between

the instantaneous value of a pair of variables

such as electrode voltage and electrode cur
rent, when all direct, electrode supply-voltages
are maintained constant.
LOAD CIRCUIT. (1) The complete circuit
required to transfer power from a source, such
as an electron tube, to a load. (2) In induc
tion heating and dielectric heating usage, the
network including leads connected to the out
put terminals of a generator. The load cir
cuit consists of the coupling network and the
load material at the proper position for heat
ing. (C f. load(3).)
LOAD CIRCUIT A C SUPLY VOLTAGE.
The a-c voltage source, appearing in the out
put circuit of a magnetic amplifier, the func
tion of which is to supply power to the load
during conducting intervals of the cycle. In
general, this voltage source is also the gate
circuit a-c voltage source.

Fig. 1. Triode amplifier circuit. (By permission from

Electronics by Williams, 1953, D . Van Nostrand
Co., Inc.)

I f I v is plotted against E p as shown in F ig

ure 2 , the result will be a straight line with
intercepts on the Z-axis and E bb/RL on

LOAD , DUM M Y. A dissipative but essen

tially nonradiating, substitute device.
LO AD ED Q.

See Q, loaded.

LO AD IM PEDANCE DIAGRAM. See im

pedance diagram, load; Rieke diagram.
LOAD, INDUCTIVE.
LOADING, BEAM.

See inductive load.

See beam loading.

LOADING, CARRIER. The insertion of ad

ditional lump inductance in a cable section of
a transmission line utilized for carrier trans
mission up to about 35 kcs. Loading serves
to minimize impedance mismatch between
cable and open-wire, and to reduce the cable
attenuation.
LOADING, PHANTOM.
ing.

See phantom load

LOAD LEADS. In induction and dielectric

heating usage, the connections or transmission
line between the power source or generator
and load, load coil or applicator.
LOAD-LINE M ETHO D . A method applic
able to the solution of many non-linear circuit
problems. As an example, the method will be
used to evaluate the d -c plate voltage and
current in the triode amplifier circuit shown
in Figure 1. The voltage equation for the
plate circuit is
Ebb = Ep + I pR l

or

Ep = E ^ IpRi,-

Fig. 2. Load-line method used to evaluate plate cur

rent and plate voltage for triode amplifier circuit.
(By permission from Electronics by Williams, 1953,
D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

the /-axis. On the same graph characteristic

curves I p vs. E p (E g constant) for the par
ticular tube may also be constructed. The
intersection of a given characteristic curve
and the straight line gives the plate current
and plate voltage to be expected for a given
grid voltage. The method will work equally
well for other vacuum tubes, phototubes,
transistors, thermistors, etc., where one set of
circuit parameters are non-linear to the ex
tent that they m ay only be expressed accu
rately by graphs.
LOAD SWITCH.
LOAD W IN DIN G.
ing.

See contactor.
Synonym for gate wind

LOBE (R AD IATIO N ). A portion of the

radiation pattern bounded by two or more
cones of nulls.

LOBE, MAJOR (B E A M ).
The radiation
lobe containing the direction of maximum ra
diation.
LOBE, MINOR. A n y lobe except the major
lobe. (See lobe, major (beam).)
LOBE SW ITCHING. A means of direction
finding or giving in which a signal transmitted
or received in a given direction is amplitudemodulated as a function of direction by va ry
ing or switching the shape of the antenna
radiation-pattem as a function of time.
(Compare with lobing, simultaneous.)
LOBING, SIMULTANEOUS. In radar, a di
rection-determining technique utilizing the re
ceiver energy of two concurrent and partiallyoverlapped signal lobes. The relative phase
or the relative power of the two signals re
ceived from a target is a measure of the angu
lar displacement of the target from the equiphase or equisignal direction. (Compare with
lobe switching.)
LOCALIZATION. The identification of the
apparent direction of a sound source by means
of binaural effect.
LOCALIZER. A radio facility which provides
signals for use in lateral guidance of aircraft
with respect to a runway centerline.
LOCALIZER, EQUISIGNAL. A localizer in
which the localizer on-course line is centered
in a zone of equal amplitude of two trans
mitted signals and deviations from the zone
are detectable as unbalance in the levels of
these signals.
LOCALIZER ON-COURSE LINE. A line in
a vertical plane passing through a localizer
and on either side of which indications of op
posite sense are received.
LOCALIZER, PHASE. A localizer in which
the localizer on-course line is centered in an
equiphase zone, and right-left deviations from
this zone are detectable as reversals of phase
of one of the two radiated signals.
LOCALIZER, SECTOR. In an equisignal
localizer (see localizer, equisignal) the sector
included between two radial lines from the
localizer along each of which lines there exists
the same specified difference in depth of m od
ulation,

LOCALIZER, TONE.
signal.
LOCKED GROOVE.

See localizer, equi

See groove, concentric.

LOCK-IN AMPLIFIER.
chronous.
LOCKING RELAY.

See relay, latch-in.

LOCKOVER CIRCUIT.
bistable circuit.
LOCTAL BASE.

See detector, syn

Colloquialism for a

See loktal base.

LOCUS. A system of points, lines, or curves

satisfying given conditions. The locus of an
equation is thus the set o f all points which
satisfy the equation.
LODAR. A direction finder with which the
direction of arrival of loran signals is deter
mined free of night effect by observing the
separately distinguishable ground and skywave loran signals on a cathode ray oscillo
scope and positioning a loop antenna so as to
obtain a null indication of the component
selected to be most suitable.
LOG. Abbreviation for logarithm. A com
mon usage uses log for a logarithm to the
base 1 0 and In for a logarithm to the base
e = 2.71828 .
LOGARITHM. I f B is an arbitrarily chosen
number greater than unity, then the logarithm
L of any other number N is defined by N =
B L\ L log# N . The chosen number B is
the base of the system of logarithms. For any
base, logs 1 = 0; logs B = 1. The funda
mental properties of logarithms are
log ab = log a + log b;
log a/b log a log b;
log an = n log a
where a and b are positive numbers and n may
be greater than unity or less than unity (thus
a power or a root of the number, rational or
irrational). T w o systems of logarithms are
generally used. (See logarithm, common and
logarithm, natural.)
LOGARITHM, COMMON.
A system of
logarithms to the base 1 0 . Also called Briggs
logarithms, they are particularly useful for
numerical computation. The common loga
rithm of a number N could be indicated by

logio N but the notation log N is more usual.

Since any number may be written in the form
N = 10" X My where n is an integer, positive
or negative, its common logarithm is log N =
n + log M . The first part of this sum is the
characteristic of the logarithm and it may be
obtained by inspection of the given number.
The second part, called the mantissa, is an
irrational number, less than unity and usually
given in decimal form. Tables of the mantis
sas of common logarithms are available with
four, five, six, etc., significant figures so that
any required accuracy can be obtained in nu
merical calculations.
LOGARITHMIC DECREM ENT. The mag
nitude of the exponent Rt/2m which occurs in
the equation for an undamped harmonic oscil
lation (see oscillation, damped harmonic; os
cillation, damped electrical) when t is made
equal to one period. It is the natural loga
rithm of the magnitude of any maximum of
displacement or charge to the next maximum.
This quantity is sometimes called simply the
decrem ent.
LOGARITHMIC
DIFFERENTIATION,
Sometimes a derivative is found most easily
by taking logarithms on both sides of the de
fining functional equation and then differen
tiating. The result of logarithmic differentia
tion is d In / = df/f.
LOGARITHM IC ENERGY DECREMENT.
The mean value o f the increase in lethargy
per collision.
LOGARITHMIC PROFILE OF VELOCITY.
The profile of the mean velocity ii assumed
near a plane boundary by fluid in turbulent
motion in which the turbulence is similar at
all distances. This profile is obtained in the
mixing length theory by assuming either that
the mixing length is proportional to distance
from the boundary (L kz) or that it is de
termined locally and is proportional to the
simplest length derivable fronj the local fea
tures of the velocity profile viz.
du /d2u
L = k / -
d z f dz
where in either case, A; is a constant of pro
portionality. Also the shearing stress r 0 is

assumed to be independent of distance from the

boundary. Then
U=

log

( z / zq ) ,

where k is the Karman constant, and z0 is

called a roughness length, not necessarily re
lated to the roughness height.
The profile is not applicable very close to
the boundary where there is a layer in laminar
flow because the turbulence is not similar, the
smallest eddies being destroyed by viscosity.
LOGARITHM, NATURAL.
A system of
logarithms to the irrational base e =
2.71828-
It is also called the Napierian or
hyperbolic system . Such logarithms occur as
the result of differentiation, integration, etc.,
and they often appear in equations represent
ing physical phenomena but common loga
rithms are more convenient for numerical com
putation. Instead of the more explicit symbol
loge N , the abbreviated notation In N is cus
tomary. The modulus of the common system
relative to the natural system of logarithms
is log e = 0.434294- and, inversely, the
modulus of the natural system is In 1 0 =
2.302585*--. Conversion of one system of
logarithms to another is made from the rela
tions log N = 0.434294- - In N ; In N =
2.302585- log N .
LOGIC.

See logical design.

LOGICAL DESIGN. ( 1 ) The planning o f a

computer or data-processing system prior to
its detailed engineering design. (2) The syn
thesizing of a network of logical elements to
perform a specified function. (3) The result
of ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) above, frequently called the
logic of the system, machine, or network.
LOGICAL DIAGRAM. In logical design, a
diagram representing the logical elements and
their interconnections without necessarily ex
pressing construction or engineering details.
LOGICAL ELEM ENT. In a computer or
data-processing system, the smallest building
blocks which can be represented by operators
in an appropriate system o f symbolic logic.
T ypical logical elements are the and-gate and
the flip-flop, which can be represented as oper
ators in a suitable symbolic logic.

LOGICAL OPERATION. (1) A ny nonarithmetical operation.

Examples are: extract,
logical (bitwise) multiplication, jump, data
transfer, etc. ( 2 ) Sometimes, only those nonarithmetical operations which are expressible
bitwise in terms of the propositional calculus
or a two-valued Boolean algebra.

are in their ground electronic states, are al

ways attractive. The principal part of these
forces is due to interactions between the in
stantaneous dipole moments and gives a p o
tential energy varying inversely as the sixth
power of the molecular separation. (See also
van der Waals forces.)

LOGICAL SYMBOL. A sym bol used to rep

resent a logcial element graphically.

LONG DISTANCE NAVIGATION AID. A

navigational aid usable at distances beyond
the radio line of sight.

LOG PERIODIC ANTENNA. A broadband

antenna based on the concept of a structural
geometry in which the electrical characteristics
repeat periodically as the log of frequency.
Since only small changes occur over each pe
riod, and therefore over all periods, the char
acteristics are essentially constant over a given
frequency range.
LOKTAL BASE.
An eight-pin tube-base
having pins which extend directly through the
tubes envelope. Its most distinctive feature
is the metallic, center guide-post which is de
signed to lock the base tightly in place when
placed in an appropriate socket.
LOKTAL TUBE.
loktal base.

LONGITUDINAL MAGNIFICATION. Lin

ear magnification measured parallel to the
optical axis. If dx is measured parallel to
the optical axis in object space and dx' is its
conjugate distance in image space, then
dx?/dx is the longitudinal magnification.
LONGITUDINAL
longitudinal.

NOISE.

See

current,

An electron tube with a

LONGITUDINAL SPHERICAL ABERRA
TION. See lateral spherical aberration.

LONDON DIPOLE THEORY.

A theory
that accounts for the attractive forces between
molecules by considering the interactions be
tween the instantaneous dipole moments of
the molecules. B y considering the first order
perturbation, it is shown that the interaction
energy varies inversely as the sixth power of
the distance between the molecules.
(See
London forces; dispersion forces.)
LON D ON EQUATIONS. M odifications of
the equations of electrodynamics to describe
the phenomena of superconductivity. They
m ay be written
d\
E = A ;
dt

LONGITUDINAL CHROMATIC ABERRA

TION. A measure of chromatic aberration
equal to the distance between the focal points
for red light and violet light.

c curl Aj = H

where E and H are the macroscopic electric

and magnetic fields, j is the electric current
vector, and A = m/ne2, n being the number of
superconducting electrons per unit volume (m,
e , mass and charge of electron, c, speed of
light).
LONDON FORCES. Forces due to mutual
perturbations of the electron clouds of two
atoms or molecules which, when the molecules

LONGITUDINAL W A VE .
tudinal.

See wave, longi

LONG-LINE EFFECT. When an oscillator

is tightly coupled to a load through a trans
mission line which is very long in comparison
with its wavelength, erratic operation may
occur. The oscillator admittance, plus the
admittance of the long line and load, may
cause several frequencies to be equally suit
able for oscillation. Therefore, when the os
cillator is operating at one frequency, and is
loaded at this frequency, it may jump to a
nearby frequency where its power output will
be less. The oscillator may be said to be
frequency-sensitive.
(See also oscillator,
coupled.)
LONG-RANGE ORDER. A system may be
said to possess long-range order if it is pos
sible to assign letters A , B , C, etc., to the
sites of the lattice in such a way that there is
a greater probability of finding an atom of
type A on an ^.-site, of type B on a J5-site,
and so on, than any other arrangement. Such
order is characteristic of order-disorder forma

tions in binary alloys.

parameter

It is measured by the

r w
S = --------r + w
where r and w are the numbers of atoms on
right and wrong sites respectively.
LOOM ING.
A type of mirage in which
images of objects below the horizon appear in
distorted form.
LOOM IS-W OOD DIAGRAM. A graph used
in the identification of branches in electronic
band systems of optical spectra. This method
is especially useful where the individual bands
of a band system lie so close to one another
that their fine structures overlap consider
ably, or where multiplet bands are involved,
with their large number of branches. The

W e then form the first and second differences

for this branch, and, keeping the second
difference constant, we calculate the expected
positions of further lines on both sides of the
observed part of this branch. W e then have
a series of wave-number values that might
represent a branch. For each line of this cal
culated branch we now form the differences
with all the neighboring observed wave num
bers and plot them in a diagram against the
arbitrary running numbers in the branch. We
obtain a diagram such as that shown in the
figure for the case of an N a 2 band. (See also
spectrum, rotation-vibration; Fortrat parab
ola.)
LOOP. ( 1 ) See mesh; feedback loop.
An antinode.
LOOP ACTUATING SIGNAL.
back, loop actuating signal.
LOOP, ALFORD.

(2 )

See feed

See antenna, Alford.

LOOP, ANTENNA.

See antenna, loop.

LOOP, CENTER-COUPLED.
A coupling
loop in a m ulti-cavity magnetron which is

Center-coupled loop output. (Courtesy Bell System

Technical Journal.)

located in the center of one of the resonant

cavities of the tube.
LOOP, COUPLING. A conducting loop pro
jecting into a waveguide or cavity resonator,
designed to transfer energy to or from an ex
ternal circuit.
Loomis-Wood diagram of the 1-1 band of the bluegreen system of N a2. (By permission from Molecu
lar Spectra and Molecular Structure I. Spectra of
Diatomic Molecules, 2nd Ed. by Herzberg 1950,
D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

plot shown in the diagram is made as follows:

Let us assume that by inspection of the spec
trogram a few lines have been found that ap
parently belong to one and the same branch.

LOOP DIFFERENCE SIGNAL.

back, loop difference signal.
LOOP ERROR.

See feedback loop error.

LOOP, FEEDBACK.
back.
LOOP GAIN.

See feed

See items under feed

See feedback loop gain.

LOOP, HALO-COUPLED. A coupling loop

in a m ulti-cavity magnetron which is mounted
in the end space, close to one end of one of
the resonant cavities of the tube.
LOOP, PROGRAM.
A transmission line
carrying broadcast program material from one
point or station to another.
LOOP, SEGMENT-FED. A coupling loop
in a m ulti-cavity magnetron, similar to a
halo-coupled loop, in which one end of the

Segment-fed loop coupler.

(By permission from
Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

LORAN. The word loran is derived from the

phrase Zong-range navigation and is used to
indicate the system of hyperbolic navigation
which has the longest range of all systems thus
far developed. Loran signals are of the pulse
type and, in the progress of the developmental
research, many different combinations of radio
frequencies and pulse rates were used. One
of the systems developed is known as Stand
ard Loran and is used in commercial air and
sea navigation. Since loran is a hyperbolic
system, the stations must operate in pairs as
master and slave. The slave station is es
sentially a relay station.
The time systems of the master and slave
stations are such that the signal from the
master always reaches a ship during the first
half of the recurrence cycle, and that from the
slave during the second half. This is accom
plished by including a delay circuit in the
slave timing system that delays the retrans
mission of the signal received from the master
until half the recurrence period has elapsed.
(See Fig. 1 (a) and (b ).)

loop terminates on the end of one of the seg

ments between the resonant cavities.
(See
loop, halo-coupled.)
LOOPS, NUMBER OF (IN A MAGNETIC ALLY-FOCUSED ELECTRON BE A M ).
The number of maxima in the beam diameter
between the electron gun and the target, or be
tween a point on the photocathode and the
target.
LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION.
back loop transfer function.
LOP.

See feed

See line of position.

LORAC. A navigation system which deter

mines a position fix by the intersection of lines
of position, each line being defined by the
phase angle between a heterodyne-beat fre
quency wave between cw signals from two
widely-spaced transmitters; and a reference
wave of the same frequency that is obtained
b y deriving the heterodyne beat of the same
two cw signals at a fixed location and trans
mitting it to the receiver being located via a
second radio frequency channel.
LORAD.

See lodar.

Fig. 1.
Standard receiving equipment has been de
signed for ships and planes in which both the
receiving and timing units are present, with
selector switches permitting the operator to
set on the frequency and recurrence rate as
signed to any loran pair he wishes to use.

Differential amplifiers, synchronized by the

timing circuit to the recurrence rate of the
station, act on both the master and slave sig
nals to deliver them at equal strength to the
indicator unit. The slow sweep of the oscillo
scope ( viewing scope ) appears as two paral
lel lines, one covering the first half of the
recurrence cycle and the other the second half.
Hence the signals received from the master
appear on one line and from the slave on the
adjacent parallel line. (See Fig. 1 (c ).)
W hen the signals are properly set up on
the scope, a set of time markers is thrown on
the screen and a determination is made of the
time interval between reception of signals
from the master and slave. This will include
the delay interval at the slave station, but,
since this is standard for each recurrence rate,
it m ay be allowed for. A delay circuit is now
introduced and the signals brought into ap
proximate coincidence. W ith this adjustment
made, a fast sweep spreads out the signals so
that close coincidence m ay be established (see
Fig. 1 (d )) and the time interval measured to
within one microsecond. Using this measured
difference in time of arrival of the two signals
the navigator then uses either tables or loran
charts to obtain one line of position. The
selector switches are then set to the character
istics of another loran pair, a second line of
position determined, and a fix obtained. (See
Fig. 2 .) The time required to obtain such a

LO R A N R E P E T IT IO N R A TE .
tion rate.
L O R E N TZ C O N D IT IO N .

See repeti

The condition:

1 d<t>
V .A + --------- - 0,
c dt

which may be imposed on the vector and

scalar potentials describing an electromag
netic field. In Minkowski space the condition
may be written
dAp
dxu
L O R E N T Z C O N T R A C T IO N ,
factor.

See Fitzgerald

LORENTZ DOUBLE REFRACTION.

A
group of optical, second-order, double-refraction effects even in certain cubic crystals,
which are not ordinarily observed and not in
cluded in the usual theories of crystal optics.
LORENTZ EQUATION OF MOTION. The
equation describing in Minkowski space the
classical motion of a particle of charge e, rest
mass m0 in an external electromagnetic field
ffiV'
d2Xn

dxv

ds2

m0c

(Gaussian units).
LORENTZ FACTOR. The number 4tt/3 by
which the polarization must be multiplied in
order to obtain the Lorentz field.
LORENTZ FIELD, The fictitious field in
troduced in the theory of dielectric and mag
netic polarization in order to find the actual
local field acting on the molecules. It is de
fined as the field produced inside a spherical
cavity in a uniformly polarized medium, and
has the value (4tt/3)F where P is the polariza
tion of the medium.
LORENTZ FORCE.
charges and currents.

Fig. 2.

fix is between 2 and 3 min. The accuracy of

the determined fix is of the same order of
magnitude as that obtained from good celes
tial navigation and, of course, is independent
o f the state of visibility.

See force on moving

LORENTZ FRAME. A ny o f the set of co

ordinate systems in Minkowski space for
which the square of the interval between two
events is c2dt2 (dr)2. A ny such coordinate
system m ay be obtained from another by
means of a Lorentz transformation (together,
perhaps, with an orthogonal transformation

of the space axes). W ith each Lorentz frame

m ay be associated a point observer, each of
whom moves with constant velocity relative to
the others.

v in the ^-direction, x , y, z, t, denote position

and time coordinates of two events as meas
ured by S, and x\ y', z'j t', the corresponding
quantities for S' then:

LORENTZ GAS. An idealized model of a

fully ionized gas in which all electron-electron interactions are neglected and the ions
are assumed to be stationary.
LORENTZ INVARIANCE. Invariance under
a Lorentz transformation.
(See relativity
theory, special; invariance principle.)
LORENTZ-LORENZ RELATION FOR D I
ELECTRIC CONSTANT. The variation of
specific inductive capacity e with density is
given by the relation:
6-11
7+2 7
where p is the density and t is a constant char
acteristic of the substance. The relation is
not accurate for polar molecules and high
densities.
LORENTZ NUMBER.

The ratio

L = K /aT
where K is the thermal conductivity and or the
electrical conductivity of a metal at absolute
temperature T. This ratio was observed to
be nearly constant for many metals by Wiede
mann and Franz, in agreement with the free
electron theory of metals which predicts the
value
7r2 /k\2
L =
= 2.7 X 10 13 statvolt 2/d e g 2

where k is Boltzmanns constant and e the

electronic charge.
This constancy is not
maintained down to low temperatures, at least
until the region of residual resistance is at
tained.
LORENTZ THEORY OF THE ELECTRON.
M odel of the electron as a spherical ball of
charge which contracts by the Fitzgerald fac
tor in its motion through the ether (1895).
Later reinterpreted according to special rela
tivity theory (see relativity theory, special).
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION. Relations
connecting the space and time coordinates of
an event as observed from two Lorentz
frames. I f S' moves relative to S with velocity

x f = y (x vt),
y f = y ,z ' = z,

M - P >

v2\~~H

where y = ^ 1 ----- - j

Shown by Einstein (1905) to be a consequence

of special relativity theory.
(See also electro
magnetic field, transformation equations for.)
LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION, PROPER.
See proper Lorentz transformation.
LORENTZ UNIT.

See Zeeman effect.

LORHUMB LINE. In navigation, a course

line in a lattice such that the derivative of one
coordinate with respect to the other coordinate
constantly equals the ratio of the difference of
the coordinates at the beginning and end
points of the course line.
LOSCHM IDT NUMBER. ( 1 ) The number
of molecules in 1 cm 3 of an ideal gas at 0C
and 1 atmosphere, equal to 2.687 X 1019. (2)
In continental Europe, the term is sometimes
used as synonymous with the Avogadro con
stant.
LOSS (TRANSMISSION LOSS). A general
term used to denote a decrease in signal power
in transmission from one point to another.
Loss is usually expressed in decibels.
LOSS, ACOUSTIC ABSORPTION.
sorption loss, acoustic.

See ab

LOSS, ARC (SW ITCH ING TUBES). The

decrease in radio-frequency power measured
in a matched termination when a fired tube
(see tube, fired), mounted in a series of shunt
junction with a waveguide, is inserted between
a matched generator and the termination. In
the case of a p re-T R tube (see tube, pre-TR),
a matched output termination is also required
for the tube.
LOSS, ARC-DROP (GAS TUBES).
The
product o f the instantaneous value o f tube

voltage drop and current averaged over a com

plete cycle of operation.

LOSS, B R ID G IN G .

The ratio of the power

dissipated in the reference impedance across
which the input of a transducer is bridged,
to the power the transducer delivers to a
specified load impedance under specified oper
ating conditions. If the input an d /or output
power consist of more than one component,
such as multifrequency signal or noise, then
the particular components used and their
weighting must be specified. This loss is
usually expressed in decibels. In telephone
practice this term is synonymous with the
insertion loss resulting from bridging an im
pedance across a circuit.

LOSS, INSERTION, TRANSDUCER.

The
loss resulting from the insertion of a trans
ducer in a transmission system, which is the
ratio of the power delivered to that part of the
system which will folllow the transducer, be
fore insertion of the transducer, to the power
delivered to that same part of the system
after insertion of the transducer. This ratio
is usually expressed in decibels. If the input
power, or the output power, or both, consist of
more than one component, the particular com
ponents used must be specified.

LOSS, M ODU LA TION . See modulation loss.

LOSS, RADIATION . That part of the trans
mission loss due to radiation of radio fre
quency power from a transmission system.

LOSS, D IV E R G E N C E ( S O U N D ). That part

of the transmission loss which is due to the
divergence or spreading of the sound rays in
accordance with the geometry of the system
(e.g., spherical waves emitted by a point
sou rce).

LOSSER.

LOSS, R E C O R D IN G .

In mechanical record
ing, the loss in recorded level whereby the
amplitude of the wave in the recording me
dium differs from the amplitude executed by
the recording stylus.

(1) A dielectric material which

dissipates energy. ( 2 ) A dissipative element
placed in a circuit to prevent oscillation.

LOSS, REFLECT IO N . (1) That part of the

transition loss due to the reflection of power
at a discontinuity. (2) The ratio in decibels

LOSS FACTOR.

of the power incident upon a discontinuity to

the difference between the power incident upon
and the power reflected from the discontinuity.

The rate at which heat is

generated in a dielectric is proportional to its
loss factor, which is equal to the product of its
dielectric constant by its power factor. Both
the dielectric constant and power factor are
usually functions of frequency, therefore, the
loss factor changes with changing frequency.

LOSS FACTOR, STANDING WAVE.

standing wave loss factor.

See

LOSS, HEAT. The part of the transmission

loss due to the conversion of electric energy
into heat.

LOSS, HYSTERESIS.

See hysteresis loss.

LOSS, IN SERT IO N (TR, PRE-TR, AND ATTENUATOR TU BE). The decrease in power

LOSS, REFRAC T ION ( S O U N D ). That part

of the transmission loss due to refraction re
sulting from nonuniformity of the medium.

LOSS, RETURN. (1) A t a discontinuity in a

transmission system, the difference between
the power incident upon the discontinuity and
the power reflected from the discontinuity.
(2) The ratio in decibels of the power inci
dent upon the discontinuity to the power re
flected from the discontinuity.
LOSS, SCANNING. In a radar system, the
reduction insensitivity expressed in decibels
due to scanning across a target compared with

measured in a matched termination when the

unfired tube at a specified ignitor current is
inserted in the waveguide between a matched
generator and the termination.

that obtained when the beam is directed con

stantly at the target.

LOSS, IN SERT IO N , C O LD . The insertion

loss (see loss, insertion) in db, or measure of
input attenuation, in a non-operating ampli

tering within the medium or due to roughness

of the reflecting surface. In electromagnetic
waves, the loss in power at the receiving point,
due to scattering.

fier tube.

LOSS, SCATTERING. In acoustics, that part

of the transmission loss which is due to scat

LOSS, TRANSDUCER. The ratio of the

available power of the specified source to the
power that the transducer delivers to the
specified load under specified operating con
ditions. I f the input power, or the output
power, or both consist of more than one com
ponent, the particular components used must
be specified. This ratio is usually expressed
in decibels. The transducer loss is made up
of a transition loss between the transducer and
the load, and a dissipation loss withm the
transducer. (See loss, transition; loss, trans

ducer dissipation.)
LOSS, TRANSDUCER DISSIPATION. For
a transducer operating between specified
source and load, the ratio of the power de
livered by the specified source when the trans
ducer is connected to the specified load, to the
power available from the transducer when
connected to the specified source. I f the in
put power, or the output power, or both con
sist of more than one component, the partic
ular components used must be specified. This
ratio is usually expressed in decibels.

LOSS, TRANSFORMER. The ratio of the

power that would be delivered to a specified
load impedance if an ideal transformer (see

transformer, ideal) were substituted for the

actual transformer, to the power delivered to
the specified load impedance by the trans
former, under the condition that the imped
ance ratio of the ideal transformer is equal
to that specified for the transformer. If the
input a n d /or output power consist of more
than one component, such as multifrequency
signal or noise, then the particular com po
nents used and their weighting must be speci
fied. This loss is usually expresssed in deci
bels.
A n older definition of transformer loss,
which is now deprecated, is the loss which
would be eliminated by the insertion, at any
point in a transmission system, of an ideal
transformer having an impedance ratio equal
to the absolute value of the ratio of the im
pedances facing the transformer.

LOSS, TRANSITION.

In audio systems and

components, the transition loss is defined as
follow s: A t any point in a transmission sys
tem, the ratio of the available power from
that part of the system ahead of the point
under consideration to the power delivered to

that part of the system beyond the point un

der consideration. I f the input an d /or output
power consist of more than one component,
such as multifrequency signal or noise, then
the particular components used and their
weighting should be specified. This loss is
usually expressed in decibels.
In wave-propagation usage, transition loss
is defined in one of two ways, as follows: ( 1 )
A t a transition or discontinuity between two
transmission media, the difference between
the power incident upon the discontinuity and
the power transmitted beyond the disconti
nuity which would be observed if the medium
beyond the discontinuity were m atch-term inated. (2) The ratio in decibels of the power
incident upon the discontinuity to the power
transmitted beyond the discontinuity which
would be observed if the medium beyond the
discontinuity were match-terminated.

LOSS,
LOSS).

TRANSLATION

( PLAYBACK

The loss in the reproduction of a

mechanical recording whereby the amplitude
of motion of the reproducing stylus differs
from the recorded amplitude in the medium.

LOSS, TRANSMISSION. ( 1 ) The power lost

in transmission between one point and an
other. It is measured as the difference be
tween the net power passing the first point
and the net power passing the second. (See
standing wave loss factor.) In underwater
sound, the transmission loss H is defined to be
H = S L, where S is the sound level in
decibels, and L is the sound pressure level in
decibels above rms pressure of 1 d yn e/cm 2.
LOSSY. An adjective applied to a dielectric
material which dissipates energy.

LOUDNESS.

The intensive attribute of an

auditory sensation in terms of which sounds
may be ordered on a scale extending from
soft to loud. Loudness depends primarily
upon the sound pressure of the stimulus, but
it also depends upon the frequency and wave
form of the stimulus.

LOUDNESS

CONTOURS.
Curves which
show the related values of sound pressure level
and frequency required to produce a given
loudness sensation for the typical listener.

LOUDNESS LEVEL. The loudness level, in

phons, of a sound is numerically equal to the
sound pressure level in decibels, relative to

microbar, of a simple tone of frequency

cycles per second which is judged by the
listeners to be equivalent in loudness.

LOUDSPEAKER, D IR E C T RADIATOR. A
loudspeaker in which the radiating element

LO U DSPEA K ER (SPEA KER). An electro

acoustic transducer (see transducer, electro
acoustic) usually intended to radiate acoustic

LOUDSPEAKER, D IR E C T RAD IA TOR DY

N AM IC SUBAQUEOUS.
A loudspeaker
which contains a diaphragm driven by a voice
coil located in a magnetic field and which is

0 .0 0 0 2
1000

power effectively at a distance in air.

LOUDSPEAKER,
ACOUSTICAL
LABY
RIN T H . A loudspeaker consisting of an ab
sorbent walled conduit
coupled to the back of
loudspeaker mechanism
rect radiator) and the
front or at the bottom
which it is folded.

with one end tightly

the cone of a direct
(see loudspeaker, di
other end opening in
of the cabinet within

LOUDSPEAKER, ACOUSTICAL PHASEIN V ERT ER. A loudspeaker consisting of a

direct radiator loudspeaker mechanism (see

loudspeaker, direct radiator) mounted in a

com pletely closed cabinet save for a port
coupling the cabinet volume to the air.

LO U D SPEA K ER
A ND
M IC R O P H O N E ,
H.F. D IR E C T R A D IA T O R D Y N A M IC SUB
AQUEOUS. A direct radiator dynamic sub
aqueous loudspeaker with a smaller diaphragm
and stiffer suspension system for use above
1 0 kc.

LO UDSPEA KER, CABINET.

A ny loud
speaker mounted in an open-back cabinet
which also houses the radio or phonograph
mechanism.

LOUDSPEAKER, CO M BIN AT IO N H O R N
A N D D IR E C T RADIATOR. A loudspeaker
consisting of a horn coupled to the back side
of a direct radiator loudspeaker mechanism
(see loudspeaker, direct radiator) and an
acoustical capacitance for changing the out
put from the horn to the open side of the cone
for reproduction of the m id- and high-fre
quency ranges.

LOUDSPEAKER, CO M PRESSED AIR. A

loudspeaker consisting of an electrically ac
tuated valve which interrupts or modulates an
air stream.

LOUDSPEAKER, CRYSTAL (P IE Z O E L E C
TRIC LO U D SPEA K E R ). A loudspeaker in
which the mechanical displacements are pro
duced b y piezoelectric action. (See bimorph

cell.)

acts directly on the air.

designed to operate under water.

LOUDSPEAKER D IV ID IN G
See network, dividing.

NETWORK.

LOUDSPEAKER, DOUBLE-COIL, DOUBLE-CONE. A loudspeaker consisting of a

light coil coupled to a small cone, connected
by a compliance to a heavy coil and large
cone. An increase in range is obtained by re
ducing the impedance of both the coil and the
diaphragm at the higher frequencies.

LOUDSPEAKER, DOUBLE-COIL, SINGLE

CONE. A loudspeaker consisting of a voice
coil, divided into two parts separated by a
compliance, coupled to a single corrugated
cone. The inductance and electrical resist
ance of the larger portion of the voice coil is
shunted by an electrical capacitance.
LOUDSPEAKER, DYNAM IC.
A
loud
speaker employing a cone driven by a cur
rent-carrying coil (the voice coil) in a con
stant magnetic field. The magnetic field may
be supplied either by an electromagnet or a
permanent magnet.

LOUDSPEAKER,

ELECTROM AGNETIC.

A dynamic loudspeaker (see loudspeaker, dy

namic) in which an electromagnet provides
the required magnetomotive force for the
magnetic circuit.

LOUDSPEAKER, ELECTROSTATIC (CA

PACITO R LO UDSPEA KER) (CO ND ENS
E R LO U D SPEA K ER). A loudspeaker in
which the mechanical forces are produced by
the action of electrostatic fields.

LOUDSPEAKER, E X C IT E D F IE L D .
A
loudspeaker in which the steady magnetic
field is produced by an electromagnet.
LOUDSPEAKER, HORN.

A loudspeaker in
which the radiating element is coupled to the
medium by means of a horn.

LOUDSPEAKER, IN DU CT IO N .
speaker, dynamic.

See loud

LOUDSPEAKER, M A GN ET IC ARMATURE
(M A G N E T IC LO U D SP EA K E R ). A loud
speaker comprising a ferromagnetic armature

LOUDSPEAKER (A N D M IC R O P H O N E ),
QUARTZ-CRYSTAL,
SA N D W IC H
SUB
AQUEOUS. A subaqueous transducer con

actuated by forces of magnetic attraction.

sisting of two blocks of metal cemented to the

two sides o f a relatively thin, quartz crystal.
One of the metal blocks is terminated in water
and the other in air. Maximum output occurs
when the overall effective length is one-half
wavelength. (See piezoelectric effect.)

LOUDSPEAKER, M A GN ET IC SUBAQUE
OUS. A loudspeaker designed to operate
under water, consisting of a resonant dia
phragm driven by forces resulting from mag
netic reactions.

LOUDSPEAKER, M AGNETOSTRICTION.
A loudspeaker in which the mechanical dis
placement is derived from the deformation of
a material having magnetostrictive properties.

LOUDSPEAKER, M AGNETOSTRICTION
SUBAQUEOUS. A loudspeaker, designed to
operate under water, in which a diaphragm is
driven by the mechanical forces generated in
a ferromagnetic rod possessing magnetostric
tive properties.

LOUDSPEAKER, M O T IO N A L E L E C T R IC
IM P E D A N C E OF. The motional electric
impedance of a single-coil, single-cone loud
speaker is given by (B I)2/ZMt , where B =
flux density in gauss, I = length of the con
ductor in the voice coil in air, Z Mt = total
mechanical impedance of the mechanical sys
tem, in mechanical ohms.

LOUDSPEAKER, M O V IN G C O IL (C O N
D U C T O R ). See loudspeaker, dynamic.
LOUDSPEAKER,
M U LT IPLE
SIN GLE
C O IL SINGLE-CONE. A ny of a number of
loudspeaker systems consisting of a largediameter, heavy cone driven by a large voice
coil for the low frequency range and a small
diameter light cone and small voice coil for
the high frequency range, and a filter system
for allocating the power in the high and low
frequency ranges to the respective low and
high frequency units. Such systems are de
signed for uniform response, broad directional
patterns and adequate power-handling capac
ity.

LOUDSPEAKER, PERM ANENT MAGNET.

A dynamic loudspeaker (see loudspeaker, dy
namic) in which the steady magnetic field is
produced by means of a permanent magnet.

LOUDSPEAKER, PNEUMATIC.
speaker, compressed air.

See loud

LOUDSPEAKER,
QUARTZ-CRYSTAL,
SUBAQUEOUS. A loudspeaker, designed to
operate under water, in which a quartz crystal
is driven by mechanical forces generated in
the crystal due to converse piezoelectric prop
erties.

LOUDSPEAKER,
R O C H E L L E - SALT,
CRYSTAL SUBAQUEOUS. A loudspeaker,
designed to operate under water, in which
Rochelle-salt crystal is driven by mechanical
forces generated in the crystal due to piezo
electric properties. This apparatus can also
be used as a microphone, by means of the di
rect piezoelectric properties of the crystal.

LOUDSPEAKER, SINGLE-COIL D O U B LE
CONE. A loudspeaker consisting of a single
coil coupled to two cones. In this system an
increase in frequency range is obtained by
reducing the mechanical impedance of the
diaphragm by coupling a smaller cone to the
voice coil at the high frequencies.

LOUDSPEAKER, SINGLE-COIL, SIN GLE

CONE. A loudspeaker consisting of a cone
driven by a voice coil located in a magnetic
field.

LOUDSPEAKER
STEREOPHONY,
stereophony, loudspeaker.

See

LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM. A combination

of one or more loudspeakers and all associated
baffles, horns, and dividing networks arranged
to work together as a coupling means between
the driving electric circuit and the acoustic
medium.

LOUDSPEAKER V O IC E C O IL .
voice, loudspeaker.
LO V IB O N D TINTOMETER.

See coil,

A colorimeter
in which the color of a solution or object is
expressed in terms of glass slides of three
colors. The instrument is equipped with a
series of slides of each color, which are com

pared with the solution or object under exam

ination.

L O W . A region over which atmospheric pres

sure is lower than the surrounding area; i.e.,
an abbreviation for region of low pressure.
C yclonic winds blow around a low.
(See

each other, and their effect is therefore sub

tractive instead o f additive. It also follows
that, since less light is reflected from glass
provided with such films, more light is trans
mitted. This feature has proved of value in
the treatment of lenses in optical instruments.

cyclone.)

L O W TEM PERATURE MEASUREMENT.

LOW- AND HIGH-PASS FILT E R , See filter,

band-elimination.

The platinum resistance thermometer can be

used down to the temperature of liquid h y
drogen. Below this lead resistance thermom
eters have been used, and also the rather in
sensitive constantan thermometer.
In the
temperature range of liquid helium, phosphorbronze wire with small additions of a super
conductor (usually lead) have been found
useful. Carbon resistors provide useful re
sistance thermometers in the helium range,
and at temperatures below 1 K . The most
reliable thermometer in this range is provided
by a paramagnetic salt whose susceptibility
obeys the Curie law. Thermocouples are use
ful down to the temperature of liquid air.

L O W CLEA RAN CE AREA.

In an instru
ment approach system, any area containing
only low clearance points.

L O W CLEA RAN CE POINTS.

In an instru
ment approach system, locations in space out
side of the crossover region at which offcourse indicator current is below some arbi
trary value, usually the full-scale deflection.

LO W EST USEFUL H IG H FREQUENCY.

See frequency, lowest useful high.
LOW -REFLECTION

FILM S

ON

GLASS.

The action of these films depends jointly upon

two different optical principles.
(1)
Reflection of light occurs only at an
interface between two different media. The
ratio of the quantity of the light reflected by
any reflector to that of the light incident upon
it is called the reflection factor, or the re
flectance, of that reflector. In the case of a
glass surface covered with a transparent film,
the reflection takes place partly at the outer
surface of the film and partly at the interface
between film and glass. It m ay be shown
that the total reflectance of such a com bina
tion is a minimum when the absolute refrac
tive index of the film is equal to the square
root of that of the glass. Therefore it is de
sirable to find a film material which fulfills
this condition as nearly as possible and at the
same time makes a durable coating adhering
firmly to the glass.
The materials which
at present appear most satisfactory in these
respects are calcium fluoride (C aF 2) and
lithium fluoride (L iF ). ( 2 ) All of the above
remarks apply, irrespective of the thickness
o f the film. If now the film be made of a
thickness about one-quarter of the wavelength
of the (norm ally) incident light, the reflectance
is further reduced almost to zero by inter
ference. The portions reflected by the filmglass interface and by the outer surface of
the film are in such case in opposite phase to

L O W TEMPERATURE M E T H O D F O R
LATENT HEAT O F VAPORIZATION. The
liquid is evaporated under constant pressure
out of a vacuum calorimeter, and the evapo
rated amount is measured by determining the
volume and pressure of the gas at room tem
perature.

L O W TEMPERATURE PRODU CTIO N BY

ADIABATIC
D E M A G N E T IZ A T IO N - N U
CLEA R DEM AGNETIZATION. The inter
action of the nuclear spins is weaker than that
of the electronic paramagnetic spins, so that
they will remain largely disordered at tem
peratures accessible by the paramagnetic de
magnetization process described in the next
entry. Using the latter process, a paramag
netic salt is reduced to a temperature of about
0.01 K . This salt is then used as a heat
sink while a suitable nuclear magnetic speci
men is then magnetized in the presence of a
very strong magnetic field, the heat of mag
netization being absorbed by the heat-sink.
A fter magnetization of the specimen, the ther
mal contact with the heat-sink is broken
and the specimen is then further cooled by
allowing it to demagnetize when the magnetic
field is removed. The use of this method has
produced temperatures as low as 1.0 X 1 0 _ 6
K. (See also adiabatic demagnetization, cool

ing by.)

L O W TEM PERATURE PR O D U C T IO N BY
ADIA BA T IC
DEM A G N ET IZA T IO N T W O -STAGE D EM A GN ET IZAT ION .
A
method of reaching temperatures of about
one-thousandth of a degree absolute by carry
ing out two successive demagnetizations of
paramagnetic salts in the same apparatus.
The first stage consists of an ordinary demag
netization from the temperature of liquid
helium. A second sample of salt is cooled in
a magnetic field to the final temperature of
the first stage and subsequently demagnetized
adiabatically.
(See also adiabatic demag

netization, cooling by.)

L O W TEM PERATURE P R O D U C T IO N BY
C LA U D E M E T H O D . A method of gas lique
faction in which the cooling process is expan
sion with work being done in a reciprocating
engine. In order to avoid formation of liquid
in the cylinder, the last few degrees of cooling
are usually covered by expansion without
work.

L O W TEM PERATURE PR O D U C T IO N BY
L IN D E M E T H O D . A method of gas lique
faction using the Joule-Thomson effect as
cooling method. A fter expansion, the gas is
returned to the compressor through a countercurrent heat exchanger in which the incoming
compressed gas is cooled by the returning gas.
This process results in gradual cooling of the
expansion valve until liquefaction occurs.

L O W TEM PERATURE PR O D U C T IO N BY
PICTET O R CASCADE PROCESS.
A
method by which a series of gases with successively-lower boiling points are liquefied.
The first gas is liquefied under pressure, and
then the temperature o f the liquid is reduced
b y pumping off its vapor. The next gas,
whose critical point must lie above the tem
perature reached by the first stage, is then
liquefied under pressure and the process is
repeated. It can only be continued as long
as gases are available which have, in the
liquid state, overlapping temperature inter
vals.

LP.

A bbreviation for low pass and certain

33y3 rpm phonograph records.

L-RADIATION.

One of a series o f x-rays

characteristic of each element, that is emitted
when that element, com monly as the metal,

is used as an anti-cathode in an x-ray tube,

and the electrons of its L-shell are excited.

L-RING. See magnetron, tuneable, meth

ods of tuning.
L-S COU PLIN G.
Saunders.

See

coupling,

Russell-

L SECTION. An elementary section of a

network such as a filter, where the components
are connected in the form of an L, i.e., one
component in series with one side, and the
other in shunt across the two sides o f the cir
cuit.

L-SHELL.

The second layer of electrons

about the nucleus of an atom, the first or
innermost being the K-shell, which consists
of two electrons in the case of all elements,
except hydrogen. The L-shell contains eight
electrons in the case of neon (atomic num
ber = 1 0 ) and of all elements of atomic num
ber greater than ten. The L-shell is started
with lithium (atomic number = 3 ), which has
an L-shell containing one electron, and the
L-shell of each atom of successively increas
ing atomic number has one more additional
electron until neon, containing 8 electrons in
its L-shell, is reached, at which point the
L-shell is complete.

L-SYSTEM AND C-SYSTEM. See laboratory

system and center of mass system.
LU HF.

Abbreviation for lowest usable high

frequency.

LUM EN.

The unit of luminous flux. It is

equal to the flux through a unit solid angle
(steradian) from a uniform point source of
one candle, or to the flux on a unit surface all
points which are at unit distance from a uni
form point source of one candle.

LUMEN-HOUR. A unit quantity of luminous

energy equal to the emission of 1 lumen for
one hour.

LU M EN M ETER, LU M ETER. A device for

measuring or comparing luminosities.
LU M ERG . A unit o f luminous energy (see
energy, luminous). One erg of radiant energy
having a luminous efficiency o f x lumens per
watt is x lumergs o f luminous energy.

LU M IN AN CE.

The luminous intensity o f

any surface in a given direction per unit of

projected area of the surface as viewed from

that direction. (See note under brightness.)

LU M IN A N C E CHANNEL.

In a color-television system, any path which is intended to

carry the luminance signal. The luminance
channel m ay also carry other signals; for
example, the carrier color signal, which may
or may not be used.

LU M IN A N C E F L IC K E R . That flicker which

results from fluctuation of luminance only.
L U M IN A N C E PRIM ARY. That one of a set
o f three transmission primaries whose amount
determines the luminance of a color.
L U M IN A N C E SIGNAL.
A signal wave
which is intended to have exclusive control
o f the luminance of the picture in television.
LU M IN A N C E
TRANSMISSION
CO N
STANT. T hat type of transmission in which
the transmission primaries are a luminance
primary and two chrominance primaries.
LU M IN E SC E N C E . B roadly, this term refers
to the emission of light due to any other cause
than high temperature. A firefly, for example,
as well as certain fungi and many marine
forms exhibit bioluminescence. Some electro
lytic rectifiers are sources of galvanoluminescence. Triboluminescence is observed upon
vigorously grinding certain solids, notably
ordinary sugar.
Photolum inescence is the
emission of light as a result of nonluminous
radiations.
A large variety of substances become lumi
nescent when stimulated or excited by suit
able radiation or by emissions such as cathode
rays or p-rays. This phenomenon is appar
ently quite complex and is exhibited in various
aspects. In some cases the light is emitted
only so long as the exciting emission is main
tained; it is called fluorescence. The screen
o f a fluoroscope thus responds to x-rays. In
other cases the luminescence persists after the
excitation is removed and it is then called
phosphorescence. Thus zinc sulfide, under
certain conditions, glows brightly for a time
after exposure to daylight or lamplight, but
the luminosity decays rapidly and disappears,
usually within a few minutes. Some materials
exhibit therm olum inescence; that is, they be
come luminescent, after exposure to excita
tion, upon being raised to a sufficiently high
temperature. Resonance radiation may be

regarded as a type of fluorescence in certain

gases.
Stokes pointed out that when luminescence
is excited by radiation, the frequency of the
luminescence is usually less than that of the
incident radiation. This is of course always
true when visible luminescence is excited by
ultraviolet rays, x-rays, or y-rays.
Numerous theories regarding luminescence
have been proposed. They agree mostly in
assuming that the emission of luminescence is
due to the removal of electrons from molecules
or from filled bands of a solid material by
the energy of the exciting rays, and the re
lease of part or all of the energy upon their
return. The quantum theory of radiation and
electronic processes has done much in recent
years to clarify certain aspects of the phe
nomena.
Materials which exhibit luminescence are
known as phosphors.

LUM INOSITY. A general concept associated

with the evaluation of radiant power by
means o f the standard luminosity function.
Quantitatively it is the ratio of the luminous
flux to the corresponding radiant flux. It is
expressed in lumens per watt.
LU M IN OSITY CO EFFICIEN TS.

The con
stant multipliers for the respective tristim
ulus values of any color, such that the sum
of the three products is the luminance of the
color.

LU M IN OSITY CURVE. A graphical rela

tionship between wavelength of light in the
visible range, and reciprocal o f the radiance
required to produce visual sensations of equal
brightness. This reciprocal of required radi
ance or luminosity, is characteristic of the
observer and conditions of observation.
LU M IN OSITY

CURVE, ABSOLUTE.
A
graphical relationship between wavelejigth of
light and the luminous efficiency o f radiant
flux, expressed in lumens per watt. However,
the absolute luminosity curve, like the lumi
nosity curve, can be regarded as descriptive
of a property of vision the spectral sensitiv
ity of the eye for brightness as well as a
property o f radiant flux its efficiency in af
fecting the eye.
The absolute luminosity
curve is found by multiplying the ordinates
of the luminosity curve by 680, the value in
lumens per watt of the maximum luminous

efficiency of radiant flux o f wavelength 555

millimicrons.

LU M IN OSIT Y FU N CT IO N (ST A RD A RD ).
Because of the variable sensitivity of the eye
to radiation of different wavelengths, a stand
ard function has been established by the C om
mission Internationale de Tclairage (C IE ),
formerly called in English translations Inter
national Commission on Illumination (IC I),
for converting radiant energy into luminous
(i.e., visible) energy.
For the standard conditions chosen in estab
lishing this standard luminosity function
(photopic vision) the luminously effective
radiant intensity in lumens of radiation of
spectral intensity J\ w atts/unit wavelength
is given by
J rX=oo
y\J\dx
x=o
where y\ is the standard luminosity function
normalized to a value of unity at 555 m illi
microns. The numerical values for y\ are
com m only given as a luminosity curve.
For very low levels of intensity (scoptopic
vision) the peak of the luminosity function
curve shifts toward the violet for young eyes
(507 m j with an absolute value of 1746
lum ens/watt.

LU M INOUS EMISSIVITY.
LU M IN OU S EMITTANCE.

See emissivity.
See emittance.

LU M IN OU S FLUX. The time rate of flow

of light. W hen radiant flux is evaluated with
respect to its capacity to evoke the brightness
attribute of visual sensation, it is called lumi
nous flux, and this capacity is expressed in

lumens.
LU M IN OU S INTENSITY (IN ANY D IR E C
T IO N ).
The ratio of the luminous flux
emitted by an element of a source, in an
infinitesimal solid angle containing this direc
tion, to the solid angle. Mathematically, a
solid angle must have a point at its apex; the
definition of luminous intensity, therefore, ap
plies strictly only to a point source. In prac
tice, however, light emanating from a source
whose dimensions are negligible in comparison
with the distance from which it is observed
may be considered as coming from a point.

LUM INOUS
REFLECTANCE,
D IR E C
TIONAL. The ratio of the luminance of an
imperfectly diffusing surface to the illumi
nance of a perfectly diffusing (and perfectly
reflecting) surface.

LUM INOUS REFLECTANCE, SPECULAR.

The ratio of (1) the illuminance of a surface

LUM INOSITY, RELATIVE. The ratio of the

value of the luminosity at a particular wave
length to the value at the wavelength of maxi

observed by reflection in a mirror to ( 2 ) the

illuminance of the surface seen directly in the
specular luminous reflectance of the mirror.

mum luminosity.

LUM INOUS SENSITIVITY.

luminous.

LU M IN OU S CA T H O D E SENSITIVITY. See
sensitivity, cathode, luminous.
LU M IN OU S C O E F FIC IE N T .

A coefficient
which measures the integrated fraction of the
radiant power that contributes to its luminous
properties as evaluated by means of the stand
ard luminosity function.
Luminous coefficient =
p X =oo

=oo

I
2/a./a4 / I
J\d\.
*'X=0
/ ^x=o
Where y\ is the standard luminosity func
tion and J\ is the spectral power distribution
of the radiant intensity. The luminous coeffi
cient is unity for a narrow band of wavelengths
at 555 millimicrons.

LU M IN OU S E F FIC IE N C Y .
luminous.

See efficiency,

See sensitivity,

LUMMER-BRODHUN CUBE. A photom

eter in which light from the standard source
and the test source is reflected into an optical
system of two prisms, so that the light from
one source passes to the eye through the
centers of the prisms, whereas the light from
the other source is reflected to the eye from
the part of the cube where the prisms are not
in contact.

LUMMER-GEHREKE PLATE. A type of

interferometer in which parallel beams of light
produced by multiple reflection within a plate
of glass m ay give interference of very high
order. It is capable of very great resolution
within a very narrow spectral range, but is
now largely replaced by the Fabry-Perot

etalon.

The reflection of the light from

the surface of an object or material, and the
appearance of the surface by that reflected
light. The luster of minerals is a property
which is useful in their identification. The
luster of a mineral m ay be metallic, vitreous,
adamantine, resinous, pearly, greasy, silky,
dull, or earthy.
LU STER .

L U T E C IU M .

Sym bol Lu.

R a re e a rth metallic element.

A tom ic number 71.

L U X . T he M .K.S. unit of illu m in a n c e , equal

to one lu m e n m eter- 2 .
L U X E M B U R G E F F E C T . A type of atmos
pheric cro ss-m o d u la tio n apparently due to the
non-linearity of the io n o sp h e re , which causes

a receiver tuned to the frequency of a power

ful transmitter to also receive the transmis
sion of some other powerful transmitter on a
different frequency.
LU X O M ETER .
A device
which measures illu m in a tio n in lu x units.

LU X M ETER ,

LY M A N

G H O STS.

Discussed under g h o sts.

L Y M A N S E R IE S . A series of lines in the

u ltra v io le t region of the spectrum of atomic
h yd ro g e n . The w a v e n u m b e rs of the lines

in this series are given by the relationship:

plies to reversible or stable colloids. Exam

ples are gelatine or albumin sols in water.
S Y S T E M . A c o llo id a l syste m
in which there is a marked attraction between
the disperse p h ase and the dispersion medium.
When the medium is water, the term hydrophile is applied to the system.

L Y O P H IL IC

S O L . A c o llo id a l syste m in
which there is little mutual affinity between
the d isp e rse d p h ase and the d isp e rsio n m e
d iu m . The term applies to the irreversible
or unstable type of colloid. An example is
gold sol in water.

L Y O P H O B IC

S Y S T E M . A c o llo id a l system
of the unstable or irreversible type (suspensoids). (See ly o p h o b ic s o l.)

L Y O P H O B IC

L Y O T R O P IC S E R IE S . A series of an io n s or
c a tio n s arranged in the order of magnitude of
their effect upon reactions in c o llo id a l so lu
tio n s. In the precipitation of ly o p h ilic col

loids such as gelatine by salts the anions or

the cations m ay be arranged in the order of
their coagulating power. This is called the
H ofm eister or lyotropic series.
Anions:
S 0 4= > C l " > B r > I - > C N S .

- &

A
- n2
A)/
V ll

Cations:

where V is the wave number of a line in the

Lym an series, R h is the R y d b e r g c o n s ta n t
for hydrogen (109,677.591 cm - 1 ), n\ is 1, and
n2 has integral values greater than 1 .
L Y O P H IL I C

SO L.

c o llo id a l syste m

in

which there is mutual affinity of the dispersed

phase and dispersion medium. This term ap

B a + + > L i+ > N a+ > K + > R b + > Cs+.

This order runs parallel to the solubility of
the salts in water and to their tendency to
become hydrated. It has been suggested that
the precipitation is due to the dehydration of
the colloid as well as to a reduction in the
ze ta p o te n tia l.

M
( 1 ) M e te r (m ).
( 2 ) M ass (m or M ).
( 3 ) Mass of molecules or atom (m or mm).
(4) Mass of e le c tro n (m e). (5) Mass (rest)
(m 0).
( 6 ) M o d u la tio n fa c to r (m ).
(7)
M o le c u la r w e ig h t ( M ) . ( 8 ) Direction cosine
(i, m, n ). (9) Mesh (m or M ). (10) Slope
of equilibrium curve (m ). (11) M etal (M ).
(12) One-thousandth (m ). (13) Strength of
magnetic pole (m, but p is preferred). (14)
M a g n e tiz a tio n or intensity of magnetization
( M ) . (15) M a g n e tic m o m en t (m ). (16) T o
tal magnetic q u an tu m n u m b e r (M ).
(17)
L in e a r m a g n ific a tio n (m ).
(18) O rd e r of
spectrum (m ).
(19) Number of electric
p h ase s (m ).
(20) M agnetic quantum num
ber of electron (m ). ( 2 1 ) M agnetic quantum
number of electrons (M ).
(22) P asch e n B a c k e ffe c t quantum numbers associated with
N and S (M N, M s ).
(23) Abbreviation for
milli (10 - 3 multiplier) (M or m ).

machines fall into two general classes, those

dependent upon the vector resolution of forces
(inclined plane, wedge, screw, toggle join t),
and those in which there is an equilibrium of
torques (lever, pulley, w heel-and-axle). Their
detailed explanation is to be found in many
textbooks of high school physics. For each of
the several types, there is a factor known as
the mechanical advantage, which ideally
represents the ratio of the force exerted
by the device to the force acting upon it;
though on account of friction and elasticity,
the actual ratio of the force may be somewhat
less than this ideal value. For a lever, it is
equal to the ratio of the arms ; for an in
clined plane, with the force acting parallel to
the plane, it is the cosecant of the angle of
inclination; etc.
Ordinarily a more prac
ticable measure of the mechanical advantage
is the ratio of a small displacement produced
by the operator of the machine to the result
ing displacement of the load by the machine.
Thus, if the handle of an automobile jack is
moved 1 ", in lifting the car 0 .0 0 2 ", the me
chanical advantage is 500.
The principles of e ffic ie n c y (ratio of output
energy to input energy) are well illustrated
by the action of machines. N o mechanism
can operate without loss of energy through
friction or otherwise; hence the efficiency of a
machine is always less than unity. Other
wise, it would be possible to realize p e rp e tu a l
m o tio n . ( 2 ) A term used in nuclear physics
to refer to any type of particle a c c e le ra to r,
particularly one that produces particles of high
energy.

M.

M ACH A N G LE.
co n e .
M ACH
w ave.

C O N E.

The apex angle of a M a ch

The wavefront of a M a ch

C R IT E R IO N .
Only those proposi
tions should be employed in physical theory
from which statements about observable phe
nomena can be deduced.
(See also operaM ACH

tio n a lis m .)
M A C H E U N IT . A unit of quantity of ra d io
a c tiv e e m a n a tio n , defined as the quantity of

emanation which sets up a saturation current

equal to one one-thousandth of the electro
static unit of current. It is equal to 3.6 X
1 0 10 c u rie .
M A C H IN E C H E C K .

M A C H N U M B E R . The ratio of the speed of

an object to the sp eed o f so un d in the undis

See c h e c k , a u to m a tic .
la n g u a g e ,

turbed medium in which the object is travel

ing.

M A C H IN E S . (1) The term machine applies

traditionally in physics to any one of those
simple devices lever, inclined plane, etc.
which might with greater propriety be called
elements of mechanism. These elementary

P R IN C IP L E .
The inertia of any
system arises from the interaction of that
system and the rest o f the universe, including distant parts thereof. Postulated by applying the M a c h c rite rio n to the concept of

M A C H IN E
m a c h in e .

LA N G U A G E.

See

M ACH

609

absolute space. Applied by Einstein to the

hypothesis that the m e tric of space-time is
determined by the distribution of matter and
energy.
M A C H W A V E . The sh o ck w a v e set up by
an object traveling with a M a c h n u m b e r
greater than unity.
M A C K E N Z IE
LA W ).

E Q U A T IO N

(FEC H N ER

S = c logio V + a,
where S = sensation of loudness, p = excess
pressure, a, c = frequency-dependent param
eters.
This equation has been applied to
sensations other than that of loudness. It is
not a satisfactory expression unless the pa
rameter a is considered to depend on the past
history of the subject, and even then is an
approximation based on the extent of validity
o f the W e b e r la w and of the ju s t n o tic e a b le
d iffe re n c e as a unit of loudness.
M A C K ER EL SKY.
Both a lto c u m u lu s and
c irro c u m u lu s clouds often appear arranged in

uniform bands similar in appearance to a

mackerel's back. The reference pertains par
ticularly to altocumulus.
M A C L A U R IN
o re m .

S E R IE S .

See M a c la u rin th e

M A C L A U R IN T H E O R E M . A special case
of the T a y lo r th e o re m . If f(x) and all of its

derivatives remain finite at x = 0 , then f(x)

m ay be expanded to
x2

/ ( * ) = / (0 ) + f(0 )x + / " ( 0 ) - +

(1) A term some

times applied to a crystalline solid, such as
diamond, where the atoms are covalently
bonded (see c o v a le n c e ) to their neighbors in
such a way that the bonds are all of equal
strength so that the whole crystal is, as it were,
one single chemically-bonded molecule. ( 2 )
Molecules of large m o le c u la r w e ig h t (M >
^ 103) , such as protein molecules, D N A mole
cules (M ~ 1 0 6) , and other biologically im
portant molecules. Also large synthetic or
ganic molecules such as those with a high de
gree of polymerization.
M A C R O M O LEC U LE.

M A C R O S C O P IC . A term used in s ta tis tic a l

m e ch a n ics to describe any of the constants,

properties, or variables of a system which are

directly observable by the methods of meas
urement used in an actual or hypothetically
realizable experiment on the system. The
term m e g asco p ic has the same meaning and
the advantage that is not so easily confused
with m ic ro sc o p ic .
A ny state of a system that
can be distinguished from all other states by
observations made on the system in an actual
or in a realizable hypothetical experiment.
(For the application of the term in s ta tis tic a l
m e c h a n ic s, see w e ig h t fa c to r, s ta tis tic a l.)

M A C RO STA TE.

A bbreviation for magnetic airborne

detector a m ag n e to m e te r designed to be
trailed behind an airplane.
M .A .D .

A constant ap
pearing in the term for the C o u lo m b e n e rg y
<j> of an ionic crystal (see B o rn -M a y e r e q u a
tio n ) . It may be defined by a in the equation:
M A D ELU N G C O N STA N T.

xn__1

+ / (n 1} ( 0 ) ------------- + R n

(n 1)1

where R n is the remainder after n terms. W hen

the remainder converges towards zero as the
number of terms increases, the result is the
Maclaurin series for f(x) at x = 0.
M A C L E O D E Q U A T IO N . A constant rela
tionship between the s u rfa c e te n sio n of a
liquid, its density, and the density of its v a
por, of the form :

where R is the separation of nearest n e ig h

b o rs in the crystal, and is evaluated by adding
the mutual electrostatic potential energies of
all the ions in the particular lattice. The
M adelung constant also appears in the ex
pression for the wavelength of the re s id u a l
ra d ia tio n (Reststrahlen) selectively reflected
by a given heteropolar crystal.
M AG AM P.
p lifie r .

w h e re y is th e su rfa ce te n sio n o f th e liq u id , p

is it s d e n s ity , an d p' is th e d e n s ity o f its v a p o r.

Abbreviation for m a g n e tic am

Abbreviation for M ichigan .Auto

matic General integrated Computation, a pro
M A G IC .

gramming system for a digital computer.

(See also entries immediately following.)
MAGIC-EYE TUBE. See tube, magic-eye.
M AGIC NUMBERS.
Certain numbers of
neutrons or protons in the nucleus which give
rise to increased nuclear stability. The levels
that seem certain at this time correspond to
values of N (number of neutrons in the nu
cleus) or of Z (atom ic number: number of
protons in the nucleus) equal to 2 , 8 , 2 0 , 28,
50, 82, and 126. For example, tin (Z = 50)
has as many as ten stable isotopes.
MAGIC TEE. See waveguide junction, magic
tee.
MAGITRAN. Trade name of a magnetic amplifier-transistor power supply.
MAGNAL.
rangement.

Designation for a tube basing ar

MAGNALIUM . An alloy of aluminum and

magnesium which has high reflectivity in the
visible and ultraviolet regions.
MAGNESIUM. M etallic element.
M g. A tom ic number 12.
M AGNESTAT.
amplifier.
MAGNESYN.

Sym bol

Trade name for a magnetic

Trade name for a selsyn.

M AGNET. A ny object which has the prop

erty of attracting iron, nickel, or cobalt ob
jects with forces which are much greater than
those of gravitation and which do not depend
on the presence of electric charge on either
body, m ay be classed as a magnet. As this
test of a magnet does not determine which of
the two bodies is the magnet, it is necessary to
specify that the magnet will attract either of
two pieces of iron (nickel or cobalt) which do
not attract or repel each other.
Magnets occur in many forms, including
pieces of lodestone (F e 30 4) known to the an
cients, straight bar magnets, horseshoe mag
nets, etc. In each of these it is found that
there are two or more regions toward which
iron objects are attracted more strongly than
they are to other regions, these strongly at
tracting regions are known as the poles of the
magnet.
When a pole of one magnet is
brought near to the pole of another, it is
found that either attraction or repulsion may

occur. For example, if two similar bar mag

nets (each having two poles, located near their
ends) are placed side by side they may at
tract strongly, but if one of the magnets is
turned end for end, the same pair of magnets
will repel each other. It is thus indicated that
two kinds of magnetic poles exist (always in
pairs), that like poles repel, and that unlike
poles attract. Another description states that
a magnet is surrounded by a field, with lines
of force running from one pole to the other,
and that any magnetic test pole introduced
into this field is subject to a force directed
along the line of force passing through the
point at which the test pole is located.
A magnet suspended at a single point in
such a manner that it can turn in a horizontal
plane is found to come to equilibrium in a
fixed position, with one pole pointing approxi
mately toward the north and the other toward
the south. This indicates that the earth itself
is a magnet. That pole that points to the
north is called the north seeking pole or, more
simply the north pole. (The latter notation
has been established historically but is some
what unfortunate, as it causes the magnetic
pole o f the earth located in the Arctic region
to be called a south pole and the one in the
Antarctic to be called a north pole.) The
lines of force are considered to go from the
north pole to the south pole.
T he magnetic properties of a magnet are
caused by electron spins within the atoms (see
ferromagnetism and related entries), particu
larly Heisenberg theory of ferromagnetism
and Ampere theory of magnetism). M ate
rials suitable for the manufacture of perma
nent magnets are characterized by high retentivity and coercive force (see also hystere
sis). H ard steels were used until about a
quarter of a century ago; at present alloys
such as alnico are better and more common.
M AGNET, BLOW-OUT (R ELA Y). A per
manent magnet or an electromagnet located in
such a position as to place a magnetic field in
the space where an electric circuit is to be
broken. This field causes the arc to be dis
placed, thus lengthening it and helping to ex
tinguish it more rapidly.
MAGNET, COLOR PURITY. A magnet in
the neck region of a color picture tube to alter
the electron beam path for the purpose of im
proving color purity.

M AGNET, FOCUSING.
or focusing magnet.

See focusing coil

MAGNETIC. In addition to its general dic

tionary meaning of pertaining to magnetism,
magnetic carries a technical implication of
ferromagnetic.
M AGNETIC AIR GAP (R ELAY ).
magnetic air (relay).

See gap,

MAGNETIC AMPLIFICATION. See ampli

fication, magnetic and amplifier, magnetic.
M AGNETIC AMPLIFIER. See various head
ings under amplifier, magnetic.
M AGNETIC
AMPLIFIER
AMPLIFICA
TION. See amplification, ampere-turn; am
plification, current; amplification, power ( 2 );
amplification, voltage.
M AGNETIC ANALYSIS.
graph.

See mass spectro

MAGNETIC ANISOTROPY. The depend

ence of magnetic properties on direction; e.g.,
a crystal exhibits hard and easy direc
tions for magnetization. As one result, a
magnetizing force H not parallel to a crystal
axis, will produce induction B that is not
parallel to H. The ratio of B to H is no
longer a scalar (/*), but becomes a tensor.
(See also anisotropy energy.)
M AGNETIC ARC THEORY. A proposed
theory to explain the observation of filaments
and arcs in the solar atmosphere. This theory
proposes that the observed arcs are along the
field lines of an extensive solar magnetic field.
M AGNETIC ATTRACTION.
magnetic.

See attraction,

M AGNETIC AXIS. A magnetic field that

possesses a rotational transform has the prop
erty that one line of force closes on itself after
one revolution. This line of force is called
the magnetic axis. The term is principally
used in hydromagnetics.
M AGNETIC BEARING.
netic.

See bearing, mag

MAGNETIC BIASING. The simultaneous

conditioning of the magnetic recording me
dium during recording by superposing an ad
ditional magnetic field upon the signal mag
netic field. In general, magnetic biasing is
used to obtain a substantially linear relation

ship between the amplitude of the signal and

the permanent flux density in the recording
medium.
MAGNETIC BIASING, A-C. In magnetic
recording, magnetic biasing accomplished by
the use of an alternating current, usually well
above the signal-frequency range.
MAGNETIC BIASING, D-C. In magnetic
recording, magnetic biasing accomplished by
the use of direct current.
M AGNETIC BOTTLE. A term used to de
scribe any configuration of magnetic fields
which will confine charged particles to a lim
ited volume. Used especially in controlled
fusion work.
(See also thermonuclear de
vice.)
MAGNETIC CIRCUIT. A magnet, or a coil
of wire carrying a current, is the seat of an
influence which extends outward from it and
is called a magnetic field. The flux from a
bar magnet or from a straight electromagnet
issues from one end of the magnet or coil,
bends around, and re-enters at the other end.
This can be exhibited by exploring the region
with a compass needle. If there is provided
an iron frame or ring extending from one pole
of the magnet or coil around to the other,
and in case of the coil, running clear through
it, the magnetic flux is not only concentrated
largely in the iron but is much greater than if
the flux is entirely in the air. Even a short
air gap in the iron reduces the flux consider
ably.
The analogy of such a magnetic path to an
electric circuit is easily seen. The magnetic
flux corresponds to a current. The magnet or
coil corresponds to a battery, and provides
magnetomotive force just as a battery sup
plies electromotive force. The amount of flux
produced by a given magnetomotive force de
pends upon the dimensions and material of
the magnetic circuit, e.g., the length and
cross-section of the iron ring followed by the
flux and the permeability of the iron; just as
the dimensions and material of the electric
conductor determine its resistance. This at
tribute of the magnetic circuit (corresponding
to resistance) is called its reluctance.
It must be remembered that this analog is
purely mathematical, not physical. In mag
netism, there is no flow of charge, as in elec
tricity. Hence flux tends to be misleading.

These ideas are expressed quantitatively for

the purpose of practical calculations. The
m agnetomotive force $ is com m only given in
ampere-turns. Thus, a coil of 50 turns car
rying a current of 4 amperes has a magneto
m otive force of 200 ampere-turns. Another
unit of magnetomotive force sometimes used is
the gilbert / 7 equal to 5/27r or 0.794 ampereturn. The flux <t> is expressed in webers (mks)
or maxwells (emu). Just as the resistance of
an electric circuit is defined as the ratio of the
electromotive force to the current, so the meas
ure of the reluctance (R of a magnetic circuit is
the ratio of the magnetomotive force to the flux.
W e then have the relation:
$
<R
a sort of magnetic Ohms law, known as Bosanquets law.
Ignoring fringing, the reluctance of an air
gap of length I and cross sectional area A g is
6ig = l/fJLaA , while that of a length L of mag
netic material of area A m is (Rm = L/fimA where
fjia and Mm are respectively the magnetic per
meabilities of air and the magnetic material.
In a simple magnet of C or horseshoe shape
the total series reluctance is (R = (Rg + (Ra
(neglecting fringing and flux leakage). There
are approximate formulae, used in electrical en
gineering, for calculating Fand (R, and hence <t>,
from the specifications of a coil, its core, air
gaps, etc. Such formulae are extensively used
in designing transformers, generators, motors,
etc. (See electromagnet.)
M AGNETIC COMPRESSION.
In plasma
physics the compression of a hot plasma con
fined in a magnetic field, which occurs when
the field strength is increased rapidly com
pared to the diffusion time.
(See magnetic
pressure; magnetic diffusivity.)
M AGNETIC
CONSTANT - CURRENT
STANDARD ( R EFERENCE) . See standard,
magnetic constant-current.
M AGNETIC CONSTANT. SYMBOL jx OR,
IN FREE SPACE, |x0.
(See permeability;
electromagnetic units; Maxwells equations.)
M AGNETIC COUPLING.
ductive.
M AGNETIC
netic.

COURSE.

See coupling, in

See course, mag

M AGNETIC CURRENT.
Since the total
electric current density ( conduction plus
displacement) is given b y V X H (Max
well equations), it is convenient to call
dB/dt = - V x E
a magnetic current density.
M AGNETIC DAMPING.

See the Lenz law.

MAGNETIC DEFLECTION OF ELEC

TRON BEAM. See cathode-ray tube.
M AGNETIC DIPOLE. See dipole, magnetic.
MAGNETIC DIPOLE RADIATION.
See
dipole radiation, magnetic; multipole radia
tion.
M AGNETIC DOUBLE LAYER.
netic shell.

See mag

M AGNETIC ENERGY.
In the Poynting
theorem, the volume integral of H -dB /d i,
where the magnetic flux density B and mag
netizing force H are in rationalized units.

B = H ;

dB

dt

dt

H = {ixH /2),

so

%nH2 = | B H
is interpreted as energy per unit volume stored
in a magnetic field. This is the basic reason
that the product B -H is of practical impor
tance in permanent-magnet materials.
M AGNETIC ENERGY STATES.
states, magnetic.

See energy

MAGNETIC FIELD.
A vector field de
scribed by the magnetic flux-density (B ).
The term magnetic field frequently is used
interchangeably to refer to flux density ( B )
and magnetizing force (H ). (See also magnetostatics, laws of magnetism, fields of
force.)
MAGNETIC FIELD ENERGY. See mag
netic energy; energy of a system of currents.
MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH ( H ) .
magnetizing force.
MAGNETIC FLIP-FLOP.
netic.

See

See flip-flop, mag

MAGNETIC FLUX.
The magnetic flux
through any closed figure, such as a circle, a
rectangle, or a loop of wire, is the product

o f the area of the figure by the average com

ponent of magnetic flux density normal to that
area. Specifically,

4> = j* B-dS,
where B is the magnetic flux density and dS
is a differential area vector. Thus, if a rec
tangle 5 cm X 8 cm is placed in a region
where there is a uniform magnetic flux density
of 2500 gauss, and at an angle of 30 with
the lines of induction, the magnetic flux
through it is 2500 gauss X 40 cm 2 X sin 30
= 50,000 gauss-cm 2 or maxwells. The mag
nitude of this quantity is often conventionally
represented by imagining the lines of induc
tion to be so spaced that the number of them
through a given area is equal to the number
of gauss-cm 2 or maxwells of flux through that
area. The flux in the above example would
be com m only expressed as 50,000 lines.
When a coil has several (n) turns and each
turn has approximately the same flux (<)
through it, the effect is the same as for a
single loop with the flux n<f> through it. This
product, which is called linkage, is expressed
in maxwell-turns or line-turns. The mag
netic flux or the linkage through a loop or a
coil may be measured by connecting to the
coil terminals a ballistic galvanometer and
then removing the flux (or the coil) in a time
small compared to the period of the galvan
ometer. I f the resistance R of the whole cir
cuit and the constant of the galvanometer are
known, the change in flux A</> which, in this
case is equal to the total flux, will be A<j> =
QR where Q is the charge which passes through
the galvanometer. In the mksa system, the
unit of flux is the weber. (One weber = 108
maxwell.)
(See electromagnetic induction;
magnetic flux density.)
M AGNETIC FLUX DENSITY (B ). In the
vicinity of electron currents, moving charges,
or of time varying electric fields, it is found
that a small, plane, current carrying, wire
loop, if free to rotate about any axis through
its center, comes to an equilibrium orientation
that depends on the position of the loop. This
behavior is ascribed to the existence of a vec
tor field B, called the magnetic flux density.
The direction of B is defined as that of the
positive normal unit vector u, perpendicular
to the plane of the loop and pointing in the
direction from which one must look to observe

the (positive) current in the loop flowing in

a counterclockwise sense.
The magnitude of the flux density is re
lated to the restoring torque experienced when
the loop is rotated through an angle 0 from
its equilibrium position. It is found experi
mentally that the magnitude of this torque is
proportional to the current (I) flowing in the
loop, to the area (A ) of the loop, to the num
ber (N ) of turns, and to sin 0 . The magni
tude of B is defined as the constant of propor
tionality in the equation:
T = B N A I sin 0,
so that
T
B ------------------N A I sin 0
(Both the magnitude and the direction of the
field are given b y the vector equation:
T = N A I ( u X B.)
Strictly speaking, the above discussion should
be based on a loop of vanishingly small area,
and the equation for the magnitude should
read:
T
B = l i m ----------;----a -* o N A I sin 0
The product N A I is the magnetic dipole mo
ment of the loop. In the limit of small A the
loop becomes a pure magnetic dipole.
An exactly equivalent definition of the mag
netic flux density m ay be given in terms of an
experiment using electromagnetic induction.
(See magnetic flux; magnetometer; and related
entries.)
MAGNETIC
magnetic.

FOCUSING.

See

focusing,

M AGNETIC FREEZING (R ELAY).

freezing, magnetic (relay).

See

M AGNETIC GATE.

See gate, magnetic.

MAGNETIC HEAD.
magnetic.

See entries under head,

MAGNETIC INDUCTION
magnetic flux density.

(B ).

Same as

MAGNETIC INTENSITY OR MAGNETIC

FIELD STRENGTH.
See magnetic field;
magnetizing force; oersted; and ampere-turn
per meter.

MAGNETIC LAG. W hen the magnetizing

force is changed, the magnetic flux density
does not take on its final (equilibrium) value
instantaneously.
There are three principal
kinds of lag: (1) Eddy current lag; (2) T em
perature sensitive lag due to impurities; (3)
Jordan lag (constant phase-angle). The last
o f these is not sensitive to temperature or fre
quency. (See relaxation.)
M AGNETIC LENS.
An arrangement of
coils, electromagnets, or magnets so disposed
that the resulting magnetic fields produce a
focusing force on a beam of charged par
ticles.
(See also electron lens; particle op
tics.)
M AGNETIC LINE OF FORCE.

See fields.

MAGNETIC MEMORY. A bistable m ag

netic device employed to store information.
The simplest and probably most common ex
ample is simply a core made from a magnetic
material such as Deltam ax which possesses a
nearly rectangular hysteresis loop (B r/Bs
1 where B r is the residual induction and
B 8 is saturation flux d en sity). It is thus capa
ble of remembering indefinitely whether or
not it has been magnetized.
MAGNETIC MICROPHONE.
phone, variable reluctance.

See micro-

MAGNETIC MIRROR. One of the proposed

geometries for a controlled thermonuclear re
actor. An axially symmetric magnetic field
in which the lines of force are as shown in the
figure is called a magnetic mirror.

and the m agnetic m o m e n t,

mv 2

are constants of the m otion in the guiding cen

ter approximation, the particles will tend to be
reflected from the mirror field B m back to the
center. In the above equations m is the particle
mass, v and v\\ are the particle velocities
perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field,
B.
MAGNETIC MIRROR EFFECT.
When
charged particles are moving in a magnetic
field and the conditions of adiabatic invari
ance are satisfied, the particle magnetic mo
ment and the total kinetic energy are con
stants of the motion. Thus
n = v1_2/B and K E = \mv\\2 + \mvj_2,
where vx and v\\ are the velocities perpendicular
and parallel to the magnetic field. As the
particle moves along a magnetic line of force,
it will encounter a maximum field in which it
will no longer have any translational velocity
along the line. All of its kinetic energy is then
associated with rotational motion and reflection
occurs. This is the magnetic mirror effect
which is the basis of therm onuclear reactor
called the m agnetic m irror m achine.
MAGNETIC MIRROR M ACHINE. A pro
posed controlled thermonuclear reactor which
confines a high temperature plasma in a cylin
drical magnetic field. The axial losses are
decreased by enhancing the field strength at
the ends, taking advantage o f the magnetic
mirror effect. The plasma is usually injected
at high energy from an external plasma source.
(See also D CX.)
MAGNETIC MIRROR RATIO. In the mag
netic mirror machine this is the ratio of the
peak axial field strength at the ends of the
solenoid to the uniform axial field strength
in the central plane. (See magnetic mirror
machine; magnetic mirror effect.)

(t)

(a) Diagram of magnetic mirror, (b) Variation of

magnetic field strength along axis of tube.

Since both the energy,

W = \m (v 2 + i>||2)

MAGNETIC MODULATOR. A modulator

employing a magnetic circuit as the modulat
ing element.
M AGNETIC MOMENT. The magnetic mo
ment of a current loop or a magnetized body
is a measure o f the magnetizing force (H )

produced by the current or magnetized body.

The magnetic moment of a plane current loop
is a vector (m ), normal to the plane of the
loop and directed so that the current has a
clockwise rotation around m. The magnitude
of m is the product of the current and loop
area. The magnetic moment of a magnetized
body is the vector summation of the magnetic
moments of the internal current loops and
spins of the body. The magnetic field pro
duced at a displacement r from a small source
of moment m
m r
H = - V
(See also dipole moment.)
MAGNETIC
M OM ENT
( ELECTR O N ),
ANOMALOUS.
See anomalous magnetic
moment (electron).
M AGNETIC M OM ENT, NUCLEAR OR
ATOM IC. The magnetic moment of a nu
clear or atomic particle or system of particles
usually denotes the magnetic dipole moment.
For a particle or system in a magnetic field,
the interaction energy is the negative of the
product of the field strength by the com po
nent of the magnetic dipole moment of the
particle in the direction of the field ( ^hH ).
A magnetic moment is associated with the
intrinsic spin of a particle and with the orbital
motion of a particle in a system, e.g., nuclei
with finite spins have finite magnetic m o
ments between about 2 and + 6 nuclear
Bohr magnetons.
M AGNETIC M OM ENT OF MOLECULAR
BEAM. See Stern-Gerlach experiment.
MAGNETIC PENDULUM. A bar magnet
poised on a pivot or suspended by a thread in
a magnetic field having a horizontal com po
nent will, if disturbed and released, oscillate
in a horizontal plane as a magnetic pendu
lum.
This arrangement is com monly em
ployed in the magnetometer method of meas
uring the earths magnetic field intensity, or
in comparing field intensities in different lo
calities.
MAGNETIC PICKUP.
reluctance.

See pickup, variable-

MAGNETIC POLARIZATION.
density, intrinsic; magnetization.

See

flux

M AGNETIC POLARIZATION, OPTICAL.

The optical activity shown in a magnetic field
by an optically inactive substance. (See also
Cotton-Mouton effect.)
MAGNETIC POLE (p ). A convenient fic
tion for describing certain magnetostatic
phenomena. A simple magnet has a field that
appears to emanate from one pole and re
turn to another. Poles have no physical re
ality, but are convenient descriptive devices.
(See magnetic pole-strength.)
M AGNETIC
POLE-STRENGTH.
When
using the convenient fiction of magnetic poles
quantitatively, strength must be assigned
to allow computation. A magnet having a
moment m is considered to have two poles,
-\-p and p, separated by a distance 1, such
that m = pi. The torque on such a magnet
in a field B is
T = m X B
and can be interpreted as due to forces + p B
and pB exerted on the poles. The mag
netizing force due to the moment can likewise
be interpreted as the superposition of radial
magnetizing forces due to the separate poles,
of
H i = p rj/V i3, H2 = - p r 2/ r 23
where ri and r2 are the displacements of the
point of observation from the north and south
poles, respectively.
The interaction between two magnets can
therefore be interpreted as the combination of
forces between the poles, where the magnitude
of the force between any two poles is given by
the Coulomb law:
F

PV1V2

( g in c e

M AGNETIC POTENTIAL. Since the curl

of a magnetostatic field in a current-free re
gion vanishes, i.e.,
V X B = 0, V X H = 0,
the vectors H and B are derivable from scalar
potentials,
H = VC7
This scalar potential must be used with
caution when electromagnetic fields are con-

sidered, because these fields are not co n s e rv

ativ e, i.e., <j)H ds 9^ 0. (See in te g ra l, lin e .)
(See wave potential; scalar field; magnetic
field; vector potential.)
MAGNETIC POTENTIOMETER.
tentiometer, magnetic.

See po

M AGNETIC POW DER-COATED

See tape, magnetic powder-coated.

TAPE.

MAGNETIC PRESSURE. In the force equa

tion of hydromagnetics there is a mechanical
force j X /H, of electromagnetic origin, (j is
the current density, p, the permeability, and
H the magnetic field strength.) This force
can be written, with the aid of the Maxwell
equations, as
/ MH 2
MHH\

characteristic frequency in the plasma. (See

resonance heating, ion cyclotron.)
(2) A
method of moving a conducting liquid by the
application of tim e-varying magnetic fields.
The force on the liquid results from the inter
action of the field with the eddy currents.
M AGNETIC
magnetic.

RECORDER.

M AGNETIC RECORDING.
corder; wire recording.

See recorder,
See tape re

M AGNETIC RECORDING HEAD. A mag

netic head for transforming electric varia
tions into magnetic variations for storage on
magnetic media.
MAGNETIC RECORDING M EDIUM .
recording medium, magnetic.

See

MAGNETIC RECORDING REPRODUCER.

See recording reproducer, magnetic.
where the last term denotes the divergence of
a dyad. This equation indicates that the force
is equivalent to a hydrostatic pressure /H2/87r,
together with a tension pH 2/ ^ along the line
of force. This can also be interpreted as a
pressure //H 2/ 8 tt perpendicular to the lines of
force as well as a tension xH 2/ 8 tt along the
lines of force. Returning to the hydromagnetic
force equation and writing only the component
perpendicular to the lines of force for an equi
librium case:

p dv/dt = 0 = VP + j X mH
or
V (P + fxH 2/ 8 tt) = 0 ,
indicating that the fluid pressure is every
where balanced by a magnetic force in a direc
tion perpendicular to the field. All field quan
tities are measured in emu and P is measured
in d yn e/cm 2.
M AGNETIC PRINTING.
netic.

See printing, mag

M AGNETIC PUMPING. (1) A term used in

the controlled thermonuclear program to de
scribe a method of heating a plasma to
extremely high ion kinetic temperatures by
applying oscillating electromagnetic fields. If
the plasma gas pressure and density are out
of phase during an oscillation, energy can be
delivered to the plasma. M agnetic pumping
can take many forms, depending on the rela
tion of the applied field frequency to some

MAGNETIC REPRODUCING HEAD.

head, magnetic reproducing.
M AGNETIC RESONANCE.
magnetic.

See

See resonance,

MAGNETIC REYNOLDS NUMBER.

A
number used in hydromagnetics to compare
the transport of magnetic field lines in a m ov
ing conducting fluid to the leakage of magnetic
lines from the fluid. It is equal to the product
of a characteristic length of the fluid L, and
the linear velocity divided by the magnetic
diffusivity rj. When this number is large the
transport effects dominate the leakage effects.
M AGNETIC RIGIDITY. (1) A measure of
the momentum of a particle equal to the
product of the magnetic flux density perpen
dicular to the path of the particle, and the re
sultant radius of curvature of the path of the
particle.
(2) The effect that an embedded
magnetic field has on a conducting fluid and
which contributes to the axial rigidity of the
fluid.
Because of the longitudinal tension
and the lateral pressure exerted by the mag
netic field on the fluid, any lateral displace
ment of the fluid is resisted by a restoring force
contributing an axial rigidity which would not
be present without the field. (See magnetic
pressure.)
MAGNETIC ROTATION.
fect

See Faraday ef

M AGNETIC SATURATION. See saturation,

magnetic; induction saturation.
M AGNETIC SCALAR POTENTIAL.
See
scalar potential; wave potentials; magnetic
potential.
MAGNETIC SHELL. A hypothetical double
layer of magnetic charge, analogous to an
electric double layer. Alternatively, it can
be conceived as a layer of magnetic dipoles,
all oriented in the same sense (but not direc
tion ).
MAGNETIC SHELL, EQUIVALENT. The
magnetic field of a current is equivalent to the
field of a hypothetical double-layer of mag
netic charge, of magnetic moment per unit
area equal to In where n is the unit normal
vector to the loop with its positive direction
being in the direction from which one must
look to see the current flowing in a counter
clockwise direction. The summation of mag
netic moment over the shell is
J *In -d a ,
where da is the element of area and the inte
gral is taken over any surface bounded by the
current loop. (See integral, area.)

metry, will not in general close on themselves

in any finite volume but will wander ergodically throughout all space. If, however, a
field possesses lines of force which approxi
mately close on themselves, a single line of
force may trace out an approximately closed
surface over which the line wanders ergodically. Such a surface is termed a magnetic
surface. The magnetic field of the stellarator
is of such a nature.
M AGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY (x ). The
proportionality constant between the magneti
zation M and the magnetizing field, H. Thus:
M = xH in rationalized units or
M = 47rxH in non-rationalized units.
For isotropic media x is a scalar; for aniso
tropic media it is a tensor. The susceptibility
X is related to the relative permeability ^ by:
Mr =

(1 +

MAGNETIC STORM.
Erratic changes in
the earths magnetic field, believed due to
sun-spot activity. Sometimes magnetic storms
seriously limit both radio and wire communi
cations.
M AGNETIC STRAIN ENERGY (E ).
A
component of potential energy in a magnetic
domain, given by:
E a = f \s(x sin2 0
where A* is the magnetostriction expansion
occurring between the demagnetized state
and saturation, <7 the tensile stress to which
the domain is subject, and 6 the angle be
tween the magnetization and the tension.
MAGNETIC SURFACES.
The magnetic
lines of force of an arbitrary magnetic field,
which does not possess a high degree of sym

ttx ) mo ,

and again the factor 4?r is dropped in rational

ized units. N ote that the magnitude of the
susceptibility differs by a factor of 4?r in
rationalized and unrationalized units, but that
fxr is unaffected by rationalization. (See flux
density, intrinsic.)
MAGNETIC SWITCH.

M AGNETIC SHIELDING. Since magnetic

materials of high permeability act like good
conductors, i.e., offer small reluctance, a
box of high jmmaterial shields its interior from
an external magnetizing force.

MAGNETIC TAPE.

A term for relay.

See tape, magnetic.

M AGNETIC TAPE CORE.

netic tape.

See core, mag

M AGNETIC THERMOMETER.
In the
temperature region accessible by adiabatic
demagnetization of a paramagnetic salt (be
low 1 K ), the magnetic susceptibility of the
salt can be used as a thermometric process.
The magnetic temperature, usually denoted
by T*, can be directly related to the absolute
temperature by the Curie law (susceptibility
X absolute temperature = constant) in the
temperature range where the salt used obeys
this law. A t lower temperatures T * can be
related to the true absolute temperature by
carrying out a thermodynamic cycle in which
the susceptibility and heat capacity are de
termined.
MAGNETIC TRANSFER. See printing, mag
netic.
MAGNETIC VECTOR.
density.

See magnetic flux

MAGNETIC VECTOR POTENTIAL.

wave potentials; vector potential.

See

M AGNETIC VISCOSITY.
In hydromag
netics, when a conducting fluid with a finite
conductivity has a motion transverse to a mag
netic field and there are negligible mechanical
forces and electric fields, this transverse m o
tion decays as a consequence of induced elec
tromotive forces. This effect of damping the
transverse m otion is equivalent to a viscosity
and is proportional to the square o f the mag
netic field strength.
M AGNETIC W AVES.
The spreading of
magnetization from a small region of a speci
men, where a sudden change of field has been
made.
MAGNETIC W IRE.

See wire, magnetic.

MAGNETIC W IR E SOUND REPRODUC

ING SYSTEM. See reproducing, sound, mag
netic wire.
M AGNETISM. The science treating of the
laws and conditions of magnetic force and its
effects, or that agency or quality to which
magnetic force is due.
(See also magnet;
electromagnet. )
M AGNETISM AN D M OLECULAR STRUC
TURE. The magnetic properties of m ole
cules, apart from the diamagnetism associ
ated with their electron clouds, depend on
whether there are any unpaired electron spins
or orbital motions having magnetic moments.
Measurements of the susceptibility will de
tect any paramagnetism due to these, and
m ay be compared with the predictions from
various
alternative molecular structures.
M ore refined techniques, such as paramag
netic and nuclear resonance, m ay give de
tailed inform ation concerning the actual
wave functions of the electrons.
MAGNETISM BY INDUCTION. The pro
duction of magnetization in a ferromagnetic
material as a result of the material being
placed in a magnetic field.
MAGNETISM, LAW S OF. The laws of mag
netism are those of electromagnetism under
steady-state conditions. The pertinent Max
well equations reduce to:
V x H = J,

In addition, the equation of c o n t in u it y be

comes
V J = 0
since there is no displacement current. B y
the Stokes theorem, the first equation can be
expressed in integral form as
-dl = I
(the current linked).
MAGNETISM,
MOLECULAR
THEORY
OF. See Ewing theory; Weiss theory.
MAGNETIZATION (M ). The ratio of the
magnetic moment of a magnetized body to the
volume, or, more strictly, the limit of the ratio
for any position in the body as the volume ap
proaches zero. It unrationalized units:
B = Mo(H + 4 ttM ),
where xq is the permeability of free space, B
is the magnetic flux density, and H is the
applied (external) magnetizing force.
(In
rationalized units, the factor 4w is omitted.)
In paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials,
the magnetization is proportional to the mag
netizing force H. In ferromagnetic materials,
the relationship is more complicated.
(See
induction, intrinsic, magnetic susceptibility.)
MAGNETIZATION, CONSTRAINED.
saturable reactors.
MAGNETIZATION CURRENTS.
perian currents.

See

See Am-

MAGNETIZATION CURVE. An originally

unmagnetized specimen of magnetic material,
when subjected to an increasing magnetizing
force (H ) develops the magnetic flux density
(B ) shown in the solid curve. This solid curve
is called the magnetization curve, and is not
retraced as H is reduced. The initial slope of
the magnetization curve is the initial perm e
ability (po) If H is carried to some maximum
value H m and then reduced (to H m), B fol
lows the dotted hysteresis curve. The residual
induction B r is that remaining when H has
been reduced to zero; the reverse H needed to
reduce B to zero is called the coercive force
(H e).
I f H (and therefore also B ) goes
through a small cyclic change starting from
an arbitrary point on the hysteresis loop (see
figure), a minor loop is described, with an

average slope x^ called incremental perm ea

bility. If the cyclic change of H approaches
zero, /xa approaches a limit xr, the reversible

MAGNETIZATION, SATURATION.
The
application of an increasing magnetizing force
to a ferromagnetic substance yields a result
ing magnetization (M ) that asymptotically
approaches a constant value ( M ) , the satura
tion magnetization.
MAGNETIZATION, SPONTANEOUS. The
magnetic saturation of the domains of a fer
romagnetic material, even in the absence of
an applied magnetizing force. Each domain
is magnetized to saturation at all tempera
tures below the Curie point, although the m a
terial as a whole may be unmagnetized be
cause of the differing orientations of the vari
ous domains.

-ie I____ ,
-3

____ _____I____ _______________

- 2 - 1
0
I
2
3
FIELD STRENGTH , H , IN O ER STED S

4,

Magnetization curve (solid) and hysteresis loop

(dotted). Some important magnetic quantities are
illustrated. (By permission from Ferromagnetism
by Bozorth, 1951, D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

perm eability. I f the positive and negative

peaks of H are equal in a cyclic magnetiza
tion, the hysteresis loop is symmetrical. As
the peak value H m is increased (making larger
loops), the loop tips trace a path called the
normal magnetization curve.
(See also hys
teresis.)
MAGNETIZATION, IDEAL. The magneti
zation remaining at a constant magnetizing
force H after a superposed alternating AH has
been slowly reduced from a large value to
zero. (See magnetization curve.)
M AGNETIZATION, INTENSITY OF (I. / ) .
See flux density, intrinsic.
MAGNETIZATION, LONGITUDINAL. In
magnetic recording (see recording, magnetic),
magnetization of the recording medium in a
direction essentially parallel to the line of
travel.
MAGNETIZATION, PERPENDICULAR. In
magnetic recording (see recording, magnetic),
magnetization of the recording medium in a
direction perpendicular to the line of travel,
and parallel to the smallest cross-sectional di
mension of the medium. In this type of mag
netization, either single pole-piece or double
pole-piece magnetic heads m ay be used.

MAGNETIZATION,
TRANSVERSE.
In
magnetic recording (see recording, magnetic),
magnetization of the recording medium in a
direction perpendicular to the line of travel,
and parallel to the greatest cross-sectional di
mension.
MAGNETIZED
CONDITION,
CYCLI
CALLY. A condition of a magnetic material
when it has been under the influence of a
magnetizing field varying between two specific
limits until, for each decreasing (or increasing)
value of the magnetizing field, the magnetic
flux density has the same value in successive
cycles.
M AGNETIZED
CONDITION,
CYCLI
CALLY SYMMETRICAL. A condition of
magnetic material when it is in a cyclically
magnetized condition and the limits of the
applied magnetizing forces are equal and of
opposite sign, so that the limits of flux density
are equal and of opposite sign.
MAGNETIZING CURRENT. The com po
nent of current drawn by an inductor, mag
netic amplifier, transformer, etc., which is re
quired to establish the alternating component
of flux.
MAGNETIZING FORCE (H ). An auxiliary
vector field introduced for mathematical con
venience in the discussion of magnetic phe
nomena. Its introduction is prompted by the
fact that the Maxwell equation:
V

6B
/J

/i

dt
which depends, through the permeability fx,
upon the medium in which a solution is desired,

m ay be made independent of the medium by

introducing the magnetizing force field H =
B /jjl. This leads to the equation:
dD
V X H = J H------dt

which, with the application of S to k e s s T h e o

r e m , gives directly the integral form of
the A m p e re law
= J ' j d A = I,
for stationary currents. H is measured in
ampere-turns per meter (mksa) or oersteds
(em u). The terms magnetic field, magnetic
field strength and magnetic field intensity are
often used for H. (See magnetic flux density;
electromagnetic units.)
M AGNETIZING FORCE, DYNAM IC. The
applied magnetomotive force per unit length
required to provide the flux and the rate-ofchange of flux specified by the conditions for
which a dynamic hysteresis loop is deter
mined.
MAGNETIZING
FORCE,
PEAK
(H m)
(PEAK FIELD STRENGTH). The upper or
lower limiting value of magnetizing force as
sociated with a cyclically magnetized condi
tion. (See magnetized condition, cyclically.)
M AGNETOCALORIC EFFECT.
The re
versible heating and cooling of a specimen
by changes of magnetization.
MAGNETOELASTIC
COUPLING
CON
STANTS. The coefficients of an expression
containing products of elastic strains and
magnetization directions, representing an in
teraction energy form ally responsible for the
phenomena of magnetostriction.
MAGNETOGALVANIC
EFFECT.
thermo-magneto-galvanic effects.

See

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAM ICS. See hydromagnetics.

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAM IC
W AVES.
See hydromagnetic waves; plasma oscilla
tions.
MAGNETOIONIC W AVE COMPONENT.
Either of the two elliptically polarized wave
components into which a linearly-polarized

wave, incident on the ionosphere, is separated

because of the earths magnetic field.
M AGNETOM ECHANICAL DAMPING. A
component of energy loss associated with the
elastic vibration of a magnetic material, pro
duced by interaction of magnetic effects with
stress and strain.
MAGNETOM ECHANICAL FACTOR. The
number g' occurring in the definition of the
magnetomechanical ratio. The theory of the
gyromagnetic effect predicts that g' should
be nearly 2 for electron spins, and this is
actually observed in ferromagnetic (see ferro
magnetism) substances, showing that the or
bital moments (for which gf is unity) are
effectively quenched.
MAGNETOM ECHANICAL RATIO.
The
ratio of the magnetic moment to the angular
momentum, as observed in the gyromagnetic
effect. This ratio is usually expressed in the
form gfe/2mc where g' is the magnetomechan
ical factor.
MAGNETOMETER. An apparatus used for
measuring magnetic field intensities, or some
times the magnetic moments of magnets; fre
quently both. A standard form of labora
tory equipment is set up in two ways, giving
two results from which may be calculated both
the magnetic field (or rather, its horizontal
component B ) and the magnetic moment m
of a short bar magnet forming part of the
equipment. The terrestrial magnetic intensity
is often measured in this way, and Gauss em
ployed this method in verifying the magnetic
inverse-square law.
In the first arrangement, the magnet is used
as a magnetic pendulum, whose moment of
inertia I is known and whose period of oscil
lation T is measured. It is usually suspended
by a fiber of known torsion coefficient K ; in
some cases K is small enough to be neglected.
From the magnetic pendulum formula we ob
tain the product

The magnet is then arranged to deflect a

small compass needle. The needle is at 0 , the
magnet at a considerable distance a from it,
and com m only east or west of and aligned upon
it. If the length of the magnet is I, the deflec
tion 8 of the needle is given by

32 a

m
tan 5 =

B (4a2 -

I2) 2

from which
m

(4a2 I2) 2

32a

tan 5.

(2)

e =

The second members of (1) and (2) contain

only measurable quantities, and are therefore
known. Hence, by multiplying (1) and (2)
we get m2, and by dividing (1) and (2) we
get B 2\ from those results m and B follow.
Instruments embodying these principles are
regularly used by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey.
M any modern measurements of magnetic
field strength are made with saturable core
instruments, or with search coils. Devices of
this sort are also known as magnetometers.
M AGNETOM ETER, FLUX-GATE.
Some
form of saturable reactor in which the degree
o f saturation of the core by an external mag
netic field is used as a measure of the strength
o f the field.
M AGNETOM ETER, NULL ASTATIC. An
instrument for measuring the magnetization of
a specimen by balancing its magnetic moment
against that produced by a small solenoid.
W ith such a null instrument, films as thin as
one-tenth micron, and weighing less than a
milligram, have been investigated.
M AGNETOM OTIVE FORCE.
law.
M AGNETON.
See
Weiss magneton.

Bohr

the polished pole of an electromagnet, the

light becomes slightly elliptically-polarized.
The ellipticity is so small that the effect may
be considered merely as a rotation of the plane
of vibration through an angle 0 given by

See Ampere

magneton

and

MAGNETON NUMBER. In paramagnetic

and ferromagnetic materials, the effective
number of Bohr magnetons per atom, ion, or
molecule that contribute to the magnetization.
M AGNETO-OPTICAL
ANALYSIS.
A
method of chemical analysis based on differ
ences in the lag of the Faraday effect behind
the magnetizing force for different substances.
Although this time lag was investigated widely
in the decade 193(M:0, subsequent evidence
indicated that no such effect is measurable.
M AGNETO-OPTICAL
EFFECT
(KERR
M AGNETO-OPTICAL E F F E C T ). Kerr dis
covered that if plane-polarized light (see light,
plane-polarized) is reflected normally from

k h

where H is the magnetizing force and K is the

magnetic K err constant.
MAGNETO-OPTICAL
ROTATION.
See
Faraday effect, and magneto-optical effect.
MAGNETOPHONE. A ny recording device
involving the magnetization of a ferromag
netic tape.
MAGNETORESISTANCE. Changes in elec
trical resistivity associated with changes of
electromagnetics.
MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD. See magnetostatics; magnetism. A magnetic field may be
described by the magnetic flux density B and
the magnetizing force H at all points. If
these entities are independent of time, there
is a magnetostatic field.
MAGNETOSTATICS. The study of mag
netic fields that do not vary with time. Elec
trostatics and magnetostatics are special
phases of electromagnetism.
MAGNETOSTRICTION. The term literally
implies magnetic contraction, but is generally
understood to include a number of closely
allied phenomena relating to ferromagnetic
substances under magnetic influence.
(1)
When an iron rod is subjected to a
gradually increasing longitudinal magnetic
field, it at first increases slightly in length
(Joule effect) and later the length diminishes;
when the magnetic intensity has reached about
250 oersteds, the rod has returned to its orig
inal length, and further increase of intensity
causes it to contract (Villari reversal point).
Nickel contracts rapidly at first and then re
mains nearly constant, while some iron-nickel
alloys lengthen without reversal. The follow
ing phenomena are also recognized. (2) The
Guillemin effect: the tendency of a bent ferro
magnetic rod to straighten in a longitudinal
field. (3) The Wiedemann effect: the twist
ing of a rod carrying an electric current when
subjected to a magnetic field. (4) The Villari
effect: a change of magnetic induction within

an iron rod under longitudinal stress (inverse

Joule effect).
Magnetostriction has been put to practical
use in the m agnetostrictive resonator, essen
tially an iron rod maintained in longitudinal
elastic vibration by a high-frequency current
in a helix wound upon it, and used, through
the joint operation of the Joule and Villari
effects, to control the frequency of the current,
somewhat after the manner of the familiar
piezo-electric (crystal) resonator.
MAGNETOSTRICTION, JOULE. A change
in length parallel to an applied magnetic field,
and produced by the field.
MAGNETOSTRICTION, LONGITUDINAL.
See magnetostriction, Joule.
MAGNETOSTRICTION, NEGATIVE. The
contraction of a material by the application
of a magnetic field.

tion curve; hysteresis; magnetic circuit). The

magnet must be made of a ferromagnetic m a
terial of high retentivity.
MAGNETROGRAPHY. A printing process
in which a latent magnetic image is trans
ferred to form a visible pattern on paper or
other media.
MAGNETRON. A n electron tube character
ized by the interaction of electrons with the
electric field of a circuit element in crossed,
steady electric and magnetic fields to produce
a-c power output.
MAGNETRON AMPLIFIER. A travelingwave magnetron (see magnetron, travelingwave) used as an amplifier. The basic fea
tures of a typical structure are shown in the
figure below. It resembles a section of a vane-

fnput

Output

JL

MAGNETOSTRICTION, POSITIVE.
The
expansion of a material by the application of
a magnetic field.
MAGNETOSTRICTION,
REVERSIBLE.
The reversible change in dimensions, result
ing from a small cyclic change in applied
magnetic field superposed on a larger, steady
field.
MAGNETOSTRICTION,
SATURATION.
The limiting value of magnetostriction ap
proached as the applied magnetizing force is
increased indefinitely. Magnetostriction ap
proaches saturation when the magnetization
o f the material approaches saturation.
M AGNETOSTRICTION, VOLUM E.
The
change in volume produced by a magnetic
field.
M AGNETOSTRICTIVE EFFECT, DIRECT.
The mechanical strain produced in ferromag
netic rods when placed in a magnetic field.
M AGNETOSTRICTIVE
EFFECT,
IN
VERSE. The change in the state of magneti
zation of a ferromagnetic rod when it is sub
jected to mechanical strain.
M AGNET, PERMANENT. As opposed to an
electromagnet, a magnet whose field is pro
duced by permanently orientated magnetic di
poles within the material (see also magnetiza

Electron beam
Magnetron amplifier structure. Magnetic field per
pendicular to plane of paper. (By permission from
Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

type, cavity magnetron of infinite radius, ex

cited at one end, and coupled to a load at the
opposite end. A beam of electrons is pro
jected through the space between the plane
electrode and the cavity structure, which is
maintained at a positive potential relative to
the plane electrode. A magnetic field, normal
to the plane of the paper, is adjusted so that
the electrons do not strike the anode in the
absence of alternating field. I f the velocity
of the electron beam is equal to, or nearly
equal to, the phase velocity with which elec
tromagnetic waves m ove down the loaded
waveguide formed by the cathode and anode,
energy is transferred to the electromagnetic
wave from the source of direct voltage. The
electromagnetic wave that moves from the
input resonator to the output resonator, there
fore, increases in amplitude, and the power
output exceeds the power input.

MAGNETRON, CLEETON
AND W IL
LIAMS. An early magnetron having a single
anode in which a slit was cut parallel to the
cathode. The resonant circuit consisted of
small Lecher frames. The upper frequency
of oscillation was 47,000 megacycles.

MAGNETRON, MULTICAVITY.
A mag
netron in which the circuit includes a plurality
of cavities.

MAGNETRON, COAXIAL CYLINDER. A

magnetron in which the cathode and anode
consist of coaxial cylinders. (See magnetron,
cyclotron-frequency.)
MAGNETRON CUT-OFF. The condition of
zero (ideally) anode current. Produced by
a critical magnetic field strength parallel to
the cathode axis, which causes the electrons
to travel in a curved orbit of such radius as
to miss the anode. The magnitude of the
critical magnetic field is proportional to the
square root of the anode voltage.
MAGNETRON CUTOFF FIELD.
netron field, critical.

See mag

MAGNETRON,
CYCLOTRON - FRE
QUENCY. A magnetron whose operation de
pends upon synchronism between an alternat
ing component of electric field, and a periodic
oscillation of electrons in the direction parallel
to this field. A split-anode magnetron (see
magnetron, split-anode) with a resonator con
nected between the anodes will function as a
cyclotron-frequency magnetron oscillator.
M AGNETRON FIELD, CRITICAL.
The
smallest theoretical value of steady, magnetic
flux-density, at a steady anode voltage, that
would prevent an electron, emitted from the
cathode at zero velocity, from reaching the
anode.
MAGNETRON, HULL. The first magnetron,
credited to A. W . Hull, which was described
in 1921. It was of the coaxial-cylinder type.
(See magnetron, coaxial cylinder.)
M AGNETRON, INTERDIGITAL. A mag
netron having axial anode segments around
the cathode, alternate segments being con
nected together at one end, remaining seg
ments connected together at the opposite end.
M AGNETRON, LINEAR OR PARALLELPLANE. A theoretical device used because
o f the mathematical simplification it provides
over the coaxial-cylinder magnetron.
The
anode and cathode are parallel planes of in
finite length,

The internal view of a 706AY-G Y Magnetron (150

kw, about 3,000 m c /s). (By permission from Radar
Systems and Components by Members of Technical
Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1949, D . Van
Nostrand Co., Inc.)

MAGNETRON, MULTISEGMENT. A mag

netron with an anode divided into more than
two segments, usually by slots parallel to its
axis.
MAGNETRON, NEGATIVE-RESISTANCE.
A split-anode magnetron (see magnetron,
split-anode) operated in such a manner as to
produce a static, negative-resistance charac
teristic. If the flux density is approximately
the value required to cut off the anode current
at the static value of anode voltage, a nega
tive resistance m ay be found to exist between
the two anodes (i.e., the voltage-current curve
taken between these two electrodes has a nega
tive slope over a certain region). This nega
tive resistance m ay be used to cause sustained
oscillations, if a resonator is connected either
in series with one anode segment, or between
the two anode segments.
MAGNETRON OSCILLATIONS, TRAVEL
ING-WAVE. Oscillations sustained by the
interaction between the space-charge cloud of
a magnetron and a traveling electromagnetic
field whose phase velocity is approximately
the same as the mean velocity of the cloud.
MAGNETRON, OSCILLATOR.
lator, magnetron.

See oscil

MAGNETRON, PACKAGED. An integral

structure comprising a magnetron, its mag
netic circuit and output-matching device.
MAGNETRON PERFORMANCE CHART.
A plot on coordinates of applied anode voltage
and current showing contours of constant mag
netic field, power output, and overall effi
ciency. (See characteristic curve.)
MAGNETRON, tt-MODE OF OPERATION.
The mode of operation of magnetrons for
which the phases of the fields of successive
anode openings facing the interaction space
differ by 7T radians.
MAGNETRON RECTIFIER.
magnetron.

See rectifier,

MAGNETRON, RISING-SUN. A m ulticav

ity magnetron (see magnetron, multicavity)
in which resonators of two different resonance-

MAGNETRON, TRAVELING W AVE.

A
magnetron whose operation depends upon in
teraction of electrons with a traveling elec
tromagnetic field of constant angular or linear
velocity. M ost present-day magnetrons such
as m ulticavity and multisegment types belong
to this class.
MAGNETRONS, TUNING OF. The negative-resistance magnetron and the cyclotronfrequency magnetrons are tuned with conven
tional resonators external to the device.
Tuning of m ulticavity magnetrons may be
achieved by varying the capacitance or in
ductance of the cavities.
The resonator-cavity capacitance can be
changed by inserting conducting strips (see
Figure 1) into the slots in regions where the

electric field is high, or by bringing metallic

rings, called C-rings, close to the ends of
the resonators at points where the r-f field is
high. In cookie-cutter tuning (see Figure
The Rising Sun anode, a scheme for separating the
frequencies at which modes may appear. (By per
mission from Principles and Applications of Wave
guide Transmission by Southworth, 1950, D . Van
Nostrand Co., Inc.)

frequencies are arranged alternately for the

purpose of mode-separation.
M AGNETRON, SPLIT-ANODE.
A mag
netron with a cylindrical anode divided into
tw o segments, usually by slots parallel to its
axis.
MAGNETRON STRAPPING. The connect
ing together of alternate segments of a multiple-cavity resonator in a magnetron. This
procedure causes only one mode of oscillation
to be preferable, and thus increases stability
of operation. (For an illustration of straps,
see the figure in definition of magnetron, mul
ticavity.)

2 ), conducting rings are inserted between

straps.
Inductance tuning is accomplished by in
serting conducting rods lengthwise into the
resonators in regions where the r-f magnetic
field is high, or by moving a conducting disk,
called an L-ring close to the ends of the
resonator near their radially outermost points,
where the r-f magnetic field is high. The rod

type of tuning is called sprocket tuning or

crow n-of-thorns tuning (see Figure 3 ).

M AGNIFICATION,
magnification.

EMPTY.

See

empty

MAGNIFICATION, LATERAL.
magnification.

See lateral

M AGNIFICATION,
magnification.

See

LINEAR.

linear

MAGNIFICATION, LONGITUDINAL.
longitudinal magnification.
M AGNIFICATION, NORMAL.
magnification.

MAGNETRON VOLTAGE, CRITICAL. The

highest theoretical value of steady anode volt
age, at a given steady magnetic flux density,
at which electrons emitted from the cathode
at zero velocity would fail to reach the anode.
MAGNETS, CONVERGENCE. Three per
manent magnets placed around the purity
coil of a three-gun, color kinescope used to
adjust the beams (in conjunction with the
convergence control) for proper convergence
of the electron beams.
MAGNETTOR. A second-harmonic type of
magnetic modulator.
M AGNIFICATION. The ratio of any linear
dimension (transverse to the optical axis) of
an image to the corresponding linear dimen
sion of the object is com m only called the m ag
nification.
T o a first approximation, this
quantity is a constant for a given position of
the object (or the im age). For a thin lens
the magnification is equal to the ratio of the
distance of the image from the lens to that of
the object from the lens. The corresponding
ratio of image and object dimensions along
the optical axis is approximately the square
of the magnification it is known as the lon
gitudinal magnification.
(See also magnify
ing power.)
M AGNIFICATION, ANGULAR.
lar magnification.

See angu

See

See normal

M AGNIFICATION, OPTIMUM.
mum magnification.

See opti

MAGNIFICATION, USEFUL.
under empty magnification.

Discussed

MAGNIFIER. If an object is held somewhat

closer to a thin, positive lens than its principal
focal point and viewed through the lens, an
enlarged erect virtual image will be seen.
Used this way the lens is a simple magnifier.
T o reduce the aberrations of high magnifica
tion, magnifiers are commonly made of two
or more lenses. These are also called oculars.
MAGNIFYING POWER. The ratio of the
apparent size of a plane image to the apparent
size of the object, as the latter would be seen
without the magnifying instrument, i.e., the
ratio of the angle that the image subtends at
the eye to the angle that the object subtends
at the eye. For a telescope, focussed at in
finity, the magnifying power is the ratio of
the focal length of the objective lens to the
focal length of the ocular. (See also magnifi
cation.)
MAGNISTOR. A magnetic memory element
in which the magnetic field is made to vary
appreciably across the core. Non-destructive
read out m ay be achieved by this device, which
is similar in concept to the transfluxer.
MAGNITUDE. (1) As referred to a vector
V, the magnitude is denoted as |V| or as V
and is equal to the length of the vector, i.e.,
|V| = (7 * 2 + V v2 + V z2) y>,
where Vx, Vy and Vz are the components of the
vector in a Cartesian coordinate system. (2)
See order (2).
MAGNUS EFFECT. When a rotating cylin
der is placed in a uniform fluid stream with

its axis perpendicular to the direction of flow

the circulating flow which is set up about the
cylinder leads to a force on it which is per
pendicular to the cylinder axis and to the orig
inal flow direction. The force is directed to
wards the side of the cylinder which is m ov
ing in the same direction as the flow. This is
known as the Magnus effect. For further de
tail see L. J. Briggs, Amer. Jour. Physics, 27,
589 (1956).
M AG-SLIP.

A British term for a synchro.

M A IN BANG.
radar system.

Transmitted pulse, within a

MAJORANA FORCE. Postulated phenom

enological force between two nucleons deriv
able from a potential in which there appears
an operator exchanging the positions of the
particles but not their spins. (See Majorana
operator.)
MAJORANA NEUTRINO. Neutrino which is
identical with the antineutrino, so that double
beta decay could occur with the emission and
absorption of a neutrino rather than the emis
sion of two neutrinos. The two-com ponent
neutrino theory, which seems to be well sup
ported by current experiments (1960) would
rule out the M ajorana neutrino. (See betadecay theory.)
MAJORANA OPERATOR.
The quantum
mechanical operator P# which exchanges the
positions of the ith and jth particles when it
operates upon the wave function of a system
which contains these particles. For example,
if \jf (ri, r2, r3, * rn) represents the wave func
tion for a system containing n particles located
by the position vectors ri, r2, r3, - rn, then
P l 3lK * l, r 2, r 3, - - -

r ) = i K r 3, r 2, r i , - - - r ) .

This operator can be written explicitly as P #

=
(1 + ovo-y) (1 + T r TV), where crr ov
is the scalar pro d uct of the vector operators
representing the spin of the tth and jth particles
and T {T j is the similar quantity for the iso topic
spin. The Majorana 'potential
V (T j -

ri) =

T ijP ij,

in which J (rj n ) is some attractive poten

tial function of the vector separation of the
particles, has shown the greatest success of
any of the simple interactions used to explain

some of the general properties of nuclear struc

ture, such as the apparent saturation of nu
clear forces.
MAJORITY CARRIER. See carrier, majority.
MAKE CONTACT (R E LA Y ).
front (relay).
MAKE DELAY (R E LA Y).
(relay).

See contact,

See time operate

MAKSUTOV CORRECTOR.
The com pli
cated aspherical surfaces of the Schmidt cor
rection plate can be avoided, and excellent cor
rection still be retained by putting a thickmeniscus lens having spherical surfaces o f ap
proximately equal radii of curvature in front
of a spherical mirror.
MALFUNCTION.

See error(2).

MALLEABILITY. The property by which

a material may be hammered out or rolled
into shape without tearing or fracture, or the
extent to which a material possesses that
property.
MALUS COSINE-SQUARED L A W . A law
applying to the intensity of polarized light as
affected by the polarizing apparatus. I f a
beam of plane-polarized light is passed
through a nicol prism, for example, the in
tensity (flux density) of the emergent beam
falls off, as the prism is rotated, from a maxi
mum value when the transmission plane of the
prism coincides with the plane of vibration of
the light, to zero when it is at right angles to
that direction. The intensity varies as the
square of the cosine o f the angle through which
the prism has been rotated. The same law
applies to the effect of a glass reflector, re
flecting always at the polarizing angle, as the
plane of reflection is rotated around the sta
tionary, polarized incident beam.
MALUS, L A W OF. An orthotomic system
of rays remains orthotomic after any number
of refractions and reflections.
MANGANESE. M etallic element.
Mn. Atom ic number 25.

Sym bol

MANGANIN. An alloy of copper, manganese

and nickel, widely used for precision resistors.
It has high resistivity, low temperature co
efficient, good stability, and exhibits only a
small thermal emf at junctions with copper.

MANGIN MIRROR. B y silvering the second

(convex) surface of a Maksutov corrector
plate with somewhat different radii of curva
ture for its two spherical surfaces, a good de
gree of correction is obtained for a spherical
mirror. This makes a catadioptric system.
MANIAC.

A type of digital computer.

MANIFESTLY COVARIANT. Obviously co

variant. W ritten in terms of four-vectors,
tensors and Lorentz invariant operators and
numbers, in such a way that consistency with
the special theory of relativity (see relativity
theory, special) is apparent at a glance.
M ANIFOLD OF ELECTRONIC STATES.
The sum or totality of the electronic terms of
an atom or molecule.
MANOCRYOMETER.
An instrument in
vented by de Visser to determine the change
in the melting point of a substance due to
change in pressure. It consists of a thickwalled thermometer, inverted, with the capil
lary stem bent upward and then at right
angles. The substance under observation is
placed in the bulb, and mercury is admitted
to the capillary. The whole is then placed in
a thermostat, where it is allowed to come to
equilibrium with the pressure (measured by
the mercury) of equilibrium between solid and
liquid in the bulb.
MANOMETER. An instrument for measur
ing pressure. Usually, some form of liquid
manometer, using the pressure produced by
a liquid column to balance the pressure to
be measured.
M ANOM ETER, DIFFERENTIAL. An in
strument for measuring differences of pressure.
MANOM ETER, HOT-W IRE. A device for
measuring pressures through the determina
tion of the rate of heat loss from an electri
cally heated wire. (See gauge, Pirani.)
M ANOM ETER, INCLINED-TUBE. A form
of liquid manometer in which the liquid head
balancing the pressure to be measured is pro
duced by a column of liquid in a tube making
a small angle with the horizontal. The m ove
ment of liquid for a given change in pressure
may be increased in this way by a ratio of
more than ten compared with a similar
manometer with the tube vertical.

MANOMETER,
ionization.

IONIZATION.

See gauge

MANOMETER, TW O-FLUID. A design of

manometer in which the pressure difference
is balanced against the head caused by the
vertical movement of the interface between
two liquids of nearly equal density. C om
pared with a simple manometer, the sensitiv
ity is increased roughly in the ratio of the
mean density to the density difference. One
example is the Chattock gauge.
MANTISSA. The decimal part of a common
logarithm. (See logarithm, common.)
MANY-BODY FORCE. An interaction be
tween two particles that becomes modified
when a third particle is present, e.g., the forces
between polarizable molecules.
MANY-BODY PROBLEM.
If we assume
that three or more objects exist in the uni
verse, each of them attracting every other in
accordance with the law of gravitation, the
problem of predicting subsequent positions
and motions is commonly referred to as the
three-body problem, or the n -body problem.
Under the assumptions of classical physics,
the two-body problem has been completely
solved and the full solution may be expressed
in com paratively few words and symbols.
However, if we add one or more other bodies
the solution becomes one of exceeding com
plexity and has never been accomplished in
any form which is at all suitable for computa
tional purposes. In fact, only one complete
solution has ever been made, in spite of the
labors of practically all of the great mathe
maticians of past centuries.
Even though no general solution of the
problem is available, nevertheless, there are
several practical computational methods for
determining the positions of planets and
other members of the solar system, taking into
account the gravitational attraction of all ef
fective members. Such solutions are all made
by successive approximations and various
methods of computing perturbations, rather
than by the application of any general solu
tion.
A number of particular solutions of the
three-body problem have been made by
mathematicians, notable among them being
the solution by Lagrange. He showed that it
is possible for an asteroid to be stable in a

position such that it is equidistant from both

the sun and Jupiter. In this case the three
objects would be on the vertices of an equi
lateral triangle and the asteroid orbit would
have the same period as that of Jupiter. This
case is illustrated in nature by the members
o f the so-called T rojan group.
MAP. Suppose that for every point x in a
given space or coordinate system A there is
another point (or points) represented by f ( x )
in the space or system B, then there is a map
or mapping f ( x ) of A into B. The point f ( z )
is the image or transformation of x .
MAPPING, CONFORMAL.
mapping.

See conformal

MAPPING, VIDEO. A procedure whereby a

chart of an area is electronically superimposed
on a radar display.
MARGINAL TESTING.
ing, marginal.

Synonym for check

MARGIN, GAIN. In feedback systems, a

stability criterion which indicates the increase
in gain which would be required to cause os
cillation. It is expressed as the reciprocal of
the magnitude of the loop gain at the fre
quency where the phase shift is 180.
MARGIN, PHASE. A stability criterion for
feedback systems equal to 180 minus the
total phase-angle encountered in the feedback
loop at the frequency where the loop gain
is unity.
MARK, DISTANCE. In radar technique, a
calibrated mark on the radar display devel
oped by a special signal generator and used in
determining target distance.
MARKER, BOUNDARY. In an instrument
landing system (ILS) a vhf radio marker
facility which is installed near the approach
end of the landing runway and on, or near,
the localizer course line to provide a fix.
M AR K ER (S), CALIBRATION.
In radar,
calibration marks on the display to delineate
bearing, distance, height or time.
MARKER, FAN. A vhf radio facility having
a vertically-directed fan beam intersecting an
airway to provide a fix.
MARKER, M ID D LE. A marker facility in an
instrument landing system which is installed

approximately 3,500 feet from the approach

end of the runway on the localizer course line
to provide a fix.
MARKER, OUTER. A marker facility in an
instrument landing system which is installed
at approximately 5 miles from the approach
end of the runway on the localizer course line
to provide a fix.
MARKER, Z (Z O N E ). A vhf radio station
designed to radiate vertically and used to de
fine a zone above a radio range station.
MARKING W AVE.

See wave, marking.

MARKOV PROCESS.
A ny probabilistic
process in which the future development is
com pletely determined by the present state
and not at all by the way in which the present
state arose.
MARTENS W ED G E .
A type
wedge rotator for polarized light.

of

quartz

MARX EFFECT. The reduction in the en

ergy of a photoelectric emission by the simul
taneous incidence of radiation of lower fre
quency than that producing the emission; a
regressive effect.
MASER. An acronym for microwave am
plification by stimulated emission of radia
tion. As now used, the maser is a low-noise
amplifier or an oscillator that operates by
induced emission. The frequency is no longer
restricted to that of microwaves, maser opera
tion in the infrared and visible spectrum is
also possible (see optical pumping). For the
fundamentals of maser operation see maser,
two level; maser, three level.
MASER, AMMONIA. An example of a gas
eous two level maser. A beam of ammonia
molecules in the upper of their two inversion
energy states (see spectrum, inversion) is
made to pass through a resonant cavity tuned
to the inversion frequency. The molecules
entering the cavity have a small but finite
probability of transition to the lower energy
state, with the emission of radiation. This
small transition probability is due in part to
the spontaneous transition probability and in
part to the probability for induced transition
(see transition, forced and transition, spon
taneous). The small amount of radiation
emitted in these transitions is reflected by the
walls of the cavity and the reflected radiation

acts on other molecules to induce further radia

tion. Thus a rapid build up of coherent radia
tion occurs, mixed with a small amount of
incoherent radiation due to spontaneous emis
sion. The frequency of the radiation is that
of the ammonia inversion line, 2.387014 X
1010S _1 and has a line width that may be
made as narrow as 4 X 103 cps. It can there
fore be used as an oscillator to provide very
precise clock, or as a fixed frequency amplifier
o f very narrow bandwidth. (See also maser,
two level.)
MASER AMPLIFIER.
ammonia.

See maser, and maser,

MASER, GAS. A maser in which atoms or

molecules in a beam are separated according
to their energy states. Those atoms or m ole
cules which are in the high energy state pass
into a resonant cavity, where induced emis
sion of coherent radiation (see transition,
forced) takes place. Examples are the am
monia maser (see maser, ammonia) and the
magnetic dipole maser, in which transitions
are induced from one magnetic energy state
to a lower one.
MASER NOISE. The important sources of
noise in masers are: (a) the incoherent radia
tions from the walls of the cavity and de
pendent on the temperature of the cavity, and
(b) the incoherent radiations emitted in spon
taneous transitions. In general, a maser will
not have an effective noise temperature very
much less than its cavity temperature.
MASER, OSCILLATOR.

See maser.

MASER, SOLID STATE. See maser, two

level and maser, three level.
MASER, THREE LEVEL.
A solid state
maser in which three energy levels are used
for maser operation, e.g., in a paramagnetic
crystal containing ions with unit spin. I f suffi
cient radiation of the pumping frequency vi3
falls on the sample, the population of levels

1 and 3 will depart from the normal Boltzmann

distribution; level 3 will contain a much higher
population than level 1, and level 3 will also
contain a higher population than level 2.
Maser action at the frequency v32 will then
be possible. The three level solid state maser
is capable of continuous operation, whereas
the two level solid state maser can only be
operated under pulsed conditions.
MASER, T W O LEVEL. A maser with only
two energy levels or in which only two levels
are used for maser operation. The two level
gas maser is exemplified by the ammonia
maser (see maser, ammonia), in which prac
tically all the molecules enter the resonant
cavity in the upper energy state. (See tem
perature, negative.)
Tw o level solid state
masers utilize the spin states of the paramag
netic crystals with atoms of spin % . In this
case, alteration of the normal Boltzmann dis
tribution is more complicated than in some
other types. Inversion may be possible, but
putting all atoms in the upper energy state
m ay be impossible. The energies E i and E 2
of the two states are given by the interaction
energy of the electron magnetic moments, fxB
with a magnetic field of induction B, Ex =
fiBB and E 2 = +i*bB. The frequency of
the radiation emitted in the transitions from
state 2 to state 1 is given by v = (E 2
E ^ / h = 2fjLBB/h.
Thus, whereas the am
monia maser is a fixed frequency device, the
solid state paramagnetic maser is a variable
frequency device, whose frequency depends on
the magnetic field. In order to obtain in
version in the two level solid state maser,
pulsed operation must be used instead of the
continuous operation of the ammonia maser
or of the three level maser. (For some of the
schemes that have been worked out for pro
ducing the inversion necessary for maser ac
tion, see J. R. Singer, M asers, W iley, 1959.)
Spin-lattice interaction effects such as relaxa
tion times are important in this type of maser.
MASKING (AUDIO). The amount by which
the threshold of audibility (see audibility,
threshold of) of a sound is raised by the pres
ence of another (masking) sound. The unit
customarily used is the decibel.
MASKING AUDIOGRAM.
masking.

See audiogram,

M ASOTTI FIELD. The electric field which

would exist at the position of a molecule in
a polarized dielectric if all of the molecules
within a sphere of radius R around the m ole
cule in question were removed without dis
turbing the polarization of the remaining di
electric. The radius R must be chosen large
enough to be able to view, from the position
of the molecule in question, all of the dielectric
outside of the sphere as a continuum.
MASS. The physical measure of the prin
cipal inertial property of a body, i.e., its re
sistance to change of motion. A t speeds small
compared with the speed of light, the mass of
a body is independent of its speed. Under
these circumstances, the masses mi and m2
of two bodies may be compared by allowing
the two bodies to interact. Then
TOi/rre2 = |a2 1/| 1 1,
where | | and |a2 1 are the magnitudes of the
respective accelerations of the two bodies as
a result of the interaction. This permits the
measurement of the mass of any particle with
respect to a standard particle (for example,
the standard kilogram). A t higher speeds,
the mass of a b od y depends on its speed rela
tive to the observer according to the relation:
m = nto/y/l v2/c2,
where m0 is the mass of the body as found
by an observer at rest with respect to the
body, v is the speed of the body relative to
the observer who finds its mass to be m, and
c is the speed of light in empty space (see rela
tivity) .
The above definition is essentially that of
M ach and is equivalent to a statement of the
law of the conservation of momentum. Mass
so defined and measured is often referred to as
inertial mass in distinction to gravitational
mass, which is measured as being proportional
to the gravitational force acting upon a mass
because of the presence of some other massive
body in a fixed position relative to it. Thus,
if some standard mass rax (e.g., a standard
kilogram) has a weight
at some point on
the earths surface and another mass m2 has
a weight F 2 at the same point, then
mi/m2 = F i/F2
(see Newton law of universal gravitation).

All evidence seems to indicate that the gravi

tational force on a body is strictly proportional
to the inertial mass of the body and vice versa,
i.e., that the gravitational and inertial masses
o f a body are equal, as demanded by the
equivalence principle of relativity.
As a consequence of the Newton law of
universal gravitation or of the Einstein dem
onstration of the equivalence of inertial and
gravitational masses, equal masses at the same
location in a gravitational field have equal
weights. Because of this, masses m ay be com
pared with a platform balance or a spring
balance.
Mass is particularly important because it
is a conserved quantity, which can neither be
created nor be destroyed. Thus, the mass of
any isolated system is a constant. When the
theory of special relativity was developed, it
became apparent that the mass (m ) and the
energy (E ) of any body or system are meas
ures of the same quantity, being related
by the Einstein mass-energy equivalence:
E = me2, where c is the speed of light.
MASS ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT. See
discussion of absorption coefficient; also see
absorption coefficient, mass.
MASS, ACOUSTIC (ACOUSTIC INERTA N C E ). The quantity which, when multi
plied by 27r times the frequency, gives the
acoustic reactance (see reactance, acoustic)
associated with the kinetic energy of the
medium.
MASS ACTION, L A W OF. For a homoge
neous system, the rate of a chemical reaction
is proportional to the active masses (mass per
unit volume) of the reacting substances. As
a consequence of the mass action law, when a
reversible chemical reaction of the type
aA -f- bB = p P -f- qQ
has reached equilibrium, the activities C j of
the various species are related by the equilib
rium equation:
CPpCQ
CAaCBb
where K is a function of temperature.
MASS ANALYZER, TROCHOIDAL. A mass
spectrometer wherein the ion beams traverse
trochoidal paths within electric and magnetic
fields that are mutually perpendicular.

MASS, CENTER OF. The center of mass is

that point in a collection of mass-particles
which moves as if the total mass of the col
lection were concentrated there and the re
sultant of all the external forces were acting
there. The position vector of such a point is
given by

for mass number A ; and A is a term reflecting

the pairing energy of like nucleons, and
therefore having four possible values which are
+ ^ 5 a for even A } odd Z
a for odd A , odd Z
A =
%ca for even A , odd Z

JYliXi
i= 1

for even A , odd Z

r = --

JYli
i= 1
where ra* is the mass of th discrete particle,
is the position vector of ith discrete particle.
For a rigid continuous body, the rectangular
coordinates of the center of mass are written as

x =

/ xdm
J*dm

j*ydm

J zdm
z

The terms 6Aj a , as well as f A, B a and ZA

are usually taken to be parameters varying
smoothly with A , which are adjusted to fit the
experimental data.
MASS FORMULA, SEMIEMPIRICAL. A
mass formula (due principally to von W eiz
scker, Bethe, Becker, Bohr and Wheeler)
based on the liquid-drop model of the nucleus.
It may be w ritten:
M (A ,Z ) = ZM H + (A - Z )M n

J dm

Jdm

MASS, CONSERVATION OF.

See mass.

+ 4:TTCro2A 2/i

MASS DEFECT. The difference between the

atomic mass and the mass number of a nu
clide. (See packing fraction.)
MASS-ENERGY
EQUIVALENCE.
The
equivalence of a quantity of mass (m) and a
quantity of energy (E ) as expressed by the
equation, E = m e2. The conversion factor c2
is the square of the speed of light. The rela
tionship was developed from relativity theory,
but has been experimentally confirmed.
MASSEY FORMULA. A formula which gives
the probability of secondary electron emission
b y an excited atom approaching a metallic
surface.
MASS FORMULA.
An equation for the
atomic mass of a nuclide as a function of its
atomic number and mass number. (See mass
formula, empirical and mass formula, semiempirical.)
MASS FORMULA, EMPIRICAL. A formula
for the mass of an atom of the form :
M (A ,Z ) = A ( 1 + f A) + \BA{Z -

ZA) 2 + A,

where M is the mass of an atom of ato m ic

n u m b e r Z ajid mass n u m b e r A ; f A is an ide
alized packing fraction; Za is the (nonin
tegral) atomic number of maximum stability

(A - 2Z )2
aA + b
A

3Z (Z - l)e 2
H----------------- ------ h A.
^
5r0A ^
T
Here M (A ,Z ) is the mass of an atom of mass
number A and atomic number Z, M H and M n
are the masses of the hydrogen atom and the
neutron, e is the electronic charge, r0 is the
radius parameter, and a, b and c are adjust
able parameters.
Th e terms represent, in
order: the mass of the constituent protons and
electrons; the mass of the constituent neu
trons; the bulk energy of condensation due
to short-range attractive forces between nu
cleons; the asymmetry energy correspond
ing to the tendency of protons and neutrons
to be equal in number; the surface energy ;
the electrostatic energy due to repulsive
forces between protons; and the pairing en
ergy as given under mass formula, empirical.
MASSIEU FUNCTION.
MASSIVE COIL.
input current in
galvanometer (see
and whose motion
coil.

See Psi function.

The coil which carries the

a photoelectric recording
galvanometer, recording)
is duplicated by the slave

MASS NUMBER. The whole number near

est in value to the atomic mass when that

quantity is expressed in atomic mass units.

In light of present-day theory, the mass num
ber represents the total number of nucleons
in the nucleus, and is therefore equal to the
sum of the atomic number and the neutron
number.
The mass number is com monly
written as a superscript after or before the
symbol of the atom, such as O16 or a 40K.
MASS OF THE UNIVERSE. A quantity of
order M = pc3T 3, where p is the density of
matter in the universe, c is the speed of light
and T is the age of the universe. M is of
order 1055 g, or about 1079 times the mass of
a nucleon.
MASS OPERATOR. Operator added to the
Lagrangian of a quantized field theory in
order to cancel out certain divergences. C om
bines with the term representing the mechan
ical mass to give the observed mass.
(See
renormalization of mass.)
MASS RADIATOR.
MASS RANGE.

See radiator, mass.

See range.

MASS, REDUCED.
In treating any two
body problem, the most satisfactory coordi
nate frame in which the laws of motion may
be applied is an inertial system, i.e., a system
which is not accelerated with respect to the
fixed stars. The center of mass system of two
bodies, having masses M and m and acted on
only by mutual forces, is such an inertial sys
tem. W hen the equations of motion are trans
formed to center of mass coordinates, it is
found that they are identical with equations
in a system having its origin fixed at M if the
mass m is replaced by the reduced mass
p. = M m / (M + m ). I f M
m, the reduced
mass is closely approximated by m.
MASS SPECTROGRAM. The photograph or
the graphical plot of a mass spectrum.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH. A ny type of ap
paratus for sorting streams of electrified par
ticles in accordance with their different masses,
by means of deflecting fields.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH, ASTON POSI
TIVE RAY. A device which utilizes succes
sive electric and magnetic fields to focus rays
of a constant charge-to-mass ratio at a focal
line.

MASS SPECTROGRAPH, BAINBRIDGEJORDAN.

A mass spectrograph using a
radial electrostatic field of tt/^/2 radians and
a magnetic field deflecting the ions through
60 degrees. The two fields are so disposed
that the dispersion of ions in the electric field
is exactly compensated by the dispersion in
the magnetic field for a given velocity d if
ference.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH, BLEAKNEY. A
mass spectrograph which makes use of crossed
electric and magnetic fields which permits per
fect focusing properties; the focusing depends
only on the charge-to-mass ratio of the ion and
not on its velocity or direction.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH, DEMPSTER (D I
RECTION FOCUSING). A mass spectro
graph in which ions are first accelerated by
an electric field through a slit, and are then
deflected by a magnetic field so as to pass
through a second slit. The direction focusing
consists of the fact that ions of the same
charge-to-mass ratio are made to pass through
the second slit regardless of their direction
when they emerge from the first slit.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH, NIER. A mass
spectrograph in which ions are initially ac
celerated to a given velocity and are then bent
in a magnetic field so that ions of a given
charge-to-mass ratio characteristic of the ini
tial velocity are the only ones focused.
MASS
SPECTROGRAPH,
TIM E
OF
FLIGHT. A device in which ions are in
jected into a magnetic field in such a way that
they will spiral upwards in a helix whose axis
is parallel to the field or spiral outward in a
plane which is perpendicular to the field. In
either case, the time required for the ion to
complete a given number of revolutions will
be inversely proportional to the charge-tomass ratio of the ion. I f particles of various
masses are to be detected at the same point,
they must all travel in orbits of the same
radius; this requires that they all have the
same momentum. This is accomplished by
accelerating them in a field for a fixed period
of time, instead of for a fixed distance.
MASS SPECTROGRAPH, VELOCITY FOCUSING.
A mass spectrograph in which
positive ions passing through two slits are
acted upon by opposing electric and magnetic

fields. I f the speed v of the ions is equal

to E /H (ratio of electric to magnetic field
strengths), then the ions are undeflected by
the fields and pass through a third slit into
another magnetic field where they are de
flected into a semicircular path. The radius
of curvature of this path is then proportional
to the charge-to-mass ratio of the ions.
MASTER. A metal part, normally derived
from a disk recording by electroforming,
which is a negative of the recording, i.e., a
master which has ridges instead of grooves
and thus cannot be played with a pointed
stylus.
MASTER CLOCK.

See clock, master.

MASTER, LACQUER. An original recording

on a lacquer surface for the purpose of making
a master,
MASTER, ORIGINAL (M ETAL MASTER)
(M ETAL NEGATIVE) (NO. 1 M ASTER).
In disk recording, the master produced by
electroforming from the face of a wax or lac
quer recording.
MASTER OSCILLATOR-POWER AMPLI
FIER.
Frequently abbreviated M O PA , a
master oscillator and a succeeding buffer am
plifier. (See oscillator, master and amplifier,
buffer.)
MASTER ROUTINE.
MASTER
chronized
emissions
group are

See subroutine.

STATION. The station of a syn

group of radio stations to which the
of other station or stations of the
referred.

MASTER, W A X . An original recording on a

wax surface for the purpose of making a
master.
M ATCH ED TRANSMISSION LINE.
A
transmission line terminated by a matched
termination. (See also waveguide, matched;
line, matched; impedance, matching.)
M ATCHING, LOAD. (1) Maximum power is
delivered to a load when the impedance of the
generator is the image impedance of the load.
The adjustment of a circuit to provide this
condition is called load matching.
(2) In
induction heating and dielectric heating usage,
the process of adjustment of the load circuit
impedance to produce the desired energy
transfer from the power source to the load.

MATCHING, STUB, SINGLE AND D OU

BLE. The use of single and double stubs to
effect maximum power transfer from a trans
mission line to a load or other transmission
medium.
MATERIAL PARTICLE.
terial.

See particle, ma

M ATHEM ATICAL CHECK.

grammed.

See check, pro

MATHIEU EQUATION. A differential equa

tion resulting from the separation, in elliptical
cylindrical coordinates, of partial differential
equations like Laplaces or the wave equation.
It also occurs in the quantum mechanical
problem of a molecule with restricted internal
rotation. The usual form of the equation is
y " + (a + b cos 2x )y = 0
but related forms are sometimes given. Since
the coefficient of y is periodic, the Floquet
theorem applies and possible solutions are
y = e ^ P iz ),
where P (x ) is periodic and can be written as
an infinite series of sine or cosine terms. Sub
stitution of this assumed solution into the
differential equation gives a three-term re
cursion formula for the coefficients in the
series. The exponent jl is obtained as a com
plicated function of the parameters a and b,
which may be written as a continued fraction
or as Hills determinant. If the final solu
tion is required to be periodic, a situation
occurring frequently for physical reasons,
jl = ik, with k an integer. The allowed values
of a are the eigenvalues and the solutions
are Mathieu functions of the first kind. A
second linearly independent solution, called a
function of the second kind, is not periodic.
Associated Mathieu functions arise when x
is replaced by ix. They can be expressed as
series in Bessel and Hankel functions.
M ATHIEU FUNCTION.
tion.

See Mathieu equa

MATRIX.
(1) Consider a set of elements,
finite in number, which m ay be arranged in
rows and columns. If A ijy B i3 are the ele
ments in the ith row and ;th column of two
such arrays and if these arrays combine to
form a product with elements Ca %Ai1cB hj,
then they are called matrices. Matrices are

conveniently indicated by the symbols A, B,

C and their product by C = AB. A matrix
containing m rows and n columns is of order
(m X n ). The order of a square (m X w )
matrix is ra. Matrix elements m ay be real,
complex or imaginary quantities of a very
general nature. The ideas may be extended
to include matrices of infinite order.
(2) In electronic computers (a) any logical
network whose configuration is a rectangular
array of intersections of its input-output leads,
with elements connected at some of these in
tersections. The network usually functions
as an encoder or decoder, (b) Loosely, any
encoder, decoder, or translator.
(3) In color television, (a) an array of co
efficients sym bolic of a color coordinate trans
formation. This definition is consistent with
mathematical usage, (b) T o perform a color
coordinate transformation by computation or
by electrical, optical, or other means.
MATRIX, ADJOINT. I f A ij is the cofactor
o f Au in |A|, the determinant of the square
matrix A, the matrix A = [A il] is called ad
joint to A. The nomenclature is not unique
for this matrix is sometimes called the ad ju
gate or given no name at all while adjoint is
applied b y some writers to that matrix here
called associate. The properties of A include
AA = AA = |A |E,
where E is the unit matrix.
then
AA = O ,

If A is singular

where O is the null matrix.

M ATRIX, ASSOCIATE.
r*s_/

Defined by At =

(A*) = (A )* where A is the transpose of A

and A* is the complex conjugate of A. I f X =
ABC, X^ = C^B^A*. Frequently called the
Hermitian conjugate. (See also matrix, ad
joint.)
MATRIX, COLLISION. Consider a quantum
mechanical system composed of two parts,
such as an atom or nucleus and the electro
magnetic radiation field or an incoming proton
and a nucleus. It is possible to express the
initial state of the system as a linear com bi
nation of eigenfunctions. After a photon of
the electromagnetic field has been scattered
from the atom or the proton has been scat
tered from the nucleus, the final state of the

system can again be expressed as a different

linear combination of the same set of eigen
functions as that used in the initial descrip
tion. I f the wave functions for the initial and
final states of the system are \j/(t = oo) and
ip(t = + o o ) respectively, and are given by the
expressions:
= -) = Z

= + ) = E M ;

in terms of the systems eigenfunctions \f/ny

then the matrix having elements Smn, such that

bm = y i Smnanf
n

is called the collision matrix, scattering matrix,

S-matrix, or sometimes the reaction matrix.
(See representation theory, quantum me

chanical.)
MATRIX, COM MUTATIVE. I f the prod
uct of two matrices A and B is independent
of the order of multiplication so that AB =
BA, then A and B are commutative. I f they
do not commute the quantity AB BA is
called the commutator.
MATRIX,
COMPLEX
CONJUGATE.
Formed by taking the complex conjugate of
every element of A and frequently identified
by A *. The operation involved is commu
tative, for if X = ABC; X* = A *B *C *. (See
matrix, real and matrix, pure imaginary.)
M ATRIX, CONFORMABLE. Tw o matrices
A and B are conformable if the number of
columns in A equals the number of rows in
B. If their orders are ( n X h ), (h X ^ 0 , re
spectively, their product C = AB is of order
(nXw).
Tw o or more matrices may be
combined to give a product only if they are
conformable.
M ATRIX, DIAGONAL. All elements are zero
except those on the main diagonal, or sym
bolically, D = [D ify] where 8^ is the Kronecker delta. The notation D = diag (D lf
D 2, D 3, ) is also used. I f D and D ' are
two diagonal matrices D D ' = D 'D.
C on
versely if D is diagonal, not the unit matrix,
and D A = AD then A is also diagonal.
If A i, A2, A3, * are matrices of order greater
than unity, the form W = diag (Ai, A 2) A 3,
) means that the matrices A i are placed
along the main diagonal and all other ele

ments of W
tioned.)

are zero.

(See matrix, parti

M ATRIX, DIAGONALIZATION OF A. A
process for transforming an arbitrary matrix
A into a diagonal matrix. The transforma
tion is usually of the form X 1 AX = D =
DiSij, where
is the Kronecker delta. Hermitian and symmetric matrices may always
be diagonalized by a unitary matrix; in the
general case, the transforming matrix is com
posed of the eigenvectors of A, provided the
eigenvalues are all different. If the eigen
values are repeated, a diagonal form is not
obtained but a triangular matrix results.
M ATRIX, DIRECT PRODUCT OF A. If
A = [Aij] is a square matrix of order m and
B = [B rs\ is square of order n, the direct
product is of order m X n
A X B = [AijBrs].
The index pairs {i,j) and (r,s) refer to the
row and column respectively. Some conven
tion must be arbitrarily adopted for arrang
ing the elements in the rows and columns.
M ATRIX ELEM ENT. (1) A quantity
at
the intersection of the ith row and the ;th col
umn of a matrix. It may be of a general func
tional nature, real or complex. (2) The quan
tity resulting when a quantum mechanical
operator 0 operates on an element if/n of a
complete, orthogonal set of wave functions
from the left and is then multiplied from the
left by the complex conjugate of another ele
ment of the set,
and integrated over the
position variables. (See operators, quantum
mechanical.) The set of quantities
Om,n =

y, Z)0\pn(x, y, z)dxdydz

can be considered to be the m,n elements of a

matrix 0 which represents the operator 0 . In
quantum mechanics it is usually not neces
sary to introduce a special notation to dis
tinguish between the operator 0 and the m a
trix 0 representing the operator.
MATRIX, EQUIVALENT. I f X and Y are
non-singular matrices, then A and B are
equivalent if B = XAY and B is then the
transform of A. If X and Y are properly
chosen, B m ay be of simpler form than A,
diagonal for example. Usually X = Y _1 .

MATRIXER (M ATRIX UNIT, MATRIX

CIRCUIT, E T C .). A device which performs
a color-coordinate transformation by electri
cal, optical or other means.
M ATRIX, HERMITIAN. A matrix such that
H = H * ; that is Ha = H j * where the asterisk
designates the complex conjugate. A real
symmetric matrix is a special case for if H =
A + iB, H * = A tB where the real part, A,
is symmetric and the imaginary part, B, is
skew symmetric.
MATRIX, IDENTITY. A diagonal matrix
with all non-zero elements equal to unity.
MATRIX, INVERSE.
ciprocal.

Same as matrix, re

M ATRIX, INVOLUTORY. A matrix such

that A = A - 1 , where the latter is the recip
rocal of the former.
MATRIX, IRREDUCIBLE.
tion of a group.

See representa

MATRIX MECHANICS.
See Heisenberg
representation; quantum mechanics.
MATRIX, M ODAL. The modal matrix of a
given matrix A is that matrix H satisfying the
condition that
(H -^A H )*- = Xfitf
where (H 1A H )l-y is the i ,j matrix element
of the matrix H _1AH and \ are the eigen
values of the matrix A.
MATRIX, NILPOTENT.
matrix vanishes, Aw= 0.

Some power of the

MATRIX, NORMAL.
A square matrix
which satisfies the condition AA* = A^A,
where A 1- is the associate of A (or the trans
pose if A is real). Any normal matrix can
be transformed to diagonal form by a unitary
matrix and, conversely, any matrix trans
formable to diagonal form by a unitary m a
trix is normal.
MATRIX, NULL.
Every element is zero.
The usual symbol is 0. For any matrix AO =
0A = 0 and 0 + A = A.
MATRIX, ORDER OF.

See matrix.

MATRIX, ORTHOGONAL.

Symbolized by

A = A 1 where A is the transposed matrix

and A 1 is the reciprocal of A.

elements must be so related that

Its matrix

^AiAjs 'jrASiAsj == $ij.

From its definition, AA = E, where E is the
unit matrix and the square of its determinant,
A 2, is one. In three dimensions, the case
A = + 1 m ay refer to a proper rotation, that
is, a rotation about a rectangular Cartesian
coordinate axis by an angle <; |A| = 1, an
improper rotation, a proper rotation followed
by a reflection in a plane perpendicular to
the axis of rotation.
M ATRIX, PARTITIONED.
A matrix di
vided into two or more submatrices. Each
element of the partitioned matrix, although
itself a matrix, is indicated by a single sym
bol and treated as if it were a single element.
M ATRIX, PERMUTATION. Each row and
column has but one non-zero element and that
is unity. Transform ation by such a matrix
permutes the order of the rows and the col
umns of the matrix transformed.
MATRIX, PRINCIPLE DIAGONAL OF.
The set of matrix elements, A ijy for which i ~ j .

reversal of the order of the factors: C = A B ;

C 1 = B 1A _1. Also called inverse matrix.
MATRIX, RECTANGULAR. Containing m
rows and n columns, m ^ n .
It is always
singular, since by definition its determinant
vanishes.
MATRIX, REDUCED.
In quantum me
chanics, operators representing dynamical vari
ables are frequently represented by matrices
(see representation theory, quantum mechani
cal) . I f these operators depend only upon the
properties of an isolated system and therefore
have the same form regardless of the choice of
the external coordinate system, then an ele
ment of the matrix representation of some
operator T qk taken between states with angular
momentum quantum numbers j, m and / , ra'
respectively will be computed in the same way
in every coordinate system. The WignerEckart theory states that it is possible to
express explicitly the dependence of such ma
trix elements upon the magnetic quantum
numbers m and m ' by the formula:
{jm \Tqk |j m')
m k

= (-1
MATRIX, PRODUCT. See matrix; matrix,
conformable; matrix, direct product.
MATRIX, PURE IMAGINARY. The matrix
elements are iA jlc where A j1c is real. It follows
that A = A *, where A* is the complex
conjugate to A.
MATRIX, RANK OF A.

See rank.

M ATRIX, REAL. A matrix having real num

bers or real functions as all of its elements.
M ATRIX, REAL SYMMETRIC. The ele
ment in the ith row and the jth column equals
the element in the ;th row and the^zth col
umn, Aij ~ Aji and A = A, where A is the
transposed matrix.
M ATRIX, RECIPROCAL.
I f A is not a
singular matrix, the reciprocal is defined by
_
A - i1 =

A
I A|

where A is the adjoint matrix, |A| is the de

terminant of A. Its properties include A -1 A
= A A 1 = E, with E the unit matrix, but
reciprocation of the matrix product requires

?),

where (j || T qk ||j) is the reduced matrix of the

operator T q and has the same value for all m
and m', and V is the symmetrized V-coefficient of Racah. The operator is denoted as
T qk since it is assumed that T might be a
tensor operator and Tq represents the qth
element of the subset of its components of
order (2k + 1 ) when its components are repre
sented in their spherical or irreducible form
(see representation o f a group). For in
stant, if T were the vector angular m o m e n
t u m operator L then
iLx 1" Ly

iL x + L "y. 7 7 1 _ r
_

m 1
1 1 ------- -- ---- j * 0 L>z
V 2
are its three components in the spherical repre
sentation. It should be noted that the reduced
matrix is different from an element of an ir
reducible matrix. (See operators, q u a n tu m

m echanical.)
MATRIX, REDUCIBLE.
of a group.

See representation

MATRIX, REDUCING.
of a group.

See representation

M ATRIX, ROW . A matrix containing one

row and n columns. The matrix elements are
usually considered as the components of a
vector in n-dimensional space.
M ATRIX, SCATTERING.
lision.

See matrix, col-

M ATRIX, SECONDARY DIAGONAL OF.

The set of elements A y for which i + ; = n +
1, where n is the order of the matrix.
M ATRIX, SINGULAR. A matrix whose de
terminant vanishes, |A| = 0 . All rectangular
matrices are singular. If the determinant is
not zero, the matrix is nonsingular.
M ATRIX, SKEW HERMITIAN. See matrix,
Hermitian. The matrix elements are A y =
A#*, A u = 0 and At = A *, where At is
the matrix associate to A.
MATRIX, SKEW SYMMETRIC. See matrix,
symmetric. The imaginary part of an Hermi
tian matrix. I f A is the transpose of the
matrix A, then a skew symmetric matrix is de
fined by A = A.
Aji} Au = 0.

Its elements are A y =

MATRIX, SQUARE. It contains n2 elements

and has an equal number of rows and col
umns.
M ATRIX, SYMMETRIC. The elements are
symmetric about the main diagonal, A y = A #
and A = A, where A is the transposed matrix.
M ATRIX, TRACE OF A.

MATRIX, UNITARY. The complex analogue

o f an orthogonal matrix. I f U, Ut and U 1
are unitary, Hermitian conjugate and recipro
cal respectively, then U = (U t ) _1 and its ele
ments satisfy the equation:

ZUtkUjk* = ZUki*Ukj

M ATRIX, TRANSPOSED. Obtained by in

terchanging the rows and columns of the ma
trix. I f the elements of A are A y , the ele
If X =

ABCD, X = DCBA.
MATRIX, TRIANGULAR. A ll elements be
low the principal diagonal vanish.
M ATRIX, UNIT. Its elements are the Kronecker delta, 8 y , and are unity along the main
diagonal and zero elsewhere.
Frequently
symbolized by E (for the German einheit )
or 1 its properties include EA = AE = A,
where A is any matrix.

5ij}

where 8y is the Kronecker delta and the as

terisk denotes the complex conjugate.
MATRIZANT. The matrizant of a matrix A
whose elements are functions of some variable
X is the series:
7+1

/t
*%t
A (x i)d x i + I A ( x i) I A (x 2)dx2dxi

Jto

Jto

JtQ

+ f A (x {) f A (x 2)
j t0
JtQ
XI

A (xz)dxsdx2dxi H------,

where I is the identity matrix.

MATTER. From the classical macroscopic
point of view, that which can be considered
as an aggregate of material particles. It is
capable of being located in public space and
public time and possesses the inherent prop
erty of inertia. Its manifold other properties
and its structure form the subject matter of
physics.
MATTER, ANNIHILATION.
tion of matter into energy.

See trace.

ments of its transpose, A are A

MATRIX UNIT (M ATRIX CIRCUIT). A

device which performs a color coordinate
transformation by electrical, optical, or other
means.

Transform a

MATTERHORN, PROJECT. The name of

the controlled thermonuclear project at Prince
ton, New Jersey, which is exploring the possi
bilities of the stellarator type thermonuclear
reactor. (See reactor, thermonuclear.)
MATTHIESSEN RULE.
An approximate
rule stating that the total electrical or ther
mal resistivity of a metal is the sum of the
separate resistivities due to scattering of the
electrons by thermal vibrations of the lattice,
by impurities, by imperfections, etc.
(See
conductivity, electrical, and thermal conduc
tion in solids.)

MAVAR, A bbreviation for mixer amplifica

tion by variable reactance. A parametric
amplifier or converter.
M AX.

Abbreviation for maximum.

M AXIM UM . I f a function y = f ( x ) at some

point x0 has a value algebraically greater than
all values in the immediate neighborhood of
this point, it has a maximum there. I f the
curve of the function is studied, the behavior
o f its slope or derivative will reveal the pres
ence of a maximum. A sufficient requirement,
if y continuous at x = x 0, is dy/dx < 0 for x >
x 0; dy/dx > 0 for x < x0. I f dy/dx changes
sign b y becoming infinite and y becomes in
finite at the same time, then f ( x ) is discon
tinuous and the function has no maximum.
Another possibility for a change in sign of the
derivative is a minimum. The neutral term
extremal is often used. The phenomena also
occur for functions of several variables. (See
minimax; saddle point; Lagrange multiplier;
function, continuous.)
M AXIM U M AVAILARLE POWER GAIN
(O F A TWO-PORT LINEAR TRANS
D U C E R ). See power gain, maximum avail
able ( of a two-port linear transducer).
M AXIM UM AVERAGE POWER OUTPUT.
R efer to entry for power output, maximum
average.
M AXIM UM -DEVIATION
SENSITIVITY
(IN FM RECEIVERS).
See sensitivity,
maximum-deviation (in FM receivers).
M AXIM UM DISTANCE.
mum.

See distance, maxi

M AXIM UM M ULTIPLICITY, RULE OF.

An empirical statement that the energy of
interaction between the electrons in any one
atom is at a minimum when their resultant
spin is greatest.
M AXIM U M OUTPUT (IN RECEIVERS).
The greatest average output power (see
power output, maximum average) into the
rated load, regardless of distortion.
M AXIM UM PERMISSIRLE RODY RURDEN. The maximum amount of a radioactive
isotope, expressed in microcuries, deposited
in the human body or in a given tissue, such
that the continuous radiation dose rate not

exceed the continuous maximum permissible

dose rate.
M AXIM UM PERMISSIRLE CONCENTRA
TION (M P C ). The maximum concentration
o f a given radioisotope in air or water such
that normal daily intake of air and water will
not lead to an accumulated radiation dose in
excess of the maximum permissible dose for
occupational personnel. M PC s are usually
given in microcuries per cm3.
M AXIM UM PERMISSIRLE CONCENTRA
TION OF RADIO ISOTOPES (M P C ). The
maximum permissible concentration of a
radioisotope is that which is thought, on the
basis of current knowledge, to have a negli
gible probability of causing noticeable effects
in living creatures that (1) carry within their
bodies such a concentration (2) continuously
ingest material having such a concentration.
For the United States, currently accepted
M P C for various isotopes are set by the United
States Atom ic Energy Commission and the
National Research Council, whose publica
tions should be consulted. The International
Council for R adiological Protection also rec
ommends its own M P C .
M AXIM UM PERMISSIRLE DOSE (M P D ).
The radiation dose (see dose, absorbed) which
m ay be received by an individual (or by a
given organ or tissue) within a specified time
period, with negligible probability of harmful
results. The National Com m ittee on R adio
logical P rotection (N C R P ) and the In ter
national Commission on Radiological P rotec
tion (IC R P ) issue reports on recommended
M P D and M P C (maximum permissible con
centration). See for example the IC R P R e
port of 1958, published by Pergamon Press in
1959, and the N C R P Reports published as
N ational Bureau of Standards Handbooks 59
and 69.
The M P D set by the IC R P and the N C R P
are exclusive of natural background radiation
and of medical radiations. The whole body
M P D for workers in restricted areas (occupa
tional personnel) is set by both IC R P (1958)
and N C R P (1958) at 3 rems per 13 consecu
tive weeks. For doses accumulated over the
years the maximum is set at D = 5 {N 18)
where D is the dose in rems and N is the age
in years. For other individuals, such as those
who may reside near an atomic installation,
the M P D is set at y10 of that for occupational

personnel (the latter is sometimes denoted by

m pd).
In addition to the above M P D for individ
uals, the IC R P (1958) has set an upper limit
for the average genetic dose in the population
at large, of 5 rems accumulated to the age of
30.
M AXIM UM
UNDISTORTED
OUTPUT
(M AX IM U M USEFUL OUTPU T). F or si
nusoidal input, the greatest average output
power (see power output, maximum average)
into the rated load with distortion not ex
ceeding a specified limit.
M AXIM UM USABLE FREQUENCY.
frequency, maximum usable.

See

M A X W E L L . A unit of magnetic flux in the

emu system of units. It is the magnetic flux
which, when linked with a single turn, gen
erates an electromotive force of 1 abvolt in
the turn, as it (the magnetic flux) decreases
uniform ly to zero in 1 second.
M AXW ELL-BOLTZM ANN DISTRIBUTION
LAW . B oth M axwell and Boltzmann devel
oped distribution laws for velocities of m ole
cules in gases prior to the full development of
statistical mechanics and the derivation of
laws for the distribution of molecular energies,
velocities, etc., by this method. The expres
sion giving the distribution of speeds among
the molecules of a perfect gas in the steady
state is usually called the M axw ell distribu
tion law. It is:
mvL

N(v) = 4ltN (m/2wkT) ^v2e ~ 2kT^

where N(v)dv is the number of molecules with
speeds between v and v + dv; N, the total num
ber of molecules; m, the mass of a molecule; k,
Boltzmann s constant; and T, the absolute
temperature. The expression:
t

P(qi, <12, ; pi, V2, ) = Ce kT,

giving the probability P that a molecule will
have generalized momentum coordinates be
tween pi and Pi + dpi and generalized position
coordinates between q{ and qi +
is usually
called the Boltzmann distribution law. In this
expression, e is the m olecules energy in terms
of the Pi and qiy k and T are as above and

These distributions and special forms related

to them may be, and often are, referred to as
the M axwell-Boltzm ann distribution law.
M A X W E L L CONSTANT.
fect.

See Maxwell ef

M A X W E L L DEMON. An imaginary figure

pictured by Maxwell to illustrate a concept
in gas kinetics. A tiny being was considered
to operate a trap door in a partition between
two chambers. This demon opened the door
whenever a molecule of a particular kind ap
proached the door, and so effected separation
of a pure gas from a mixture.
M A X W E L L EFFECT. The optical birefring
ence shown by viscous liquids having aniso
tropic molecules due to the existence of a
shearing velocity gradient. If the liquid is
flowing in the x direction with a velocity vm
which is a function of y only, then the differ
ence between the indices of refraction for the
two principal planes of polarization for a light
wave traveling in the z direction will be
An = c(dvx/dy).
The constant c is known as MaxwelVs
stant. The two principal planes are the
which are perpendicular to each other,
the z axis as their line of intersection, and
makes an angle of 45 with the x axis.

con
ones
with
each

M A X W E L L EQUATIONS. A set of four

classic formulae of the electromagnetic the
ory. They deal with certain vector quanti
ties pertaining to any point of a region under
varying electric and magnetic influence. If
the point is in empty space, the equations are
somewhat simplified; in general, provision
must be made for the presence of dielectrics,
conductors, or magnetizable bodies. In these
equations, H is magnetizing force, B is mag
netic flux density, E is electric intensity, D is
electric induction, p is electric charge density,
J is conduction current density, t is time. The
curl and the divergence of a function are wellknown operators of vector analysis. The equa
tions, in rationalized mks units, and in their
differential form are:

<5D

I T.

r 1__1

dB

The additional relations:

Div B = 0 ;

Div D = p

are frequently included as part of M axwell's

system, although they are not independent
relations if one assumes the conservation of
charge. The last tw o are also known as the
Gauss law. For linear homogeneous and
isotropic media, B = /uH; D = cE. The values
of the permeability /x and the perm ittivity
for a vacuum satisfy

tions p is the pressure, V , the volume, S, the

entropy, and T, the absolute temperature.
(1)

(\dV/s
-) =

(2)

\( d~V )/ T = (\ d~T )/ v

(3)

- ( \dS/r
- )

/dT\

/dV \

\dp/s

\dS/p

(\ d-p)/ T -

fl00 = 1 /c 2
(4)
where c is the speed o f light.
The equations and the expressions of con
servation are often stated in the integral form :

E ds =
B -d S = 0;

dS>

f D -d S = f pdV.

(See integral, line; integral, surface; Gauss

theorem; Stokes theorem.)
M A XW ELLIAN FLUID.
lian.

See fluid, Maxwel

M AXW ELLIAN V IE W . A method of ob

serving an integrating photometric sphere
(i.e., a sphere with a white, diffusing inner
wall, in which a light source is placed). In
this method the source is focused on the
pupil of the eye; a method for weak sources.
M A X W E L L , RELATION BETW EEN D I
ELECTRIC CONSTANT AND REFRAC
TIVE INDEX. A ccording to Clerk Maxwell's
identification of light with electromagnetic
radiation, the dielectric constant c and the re
fractive index, n, of a substance should be re
lated by the formula c = n2. This relation
only holds under rather restrictive conditions,
such as the absence of permanent dipoles in the
substance, measurement with light of very
long wavelength, etc.
M A X W E L L RELATIONS. Four therm ody
namic relations which apply to the equilib
rium state of a system, useful in evaluating
the thermodynamic functions. In these rela

H
\dT/p

M A X W E L L VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION.
See Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law.
M AXW ELL-W AG NER MECHANISM.
A
parallel-plate condenser made up of two par
allel layers of material, one of dielectric con
stant c, conductivity zero and thickness d,
the other of finite conductivity cr and thick
ness qd can be shown to behave as if the
space between the plates were filled with a
material of complex dielectric constant

<1 + ff)

----------------------- -----------------------------------

1 + (ieo)q/4iTT(T)

where a? is the frequency of the measuring

field.
M AXW ELL-W IEN
Maxwell-Wien.

BRIDGE.

See bridge,

MAYDAY. The radio-telephone international

distress call.
MAYER. A unit of heat capacity proposed
by Richards. The mayer is the capacity of a
body or system which is warmed 1 degree
centigrade by 1 joule. The heat capacity of 1
gram of water at 20 is about 4.181 mayers.
MAYER THEORY OF CONDENSATION.
The application of the Gibbs phase integral
for a system of chemically-saturated mole
cules. Equations are derived for the thermo
dynamic properties of the system. It is con
cluded that for a system consisting of liquid
and its saturated vapor there are two char
acteristic temperatures Tm and T c instead of
one critical temperature. Below Tm the equa
tions predict the usual condensation phenom
ena of a gas giving a condensed phase with
a surface tension. Between Tm and Tc how

ever, for a certain volume range the pressure

P and the Gibbs free energy are independent
of volume.
In M a y ers calculations on condensation
and the critical state, the system is assumed
to consist of independent clusters of m ole
cules, each group or cluster consisting of one,
two, three, etc., molecules.
M-CENTER.

See color center.

M cLEOD GAUGE. A primary instrument

for the measurement of pressure in a vacuum
system. In its usual form, the gauge consists
of a glass bulb with a vertical capillary tube
at the top. The bulb is ordinarily connected
to the system in which the pressure is to be
measured, but may be closed from that system
by raising a column of mercury past a tee con
nection just below the bulb. The mercury is
then raised until it fills the bulb and part of
the capillary, compressing the gas originally
in the bulb. The pressure after compression
is then determined by measurement of the d if
ference in height between the top of the mer
cury column in the capillary and that in a
similar capillary that remains connected to the
system. If this pressure is p, and if the ideal
gas law is assumed, the original pressure p0
can be found:
Vo = pv/V = 7rpr2h/Vy
where V is the volume of the bulb (i.e. of the
gas originally trapped), v is the volume that
the gas occupies in the capillary after com
pression, r is the inside radius of the capillary,
and h is the depth of the top of the mercury
column below the top of the capillary.
The M cL eod gauge is not satisfactory for
the measurement of pressures of condensable
vapors, on which the pressure cannot be in
creased above the equilibrium vapor pressure
of the liquid phase.
MCW.
(An abbreviation for modulated
continuous w ave. ) A form of emission in
which the carrier is modulated by a constant
audio-frequency tone. In telegraphic service,
it is understood that the carrier is keyed.
M-DISPLAY
M-SCOPE).
MEAN.

(ALSO
See display.

M-SCAN

OR

See average.

MEAN ACTIVITY OF AN ELECTROLYTE.

The logarithm of the mean activity coefficient

o f an electrolyte is the arithmetic mean of the

logarithms of the individual ionic activity
coefficients.
MEAN FREE PATH. (1) For sound waves
in an enclosure, the average distance sound
travels between successive reflections in the
enclosure. (2) The average distance that a
particle (e.g., a molecule) travels between
successive collisions with the other particles
of an ensemble. The computation of the
magnitude of the mean free path depends
upon the types of collisions postulated. If
the particle moves at high velocity relative
to the velocities of an ensemble of identical
particles that have random positions, the re
lationship applies:
1
I = >
na
where I is the mean free path, n is the num
ber of particles per unit volume, and a is the
effective cross-sectional area for collision. If,
on the other hand, the velocities of the iden
tical particles have a Maxwell distribution of
velocities, the relationship applies:
1
V2tt<7
The mean free path may be extended to cover
other particle-encounters than collisions, such
as absorption, inelastic collision, etc., by using
the relationship
1
I = .
no
where o- is the cross-section for the process
under consideration.
MEAN FREE PATH, TRANSPORT.
A
quantity which is equal to three times the
diffusion coefficient, in the case where the
medium through which the diffusion (of neu
trons, for example) is taking place is a weak
absorber.
MEAN FREE TIME. The average time be
tween collisions. In solid state physics, an
important example of the use of the term is to
denote the average time between collisions of
an electron with impurities in a semicon
ductor.
MEAN LIFE.

See life, mean.

MEAN PULSE TIME.

See pulse time, mean.

M EAN SQUARE DEVIATION.

ard deviation.

See stand

M EAN SQUARE VELOCITY (M O LEC U

L A R ). See molecular velocity, mean-square.
M EAN VALUE OF A FUNCTION. D e
fined for a function f { x ) over an interval
(a,b) by

f(x )d x

decreasing function in the interval (a,b) with

out always being positive.
There are similar formulae for the case when
<t>(x) is an increasing function. The two forms
of the second theorem are known as the form
of Bonnet and DuBois-Reym ond, respectively.
MEAN VELOCITY, MOLECULAR.
molecular velocity, mean.
MEASUREMENT, ACCURACY OF.
curacy of measurement; accuracy.

See

See ac

a
Over an area S it is defined by

JX

f(x,y)d S
S

Over a region V of space it is defined b y

j j j f(x ,y ,z)d V

MEAN VALUE THEOREM FOR A D E

RIVATIVE. Let f ( x ) be a function which
has a finite derivative at all points of the
interval (a,b).
Then there exists a value
o f x between a and b such that

- m

= f'(t;)(P a).

MEAN VALUE THEOREM FOR INTE

GRALS. The first law of the mean for inte
grals is:
-i
f(x )d x = (b - a ) ,

I
where a ^
g 6.
The second law of the mean for integrals may
be written:
J f(x)<t>(x)dx = <f>(a)J f(x)d x,
where a g g b, provided f (x ) is continuous,
and <f>(x) is continuous and is also a positive
m onotonic decreasing function in the interval
(a, b) and
J

f(x)4>(x)dx = 4>{a)J f(x)d x+<f>(b) f(x )d x

where a g
g b provided f ( x) and <f>(x) are
continuous functions and </>(x) is a m o n o to n ic

M ECHANICAL
chines.

ADVANTAGE.

See

ma

M ECHANICAL BANDSPREAD.
spread, mechanical.

See band-

M ECHANICAL COMPLIANCE.
pliance, mechanical.

See com

MECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT.

It was in 1840 that James P. Joule began
his classic researches on the quantitative re
lationship between heat and work. Rum ford
and D a v y had established the fact that heat
is a form of energy; it remained to determine
how many foot-pounds are equivalent to one
British thermal unit. In the arrangement
adopted by Joule, a heavy weight, in de
scending, was caused to drive a mechanism
for churning water in a calorimeter. The
energy furnished by the weight in its descent,
with correction for friction losses, was then
equated to the heat indicated by the rise in
temperature of the agitated water, with the
usual calorimeter corrections; the result indi
cated that 1 British thermal unit equals about
774 foot-pounds of energy. Translated into
c.g.s. units, this meant that there are 4.16 X 107
ergs in each calorie; and when we consider that
the most elaborately precise modern electrical
methods give, as the present accepted value of
J, 4.1855 X 107 ergs per calorie or about 778
foot-pounds per British thermal unit, it is
clear that Joules experimental skill must have
been o f a high order.
It has been customary, in writing thermo
dynamic equations involving both thermal and
mechanical energy terms, to include the factor
J in the former in order to reduce them to the
same denom ination; but the tendency at pres
ent is to express quantities of heat directly
in ergs or joules, thereby avoiding the neces
sity of this factor. (See thermodynamics.)

M ECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF LIGHT.

The experimental problem in this determina
tion is to separate the visible from the infra
red and ultraviolet radiation.
One proce
dure is to enclose a lamp, of known power
output, in a jacket which absorbs the invis
ible radiation and transmits the visible, the
former being measured by the temperaturerise of the jacket and the latter photometri
cally. Measurements by Ives in 1926 with
white light gave 1.6 X 10 ~ 3 watts per lumen.
M ore recent measurements made at 555 m/*
gave 1.46 X 10- 3 watts per lumen, or 680 lu
mens per watt. (See also luminosity function,
standard.)
M ECHANICAL
chanical.

FILTER.

See filter, me

chanical rectilineal
compliance.

resistance,

M ECHANICAL REPRODUCER.
up, phonograph.
M ECHANICAL RESISTANCE.
ance, mechanical.

mass,

and

See pick

See resist

M ECHANICAL ROTATIONAL COMPLI

ANCE.
See compliance, mechanical rota
tional.
M ECHANICAL
ROTATIONAL IMPED
ANCE.
See impedance, mechanical rota
tional.
M ECHANICAL
ROTATIONAL REACT
ANCE. See reactance, mechanical rotational.

See imped

M ECHANICAL ROTATIONAL RESIST

ANCE. See resistance, mechanical rotational.

M ECH ANICAL MASS. The part of the mass

of a particle which is supposed to be an in
trinsic property of the particle and not due
to the interaction of the particle with itself
through the medium of some field. The two
types of masses are not experimentally dis
tinguishable, however.
(See renormalization
of mass.)

M ECHANICAL ROTATIONAL SYSTEM.

A system adapted for the transmission of ro
tational vibrations consisting of one or all of
the following mechanical rotational elements;
mechanical rotational resistance, moment of
inertia, and rotational compliance.

M ECHANICAL M OM ENT OF INERTIA.

M om ent of inertia in a mechanical rotational
system is that coefficient which, when multi
plied by 2tt times the frequency, gives the
positive imaginary part of the mechanical ro
tational impedance. The unit is the gramcm2. (See also inertia, momenta and prod
ucts of.)

M ECHANICAL
See television.

M ECHANICAL IM PEDANCE.
ance, mechanical.

M ECHANICAL OSCILLATOR.
lator, mechanical.

See oscil

M ECHANICAL REACTANCE.
ance, mechanical.

See react

M ECH ANICAL RECORD.

record.

A phonograph

M ECHANICAL RECTILINEAL IM PED

ANCE. See impedance, mechanical.
M ECHANICAL RECTILINEAL REACT
ANCE. See reactance, mechanical.
M ECHANICAL RECTILINEAL SYSTEM.
A system adapted for the transmission of v i
brations consisting of one or all of the fol
lowing mechanical rectilineal elements: me

M ECHANICAL SCANNING.

See television.

TELEVISION

SYSTEM.

M ECHANICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

An assembly of elements adapted for the trans
mission of mechanical power.
M ECHANICAL UNITS.
A ll mechanical
measurements involve the motion of material
bodies, described in terms of space and time
coordinates. Hence length and time are al
most universally chosen as fundamental quan
tities. The present standard of time is the
mean solar day, defined as the average period
between tw o successive transits of the sun
across the meridian at any given spot on the
earths surface. The most com monly used unit
of time is the second, defined as 1/86,400 part
of a mean solar day. This is not a completely
satisfactory definition, because tidal action is
gradually slowing the rotation of the earth.
It therefore seems probable that the second
will be redefined in the near future, as a speci
fied multiple of a period of vibration of some
particular molecule, possibly ammonia.
On October 14, 1960, the Eleventh General

tionality in the second Newton law of motion

(see definitions and dimensions) is chosen as
a dimensionless quantity of unit magnitude.
In structural engineering and in some me
chanical engineering applications, forces play
a more important part than do masses. Sys
tems which use length, force, and time as
fundamental units are therefore convenient.
An example is the foot-pound-second system.
The unit of force, the pound (force), is defined
as the weight of a pound mass at a point on
the earths surface at a point where the ac
celeration due to gravity is 32.174 ft/s e c2.
In this system the unit of mass, the slug, is a
derived unit, equal to 1/32.174 lbm. In order
that confusion may not be caused by the use
of the pound both as a unit of mass and as a
unit of force, the pound (mass) is abbreviated
as lbm, the pound (force) as lbf.
A third type of system defines both the mass
and force as well as units o f length and time.
In such m ass-force-length-tim e system s, the
constant of proportionality in N ewtons sec
ond law takes on dimensions and a non-unitary
value. The abbreviation gf is often used to
indicate a gram (force), the unit o f force,
which is defined as the weight of a one-gram

Conference on W eights and Measures con

firmed a new definition, proposed by the
International Committee on Weights and
Measures, to make the second equal to
1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year 1900.
This definition will undoubtedly be accepted
until a definition based on atomic or molecu
lar vibrations is adopted.
Tw o independent length standards, the
meter and the yard, have been used widely.
B y recent international agreement, however,
the inch has been redefined as exactly 0.0254
meters, and the yard as exactly 36 inches. The
change became effective in the United States
in July 1959, except that the definition of the
inch as exactly (1/39.37) meter is used by the
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
In physics, chemistry, and electrical en
gineering, as well as in much of mechanical
engineering, the com m only employed systems
o f mechanical units use length, mass, and time
as fundamental quantities. These are known
as length-m ass-tim e systems. Three such sys
tems, the m eter-kilogram -second (M K S ), the
centim eter-gram -second (cgs), and the fo o t
pound-second (f lbm s) systems, are in use.
In all three systems the constant of propor

R e l a t io n s

am ong th e

System s

of

e c h a n ic a l

U n it s

Equivalents in Other Systems

Quantity

MKS
System

cgs
System

f lbm s
System

f lbf s
System

f lbm lbf s
System

cm gm gf s
System

Length

1 Meter

102
cm

3.281
ft

3.281
ft

3.281
ft

102
cm

Mass

1Kilogram

103
gm

2.205
lbm

70.94
slug

2.205
lbm

103
gm

Density

1 K /M 3

10 3
gm/cm3

62.43U0) 3
lbm/ft3

2.009
slug/ft3

62.43(10) 3
lbm/ft3

10~3
gm/cm3

Force

1 Newton

105
dyne

7.233
poundal

0.2248
lbf

0.2248
lbf

102.0
gf

Work (Energy) 1 Joule

107
erg

22.93 ft
poundal

0.7376
ft lbf

0.7376
ft lbf

1.020(10)4
gf cm

Power

107
erg/sec

22.93 ft
poundal/sec

1.341 (10)-3
horse power

0.7376
ft lbf/sec

1.020(10)4
gf cm/sec

1 Watt

statics, kinematics, and kinetics. Statics deals

with bodies at rest, in equilibrium under the
action of forces or of torques; kinematics deals
with abstract motion and kinetics treats of
the effect of forces or of torques upon the m o
tions of material bodies. M odern usage favors
the term dynamics, reserving mechanics for
the more practical phases of the field (ma
chinery, building, etc.).
Fluid mechanics is that branch of mechanics
which deals with those fundamental laws
(3.281 ft)2which apply to all fluids (liquids or gases) at
rest or in motion.

(gm) mass under the action of a gravitational

acceleration of 980.665 cm /sec2.
The more important units in each system
and the relations among these units are shown
in the table, see p. 735. As an example of the
use of this and similar tables, suppose that a
moment of inertia is specified as 1050 gm cm2,
and that it is desired to express this quantity in
the f lbm s system. The use of conversion
factors from the table shows that
0
2.205 lbm
1050 gm cm2 X r:------- X
M2
1000 gm
M2
X

= 0.002492 lbm ft2.

(100 cm )2

M ECH ANICAL
VIBRATING
SYSTEM,
CLOSED PIPE. A vibrating column of fluid
in a cylindrical pipe, open at one end, at which
there must be a loop of displacement. The
fundamental frequency of such a pipe, /, is
given approximately by
/ = 5/41,

where c velocity of sound in cm /sec,

I length of pipe in cm, / = frequency in
cycles/sec.
M ECH ANICAL
VIBRATING
SYSTEM,
OPEN PIPE. A vibrating column of fluid
in a cylindrical pipe, open at both ends, at
each of which there must be a loop of dis
placement. The fundamental frequency / of
such a pipe is given approximately by

M EDIUM . A substratum in which a given

system of physical entities exists or in which
physical phenomena take place, such as the
transmission of force or energy. Physics deals
with both material media (for example, fluids),
and non-material media (for example, free
space through which light m ay travel and
which can be the locale of electromagnetic
fields).
M EDIUM , INFINITELY DENSE. A me
dium that acts acoustically like a perfectly
rigid wall.
M EDIUM , INFINITELY RARE. A medium
that will not support any pressure changes.
M EDIUM , PRESSURE RELEASE.
dium, infinitely rare.

See me

/ = c/2l,

MEGA-. A prefix used with many physical

units, denoting one million. Thus 1,000,000
volts = 1 megavolt.
106 cycles = 1 mega
cycle. (See ultrasonics, microwaves.)

where c = velocity of sound in cm /sec,

I = length of pipe in cm, / = frequency in
cycles/sec.

MEGAPHONE. An acoustical source, con

sisting of a voice source and a horn, usually
either a conical horn or a thin parabolic horn.

MECHANICS. Mechanics is the branch of

physics which deals with the effects of forces
upon bodies at rest or in motion. The laws
and phenomena of gases and liquids and solid
bodies have a part in this subject, and it is
one of the basic studies of engineering, physics
and astronomy. It is customary to subdivide
mechanics into the study of liquids (hydrau
lics, hydrodynamics and hydrostatics), the
study of the action of gases (pneumatics), and
the study of rigid or elastic particles or bodies
of solid materials. It is to the latter field that
the term mechanics is frequently restricted.
For convenience it is further subdivided into

MEGAPHONE, ELECTRICAL.
A mega
phone consisting of a combination of a micro
phone, amplifier and horn loudspeaker. (See
loudspeaker, horn.)
MEGASCOPIC. An adjective preferable to
macroscopic to describe large seal phenomena
in contrast to microscopic phenomena.
MEGATRON. A name sometimes applied to
disk-seal tubes, such as lighthouse tubes. (See
tube, lighthouse.)
MEGC.
ond.

Abbreviation for megacycle per sec

M EG or meg. Abbreviation for mega, 106

multiplier. (Usage has established M C and
me as abbreviations for megacycles per sec
ond. All other units should use M E G or meg
for the prefix mega.)
MEISSNER EFFECT. When a supercon
ductor is cooled in a magnetic field the lines
of induction are pushed out at the transition,

Meissner effect. (By permission from Superfluids

by F. London, 1950, John Wiley & Sons.)

as if it exhibited perfect diamagnetism, an

effect essentially distinct from the zero re
sistivity of the metal, which must be con
sidered as a separate phenomenon.
MEL. A unit of pitch. B y definition, a sim
ple tone of frequency 1000 cycles per second,
40 decibels above a listeners threshold, pro
duces a pitch of 1000 mels. The pitch of any
sound that is judged by the listener to be n
times that of a 1-mel tone is n mels.
M-ELECTRON. An electron characterized
by having a principal quantum number of
value 3. (See also M-shell.)
M ELLIN TRANSFORM.
This transform,
j ( y ) , and its inverse, F ( x ) , are defined, sub
ject to certain conditions, by the relations:
f(y) =

x - 1F (x)d x;

Jo
F( x) =
27X%

pC +100
I
x~*f(y)d y.
r ir*\

M ELT. T o fuse. T o pass from the solid to

the liquid state (see fusion). A melt is a
fused mass.
M ELTING, CHANNEL.
ing.

See channel melt

MELTING-POINT.
The temperature at
which the solid crystalline and liquid phases
of a substance are in thermodynamic equilib
rium. The melting-point, which depends to
a small extent on the pressure, is well defined

except for some glassy or resinous substances.

The melting point is usually referred to nor
mal pressure, 760 millimeters. The melting
point of liquid crystals is the temperature at
which the crystals lose their anisotropic prop
erties.
(See also liquidus curve; solidus
curve.)
M ELTING POINT, CONGRUENT.
The
melting point of a compound at which the
solid phase and the two-com ponent liquid
phase present have the same equilibrium
composition.
M ELTING POINT, INCONGRUENT.
In
the case of a two-com ponent system which
forms a compound that dissociates below its
melting point, the temperature at which the
solid form of that compound is in equilibrium
with the two-com ponent liquid and also with
one of the solid components, or with the solid
form of another compound formed from them.
(See dissociation constant.)
MEMRRANE
equilibrium.

POTENTIAL.

See Donnan

MEMORY. See entries under storage, which

is the preferred term for electronic usage. See,
however, the following entries retained under
memory because of precedent.
MEMORY CAPACITY. Synonym for storage
capacity.
MEMORY, CIRCULATING. See register (or
memory), circulating.
MEMORY, DELAY-LINE. In computer ter
minology, a type of circulating memory in
which a delay line is the m ajor element in the
circulation path.
MEMORY, ELECTROSTATIC. A memory
device utilizing electrostatic charge as the
means of retaining information, involving usu
ally a special type o f cathode-ray tube to
gether with associated circuits.
MEMORY, FREQUENCY. A memory which
consists of an oscillator with a number of pos
sible oscillation frequencies. N orm ally in the
nonoscillating state, it will start and remain
oscillating at the frequency of a momentary
input voltage if the frequency of this voltage
corresponds to one of the possible oscillation
frequencies.

MEMORY TUBE, ELECTROSTATIC. An

electron tube in which information is retained
by means of electric charges.
Synonym :
storage tube.
MEMOTRON. Trade name for a storage
tube which will display successive transients
until intentionally erased.
M ENDELEVIUM .
Transuranic
element.
Sym bol M d. Atomic number 101. First pro
duced, as nuclide of mass number 256, by bom
bardment of berklium with a beam of 41 mev
a-particles from the 60-inch cyclotron at the
University of California. This nuclide has
a half-life between a half hour and several
hours. It appears to decay by spontaneous
fission.
MENISCUS. The curved surface of a liquid
near the walls of its container. The sense of
the curvature depends on the angle of contact
between the liquid surface and the material
of the container, being concave upwards if the
angle is less than a right angle and convex if
it is greater.
MERCURY. Liquid metallic element. Sym
bol H g (hydrargyrum ). Atom ic number 80.
MERCURY-198. One of the isotopes of mer
cury which has the desirable property of hav
ing extraordinarily-sharp spectral lines, there
being no isotopic hyperfine structure. The
isotope may be produced by the transmuta
tion of gold, which has only a single isotope.
MERCURY ARC.

See arc, mercury.

MERCURY ARC CONVERTER, POOL

CATHODE.
See converter, pool cathode
mercury arc.
MERCURY-ARC RECTIFIER. See rectifier,
mercury-arc; converter, mercury-arc.
MERCURY, PERIHELION OF.
helion of Mercury, rotation of.
MERCURY-VAPOR LAMP.
cury vapor.

See lamp, mer

MERCURY W ATTHOURM ETER.

hourmeter, mercury.
MERIDIANAL
focus.

FOCUS.

See peri

See

See watt-

astigmatic

M ERIDIAN PLANE. (1) A ny plane of an

optical system which contains the optical axis.
(2) In astronomy and navigation, the vertical,
north-south plane passing through the point of
observation.
MERIT, GAIN-BANDWIDTH.
bandwidth.
MERIT, SIGNAL-TO-NOISE.
noise ratio.

See

gain-

See signal-to-

MEROMORPHIC. In complex variable the

ory, a function is meromorphic if it is analytic
in a region of the complex plane except at
poles.
MESH. A set of branches forming a closed
path in a network, provided that if any one
branch is omitted from the set, the remain
ing branches of the set do not form a closed
path. The term loop is sometimes used in the
sense of mesh.
MESH CONNECTION. A polyphase circuit
connection in which the phase elements are
connected end to end as opposed to the star
connection where all phase elements have one
end in common. The delta connection is the
three-phase mesh connection and is by far
the most common.
MESH IM PEDANCE. See impedance, mesh.
MESIC ATOM.

See mesonic atom.

MESNY CIRCUIT. A form of push-pull,

ultra-high frequency oscillator.
M ESOCOLLOID. A colloid composed of
particles of relatively medium size, i.e., rang
ing from 0.025 to 0.25 micron.
MESODESMIC STRUCTURE. A type of
ionic crystal in which one of the cation-anion
bonds is equal in strength to all the bonds
from the cation to the other anions. The
silicates are important members of this class.
MESOMORPHIC STATE. Special term ap
plied to those liquids which are doubly re
fracting (see liquid crystal). I f the liquid is
such that normal liquid flow does not occur,
but rather the movement is one of gliding in
one plane, then it is of the sm ectic type, e.g.,
p-azoxybenzoate. The nematic type, on the
other hand, does not possess the layer struc
ture of the smectic type, but resembles an
anisotropic liquid in its ability to flow read

ily, and in its low viscosity. The nematic

phases are optically uniaxial, and have a
thread structure.
MESON FIELD THEORY.
A theory of
nuclear forces in which the meson field acts
as the basis of the exchange between a proton
and a neutron. The meson mass is interme
diate between an electron and a proton. The
mesons are regarded as the carriers of energy
quanta in the meson field. (See field theory.)
MESON FIELD THEORY (CH ARGED
MESON TH EO R Y).
Meson field theory
which postulates the existence of positive and
negative, but not neutral, mesons. The ex
change between proton and neutron results
from the transfer of a positive meson from the
former to the latter, or a negative meson in
the opposite direction.
MESON FIELD THEORY
(NEUTRAL
MESON TH EO R Y).
Meson field theory
which regards the proton and neutron as d if
ferent energy states of the same fundamental
particle, and the meson, which is responsible
for the exchange interactions between them,
is supposed to be electrically neutral.
MESON FIELD THEORY ( SYMMETRICAL
MESON TH EO R Y).
Meson field theory
which combines the features of the neutral
meson theory and the charged meson theory.
MESONIC ATOM . System consisting of an
atomic nucleus and a negative 7r- or jn-meson
held to it in a bound orbit mainly by electro
static attraction. In general there will also
be some electrons present in bound states, but
because of the smaller electron mass their
orbits will be well outside of those of the
meson. Transitions from s-states of 7r-mesonic
atoms are not observed, since for such states
the life-tim e for capture by the nucleus is
much less than the life-tim e for a radiative
transitron. The energy-levels of a mesonic
atom are approximately those of the corre
sponding ordinary atom, multiplied by the
ratio of the meson mass to the electron mass.

interaction. Presumably most of these pmesons actually were /-mesons, the decay
event being unobserved because of insufficient
sensitivity of the emulsion.
MESONS AND HYPERONS. Particles with
a mass intermediate between that of the elec
tron and that of the proton are called mesons;
particles with a mass greater than that of the
neutron are usually called hyperons, although
the name baryon is sometimes used. Bound
state systems of a hyperon and a nucleon
(or combination of nucleons) are referred to
as hyper-fragm ents. Bound state systems of
a meson and a nucleon or combination of
nucleons are called mesonic atoms. The cur
rent status (1960) o f knowledge concerning
the properties of mesons and hyperons, their
interactions with other particles and the elec
tromagnetic field, their strangeness quantum
number, and the theoretical understanding of
this information is in many cases quite incom
plete and confusing. On the other hand, the
discovery of non-conservation of parity (see
beta decay theory) seems to have aided in
clearing away a bit of the confusion that
existed in this field until very recently. Even
with the order that seems to be developing, a
listing of the known properties of mesons and
hyperons requires a code to indicate the nature
of the supporting evidence for the existence
and listed properties of the particles shown in
the table. For this purpose, the notation (a)
is used to indicate a particle or property which
is well established and accepted, (b) is used
to indicate a less reliable but generally ac
cepted status, (c) indicates properties sup
ported by no more than one measurement, and
(d) indicates very recent information which
may be open to great doubt. Only currently
accepted names for the particles are used.
Some schemes for the mesons and hyperons
are:

p + v+ v
7T^

MESON, MU.
MESON, PI.

See meson and hyperons.

See mesons and hyperons.

MESON, RHO. A term that was used for a

short time to designate a meson which stopped
in a nuclear emulsion, but apparently with
out any concomitant decay event or nuclear

-> 2T

7T
+

> JLt+

>
*

-f*
7T +

K ~

+
V

V or >
+
V +
7T or
-f- 7T or >7r"*" + 7T^~ + TT Or

7T +

7 r"^

or /3 + v + 7T or
> l T + V + 7T or 7T+ + 7T + 7T
K /3+ + v + ir or /X+ + V + TT~~

K0

/3_

TT+

fJL~

+
7T

7T+

7T

or > f l

7T+

or

Isotopic
Spin
Name

Symbol

(a)

Negative mu meson

P~

Positive mu meson

(a)

P+

Negative pi meson

(a)

Neutral pi meson
Positive pi meson

Mass in Units of
Electronic Mass

Parity
I

(a)

Charge
in Units
of Elec
tron
Charge
All (a)

Iz

206.75 .0 2

(a)

Spin

Life, Time in Seconds

Strange
ness

-1

i
2 (a) 2.22 .0 2 X 10 " 6

(a)

(6)

+i

206.75 .0 2

(a)

+ 1

i
a (a) 2.26 X 10 6

(a)

0 (b)

-1

273.26 .0 6

(a)

-1

0 (a) (2.58 0.05) X 10 8 (a)

0 (b)

264.27 .0 6

(a)

0 (a) 0.0 < t < 4 X 10-16 (*)

(b)

+1

273.26 .0 6

(a)

+ 1

0 (a)

(b)

966.8 .2

(a)

+ 1

0 (b) 1.224 0.013 X 10~8 (a) + 1

(b)

967 1

(b)

0 (b) 8 X 10 8

(*>) + 1

(b)

0 (b) 1.2 X 10~8

(*)

-1

(b)

7T~

(b)

(a)

7T

(b)

(a)

TT+

(b)

(2.58 0.05) X 10 8 (a)

Positive K meson

(b) K + or e +

(<*)

i
2

Neutral K mesoni

(6)

(a)

%
o

0d)

1
2

Negative K meson

(b) K

or 0

(d)

1
2

966.8 .2

(a)

+ J

967 1

(b)

0 (b)

(&) - 1

(&)

2183.1

(a)

1 (d) (2.42 1 3 ) X 10 10
(6) - 1
2

(b)

2327.5 .7

(a)

+1

1
2 (d)

(.79 .0 8 ) X 10-10

(b)

-1

(b)

1
2 (rf)

< 10~u

(c)

-1

(b)

-1

1 (d) (1.71 .1 6 ) X 10 10 (b)

2

-1

(b)

-1

1
-2
2 (d) 5 X 10-10 < t < 200
(d)
X 10 10

(b)

1
2 (d)

(d)

Neutral K meson2

(b) K or 0

(d)

1
2

Lambda hyperon

(a)

(d)

Positive sigma hyperon

(a)

2+

(d)

+1

Neutral sigma hyperon

(a)

Negative sigma hyperon (a)

2
2"

+
+

(d)

-1
1
2

2578 5

(a)

+1

2570

(d)

E-

(<*)

Neutral cascade hyperon (c)

(d)

1
J

p +
> n

or > n + 71- or > p + /3

T
+

2341 1

(a)

(a)

A0

2329 4

(d)

1
2

Negative cascade
hyperon

+ V

7T+

2 A 0 + 7
2
> u -f- tt
E > A0 + 7r
3 > A 0 + ir

(a)

-1

(8 3 ) X 10 8

(d)

-2

o f radium. M esothorium II has an atomic

number of 89, and a half-life of 6.13 hours.
It emits -rays and is an isotope of actinium.
Mesothorium I is produced from thorium by
a-ray emission. Mesothorium I yields M eso
thorium II by /?-ray emission, which, in turn,
yields radiothorium by /?-ray emission.

MESON, SIGMA. A term that was used for

a short time to designate a meson which pro
duces a star. These mesons were soon iden
tified as TT-mesons (predominantly n egative).

MESOTRON.
An obsolete synonym
meson, or for the /-meson in particular.

MESONS OR MESOTRONS, PRODUC

TION OF.
Mesons have been artificially
produced by the interaction of high energy
particles and photons with atomic nuclei; they
have also been produced artificially by means
o f high-energy interactions between protons
and protons, protons and neutrons, or by high
energy photo-production.

MESSAGE.
(1) An ordered selection from
an agreed set of symbols, intended to com
municate information. (2) The original m od
ulating wave in a communication system.
Definition (1) is the sense in which the term
is used in communication theory; definition
(2) is the sense in which the term is often
used in engineering practice.
(See informa
tion theory.)

MESOTHORIUM (I AND II ). R adioactive

nuclides of the thorium family. Mesothorium
I has an atomic number of 88, and a half-life
o f 6.7 years. It emits /?-rays and is an isotope

for

MESSAGE SOURCE. That part of a com

munication system where messages are as
sumed to originate.

M ETACENTER. A floating body is in equi

librium if the center of gravity and the center
of buoyancy lie on a vertical line. I f the
body is displaced by a small angle from this
position, the center of buoyancy will move,
and the intersection of the vertical through
the new center of buoyancy and the line join
ing the center o f gravity and the equilibrium
center of buoyancy is known as the meta
center. The equilibrium is stable or unstable
as the metacenter lies above or below the
center of gravity.
M ETACENTRIC HEIGHT.
The distance
between the metacenter and the center of
gravity.
M ETAL. (1) Chemically, any element that
can replace the hydrogen of an acid, i.e., hav
ing the property of forming cations. (2) A
member of the class of elements characterized
by the bulk properties of m etallic luster,
high electric and thermal conductivity, duc
tility and malleability. The division of all
the elements into metals and non-metals is
not sharp; certain elements have a foot in
both camps, e.g., tin.
The chemical properties are signs of the
ability of the atom to lose one or more elec
trons to form a stable ion. In the solid state
these electrons are not tightly bound to their
separate atoms but can m ove nearly freely
through the lattice, carrying electric and
thermal currents (see free electron theory of
metals). The plastic properties are explained
by the high coordination number of many
metallic structures, a consequence of the un
directed metallic bonds, which allow disloca
tions to move freely.
M ETAL
DEPOSITION,
DEPOLARIZA
TION OF. See depolarization of metal dep
osition.
M ETALLIC
metallic.

CURRENTS.

See

currents,

M ETALLIC
metallic.

INSULATOR.

See

insulator,

M ETALLIC REFLECTION.
See
equations for metallic reflection.
M ETAL MASTER.

See master, original.

M ETAL NEGATIVE.
M ETAL POSITIVE.

Fresnel

See master, original.

See mother.

METASTABLE NUCLEI. Nuclei in excited

nuclear states that have measurable lifetimes
(exceeding 10- l o - 1 0 9 sec).
(See isomer,
nuclear.)
METASTABLE STATE. (1) A peculiar state
of pseudo equilibrium, in which the system
has acquired energy beyond that for its most
stable state, yet has not been rendered un
stable. Thus, by using great care, water at
760 mm pressure may be heated several de
grees above its normal boiling point, say to
105C, yet not boil. In this condition it has
received heat energy beyond that normally
required for liquid-vapor equilibrium, energy
which it might be expected to release by
spontaneously exploding into steam; and only
a slight disturbance will precipitate that
change, but the disturbance must come from
some external source. (2) The term has been
used in atomic and nuclear physics for various
excited states, but its most general usage today
is for an excited state from which all possible
quantum transitions to lower states are for
bidden transitions by the appropriate selec
tion rules.
METASTABLE SYSTEM. A system capable
of undergoing a quantum transition to a state
of lower energy, but having a relatively long
lifetime in comparison with the most rapid
quantum transitions of similar systems.
METASTATIC ELECTRON.
An electron
that moves from one atom to another, or from
one shell to another in a given atom, or to
the nucleus of the atom. K-electron capture,
whereby the nucleus, usually in an induced
radioactive reaction, captures an electron from
the K-shell, is an instance of electron metas
tasis.
METASTASIS. A fundamental change in the
position or orbit o f a particle, as in the -p a r
ticle emission of certain radioactive nuclei.
(See metastatic electron.)
METEOROGRAPH.
A clock-operated in
strument in which pens trace on a rotating
drum a record of temperature, relative hu
midity, and pressure. The instrument is often
used in the upper atmosphere, being carried
aloft by a balloon, airplane, or kite. (See also
radiometeorograph.)
METEOROLOGY.
Science o f the atmos
phere including all its aspects. In a more

restricted sense in wider use it is the science

of weather, being particularly concerned with
the physics of the elements which make the
weather.
METER. (1) A ny instrument or device used
in a measurement. Often compounded with
a prefix indicating the quantity measured,
as in ammeter, voltmeter, potentiometer, etc.
(2) Unit of length in metric system.
(See
meter, standard.)
METER-CANDLE.
the same as the lux.

A unit of illuminance,

M ETER-CANDLE-SECOND. A unit of pho

tographic exposure corresponding to an illu
mination of 1 lux acting for 1 second.
METER, CONTACT-MAKING
Term for relay, instrument.
METER, FREQUENCY.
frequency meter.
METER, IRON-VANE.
vane.

( RELAY ).

See entries under

See voltmeter, iron-

METER,
M ICHELSON
M ETH O D
OF
MEASUREMENT OF. T o count all of the
1,553,164.13 wavelengths of red cadmium light
in the length of the standard meter would have
been too great a task even for Michelson. He
actually counted the wavelengths in a distance
of 0.390625 mm, then, by comparing this with
longer and longer distances, determined the
actual length of the meter in reproducible
wavelengths.
(See Robertson, Introduction
to Optics, Geom etrical and Physical, 4th ed.,
1954, p. 179, D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)
METER, OUTPUT. An instrument used for
measuring the output of audio amplifiers. It
consists of a resistor coupled to the amplifier
through an impedance-matching transformer
and a rectifier voltmeter connected across the
resistor. The voltmeter is usually calibrated
so it indicates the power dissipated in the re
sistor either directly in watts or in decibels
above some reference value.
METER, STANDARD.
The fundamental
unit of the metric system is called the meter.
The original standard meter bar, known as
the mtre des archives, was constructed of
platinum in 1793. Its length at 0C was sup
posedly one ten-millionth of the earths me
ridian quadrant at sea level. This standard

superseded an earlier provisional meter based

on the length of a seconds pendulum. In 1875
the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures was established at Sevres, France,
and one of its first tasks was the construction
of a new standard for the meter. The result
was the international p rototype meter, a line
standard made from an alloy of 90% platinum
and 10% iridium. The meter was defined as
the distance between two lines on the bar when
at atmospheric pressure and 0C. A copy o f
the international prototype meter is kept at
the National Bureau o f Standards, Washing
ton, D.C.
On October 14, 1960, the Eleventh General
Conference on Weights and Measures, meeting
in Paris, redefined the meter as 1,650,763.73
wavelengths of the orange-red spectrum line
of the isotope of krypton having a mass num
ber of 86. This action makes the meter in
dependent of the prototype meter, although it
and copies of it will undoubtedly continue to
be used for convenience.
M ETHO D OF COMPONENTS. A trigono
metrical procedure for adding forces in which
the components of each force along a chosen
set of orthogonal coordinate axes generally
symbolized by x , y , and z are determined.
The components along the x , y, and z axes
are then added up separately to give the com
ponents of the resultant force. The magni
tude and direction of the resultant force can
then be determined from its components.
These procedures can be used to add any
vector quantities.
(See statics.)
M ETH O D OF MIXTURES FOR LATENT
HEAT OF FUSION. A known amount of ice
is dropped into a calorimeter containing a
known amount of water at a given tempera
ture. The water will cool, the final tempera
ture being determined by the latent heat of
fusion of ice and the specific heat of the
molten ice. Since the latter is known, the
former can be evaluated. The same method
may be applied to other substances.
METRECHON. A cathode-ray storage tube
in which the composite target is scanned from
both sides.
METRIC.

See tensor, metric.

METRIC SYSTEM. See mechanical units;

electromagnetic units.

MEV. Sym bol for one million electron volts,

a unit of energy.
M EW . Abbreviation for microwave early
warning.
M E Y E R H Y D R A U L IC THEORY.

A the
ory of hearing which maintains that the na
ture of the stimulation and the quality of the
chemical process occurring in each of the
sensitive cells of the cochlea determine the
sensation quality or pitch.

M-F. Abbreviation for medium frequency, a

deprecated usage. (See band(s), frequency.)
MHO.
ohm.

A unit of conductance, the reciprocal

M IC H E L

PARAM ETER. In treating the

beta decay of the mu meson according to the
Fermi beta decay theory, it can be shown that
the momentum spectrum will, in general, be
given by the expression
n(x)d x = x 2 [12(1 x) + p ( 4x 3 )]dx,
where n (x )d x is the number of electrons in
the interval dx and x = p/pm(LX, P being the
momentum of the electron, and pmax the maxi
mum momentum of any electron. The param
eter p in this expression is the M ichel param
eter, which depends upon the nature of the
beta interaction. A ny two component neu
trino theory gives p = % before radiative cor
rections are taken into account. The present
experimental value is p = 0 .6 8 0 .0 2 . It is
thought (1960) that the radiative corrections
will account for the apparent discrepancy.
(See mesons and hyperons.)

M IC H E L SO N IN T E R FE R O M E T ER .
interferometer.
M IC H E L SO N -M O R L E Y

See

EXPERIM EN T .

Optical experiment, first performed with suffi

cient accuracy in 1887, to detect the motion
of the earth through the ether. A m onochro
matic beam of light was divided by a half
silvered mirror and sent along two paths, later
being brought together by further mirrors.
According to the ether hypothesis the inter
ference fringes so formed should have moved
as the apparatus was rotated. The fact that
such motion was not observed was an im por
tant basis for special relativity theory. (See

relativity theory, special.)

M IC H E LSO N ROTATING M IR R O R (V E
LO CIT Y O F L IG H T ) . See Foucault rotating
mirror. B y placing the rotating mirror be
tween the lens and the source and locating the
source at the exact focus of the lens, M ichelson was able to obtain a beam of light so
nearly parallel that he could work over a dis
tance of 700 meters. Later he used other
rotating mirror arrangements. His final pub
lished value was 299,796 km /sec. New meas
urements in progress at the time of his death
(1931) and published after his death by his
collaborators gave 299,774 km /sec. Because
of the difficulty of measuring the exact pres
sure and temperature in the long light-paths
previously used, these last measurements were
made in an evacuated pipe (tunnel) laid
around a square, one mile on a side.

M IC H E LSO N STELLAR IN T E R FE R O M
ETER. An interferometer designed to be
placed on a telescope, and used to measure
the angular diameter of a star.

MICRO-.

( 1 ) A prefix used with many phys

ical units, denoting one one-millionth. Thus,
1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
microinches = 1 inch; 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
microvolts = 1 volt. ( 2 ) A prefix indicating
smallness or extreme sensitivity, as in microm

eter, microscope, microbalance.

M ICROBALAN CE. An apparatus used to
weigh minute quantities of substances; con
sequently an extremely sensitive balance.
M IC RO B A R (D YN E PER SQUARE CEN TI
M E T E R ). A unit of pressure commonly used
in acoustics. One microbar is equal to 1 dyne
per square centimeter. The term bar prop
erly denotes a pressure of 1 0 6 dynes per square
centimeter. Unfortunately, in acoustics the
bar was used to mean 1 dyne per square centi
meter. It is recommended, therefore, in re
spect to sound pressures that the less ambig
uous terms m icrobar or dyne per square
centimeter be used.

M IC R O C A N O N IC A L ENSEMBLE.
semble, microcanonical.
M IC R O C U R IE .

See en

One-millionth curie; sym

bol fJLc.

M ICRO D EN SIT O M ET ER.

A device usually
applied in photographic spectroscopy to detect,
by light-transmission measurements, spec

trum lines recorded on a negative which are

too diffuse or faint to be seen by the eye.

ammonium dihydrogen phosphate having con

verse piezoelectric properties.

M IC R O G R A M .

M IC R O PH O N E , ANTINOISE. A differen
tial microphone (see microphone, differential)
whose signal-to-noise ratio is improved by

One millionth of a gram,

sometimes denoted by y .

M IC R O L IT E R .

One millionth of a liter,

sometimes denoted by .

M IC R O M E T E R . (1) The micrometer repre

sents a general principle of physical measure
ment, used on various instruments such as

virtue of the cancellation of signals from dis

tant (and supposedly noise) sources.

M IC RO PH O N E, ASTATIC.

A microphone
with nondirectional characteristics.

comparators, spherometers, compensators, in

terferometers, etc. It is essentially a screw of

M IC RO PH O N E, BARIUM TITANATE. A
microphone in which a voltage is generated

accurately known, uniform pitch (com m only

1 mm or 0.5 m m ), provided with a large head
whose periphery is divided into equal parts,
forming a scale. Turning the screw through
a given number of these parts causes the shaft
to travel through a distance which is a pro
portionate fraction of the pitch. For example,
if the pitch is 0.5 mm and the head is divided
into fiftieths, each scale division corresponds
to a travel of 0 .0 1 mm. A familiar application
is the m icrom eter caliper} an instrument re
sembling an ordinary screw clamp. The screw
is, however, of the micrometer design, with its
scale reading zero when the caliper is closed.
W hen unscrewed and closed again upon a thin
plate or wire, the scale reading of the caliper
shows the thickness of that object, in hun
dredths o f a millimeter or thousandths of an
inch. Measuring microscopes and astronom
ical telescopes are frequently equipped with
a filar micrometer.
( 2 ) The term microm
eter is sometimes used for the micron, onemillionth of a meter.

in a barium titanate ceramic having converse

piezoelectric properties.

M ICROM ICRO-.
Prefix denoting 10 ~ 12.
Thus 1 microm icrofarad (/W ) = 10 12 farad
( /) . The prefix pico- is coming to be pre
ferred in this sense.
M IC R O M IC R O N . One millionth of a mi
cron, or one trillionth of a meter, sometimes
denoted by /^ , one micromicron = 1 0 6 m i
cron = 1 0 12 meter.

M IC R O N .

Unit of length, abbreviation /x.

Exactly 1 0 ~ 6 meter and 10 4 centimeter.

M IC R O P H O N E .
sound waves
variations.

into

device for converting

corresponding electrical

M IC R O P H O N E , ADP.

A microphone in
which a voltage is generated in a crystal of

M IC RO PH O N E, B ID IREC T IO N A L. A mi
crophone in which the response predominates
for sound incidences of 0 and 180.
also principal axis.)

(See

M IC R O PH O N E ,

BOOM.
A microphone
which can be mounted upon a small, light
boom.
M IC R O PH O N E , CAPACITOR. A micro
phone which consists of a capacitor having a
flexible diaphragm as one plate. A relatively large, d-c polarizing voltage and a load re
sistor are connected in series with the capaci
tor. Sound-pressure variations cause the flex
ible diaphragm to move, resulting in changing
currents through the load resistor.

M IC R O PH O N E , CARBON.

A microphone
whose output current is function of the vari
able resistance created as carbon granules are
alternately compressed and expanded by a
diaphragm.

M IC R O PH O N E , C A R D IO ID . A microphone
consisting of a combination of a dynamic m oving-coil type pressure element and an im
proved ribbon type velocity element enclosed
in a housing which serves as a protective
guard and also as a wind screen. When the
outputs of these two elements are combined
equally, the directional characteristic of the
microphone is a cardioid curve.

M IC R O PH O N E , CLOSE-TALKING. A mi
crophone designed particularly for use close
to the mouth of the speaker.

M IC R O PH O N E , COM BINATION. A micro

phone consisting of a combination of two or
more dissimilar microphones.

Examples of

com bination microphones are : two oppositelyphased pressure microphones acting as a gra
dient microphone, and a pressure microphone
and a velocity microphone acting as a unidi
rectional microphone.

M IC R O P H O N E , CON DENSER.
phone, capacitor.

See micro

M IC R O PH O N E , ELEC T RO N IC . A micro
phone which depends for its operation on the
generation of a voltage by the motion of one
o f the electrodes in an electron tube.

M IC R O PH O N E , ELECTROSTATIC.
microphone, capacitor.

See

M IC R O P H O N E , CONTACT.

M IC R O PH O N E , F IE L D RESPONSE FR E
QUENCY CHARACTERISTIC. The ratio

M IC R O P H O N E , CRYSTAL (P IE Z O E L E C
T RIC M IC R O P H O N E ).
A microphone

e/p as a function of frequency, where e is the

open circuit voltage generated by the m icro
phone, in volts, and p is the sound pressure, in
dyn es/cm 2, in a free progressive wave prior
to the introduction of the microphone. (See

A microphone
designed to pick up mechanical vibrations di
rectly without relying upon acoustic transfer.

which depends for its operation on the gen

eration of an electric charge by the deform a
tion of a body (usually crystalline) having
piezoelectric properties. (See bimorph cell.)

M IC R O P H O N E , D IF FE R E N T IA L . A carbon-button microphone which has tw o but

tons, one on either side of the diaphragm.

M IC R O P H O N E , D IP O L E . A microphone in
which the response is a function of the sound
pressure between two distinct points.
M IC R O P H O N E , D IR E C T IO N A L . A micro
phone the response of which varies signifi
cantly with the direction of sound incidence.

M IC R O P H O N E , D IR E C T IO N A L CH A RAC
T ERISTIC OF. An expression of the varia
tion of the behavior of a microphone with
respect to direction. A polar diagram of the
output variation of the microphone with di
rection is usually employed.

M IC R O P H O N E , D YN A M IC.

A microphone
in which the sound-actuated diaphragm drives
a coil positioned in a constant magnetic field,
thus producing the desired induced voltage.

M IC R O P H O N E , D Y N A M IC IN D U CT O R.
A m oving-coil microphone with a V-shaped
diaphragm and a single straight conductor
mounted along the bottom of the V. Sound
waves cause the diaphragm to vibrate and the
single conductor is moved in a magnetic field,
thus generating an output voltage.

M IC R O P H O N E , E L E C T R IC A L IM P E D
ANCE FR EQ U EN CY CH ARACTERISTIC
OF. The electrical impedance at the output
terminals of the microphone as a function of
frequency.

wave, free progressive.)

M IC R O P H O N E , GRADIENT.
A micro
phone the output of which corresponds to a
gradient o f the sound pressure. Gradient mi
crophones may be of any order as, for exam
ple, zero, first, second, and so forth. A pres
sure microphone is a gradient microphone of
zero order. A velocity microphone is a gra
dient microphone of order one. M athemati
cally, from a directivity standpoint for plane
waves, the rms response is proportional to cos
nS, where 6 is the angle of incidence, and n
is the order of the microphone.

M IC R O PH O N E , HOT-WIRE.
A micro
phone which depends for its operation on the
change in resistance of a hot wire produced
by the cooling or heating effects of a sound
wave.

M IC R O PH O N E , HYDROSTATIC.
A mi
crophone containing an element which is sen
sitive to hydrostatic pressure. A barium titanate microphone is an example of this type.

M IC R O PH O N E ,

LAPEL.
A microphone
adapted to positioning on the clothing of the
user.
M IC R O P H O N E , LIN E . A directional m i
crophone (see microphone, directional) con
sisting of a single straight-line element, or an
array of contiguous or spaced electroacoustic
transducing elements, disposed on a straight
line, or the acoustic equivalent of such an
array.

M IC R O PH O N E , LIP.

A microphone which
is adapted for use in contact with the lip.

M IC R O PH O N E , M AGNETIC.
phone, variable reluctance.

See micro

M IC R O P H O N E ,

M AGNETOSTRICTION.

A microphone which depends for its opera

tion on the generation of an electromotive
force by the deformation of a material having
magnetostrictive (see magnetostriction) prop
erties.

M IC R O P H O N E ,
M AGNETOSTRICTION
SUBAQUEOUS. A microphone designed to
operate under water in which a voltage is gen
erated in a coil surrounding a rod having
magnetostrictive properties.
(See magneto

striction.)
M IC R O P H O N E , MASK.

A microphone de
signed for use inside an oxygen or other type
of respiratory mask.

M IC R O P H O N E ,
M OVING-COIL
( D Y
N A M IC M IC R O P H O N E ). See microphone,
dynamic.
M IC R O P H O N E , MOVING-CONDUCTOR.
See microphone, dynamic.
M IC R O P H O N E , N O N L IN E A R
TION CHARACT ERIST IC OF.

D IST O R

A plot of
the total distortion of a microphone, in per
cent of the fundamental, as a function of the
frequency.

M IC R O P H O N E
O M N ID IR E C T IO N A L
(N O N D IR E C T IO N A L M IC R O P H O N E ). A
microphone the response of which is essen
tially independent of
incidence. It should
case, omnidirectional
well as azimuth. In
this is not necessarily

the direction of sound

be noted that, in this
refers to elevation as
radio antenna practice
the case.

M IC R O P H O N E , PARABOLIC.
A micro
phone whose directional characteristics have
been improved by a parabolic reflector.
M IC R O P H O N E ,
PHASE
DIST O RT ION
CHARACT ERIST IC OF.
A plot of the
phase angle between the voltage output of
the microphone, with respect to some refer
ence voltage, as a function of the frequency.

M IC R O P H O N E , PHASE-SHIFT. A micro
phone employing phase-shift networks (see
network, phase shift) to produce directional
properties.

M IC R O P H O N E , PO LY D IR EC T IO N A L. A
directional microphone (see microphone, di
rectional) which can be adjusted to operate
as nondirectional, bidirectional, etc.

M IC RO PH O N E, PRESSURE.
A micro
phone in which the electric output substan
tially corresponds to the instantaneous sound
pressure of the impressed sound waves. A
pressure microphone is a gradient microphone
(see microphone, gradient) of zero order and
is nondirectional when its dimensions are
small compared to a wavelength. Various
types of pressure microphone include the car
bon, crystal and capacitor microphones.

M IC R O PH O N E , PRESSURE-ACTUATED,
RIBBON. A m oving-coil microphone (see
microphone, moving-coil) in which a light,
corrugated metallic ribbon is suspended in a
The ribbon is free to vibrate
in response to sound waves.

magnetic field.

M IC R O P H O N E PRESSURE - RESPONSE
FREQ U EN CY CHARACTERISTIC.
The
ratio e/p as a function of frequency, where e
is the open-circuit voltage in volts generated
by the microphone and p is the sound pres
sure upon the diaphragm of the microphone,
in dyn es/cm 2.

M IC R O PH O N E , PUSH-PULL.
A micro
phone which makes use of two like m icro
phone elements actuated by the same sound
waves and operating 180 out of phase.

M IC R O PH O N E , QUARTZ-CRYSTAL, SUB
AQUEOUS. A microphone, designed to op
erate under water, in which a voltage is gen
erated in a quartz crystal having converse
piezoelectric properties.

M IC R O PH O N E , RIBBON. A m oving-conductor microphone (see microphone, movingconductor) in which the moving element con
sists of a thin, flat strip of metal, suspended
in a magnetic field. In addition to acting as
a one-turn moving coil, the ribbon acts effec
tively as a diaphragm. The microphone has
a very low impedance, is quite directional, and
has generally good frequency-characteristics.
It is often referred to as a velocity m icro
phone (see microphone, velocity) since its
output is inherently sensitive to the particle
velocity, rather than the pressure of the im
pinging sound waves.

M ICRO PH O N ES, H IG H E R O R D E R GRA

D IENT. Microphones in which the response
corresponds to the order of the gradient of the
sound pressure. The directional characteris-

747

Microphone, Single-button Carbon Microradiography

tics o f gradient microphones are cosine func

tions; the power of the cosine is the order of
the gradient.

M IC R O P H O N E , SINGLE-BUTTON CAR
BON. A carbon microphone which has a car
bon granule resistance element on only one
side of the diaphragm.

M IC R O P H O N E , STANDARD.
A micro
phone the response of which is accurately
known for the condition under which it is to
be used.

M IC R O P H O N E , STEREO-CEPHALOID. A
plurality of microphones arranged within a
structure designed to produce diffractions and
acoustic pickup patterns simulating normal
human hearing.
M IC R O P H O N E ,
SUBAQUEOUS
CO N
DEN SER. A microphone which is designed
to operate under water and which depends
for its operation on variations in the electrical
capacitance of a parallel-plate condenser.

M IC R O P H O N E , THROAT.
norm ally actuated
with the throat.

by

A microphone
mechanical contact

M IC R O P H O N E , ULTRA- D IR E C T IO N A L .
A microphone consisting of a number of sepa

M IC R O PH O N E ,
VARIABLE
R E LU C
TANCE (M A G N ET IC M IC R O P H O N E ). A
microphone which depends for its operation
on variations in the reluctance of a magnetic
circuit.

M IC R O PH O N E , VELOCITY.
A micro
phone in which the electric output substan
tially corresponds to the instantaneous par
ticle velocity (see velocity, particle) in the
impressed sound wave.
A velocity m icro
phone is a gradient microphone (see micro
phone, gradient) of order one, and it is in
herently bidirectional.

M IC R O PH O N E , W AVE TYPE. A micro

phone which depends for directivity on wave
interference.
M IC R O P H O N IC NOISE.
phonic.

See noise, micro-

M IC R O PH O N IS M (M IC R O P H O N IC S ) (IN
AN ELECT RO N TUBE). The modulation
of one or more of the electrode currents as a
result of the mechanical vibration of a tube
element.

M ICRO PH O T O G RA M . A greatly enlarged

photograph of a spectrum, or of a graphical
record of a spectrum.

rate lines, each covering a certain portion of

the frequency range.

M ICRO PH O T OG RA PH . A very small pho

tograph or one that has been greatly reduced
in scale. (See photomicrograph.)

M IC R O P H O N E , U N ID IR E C T IO N A L .
A
microphone with a substantially unidirec

M IC RO PH O T O M ET ER.
eter.

tional pattern over the response range.

M IC RO RA D IO G RA P H Y .

M IC R O P H O N E ,
U N ID IR E C T IO N A L,
CO M BIN A T IO N TYPE.
A unidirectional
microphone consisting of a bidirectional m i
crophone and a nondirectional microphone.

M IC R O P H O N E , U N ID IR E C T IO N A L , SIN
GLE-ELEMENT TYPE.
A unidirectional
microphone consisting of a single element
electroacoustic transducer with a phaseshifting network. (See network, phase-shift

ing.)
M IC R O P H O N E , U N ID IR E C T IO N A L , U N I
PHASE D Y N A M IC TYPE. A unidirectional
microphone employing a diaphragm -voice
coil transducer unit and a phase shifting
acoustical network to obtain unidirectional
characteristics.

See microdensiom-

The radiography
of small objects where the detail is too fine
to be seen by the unaided eye and the radio
graph must either be examined with a lowpower microscope or an enlargement must be
made by projection. It is a relatively new
field and one which is rapidly assuming con
siderable importance in the study of sections
of tissue, leaf structure, insect anatomy, seeds,
spray materials, textiles and artificial fibers
and even the distribution of the constituents
in an alloy. For this latter the material must
be in the form of a thin section. Soft, i.e.,
low-voltage, x-rays are used and single
coated, fine-grain, high-resolution films or
plates. The resulting radiograph may be en
larged from 1 0 to 1 0 0 times, depending on the
subject, the film or plate, and the voltage used
in exposing the radiograph.

M IC R O R E C IP R O C A L D E G R E E . A con
venient unit for the expression of reciprocal
of the color temperature (see temperature,
color). The value is expressed in m icro
reciprocal degrees by the expression M .D . =
1,000,000/color temperature ( K ).
M ICRO SC O PE. The optical instrument that
bears this name consists essentially of two
parts. (1) The objective is a lens com bina
tion, usually of small aperture and short focal
length, which forms a real, inverted, and
much enlarged image of the object at a point
high up in the microscope tube, very much as
a stereopticon objective throws an enlarged
picture upon a distant screen. The objectivelens system is composed of several positive
lenses, the first of which is hemispherical with
its plane surface facing the object. Following
this is a larger convexo-concave or menis
cus lens, and then two still larger plano
convex achromatic lenses. ( 2 ) The eyepiece
or ocular is placed beyond, with its focal plane
just beyond this image, and acts as a col
limator, so that one looking into it sees a
virtual image, subtending a wide angle. The
instrument is focused by varying the distance
between objective and object.
A magnifier is sometimes known as a simple
microscope or a pocket microscope.
M ICR O SC O PE , CO M POU ND .
A microscope containing more than one lens or lenssystem, com m only the lens-system in the ob
jective and that in the eyepiece. This is the
type of m icroscope in most general use.

M IC R O SC O PE , ELECT RO N .
microscope.

See electron

M IC R O SC O PE , F IE L D EM ISSION. A de
vice used for studying adsorption, desorption,
and similar processes on metallic surfaces. An

evacuated tube having a spherical section of

radius R is coated with a phosphor on its inner

surface. (See figure.) The tip of a very fine

wire, etched to a small point, is located at the
center of the spherical surface. In the elec
tron field emission microscope, this wire acts
as the cathode and the anode is usually a ring
maintained at a high potential with respect to
the wire. The electric field is very intense at
the cathode and electrons are pulled from the
wire tip by field emission. They receive most
of their kinetic energy within a very short
distance from the cathode, where the field is
nearly radial, hence they move in essentially
straight lines to the phosphor, where they pro
duce phosphorescence. If the tip of the wire
is a spherical surface of radius r, the magni
fication is R/r, which may be as great as 106.
Arrangements are often made for heating the
cathode to high temperatures, to remove ad
sorbed materials from its surface. Changes in
the work functions of the various crystal faces,
as atoms are adsorbed when the wire is cooled,
cause changes in the pattern on the phosphor.
A proton form of the instrument is also
used, with the wire acting as the anode and
the ring as the cathode. A very low pressure
of hydrogen gas in the tube supplies the pro
tons, which are first adsorbed on the wire and
then pulled off it.

M ICRO SC O PE, M ETALLO GRA PH IC.

vertical illuminators.

See

M ICRO SC OPE, PHASE-CONTRAST.

phase-contrast microscope.

See

M ICRO SC OPE, POLARIZING.

A micro
scope equipped with apparatus to examine
objects under illumination by polarized light.
M ICRO SC OPE, ULTRAVIOLET. A micro
scope in which ultraviolet light is used to
illuminate the object or field under examina
tion.
Some observing method, frequently
photographic, must be used instead of the
eye. Because the resolving power of a m icro
scope varies inversely as the wavelength of
the light, an ultraviolet microscope may be
used to resolve details too small to be seen
with visible light. For still higher resolution,
an electron microscope is used.

M ICRO SC O PIC. (1) Of such a size as to be

observable with the aid of an optical micro
scope but not with the unaided eye or a simple
magnifier.
( 2 ) In statistical mechanics, the
term is used to describe any of the constants,

properties, or variables of a system which are

below the level of individual detection by the
methods of measurement used in an actual or
hypothetically realizable experiment.

M IC R O SC O P IC REV ERSIBILIT Y, P R IN
C IP L E OF. A postulate that each m icro
scopic process occurring must be accom pa
nied by an inverse process. As stated in a
specific case by M itchell and Zemansky: A t
equilibrium, the total number of molecules
leaving a given quantum state in unit time
shall equal the number arriving at that state
in unit time, and also in unit time the num
ber leaving by any one particular path shall be
equal to the number arriving by the reverse
path.

M ICRO SPECT RO SCOPE.

A
microscope and spectroscope.

combination

M IC R O STATE. The state of a system speci

fied in the ultimate detail permitted by the

Heisenberg uncertainty principle. (For the

application of the term in statistical mechan
ics, see weight factor, statistical.)
M ICRO ST RIP.

A m icrowave transmission
com ponent utilizing a single conductor sup
ported above a ground plane. The configura
tion is equivalent to a parallel-wire system,
for the image of the conductor in the ground
plane produces the required symmetry. Losses
are low, the component is extremely com
pact, and the cost is low since printed-circuit
techniques m ay be employed for fabrication.

M ICRO V OLT S P E R M ETER. The standard

unit of signal strength or intensity of a trans
mitter, measured at some point. It is deter
mined by dividing the receiving antenna v olt
age (m icrovolts) by the length (meters) of
this antenna.

M IC R O W A V E .

An electromagnetic wave
having a wavelength in the microwave re

gion.
M IC R O W A V E ABSORPTION IN PARA
M A GNET IC SUBSTANCES. See paramag
netic resonance.
M IC R O W A V E

ABSORPTION

SPECTRA.

The absorption spectra of materials in the

microwave region, obtained by means of a
microwave spectroscope. ( 1 ) The /-wave ab
sorption spectra of monatomic gases is used to
determine the hyperfine structure of atomic

states that result from the coupling of the

electronic magnetic moments and spins with
those of the nucleus or from other perturba
tions. (2) The /-wave absorption spectra of
gaseous molecules is in large part due to tran
sitions in the rotational energy states of the
molecules (see spectrum, rotation-vibration).
M uch information about the structure of a
molecule can be obtained from a study of its
rotational absorption spectrum and from the
Stark and Zeeman splitting of the absorption
lines in applied fields. Information about nu
clear quadrupole moments and nuclear spins
can be obtained from a study of the hyperfine
structure of the absorption lines (see also
inversion spectrum). (3) In liquids /x-wave
absorption measurements lead to information
about molecular dipole moments. (4) I f a
liquid or a solid contains paramagnetic ions,
and if a magnetic field is applied, /-wave
absorption lines will be observed due to para
magnetic resonance. The fine structure of
these lines gives information about the elec
tric field in which the unpaired electron finds
itself, and this in turn leads to information
about the molecular or crystalline structure in
the neighborhood of this electron. (See also

crystal field; paramagnetic resonance; reso

nance, magnetic.)
M IC R O W A V E EARLY W A RNING .

A par
ticular high-power, long-range, early-warning
radar with a number of indicators, giving high
resolution and large traffic-handling capacity.

M IC R O W A V E EQ UIVA LENT W H EAT

STONE B R ID G E. See waveguide Wheat
stone bridge.
M IC R O W A V E FILT ER.
wave; filter, waveguide.

See filter, micro

M IC R O W A V E PULSER.
crowaves.

See pulsers in mi

M IC R O W A V E REG IO N .

The portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum lying between the
far infrared and the conventional radiofre
quency portion. W hile the microwave region
is not bounded by definition, it is commonly
regarded as extending from 300,000 mega
cycles to 1 0 0 0 megacycles per second (1 mm
to 30 cm in wavelength).

M IC RO W A V E SPECTROSCOPY. See mi
crowave absorption spectra; spectroscope,
microwave.

M ID D L E M ARKER.

See marker, middle.

M IG R A T IO N AREA (N U C LE A R R E A C
T O R ). The migration area of a medium is
one-sixth the mean square distance that a
neutron travels from its birth in fission until
its absorption. The medium is assumed to be
of infinite extent. In Fermi age model of
thermal reactors, the migration area is the
sum of the age and the square of the thermal
diffusion length. In multigroup theories of
thermal reactors, the migration area is the
sum of the squares of the diffusion lengths
for the various groups.

M IG RA T IO N , ATOM IC.

In its simplest
form, the transfer of the valence bond of an
atom from one atom to another within a m ole
cule.

M IG R A T IO N LENGTH.
the migration area.

The square root of

M IG R A T IO N TURE. A glass electrolytic ap

paratus used for investigation of ionic migra
tions. W hen it is filled with a solution con
taining ions and an indicator, and an electric
current is passed, progress of the color change
discloses the progress and rate of the migra
tion of the ions.

M IK E. The abbreviation in common usage

for microphone.
M IL L E R R R ID G E . A bridge for measuring
the amplification factor of vacuum tubes.
M IL L E R CIR C U IT . See integrator, Miller.
M IL L E R EFFECT. The effect, due to feed
back, which causes the input capacitance of a
vacuum -tube amplifier to be larger than the
sum of the static electrode capacitances. In
some circuits a capacitor is deliberately
placed between the grid and plate to provide
a much larger magnitude of capacitance
across the input terminals.

M IL L E R IN D IC E S. According to the Hauy

law, the intercepts of any crystal plane on
the crystal axes m ay be expressed as rational
fractional multiples of the crystal parameters.
The M iller indices are the reciprocals of these
fractions, reduced to integral proportions.
Thus, the symbol (211) means the plane hav
ing intercepts y2a, b, c on the three axes re
spectively.

The notation 2 is used to mean

2. In the hexagonal crystal system, four

indices, the Rravais-Miller indices, are used.
M IL L E R
miller.

INTEGRATOR.

See

integrator,

MILLI-.

A prefix used with many physical

units, denoting one one-thousandth.
Thus
1 0 0 0 millimeters = 1 meter, 1 0 0 0 milliamperes = 1 ampere.

M ILLIR A R .

The unit of pressure used in

meteorology is the millibar, which is 1 / 1 0 0 0
part of a bar. A bar is 1,000,000 dynes per
sq cm. A millibar, therefore, is 1000 dynes
per sq cm. B ar is often used by physicists
and acoustic engineers to denote 1 dyne per
sq cm. Also spelled barye.

M IL L IC U R IE .

One-thousandth of a curie,

symbol me.

M IL L IG R A M .

One-thousandth of a gram.

M ILLIK A N METER. An ionization cham

ber of integrating type, especially useful for
cosmic ray measurements. One of its features
is a built-in electroscope, consisting of a goldplated quartz fiber arrangement under tor
sion, which stands away from (is repelled
by) its support when charged. The effect of
the arrival of the charge to be measured is to
neutralize partly the original charge and per
mit the fiber to approach its support.

M ILLIK A N O IL D R O P EXPERIM EN T. An
experiment performed by Millikan in 1917 to
determine the charge on an electron. In this
experiment small oil drops were introduced
between the plates of a parallel plate con
denser and allowed to pick up charge from
ionization produced in the surrounding gas
by an X-ray beam. B y observing the terminal
velocity of rise and fall of the droplets as the
electric field between the condenser plates was
reversed, he was able to show that the charge
carried by each of the drops was a small
integral number of units of 4.770 X 1 0 10 esu.
which he took as the charge on the electron.
Subsequent calculations, in which corrections
on M illikans result have been made, raise the
value to 4.80 X 1 0 _ 10 statcoulomb.

M ILLILA M B E RT .
equal to

1 /1 0 0 0

candle/sq cm.

unit

of

lambert or to

luminance,
1 /1 0 0 0

it

M IL L IL IT E R . One-thousandth of a liter.
One milliliter is 1.000028 cubic centimeters.
M ILLIM A SS UNIT. One-thousandth of an
atomic mass unit; symbol mmu.
M IL L IM E T E R .

One-thousandth of a meter.

M IL L IM E T E R BAND.
bands.

See radar frequency

M IL L IM IC R O N .

A unit of length equal to

10 7 cm or 1 0 6 mm. Visible light has a
wavelength of a few hundred (400-750) m il
limicrons. Frequently written m/*,.

M IL N E M E T H O D . A numerical procedure
for solving a differential equation. I f the
given equation is y ' = f ( x ,y ) , four values
each of y and y ' are calculated by the Picard
method, expansion in the Taylor series or
otherwise. The next value of y is predicted
by integration of the Newton formula for in
terpolation and corrected by the Simpson rule
applied to the derivative. The process is re
peated step-by-step as long as is necessary or
desirable.

M IL N E THEORY.
ity.
M IN .

See kinematical relativ

Abbreviation for minimum.

M IN IM .

A unit of liquid measure, the sixti

eth part of a fluid dram.
1

minim = 0.06161 milliliter.

M IN IM A X .

See saddle point.

M IN IM U M . A point x 0 for a function y =

f { x ) where the value of y is less than at any
other point in the neighborhood of x = x 0
(see maximum). The test for a minimum is:
dy/dx 0 or oo at x = x0; dy/dx < 0 for
x < Xq) dy/dx > 0 for x > x 0; d2y/dx2 > 0 .
M IN IM U M DISTANCE.
mum.

See distance, mini

M IN IM U M IO N IZA T IO N .
minimum.

See ionization,

M IN IM U M P E R CEPT IBLE D IF F E R E N C E
(A C O U ST IC ). The minimum difference in
the frequency of two sounds that can be de
tected b y the ear.

M IN K O W SK I SPACE.

A flat space of four

dimensions of which three specify the posi
tion (x, y, z) of a point in space and the fourth

dimension represents the time t at which an

Usually the co
ordinates in the space are denoted by x^ifx =
1, 2, 3, 4) with i x, x2 = y> Xs = z, x 4 = ict,
where i2 = 1 . It is also possible to write
x 4 = ct, but then it is necessary to associate
with the space the metric gij, where g 11 = g22 =
g33 = 1 , g44 = - 1 .

event occurs at that point.

M IN O R CYCLE.

See cycle, minor.

M IN O RIT Y CA RRIER. See carrier, minority.

M IN O R O F A DETERM INANT. A deter
minant of order m < n obtained by deleting
one or more rows and columns of a determi
nant of order n. If the row and column con
taining the element A ih are removed, the re
sulting determinant is called the comple
mentary minor to
.

MINUTE.

(1) Unit of time, abbreviation m

or min. One 1440th part of a mean solar d a y ;
60 seconds. ( 2 ) Unit of angle, abbreviation
One 60th part of a degree.

M IRAG E.

A curious atmospheric phenome

non caused by the total internal reflection of
light at a layer of rarefied air. The most
familiar manifestation is observed in warm
weather on paved highways. The air next to
the pavement becomes heated and rarefied in
comparison with that above it, so that at a
sufficient angle of incidence, objects beyond
the area are mirrored as if by polished silver,
giving the almost irresistible impression that
one is looking at a layer of water. Travelers
in hot desert regions are sometimes thus de
ceived. M uch more rarely the phenomenon
appears in the air at a higher level than the
observer. In either case the images are in
verted; and because of the irregular contour
of the air layer, they are usually distorted.
A somewhat different effect, known as loom
ing, is produced by the refraction o f light
passing from rarefied air to a lower and denser
layer. This results in distortion, making dis
tant objects appear grotesquely elongated
vertically, or in lifting into view objects be
yond the horizon. It is most frequently ob
served at sea.

M IRA G E,
mirage.

ACOUSTICAL.

M IR R O R , ELECTRON.

See acoustical

A dynode.

M IR R O R , H A LF SILV ERED. A plate of

glass, quartz, or any other transparent mate
rial, usually optically flat, which is coated on
one side with a thin layer of silver, aluminum,
or some other metal of such thickness that a
certain fraction, usually about 50% , of the
light normally incident on the surface will be
transmitted and the remainder will be re
flected.

M IX E D CRYSTALS. A homogeneous solid

solution in which the crystal lattice sites are

M IR R O R LOSSES. The loss of particles from

the ends of the (magnetic) mirrors due to
Coulomb scattering into the escape cone in
velocity space.

M IX E D H IG H FREQ UEN CIES.

M IR R O R N U C LIDES.

Pairs of nuclides,
having their numbers of protons and neutrons
so related that each member of the pair would
be transformed into the other by exchanging
all neutrons for protons and vice versa.

M IS C H METAL. An alloy of cerium, lan

thanum, and didymium sometimes sputtered
on the cathodes of voltage-regulator glowtubes to decrease the cathode fall. Arcs with
a misch metal electrode are sometimes used
to purify noble gases.
M ISC IB ILIT Y .

The ability of two or more

substances to mix, and to form a single, homo
geneous phase.

M ISC IB ILIT Y GAP. The range of values in

a given condition, usually temperature, un
der which liquids that are otherwise com
pletely miscible mix only partially, or not
at all.
M ISC IB ILIT Y , PARTIAL.

In binary liquid
systems A, B, it is possible to find liquids
which are only partially miscible in each
other. A t a fixed temperature there is a con
centration range over which two liquid layers
are formed, one consisting of A saturated with
B , and the other of B saturated with A. When
the two layers are in equilibrium they are
termed conjugate solutions. Systems of this
type are obtained with liquid pairs such as
water and phenol, and aniline and hexane.

MISTAKE.

See error.

M IT SC H E R L IC H ,

L A W OF.
Substances
that are similar in crystalline form and chem
ical nature usually have similar chemical
formulas.
M itscherlich extended this con
ception by concluding that the crystalline
form of compounds was determined only by

the number and arrangement of their constitu

ent atoms, but this is by no means a general
law.

occupied, at random, by the molecules or ions

of two different compounds. The property of
forming a mixed crystal is typical of isomorphous substances, which must, however, also
have similar atomic dimensions.
The highfrequency portion of a color-television video
signal which is the same for all color channels.

M IX E D

H IG H S.
Those high-frequency
components of the picture signal which are
intended to be reproduced achromatically in
a color picture.

M IX E D H IGH S, BYPASS. The mixed-highs

signal that is shunted around the color-subcarrier modulator or demodulator.

"M IX E R .

(1) In a transmission recording,

or reproducing system, a device having two
or more inputs, usually adjustable, and a
common output, which operates to combine
linearly, in a desired proportion, the separate
input signals to produce an output signal.
The term is sometimes applied to the operator
o f the above device. ( 2 ) In a superhetero
dyne receiver the first detector (or trans
ducer, heterodyne conversion).
M IX E R , CRYSTAL. A heterodyne conversion
transducer employing a crystal rectifier as the
modulating element.

M IX IN G . In isotope separation by gaseous

diffusion through barriers, the process d if
fusion, turbulent convection, or other where
by the concentration gradient of the lighter
isotope normal to the diffusion barrier is kept
as small as possible.
M IX IN G EFFIC IEN C Y. A measure of the
effectiveness of the mixing process in terms
of the effective simple process factor, and the
factor which would obtain under conditions
o f perfect mixing.

MIXING-LENGTH
THEORY
( TURBU
LENT SHEAR F L O W ). A theory of turbu
lent shear flow that assumes the effect of tur
bulent motion can be represented by suppos
ing that small volumes of the fluid are trans

ported a certain distance by the turbulent m o

tion before mixing com pletely with their sur
roundings. During the period of transport,
the small volumes carry with them unchanged
the temperature or concentration (of another
miscible fluid) appropriate to their place of
origin. In the momentum transfer form of
the theory, they also carry with them the
initial momentum of the fluid volume, but the
vorticity transfer theory assumes vorticity
but not momentum conserved during the trans
port process.

M IX IN G POINT.

See point, mixing.

M IX IN G , SYNCHRONOUS.
A product
modulator used as a mixer or heterodyne con
version transducer.

M IXT U RE, C O LO R .
stimulus values.

See color mixture; tri

MO.

M O B ILE E Q U IL IB R IU M , P R IN C IP LE OF.
A ny change occurring in one of the conditions,
such as temperature or pressure, under which
a system is in equilibrium, causes the system
to tend to adjust itself so as to overcome, as
far as possible, the effect of that change.

M O B IL E TRANSMITTER.
mobile.

MKS SYSTEM. A system based directly upon

the present-day metric fundamental stand
ards, the meter, the kilogram, the mean solar
second; whereas the c.g.s. system is based on
the centimeter, gram and second. F or exam
ple, the M K S unit of work or energy, the

joule, is equal to 1 kg meter 2/s e c 2 or 1 meternewton, while the corresponding c.g.s. unit,
the erg, is 1 gram cm 2/s e c 2 or 1 centimeterdyne.
(See mechanical units; electromag

( 1 ) Random motion of various

particles, such as sub-atom ic particles, atoms,
ions, molecules and colloidal particles.
(2 )
Directed motion of charged particles subject
to the action of forces and fields of force.
Hence, the term m obility applies to all proc
esses of electrical conduction, whether by
ions, by electrons, by holes, etc. The m o
bility, /a, is given by the expression
(y)av

ne

fj, = er/m,

M-LINE. One of the lines in the M-series

of x-rays that are characteristic of the vari
ous elements and are produced by excitation
of the electrons of the M-shell.
(See also
quantum number, principal.)
M M or mm. (1) Abbreviation for megamega,
1012 multiplier. The prefix tera, abbreviated
T , is preferred to megamega.
used for millimeter.

( 2 ) mm is also

MM U.

Sym bol for millimass unit, one-thou

sandth of an atomic mass unit.

(1) In radiation chemistry,

(2) In nuclear physics a ra

tio of conversion fractions for the M and N
shells analogous to the K /L ratio. (See inter

nal conversion.)

where a is the conductivity, e is the charge of

the carriers, n is their number-density, (v)av is
the average drift velocity and E is the magni
tude of the electric field causing the drift.
The term m obility coefficient is occasionally
used for fj,j as well as the term m obility. The
m obility is, expressed in cm /sec per v olt/cm ,
or in similar units. In semiconductors the
m obility m ay be directly determined from the
H a ll effect, and is related to the m ean free
tim e t , between collisions b y the formula:

netic units.)

M /N RATIO.
the ion yield.

See transmitter,

M OBILITY.

MKSA UNITS.

The practical (and absolute)

electrical units based on the meter, kilogram,
second, and ampere as fundamental units.

Abbreviation for master oscillator.

and to the H a ll coefficient, R h , b y the form ula:

M = Rh<?,
where a is the conductivity.

M O BILIT Y ANALOGY.

An acoustical-m e
chanical dynamical analogy in which velocity
corresponds to a voltage and force corresponds
to a current.
(See impedance, mechanical
and neighboring entries.)

M OBILITY, H A LL (O F AN ELE CT R ICA L

C O N D U C T O R). The quantity /* in the rela
tion
M=
where

is the H all m obility, R H is the H all

(See

coefficient, and <r is the conductivity.

mobility; H all effect.)

M O B IL IT Y , IN TR IN SIC .

See intrinsic mo-

bility.
M O B IL IT Y , L IM IT A T IO N O F. The m obil
ity of electrons in crystals is limited by two
effects, scattering by thermal vibrations of
the lattice (intrinsic mobility), and scatter
ing by impurities.
(See Conwell-Weisskopf

formula.)
M O B IL IT Y , M IC R O S C O P IC . The mobility
of an untrapped particle in a semiconductor.

M O B IL IT Y O F ION S IN SOLIDS. Conduc

tion of electricity in ionic crystals is due to
the motion of lattice defects, either of the
Schottky or Frenkel type. The m obility is
given by
M = (eD0/ k T )e-Elkr,
where D 0 is a numerical constant, and E is an
activation energy, which depends on the en
ergy required to make a defect and on the
height of the energy barrier that must be sur
mounted in order that the defect may move.
M O B IL IT Y , S E M IC O N D U C T O R .

See drift

mobility.
M BIUS STRIP. Take a strip of paper, give
it a half-tw ist and paste the two ends together.
The result is a one-sided surface.
MBIUS T R A N SFO R M A T IO N . A general
linear transformation in the complex plane.
Also called a homographic transformation.
MOD.

M O D E F IL T E R .

M O D E M . An abbreviation used to designate

units or equipment panels containing both a
modulator and demodulator.
See vibration, normal
mode of; normal coordinates.
M O D E , N O R M A L.

M O D E O F AN O SC IL LA TO R . ( 1 ) Resona
tor M o d e: A condition of operation corre
sponding to a particular field configuration
for which the electron stream introduces a
negative conductance into the coupled circuit.
(2) Transit-Tim e M o d e: A condition of opera
tion of an oscillator corresponding to a limited
range of drift-space transit angle (see angle,
transit) for which the electron stream intro
duces a negative conductance into the coupled
circuit. (3) See oscillator, coupled. (4) See

oscillation, modes of.

M O D E O F PR O P A G A TIO N .
M O D E O F RESON AN CE.

See acoustic mode.

M O D E ( S ), D E G E N E R A T E . A set of modes
having the same resonant frequency (or prop
agation constant). The members of a set of
degenerate modes are not unique.

See resonance,

mode of.
M O D E , P I (ir) (M A G N E T R O N S ).
The
mode of operation for which the phases of the
fields of successive anode openings facing the
interaction space differ by ir radius.
M O D E , PULSE.

See pulse mode.

M O D E PU R ITY (A T R T U B E S ). The extent

to which the tube in its mount is free from
undesirable mode conversion.
M ODER.

M O D E , A C O U ST IC .

See propaga

tion, mode of.

Abbreviation for modulator.

M O D E . A state of a vibrating system to

which corresponds one of the possible resonant
frequencies (or propagation constants). N ot
all dissipative systems have modes.
(See
modes, degenerate.) In the pattern of fre
quency generation in the resonator of a mag
netron, the V -m ode, which is the desirable
condition of operation, is obtained when r-f
potentials on alternate anodes are opposite in
polarity. Oscillation at other than the desired
frequency is often termed m oding. (See en
tries immediately following.)

See filter, mode.

See coder, pulse.

M O D E R A T IN G R A TIO . In nuclear tech

nology the ratio of the slowing down power
to the m acroscopic absorption cross section
(see cross section, macroscopic).
It is a
measure of the effectiveness of a moderator.
M O D E R A T IO N . Slowing down of a particle
by collisions with nuclei. This term is ap
plied especially to neutrons.
M O D E R A T O R . A substance, such as graph
ite, used to slow down neutrons by means of

collisions.
M O D E , RESON AN T.

See resonant mode.

M O D E SE PA R A TIO N (IN AN O SC IL L A
T O R ).
The frequency difference between
resonator modes of oscillation.

M O D ES O F O SCILLA T IO N ,
tion, modes of.

See oscilla

M O DES, RESONANT IN C Y L IN D R IC A L
CAVITIES. See resonant modes in cylin
drical cavities.
M O D E SUPPRESSOR, W A V E G U ID E .
waveguide mode suppressor.
M O D E TRANSDUCER (M O D E
F O R M E R ). See transducer, mode.

See

TRANS

M O D E TRANSFORM ER.
mode.

See transducer,

M O D E , TRANSIT-TIME.
oscillator.

See mode of an

M O D IF IE D IN D E X O F REFRACTION .
See index of refraction, modified.
M O D U L A T E D C O L O R SUBCARRIER. See
carrier color signal.
M O D U L A T IN G SIGNAL.
The same
modulating wave. (See modulation.)
M O D U L A T IN G W AVE.

as

See modulation.

M O D U LA T IO N . The process or result of

the process whereby some characteristic of
one wave is varied in accordance with an
other wave is called the modulating wave,
modulated wave is called the carrier, and the
other wave is called the modulating wave.
B y extension, the term modulation is applied
to any process that varies a characteristic of
the carrier. The carrier may be altered in ac
cordance with the intelligence (speech, music,
television picture signal, etc.) in three funda
mental ways, by varying the amplitude of the
carrier giving amplitude modulation, by vary
ing the frequency of the carrier giving fre-

Audio Wave

M O DU LA TION , ABSORPTION.

A system
amplitude modulation (see
modulation, amplitude) of the output of a
radio transmitter by means of a variableimpedance device inserted in or coupled to
the output circuit.
for

producing

M O DU LA TION , A M PLITU DE, O R AM.

Modulation in which the amplitude of a wave
is the characteristic subject to variation.

M O DU LA T ION , ANGLE.
Modulation in
which the angle of a sine-wave carrier is the
characteristic subject to variation. Phase and
frequency modulation are particular forms
of angle modulation.
M O DU LA T ION , ANODE.
plate.

See modulation,

M O D U LA T IO N ,

ASYMMETRICAL.
The
production of unequal amplitudes of positive
and negative modulation peaks due to nonlinearities in the modulated stage. This effect
m ay be regarded as a shift in carrier ampli
tude or power, and not as a shift in carrier
frequency.
M O D U LA T IO N , BEAM, PERCENTAGE
(IM A G E O RT H IC O N S). One hundred times
the ratio of ( 1 ) the signal output current for
highlight illumination on the tube to ( 2 ) the
dark current. (See current, dark.)

M O D U LA T IO N
CAPABILITY
( AURAL
TRANSMITTER). The maximum percentage
modulation that can be obtained without ex
ceeding a given distortion figure.
M O D U LA T ION ,

CATH ODE.
Amplitude
modulation (see modulation, amplitude) ac
complished by application of the modulating
voltage to the cathode circuit.
M O DU LA T ION , CA T H OD E PULSE. Mod
ulation produced in an amplifier or oscillator

- m - Ht x / w f c
Carrier

depth of velocity, small-signal; modulation,

velocity.)

Frequency

\Pj Modulated WavmiE

M odulated waves.

quency modulation, or by varying the phase

of the carrier, thereby producing phase mod
ulation. (See modulation, beam, percentage;

modulation, convection-current; modulation,

by application of externally generated pulses

to the cathode circuit.

M O D U LA T IO N C O E FF IC IE N T (TRAVEL
ING-WAVE TUBE). See gap factor.
M O DU LA TION ,

CONDUCTIVITY.

See

conductivity modulation.
M O DU LA T ION ,
CONSTANT -CURRENT
(H E IS IN G ). A system of amplitude modula

tion (see modulation, amplitude) wherein the

output circuits of the signal amplifier and the
carrier-wave generator or amplifier are di
rectly and conductively coupled by means of
a common inductor, which has ideally infinite
impedance to the signal frequencies and which,
therefore, maintains the common plate-supply
current of the two devices constant. The signal-frequency voltage, thus appearing across
the common inductor, appears also as modula
tion of the plate supply to the carrier genera
tor or amplifier, with corresponding modula
tion of the carrier output.

M O D U LA T IO N , CONTROLLED-CARRIER.
See carrier, controlled.
M O D U LA T IO N ,
CO N V ECT ION -CU R
RENT. The time variation in the magnitude
o f the convection current (see current, elec
tric) passing through a surface, or the process
o f directly producing such a variation.

M O D U LA T IO N , CROSS. A type of inter

modulation due to modulation of the carrier
of the desired signal by an undesired signal.

M O D U LA T IO N , D E P T H OF.

In a radio
guidance system obtaining directive inform a
tion from two spaced lobes of a directional
antenna system, the ratio of the difference in
field strength of the two lobes to the field
strength of the greater at a given point in
space.

M O D U LA T IO N ,
DEPTH
OF
KLYST RO N (S). The ratio, which determines the
change of electron velocity in the input gap,
of the product of the beam-coupling coefficient,
multiplied by the alternating component of
gap voltage in the first resonator, divided by
the d-c accelerating voltage between the cath
ode and the first gap. (See klystron.)

M O D U LA T IO N , D E P T H O F VELOCITY,
SM ALL SIGNAL. See modulation, velocity,
depth of small signal.
M O D U LA T IO N
DET ECT OR,
A M P L I
TUDE. See detector; demodulator.
M O D U LA T IO N , D IF F E R E N C E IN DEPT H
O F ( D D M ). In directive systems employing
overlapping lobes with modulated signals (such
as instrument low approach systems) a frac
tion obtained by subtracting from the percent
age of modulation of the larger signal the per

centage of modulation of the smaller signal

and dividing by 1 0 0 .

M O DU LA TION , D O U RLE.

A modulation
system in which the modulating signal is used
to modulate a sub-carrier. The modulated
sub-carrier is used in turn to modulate a

carrier.
M O D U LA T ION , D O W N W A R D .
Modula
tion in which the instantaneous amplitude of
the modulated wave is never greater than the
amplitude of the unmodulated carrier.

M O DU LA TION , DUAL.
The process of
modulating a common carrier wave or sub
carrier by two different types of modulation
(e.g., amplitude and frequency-modulation)
each conveying separate information.
M O DU LA TION , E LE C T R IC (AL).

A fac
simile term referring to the modulation of a
carrier by the signal current in any form of
electrical or electronic modulator.

M O D U LA T IO N FACTOR.

( 1 ) The ratio of
the peak variation actually used to the maxi
mum design variation in a given type of mod
ulation. In conventional amplitude modula
tion the maximum design variation is con
sidered that for which the instantaneous am
plitude of the modulated wave reaches zero.
(2) The modulation factor of an amplitudemodulated wave has also been defined as the
ratio of half the difference between the maxi
mum and minimum amplitudes to the average
amplitude. In linear modulation, the aver
age amplitude of the envelope is equal to the
amplitude of the unmodulated wave, provided
there is no zero-frequency component in the
modulating signal wave (as in telephony).
For modulating signal waves having unequal
positive and negative peaks, positive and neg
ative modulation factors may be defined as
the ratios of the maximum departures (posi
tive and negative) of the envelope from its
average value, to its average value.

M O DU LA TION , FREQUENCY.
See
quency modulation for these entries.

fre

M O D U LA T IO N G R ID . An electrode inter
posed between the cathode and focusing elec
trodes in a cathode-ray tube to control the
amount of emission and thereby the brilliance
o f the spot. This controlling effect is produced

by altering the voltage of this grid with respect

to the cathode.

M O D U LA T IO N , G R ID BIAS.
tion, grid.

See modula

M O D U LA T IO N , G R ID PULSE. Modula
tion produced in an amplifier or oscillator by
application of one or more pulses to a grid
circuit.
M O D U LA T IO N , GROUP.

In telephone car
rier circuits and in radio links of telephone
circuits, the treatment of several carrier
channels as a single group and the modula
tion of the whole upon a new carrier. In the
reception of such a system, of course, the re
ceived signal must first be demodulated into
the various channels, and then in another step
each channel must be demodulated to obtain
the original voice currents.

M O D U LA T IO N , H E IS IN G . See modulation,
constant-current.
M O D U LA T IO N , HIGH-LEVEL.
Modula
tion produced at a point in a system where
the power level approximates that at the out
put of the system.

M O D U LA T IO N , HUM .

M odulation of a
radio-frequency or detected signal by hum.

M O D U L A T IO N IN D E X . F or a sinusoidal
modulating wave, the ratio of the frequency
deviation to the frequency of the modulating
wave.

M O D U LA T IO N ,

INTENSITY.
Reproduc
tion of an image by the variation of the light
output of a cathode-ray tube in accordance
with the signal.
M O D U LA T IO N , L IG H T .

In facsimile, the
production of a modulated carrier output from
a phototube by periodically interrupting (at
a carrier-frequency rate) the variable-intensity, light beam being transmitted from the
scanned subject copy.

M O D U LA T IO N , LOSS.

Absorption modula
tion wherein the modulating voltage causes a
variation in the energy absorbed from the
carrier source. (See modulation, absorption.)

M O D U LA T IO N , LOW-LEVEL.
Modula
tion produced at a point in a system where
the power level is low compared with the
power level at the output of the system.

M O D U LA T IO N
MEASUREMENT
BY
COM PONENT M ET H O D . A method which
requires the linear rectification or detection
of an amplitude-modulated carrier.
After
filtering, the d-c value of output is propor
tional to the carrier, and the a-c value of the
output is proportional to the modulation. The
ratio of the a-c to the d -c values, multiplied
by 1 0 0 is thus the 'percentage modulation.

M O D U LA T IO N
MEASUREM ENT
DOUBLE-RECTIFIER
M ET H OD.

BY

A
method of measuring peak amplitude m od
ulation employing a diode detector. The
average value of the pulsating d-c output is
proportional to the carrier, the highest values
of the d-c are caused by positive modulation
peaks, and the lowest voltages result from
the negative modulation peaks.
Positive M odulation % = 1 0 0 (F P V c)/ V ef

Negative M odulation % = 1 0 0 (F C M odulation % = 100(F p -

V n)/ V e,
V n)/ 2V C,

where V c is the average value of d-c output,

Vp is the maximum value of d-c output, and
V n is the minimum value of d-c output.

M O D U LA T IO N , M U LTIPLE. A succession
of processes of modulation in which the mod
ulated wave from one process becomes the
modulating wave for the next. In designat
ing multiple-modulation systems by their
letter symbols, the processes are listed in the
order in which the signal intelligence encoun
ters them. For example, P P M -A M means a
system in which one or more signals are used
to position-modulate their respective pulse
subcarriers which are spaced in time and are
used to amplitude-modulate a carrier.

M O DU LA T ION , NEGATIVE.

In an amplitude-modulation television system, that form

of modulation in which an increase in bright
ness corresponds to a decrease in transmitted
power.

M O DU LA T ION , NEGATIVE PICTURE. In

television, a method of transmitting the tele
vision video signal so that all the picture
values are reversed. The brightest portions
of the image are represented by the least
amount of voltage, while the dark sections
of the image have large voltage (or current)
values.

M O D U L A T IO N NOISE.
tion.

See noise, modula-

M O D U LA T IO N , PERCENT. The modula

tion factor expressed as a percentage.
M O D U LA T IO N , PERCENTAGE. The mod
ulation factor expressed as a percentage.
M O D U LA T IO N , PERCENTAGE, E F F E C
TIVE. F or a single, sinusoidal input com po
nent, the ratio of the peak value of the funda
mental com ponent of the envelope to the di
rect-current component in the modulated con
dition, expressed in per cent. It is sometimes
convenient to express percentage modulation
in decibels below 1 0 0 per cent modulation.

M O D U LA T IO N , PHASE (PM). Angle m od

ulation (see modulation, angle) in which the
angle of a sine-wave carrier is caused to de
part from the carrier angle by an amount pro
portional to the instantaneous value of the
modulating wave. Combinations of phase and
frequency modulation are com m only referred
to as frequency modulation.

M O D U LA T IO N , PLATE (ANODE). Mod

ulation produced by introducing the modulat
ing signal into the plate circuit of any tube
in which the carrier is present.
M O D U LA T IO N , POSITIVE.

In an ampli
tude-modulation television system, that form
of modulation in which an increase in bright
ness corresponds to an increase in transmitted
power.

M O D U LA T IO N , PULSE. ( 1 ) M odulation of
a carrier b y a pulse train. In this sense, the
term is used to describe the process of gen
erating carrier-frequency pulses.
(2) M od
ulation of one or more characteristics of a
pulse carrier. In this sense, the term is used
to describe methods of transmitting inform a
tion on a pulse carrier. (See quantized pulse

modulation.)
M O D U LA T IO N , PULSE-AMPLITUDE O R
PAM. Modulation in which the modulating
wave is caused to amplitude-modulate a pulse
carrier.
M O D U LA T IO N ,

PULSE-CODE

(PCM).

M odulation which involves a pulse code. This

is a generic term, and additional specification
is required for a specific purpose.

M O D U LA T IO N , PULSE-DURATION O R
PDM . Pulse-time modulation in which the
value o f each instantaneous sample of the
modulating wave is caused to modulate the
duration of a pulse. The terms pulse-width
modulation and pulse-length modulation
also have been used to designate this system
o f modulation. In pulse-duration modulation,
the modulating wave m ay vary the time of
occurrence of the leading edge, the trailing
edge, or both edges of the pulse.

M O DU LA T ION ,
PULSE
FREQUENCY
(PFM). A form of pulse time modulation
(see modulation, pulse time) in which the
pulse repetition rate is the characteristic
varied. A more precise term for pulse fre
quency modulation would be pulse repetition-rate modulation.

M O D U LA T ION , PULSE-INTERVAL.
A
form of pulse-time modulation in which the
pulse-spacing is varied.
M O D U LA T IO N ,
PULSE-POSITION
OR
PPM. Pulse-time modulation (see modula
tion pulse-time) in which the value of each
instantaneous sample of a modulating wave
is caused to modulate the position in time of
a pulse.

M O D U LA T IO N , PULSE-TIME O R PTM.
Modulation in which the values of instan
taneous samples of the modulating wave are
caused to modulate the time of occurrence of
some characteristic of a pulse carrier. Pulseduration modulation and pulse-position m od
ulation are particular forms of pulse-time
modulation.

M O D U LA T IO N ,
QUAN TIZED
PULSE.
Pulse modulation which involves quantiza
tion. This is a generic term, including pulsenumbers modulation and pulse-code modula
tion as specific cases.

M O D U LA T IO N , REACTANCE.
Modula
tion produced by a variable reactance. R e
actance modulation may be achieved in the
following ways: Electronically by the use of
a reactance tube; mechanically by varying
the capacitor plate-spacing or position with
a motor or other device; electrically by va ry
ing the effective inductance of an iron-core
inductor by superimposing a d-c magneto
motive force; or electrically by superimpos
ing a d-c electrostatic field on a capacitor,

whose dielectric constant varies as a function

o f electrostatic field strength.

M O D U LA T IO N ,
level, carrier.

RESID U A L.

See

noise

M O D U LA T IO N , SCREEN-GRID. Modula
tion produced by introduction of the modulat
ing signal into the screen-grid circuit of any
multigrid tube in which the carrier is present.

M O DU LA TION , VELOCITY. A form of

electron modulation in which the electrons
passing through a resonant cavity in a tube
such as the klystron are acted upon by a m od
ulating field in such a manner that their
velocities cause them to pass through the
collector cavity in groups.

M O D U LA T ION , VELOCITY, D EPT H O F

SMALL SIGNAL. The ratio of the peak am
plitude of the velocity modulation o f an elec

M O D U LA T IO N , SELF-PULSE.
Modula
tion effected by means of an internally gen
erated pulse.
For example, see blocking
oscillator.

tron stream, expressed in equivalent volts, to

the electron-stream potential.

M O D U LA T IO N , SERIES.

An

Plate modulation

o f a class-C amplifier (see amplifier, class-C)

stage by the insertion of a modulator tube
directly in the anode or cathode lead of the
stage. Since the use of a modulation choke
or transformer is not required, the circuit is
capable of uniform frequency response over
a wide frequency-band.

M O D U LA T IO N , SINGLE-SIDEBAND O R
SS. Modulation whereby the spectrum of the
modulating wave is translated in frequency
by a specified amount either with or without

inversion,
M O D U LA T IO N , SPARK-GAP. A modula
tion process which produces one or more
pulses of energy, by means of a controlled
spark-gap breakdown, for application to the
element in which modulation takes place.

M O D U LA T IO N , SPIRAL BEAM. The frequency-m odulation of a magnetron accom

plished by an auxiliary grid-controlled elec
tron gun to which modulation is applied.

M O D U LA T IO N ,
SUPPRESSOR
G R ID .
Modulation produced by introducing the m od
ulating signal into the suppressor grid of a
pentode, in which the carrier is also present.
M O D U LA T IO N ,

T IM E.

Modulation

in

which the time of appearance of a definite por

tion o f a waveform, measured with respect to
a reference time, is varied in accordance with
a signal.

M O D U LA T IO N , TRANSIT-TIME. Modula
tion resulting from the variation of the transit
time characteristics of such devices as klys
trons and travelling-wave tubes.

M O DU LA T ION , VESTIGIAL SIDEBAND.

amplitude-modulation (see modulation,
amplitude) system which transmits one side

band and a portion of the other sideband

which lies adjacent to the carrier frequency.
This is the modulation system employed by
the video portion o f television transmitters,
as a bandwidth-conservation measure.

M ODULATOR. A device to effect the proc

ess of modulation.
M O DU LA TOR, BALANCED.

A modulator,
specifically a push-pull circuit, in which the
carrier and modulating signal are so intro
duced that, after modulation takes place, the
output contains the two sidebands without the
carrier.

M O DU LA TOR, CH RO M IN A N C E.

A m od
ulator used in color television transmission for
generating the chrominance signal from the
video frequency chrominance components and
the chrominance subcarrier.

M ODULATOR, CLASS-A. A class-A am

plifier (see amplifier, class-A) which is used
specifically for the purpose of supplying the
necessary signal power to modulate a carrier.
M O DU LA TOR, CLASS-B. A class-B ampli
fier (see amplifier, class-B) which is used spe
cifically for the purpose of supplying the nec
essary signal power to modulate a carrier.

M O DU LA TOR, CON DENSOR. Essentially

a capacitor microphone (see microphone, ca
pacitor) which is driven by some form of elec
tromechanical or electroacoustic transducer.
The resulting change in capacitance is used
as a variable impedance element in the modu
lated stage.

M O DU LA T OR, COPPER-OXIDE. A recti

fier modulator (see modulator, rectifier), hav
ing copper-oxide rectifier elements. W idely
used because of permanence of characteristics.
M O DU LA T OR, FREQUENCY. A device for
producing frequency modulation.
(See re
actance tube.)
M O DU LA T OR, LIG H T .

The combination
o f a source of light, an appropriate optical
system, and a means for varying the result
ing light beam (such as galvanometer or light
valve) , so that a sound track may be produced.

M O D U LA T O R, M AGNETIC.

The modu
lator is usually employed as a static replace
ment for a mechanical chopper modulator.
Electrical signals at extremely low power
levels m ay be detected, converted in frequency,
and amplified in one operation. B y the use of
suitable circuit modifications, the output sig
nal m ay have the same center frequency as the
supply, modulating, or carrier frequency or it
m ay be a second harmonic of this frequency.
W hen used in the latter mode the device is
known as a second-harmonic converter. (See

amplifier, magnetic.)
M O D U LA T O R, PRODUCT. A modulator
whose output is proportional to the product
of the carrier and the modulating signal. The
desired result can be achieved by sampling
the modulating wave briefly at regular inter
vals at the carrier rate, and applying the en
semble of samples to the input of a band
pass filter having a center frequency coinci
dent with the carrier frequency. One funda
mental property of a product m odulator is
that the carrier is normally suppressed.
M O D U LA T O R, PULSE. A device which
applies pulses to the element in which mod
ulation takes place.
M O D U LA T O R,

REACTANCE.
A device
used for the purpose of phase or frequency
modulation.
(See modulation, reactance;
modulation, angle; tube, reactance.)
M O D U LA T O R, R E C T IF IE R . A modulator
em ploying a diode or diodes. The carrier
source, modulating source, diode, and load are
conventionally connected in series. Because
o f inherently low efficiency, this method is
employed only at small signal levels.

M ODULATOR, R IN G. A rectifier modulator

(demodulator) employing four diode ele
ments connected in series to form a ring. The
diodes are connected with a polarity which
will readily permit current flow around the
ring in one direction. Appropriate input and
output connections are made to the four nodal
points of the ring. The ring modulator is also
called the double-balanced modulator. It can
serve as a balanced modulator as well as a
phase-sensitive detector or demodulator.

M O DU LA TOR, SQUARE LAW .

A device
whose output is proportional to the square of
its input. The carrier and modulating signal
are added in the input to produce a modulated
carrier in the output.

M O D U L I O F ELASTICITY. See modulus of

elasticity.
M ODULUS. (1) The absolute value of a
complex number. It may be interpreted as
the length of a vector representing the number
in complex space.
Thus the modulus of
(a + ib) is (a 2 + b2) 1/2, or if the number is
given in the form r(co s <j> + i sin <j>) or re,
its modulus is r.
(2) The modulus of common logarithms is
log e = 0.434294* *, the factor which converts
a natural logarithm to a common logarithm.
Similarly the modulus of natural logarithms
is In 10 = 2.302585(3) A parameter which occurs in elliptic
functions or integrals.
(4) A formula, coefficient, or constant that
expresses a measure of a property, force, or
quality, such as elasticity, efficiency, density,
or strength.

M ODULU S O F ELASTICITY. The ratio of

the unit stress to the unit deformation of a
structural elastic material is a constant, as
long as the unit stress is below the propor
tional limit, and is called the modulus of
elasticity. It m ay be measured under iso
thermal, adiabatic or other specific conditions.
The shearing modulus o f elasticity is fre
quently called the modulus of rigidity. (See

proportional limit, tension test, Hooke law.)

M ODULU S O F RESILIE N C E . See resilience.
M ODULUS O F R IG ID IT Y .
ulus.

See shear mod

M O IR E .

In television, the spurious pattern

in the reproduced picture resulting from inter
ference beats between two sets of periodic
structures in the image. M oires m ay be pro
duced, for example, by interference between
regular patterns in the original subject and
the target grid in an image orthicon, between
patterns in the subject and the line pattern
and the pattern of phosphor dots of a threecolor kinescope, and between any of these pat
terns and the pattern produced by the chromi

M O LA R ABSORPTION
See Beer law.

CO EFFICIEN T .

M O LA R CONCENTRATION. The number

o f moles (gram-molecules) of a substance per
unit volume of a system. For example, a
molar solution contains one mole of solute per
liter of solution.

M O LA R CONDUCTANCE.
ance, molar.

See conduct

nance signal.

M O LA R EXT IN CT IO N
See Beer law.

M O LAL.

M O LA R LATENT HEAT O F VAPORIZA

TION. The quantity of heat required to con
vert one mole of a substance into vapor at its

Pertaining to moles, as that term

is used in chemistry to refer to gram-molec
ular weights, which are the molecular weights
o f substances expressed in grams; or as of a
solution,
containing
one
gram-molecular
weight of solute per kilogram of solvent.

M O L A L CONCEN TRATION . The number

of moles (gram-molecules) of a substance per
unit mass of a phase or a system. For exam
ple, a molal solution contains one grammolecular weight of solute dissolved in one
kilogram of solvent.
M O L A L V O LUM E. The volume occupied by
one mole of a substance in a specified state
under specified conditions. The molal volume
o f gas, under standard conditions, is approxi
m ately 22.4 liters.

M OLALITY. The number of moles (grammolecules) of a substance per unit mass of a

phase or system, as o f solute per kilogram of
solvent.
M O LAR.
Pertaining to molecules, or to
moles per unit volum e; thus a molar solution
is one containing one gram-molecular weight
of solute per liter of solution.
M O L A R (H EAT CAPACITY, V O LU M E,
POLARIZATION, . . . ET C.). The heat
capacity, volume, polarization, . . . etc., of
one gram molecular weight or mole of a sub
stance. Since a mole always contains the
same number of molecules, whatever the sub
stance, molar quantities usually occur in laws
connecting atomic and macroscopic phenom
ena in rather simpler ways than do quantities
expressed per unit mass, or per unit vol
ume.
(See, for example, Dulong and Petit

law.)

C O EFFICIEN T .

boiling point under atmospheric pressure.

M O LA R QUANTITY, APPARENT.
parent molar quantity.

See ap

M O LA R QUANTITY, PARTIAL. I f X is any

extensive property of a system of components
with rix moles of the first component, n2 of
the second, etc., then the partial molar quan
tities are defined by
dX
dX
X\ = > x 2 = >

drii

etc.

dn2

XijXz' * * are in tensive proper ties of the system.

It can be further shown that the total prop
erty of the whole system is given by
X =

71 \ X \

-f-

7I 2X 2 "t

* * .

M O LA R SURFACE. The surface of a sphere

the mass of which is one mole.
M O LA R SURFACE-ENERGY.

The energy
necessary to form a sphere (gravitational in
fluences removed) from a mass of any liquid
equal to one mole. A t the critical point
the molar surface energy is zero. It decreases
proportionately to increase of temperature,
and its temperature coefficient is the same for
all homogeneous liquids.

M O LA R VOLUM E. The volume occupied

by a mole of any substance in vapor (reduced
to 0 C and 760 m m ). For gases it is approxi
mately equal to 22.4 liters.

M O LD .

In disk recording, a mold is a metal

part derived from a master b y electroforming
which is a positive of the recording, i.e., it has
grooves similar to a recording and thus can be
played in a manner similar to a record.

M O L E (M O L ).

One gram-molecule of any

substance, i.e., the molecular weight of the
substance expressed in grams; thus a mole of
sulfuric acid weighs 98.08 grams.

M O L E FRACTION .

The fraction n*/n, that

is, the ratio of the number (w*) of moles (or
molecules) of any constituent of a homoge
neous mixture to the total number (n) of moles
(or m olecules).
rii
m
Ni

^1 + U2 + * * Ui + * *
U

where
is the mole fraction of constituent i>
rii is the number of moles of constituent i, and
n is the total number of moles of all the con
stituents of the mixture.

M O LEC U LA R. Pertaining to, or character

istic of, molecules.
M O L E C U L A R ATTRACTION. Force of at
traction between molecules which plays an
important role in many phenomena, e.g., in
causing departure of behavior of real gases
from ideality.
M olecular attractive forces
are thought of in terms of three contributions,
all electrostatic. (1) The orientation effect
(Keesom ) applies to molecules possessing a
permanent dipole moment. Interaction be
tween the rotating dipoles gives a net attrac
tive force between two molecules

where r is the separation, T the absolute tem

perature. This cannot account for the entire
cohesive force, because the latter varies much
less rapidly with temperature, and because
many molecules do not possess permanent
dipoles. (2) Induction effect (D eb y e). Since
dipoles are not rigid, each is affected by the
field of the others, producing additional in
duced dipole moments. Interaction between
induced and inducing dipoles gives an attrac
tive force
1

F i oc
r
independent o f temperature. For non-polar
molecules, existence of quadrupole moments
is assumed, which can induce a dipole in other
molecules.
Quadrupole-dipole
interaction
gives a force

which is negligible except at short distances.

(3) London dispersion effect, so called because
of its connection with optical dispersion. M ole
cules which have no average dipole moment,
still possess an instantaneous dipole moment
which averages out in time. Interaction be
tween these and other induced instantaneous
dipoles gives a force

Fd

1
oc

In addition, there are fluctuating quadrupoles

which induce fluctuating dipoles, giving a force
1

Fq V
r
The relative importance of all these effects de
pends on the type of molecule.

M O LEC U LA R REAM.
and molecular.

See beams, atomic

M O LEC U LA R
REAM
RESONANCE
M E T H O D F O R N U CLEA R MAGNETIC
MOMENTS. See Rabi method.
M O LEC U LA R CO LLISIO N . Collision be
tween molecules, which may be perfectly
elastic (e.g., gas in thermodynamic equilib
rium ), or inelastic, resulting in chemical re
action, radiation, etc. The pressure of a gas
is attributed to collision of the molecules with
the walls of the container.

M O LEC U LA R DIAG RAM .

A drawing to
scale which shows certain of the structural
properties of a molecule, and the constituent
atoms, including the bonds between the atoms,
the effective radii, the ionic radii, and, in gen
eral, the shape of the molecule.

M O LEC U LA R DIAM ET ER.

Values for the

molecular diameter have been obtained by
calculation, using the equations for the mean
free path, for diffusion, for polarization, for
viscosity, for thermal conductivity, and for
specific heat.
(See heat, specific.) Values
for the molecular diameter of the same gas
computed by more than one of these methods
often agree closely, but it is not a precise quan
tity, except that it measures the general extent
of the electronic cloud about the molecule.

M O LE C U L A R D IST ILLA T IO N . An isotope

separation process in which molecules are
evaporated from a surface at extremely low
pressures and are condensed before undergo
ing collisions.

M O LE C U L A R EXCIT AT IO N.

The process
of putting an atom or a molecule into a con
dition in which the total energy of its interior
mechanism is greater than it is in the normal
or ground state.
(This does not refer to
energy of translational motion of the particle
as a whole.) A ccording to the quantum the
ory, the energy required to accomplish such a
change must be supplied in certain definite
amounts or quanta. An amount different from
an excitation lim it can not be received by
the atom or molecule. The necessary energy
m ay be supplied b y a collision with another
atom or with an electron (as a cathode par
ticle), or b y the advent of a radiation quan
tum. In the former case the impinging atom
or electron must have at least a certain speed
(see critical potential) ; in the latter, the fre
quency of the radiation must be sufficient to
give its quanta the necessary energy.
(See

Planck law; Franck-Condon principle; FrankHertz experiment.)

M O LE C U LA R F IE L D APPROXIM ATION.
A simple and often reasonably accurate
method for treating problems of ferromag
netism, antiferromagnetism, etc. Each mag
netic ion is treated independently as if in a
field consisting of any external field, H to
gether with the field H ' created by the net
polarization of its neighbors. H', in its turn,
gives the ion an average polarization, which
must be put equal to that assumed for any
equivalent neighbors. This self-consistency
condition is sufficient to give the polarization
as a function of temperature. The assumed
field H f may not be just a magnetic field, but
the equivalent effect of other processes, such
as the exchange interaction between the spins.
The method is equivalent to the Bragg-Williams treatment of order-disorder phenomena.

M OLECULAR FLOW .

The relative rate of

flow of gas molecules through a fine orifice, a
function of the gas pressure and density, and
the size and character of the orifice.

M O LE C U L A R F R E E PATH.

The average
free path or distance traveled by a molecule
between collisions in a gas or in a solution.

M O LEC U LA R IO N BREAKUP. The process

of dissociating a molecular ion into its atomic
components. This is usually done most effec
tively by injection of a molecular ion beam
into a carbon arc. The process of molecular
ion breakup is used in the injection of high
energy deuterium ions into a magnetic field
with the ultimate goal of fusion power. (See
also DCX.)

M O LEC U LA R M O D E L.

A scale model,
made of wires, varicolored balls, or other de
vices, which shows certain of the structural
features of a molecule and its constituent
atoms their grouping, relative positions, etc.

M O LEC U LA R NUMBER. (1) The sum of

the atomic numbers of the atoms in a mole
cule.
( 2 ) An integral number denoting the
position occupied by a given molecule in a
series obtained by arranging molecules in
order of increasing molecular frequency.
M O LEC U LA R ORBITAL.

See orbital.

M O LEC U LA R ORIEN TATION IN SUR

FACE. The nature of the packing of the
surface layer of molecules. For example, a
condensed film of a long-chain fatty acid on
water is arranged in such a way that the gen
eral direction of the chains is nearly up
right. In the corresponding gaseous film, the
molecules may lie flat on the surface. In the
case of a polar aliphatic liquid, the molecules
of the surface layer orient themselves with
their non-polar hydrocarbon chains towards
the air, and the polar ends pointing in the di
rection of the liquid.

M O LEC U LA R PUMP.
M O LEC U LA R RAY.

See pump, diffusion.

See beam, molecular.

M O LEC U LA R ROTATION. The product of

the specific rotation and the molecular weight,
divided by 1 0 0 . (See rotary power, atomic
and molecular.)
M O LEC U LA R SOLUTION. A solution in
which the solute is present in aggregates not
containing more or less than one molecule of
solute; in other words, a solution in which
there are no associated molecules or ions.
M O LEC U LA R SOLUTION VOLUM E.

The

difference in volume between one liter of pure

solvent and a solution that contains one mole
of dissolved substance per liter.

M O L E C U L A R VELOCITY.

In general, the
velocity of a molecule due to random thermal
motion, i.e., the quantity c appearing in the

Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law.

M O LE C U L A R VELOCITY, MEAN.

If an
assembly of particles contains a number ni
m oving with velocity Ci, n2 moving with veloc
ity C2 , the mean velocity c is defined as
7l\Ci -f- 7I2 C2

c -------------------------------Wl + Tl2 + '

Strictly speaking, the mean molecular velocity
in a gas in equilibrium is zero. The term is
often used, however, to indicate the mean
speed, in which case the values of c are aver
aged without regard to sign. It may then be
shown from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribu
tion law that the mean molecular speed is
8 kT
71-m

M OLECULAR
VELOCITY,
MEANSQUARE. If an assembly of particles con
tains a number rii moving with velocity Ci,
n 2 with velocity c2, *, etc., the mean square
velocity c 2 is defined as

m c i 2 + n 2C22 +
c = -------------------------------n1
n 2 + * *
This quantity appears, for example, in the
expression for the pressure of an ideal gas
according to the kinetic theory. It can be
shown from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribu
tion law that the mean square velocity is con
nected with the mean velocity (see molecular
velocity, mean) by the relation

M O L E C U L A R VELOCITY, MOST PROB

ABLE. I f the function given by the MaxwellBoltzmann distribution law is plotted against
the velocity c, a smooth curve is obtained
which has a maximum at a value of c which
m ay be denoted by a, where a is called the
most probable velocity.
It increases with
temperature, and is connected with the mean
velocity (see molecular velocity, mean) by
the relation
2a

M O LEC U LA R VO LUM E O R M O LA R VO L
UME. The volume occupied by one mole of
a solid, liquid or gas, which is found by divid
ing the molecular weight by the density. One
mole of any substance contains 6.0253 X 1 0 23
molecules (the Avogadro constant).

M O LEC U LA R W E IG H T .

The relative mass

of a compound, calculated on the basis of an
atomic weight for oxygen of 16, and obtain
able by adding the atomic weights of the
elements in the compound, multiplying each
atomic weight by the number of atoms of that
element present in the formula of the com
pound. (1) If atmospheric oxygen is taken
as the reference standard (atomic weight =
16), the molecular weight obtained is called
the chemical molecular weight.
(2) If the
oxygen isotope of mass number 16 is taken
as the standard, the molecular weight obtained
is called the physical molecular weight.

M O LEC U LE.

The smallest particle of any

substance that can exist free and still exhibit
all of the chemical properties of the original
substance.

M O LEC U LE,

ACTIVATED.
A molecule
containing one or more excited atoms. (See

atom, excited.)
M O LEC U LE, H OM O NU CLEA R. A mole
cule composed of atoms whose nuclei are iden
tical in charge and mass.

M O LEC U LE, ISOSTERIC.

One of two or
more molecules possessing essentially the same
valence configuration, usually the same total
number and arrangement of valency electrons.

M L L E R SCATTERING. M ller was the

first to derive the theoretical matrix element
for the scattering of electrons by electrons
without averaging over the spin directions of
the incident and struck electrons. In 1957,
Bincer published calculations based on this
matrix element, which indicated the possibility
of determining the average value of o - p for
electrons in a beam by observing the change in
the scattering cross section when they are scat
tered from electrons in a magnetic material
which is first magnetized to saturation in one
direction and then in the reverse direction.
( <r is the vector operator constructed from the
Pauli spin operator and p is the vector mo
mentum operator for the electrons.)
Such
measurements depend upon the electron beam

making a small angle with the direction of

magnetism in the material. The scattering in
such experiments is called M oller scattering.
(For a detailed discussion see R eview s of M od
em Physics, Vol. 31, p. 769, 1959.)
M O L L IE R D IA G R A M . The properties of a
vapor, as recorded in vapor tables, m ay be
displayed graphically in a number of ways,
among which the most used, and probably the
most valuable, is the charting upon a plane
whose coordinates are enthalpy or total heat
and entropy. Generally, the total heat is
made the ordinate, and entropy the abscissa.
This chart of the properties of vapor is named
the M ollier Diagram , and is of considerable
use in tracing both theoretical and actual ex
pansions of vapor. A throttled expansion on
the M ollier Diagram is parallel to the constant
heat lines, and adiabatic expansion is parallel
to the constant entropy lines. Pressure, qual
ity or superheat, and total temperature are
shown on the M ollier Diagram as series of
lines curved and inclined to the axes. Thus
all characteristics of a vapor except volume
may be displayed on the M ollier Diagram.
M O LY B D E N U M . M etallic element.
bol M o. Atom ic number 42.

librium . In a case of equilibrium, this summa

tion must always equal zero about any chosen
moment center. The moment of an area about
a line is of use in finding the centroid of an
area, since the magnitude of the area multi
plied by the distance to a parallel line through
the centroid must equal the summation of all
the incremental areas multiplied by the perpen
dicular distances from the centers of these areas
to this reference line. Thus in the irregular
figure shown the distance from the F-reference
axis (any convenient line) to a parallel line
through the centroid of the figure is determined

Sym

M O M E N T . (1) M om ent consists of the prod

uct of a quantity and a distance to some sig
nificant point connected with that quantity.
The principal moments are moments of forces,
moments of lines, moments of areas, and m o
ments of masses. T w o types of moments are
static moment and moment of inertia. Un
less specifically stated to be otherwise, the
word moment would be taken to mean static
moment. A physical picture of moment may
be obtained by considering the moment of
force (called torque). It is the magnitude of
the force multiplied by the moment arm which
is a perpendicular dropped from the moment
center to the line of action of the force. This
moment is the turning effect on a body against
which the force is applied. The moment of an
area is the magnitude of the area multiplied
by the perpendicular distance from the cen
troid of the area to the axis of moments. Sim
ilarly the moment of a solid is its weight mul
tiplied by the distance from its center of mass
to the axis of moments.
The summation of moments of a force enters
into one of the three equations of static equi

by summing the elementary moments, i.e., ay,

and equating the summation to the product of
the total area, A , and the centroidal distance y.
Summation of ay

In a similar manner the location of a line,

through the center of gravity may be ob
tained in relation to the X-reference axis (any
other convenient line not parallel to the Yreference line). That is
Summation of ax

The intersection of these two lines, whose loca

tion is given by x and y , is the center of gravity
of the area. The center of gravity of a solid
m ay be found in a similar manner by the use
of three reference axes.
The use of the static moment in finding
centroid of areas or masses extends to areas
and shapes which are made up of a number of
elementary areas or masses whose centroids
are common knowledge. Thus a trapezoid
could be considered as made up of two tri
angles; a rivet, of a hemisphere and a cylinder.
This method is also useful in computing cen

troids when the outline of the figure is expressed

b y a mathematical equation, since then the
summation of ax and ay may be obtained as
definite integrals. Cases of irregular figures
which would not be analyzable b y either of
these methods can be treated by graphical
means.
(2) If f(xi, X2, *) represents the pro b a bil
ity of occurrence of some quantity g(xi, x2, ),
then the nth moment of the collection of all
values of g will be equal to

I fix 1, x2, * -)gn(x 1, x 2, -)dxxdx2.

**00

M O M EN T (O F A FR EQ U EN CY D IST R I
BUTION). See moment(2). If the values
of some quantity q are distributed in such a
way that the probability of the occurrence of
a value of q between q and q + dq is PQdq,
then the nth moment of the distribution is
P(q)qndq.
The mean value of qn is then
P (q)qndq
P(q)dq '

M O M ENT , B E N D IN G .

The external bending moment at any section in a beam is equal

to the algebraic sum of the moments, about
the gravity axis of the section. This defini
tion assumes that all of the external forces are
coplanar, that is, act in one plane. An in
ternal resisting moment at any section is
equal to the sum of the moments of the in
ternal stresses about the gravity axis of the
section. The external bending moment acting
on any section is numerically equal to the
internal resisting moment but acts in the op
posite direction. External moments are posi
tive or negative depending upon the direction
in which they tend to rotate the section of the
beam under consideration. (C f. moment.)

M O M EN T O F FO RC E . The product of the

magnitude of a force, and the perpendicular
distance from the line of action of the force
to a point which is the center of the rotation
induced by that force. (See torque.)

M O M EN T O F INERT IA.
ments and products of.

See inertia, mo

M O M EN T O F INERT IA, PRIN CIPAL.

inertia, moments and products of.

See

M OM ENT O F M OM ENTUM .
angular momentum.

Synonym for

M OM ENTUM . See angular momentum and

momentum, linear.
M OM ENTUM , ANGULAR.
mentum and operator.

See angular mo

M OM ENTUM , CONSERVATION OF.

For
a dynamical system consisting of n material
particles of masses ml9 m2 mn respectively
and position vectors rlf r2 rn respectively,
if the only forces acting are the mutual inter
action forces of the particles the total m o
mentum of the system remains constant; i.e.,
2

dv{
rot- = constant.
dt

The law of conservation of momentum is as

fundamental to physics as the law of conserva
tion of mass or the law of conservation of en
ergy. Like these laws, it holds in quantum
theory and relativity theory as well as in more
classical theories.

M O M ENTU M
EIGEN FU N CTION .
An
eigenfunction of the quantum mechanical op
erator representing the linear momentum. In
the Schrdinger representation it is
^ ^ g*PT/A
where p is the m o m e n tu m vector, r is the
position vector, and fi the Dirac fi.

M OM ENTUM , ELECTRO M AG NETIC.

(1)

W hen a charged particle of mass m and charge

q is m oving in an electromagnetic field, there
are velocity dependent forces acting on it
(qy X B, where B is the magnetic induction),
and the momentum my of the particle is not
conserved. The total momentum of the par
ticle and of the electromagnetic field associ
ated with it is, however, conserved. It is this
total momentum p = my + qA, where A is
the magnetic vector potential, that must be
used in the classical Hamiltonian function.
(2) An electromagnetic wave carries with it a
momentum per unit volume of E X H /c 2,
where E X H is Poyntings vector. (3) The
momentum p of a photon, or quantum o f elec
tromagnetic energy, has a magnitude p = h/X
= hv/c where h is Plancks constant, A. is the
wavelength and v the frequency. (See also

de Broglie hypothesis.)

M OM ENT U M , LIN EA R.

F or a single par
ticle of mass m whose position vector is r the
momentum is the vector quantity
dr
dr
m or my. where v =
dt
dt
is the velocity. For a system of n particles
of masses mx mn respectively and position
vectors ri r n respectively the total momen
tum is

M O N IT O R
monitoring.

A M PLIFIE R .

See

amplifier,

M O N ITOR, AMPLITUDE-MODULATION.
A device to measure and to indicate continu
ously the percentage modulation of amplitudemodulation transmitters. In addition to meas
urement of percentage of negative or positive
modulation-peaks, commercial devices may
also provide provisions for measuring program
level, carrier shift due to modulation, and
transmitter audio-frequency response.

M O N ITOR, AREA.
From the fundamental principles of mechan
ics, the time rate of change of the total m o
mentum of a system of particles is equal to
the vector sum of all the external applied
forces. For a system subject only to the ini
tial interaction forces between the particles,
the total momentum remains constant. (See

momentum, conservation of.)

M O M EN T U M OPERATOR. The quantum
mechanical operator representing the momen
tum variable. In the Schrdinger representa
tion, operation by this operator consists of
partial differentiation with respect to the
canonically conjugate position variable and
multiplication by ifi.

MONAURAL.

Pertaining to a single-channel

audio channel.

M O N IM A X.

Trade name for a high-permeability magnetic alloy composed of 50% iron,

47% nickel and 3% molybdenum.

M O N IT OR.
(1) An ionization chamber
mounted in an x-ray beam and connected to
a continuously reading instrument, to serve
as an indicator of constancy of x-ray output.
(2) An ionization chamber used to detect the
presence of undesirable radiation in connec
tion with health protection.
(3) T o check
by means of a receiver the operation of a tele
phone, radio, television or similar transmitter
in order to ascertain the quality of transmis
sion, fidelity to a frequency band, etc.
(4)
Any device designed to check the constancy of
a physical quantity. (5) The device used for
( 3 ), or the action of using the devices ( 1 ), ( 2 )
or (4).
M O N IT OR, AIR.

See air monitor.

Any device used for de

tecting an d /or measuring radiation levels at
a given location for warning or control pur
poses.

M O NITOR,
CATHODE-RAY O SC IL L O
SCOPE. An oscilloscope used to m onitor the
synchronizing and video waveforms of tele
vision transmissions.

M O N IT OR, FREQUENCY.

A device which
gives a continuous indication of any departure
of a radio transmitters frequency from its as
signed value.

M O N ITOR, FREQUEN CY, CRYSTAL.

device containing a highly-accurate, crystalcontrolled oscillator, a stable, variable-frequency oscillator, and a gridleak detector. It
may be used for checking unknown frequen
cies, and as a source of known frequencies.

M O NITOR, FREQ U EN CY - DEVIATIO N.

See monitor, frequency-modulation.
M O N ITOR, FREQUENCY-MODULATION
STATION. A monitor (see monitor (3)) for
commercial F M stations and the aural chan
nel of television transmitters. The quality of
transmission, as well as the carrier frequency,
are monitored.

M O N IT O RIN G .

Periodic or continuous de
termination of the amount of ionizing radia
tion or radioactive contamination present in
an occupied region, or in a person, as a safety
measure for purposes of health protection.
Area monitoring: Routine monitoring of the
level of radiation or of radioactive contamina
tion of any particular area, building, room or
equipment. Usage in some laboratories or
operations distinguishes between routine mon
itoring and survey activities. Personal moni
toring: M onitoring any part of an individual,

his breath, or excretions, or any part of his

clothing.

M O N IT O R, PHASE. An instrument designed

for use in adjustment and operation of direc
tional antennas (see antenna, directional). It
measures phase difference and ratio of magni
tudes of antenna currents.

In addition to the simple monochromatic

illuminator described above, there are a num
ber of instruments using two or more prisms
and, sometimes, more than two slits. These
may offer greater purity of the emergent light,
but are otherwise identical in principle.

M O N O CH ROM A TOR.

The same as mono

chromatic illuminator.

M O N IT O R, PICTURE. A kinescope em
ployed to observe the characteristics of tele
vision video transmission.

M O N O C H R O M E . H aving only one chromaticity, usually achromatic.

M O N IT O R, PROGRAM .
A monitor (see
monitor (3)) used to observe the quality of

M O N O C H R O M E B A N D W ID T H (O F THE
M O N O C H R O M E CH A N N E L). The video
bandwidth of the monochrome channel.

transmission. In broadcasting, it usually con

sists of a complete high-quality receiver which
actually monitors the transmitter output.

M ONKEY CHATTER.

The peculiar garbled

sound resulting from cross-modulation be
tween the sidebands of a strong adjacentchannel signal and the carrier of the desired
signal.

M O N O C H R O M A T IC . (1) H aving one color,

strictly one frequency or wavelength of opti
cal radiation. A ctually no finite amount of
radiation will ever be strictly monochromatic.
It will, at best, contain a narrow band of fre
quencies.
( 2 ) B y analogy, a beam of par
ticles, such as / 2-particles or neutrons, is said
to be m onochromatic if all the particles have
the same, or nearly the same, energies.

M O N O C H R O M A T IC
emissivity.

EM ISSIVITY.

M O N O C H R O M A T IC ILLU M IN A T O R .

See

An
instrument used to supply a beam of light
having some desired, narrow range of wave
lengths; sometimes called a m onochrom ator.
The common form resembles a prism spectro
scope. W hite light, entering the fixed col
limator as usual through a narrow slit, is dis
persed by a suitably-shaped prism, the re
sulting spectrum falls on a metal plate, and a
second narrow slit allows m onochrom atic
light (actually light of a narrow range of
wavelengths) to emerge. This apparatus is
particularly useful (with proper choice of m a
terial composing prism and lenses) for radia
tion outside of the visual or photographic
range, where the detector is some type of
photosensitive device, e.g., a vacuum thermo
couple, a phototube, or a photoconductive

detector.

M O N O C H R O M E B A N D W ID T H (O F THE
SIG N A L).
The video bandwidth of the
monochrome signal.
M O N O C H R O M E CHANNEL.
television transmission, any path
tended to carry the monochrome
monochrome channel may also
signals; for example, the carrier
which may or may not be used.

In a colorwhich is in
signal. The
carry other

color signal

M O N O C H R O M E SIGNAL.

In monochrome
television transmission, a signal wave for con
trolling the luminance values in the picture,
but not the chromaticity values. In color
television transmission, that part of the sig
nal wave which has the m ajor control of the
luminance o f the color picture, and which
controls the luminance of the picture produced
by a conventional monochrome receiver.

M O N O C H R O M E SIGNAL, BYPASS.
A
monochrome signal that is shunted around the
color-subcarrier modulator or demodulator.

M O N O C H R O M E TRANSMISSION.
transmission, monochrome.
M O N O C L IN IC .

See

See crystal systems.

M O N O DISPERSE SYSTEM. A system of

colloidal particles in which the value of the
sedimentation constant is constant for suc
cessive time intervals, indicating that the sys
tem comprises particles of uniform size.

M O N O G EN IC .

See analytic.

M ONOLAYER.

See monomolecular layers.

M O N O M ER.

A single molecule, or a sub

stance consisting of single molecules. The
term monomer is used in differentiation of

dimer, trimer, etc., terms designating p oly

merized or associated molecules, or substances
com posed of them, in which each free particle
is composed of two, three, etc., molecules.

MONOSTABLE.

M O N O M O LE C U L A R LAYERS.
unimolecular layers; surface film.)

MONOSTABLE MULTIVIBRATOR.
multivibrator, monostable.

(See also
The early
work of Rayleigh, Langmuir, H ardy and
others has shown that it is possible to deposit
on solid or liquid surfaces films which are one
molecule thick. A ny such layer is called a
monomolecular layer, unilayer or m onolayer.
For example, long-chain polar compounds at
an air-water interface may form an oriented
monomolecular layer in which the polar end
group is attached to the water surface. W ith
such compounds it is in fact not possible to
obtain films thicker than monomolecular
layers, and if a drop of a fatty acid or longchain alcohol, for example, is placed on a
clean water surface it spreads to form a m ono
layer in equilibrium with the lens of excess
compound. Some monomolecular films, such
as the long-chain alcohols, when deposited on
a water surface, have been found to reduce
the rate of evaporation of water to a consider
able extent. M onom olecular layers m ay also
form at oil-water interfaces and play an im
portant part in the formation of emulsions.
The orientation of the monomolecular layer
on the surface depends on the structure of the
molecule and the density of packing on the
surface.
M onolayers m ay be transferred from a
water to a solid surface by the LangmuirBlodgett dipping technique, and by succes
sive dippings multimolecular films or multi
layers are formed. Such multilayers are often
unstable and recrystallize on the surface.
In the adsorption of gases and vapors on
solids, monolayers are also formed provided
the pressure of the gas or vapor is not too
high. I f the pressure is higher than about
one-fifth the saturated vapor pressure, the
layer frequently becomes more than one mole
cule thick.

M O N O M O R P H IC .
one crystal form.
MONOSCOPE.

H aving one form, i.e.,

A pick-up tube in which an

electron beam scans a target, parts of which
have different secondary emission character
istics.

Referring to a circuit with

one stable, and one quasi-stable state. The
circuit requires one trigger to perform a com
plete cycle. (See oscillator, relaxation.)
See

M O NO TON IC.

A function is said to be
monotonic over a given range of an indepen
dent variable x if the derivative df/dx has
the same sign throughout the range, i.e., the
slope of a monotonic function does not change
sign within the range.

M ONOTRON.

Synonym for monoscope.

MONOTROPY.

The property of a substance

by which it occurs only in one form (com
monly only one solid form ).

MONOTROPY, PSEUDO.

The phenomenon
o f the existence of a substance in a plurality
of forms all but one of which are unstable or
metastable under practically all conditions,
or under all ordinary conditions.

M ONSOON. Seasonal winds which blow with

great steadiness, reversing their direction with
the change of season. In summer their direc
tion is generally toward the large heated land
areas, rushing in to displace the great volumes
of air rising in convective currents. In winter
they blow, with less force, outward from the
great areas of ice and snow toward the tropics,
or out over the surface of the warmer ocean.

MONTE-CARLO M ET H OD.

A method of
solution of a group o f physical problems by
means of a series of statistical experiments
which are performed by applying mathemat
ical operations to random numbers. This
method applies most directly to stochastic
problems.

M O NTGO M ERY N OISE TRANSMISSION

EFFECT. W hen three successive points are
taken along a semiconductor filament, the
noise voltages V 12, F 23, ^13 do not combine
so that the noise power F 132 equals the sum
of V 122 and F 232- This is interpreted as being
due to the lifetime of a hole being so long
that most of the holes entering the first seg
ment also enter the second, and hence the v olt
ages themselves should be added. (See fila

ment noise.)

. Abbreviation
power-amplifier.

for master-oscillator

MORERA THEOREM. The converse of the

Cauchy theorem. If f ( z ) is a continuous
function of the complex variable z, and if
f

f(z)dz

Jo
for any closed contour in the complex plane,
then f ( z ) is an analytic function.

MORGAN EQUATION. A m odification of

the Ramsay-Shields equation, of the form :
(M v)% = A + B t + Ct2,
where is the surface tension of a liquid at
any temperature, M is its molecular weight, v
is its specific volume at temperature t, (M v)^
is the molar surface energy, A and are con
stants, and = 2C(tc 6 ), where tc is the
critical temperature.

MORPHOTROPY. In crystals the change in

the ratio in the length of the axes caused by
changes in molecular structure such as substi
tution of certain radicals.
MORSE EQUATION. An equation relating
the potential energy of a diatomic molecule
to the internuclear distance. It is of the form :
U(r) = D ( 1 -

e - a{r~r^ )2y

where U (r) is the potential energy for an in

ternuclear distance r, measured from the low
est point (M ) of the curve in the figure, as

tronic state has a different potential energy

curve.

MORSE POTENTIAL.

See Morse equation.

MOSAIC. The screen used in an iconoscope,

which receives this name from its similarity
to that form of art wherein a great many bits
of colored tile are combined so as to form a
picture.
MOSAIC STRUCTURE.
Evidence from
x-ray analysis suggests that even an annealed
single crystal is usually composed of a m o
saic of blocks of the order of 5000 A in dimen
sion and tilted to one another at angles of
the order of 10 minutes.

MOSELEY LAW.

The frequency of a line

belonging to a particular series of character
istic x-rays is quantitatively related to the
atomic number Z of the target element by the
expression:
= a(Z -

<r),

where a is a proportionality constant and a is

the same for all the given series, thus for the
K a lines, a is 1 .0 , and for the L a line, a is 7.4.

MOSELEY NUMRER (Z). The atomic num

ber.
MOSELEY PLOTS FOR X-RAY LEVELS.
Graphical relationships in which the square
root of the frequency of characteristic lines
of a given x-ray series, is plotted against the
atomic numbers of the elements producing
the x-rays. W ith fair accuracy these plots
are straight lines, not only for the K a lines
of the elements, but also for L a lines, M a
lines, etc., thus demonstrating the relationship
between the characteristic x-rays emitted by
an element, and its atomic number or some
closely related quantity such as nuclear
charge. (See Moseley law.)

MOTHER.

A groove structure formed by

electroplating a thin layer of metal onto a
pressing formed by a master, and thus con
stituting the second step in the manufacture
of a phonograph record. The mother is used
to manufacture the stamper.
zero; the equilibrium distance, i.e., at M is
re and D is the dissociation energy, corre
sponding to the level Vc, also measured from
the lowest point; a is a constant. E very elec

MOTION. A change in position with respect

to a reference system of a material particle
or aggregate of such particles.

M O T IO N A L IM P E D A N C E .
ance, motional.
M O T IO N BACKW ARDS
Feynman diagram.

IN

See

imped

TIM E.

See

M O T IO N , CONSTRAINED. A form of mo
tion in which the geometry of the environ
ment compels the particle or object to move
on a specified curve or surface.

M O T IO N , EQUATIONS OF. A set of equa

tions, generally in differential form, which
when solved yield information concerning the
subsequent motion of a particle or system of
particles whose initial conditions are known.
The initial conditions are specified by the
initial position and initial velocity. A knowl
edge of the resultant force acting on the sys
tem at any instant is also necessary. There
are several equivalent forms in which the
equations of motion may be expressed. (See
Newton laws of motion; Lagrange equations;
canonical equation of motion; and Euler equa
tions of motion ( for rotational motion);
kinematics.)
M O T IO N, H E ISE N B E R G EQUAT ION OF.
See Heisenberg equation of motion.
M O T IO N O F A SPHERE IN AN IN C O M
PRESSIBLE F L U ID , EQ UA T ION OF. The
equation obtained by equating the mass-acceleration product to the sum of the gravita
tional, buoyancy and hydrodynam ic forces on
the sphere. If the Reynolds number of flow
is low, the hydrodynam ic forces are propor
tional to the velocity of the sphere and are
given by the Stokes law. A t large Reynolds
numbers the resistance is more nearly pro
portional to the square of the velocity.

M O T IO N O F LIN ES O F FO RC E. A velocity
can be ascribed to the magnetic lines of force
in an infinitely conducting fluid, although elec
tromagnetic theory does not provide a unique
definition of the motion of a line of force.
The condition that the lines of force are frozen
into the material and move with the velocity
V is V X (E + V X B) = 0 , where E and B
are the electric and magnetic fields respec
tively.

M O T IO N , OSCILLATORY.

Persistent m o
tion which is confined to a finite region of
space. Such motion is not necessarily pe
riodic (see, for example, Lissajous figures),

but when it is, there is precise repetition after

the elapse of a finite time called the period.
The motion of a pendulum, of a weight on a
stretched spring and of a point in a plucked
string are examples of oscillatory motion.
(See oscillator.)

M OTION, PARAM ETRIC EQUATIONS OF.

In certain cases of motion in two and three
dimensions, the solutions of the differential
equations of motion yield the displacements
of the components along the coordinate axes
as a function of time with the general form of
these parametric equations:
X = flit)
V = / 2 (0
* = / 8 (0 These are called parametric equations of the
path with the time t as the parameter. T o
determine the path of the motion in the par
ticular two or three dimensional space, it is
necessary to eliminate the time and obtain a
function of the form $ (x ,y ,z ) = 0 .
The motion of a projectile and the com po
sition of simple harmonic motions in a plane
are examples. (See kinematics.)

M O T IO N PICTURE SOUND R E P R O D U C
IN G SYSTEM. See reproducing, sound, mo
tion picture.
M OTION, SIM PLE H A RM O N IC .
monic motion and related entries.
M OTION, VIBRATORY.
latory.

See har

See motion, oscil

M OTORBOATING.
The occurrence of a
very low frequency oscillation in an amplifier
(especially audio) due to an undesirable
amount of positive feedback.
M O TOR EFFECT. The repulsive force ex
erted between adjacent conductors carrying
currents in opposite directions.
M OTOR, ELECT RIC.

A machine which, re
ceiving electrical energy, converts it into me
chanical energy. A classification of the prin
cipal types is as follows:
A. Direct-current types.
1.

Shunt.
Series.
3. Compound.

2.

Straight or Interpole

B. Alternating-current types.
1 . Synchronous.
2 . Induction.
a. Polyphase.
( 1 ) Squirrel-cage rotor.
( 2 ) W ound rotor.
(a) Slip ring.
(b) Brush shifting.
b. Single-phase.
( 1 ) Split-phase.
( 2 ) Repulsion-induction.
(3) Condenser.
c. Universal (series).

Direct-current motors are much less fre

quently employed than alternating-current,
because of the preponderance of a-c over d-c
systems. However, speed control and starting
torque are so excellent with d-c that it is fre
quently used where these characteristics are
important. The shunt motor has a wound
armature, the ends of the windings of which
are brought to a commutator, upon which rest
brushes. The incoming leads are connected
to these brushes so that the line voltage is
impressed across the windings of the arma
ture. The stationary field coils are connected
across the brushes in shunt arrangement so
that they receive a constant voltage. When
the m otor is running, the coils of the armature
cut the lines of force of the magnetic field,
and so generate an internal voltage known
as the counter-electrom otive force. The sum
o f this counter-electromotive force and the
resistance drop through the armature must
equal the impressed voltage. Consequently
the current taken is much larger when the
motor is revolving slowly than when it is up
to speed. This also explains why weakening
the shunt-field current (and thereby the lines
o f force) causes the armature to increase its
speed. Unlike the shunt motor, whose field
current is practically constant at all speeds, the
series m otor produces a field which is maxi
mum during starting and decreases as the
m otor comes up to speed. For this reason, the
series m otor has a powerful starting torque,
and is used for hoists, traction motors, and the
like. The shunt motor is essentially a constant-speed typ e; the series, a variable speed
type. A m otor having better speed regulation
and starting torque can be obtained by a com
pound winding having both shunt and series
fields. Small poles, located between the shuntfield poles, and wound with series coils, will

compensate for the distortion of the field flux,

and such motors are known as interpole
motors. (See interpole.)
The classification given shows a primary
division into synchronous and induction types.
Of these, the induction motor is by far the more
important; but the strictly constant speed fea
ture of the synchronous m otor has caused its
selection in certain cases. The synchronous
m otor is practically an alternator operated
inverted. It has a polyphase stator winding
which carries the main line current. The field
is wound on the rotor and is excited by d-c
brought to it by brushes resting on slip rings.
The synchronous m otor is stable only when
operating at a synchronous speed correspond
ing to the frequency of the system, and if it
is loaded to where it lags ever so slightly be
hind this synchronous speed, it quickly falls
out of step and comes to rest. The threephase squirrel-cage m otor is the simplest and
most reliable electric motor made. It has a
powerful starting torque, and good efficiency.
The stationary windings are connected either
in Delta or Y, as m ay suit the individual de
sign, and are so arranged as to produce a ro
tating field in the space occupied by the rotor.
The rotor is a shaft upon which is built up a
laminated steel core carrying embedded in its
surface copper or aluminum bars which are
parallel to the shaft. The inductive action
of the field on this cage sets up in the latter
induced currents whose magnetic field reacts
against the rotating field set up by the stator
winding, producing a torque. If the rotor
were turning in synchronism with the rotat
ing field there would be no induction and no
rotor currents. Therefore it is seen that the
rotor cannot possibly operate it at full syn
chronous speed, even though idling. The dif
ference in speeds is expressed by slip, i.e., d if
ference in speeds divided by synchronous
speed, and a certain amount of slip is necessary
to secure inductive action. This varies from
2 -5 % of synchronous speed. A squirrel-cage
motor with rotor blocked acts like a trans
former with short-circuited secondary, thus
explaining the high starting torque.
The wound-rotor principle is employed
chiefly on large motors. As its name implies,
the wound rotor has polar windings in the
rotor, the ends of which are joined either in
Y or Delta, and brought to three slip rings.
The currents induced in the rotor are brought

out through these slip rings to an external

three-phase resistance, which m ay be varied
at will from zero to maximum. The operation
is much like that of a squirrel-cage motor, ex
cept that, for starting, the rotor current is
decreased by inserting the maximum of re
sistance in the external circuit. This is grad
ually decreased as the m otor comes up to
speed, until all of the resistance is short-circuited and the m otor is operating inductively
with a normal slip. Given constant torque,
this m otor m ay be varied in speed by varying
the external resistance, but it is somewhat less
efficient than the brush-shifting type, because
of the energy consumed in the resistance. The
brush-shifting m otor is used where consider
able speed variation is desired at good effi
ciency, as, for instance, when driving fans or
pumps of large size. The brush-shifting m o
tor has the primary winding on the rotating
armature, similar to d -c practice. This wind
ing is connected to the three-phase line
through slip rings. Another winding, called
an adjusting winding, is also placed on the
rotor; in fact, in the same slots, but is con
nected with a commutator, which is made
fairly wide. The three-phase stator second
ary windings are brought out individually to
six brushes which bear on the commutator.
Each set of three brushes is joined by a yoke,
so that they m ay be moved simultaneously,
and each pair is placed on opposite ends of the
commutator. W hen these yokes are moved
with respect to one another, they cause to be
included a certain number of com mutator seg
ments in each secondary coil. W hen each pair
of brushes is on a common com mutator bar,
the motor runs as a straight induction motor
at slip frequency. B y m oving the brushes
apart, the voltage induced in the commutator
coil is added to that in the secondary, and
the motor speeds up. These voltages may be
subtracted by m oving the brush in the op
posite direction, resulting in slowing down the
motor. Since the forces needed to move the
yoke are very small, it may be readily oper
ated by the light pressures produced in an
automatic control system.
Turning next to the single-phase motor, it
is entirely possible for a single-phase m otor
to operate inductively like the squirrel-cage
motor, provided it can be brought up to speed,
but a single-phase squirrel-cage m otor has no
starting torque, so there have been developed

numerous ways of doing this for single-phase

motors, most of which are of small size. In
the split-phase m otor, an inductance and re
sistance are used to displace the voltage at
the m id-point so as to get an arrangement
resembling a two-phase impressed voltage.
Of course the starting torque obtainable is in
ferior to that of a polyphase motor, but is
sufficient to start a motor attached to a drive
requiring low starting torque.
For heavy
starting duty the starting torque of a single
phase m otor is created by repulsion, which
shifts over to induction as the motor comes
up to speed. Several systems have been in
vented. In one, the armature windings are
brought out to a commutator, upon which rest
two brushes connected externally by a low
resistance conductor.
A stator winding is
connected across the line. The short-circuited
armature has induced in it the large current
necessary to secure starting torque. As the
m otor comes up beyond a certain speed, a
centrifugally operated switch lifts the brushes
from the commutator and applies to it a ring
which short-circuits all the segments. When
this is done the motor operates as a straight
induction motor. This principle, known as
repulsion-induction i.e., repulsion starting
and induction running is employed in most
small motors which are to produce large start
ing torques on single-phase supply. Another
type of repulsion-induction m otor is less com
plicated mechanically. Here the switch oper
ates during starting, and is closed for induc
tion operation.
The capacitor-start motor is a split-phase
motor, having the phase displaced by capaci
tance rather than inductance. It is superior
to the former in starting torque, efficiency, and
power factor, but more expensive and slightly
more bulky. The starting torque of the m od
ern capacitor motor compares favorably with
the repulsion-start motors. In some of these
motors the condenser is disconnected by a
centrifugal switch after starting; in others it
is left in the circuit to improve the operating
characteristics and the power factor of the
motor.
A universal m otor is a series motor which
may be operated on either d-c or a-c. It is
usually employed in small sizes only, there
being a compensating coil to prevent arma
ture sparking and to improve the power factor.

MOTOR-TORQUE GENERATOR. A name

sometimes used to identify a synchro.
MOTT SCATTERING FORM ULA.

A for
mula giving the differential cross section (see
cross section, differential) for the scattering
of identical particles by a Coulomb interac
tion. Thus, the cross-section dcf> for the scat
tering of an electron of velocity v c
through an angle between 0 and 0 + dO by
another electron initially at rest, is given by
the following relationship, which shows a
departure from Rutherford scattering due to
the indistinguishability of the two electrons:
2ire4
d<f> = T-T- [cosec 6 + sec4 0
cosec 2 0 sec 2 6]d cos 26.

MOUNT

(S W IT C H IN G TUBES).
The
flange or other means by which the tube or
tube and cavity are connected to a waveguide.

M OUNTAIN EFFECT . The effect of rough

terrain on radio-wave propagation, which
causes reflected waves to react with the di
rect waves in a manner which obscures the
true direction of the source. This effect cre
ates one form of error in radio direction-find
ing.
MOVING-ARMATURE
LOUDSPEAKER.
See loudspeaker, magnetic.
M O V IN G BOU NDARY M E T H O D (F O R
TRANSPORT N UM BER).
A suitable se
quence of electrolytes in a tube, say lithium
chloride, potassium chloride, potassium
tate, will exhibit interfacial boundaries.
the passage of current, these boundaries
move, and their relative motion yields
transport numbers of the K + and C lin the KC1 solution.

ace
On
will
the
ions

M O V IN G C O IL LOUDSPEAKER. See loud

speaker, dynamic.
MPC. Abbreviation for maximum permissible
concentration.
M PD. Abbreviation for maximum permissible
dose.
M-RADIATION.

One of a series of x-rays

characteristic of each element that is excited
when that element, com m only as the metal,
is used as an anticathode in an x-ray tube,
so as to excite the electrons of the M-shell.
(See also quantum number, principal.)

M-SHELL.

The collection of all those elec

trons in an atom that are characterized by
the principal quantum number three. The
M-shell consists of one electron in the case of
sodium (atomic number = 1 1 ) and increases
by one electron for each element of succes
sively higher atomic number until argon
(atom ic number = 18), which has 8 electrons
in its M -shell, is reached. The M-shells of
potassium (atomic number = 1 9 ) , calcium
(atomic number = 2 0 ), scandium (atomic
number = 2 1 ), and titanium (atomic num
ber = 2 2 ) all contain 8 electrons, the addi
tional electrons of these elements appearing
in the beginning N-shell. W ith vanadium
(atom ic number = 23), however, there are 10
electrons in the M -shell; in chromium (atomic
number = 24), there are 11 electrons in the
M -shell; and in manganese (atomic num
ber = 25), there are 13 electrons in the M shell; and then the elements of successively
higher atomic number increase the number
o f electrons in the M -shell by one each until
zinc (atom ic number = 30) is reached. All
elements of higher atomic number contain 18
electrons in the M -shell.

M TH E O R Y.

A theory which describes the

dynamic behavior of a compressible fluid with
infinite electrical conductivity when a constant
electric field is applied at its boundary and
no external magnetic field is present. This
theory gives a description of the pinch effect
and is usually discussed in cylindrical coordi
nates. It was the basis on which several
thermonuclear devices were built. (See also

dynamic pinch.)
MTI.
cator.

Abbreviation for moving target indi

(See indicator, moving target.)

M TI SUBCLUTTER VISIBILITY. The gain

in signal to clutter power ratio produced by
the M T I.

M T I TARGET VISIBILITY.

In radar M T I,
one factor in M T I circuit performance ex
pressed as the ratio of the signal strength from
a target traveling at a specified radial velocity
to the signal strength from the same target
when it is traveling at an optimum radial
velocity. The factor applies only when the
target is not in clutter.

MTR. (1) An abbreviation for multiple track

range. (2) An abbreviation for the A.E.C.
materials testing reactor at Arco, Idaho.

MU.

( 1 ) Reduced mass (/x).

( 2 ) Micron
(/a). (3) M illicron (m/x). (4) M icrom icron
ififi). (5) Nuclear Bohr magneton (/x7). ( 6 )
Electronic Bohr magnetron (/x0). (7) Coeffi
cient Of friction (/a), Of rolling friction (fir),
of starting friction (ju8).
( 8 ) Poisson ratio
(fi). (9) M agnetic permeability or inductiv
ity (/x).
( 1 0 ) Relative permeability (fir),
permeability of free space (/x0).
(11) E lec
tric moment of atom, molecule or dipole (/x
or xe) . ( 1 2 ) Magnetic moment of atom, m ole
cule or dipole (jn or fin). (13) Joule-Thomson
(K elvin) coefficient (/x). (14) Refractive in
dex (/x, but n is preferred). (15) Amplifica
tion factor (ytx). (16) Grid control ratio (/x).
(17) Chemical potential (/x). (18) M olecu
lar conductivity (/x).

Mjx

or mjx. Abbreviation
( 1 0 _ 9 multiplier).

for

M U LTIG RO U P M O D E L (N U CLEA R R E
A CTO R). A model in which the neutron flux
is divided into parts corresponding to several
discrete energy ranges. Account is taken of
the difference in spatial behavior of the d if
ferent energy groups and also of transfer of
neutrons between the various energy groups.

M U LTIN OM IA L.

A polynomial.
When
raised to a power, it may be expanded by the
multinomial theorem of which the binomial
theorem is a special case. The formula for
such an expansion is:
(x\ + X2 +

+ * * *+ x r) n

millimicro
where ak is an integer and

ak = n.
k=l

|i. Sym bol for micro, 10 ~ 6 multiplier.

I V H / 6 9 1lfci I

e e t r a n s i s t o r p a r a m e t e r jjl/,

etc.
Hf *

M ULTIPATH TRANSMISSION.
mission, multipath.

See trans

MULTIPHASE CIRCUITS.

[Lfci V*fe* See t r a n s i s t o r p a r a m e t e r

liF, etc.
Hjs? V*rb, I* r c 9 \lre* See t r a n s i s t o r p a r a m
e t e r |Ir , |I r b 9 |XiEC9 Pr e *

Hr? Iirb* V*ro M-re.

|ir9 etc.

See t r a n s i s t o r p a r a m e t e r

M any alternat
ing current devices, such as motors, may be
designed more com pactly and for greater effi
ciency if they are supplied with two or more
periodic currents, which have the same fre
quency and fixed phase relations. (See alter
nating current circuits.) Thus suppose that
the two alternators shown in Fig. 1 (a ) supply

M U E L L E R LAW .

The difference between

sensations is not in the nerve impulses, which
are of the same kind for all senses, but in the
activities in the portions of the brain to
which the impulses travel. C olor sensation,
like other sensations, is subject to this law.

MUF. Abbreviation for maximum usable fre

quency.
Fig. 1.

MU-FACTOR (OF AN n-TERMINAL E L E C

TRON TUBE). The ratio of the magnitude

(a)

(W

Two-phase circuits: (a) four-wire, (b) threewire.

of infinitesimal change in the voltage at the

jth electrode to the magnitude of an infinitesi
mal change in the voltage at an ith electrode
under the conditions that the current to the
mth electrode remains unchanged, and the
voltages of all other electrodes be maintained
constant. (See amplification factor.)

currents 70 cos wt and 70 cos (tot + 90) to

the identical resistors R R. Taking the
resistance of each of the four leads as r, we
find that the power dissipated in heat produc
tion in each of the leads is P = y2Io2r- If,
however, the circuit is reconnected as shown in
Fig. 1 (b ), the instantaneous current flowing
in the common lead is

M ULTIAR. A diode-controlled, regenerativeamplitude comparator. The name implies a

I = 70[cos cot + COS (t + 90)]

certain configuration.

= Jo (cos cot sin t) = y / 2 J 0 COS (cot + 45).

Hence the power dissipated in this lead is P =

I 02r, exactly the same as was dissipated before
in the two leads that it replaced, but the
amount of wire required is only % of that used
in the original circuit. On the other hand, if
the same mass of conductor is used, the crosssectional area of each wire can be increased by
a factor
the resistance rf =
replaces r,
and the power dissipated in each lead is re
duced to 3 I02r/S.
The arrangement just discussed is known as
a two phase, three-wire circuit. Generally, the
tw o alternators are replaced by a single ma
chine, having two interconnected windings.
The most com monly used multiphase system
is one in which three currents are supplied, the
phase difference between any two being 1 2 0 .
Such a three-phase system may employ either
three wires or four wires, as shown in Fig. 2 .

M U LT IPLE REFLECTIONS.

When a ray
of light strikes a transparent plane-parallel
plate, some of the radiation will be reflected,
while some will enter the plate and be partly
reflected back and forth between the two sides
of the plate. A t each reflection, some of the
radiation will escape to the outside (provided
the angle of the ray inside the plate with the
normal to the surface is less than the critical
angle). (See total internal reflection.) The
radiation which is reflected on the first contact
with the plate is of opposite phase with that
which has entered and then been emitted from
the entrant side. It can be shown that the
total energy of the first reflected beam is equal
to the total of the other reflected light on the
entrant side so that total interference occurs
when 2nd cos <f> = mA, n being the refractive
index of the plate, d its thickness, </> the angle
of incidence and raA an integral number of
wavelengths. There is never total interfer
ence for the transmitted beam. (See Fabry
and Perot etalon and Haidinger fringes.)

M U LT IPLE STACK (R ELA Y ).

multiple (relay).

(a)

(b)

Fig. 2. Three-phase circuits: (a) three-wire A-connection, (b) four-wire Y-connection.

See pile-up,

MULTIPLET. A group of spectrum lines

arising from transitions from excited energy
states having the same total orbital angular
momentum quantum number L compounded
with the total spin quantum number S in
2 S + 1 different ways.
(See fine structure;
multiplicity.)
M U LTIPLET INTENSITY RULES.

The two arrangements shown are known as

delta-(A-) and Y-connections for obvious
reasons. If the effective currents in the three
coils of the Y connection are equal, the current
in the fourth (bottom ) wire is I J 0 cos cot +
I 0 c o s M + 1 2 0 ) + I cos (a>t - 1 2 0 ) = 0 .
Omission of this wire is therefore possible, giv
ing a three-wire Y-connection.
Six phase and twelve phase systems are oc
casionally used.

MULTIPLE-ADDRESS C O D E .
instruction.
M U LT IPLE DECAY.
M U LT IPLE
branching.

See code,

See branching.

D ISIN T EGRAT IO N .

M U LT IPLE GRATING.
cross grating.

See

See

ultrasonic

Rules
for the relative intensities of spectral multiplet lines: (1) The sum of the intensities of all
lines of a multiplet which start from a com
mon initial level is proportional to the quan
tum weight (27 + 1 ) of the initial level. ( 2 )
The sum of the intensities of all lines of a
multiplet which end on a common final level
is proportional to the quantum weight
( 2 J + 1 ) of the final level.

M U LT IPLE TRACK RANGE. An adapta

tion of the G EE systems utilizing two closely
spaced synchronized pulse stations. The in
dicator in the aircraft has several predeter
mined time difference settings so that by their
selection a number of approximately parallel
tracks may be flown.

MULTIPLE-UNIT,
STEERABLE
TENNA. See antenna, musa.

AN

M U LT IPLEX.

See transmission, multiplex.

M U LT IPLEX, ASYNCHRONOUS. A mul

tiplex transmission system (see transmission,
multiplex radio) in which two or more trans
mitters occupy a common channel without
provision for preventing simultaneous opera
tion.
M U LT IP LE X CHANN EL.
in multiplex transmission.

A channel used
(See transmission,

multiplex radio.)
M U LT IPLEX ,

FREQ U EN CY -D IV ISIO N .

The process or device in which each modulat

ing wave modulates a separate subcarrier and
the subcarriers are spaced in frequency. Fre
quency division permits the transmission of
two or more signals over a common path by
using different frequency bands for the trans
mission of the intelligence of each message
signal.

M U LT IP LE X IN G ,

M ET H ODS

OF.

The
three basic methods of multiplexing involve
separation of the signals by time division,
frequency division, or phase division.
(See

transmission, multiplex.)
M U LT IPLEX , PULSE-MODE.

A process or
device for selecting channels by means of
pulse modes. This process permits two or
more channels to use the same carrier fre

quency.
M U LT IP LE X
R A D IO
TRANSMISSION.
See transmission, multiplex radio.
M U LT IPLEX , TIME-DIVISION. The p roc
ess or device in which each modulating wave
modulates a separate pulse subcarrier, the
pulse subcarriers being spaced in time so that
no two pulses occupy the same time interval.
Tim e division permits the transmission of two
or more signals over a common path by using
different time intervals for the transmission
of the intelligence of each message signal.
(See also transmission, multiplex.)

M U LT IPLICA T IO N , ELECT RO N . On bom

barding certain surfaces by electrons it may
happen that each impinging electron expels
several electrons from the struck surface. If
these electrons are caught in an electric field
and driven against another similar surface,
each of them may again give rise to several
electrons. A fter several such stages of multi
plication, an appreciable pulse m ay be ob

tained in this manner, starting with a single

electron as / 2-radiation, or produced photoelectrically by y-radiation.
Quantitatively,
the electron multiplication of a device such as
a photo-multiplier is the ratio of the number
of electrons reaching the anode to the number
emitted at the cathode.

M U LTIPLICA TIO N ,
ELECT RO N -GUN
DENSITY. The ratio of the average current
density at any specified aperture through
which the stream passes to the average current
density at the cathode surface.

M U LT IPLICA T IO N
FACTOR,
FERMIW IG N E R , CALCU LATION OF. The cal
culation of the multiplication factor in terms
of the four-factor formula.
M U LT IPLICA T IO N FACTOR, IN FIN IT E.
The value of the multiplication factor cor
responding to a pile of infinite dimensions, or
(approxim ately) to a pile of finite dimen
sions but no neutron leakage.

M U LT IPLICA T IO N FACTOR O R CO N
STANT, k (NU CLEAR REACTOR). The
ratio of the number of neutrons present in a
reactor at a given time to the number present
one finite lifetime earlier. Sometimes called
the effective multiplication constant. For a
homogeneous medium the infinite (k) multi
plication constant refers to the multiplica
tion constants in an infinite medium. The
multiplication constant minus one is called
the excess multiplication constant. The con
dition for a self-sustaining chain reaction is
that k be equal to or greater than unity. (See

life, mean.)
M U LT IPLICA T IO N FACTOR, PROMPT
NEUTRON AND D E LA Y E D NEUTRON
PARTS O F TOTAL. In a reactor in which
U 235 is the fuel, delayed neutrons amount to
about 0.75 per cent of the total neutrons.
This introduces a sluggishness in the pile
which makes control of the reactor feasible.

M U LT IPLICA T IO N POINT. See point, mul

tiplication.
M U LT IPLICIT IES, ALTERNATION OF.
Since the multiplicity for an atom is 2S + 1,
where S is the resultant spin of the electrons
of the atom, and since S is integral or half
integral for an even or odd number of elec
trons, respectively, it follows that the multi

plicity of an atomic term is odd for an even

number of electrons and even for an odd num
ber of electrons. Therefore, even and odd
multiplicities alternate for successive ele
ments in the periodic system. Incidentally,
they alternate similarly in the series of ions
with single and multiple charges for a given
element.
There is an alternation of multiplicities for
molecules just as there is for atoms. M ole
cules with an even number of electrons have
odd multiplicities
(singlets, triplets . . .)
since S is integral, while molecules with an
odd number of electrons have even m ultiplici
ties (doublets, quartets . . .) since S is half
integral.

M U LT IPLICIT Y.

(1) The number 2 S + 1 ,

representing the number of ways of vectorially
coupling the orbital angular momentum v ec
tor L with the spin angular momentum vector
S of an atom. This value represents the num
ber of relatively closely spaced energy levels
or terms in an atom which result from the
coupling process. The value of the m ultiplic
ity is added as a left superscript to the term
symbol, as 3P (triplet P ), 4D (quartet D ) ,
etc. The m ultiplicity of molecules is analo
gous to that of atoms, and is expressed also
by the number 2S + 1. (2) The multiplicity
of an atomic or nuclear level is 2 J + 1 where
J is the total angular momentum quantum
number of the level.
M U L T IP LIE R . (1) A resistor connected in
series with a voltmeter to extend the range
of the instrument. If the (direct current) volt
meter has a resistance R v and the multiplier
a resistance R m, the readings of the meter
should be multiplied by the quantity (R v +
R m)/Rv to give the potential difference. ( 2 )
A device which has two or more inputs and
whose output is a representation of the product
of the quantities represented by the input
signals.

M U L T IP L IE R , ELECT RO N .

An evacuated
amplifier tube in which one or more anodes
have photoelectric surfaces which are exceed
ingly active as to secondary emission. The
original electron emission is cascaded by the
secondary effects.

M U L T IP L IE R , ELECT RO N , E L E C T R O
STATIC. An electron multiplier (see multi
plier, electron) which accelerates and focuses

the electrons by the use of electrostatic fields.

(See particle optics.)

M U LT IPLIE R, ELECTRO N TUBE. A tube

employing electron multiplication, usually a
photoelectric device. (See phototube, multi
plier.)
M U LT IPLIER, FREQUENCY. A non-linear
network or other device for generating har
monics of a sinusoidal input, and having
means for selecting a certain harmonic as its
output. (See also transducer, harmonic con

version.)
M U LT IPLIER, FREQUENCY, KLYSTRON.
A tw o-cavity klystron in which the output
cavity, driven by the harmonic-rich beam
current, is tuned to some derived multiple of
the fundamental frequency.

M U LT IPLIER, P H O T O ELECT RIC (P H O

TOTUBE). See phototube, multiplier; mul
tiplier, electron.
M U LTIPOLE.

(1) An electric dipole may

be considered to be produced by adding to a
charge q a charge of equal magnitude and
opposite sign and then moving the new charge
by a small displacement dlf Similarly, a
quadrupole may be created by adding to a
dipole a second dipole having the same magni
tude of moment but opposite direction, and
displacing this new dipole by a small d2. B y
adding and displacing quadrupoles, one can
create an octupole, etc. Thus multipoles of
order 0 (point charge), 2 (dipole), 4 (quadru
pole), 8 (octupole), . . . , 2 n, where n is any
integer, can be formed. Note that the dipole
is a one dimensional array, that the quadru
pole is either one or two dimensional, depend
ing on whether the second displacement is or
is not parallel to the first, and that all higher
order multipoles m ay be one, two, or three
dimensional.
The potential resulting from
any distribution of electric charge, as observed
at any point outside the distribution can be
represented by the power series:
i
$ = 23 23 r~ l~ lP in(A imsin m</> + Bimcos m<j>)
1 = 0 m0

where r, 6, < are the spherical polar coordinates

of the point of observation, the P f 1 are the
associated Legendre polynom ials (functions
of c o s 0), and the A Xm and B im are constants.
The successive terms in this series may repre

sent the potentials produced b y multipoles of

order 2l and the A im and Bim measure the
multipole moments. (2) Magnetic multi
poles may be constructed in a manner similar
to electric multipoles, except that the starting
point is the magnetic dipole, rather than the
point charge, as isolated magnetic poles do not
exist. The magnetic field of a multipole of
order 2l varies as
(3) The term multi
pole is sometimes used as descriptive of a
motor, generator, or alternator having more
than two poles in its field structure.

M U L T IP O LE MOMENTS. The electric and

magnetic multipole moments of a system in a
given state ij/ are measures of the charge, cur
rent, and magnet (via intrinsic spin) distri
butions in the state
and determine the in
teraction of the system with weak external
fields. In contrast with these static multi
pole moments, there are also transition mul
tipole moments, which determine radiative
transitions between two states and therefore
depend on both states (see multipole radia
tion) . Both kinds of multipole moments may
be written as
. i

YLm*(d<t>)p(r)dV

Qiti
r

for the electric multipole moment of order

l,m, and

Mum = j Yl,m*(8<t>)p div M(r)dV

for the magnetic multipole moment of order
Z,ra. In these formulas the function Y itm(Q}<t>)
is the normalized l,m spherical harmonic, de
pending on 4> as eim<t>; p(r) is the proper charge
density; and M( r ) is the proper density of
magnetization arising from moving charges
and from intrinsic spin moments. The difference
between static and transition moments is in the
densities p and /x; for example, p = eS^*(r)^(r)
for the static case, and p = ehxpf*(r)\pi(r) for
the transition case between states i and /. The
summations are over all charged particles.

M U LT IP O LE R A D IA T ION .

The radiation
field in free space may be expanded into elec
tric and magnetic multipole fields, as well as
into plane waves. Each multipole radiation
field is characterized by the numbers l,m and
by its parity. An electric multipole radiation,
l,m, has a pure transverse magnetic field and
a parity ( l ) 1. A magnetic multipole ra

diation l,m has a pure transverse electric

field and a parity ( I ) 1, A single photon
of multipole radiation l,m, whether electric
or magnetic, has an energy hv and an angu
lar momentum Ih, with component mb in the
Z-direction.
Multipoles with I = 0 do not
exist; those with I = 1 are called dipole, those
with I = 2, quadrupole, etc. The amplitudes
of the various multipole radiations emitted by
a moving charge and magnet distribution are
proportional to the multipole moments of the
distribution. In a nuclear transition, these
moments are dependent on the initial and final
states.
(See M. E. Rose, M ultipole Fields,
John W iley & Son, 1955.)

M U LT IPO LE TRANSITION, ELE C T RIC

O R M AGNETIC. A transition between two
different energy states of an atom or nucleus
brought about by the emission or absorption
of a photon of electric or magnetic multipole

radiation.
MULTISTAGE A M PLIFIE R .
cascade.

See amplifier,

M ULTIVIBRATOR.

A relaxation oscillator
employing two electron tubes to obtain the
in-phase feedback voltage by coupling the
output o f each to the input of the other
through, typically, resistance-capacitance ele
ments. The fundamental frequency is deter
mined by the time constants of the coupling
elements, and may be further controlled by
an external voltage. When such circuits are
normally in a nonoscillating state and a trig
ger signal is required to start a single step or
cycle of operation, the circuit is commonly
called a one-shot, a jlip-flop, or a start-stop
multivibrator. (See following entries.)

M ULTIVIBRATOR, ASTABLE. A multivi

brator which can exist in either of two quasi
stable states, and switch rapidly from one
state to the other.

MULTIVIBRATOR, BISTABLE.

A circuit
with two stable states which requires two
trigger pulses to complete one cycle. It is
com monly referred to as a trigger circuit,
Eccles-Jordan trigger circuit, or scale-of-tw o
circuit.

M ULTIVIBRATOR, MONOSTABLE.
A
multivibrator with one stable and one quasi
stable state. A trigger is required to drive
the unit into the quasi-stable state, where it

remains for a predetermined time before re

turning to the stable state. Sometimes re
ferred to as the one-shot.

M UM ETAL. A high-permeability, isotropic,

magnetic alloy having approximately 78%
nickel. Several different alloys with similar
characteristics are manufactured under this
name.

M U NSELL C H RO M A.

See chroma.

M U NSELL SYSTEM.

A system of arrang
ing and designating attributes of opaque sur
face colors.

M U NSELL VALUE.

See value, Munsell.

M UON. The same as /-meson.

and hyperons.)

(See mesons

MURRAY LOOP.

A bridge type measure

ment made on communication lines to locate
accidental grounds. As may be seen in the
figure, it is a W heatstone bridge in which the

ars in which a change in specific rotation oc

curs upon standing. Some sugars show a de
crease (i.e., glucose, 5 0 % ), whereas others
(maltose) show an increase, of specific rota
tion. The change is not always in any special
ratio.

M U TIN G SW ITCH. A switch used to ac

complish intercarrier noise suppression, espe
cially in automatic tuning systems.

MUTUAL CONDUCTANCE. See conduc

tance, mutual; transconductance (preferred).
MUTUAL EXCLU SION , RU LE OF. For
molecules with a center of symmetry, transi
tions that are allowed in the infrared are for
bidden in the Raman spectrum; and con
versely, transitions that are allowed in the
Raman spectrum are forbidden in the infrared.
MUTUAL IM PED A N C E.
mutual.

See impedance,

MUTUAL INDUCTANCE.
mutual.

See inductance,

MUTUAL IN D U CT IO N .
netic induction.
MUTUAL IN FO RM ATIO N .
mation.

line wires form two arms.

gives

The balance point

_ BLjrx + r2)
27*2 (A

+ B)

where r\ is the resistance per unit length of the

upper wire and r2 of the bottom wire. Other
quantities are shown on the diagram.

M U SICAL QUALITY.
MUTAROTATION.

See timbre.

A phenomenon shown
by freshly prepared solutions of certain sug

See electromag
See transinfor

MUTUALITY O F PHASES, LA W OF. If

two phases, with respect to a certain definite
reaction, at a certain temperature, are in equi
librium with a third phase, then at the given
temperature and for the same reaction, they
are in equilibrium with each other.
MV.
MVC.
trol.
MX.

Abbreviation for multivibrator.

Abbreviation for manual volume con
Abbreviation for multiplex.

MYOPIA.

A condition of the eye in which

light from a distant object is focused by the
relaxed eye at a point in front of the retina.

N
N.

(1) Avogadro number (N).

(2) Nitrogen

(N ). (3) Neutron (n ). (4) Normal (solu

tion) {N or n ). (5) Number (n ). ( 6 ) N um
ber o f molecules, atoms or nuclei (N ), if kinds
are plural ( N lt2 - ) .
(7) Number of radio
active atoms at time t (N ). ( 8 ) Num ber of
radioactive atoms, initial ( N0). (9) Number
of radioactive atoms, initial, if kinds are
plural ( i, 2- ) (10) Number of compo
nents (phase rule) (n). (11) Total number
of lines in a grating ( N) .
(12) Number of
molecules per unit volume (). (13) Number
of molecules per cm 3 under standard conditions
(Loschmidt number) (N0). (14) Number of
moles ( N) . (15) Num ber of revolutions per
unit time (n). (16) Num ber of turns of con
ductor ( N) .
(17) Transport number (n ).
(18) Principal quantum number or shell num
ber of an electron (n). (19) Direction cosines
(l,m,n).
( 2 0 ) Refractive index (n ), group
refractive index (ng).
(21) Shear modulus
of elasticity (ri). ( 2 2 ) Total angular momen
tum of the electrons and nuclei, exclusive of
spin (H u n ds cases 6 , b' and d) (N).

NABLA. A name used for V , the differential

operator generally called del. The shape of
the sym bol is thought to be similar to that of
an Assyrian harp with that name.

NANO-.

A prefix meaning 10 9.

A bbrevi

ated n.

N ANOSECOND.

1 0 "9 second.

N APIER.

See neper (napier).

NAPPE.

See conical surface.

FREQ U EN CY

OF

CIRCUIT.

2 ir \ L C

4L 2

for a circuit composed of a resistance R , an

inductance L and a capacitance C, all con
nected in series. Circuits of greater com plex
ity may often be reduced to an equivalent
series circuit, although some may have more
than one natural frequency and hence con
stitute coupled oscillators.
(See oscillator,

coupled.)
NATURAL RA D IO A C T IV E N UCLIDES.
See radioactive nuclides, natural.
NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY. Radioactiv
ity exhibited by naturally occurring sub
stances, in their natural state.

NATURAL W ID T H . The width of an atomic

or nuclear energy level due to its spontaneous
transition lifetime.

where r is the life tim e of the state.

Abbreviation for National Associa

tion of R adio and Television Broadcasters.

E L ECT RO N ICS

NATURAL

A simple tuned-circuit will respond to an im

pulse by ringing, or produce an exponentiallydecaying, sinusoidal oscillation.
The fre
quency of this oscillation is the natural fre
quency of the circuit. It is given by

T = fi/r,

NARTB.

N ATIONAL
EN CE.
An

sentatives from companies interested in tele

vision which, since its founding in 1940, has
helped establish system standards in all phases
of the industry.

CONFER-

annual conference held each

October in Chicago. Papers given at this
conference are published as the Proceedings
of the National Electronics Conference.

N ATIONAL T ELEV ISION SYSTEM C O M

M ITTEE. A committee consisting of repre

NAVAGLOBE.

Trade name for a long-dis

tance continuous-wave If navigation system
of the amplitude-comparison type, providing
bearing information. An improved version,
supplying range also, is called N avarho.

NAVAR.

A coordinated series of radar air

navigation and traffic-control aids utilizing
transmissions at wavelengths of 1 0 centimeters
and 60 centimeters to provide in the aircraft
distance and bearing from a given point, dis

play of other aircraft in the vicinity, and com

mands from the ground ; also providing on the
ground a display of all aircraft in the vicinity,
as well as their altitudes, identities, and means
for transmitting certain commands.
NAVARHO.

See Navaglobe.

N A V IER -STOKES
EQUATIONS
FO R
F L U ID M OT ION. The equations that de
scribe the motion of an incompressible, N ew
tonian fluid (see fluid, Newtonian). In tensor
form, they are:
d u i

d u i

+ Pu j 7 =
dt
dxj
7

d p

NEAR F IE L D . The acoustic or electromag

netic radiation field close to the source.
NEAR POINT O F THE EYE.

The nearest
point at which a small object may be seen
distinctly.

NEC. Abbreviation for National Electronics

Conference.
N E ED LE. (1) The part of a phonograph
pickup which comes into contact with the
record groove.
(2) The pointer of an elec
trical indicating instrument. (3) The moving
element of an electrometer. (See stylus.)

d 2U i

7------b v o
dXi
Sx2

where p is the flu id d e n s it y , U{ is the c o m

p o n e n t of the v e lo c ity parallel to 0X{, p is the
p r e ssu r e , 77 is the fluid v is c o s ity .

NAVIGATION.

The process of directing a

vehicle to reach the intended destination.

NAVIGATIONAL PARAMETER.

A visual
or aural output of a navigational aid having
a specific relation to navigation coordinates.

N E E D L E CHATTER.
N E E D L E DRAG.

See needle talk.

See stylus drag.

N EEDLE

SCRATCH. The predominantly

high-frequency noise output of a phonograph
pickup due to the inhomogeneity of the groove
surfaces of the record.
N E E D L E TALK. The direct acoustic output
from a phonograph needle produced as it
travels along a modulated groove.

N EL
NAVIGATION,

APPROACH.

Navigation
during the time that the approach to a dock
or runway is of immediate importance.

N AVIGATION C O O RD IN A T E. A quantity,
the measurement of which serves to define a
surface of position (or a line of position if one
surface is already known) of a vehicle.
NAVIGATION, R A D IO . The use of radio
aids to navigation for checking the deadreckoning position of a ship. Following a
radio range, or using a radio compass, is in
cluded in the general subject of radio naviga
tion.

NC.

An abbreviation applied to tube-base

diagrams to indicate no connection.

NCRP.

Abbreviation for the N ational C om

mittee on R adiological Protection.

N-DISPLAY (ALSO N-SCAN or N-SCOPE).

See display.
NEAREST N E IG H B O R .

A ny atom whose
distance from a given atom in a crystal lattice
is such that no other atom is closer to the
given atom. The number of nearest neigh
bors is the coordination number of the lattice.

TEMPERATURE.
The transition
temperature for an antiferromagnetic mate
rial. Maximal values of magnetic susceptibil
ity, specific heat, and thermal expansion co
efficient occur at the Nel temperature.

NEGATIVE BRANCH.
ola.

See Fortrat parab

NEGATIVE

CRYSTAL.
A
birefringent
crystal in which the velocity of the extraor
dinary ray is greater than the velocity of the
ordinary ray. (See double refraction.) Calcite is an example of a negative crystal.

NEGATIVE ELECTRON. A term some

times applied to the electron when it is neces
sary to distinguish between electrons and
positrons.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK.

See feedback.

NEGATIVE GHOSTS. Ghost pictures which

appear on the television screen with an in
tensity inversion.

NEGATIVE-ION BLEM ISH.

in cathode-ray tubes; blemish.

See ion burn

NEGATIVE IO N VACANCY. A site in the

lattice of an ionic crystal from which a nega
tive ion is absent. Such a vacancy has an

effective positive charge, since putting the

negative ion back into place must render the
crystal neutral.

N EGATIVE LENS SYSTEM.

for a divergent lens system.
N EGATIVE, METAL.
NEGATIVE

NODAL

Another name

See master, original.4

POINTS.

Points
which lie as far from the focal points as the
ordinary cardinal nodal points, but on opposite
sides. Their position is such that the angular
magnification is unity, but negative.
(See

focus, principal.)

NEMA.

Abbreviation for National Electric

Manufacturers Association.

NEMAG.

Abbreviation

for

negative-mass

amplifier.

N EM ATIC PHASE. One of the forms of the

mesomorphic state, the liquid crystals. The
characteristic appearance is that of mobile,
thread-like structures, especially visible upon
examination of thick specimens with polarized
light. This form has a single optical axis,
which takes the direction of an applied mag
netic field. The liquid appears turbid but does
not yield an x-ray diffraction pattern.

N EGATIVE P R IN C IP A L POINTS. C onju

gate points of a lens for which the lateral
magnification is unity and negative. They
lie at twice the focal length and at opposite
sides of the lens.

N EO D IH EPT A L. Designation for a partic

ular tube basing arrangement.

NEGATIVE PROTON.
proton.

base.

The same as anti

NEGATIVE TRANSMISSION. (1) Negative

modulation.
(See modulation, negative.)
(2) In television, a condition in which a de
crease in initial light intensity causes an in
crease in transmitted power.

NEGATRON. (1) A term used for electron

when it is necessary to distinguish between
(negative) electrons and positrons.
(2) A
four-element vacuum tube which displays a
negative resistance characteristic.
NEGENTROPY.
average.

See

information content,

N E IG H R O R . In a crystal, an atom or ion that

is sufficiently close to another atom or ion so
that their interaction is of importance in the
physical problem being considered. The near
est neighbors are those on lattice sites that
are closer to the atom being considered than
are any other sites. The number of nearest
neighbors never exceeds twelve, which is the
number characteristic of a close packed struc
ture. The next nearest neighbors are on those
sites whose distance from the atom being con
sidered is greater than that for the nearest
neighbors but less than that for any other
sites. In close packed structures there are six
next nearest neighbors.

N-ELECTRON. An electron characterized

by having a principal quantum number of
value 4. (See also N-shell.)

NEM O.

Broadcast parlance for a remote cir

cuit.

NEODITETRAR.

Designation for a tube

N EO D YM IU M .
Sym bol Nd.

Rare earth metallic element.

Atom ic number 60.

NEOEIGH TAR. Designation for a tube base.

NEON.
Gaseous
Atom ic number 1 0 .

NEOSURMAGNAL.

element.

Symbol

Ne.

Designation for a tube

base.

N E PER (N A P IE R ). A unit used to express

the scalar ratio of two currents or two volt
ages, the number of nepers being the natural
logarithm of such ratio.
W ith / i and I 2
designating the scalar value of two currents,
and N the number of nepers denoting their
scalar ratio
N = In (Z1/ / 2) nepers.
When the conditions are such that the p o w e r
ratio is the square of the corresponding current
or voltage ratio, the number of nepers by which
the corresponding voltages or currents differ
may be expressed by the following formula:
N = \ In ( P i /P 2) nepers,
where P 1 /P 2 is the given power ratio. B y
extension, this relation between number of
nepers and power ratio is sometimes applied
where this ratio is not the square of the cor
responding current or voltage ratio; to avoid
confusion, such usage should be accompanied
by a specific statement of this application.

One neper is equal to 8 .6 8 6 * decibels. The

neper is used in mechanics and acoustics by
extending the above definition to include all
scalar ratios of like quantities which are anal
ogous to current or voltage.

N E PH E LO M ET E R .

NERNST CO E FFIC IEN T . See Nernst effect.

NERNST EFFECT. One of the thermomagnetic effects. If a conductor is subjected to a
temperature gradient VT in the presence of
a field of magnetic flux density B, an electric
field E is produced at right angles to T and
to B.

A photometric instru
ment for determining the amount of light
transmitted (or scattered) by a suspension of
particles. Since this quantity is dependent
upon the size and concentration of the par
ticles, the method provides a means of de
termining particle size, if the number can be
determined, or particle concentration, if the
size can be controlled. As used in analytical
procedures, one or more of the factors are
eliminated by precipitating under standard
conditions, or by comparison with a standard
so that the instrument can be used in quan
titative determinations.

where Q is the N em st coefficient. The Nernst

effect is closely related to the H all effect, the
Ettinghausen effect, and the Righi-Leduc ef
fect. When E has the same direction as the
vector product V T X B, the coefficient is
positive.

N EPH ELO M ET RY.

NERNST HEAT THEOREM .

N EPH OSCOPE. An instrument used in ob

serving the velocity (direction and speed) of

dynamics, third law of.)

The measurement of
the concentration, particle size, etc., of sus
pension by means of its light transmission or
dispersion, etc., and the application of the re
sults, especially in chemical analysis.

cloud movement.

NEPTUNIUM .
ment.

Transuranic radioactive ele

Sym bol Np.

NERNST

Atom ic number 93.

A PPRO XIM A T IO N

FORM ULA.

A formula for the equilibrium constant o f a

gas reaction derived from the Nemst heat
theorem by certain simplifying approxima
tions. This formula is expressed as:

E = Q VT X B,

NERNST

EQUATION.
An equation for
electrode potential based on the concept of
electrolytic solution pressure.

For a hom o
geneous system, the rate of change of the
free energy with temperature, as well as the
rate of change of heat content with tempera
ture, approaches zero as the temperature ap
proaches absolute zero.
(See also thermo

NERNST-THOMPSON RULE. A solvent of

high dielectric constant favors dissociation
by reducing the electrostatic attraction be
tween positive and negative ions, and con
versely a solvent of low dielectric constant has
small dissociating influence on an electrolyte.

NESISTOR.

A semiconductor material with

a wide range of negative resistance character
istics.

NET PLANE.
3
+ 2>1.75 log T -\---------T + 2 v l,
4.57
where K v is the equilibrium constant of the
reaction, AH is its change in heat content,
2 v is the algebraic sum of the number of moles
o f the gaseous reactants (or in other words,
the change in number of moles of gaseous re
actants due to the reaction ), T is the absolute
temperature, /3 is a constant, and I is the con
ventional chemical constant.

NERNST B R ID G E . A four-arm bridge in

which all four arms are capacitances; used for
capacity measurements at high frequencies.

See atomic plane.

NET TRANSPORT.

The difference between

the total rate at which desired isotopes are
transmitted toward the production end of a
separation plant through any section, and the
rate at which they would be carried in the
same flow by material of natural abundance.

NETW ORK.
ments.

A combination of network ele

N ETW ORK, ACTIVE.

A
network whose
output waves are dependent upon sources of
power, apart from that supplied by any of
the actuating waves, which power is con
trolled by one or more of these waves.

N ETW ORK, ALL-PASS. A network de

signed to introduce phase shift or delay with
out introducing appreciable attenuation at any
frequency.
N ET W ORK, A NN ULLING. An arrangement
of impedance elements connected in parallel
with filters to annul or cancel capacitive or
inductive reactance at the extremes of a filter
pass band.

N ET W O R K ARM.

A portion of a network
consisting of one or more two-terminal ele
ments in series.

N ETW ORK, BALANCING. An arrangement

of impedances connected to one branch of a
hybrid network to match the impedance of a
line connected to the opposite branch.
N ETW ORK, BILATERAL.
bilateral.
N ET W O RK BRANCH.

See transducer,

See network arm.

N E T W O RK BRANCH, IM P E D A N C E OF.
See impedance of network branch.
NETW ORK, B R ID G E D T. A T network
with a fourth branch connected across the two
series arms of the T , between an input ter
minal and an output terminal.

NETW ORK, CALCULATOR. A layout of

inductance, capacitance and resistance units,
and generators used for duplicating the elec
trical characteristics of a power system so
that various system conditions may be studied.

N ETW ORK, CO N N ECT ED . A network in

which there exists at least one path, com
posed of branches of the network, between
every pair of nodes of the network.
N ET W ORK, CROSSOVER.
dividing.

See network,

N ETW ORK, CUT SET. A set of branches

of a network such that the cutting of all the
branches of the set increases the number of
separate parts of the network, but the cut
ting of all the branches except one does not.

N ETW ORK,

DE-EMPHASIS.
A network
inserted in a system in order to restore the
pre-emphasized frequency spectrum to its
original form.

N ETW ORK, DELTA.

A set of three
branches connected in series to form a mesh.

N ETW ORK, D IFFEREN T IA T IN G .

ferentiator.

See dif

NETW ORK,
DISSYM M ETRICAL.
transducer, dissymmetrical.

See

N ETW ORK, D IV ID IN G (LOUDSPEAKER

D IV ID IN G NETW ORK). A frequency-se
lective network which divides the spectrum to
be radiated into two or more parts. (See fre
quency, crossover.)
NETW ORK, DUAL.
turally-dual.

See network,

struc-

NETW ORK, ELEC T RIC .

A combination of
elements, either as a combination of intercon
nected devices (such as inductors, capacitors,
resistors, generators, etc.), or as the abstrac
tion of interconnected branches having the
properties of inductance, resistance, capaci
tance, etc.
(See alternating-current circuit;

Kirchhoff laws.)
N ETW ORK ELE M E N T (A N T IREC IPRO
CAL)
(NON-RECIPROCAL)
(REC IP R O
CAL). A tw o-part system (electrical, me
chanical, or a combination of both) whose input-output characteristics may be expressed.
X xl

121

X 2J

L<X21 &22-I

L F 2J

The element is a reciprocal element if a\2

a 2i, and is antireciprocal if ai 2 = a21. When
neither of these conditions exists the network
is non-reciprocal.

N ETW ORK, EQUIVALENT.

A network
which, under certain conditions of use, may
replace another network. The networks need
not be of the same form ; for example, one
may be mechanical, the other electric. If
one network can replace another network in
any system whatsoever without altering in
any way the operation of that portion of the
system external to the networks, the networks
are said to be networks of general equiva
lence. If one network can replace another
network only in some particular system with
out altering in any way the operation of that
portion of the system external to the net
works, the networks are said to be networks
of limited equivalence. Examples of the lat
ter are networks which are equivalent only
at a single frequency, over a single band, in

one direction only, or only with certain ter

minal conditions (such as H and T networks).

N ETW ORK, H. A network composed of five

branches, two connected in series between an
input terminal and an output terminal, two
connected in series between another input
terminal and a second output terminal, and
the fifth connected from the junction point of
the first two branches to the junction point
of the second two branches.

N ETW ORK, H YB RID .

A bridge-type circuit
or connecting device that combines the func
tions of providing impedance matching be
tween certain circuits and isolation between
Transmit

Balancing
network

2 Wire
line

Receive

Transformer Hybrid Network

other circuits. A hybrid is often used to con

nect a four-wire line to a two-wire line so that
both directions of transmission on the fourwire line are isolated from each other, but are
connected to the two-wire line.

N ETW ORK, H Y B R ID RALANCE. A simple

hybrid network has four sets of terminals; one
connected to a two-wire line, two connected
to the send and receive sections of a fourwire line, and one connected to a network ad
justed or designed to simulate the impedance
of the two-wire line. The degree to which
this impedance is simulated is known as hybrid
balance.

NETW ORK, INTEGRATING.

A network
whose output wave form is the time integral

of its input wave form. Such a network pre

ceding a phase modulator makes the com bi
nation a frequency modulator; or, following
a frequency detector, makes the combination
a phase detector. Its ratio of output ampli
tude to input amplitude is inversely propor
tional to frequency, and its output phase lags
its input phase by 90.

NETW ORK, L. A network composed of two

branches in series, the free ends being con
nected to one pair of terminals, and the junc
tion point and one free end being connected
to another pair of terminals.

NETW ORK, LA D D E R . A network com

posed of a sequence of H, L, T, or networks
connected in tandem.
NETW ORK, LATTICE.
A network com
posed of four branches connected in series to
form a mesh, two nonadjacent junction points
serving as input terminals, while the remain
ing two junction points serve as output ter
minals.

N ETW ORK, LEAD .

A transducer whose
output voltage leads the input voltage over
a certain range of frequencies. Sometimes it
m ay be referred to as a differentiating n et
work.

NETW ORK, LINEA R. A network for which

the pertinent measures of all the waves con
cerned are linearly related. B y linearly re
lated is meant any relation of linear char
acter, whether linear algebraic equation or
linear differential equation or other linear
connection.
The term waves concerned
connotes actuating waves and related output
waves, the relation which is of primary inter
est in the problem at hand.
N ETW ORK, L IN E A R PASSIVE E L E C
TRIC. A network whose state is described
by a number of independent voltages, or a
number of independent currents. The volt
ages are linear functions of the currents (and
conversely).

NETW ORK, L IN E A R VARYING-PARAMETER. A linear network (see network, lin

ear) in which one or more parameters vary
with time.

NETW ORK, L O A D M ATCHING. In induc

tion and dielectric heating usage, an electric
network for accomplishing load matching.

N ET W ORK MESH.

A set of branches form

ing a closed path in a network, provided that
if any one branch is omitted from the set, the
remaining branches of the set do not form a
closed path. The term loop is sometimes used
in the sense of mesh.

N ETW ORK, N O D E (JUNCTION POINT),

(BRANCH POINT), (VERTEX). A terminal
of any branch of a network or a terminal com
mon to two or more branches of a network.

NET W ORK, N ON LIN EAR. A network (cir

cuit) not specifiable by linear differential equa
tions with time as the independent variable.
NETW ORK,

NONPLANAR.

A network
which cannot be drawn on a plane without
crossing of branches.

N ETW ORK, ZV-TERMINAL. A network with

N accessible terminals.

NETW ORK, N-TERMINAL PAIR. A net

work with 2N accessible terminals grouped in
pairs. In such a network one terminal of each
pair may coincide with a network node.

NETW ORK, PASSIVE. A network whose

output waves are independent of any sources
of power which is controlled by the actuating
waves.
NETW ORK, PI. A network composed of
three branches connected in series with each
other to form a mesh, the three junction
points forming an input terminal, an output
terminal, and a common input and output
terminal, respectively.
N ET W ORK, PLANAR.

A network which
can be drawn on a plane without crossing of
branches.

NETW ORK, PRE-EMPHASIS.

A network
inserted in a system in order to emphasize
one range of frequencies with respect to an
other.

N ETW ORK, Q U A D R IP O LE .
two-terminal pair.

See network,

NETW ORK, SHAPING.

izing.
NETWORKS,
M IN A L PAIR.

See network, equal

PARA LLEL

The parts

NETW ORK,
SERIES
TWO-TERMINAL
PAIR, Two-term inal pair networks are con

TW O -TER

Two-term inal pair networks

are connected in parallel at the input or at
the output terminals when their respective
input or output terminals are in parallel.

NETWORKS, STRUCTURALLY-DUAL. A
pair of networks such that their branches can
be marked in one-to-one correspondence so
that any mesh of one corresponds to a cut-set
of the other. Each network of such a pair is
said to be the dual of the other.

NETW ORK, STAR. A set of three or more

branches with one terminal of each connected
at a common node.
NETW ORK, STRUCTURALLY SYMMET
RICA L. A network which can be arranged
so that a cut through the network produces
two parts that are mirror images of each
other.

NETW ORK, SYMMETRICAL.

work, structurally symmetrical.

See

net

NETW ORK, T. A network composed of

three branches with one end of each branch
connected to a common junction point, and
with the three remaining ends connected to an
input terminal, an output terminal, and a
common input and output terminal, respec
tively.

N ETW ORK,
TW O -TERM IN A L
PAIR
(Q U A D RU PO LE) (FOUR-POLE). A net
work with four accessible terminals grouped
in pairs. In such a network, one terminal
of each pair may coincide with a network

node.
NETW ORK, UNILATERAL. See transducer,
unilateral.
N ETW ORK, W E IG H T IN G .

N ET W O RK R E C IP R O C IT Y T H EOREM .
See reciprocity theorem, network.
NETW ORK, SEPARATE PARTS.
which are not connected.

nected in series at the input or at the output

terminals when their respective input or out
put terminals are in series.

See weighting.

NETW ORK, Y. A star network (see net

work, star) of three branches.
NEUMANN

BOUNDARY

CON DITIONS.

Specification of the normal derivative of the

solution to a partial differential equation
along a bounding curve,

NEUM ANN FUNCTION. Also called a B es

sel junction of the second kind, it is defined
by
N n(x) = CSC nw[COS n irjn(x) J _ n(x)],
where Jn(%) is a Bessel function. The gen
eral solution of the Bessel differential equa
tion can be taken as y = AJn( x ) + B N n(x),
where A , B are integration constants. The
index n m ay be either non-integral or integral
but in the latter case N n(x) contains a loga
rithmic term so that this solution is usually
unsuitable for a physical problem because of
its behavior at x = 0 .

NEUM AN P R IN C IP LE .

The physical prop

erties of a crystal cannot be of lower sym
metry than the symmetry of the external form
of the crystal. Thus, for example, all the
properties of a cubic crystal must have cubic
symmetry which means that any tensor
property such as susceptibility, resistivity,
thermal expansion, etc., must be isotropic.

N EUM AN SERIES.
series.

See Liouville-Neuman

NEUTRAL.

( 1 ) H aving no electric charge,

or no net electric charge. (Thus, an atom, in
which the total negative charge of the elec
trons is equal to the positive charge of the
nucleus which they surround, is a neutral
atom.)
( 2 ) According to the ionization h y
pothesis, a concentration of hydrogen ions
equal to 1 X 10- 7 . (The figure varies a little
according to the temperature and the method
o f determining the degree of ionization of
water.) H ydrogen-ion concentrations greater
than this figure confer acid properties; lower
concentrations occur in alkaline systems.

NEUTRAL ATOM.

An atom in which the

positive charge on the nucleus is equal to the
total negative charge of the electrons which
surround the nucleus. Therefore, the atom
does not possess an electric charge.

NEUTRAL DENSITY FILT ER. A light filter

which reduces the intensity of the light with
out changing the relative spectral distribution
of the energy. Also called gray filters. Few
absorption-type filters are absolutely neutral.

NEUTRALIZATION. A method of nullify

ing the voltage feedback from the output to
the input circuits of an amplifier through the
tube interelectrode impedances. Its principal

use is in preventing oscillation in an amplifier

by introducing a voltage into the input, equal
in magnitude but opposite in phase to the feed
back through the interelectrode capacitance.
(See also unilateralization.)

NEUTRALIZATION, CROSS. A method of

neutralization used in push-pull amplifiers
whereby a portion of the plate-cathode alter
nating-current voltage of each tube is applied
to the grid-cathode circuit of the other tube
through a neutralizing capacitor.

NEUTRALIZATION, G R ID . The method of

neutralizing an amplifier in which a portion
of the grid-cathode alternating current voltage
is shifted 180 and applied to the plate-cathode circuit through a neutralizing capacitor.
N EU T RA LIZA T IO N ,IN D U CT IV E (SHUNT,
C O IL). A method of neutralizing an ampli
fier whereby the feedback susceptance due
to the plate-to-grid capacitance is cancelled
by the equal and opposite susceptance of an
inductor. (See feedback.)

NEUTRALIZATION, LINK. Neutralization

accomplished in tuned, radio-frequency am
plifiers by employing a pair of coupling links
to feed energy from the output to the input.

NEUTRALIZATION, PLATE. The method

of neutralizing an amplifier in which a por
tion o f the plate-cathode alternating-current
voltage is shifted 180, and applied to the
grid-cathode circuit through a neutralizing
capacitor.

N EU TRA LIZIN G IN D IC A T O R.

An auxil
iary device for indicating the degree of neu
tralization of an amplifier. (For example, a
lamp or detector coupled to the plate-tank
circuit of an amplifier.)

N EU TRA LIZIN G

POW ER

OF

A LENS.

The reciprocal of front focal length.

N EUTRA LIZIN G VOLTAGE.

The alternating-current voltage specifically fed from the

grid circuit to the plate circuits (or vice
versa), deliberately made 180 out of phase
with and equal in amplitude to the alternatingcurrent voltage similarly transferred through
undesired paths, usually the grid-to-plate tube

capacitance.
NEUTRAL

M O LEC U LE.
In general, a
molecule without electrical charge; the term

is applied often to a system of two ions of

opposite but equal charge, in a solvent. The
two ions comprising this system differ from
solvated ions, which consist of complexes
formed between molecules of solvent and ions.
N E U T R A L P O IN T .
In m eteorology, any
point at which the axis of a wedge of high
pressure intersects the axis of a trough of low
pressure. Also called saddle point.
N E U TR IN O .
A neutral particle of very
small (almost certainly zero) rest mass and
of spin quantum number y2. The mass has
been shown experimentally to be less than
0 .0 1 me. This particle was postulated to ac
count for the continuous energy distribution
of / 2-particles and to conserve angular m o
mentum in the P-decay process. Experimental
evidence indicates that, for the linear momen
tum to be conserved in the /^-process, there
must be a contribution from a departing neu
trino. Presumably, an anti-neutrino (or neu
trino) is emitted in every /3 -transition (/3+ ).
The energy of a neutrino emitted in a /3-disintegration is assumed to be equal to the d if
ference between the energy of the particular
/ 3-particle and the energy corresponding to
the upper limit of the continuous spectrum for
that /3-transition. The neutrino has also been
postulated as one of the particles in 7r-meson
decay and as one or two of the particles in
/-meson decay. Because of its properties, the
neutrino has weak non-parity conserving inter
action with matter. The symbol v is often used
for the neutrino, and v for the antineutrino.
(See chirality; beta decay theory; mesons and

atomic mass unit; charge, 0 ; spin quantum

number, y2\magnetic moment, 1.9125 nu
clear Bohr magnetons; statistics, Fermi-Dirac.
N EU TR O N C O N SER V A TIO N O R B A L
A N CE.
The underlying principle for any
theory of nuclear reactors. It may be stated
as follows: In a given volume, the time rate
o f change of neutron density is equal to the
rate of production minus the rate of leakage
and the rate of absorption.
N EU TR O N C R YSTAL SPE C TR O M E TE R ,
V E LO C IT Y -SE LE C TO R . A device in which
slow neutrons from an intense source are al
lowed to impinge on a crystal, and a detector
is placed so that the diffracted beam falls
upon it. For any arbitrarily chosen value
of the glancing angle 0, the great m ajority of
neutrons reaching the detector will have a ve
locity given by the Bragg equation:
nh
v = -------------2 dm sin 0
where n is an integer, usually unity, h is the
Planck constant, d is the crystal spacing, and
m is the mass of the neutron.
N EU TR O N C U R R E N T D EN SITY.
The
number of neutrons crossing unit surface per
unit time, in a direction normal to the surface.
N EU TR O N C YC LE. The life history of the
neutrons in a nuclear reactor starting with
the fission process and continued until all the
neutrons have been absorbed or have leaked
out.

hyperons.)
N E U TR IN O
TH E O R Y , T W O
N EN T. See beta decay theory.

COM PO

N E U TR O D Y N E .
An amplifier stage neu
tralized with voltage fed back through a ca
pacitor. Old usage.
N EU TR O N . A neutral elementary particle
of mass number 1 . It is believed to be a con
stituent particle of all nuclei of mass number
greater than 1. It is unstable with respect
to /3-decay, with a half-life of about 12 min.
It produces no detectable primary ionization
in its passage through matter, but interacts
with matter predominantly by collisions and,
to a lesser extent, magnetically. Some prop
erties of the neutron are: rest mass, 1.00894

N EU TR O N DEN SITY. The number of neu

trons per unit volume. Partial densities may
be defined for neutrons characterized by such
parameters as speed and direction.
N EU TR O N D E T E C T IO N . Neutrons may be
detected by making use of the charged par
ticles produced by the interaction of neutrons
with atomic nuclei, as in the boron-trifluoride
counter, or by observing charged particle re
coils resulting from the collision of the neu
trons with protons, etc.
N EU TRO N D IF F R A C T IO N .

See diffraction

of material particles.
N EU TRO N ENERGY, FAST N EU TRON
R E G IO N OF. See neutrons, fast.

NEUTRON ENERGY, RESONANCE

G IO N OF. See neutrons, resonance.

RE

NEUTRON LEAKAGE. The loss of neutrons

from a nuclear reactor due to leakage through
the boundaries of the reactor.

NEUTRON EXCESS.

The difference be
tween the number of neutrons and the num
ber of protons in the nucleus; found by sub
tracting the atomic number of that nuclide
from the neutron number; or by subtracting
twice the atomic number from the mass num

NEUTRON M AGNETIC MOMENT. The

neutron magnetic moment is equal in magni
tude to 1.913 nuclear Bohr magnetons. The
direction of the moment is opposite to the

spin of the neutron, whereas the magnetic m o

ment of the proton has the same direction as
the spin.

ber.
NEUTRON FISSION-SCINTILLATION AP
PARATUS. A device for the detection of
slow neutrons in which a small amount of a
uranium compound enriched in fissionable
U 235 is mixed with a substance capable of
producing luminescence when struck by a fis
sion fragment. The luminescence is then de
tected by a scintillation counter. (See coun

NEUTRON NUMBER. The number of neu

trons in a nucleus. Its symbol is N, and it is
indicated sym bolically when desired by a sub
script number following the symbol of the nu
clide. The neutron number for a given nuclide
is equal to the difference between the mass
number for that nuclide and the atomic num

ter, scintillation.)

ber.

NEUTRON FLUX.

NEUTRON OPTICS.
terial particles.

For neutrons of a given

energy, the product of neutron density with
speed. (See flux.) When a range of energies
is involved, the flux is
I

PvVdv

where pv is the number of neutrons per unit

volume having speeds between v and v + dv.

NEUTRON FO RM A T IO N BY STRIPPING.
I f a high energy deuteron strikes a target
nucleus in such a way as to graze the edge of
the latter, the proton (in the deuteron) may
be stripped off, while the neutron continues to
travel in a straight line.

N EUTRON

H A R D E N IN G .
The
effect
caused by the diffusion of thermal neutrons
through a medium having an absorption
cross section decreasing with energy. B e
cause the slower neutrons are preferentially
absorbed, the average energy of the diffusing
neutrons becomes greater.
NEUTRON H O W IT ZE R . A collimating ap
paratus for the production of a stream of
neutrons, consisting of a source of neutrons,
such as a mixture of beryllium filings and
radon, contained in a block of paraffin, from
which the stream of neutrons escapes by a cir
cular passage, small in cross-sectional area
and lined with cadmium.

See diffraction of ma

NEUTRON PRODU CER.

A nuclear reactor
designed as a source of neutrons for isotope
production.

NEUTRON - PROTON
EXCH AN GE
FORCES. Forces postulated in an attempt
to explain nuclear forces in terms of an en
ergy contribution brought about quantummechanically as the result of the exchange
of charge between a proton and a neutron.

NEUTRON RA D IA TIVE CAPTURE.

The
capture of a slow neutron by an atomic nu
cleus with the prompt emission of one or more
y-rays, the total energy of which is equal to
the binding energy of the neutron in the com
pound nucleus.

NEUTRON REFLECT ION .

Neutrons may
be reflected by crystalline materials accord
ing to the Bragg law for the de Broglie wave
length characteristic of their energy, or they
m ay be totally reflected by highly polished
surfaces of selected materials at angles smaller
than their critical angle.

NEUTRONS, DELA YED.

Neutrons emitted
by excited nuclei formed in a radioactive
process (/^-disintegration, in all cases so far
known).
The neutron emission itself is
prompt, so that the observed half-life is that
of the preceding / 2-emitter. The situation is

similar to that involving y-ray emission,

which is a competing process. D elayed neu
tron emission is possible only if the excitation
energy of the product nucleus exceeds the
neutron binding energy for that nucleus. The
chemistry of the delayed neutron emitter is
that of the /2-activ ity ; thus B r87, I 137 and N 17
are delayed neutron precursors, although the
neutron emission actually takes place from
excited nuclei of the products K r87, X e 137 and
O 17.

NEUTRONS, E PIT H E R M A L .
Neutrons
having energies just above those of thermal
neutrons; the epithermal neutrons energy
range is between a few hundredths ev and
about 1 0 0 ev.
NEUTRONS, FAST.

Neutrons with energies

exceeding 1 0 5 ev, although sometimes a lower
limit is given.

NEUTRONS, IN T E R M E D IA T E. Neutrons
having energies in a range that extends
roughly from 100 to 100,000 ev. This range
is above that of epithermal neutrons and be
low that of fast neutrons. (See neutrons, epi
thermal and neutrons, fast.)
NEUTRONS, RESONANCE.
(1) For a
specified nuclide or element, neutrons that
have energies in the region where the cross
section of the nuclide or element is particu
larly large because of the occurrence of a
resonance. For example, cadmium resonance
neutrons have energies between 0.05 and
about 0.3 ev.
( 2 ) Neutrons having kinetic
energies in the region of values for which
prominent resonances are encountered in
many nuclides; loosely, epithermal neutrons.

NEUTRONS, SLOW .

(1) Neutrons having

kinetic energies up to about 1 0 2 ev.
(2 )
Loosely used as a synonym for thermal neu
trons. (See neutrons, thermal.)

NEUTRONS, SOURCES OF.

Neutrons may
be produced as the result of nuclear trans
formations such as (a,n), (y,^), (v>n )> or
(.d,n), or they m ay be produced in nuclear
reactors as a result of fission. In each of
these processes fast neutrons are produced; in
order to get slow neutrons, a moderator such
as paraffin must be used to slow the neutrons
down.

NEUTRONS, SOURCES O F MONOENERGETIC. See neutron velocity selector.

NEUTRONS, THERM AL. Neutrons in ther
mal equilibrium with the substance in which
they exist; com monly, neutrons of kinetic en
ergy about 0.025 ev, which is about % of the
mean kinetic energy of a molecule at 15C.
NEUTRON VELOCITY SELECTOR.

Any
of several types of instruments in which neu
trons of a particular velocity or range of
velocities are singled out for detection. In
the simplest type, cadmium is used to shield
the detector. Neutrons of energy less than
about 0.3 ev are strongly absorbed in the
cadmium and are therefore not detected. In
the tim e-of-flight selector neutrons are de
tected which take a given time to traverse a
fixed distance. The neutron crystal velocity
selector makes use of the Bragg diffraction
of neutrons from a crystal.

NEW TON. A unit of force in the MKS sys

tem, abbreviation new or N. The force neces
sary to impart an acceleration of one meter
per second per second to a mass of one kilo
gram.

NEWTON-COTES FORM ULA. A method

of numerical integration. Assume that the
integral

may be approximated by
b
<t>(x)dx = A 0y0 + A iy i + + A ny nj
where the quantities A t are independent of
yi. B y proper choice of these quantities, the
numerical result may be made very close to
the true value of the integral. Special cases
of the formula are the trapezoidal rule, the
Simpson rule, and the Weddle rule.

N EW TON EM ISSIO N THEORY.

The h y
pothesis advanced by Sir Isaac Newton that
light was due to an emission of luminous cor
puscles from a source.

N EW TON FO RM U LA FO R INTERPOLA
TION. Let a difference table be given with
numerical values of y0, y \, y 2 ; equally
spaced values of the argument, x 0, x x, x2 *;
h (x n x0)/n and the finite differences, Anyk.

Then a value of y for x = x k + hu, not con

tained in the table, m ay be found by N ewton's
formula for forward interpolation:

0 +-+(I)

y =* Vk + uA yk + (

) A2y k H-------- h

Any k.

As its name implies, this equation is used for

calculation near the beginning of a difference
table. Near the end of such a table, N ewton's
formula for backward interpolation is appro
priate.
y = Vk -

vAyk_ x

+ Q a !K-2"-+(- 1)"Q
where x = x k hv. These equations are also
known as Gregory-Newton formulae.

N E W T O N IA N
tonian.

F L U ID .

See

fluid,

N E W T O N IA N LENS EQUATION.
equation.

New-

See lens

N EW T O N IA N M ECH ANICS.
Mechanics
based on the Newton laws of motion. D istinct
on the one hand from relativistic mechanics
and on the other from quantum mechanics.
N E W T O N IA N
See potential.

POTENTIAL

FUNCTION.

N E W T O N IA N TELESCOPE. A reflectingtype telescope with a 45 mirror, so that the

primary image is observed through a hole in
the side of the tube.

NEW TON LA W O F UNIVERSAL GRAVI

TATION. Every particle in the universe at
tracts every other particle with a force that
is directly proportional to the product of their
masses, and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between their centers
o f mass. The constant of proportionality in
the c.g.s. system of units is
q dyne cm 2
G = 6.670 X lO " 8 - ^ 5------g2

N EW TON LAWS O F M OTION. (1) A partid e remains at rest or in a state of uniform

m otion in a straight line unless acted upon
by an external force.
(2) The acceleration
produced by a force is directly proportional
to the force and inversely proportional to the
mass of the particle which is being acceler
ated. (3) T o every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction.
Newton's laws of motion m ay be consid
ered as the basic postulates of the theory of
mechanics. They apply strictly only to in
finitesimal particles, but may be extended to
rigid bodies by the assumption that these
bodies may be treated as collections of par
ticles. T h ey are also limited to instances in
which classical mechanics apply, i.e., to cases
in which the speeds of motion are small com
pared to the speed of light
N EW TON M E T H O D F O R SOLUTION O F
EQUATIONS. Let x = x0 be a first approxi
mation to a real root of an equation f ( x ) = 0
found by trial, by graph or otherwise. Then
a second approximation to the root is given
b y the formula

N EW T O N L A W F O R HEAT LOSS (C O O L
IN G ). The heat lost by radiation and con
vection from one body to another is propor
tional to the temperature difference between
the two bodies. This law holds only for small
temperature differences and then only ap
proximately.

N EW T O N L A W O F H Y D R O D Y N A M IC
RESISTANCE.
The force opposing the
steady motion of a solid body through a fluid
medium is proportional to the square of the
velocity, the density of the fluid and the cross
sectional area of the body. This law is ap
proximately true for bluff bodies (spheres, flat
plates, etc.), but is seriously in error for
streamlined bodies.

f ( x 0)

* *

fix

o)

where / ' is the derivative of /. A new ap

proximation may be obtained by substituting
in this formula again and so on until the de
sired degree of accuracy is obtained. The
formula is based on finding the point where
the tangent to the curve at x = xQ cuts the
X -axis. Sometimes also called the N ew tonRaphson method.

N EW TON

RINGS.
An interference phe
nomenon, easily observed by laying a slightly
convex lens upon a flat glass plate. When the
lens and plate are arranged so that m ono
chromatic light is reflected at a suitable angle

to the observer's eye, the point of contact is

seen to be surrounded by a series of concen
tric, alternately bright and dark rings, which
become closer together with increasing radius.
The rings are due to the interference of light
at the film of air between the glass surfaces,
which film increases in thickness with increas
ing distance from the contact point.

called because it is usually associated with

those frequencies at which the sky-waves are
normally absorbed during the day time. This
is a term which occurs chiefly in older litera
ture and is deprecated in favor of more ac
curate modern terminology.

N IC A L O I.

NILPOTENT. An operator, generally repre

sented in matrix form, which satisfies the

A high-permeability, isotropic
magnetic alloy composed of approximately
50% nickel, 50% iron.

NIGHT ERROR. See night effects,

relation:

An = 0,

N IC H O L S R A D IO M E T E R .

The apparatus
used by Nichols and Hull for the measure
ment of radiation pressure (1901) consisted
of a pair of small, silvered glass mirrors sus
pended, in the manner of a torsion balance, by
a fine quartz fiber within an enclosure in which
the air pressure could be regulated. The tor
sion head to which the fiber was attached
could be turned from outside the enclosure
b y means of a magnet. A beam of light was
directed first on one mirror and then on the
other, and the opposite deflections observed
with mirror and scale. B y turning the mirror
system around so as to receive the light on
the unsilvered side, the influence of the air
in the enclosure could be ascertained. This
influence was found to be a minimum, and to
have an almost negligible value, at an air pres
sure of about 16 mm of mercury. The radiant
energy of the incident beam was deduced from
its heating effect upon a small, blackened
silver disk, which was found more reliable
than the bolometer at first used. W ith this
apparatus the experimenters were able to ob
tain an agreement between observed and com
puted radiation pressures within about 0 .6
of 1 % .

N IC K E L.

M etallic
A tom ic number 28.

N IC O L .

element.

Sym bol Ni.

See prism, Nicol.

N IG H T BLINDNESS. I f the fovea has no

rods, that part of the retina suffers from night
blindness, a term describing various degrees
o f inability to see with low illumination.

N IG H T EFFECTS.

(1) The errors in bear

ings taken by radio direction-finders caused
by polarization effects in the atmosphere, usu
ally at night.
( 2 ) In navigation, a special
case of polarization error (see error, polariza
tion) occurring predominantly at night and so

for some value of n.

(See also idempotent.)

NIMBOSTRATUS.

T ype of stratus from

which rain or snow appears to fall. Sometimes
the stratus layer is merged with altostratus
or altocumulus, and the total cloud layer is
very deep. M ore frequently there is a clear
break between the two layers. Nimbostratus
is dull and grayish and usually ragged.

NINE-J-SYMBOL.

A coefficient first intro

duced by Wigner in 1937 in connection with
the general recoupling of four angular mo
menta in quantum mechanical systems. Such
a recoupling would be the transformation from
a j - j to an L-S coupling scheme for a two
electron atom. The nine-j-sym bol is related
to the Wigner six-j-symbols or the three-jsymbols by the expressions:

JnJuJiz
J21J22J23

= Z ( - l ) 2fc(2 k + i ) ^ 11^21* 1}
k
^32^33^ J

IJ31J32J33
1^*12 722^32 1

V2i^
^
m

/ili

^ 2 3 / Ifc 711.7*121

Jl 2 j 13 \ /,7*21 322 J 23 \

W l l ^12 ^ 1 3 /
/? 3 1

f j l 3 J*23 J*331

J32

\ W 2l m 22 ^ 2 3 /

J*33 \ / i l l

i2 1

i3 l\

\m31 m 32 ra33/ Vwn m2i ra3 J

/il2 322 js2 \ /il3 323 J33 \

\m 12 m 22 m32/ \mi3 m 23 m33>
The symmetry of this function is such that it
remains invariant under an even number of
permutations of its rows or columns. An inter
change of the rows with the columns also leaves
it unchanged. An odd number of permutations
of rows or columns multiplies it b y ( l ) (sum
ofaiijs) Numerical values of the nine-i-symbol have been tabulated b y Smith and Stevenson

in Argonne National Laboratory Report N o.

5776. (See ang ular m o m e n tu m , coupling

and recoupling.)
N IO B IU M . M etallic element.
Atom ic number 41.

Symbol Nb.

N IP K O W DISK. The early scanning disk

o f mechanical television.
NIT. A unit of luminance, equal to

candle/

sq m.

N-LINE. One of the lines in the N-series of

x-rays which are characteristic of the various
elements and are produced by excitation of
the electrons of the N-shell.

NMR. Abbreviation for nuclear magnetic

resonance.
N O B ELIU M . Artificially produced radioac
tive element of atomic number 1 0 2 . A t pres
ent, the only isotope which has been produced
has a mass number of 253 and a half life of
about ten minutes (1960).

N OBLE GASES.

A ny of the elements He,

Ne, A, Kr, X e, R n characterized by closed
shells or subshells of electrons. So-called be
cause of their chemical inactivity. (See elec

tron shell.)
NOCTOVISION.

A television system for

seeing in the dark, usually employing infrared
rays.

N O D A L LINES.

On a vibrating diaphragm,
lines along which no vibration takes place.
If the diaphragm is circular they consist of
two kinds, concentric nodal circles and nodal
diameters.

N O D A L PLANE.
points.
N O D A L POINT(S).

See discussion of nodal

(1) Of all the rays that

pass through a lens from an off-axis object
point to its corresponding image point, there
will always be one for which the direction of
the ray in the image space is the same as that

in the object space. The two points at which

these segments, if projected, intersect the axis
are called the nodal points, and the transverse
planes through them are called the nodal
planes. Only if n and n", the indices of re
fraction in the object and image spaces, are
identical are the nodal planes also the prin
cipal planes. C is the optical center of the
lens. (See also lens equation.) ( 2 ) For uses
o f this term in electromagnetics, acoustics and
mathematics, see node(s).

N O D A L POINT KEYING. See keying, nodal

point.
N O D A L SLIDE.

Essentially a small optical

bench or attachment on which a lens system
may be mounted and which may be rotated
about a vertical axis. Useful in the experi
mental determination of the cardinal points of
a compound lens.

NODE(S).

( 1 ) The points, lines, or surfaces

in a standing wave system (see wave, stand
ing) where some characteristic of the wave
field has essentially zero amplitude. The ap
propriate modifier should be used with the
word node to signify the type that is in
tended (pressure node, velocity node, etc.).
(See also loop.) ( 2 ) A terminal of any branch
of a network, or a terminal common to two
or more branches of a network. The terms
junction point, branch point, and vertex may
be used instead of node in this connotation.
(3) A singular point on a curve having the
property that two branches of the curve, with
distinct tangents, pass through the point.
Also called a crunode.

N ODE(S), PARTIAL.

The points, lines, or

surfaces in a standing wave system (see wave,
standing) where some characteristic of the
wave field has a minimum amplitude differing
from zero. The appropriate modifier should
be used with the words partial node to
signify the type that is intended (pressure
partial node, velocity partial node, etc.).

N OD O N VALVE. An electrolytic rectifier

with a lead anode and an aluminum cathode.
The electrolyte is ammonium phosphate.

NOISE.

(1) A ny undesired sound. B y ex

tension, noise is any unwanted disturbance
within a useful frequency band, such as un
desired electric waves in any transmission
channel or device. Such disturbances, when

produced by other services, are called inter

ference. ( 2 ) Spontaneous fluctuations in elec
trical circuits caused by random motion of
the current carriers.
(See also shot effect;

Nyquist theorem; noise, thermal; flicker ef

fect; and entries immediately following.)
N OISE, BACKGROU N D.

( 1 ) Noise due to
audible disturbances of periodic a n d /or ran
dom occurrence. (2) In receivers, the noise
in absence of signal modulation on the carrier.
(3) In recording and reproducing, background
noise is the total system noise independent
of whether or not a signal is present. The
signal should not be included as part of the
noise.

N OISE B E H IN D T H E SIGNAL.
modulation.
N OISE "C LIC K .

See noise,

See noise, impulse.

NOISE, CONTACT. The fluctuating elec

trical resistance observed at the junction of
two metals, or of a metal and a semiconductor.
N OISE, CURRENT. Electrical noise gener
ated in a semiconductor due to changes in
state of the conducting holes and electrons.
NOISE,

E LE C T R IC A L.
Unwanted elec
trical energy, other than cross talk, present
in a transmission system or in a measuring
device. For the sources and nature of such
noise, see noise, shot; noise, thermal.
N OISE FACTOR (NOISE FIG U RE ). Of a
linear system at a selected input frequency,
the ratio of ( 1 ) the total noise power per unit
bandwidth (at a. corresponding output fre
quency) available at the output terminals,
to ( 2 ) the portion thereof engendered at the
input frequency by the input termination,
whose noise temperature is standard (290K )
at all frequencies. For heterodyne systems
there will be, in principle, more than one out
put frequency corresponding to a single input
frequency, and vice versa; for each pair of
corresponding frequencies a noise factor is
defined. The phrase, available at the output
terminals, may be replaced b y delivered
by the system into an output termination,
without changing the sense of the definition.

N OISE FACTOR (NOISE F IG U R E ), AVER

AGE. O f a linear system, the ratio of (1) the
total noise power delivered by the system into
its output termination when the noise tem

perature of its input termination is standard

(290K ) at all frequencies to ( 2 ) the portion
thereof engendered by the input termination.
For heterodyne systems, portion ( 2 ) includes
only that noise from the input termination
which appears in the output via the principal
frequency transformation of the system, and
does not include spurious contributions such
as those from image-frequency transforma
tions. A quantitative relation between aver
age noise factor, p , and spot noise factor,
F { f ) , is:

i
F =

G(J)df

"ft

where / is the input frequency and G( f ) is

the ratio of (a) the signal power delivered
by the system into its output termination to
(b) the corresponding signal power available
from the input termination at the input fre
quency. For heterodyne systems, (a) com
prises only power appearing in the output via
the principal frequency transformation of the
system; in other works, power via im age-frequency transformations is excluded.

N OISE FACTOR (N O ISE F IG U R E ) (O F A

TWO-PORT TRAN SDUCER). A t a speci
fied input frequency the ratio of ( 1 ) the total
noise power per unit bandwidth at a corre
sponding output frequency available at the
output port to ( 2 ) that portion of ( 1 ) engen
dered at the input frequency by the input
termination at the Standard Noise Tempera
ture (2 9 0K ). For heterodyne systems there
will be, in principle, more than one output fre
quency corresponding to a single input fre
quency, and vice versa; for each pair of cor
responding frequencies a noise factor is de
fined. The phrase available at the output
port may be replaced by delivered by sys
tem into an output termination. T o char
acterize a system by a noise factor is mean
ingful only when the input termination is
specified.

NOISE FACTOR (N O ISE F IG U R E ) (O F A

TWO-PORT TRANSDUCER), AVERAGE.
The ratio of (1) the total noise power deliv
ered by the transducer into its output termina
tion when the noise temperature of its input
termination is standard (290K ) at all fre

quencies, to ( 2 ) that portion of ( 1 ) engen

dered by the input termination. For hetero
dyne systems, ( 2 ) includes only that noise
from the input termination which appears in
the output via the principal-frequency trans
formation of the system, and does not include
spurious contributions such as those from an
image-frequency transformation. A quantita
tive relation between the average noise factor
F and the spot noise factor F { f ) is:
jF(f)G(f)df

F = ------------------- .
G (f)d f

where / is the input frequency, and G( f ) is

the ratio of ( 1 ) the signal power delivered by
the transducer into its output termination, to
( 2 ) the corresponding signal power available
from the input termination at the input fre
quency. For heterodyne systems, (1) com
prises only power appearing in the output via
the principal-frequency transformation of the
system: for example, power via im age-fre
quency transformation is excluded. T o char
acterize a system by an average noise factor
is meaningful only when the input termination
is specified.

N OISE FACTOR (N O ISE F IG U R E ), SPOT.

See noise factor (noise figure) (of a two-port
transducer). This term is used where it is
desired to emphasize that the noise factor is
a point function of input frequency.

N OISE F IG U RE .

See noise factor.

N OISE, FILAM EN T. In a semiconducting

filament (see semiconductor), noise voltage
is observed whose frequency spectrum is sim
ilar to that of contact noise. It is attributed
to the random production of holes at certain
regions on the surface of the filament.

NOISE, F L IC K E R .

A noise caused by ran

dom variations in the activity of emitting
surfaces of cathodes in electron tubes. The
flicker noise power varies as an inverse func
tion of frequency.

N OISE, FLUCTUATION.
dom.

See noise, ran

N OISE, GALAXY. Noise with the same char

acter as thermal-electronic noise which comes
from the general direction of the M ilky W ay.

N OISE, GAS.

Noise caused by the random

production of ions in gas tubes and partiallyevacuated vacuum tubes.

NOISE, GROUN D. The same as noise, back

ground.
NOISE, ID L E R . Noise entering a parametric
amplifier or converter at image frequencies.
NOISE, IG N IT IO N . Interference caused by
the ignition systems of internal combustion
engines.
NOISE, IM PULSE.

Noise characterized by
transient disturbances separated in time by
quiescent intervals. The frequency spectrum
of these disturbances must be substantially
uniform over the useful pass band of the
transmission system.
NOISE, IN D U C E D .

A type of tube noise

due to induced voltages in the electrodes,
caused by ultra-high frequency components
of the random space-charge.

NOISE, JOHNSON.

See noise, thermal.

NOISE LEVEL.

The value of noise inte

grated over a specified frequency range with
a specified frequency weighting and integra
tion time. It is expressed in decibels relative
to a specified reference.

N OISE LEV EL, AMPLITUDE-MODULATION. The noise level produced by unde

sired amplitude variations of a radio-fre
quency signal in the absence of any intended

modulation.
N OISE LEV EL, C A R R IE R (RESIDU AL
M O D U LA T IO N ). The noise level produced
by undesired variations of a radio-frequency
signal in the absence of any intended modula

tion.
NOISE LIM IT E R .

See limiter, noise; codan.

NOISE, LO N G IT U D IN A L.
longitudinal.
NOISE, MASER.

See

current,

See maser noise.

N OISE, M IC R O P H O N IC .

The high-pitched
note which comes from the speaker of an am
plifier or radio receiver when the set is sub
jected to a mechanical shock. It is caused
by mechanical vibration of the vacuum-tube
electrodes altering the electrical response of
the tube. Hence any electrical disturbance

resulting from mechanical disturbances of cir

cuit elements.

at the output of a transducer divided by the

noise power at the input.

NOISE, M O D U LA T IO N (N O ISE B E H IN D
THE SIG N A L). The noise caused by the
signal. The signal is not to be included as

NOISE REDU CT ION .

part of the noise.

The term is used where the

noise level is a function of the strength of

the signal.

NOISE, PARTITION . In traveling-wave

tubes and electron-wave tubes, the noise which
arises from progressive capture of the elec
trons in the beam by the wave-guiding device,
whether it be a helix or some other type of
structure.

N OISE POP. See noise, impulse.

N OISE P O W E R , AVAILABLE. The maxi
mum noise power that may be drawn from a
network by a load whose impedance is the
com plex conjugate of the impedance of the
network itself.

N OISE PRESSURE, EQUIV ALENT .

transducer equivalent noise pressure.

See

N OISE PRESSURE, TRANSDUCER E Q U IV

ALENT (EQ U IV A LEN T N OISE PRES
SU RE). F or an acoustical-electrical trans
ducer or system used for sound reception, the
root-m ean-square sound pressure (see sound
pressure, effective) of a sinusoidal plane pro
gressive wave, which, if propagated parallel to
the principal axis of the transducer, would
produce an open-circuit signal voltage equal
to the root-mean-square of the inherent opencircuit noise voltage of the transducer in a
transmission band having a band width of 1
cycle per second and centered on the frequency
of the plane sound wave. I f the equivalent
noise pressure of the transducer is a function
of secondary variables, such as ambient tem
perature or pressure, the applicable value of
these quantities should be stated explicitly.

N OISE, QUANTIZATION.
quantization.

See distortion,

NOISE, RAN DO M . Fluctuating noise which

has a uniform energy versus frequency dis
tribution. Examples are thermal noise and
shot noise.
N OISE RATIO (N R ). The ratio of the avail
able noise power (see noise power, available)

In photographic re
cording and reproducing, a process whereby
the average transmission of the sound track
of the print (averaged across the track) is
decreased for signals of low level and increased
for signals of high level.

NOISE, REFEREN C E.
NOISE RESISTANCE.
noise, thermal.

See DBRN.
See resistance, noise;

NOISE, SHOT, FULL.

The fluctuation in
the current of charge carriers passing through
a surface at statistically independent times.
( 1 ) Shot noise has a uniform spectral density
Wi given by

where e is the charge of the carrier, and I 0 is

the average current.
(2) The mean-square
noise current i2 within a frequency increment
A f associated with an average current I 0 is
often expressed in terms of full shot noise
through a shot noise reduction factor r 2, in
general a function of frequency, by the formula:
? = T22eI0Af.
When r 2 < 1 , i2 is called reduced shot noise.

N OISE SHOT, R E D U C E D .
full.
NOISE,
( T 2).

SHOT,

See noise, shot,

RED U C T IO N

FACTOR

See noise, shot, full.

NOISE SILENCER.

See limiter, noise.

NOISE SUPPRESSOR. See suppressor, noise;

limiter, noise.
NOISE, SURFACE. In mechanical recording,
the noise component in the electric output of
a pickup due to irregularities in the contact
surface of the groove. (See also noise, back

ground.)
NOISE

TEMPERATURE

( STAN DARD).

The standard reference temperature T 0 for

noise measurements is taken as 290 degrees
K. k T 0/e = 0.0250 volt, where e is the elec
tron charge and k is the Boltzmann constant.

N OISE TEM PERATURE

(AT A PORT).

The temperature of a passive system having

an available noise power per unit bandwidth
equal to that of the actual port, at a specified
frequency. (See also noise, thermal.)

the given values of the two known variables

upon their proper scales, laying a straight
edge on the three scales, so that its edge cuts
the two points, then the point at which it cuts
the third scale is the value sought.

NOISE, T H ERM A L (JOHNSON NOISE).

The noise produced by thermal agitation of

NON-ADIARATIC APPROXIM ATION.

Tamm-Dancoff method.

charges in a conductor. The available thermal

noise power produced in a resistance is inde

pendent of the resistance value, and is propor
tional to the absolute temperature and the
frequency bandwidth over which the noise is
measured, as indicated by the formula:
N t = 1.38 X 10 23TAF,
in which
power, T
in degrees
cycles per

N t is the available thermal noise

is the temperature of the resistance
Kelvin, and A/ is the b a n d w id th in
second.

N OISE, TH ERM A L AGITATION. Thermalagitation noise is due to the random (Rrownian) movement of the electrons within a con
ductor. The noise voltage introduced into a
circuit by this cause may be calculated from
the equation:

7 = 5.49 X 10~ 2STZdf,

where e2 is the mean-square, therm al-agitation voltage, T is the absolute temperature
of the conductor in K , Z is the resistance of
the conductor, or the resonant impedance of
a tuned circuit, df is the frequency band
width factor. Thermal agitation noise is also
called Johnson noise.

N OISE VOLTAGE.

See voltage, noise.

NON-RRIDGING (R E LA Y ). A term used

to describe a contact transfer in which the
movable contact (see contact, movable) leaves
one contact before touching the next.
NONCENTRAL FORCES, NUCLEAR.
nuclear forces.

See

NON-CROSSING RULE.

For an infinitely
slow change of internuclear distance two elec
tronic states of the same species (i.e., states
with the same A and the same symmetry prop
erties) cannot cross each other.
In other
words, the potential energy curves of two
electronic states cannot cross each other.

N O N D IR EC T IO N A L M IC R O PH O N E.
microphone, omnidirectional.

See

NON -E Q U IL IR R IU M
THERM ODYN A M
ICS. The study of the thermodynamic rela
tions in open systems in the steady state, i.e.,
the time-invariant state, in which all macro
scopic quantities remain unchanged, although
dissipative processes may occur.
Also re
ferred to as thermodynamics of the steady
state and irreversible thermodynamics.

NONEX.

A type of glass used where ultra

violet transmission characteristics are impor
tant.

N OISE, W H IT E .

R andom noise, such as

shot noise and thermal noise, which has a
constant energy per unit bandwidth that is
independent of the central frequency of the
band. The name is drawn from the analogous
definition of white light.

NON-HOMING

N OM O GRAPH .

N ON IO N .

Also called an alignment

chart or isopleth. It consists of two or more
graphical scales, drawn and arranged so that
results of calculations may be found quickly
from the relation of points upon them. For
example, three-scale charts of this type are
usually constructed so that in a relationship
involving three variables, the value in one
variable is determined by a given set of values
of the other two and may be found by locating

See

(R E LA Y ).
A qualifying
term applied to a stepping relay (see relay,
stepping) indicating that wipers, upon com
pletion of an operational cycle, do not return
to the home position, but are at rest on the
last used set o f contacts.
See dyadic.

N ON LIN EARITY O F THE EAR.

When a
pure tone of suitable intensity is impressed
upon the ear, a series of harmonics or over
tones of the original frequency are heard.
W hen two loud tones are sounded together,
sum and difference frequencies are heard.

N O N LO C A LIZE D M O LEC U LA R ORRITALS, M olecular orbitals not localized be

tween two nuclei but spread over a larger part

of a molecule, as around a benzene ring.

in4i = 2

hiQj,

7=1

NON-METAL. An element which is not a

metal. The distinction between metals and
non-metals is not sharp; it is often safer to
refer to a metallic structure, or a nonmetallic structure, e.g., in the case of tin,
which m ay take either form.

NON-RECIPROCAL ELEM EN T . See net

work element (antireciprocal) (nonrecipro
cal ) ( reciprocal).
NON-RELATIVISTIC.

M oving with rela

tive speed small compared with that of light
as, for example, the nucleons in a nucleus
are non-relativistic. A ny theoretical treat
ment of a dynamical system in which rela
tiv is ts effects are ignored.

NON -RELAT IV IST IC

QUANTUM
ME
CHANICS. See quantum mechanics (nonrelativistic ).
NONSELF-MAINTAINING
See discharge, Townsend.

D ISC H A RG E.

N ORDST ROM T H EORY O F GRAVITA

TION. Theory in which the gravitational
potentials form a four-vector which can be
adjoined to the electromagnetic field strengths
to form a theory based on five dimensions.
Fails to describe correctly the rotation of the

perihelion of Mercury.
N ORM .

See normalization.

N ORM A L.

(1) A perpendicular to a line.

In a plane, its slope equals the negative recip
rocal of the slope of the given line; in space,
the given line has direction cosines L, M, N
and its normal has the direction cosines , /x, v
so that L + jM + vN = 0. ( 2 ) The normal
to a curve or to a surface is the line perpen
dicular to the tangent line or plane at any
specified point.
(3) A partial differential
equation is in normal form when written in
terms of parameters for its characteristic
curves. (4) See also matrix, normal. (5) A
normal derivative (see derivative, directional).
N O R M A L COORDIN ATES. A set of co
ordinates in which the equations of motion
of a coupled system are separated (see oscil
lator, coupled).
Thus in a conservative
coupled system of N degrees of freedom, the
equations of motion are the set of N equations:

expressed in terms of the Cartesian coordinates

qj. (It is assumed that the system is linear.)
In terms of a new set of coordinates, the nor
mal coordinates Q k, the equations of motion re
duce to the separated equations Qk = uk2Qky
where the uk are the normal frequencies. The
transformation equations are:

Qk 22 aikQi9
i

where the aik are the components of the trans

formation m atrix a. The inverse transforma
tion is given by

Qi =

PikQkj

where the transformation matrix p is given by

P = a~l.
If Qn = A n sin a)nt, and Qj = 0 for j ^ n,
the system is said to be in motion in its nth
normal mode. Then all of the qi oscillate with
the same frequency, wn, but with relative
amplitudes determined by the Pin i.e.,
qi = pinA n sin unt. In general, a system will
be excited in a mixture of its normal modes,
so that for the th Cartesian coordinate we
have
qi = 2 2 Pn(Aj sin a)jt + Bj cos cojt),
where the A j and Bj are determined b y the
initial conditions.
The coj and Pij may be found from the orig
inal equations of motion m ^ = 2 2 ^i'Qj by
assuming that qi = AnPineJ<ant. The equations
then reduce to a set of linear homogeneous
equations in N unknowns (the Pij). The roots
of the d eterm inental equation give the
possible con, and when these roots are succes
sively substituted into the equations the rela
tive amplitudes Pij may be determined for
each mode.
The concepts of normal coordinates and
normal modes are generalized to continuous
systems, such as that of a string fixed at two
ends, or a membrane fixed at its outer bound
ary. For example, in the case of a string the
amplitude as a function of position and time
is given by
U = 2^4 n sin ccnt sin 0nwx/L),

where a>n = mrv/L. Here & n is replaced by

sin (rnrx/L), A n is the amplitude of the nth
normal coordinate and con is the frequency of
the nth normal mode. (See also boundary

value problem s; complete orthogonal set,

expansion in .)
N O RM A L DIST RIBU T ION .
distribution.

The Gaussian

N O RM A L E R R O R CURVE.
distribution.

See Gaussian

N O R M A L FREQ U EN CIES.
ordinates.

See normal co

N O R M A L G LO W .

See glow potential.

NORM ALIZATION.
malizing a function.

( 1 ) The process of nor

I f f { x ) is real and de
fined for a ^ x b, the norm of / is
N(J)

=f

Then if a new function

= m / V m f)

is defined, it follows that

N(4>) =

<t>2dx = 1

'a
and / (x) is said to be normalized. The pro
cedure is readily generalized to include com
plex functions. (See also orthonorm al.)
(2)
In q u a n tu m m echanics, the accepted
interpretation of the wavefunction describing
the motion of a particle was proposed b y Bonn.
It states that the probability P { x yy,zyt)dV
of finding a particle described b y the wave
function \[/(x,y,z,t) within the volume element
dV surrounding the point (x,y,z) is
P (x,y,z,t)d V = t* (x ,y,z,t)f(x,y,z,t)d V ,
where * means complex conjugation. Since the
probability of finding the particle anywhere in
space must be 1 , consistency in this interpreta
tion of the wave function demands that

121 1

2 2 2 22

2 2

A ny complex function which satisfies this con

dition is said to be normalized (see ortho
norm al). Sometimes, in special problems,
other normalizations are used for the wave
functions, but when normalizations such as
one particle per unit energy range, one particle
in a sphere of radius R , or one which makes the
probability current density unity are used,
special care must be taken in evaluating the
average values of dynamical variables.

NORM ALIZATION FACTOR. The quantity

l /y/N( f )

required to normalize } ( x ) .

(See

normalization.)
N O R M A L IZ E D PLATEAU SLOPE.
See
plateau slope, normalized; also threshold volt
age for Geiger counting action.
N ORM A L M AGN IFICA TIO N .

fd x .

Jo.

, , t)$(xi,yu zi,
/'^*(^Z ,V, / ,Z^ ^, , / t)dxidyidz1dx2dy2dz2
=

t*(x,y,z,t)\l/(x,y,z,t)dV = 1

for a system consisting of more than one par

ticle, the obvious generalization of this idea
requires that

In telescopes
and microscopes the eye is usually placed at
the exit pupil of the system, and if the full
brightness of the object is to be represented
in the image, the exit pupil must be of such
size as just to fill the pupil of the eye. The
particular magnification which just meets this
condition is called normal.

N ORM A L M O D E O F VIBRATION. See

vibration, normal mode of; normal coordi
nates.
N ORM A L PRESSURE.

The standard pres

sure to which measurements of volume, espe
cially of gases, and other experimental work
which may vary with pressure changes, are
usually referred. It is the pressure that will
support a column of mercury 760 millimeters
high.

N ORM A L REACTION (I.E., N ORM A L TO

PATH ). The reactive thrust with which a
constraining surface acts on a contacting ob
ject which in turn is subject to a force with a
component perpendicular to the surface. If
there is no friction between the surface and
the object, the reactive thrust is perpendicular
or normal to the surface. An example is an
object moving on a frictionless inclined plane.
The normal reaction is perpendicular to the
plane and has the magnitude W cos 6 where
W = weight of object and 0 = angle of plane.
The presence of friction introduces a com
ponent of force parallel to the surface.

N O RM A L STATE. In nuclear physics, a

term sometimes used for ground state.

the symbol, the sensation, and the physical

stimulus.

NOTATION,

NOVAL.

POSITIONAL.

One of the
schemes for representing numbers, character
ized by the arrangement of digits in sequence,
with the understanding that successive digits
are to be interpreted as coefficients of succes
sive powers of an integer called the base of
the number system.
In the binary number system the successive
digits are interpreted as coefficients of the suc
cessive powers of the base two, just as in the
decimal number system they related to suc
cessive powers of the base ten.
In the ordinary number systems each digit
is a character which stands for zero or for a
positive integer smaller than the base.
The names of the number systems with
bases from 2 to 2 0 are: binary, ternary,
quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary (also octal), novenary, decimal, un
decimal, duodecimal, terdenary, quaterdenary,
quindenary, sexadecimal (also hexadecim al),
septendecimal, octodenary, novendenary, and
vicenary. The sexagenary number system has
the base 60. The com monly used alternative
of saying base-3, base-4, etc., in place of
tenary, quaternary, etc., has the advantage
of uniformity and clarity.
In the most common form of positional nota
tion the expression
i * * tt2<Xi<Xo. a \a2 *

is an abbreviation for the sum

n

*rt

i = m

where the point separates the positive powers

from the negative powers, the ai are integers
(0 ^ ai < r) called digits, and r is an inte
ger, greater than one, called the base.
For some purposes special rules are followed.
In one such usage the value of the base, r, is
not constant. In this case, the digits are coeffi
cients of successive products of a nonconstant
sequence of integers.

NOTE.

A conventional sign used to indicate

the pitch, or the duration, or both, of a tone
sensation. It is also the sensation itself or
the vibration causing the sensation. The word
serves when no distinction is desired between

Designation for a tube base.

NQR.

Abbreviation for nuclear quadrupole

resonance. (See resonance, nuclear quadru

pole.)
N-RADIATION.

One of a series of x-rays due

to the excitation of electrons of the N-shell.

N-SHELL.

The collection of all those elec

trons in the atom which have the principal
quantum number 4. The N-shell is started
with the element potassium, atomic number
19, which has one electron in its N-shell, and
the N-shell is finally completed (containing
32 electrons) with the element lutecium,
atomic number 71. During the progression
from potassium to lutecium the difference be
tween elements of consecutive atomic numbers
is frequently not in the N-shell, but in an elec
tron increment in the M -shell, or in the 0 shell, or the P-shell.

NTSC.

Abbreviation for National Television

System Committee.

NU.

(1) Poisson ratio (v, but jx is preferred).

( 2 ) Frequency in optics and atomic physics
(v). (3) Reciprocal of dispersive power (v).
(4) Wave number (?, but a is preferred). ( 5 )
R eluctivity (reciprocal permeability) (v), re
luctivity of free space (v0). ( 6 ) Coefficient of
kinematic viscosity (v). (7) Neutrino (v).

N U CLEA R BREED ER. A nuclear reactor

in which more fissionable material is formed
in each generation than is used up in fission.
(See also fission, nuclear.)

N U CLEA R CHARGE.

The positive charge

on the atomic nucleus due to the protons it
contains. The sum of the charges of the pro
tons in a nucleus, equal to + Z e , where Z is the
atomic number and e is the charge on the

electron.
N U CLEA R EM ULSION.

A type of photo
graphic emulsion, used to register the track
of a charged particle as a series of dark grains,
visible on m icroscopic examination. Various
nuclear emulsions are available, for detection
of different particles; they are thicker and
more concentrated than ordinary photographic
emulsions, and are often supported on a glass
sheet, called a nuclear plate.

N U C LEA R ENERGY.
nuclear reactions.

Energy released in
(See disintegration energy,

nuclear.)
N U C LEA R E N ERG Y LEVELS.

The ener
gies which can be assumed by a particular
nuclide. The levels are expressed relative to
a ground state of the nuclide or to the ground
state of a nuclide that may be produced by a
radioactive decay or transmutation process.
As in the case of atoms, nuclei can assume
only a discrete number of energy levels.

N U C LEA R EQUATION.

An equation show
ing the changes in composition, usually in
terms of mass number and charge only, of an
atomic nucleus during a nuclear reaction.
The equation shows any particles captured,
or radiations absorbed by the nucleus, and
also the particles or radiations emitted. See
nuclear reaction for examples.

N U CLEA R FISSION.
N U C LEA R

See fission, nuclear.

FORCES.
Nonelectromagnetic
forces between and peculiar to nucleons.
Sometimes called specifically nuclear forces
to emphasize that they do not include elec
trostatic and magnetic forces, even though
the latter are operative in nuclei. Nuclear
forces are of short range, are predominantly
attractive, and are nearly, if not completely,
charge-independent; that is, the neutron-neutron, neutron-proton, and proton-proton spe
cifically nuclear interactions are almost iden
tical in character. The meson theory of nu
clear forces, due originally to Yukawa, pos
tulates the existence of a particle, now called
a meson, the exchange of which between two
nucleons is responsible for the force between
them. These mesons may be positive, nega
tive or neutral, and are presumably 7r-mesons
and /c-mesons. (See mesons and hyperons.)
In phenomenological treatments of nuclear
forces, it is usually assumed that the forces
act between pairs of nucleons (the force be
tween any pair being independent of the pres
ence of other nucleons) and that they are de
rivable from (can be written as the gradient
of) a velocity-independent potential func
tion. However, there is now some evidence
that these forces may be m any-body in nature.
(See saturation(9).) The nuclear force may
be a central force, being a simple attraction
or repulsion directed along the line joining the
pair, or it may be a noncentral, or tensor,

force whose direction depends in part on the

spin orientation of the nucleons. It may also
be an ordinary, or Wigner force, or an ex
change force of the Majorana, Bartlett, or
Heisenberg type.

NUCLEAR FUEL.

The fissionable material

used in a nuclear fission reactor or the fusionable material used in a thermonuclear reactor.

N U CLEA R IN D U CT IO N . If a sample of
material containing nuclei with net magnetic
moments is placed in a magnetic field, there
will be a small parametric effect due to the
partial alignment of the nuclear moments.
Nuclear paramagnetism is usually masked by
electronic diamagnetism, but it can be ob
served by special techniques, (a) If a radio
active sample is cooled to such low tempera
tures that the degree of nuclear alignment be
comes appreciable, the resulting anisotropy of
the /?- or y-ray emission may be detected (see
|3-decay theory; and also Siegbahn, B eta and
Gamma R ay Spectroscopy, Interscience, 1955).
(b) Nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
can be used to detect the nuclear moments. In
method developed by F. Bloch (see Bloch
equations) a radio frequency magnetic field
is applied at right angles to a steady orienting
field H 0. If the frequency of the rf field is
close to the Larmor frequency it will induce
in the sample a net alternating magnetization
with a component at right angles to both H 0
and the rf field. This alternating component
of the magnetization M can be detected by the
emf it induces in a coil. The macroscopic
alternating M results, in the steady state, from
the coherent emission and absorption of rf
radiation as the nuclear moments alternately
flip back and forth. (See also magnetic en
ergy states; spin echo.)
N UCLEA R IN D U CT IO N , FREE.
echo.
NUCLEAR

M AGNETIC

See spin

ALIGNMENT.

Evidence of nuclear alignment in magnetic

fields has been obtained by studying radio
active emanations from atoms such as C o 60
and C o 58 in very low temperature ranges
(0.01-0.05K ).
Radioactive particles are
emitted with a preferred direction in space
which is determined by alignment of the nu
clear magnetic moment. Studies have already
led to some information about the excited
state of the radioactive nucleus. Evidence

for nuclear magnetic polarization has been ob

tained by preferential scattering of neutron
beams. (See also beta decay theory; nuclear

induction.)

( 2 ).)

N U CLEA R M O DELS.

N U C LEA R M A GN ET IC M OM ENT.
magnetic moment, nuclear or atomic.
N U C LEA R

N UCLEA R MAGNETON. The nuclear Bohr

magneton.
(See Bohr magneton, definition

M A GN ET IC

See

RESONANCE.

W hen a nucleus with a net magnetic moment

is placed in a strong magnetic field B, transi
tions between the magnetic energy states can
be induced by a radio frequency alternating
field, at right angles to B, at the resonance
radian frequency
co = giiNB/Ti,
where g is the nuclear g-factor, UN the nuclear
magneton and % is the Planck constant divided
by 2 ?r (M KSA units are used) (see resonance,

magnetic).
Nuclear g-values m ay be measured in this
way, both in molecular beams (see Rabi
method) and in macroscopic samples of solids
or liquids. T w o distinct methods are used for
liquids and solids. In the first, the small ab
sorption that occurs at resonance, due to the
slightly larger proportion of nuclei in lower
states at equilibrium, causes a change of the
Q of the rf coil in which the sample is placed.
In the second, at resonance the reorienting
magnetic moments cause an emf to be induced
in a coil placed at right angles to that supply
ing the rf field (see nuclear induction).
The magnetic resonance spectrum observed
is seldom the simple one indicated above.
Various effects cause broadening of the reso
nance lines, line shifting, and line splitting.
In many cases these effects provide useful tools
for investigating molecules and crystals. The
m ajor causes of line broadening are spin-spin
and spin-lattice relaxation effects. Line shifts
may result in molecules from the diamagnetic
shielding of the nucleus by the surrounding
electron cloud (see chemical shift). In metals
line shifts result from the orientation of the
magnetic moments of the conduction electrons
(see Knight shift). Line splitting may also
result from spin-spin interactions and nuclear
quadrupole interactions. (See also resonance,

paramagnetic; resonance, nuclear quadrupole;

spin echo.)
N U C LEA R M A GN ET IC MOMENTS, D E
TERM IN A T IO N BY RABI M ET H O D . See
Rabi method.

In the absence of a
detailed theory of nuclear forces that is in
agreement with experiment, and because of
the complications which arise in any attempt
to obtain nuclear wavefunctions using any of
the proposed forces, there have been many
efforts to construct nuclear models which will
explain in a reasonably quantitative fashion
certain types of nuclear behavior. One of the
first nuclear models, the liquid drop model,
has been very successful in describing nuclear
fission. The independent particle model (see
nucleus, independent particle model) has
been fairly successful in accounting for many
of the static properties of nuclei. The collec
tive model, a recent generalization of the inde
pendent particle model, was proposed by
A. Bohr and Mottelson. It assumes that the
nucleus has a tightly bound core which be
haves according to the independent particle
model and that this core is surrounded by a
layer in which some interaction (collective
m otion) takes place between the individual
particles. This model has been very success
ful in describing many of the ground state
characteristics of nuclei as well as making
some reliable predictions concerning some of
the first few excited states. The clouded crys
tal ball model is one which has been useful in
some descriptions of very high energy scatter
ing problems. In this model, the nucleus is
considered as a uniform sphere (crystal ball)
having a certain refractive index for the
incident particles. T o take into account re
action and adsorption processes, it is further
assumed that this sphere is not perfectly
transparent but rather has an attenuation
coefficient for particles passing through it (i.e.,
it is a clouded crystal ball). For a more de
tailed discussion of these models and others
such as the giant resonance model, see H and
book of Physics, Condon and Odishaw, p. 9 30 (M cG raw -H ill).

N U CLEA R NUMBER.
number.

The same as mass

N U C LEA R PARAMAGNETISM. Paramag

netism associated with nuclear magnetic mo
ments. The susceptibility of solid hydrogen
(which is diamagnetic with respect to elec
trons but paramagnetic with respect to pro

tons) has been measured at very low tempera

tures and found to be consistent with the
known magnitude of the proton magnetic mo
ment. (See also nuclear induction.)

N U C LEA R PARTICLE.
N U C LEA R PLATE.

A nucleon.

See nuclear emulsion,

N U C LEA R POLARIZATION. Alignment of

the spin magnetic moments of atomic nuclei
in the same direction, giving a net m acro
scopic magnetic moment. (See also spin.)

N U C LEA R
nuclear.

POTENTIAL.

N U C LEA R POTENTIAL
potential energy, nuclear.

See

potential,

N UCLEAR REACTION. An induced nu

clear disintegration, that is, a process occur
ring when a nucleus interacts with a photon,
elementary particle, or another nucleus. In
many cases the reaction can be represented
by a symbolic equation similar to the follow
ing:
7N 14

+ 2 e 4 > sO 17 + i f f 1

or in the form :

7N14 + -> 80 17 + p
or in the form :
7n 14m

ENERGY,

See

N U C LEA R PO W E R . Power released in exo

thermic nuclear reactions. (See reactor, nu

8o

17.

N U CLEA R REACTION, REACTION EN

ERGY OF. The energy either absorbed or
emitted in a nuclear reaction.

clear.)

N U CLEA R
REACTION,
RESONANCE
CONCEPT OF. Nuclei exist in discretely

N U C LEA R Q U A D R U PO LE RESONANCE.
See resonance, nuclear quadrupole.

spaced energy levels, which may be observed

through the increase in reaction cross sec
tions at the energies corresponding to the
levels.

N UCLEAR, RADIUS.

The radius ^ o f a
spherical volume within which the density of
nucleons in a nucleus is effectively large. It
is not a precisely determinable quantity. T h e
ory indicates that the density of nucleons
tapers off gradually at the edge of the nuclear
volume and that this volume is somewhat ec
centric. Each type of experiment serving to
determine the radius of a nucleus yields a
slightly different value. Thus, it is sometimes
necessary to specify the neutron collision ra
dius, determined by fast neutron transmission
experiments; the Coulomb, or Gamow, bar
rier radius, deduced from the rate of -disin
tegration or from cross sections of nuclear re
actions involving charged particles; the elec
trostatic radius, deduced from an analysis of
nuclear binding energies, especially of mir
ror nuclides. The radius parameter r0 is the
effective radius of a nucleus divided by the
cube root of its mass number A. All experi
ments yield approximately the same value of
r0 for all nuclei, thus indicating that nuclei
have about the same density. The most pre
cise value is given by experiments with elec
tron scattering and /x-mesonic atoms. Thus
the form ula:

N U CLEA R REACTION, T H RESH O LD EN

ERGY OF. Certain reactions are energeti
cally impossible unless the bombarding par
ticle has a certain minimum energy, known
as the threshold energy. For example, the
(y,n) reaction cannot take place unless the
bombarding photon has an energy equal to or
greater than the binding energy of the neu
tron.

N U CLEA R REACTOR.
See reactor, nu
clear and succeeding terms for all reactor
definitions.

N UCLEAR RESONANCE, GIANT.

clear models.
NUCLEAR SPIN EFFECT.

See nu

See discussion

under spectrum, hyperfine.

N U CLEA R
models.

STRUCTURE.

N U C LEI, EQUIVALENT.
nuclei.

See

nuclear

See equivalent

NUCLEOGENESIS.

R = r0A H = 1.2 X 10 13A H cm

Formation of nuclei in
nature on a large scale.

is quite good for calculating the radius of

any nucleus.

NUCLEON . A constituent particle of the

nucleus of the atom.

N U C LEO N IC S.

The applications of nuclear

science in physics, chemistry, biology and
other sciences, including m ilitary science, and
in industry, and the techniques associated
with these applications.

NUCLEUS.

The interior or central part, or

the kernel. The term nucleus is widely used
in science, as the nucleus of a cell, the nu
cleus of an atom or the nucleus of a molecule.
( 1 ) The nucleus of an atom is the positivelycharged core, with which is associated prac
tically the entire mass of the atom, but only
a minute part of its volume. (2) The nucleus
of a molecule is a group of atoms connected
by valence bonds so that the atoms and their
bonds form a ring or closed structure, which
persists as a unit through a series of chemical
changes. (3) A small impurity, such as a dust
particle or an ion in air, which catalyzes a
change of state. I f such nuclei are not pres
ent, vapors m ay be supercooled without lique
fying, or liquids m ay be supercooled without
freezing.
W hen used without qualification in this
volume, the term nucleus implies sense ( 1 ).

NUCLEUS, CO M POU N D .

An excited nu
cleus constituting an intermediate stage in an
induced nuclear reaction, and having a long
lifetim e compared with the normal transit
times of nuclear particles across the nucleus
(about 1 0 - 2 2 sec), as a result of the sharing
o f the excitation energy among the constitu
ent nucleons.

NUCLEUS, IN D E P E N D E N T PART ICLE

M O D E L OF. A model of the nucleus based
on the postulate that each nucleon moves in
dependently in a field corresponding to the
average positions of all the other nucleons.
W hen applied with the Pauli exclusion prin
ciple and the postulated existence of strong
spin-orbit coupling, this model has explained
quite successfully many empirical features of
nuclei, such as nuclear magnetic moments,
magic numbers, shell structure, etc.

NUCLEUS, LIQ U ID-DROP

M ODEL

OF.

A model of the atomic nucleus in which it is

imagined to behave much like a drop of liquid.
The nucleons within the drop are considered
to be distributed uniform ly, and to be in a
state of constant motion similar to the thermal
motion of the molecules in a liquid. Each
nucleon in the interior has about the same

binding energy, analogous to heat of condensa

tion. Furthermore, the nucleons near the sur
face are less strongly bound, analogous to the
effect of surface tension. When a nucleus is
highly excited, as by a collision, the additional
energy is distributed rapidly among all the
nucleons, the effect being similar to a rise in
temperature. Particles can leave the nuclear
surface only relatively slowly, because escape
depends upon an accidental concentration of
energy in one particle. Thus the spallation
reaction resembles the evaporation of a liquid.
Other assumptions are that the nucleus may
vibrate as a whole; and that the effect of an
electric charge is similar to that on a liquid
drop. The liquid-drop model makes possible
a fairly good explanation of nuclear fission.

NUCLEUS, R E C O IL .

An atomic nucleus
that recoils, because ( 1 ) of a collision with a
bombarding particle, or ( 2 ) of the emission
of a particle, as in a decay process. (See de

cay, radioactive.)
NUCLEUS, RESIDU AL. The heavy nucleus
which is the end product of transformation.
For example, in the reaction
7 N

14

2 H e 4

- >

8 0

17

j H

1,

the 80 17 is the residual nucleus.

N U C LID E .

A species of atom distinguished

by the constitution of its nucleus. The nu
clear constitution is specified by the number
of protons Z, number o f neutrons AT, and en
ergy content; or, alternatively, by the atomic
number Z, mass number A [ = N + Z ], and
atomic mass. T o be regarded as a distinct
nuclide, the atom must be capable of existing
for a measurable tim e; thus nuclear isomers
are separate nuclides, whereas prom ptly-de
caying excited nuclear states and unstable in
termediates in nuclear reactions are not so
considered.

NULL.

Zero, or without action; or, in the

case of an instrument, without giving a de
flection or other departure from an undis
turbed state.

NU LL CONE.
event.

See light-cone through an

NULL-GEODESIC. Curve drawn in space

time such that the infinitesimal interval be
tween two neighboring points on the curve

vanishes.

This represents a possible space

time path of a light ray.

N ULLIT Y (D E G R E E S O F F R E E D O M ON
M ESH BASIS). The number of independent
meshes that can be selected in a network.
The nullity N

is equal to the number of

branches B , minus the number of nodes V ,

plus the number of separate parts P.
B - V + P.

N U LL LIN E .

See Fortrat parabola.

NULL-LINE GAP.

See Fortrat parabola.

N U LL

OF

M ETHOD

MEASUREMENT.

A ny method of measurement in which adjust

ments of the apparatus are made until a
detector (2) shows no indication of a signal.
Such methods are often more accurate than
are deflection methods in which instrument
calibration errors may be serious. Bridge and
potentiometer measurements are examples.

N U LL VECTOR.

A vector A A of zero length

(ApAfl = 0 ). In special relativity theory the
displacement between two events on the path
of a photon is a null vector.

NUMBER.

(1) The symbols used for count

ing and in arithmetic, or the abstract mathe
matical entities they represent. Numbers are
further described as being prime (see number,
prime), integral, fractional, irrational. In
algebra and other branches of mathematics,
letters are often used for numbers. Algebraic
numbers satisfy a polynomial equation in one
variable with integral coefficients.
Trans
cendental numbers are not algebraic. T w o
familiar ones of this kind are e = 2.71828*
and 7T = 3.14159- *.
Other transcendental
numbers are known by the names of mathe
maticians who studied them: Bernoulli,
Stirling numbers, etc. Complex numbers are
values of the complex variable.
( 2 ) A se
quence of pulses. (3) In a digital machine, a
word composed only of digits and possibly a
sign.

NUM BER, DOUBLE-LENGTH.

A number

having twice as many digits as are ordinarily

used in a given computer.

NUMBER, DOUBLE-PRECISION. Synonym

for number, double-length.
NUM BER, PRIM E. An integer with no in
tegral factors other than itself or unity. The

first few prime numbers are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11,

13, 17, 19, 23, .

NUM BER READ-AROUND (IN CHARGESTORAGE TUBES). The number of times

priming, writing, reading, or erasing opera
tions can be performed on storage elements
adjacent to any given element without loss
of information from that element. The se
quence of operations should be specified.

N UM BER SYSTEM. See notation, positional.

N U M ERIC A L APERTURE. (See Abbe sine
condition.) The quantity n sin 0, that is, the
product of the index of refraction of the ob
ject medium (generally air) multiplied by the
sine of the slope angle of the outermost ray
from an axial point on the object.

N U M E RIC A L

D IFFEREN T IA T IO N .

method for calculating the numerical value of

the derivative of a function at a given point
(o,2/o). Graphical or mechanical processes
may be used, but more com m only the func
tion is approximated with an interpolation
formula which is then differentiated by the
rules of calculus.

N U M ERIC A L INTEGRATION. Evaluation

of a definite integral from pairs of numerical
values of the integrand. Graphical or me
chanical methods may be used but more fre
quently the integrand is approximated by an
interpolation formula which is then integrated
term by term. Special cases are the trape
zoidal rule, the Simpson rule, the Weddle
rule, the Gauss method of quadratures, the
Euler-MacLaurin formula. (See also quadra
ture and cubature.)

N U M ERIC A L
SOLUTION
OF
A LG E
BRAIC AND TRANSCENDENTAL EQUA
TIONS. A process for finding the roots, real
or complex, of such equations. Graphical pro
cedures are used if low accuracy is sufficient.
M ore exact methods include Horners, New
tons, regula falsi, iteration, Graeffes. Some
of them m ay be generalized for simultaneous
equations in several unknowns.

N U M E RIC A L SOLUTION O F D IF F E R E N
TIAL EQUATIONS. A procedure for finding
pairs of variables which satisfy a given dif
ferential equation together with given initial
conditions.
There are graphical and me
chanical means as well as analytical methods.

M an y variations in the latter methods have

been proposed but they may usually be classi
fied as: ( 1 ) M ethods of successive approxi
mations or iteration (see Euler method) by
means of polynomials or integral equations
(see Picard method).
( 2 ) Expansions in a

Taylor series. (3) Runge-Kutta method.

Milne method.
NUSSELT NUM BER.

(4)

The non-dimensional

parameter, defined as
Q d
Nu =

AT k

where Q is the rate of heat loss from a body,

AT is the difference of temperature between the
body and its surroundings, d is the scale size
of the body, k is the thermal conductivity of
the surrounding fluid. The Nusselt number
is useful in the reduction of measurements of
free and forced convective loss of heat either
from the same body in different conditions
or from different bodies of geometrically-similar shapes.

NUTATION. In the case of a spinning top

or gyroscope, the inclination of the top s axis
to the vertical will vary periodically between
certain limiting angles. This motion is called
nutation. In general a spinning top or gyro
scope experiences both nutation and preces

sion.

See Nyquist rate,

NYQUIST INTERVAL,
signaling.

NYQUIST RATE, SIGNALING.

In trans
mission, if the essential frequency range is
limited to B cycles per second, 2 B is the maxi
mum number of code elements per second that
can be unambiguously resolved, assuming the
peak interference is less than half a quantum
step. This rate is generally referred to as
signaling at the N yquist rate, and 1/2J3 is
called the N yquist in terva l

NYQUIST

STABILITY C RIT ERIO N .

A
method for determining stability of closed-loop
systems. The method consists of obtaining
the locus of the transfer function G (S) in the
complex G plane for values of S = joy for
co( 2 -7r/) from oo to + o o . For single-loop
systems, if the locus thus described encloses
the point 1 + jo , the system is unstable;
otherwise it is stable.
NYQUIST TH EOREM . The mean square
noise voltage across a resistance R is
IT2 = 4:RkTAfy

NUTATION F IE L D .
NU-VALUE.

represented by r, and the difference between

the output phase and the input phase is repre
sented by 0. The diagram resulting from a
plot in polar coordinates of r vs. 0 for all fre
quencies from oo to + oo gives the N yquist
diagram for the system.

See field, nutation.

See dispersive power (2).

NUVISTOR. Trade name for a miniaturized,

high-temperature electron tube.
NYQUIST DIA G RA M . A diagram useful in
the analysis of feedback systems. T o con
struct such a diagram, the feedback loop for
the system is broken, and a variable frequency
signal is sent into the input. The ratio of the
output amplitude to the input amplitude is

where T is the absolute t e m p e r a t u r e and A f

is the frequency range, or b a n d w id t h , within
which the voltage is measured. This expres
sion is valid in the classical region for which
hf /cT7; outside of this region the expression
for V 2 should be multiplied b y the Planck
factor
^

(e. / r

see Planck radiation formula.

noise, thermal.)

(See also noise;

o
OBD. Abbreviation for omnibearing-distance
navigation.
OBI. Abbreviation for omnibearing indicator.
OBJECT IV E LENS.

Com m only that lens of

a system which is toward the object.

OBJECTIVE, OIL-IM M ERSION. In order

to reduce reflection losses, and also to in
crease the index of refraction of the object
space, some high-power microscope objective
lenses are designed to have the space between
the objective lens and the object filled with an
oil which has an index of refraction the same
as that of the cover glass over the object, and
of the objective lens.
O BJECT IV E PRISM . A large prism placed
before the objective lens of a telescope in
order to produce spectral images of stars on a
photographic plate in its focal plane.

OBJECT POINT.

The real or virtual point

of intersection of a pencil of rays incident
upon an optical system.
(See object, real;

object, virtual.)
OBJECT, REAL.

which would have been formed by lens

had not lens L 2 been interposed, acts as a vir
tual object for lens L 2.

OBLATE.

Flattened or depressed at the

For example, an oblate spheroid is an
ellipsoid of revolution about the minor axis
of the ellipse.
poles.

OBLATE SPH ER O ID A L COORDINATES.

See coordinate system, spheroidal ( oblate and
prolate).
OBLIQ U ITY FACTOR.

While in the wave

theory of Huygens (see Huygens principle),
each point on a wave front is a center from
which new spherical waves emerge, the am
plitude of these secondary waves is not the
same in all directions, being reduced by an
obliquity factor proportional to 1 + cos 6,
where 0 is the angle between the original wave
front and the wave front of a secondary wave
let.

OBOE. A particular radar navigation system

consisting of two ground stations measuring
distance to an airborne transponder beacon
and relaying information to the aircraft.

In geometrical optics, an
object is called real if from each point of
it, light diverges towards the optical system.
(See object, virtual.) The first object ( 0 ) in
that diagram is real.

OBSERVER, STANDARD.
server.

OBJECT, VIRTUAL.

O C C L U D E D FRONT.

An example of a vir
tual object is given below. The image I l9

Qx - D

JL +

-Pz + Q2

=P2
.

JL

f2

OBS.

Abbreviation for omnibearing selector.

OCCLU SION.

See standard ob

See occlusion.

(1) A condition of uniform

molecular adhesion between a precipitate and
a soluble substance, or between a gas and a
metal, of such a nature that it is very diffi
cult to separate the occluded substance by
washing or other simple mechanical process.
Occlusion in precipitates depends upon the
distribution of a substance between solvent
and solid and is probably due to adsorption.
Another type of occlusion is that of hydrogen
by palladium, which was studied by Graham.
(2) In meteorology, when one front overtakes
another, forcing one of the fronts upward from
the surface of the earth, that front is said
to be an occluded front, and the zone in which
this condition exists is called the occlusion.

OCTAL

BASE.
An eight-pin tube-base
(some pins m ay be omitted if unused) with
a center aligning key.

OCTALU X BASE.
loktal base.

Another name for the

The interval between two sounds

having a basic frequency ratio of two. B y
extension, the octave is the interval between
any two frequencies having the ratio 2 : 1 .
The interval, in octaves, between any two
frequencies is the logarithm to the base two
(3.332 times the logarithm to the base 10) of
the frequency ratio.

OCTAVE ANALYZER. A filter in which the

upper cut-off frequency is twice the lower cut
off frequency.
OCTAVE-BAND PRESSURE L E V E L (O C
TAVE PRESSURE L E V E L ). Of a sound, the
band pressure level for a frequency band cor
responding to a specified octave. The loca
tion of an octave-band pressure level on a fre
quency scale is usually specified as the geo
metric mean of the upper and lower frequen
cies of the octave.
See sound

OCTAVES, L A W OF. N ewlands xiame for

his hypothesis of the periodic system. His
arrangement was a simple grouping of the
elements in order of increasing atomic weight,
beginning with lithium, in horizontal rows of
eight elements each, beginning each new row
directly beneath the previous one.
OCTET, ELECT RO N . A group o f eight
valence electrons (see electron, valence) which
constitutes the most stable configuration of
the outermost, or valency, electron-shell of the
atom, and hence the form which frequently
results from electron transfer or sharing be
tween two atoms in the course of a chemical
reaction.

O CT O D E.

An eight-electrode electron tube

containing an anode, a cathode, a control elec
trode, and five additional electrodes that are
ordinarily grids.

OCTONARY.

OCULAR, NEGATIVE.
gens.

See eyepiece, Huy

O D.

OCTAVE.

OCTAVE PRESSURE LEV EL.

octave-band pressure level.

an optical instrument in the end through

which the image is viewed by the eye.

See notation, positional.

OCULAR. A lens through which anything is

viewed, com m only the lens or lens system in

Abbreviation for outside diameter or

dimension.

ODD.

See function, odd.

ODD-EVEN N U C LEI.

Nuclei which con

tain an odd number of protons and an even
number of neutrons.
ODD-EVEN RU LE O F N UCLEAR STABILITY. The rule, based on the number of
stable nuclides, that nuclides with even num
bers of both protons and neutrons are most
stable; those with an even number of protons
and an odd number of neutrons, or vice-versa,
are somewhat less stable; while those with odd
numbers of both protons and neutrons are
least stable.

O D D M OLECULES.

A few, unusual m ole

cules that have an odd number of valence
electrons.

ODD-ODD N U C LEI. Nuclei which contain

an odd number of protons and an odd num
ber of neutrons.
O D D TERM O F ATOM.

A term for which

Si*, summed over all the electrons of the atom,
is odd, where the U are the orbital angular
momenta. Eigenfunctions of odd terms are
changed in sign by inversion(8) through the
origin.
In work on atomic spectra the odd terms
are distinguished from the even ones by a
superscript o (e.g., 2P) while in work on m o
lecular spectra, the subscripts g and u are
used for even and odd terms, respectively
(e.g., zpg, 2P ).

O-ELECTRON. An electron characterized by

a principal quantum number of value five.
(See also O-shell.)
OERSTED. A unit o f magnetic field strength
in the emu system. The magnetic field pro
duced at the center of a plane circular coil of
one turn, and of radius one centimeter, which
carries a current of (%?r) abamperes.
OERSTED
magnetism.

EXPERIM EN T.

See

electro

OFF-AXIS PARABOLIC M IR R O R . A mir

ror in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution
will reflect a parallel beam to a single focus
within the incident beam, if the beam is paral
lel to the axis of the paraboloid. In order to
reflect a beam to a point off the original

fore 1950, is the resistance offered to a steady

electric current by a column of mercury of
14.4521 gm mass, constant cross-sectional
area, and a length of 106.300 cm, at 0C.
1 Int. ohm = 1.000495 abs. ohm.

O H M , ACOUSTICAL.

See acoustical ohm.

O H M IC DELA Y TIM E (TRANSISTOR).

See transistor parameter td.

beam, a part only of a paraboloidal mirror is

used. Such a part is therefore known as an
off-axis parabolic mirror.
It is commonly
manufactured by cutting it from the larger
total paraboloid, because of the difficulty of
making small, paraboloidal sections.

O FF CEN T ER PPL

See PPI, off center.

OFFENSE AGAINST THE SINE C O N D I

TION. Abbreviated to OSC. A quantity in
troduced into lens design by A. E. Conrady in
order to have a numerical measure of coma,
and defined as the ratio of the sagittal coma
to the distance of the image point from the
optical axis. (See Conrady, Applied Optics
and Optical D esign} 1929, Oxford University
Press.)

OFF-SET CROSSOVER CH ARACTERIS

TIC. See crossover characteristic curve. The
use of the term off-set crossover characteristic
is deprecated.

OGRA.

A controlled thermonuclear device

built in Russia to examine the possibility of
trapping high energy ions in a large magnetic
mirror device by collisional processes. (See

DCX.)
OHM.

A unit of electrical resistance, sym

bol, O. (1) The absolute ohm is defined as
the resistance of a conductor which carries a
steady current of one absolute ampere when
a steady potential difference of one absolute
volt is impressed across its terminals. This
is equivalent to the statement that the con
ductor dissipates heat at the rate of one watt
when it carries a steady current of one abso
lute ampere. The absolute ohm has been the
legal standard of resistance since 1950. ( 2 )
The International ohm, the legal standard be

O H M IC HEATING. A method of heating an

ionized gas or plasma, which is effective so
long as the electrical conductivity is not too
high. A current is produced in the ionized
gas by an external electric field. This leads
to the ordinary P R loss, which appears in the
form of internal energy of the plasma. This
is also called Joule heating.

O H M LAW . This very familiar law of elec

tric conduction, stated by George Simon Ohm
in 1827, is expressible in various forms, of
which the following is typical: The steady
electric current in a metallic circuit is propor
tional to the constant total electromotive force
operating in the circuit: I = K E . The con
stant K , known as the conductance of the
circuit, is the reciprocal of the resistance R ;
so that the equation may be written in the
more usual form :
E
I =
R
Emphasis must be placed on the constancy of
the electromotive force and the current. For,
if the current varies, the effects of inductance
and capacitance set up extra electromotive
forces, positive or negative, which render the
law expressible in general only by a differen
tial equation. (See transients and alternating
currents.) Also there are certain kinds of con
duction for which the law is not valid; notably
that of ionized gases, thermionic vacuum
tubes, and photoelectric cells.

O H M LA W IN HYDROM AGNETICS. In an
electrically conducting fluid, the Ohm law
takes the form E + V X B = fa, where E is
the electric field strength, V is the fluid veloc
ity, B is the magnetic flux density, j the elec
tric current density, and rj is the electrical
resistivity, all measured in emu. This reduces
to the usual form of the Ohm law in the co
ordinate system moving with the fluid.

O H M , M EC H A N IC A L. See impedance, me
chanical; reactance, mechanical; resistance,
mechanical.
OHM M ET ERS. The accurate measurement
o f resistance is somewhat tedious, and various
instruments have been devised to make di
rect readings in ohms. For example, one may
send a current from a source of known elec
tromotive force E and known internal resist
ance Ri through an unknown resistance R X) a
voltmeter being placed across the terminals
to register the resulting potential drop V.
From these the resistance can be calculated;
for
Rx
V ----------- E,
Ri + R x
from which

Obviously, for a given, fixed electromotive

force, the voltmeter scale might be graduated
directly in ohms. B ut the reliability of such
an instrument requires a strictly constant
electromotive force.
The more approved
types of ohmmeter use the slide-wire bridge
principle, with the slide-wire scale graduated
in ohms. These instruments, though accu
rate, are necessarily somewhat restricted in
range. A form of high-resistance ohmmeter,
designed by Evershed, is graduated in meg
ohms and is known com mercially as a meg
ger. This is a type of differential, m ovingcoil galvanometer, in which part of the coil
is in series with the unknown resistance, while
another part, carrying current from the same
source, is independent of that resistance. The
galvanometer reading depends upon the rela
tive currents in the two parts, and hence upon
the unknown resistance.
M any modern ohmmeters consist of a v a c
uum tube voltmeter of adjustable resistance
(R v) which is connected in series with a source
of emf (E ) and the unknown resistance (R x).
Then
R V(E - V )

Rx-

where V is the voltm eter reading.

OM EGA.

(1) Solid angle (o>). (2) Angular

frequency (). (3) Angular frequency with
damping ( ) .
(4) Dispersive power (o>).

(5) Periodicity or pulsetance (<*>). ( 6 ) R eso

nance periodicity (a>r). (7) Specific magnetic
rotation, or Verdet constant (<o). ( 8 ) Volume
of phase space (O ). (9) Absolute value of the
projection of the total angular momentum of
a single electron on the molecular axis (R y d berg-type, Case c) ( ) . ( 1 0 ) Designation of
H unds Case c state of electronic state of a
molecule (O, Q,g or Ow).

OM EGATRON.

A small form of cyclotron

used chiefly for the determination of atomic
masses. (See also mass spectrograph, time of
flight.)
OM N IBEA RIN G .

A bearing indicated by a
navigational receiver on transmissions from
an omnirange.

OMNIBEARING-DISTANCE FACILITY. A
radio facility consisting o f an omni-directional
range in combination with distance measuring
equipment (D M E ).
O M N IB EA RIN G - DISTANCE
NAVIGA
TION (O B D ). R adio navigation utilizing a
polar coordinate system as a reference, m ak
ing use of omnibearing-distance facilities.
(See also rho-theta.)

O M N IB EA RIN G IN D IC A T O R. An instru
ment which presents an automatic and con
tinuous indication of an omnibearing.
O M N IB E A R IN G SELECTOR.

An instru
ment capable of being set manually to any
desired bearing of an omnirange station and
which controls a course deviation indicator.

O M NI-DIRECTIONAL RANGE
( O M N I
RA N G E ). A radio facility providing bear
ing information to or from such facilities at
all azimuths within its service area.

OM N IGRA PH .

A device for the audible re

production of M orse code signals from a per
forated tape for instructional purposes.

OM N IRAN GE.

See omni-directional range.

O M N IRAN GE, VHF.

range ).

See VOR (V H E omni

ON-COURSE CURVATURE. In navigation,

the rate of change of the indicated course with
respect to distance along the course line or
path.

O NDOSCOPE.

An electric wave detector

consisting of a glow-discharge tube.

ONE-ADDRESS C O D E .
tion.

See code, instruc

A model for the

study of neutron behavior in a nuclear reactor,
in which neutrons of all energies are treated as
having the same characteristics.

ONE-SHOT.
O N E STATE.

See state, one.

See multivibrator.

ONE-TO-PARTIAL-SELECT RATIO.
selection, coincident, current.

See

See state, one.

O N ETW ORK. A network consisting of four

branches connected in series to form a mesh,
the four junction points forming pairs of input
or output terminals.

ONSAGER EQUATION.

An equation ex
pressing the relation between the measured
equivalent conductance at a particular con
centration to that at infinite dilution.

ONSAGER T HEORY O F DIELE C T R IC S.

It is proposed that the treatment using the
Lorentz field is wrong for dielectrics contain
ing permanent dipole moments. Instead of
taking the local field as
47T
Eloc E 0 + P,
o
where E 0 is the external field and P is the
polarization, the relation:

is derived from a simple model of a spherical

cavity in a medium of dielectric constant e.
Combining this with the Langevin formula
for the polarization induced by the local field
gives a formula for the dielectric constant
which does not show a polarization catas

trophe.
OPACITY. Of an optical path, the reciprocal
of transmission (transmittance).
OPEN SYSTEM.

A word symbol, or quantity, on

which an operation is to be performed.

OPERATE T IM E (R E L A Y ). See time, oper

ate (relay).
OPERATE VALUES (R E LA Y ).
pick-up.

See values,

OPERATIN G
CHARACTERISTIC.
load characteristic.

See state, one.

ONE-TO-ZERO RATIO.

thermodynamics.)
OPERAND.

ONE-GROUP M O D E L .

ON E OUTPUT.

reaction processes in the chemical industry.

(See also closed system, and non-equilibrium

A system allowing inter

change of heat and matter with its surround
ings, familiar in biology and in continuous

See

OPERATION. In computer term inology: ( 1 )

The activity resulting from an instruction.
( 2 ) The execution of a set of commands.
OPERATION AL D E FIN IT IO N . A defini
tion which can be reduced to the experimental
steps that must be taken to measure the quan
tity being defined.

OPERATIONALISM . The principle that any

quantity which is to be used in scientific con
siderations must be given an operational defi

nition.
OPERATION AL M ETHODS. Study of the
properties of operators in the absence of the
functions on which they operate or a study
of mathematical transformations using sym
bolic operators. Thus, in the examples given
under operator, commutative one may write
A B = B A and PQ = I + QP where I is the
unit operator. B y these methods it may be
shown that certain operators obey some of
the rules of arithmetic or algebra.

OPERATION PART. In an instruction, the

part that usually specifies the kind of opera
tion to be performed, but not the location of
the operands. (See also code, instruction.)
OPERATION, SIMPLEX.
ation of a radio system.

See simplex oper

OPERATOR. The sym bolic direction to per

form an operation such as addition, multipli
cation, differentiation, extraction of roots, etc.,
or some combination of these operations. Thus
the symbol d/ dx is an operator which may
act on a function z(x, y) to give the partial
derivative of z with respect to x. Similarly,
V is a vector operator which may act on a
vector to give the divergence.

OPERATOR, A DJO IN T .
operator is defined as

If a differential

OPERATOR, INVERSE.

L(y) = E
0

then the adjoint operator is

i ( y ) = i : ( - i ) r +8<[/i(x)2/('<)](ri).
i=0
If L (y) = L (y), the operators are self-adjoint.
(See also a d jo i n t e q u a t io n .)

OPERATOR, A N N IH ILA T IO N . An operator

which, applied to a state vector fa describing
a system in which n particles are present,
yields a state vector f a - i which describes the
system with n 1 particles present.
OPERATOR, COM M UTATIVE. I f the or
der of applying operators to a function is im
material, the operators are commutative.
Suppose A = a + and B = &+ , with a, b con
stant, are applied to a function of x, then
AB f { x ) = a + b + f ( x ) = BA f i x ) and A, B
commute. H owever, if P = d/dx and Q = x ,
then P and Q are not commutative for
P Qf i x ) = f i x ) + QP f i x ) .
(See also com

mutator.)
OPERATOR, CREATION .
An operator
which, applied to a state vector <n describing
a system in which n particles are present,
yields a state vector <n+ i which describes the
system with in + 1 ) particles present.
OPERATOR, D E L (V).

See del operator.

OPERATOR, D IFF E R E N T IA L . A symbolic

operator involving one or more differentia
tions.

Examples are:

D = d/dx,

(See representation theory, quantum mechan

ical; matrix, Hermitian.)

D 2 = d2/dx2,

D (n) = dn/dxn;

An operator sym
bol which cancels the process directed by an
other operator. Thus A and B are inverse
operators if they mean addition and subtrac
tion of a constant, respectively, or if they are
defined as differentiation and integration.

OPERATOR, LIN EA R. A sym bolic operator

which obeys the distributive law, A [ fi x) +
g i x ) ] = A f i x ) + A gi x ) ,
and
for
which
A [ c f i x ) ] = c Af i x ) , where c is any constant.
OPERATOR, MATRIX. An operator repre
sented by a matrix. It transforms a matrix
(usually a vector in n-dimensional space) into
another matrix (or vector). For matrix op
erators with special names see the appropri
ate entries under matrix, as matrix, Hermi
tian; matrix, orthogonal; etc.
OPERATORS, QUANTUM M ECHA NICA L.
In developing an interpretation for the w a v e
f u n c t i o n s which are solutions of the S c h r
d in g e r
e q u a t io n ,
Born,
Jordan,
and
Schrdinger were led to associate an o p e r a t o r
with each d y n a m i c a l v a r ia b le relating to a
quantum mechanical system. These operators
are obtained by expressing the dynamical
variable as a function of the position and
momentum v e c t o r s . Then, whenever the mo
mentum vector occurs, it is replaced b y ifi
times the gradient operator, where i = y / 1
and ft is the D i r a c ft. Examples of such
operators are:
A. In the Cartesian coordinate system s
The H a m ilto n ia n ,
ft2 / 2

f f _ 2 ^ W

+ 57 + i? ) + F < w )'

L = d2/dx2 + y(x)d/dx + q(x).

(See also operator, vector; del; dAlember-

The linear m o m e n t u m ,

tian; Laplacian.)

n /d

OPERATOR, D Y A D IC . A sym bolic opera

tor containing functions of a dyadic.

l \dx

OPERATOR, E XCH AN GE. A quantum me

chanical operator, which exchanges the posi
tions of two particles in a wave function.
OPERATOR, H ER M IT IA N .
An operator
whose matrix representation is Hermitian.

dy

dz

The orbital a n g u la r m o m e n t u m ,
n / d

d\

h - - i V * - 7 ) - + v

d\

B. In the spherical polar coordinate system:

The Hamiltonian,

2 i l d2
d .
H = \--- - r + i f - ------ sin
2m l.r dr
r1,2 Lsin ddd
1

d
0

dd

+ V(r,e,4>).

+ -

siir 6 d(j)

The square of the orbital angular m o

mentum,

Lsin e e e \

dd/

only if their classical Poisson bracket is zero.

It can be shown that this condition implies
the Heisenberg uncertainty relationship. It
also follows that if an operator commutes with
the Hamiltonian operator, the dynamical vari
able corresponding to it is constant in time
and is thus a conserved quantity.
(See

representation theory, q u a n tu m m e chan

ical; q u a n tu m mechanics, postulates of.)
OPERATORS, VECTOR D IFFEREN T IA L,
IN VARIOUS CO O RD IN A T E SYSTEMS.
(For meaning of the systems see the individual
entries, e.g., coordinate system, spherical

polar.)
(1) The gradient, V$>, of a scalar function

sin 2 6 d<t>2J
]
The Z-com ponent of the orbital angular
momentum,
n d
Lz -

(a) Rectangular Cartesian,

d<j>

d<f>

d<l>

dx

dy

dz

V = i +j + k

i d(j>

(b) Cylindrical,
Since the average value a of the dynamical
variable corresponding to an operator a is
given by
. =

Xpd,Tj

d<p
1 d<f>
d<f>
V = er + ee - + e*
dr

r dd

(c) Spherical polar,

it is clear that

j*\l/*a yf/dr

=^\l/a*\l/*dr,

because a must be real. In these expressions

an asterisk denotes the complex conjugate
of a quantity, dr is an element of volume, and
the integrals are over all space. A ny operator
that satisfies this relationship is said to be a
Hermitian operator; thus all quantum me
chanical operators must be Hermitian. This
property of Hermitianship means that the
entire set of eigenfunctions of any quantum
mechanical operator corresponding to its dif
ferent eigenvalues forms an ortho n o rm al set
of functions, which is assumed to be com
plete since no exception to the latter has been
found. It can be shown that any two opera
tors a and /3 satisfy the condition
a/3 pa =
where {a,P\ is the operator constructed by
taking the Poisson bracket of the classical
expressions for the dynamical variables corre
sponding to a and /3 and then replacing the
momentum vector in the resulting expression
by ihV. Thus they will be com m utative

dz

V = er

d<j>
dr

1 d<j>
1
+ e$
-f-e*

r dd

d<t>

r sin 6 d(j>

(d) Curvilinear,

tin

(2) Divergence, div, V V, of a vector:

(a) Rectangular Cartesian,
dVx

V V

dx

dV
+

dy

dV
+

dz

(b) Cylindrical,

1 dV

dV ,

r dr

r dd

dz

v y = - (rV r) + - +
(c) Spherical polar,
1 3

~ - ( r

r dr

2Vr)
1

r sin 6 dd

(sin dVe) +

dVt

r sin d d<t>

(d) Curvilinear,
V

y -

(c) Spherical polar,

1
hih^hs

i hlh2h'i Vn\
dfcn '

hn

* * - ? &

I d

(3) C u rl, r o t , V X V, of a vector:

(a) Rectangular Cartesian,
(W z

- )

\dy

dz J

_ -dI i \
dx )

dy /

a2^

r2 sin 2 6 d<f>2

iW 3

d<t>1

OPERATORS, WAVE MECHANICAL.

operators, quantum mechanical.

(b) Cylindrical,

d<t>\

(d) Curvilinear,
y2

\ dx

----------( sin d -----J

r 2 sin
sinddd\
dd/

37A

V X V = i(
, ( d
h
* \ dz

/1 d V z

dVe\

\r dd

dz )

See

V x V = er ( ------ --------- )

OPERATOR, TENSOR. A symbolic opera

tor containing the components of a tensor.

(d V r _ d V A

OPERATOR, UNIT. A symbolic operator

which leaves every other operator unchanged.
Thus if indicated by I, IA = AI = A for any
definition of the operator A. Also called the
identity operator.

+ ee

V dz

dr /

/i a
I
m
\r dr

i dVr\
\
r dd /

(c) Spherical polar,

dVe

r d

er

V X V ------- ~ (sin dV*) r sin 6 Ldd

e <9 r
I 1
1 dVr

+ -

+ -

Lsml d d(f)
d<)

\ - (rV e) r Ldr

d(j> _

OPHTHALMOSCOPE. An instrument made

up of lenses, and producing a beam of light

dr

by means of which the retina of the eye can

be seen. It is one of the valuable diagnostic
instruments.

1
dd J

OPPENHEIMER-PHILLIPS PROCESS.

(d) Curvilinear,
V X V =

hihoh,

Z E D
i

M i
n

4 . - (hnVn) - ^ (hmVm) j
Id U
di

(4) Laplacian, V 2$>, of a scalar function <i>.

(a) Rectangular Cartesian,

v0=

a2</>

2+
dx2

d2(t>

g
dt/ 2

a2^
dz2

(b) Cylindrical,
1 ^ / rd(f>\
V 2</> = r dr \ dr /

OPERATOR, VECTOR. A symbolic operator

containing vector quantities. Those frequently
used include del, the Laplacian operator, the
dAlembertian operator.

d20

d2(j>

r 2 d<j>2

dz2

A
mechanism of the (d,p) reaction. In this
mechanism the proton of the incident deuteron
is thought to be repelled, according to the
Coulomb law between it and the target nu
cleus, while the neutron of the incident deu
teron approaches close enough to the target
nucleus to have a chance of becoming bound
sufficiently to overcome its rather small bind
ing energy in the deuteron. The result is a
disruption of the deuteron, with the capture
of the neutron and repulsion o f the proton.
Complete penetration of the Coulomb barrier
by the proton is not required, and therefore
the effect evidences itself in the range of bom
barding energies below the Coulomb barrier
height, that is, commonly below 10 mev. The
effect is a special case of stripping.

OPPOSITION. ( 1 ) A phase difference of onehalf cycle. (2) In astronomy, two heavenly

bodies are said to be in opposition when they
differ in longitude by 180.
O-P PROCESS.
process.

See Oppenheimer-Phillips

OPTAR. A method of automatic optical

ranging as applied to a guidance device for
the blind.

O PT ICA L ACTIVITY. The power of a sub

stance to rotate the plane of polarized light
transmitted through it.
O PT ICA L ANOMALY. The behavior of cer
tain organic compounds, such as those whose
molecules contain conjugated double bonds,
in which the observed values of the molar re
fraction are not in accord with the values
calculated from the known equivalents.
W hen the observed values are higher than
the calculated values, the substance is said
to exhibit optical exaltation.

ence is positive, i.e., the observed value ex

ceeds the calculated one, the term exaltation
is used.

OPTICAL GLASS. Glass to be useful for

lenses, prisms and other optical parts through
which light passes, as distinguished from mir
rors, must be completely homogeneous. This
includes freedom from bubbles, striae, seeds,
strains, etc. In order to reduce aberrations,
the optical designer needs many different kinds
of glass. A few typical sorts are given in the
table.

Borosilicate
Barium
Spectacle
Light
OrdinaryDense
Extra dense

Type

njy

/-Number

Crown
Crown
Crown
Flint
Flint
Flint
Flint

1.5170
1.5411
1.5230
1.5880
1.6170
1.6660
1.7200

64.5
59.5
58 .4
53.4
38 .5
32 .4
29.3

O PT ICA L ANTIPODES.

T w o compounds
composed of the same atoms and atomic link
ages (1), which differ in their structural for
mulas only in that one is the mirror image of
the other. The term is com monly applied to
substances containing an asymmetric atom, or
bond, in which the plane of polarized light is
rotated to the right by one of the optical
antipodes, and to the left by the other.

O PT ICA L AXIS.

The v-number is the reciprocal of the dis

persive power of the glass.

OPTICAL IMAGES, GRA PH ICA L CON
STRUCTION. The image of a point object
may be located to first order accuracy by
drawing any two of three easily located lines.
L

See axis, optical.

O PT ICA L BRANCH.
cal and optical.

See branch, acousti

O PT ICA L CEN TER ( O F A L E N S ). A point

so located on the axis of a lens that any ray,
which in its passage through the lens passes
through this point, has its incident and emer
gent parts parallel.

O PT ICA L DENSITY (P H O T O G R A P H IC ).
The logarithm to base 10 of the inverse of the

transmittance of the developed photographic

image.

O PT ICA L

EXALTATION.
The phenom
enon whereby a compound possesses a refrac
tion different from the value calculated from
the various equivalents of the atoms and
other structural units of which it is composed.
This property is more strictly called optical
anomaly, but since in most cases the differ

Given a lens L, its optical axis x - y , its foci

F i, and F 2 and an object point 0 :
( 1 ) Draw a line OA parallel to x - y and
then the line A F 2.
( 2 ) D raw a line OF1} extend it to the lens
at B , and then extend it from B parallel to
the optical axis.
(3) D raw the line OC, and continue it
without deviation through the lens.
The three lines should meet at the point 7,
the image of 0 . If instead of converging to
a point the three lines are diverging, trace
each of them back and they should meet at a
point to the left of the lens indicating a virtual
image. If the three lines are parallel the

image is at infinity. This same method of

construction may be applied to any lens or
curved mirror.
These are the three easily located lines. I f
it becomes desirable to trace some other ray
(tracing a single ray through more than one
lens) the following construction holds.
Im

E A is the ray to be traced through the lens.

Draw mn through F 2 perpendicular to the
optical axis. D raw C D parallel to E A. The
ray will follow the path A D after leaving the
lens.

O PT ICA L INSTRUMENTS.

Optical instru
ments may be divided into two general classes:
( 1 ) those used for optical projection, such as
the stereopticon and the camera; and ( 2 ) those
used as an aid to natural vision, such as the
telescope and the microscope. In the first
class, a real image of the object to be repre
sented is formed on a screen or photographic
plate by means of a lens system or a mirror.
In the second, the eye of the observer is
placed so as to view a virtual image formed
by the optical system as a whole, which may
or may not involve the formation of a real
image in the interior of the instrument. (See

geometrical optics.)
O PT ICA L ISO M ERISM . The difference in
optical activity among the isomers of com
pounds having asymmetric atoms or bonds.
O PT ICA L ISOM ERS. T w o or more com
pounds which have the same chemical com
position and the same two-dimensional struc
tural formulas, but which differ in the spatial
arrangement of the atoms or groups about one
or more asymmetric atoms or bonds that are
present, so that the plane of polarized light
is rotated in a different direction (left or right)
or to a different amount (if the substance has
more than two optical isomers).
O PT ICA L LENGTH.
path.

Equivalent to optical

OPTIC ALLY-PLANE ( OPTIC ALLY-FLAT).

Departing from a true plane only by distances
small compared with the wavelength(s) of
light concerned.

OPTICALLY V O ID LIQ U ID S. Liquids that

do not exhibit the Tyndall effect, e.g., liquids
that contain no suspended solids.

OPTICAL M O D E. A type of thermal vibra

tion of a crystal lattice whose frequency is
nearly independent of wave number. The
optical modes may be thought of as internal
vibrations of the molecules or unit cells of
the lattice, loosely coupled from cell to cell.
In ionic crystals, this leads to strong absorp
tion in the infrared because of the fluctuating
dipole moment as the ions of opposite sign
move relative to one another. The optical
modes contribute to the specific heat with

Einstein specific heat functions.

OPTICAL PATH.

In a medium of refractive
index n, the product of the geometrical dis
tance d and the refractive index. When there
are several segments dly d2, * * * of the light
path in substances having different indices
n1} n2, , the optical path is found from the
relationship:
Optical Path = nidi + n 2<i2 + = ^

mdt,

and in a medium in which n varies continu

ously:
Optical Path = J n d s,
where ds is an element of length along the
path. According to the Fermat principle, the
optical path connecting two points has an
extreme value.

O PTICAL PATTERN (CHRISTMAS TREE

PATTERN). In mechanical recording, a pat
tern which is observed when the surface of a
record is illuminated by a light beam of es
sentially parallel rays.

OPTICAL PUMPING.

See pumping (3).

OPTICAL ROTATION. See optical activity;

rotation, specific; rotatory power, atomic or
molecular.
OPTICAL ROTATORY POW ER.

The abil
ity of a substance to rotate the plane of polar

ized light.

OPT ICA L SOUND R E C O R D E R .

corder, sound, photographic.

See re

A type of digital computer.

ORBIT.

O PT ICA L SUPERPOSITION, P R IN C IP LE
OF. V ant H offs assumption that the optical
rotation of a compound composed of two op
positely optically active radicals is the alge
braic sum of the separate rotations of each
radical. It does not hold in all cases.

O PT IC AXIS.

ORACLE.

See axis, optic.

(1) Strictly, the closed trajectory

followed by a particle under the influence of
a central force. The noun is often applied to
trajectories that are not closed, such as the
parabolic path of a comet or the path of an
earth satellite that is falling and speeding up
as a result of dissipative forces. ( 2 ) As a
verb, the act of travelling in an orbit.

ORBITAL.

numerical apertures up to 1.65 have been con

structed.
The minimum distance between
points which are just resolved is thus 2.7 X
10 - 5 cm for a dry lens, and 1.6 X 10 ~~5 cm
for an oil-immersion lens, using oblique illu
mination and a wavelength of 5500 . The
maximum useful magnification is thus about
800 for dry objectives, and 1 2 0 0 for oil-im
mersion objectives.

In the old quantum theory an

electron in a field of force was thought of as
moving in an orbit. In wave mechanics this
idea is expressed by a wave function giving
the probability of finding the electron in the
region. There is, in general, a wave function
corresponding to each quantized orbit, and
such a wave function has been called an
orbital. Although it is never strictly correct
to discuss an electronic system as if each elec
tron had a definite wave function, independent
of the other electrons, this is often a good
approximation. The problem of calculating
valence forces, according to the modern the
ory, is then reduced to that of finding the
different possible electronic wave functions in
the fields of the atomic nuclei, allowing for
the exchange interactions between them. As
a starting point for such a calculation, one
may choose a series of atomic orbitals, where
the wave functions are as if concentrated
about independent atoms, and try to choose
suitable linear combinations of these to repre
sent the true wave functions. (See HeitlerLondon theory of covalent bonding.) Alter
natively, one may start with a series of m olec
ular orbitals, for example wave functions suit
able to describe electrons moving about two
centers of force as in a hydrogen molecule, and
associate these, or linear combinations of them,
with the different valence bonds in the struc
ture.

O PT IM U M W O R K IN G FREQUENCY.
frequency, optimum working.

See

ORBITAL, ANTIBONDING. A molecular

orbital whose energy increases as the two

A branch of optics dealing

with the optical performance of the individual
eye, and with measurements upon it.

atoms are brought together, corresponding to

a net repulsion. In an antibonding orbital the
electron density is least in the region between
the two nuclei.

OPTOPHON E. A photoelectric device which

ORBITAL, BOND.

OPTICS.

Originally that branch of physical

science which treats of the phenomena of light
and of vision. T oday, because of the con
stantly increasing importance of ultraviolet
and infrared radiation, optics has come to in
clude all phenomena associated in any way
with electromagnetic waves with wavelengths
greater than x-rays and shorter than m icro
waves. Numerical limits of this wavelength
region are not definitely defined.
Since the advent of devices such as the
electron microscope and the cathode ray tube,
in which beams of particles are focused to
form images, the study of the behavior of such
instruments is also called optics, usually with
an appropriate modifier.
(See particle op

tics.)
OPTICS, PARTICLE.

See particle optics.

O PT IM U M M A GN IFICA T IO N . The maxi

mum value of the numerical aperture of a dry
lens is 1.0. Oil-immersion objectives with

OPTOMETRY.

converts ordinary printing into audible sounds

that can, after suitable training, be identified
with individual letters. A reading device for
the blind.

An orbital which may be

associated with a definite chemical bond.
Thus, it is sometimes possible to construct an
electron eigenfunction which is concentrated
in the region between two atoms in a mole

cule, and whose energy shows a minimum

when the atoms are placed at some small dis
tance apart. Then, if electrons are available
to fill the orbital, there will evidently be a
tendency for a bond to form between the
atoms. Bond orbitals may often be hybrid
ized combinations of atomic orbitals of vari
ous types, and m ay show directional proper
ties.

same order (o f magnitude) and one is said to

be of the order of the other. (3) The term is
used with several different meanings.
(See

ORBITAL, B O N D IN G .

is said to have the order n where n is the high

est power of x appearing. (5) The order of
a group is the number of elements in the group.

A molecular orbital
coupling two atoms in such a w ay that the
energy has a minimum value when the inter
atomic distance is small, thus favoring a bond
between them. In a bonding orbital the elec
tron density is greatest in the region between
the two nuclei.

ORBIT AL ELE C T R O N
electron capture.

CAPTURE.

See

ORBITAL, P. An atomic orbital using a pstate eigenfunction (1 unit of orbital angular

momentum).
ORBITAL, S. An atomic orbital using an sstate eigenfunction (zero orbital angular mo
mentum) .
ORBIT SHIFT C O ILS (BETATRON, SYN
C H R O T R O N ). A set of coils, usually placed
on the magnet pole faces in the region of the
stable orbit, through which a pulse of current
is passed to alter momentarily the guiding
field in such a way as to cause the orbit radius
to increase or decrease, or the plane of the
orbit to rise, lower or tilt, thereby causing
the accelerated particles to strike a target
placed outside the stable orbit or to enter a
deflector for the production of an external
beam.

OR-CIRCUIT.
gate, or-gate.)
O RD E R .

Synonym for or-gate.

(See

(1) If a function f i x ) is such that

\xkf(x)\ < K as x approaches 0 or oo, where
K is a positive number independent of x and
not zero, then f i x ) is said to be of order x ~ k.
In symbols, f ( x ) = 0 ( x ~ fc), where this nota
tion is called the ordosymbol. The limit 0 or
oo is not always stated explicitly but inferred
from the context. In the special case where
lim \xkfix)\ = 0 , one writes f i x ) = o ( fc).
(2) When two quantities having the same
physical dimensions differ by a small factor,
say less than ten, they are said to be of the

difference, finite; derivative, higher; differen

tial equation; determinant; matrix; diffraction
grating; and next four entries.) (4) A p oly
nomial in x ,
A 0 + A\X + A 2x2 + + A nxn,

O R D E R (C O M P U T ER). ( 1 ) Synonym for

instruction. ( 2 ) Synonym for command. (3)
Loosely, synonym for operation part. The use
of order in the computer field as a synonym
for terms similar to the above is losing favor
owing to the ambiguity between these mean
ings and the more common meanings in mathe
matics and business.

ORD ER-DISO RDER TRANSFORMATION.

Certain substitutional alloys are capable of
forming compounds of definite composition
(e.g., C uA u), where after careful annealing, a
regular superlattice structure is found. Thus,
in Cu 3Au, for example, the gold atoms appear
at the corners of the unit cube, the copper at
the face centers. The transformation from a
disordered state to the ordered state occurs
rather slowly, at a more or less definite tem
perature. If the alloy is quenched too rapidly
through this temperature, only the random
structure is observed. (See also long range

order; short range order.)

O R D E R O F IN T ERFEREN CE.

T w o light
rays with a path difference of an integral
number, p, of wavelengths will interfere con
structively. p is called the order of the inter
ference.

O R D E R O F PHASE TRANSITION. In such

phase transitions as fusion or vaporization,
the two phases generally have distinctly d if
ferent properties (e.g., densities). Such tran
sitions are known as first order transitions.
A t a given pressure they take place sharply
at a fixed temperature and with the absorption
or release of latent heat (see heat, latent).
In some other transitions as that of a liquid
to a vapor at the critical point, properties
such as density do not show a discontinuous
change, although their derivatives with re
spect to temperature do. Changes of this type

are known as second order if the first deriva

tives change sharply; as third order if the
second derivatives undergo such change; etc.
Second order transitions do not involve latent
heats, but the specific heat vs. temperature
curve shows anomalies near the transition
temperature. (See states of matter.)

O R D E R PARAMETER.

A measure of the
extent to which a binary crystal is ordered
(see order-disorder transformation). If the
nA and nB are the relative numbers of A and B
atoms in the crystal (nA + nB = 1 ), while
p A and p B are respectively the relative prob
abilities of an A site being occupied by an A
atom and a B site being occupied by a B atom
in the actual crystal, the order parameter is
Pa ~ n a
Pb ~ nB
P = ------------- = --------------
nB
nA
which is unity for a perfectly ordered crystal
(Pa = Pb = 1) and zero for a perfectly dis
ordered crystal ( pa = nA and pB = nB).

O RD IN A R Y POINT. A value of the complex

variable, z, for which a function of this vari
able, f ( z ) , is analytic. Any point which is
not an ordinary point is a singular point.
O RD IN A R Y RAY.
optical.

See double refraction,

ORDINARY-WAVE COM PONENT.

That
magneto-ionic wave component deviating the
least in most of its propagation character
istics relative to those expected for a wave in
the absence of the earths magnetic field.
M ore exactly, if at fixed electron density, the
direction of the earths magnetic field were
rotated until its direction is transverse to the
direction of phase propagation, the wave com
ponent whose propagation is then independent
of the magnitude of the earths magnetic field
is the ordinary component. (See also phase

velocity.)
O RD IN A T E.

The second coordinate, in ad

dition to the abscissa, required to locate the
position of a point in a plane. It is measured
from the axis of abscissa, usually the X -axis,
and along a line parallel to the Y-axis, the
axis of ordinates.

ORDVAC. The name applied to a particular

digital computer,

ORGAN. A portion or subassembly of a

computer which constitutes the means of ac
complishing some inclusive operation or func
tion, such as an arithmetic organ.

ORGANOSOL. A colloidal system in an or

ganic dispersion medium.
ORGAN PIPE.

As used in physics, this term

includes any tube, with one or both ends open,
which may resonate at particular frequencies.
See mechanical vibrating system, closed

pipe; open pipe.

OR-GATE.

See gate, or-gate.

ORIEN TATION EFFECT.

A basis of cal
culating the attractive forces between mole
cules, or a component of such forces, from the
interaction energy of molecular dipoles due
to their relative orientation. Also the rela
tion of the bulk properties of a material (such
as the dielectric constant) to their atomic or
molecular properties when the relationship is
caused by the reorientation of permanent di
poles by an applied field, rather than by the
polarization of the atoms or molecules.

ORIEN TATION EN ERGY OF A D IP O LE .

See energy states, magnetic; dipole, electric.
O R IF IC E .

An opening through which a fluid

may discharge.
The pressure drop across
orifices of standard forms is used to measure
flow of fluids along pipes and channels.

O R IF IC E PLATE.

A diaphragm of stand
ardized shape which is inserted in a pipe along
which fluid is flowing. If the orifice plate is
sharp-edged, the pressure drop across it is
accurately proportional to the square of the
flow through the pipe.

O RIG IN .

A basic reference point being used

in some consideration. Examples are the ref
erence point for the measurement of potential
energy; the point of intersection of the coordi
nate axes in a coordinate system; the point
from which distances are measured.

O RIO N . An intermediate thermonuclear de

vice at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
using high energy molecular-ion injection and
breakup. (See DCX.)

O RO G RA P H IC A L W E A T H ER P H EN O M
ENA. Any weather phenomena caused by
the flow of ^ir over prominent features of the

terrain. Air flowing uphill undergoes certain

changes because of this orographic lifting.

index i becomes a continuous variable, the

two functions are then orthogonal if

O RO G R A P H IC LIFT IN G . The lifting of air

A( x) B( x) dx = 0.

caused by its flow up the slopes of hills or

mountains.

O RO G R A P H IC RAIN.
orographic lifting.
O RT H ICO N .

Rain resulting from

See tube, orthicon.

O RT H ICO N O SCO PE.

An orthicon.

O RT H O B A R IC DEN SITIES. The density of

a liquid and of the saturated vapor in equi
librium with it at any temperature.

The limits of integration are needed to specify

the range of x for which the functions are de
fined. They m ay be finite or infinite. A r
bitrary functions may be made orthogonal
by the Schmidt process. (3) See complete set

of orthogonal functions, expansion in.

O R T H O H E L IU M TERMS. One group or
system of terms (see term, energy state) in
the spectrum of helium that is due to atoms in
which the spin of the two electrons are parallel

wavelengths, but as applied to photographic

emulsions it means green-sensitive, but not
red-sensitive. (See panchromatic.)

to each other.
Another group of spectral
terms, the parhelium terms, is given by those
helium atoms whose electrons have opposing
spins.

O RT H O C H R O M A T IC

ORTH O N IK.

O RT H O C H R O M A T IC . The word implies all

R E PR O D U CT IO N .

Loosely defined as the proper (or correct) re

production of color in monochrome. H ow
ever, since only one characteristic of color, i.e.,
brilliance, can be reproduced in monochrome,
orthochromatic photography is more properly
described as the correct reproduction of the
brilliance characteristic of color into m ono
chrome. In other words, the distribution of
sensitivity with wavelength of the film or
plate should be the same as that of the eye,
which, of course, is represented by the colorbrilliance curve.

ORTH OGONALITY.

(1)

A general term

meaning perpendicularity, thus the three axes

of a rectangular Cartesian coordinate system
are orthogonal in pairs, hence mutually orthog
onal. Conditions for orthogonality are read
ily expressible in vector notation, for if the
scalar product of two vectors in two dimen
sional space vanishes, A-B = 0, the two vec
tors are perpendicular to each other or orthog
onal. (2) The concept is easily generalized to
n-dimensional space by assuming two quan
tities with components A if B { (i = 1 , 2 , *, n)
and they are then orthogonal if
n

E A&i = o.

i=0

If the vector space involved has an infinite

number of dimensions and if the components
Ai y B %are continuously distributed so that the

Trade name for a high perme

ability, highly grain-oriented 50% nickel, 50%
iron alloy.

ORTHONOL.

See orthonik.

ORTHONORM AL. Suppose a set of func

tions of the complex variable z is defined over
the range a ^ z ^ b , so that the members of
the set f i ( z ) , / 2 (z)
are orthogonal (see

orthogonality):

x fi*(z)fj(z)dz =

(i j)

and

fi*(z)fi(z)dz = c 2

0,

a constant.

It is frequently convenient to redefine the

functions so that they are normalized and take
Ci<t>i(z) = fi(z), then

i :

(f>t*(z)</>j(z)dz = 8ij

and the functions <fo(z) are said to form an

orthonormal set. (See normalization.) For
an arbitrary set of functions, / ( 2 ), conversion
to orthonormal functions may be effected by
the Schmidt process. If z is real, obvious sim
plifications in the equations are possible.

ORTHOPOSITRONIU M . The state of posi

tronium in which the spins of the electron and
positron are parallel.

The Is state annihilates

into three gamma-rays with a mean life of

1.4 X 10 ~ 7 sec.

O RT H O R H O M B IC .
space lattice.

See

crystal

systems;

ORT H O SC O PIC SYSTEM. An optical sys

tem corrected for both distortion and spheri
cal aberration. Also called rectilinear system .
ORTHO-STATE.

( 1 ) In diatomic molecules,
such as hydrogen molecules, the orthostate
exists when the spin vectors of the two atomic
nuclei are in the same direction (i.e., parallel),
whereas the para-state is the one in which the
nuclei are spinning in opposite directions. ( 2 )
In helium the ortho-state is characterized by
a particular mode of coupling of the electron
spins. (See orthohelium.)

O RT H O T O M IC SYSTEM.

An optical sys
tem which contains only rays which may be
cut at right angles by a properly-constructed
surface.

OSBORNE, STIMSON AND JENNINGS

M E T H O D F O R M E C H A N IC A L EQ U IV A
LENT O F HEAT. A semi-adiabatic calorim
eter is used, which is surrounded by a shell
kept at the same temperature. The calorim
eter contains water and water vapor, and the
rise in temperature upon the application of a
measured amount of electrical energy is de
termined, as well as the change in the state
of water.

OSC.

Abbreviation for oscillator.

O SC ILLA T IN G CRYSTAL M ET H O D . A
technique for the x-ray analysis of crystal
structure, in which the specimen is oscillated
through an angle of 1 0 - 2 0 , allowing a lim
ited number of reflecting positions to be ex
posed to the incident x-ray beam.
O SCILLA T IO N .

An oscillation is one com

plete period of vibratory or periodic motion,
for example, the whole succession of states
that takes place before the motion begins to
repeat itself. For example, one oscillation of
a pendulum bob is a complete excursion from
where it started back to its original position
with the same velocity (magnitude and di
rection) . The time of one oscillation is called
one period and the number of oscillations per
second (the reciprocal of the period) is called
the frequency. The definition cannot be ap
plied strictly to nonperiodic motions (e.g., see

oscillation, damped harmonic) . In such m o

tions the period is usually taken as the time
between successive zeros of the displacement
at which the velocity has the same direction.
O SCILLA TIO N, D A M P ED ELECTRICA L.
I f a simple series circuit, consisting of an in
ductance L, a capacitance C, and a resistance
R, is temporarily disturbed, by the induction
o f currents or the temporary introduction of
potentials, the differential equation which ap
plies is:
d2q

dq

dt

dt

0,

where q is the charge on the condenser at any

time t. Comparison of this equation with that
given under oscillation, damped harmonic
shows that the two are identical if L replaces
m and 1/C replaces /. Hence the charge on
the condenser (and also the current, equal to
dq/dt) will oscillate with a natural frequency
V =

27T

V lC

R 2/ iL 2,

if L C > R 2/4L2. Under these circumstances,

the charge or current amplitude will decrease
exponentially with time, in proportion to
e -nt/ 2L' W hen LC < i 22/ 4 L 2, no oscillation
will take place. However, if energy is supplied
to the circuit at the natural frequency and in
the proper phase, steady oscillations may be
maintained (see oscillator (1); oscillation,
forced) for any value of R .

OSCILLA TIO N ,

D A M P ED

H ARM O N IC.

An oscillation under the action of a restoring

force proportional to the displacement plus a
resistive force. This resistive force is opposite
to the direction of motion and may often be
approximated as proportional to the speed.
The presence of the resistance leads to a con
tinuous dissipation of the total mechanical
energy of motion.
The differential equation of motion for a
dissipative oscillatory system with one de
gree of freedom and no external driving force
is:
d2x
dx
m + + f x = 0,
dt
dt
where m is the mass o f particle, R is the
damping coefficient or resistance, / is the stiff
ness coefficient. The solution is of the form:

when the frequency of the driving force has the

where A and B are arbitrary constants.

R2

If - < , oscillations of steadily de4m

m
creasing amplitude take place with frequency
v V / / m f i 2/4 m 2.
2t

R2

If - = , no oscillations take place and

4m
m
m otion is said to be critically d a m p e d .

R2

If - > , no oscillations take place and

4m
m
motion is said to be overdam ped.
(See dissipative system; dissipation func

tion; logarithmic decrement.)

O SCILLA T IO N , E L E C T R IC .
oscillations and electric waves.

See electric

O SCILLA T IO N , F O R C E D .

The oscillation
which results when an external periodic driv
ing force is applied to a system capable of free
oscillations (cf. harmonic motion, damped).
In the one-dimensional case for a dissipative
system the differential equation of motion is:
d2x
dx
m - + R ------b fa = Fo cos 2 trvt.
dt2
dt
is the amplitude of driving force; v is fre
quency of driving force.
The solution to this equation has two parts,
a transient which eventually damps to zero,
and a steady state which is the dominant part
when the transient diminishes. The steady
state solution has the form

F o

Fo cos (cot a)

y/co2R2 + (f raw2)2
where o = 2nv, a =

tan- l ------------ = phase

/ mco

difference between force and displacement.

Of special interest in forced oscillations is
the phenomenon of resonance. Velocity res
onance is a state of maximum velocity and
occurs when the frequency of the driving force
has the value

If

= . / v o is called the
2 tt \ m
resonance frequency. Amplitude resonance is a
state of maximum displacement and occurs
vq

value vi = V / / m i i 2/4 m 2.
2 tt
W hen the damping coefficient is small, the
amplitude resonance frequency vi and the free
oscillation frequency become approximately
the same. A t the resonance frequency vo, the
force and velocity are exactly in phase while
the force and displacement are 90 out of
phase. The word resonance in general usage
means amplitude resonance. (See simple har

monic motion, oscillations, damped.)

O SCILLA TIO N (S), FR E E O R NATURAL.
( 1 ) Oscillations that continue in a circuit or
system after the applied force has been re
moved, the frequency of the oscillations being
determined by the parameters in the system
or circuit, commonly referred to as shockexcited oscillations.
(2) The oscillation of
some physical quantity of a body or system
when the externally applied forces consist
either of those which do no work, or of those
which are derivable from a potential that is
invariant during the time under considera
tion, or both.
(3) That type of oscillatory
motion into which a suitable system not sub
ject to external driving forces is capable of
being excited by a displacement from an equi
librium position.
(See harmonic motion,

damped.)
OSCILLATION,

FREQ U EN CY OF.
The
number of complete oscillations o f a given
system per unit time, com monly symbolized
by v or /. The frequency is the reciprocal of
the period, the time for one complete oscil
lation.
Sometimes the angular frequency,
symbolized by o>, is used for greater conven
ience in manipulating trigonometric functions.
The angular frequency has the unit radian per
unit time and is equal to 2ir X frequency.
OSCILLA TIO N, IG N IT O R (TR, PRE-TR,
A N D ATTENUATOR TUBES). Relaxation
oscillations in the ignitor circuit. I f present,
these oscillations m ay limit the tubes protec
tion characteristics.

OSCILLATION, M O DES OF. In the case

of standing waves the boundary conditions
restrict the possible frequencies of oscillation
to a discrete set of values. The whole set
constitutes the modes of oscillation of the
sy stem . The o sc illa tio n s of a strin g clamped

at both ends, and the oscillations of sound

waves in a closed or open pipe are examples
of cases where boundary conditions impose
modes.
(See also string, vibrating; mechan

ical vibrating system, open pipe; mechanical

vibrating system, closed pipe.)
O SC ILLA T IO N O F A PLASMA . See plasma
oscillations.
O SCILLA T IO N (S),
PARASITIC.
Unin
tended self-sustaining oscillations, or transient
impulses.
OSCILLAT ION(S), SHOCK-EXCITED.
oscillations, free.

See

OSCILLAT IONS IN E L E C T R IC CIRCUITS.

An ideal electric circuit composed of a capaci
tance C and a dissipationless self inductance
L, is an electrical analog to the mechanical
harmonic oscillator (see harmonic motion).
Equating the magnitudes of the potential
differences across L and C gives, Q/C
Ldl/dt. Another form of the equation is
Q/C = L d2Q/dt2, where use has been made
of the fact that the current I and charge Q are
related by I = dQ/dt. This second form of
the circuit equation is the harmonic oscillator
equation. Its solution m ay be written Q = Q0
cos (wt + <j>) where Q0 and <j> are determined
by the initial conditions on Q and I dQ/dt.
The radian frequency of oscillation is
to = 1 / y L C , or the frequency is / = w/ 2 tr =
1/27tY LC .

The period of the oscillations is

T = 1 / / = 2 tt ^ L C .
N o self inductance is ideal, since all self
inductances contain resistance. As a result,
the energy stored in the circuit (Q2/2C +
L I 2/2) is dissipated (see energy stored in a

charged capacitance; energy stored in a self

inductance). In order to maintain the oscil
lations, power has to be fed into the circuit.
(See oscillator.)

O SCILLA T IO N , STEADY-STATE (V IBRA

T IO N ). T he oscillation of a body or system
in which the motion at each point is a peri
odic quantity. This is frequently a special
case of forced oscillation.

O SCILLA T OR.

(1) A nonrotating device for

producing alternating current, the output fre
quency of which is determined by the char
acteristics of the device. The oscillator is the

heart of the radio transmitter since it gener

ates the high-frequency carrier signal essen
tial for this type communication. The early
oscillators used in radio consisted of induc
tance-capacitance circuits to which a surge of
electrical energy was applied by the break
down of a spark gap or an arc. This energy
then surged back and forth between the in
ductance and capacitance until it was all dissi
pated as radiation and as circuit losses. Such
an oscillator produced damped oscillations
and is no longer used. M odern oscillators use
vacuum tubes in various circuit arrangements.
Since the ordinary vacuum tube is inher
ently an amplifying device, it can be used as
an oscillator by feeding back (see feedback)
some of the output energy to the grid so the
tube effectively drives itself. The various
oscillator circuits in common use are utiliza
tions of different means of doing this. For
stable frequency characteristics crystal-controlled oscillators are used in most stations.
In these a quartz crystal is connected in the
grid circuit of the vacuum tube so the voltages
produced by the crystal when it vibrates me
chanically control the grid and hence the plate
output of the tube. Enough energy is fed
back, usually through the grid-plate capaci
tance of the tube, to keep the crystal in a
steady state of vibration. Because of the
high frequency stability of the mechanical
vibrations, the output frequency of the circuit
is remarkably stable, in some cases where ex
treme care is exercised amounting to 1 part in
20,000,000. In modern broadcast stations the
crystals maintain the frequency accurately to
2 or 3 cycles. W here continuously adjustable
frequency output is needed some type of self
controlled oscillator is needed. The Hartley,
shown in the figure, is one of the simplest.
The energy is fed back from the plate to the
grid circuit through the inductive coupling
of the two sections of the coil. The fre
quency is determined by the inductance and
capacitance values in the tuned circuit. A
somewhat more complicated but more stable
variable circuit is the electron-coupled oscil
lator shown at (c ). This uses a tetrode or
pentode tube, utilizing the screen as the plate
of an oscillator whose output is coupled by
the electron stream in the tube to the main
plate circuit. The one shown employs the
Hartley circuit. A t very high frequencies the
oscillator frequency is often controlled by a

resonant transmission line. A t ultra high fre

quencies special tubes and types of circuits

placement. A simple example of an anharmonic oscillator has the equation of motion

must be used.
In these the frequency is
largely determined by the transit time of the
electrons in the tube. (2) A ny system which

d2x
m - + kix +

k2x

dt2

= 0.

The vibrations of the human eardrum may

be described by an equation of this form,
which means physically that the restoring
force is not symmetrical about the equilib
rium position of the oscillator. The equation
is mathematically non-linear (because of the
presence of the square term k2x 2) and leads
to a solution involving harmonics of the funda
mental oscillation frequency (if the anharmonic term k2x2 is always small compared
with the harmonic term kxx).
(a) Crystal

OSCILLATOR, ARMSTRONG.
A tunedplate, tuned-grid oscillator due to E. H. Arm
strong.

OSCILLATOR, BA CK W O RD WAVE.
A
tube of special design in which the traveling
wave is reflected or fed backward in the proper
phase for sustaining oscillations. Also, a back
ward wave amplifier which is operated with
out rf input and at sufficiently high beam cur
rent to cause self oscillation.

OSCILLATOR, BALANCED.

An oscillator
in which the impedance centers of the tank
circuits are at ground potential, and the volt
ages between either end and their centers are
equal in magnitude and opposite in phase.

OSCILLATOR, BARKHAUSEN-KURZ. An
oscillator of the retarding-field type in which
the frequency of oscillation depends solely
upon the electron-transit time within the tube.

OSCILLATOR, BE AT-FREQUENC Y.
(c) Electron-coupled

provides for the storage of energy in two

forms (e.g., kinetic and potential, electric and
magnetic) and which therefore can undergo
processes in which some quantity varies pe
riodically with time. The quantity may be
the displacement or the velocity of a mass in
a mechanical oscillator, the charge on a ca
pacitor in an electrical oscillator, etc.

O SCILLA T OR, A N H ARM O N IC. A mechan

ical system with one degree of freedom which,
when displaced from equilibrium, is subject
to a restoring force corresponding to a super
position of first and higher powers of the dis

(1)

A ny conventional oscillator whose function is

to produce the signal to mix with a signal
whose frequency is to be shifted. Thus in a
continuous wave receiver, it is the oscillator
causing an audible beat, in the superhetero
dyne it is the oscillator causing the interme
diate frequency beat. (See beat frequency.)
(2) An audio frequency oscillator containing
two radio frequency oscillators, and supply
ing their beat frequency as its output.

OSCILLATOR, BEATING.
beat-frequency.

See oscillator,

OSCILLATOR, BLOCKIN G. A transformercoupled, feedback oscillator (see oscillator,

feedback) in which plate current flows for

only one-half cycle before the oscillation is
halted due to blocking of the grid. The os
cillation then ceases for a period determined
by the time required for the grid to become
unblocked. The length of the current pulse
is determined by the transformer resonance.
The period of the pulse is determined by re
laxation oscillator principles. (See oscillator,

relaxation.)
If the grid should not block after the first
half-cycle of current and oscillation continue
for one or more cycles before being disrupted,
the oscillator becomes known as a squegging
oscillator. (See oscillator, squegging.)

OSCILLAT OR, CLAPP. A series-tuned C olpitts oscillator noted for its low drift char
acteristics. (See oscillator, Colpitts.)
OSCILLATOR, COAXIAL.
An oscillator
employing coaxial line segments as resonators.
(See oscillator, resonant-line.)
OSCILLATOR, CO H ERENT . An oscillator
which has as its function the provision of a
reference by which changes in the radio-fre
quency phase of successive received pulses
may be recognized. (See also maser.)
OSCILLAT OR, COLPITTS.

An oscillator
in which the parallel-tuned tank circuit is
connected between grid and plate, with the
tank capacitance containing two voltagedividing capacitors in series, with their com
mon connection at cathode potential and the
necessary feedback voltage being obtained
across the grid-cathode capacitor. W hen the
two voltage-dividing capacitances are the
plate-to-cathode and the grid-to-cathode ca
pacitances of the tube, the circuit is known
as the ultra-audion oscillator.

OSCILLATOR, CO U PLED. T w o or more

oscillators coupled together (see coupled sys
tems). (1) For example, the two identical
mechanical oscillators of Fig. 1(a) may be
coupled together by a third spring kc, as in
Fig. 1 (b ). In (a) the two oscillators have
the same frequency f 0 = (%w) V k/m and
can each oscillate independently with arbi
trary relative amplitudes and phases.
In
(b ), on the other hand, it is found that there
are two distinct ways (modes) in which the
masses can oscillate. In one of them both
masses oscillate in phase (i.e., both move to

the left together, and then to the right and

with the same amplitude, and the frequency
of such motion is /1 = / 0, the same as though

V////?//Z7///77>
(a)

Fig. 1.

V////7?/////7?y777/,
(b)

Mechanical oscillators: ( a) uncoupled, (b)

coupled.

the oscillators were not coupled. The second

distinct mode of motion is one in which the
masses have the same amplitude of motion
but are opposite in phase (i.e., when one is
moving to the right, the other is moving to
the left, etc.). The frequency for this mode
is given by / 2 = ( % 7r) V (k + 2kc)/m. The
two frequencies /1 and /2 are known as the
normal frequencies, and each is associated
with one of the two normal modes of vibration
for this system. The two normal modes may
be individually excited, either by displacing
both masses an equal distance to the right
and letting them go from rest (mode 1 ), or
displacing one to the right and the other to
the left by an equal amount and letting them
go from rest (mode 2 ). If neither of these
extremes of initial conditions is met, the sys
tem may be set into a motion which is a super
position of both modes, with both frequencies
present.
Similar considerations apply to
other types of mechanical oscillators coupled
together. The case of resonance under forced
motion is considered in the electrical case dis
cussed below. ( 2 ) The system of two elec
trical coupled oscillators shown in Fig. 2

Fig. 2. Coupled electrical oscillators.

has two normal modes, one in which the cur

rents in the two circuits are in phase and the
other in which the currents are opposite in
phase. The two normal frequencies are given
b y / lf2 = 1 / ( 2 ?rV (L M ) C ) . (It is assumed
that the two circuits are ideal, containing
no resistance.) If an A.C. emf, F 0 cos 2wft
is inserted into one of the circuits, it will
be found that resonance occurs twice, once at

each of the two normal frequencies.

(See also

normal modes of vibration, normal coordi

nates.)
O SCILLA T OR, CRYSTAL.

A generator of
alternating-current energy, the frequency of
which is determined by the mechanical prop
erties of a piezoelectric crystal. (See discus
sion under oscillator.)

OSCILLA T OR, D A M P E D LIN EA R.

A lin
ear oscillator subject to a damping coefficient.
(See oscillator, linear; oscillation, damped

harmonic.)
O SCILLA T OR, D O W ELECTRON-COUPLE D . See oscillator, electron-coupled.
OSCILLA T OR, DYNATRON. A negativeresistance oscillator with negative resistance
derived between plate and cathode of a
screen-grid tube operating such that second
ary electrons produced at the plate are at
tracted to the higher-potential screen grid.
O SCILLA T OR,

ELE C T R O N -C O U PL E D

An oscillator employing a multigrid tube

with the cathode and two grids operating in
any conventional manner as an oscillator,
and in which the plate-circuit load is coupled
to the oscillator through the electron stream.
(See discussion under oscillator.)

OSCILLA T OR, FEEDBACK. An oscillat

ing circuit, including an amplifier, in which
the output is coupled in phase with the input,

the same resonance frequency as the frequency

of the oscillator is coupled to the oscillator
tank-circuit, appreciable energy is coupled
into the external circuit, the amplitude of os
cillation decreases, and the grid current de
creases, thus giving the instrument its name.

OSCILLATOR, H A R M O N IC . ( 1 ) See har

monic motion. ( 2 ) The wave mechanical so
lution of the problem analogous to that of the
classical harmonic oscillator plays an im
portant role in atomic and molecular physics.
If a particle of mass m is constrained to linear
motion with its potential energy V being pro
portional to the square of the displacement x
from some equilibrium position, the Schrodinger equation is:

{ + ( ,
where H is the
is the energy
has solutions
( 1 ) of E, these

Dirac h, k is a constant, and E

of the particle. This equation
only for discrete eigenvalues
being

E n = fts/k/m (n + ^),
where n is an integer (0 , 1 , 2 ) The eigen
functions are
tn = e - y 2H n(x),
where Hn(x) is a H erm ite poly nom ial and
a = y/ km jh . As the expression for E n shows,
the wave mechanical harmonic oscillator dif
fers from the classical in that only discrete,
equally-spaced energy levels are possible and
that the lowest state has an energy (ft/2)
-\fk/m . This leads to the concept of zero

the oscillation being maintained at a fre

quency determined by the parameters of the
amplifier and the feedback circuits such as
L -C , R -C , and other frequency-selective ele
ments.

p o in t energy.

OSCILLA T OR,

OSCILLATOR,

FESSENDEN. A low -fre

quency, m oving-coil, electromagnetic sound
generator, principally used as a low-frequency,
underwater sound source.
O SCILLA T OR, GILL-M ORRELL.

An os
cillator of the retarding-field type (see oscil
lator, retarding-field) in which the frequency
of oscillation is dependent not only on elec
tron-transit time within the tube, but also on
associated circuit parameters.

OSCILLA T OR, GRID-DIP. A vacuum-tube

oscillator used for test purposes which em
ploys a sensitive meter to read the average
value of grid current. When a circuit having

HARTLEY. An oscillator
in which the parallel-tuned tank circuit is
connected between grid and plate, the induc
tive element of the tank having an interme
diate tap at cathode potential, and the neces
sary feedback voltage obtained across the
grid-cathode portion of the inductor.
(See
discussion under oscillator.)
OSCILLATOR, H E IL .

An early velocityvariation electron device which was a fore

runner of the present-day klystron.

OSCILLATOR, H ETERODYN E.
The os
cillator in a superheterodyne receiver which
provides the frequency required to beat with

the signal frequency to produce the correct

intermediate frequency.

O SCILLAT OR, KLYSTRON. A klystron in

which regenerative coupling between output
cavities causes sustained oscillations.

OSCILLATOR, LA BILE. A local oscillator

whose frequency is controlled from a remote
location.
OSCILLATOR, LIN EA R. An oscillator of
the simple harmonic type is referred to as lin
ear because mathematically it has a differ
ential equation of the linear type, i.e., there
are no terms of higher than first degree in the
dependent variable (the displacement). The
linear type of differential equation possesses
certain general properties which are valuable
in quickly expressing the solution of such an
equation. Fortunately, many types of oscilla
tory motion both m acro-scale and m icro-scale
in which the amplitude is small can be ap
proximated by the linear oscillator. In cer
tain cases such as the human eardrum, the
restoring force is not symmetrical about the
equilibrium position, and the resulting differ
ential equation contains terms in the inde
pendent variable of higher than the first de
gree. Such an oscillator is said to be anharmonic and the differential equation is said to
be non-linear.
OSCILLATOR, L IN E A R H A RM O N IC .
oscillator, linear.

See

OSCILLATOR, L IN E A R TIME-BASE O F
C.R.O. An oscillator whose output wave
form is a saw-tooth pattern. (See oscillator,
relaxation.)
OSCILLATOR,
LINE-STABILIZED.
An
oscillator whose frequency is controlled by a
section of high Q transmission line.
OSCILLATOR, L O A D IN D E X OF. The ra
tio of the total effective load conductance to
which the oscillator is subjected to the load
conductance which will cause oscillations to
cease.

OSCILLATOR, LO CAL. The oscillator in a

superheterodyne receiver which supplies the
frequency to the mixer necessary to hetero
dyne the original signal frequency down to
the desired intermediate frequency. The ele
ments for this oscillator may be in the same
envelope as the mixer.

OSCILLATOR, LO CK ED .
An oscillator
which is synchronized with some other oscil
lator.
OSCILLATOR, MAGNETOSTRICTION. An
oscillator with the plate circuit inductively
coupled to the grid circuit through a mag
netostrictive element, the frequency of oscil
lation being determined by the magnetomechanical characteristics of the coupling
element.

OSCILLATOR, MAGNETRON.
An elec
tron tube in which electrons are accelerated
by a radial electric field between the cathode
and one or more anodes, and by an axial mag
netic field that provides a high-energy electron-stream to excite the tank circuits.
O SCILLATOR, MASER.

See maser.

OSCILLATOR, MASTER.

An oscillator so
arranged as to establish the carrier frequency
of the output of an amplifier.

O SCILLATOR, M EACHAN BRID G E. A

very stable type of feedback oscillator (see
oscillator, feedback) in which the output of
the amplifier is coupled to the input through
a four-arm bridge. One arm of the bridge
contains a piezoelectric crystal for frequency
control, while another arm contains a thermally-sensitive resistor for amplitude control.
The remaining arms are fixed resistors. This
circuit is used in the very constant frequency
oscillators of the Bell system, Bureau of
Standards and the Greenwich Observatory.
O SCILLATOR, M ECHA N ICA L.

A system
of components capable of oscillatory motion.
It is also possible to have oscillations in an
electrical circuit with components analogous
to those in mechanical systems.
(See har

monic motion; oscillator, damped harmonic.)

OSCILLATOR, MEISSNER. An oscillator
in which the grid circuit and plate circuit
are inductively coupled through an independ
ent tank circuit which determines the fre
quency.
O SCILLA TOR
modes of.

M O D E.

See

oscillation,

O SCILLATOR, NEGATIVE G R ID .

Any of

the various electron-tube oscillators (see oscil

lator, electron-tube) which is designed to oper

ate without drawing grid current at any time

during the oscillation cycle.

OSCILLATOR, NEGATIVE-RESISTANCE.
An oscillator produced by connecting a parallel-tuned resonant circuit to a two-terminal
negative-resistance device. (One in which an
increase in voltage results in a decrease in
current.)
D ynatron and transitron oscilla
tors are examples. (See oscillator, dynatron
and oscillator, transitron.)

OSCILLATOR,
NEGATIVE-TRANSCONDUCTANCE. An electron-tube oscillator in
which the output of the tube is coupled back
to the input without phase shift, the phase
condition for oscillation being satisfied by the
negative transconductance of the tube.

O SCILLA T O R
padder.

P A D D ER.

See

capacitor,

OSCILLATOR, PHASE-SHIFT.
An oscil
lator produced by connecting any network
having a phase shift of an odd multiple of
180 (per stage) at the frequency of oscilla
tion, between the output and the input of an
amplifier. When the phase shift is obtained
by resistance-capacitance elements, the cir
cuit is an R -C phase-shift oscillator.

OSCILLATOR, P IE R C E . An oscillator in
which a piezoelectric crystal is connected be
tween the plate and the grid of a tube, in
what is basically a Colpitts oscillator (see
oscillator, Colpitts) with voltage division
provided by the grid-to-cathode and the plateto-cathode capacitances of the circuit.
OSCILLATOR, PIE Z O E L E C T R IC .

An
cillator employing a piezoelectric crystal
piezoelectric eifect, direct) in its tuned
cuit in place of conventional inductive
capacitative elements.

OSCILLATOR, POSITIVE-GRID.
lator, retarding-field.
OSCILLAT OR,
pulse.

PULSE.

See

OSCILLATOR, PUSH-PULL. A balanced

oscillator employing two similar tubes in
phase opposition.
OSCILLATOR, QUANTUM M EC H A N IC A L
H A RM O N IC . See oscillator, harmonic(2);
spectrum, rotation-vibration.
OSCILLATOR, R-C. An oscillator in which
the frequency is determined by resistancecapacitance elements.
(See also oscillator,
phase-shift.)
OSCILLATOR, RE-ENTRANT. A form of
oscillator using three coaxial-line resonators
which are effectively connected in series at the
end of the grid cylinder. Feedback coupling
is obtained through the ends of the grid-cathode line and the grid-plate line, which termi
nate in a common cathode-plate line. The
frequency stability of this oscillator is in gen
eral inferior to that of a two-resonator oscil
lator with probe or loop coupling.

OSCILLATOR, R E F L E X O R R E P E LLE R
TYPE OSCILLATOR. See klystron, reflex.
OSCILLATOR, RELAXATION.

A system
that has two quasi-stable states or configu
rations, such that the passage to either state
causes the other to become the stable one.
An example is the toy shown in the diagram.
The pivoted arm W -B is stable in state # 1
if the bucket B is empty. In this position,
however, the gate G is open, so that sand

os
(see
cir
and

See oscil

generator,

OSCILLAT OR, PULSED.

An oscillator
which generates a carrier-frequency pulse or
a train of carrier-frequency pulses. These
carrier-frequency pulses may occur as the re
sult of self-generated or externally-applied
pulses.

can flow from the reservoir R into the bucket.

When sufficient sand accumulates to make the
moment due to the filled bucket greater than
that due to the weight W , state # 1 becomes
unstable; the system goes to state # 2 , in
which sand spills from the bucket until state
# 1 again becomes the stable one. The energy
necessary to maintain the oscillation in this
case is furnished at the cost of decreased po

tential energy of the sand.

The door bell is

another example of a relaxation oscillator.
One common form of the relaxation oscil
lator, used in oscilloscopes and many other
electronic devices, depends on the currentvoltage characteristic of a gas discharge tube
to switch from one state to the other. A con
denser C (see diagram) is alternately charged
through a resistor R and is discharged through
the tube T whenever the potential difference
across it exceeds the breakdown voltage.

field in the region of the grid exerts a retarding effect which draws electrons back after
passing through it in either direction. Barkhausen-Kurz and Gill-M orrell oscillators are
examples.
(See oscillator, Barkhausen-Kurz
and oscillator, Gill-Morrell.)

OSCILLATOR, RING.

An arrangement of
two or more pairs of tubes operating as pushpull oscillators (see oscillator, push-pull)
around a ring, usually with alternate succes
sive pairs of grids and plates connected to
tank circuits. Adjacent tubes around the ring
operate in phase opposition. The load is sup
plied by coupling to the plate circuits.

OSCILLATOR, SQUEGGING. An oscilla

tor whose amplitude builds up over several
cycles of the oscillations, and then decays
again to zero, due to a blocking action on the
grid of some tube. The period between these
oscillations is determined by relaxation oscil
lator action. (See oscillator, relaxation.)

Time

O u tp u t

When the potential difference across T falls

sufficiently, the tube becomes non-conducting
and the condenser again charges. Such oscil
lators generally produce wave shapes that
are rich in harmonics. W ith appropriate aux
iliary circuits, they can produce square waves,
trapezoidal waves, and pulses of very short
duration. These distorted waves have made
them ideal for many control and triggering
purposes in more elaborate electronic circuits.
The relaxation oscillator m ay be easily syn
chronized with another oscillator or other
source of voltage by injecting some of the
other voltage into the relaxation circuit at the
proper point.

OSCILLAT OR, RESONANT-LINE. An os

cillator in which one or more sections of trans
mission line are employed as tanks.
OSCILLAT OR, RET ARDIN G-FIELD (POSITIVE-GRID). An oscillator employing an
electron tube in which the electrons oscillate
back and forth through a grid maintained
positive with respect to the cathode and the
plate. The frequency depends on the elec
tron-transit time and may also be a function
of the associated circuit parameters. The

O SCILLA T OR STARTING CURRENT.

current, starting (of an oscillator).

See

O SCILLA T OR STARTING TIM E, PULSED.

See time, starting, pulsed oscillator.
O SCILLA T OR STRENGTH.
oscillator.

See strength,

OSCILLATOR,

TRANSITRON.
A negative-transconductance oscillator employing a
screen-grid tube with negative transconduc
tance produced by a retarding field between
the negative screen grid and the control grid
which serves as the anode.
O SCILLATOR,

TRI-TET.
A crystal-con
trolled, electron-coupled oscillator. Since the
output current is rich in harmonics, it is fre
quently used as a frequency multiplier.

OSCILLATOR, TUNED-GRID.
An oscil
lator with frequency determined by a parallel-tuned tank in the grid circuit coupled to
the plate to provide the required feedback.
OSCILLATOR, TUNED-GRID, TUNEDPLATE. An oscillator having parallel-tuned
tanks in both plate and grid circuits, the nec
essary feedback being obtained by the plateto-grid interelectrode capacitance.

OSCILLATOR, TUNED-PLATE. An oscil

lator with frequency determined by a paral

lel-tuned tank in the plate circuit coupled to

the grid to provide the required feedback.

OSCILLAT OR, U LT RA A U DIO N R E G E N

ERATIVE. A form of Colpitts oscillator
(obsolete).

O SCILLA T OR, VELOCITY-M ODULATED.

An electron-tube structure in which the ve
locity of an electron stream is varied (veloc
ity-m odulated) in passing through a resonant
cavity called a buncher. Energy is extracted
from the bunched electron stream at a higher
energy level in passing through a second ca v
ity resonator called the catcher. Oscillations
are sustained by coupling energy from the
catcher cavity back to the buncher cavity.
(See also klystron.)

OSCILLA T OR, W IE N B R ID G E . A phaseshift, feedback oscillator which employs a

Wien bridge circuit as the frequency-deter
mining element. (See oscillator, phase-shift.)

OSCILLO SCOPE, D E F L E C T IO N POLAR

ITY OF. The relationship between the di
rection of displacement and the polarity of
the applied signal wave in an oscilloscope.

O SCILLO SCOPE TUBE.

A cathode-ray
tube on which the visible pattern is the graph
ical representation of electrical impulses ap
plied to the deflecting system.

O-SHELL.

The collections of electrons char

acterized by the principal quantum number 5 .
The O-shell starts with the element rubidium
(atomic number = 37), which has one elec
tron in its O-shell, and the O-shell is finally
completed (containing 18 electrons) with the
element mercury
(atomic number = 80).
During the progression from rubidium to mer
cury, the difference between elements of con
secutive atomic numbers is frequently not in
the O-shell, but in an electron increment in
the N-shell, or in the P-shell.

O SC IL L IG H T .
The name sometimes ap
plied to a kinescope.

OSM IUM .

O SCILLO G R A M . The record produced by

an oscillograph. (See oscilloscope.)

OSM OM ETER. An instrument used to meas

ure osmotic pressure.

O SC ILLO G R A PH .

(1) In older usage, a de

vice for producing a written or visible curve
representing variable current, voltage or other
electrical quantities. In one such device, elec
tric oscillations in a circuit caused forced m e
chanical vibrations of a filament bearing a
mirror which reflected a light-beam onto a
m oving photographic film. ( 2 ) Other such de
vices use cathode-ray tubes. These devices
are more generally known today as oscillo
scopes, even when they produce a record.

O SC IL L O G R A P H GALVANOM ETER.
galvanometer, oscillograph.

See

O SCILLO SCOPE. The name generally ap

plied to a cathode-ray device (e.g., tube) used
to produce a visible pattern, which is the
graphical representation of electrical signals,
by variations of the position of the focused
spot or spots in accordance with these sig
nals, the motion of the spot(s) leaving a
visible trace on the phosphor on the viewing
screen of the tube. The oscilloscope also may
contain associated amplifiers, sweep genera
tors, and power supplies. (See kinescope; also

tube, cathode-ray.)

M etallic element.
Atom ic number 76.

Sym bol Os.

OSMOSIS.

The passage of a fluid through

a semipermeable membrane, due to osmotic

pressure.
OSM OTIC C O EFFIC IEN T .

A factor intro
duced into equations for nonideal solutions
to correct for their departure from ideal be
havior, as in the equation:
m = nx + gRT In x u
in which v is the chemical potential, xa, is
a constant, representing a standard value of
the chemical potential, R is the gas constant,
T the absolute temperature, X\ is the mole
fraction of solvent, and g is the osmotic co
efficient.

OSM OTIC PRESSURE. Pressure that de

velops when a pure solvent is separated from
a solution by a semipermeable membrane
which allows only the solvent molecules to
pass through it. The osmotic pressure of the
solution is then the excess pressure which must
be applied to the solution so as to prevent the
passage into it of the solvent through the
semipermeable membrane.

OSM OT IC PRESSURE, M ET H ODS

MEASUREMENT.
In the Berkeley

OF

and
H artley method, a porous tube with a semi
permeable membrane such as copper ferrocyanide deposited near the outer wall, and a
capillary tube attached at one end contains
the pure solvent The solution surrounds the
tube and is enclosed in a metal vessel to
which a pressure may be applied which is
just sufficient to prevent the flow of solvent
into the solution. Berkeley and H artley also
developed a dynamic method for measuring
osmotic pressure. For the Frazer method,
see that entry. Simple osmometers have also
been developed by Adair particularly for
aqueous colloidal solutions. A thimble-type
collodion membrane is attached to a capillary
tube and contains the solution. When equi
librium is established the difference in level
inside and outside the capillary is measured.
Capillary corrections are made. For organic
solvents a dynamic type osmometer may be
used. A membrane of large surface area is
clamped between two half cells and attached
to each half cell is a fine capillary observa
tion tube. W ith such an apparatus, equilib
rium is rapidly established between solution
and solvent contained in the half cells. The
volume of the half cell may be small (about
20 cm3). The level of the solvent is usually
arranged to be a little below the equilibrium
position, and the height of the solvent in the
capillary as a function of time is measured.
This procedure is repeated with the level of
the solvent just above the equilibrium posi
tion. A plot is then made of the half sum of
these readings.

OSM OT IC PRESSURE, RELAT IO N TO

L O W E R IN G O F F R E E Z IN G POINT AND
ELEV AT IO N O F B O IL IN G POINT O F
SOLUTIONS. The relation between osmotic
pressure and lowering of the freezing point
and the elevation of the boiling point may be
expressed by the relation:

where L is the molar heat of fusion or of va

porization of the solvent, T the temperature
at which the osmotic pressure is measured,
T 0 the freezing point or the boiling point of
the solvent, v, the partial molar volume of
the solvent, and II, the osmotic pressure.
(See molar quantity, partial.)

OSM OTIC PRESSURE, RELATIO N TO

L O W E R IN G O F VAPOR PRESSURE OF
SOLUTIONS.

or
RT
RT
II = > ---------In x0 = ----------In (1 x).
V

For dilute solutions

n = cRT
where n is the osmotic pressure, v the par
tial molar volume (see molar quantity, par
tial) of the solvent in the solution, p0 the
vapor pressure of pure solvent, p the partial
vapor pressure of the solvent in equilibrium
with the solution, x0 the mole fraction of the
solvent, x the mole fraction of the solute, c
the concentration of the solution in moles per
liter, R, the gas constant, and T, the absolute
temperature.

OSM OTIC

PRESSURE,

THEORIES

OF.

Because of the similarity in the relations for

osmotic pressure in dilute solutions and the
equation for an ideal gas, vant H off proposed
his bombardment theory in which osmotic
pressure is considered in terms of collisions of
solute molecules on the semipermeable mem
brane. This theory has a number of objec
tions and has now been discarded. Other the
ories have also been put forward involving
solvent bombardment on the semipermeable
membrane, and vapor pressure effects. For
example, osmotic pressure has been consid
ered as the negative pressure which must be
applied to the solvent to reduce its vapor
pressure to that of the solution. It is, how
ever, more profitable to interpret osmotic
pressure using thermodynamic relations, such
as the entropy of dilution.

OSOPHONE. A receiver or headphone which

transfers sound vibrations
bone of the head.

OSTW ALD D ILU T IO N

tion law, Ostwald.

directly to

LAW.

the

See dilu

OTTO CYCLE. The possibilities of an in

ternal combustion engine which would oper
ate on the four-stroke cycle were analyzed in
the nineteenth century by de Rochas. The
action of an engine, which was at that time

described only, is in all fundamental respects

the same as that used today. Shortly after
this internal combustion engine analysis was
made, the German, Otto, built an engine which
operated on the four-stroke cycle, and which
has come^ since, to be called the Otto cycle.
The Otto cycle is carried out by a series of
operations, namely, and in order:
(1) Suction during outward stroke of the
piston.
(2) Compression during inward stroke of
the piston.
(3) Expansion during outward stroke of
the piston following ignition at inward
dead center.
(4) Exhaust during inward stroke of the
piston.
Although the first engines built by the Otto
works were four-stroke cycle (four-cycle) en
gines, the Otto engine can be adapted to a
two-stroke cycle (tw o-cycle).
An engine
which operates on the Otto cycle has consid
erable clearance volume (when the piston is
on dead center) into which the air and fuel
drawn in on the suction stroke are compressed.
As the piston pauses instantaneously on dead

from the gas to be converted into work. At

the end of expansion, the pressure is dropped
to the exhaust point, and the exhaust gases
are pushed out of the cylinder, which is thus
cleared for the next suction stroke. In the
figure which illustrates the Otto cycle in the
ory and in practice, the cycle is shown on the
pressure-volume plane. The ideal cycle is
shown solid, and departures from it, made by
actual cycles, are shown dotted. The ideal
four-stroke cycle is made up of two isovolumetric changes, one representing the combus
tion of fuel at constant volume, the other the
rejection of heat to the exhaust at constant
volume, and two adiabatic changes, one repre
senting the compression of the charge, the
other the power stroke. Finally, there are two
coincident constant pressure changes, repre
senting the ideal exhaust and suction strokes.
An actual working cycle will not have quite
the same processes.

OUDEM AN, LA W OF.

(Law of LandoltOudeman.)
The molecular rotations o f the
salts of optically active acids or bases always
tend to a definite limiting value as the con
centration of the solution diminishes; e.g., the
soluble salts of a-bromosulfocamphoric acid
show identical molecular rotations in hun
dredth normal solutions.

OUNCE.

A unit of mass in the avoirdupois,

apothecaries, and troy systems. The apothe
caries and troy ounces are identical.
1 avoirdupois ounce
1 avoirdupois ounce
1 troy or apothe
caries ounce
1 troy or apothe
caries ounce

= 28.3495 grams
= 437.5 grains
= 31.1035 grams
= 480 grains

OUTER BREMSSTRAHLUNG.
strahlung.

See brems-

OUTGASSING.
Piston Displacement

Otto cycle diagram.

center position, the charge is ignited and com

bustion of the charge occurs at constant v ol
ume. The heat added by this combustion
greatly increases the pressure. During the
expansion stroke, this pressure is lowered, and
a considerable amount of the heat is taken

The evacuation process dur

ing the manufacture of vacuum tubes, or any
other evacuated system, for removal of as
much air as possible by heating all parts of
the system to a high temperature.

OUT-OF-BAND SIGNALING.
out-of-band.

See signaling,

OUTPUT ADM ITTANCE, SH O R T -C IR

CUIT, TRANSISTOR. See transistor param
eter i/o; etc.

OUTPUT CAPACITANCE (O F AN n-TERM IN A L ELE C T R O N TUBE). See capaci

tance, output ( of an n-terminal electron
tube).
OUTPUT CON DUCTAN CE, OPEN-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See transistor param
eter h0.
OUTPUT CON DUCTAN CE, TRANSISTOR.
See transistor parameter h0.
OUTPUT, DIST U RBED ONE. See selection,
coincident-current.
OUTPUT, DISTURBED-ZERO.
tion, coincident-current.

See selec

OUTPUT EQ U IPM EN T .
The equipment
used for obtaining information from a com
puter.
OUTPUT IM P E D A N C E , OPEN-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter z 0,

OVERCUTTING.

In disk recording, the ef

fect of excessive level characterized by one
groove cutting through into an adjacent one.

O V ERD A M PED ,
damping.

O VERDAM PING.

See

O V ERFLO W . ( 1 ) The condition which arises

when the result of an arithmetic operation
exceeds the capacity of the number representa
tion in a digital computer.
( 2 ) The carry
digit arising from this condition.
O VERG ROW TH .

The growth of a crystal

of one substance on the surface of a crystal
of another. The conditions for this are rather
less stringent than for the formation of a
mixed crystal, but certain relations between
the radii and interatomic distances of the two
compounds m ay be preferable.

OVERH EATIN G.

Same as superheating.

etc.

O V ER IN TERRO GATIO N CONTROL.

gain turn down.

OUTPUT IM P E D A N C E , SHORT-CIRCUIT,
TRANSISTOR. See transistor parameter z 08,

OVERLAP. (1) In some magnetic amplifier

and rectifier circuits, the undesirable flow of

etc.

OUTPUT, ONE.

See state, one.

OUTPUT, PARTIAL SELECT.

tion, coincident-current.

See selec

OUTPUT, UNDISTURBED-ONE.
tion, coincident-current.
OUTPUT, UNDISTURBED-ZERO.
lection, coincident-current.
OUTPUT, ZERO.
OUTSCRIBER.

See selec

See

current for a period after the supply voltage

has gone to zero (and perhaps reversed)
caused by energy stored in some circuit in
ductance. (2) In a magnetic amplifier, the
simultaneous conduction of the half wave ele
ments during certain intervals of supply volt
age cycle.

OVERLAP, FREQUENCY.

See se

See state, one.

An output transcriber.

OVAL W IN D O W .

An opening from the

cavity of the inner ear to the middle ear. M o
tion from the middle ear is carried through
the oval window by the action of the stirrup
bone.

O V ERB U N CH IN G.

The bunching condition

produced by the continuation of the bunching
process beyond the optimum condition. (See

klystron.)
OVERCAST. A term descriptive of the sky
when it is more than % 0 covered with clouds.
Viewed from on top (aircraft view) it is said
to be undercast.

In a color tele
vision system, that part of the frequency band
which is common to the monochrome channel
and the chrominance channel.
Frequency
overlap is a form of band-sharing.

OVERLAPPING.

The coincidence of the

long-wave end of a diffraction or interference
spectrum with the short-wave end of the spec
trum of the next higher order; a source of
confusion in spectroscopy.

OVERLAP X (F A C S IM IL E ). The amount

by which the recorded spot X dimension ex
ceeds that necessary to form a most nearly
constant density lin,e. This effect arises in
the type of equipment which responds to a
constant density in the subject copy by a suc
cession of discrete recorded spots.

OVERLAP Y (F A C S IM IL E ). The amount

by which the recorded spot Y dimension ex
ceeds the nominal line width.

O VERSCANNING. Deflection of the beam

of a cathode-ray tube over an angle larger
than that which subtends the useful screen
area.
OVERSHOOT.

( 1 ) The result of an unusual

atmospheric condition that causes microwave
signals to be received where they are not in
tended. ( 2 ) In an amplifier, overshoot is the
increased amplitude of a portion of a nonsinusoidal waveform due to the particular
constants of the circuit. Overshoot is valu
able in increasing the time response to a signal,
but it causes distortion of that signal. (3) The
transient variation of any physical quantity in
such a manner that the quantity changes more
after a change of condition than is required
for equilibrium to be established. Thus the
needle of an underdamped voltmeter may
overshoot its correct reading when a potential
difference is applied suddenly, or may over
shoot the zero position when the potential
difference is removed.

OVERSH OOT DIST O RT ION .

tion, overthrow.

See distor

OVERSTARILITY.

The condition which

arises in the study of instabilities in hydro
magnetics when the restoring forces driving
an oscillation push the fluid back toward the
unperturbed state with a velocity greater than
its original outward velocity. This leads to
a steadily increasing oscillation.

OVERTONE,

(la ) A physical component of

a complex sound having a frequency higher
than that of the basic frequency, (lb ) A com
ponent of a complex tone having a pitch higher
than that of the fundamental pitch, ( lc ) The
term overtone has frequently been used in
place of harmonic, the nth harmonic being
called the (n l ) s t overtone. There is, how
ever, ambiguity sometimes in the numbering
of components of a complex sound when the

word overtone is employed. M oreover, the

word tone has many different meanings so
that it is preferable to employ terms which
do not involve tone wherever possible.
(2 )
In a mechanical vibrating system with
a set of normal modes of oscillation (for ex
ample, a vibrating string or organ pipe) an
overtone is a mode of frequency higher than
the fundamental. The first overtone is the
mode of frequency next higher than the funda
mental, etc. (See harmonic, partial.)

OVERTONE BAND, FIRST.

overtone.

See band, first

OVERTONE RAND, SECOND.

second overtone.

See band,

OVERTRAVEL, CONTACT (RELA Y ). The

same as contact follow (relay).
OVERVOLTAGE.
(1) The excess of ob
served decomposition voltage of an aqueous
electrolyte over the theoretical reversible de
composition voltage. ( 2 ) In radiation counter
tubes, the amount by which the applied v olt
age exceeds the Geiger-M ueller threshold.
(See Geiger-Mueller threshold of radiation
tube.)
OVERVOLTAGE, BUBRLE. The overvolt
age associated with visible evolution of gas,
e.g., hydrogen bubbles at the cathode.

O WAVE.

See ordinary-wave component.

OW F. Abbreviation for optimum working

frequency.
O X ID A T IO N POTENTIAL. The potential
drop involved in the oxidation (i.e., ioniza
tion) of a neutral atom to a cation, of an anion
to a neutral atom, or of an ion to a more highly
charged state (e.g., ferrous to perric).
OXYGEN.
Gaseous
Atomic number 8 .

element.

Symbol

O.

p
P. ( 1 ) Pressure ( P or p ), total pressure ( P ) ,
vapor pressure ( p ) , static pressure (Po), vary
ing pressure ( p), critical pressure (pc), os
motic pressure (p, but n is preferred). ( 2 )
Power ( P ) , plate power ( P p), input power
(Pi ) , output power (P0), average power (P ),
radiant power or flux ( P ) .
(3) Electric po
larization (P), polarization, surface or strength
o f double layer (P*), partial potential coeffi
cient (p).
(4) Electric dipole moment (p ).
(5) Generalized momentum (p).
( 6 ) Prob
ability ( P ) . (7) Phosphorus (P ). ( 8 ) A m
plitude of simple harmonic sound pressure
(P).
(9) Distance from principal plane of a
lens system to principal plane of a unit (pu).
(10) In spectroscopy, part of band structure
(p). (11) T ype of electron with an azimuthal
quantum number of 1 (p ).
(12) Spectral
term symbol for L-value of 1 ( P ) . (13) A b
solute value of vibronic angular momentum
of polyatom ic molecule ( P ) , in cases of elec
tron spin zero or loosely-coupled, K should
be used. (14) Proton (p).

PA. Abbreviation for public address (sys

tem) and power amplifier.
PACKING.

The gathering or compression of

material or material particles into a relatively
confined space.

ing the vertical definition.

P A IR PRODU CTION. The conversion of a

photon into an electron and a positron when
the photon traverses a strong electric field,
such as that surrounding a nucleus or an elec
tron. The electric charge is conserved, since
the electron and positron have charges of
equal magnitude and opposite sign. Of the
energy hv of the photon, a part, 2 mec2, is ac
counted for by the energy equivalent of the
rest mass of the resulting electron-positron
pair. If the electric field traversed is that of
a nucleus, the quantity 2 mec 2 is approximately
the threshold energy; the excess, hv 2mec2,
then appears as the kinetic energies of the
electron and positron. If the electric field
traversed is that of an electron, this electron
itself acquires large kinetic energy and the
threshold energy is then precisely 4m6c2. Pair
production is one of three distinct processes
by which a photon can effect the emission of
an electron from matter, the other two proc
esses being the photoelectric effect and the

Compton effect.
PAIR-PRODUCTION ABSORPTION.

Ab
sorption of photons, such as y-rays, in the
process of pair production.

PALLA DIU M .
PACKING FRACTION. The ratio of the
mass defect to the mass number of a nuclide.
The packing fraction is related to the binding
energy (see binding energy, nuclear) through
the mass-energy equivalence.

PACKING, NUCLEAR. The concentration

of particles within the nucleus of an atom.
PAD.

An attenuator.

PADDER.
PA IRIN G.

See capacitor, padder.

(1) In television, an effect in

which the lines of one field do not fall exactly
between the lines of the next field. When the
effect is pronounced, the lines of the two fields
fall directly over each other, effectively reduc

( 2 ) See electron,

paired.

Pd.

M etallic element.
Atom ic number 46.

Symbol

PAM. Abbreviation for pulse-amplitude mod

ulation.
PANCHROM ATIC. As applied to photo
graphic emulsions, panchromatic means sensi
tive to all visible radiation, but not necessarily
equally sensitive to all different visible wave
lengths.

PANETH RULE. Adsorption of radio-elements is promoted by formation of an insol

uble compound with the adsorbing substance,
especially when the radio-element is present
in a negative radical.

PAPPUS, THEOREM S OF. Theorems relat

ing centroids of curves and areas and volumes

of revolution. ( 1 ) When a plane curve rotates

about an axis in its own plane which does not
intersect it, the area of the generated surface
of revolution is equal to the product of the
length of curve by the length of path of its
centroid.
( 2 ) W hen a plane area rotates
about an axis in its own plane which does not
intersect it, the volume generated is equal to
the product of the area by the length of path
of its centroid.

x = p/2.
The straight line through the
focus and perpendicular to the directrix is
the axis of the parabola. The point where the
parabola crosses the axis is the vertex. When
the curve is placed in its standard position,
the axis is the X -a xis and the vertex is the
coordinate origin.
The latus rectum o f the parabola has length
2p. Its center is at infinity, hence it is a non
central conic.

PAR. Abbreviation for precision approach

radar.

PARABOLA, CUBICAL.

PARA-.

A prefix used to distinguish between

isomers or nearly related compounds. Spe
cifically, the prefix has been used to designate,
in the case of gaseous elements having di
atomic molecules, the form in which nuclei
have anti-parallel spins, as distinguished from
the ortho-state, in which the two nuclei have
parallel spins. Para-molecules have even ro
tational levels in the ground state, whereas
ortho-molecules have odd rotational levels.
The two states are present in varying propor
tions, depending on the temperature, as ex
emplified by ortho- and para-states of hydro
gen. H owever in helium the ortho- and parastates are characterized by a particular mode
of coupling of electron spins. (See orthohe

lium.)

A plane curve rep

resented by the equation y kx?. There is a
point of inflection at the origin and the X -axis
is tangent to the curve at that point.

PARABOLA,

SEMI-CUBICAL.
A plane
curve represented by the equation y 2 = /cx3.
There is a cusp of the first kind at the origin,
where the X -axis is a double tangent.
PARABOLIC CABLE.

A flexible cable, gen

erally used as a supporting member for a dis
tributed horizontal load. The load is applied
by means of vertical cables, equally spaced
horizontally along the length of the cable.
It can be shown by analysis that the cable
will assume a parabolic shape under such
conditions. The suspension bridge is a com
mon example of the parabolic cable.
(See

statics.)

PARABOLA.

A conic section obtained by a

cutting plane parallel to an element of a right
circular conical surface. It is the locus o f a
point which moves so that its distance from
the directrix equals its distance from the focus,
thus the eccentricity is unity.
The standard equation in rectangular Car
tesian coordinates is
y 2 = 2px.
The coordinates of its focus are x = p/2, y 0
and its directrix is parallel to the y-a x is at

PARABOLIC COORDINATES.
nate system, parabolic.

See coordi

PARABOLIC
C Y L IN D R IC A L
C O O R D I
NATES. See coordinate system, parabolic.
PARABOLIC PARTIAL D IF FE R E N T IA L
EQUATION. A special case of the general
partial differential equation where B 2( x, y) =
A ( x , y ) C (x,y) for all x,y. There is only one
set of characteristic curves given by A d y =
Bdx, having the solution A. = constant. The
normal form is then
d2\I/

drp
= K (x,\) + L(x,\) +
dx2
d\
dx
d2\[/
d\p
The d iffu s io n equation, - = a , where t is
dx
dt
the time, is an example of this type. Dirichlet
conditions on a boundary open at the end
towards increasing t assure a unique solution.

PARA BO LOID. A non-central quadric sur

face described by the equations:
x2

y2

W ith the upper sign, the surface is an elliptic

paraboloid. Sections parallel to the X Z - and
yZ-planes are parabolas; sections parallel to
the X y -p la n e at z = k are ellipses if k/c is
positive but the locus is imaginary if k/c is
negative. When a = b, the elliptic sections
become circles and the quadric is a surface
of revolution which could be obtained by ro
tating a parabola about the Z-axis.
A hyperbolic paraboloid results when a
minus sign is taken in the equation for the
surface. Sections parallel to the X Z - and
yZ-planes are parabolas; sections parallel to
the X F -p la n e are hyperbolas. When placed
in its standard position, as shown by the equa
tion, the origin of the coordinate system is a
saddle point for the hyperbolic paraboloid.
N o surface of revolution is obtained in this
case.

PA R A B O LO ID A L COORDINATES.
ordinate system, paraboloidal.

See co

P A R A B O LO ID ( S ) , CON FOCAL.
If one
member of a confocal quadric system becomes
a paraboloid, all three of the surfaces are para
boloids. The equation for this case may be
taken as
x2

V2

2z

A - q + B - q = ~C~C*
where A > B. W hen q > A or q < B, the
surfaces are elliptic paraboloids with vertex
on the negative and positive Z-axis, respec
tively; when A > q > B, the surfaces are hy
perbolic paraboloids.
(See conic, confocal.)

PARACHOR.

A constant relationship, for a

given substance, between surface tension and
density. This relationship is of the form
m V 7

[P} =

Pl Pg

in which [P] is the parachor; M is the molec

ular weight; y is the surface tension of the
substance, in liquid form, at a given tempera
ture; and pi and p9 are the densities of the
liquid and vapor at that same temperature.
From the formula above, it follows that the

parachor of a substance is proportional to its

The
parachor has been used in deciding the struc
ture of molecules and polymers. It must be
used with caution, however, and a number of
anomalies are known.

molecular volume, an additive property.

PARA-CURVE CONE.

A curvilinear cone.

PARALLAX.

As an observer moves about,

the relative positions of distant objects seem
to change. This apparent change of position
of distant objects, due to the actual change
of position of the observer, is technically
known as parallax; and the amount of appar
ent shift is known as the parallactic shift.
The amount of parallactic shift is inversely
proportional to the distance of the object.
In taking readings of instruments em ploy
ing scales and pointers, care must be taken
that the eye of the observer and the pointer
are both in a line perpendicular to the plane
of the scale. T o facilitate this, many instru
ments have a mirror in the plane of the scale
so that the observer may eliminate parallax
errors by bringing the reflected image of his
eye coincident with the pointer and its re
flected image.
In focusing optical instruments which in
clude cross-hair lines in the focal plane, the
method of parallax is probably the best means
of adjustment. The ocular is first focused
until a clear image of the cross-hairs is ob
served, then the objective lens is adjusted un
til the image of the object being observed
shows no parallax when the eye is moved
back and forth across the exit pupil. This
insures that the real image and the cross
hairs are in the same plane.
In astronomy, the parallax of a star is a
measure o f the amount by which the position
of the star varies with respect to very distant
stars as the earth moves through half of its
orbit, correction for the effects of aberration
having been made. The unit is the parsec
which is the distance of a star at which the
earths orbit subtends an angle of one second
of arc.

PARALLEL (IN E LE C T R O N IC COMPUT

ERS). Pertaining to simultaneous transmis
sion of, storage of, or logical operations on the
parts of a word, character, or other subdivision
of a word, using separate facilities for the
various parts.

PA RA LLEL AXES, T H E O R E M OF. The

moment of inertia of a rigid body about any
axis is equal to the moment of inertia about a
parallel axis through the center of mass plus
the product of the mass of the body and the
square of the perpendicular distance between
the two axes.

PA RA LLEL CO N N ECT IO N . Network ele

ments are said to be connected in parallel if
a common voltage appears across them when
currents are flowing in the elements.

PA RA LLEL DISPLACEM EN T .
connected space.
P A R A LLE LE PIP E D .

See affinely

polyhedron with

parallelograms as faces. Thus a prism with

parallelograms as bases. Its volume is con
veniently written as the scalar triple product
[A B C ], where A, B, C are three vectors de
scribing the edges of the parallelepiped.
Sometimes called a parallelepipedon.

PA RA LLEL F E E D .
PARA LLELISM ,
parallelism.

See feed, shunt.

DISTANT.

PARALLEL-PLANE
magnetron, linear.

distant

See

M AGNETRON.

See

X =

Nfi2/3kT,

where x is the moment of each atom, N is the

number of atoms per unit volume, and fc is
the Boltzmann constant. The relation does
not hold except at very low temperatures.

PARAMAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF
CO N D U C T IO N ELECTRONS. It was shown
by Pauli that the free electrons in a metal
should show a paramagnetic susceptibility of
amount (per unit volume)
Xs = 3 N hb 2/2 /c7 V ,

where s is the Bohr magneton, TF the Fermi

temperature, N the number of electrons per
unit volume and fc the Boltzmann constant.
This is the contribution to the total suscepti
bility due to the spins of the electrons; from
it must be subtracted the diamagnetic sus
ceptibility. According to the band theory of
solids, xs should be changed from the free
electron value in proportion to the effective
mass of the electrons.

PARAMAGNETISM. Paramagnetic behavior

PARAM AGNETIC.

Offering less reluctance

to the passage of magnetic flux than does
empty space; capable of being attracted by
a magnet. Paramagnetic substances have, in
other words, magnetic permeabilities greater
than 1 . (See also paramagnetism; ferromag

netism; diamagnetism.)
PARAM AGNETIC ELEM EN T .
An ele
ment having a relative permeability slightly
greater than unity, usually between 1 .0 0 0 and
1.001. Paramagnetic is sometimes used to
include ferromagnetic. Ferromagnetic mate
rials (which may be called just m agnetic
materials) usually have permeabilities con
siderably in excess of unity and exhibit hys
teresis effects.
PARAM AGNETIC RESONANCE.
nance, paramagnetic.

a magnet capable of any orientation in the

field but subject to averaging over a Boltz
mann distribution. The result is

See reso

PARAM AGNETIC
SUSCEPTIBILITY,
LA N G EV IN THEORY. The average mag
netic moment of an assembly of magnetic
dipoles in the magnetic field is calculated from
the Langevin formula, that is, as if each were

of certain materials results from the permanent

magnetic dipole moment carried by the atoms,
ions, or molecules of the sample, and from the
tendency of these dipole moments to line up
in an applied magnetic field. The net moment
m ay result from unpaired electrons as (a) in
an unfilled shell as in the transition groups of
elements, or (b) in a few molecules such as
O 2, or (c) in free radicals.
The terms paramagnetic and paramagnet
ism are also used to describe nuclei which have
net magnetic moments (nuclear magnetic mo
ments). Since nuclear moments are of the
order of 1 0 ~ 3 smaller than electronic moments,
their effect is usually negligible compared to
electronic paramagnetic and diamagnetic ef
fects. Nuclear moments can be detected by
nuclear magnetic resonance techniques.

PARAMAGNETISM, QUANTUM THEORY

OF. Certain atoms, ions and molecules con
tain electrons with unpaired spins. Such elec
trons may also be in states whose orbital
angular momenta are not compensated. In a
magnetic field of flux density B the energy

levels corresponding to the two directions of

spin will be split by the amount

AE = guBB,
where \lb is the Bohr m agneton and g is the
Lande splittin g factor for the particular
state concerned.
(This is often written as
QvbH.)
For a system containing N such paramag
netic atoms (or ions) per unit volume, in
thermal equilibrium at a temperature T, the
m a g n e tizatio n M is given by
M = NgJfiBB j(x ),

PARAMORPH.

One of two or more forms

of a substance which have the same chemical
composition but differ in certain properties.

PARAPOSITRONIUM. The state of positronium in which the spins of electron and

positron are antiparallel. The Is state an
nihilates into two gamma-rays with a mean
life of 1.25 X 10 - 1 0 sec.
If one of these
gamma rays is polarized in a particular plane,
the other is polarized in a perpendicular plane.

PARASITIC CAPTURE. A ny absorption of

a neutron which does not result in either a
fission or the production of a desired element.

q u a n tu m

PARASITIC ELEM ENT.

sitic.

the magnetization becomes

PARA-STATE.

where J

is the

total

angular

momentum

n u m b e r, x = g j finB/kT, and
B j ( x ) is the B rillo u in fu n c tio n . For x <3C 1
M = N J(J + 1)g 2HB2/ B k T = N p 2HB2/ 3k T ,

where p = q[J(J + 1)] ^ is the magneton num

ber, or effective number of Bohr magnetons
per atom. The theory for the rare earth ions,
and other complicated atoms is very complex,
and requires a detailed consideration of the
spin-orbit coupling, crystal field, and all the
apparatus of the theory of spectral terms.

PARAMETER.

A quantity which is a con

stant under a set of circumstances being con
sidered at the moment, but which may have
a different value under other circumstances.
Thus, in the equation for uniformly accelerated
m otion:
x = v0t + -%at2,
and a are parameters and, as such, are dis
tinct from the variables x and L
vq

PARAMETER, CONSTITUTIVE. The pa

rameters c and /x in the constitutive equations.
PARA M ET RIC D E V IC E (E L E M E N T ). A
device which operates in an essentially linear

See antenna, para

( 1 ) In diatomic molecules,
such as hydrogen molecules, the para-state
exists when the spin vectors of the two atomic
nuclei are in opposite (i.e., antiparallel) di
rections, forming a singlet state, S = 0 , where
as the ortho-state is the one in which the nu
clear spins are in the same direction. (2) In
helium, the para-state is a state character
ized by a particular mode of coupling of the
electron spins. (See parhelium.)

PARAXIAL RAY.

See ray, paraxial.

PARAXIAL
SINGLE-SURFACE
EQUA
TION. For a spherical optical surface sepa
rating two media,
n
n'
n' n
- + --------------s
s
r
Here n and nf are the indices of refraction,
s and s' the object and image distances from
the vertex of the surface, and r is the radius
of curvature of the surface. In terms of the
focal length of the surface, the above equation
becomes:
n
n'
n
n'
S +

/'

manner for small signals, but whose param

eters m ay be varied by an external control
mechanism. The device is also generally ca
pable of energy storage. (See capacitor, sili

If distances of object and image are meas

ured from their focal points, the equation
takes the Newtonian form xx' = f f . (See also

con; amplifier, parametric.)

lens equation.)

PARAMISTOR.

PARENT.
A radionuclide that yields a
specified nuclide upon disintegration, either
directly or as a later member of a radioactive
series.

A two-state parametric de
vice in which each state is characterized by a
particular phase of the subharmonic signal
generated with respect to a reference signal.

PARENT O F A STATE. I f a quantum me

chanical system consists of N tightly bound
particles plus one loosely bound particle, the

wave function for the N tightly bound par

ticles, the core of the configuration, is called
the parent of the state of the entire system.

PARENT PEAK O R PARENT MASS PEAK.

That component of a mass spectrum which
results from the undissociated molecule.

PARFOCAL.

W ith the lower focal points all

in the same plane; said of sets of eyepieces
so mounted that they may be interchanged
without varying the focus of the instrument,
as a telescope, with which they are used. (See
also focus, principal.)

P A R H E LIO N .

One of the bright spectrally

colored spots, com monly called sun dogs,
which appear about 2 2 above and below the
sun due to refraction of sunlight by minute
ice-crystals in the air.

PA R H E LIU M .

One group or system of terms

in the spectrum of helium that is due to atoms
in which the spin of the two electrons are op
posing each other. Another group of spectral
terms, the orthohelium terms, is given by
those helium atoms whose two electrons have
parallel spins.

PARITY. A symmetry property of a wave

function; the parity is 1 (or even) if the wave
function is unchanged by an inversion (re
flection in the origin) of the coordinate sys
tem, and 1 (or odd) if the wave function is
changed only in sign. All nondegenerate sta
tionary states have a definite parity. Parity
is not conserved in weak interactions. (See

beta-decay theory.)
PARITY CH ECK.
combination.

See

check, forbidden-

PARITY CONSERVATION IN STRONG IN

TERACTIONS. A t the present time all ex
perimental evidence indicates that strong in
teractions
(electromagnetic and internucleonic) are unaffected by a reflection of the
coordinate system through the organ. This
means that these interactions conserve parity.
This leads to the parity selection rules given
in Table I under selection rules, nuclear.

PARITY SELECTION RULES. See selection

rules, nuclear; beta decay theory.

PARKER-WASHBURN
BOUNDARY.
A
grain boundary chosen so that it consists of
a single array of dislocations, which may be
observed through a microscope by oblique il
lumination on a cleavage surface. The motion
of this boundary under stress is equivalent to
the motion of each single dislocation.

PARKIN JE PH EN O M EN O N . When lumi

nance is reduced to the level of twilight vision
(slowly enough to permit the corresponding
adaptation) the brightness produced by the
longer-wave stimuli (red, orange) decreases
more rapidly than the brightness produced by
the shorter-wave stimuli (blue, violet).

PARSEC.

See parallax.

PARSEVAL T H EOREM . See Bessel inequal

ity.
PARTIAL.

( 1 ) A physical component of a
complex tone (see tone, complex).
(2) A
component of a sound sensation which may
be distinguished as a simple tone (see tone,
simple) that cannot be further analyzed by
the ear and which contributes to the character
of the complex sound. The frequency of a
partial may be either higher or lower than
the basic frequency and m ay or m ay not be
an integral multiple or submultiple of the
basic frequency (see frequency, basic). If
the frequency is not a multiple or submultiple,
the partial is inharmonic. (3) See differential

equation, partial.
PARTIAL PRESSURE. The pressure exerted
by each component in a mixture of gases.
(See Dalton law.)

PARTIAL-READ PULSE.
incident-current.

See selection, co

PARTIAL-SELECT OUTPUT.
tion, coincident-current.

See

selec

PARTIAL WAVE. The component of the

wave function in a scattering process corre
sponding to a given angular momentum.
PARTIAL-WRITE PULSE.
coincident-current.
PARTICLE, ELEM ENTARY.
tary particle.
PARTICLE, MATERIAL.

See selection,
See elemen

A necessary con
cept which is introduced when developing the
fundamental principles of mechanics. A ma-

terial particle is characterized by the prop

erties of mass and an observable position in
public space and time. It does not possess
the property of geometrical extension. From
the standpoint of mechanics, matter is con
sidered to be made up of an aggregate of
particles.

PART ICLE M ECH ANICS. See Newton laws

of motion; rectilinear motion of a particle;
centrifugal force; centripetal force; uniform
motion in a circle; mechanics; kinematics; and
Coriolis effects.
PART ICLE OPTICS.

The field of particle

optics can be broken into two parts, the socalled physical optics of particles dealing
with diffraction phenomena (see diffraction,
particle) and the geometrical optics. The field
of geometrical particle optics deals, in its nar
rowest sense, with the motion of charged par
ticles in static electric an d /or magnetic fields
which are designed to take such particles com
ing from a source and focus them to an image.
In its broader sense, the term is used to refer
to the study of the general motion of charged
particles in any static electric a n d /or magnetic
fields. T w o simple examples of the focusing
of the charged particles might be considered.
The first would be the focusing of electrons in
a magnetic lens. Consider electrons emitted
from a point on the axis of a circular currentcarrying coil. Assume that this point is sev
eral coil radii from the coils plane and con
sider an electron whose direction is such that
it would pass through the coil even if it con
tinued to move in a straight line. As the elec
tron approaches the plane of the coil, it will
begin to feel the effect of the magnetic field.
Due to the radical motion of the electron,
there will be a force tending to bend its path
in the tangential direction. Once the electron
is given a tangential component of velocity,
this component will lead to a force on the
electron tending to restore it to the axis. If
the magnetic field is strong enough, the elec
tron will cross the axis again at some point
on the other side of the plane of the coil. A
quantitative treatment shows that all elec
trons of the same initial speed whose direc
tions make small angles with the axis of the
coil will, in the first order, be brought back to
the axis at the same point. Thus the mag
netic field of such a coil acts as a magnetic
lens. When the initial angle of the electrons

path grows large, they will be brought back to

the axis at a point closer to the coils plane
than are the paraxial rays; thus a magnetic
lens has an aberration analogous to spherical
aberration in the optical case.
As the second simple example, consider a
long, hollow conducting cylinder which has a
thin section removed by passing two planes
through it perpendicular to its axis and re
moving the piece between them. Now if a
potential difference exists between the two
remaining sections of the cylinder, there will
be an axially symmetrical electric field be
tween them. If an electron leaves a point on
the axis of one of the cylinders at a distance
several radii from the gap between them and
moves toward the gap, we see that it will be
in a field-free region until it nears the gap. If
the electric field in the gap is such a direction
as to accelerate the electron into the other
cylinder, it is clear that the electron will enter
the second cylinder with a higher speed than
that with which it leaves the first. It is also
clear that due to the nature of the fringing
field in the gap, there will be a radial com
ponent of the electric field tending to deflect
the electron toward the axis during the first
half of its trip through the gap and away from
the axis during the second half of its trip.
Since the magnitude of the radial component
of the electric field is symmetric around the
median plane in the gap, it is clear that the
net radial acceleration on the electron would
be zero if it spends equal times in traversing
each half of the gap. However, since the elec
tron is speeded up in passing through the gap,
it spends more time in the first half than in
the second and thus undergoes a net deflection
toward the axis. I f the electric field is strong
enough, the electron will again cross the axis
of the cylinders at a point on the other side
of the gap. Electrons whose initial speeds and
starting points are the same will come to a
focus if they make small angles with the axis.
Such an electrostatic lens also exhibits spheri
cal aberration.

PARTICLE, STRANGE. A particle having a

strangeness number other than zero.
PARTITION

FUNCTION.
An expression
giving the distribution of molecules in d if
ferent energy states in a system,
Z = ^qre - ^ kT,

where Z is the partition function, qr the sta

tistical weight (see weight factor, statistical)
of the rth state of energy er , k is the Boltzmann
constant, T , the absolute temperature, and
the summation is taken over all the energy
states of the system. The energy levels er may
be those attributed to rotation, translation,
vibration or electronic energies, etc. In the
case where these can be treated as independent
in the given system, the complete partition
function of the system may be written
Z

==

Z rot

Ztrans

Z vib

Zelect

and each level with a given M L into 2S + 1

components, characterized by the magnetic
quantum numbers
Ms =

S,S -

1,

S-

2,

S.

The energy of the component levels is given,

to a first approximation, by
W = Wo + hoM L + 2hoMs .
Here W 0 is the energy without field, h is
Plancks constant, o is the Larmor frequency

X ***
1 eH

where Z^ot, Ztransy Z^ib,

&re the rotational,
translational, vibrational, and electronic par
tition functions. The partition function is re
lated to the Gibbs free energy and the Helm
holtz free energy. (See free en erg y.)

PASCAL. A unit of pressure, equal to 1

n e w ton /M 2 or 10 d yn e/cm 2.
PASCAL L A W (L A W O F THE TRANSM ISSIB ILIT Y O F PRESSURE). A result
which may be obtained by considering the
hydrostatic equilibrium of an incompressible
fluid in a gravitational field. The law states
that the pressure difference between two points
in the fluid depends only on the liquid den
sity and the difference of level.

2 t 2me
where e and m are, respectively, the electronic
charge and mass, c is the velocity of light, and
H is the magnetic field strength.
The selection rules are
AM L = 0, 1;

A M s = 0.

The resulting splitting pattern is very similar

to that of the normal Zeeman effect (see the
figure).
Lines corresponding to transitions
Ms

PASCAL RULES. The diamagnetic suscep

tibility of a complex molecule may be esti
mated from the sum of the atomic suscepti
bilities of the constituents, together with a
correction factor which depends on the nature
o f the bonds between the atoms.
PASCHEN-BACK EFFECT.

In a strong
magnetic field where the magnetic splitting
becomes greater than the multiplet splitting
a transition of the anomalous Zeeman effect
to the pattern of one closely resembling that
of the normal Zeeman effect takes place. The
latter, called Paschen-Back effect, can be
treated, to a first approximation, by assuming
independent space quantization of the result
ant electronic orbital angular momentum L
and the resultant electron spin S ( uncoupling
of L and S in a strong magnetic field ) . Each
level with a given L therefore is split into
2L + 1 components characterized by the mag
netic quantum numbers
M l = L, L 1, L 2, *, L,

EH
Paschen-Back effect for a

2P

2S transition.

with AM L = 0 are plane polarized with the

electric vector parallel to the field direction
( 7r-components), those with AM L = 1 are
plane polarized with the electric vector perpen
dicular to the field direction (o--components).
(For more detail see H. E. White, Introduc

tion to A tom ic Spectra, M cG raw -H ill, Inc.,

New Y ork, 1934, p. 223 ff.)

PASCHEN BO LOM ET ER. A very small

thermopile with a triple junction of bismuthcadmium, silver, and cadmium-antimony, so
suspended that a current causes rotation in a

magnetic field.
PASCHEN, L A W OF. The sparking poten
tial between a given pair of electrodes in a
gas depends on the length of the spark gap and
the pressure of the gas in such a way that it
is directly proportional to the mass of gas
between the two electrodes, i.e., the sparking
potential is a function of the pressure times
the density of the gas.
PASCHEN M OUNTING.
A method of
mounting a concave diffraction grating in
which the slit, grating and a curved track
representing part of the Rowland circle are
fixed in position. The plate-holder may be
placed anywhere on the track, and the spec
trum will be in focus.
PASCHEN SERIES. A series of lines (see
series in line spectra) in the infrared region
of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen.
The wave numbers of the lines in this series
are given by the relationship:

anode increase with applied emf up to a cer

tain point; beyond this (higher emf) the cur
rent drops abruptly and the anode practi
cally ceases to dissolve. It is then said to be
in the passive state.

PASSIVITY, C H EM IC A L.

Passivity can be
induced without the action of electric current.
If iron is dipped into concentrated nitric acid,
it soon ceases to dissolve, and has become
passive. The iron will no longer displace
silver from solution, for example. Stainless
steel is an example, in which exposure to air
renders the alloy passive.
PASSIVITY, M ECH A N ICA L.

The incom
plete protection of an anode against disso
lution, by a visible (i.e., thick) film of an in
soluble compound, as in the sulfation of leadacid storage batteries.

PASSIVITY, THEORIES OF.

Passivity ap
pears to be due to a thin layer of oxide on the
passive metal. A number of theories have
been proposed to explain the formation of this
film and the manner in which it protects the
metal.
PAST O F AN EVENT, ABSOLUTE.
solute past of an event.

See ab

PATCHCORD.

A cord containing plugs on

either end for making interconnections on a

jackfield.
where v is the wave number in reciprocal cen
timeters, R h is the Rydberg constant for
hydrogen (109,677.591 cm 1), n\ is 3, and n2
has various integral values greater than 3.

PASS BAND (OF A F IL T E R O R A LIN E ).

T h at band of frequencies which are passed
with little or no attenuation.

PASSIVE.

When applied to a network, this

term indicates that the network contains no
sources of energy. Energy may be stored
temporarily in passive networks (for example,
those containing only resistances, inductances,
and capacitances) but this stored energy is
quite distinct from the energy that may be
supplied by an active network that includes
electrochemical cells or devices of a similar
nature.

PASSIVITY.

Iron, cobalt and nickel anodes

exhibit the phenomenon of passivity. Under
electrolysis, the current and dissolution of the

PATCH PANEL.

A jackfield.

PATH.

In navigation, a line connecting a

series of points in space and constituting a
proposed or traveled route.

PATH APPROACH.

That portion of the

flight path in the immediate vicinity of a
landing area where such flight path terminates
at the touchdown point.

PATH, FLIG H T .

See flight path.

PATH, FO RW A RD .
ward.

See feedback path, for

PATH LENGTH.

(1) The length of a mag

netic flux line in a core. In a toroidal core
with nearly equal inside and outside diameters,
the value
lm = I (O.D. + I.D .)
A
is commonly used.

( 2 ) See range.

PATH, T H ROU GH .
through.

See feedback path,

PATTERN,

D R IV E .
D ensity
variation
caused by periodic errors in the position of
the recording spot. W hen caused by gears
this is called gear 'pattern.
PATTERN, GEAR.

See pattern, drive,

PATTERSON-HARKER
METHOD.
A
technique of x-ray analysis of crystal struc
ture, based upon the fact that the square of
the absolute value of structure factor F{ hkl )
is a measure of the reflecting power of the
corresponding plane, and can be transformed
to give a vectorial representation of the inter
atomic distances in the crystal.

PATTERSON MAP. In the Patterson-Harker

method of determining crystal structure, a
map can be constructed (or, at least, a pro
jection of a three dimensional diagram ), in
which the distances between the origin and
any peak represents the vector between two
atoms in the crystal. The interpretation of
this diagram is not always easy, unless, as in
the heavy atom method, some of the peaks
can be readily identified.

PA U LI

E X C LU SIO N PR IN C IP L E .
The
statement that any wave function involving

several identical particles must be antisym

metric (must change sign) when the coordi
nates, including the spin coordinates, of any
identical pair are interchanged. I f the par
ticles in a system can be considered as occu
pying definite quantum states, it follows from
the principle that no more than one particle
of a given kind can occupy a particular state;
hence the name, exclusion principle. The prin
ciple applies to fermions, but not to bosons.
(See quantum statistics.)
Since electrons,
protons, and neutrons are fermions, the Pauli
exclusion principle must be used in the as
signment of these particles to quantum states
in theories of atomic and nuclear structure.
(See shell structure of nucleus and forbidden

transition.)
PAU LI g-PERMANENCE RU LE. An exten
sion of the Pauli g-sum rule which states the
sum of the Lande splitting factor factors for
a given M , of a given electron configuration,
is constant.

PAU LI g-SUM RULE.

In magnetic fields, as
intensity increases, the LS-coupling (see cou
pling, Russell-Saunders) is broken, and the L
and $ vectors must be quantized separately,
the L-vector giving rise to levels of quantum
number M L = L, L 1 , L, and the Svector to levels of quantum number M 8 = S}
S 1 , S. Since the change in energy
is given to a first approximation b y :
AE = haM l

haM^j

it follows that the sum of the g values for a

given value of M remains constant for all field
strengths, g being given (for very strong fields)
by the relation,
M l + 2M s
9 = M L + Ms '

PAU LING RULE. A general rule determin

ing how the coordination polyhedra pack to
gether in complex crystals. D ivide the va
lence of the positive ion by the number of
surrounding negative ions. For each negative
ion the sum of such contributions from neigh
boring positive ions should equal its valence.
The rule merely expresses the requirement of
local electrical neutrality of the structure.

PAU LI SPIN OPERATORS. The anticommuting operators <rx, cry, crz satisfying <rx(ry
Vy<rx = 2i<rz and equations obtained from this
b y cyclic change. In the form most frequently
used, they are represented b y the matrices:

First used to represent the spin of the electron

in quantum theory, they are closely connected
to the Hamilton quaternions; and to the
Cayley-Klein parameters, used in classical
physics.
(See operators, quantum mechan

ical.)
PAU LI SPIN SUSCEPTIBILITY. See para
magnetic susceptibility of conduction elec
trons.
PAU LI TERM. Extra term added to the
Lagrangian describing the interaction between
a fermion and an electromagnetic field, to
take account, in a phenomenological way, of

the anomalous magnetic moment of the par

ticle (especially for a proton or neutron).

PAULI-WEISSKOPF EQUATION. The sec

ond quantized form of the Klein-Gordon
equation.
P-BAND.

See band(s), frequency.

P-BRANCH.

See Fortrat parabola.

PCM. Abbreviation for pulse-current mod

ulation.
P-DISPLAY.
(P P I).

See

plan

position

indicator

PDM . Abbreviation for pulse-duration mod

ulation.
PEAKER.

See differentiator.

PEAK F IE L D STRENGTH. See magnetizing

force, peak.
PEAK IN G CIRCU IT . A circuit used to ex
tend the frequency response of a video or
other wide band amplifier. In a shunt peak
ing circuit, the impedance of the load circuit
of an amplifier stage is raised when a small
inductance, included in series with the plate
load resistor, is caused to resonate with the
circuit capacitance. In series peaking, a small
inductance is included in series with the grid
of the next stage. A t the higher frequencies,
this inductance resonates with the input ca
pacitance of this grid, thus improving the fre
quency response. Both series and shunt peak
ing m ay be included in the same amplifier
stage.
PEDESTAL. A portion of the television video
signal used to blank out the cathode-ray beam
as it flies back from the right edge of the pic
ture to the left.

PEDESTAL LEV EL.

P = TT121,
where tt12 is the Peltier coefficient, which is,
in general, a function of temperature. If the
current is reversed, heat is absorbed at the
junction at the same rate. The Peltier effect
is one of a number of connected thermoelectric
phenomena, which include the Seebeck effect
and the Thomson effect.
The Peltier effect was, until recently, only
o f theoretical interest, but it is now being used,
at least on a small scale, to transfer heat from
a cold junction to a hot junction, either to heat
the latter or to refrigerate the former.

PE N C IL (OF LIGH T). A homocentric bun

dle of rays, corresponding to a train of con
centric waves.
PENDANT D RO P M ETH OD. See surface
tension, methods of measurement.
PENDU LU M .

W e shall here consider only

gravity pendulums, leaving torsion pendu
lums and magnetic pendulums to be discussed
separately. Let a rigid body of mass M swing
on an axis which is located at distance r
above its center of mass, and with respect to
which axis the moment of inertia of the body
is 7.
This motion is mathematically not
simple, but if the amplitude of swing is small,
certain terms in the differential equation of
motion m ay be disregarded and the remain
ing equation becomes that of simple harmonic
motion. The solution gives as the period of
the complete oscillation

See blanking level.

PEIERLS-NABARRO FO RC E.
The force
necessary to m ove a dislocation along its slip
plane, believed to be very much less than the
observed shear strength of the softest crystals.
p-ELECTRON. An electron having an orbital
angular momentum quantum number of one.
PE L T IE R C O E FFIC IE N T .
fect.
P E L T IE R EFFECT.

similar conductors, across which a current

passes. The rate of heat production when a
current I passes from conductor 2 to conduc
tor 1 is

See Peltier ef

The evolution or ab
sorption of heat at a junction between two dis

in which g is the acceleration of a freely fall

ing body.
Huygens found experimentally,
what m ay be proved theoretically, that for
any given period of oscillation greater than a
certain minimum there are two different dis
tances r for which 7 /r, and hence T, has the
same value. If these two distances are laid
off on opposite sides of the center of mass, the
two points resulting are conjugate points
(center of suspension and center of oscilla
tion). Denoting the whole distance between

these points by l, the period of swing when

the pendulum is suspended at either of them is

This is the same as the period for an ideal

simple pendulum, i.e., a single particle of
mass m suspended by a weightless thread of
length I, for which r = l, and I = ml2. Kater
utilized this principle in his well-known re
versible pendulum (see pendulum, Kater).
It was Huygens who first adapted the pendu
lum to regulate a mechanism for keeping time
and thereby gave us the common clock.

PEN D U LU M , BALLISTIC. An instrument

used for measuring the horizontal velocity
com ponent of a projectile. In its usual form
it consists of a simple pendulum of mass M ,
and of natural frequency /. A projectile of
mass m, moving with a velocity V strikes the
bob and is imbedded in it. The maximum
excursion X of the bob is then measured. A s
suming that M
m and that little damping
is present, it may be shown by application of
conservation laws that
2trfX M
m

PEN D U LU M ,

KATER.
Kater devised a
number of rigid pendulums for comparing the
magnitudes of the acceleration of gravity at
different places on the earth. A ny pendulum
of fixed length, carried from place to place,
will swing in periods inversely proportional
to the square root of the value of this accel
eration, g, at the respective stations. There
fore if the pendulum has been timed at a sta
tion at which the value of g is accurately
known, its period at any field station gives at
once the value of g at that station.
K aters best known pendulum is reversible,
being provided with two knife edges, facing
each other, and carefully adjusted to be at
conjugate points with respect to each other.
It follows that when such a pendulum is accu
rately timed, and the distance between the
two knife edges accurately measured, the
value of g can be calculated by using the for
mula for the period T of an ideal simple pen
dulum:

When this is applied to the K aters pendulum,

I is taken as the distance between the knife
edges.
Such a pendulum can thus be used
for absolute gravity measurements.
(See

pendulum, reversible.)
PENDU LU M , PHYSICAL O R COM POUND.
A pendulum which is a rigid body with no
restriction on size, shape or composition.
When suspended from a fixed axis passing
through the body, it undergoes oscillations.
(See also pendulum.)

PENDU LU M , REVERSIBLE.

A pendulum
which is used for accurate determinations of
the acceleration of gravity. B y measuring
the period corresponding to two different sus
pension lengths, there is no need for a meas
urement of the moment of inertia. The ac
celeration of gravity is given by
_

47r2[lA2
Ia P

lB2]
Ib P

where I a , Ib are two different lengths of sus

pension to center of mass; P a , Pb are periods
corresponding to the above lengths.

PENDU LU M , SIMPLE. A mechanical os

cillator which consists of a small body sus
pended from a fixed point by an inextensible
member of negligible mass. The body and
suspension are free to perform circular motion
about the fixed point. For small displace
ments, the differential equation for horizontal
motion of the pendulum is:
d2x

dt? ~ ~ 1 X
and the resulting motion is simple harmonic
with a period of

where I is the length of suspension, g is the

a cce le ra tio n o f gravity,

PENDU LU M , TORSION. A mechanical os

cillator consisting of an object suspended by
a wire from a fixed support. The motion
consists of a rotational oscillation of the ob
ject about the suspension as an axis in a

plane perpendicular to the axis. For small

rotational displacements the motion is simple
harmonic and has a period
2w

/7

/
\L e

where I is the moment of inertia of the body

about the axis of the wire, which must coincide
with one of the principal axes of the body, and
Le is the restoring torque of suspension per
unit deflection in radians.

PENETRATION.

(1) In general, the process

o f entering, saturating or piercing. (2) The
passage of particles or radiations through sol
ids.
(3) The consistency of a material in
terms of the depth it is entered by a standard
needle under standard conditions.

PENETRATION DEPTH. ( 1 ) The distance

from the surface of a superconductor in a
magnetic field at which the intensity of the
field has fallen to 1/e of its value outside.
(2) The distance to which an external mag
netic field penetrates into a superconductor
from whose bulk it is excluded by the Meissner effect. The London equations predict a
depth (A c24tt) 1/2 ^ 10 - 5 cm in a static field,
a result confirmed by observations on small
particles. A t high frequencies the effect goes
over into the eddy-current skin-depth appro
priate to the density and m obility of the
norm al electrons.
(See superconductivity,
two-fluid model.)
(3) In induction heating
usage, the thickness of a layer extending in
ward from the surface of a conducter, which
has the same resistance to direct current as
the conductor as a whole has to alternating
current of a given frequency.

PENETRATION FACTOR. The reciprocal

of the amplification factor.
Also called

mechanical phenomenon which cannot be ex

plained in terms of classical physics. In gen
eral, the penetration probability increases as
the energy of the particle approaches the
height of the barrier and as the thickness of
the barrier decreases. Interference effects,
however, play an important role when the
thickness of the barrier is a multiple of onequarter of the wavelength of the de Broglie
wavelength associated with the particle.

PENETROM ETER. ( 1 ) A device for meas

uring penetrating power of a beam of x-rays
or other penetrating radiation by comparing
transmission through various absorbers. ( 2 )
An apparatus for determination of the con
sistency of a material in terms of the depth
to which it is entered by a standard needle
under standard conditions.
PENN YW EIGH T. A unit of weight in the
troy system of weights and measures equal to
24 grains or about 1.56 grams.
PENTANE CANDLE.

A unit of intensity of
a light source equal to one-tenth of the stand
ard pentane lam p; approximately equal to
the international standard candle.

PENTATRON. The name sometimes applied

to a common-cathode, double triode contained
within a single envelope.
PENTODE.

A five-electrode, electron tube

containing an anode, a cathode, a control elec
trode, and two additional electrodes that are
ordinarily grids.

PENUMBRA.

A source o f finite size cannot

cast a sharp shadow of an intervening opaque
object. The central, totally-dark part of the
shadow is called the umbra, while the outer,
partially-darkened region is called the penum

durchgriff.

PENETRATION
quency, critical.

FREQUEN CY.

See fre

PENETRATION PROBABILITY. The prob

ability of passage of a particle through a po
tential barrier, i.e., through a region of finite
extent in which the potential energy of the
particle exceeds its total energy. An exam
ple of barrier penetration is the passage of
-particles through the barrier at the nuclear
wall. Penetration of this type is a quantum

bra. I f the source is larger than the interven

ing object, then at a sufficient distance beyond
the object, there will be no umbra. These
words apply particularly to eclipses of the sun
by the moon.

PEPTIZATION. A term applied by Graham

to the spontaneous dispersion of a solid sub

stance in a liquid on adding a small amount

of a third substance, the peptizing agent.

ing atomic numbers, and divided by hori

zontal lines.

PERCRYSTALLIZATION.

The crystalliza
tion of a dissolved substance from a solution,
during or after dialysis.

P E R IO D IC , C O N DIT IO N A LLY.
riodic, multiply.

PERCUSSION.

of electron beam
number of short,
periodically along
constitute a series

See kinetics.

P ERFECT RAD IA T OR.

diator.

See complete ra

PERHAPSATRON. An experimental ther

monuclear device of toroidal design at the
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, using the
pinch effect for confinement and heating. R e
cent models also include externally applied
axial magnetic fields for stability. (See pinch

P E R IO D IC FOCU SING FIELD S. A method

P E R IO D IC IT Y .

The recurrence of an event,

phenomenon, or characteristic feature at
regular intervals of time, distance, or other
variable.

P E R IO D IC LAW .

P E R IH E L IO N .

P E R IO D IC LIN E .

P E R IH E L IO N O F M ERCU RY (ROTATION
OF). The observed rate of rotation is 572.7
seconds per century, of which 529.2 seconds
are due to the perturbating fields of the other
planets. The Schwarzschild solution o f the
Einstein law of gravitation yields an extra
theoretical value of 42.9 seconds. The agree
ment is a strong argument in favor of general
relativity theory. (See relativity theory, gen

eral.)
P E R IO D .

(1) An interval, especially one

established by repeated or regular recurrence,
or the entities contained within such an in
terval. ( 2 ) Of a periodic quantity, the small
est value of the increment of the independent
variable for which the function repeats itself.
(Also called primitive period.)
(3) A se
quence of elements in the periodic table, ar
ranged by atomic number and properties.
P E R IO D , HALF-LIFE.

See half-life.

P E R IO D IC . See function, periodic and pe

riodic quantity for the general use of this
term.

P E R IO D IC ANTENNA.
nant.

focusing which utilizes a

focusing fields that vary
the electron stream, and
of thick or thin electron

lenses.

effect; dynamic pinch; stabilized pinch; sta

bility of a plasma.)
The point at which a planet
or other body m oving about the sun ap
proaches the sun most closely.

See pe

The statement that the

elements may be arranged in a periodic table.
A resonant line.

P E R IO D IC , MULTIPLY.

A function of sev
eral variables 6 1} 62, , 0f, each of which de
pends linearly upon the time, 0* = Vit, is said
to be multiply periodic with period b in the
variables 6 ly 62, * * *, 0f if
F ( 01 + n\b,

+ n 2b, , Of + n/b)
= F(pi,02, ,*/),

where n1} n2, * *, nf are integers. If the vari

ous Vi are not all equal and are not commen
surable, it is clear that F will not be periodic
in time. A system for which this is true is
frequently called conditionally periodic.

P E R IO D IC

QUANTITY.
An oscillating
quantity, the values of which recur for equal
increments of the independent variable. If a
periodic quantity, y, is a function of x, then y
has the property that

y = fix) = fix + k),

where fc, a constant, is a period of y. The
smallest positive value of k is the primitive
period of y , generally called simply the period
of y. In general, a periodic function can be
expanded into a series of the form
y = f ( x) = A 0 + A i sin (cox + ai)

See antenna, reso

+ A 2 sin ( 2 cox + a2) -

P E R IO D IC CHAIN. An arrangement o f the

periodic system in the form of a simple verti

where w, a positive constant, equals 2 tt divided

by the period fc, and the A s and as are con
stants which may be positive, negative, or
zero. (See also Fourier series.)

cal listing of the elements in order of increas

P E R IO D IC SYSTEM.

An arrangement of
the elements in a systematic grouping wherein
elements having like properties occur in re
lated positions, as in horizontal or vertical
sequence, so that unknown properties of
known elements, and even properties of un
known elements, can be deduced from their
positions in this arrangement. The arrange
ment of the elements of the system is based
on the atomic number of each element.

P E R IO D IC TABLE. An arrangement of the

periodic system in the form of a table, which
is the most common arrangement.
P E R IO D , LONG. The third, fourth, or fifth
periods of the periodic table and the elements
they contain. The third period extends from
argon (atomic number 18) to bromine
(atom ic number 3 5 ); the fourth period ex
tends from krypton (atomic number 36) to
iodine (atom ic number 5 3 ); and the fifth pe
riod from xenon (atomic number 54) to asta
tine (atom ic number 85).

P E R IO D , NATURAL.

The period of a free

oscillation of a body or system. (See oscilla

tion, free.)
P E R IO D O F DE FO R M A T IO N .

Tim e from
initial impact until bodies cease to approach.
(See period of restitution; impact.)

P E R IO D O F RESTITUTION.

Tim e from
maximum compression until bodies are ulti
mately separated and moving with final v e
locities. (See impact.)

P E R IO D , RARE EARTH. The period (fifth)

of the periodic table which includes the rare
earth elements (the elements from atomic
number 57 to atomic number 71, inclu sive):
lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodym
ium, promethium, samarium, europium, gado
linium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, er
bium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutecium. The
fifth period extends from xenon (atomic num
ber 54) to astatine (atom ic number 85).

P E R IO D , REACTOR. The time required for

the neutron flux to change by a factor of e.

extends from neon (atomic number 1 0 ) to

chlorine (atomic number 17).

P E R IO D , STABLE REACTOR. The reactor

period (see period, reactor) after a lapse of
sufficient time to permit the contributions of

transient terms to damp out.

PERISPHERE.

The volume surrounding an

object in which the gravitational, magnetic,
or electric fields of the object produce observ
able effects.

PERITECTIC. A point at which incongruent melting takes place.

PERITRON.

A cathode-ray tube in which

the fluorescent screen is displaced harmoni
cally along the 2 -axis using a drive motor and
crank assembly. A third-dimensional repre
sentation can result with proper beam deflec
tion.

PERM ACHON . Trade name for a storage

tube which is capable of storing an image writ
ten optically or electrically.

PERM ALLOY.

A series of high permeabil

ity nickel-iron magnetic alloys. In the United
States the number prefix indicates the per
cent nickel (i.e., 65 permalloy is 65% nickel).

PERM ALLOY, M OLYBDENUM . A nickelmolybdenum, high-permeability alloy. The

two varieties in general use are 4-79 (4%
M o, 79% Ni, balance Fe) and 2-81 ( 2 % M o,
81% Ni, balance F e).

PERM ANENT GASES.

An historic classifi
cation that included those gases which are
very difficult to liquefy and which were
thought to be nonliquefiable. The distinction
has vanished since all the gases have been
liquefied because of the advance in low tem
perature techniques, but the term is still used
of gases whose critical temperature(l) is ap
preciably below room temperature.

PERMATRON.
A hot-cathode, gas-discharge diode in which the start of conduc
tion is controlled by an external magnetic
field.

P E R IO D , SHORT. The first or second pe

riods of the periodic table, and the elements

PERM EAB ILIT Y (ji). (1) Absolute permea

bility, B/Hj or magnetic flux induction divided
by magnetizing force. ( 2 ) Specific (relative)

they contain. The first period extends from

hydrogen (atomic number 1 ) to fluorine
(atomic number 9 ); and the second period

permeability
= B/jn0H (p0 = permeability
of free space). These meanings are distinct in
the mksa system, but not in the usual cgs

emu system, where x0 is defined to be unity.

(3) The capacity of a membrane or other
material to allow another substance to pene
trate or pass through it; or the quantity of a
specified gas or other substance which passes
through under specified conditions.
(See

Darcy law.)
PERM EAB ILIT Y, D IFF E R E N T IA L .
slope of the magnetization curve.

The

PERM EAB ILIT Y, DYN A M IC. The permea

bility determined by the slope of a line join
ing the tips of a dynamic hysteresis loop (see
loop, dynamic) under specified
conditions.

hysteresis

PERM EABILIT Y, ID E A L . The ratio of B

(magnetic flux density) to H (magnetizing
force) obtained by superposing a large alter

PERM EAM ETER.

An electromagnet ar
ranged for magnetizing a specimen, and allow
ing measurement of the flux through the speci
men and the magnetizing force at the surface.
Various types of permeameter have been de
signed, aiming at ease of operation, accuracy
of results, or use with high-coercivity mate

rials.
PERMEATE.

( 1 ) T o pass through a sub

stance, as in the case of a gas or liquid which
passes through small channels or pores in a
membrane or other medium. (2) T o pass into
an object or substance as by traveling through
minute openings or intermolecular spaces, so
that the diffusing substance becomes more or
less uniformly distributed throughout the
medium into which it travels.

nating AH on the desired H , and slowly re

ducing AH to zero.

PERM EN DU R. A 50% cobalt, 50% iron

alloy with a high permeability at a saturation

PERM EABILIT Y,

flux density. It is, in fact, higher than that

of most other materials.

IN CREM EN T A L.
The
ratio of a small cyclic change in magnetic flux
density (B ) to the corresponding cyclic change
in magnetizing force (H ) ; or the slope of the
B -H curve when an alternating magnetizing
force is imposed on a direct magnetizing

Similar materials are more frequently known

as Deltamax, Hipernik V, Orthonal and

force.

Orthonik.

PERM EAB ILIT Y, IN IT IA L (|i0).

The limit
approached by the normal permeability as
the magnetizing force, H , and the magnetic
flux density, B , approach zero.

PERM INVAR.

PERM EABILIT Y, M A XIM U M . The largest

value of normal permeability (obtained by

PERM ISSIBLE DOSE.

missible dose.

varying H ) , or the maximum value of incre

mental permeability (see permeability, incre
mental) ; or the maximum slope of the B -H
curve.

PERM EAB ILIT Y, NORM AL. The ratio of

normal flux density to the corresponding mag
netizing force.
PERM EABILIT Y, REV ERSIBLE (|ir). The
limit of incremental permeability (see perme
ability, incremental) as the incremental
change in magnetizing force approaches zero.
PERM EAB ILIT Y, SPE C IFIC fa ) (RELA
TIVE PERM EABILIT Y). The ratio of the
absolute permeability (see permeability, (1),
of a substance to the permeability of free
space.

P ERM EN O RM 5000Z. The first 50% nickel,

50% iron, highly-oriented, magnetic alloy.

The class of nickel, iron and

cobalt magnetic alloys which are character
ized by constant permeability, and low hyster
esis loss at low inductions.
See maximum per

P E R M IT T IV IT Y . The constant e appearing

in the Coulomb law. The ratio c/e 0 is the rela
tive permittivity or dielectric constant, where
eo is the permittivity of free space.
PE R M U TA TIO N (S). Each different arrange
ment in a definite order which can be made of
all or part of a given set of elements. The num
ber of permutations of n things taken r at a
time is denoted by many different symbols;
the most com monly used are nP r, P n>r and
P(n, r) and is given by n( n 1 ) (n 2 )
(n r + 1 ), (r factors in the expression).
The number of permutations of n things taken
n at a time is n( n 1 ) 3 - 2 - 1 = n i If,
o f n things, p are all alike, of one kind, q of
another kind, r of another, and so on, the num

ber of permutations of these things taken all

together is
n\
plq\r\

PERM UTATION, CYCLIC.

sending x into 2,
tn into i is called
usually written as
of a cycle is equal
permuted.

A permutation
into 3, etc., and finally
a cycle on n letters. It is
(ti, t2 tn). The degree
to the number of symbols
2

PERM UTATION, EV EN O R O D D .

A per
mutation may always be written as a product
of transpositions, either even or odd in num
ber. The permutation is then said to be even
or odd. (See group, alternating; group, sym

metric.)

PE R R IN RU LE.

A generalization derived
from certain results on electroosmosis, to the
effect that ions of charge opposite to that of
the diaphragm have by far the greatest effect
upon endosmosis, and that the higher their
valence (if it is of opposite sign) the greater
the reduction of electroosmotic flow.
PERSISTENCE CHARACTERISTIC (CA M
ERA TUBES). The temporal step response
o f a camera tube to illumination.

PERSISTENCE CHARACTERISTIC (D E
CAY CHARACTERISTIC) (OF A L U M I
NESCENT SCREEN). A relation between
luminance (or emitted radiant power) and
time after excitation.

The idea of a
mechanism which, once started, would operate
indefinitely.

PERSISTOR. A memory element for com

puters utilizing a bimetallic loop operating at
near absolute zero. Superconductivity causes
a current to persist when once produced.

PERPETUAL M O T IO N , FIRST K IN D .

PERSONAL EQUATION.

PERPETUAL

M O T IO N.

A
device which produces power without energy
uptake.
Thus a perpetual motion, once
started, would operate indefinitely. Such a
device would violate the law of conservation
of energy and is therefore impossible.

PERPETUAL M O T IO N , SECON D KIN D.

A device which converts heat com pletely into
other forms of energy. Such a device would
violate the second law of thermodynamics
(see also entropy) and is therefore impossible.

P E R R IN
D E T E R M IN A T IO N O F THE
A V O G A D RO NUM BER. Perrin determined
the Avogadro constant by making measure
ments of the movements and distribution of
colloidal particles in water. This was done
(a) by evaluating the variation of distribu
tion with height of particles of the same mass
and density, which is defined b y:
dn
mg p pi
------ = -------- - - ----- - N y
n dz
RT
p
1

where n is the number density of the particles,

z is vertical displacement, m is the mass of
the particles, R is the gas constant, p, pi are
the densities of the particles and the liquid,
N is A vogadros number, and (b) by observ
ing the mean rate of dispersion of spherical
particles from their original positions as a
result of Brownian movement, (See Einstein

diffusion equation.)

In making meas
urements of any character every observer, no
matter how skilled he may be, is bound to
make certain errors. These errors are of two
kinds: accidental errors which will be small
in the case of a good observer and which will
be distributed in accordance with the laws of
probability; and system atic errors or errors
which are always in the same direction and
of approximately the same magnitude. The
value of the systematic error is known as the
personal equation of the observer. Personal
equation must be determined empirically for
each observer under a variety of different ob
serving conditions. For a good observer the
personal equation remains remarkably con
stant over long periods of time and may be
applied directly to any observation.

PERSONAL ERR O R.

See error, personal.

PERSORPTION. A term applied by M cBain

to adsorption in which the adsorbed mole
cules occupy vacant spaces in the lattice of the
adsorbing material. An example of this type
of adsorption is that of water by the zeolites.
PERTURBATION.

A small contribution to
a physical quantity, such that the problem
into which the quantity enters can be solved
exactly or in a far simpler manner than other
wise if the perturbation is neglected.
(See
perturbation theory.) The form in which a
perturbation is most frequently used in both

classical and quantum mechanics is a small

additional energy, called the perturbation en
ergy.
PERTURBATION H AM ILT O N IAN . That
part of the Hamiltonian of a system which
represents the perturbation energy of the sys

PF. Abbreviation for power factor and pulse

frequency.
PFAFF EXPRESSION.
tion
n

dW = x ; X xdxx,

X=1

tem.

PERTURBATION THEORY. The study of

the effect of small changes on the behavior of
a system. In the general treatment of a prob
lem by the method of perturbations, a differ
ential equation which neglects the small
change is solved. The resulting solution is
then substituted into a more exact differential
equation and terms which are of second order
or higher in the ratio of the change of the so
lution to the original solution are neglected.
The resulting equation for the change, in
terms of the causes of perturbation and the
original solution, is often far simpler than the
exact equation, including the perturbing ef
fects, would have been.
PERVEANCE.

The quotient of the spacecharge-limited cathode current by the % power of the anode voltage in a diode. Perveance is the constant G appearing in the
Child-Langm uir-Schottky equation:
ik = Geb*.
When the term perveance is applied to a triode
or multi-grid tube, the anode voltage
is
replaced by the composite controlling voltage
e' of the equivalent diode. For C hild-Langmuir equation on which this is based, see

space charge limitation of currents.

PES.

Abbreviation for photoelectric scanner.

PETZVAL C O N D IT IO N . T o eliminate the

aberration of curvature of field, at least two
lenses must be used which are so related that
they satisfy the Petzval condition; f ^ +
/ 2n 2 = 0 , where the subscripts refer to the two
lenses, respectively, n is the index of refraction
and / is the focal length.

PETZVAL

SURFACE.
B y changing the
separation of a doublet lens, a condition free
from astigmatism may be found, but the field
will not then be flat. The single, paraboloidal
surface over which point images of point ob
jects are formed is called the Petzval surface.

A differential equa

where the X\ are functions of the independent

variables and dW is a total differential. In
general the value of W depends upon the path
of integration, whereupon the expression is an
inexact differential. If the value of W is in
dependent of the path of integration, the ex
pression is an exact or perfect differential.
Equations of these forms occur in thermo
dynamics.

PFAFF PROBLEM . A non-integrable total

differential equation. If it contains 2n or
( 2 n 1 ) variables, it is equivalent to not
more than n algebraic equations. Thus, if
there are three variables, the general solution
is an arbitrarily chosen relation f (x, y, z) = 0
and a second relation containing an arbitrary
constant g(x,y,z) = 0 . PfafTs problem may
be interpreted geometrically and is o f some
importance in advanced theories of mechanics
and thermodynamics.

PFUN D SERIES. A series of lines in the

infrared region of the emission spectrum of
atomic hydrogen. The wave numbers of the
lines in this series are given by the relation
ship
v

= Rh ( 2 - )
\ni
n2 /

where v is the wave number in reciprocal centi

meters, R h is the R y d b e rg c o n s ta n t for
hydrogen (109,677.591 cm 1), n\ is 5, and n2
takes on integral values greater than 5 .

pH. A measure of the hydrogen ion activity

(3) (or concentration) in an aqueous electro
lyte. It is the logarithm (base 10) of the re
ciprocal of the hydrogen ion activity (or con
centration) in grams per liter. pH values
below 7 indicate an acid condition; above 7,
alkaline.

PHANATRON.
rectifier tube.

gas-filled,

hot-cathode

PHANTASTRON. A certain type of onetube relaxation oscillator (see oscillator, re

laxation) employing Miller feedback to gen

erate a linear timing waveform.

connections from independent adjustable

sources, rather than using actual loads.

PHAN TOM C IRC U IT .

PHANTOM TARGET.

One metallic com

munication circuit and a ground connection
can be made to carry two messages simulta
neously with the addition of certain equip
ment. Similarly, two metallic circuits can
add a third metallic message-channel.
In
addition, each of the original circuits may be
operated with suitable equipment and ground
connections to provide two additional mes
sage channels creating a total of three metallic-path and two ground-path independent
message channels.
The figure illustrates a circuit phantomed
on two standard metallic circuits. The in-

See echo box.

PHASE.

( 1 ) One of two or more forms, ap

pearances, or forms of behavior exhibited by
the same entity, as the phases of the moon, of
alternating (electric) current, of protoplasm,
and of bacteria.
( 2 ) The argument of the
harmonic function in the mathematical ex
pression for the disturbance in a harmonic
wave, viz., in u = Aei{(at~ kx\ (a>t kx) is the
phase.
In the harmonic oscillation, x =
A ei(ut+B)^
_j_ b is the phase, and B is the
initial phase or epoch. (3) A homogeneous,
physically-distinct part of a system which is
separated from other parts of a system by
definite bounding surfaces. Thus a gas, a
homogeneous liquid, or a homogeneous solid
is a single phase, while, for example, a system
of two insoluble or partly-soluble liquids
which form separate layers has two phases,
and a system of two solids in equilibrium with
their solution has three phases. (4) See mul

tiphase circuits.
PHASE ANGLE. A conventional representa
tion of simple harmonic motion is
/ 2 td

y = A sin (a)t + a) = A sin I --- b OL)

in which A is the a m p litu d e , cot + a or

Illustrating a circuit phantomed on two standard
circuits (arrows give current flow when phantom is
in use).

stantaneous direction of current is shown by

arrows. The repeating coils or transformers
are center-tapped so that the current in the
phantom divides equally in those coils. If the
current flow in the side lines (called physical
circuits) is equal, and m oving oppositely so
far as the side-line circuit is concerned, their
magnetomotive forces will cancel and no in
duced voltages will be present in the side cir
cuits. Thus the side circuit is not affected
by the phantom.

PHANTOM GROUP. The two open-wire

pairs from which a phantom circuit is derived.
PHANTOM L O A D IN G . A scheme for test
ing and calibrating wattmeters (and watthour
meters) by supplying the voltage and current

+ a

is the phase angle, and a is the epoch angle,

t is the time variable, T is the period and w is
the angular velocity.
Tw o coherent harmonic motions, described
by
yi A sin (cot + <*)
and

y2 = A sin (wt + 13)

are said to have a phase difference of (/3 a).
(See also alternating current circuits.)

PHASE ANGLE, ACOUSTIC.

phase angle.
PHASE CHANGE.
PHASE, CO LO R.

See acoustic

See states of matter.

See color phase.

PHASE CONSTANT.

Of a traveling plane
wave at a given frequency, the space rate of

decrease of phase of a field component (or of

the voltage or current) in the direction of
propagation, in radians per unit length.

PHASE CONSTANT, ACOUSTIC. The im

aginary part of the propagation constant for
an acoustic wave.
PHASE CONSTANT, IM A G E. The imag
inary part of the transfer constant.
PHASE, CONTINUOUS.
The enveloping
phase (3) in a system which contains one or
more disperse phases.
dispersion medium.

It is also called the

PHASE -CONTRAST M ICRO SC OPE.

A
compound microscope has added to it an an
nular diaphragm, placed at the front focal
plane of the substage condenser, and a phase
plate, placed at the focal plane of the first
group of lenses in the objective. The phase
plate consists of a glass plate, on which is
deposited an annular layer of transparent ma
terial, which increases the optical path by onequarter wavelength. The diffraction pattern
of an object point is so augmented by these
changes that objects which differ only in
optical path, but not necessarily in optical
density, become visible.

PHASE CONTROL.

See control, phase shift.

PHASE, CRYSTAL (<*-, p.,

-, 11-, etc.).
See crystal phases (a-, p-, -y-,
11-, etc.).
PHASE D EV IA T IO N .
PHASE D IA G R A M .

See deviation, phase.

(1) See states of matter.

(2) A plot showing the equilibrium among the
various possible phases(3) of a binary sys
tem, usually showing transition temperatures
as functions of relative concentrations of the
components. The figure shows such a diagram

for the gold-silver system.

It shows that
alloys of all compositions exist in equilibrium
only in the solid form below 779C, that melt
ing starts at this temperature for all com posi
tions of more than 6% or less than 88% silver,
that a eutectic point exists for 60% silver
(A g5Au2), etc.

PHASE D IFFE R E N C E .

See phase angle.

PHASE D IF F E R E N C E VS. PATH D IF F E R

ENCE. The difference in phase (2) between
two coherent wave disturbances that have
traveled over different optical paths, from
some point at which they had the same phase,
is 2tt/A times the path difference, where A is
the wavelength.

PHASE, D IF FE R E N T IA L (IN TELEV I

SION). In a video transmission system, the
difference in phase shift through the system
for a small high-frequency sinewave signal
at two stated levels (see level (2)) of a lowfrequency signal on which it is superimposed.
The two frequencies should be specified.

PHASE DISC RIM IN A T O R.

inator, phase.

See

discrim

PHASE, DISPERSE. A system of one or

more components, with definite boundaries,
which is dispersed within another medium,
called the continuous phase (3).
PHASE EFFECT IN BINAURAL LISTEN
ING. See binaural phase effect.
PHASE FACTOR.
PHASE

Same as power factor.

FACTOR IN

X-RAY ANALYSIS.

The essential difficulty in the X-ray analysis of

crystal structure is that there is no means of
measuring the relative phases of the various
reflected beams. Thus, only the absolute mag
nitudes of the structure factors can be found,
and in order to carry out a Fourier synthesis
(see crystal structureFourier synthesis
method; Harker-Kasper inequalities) of the
structure, the phase constants have to be esti
mated or guessed.

PHASE FOCU SING O R HERRINGERHULSTER EFFECT IN MAGNETRONS.

A bunching effect in magnetrons which causes
an electron which is behind the position of
maximum tangential force to be subjected to
a small, added, radial component of electric
force. This, together with the impressed mag-

netic force B , will give the electron an added

tangential velocity and will, therefore, tend
to bring it into step. An electron that is
ahead of schedule will find a smaller radial
component, and will be forced back into step.
(See also phase stability, principle of.)

PHASE, IN IT IA L (OR E POC H ).

PHASE INT EGRAL.
action integral.
PHASE INV ERT ER.

See phase.

See action variable;

See inverter, phase.

PHASE M ETER. An instrument for meas

uring the phase angle difference between two
alternating voltages.

PHASE M IX IN G O R F IN E SCALE M IX
IN G . A general phenomenon first pointed out
by Gibbs in demonstrating that coarse grain
ing of the n-particle distribution function in
phase space leads to a decrease in the //- f u n c
tion for the system. Landau damping of elec
tron plasma oscillations can be looked upon
as a phenomenon of this kind. It m ay also
be interpreted as a mixing and cancellation of
the phases of the normal modes of the system.
(See H-theorem.)

PHASE M O D U LA T IO N O R PM.
ulation, phase or PM.

under the given conditions. If C represents

the number of components, P, the number of
phases, and F, the degress of freedom, then
C + 2 - P = F.

PHASE SECTION, DIFFEREN T IA L.

A
waveguide filter which introduces a phase
difference between individual components be
ing transmitted.

PHASE-SENSITIVE DETECTOR. See de

tector, phase-sensitive; detector, synchronous;
discriminator, phase.
PHASE-SENSITIVE R EC T IFIE R .
discriminator.
PHASE-SHAPED ANTENNA.
shaped-beam.

A phase

See antenna,

PHASE SHIFT FO R SCATTERING.

One of
several angles having a value between + tt and
7r, giving the phase relation between a scat
tered wave and an incident wave associated
with the particle or photon that undergoes

scattering.
PHASE SLOWNESS.

Consider a harmonic

wave

See mod

PHASE O F A P E R IO D IC QUANTITY.
phase (2).

The phase slowness is the vector

See

PHASE O F THE W AVE.

For an oscillating
wave, expressed as A ej(^t~Px+e\ the phase
of the wave is either 0 or (cot fix + 0) ac
cording to the author s usage.

PHASE-PROPAGATION RATIO. The prop

agation ratio divided by its magnitude.
PHASER. A phase-shifting circuit which pro
vides the necessary phasing signal for fac
simile.
PHASE RESONANCE. See resonance, ve
locity; and resonance, frequency of.
PHASE REVERSAL.

A change of phase
equal to one-half cycle, such as may be ex
perienced by light waves upon reflection under
certain conditions.

PHASE RU LE, THE.

ponents, and the degrees of freedom possible

A mathematical ex
pression which shows the conditions of equi
librium in a system as a relationship between
the number of phases, the number of com

= - V$.

CO

The reciprocals of the components of S are the

speeds of propagation of constant phase along
the corresponding axes. Since these speeds
are not the components of a velocity vector,
phase velocity is not conveniently generalized
from one dimension to three.

PHASE SPACE (OR GAMMA SPACE).

A
Euclidean hyperspace of 2 / dimensions, hav
ing 2 / rectangular axes, one for each of gen
eralized coordinates qly q2) qs * * * qi, and one
for each of the corresponding momenta, p lf
P2j Vs Vi- B y classical mechanics, it is
possible to define completely the instanta
neous state of any system of n degrees of
freedom by means of a phase point in this 2 n
dimensional hyperspace.
(See also coordi

nates and momenta, generalized; ergodic hy

pothesis.)
PHASE STABILITY, P R IN C IP LE OF. In
a synchrotron, or other accelerator using

radio frequency, the charged particle should

be accelerated in each cycle at a time just be
yond that corresponding to the peak value of
the accelerating potential.
I f the particle
arrives at a time slightly different from this, it
will receive a greater (or smaller) increment
in energy, hence in mass (at relativistic en
ergies). The time it takes to traverse the
orbit will then be changed such that on the
next cycle it tends to arrive at the proper time.
The rotation of the charged particle is thus
automatically synchronized with the changing
frequency of the accelerating potential.

PHASE
TRANSFORM ATION
( PHASE
TRANSITION). See states of matter; transi
tion point; and related entries.
PHASE V ELOCITY.

See velocity, phase.

PHASE V ELO C IT Y IN T ERA CT ION C IR

CUIT (O F A TRAVELING-WAVE TU RE).
The phase velocity of a wave traveling on the
circuit in the absence of electron flow.

PHASIN G (F A C S IM IL E ).

The adjustment
of picture position along the scanning line.

PHASIN G SIGNAL (F A C S IM IL E ).

A sig
nal used for adjustment of the picture position
along the scanning line.

PHASITRON.

A frequency-modulator tube
designed to make possible the introduction of
com paratively-wide phase excursions at audio

rates in a crystal-controlled, radio-frequency

carrier voltage.
In Fig. 1 the cut-away view of the phasitron,
anodes 1 and 2 are maintained at a positive
d-c potential, and draw electrons from the
cathode. B y means of the two focus elec
trodes, these electrons are formed into a
tapered, thin-edged disc. This disc, with the
cathode as its axis, lies between the neutral
plane and the deflector grid structure, and
extends to anode 1.
The deflector grid consists of 36 separate
grid wires. These wires are lettered A, B, C,
A, B, etc. A ll the A grid wires are connected
together as are all the B grid wires and all
the C grid wires.
The output of a crystal-controlled oscil
lator is amplified, and fed into a phase-split
ting network that converts the single-phase,
radio-frequency voltage to a three-phase volt
age. This three-phase voltage is connected to
grids A, B, and C so that they have equal
magnitudes of voltage 120 apart.
The deflection action on the disc of elec
trons is as follows: Consider the time when
the voltages on A grids are a positive maxi
mum. The beam will be deflected downward
towards all A grids, but repelled equally from
B and C grids which have equal negative
potentials at this time. The edge of the beam
would become serrated as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Perspective view of electron disc. (By per

mission from The Radio Manual by Sterling and
Monroe, 4th Ed., 1950, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)
Fig. 1. Cut-away view of the GL-2H21 phasitron.
(By permission from The Radio Manual by Ster
ling and Monroe, 4th Ed., 1950, D. Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.)

120 later the beam will be deflected down

ward towards B, and repelled equally from A
and C, so the electron disc will have the same

form, but will appear to have revolved the dis

tance between grids.
Figure 3 shows a plane view of anode 1.
The anode has 24 holes, 12 above the plane
of the electron disc, and 12 below. The ro
tating, serrated edge of the electron disc im-

Electronic state of molecule having A-value

of 3 ( $ ).

PHON. The unit of loudness level of a sound,

defined as numerically equal to the sound
pressure level in decibels, relative to 0.0002
microbar, of a simple tone of frequency 1000
cycles per second which is judged by the lis
teners to be equivalent in loudness.

PHONETICS.
PHONO.

The science of speech.

A bbreviation for phonograph.

PH ON OGRAPH .

Fig. 3. Developed view of anode. (By permission

from The Radio Manual by Sterling and Monroe,
4th Ed., 1950, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

pinges on this series of holes. A t an instant

when the disc edge is lined up, as shown by
the solid line in the third figure, most of the
electrons pass on through to anode 2. 180
later the edge of the disc has moved to the
position shown by the dotted line and few,
if any, electrons get through to anode 2.
Thus, the current flowing to anode 2 varies
sinusoidally at the crystal frequency. Also,
it can be seen that any change in the angular
velocity of rotation of the disc will result in
phase and frequency variation in the output.
A current-carrying coil placed around the
tube produces a magnetic field perpendicular
to the plane of the electron disc. This mag
netic field thus is capable of producing an
angular displacement of the disc, causing
phase shift in the output current so indicated
above. The flow of modulating currents thus
produces a proportional magnetic field which
causes a proportional change in angular dis
placement of the disc, the result being an
anode 2 current modulated in phase propor
tional to the modulating signal.

PHASMAJECTOR. The name sometimes ap

plied to a monoscope.
PH I.

(1) Electron affinity (net work func

tion) (</>), gross electron affinity (fa ).
(2)
Angle (<), angle of incidence (<), angle of
refraction (<'), polarizing angle (<), critical
angle (fa ). (3) Function of (<f>). (4) Fluid
ity (<). (5) M agnetic or radiant flux ( $ ) .
(5) Electromagnetic scalar potential (</>). (7)
H ydrodynam ic velocity potential (<).
(8)

A system for the repro

duction of sound from a record. The term
usually refers to a system in which a stylus
follows the undulations in the groove of a
record and transforms these undulations into
the corresponding acoustical or electrical vari
ations.

PH ON OGRAPH , M ECH A N ICA L. A mechano-acoustic transducer actuated by a

phonograph record. B y means of an acous
tical system, the mechanical phonograph radi
ates acoustic energy into a room or open air.

PH O N O G RA PH SOUND RE P R O D U C IN G
SYSTEM. See reproducing, sound, phono
graph.
P HON OM ETER, WEBSTER. A cylindrical
resonator tunable by length variation over a
wide range of frequencies with a tuned dia
phragm mounted in the resonator opening.
The pressure amplitude of the sound at the
diaphragm is proportional to the displace
ment amplitude of the diaphragm. The de
vice is used to measure sound intensity.

PHONON. A progressive wave in an acous

tic mode of thermal vibration of a crystal
lattice (or in liquid helium I I ). The theory
of lattice vibrations is in many respects sim
ilar to that of the electromagnetic field, and
it is convenient to introduce particles, de
fined by wave-packets, moving through the
medium with the group velocity, and capable
o f being annihilated, created, scattered, etc.,
by interaction with electrons and lattice im
perfections. Like a photon, a phonon is quan
tized to have the energy hv, where v is its vi
brational frequency, and h is Plancks con
stant. The concept of phonons allows a great
formal simplification in theories of thermal
and electrical conduction in solids.

PH O N O N -E LE C T R O N

INTERACTION .

See scattering of electrons in solids; Bardeen-

Schriever-Cooper theory.
PH ON ON , L O N G IT U D IN A L , O R TRANS
VERSE. The acoustic modes of crystals fall
into three distinct branches, which m ay be
identified with the three types of polarization
of the vibration, i.e., parallel to the wave
vector (longitudinal), or in one of the two
perpendicular directions normal to the wave
vector (transverse).
The actual polariza
tions are never exactly thus, except along cer
tain symmetry directions in the crystal, but
usually this assumption is a reasonable ap
proximation. The distinction between the d if
ferent types is not negligible in phonon-phonon
and phonon-electron interactions.

PH O N O N M EAN F R E E PATH. A quantity

A defined from the thermal conductivity K of
a dielectric solid, from its volume heat capac
ity C, and from the average velocity of sound
v in the solid, by the formula:

PHOSPHOR.
nescence.

A substance capable of lumi

PHOSPHORESCENCE. Luminescence which

is delayed by more than 10 8 seconds after
excitation. It may be associated with transi
tions from a higher excited state to a lower
one, the energy going into a radiationless re
arrangement of the system. If the lower state
is metastable its lifetime may be considerable
before it finally decays by a highly forbidden
radiative transition to the ground state. A n
other process (as in ZnS) depends on the
ionization of activator atoms, the freed elec
trons being trapped and only released slowly
for recombination. (See also trapping.)

PHOSPHORUS.
Sym bol P.

Non-m etallic
Atom ic number 15.

element.

PHOT. A unit of luminance equal to 1 lumen/sq cm.

PH OTOCATHODE. An electrode used for
obtaining photoelectric emission when irradi
ated.

It is thus the negative electrode in a

(See also photoemissive effect.)

phototube.
K = jrCv A.
does indeed represent roughly the mean
free path of a phonon as it carries thermal
energy through the crystal, but it is not easy
to assign to it an exact microscopic signifi
cance in terms of the various processes by
which a phonon is scattered. However, in
glasses, A has about the dimensions of the
unit of structure (e.g., the S i0 2 tetrahedron),
whilst in good crystals it varies as e~~6/2T at
low temperatures where is the Debye tem
perature and T is the absolute temperature,
according to the theory of Umklapp processes.
In the region of boundary scattering, A is
about the diameter of the specimen.
A

PHONON-PHONON INTERACTION . The

thermal vibrations of a crystal lattice are
only independent of one another as first ap
proximation.
When the anharmonic terms
are taken into account, it is found that there
are processes by which the modes interact,
for example, by the mutual interference of
two phonons to make a third. These col
lisions, especially the Umklapp processes,
are responsible for the thermal resistance of
a dielectric solid at high temperatures. The
exact theory is com plicated, and has not been
worked out in detail.

PHOTO CA THO DE, SEMI-TRANSPARENT.

A photocathode in which radiant flux incident
on one side produces photoelectric emission
from the opposite side.

PH OTO CELL.

The old designation for all

photoelectric devices, including those dis
cussed in this book in the entries on photoconductive detector, phototube and photo

voltaic cell.
PH O T O CELL, GAS. See phototube.
PH OTO CO N DU CTIO N .
tive effect.

See photoconduc

PH OT O CO N DU CT IV E CELL. See photo

varistor; photoconductive detector.
PH OT O CO N DU CT IV E DETECTOR.

Ap
paratus used to detect (a n d /or measure) ra
diant energy by change in electrical resist
ance. Semiconductors such as lead sulfide,
lead selenide, lead telluride, germanium and
many others, when doped with the proper
amount of certain impurities, are used as ra
diation detectors, particularly in the near
(1-10 microns) infrared because of their pho
toconductive properties.

PH OTO CO N DU CTIVE EFFECT.

M any
substances exhibit a marked increase in elec-

trie conductivity when illuminated.

Thus
gases m ay be ionized by light as well as by
ultra-violet radiation or x-rays. But the term
photoconductivity is commonly applied to
crystals which, ordinarily very poor conduc
tors, become distinctly conducting under the
action of light. In general terms, the light
excites electrons into the conduction band,
where they can move freely, and carry a cur
rent.
The most noted example of this phenome
non is found in selenium, whose photoconduc
tivity has been known since its discovery in
1873 by M ay. Unfortunately selenium is far
from typical in its manifestations of the prop
erty, and the hundreds of researches on it
have given many conflicting data. It has
finally been recognized, from the work of
Gudden and Pohl, that photoconduction is of
two general types: primary or true photocon
duction, which is the direct result of radiation
penetrating the substance; and secondary ef
fects set up by the photoconduction itself.
The fact that in selenium the several second
ary effects quite obscure the primary photo
conduction is what has occasioned so much
confusion.
The primary photoconduction
current in a crystal is in general proportional
to the intensity of the illumination; the sec
ondary is not, and, in the case of light-nega
tive selenium, it may actually neutralize the
primary and render the crystal less conduc
tive than when in the dark. Some crystals,
said to be idiochromatic, are photoconductive
in the pure state, while others, callcd allo
chromatic, acquire the property only by rea
son of impurities or of previous exposure to
suitable radiation. Other representative pho
toconductive substances are lead sulfide and
germanium.

PH OTOCU RREN T

CO E FFICIE N T .
The
change in photocurrent generated by a pho
totube per unit change in radiant flux pro
ducing it.
P H OT O DISIN T EG RA T ION (CROSS SEC
TION FO R M U L A ). The cross section for
the photodisintegration
given b y :

of the deuteron is

where E 0 is the binding energy of the deuteron

(2.23 M ev) and hv is the energy of the photon.

PHOTOELASTICITY. This badly chosen

term refers to certain changes in the optical
properties of isotropic, transparent dielectrics
when subjected to stresses. For example, a
block of glass, free from optical flaws, exhibits
forced double refraction when put under
compression or tension parallel to one of its
dimensions. If the block is placed between
crossed N icol prisms, the field remains dark
so long as the glass is in its normal condition,
but as stress is applied, colored fringes appear
which are characteristic of the internal defor
mations of the glass.
PH O T O ELECT RIC ABSORPTION.
Ab
sorption of photons in the photoelectric ef
fect.
PH O T O ELECT RIC CELL.

See phototube.

PH O T O ELECT RIC CONSTANT. A quan

tity equal to h/e where h is the Planck con
stant, and e, the electronic charge, and which
multiplied by the frequency of any radiation
exciting photoemission gives the potential dif
ference corresponding to the quantum energy
absorbed by the escaping photoelectron.
h/e = 4.1349 X 10-7 erg-sec-em u-1
= 1.3793 X 10~17 erg-sec-esu 1.

P H O T O ELECT RIC EFFECT. In its earlier

use, this term covered broadly all changes in
electrical characteristics of substances due to
radiation, generally in the form of light.
Currently, the photoconductive effect and the
photovoltaic effect, in their narrower mean
ings, are not included, and they are defined
separately in this book, and the term photo
electric effect is restricted to the photoemissive effect. In this effect, radiation of suffi
ciently high frequency, short wavelength,
impinging on certain substances, particularly,
but not exclusively, metals, causes bound elec
trons to be given off with a maximum energy
that varies linearly with the frequency of the
radiation, i.e., to the entire energy of the pho
ton. The Einstein photoelectric law, verified
first by M illikan, states
Ek = hv co
where E k is the maximum kinetic energy of
an emitted electron, h is the Planck constant,

v is the frequency of the radiation (frequency

associated with the absorbed p h oton ), and <o
is the energy necessary to remove the electron
from the system.
(See work function, elec

tronic.)
P H O T O E L E C T R IC

EFFECT,

ATOM IC.

The ejection of a bound electron from an atom,

by an incident photon whose entire energy is
absorbed for each electron ejected. (See Ein

stein photoelectric equation.)

P H O T O E LE C T R IC
EQUATION ,
E IN
STEIN. See Einstein photoelectric equation.
PH O T O E L E C T R IC
M U L T IP L IE R .
phototube, multiplier.

See

PH O T O E L E C T R IC

SENSITIVITY.
The
ratio of photoelectric emission current to the
radiant flux which caused the emission.

PH O T O E L E C T R IC T H RESH O LD .
The
quantum of energy E 0 = hv0, which is just
enough to release an electron from a given
system in the photoelectric effect. If the
incident photon has greater energy, the excess
will appear as kinetic energy of the ejected
electron. The frequency v0 is known as the
threshold frequency, and the corresponding
wavelength Ao, as the threshold wavelength.
Thus, E 0 = hvo = he/Ao.

PH O T O E L E C T R IC

W ORK

FUNCTION.

The energy required to secure the release of

electrons from a given surface b y photoelec
tric emission. (See photoelectric effect; work

function, electronic.)
PH O T O E L E C T R IC Y IE L D . Photoelectric
sensitivity. Usually expressed in electrons per
quantum.
PH O T O E LE C T R O M O T IV E FO RCE. The
electromotive force produced as the result of
photovoltaic action.
(See photovoltaic ef
fect.)
PH O T O E LE CT R O M O T IV E FO R C E CELL.
See photovoltaic cell.
PH OT O ELECT RON .
from

material

by

An electron emitted
photoemission.
(See

photoelectric effect.)
PHOT OEM ISSIV E DETECTOR.

Appara
tus used to detect (an d /or measure) radiant
energy by emission of electrons from a sur

face essentially a photo-cathode; the emitted

electrons producing, or more commonly con
trolling, an electric current.
The emitted
electrons may also be given a high velocity
by a potential difference of several thousand
volts, and by falling upon a phosphorescent
screen, form an image. This is a special type
of phototube apparatus, particularly useful
in the very near infrared and longer ultra
violet.

PHOTOEM ISSIVE EFFECT.

The ejection
of electrons from a substance as a result of
radiation falling on it; a process more com
monly designated by the (originally broader)
term photoelectric effect, under which it is
discussed in this book.

PH OTOEM ISSIVE TUBE.

See phototube.

PH O T O G LO W TUBE. See tube, photoglow.

PH O T O G RA PH IC EM ULSION.

The lightsensitive coating on photographic film, con

sisting usually of a gelatin-containing silver
halide.

PH O T O G RA PH IC IM AG E, LATENT.
latent photographic image.

See

PH O T O G RA PH IC TRANSMISSION D E N
SITY (OPT ICA L DEN SITY). The common
logarithm of opacity. Hence, film transmit
ting 100 per cent of the light has a density
of zero, transmitting 10 per cent a density of
1, and so forth. Density may be diffuse,
specular, or intermediate. Conditions must
be specified.

PHOTOIONIZATION .
fect, atomic.

See photoelectric ef

PH OTO LUM INESCEN CE.

under luminescence.

See

discussion

PHOTOMESON.
A meson, com monly a
7r-meson, ejected from a nucleus by an im
pinging photon. (See mesons and hyperons.)
PHOTOM ETER.

An instrument used to
make measurements of photometry.
Pho
tometers are of many types. Those used for
flux density and candle-power measurement
are ordinarily designed to compare the un
known with a known source by balancing in
some way the flux densities from the two
sources. The most common representatives
of this type are the various forms of bench
photometer, of wedge photometer, of polari

zation photometer, and of integrating pho

tometer. An important aspect of light-source
photometry is the study of the distribution
of luminous intensity in different directions
a variable which the integration photom eter
is designed to average. D irect indications of
luminous flux density or of illumination are
afforded by photometers utilizing the photo
electric cell, the selenium cell, or the photronic cell (see photovoltaic effects). Spec
tral energy distribution is analyzed by means
of various types of spectrophotometer.

PH OT O M ET ER, EXTIN CTION.

tinction photometer.
PH OT O M ET ER,
photometer head.

FLIC K E R .

See

PH OT OM ET ER, INTEGRATING.
tegrating photometers.

See

ex

flicker
See in

PH OT O M ET ER, MARTENS POLA RIZA

TION. A photometer in which the beams of
light from standard source and comparison
source are split into two components by a
Wollaston prism, one component from each
beam then passes through an analyzing
Nicol prism, so oriented when the photo
metric field is balanced, that it measures the
relative luminances of the original beams.

PH OT O M ET ER, POLARIZATION.
larization photometer.
PH OT O M ET ER, W E D G E .
tometer.

See po

See wedge pho

P H O T O M E T R IC STANDARD. One-sixtieth
of the luminance of a complete radiator at
the freezing point of platinum. (The lumi
nance of such a complete radiator is 60 candles
per square centimeter.)

PHOTOMETRY. The measurement of lu

minous intensity, of luminous flux density, or
of illumination is known as photometry. The
intensity of a light source may be expressed
in candles or other arbitrarily defined sourceunits (see candle power) , while luminous flux
density and illumination are expressed in lu
mens per unit area of cross-section or of sur
face. A lumen is the amount of light or lu
minous flux received upon a unit surface, all
points of which are at a unit distance from a
concentrated source of one spherical candle
intensity.
W e must recognize two different measures

of its intensity: (1) the luminous flux density,

in lumens per sq cm of cross section, corre
sponding to the visual sensation evoked, and
(2) the actual flow of power, in watts per sq
cm, called the radiant flux density. The ratio
of the one to the other for any wavelength is
the visibility factor for that wavelength, while
for the whole of any emission (all wave
lengths) the corresponding ratio is called the
luminous efficiency of the emission. The
efficiency of a light source is expressed in lu
mens of visible output per watt of input
power.

PH OTO M ICROG RA PH Y. The photography

of objects with the microscope. It should be
distinguished from microphotographyy which
is the term applied to production of small
images. The apparatus for photomicrography
consists of a light source, the microscope and
a camera, all mounted on a rigid base.

PH O T O M U LT IPLIER.
tron.

See multiplier, elec

PHOTON. (1) A quantum of electromag

netic energy. The energy of a photon is hv}
where h is the Planck constant, and v is the
frequency associated with the photon. The
term photon usually refers to a plane-wave
quantum of electromagnetic energy, for which
the momentum is h v/c7 and the component of
angular momentum in the direction of the
momentum is fi where c is the velocity of
light and ft is h/2nr. (2) A name once given
to the unit of visual stimulation now called
the troland.

PHOTONEGATIVE.
H aving
decreasing
conductivity with increasing radiation.
PHOTONEUTRON.
A neutron emitted
from a nucleus in a photonuclear reaction.
PH OTO N U CLEA R REACTION. A nuclear
reaction induced by a photon. In some cases
the reaction probably takes place via a com
pound nucleus formed by absorption of the
photon and distribution of its energy among
the nuclear constituents; the nucleus may then
evaporate one or more particles (see spal
lation; and liquid-drop nuclear model) or un
dergo photofission. In other cases the photon
apparently interacts directly with a single
nucleon, which is ejected as a photoneutron
or photoproton without appreciable excitation
of the rest of the nucleus.

PHOTO-PEAK.

A term used to refer to the

peak that appears in the pulse amplitude dis
tribution from a scintillation counter and
which results from the photo electrons pro
duced in the phosphor b y incident gammarays of a given energy.

PH OTOPH ORESIS. A phenomenon in which

a unidirectional motion is given, by a strong
beam of light, to a system composed of very
fine liquid or solid particles, which are sus
pended in a gas or falling through a vacuum.

PHOTOPOSITIVE. H aving increasing con

ductivity as a result of increased radiation.
PHOTOPROTON. A proton emitted from a
nucleus in a photonuclear reaction.

PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL.
(1) Apparatus
used to detect (an d /or measure) radiant en
ergy by generating a potential in the bound
ary (called the barrier layer) of an electrode
consisting of two types of material, by the
action of the radiant energy to be detected.
(See detectors, infrared.) (2) An electrolytic
cell which sets up an electromotive force upon
incidence of radiation, commonly light.
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL, RACK-WALL. A
photovoltaic cell in which the light must pass
through the front electrode and a semicon
ductor layer before reaching the barrier layer.
PHOTOVOLTAIC

CELL,

RECQ U EREL.

photo

A photovoltaic cell having two identical elec

trodes, for example, silver electrodes coated
with silver iodide, immersed in silver iodide
solution. Becquerels early work with such
cells, which produced an electromotive force
and current only when illuminated, gave the
name Becquerel effect to the photoelectric ef
fect, or to this particular application of it.

PHOTOTRANSISTOR. A thin wafer of ger

manium in which holes are generated by light

PH OTOVOLTAIC
C ELL,
COPPER-OXID E . A photovoltaic cell utilizing the bar
rier layer between copper and cuprous oxide

PH OT O PT IC VISION.

Vision that takes

place through the medium of the retinal cones
occurs at moderate and high levels of lu
minance and allows distinction of colors.

PHOTOSENSITIVE.
electric effect.

Exhibiting

absorption, and produce a multiplied photo

current by transistor action at the collector.

PHOTOTROPY.

A
reversible
isomeric
change in solid substances attributable to the
influence of light energy and accompanied by
a color change.

PHOTOTURE. An electron tube that con

tains a photocathode, and has an output de
pending at every instant on the total photo
electric emission from the irradiated area of
the photocathode.

PHOTOTURE,

CAESIUM.
with a caesium cathode.

phototube

PHOTOTURE, M U LT IP LIE R .
A photo
tube with one or more dynodes between its
photocathode and the output electrode. In
general, the electrons emitted from the photo
cathode as a result of incident radiation are
amplified by secondary emission. (See coun

ter, scintillation; multiplier, electron.)

PHOTOVARISTOR.

A varistor in which the

current-voltage relation may be modified by
illumination, e.g., cadmium sulphide or lead
telluride.

as the active area.

PHOTOVOLTAIC C ELL, FRONT-WALL.

A photovoltaic copper-copper-oxide cell in
which the barrier layer lies at the boundary
between top electrode and the cuprous oxide.

PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT. The produc

tion of an electromotive force by incidence of
radiant energy, commonly light, upon the
junction of two dissimilar materials, such as
a p-n junction or metal-semiconductor junc
tion.

PH OTOX CELL.
photovoltaic cell.

Trade name for a common

PH O T RO N IC CELL. Trade name for one

form of a photovoltaic cell.
PHYSICAL M AGNITUDES AND PHYSI
CAL EQUATIONS. Physics is a quantita
tive science, dealing primarily with things
measurable and expressible in units. There
are hundreds of these physical magnitudes,
some simple, some requiring elaborate defini
tion. M any obvious relations exist between
them; for example, pressure (or any stress)
is the ratio of a force to an area. Careful
study reveals that most physical magnitudes

have their measures so defined that they may

be expressed in terms of not more than three
elementary or fundamental magnitudes, com
bined in various ways. As to which magni
tudes should be regarded as fundamental, cus
tom has fixed the choice upon length, mass,
and time; to which many physicists add mag
netic permeability and dielectric constant,
making five in all. In the cgs system, for
example, the first three of these magnitudes
are respectively represented by the centimeter,
the gram, and the second, and all other physi
cal units of the system except the magnetic
and electric units are expressible in terms of
these. Thus the unit of speed is 1 centimeter
per second; of area, 1 square centimeter; of
force (the dyne), 1 gram-centimeter per sec
ond per second; etc. This analysis may be
generalized so as not to depend upon any
specified system of units. Thus if length be
denoted by L, mass by M , and time by T, the
dimension form ula for speed becomes L /T ,
for area L 2, for force M L / T 2, etc. The der
ivation of such relationships, called dimen
sional analysis, is a highly important item
in theoretical physics.
In order that two physical quantities may
be equal, or that one may be added to or sub
tracted from the other, it is obvious that they
must have the same makeup and be expres
sible by the same combination of fundamental
units. It follows that in an equation express
ing relationship between physical magnitudes,
both members and all terms of each member
must have the same dimension formula. For
example, the total area of a right circular
cone of altitude h and having a base of radius
r is a = 7tv2 + ir r y r 2 + h2, each term of which

has the dimension formula L 2 (since ir is ab

stract). Again, the phase angle <f> of an al
ternating current of frequency n (per second)
in a circuit of resistance R (ohm s), inductance
L (henrys), and capacitance C (farads) is
given by

4ttV L C -

Since tan < is a dimensionless quantity, the

fraction on the right must also be abstract.
Since the 1 in the numerator is dimensionless,
the other term 47r2n2LO and the whole numer
ator must be also; hence the denominator is
dimensionless. That is n , R , and C should
have such dimensions that the component

fundamental magnitudes cancel when the prod

uct nRC is formed. This is true; for the di
mension formula of n is 1 /7 7, and (in electro
magnetic measure) that of R is pL/T, and of
C, T2/fiL; in which /a represents magnetic
permeability. Some physical magnitudes are
themselves dimensionless, and therefore inde
pendent of the system of units in u se; specific
gravity and refractive index are in this class.

PHYSICAL MASS UNIT.

PHYSICAL

See amu.

MEASUREMENTS.
Physical
quantities have practical significance only as
they are capable of measurement and of ex
pression as bearing definite numerical ratios
to appropriate units. In some cases this com
parison can be made directly, as by applying
a yardstick to the length of a room. M ore
often the quantity to be measured is incapable
of such direct attack, and must be determined
by means of known relationships to other
quantities which are observable.
Thus an
electric current can be measured only by ap
pealing to certain of its effects; for example,
it can be made to form an electrochemical
deposit for an observed time and the mass of
the deposit then weighed. Likewise, the ob
servable change in volume of mercury is a
convenient measure of change in tempera
ture.
M ost physical units are expressible in terms
of certain primary standards, which are units
of the fundamental magnitudes, length, mass,
and time; sometimes in connection with the
properties of specified substances. In most
physical measurements these primary stand
ards are the meter, the kilogram, and the
mean solar day. Other derived units are
defined in terms of these or of multiples or
aliquot subdivisions of them (centimeter,
gram; see cgs system). Thus the density of a
substance may be expressed in g/cm , the watt
of power is 107 g cm 2/s e c 3. The centigrade
degree is y 0 of the temperature interval
between the freezing and boiling points of
water, which is subdivided on the basis of
some specified temperature measure such as
the pressure or the volume of a gas, the elec
trical resistance of a wire, etc., and these in
turn must be determined in units appropriate
to the respective magnitudes.
When the
measurement of a physical quantity gives its
value in terms of the quantities used in de
fining its fundamental units, the measurement

10

is said to be absolute. This is the case,

for example, with the measurement of elec
tric current by observing the force with which
a magnetic field of known intensity acts upon
the conductor carrying the current.
(See

abampere.)
In all physical measurements, the instru
ments used must be calibrated ; that is, the
relation of each subdivision on the instrument
scale t<? the unit of the quantity measured
must be ascertained.
If each subdivision
corresponds to exactly one unit, the instru
ment is said to be direct reading ; this is
usually true, for example, of ammeters and
voltmeters, but seldom of galvanometers.
Various instrumental principles have be
come standard in physics. W e have, for ex
ample, many instruments utilizing the ver
nier, the micrometer, or the optical lever prin
ciple. There are also certain well-known gen
eral observational methods, some of which are
designed to minimize errors. In the method
of substitution, a quantity is determined
by substituting for it a known quantity which
produces the same effect. In the very com
mon differential method, the quantity re
quired is the difference between two actually
measured quantities.
The null or bal
ance method consists in adjusting the ap
paratus so that the indicator of the measur
ing instrument reads zero, as the galvanom
eter used with a bridge. In the cumulative
method a large multiple of the quantity
sought is measured, e.g., the thickness of a
sheet of paper m ay be found from that of a
thousand sheets. The coincidence m ethod
is useful in measuring periodic phenomena, as
in comparing the periods of two pendulums by
observing how often the swings coincide.
Compensation applies to any method in
which an error is made to neutralize itself, as
in double weighing (see weighing methods).
M any other schemes, often highly ingenious,
are in common use in physical laboratories.
(See error and entries immediately following.)

P H Y SIO L O G IC A L ACOUSTICS. That part

of acoustics which is concerned with the pro
duction and detection of sound by living or
gans.

PI.

(1) The ratio of the circumference of a

circle to its diameter (tt). (2) Peltier coeffi
cient ( n ) .
(3) Hertz vector ( n ) .
(4)
Poynting vector (tt). (5) Electronic state of

molecule, having A-value of 1 ( n ) .

(6) Os

motic pressure (n ).
P IC A R D M E T H O D O F SUCCESSIVE AP
PROXIM ATIONS O R ITERATION. A nu
merical method for solving differential equa
tions. If the given equation is y ' = f { x yy)
subject to the condition that y = y 0 when
x = x 0) the solution may be written in the
form of an integral equation:
t
V = Vo + f f(x,y)d x.
An approximate solution is
c
Vi = 2/o + J f (x ,y 0)dx.
Iteration yields more exact solutions:
X

V2 = Vo +

I f & y j d x ;

**x0

X
Vn

2/0

f(x ,y ni)dx.

f
0

PICKET FENCE.

See cusp.

PICKET FEN CE TH ERM O N U C LEA R R E

ACTOR. See cusp thermonuclear reactor.
P IC K O FF CIRCUIT. The name sometimes
applied to a bistable multivibrator or trigger
circuit.

PICKUP.

(1) A device that converts a sound,

scene, or other form of intelligence into cor
responding electric signals (e.g., a microphone,
a television camera, or a phonograph pickup).
(2) The minimum current, voltage, power, or
other value at which a relay will complete its
intended function.
(3) Interference from a
nearby circuit or system. (4) A nuclear re
action in which an incident particle removes a
nucleon from a target nucleus, and proceeds
with the nucleon bound to itself.

PICKUP, ACOUSTIC (SOUND B O X ). A

device wThich transforms groove modulations
directly into acoustic vibrations.

PICKUP, ARM.

See arm, pickup.

PICKUP, CAPACITOR. (1) A phonograph

or vibration pickup whose transducer func
tions basically as a capacitor microphone.
(2) A variable-capacity pickup in which the

capacitance variation causes an oscillator to

be frequency-modulated. (See capacitor, vi

bration.)
PICKUP, CRYSTAL
( P IE ZO E LE C T R IC
P IC K U P ). A phonograph pickup which de
pends for its operation on the generation of
an electric charge by the deformation of a
body (usually crystalline) having piezoelec
tric properties.

PICKUP, DYNAM IC.

coil.

See pickup, moving

cause of nonlinearity the spectral character

istics of some kinds of pickup tubes depend
upon the magnitude of radiance used in the
measurement.

PICKUP TUBE.

An electron beam tube in

which an image of electrical current or charge
density is formed and scanned in a predeter
mined sequence to provide an electrical sig
nal. The term camera tube is preferred. (See

tube, camera.)

PICKUP, ELE C T R O N IC .
A phonograph
pickup in which the output is generated by

PICKUP,
VARIABLE - RELUCTANCE
(M AG N ETIC PIC K U P).
A phonograph
pickup which depends for its operation on
the variation in the reluctance of a magnetic

the motion of an electrode in a vacuum tube.

circuit.

PICKUP, FREQ U EN CY M ODULAT ION .

A phonograph pickup in which the frequency
of a high frequency oscillator is varied by

PICKUP, VARIABLE -RESISTANCE.

A
phonograph pickup which depends for its op
eration upon the variation of a resistance.

altering one of the elements in the oscillating

circuit. B y use of a discriminator the m odu
lated high frequency output is transformed to
the vibration frequency of the stylus.

PICKUP, VIBRATION. A pickup employing

any type of transducer to convert the vibra
tory motion of machinery, vehicles, etc., into
the corresponding electrical current.

PICKUP, LIGHT-BEAM.
A phonograph
pickup in which a beam of light is a coupling
element of the transducer.

PICKUP VOLTAGE. See voltage, break

down. Pickup voltage is a deprecated usage.

PICKUP, MOVING-COIL.

A pickup utiliz
ing a coil positioned in a constant magnetic
field and driven by the stylus.

PICO-.

PICKUP, P H O N O G RA PH (M E C H A N IC A L
R E P R O D U C E R ). A mechanoelectric trans
ducer which is actuated by modulations pres

PICTET M ET H OD.

PICTURE ELEM ENT.

ent in the groove of the recording medium and

which transforms this mechanical input into
an electric output. Where no confusion will
result, the term phonographic pickup may
be shortened to pickup.

PICTURE IN VERSIO N (F A C S IM IL E ).

PICKUP, RELUCTANCE. A mechanicalelectrical transducer in which the movement

of an armature changes the reluctance of a
magnetic
net, thus
sults in
co il(s ).

path containing a permanent mag

causing a change in flux which re
an induced voltage in the output
(See Faraday law of magnetic in

duction.)
PICKUP

SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTIC.

The set of spectral responses of the device,

including the optical parts, which converts
radiation to electric signals, as measured at
the output terminals of the pickup tubes. B e

Prefix meaning 10 12, for example in

pico-farad instead of m icro-m icro-farad. Ab
breviated as p.
See low temperature.

A small section of
a given scene as reproduced by the cathode
ray spot of a cathode-ray tube at any instant.
A
process which causes reversal of the black and
white shades of the recorded copy.

PICTURE NOISE.

Interference signals caus

ing spots of light and other irregular patterns
on the received picture in a cathode-ray tube.
Sometimes called grass.

PICTURE PHASE, NEGATIVE. The condi

tion in a television system in which an in
crease in brilliance corresponds to an increase
in the negative value of the video signal.

PICTURE SIGNAL. In television, the signal

resulting from the scanning process.
PICTURE SIGNAL
signal, facsimile.

(F A C S IM IL E ).

See

PICTURE SIGNAL, BLANKED. In televi

sion, the signal resulting from blanking a
picture signal. Adding the sync signal to the
blanked picture signal forms the composite
picture signal.
PICTURE SIGNAL, COLOR.
ture signal.

See color pic-

PICTURE SIGNAL, COMPOSITE. In tele

vision, the signal which results from com bin
ing a blanked picture signal with the sync
signal.
PICTURE SIGNAL, POLARITY OF. The
sense of the potential of a portion of the
signal representing a dark area of a scene
relative to the potential of a portion of the
signal representing a light area. Polarity is
stated as black negative or black positive.
PICTURE, STICKING.

See image, retained.

PICTURE TRANSMISSION, D-C.

The
transmission of a television signal with the
d-c component represented in the picture
signal.
PICTURE TRANSMITTER.
visual.
PICTURE TUBE.
kinescope.
PI ELECTRON.

See transmitter,

See tube, picture; tube,

See bond,

tt

(p i).

PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT. The interac

tion between electrical and mechanical stressstrain variables in a medium. Thus, com
pression of a crystal of quartz or Rochelle salt
generates an electrostatic voltage across it,
and conversely, application of an electric field
may cause the crystal to expand or contract
in certain directions. Piezoelectricity is only
possible in crystal classes which do not possess
a center of symmetry. Unlike lectrostriction,
the effect is linear in the field strength.
The directions in which tension or compres
sion develop polarization parallel to the strain

as an X -a x is, and a plate cut, as shown, with

its faces perpendicular to this direction is an
X -c u t ; while one cut with its faces parallel
to the lateral faces of the crystal is a Y -cu t.
The magnitude of the piezoelectric polariza
tion is proportional to the strain and to the
corresponding stress, and its direction is re
versed when the strain changes from compres
sion to tension. The principal piezoelectric
constants of a crystal are the polarizations
per unit stress along the piezoelectric axes.
W hile these constants are much greater for
Rochelle salt than for quartz, the latter is
better adapted to some purposes because of
its greater mechanical strength and its stabil
ity at temperatures over 100C.
PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT, DIRECT. The
production of electric charges on the faces of
certain asymmetric crystals when they are
subjected to mechanical stress.
PIEZOELECTRIC
EFFECT,
INVERSE.
The mechanical strain produced in certain
asymmetric crystals when they are placed in
an electric field.
PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT, QUADRATIC.
A strain in a crystal caused by a spontane
ous polarization, or an applied field acting
on a piezoelectric crystal.
PIEZOELECTRIC LOUDSPEAKER.
loudspeaker, crystal.

See

PIEZOELECTRIC
MICROPHONE.
microphone, crystal.

See

PIEZOELECTRICITY.
Electricity
ciated with the piezoelectric effect.

asso

PIEZOID. A finished piezoelectric crystal

product after the completion of all processes;
this may include electrodes adherent to the
crystal. (See piezoelectric effect.)
PIEZOID, RESONATING.
as a resonator or oscillator.
PIEZOID, TRANSDUCING.
in a transducer.

A piezoid used
A piezoid used

PIEZOMETER. An instrument for measur

ing pressure, particularly very high pressures.

are called the piezoelectric axes of the crystal.

Thus the axis of a hexagonal quartz crystal
indicated by the arrows in the figure is known

PIEZOMETER RING. A hollow ring sur

rounding a pipe to which it is connected by
several symmetrically spaced small holes so
that the pressure in the ring is the average of

the various values obtained at the holes in

the pipe. A piezom eter, or other pressuremeasuring device, is connected to the ring to
measure this average pressure.
PIEZOMETER TUBE (OR STATIC PRES
SURE TUBE). A tube inserted in a field of
flow and designed to lead off a pressure equal
to the local hydrostatic pressure. A small
flush opening in the wall of a pipe will meas
ure the pressure at the wall, but more care is
necessary before the pressure in a free stream
can be measured. The static tube, which is
a smooth-ended tube pointing into the flow
and communicating with it by a ring of small
flush holes some distance from the end, is often
used for this purpose.
PIG.
Abbreviation for Phillips ionization
gauge and for an ion source based on the
same principle.
PILE. A nuclear reactor (see reactor, nu
clear). The term pile comes from the first
nuclear reactor, which was made by piling up
graphite blocks and pieces of uranium and
uranium oxide. The term reactor is becoming
more com m only used.
PILE OF PLATES (POLARIZING). When
a beam of light impinges on a glass plate at
the Brewster angle, the light is partly reflected
and partly transmitted. The part reflected is
plane-polarized.
The part transmitted is
partly polarized, normal to the reflected polar
ization.
B y then passing the transmitted
light through another plate, it becomes more
fully plane-polarized. A number of such pas
sages through plates gives excellent polariza
tion. This method of polarization can be ap
plied to a beam larger than is practicable
with a Nicol prism or other similar polarizing
device, and does not heat as much as does
Polaroid material.
PILED-UP GROUP. A row of edge disloca
tions m oving along the same slip plane, but
arrested by an obstacle (e.g., grain boundary)
behind which they pile up, being held apart
by their mutual repulsion.
PILE-UP (R E LA Y ). A set of contact forms,
assemblies or springs, placed one on top of the
other, with insulation between them.
PILE-UP, MULTIPLE (R ELAY). An ar
rangement of contact springs which has two
or more separate pile-ups.

PILE-UP, SPRING (R E L A Y ).
up.

Same as pile-

P ILO T A G E . The process of directing the

movement of a vehicle by reference to recog
nizable landmarks or soundings.
Observa
tions of these may be by optical, aural, me
chanical or electronic means.
P IL O T FR EQ U EN CY.
PI ( tr) M O D E .

See channel, pilot.

See m ode, pi ( tt).

it M O D E M A G N E TR O N .
m ode of operation.

PIN B E AR IN G (R E L A Y ).
armature hinge.

See magnetron,

tt

The pin of an

P IN C H E F F E C T . (1) A result of the electro

magnetic attraction of parallel currents.
In
a low inductance gas discharge tube carrying
a current, a radial contraction of the axial
current distribution will result from this at
traction as the current is increased beyond a
critical value given by
I = V 20(}Trr2Po,
where I is in amperes, r is the initial radius
of the current and P is the total initial pres
sure inside the radius. This phenomenon has
had wide application in the design of possible
thermonuclear reactions. Sometimes the pinch
effect is called self-focusing streams. (See
perhapsatron; M theory; dynamic pinch; and
stabilized pinch.)
(2 )
In disk recording, the pinch effect is a
pinching of the reproducing stylus tip twice
each cycle in the reproduction of lateral re
cordings due to a decrease of the grove angle
cut by the recording stylus when it is moving
across the record as it swings from a negative
to a positive peak.
PING. A pulse of sound of finite duration
sent out by a transducer.
PIN G LE N G TH . The extension in space of
a single ping. It is equal to the product of the
sound velocity and the time duration of the
ping.
PIN H O L E "IM A G E . If a small opening is
made in one side of a darkened room or box,
an inverted picture of objects outside appears
upon the wall opposite the opening. Such a
picture differs from a true im age in that it is
not formed by light from a given point of the

source diverging and being reconverged at the

corresponding image-point, as by a lens, but
is an effect of the rectilinear propagation of

PITCH DIFFERENCE, MINIM UM PER

CEPTIBLE. The smallest difference in pitch
that can be discerned by the average single
ear.
PITCH LEVEL.

by

The pitch level P is given

P = A log2f,

Diagram showing foundation of pinhole image.

light. The only spot on the screen reached

by light from a given point of the source is
that in direct line with the opening.
PIN(S) RESIDUAL (RELAY).
N onm ag
netic pins or screws attached to either the
armature or the core of a relay to prevent the
armature from directly contacting the m ag
netic core. (See stud, residual.)
PION.
ons.)
PIP.

A 7r-meson. (See mesons and hyperSee blip.

PIPE LINE.

Colloquialism for coaxial cable.

PIP, MARKER. An identification pulse which

is superimposed on some form of cathode-ray
tube display to indicate the position of a defi
nite frequency, time or phase.
PIP M ATCHING.
ing.

See display, PIP match

PIRANI TUBE (GAUGE). See gauge, Pirani.

PISTONPHONE. A small chamber equipped
with a reciprocating piston of measurable dis
placement which permits the establishment of
a known sound pressure in the chamber.
PITCH. (1) T h at attribute of auditory sen
sation in terms of which sounds may be
ordered on a scale extending from low to
high, such as a musical scale. Pitch depends
primarily upon the frequency of the sound
stimulus, but it also depends upon the sound
pressure and wave form of the stimulus. The
pitch of a sound may be described by the
frequency of that simple tone, having a speci
fied sound pressure or loudness level, which
seems to the average normal ear to produce
the same pitch. ( 2 ) See pitch of screw.
PITCH ATTITUDE. The angle between the
longitudinal axis of a vehicle and the horizon
tal.

where P is in octaves, / in kilocycles and A

is a constant.
PITCH OF SCREW. Axial distance between
adjacent turns o f a single thread on a screw.
PITCH, STANDARD.
( 1 ) The standard
pitch is based on the tone A of 440 cycles per
second. W ith this standard the frequency of
M iddle C (located in the octave below the
tone A ) is 261.6 cycles per second. Musical
instruments should be capable of complying
with this standard when played where the
ambient temperature is 22C (72 F ).
(2)
Of a screw, one of the pitches ( 2 ) specified
for a given size of screw as a preferred pitch.
In the United States these are commonly used
standards, the N ational Course (N C ) or U.Sfc
Standard (USS), and the National Fine (N F )
or Society of Autom otive Engineers Standard
(S A E ).
PITOT-STATIC TUBE. The instrument for
the measurement of flow velocity made by
combining in one unit a Pitot tube and a
static head tube. I f the Pitot-static tube is
aligned with the flow, the pressure difference
equals the dynamic pressure.
PITOT TUBE. An open-ended tube usually
of circular section pointing directly into the
flow of a fluid and connected to a manometer.
I f the Reynolds number based on tube diam
eter and flow velocity exceeds 50, the pressure
in the tube equals the total head (see head,
total). The Pitot tube is often combined with
a static pressure tube and connected to a d if
ferential manometer. The pressure difference
measured is the dynamic pressure and from
this the flow velocity may be computed.
PLACE. In positional notation, a position
corresponding to a given power of the base.
A digit located in any particular place is a co
efficient of a corresponding power of the base.
PLAIT POINT. The point at which two con
jugate solutions of partially miscible liquids

have the same composition, so that the two

layers become one.
PLANCK CONSTANT.
A universal con
stant, h, that has the value, by least squares
adjusted output values, of 6.62377 0.00018
X 10 ~ 27 erg second. It is the factor of pro
portionality relating the energy (E) of a pho
ton to its frequency (/), i.e., E = hv.
PLANCK
DISTRIBUTION
Planck radiation formula.
PLANCK EQUATION.
tion formula.

LAW .

See

See Planck radia

PLANCK L A W . The fundamental law of

the quantum theory, expressing the essential
concept that energy transfers associated with
radiation such as light or x-rays are made up
of definite quanta or increments of energy
proportional to the frequency of the corre
sponding radiation. This proportionality is
usually expressed by the quantum formula
E = hv, in which E is the value of the quan
tum in units of energy and v is the frequency
of the radiation.
The constant of proportionality (h), is
known as the elem entary quantum of action
or more com monly, the Planck constant.
Since E is energy and v is frequency, h has the
dimensions of energy X time, or action.
PLANCK RADIATION
relationship:

FORMULA.

The

PLANCKIAN COLOR. The color or wavelength-intensity distribution of the light

emitted by a black body at a given tempera
ture.
PLANCKIAN LOCUS. The locus of chromaticities of Planckian (black body) radia
tors having various temperatures.
(See fig
ure in definition of chromaticity diagram.)
PLANE. A surface on which any two points
may be connected by a straight line. Its gen
eral equation is A x + B y + Cz + D = 0 , with
A, B } C not all zero. Thus the locus of every
first degree equation in x,y,z is a plane. Other
forms of its equation are x/a + y/b + z/c
= 1 , where a,b,c are the #,?/,-intercepts and
the normal form Xx + p y + vz p, where
k,fi,v are direction cosines of the normal from
the origin to the plane and p is the length of
this normal.
PLANE, CONVERGENCE (MULTIREAM
CATHODE-RAY TUBES). A plane contain
ing the points at which the electron beams ap
pear to experience a deflection applied for the
purpose of obtaining convergence.
PLANE, DEFLECTION (CATHODE-RAY
TUBES). A plane perpendicular to the tube
axis containing the deflection center.
PLANE EARTH FACTOR. The ratio of the
electric field strength that would result from
propagation over an im perfectly-conducting
plane earth, to that which would result from
propagation over a perfectly-conducting plane.
PLANE OF INCIDENCE.
plane of.

where E\d\ is the intensity of radiation in

the wavelength band between A and A + d\,
h is the Planck constant, c is the velocity of
light, k is the Roltzmann constant and T is
the absolute temperature. This formula de
scribes the spectral distribution of the radia
tion from a complete radiator or black body.
he 3 = C i is known as the First Radiation con
stant with ch/k = C as the Second Radiation
constant. C 2 has the value 1.4384 cm deg.
This radiation formula can be written in other
forms, such as in terms of wave-number in
stead of wavelength. Also it may be written
in terms of energy density instead of radiation
intensity. The value of the First Radiation
constant will depend on the particular form
of the radiation formula used.

See incidence,

PLANE OF SYMMETRY.
An imaginary
plane by which a body is divided into two
parts, each of which is the exact mirror image
of the other in the plane of symmetry.
PLANE OF VIBRATION. I f a ray of un
polarized light strikes a glass plate at the
Rrewster angle (tan i = n ) , the reflected light
will be plane-polarized. Before the electro
magnetic theory of light was developed, the
plane of polarization was defined as the plane
containing both the incident and reflected
rays. The plane perpendicular to this and
containing the reflected ray contains the elec
tric vector, which is of greater significance
than is the magnetic vector. Consequently,
modern usage defines the latter plane as the

plane of polarization and the originally de

fined ray is com m only referred to as the plane
o f vibration. The change in usage leads to
some confusion, and it is probably better to
use one of the terms, plane of the electric
vector or plane of the magnetic vector, in
describing plane polarized light.
PLANE-POLARIZED
zation (3).

LIGHT.

See polari

PLANETARY ORBIT THEORY. The m o

tions of the planets are described, to a high
degree of accuracy, by the laws of Kepler.
The consistency of these laws with the in
verse square law (cf. Newton law of universal
gravitation) is the m ajor basis of support of
the latter. In accordance with the discussion
given under Coriolis effects, the differential
equations of motion are:
d2r
m

dt

GmM
=

-------------- ---------- h

mr

d6\2

\dt/

d2d
dr dd
mr - = 2mr >
dt
dt dt
where G is the gravitation constant, m is the
reduced mass of the planet, M is the mass of
the sun, r and 0 are the polar coordinates of
the planet with the sun as origin. A single
integration of the second equation yields the
second law of Kepler. The substitution of
r2{dd/dt) = C (a constant) into the first equa
tion and an elimination of the time shows that
the orbits are conic sections, being ellipses if
the total energy is less than zero, hyperbolae
if it is greater than zero and parabolae in the
intermediate case. Reinsertion of the time
leads to K eplers third law.
A ll of the above treatment assumes that no
bodies other than the sun affect the planet.
N o exact solution of the problem is possible
when the effects of neighboring planets, satel
lites, etc., are taken into account, but per
turbation theory may be used to obtain very
close approximations. The agreement of the
ory and experiment has been excellent except
in the case of M ercury, whose orbit is not
quite that predicted (see perihelion of Mer
cury, rotation of). The fact that this excep
tional case agrees with the prediction of the
general theory of relativity (see relativity,
general theory of), indicates that this theory
offers a better approach than does the Newton

law of gravitation, although the two theories

agree within the observational accuracy for
all of the other planets.
PLANIMETER, POLAR. An instrument for
measuring the area enclosed within a given
closed contour or under a given curve; thus,
a device for evaluating a definite integral,
numerically.
PLAN POSITION INDICATOR (PPI). In
radar technique, a cathode ray indicator on
which blips produced by signals from reflect
ing objects and transponders are shown in
plan position, thus forming a map-like display.
(See also entries under PPI.)
PLASMA. (1) An assembly of ions, electrons,
neutral atoms and molecules in which the m o
tion of the particles is dominated by electro
magnetic interactions. This condition occurs
when the macroscopic electrostatic shielding
distance (Debye length) is small compared
to the dimensions of the plasma. Because of
the large electrostatic potentials which would
result from an inhomogeneous distribution of
unlike charges, a plasma is effectively neutral.
Thus there are equal numbers of positive and
negative charges in every macroscopic volume
of a plasma. Also, because a plasma is a
conductor, it interacts with electromagnetic
fields. The study of these interactions is called
hydromagnetics or m agnetohy dro dynamics.
(2) A collection of electrons and ions, usually
at a high enough temperature so that the ioni
zation level is above 5% and at densities such
that the Debye shielding distance is much
smaller than the m acroscopic dimensions of
the system.
PLASMA DIAMAGNETISM. The diamag
netic effect exhibited by a plasma in a mag
netic field as a result of the Larmor motion
of the charged particles in the magnetic field.
PLASMA FREQUENCY (LANGMUIR FRE
QUENCY).
The oscillation frequency of
plasma electrons about an equilibrium charge
distribution is called the plasma or Langmuir
frequency and is
47tneq
_
--------- = 5.7 X 10 neA (radians/sec)
m

where ne is the electron d e n s ity , m is the elec

tron m a ss, and q is the e le c tr o n ic ch a rg e
in esu . Its value is
(5.7 X 10

radian cm ^ sec 1) ^ ^ .

PLASMA INSTABILITY. In plasma physics,

and more specifically in the fusion program,
instabilities refer to the sudden deformation
of a quasistatic distribution of plasma and
electromagnetic field. T w o general types of
instabilities are recognized. The first type
arises from the fact that a plasma, exerting
a pressure on a magnetic field can, under some
circumstances, weaken the field and thus ex
pand through the field. These are called hydromagnetic instabilities or exchange insta
bilities.
The other general type of instability is as
sociated with non-maxwellian velocity distri
butions of the plasma constituents and has
only recently (1960) received much theoretical
attention.
PLASMA OSCILLATIONS.
A plasma is
capable of supporting various modes of vibra
tion and can propagate several types of waves.
These can be classified in terms of their oscil
lation frequencies and the study of plasma
oscillations is the general branch in plasma
physics which includes the classification of the
various modes of vibration that a plasma is
capable of supporting and of the several types
of waves that can be propagated in a plasma.
Usually these collective effects are classified
by their oscillation frequency.
(For exam
ples, see sound waves, Alfven waves, Langmuir frequency, electron cyclotron frequency,
ion cyclotron frequency.)
PLASMA PROPULSION. A scheme for pro
pulsion of a vehicle in space by the use of
plasma which is accelerated up to velocities
of the order of 1 0 7 cm /sec.
PLASMATRON.
A continuously-controllable gas-discharge tube which utilizes an inde
pendently-generated gas-discharge plasma as
a conductor between a hot cathode and an
anode. Continuous modulation of the anode
current can be effected by variation either
of the conductivity or the effective cross-sec
tion of the plasma. The first method is based
upon the modulation of the electron-ionizing
beam which controls the plasma density, and
hence its conductivity. The second method

makes use of the gating action of positive-ion

sheaths which surround the wires of a grid,
located between the anode and cathode.
PLASMOID. An isolated aggregate of ions,
electrons, and neutral particles which main
tains a unity for times long compared to the
collision times between particles. Plasmoids
are observed to move linearly across magnetic
fields as a unit and usually have an internal
magnetic field.
PLASTIC DEFORMATION.
I f sufficient
stress is applied to a solid it m ay not return
to its original condition when the stress is
removed.
The theory of plasticity is ex
tremely complicated, but in the case of metals
much progress has recently been made by the
introduction of the idea of dislocations. The
shear strength of single crystals is unexpect
edly small, but increases by work-hardening.
PLASTICITY. A property of certain types
of matter in which the deformation resulting
from a particular stress is retained to a large
extent even after the removal of the stress.
This is in distinction to elasticity.
PLASTICITY, INVERSE.

See dilatancy.

PLATE. A common name for the principal

anode in an electron tube.
PLATE CHARACTERISTIC.
characteristic.
PLATE CURRENT.

See electrode

See current, electrode.

PLATE (ANODE) MODULATION.

modulation, plate (anode).

See

PLATE RESISTANCE. One of the vacuumtube coefficients which is used in analyzing

the behavior of the tube in a circuit. M athe
m atically it is expressed as
dep~\
rv
dipl

(Eg constant)

where dep and dip represent infinitestimal

changes of plate voltage and current and E g
is the grid voltage.
The value of the plate resistance, or, more
properly, the dynamic plate resistance, is es
sentially constant over the normal operating
range of the tube but is dependent upon the
electrode voltages. From the equation it may
be seen that it is the reciprocal of the slope
of the plate current-plate voltage character

istic curve of the tube. In developing the

equivalent circuit of the vacuum tube the
plate resistance is the value used for the in
ternal resistance of the equivalent generator.
PLATE SATURATION. See current satura
tion; voltage saturation; and temperature sat
uration.

mum of ionization (and therefore of darken

ing) near the end of its range. Frequently
a multiple, concentric halo is observed, cor
responding to emission of -particles of differ
ing ranges in succesive transformations in a
radioactive series.

See electrode voltage.

PLEOCHROISM
(PLEOCHROMATISM).
The property possessed by certain crystals of
exhibiting different absorption colors as viewed
in the direction of the different crystal axes.
Iolite, a silicate of aluminum, iron and mag
nesium, shows this property strongly.

PLATEAU (COUNTER).
The portion of
the counting rate versus voltage character
istic curve in which the counting rate is sub
stantially independent of the applied voltage.

PLEOMORPHISM. The property of crystal

lizing in two or more forms. The term in
cludes dimorphism and trimorphism.
(Cf.
polymorphism.)

PLATEAU LENGTH (COUNTER).

The
range of applied voltage over which the
plateau of a radiation counter tube extends.

PLEXICODER. A mechanical-optical sys

tem which can sequentially sample the output
of a number of light beams from galvanometer
mirrors. The device codes the signal voltage
into a pulse-duration waveform at the time of
sampling.

PLATE SUPPLY. The power source, usually

d-c, for the plate circuit of an electron-tube
device. (See plate input power.)
PLATE VOLTAGE.

PLATEAU SLOPE, NORMALIZED. A fig

ure of merit for a radiation counter tube, the
percentage change in counting rate divided
by the percentage change in voltage, using the
threshold values as a base.
PLATEAU SLOPE, RELATIVE. The aver
age percentage change in the counting rate
near the m id-point of the plateau per incre
ment of applied voltage. Relative plateau
slope is usually expressed as the percentage
change in counting rate per 1 0 0 -volt change
in applied voltage.
PLATINUM. M etallic element.
A tom ic number 78.
PLAYBACK.

Sym bol Pt.

Reproduction of a recording.

PLAYBACK HEAD. See pickup, phonograph.

PLAYBACK LOSS.
PLC.

See loss, translation.

A bbreviation for power line carrier.

PLEOCHROIC HALO. A small spherical

or (as usually observed in section) circular
colored or darkened region surrounding a
fragment of an -em itting radioactive sub
stance embedded in mica and other transpar
ent minerals. The color is due to crystal
damage caused by the a-particles, and the
radius of the halo is equal to their range in
the material, which is 10 to 50 microns in
most minerals. The ring-like appearance re
sults because an -particle produces a maxi

PLIOTRON. The name sometimes applied

to a high-vacuum tube which has one or more
grids.
PLUGGING. A system of dynamic braking
which changes the drive motor in such a
manner that it tends to turn in the opposite
direction.
PLUMBING. Colloquialism for waveguide
or rigid coaxial lines and fittings.
PLUNGER. See resonator(s) types of plung
ers; waveguide plunger.
PLUTONIUM. Transuranic element.
bol Pu. Atom ic number 94.

Sym

P-M. (1) Abbreviation for permanent mag

net. (2) Abbreviation for phase modulation.
PNEUMATIC. Related to, or pertaining to,
air or derivatively to other gases. Thus, a
pneumatic trough is a small tank, containing
a shelf with small holes. It is used to collect
gases in the laboratory, by pouring water into
it to a level above the shelf, on which are
placed inverted gas-collecting bottles filled
with water, which is displaced from them by
gas from tubes passing under the shelf and
into the bottles through the holes in the shelf.
P-N JUNCTION.

See junction, p-n.

PO.

Abbreviation for power oscillator.

POCKELS EFFECT.

See electro-optic effect.

POGGENDORFF
COMPENSATION
M ETHOD.
A method of determining the
electromotive force of a cell without drawing
appreciable current, by balancing its poten
tial against the voltage drop across a portion
of a uniform resistance wire, and comparing
that with the corresponding measurement for
a standand cell. (See potentiometer.)
POID. The curve traced by the center of a
sphere when it rolls or slides over a surface
having a sinusoidal profile.
POIDOMETER. An apparatus for determin
ing large masses (weights) rapidly. It is used
extensively in industry.
POINCARE ELECTRON THEORY. Clas
sical model of the electron in which the par
ticle is held together by non-electromagnetic
forces, thereby giving a vanishing self-stress.
The model is unstable, however, and gives an
infinite self-energy for a point electron.
POINSOT M OTION.
hode.

See polhode; herpol-

POINT. In positional notation, the character,

or the location of an implied symbol, which
separates the integral part of a numerical ex
pression from its fractional part. For ex
ample, it is called the binary point in binary
notation and the decimal point in decimal
notation. I f the location of the point is as
sumed to remain fixed with respect to one end
of the numerical expressions, a fixed-point
system is being used. I f the location of the
point does not remain fixed with respect to
one end of the numerical, but is regularly re
calculated, then a floating-point system is be
ing used. A fixed-point system usually locates
the point by some convention, while a floating-point system usually locates the point by
expressing a power of the base.
POINT, BINARY.

See point.

POINT, BRANCH. (1) W hen a function, f ( z)

is multivalued, it possesses certain discontinui
ties called branch points. Analytic continua
tion between two points will then give differ
ent values for f ( z ) if the two paths include
a branch point. Branch points always occur
in pairs. The line joining them is a branch

line and a contour crossing a branch line

changes from one set of values of f ( z) to an
other. The two (or more) independent values
of f ( z ) are its branches. The values of the
different branches of f ( z) are identical at a
branch point. ( 2 ) See node. (See also Riemann surface.)
POINT, BREAK. A place in a routine at
which a special instruction is inserted which,
if desired, will cause a digital computer to
stop for a visual check of progress.
POINT, CHECK.

See point, way.

POINT, CONTROL. The value of the con

trolled variable which, at any instant, an
automatic controller operates to maintain.
POINT GROUP. One of the 32 different
symmetry classes to which a crystal may be
long, in virtue of the occurrence of different
elements of symmetry passing through a
single point, together with the necessity of
obeying the Hauy law of rational indices.
POINT, MIXING. In a block diagram of a
feedback control loop, a symbol indicating the
relationship of one output to two or more in
puts, such that the value of the output at any
instant is a function of the values of the
inputs at that instant. If a mixing device in
practice contains dynamic elements, these
shall be considered as transfer elements in one
or more of the signal paths entering or leaving
the mixing point.
POINT, MULTIPLICATION.
A mixing
point (see point, mixing) whose output is ob
tained by multiplication of its inputs.
POINT-OBSERVER. Idealized concept used
in relativity theory of an observer equipped
with measuring-rods and a clock and imagined
as being located at a point.
POINT, SAMPLE. The point on a chromaticity diagram that represents the chromaticity of the sample.
POINT, SET. The position to which controlpoint-setting mechanism is set in an automatic
controller, translated into units of the con
trolled variable.
POINT SOURCE. N o finite source of radia
tion is a true point, but any source viewed
from a distance sufficiently great compared
to the linear size of the source may be con

sidered as a point source. In the distance

range in which measurements of the radiation
from a source show that it obeys the inverse
square law (no absorption), then to the ac
curacy of the measurements, the source may
be considered as a point source.

conjugate variables like p,q, momentum and

position, respectively, then the Poisson bracket
is defined as

POINT, SUMMING. A mixing point (see

point, mixing) whose output is obtained by
addition, with prescribed signs, of its inputs.

it being understood that the right-hand mem

ber is to be summed over all degrees of free
dom of the system. The Poisson brackets are
useful in both classical and quantum mechan
ics. D ynam ical systems described in terms
o f them are invariant to canonical transforma
tions. In quantum mechanics

POINT, W AY. A selected point on a course

line having some particular significance.
POISE. A unit of coefficient of viscosity, de
fined as the tangential force per unit area
(dyn es/cm 2) required to maintain unit d if
ference in velocity ( 1 cm /sec) between two
parallel planes separated by 1 cm of fluid; 1
poise = 1 dyne sec/cm 2 = 1 gm /cm sec.
POISEUILLE FLO W . Steady flow of a fluid
along the axis of an infinitely long circular
pipe. (See also Poiseuille law.)
POISEUILLE L A W . A relation between the
volume flow along a cylindrical tube and the
pressure difference between the ends:
7r pr4
V = -
8 7)1

where V is the volume flow, p is the pressure

difference, r is the internal radius of the tube,
I is the length of the tube, rj is the fluid vis
cosity. It is only valid if the flow is laminar,
which m ay not be true if the flow Reynolds
number V p /ttTt] exceeds 2000.
(See flow,
laminar.) This equation is the basis of stand
ard methods of measuring fluid viscosities.

[X,Y]

d X d Y

d Y d X

dqi dpi

dqi dpi

[A,B] =

>

(AB BA),
ft

where A and B are two quantum-mechanical

operators.
(See operators, q u a n tu m -m e chanical.)
POISSON DISTRIBUTION. A discrete dis
tribution function P (r ;n ) defined by the equa
tion:

where n > 0 and r can have any value between

zero and infinity. This function describes the
distribution of events per unit interval (time,
area, or volume), if (1) The probability P r(h)
of r occurrences in any region of length (time,
area, or volume) h, is independent of the
number of occurrences in any other region,
O
0
( 2 ) X ) Pr(h) = 1, (3) the probability P i(h )
r=0

of one occurrence in a region of size h is nh,

00

POISON. (1) In a nuclear reactor, any sub

stance which absorbs neutrons without lead
ing to fission. Poisons are generally structural
materials and impurities in the moderator and
fuel; they may on occasion be introduced into
the reactor for purposes of safety or control.
( 2 ) A material which reduces the phospho
rescent sensitivity of a phosphor. (3) A ma
terial which reduces the emission capabilities
of a cathode.

to being of importance in the physical prob

lems for which it represents an exact distribu
tion function, it is also of great importance as
the limiting distribution approached by sev
eral other distribution functions in special
cases.

POISONING OF A REACTOR. The ratio

of the number of thermal neutrons (see neu
trons, thermal) absorbed by poison to those
absorbed in fuel.

V2<*>=f(x,y,z).

POISSON BRACKET. Let X ,Y be two dy

namical variables which depend on canonically

and (4) 22 Pr(h) > 0 as h > 0.

In addition

r= 2

POISSON EQUATION. An inhomogeneous

analogue of the Laplace equation, a partial
differential equation of the form

It finds wide usefulness in physics, for ex

ample in a homogeneous medium of thermal
conductivity k, the temperature at any point

in the medium is given b y $ if f(x,y,z) is set

as 1 /k times the rate at which heat is generated
per unit volume and per unit time at the point
(x,y,z). For the electrostatic field in a hom o
geneous, isotropic medium, the equation takes
the form :
V-E = - V 2<j> = p| (x,y,z) |e,
where E is the electric field strength, <t>is the
scalar potential, p is the charge density, and
e is the dielectric constant or permittivity
expressed in any rationalized system. In non
rationalized systems p is replaced by At p. If
the medium is non-homogeneous the corre
sponding forms are:

V D - V .(,E , -

\ lr-

POISSON RATIO. The ratio of the contrac

tion in the direction of the axis of y to the
extension in the direction of the axis of x for
a sample subjected to the stress X x. For an
isotropic solid, Poissons ratio, o-, is given by
X

2 (X

+ p)

where p. is the rigidity, and A +

bulk modulus.

is the

POLAR. H aving, or pertaining to, a pole, or

one of two ends of an axis of rotation, and
(derivatively) one of two regions of antithet
ical properties. (See coordinate systems (cir
cular) cylindrical; and coordinate system,
spherical polar.)
POLAR COORDINATES.
system, polar ( plane).

See coordinate

POLAR DIAGRAM (OR PL O T ). A two di

mensional representation of a quantity as a
function of direction, using a polar coordi
nate system [see coordinate system, polar
(plane)]. Such plots, for example, may be
used to show how the luminous intensity from
a light source varies with the angle between
the vertical and the line from the source to
the point of observation, the distance from the
source being kept constant.
POLARIMETRY. Measurement of the rota
tion of the plane of polarization of polarized
light.
POLARISCOPE. An instrument for ascer
taining the properties of polarized light or for

studying the effects of various agencies upon

light of known polarization.
It ordinarily
consists of a polarizer for rendering com
mon light plane-polarized in any desired azi
muth, and an analyzer for identifying the
character of polarized light; between these is
usually a mounting for objects whose effect
upon the light from the polarizer it may be
desired to test. For example, the polarizer
may be a Nicol prism from which the light
emerges with its electric vector, in a horizontal
plane; the analyzer may be another, similar
N icol; and between them m ay be mounted a
tube with glass ends in which are placed vari
ous liquids to be tested for their rotatory effect
(see rotation, specific). Or the object to be
tested may be a doubly refracting (see double
refraction, optical) crystal plate or a metallic
reflector, rendering the plane-polarized light
elliptically polarized; and the analyzer a B abinet compensator or similar device for identify
ing such light. In the simplest polariscopes
the polarizer and the analyzer are reflecting
plates of opaque glass set at the proper polariz
ing angle. M any modern polariscopes employ
polarizing films, for example Polaroids, in
stead of Nicols.
POLARISCOPE, CORNU. A combination of
a Wollaston prism, and a Nicol prism used
as an analyzer.
POLARISTOR. The resistance formed when
fine particles of some dielectric material sus
pended in a high dielectric fluid, such as oil,
are subjected to a strong electrostatic field.
The resistance between two points in the
liquid is extremely non-linear, becoming
much lower as the particles become polarized
and align themselves with the field. For some
materials strong fields may produce a solid
dry mass.
POLARITY. ( 1 ) A line segment is said to
exhibit polarity when its two ends are dis
tinguishable.
( 2 ) B y analogy with ( 1 ), a
physical system has polarity when two points
in the system have different characteristics.
For example, an electric cell has polarity,
usually indicated by the plus and minus mark
ings of its terminals. A coil has no polarity
but a transformer does, since one of the two
secondary terminals is positive at those times
when a particular one of the two primary
terminals is positive, and vice versa.

POLARITY OF PICTURE
picture signal, polarity of.

SIGNAL.

See

POLARIZARILITY.
The dipole moment
produced by unit electric field acting on a
system usually a molecule. In the absence
of permanent dipoles, the polarizability of a
molecule is the sum of separate electronic
polarizabilities (see polarizability, electronic)
o f its constituent atoms, with slight correc
tions due to the bond structure.
POLARIZARILITY, ATOM IC
(<*). The
atomic polarizability is the susceptibility per
atom. If P is the dipole moment per unit v ol
ume induced by an electric field E, the polariz
ability x is given by
P =

x <)E,

where e0 is the permittivity of free space, and

the polarizability per atom is a x/ni where
n is the number of atoms per unit volume.
(See polarization (2).)
POLARIZARILITY CATASTROPHE. A c
cording to the standard theory of the dielec
tric constant of an assembly of dipoles, using
the Lorentz field concept, at a certain tem
perature the dielectric constant would become
infinite. It has been proposed that at this
temperature saturation effects enter, and the
substance should become spontaneously polar
ized, or ferroelectric. This 47 r/ 3 catastro
phe, as it is sometimes called, is avoided by
Onsagers theory, but the problem has not
been com pletely settled. There is reason to
believe that an assembly of dipoles might be
come antiferroelectric under their mutual in
teractions, although this has never been ob
served in practice.
POLARIZARILITY, ELECTRONIC. That
part of the polarizability of an atom which
arises from the displacement of the electrons
relative to the nucleus. It is given by

anisotropic dielectric media may be given by

the ellipsoid described by the equation:

kx

ky

k^

in which x , y, z are coordinate axes and kXJ

k y and k z are the principal dielectric constants.
If va represents the velocity of waves travel
ing perpendicular to the -axis with their
electric displacements parallel to the ar-axis,
then va = c / y k x (c = speed of light in a
vacuum) on the assumption that the magnetic
permeability of the medium is that of empty
space.

POLARIZARILITY, IONIC.

That part of
the polarizability in ionic crystals due to the
relative displacement of ions of opposite sign
when an electric field is applied, and giving
rise to infrared absorption.

POLARIZARILITY,

MOLECULAR.
The
constant of proportionality between the elec
trical moment of the dipole induced in a mole
cule and the field intensity, as in the relation
ship
m = aF

in which m is the electrical moment of the

induced dipole, a is the molecular polariz
ability, and F is the field intensity.

POLARIZARILITY,

ORIENTATIONAL.

The macroscopic polarizability associated

with the orientation of permanent dipole mo
ments by the field in a dielectric.

POLARIZATION.

(1) The process of bring

ing about a partial separation of electrical
charges of opposite sign in a body by the
superposition of an external field.
(2) A
vector quantity (P) representing the dipole
moment per unit volume of a dielectric me
dium. In rationalized units, the electric in
duction in a dielectric is given by D = eE,
which can be written

fi j

e2 ^

<x = 2-, ----2------- 2

D = ere0E = e0E + (er l)e0E

where fu and w# are the oscillator strength

and frequency for the transition from the
ground state i to the excited state j and w is
the frequency of the external measuring field.

where er is the relative permittivity or dielec

tric constant (k) of the medium. The term

7Tb j

co2,j

co

POLARIZARILITY ELLIPSOID. A repre

sentation of the electromagnetic theory in

(er l)e0E = P
is the additional induction attributable to the
matter of the dielectric, and is called the
polarization of the dielectric. The coefficient

(er 1) is the electric susceptibility of the

dielectric, and is often written as x e. In un
rationalized systems,
r 1
Xe =

---------

47T

(See atomic polarization.) (3) The term used

to describe the orientation of the time vary
ing electric or magnetic field vector in an
electromagnetic wave. If this vector is con
fined to a plane containing the direction of
propagation of the wave, the wave is plane
polarized. I f the vector rotates around the
direction of propagation as an axis but re
mains constant in magnitude, the wave is cir
cularly polarized. I f the amplitude does not
remain constant, so that the end of the vector
traces out an ellipse, then the wave is elliptically polarized. I f the direction of rotation of
the vector is clockwise as one looks along
the direction of propagation, then the wave is
said to be of right handed circular or elliptical
polarization. If the reverse is true, it is left
handed.
POLARIZATION CHARGE. The net charge
per unit volume, produced by a non-uniform
polarization, is given by
p = -V -P .

The polarization also produces an effective

surface charge per unit area equal to the
normal component of P.
(See also charge,
bound.)
POLARIZATION, CIRCULAR.
See light,
elliptically polarized; sound wave, circularly
polarized.
POLARIZATION, CONCENTRATION. Po
larization associated with a concentration
gradient, which is due to the slowness of dif
fusion of ions in the vicinity.
POLARIZATION, CROSS. The component
of the electric field vector normal to the de
sired polarization component.

tion polarization (see polarization, concen

tration) is caused by slowness of diffusion.
POLARIZATION DIVERSITY. A form of
diversity reception which utilizes the fact that,
during fading conditions, the polarization of
a received wave m ay change from horizontal
to vertical or some intermediate angle. Tw o
antennas, one horizontally-polarized, and the
other vertically-polarized, are used at one
point to feed two receivers whose output sig
nals are added.
POLARIZATION, ELECTRIC.
ization (2 ).

See polar

POLARIZATION, ELECTRIC M OM ENT

PER UNIT VOLUME (IND UCED D I
POLES). The induced electric moment per
unit volume is given by the product of the
net positive charge ( = net negative charge),
and the displacement of the individual posi
tive charges from their accom panying nega
tive charges. (See multipole moment.)
POLARIZATION, ELECTROLYTIC. A t a
reversible electrode in a state of equilibrium,
there is no net current. Application of an
external emf destroys the equilibrium, and
the electrode is polarized. This type of equi
librium disturbance is called electrolytic p o
larization.
POLARIZATION ELLIPSE (O F A FIELD
VECTO R). The locus of positions for vari
able time of the terminus of an instantaneous
field vector of one frequency at a point in
space.
POLARIZATION ERRORS. Errors encoun
tered in radio direction-finders due to the
change in polarization of the received wave
with changing atmospheric conditions.
POLARIZATION, INDUCED. An expres
sion sometimes used for molar polarization.
(See polarization and polarization electronic.)
POLARIZATION OF
See beta decay theory.

BETA-PARTICLES.

POLARIZATION CURVE.
The currentvoltage relationship of an electrolytic system
as plotted graphically, especially as it shows
the progressive effect of the growth of a coun
terelectromotive force due to polarization phe
nomena.

POLARIZATION OF FLUORESCENCE.
Fluorescence of solutions and of some other
substances is partially polarized, but not to
the extent polarization that occurs in scatter
ing.

POLARIZATION, DIFFUSION. This is a

negative expression, meaning that concentra

POLARIZATION OF PARTICLES.
The
term polarization has recently come into use

to refer to a collection of particles (all pos

sessing spin) in which more of the particles
are oriented with their 2 -com ponent of spin
angular momentum being positive rather than
negative or vice versa. M ore precisely, the
polarization P of the collection of particles is
defined as
p

^ Av

~~

where J is the magnitude of the spin angular

m o m en tu m of the particles, J z its -com
ponent, and ()av means average value.
POLARIZATION, PHI ( $ ) . The state of an
electromagnetic wave in which the E -vector
is tangential to the lines of latitude of refer
ence. The usual frame of reference has the
polar axis vertical, and the origin at or near
the antenna.
Under these conditions, a
vertical dipole will radiate only theta ( 0 ) p o
larization (see polarization, theta) and a hori
zontal loop will radiate only phi (<) polariza
tion.
POLARIZATION PHOTOMETER. In the
main forms of bench photometer, the illu
minations or luminous flux densities from the
two sources to be compared are made equal
by regulating the relative distances. In pho
tometers of the polarization type, the same
object is accomplished by introducing a pair
of Nicol prisms into the beam from the
brighter source and turning one of these polar
izers until the beam is cut down to equality
with that from the other source. The ratio
in which the flux density has been reduced,
and hence the luminous intensity ratio of the
two sources, is readily calculated from Malus
law, and the polarized circle m ay thus be cali
brated to give the ratio directly.
POLARIZATION, PLANE. See light, plane
polarized; sound wave, plane polarized.
POLARIZATION POTENTIAL.
(1) The
total counterelectromotive force of an electro
lytic (voltaic) cell, which increases as the
process of polarization (4) within the cell
proceeds, in the course of many electrolytic
processes. (2) See Hertz vector.
POLARIZATION RECEIVING FACTOR.
The ratio of the power received by an antenna
from a given plane-wave of arbitrary polar
ization to the power received by the same

antenna from a plane wave of the same power

density and direction of propagation, whose
state of polarization has been adjusted for
the maximum received power. The polariza
tion receiving factor is equal to the square
of the absolute value of the scalar product of
the polarization unit vector of the given plane
wave, with that of the radiation field of the
antenna along the direction opposite to the
direction of propagation o f the plane wave.
POLARIZATION, SCATTERING. I f a beam
of light is passed through a medium contain
ing small particles, the light scattered normal
to the beam is plane-polarized. (See R obert
son, Introduction to Optics, 4th Ed.) Light
from a clear sky viewed normal to the direct
rays from the sun will be plane-polarized.
POLARIZATION, SPONTANEOUS.
The
polarization, independent of applied field, of
a domain of a ferroelectric crystal.
POLARIZATION, THETA ( 0 ) . The state
of an electromagnetic wave in which the E vector is tangential to the meridian lines of
some given spherical frame of reference. The
usual frame of reference has the polar axis
vertical, and the origin at or near the antenna.
Under these conditions, a vertical dipole will
radiate only theta (0) polarization, and the
horizontal loop will radiate only phi (<) p o
larization. (See polarization, phi.)
POLARIZATION UNIT VECTOR (FOR A
FIELD VECTO R ). A t a point, a complex
field vector divided by its magnitude. For a
field vector of one frequency at a point, the
polarization unit vector describes the sense of
rotation of elliptically or circularly polarized
light, or the orientation of the plane of polari
zation of plane polarized light. A complex
vector is one each of whose components is a
complex number. The magnitude is the posi
tive square root of the scalar product of the
vector and its complex conjugate.
POLARIZATION, VACUUM.
polarization.

See vacuum

POLARIZED LIGHT. See light, plane-po

larized; light, elliptically-polarized; and light,
circularly-polarized.
POLARIZER. A device for producing p o
larized light, usually by selective transmission

of polarized rays, such as a Nicol prism, a

Polaroid sheet, or other apparatus.
POLARIZING ANGLE.
polarized; Brewster Law.

See

light, plane-

POLARIZING PRISM. A ny prism with the

property of polarizing light such as the CornuJellet, Gian, N icol or W ollaston.
POLAR M OLECULE. A molecule that has
an electrical dipole moment, because of the
presence in its structure, commonly, of polar
valence bonds, such as bonds between atoms
which differ in their attraction for shared
electrons.
POLAROGRAM. The record, obtained on a
polarograph, of a variation in current, or current-voltage relation. These records are ap
plied in many phases of analytical and re
search work concerned with inorganic com
pounds, cations, anions, complex ions, certain
catalysts, capillary active substances, many
organic compounds, etc.
POLAROGRAPH.
An instrument used to
register a current-voltage relationship, par
ticularly of the polarized microelectrodes used
in polarography. The basic circuit of this in
strument, as developed by H eyrovsky and
Shikata, consists of a uniform slide wire, car
rying a steady current which can be varied
b y changing the emf (number of batteries in
its circuit) and by varying a series resistance.
The electrolytic cell containing the microelec
trode is in the circuit of the moveable slidewire contact; this circuit also having a sen
sitive galvanometer, com monly a recording
galvanometer, to measure or record the values
o f current flowing through the electrolytic cell
as the potential across it is varied by moving
the slide-wire contact.
Modern machines
produce these records automatically.
POLAROGRAPHY. The methods of meas
urement of potential difference-current rela
tionships in solutions by means of a polarized
microelectrode; and the interpretation of data
or records so obtained in terms of the nature
and behavior of many substances and sys
tems. In an electrolytic cell having one elec
trode; large in area, and the other electrode
very small, the polarization of the latter ap
proaches a maximum, and variations in the
electrom otive force of the cell are due almost
entirely to changes in the potential of this elec

trode. Consequently, this microelectrode can

function as an indicator electrode to measure
changes in potential while current is flowing.
M any types of microelectrodes have been
used successfully in polarographic work. The
solid microelectrodes have been used exten
sively, both in stirred solutions, and by rotat
ing the solid microelectrode in a stationary
solution. Another important type is the dropping-mercury electrode, consisting of a slowlygrowing drop of mercury issuing in small uni
form drops from a glass capillary of small
size (approximately 0.05 mm in diameter).
POLAROID. The trade name of a polariz
ing sheet manufactured by the Polaroid C or
poration, and originally consisting of crystals
of herapathite, a compound of iodine and
quinine,
4

C 2 0 H 24 N 2 O 2 *4 H 2 SO 4 2HI I 4 *6 H 2 O,

with their axes all parallel, and imbedded in

nitrocellulose; but the material is now made
in other ways. It produces almost perfectly
plane-polarized light (see light, plane-polar
ized). Available in large sheets, relatively
inexpensive compared to a Nicol prism, but
not quite as perfect a polarizer as a Nicol
prism.
POLARON. An electron moving through an
ionic crystal displaces the positive and nega
tive ions with respect to each other, and the
lattice distortion in turn interacts with the
electron. The electron is thus accompanied
by associated waves of ionic polarization or
phonons. The electron with its associated
phonon cloud is called a polaron.
POLAR, PROPERTY. A property of a sys
tem relating to a partial separation of electric
charges of opposite sign.
POLE. (1) A non-essential singularity of an
analytic function.
Let w = u + iv be a
single-valued function of the complex vari
able, z = x + iy and u,v be real single-valued
functions of x and y. Then z = z0 is a pole
of order k , provided that (z z0) kw {z ) is
analytic and not zero at z = z0. The num
ber k is an integer, greater than unity, and
is the order of the pole. Singular points of
this kind are called non-essential because they
m ay be effectively removed if w (z) is multi
plied by (z z0) h. They are called poles
because a three-dimensional plot of w.,x,y

shows that w becomes infinite at the singular

point and thus looks like a pole of infinite
length erected on the plane of z = x + iy.
(See Laurent series.) ( 2 ) See magnetic pole.
(3) The intersection of an axis of rotation or
of symmetry with a surface, often spherical.
(4) One electrode of an electric cell.
POLE ( R ELAY ).

See contact nomenclature.

POLE FACE (R E LA Y ). The part of the

magnetic structure on the end of the core near
est the armature.
POLHODE. For a rotating rigid body sub
ject to no external resultant torque, the line
of intersection of the cone traced out by the
angular velocity vector with the momental
ellipsoid. (See also herpolhode.)
POLISHING (O P T IC A L ). After the sur
face of a lens or mirror has been ground (see
lap) as fine as possible, it is polished. Opti
cal polishing is an art rather than a science,
and many techniques are in use. The abra
sive used in polishing is most com monly an
iron oxide or cerium oxide, although other
substances are occasionally used for special
purposes. The polishing tool may be a pitchcovered iron tool or an iron tool covered with
pitch-impregnated felt. Almost as many sorts
of pitch are used as there are optical shops.
Amateur lens polishers frequently use H CF,
that is, honey-com b foundation, made from
beeswax. Interference fringes (Newton rings)
between a true optical flat and a flat polished
with H C F, com m only show more ragged edges
to the lines than are seen on pitch-polished
surfaces.
POLONIUM. Radioactive element.
Po. Atom ic number 84.

Symbol

POLYCHROMIC
(POLYCHROMATIC).
H aving two or more colors or including a range
of frequencies.
POLYDISPERSE SYSTEM. A colloidal sys
tem that consists of particles of different sizes.
In centrifuging, the sedimentation constant
has different values for the different com po
nents of a polydisperse system.
POLYGON. A plane figure with n vertices
and n sides, also called an ?i-gon. D epend
ing on the value of n, the following names are
used: 3, triangle; 4, quadrilateral; 5, penta
gon; 6 , hexagon; 7, heptagon; 8 , octagon; 9,

nonagon; 1 0 , decagon, etc. If all sides and

angles are equal, the polygon is regular. Let
A be the angle between two sides, B the angle
between lines connecting the center of an in
scribed or circumscribed circle to two adja
cent vertices, a the length of a side, R the
radius of a circumscribed circle, r the radius
of an inscribed circle, and S the area of a
regular polygon with n sides, then:
A = (n 2)ir/n radians; B = 2 tt/n radians,
a = 2R sin B/2; r = (a/2) cot B/2,
R = (a/2) csc B/2; S = (na2/4) cot B/2.
POLYGON, DIAGONAL OF. A line joining
two non-adjacent vertices of a polygon.
POLYGONIZATION. When plastically bent
crystals are annealed, the edge dislocations

introduced by the cold-working tend to line

themselves vertically above each other into
grain boundaries between polygonal domains.
(See dislocations, forces between.)
POLYGON OF FORCES.

See statics.

POLYGON, SPHERICAL. A part of a spher

ical surface bounded by arcs of great circles.
POLYHEDRON. A solid with faces formed
from plane polygons. The intersections of
faces are edges and the points where three or
more edges meet are vertices. If the faces are
congruent regular polygons and the polyhe
dral angles are congruent, the polyhedron is
regular. There are only five regular polyhedra, called the Platonic solids.
Their
names and the nature of their faces are: tetra
hedron, 4 equilateral triangles; hexahedron or
cube, 6 squares; octahedron, 8 equilateral tri
angles; dodecahedron, 1 2 pentagons; icosa
hedron, 2 0 equilateral triangles.
POLYMORPH. A substance that exhibits two
or more crystalline forms.,
POLYMORPHIC.
crystalline forms.

Existing in two or more

POLYMORPHISM. A phenomenon in which

a substance exhibits different forms. D im or
phic substances appear in two crystal forms,

whereas trimorphic exist in three, as, sulfur,

carbon, tin, silver iodide, and calcium carbon
ate. Polymorphism is restricted to the solid
state. Polymorphs yield identical solutions
and vapors (if vaporizable). The relation be
tween them has been termed physical isom er
ism and the polymorphs have been termed
physical isomers.
P O LY N O M IA L. A rational integral function
sometimes also called a multinomial, in n
variables of the form
CiXiaiX2^ xnvi + c2xia2x / 2 xnV2 -|-------+ CkxiakX2Pk Z nk.

For any term in this expression c% is the co

efficient, ai is the degree with respect to xi,
pi with respect to x 2) etc., and the total degree
of that term is i + fa + v*. The highest
degree in x{ of any term whose coefficient is
not zero is the degree of the polynom ial in
Xij and the highest total degree of any term
with non-vanishing coefficient is the degree of
the polynomial. The coefficients, c{, which
are constants, may be real or complex.
I f the terms of a polynom ial all have the
same degree, the polynom ial is homogeneous.
The expressions quantic and form are also
used. I f they have two, three, four, etc.,
variables they are binary, ternary, quater
nary, n -ary form s; if their degree is 1, 2 , 3,
etc., they are linear, quadratic, cubic, etc.,
forms.
The commonest case is the nth degree p oly
nomial in one variable which m ay be written

as
+ a ixn~ l + + n1% + an;
(see equation, polynomial).
Polynom ials frequently occur as the solu
tion of a differential equation. (See Hermite,
Jacobi, Laguerre, Legendre, Tschebyscheif
polynomials.)
PO L Y P L E X E R . In radar, equipment com
bining the functions of duplexing and lobe
switching.
P O L Y T R O P IC PROCESSES.
The expan
sion or compression of a constant weight of
gas m ay assume a variety of forms, depending
on the extent to which heat is added to or
rejected from the gas during the process, and
also on the work done. There are, theoreti
cally, an infinite number of ways possible in

which a gas may expand from an initial pres

sure p 1} and volume Vi to a final volume v 2.
All these expansions may be grouped generically as polytropic expansions, and all could
be represented graphically on the P V plane
by the fam ily o f curves pvn C. They are
all, in theory, perfectly reversible, n may have
any positive value, 0 to oo, and having been
selected numerically it defines the type of
expansion. From the infinite number of pos
sible polytropic expansions, it is worth while
to isolate four which deserve special attention.
When one of the four physical characteristics,
to wit, pressure, temperature, entropy, or vol
ume, remains constant, expansions of more
than ordinary interest are denoted, since they
are frequently employed in a practical way,
in situations which can be subjected to ther
modynamic analysis. The value of the expo
nent n of the polytropic fam ily for each of
these is:
Isobaric
Isothermal
Isentropic

Isometric

n = 0,
n = 1,
n = y (y = ratio of specific
heat at constant pres
sure to that at constant
volume)
n = oo.

These thermodynamic processes, as they oc

cur in useful machines, are not often of the
exact polytropic form desired. For example,
an isentropic process which is exemplified, at
least theoretically, by expansion of the burned
gases after the explosive combustion in the
gasoline engine, is modified slightly by the
interchange of heat between gases and cylin
der wall, whereas a true isentropic has no heat
either added or rejected in this way. The
particular polytropic curve which would suit
these conditions of expansion would depart
somewhat from the adiabatic form.
During a polytropic process conditions of
the working medium are constantly varying,
and analysis may be aimed at determining
one of the following: the work done, the heat
added, the variation of temperature, and the
change of entropy. Some information may be
obtained merely by comparing the value of
the exponent n with certain other data. For
example, if n lies between 0 and 1 , the tem
perature rises during an expansion and falls
during a compression; when n is greater than
1 , the temperature falls during expansion and

rises during compression. Also, when n is

less than y , heat must be added to obtain an
expansion, whereas when it is greater than y ,
heat must be expelled. From the above it will
be noted that there is a certain range of polytropic expansion in which, although heat is
added, the temperature falls. This may seem
to some to be paradoxical, but it is readily
explained. During these expansions work is
being done by the gas at a rate greater than
that at which heat is being added, with the
result that the deficiency must be made up
from within the gas. The only way that this
m ay be accomplished is for the gas to cool
and give up some of its internal energy.
The equations for work done and for heat
added in the case of the general polytropic
expansions are:
= P ivi ~ V2V2

(p ii

( ------------

\n

---------------------- -)
1

1/

Sometimes a substitution of a definite value of

n in one or the other of these equations leads
to an indeterminate; for example, with the
isothermal,
-r-jr-r

POOR LANDING.

See tube,

See porthole.

POPI (POST OFFICE POSITION INDICA

TO R ). A long-distance continuous-wave If
navigational system o f the phase-comparison
type providing bearing information. In this
system, phase difference between sequential
transmissions on the single frequency is meas
ured.
POPULATION OF LEVELS. A term used
to describe the specification of the number of
systems in an ensemble which are in each of
the quantum mechanically allowed energy
levels for such a system.
POROSIMETER. An instrument used to de
termine the porosity of solids to fluids, both
liquids and gases.

P2V2)

POOL-CATHODE RECTIFIER.
pool-cathode.

V ivi

V2V2

W -------------------1

But since the equation of the isothermal for an

ideal gas is :
pv = C,
P1V1 = P2V2,

and the work equation becomes indeterminate:

0
W = 0
B y approaching the isothermal from a different
angle, however, the equation:
^2

W = pv loge
Vl

may be deduced for work done.

PONDERATOR. A term suggested b y W . W .
Hansen for a device used to produce highenergy particles, when the speed of the par
ticles becomes so great, approaching that of
light, that an increase of energy results in an
appreciable increase in mass. (See accelera
tor, particle.)

POROSITY. (1) The property of containing

pores, which are minute channels or open
spaces in a solid. ( 2 ) The proportion of the
total volume occupied by such pores.
PORT. A place of access to a system where
energy may be supplied or withdrawn, or where
system variables m ay be observed or meas
ured. In any particular case, the ports are
determined by the w ay in which the system is
used, and not by the structure alone. A desig
nated pair of terminals is an example of a port.
PORTABLE TRANSMITTER.
mitter, transportable.

See

trans

PORTHOLE (POOR LANDING) (C A M

ERA TUBES). A defect, in a properly aligned
camera tube employing low -velocity scanning,
resulting in an increase in target cutoff v olt
age, and a decrease in sensitivity toward the
corners of the picture.
POSITION. ( 1 ) A concept which implies the
possibility of locating a particle in public
space with respect to a reference system. (See
inertial system, the primary.) (2) The loca
tion of a vehicle as determined by specific
values of three navigation coordinates.
POSITIONAL NOTATION.
positional.

See notation,

POSITION FACTOR. See Coddington shape

and position factors.

POSITION, LINE OF.

(L O P ).

See line of position

white area in the picture.

the United States.

It is not used in

POSITION, NORMAL (RELAY). The usual

de-energized position of contacts, open or
closed, due to spring tension, gravity, or mag
netic polarity.

POSITRON. A positive electron. Positrons

are formed in p-decay of many radionuclides
and in pair production. (See Dirac electron
theory; positron theory.)

POSITION OF THE EFFECTIVE SHORT

(SW ITCH IN G TUBES). The distance be
tween a specified reference plane and the ap
parent short circuit of the fired tube in its
mount.

POSITRON
EMISSION,
CONDITIONS
FOR.
If M { A ) is the isotopic (atomic)
weight of the parent element A and M ( B)
that of the product B, the condition that posi
tron emission be energetically possible is that

POSITION OPERATOR. The quantum me

chanical operator representing the position
variable. In the Schrdinger representation,
operation by this operator amounts to simple
multiplication by the position variable.
POSITION, SURFACE OF.
position.

See surface of

M (A) - M (B ) >

2 m0

( 2 mQ =

1 .0 2

Mev)

where m0 is the rest mass of an electron.

POSITRON FORMATION THEORY. It is
supposed that prior to its emission (in /3-de
cay) a positron is created in the nucleus by a
process such as:

POSITIVE BRANCH.

See Fortrat parabola.

proton neutron + positron + neutrino.

POSITIVE COLUM N.
plasma.

Another name for the

Positrons m ay also be formed in the pairproduction process, in which a y-ray of suffi

cient energy (at least 1 . 0 2 mev) is trans
formed into a positron-electron pair.

POSITIVE CRYSTAL. A uniaxial crystal

(see crystal, uniaxial) in which the velocity of
the ordinary ray is greater than the velocity
of the extraordinary ray. Quartz is a posi
tive crystal. (See also double refraction, op
tical.)
POSITIVE-GRID OSCILLATOR.
lator, retarding-field.

See oscil

POSITIVE ION VACANCY. A site in the

lattice of an ionic crystal from which a posi
tive ion is absent. Such a vacancy has an
effective negative charge, since returning the
missing ion must make the lattice neutral.
POSITIVE LENS SYSTEM.
for a convergent lens system.
verging.)

Another name
(See lens, con

POSITIVE PICTURE PHASE.

tion, positive.

See modula

POSITIVE RAYS. A stream of positively

charged atoms or molecules, produced by a
properly chosen combination of ionizing
agents, accelerating fields and limiting aper
tures.
POSITIVE TRANSMISSION. A television
system in which maximum radiated power
from the transmitter corresponds to maximum

POSITRONIUM. The system of one electron

and one positron in a bound state. In the Is
state it m ay exist as parapositronium with a
mean life of 1.25 X 1 0 ~ 10 sec or as ortho
positronium with a mean life of 1.4 X 10 7
sec. The latter has a value of 203350 50
megacycles above that of the former.
POSITRON THEORY. Theory of the inter
action of positrons with an electromagnetic
field which is a consequence of the manyparticle Dirac electron theory. A hole in the
distribution of negative energy electrons
which is a feature of this theory behaves like
a particle of positive charge, and although
originally identified with the proton it was
soon recognized as a particle with mass equal
to that of the electron. Transition of an elec
tron from a positive energy state to a negative
energy state is thus interpreted as the annihi
lation of an electron-positron pair. It is pos
sible to set up the theory in a form which is
com pletely symmetrical with respect to elec
trons and positrons. (See Feynman diagram;
quantum electrodynamics.)
POST-ACCELERATION.
ray, after-acceleration.

See tube, cathode-

POST - D EFLECTION
ACCELERATION.
See tube, cathode-ray, after-acceleration.
POST-EMPHASIS.

See de-emphasis.

iPOST-EQUALIZATION.

See de-emphasis.

POST-FIRING. Post-firing refers to the in

terval during the gating or output alternation
following firing. The term is used as an ad
jective to describe phenomena occurring dur
ing this interval.
POST OFFICE ROX. A Wheatstone bridge
(see bridge, Wheatstone) in which resistance
is adjusted by shorting resistance elements
with heavy plugs.
POT.

Abbreviation for potentiometer.

POTASSIUM. M etallic element.

Atom ic number 19.

Symbol K .

POTENTIAL.
(1) Am ong its many mean
ings and connotations, this term is used com
monly as an adjective with the meaning of
available, rather than in action or use, as p o
tential energy (energy of position or state)
as opposed to kinetic energy. ( 2 ) The term
is also used as a substantive, and in this sense
designates the name of a number of different
quantities used in physics, such as electric po
tential (see potential, electric), magnetic p o
tential (see potential, magnetic), nuclear p o
tential (see potential, nuclear) and gravita
tional or mass potential, the latter being
defined at any point as the energy necessary
to carry a unit mass to that point from a
region of space infinitely removed from all
matter. Its value is the integral of G (dm /r),
where G is the gravitational constant, dm is
any mass element, and r is the distance from
the point in question; the integration being
extended throughout all existing matter. E lec
tric potential and magnetic potential at a
point are defined as the energy per unit charge
or per unit pole necessary to carry charge, or
pole, respectively, from infinity to that point.
The Newtonian potential function is a math
ematical expression occurring as a factor in all
these potentials. (See Laplace equation.)
A characteristic of the mass potential, the
electric potential, and the magnetic potential,
is that in each case the first derivative of the
potential with respect to any direction, as x ,
at any point in space, is equal in magnitude

to the component of the field intensity in that

direction at the point in question.
The foregoing potentials all involve inversesquare forces; if the field obeys the inversefirst-power law, the potential involves the
logarithm of the distance, and is called the
logarithmic potential.
In physics, a potential field is a vector
field derivable from a scalar potential, as
E = Vcj>. A ny vector V such that V X V = 0
can be so expressed. Conversely, any vector
B such that V B = 0, can be expressed as
B = V X A, as in magnetostatic field. A is
called a vector potential. (See also therm o
dynamic potentials.)
POTENTIAL, ADVANCED.
potentials.

See advanced

POTENTIAL, APPEARANCE.
ance potential.

See appear

POTENTIAL, ASYMMETRY.
metry potential.

See asym

POTENTIAL RARRIER. A region includ

ing a maximum of potential which hinders a
low energy particle on one side of the region
from passing to the other side. The electrical
repulsion of a nucleus for a positively-charged
particle, e.g., an -particle, computed by the
Coulomb law, leads to such a barrier sur
rounding a nucleus. Although by classical
physics a particle must possess an energy ex
ceeding the height of the potential barrier to
pass this barrier, the wave mechanical inter
pretation shows that there is a definite pos
sibility that a particle with less energy may
do so. (See penetration probability.)
POTENTIAL, CHEMICAL.
potential.

See chemical

POTENTIAL, COEFFICIENTS OF. C on

sider a system of n conductors bearing charges
gi qn. Let the potentials of the conduc
tors be Vi Vn. The potentials are linear
functions of the charges:

Vi

y 2 =

Pnqi

P12Q2 H--------h PinQn

V2l<ll +

P22#2 +

---------h P2nQn

y n P n lQ l +

P 712Q2 +

PnnQn*

The coefficients pij are called potential coeffi

cients. Their matrix is symmetric (pij = Pjx).

The inverse matrix gives the qs as functions

of the F s:
Qi = CnVi H-------- h clnV ny

Qn = cni Vi

+ + cnnV n.

The inverse elements cij = cji are the coeffi

cients of mutual electrostatic induction.
POTENTIAL, CONTACT. A difference of
electrical potential existing between two sub
stances in direct contact. All metals, elec
trolytic solutions, and other substances con
taining free ions or electrons, exhibit a d if
ference of potential on direct contact.
POTENTIAL, CRITICAL.
tential.

See critical po

POTENTIAL, DEIONIZATION. The poten

tial at which conduction in a gas-discharge
tube stops, due to the cessation of ionization.
POTENTIAL DIAGRAM. A curve showing
the potential or the potential energy of a par
ticle or system of particles as a function of
the coordinate(s). A plot of U (r) as a func
tion of r when the function is defined by the
Morse equation is an example, as are the fig
ures shown in the entry on potential, nuclear.
POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE. The potential
difference between points A and B is the p o
tential at B less the potential at A , both taken
with respect to the same zero of potential.
(See potential, electric; Ohm law; Kirchhoff
laws of electrical networks; electromotive
force; alternating current circuit.)
POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE,
See potential, contact.

CONTACT.

POTENTIAL, DIFFUSION. The difference

of potential at the boundary of an electrical
double layer. This is also called the liquid
junction potential.
POTENTIAL, DISCHARGE. A character
istic value of the electrode potential, ob
served in the electrode potential-current rela
tionship determined for an electrode in con
tact with an ionic solution. The distinguish
ing feature of this value is that it marks a
point of inflection, at which the current in
creases very rapidly with small increases in
electrode potential. This high current value
is marked by discharge of ions upon the elec
trode.

POTENTIAL
vider.

DIVIDER.

See voltage di

POTENTIAL DROP. The potential drop in

a branch of an electric network is AV = I R ,
the product of current and resistance. This
generalizes to IZ (Z being impedance) in the
case of an alternating current circuit.
POTENTIAL DROP, L A W OF. See circuit,
electric; currents, electric; impedance.
POTENTIAL, EFFECTIVE. In central force
problems, angular momentum is a conserved
quantity. This enables one to express the
classical Hamiltonian function in terms of the
radial coordinate r alone. For a single par
ticle of mass ra, the Hamiltonian function be
comes
Pa2
H = %mr2 + - - + V ir),
2mr
where P$ is the constant angular momentum.
The
effective
potential
is
V'(r) = V(r)
+ P 2/2mr2, since this quantity replaces the
potential energy function of a one dimensional
problem.
POTENTIAL, ELECTRIC. If an electrically
charged body is moved from one region of
space to another, it encounters, in general, elec
tric forces which either help or hinder the
transfer and which therefore add to or sub
tract from the potential energy of the charge.
Suppose that a positive unit charge has been
brought into the region A from a region so
rem otely beyond the borders of the material
universe that no electric forces exist there. In
general, a certain amount of work, V A, has
been done against the electric forces encoun
tered on the way in; consequently V A may be
regarded as the potential energy relative to
infinity (chosen as the zero point for poten
tial) which the unit charge has acquired in
the process. This work per unit charge, V A,
is called the electric potential of the region A.
It is a scalar quantity, and may be either posi
tive or negative; for example if A is in the
vicinity of a large negative charge, the unit
positive charge has been attracted and has
done work, or lost potential energy, during
its journey, and VA is therefore negative. If
a second region B is at a potential V B, less than
VA, the unit charge would lose potential en
ergy in moving from A to B , in the amount
Va V B. Thus, in an electrolytic cell, a posi

tive ion migrates from the high-potential to

the low-potential electrode, and does work in
heating the solution. Negative charges tend
to migrate from lower- to higher-potential re
gions; this is illustrated by the electrons in a
wire.
For practical purposes an arbitrary zero is
used, com m only that of the earths surface;
or that of some other large conductor, such as
the metallic base or case of the apparatus
being used. The ordinary unit of electric
potential is the volt. (See electromotive force
electrostatics, laws of; potential; Stokes the
orem.)
POTENTIAL, ELECTRON-STREAM.
At
any point in an electron-stream, the time aver
age of the potential difference between the
point and the electron-emitting surface.
POTENTIAL ENERGY.
tial.

POTENTIAL, LIQUID JUNCTION.

liquid junction potential.

See

POTENTIAL, NUCLEAR.
The potential
energy V of a nuclear particle as a function
of its position in the field of a nucleus or of
another nuclear particle. A central potential
is one that is spherically symmetric; that is,
V is a function only of the distance r from
the center of the field, thus being the same
in all directions, and is representable by a
curve as in Figs. ( A ) - ( F ) . A potential well
is the region about a minimum in the poten
tial; it results from attractive forces. A po
tential barrier is the region about a maximum
in the potential; it results from repulsive
forces, either alone or in combination with
attractive forces.
Some central potentials
com m only used as approximations to nuclear

See energy, poten

POTENTIAL ENERGY, NUCLEAR.

The
average total potential energy of all of the
nucleons in a nucleus due to the specifically
nuclear forces between them, but excluding the
electrostatic potential energy.
POTENTIAL EXTINCTION.
The lowest
anode voltage which will cause a self-sustained
discharge in a gas-discharge tube.
POTENTIAL, FLOATING. The d-c poten
tial which appears at an open-circuit electrode
when normal d-c potentials are applied to all
other electrodes.
POTENTIAL, FLOATING, TRANSISTOR.
See transistor parameter Y cf, etc.
POTENTIAL F L O W . Flow in which the
(vector) flow velocity is the gradient of a
scalar function of position, the velocity p o
tential. The flow of an inviscid and incom
pressible fluid set in m otion b y pressures on
the boundaries or b y external fields of force
derivable from a potential is irrotational at
all subsequent times and so has a velocity
potential. (See integral, line.)
POTENTIAL FUNCTION. A scalar func
tion satisfying the Laplace equation:
V2tf> = 0.
POTENTIAL, IONIZATION.
of critical potential.

See discussion

potentials are illustrated in the figures. (A )

shows a square well potential, which has a
constant negative value Vo for r ^ r 0 and
zero value for r ^ r0. When this curve repre
sents the potential between two nucleons, r 0
is called the range of nuclear forces; when it

represents the potential of a nucleus, for a

nucleon, r 0 is called the nuclear radius. (B )
shows a square well potential for r ^ r 0 with
a Coulomb potential resulting from repulsive
electrostatic forces, for r > r0. The resulting
barrier is called a Coulomb barrier, and the
maximum energy B is called the barrier
height. Such a potential approximates that
o f a positively charged particle in the field of
a nucleus, and is often used in the theory of
-disintegration and nuclear reactions.
(C )
shows an exponential well, V = V0e ~ r/b, (D )
shows a Gaussian well, V = Voe~~r/1)2.
(E )
shows a Yukawa potential V = ( V 0/ r )e ~ r/b
used in the meson theory of nuclear forces
(see meson field theory) for the interaction
between two nucleons.
(F ) shows a winebottle potential, characterized by a low cen
tral elevation. If a high central elevation is
present, the resulting barrier is called a cen
tral barrier. (See also nuclear forces.)
POTENTIAL OF A FIELD OF FORCE.
Potential energy per unit mass for a gravita
tional field of force or per unit charge for an
electrostatic field of force.
POTENTIAL, OXIDATION.
potential.

See oxidation

POTENTIAL, REDUCTION.
potential.

See reduction

POTENTIAL, RESONANCE.
of critical potential.

See discussion

POTENTIAL, SCALAR.
tial.

POTENTIAL, STOPPING. That potential

difference between two electrodes which just
prevents any electrons emitted from the posi
tive electrode from reaching the negative
thus a measure of the initial velocity or the
energy of the electron. The magnitude of
this quantity when the electrons are emitted
from a surface by the photoelectric effect of
light, is equal to (hv hv0) /e where h is the
Planck constant, v is the frequency of the in
cident photon, vo is the frequency of a photon
with just enough energy to cause emission of
an electron which can just reach the second
electrode when the two electrodes are con
nected by a conductor, and e is the charge of
an electron (in consistent units).
POTENTIAL, STRIKING. ( 1 ) That poten
tial required to initiate an arc.
(2) That
starter-anode potential for a cold-cathode gas
triode which will initiate anode current flow.
POTENTIALS, W AVE.

See scalar poten

POTENTIAL SCATTERING.
ing, potential.

tential cannot be exceeded regardless of the

accelerating voltage limits the brightness of
the spot which can be achieved. This limit
ing action normally occurs between 4 and 10
kilovolts for the plain phosphor, when the
number of secondary-emission electrons from
the screen falls below the number of beam
electrons.

See scatter

POTENTIAL, SPARKING. The difference

in electrical potential necessary to cause an
electrical spark to pass between two given
points in a given medium under a given tem
perature and other conditions.

See wave potentials.

POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE. The tem

perature that a compressible fluid would at
tain if it were compressed (or expanded)
adiabatically from its existing state to a
standard pressure, commonly 1 0 0 0 millibar =
10 6 dyne cm 2. Potential temperature is
really a measure of entropy, and it is used
in meteorology to assess the convectional
stability of air masses.
Temperature and
pressure of a parcel at its existing level and
its potential temperature are related as in
dicated by the equation,
/1000\-288

POTENTIAL, STANDARD. The potential

of an electrode composed of a substance in its
standard state, in equilibrium with ions, which
are all in their standard states. (See hydro
gen scale.)

where 6 is the potential temperature, T is the

actual temperature, and p is the actual pressure.

POTENTIAL, STICKING.
The limiting
value of screen-to-cathode potential on a
cathode-ray tube with a non-conducting back
ing for the phosphor. The fact that this p o

POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE, EQUIVA

LENT. The temperature that a given sam
ple of air would have if it were brought adi
abatically to the top of the atmosphere (i.e..

to zero pressure) so that along its route all

the water vapor present were condensed and
precipitated, the latent heat of condensation
being given to the sample, and then the re
maining dry air compressed adiabatically to
a pressure of 1 0 0 0 millibars.
POTENTIAL, VECTOR.
tial.
POTENTIAL,
flow.

See vector poten

VELOCITY.

POTENTIAL W E L L.

See

potential

See potential, nuclear.

POTENTIOMETER. ( 1 ) An instrument used

for the measurement or comparison of small
potential differences or electromotive forces,
based upon the law of potential drop (see
electric circuits). One of the simplest poten
tiometer circuits is shown in the accom pany
ing diagram. Current from a battery B is sent
through a resistance M N and is adjustable by
means of a rheostat A. From one extremity
A

In particular, one of the electromotive forces

m ay be a standard cell of accurately known
voltage; the other is thereby determined. In
such case the standard cell should be safe
guarded by a high resistance H, which is grad
ually reduced as the zero-current adjustment
is approached; and the key K should be closed
only for an instant. In some potentiometers
the whole equipment, including galvanometer
and standard cell, is contained in one com
pact case. ( 2 ) The term potentiometer is also
used to denote a three-terminal voltage-di
viding network such as is used in volume con
trols for radio receivers, etc. Confusion may
be avoided if the term voltage-divider is used
for this purpose.
POTENTIOMETER, BROOKS DEFLEC
TION. A potentiometer designed to be set
at an approximate null, the error voltage then
being directly readable from the galvanom
eter.
POTENTIOMETER, CAMPBELL-LARSEN.
A modification of the Larsen potentiometer
(see potentiometer, Larsen) that can be made
direct-reading in volts for any selected fre
quency.
POTENTIOMETER, COORDINATE.
An
a-c potentiometer in which the balancing volt
age is obtained by varying the magnitudes of
two alternating voltages which are in quadra
ture with each other.

M of this resistance is taken off a branch cir

cuit containing the potentiometer terminals
+ T, T, between which E, one of the electro
m otive forces to be compared, is connected.
This circuit rejoins the main circuit at a point
P which is adjustable so that the partial re
sistance M P or R can be varied, while M N
as a whole remains constant. The + and
leads from E must be connected as shown,
and the electromotive force of B must exceed
E. The position of P is now adjusted until
the galvanometer G shows no current, indicat
ing that the potential drop from P to M just
balances the electromotive force E. If two
different electromotive forces E\, E 2, are thus
connected and balanced in succession, and if
the corresponding values of the resistance M P
are jffii, R 2, then since the current through M N
is unaltered, the law of potential drop gives

^ _ R\

POTENTIOMETER, DIESSELHORST D IF
FERENCE.
A potentiometer arrangement
wherein the supply current is fed to a re
sistance circle via a rotatable, diametral
slider. An adjustable voltage is thus pro
vided between two fixed points on opposite
sides of the circle. The supply current is di
vided onto the two paths; the difference of
potential drops taken from these two paths is
the output voltage of the divider.
POTENTIOMETER,
DIRECT-READING.
A potentiometer with the slide-wire calibrated
in volts. B y setting the dial at the known
voltage of the standard cell, and adjusting
the supply current for balance, the slide-wire
position for balance of an unknown emf gives
a direct reading of the unknown voltage.
POTENTIOMETER, DRYSDALE. An a-c
polar potentiometer (see potentiometer, polar)
in which the constant operating current is

measured by an electrodynamic milliammeter. The voltage-divider is calibrated by

using a direct current supply and balancing
against a standard cell. Substitution of an
alternating current of the same magnitude
yields the desired alternating voltage at the
divider. A phase-shifter must be incorporated
in the a-c supply to adjust the phase of the
balancing voltage to that of the unknown.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , G A L L . A coordinate
potentiometer (see potentiometer, coordinate)
comprising two similar potentiometers sup
plied by quadrature currents.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , LARSEN.
A coordi
nate potentiometer (see potentiometer, co
ordinate) utilizing resistance and mutual in
ductance in the phase splitter. The adjust
ments are frequency-dependent.
The fre
quency must be known accurately, and only
at one frequency can it be made direct-reading
in volts.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , L IN D E C K . M ost po
tentiometers balance the unknown emf against
a variable emf derived from a variable re
sistance carrying constant current. The Lindeck arrangement uses a fixed resistance,
whose current is varied to achieve balance.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , M A G N E T IC . A sole
noid wound on a flexible non-magnetic core,
connected to a ballistic galvanometer (see
galvanometer, ballistic). The difference of
magnetic potential between two points can
be measured by moving one end of the sole
noid from the first point to the second, with
the other end of the solenoid stationary.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , PEDERSEN .
A co
ordinate potentiometer (see potentiometer,
coordinate) for comparing two alternating
voltages.
It utilizes a fixed, frequency-insensitive, phase-splitter for obtaining the req
uisite quadrature components.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , PO LA R . An a-c po
tentiometer in which the unknown voltage is
balanced by means of a single voltage which
is variable in both magnitude and phase. (Cf.
potentiometer, coordinate.)
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , R U B IC O N M IC R O
V O L T . A commercial-design potentiometer
based on the Brooks standard-cell comparator.

(See potentiometer, standard-cell compara

tor.)
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , SIN. A potentiometer
which, when supplied with a suitable d-c sup
ply voltage, will have an output voltage pro
portional to the sine of the shaft position
angle. Used as a resolver in computer and
radar systems.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R ,
STA N D A R D - C E L L
C O M P A R A T O R (BROO KS). A combination
incorporating both constant current, variableresistance adjustment and constant resistance,
variable current adjustment. It was specifi
cally designed for comparing standard cells to
1 microvolt.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , TIN SLEY VERN IER.
A potentiometer in which part of the currentcarrying circuit consists of a series of n iden
tical coils, each of resistance r. Another set
of m coils, each of resistance 2 r/m, are ar
ranged so that they m ay be connected in
parallel with two of the coils of resistance r.
A contact moving over the contacts between
adjacent coils of the second set allows adjust
ment of the point of connection to an accuracy
r/m.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , W E N N E R D IF F E R
E N C E . A divided-circuit type of potentiom
eter wherein the supply current is in a fixed
resistance circle, and there is a fixed re
sistance diametral shunt which can be ro
tated around the circle.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , W H IT E C O M B IN A
TIO N . A cascaded arrangement of a highrange potentiometer and a low-range potenti
ometer. The high range is adjustable in steps
of, say, 100 microvolts. The low range po
tentiometer then measures the residual un
balance voltage, which cannot exceed 1 0 0
microvolts.
P O T E N T IO M E T E R , W U L F . A potentiom
eter in which two identical sets of coils are
used, with a switching arrangement which in
creases the resistance in one set and simul
taneously decreases the resistance in the other
set by the same amount. The two sets are in
series, one being included in the galvanometei
circuit and the other only in the battery cir
cuit. The total resistance is thus kept con
stant while the resistance in the galvanometer
circuit is varied.

POUND. A unit of mass in the English sys

tem of weights and measures. Unless specified
otherwise, it is understood to be the avoirdu
pois pound of 453.59 grams, rather than the
troy pound of 373.24 grams. It is also used as
a unit of force, in which case it is the weight
of one pound at a location where g = 32.174
ft/s e c 2 (cf. poundal; slug; mechanical units).
The equivalents are as follows:
pound
pound
pound
pound
pound
1 pound
1 pound
1

1
1
1
1

avoirdupois
avoirdupois
avoirdupois
avoirdupois
troy
troy
troy

=
=
=
=
=

16 av. ounces
7000 grains
0.45359 kilogram
453.59 grams
373.24 grams
= 1 2 ounces troy
= 5760 grains

POUNDAL. A unit of force in the f lbm s

system, being the force which imparts an ac
celeration of 1 ft/s e c 2 to a mass of one pound.
Equal to 1 lbf/32.174.
POUND, FOOT.

See foot pound (2).

POW DER M ETHO D OF ANALYSIS.

A
method for the x-ray analysis of crystals. A
beam of x-rays is directed on the finely-pow
dered crystalline material, by which it is d if
fracted. M any minute crystals in the powder
are oriented in the correct direction for the
Bragg equation to be applied to the deter
mination. The diffracted x-rays are allowed
to impinge on a film strip which surrounds the
powder; characteristic ring patterns are then
obtained. The x-ray photograph made in the
process is characteristic of each crystalline
material, and so can be used in identification.
POW DER PATTERN. An improvement of
the elementary scheme of using iron filings to
portray magnetic fields. The use of very fine
powders or colloidal particles of magnetic
material allows the graphic demonstration of
magnetic domains in a single crystal of ferro
magnetic material.
P O W ELL BANDS. Talbot bands produced
when the glass plate is introduced into a hol
low prism containing a liquid.
POWER. (1) The time rate of doing work.
The defining equation for power is P dW /dt,
where W is the work done and t is the time.
It m ay be expressed in units of work per
unit time (e.g., foot-pounds per minute or
ergs per second) or more arbitrarily, as in

horsepower or watts.
One horsepower is
33,000 foot-lbs per minute. One watt is 107
ergs (or 1 joule) per second. (See also me
chanical units.)
(2)
A power am with a positive integral ex
ponent m is the repeated product of m factors
each equal to a. am = a- a- a ( m factors).
The number a is called the base, m is called
the exponent and am is called the power. A
power with zero exponent is defined to be unity
provided the base is non-zero. A power with
a positive fractional exponent m/n where m
and n are positive integers is defined as the
principal nth root of the mth power of a. A
power with a negative exponent is defined as
the reciprocal of the corresponding power with
the positive exponent. The fundamental laws
of exponents are expressed by the formulae:
am-an = am+n
am + an = am~ n
(am)n = amn
/a\n
W

an

These laws hold for all types of exponents

when a > 0 , b > 0 , and some of them for
a < 0 , b < 0. Care must be exercised in their
use in this case, especially if fractional ex
ponents occur. An algebraic function of the
form axn is a power function. A series of the
form a0 + a& + a2x 2 + , is a power series.
(3) See power, lens. (See also polynomial.)
POWER AMPLIFICATION.
tion, power; and power gain.

See amplifica-

POWER, APPARENT. For a single-phase

alternating circuit, the product of rms voltage
and rms current. It is equal to the true power
('ZPR) divided by the power factor.
POWER ATTENUATION.

See power loss.

POWER, AVAILABLE.
( 1 ) Of a linear
source of electric energy, the quotient of the
mean square of the open-circuit terminal volt
age of the source, divided by four times the
resistive component of the internal impedance
of the source. The available power would be
delivered to a load impedance that is the con
jugate of the internal impedance of the source,
and is the maximum power that can be de
livered by that source.

( 2 ) From a generator or an electric trans

ducer, the power that would be delivered to
the output external termination of the gen
erator or transducer if the admittance of the
external termination wTere the conjugate of
the output driving-point admittance of the
generator or transducer.
(3) The available power of a sound field,
with respect to a given object placed in it, is
the power which would be abstracted from
the acoustic medium by an ideal transducer
having the same dimensions and the same
orientation as the given object. The dimen
sions and their orientation with respect to the
sound field should be specified. The com
monly used unit is the erg per second, but the
available power may also be expressed in
watts. The acoustic power available to an
electroacoustic transducer, in a plane-wave
sound field of given frequency, is the product
of the free-field sound intensity by the effec
tive area of the transducer. For this purpose
the effective area of an electroacoustic trans
ducer, for which the surface velocity distribu
tion is independent of the manner of excitation
of the transducer, is % 7r times the product of
the receiving directivity factor, by the square
of the wavelength of a free progressive wave
(see wave, progressive) in the medium. The
com monly used unit is the square centimeter.
If the physical dimensions of the transducer
are small in comparison with the wavelength,
the directivity factor is near unity, and the
effective area varies inversely as the square
of the frequency. If the physical dimensions
are large in comparison with the wavelength,
the directivity factor is nearly proportional to
the square of the frequency, and the effective
area approaches the actual area of the active
face of the transducer.
POWER-BAND MERIT. The product of the
output power of an amplifier at midband
multiplied by the bandwidth of the amplifier
measured between points where the gain is
unity. N ot in general use. (See gain-bandwidth merit.)
POWER, DRIVING. The power which is re
quired by an amplifier which operates in the
positive grid region some portion of the time.
For a class C amplifier, this power is very
nearly equal to the average grid current times
the crest value of the exciting voltage.

POWER, ELECTRIC. Electric power is the

product of electric current and electromotive
force; that is, multiplication of current by
voltage forms the basis of the calculation of
electric power. In a d-c circuit, the current
measured in amperes, multiplied by the volt
age between wires, is the power in watts. A
thousand watts constitutes the kilowatt, a
larger and more frequently employed unit of
electric power. For the power dissipated by
alternating currents, see alternating current
circuits.
POWER FACTOR.
circuit.

See alternating current

POWER, FIRING, M INIM UM (SWITCH

ING TUBES). The minimum radio-frequency
power required to initiate a radio-frequency
discharge in the tube at a specified ignitor
current.
POWER FLO W , COMPLEX. The complex
power flow through a surface is the integral
of the normal component of the complex
Poynting vector (see Poynting vector, com
plex) over that surface.
POWER GAIN.

See gain, power.

POWER GAIN, DYNAMIC. Synonym for

figure of merit for magnetic amplifier.
POWER INPUT, LOAD-CIRCUIT.
The
power delivered to the load circuit. It is the
product of the alternating component of the
voltage across the load circuit, the alternating
component of the current passing through it
(both root-mean-square values), and the
power factor associated with these two quan
tities.
POWER INPUT, PLATE (ANODE). The
direct-current power delivered to the plate
(anode) of an electron tube by the source of
supply. It is the product of the mean anode
voltage and the mean anode current.
POWER, LEAKAGE (TR AND PRE-TR
TUBES). The radiofrequency power trans
mitted through a fired tube.
POWER, LEAKAGE, FLAT (TR AND PRETR TUBES). The peak radiofrequency power
transmitted through the tube after the estab
lishment of the steady-state radiofrequency
discharge.

POWER, LEAKAGE, HARMONIC

(TR
AND PRE-TR TUBES). The total radiofre
quency power transmitted through the fired
tube in its mount at frequencies other than
the fundamental frequencies generated by the
transmitter.
POWER, LENS. The power of a lens is the
reciprocal of its focal length. Thus for a
thin lens in air
* =

1 = (n - 1)
/

V i

r2/

where <t> is the lens power, n is the index o f re

fraction, ri and r2 are the radii of curvature of
the lens surfaces. Lens power is usually speci
fied in diopters, or meters- 1 .

POWER OUTPUT, M AXIM UM AVERAGE.

The maximum radio-frequency output power
which can occur under any combination of
signals transmitted, averaged over the long
est, repetitive modulation cycle.
POWER OUTPUT, PEAK.
The output
power averaged over a carrier cycle at the
maximum amplitude which can occur with
any combination of signals to be transmitted.
POWER OUTPUT, SATURATION.
The
maximum power output o f a traveling-wave
amplifier tube. W ith constant beam current,
a further increase in rf power input results in
decreased gain and power output, to a point
where, finally, power output falls below input
power.

POWER LEVEL. A t any point in a trans

mission system, the difference of the measure
of the steady state power at that point from
the measure of an arbitrarily specified amount
of power chosen as a reference. In audio
techniques, the measures are often expressed in
decibels, thus their difference is conveniently
expressed as a ratio. Hence, power level is
widely regarded as the ratio of the steady
state power at some point in a system to an
arbitrary amount of power chosen as a refer
ence.

POWER, PULSE, PEAK, CARRIER-FREQUENCY. The power averaged over that

carrier-frequency cycle which occurs at the
maximum of the pulse of power (usually onehalf the maximum instantaneous power).

POWER LEVEL, CRITICAL H IG H (AT

TENUATOR TUBES). The radiofrequency
power level at which ionization is produced in
the absence of a control electrode discharge.

POWER, RADIATED, EFFECTIVE. The

product of the antenna power (transmitter
output power less transmission line loss) times
(a) the antenna power gain, or (b) the an
tenna field gain squared.

POWER LOSS. The ratio of the power ab

sorbed by the input circuit of a transducer
to the power delivered to a specified load
under specified operating conditions. If the
input a n d /or output power consist of more
than one component, such as multifrequency
signal or noise, then the particular components
used and their weighting should be specified.
This loss is usually expressed in decibels.
POWER, MEAN. See power, electric; alter
nating current circuits.
POWER OUTPUT, AVERAGE. The power
delivered to the load averaged over one cycle
of operation.
POWER
OUTPUT,
INSTANTANEOUS.
The rate at which energy is delivered to a load
at a particular instant.

POWER, PULSE, PEAK. The power at the

maximum of a pulse of power, excluding
spikes.

POWER, RADIANT. The rate of transfer

of radiant energy. (See energy, radiant.)

POWER, RESOLVING. See resolving power.

POWER SPECTRUM LEVEL. The power
level for the acoustic power contained within
a band 1 cycle per second wide, centered at
the specified frequency. The reference power
should be explicitly stated.
POWER, SPEECH, AVERAGE. The aver
age speech power for any given time interval
is the average value for the instantaneous
speech power (see speech power, instantane
ous) over that interval.
POWER,
SPEECH,
INSTANTANEOUS.
The rate at which sound energy is being ra
diated by a speech source at any given instant.
POWER, SPEECH, PEAK. The maximum
value of the instantaneous speech power (see

speech power, instantaneous) within the time

interval considered.
POWERSTAT. Trade name for a variable
autotransformer.
POWER SUPPLY. This term is widely used
to denote a circuit for converting a-c into d-c
by electronic means. The usual power supply
consists of a transformer for changing the a-c
voltage to a value which will, when rectified
and filtered, give the desired value of d-c,
rectifier tube or tubes, and a filter consisting
of inductance in series and capacitance in
shunt with the d-c line. A typical circuit is
shown. The output of the rectifier is pulsat

POWER, UNITS OF.

( 1 ) Absolute System
a. Metric c g sec.
erg
The unit of power is the . B y consec
joule
vention, however, the watt = 1 ------- is
sec
7 erS
generally used. 1 watt = 1 0 .
sec
b. Metric m kg sec.
The unit of power is the watt =
joule
sec
c. English lbm ft sec.
The unit of power is the ft/lba l/sec
= 5.62 X 10 5 horsepower.
( 2 ) Gravitational System
a. English lbf ft sec.
The unit of power is the horsepower
= 33,000 ft-lb/m in = 550 ft lb/sec.

ing d-c and hence needs to be smoothed out

by the filter before it is suitable for many ap
plications. Power supplies of this type are
almost universal components of radios, am
plifiers and other vacuum-tube devices which
operate from a-c mains.
POWER TRANSFER THEOREM, M AXI
MUM. In an electric network carrying dc or
sinusoidal ac, the power transferred from one
section to another is a maximum when the
impedance, Zs, of the section that acts as a
source, is the complex conjugate of the im
pedance ZL, of the section that acts as a
load, both impedances being measured at the
pair of terminals across which the power trans
fer takes place and with the other part of the
network disconnected.
The condition for
maximum power transfer is thus:
Zs = R s + i X s = R l iXi, = Z l * ,

RATIO.

POYNTING-ROBERTSON EFFECT. T a n
gential drag force on a body moving around
the sun due to the absorption of radiation
from the sun and causing the body to spiral
inwards. The rate of decrease per year of
the major axis a (astronomical units) of a
body of radius r cm, density p g cm - 3 is
r^7 X 10 ~ 8 ( p a r ) - 1 from this effect and is
therefore negligible for planets and planetoids.
POYNTING THEOREM. Manipulation of
the Maxwell equations yields a relation known
as the Poynting theorem:

f ( E X H) nda +
E JdV
Js
Jv
= -

where R and X refer respectively to the effec

tive resistances and reactances and where
i = V l- The theorem holds not only for
networks with lumped parameters but also for
continuous systems characterized by distrib
uted parameters, such as transmission line or
a wave guide.
POWER TRANSMISSION
transmission ratio, power.

POWER, VISUAL TRANSMITTER.

The
peak power output (see power output, peak)
when transmitting a standard television signal.

See

r [
3D
0B1
\E --------- b H [ dV

J vI

dt

dti

where n is the unit vector normal to the sur

face S that bounds the volume V. The cus
tomary interpretation of this result is that the
right-hand side represents the rate of loss of
electric and magnetic energy stored in the
volume Vj that the second term on the left
represents the rate of dissipation of electrical
energy as Joule heat in V , and that the first
term represents the balancing flow of electro

magnetic energy through the surface S bound

ing the volume. It is often convenient to
assume that the Poynting vector
P = E X H
represents the power flow per unit area in the
direction P. (See continuity equation (3).)
POYNTING VECTOR.
orem.

See Poynting the

PPS.

Abbreviation for pulses per second.

PRACTICAL UNITS. The common units

(volt, ampere, farad, etc.) defined by multi
plying the cgs electromagnetic units by suit
able powers of ten. They can also be defined
as the fundamental units of the MKSA elec
tromagnetic system.
(See electromagnetic
units.)

E X H *;

PRANDTL NUMBER. The kinematic vis

cosity (see viscosity, kinematic) of a fluid
divided by its thermal conductivity. Its sig
nificance arises from the interpretation of the
kinematic viscosity as a diffusion coefficient
for momentum or vorticity and of the thermal
conductivity as the diffusion coefficient for
heat.

its real part is the average power flow per

unit area.

PRASEODYMIUM. Rare earth metallic ele

ment. Symbol Pr. Atom ic number 59.

PP. (1) Abbreviation for peak to peak. ( 2 )

Abbreviation for push-pull.

PREAMP.

POYNTING VECTOR, COMPLEX. When

the electromagnetic field vectors E and H are
represented with complex amplitudes, the
Poynting vector (P = E X H) is generalized
to the complex Poynting vector

PPI.
cator.

Abbreviation

for

plan-position indi

PPI, AZIMUTH-STABILIZED.
A PPI on
which the reference bearing remains fixed with
respect to the indicator, regardless of the vehi
cle orientation.
PPI, DELAYED. A PPI in which the initia
tion of the time base is delayed.
PPI, NORTH-STABILIZED.
An azimuthstabilized PPI on which the reference bearing
is north.
PPI, OFF CENTER. A PPI which has the
zero position of the time base, at a position
other than the center of the display, thus pro
viding the equivalent of a larger display for a
selected portion of the service area.
PPI, OPEN CENTER. A PPI in which the
display of the initiation of the time base pre
cedes that of the transmitted pulse.
P-P JUNCTION.

See junction, P-P.

PPM. A bbreviation for pulse-position modu

lation.
PPPI. Abbreviation for precision plan-posi
tion indicator.
PPPPI. Abbreviation for photographic pro
jection plan-position indicator.

A bbreviation for preamplifier.

PREAMPLIFIER. In radar, an amplifier sep

arated from the remainder of the receiver and
located so as to provide the shortest possible
input circuit path from the antenna so as to
avoid deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio.
PRECESSION. In any isolated physical sys
tem, the total vector angular momentum J of
the system is conserved. If, through inter
action with an external agent, a small torque
T is applied to the system, J will no longer be
conserved; but will change with time accord
ing to the equation

dt

If the origin of this torque is such that T

always has a direction perpendicular to the
instantaneous direction of J and parallel to a
fixed plane passing through the starting point
of J, then it is clear that T must always point
in the direction of the tangent to the circle, C ,
constructed as follows. Take the perpendicu
lar to the fixed plane which intersects it at the
origin of J and consider it as an axis A. In a
second plane, which is perpendicular to A and
contains the end or head of the vector J,
draw the circle, C, with its center on A and its
circumference passing through the end of J.
Since the change in J in an infinitesimal time
dt is Tdt, which is in the direction of the tan
gent to the circle C, it is seen that the end of
the vector J will trace out the circle C with the

passage of time. The motion of a system asso

ciated with this type of time variation in its
angular momentum vector J is called preces
sion. Since the length of the arc of C which
will be traversed by J in a time dt will be Tdt
and since the radius of C is J sin 0, where 0
is the angle between A and J, J will precess
through an angle d<j> = Tdt/J sin 6 ; thus
the angular velocity of precession of J is
o, = dcf>/dt = T/J sin 0.
A familiar example of precession is an ordi
nary symmetrical spinning top. I f the axis
of spin is not exactly vertical, the force of
gravity exerts a torque tending to overturn
the top ; but instead of tipping over, it w ob
bles with a precessional motion about the
vertical through the pivotpoint. The gyro
scope exhibits similar behavior. The period
of precession is given by
4 7 r ls

sin 6

in which I 8 is the moment of inertia about the

axis of spin, T is the torque due to gravity,
and Tg the period of the spin (see also Larmor precession).
PRECIPITATION, CONVECTIONAL. Pre
cipitation from clouds caused by thermal in
stability, i.e., clouds of the cumulus or cumu
lonimbus type.
PRECIPITATION HARDENING. D irectly
after quenching, an alloy in the form of a
supersaturated solid solution is mechanically
soft, but becomes harder as precipitation of
the excess component proceeds. Later, with
over-aging, it resoftens.
According to the
theory of M ott and Nabarro, the effect is due
to the resistance offered to the passage of dis
locations by the internal stresses caused by
the misfit of the precipitate particles. As
these become larger, and further apart, the
dislocation lines can bulge round them, and
move more easily again.
PRECISION. The quality of being exactly or
sharply defined or stated. A measure of the
precision of a representation is the number of
distinguishable alternatives from which it was
selected, which is sometimes indicated by the
number of significant digits it contains. (See
also accuracy.)
PRECISION APPROACH RADAR. A radar
system located on an airfield for observation

of the position of an aircraft with respect to

an approach path and specifically intended to
provide guidance to the aircraft in the ap
proach.
PRECISION INDEX.

See error function.

PRECISTOR. A boron-carbon resistor with a

high degree of stability.
PREDISSOCIATION. A process by which
a molecule that has absorbed energy disso
ciates before it has had an opportunity to lose
energy by radiation.
PRE-EMPHASIS. ( 1 ) A process in a system
to emphasize the magnitude of some frequency
components with respect to the magnitude of
others. (2) The intentional alteration of the
normal signal wave by emphasizing one range
of frequencies with respect to another. For
example, pre-emphasis in recording is an
arbitrary change in the frequency-response of
a recording system from its basic response
(such as constant velocity or amplitude) for
the purpose of improvement in signal-to-noise
ratio, or the reduction of distortion.
PRE-EMPHASIS NETWORK.
pre-emphasis.
PRE-EQUALIZATION.

See network,

See pre-emphasis.

PREFERRED NUMBERS. T o maintain an

orderly progression of sizes, preferred num
bers are frequently used for the nominal
values of the resistance of resistors, the capaci
tance of capacitors, and of similar quantities.
A further advantage is that all components
manufactured are salable as one or another of
the preferred values. Each preferred value
differs from its predecessor by a constant mul
tiplier, and the final result is conveniently
rounded to two significant figures.
The ASA has adopted as an American
Standard a series of preferred numbers based
on V l O and y / 10. This series has been
widely used for fixed wire wound power-type
resistors and for time-delay fuses.
Because of the established practice of 2 0 ,
1 0 , and 5-percen t tolerances in the radio
component industry, a series of values based
on y / 1 0 , y / 1 0 , and y/ 1 0 has been adopted
by the R M A , and is widely used for small
radio components, such as fixed composition
resistors and fixed ceramic, mica, and moldedpaper capacitors.

PREFERRED VALUES.
bers.

See preferred num

PRE-FIRING. Pre-firing refers to the in

terval during the output or gating alternation
preceding firing. The term is used as an ad
jective to indicate phenomena occurring dur
ing this interval.
PREFORM (BISCUIT). In disk recording, a
preform is a small slab of record stock material
as it is prepared for use in the record presses.
PREOSCILLATION CURRENT.
rent, starting (of an oscillator).

See cur

PRE-SELECTOR. A pre-amplifier placed be

tween the antenna and a radio-receiver to
increase the effective sensitivity and selectiv
ity of the receiver.
PRESETTING.

See resetting.

PRESSING. A phonograph record, especially

one made by a pressing process from a
stamper.
PRESSURE. A type of stress, characterized
by its uniformity in all directions (as distin
guished from compressive stress in one direc
tion) . Its measure, as with all other stresses,
is the force exerted per unit area; for example,
the normal atmospheric pressure is about 14.7
lbf per sq in. Pressure is usually associated
with a decrease in volu m e; though the opposite
stress, accom panying an increase in volume,
is sometimes referred to as negative pres
sure. This latter must be distinguished from
the same term as sometimes used to denote
pressures below atmospheric, the pressure of
the atmosphere being in such cases taken as
an arbitrary zero. It is likewise important,
especially in pneumatics, to indicate whether
pressure is reckoned from vacuum or from at
mospheric pressure as zero. Thus when a tire
is inflated to thirty-five pounds, the actual
pressure in the tire is about 50 lbf per sq in.
Pressure may be defined analytically as that
part of the stress tensor that does not depend
directly on the rate of strain and which arises
from the molecular movements appropriate to
the local density and temperature, i.e., the
pressure satisfying the equation of state. In
a compressible Newtonian fluid (see fluid,
Newtonian), the stress tensor is

(dui

duA

/2

du{

where 77 is the ordinary viscosity, and ?/ is the

second coefficient of viscosity. In agreement
with the definition above, the pressure p con
tributes only to the normal stresses.
PRESSURE, ABSOLUTE. The term applied
to the true pressure of a substance or system,
com m only to distinguish it from partial pres
sure, gauge pressure, etc.
PRESSURE, ATMOSPHERIC. The normal
atmospheric pressure, or pressure of one at
mosphere, is 1.013 X 106 dynes per square
centimeter or about 14.7 pounds per square
inch. This will support a column of mercury
(in a barometer) 76 centimeters high at 0C.
PRESSURE, COHESION.
The correction
applied to the pressure term in the van der
Waals equation to take care of the effect of
molecular attraction. It is usually expressed
as a/V2, where a is a constant for a particular
gas and V is the volume of the gas.
PRESSURE
EFFECT
ON
SPECTRAL
LINES.
See pressure shift and pressure
broadening.
PRESSURE, GAUGE.
Pressure measured
relative to atmospheric pressure taken as zero.
PRESSURE, IMPACT. Pressure exerted by
a moving fluid on a plane perpendicular to its
direction of flow. In other words, it is meas
ured in the direction of flow.
PRESSURE, INTERNAL.
The attractions
between the molecules of a substance produce
the same effect as an added external pressure,
the internal pressure. In liquids, its effect
appears as the ability of liquids to withstand
substantial negative pressures without rup
ture. (See also pressure, cohesion.)
PRESSURE, KINETIC.

See Bernoulli law.

PRESSURE LEVEL, BAND. The band pres

sure level of a sound for a specified frequency
band is the effective sound pressure level for
the sound energy contained within the band.
The width of the band and the reference pres
sure must be specified.
When measuring
thermal noise, the standard deviation of the
sound pressure readings will not exceed about
1 0 per cent if the product of the bandwidth in
cycles per second and the integration time in
seconds exceeds 2 0 .

PRESSURE
MEASUREMENT,
NULL
M ETHO D OF. A method of sound pressure
measurement, due to Gerlach, in which the
sound pressure on a diaphragm is compensated
by measurable electrodynamic forces so that
the diaphragm remains at rest under the two
forces.
PRESSURE
MEASUREMENT,
SMITH
M ETHO D OF. A method of sound pressure
measurement in which a balance is obtained
between the effect produced by the sound in a
sensitive amplifier connected to the receiver
and the effect of a known small emf of the
same sound frequency.
PRESSURE MULTIPLIER.
A device in
which the pressure of a sample of gas, in a
high-vacuum system, is amplified, for example
by reducing its volume (McLeod gauge), so
as to permit easy determination of the pres
sure.
PRESSURE, NEGATIVE. Strictly, a normal
stress that tends to increase the volume of the
substance (cf. pressure). The term is often
used, however, to indicate a negative gauge
pressure, i.e., a pressure that is less than at
mospheric, or a pressure less than 760 m illi
meters of mercury at 0 C.
PRESSURE, PARTIAL. The pressure that is
exerted by a single gaseous component of a
mixture of gases.
PRESSURE, REDUCED.
tion of state.

See reduced equa

PRESSURE
SHIFT
AND
PRESSURE
BROADENING.
When the pressure and
density of a gas are greatly increased, the lines
o f its spectrum become less sharp, or broader
(without change of total intensity).
This
broadening is not symmetrical but is greater
in the direction of longer wavelength, so that
the peak or maximum is shifted toward the
red.
PRESSURE, SOUND, EXCESS. The instan
taneous pressure (see pressure, instantaneous)
at a point in a sound wave minus the hydro
static pressure. (See pressure, hydrostatic.)
PRESSURE SPECTRUM LEVEL.
Of a
sound at a specified frequency, the effective
sound pressure level for the sound energy
contained within a band 1 cycle per second
wide, centered at the specified frequency.

Ordinarily this has significance only for sound

having a continuous distribution of energy
within the frequency range under considera
tion. The reference pressure shall be explic
itly stated. (See sound pressure levels.)
Since, in practice, it is necessary to employ
filters having an effective bandwidth greater
than 1 cycle per second, the pressure spectrum
level is, in general, a computed quantity. For
a sound having a uniform distribution of en
ergy, the computation can be made as follows:
Let L ps be the desired pressure spectrum level,
p be the effective pressure measured through
the filter system, p0 be reference sound pres
sure, A/ be the effective bandwidth of the filter
system, and A0/ be the reference bandwidth
( 1 cycle per second), then
Lps = 10 logio

T p 2/ a/ I
-Y .T -J LpoVAo/J

For computational purposes, if Lp is the band

pressure level observed through the filter, the
above relation reduces to
L ps =

Af
10 logio
Ao/

PRESSURE, STANDARD. The pressure ex

erted by a column of mercury 760 millimeters
high at 0 C.
PRESSURE, STATIC. (1) Pressure in a fluid
or system that is exerted normal to the sur
face on which it acts. In a moving fluid, the
static pressure is measured at right angles to
the direction of flow. ( 2 ) In acoustics, the
static pressure at a point in a medium is the
pressure that would exist at that point with
no sound waves present. In acoustics, the
com monly used unit is the microbar.
PRESSURE, UNITS OF. The unit of pres
sure of the cgs system is the dyne cm 2. In
meteorology, the millibar, equal to 1 0 3 dyne
cm - 2 is often used. In engineering practice,
the units of lbf in . 2 (psi) and atmosphere
(1.013-106 dyne cm 2) are used, as well as
heads expressed in terms of water or mercury.
PRESSURE, VELOCITY. The component of
the pressure of the moving fluid that is due to
its velocity and is com monly equal to the dif
ference between the impact pressure and the
static pressure.
(See pressure impact, and
pressure, static (1).)

PRE-TR TUBE.

See tube, pre-TR; tube, TR.

PREVAILING WESTERLIES. Winds that

blow toward the poles from the horse lati
tudes and that have a component of velocity
toward the east, because of Coriolis forces.
T hey are not as steady as the trade winds in
the Northern Hemisphere, but are more con
stant in the Southern Hemisphere, where they
are known as the Roaring Forties.
PREVAILING
WESTERLIES,
LONG
WAVES IN. There develop in the westerlies,
particularly during the cold months of the
year, certain perturbations which cause the
westerlies to blow alternately northward and
southward in a sinusoidal wave pattern, but
always with a component of velocity directed
from west to east. W ave crests are associated
with anticyclones at ground and near ground
levels, whereas troughs are associated with
cyclones. There is, therefore, a definite rela
tion between the sinusoidal perturbations of
the westerlies and large-scale surface weather
phenomena.
PREVOST L A W OF EXCHANGES. (1) In
an evacuated enclosure, with walls maintained
at constant temperature, objects within will
reach a condition of thermal equilibrium at
which they will attain, and remain at, the
temperature of the walls. (2) Each body is
constantly exchanging heat energy with its
surroundings, the net result of which exchange
tends to equalize the temperature of the body
and its surroundings.
Cold bodies do not
radiate cold, they only radiate less heat than
they receive from warmer surroundings.
PRF (PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY).
See repetition rate.
PRI.

Abbreviation for primary.

PRIMARIES. The colors of constant chromaticity and variable amount, which, when
mixed in proper proportions, are used to pro
duce or specify other colors. Primaries need
not be physically realizable.
PRIMARIES, DISPLAY. The colors of con
stant chromaticity and variable luminance
produced by a television receiver which, when
mixed in proper proportions, are used to pro
duce other colors. Usually three primaries
are used: red, green, and blue.

PRIMARIES, RECEIVER.
display.

See primaries,

PRIMARIES, TRANSMISSION. The set of

three primaries, either physical or nonphysi
cal, so chosen that each corresponds in amount
to one of the three independent signals con
tained in the color picture signal.
The
chromaticities of two possible sets of transmis
sion primaries are: ( 1 ) Those of the display
primaries (receiver primaries), ( 2 ) Those of
a specified luminance primary and two
chrominance primaries.
PRIMARY, CHROMINANCE.
nance primary.

See chromi

PRIMARY COSMIC RAYS.

See cosmic rays.

PRIMARY DARK SPACE.

for the Aston dark space.

Another name

PRIMARY EXTINCTION. When X-rays

are diffracted by a very perfect crystal, in
which the mosaic blocks are very large, there
is a relative weakening of the strongest re
flections compared with the weaker. M ore
precisely, the structure factor is directly pro
portional to the intensity of the beam in a
perfect crystal, whilst for a mosaic crystal
it is proportional to the square root of the
intensity.
PRIMARY F L O W ( OF CARRIERS). A cur
rent flow which is responsible for the m ajor
properties of a semiconductor device.
PRIMARY FOCUS.

See astigmatic focus.

PRIMARY GRID EMISSION.

thermionic grid.

See emission,

PRIMARY, NONPHYSICAL.
A primary
represented by a point outside the area of the
chromaticity diagram enclosed by the spec
trum locus and the purple boundary. N on
physical primaries cannot be produced because
they require negative power at some w ave
lengths. However, they have properties which
facilitate colorimetric calculation.
Tristim
ulus values based upon them are derived from
tristimulus values based upon physical pri
maries.
PRIMARY RADAR.

See radar.

PRIMARY SKIP ZONE. That area surround

ing a transmitter which is beyond ground-

range, but where sporadic skip transmission

may be received. (See also skip distance.)
PRIME (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).
T o charge or discharge storage elements to a
potential suitable for writing.
PRIMING SPEED (IN CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES).
The rate of priming successive
storage elements.
PRIMITIVE. Given a function of one or
more arbitrary constants or functions, the
constants may be eliminated by direct differ
entiation one or more times, or the constants
and functions may be eliminated by differen
tiation and algebraic operations. The result
in either case is a differential equation and
the given function is its primitive or general
solution.
PRIMITIVE PERIOD.
periodic quantity.

Defined in entry for

PRIMITIVE TRANSLATION. A space lat

tice has the property of exactly repeating
itself if it is carried through any one of a
number of different translations in space.
(See translation operation.) These transla
tions may all be constructed by the repeated
application of three primitive translations,
which thus constitute the sides of the unit cell
of the lattice.
PRINCIPAL AXIS. (1) The longest axis of
a crystal.
(2) The optic axis of a crystal.
(3) M athem atically, any one of the set of
axes in terms of which a quadratic function
may be expressed as a sum of squares. (4)
Of a transducer used for sound emission or
reception, a reference direction for angular
coordinates used in describing the directional
characteristics of the transducer. It is usu
ally an axis of structural symmetry, or the
direction of maximum response. (5) For the
use of the term in mechanics, see inertia, mo
ments and products of.
PRINCIPAL E PLANE. In electromagnet
ics, a plane containing the direction of maxi
mum radiation, and in which the electric vec
tor everywhere lies in the plane.
PRINCIPAL H PLANE. In electromagnet
ics, a plane containing the direction of maxi
mum radiation, and in which the electric vec
tor is everywhere normal to the plane, while
the magnetic vector lies in the plane.

PRINCIPAL PLANE (CRYSTAL). For a

ray of light traversing a double-refracting
crystal, the principal plane is determined by
the direction of the ray and the axial direction
of the crystal.
PRINCIPAL PLANES
equation.
PRINCIPAL POINTS.

(L EN S).

See lens

See lens equation.

PRINCIPAL SECTION OF A CRYSTAL. A

plane through a crystal which contains the
optic axis of the crystal and the ray of light
under consideration.
PRINCIPAL
spectra.

SERIES.

See series in line

PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCE. A
statement by Bohr of the assumption that in
the limit, for very low frequencies of radia
tion, the results obtained by quantum theory
must be in quantitative agreement with those
obtained on the basis of classical theory. A c
cording to this principle, the predictions of
quantum theory must coincide with those of
classical theory for sufficiently high quantum
numbers.
PRINCIPLE
MASS AND
equivalence.

OF
EQUIVALENCE
OF
ENERGY.
See mass-energy

PRINCIPLE OF SIMULARITY, ACOUS

TICAL. See acoustical principle of simularity.
PRINTED CIRCUIT. Any circuit formed
by depositing a conducting material on the
surface of an insulating sheet. This may be
achieved by the use of electrically conducting
ink, electroplating, etc.
PRINTING,
M AGNETIC
( MAGNETIC
TRANSFER) (CROSSTALK). The perma
nent transfer of a recorded signal from a sec
tion of a magnetic recording medium to an
other section of the same or a different me
dium when these sections are brought in prox
imity.
PRINT-OUT EFFECT. The appearance of
metallic silver in a silver halide emulsion after
prolonged exposure to light. It is believed
that the light liberates electrons which go to
the specks of silver already present, attracting
to them further silver ions whilst the halogen
escapes to the surface.

PRINT-THROUGH.
A type of distortion
sometimes present in magnetic tape record
ings which is due to one strongly-magnetized
layer of tape printing its magnetic image on
adjacent layers of tape.
PRIONOTRON.
ulation tube.

One form of velocity-mod-

PRISM. ( 1 ) A polyhedron with two congru

ent and parallel faces, the bases. Its other
faces, called lateral, are produced by drawing
lines from the corresponding vertices of the
bases and they are therefore parallelograms.
The prism is named triangular, quadrangular,
etc., descriptive of its base.
( 2 ) Glass and
other transparent materials are cut into many
different forms of prism for various optical
purposes. Incident light m ay pass directly
through a prism, or m ay emerge after one or
more internal reflections; in some cases it is
polarized.
The common triangular prism, familiar in
older forms of spectroscope, receives light
upon one face and passes it through another
after two refractions, resulting in a total de
viation A dependent upon the angle of the
prism and its , refractive index for the light
used. I f the light is incident at angle i on the
first prism face, and if the prism angle is a
and the refractice index is n, the total devia
tion after passage through the prism in a plane
at right angles to the prism edge is given by
A = i a

.
+ Sin

T
In

Sin

(
ya

. -1 -----sin
SHI

(See also prism, Amici; prism, Comu-Jellet;

prism, Fery; prism, roof, etc.)
PRISM, AM ICI. A direct-vision prism, that
is, a prism com bination by which a beam of
light is dispersed into a spectrum without
mean deviation. Such prisms are sometimes
used in direct-vision spectroscopes.
The principle will be clear from the follow
ing example. Assume an inverted prism of
crown glass with an angle of 40, used with
an erect prism of flint glass. Y ellow sodium
light (5893 A ) is deviated by the crown-glass
prism through + 2 2 32' (upward). For the
flint-glass prism to produce an equal negative
(downward) deviation it must have an angle
of 33 40'.
(Each prism is supposedly set
for minimum deviation.) Together they pro
duce no deviation for this wavelength. But if

light of 7682 A (red) is used, the deviation

of the crown glass is + 2 2 16', while that of
the flint is 22 1O', giving a net deviation of
+ 6 '. And for the wavelength 4047 A (violet),
the deviations are, respectively, + 2 3 1 2 ' and
23 44', giving 32'. There is thus, between
the ends of the visible spectrum, a separation
of 38'. Additional pairs of prisms may be
used to increase the dispersion. M ore com
monly 2 crown and one flint prisms are used,
thus reducing surface reflection at the air-glass
interfaces. (Also see prism, roof.)
PRISM, BRASHEAR-HASTINGS. A type of
roof prism (see prism, roof) which has the
desirable property of being able to invert an
image without producing deviation or dis
placement of the beam. Because of manu
facturing difficulties, this prism is seldom
made.
PRISM, CONSTANT-DEVIATION. A prism
which refracts any required wavelength at
minimum deviation in a prescribed direction
to that of the incident beam. (See also prism,
Pellin-Broea.)
PRISM, CORNU DOUBLE. In order to make
use of the ultraviolet-transmitting properties
o f quartz without introducing its double re
fraction, Cornu made a compound prism by
cementing together two 30-degree prisms, one
of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz.
PRISM, CORNU-JELLET. A prism made by
splitting a N icol (see prism, Nicol) in a plane
parallel to the direction of vibration of the
transmitted light and removing a wedgeshaped section. When the two pieces are
joined together again, the 'planes o f vibration
of the light transmitted by the two halves
make a small angle with each other.
PRISM, DOUBLE IMAGE.
laston double image.

See prism, W ol

PRISM, DOVE (REVERSING PRISM). A

prism which has the property of inverting a

beam of light. Three faces are polished, and

the size and index of refraction must be prop
erly correlated if the beam is not to be dis
placed laterally. Rotation of the prism about
the axis of the beam rotates the beam at twice
the rate of rotation of the prism.
PRISM, FflRY. A prism, widely used in mak
ing spectrographs, which collimates, reflects
and refracts the refracted light-rays. The
Fery prism has spherical-ground and coated
surfaces.
PRISM, FOUCAULT. A polarizing prism of
calcite similar to a N icol prism (see prism,
Nicol) but with the two parts separated by a
thin air film, and cut to such angles that the
extraordinary beam will be transmitted, and
the ordinary beam, totally-reflected. A F ou
cault prism is never as efficient as a N icol
prism because some of the extraordinary
beam will also be reflected.
PRISM, FRESNEL BIPRISM. A very flat
prism with two very acute angles and one very
obtuse angle. A device developed for obtain
ing interference between two sections of a
wave front, with diffraction largely elimi
nated. (See Young interference experiment.)

each is approximately indicated by the double

arrow, and they are cemented together with
colorless Canada balsam along the plane M N .
If the incident beam IP is unpolarized, it suf
fers double refraction at F, dividing into an
ordinary component PO' and an extraordinary
component PE'. The refractive index of Ice
land spar for the ordinary ray (sodium light)
is 1.658 and for the extraordinary it is 1.486,
while that of Canada balsam for both is 1.53.
The ordinary ray therefore encounters at O'
a less refractive medium, and, the incidence
being at an angle larger than the critical angle,
it is totally reflected ( O 'O ); while the extraor
dinary ray incident at E ' encounters a more
refractive medium, therefore cannot suffer
total reflection and most of it passes on along
E'Q, emerging along QE completely planepolarized with its vibration plane in the plane
of the paper. M odifications of this prism,
having different shapes and using other ce
ments, have been designed for special purposes.
PRISM, PELLIN-BROCA. A constant-deviation prism (see prism, constant-deviation),

PRISM, GLAN. Also known as Glan-Thom pson prism. A polarizing prism somewhat like
a N icol prism (see prism, Nicol) but with
faces normal to the axis, and with the two
parts separated by a glycerin film.
PRISM, LIPPICH. A type of half-shade ana
lyzer consisting of a small N icol prism (see
prism, Nicol) covering half the field of a
polarimeter.
PRISM, LITTRO W .
prism silvered on the
degree angle. A single
as both collimator and

A 30-60-90 degree
side opposite the 60
lens can then be used
telescope.

PRISM, NICOL. One of the best known de

vices for producing plane-polarized light. It
consists of two pieces of Iceland spar (calcite)
cut as shown in the figure. The optic axis of

Diagram of Nicol prism. Double-headed arrows indi

cate direction of optic axis.

consisting of two 30 prisms, connected by a

45 total-reflecting prism. (See prism, totalreflecting.)
PRISM, PENTA. A five-sided optical prism
of which one angle is 90, and the other four
are 112 30' each.
PRISM, PORRO. A triangular optical prism
having one 90 and two 45 angles. Tw o of
these are used in each telescope of the prism
binoculars. Light enters perpendicular to the
hypotenuse, and, after two internal reflections,
leaves by the same face.

PRISM, RESOLVING POWER OF. The re

solving power o f a prism (to resolve near-by
spectral lines) is given by

where 8 is the angle of deviation, and a is the

refracting angle of the prism. (See deviation,
m in im u m angle of.)

R ~ (Base of Ynsm)(dn/d\)\

PRISM, THOLLON.
( 1 ) Tw o 30 prisms
which rotate by equal angles in opposite di
rections to give constant deviation (see prism,
constant-deviation). ( 2 ) A compound, spec
troscopic prism consisting of two acute-angled
prisms cemented to a right-angled one, giving
great dispersion without the use of a train of
prisms.

where (dn/d\)\ is the rate of change of r e fr a c

tiv e in d e x with w a v e le n g t h , in the wave
length region under consideration.
PRISM, RISLEY. Tw o wedge-shaped prisms
made so as to rotate with respect to each
other, to give a single prism of any angle be
tween the sum of the two prisms and their d if
ference.
PRISM, ROCHON (W O LLASTO N PRISM).
N icol prisms cannot be used in ultraviolet
light as the Canada balsam is not transparent
to these shorter wavelengths. The Rochon
and W ollaston prisms are made of quartz or
calcite and cemented with glycerine or castor
oil.

PRISM, TOTAL-REFLECTING. A 4 5 -4 5 90 prism like a Porro prism (see prism,

Porro) in construction. The light enters nor
m ally to a face opposite to a 45 angle, is
totally reflected by the hypotenuse face, and
leaves by the third face, thus having been
totally reflected through 90. The beam of
light must be sufficiently parallel so that all
of the light strikes the reflecting face outside
of the critical angle, or the reflection will not
be total.
PRISM, W OLLASTON.
prism, Rochon.

Rochon

Wollaston

Rochon and Wollaston prisms.

The direction of the optic axis of each crys

tal is indicated by the shading. The Rochon
prism transmits the ordinary ray without de
viation, the ray being achromatic. The light
should travel through the prisms in the direc
tions indicated.
PRISM, ROOF. A total-reflection prism (see
prism, total-reflecting) in which the surface
opposite the right angle has been replaced by
two surfaces at right angles (ro o f), with their
common element parallel to the hypotenuse of
the triangle. The roof prism turns the beam
through 90 like a total-reflection prism, and
also inverts the beam like a D ove prism. R oof
prisms are sometimes called A m id prisms, as
are also direct vision spectroscope prisms,
which are very different from roof prisms.
PRISM, THIN, FORMULA. For prisms of
angle sufficiently small that the sine of the
angle may be replaced by the angle itself, the
customary minimum deviation formula re
duces to:

Discussed

under

PRIVILEGED DIRECTIONS.
When a
plane-polarized beam falls on a thin plate of
an anisotropic material which is not optically
active, there are in general two and only two
mutually-perpendicular directions for the
plane of polarization (privileged directions)
such that the emergent beam is also planepolarized. W ith other orientations of the p o
larization of the entrant beam, the emergent
beam is circularly or elliptically polarized.
(See light, plane-polarized; and light, elliptically-polarized. )
PROBABILITY AMPLITUDE. The eigen
functions <f> obtained by solving the Schr
dinger equation. (See also probability den
sity.)
PROBABILITY CURRENT.
equation (d ).
PROBABILITY DENSITY.
chanics, the quantity

See continuity
In quantum me

$ $*d r ~ I$ 12dr = I<>* 12dr

where $ is the Schrdinger wave function,
is its complex conjugate. As was postulated
by Born, the quantity set out above gives the
probability that the particle under considra-

tion will be found in the volume element dr

at the position given by the coordinates. (See
Schrdinger equation.)
PROBABILITY.
(1) Suppose that a series
of events can lead in some cases to successes
and in other cases to failures, every event be
ing either a failure or a success and no event
being both. In any run of N events, let s be
the number of successes and / the number of
failures (s + / = N ). The a posteriori prob
ability is defined as the ratio of the observed
number of successes to the total number of
events, i.e., as s/N, when N is very large, or
more strictly, when N includes all events on
which data are available and is sufficiently
great so that s is a number very much greater
than one.
One further test is necessary before the a
posteriori probability defined above can be ac
cepted as meaningful. Suppose that various
sets of events, each Nj in number, are chosen
from among the total N at random. Let Sj
be the number of successes among the Nj
events. Then the probability of success, s/N,
has meaning if, and only if, the ratios Sj/Nj do
not depart from s/N, on the average, more
than would be predicted by applying the rules
of a priori probability calculation (see below ).
(2)
The definition of a priori probability
hinges on a judgment as to what events would
be found to have equal a posteriori probabil
ity if a test were made. Events which are so
judged on the basis of the evidence available
are assigned equal a priori probabilities.
Then, if n is the number of independent, ex
haustive, mutually exclusive, and equally
probable events, each of which can lead either
to success or to failure, and if m of these events
are known as events that would lead to suc
cess, the probability of success occurring in
any single trial is ra/n. Thus, in the throwing
o f a die, six events can occur, and all appear
equally likely. Therefore the chance of any
particular number being exposed is 1 / 6 .
PROBABLE
MOLECULAR
VELOCITY.
See molecular velocity, most probable.
PROBE. A small device which may be in
serted into or put in contact with a physical
system to allow measurements to be made on
the system; for example, a conductor that can
be used to connect some point in an electrical
circuit to a terminal of a voltmeter, or a tube

inserted into a flowing fluid to provide the pos

sibility of measuring the pressure at a given
point. Ideally, the probe and the associated
instruments should be so designed that they
do not disturb the system being studied.
PROBE, COUPLING. A probe projecting
into a waveguide or cavity resonator designed
to transfer energy to or from an external cir
cuit.
PROBE, TUNING. An essentially lossless
probe of adjustable penetration extending
through the wall of the waveguide or cavity
resonator.
PROCA EQUATIONS. One of the four in
equivalent sets of equations to describe par
ticles of spin unity, developed by analogy
with the Maxwell equations for free space.
dAv

dA

kF jjip

dXjx
k being

dF,v
;

kA v

dxv

>
dXy

proportional to the mass of the particle.

PRODUCT, DIRECT.

See direct product.

PRODUCT, HERMITIAN. If one of two

tensorial sets of the same order with elements
a% and bk possesses a complex conjugate for
each of its elements, then the sum
is
i

invariant under a rotation of the coordinate

system. This sum is referred to as the Hermitian product of the two sets.
PRODUCT, INFINITE.
form:

An expansion of the
00

UXU2U3

Un * =

11^ -

fc=l

The partial products form a sequence {pn}

such that
Pi =

p2 = u!U2;

p3 = uiu2u3;
n

Pn

XI

k= 1
PRODUCT, INNER.
Often used for the
scalar product of vectors but more frequently
for a kind of tensor product. Thus the inner
product
p
_ rx
Aijn.
Kjpq
lJjpq
of A ij, a contravariant tensor of rank two, and
B jvq, a covariant tensor of rank three, is a
mixed tensor. (See summation convention.)

This process of removing a repeated index is

called contraction.

responding to speech, music, and associated

sounds, destined for audible reproduction.

PRODUCT, IRREDUCIBLE.
The direct
product of two irreducible tensorial sets
is also a tensorial set, but it is reducible. If
aJm and V rmt are elements of the two original
irreducible sets, the elements of the direct
product set are aJmbj 'mt. It is possible to form
a new set made up of a linear combination of
elements of the direct product such that this
new set is an irreducible tensorial set. This
new set is called the irreducible product or
sometimes the irreducible direct product of the
original sets. Expressing the elements of this
irreducible product C j m in terms of ajm and
bj 'm>, gives

PROGRESSION.
A sequence, successive
terms of which are formed according to a
given law.
(See arithmetic, geometric, har
monic progression.)

CJM

= X
w

mmr

V2 +1
j

\m w! M /
X aJmby m ,

where (JM \jm, j'm f) are the Wigner coeffi

cients and V is the symmetrized RacahV-coefficient.
PRODUCT, OUTER.
Sometimes meaning
the vector product of two vectors but more
often used for a tensor product. The outer
product of a contravariant tensor, A1, by a
covariant vector, By, is a mixed tensor of rank
two, A*By = C V It is easy to show that the
outer product transforms like a mixed tensor.
The process m ay be extended for tensors of
any rank, thus AmnBPQ = C mnpq.
PROGRAM. ( 1 ) A plan for the solution of a
problem. (2) Loosely, a synonym for routine.
(3) T o prepare a program.
PROGRAM, CO DED . A description of a
procedure for solving a problem by means of
a digital computer. It m ay vary in detail
from a mere outline of the procedure to an
explicit list of instructions coded in the m a
chines language.
PROGRAM LEVEL. The measure of the
program signal in an audio system expressed
in vu.
PROGRAM SIGNAL. In audio systems and
components, the complex electric waves cor

PROGRESSIONS (IN BAND SPECTRA). A

series of bands whose separation changes
rather slowly, found in most molecular
spectra,
PROGRESSIVE SCANNING.
A scanning
process in which scanning lines trace one di
mension substantially parallel to a side of a
frame and in which successively traced lines
are adjacent.
PROJECTION, ANGLE OF. For a point
image lying on the optical axis, the half angle
subtended by the refracting surface at the
image. (See also aperture, angular.)
PROJECTION, FLOOD. The optical method
of scanning in which the subject copy is flood
lighted and the scanning spot is defined in the
path of the reflected or transmitted light.
PROJECTION, SPOT. The optical method
of scanning or recording in which the scan
ning or recording spot is defined in the path
of the reflected or transmitted light.
PROJECTIVE FIELD THEORIES.
field theories, projective.
PROJECTOR EFFICIENCY.
transmitting.

See

See efficiency,

PROJECTOR POWER RESPONSE.

sponse, transmitting power.

See re

PROJECTOR, SPLIT. A directional sound

projector in which electroacoustic transducer
elements are so divided and arranged that each
division m ay be energized separately through
its own electric terminals.
PROJECT SHERWOOD. The name given
to the U.S. Atom ic Energy Commission proj
ect which is investigating the feasibility of
economic conversion o f the energy produced
by the fusion reaction in light elements into
useful electrical energy. (See thermonuclear
reactor.)
PROLATE.

See ellipsoid.

PROLATE SPHEROIDAL COORDINATES.

See coordinate system, spheroidal (oblate and
prolate).
PROMETHIUM.
Radioactive
Sym bol Pm. A tom ic number 61.

element.

PROMPT CRITICAL. Capable of sustaining

a chain reaction without the aid of delayed
neutrons.
PROMPT NEUTRONS. Those neutrons re
leased coincident with the fission process, as
opposed to the neutrons subsequently released.
PROPAGATION CONSTANT. A transmis
sion characteristic of a line or medium, which
indicates the effect of the line on the wave
being transmitted along the line. It is a com
plex quantity having a real term, the attenua
tion constant, and an imaginary term, the
wavelength or phase constant. The attenua
tion constant is a measure of the loss in sig
nal strength as the wave travels along a
matched line while the wavelength constant is
a measure of the phase shift which it under
goes. These relations may be expressed by
the following equations:
r = a +jB,

E r = E se ~ ^ +jB\

\Er \ = \E,\e~al,
\Ir\

\ h \ e ~ a l,

Phase displacement = Bl,

where r is the propagation constant, a the at
tenuation constant, B the wavelength con
stant, I the line length, E r the received volt
age, E 8 the sending end voltage and I the cor
responding currents. Because of the attenua
tion on lines used for communication pur
poses it is necessary to insert amplifiers or re
peaters at intervals to build the signal back
to suitable levels. For sound work the phase
shift is usually not important but for tele
vision and picture transmission it is extremely
important and necessitates correcting circuits.
PROPAGATION, DIRECTION OF. At any
point in a homogeneous, isotropic medium,
the direction of time-average energy flow. In
a uniform waveguide, the direction of propa
gation is often taken along the axis. In the
case of a uniform lossless waveguide, the di
rection of propagation at every point is paral
lel to the axis, and in the direction of the timeaverage energy flow.

PROPAGATION
tion ratio.

FACTOR.

See propaga

PROPAGATION, M ODE OF (TRANSMIS

SION). A form of propagation of guided
waves that is characterized by a particular
field pattern in a plane transverse to the di
rection of propagation, which field pattern is
independent of position along the axis of
the waveguide. In the case of uniconductor
waveguides the field pattern of a particular
mode of propagation is also independent of
frequency.
PROPAGATION RATIO. For a wave prop
agating from one point to another, the ratio
of the complex electric field strength at the
second point to that at the first point.
PROPAGATION, STANDARD. The prop
agation of radio waves over a smooth spheri
cal earth of uniform dielectric constant and
conductivity, under conditions of standard re
fraction in the atmosphere.
PROPER. In special relativity theory, the
adjective proper is used to denote that a prop
erty or quantity is measured by an observer
in a Lorentz frame in which the body being
measured a n d /or the measuring devices are
at rest. Examples are proper length, proper
line, proper mass, proper density.
PROPER LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION.
A Lorentz transformation which may be rep
resented by an orthogonal operator with de
terminant + 1. This then excludes transfor
mations which reverse the sense of an odd
number of the axes x, y , z, t. Such transfor
mations are called improper Lorentz trans
formations.
PROPERTY. That which is inherently char
acteristic of a substance and naturally essen
tial to it.
PROPORTIONAL COUNTER.
proportional.

See counter,

PROPORTIONAL COUNTER TUBE.

counter tube, proportional.

See

PROPORTIONAL LIMIT. The maximum

unit stress which can be obtained in a struc
tural material without causing a change in
the ratio of the unit stress to the unit de
formation is called the proportional limit.

PROPORTIONAL REGION (RADIATIONCOUNTER TUBES).

See region, propor
tional (radiation-counter tubes).

atomic number of 1 and a mass number of 1 ,

and constitutes about 99.98% of ordinary h y
drogen.

PROPORTION. A statement of equality be

tween two ratios. It may be written in the
form a :b c :d or a/b = c/d. In a propor
tion a :b = c:d j the first and fourth numbers,
a and d, are the extrem es and the second and
third ones, b and c, are the means of the pro
portion. The following relations, all of which
follow from a/b = c /d , are sometimes useful.

PROTON. (1) A positively charged elemen

tary particle of mass number 1 and charge
equal in magnitude to the electronic charge
e. It is one of the constituents of every nu
cleus; the number of protons in the nucleus
of each atom of an element is given by the
atomic number Z of the element.
Other
properties of the proton are: rest mass,
(1.67239 0.00004) X 10 ~ 24 gm, or (1.007593
0.000003) amu; magnetic moment (2.79275
d= 0.00003) nuclear magnetons, or (1.41044
0.00004) X 10 23 dyne cm gauss- 1 ; spin
quantum number, x/ 2 ; described by FermiDirac statistics. (2) The nucleus of an atom
of hydrogen o f mass number 1. (3) The nega
tive proton is discussed under anti-proton.

(1 )

b/a = d/c;

(2 )

a/c = b/d;

(3)

(a =fc b)/b = (c d)/d;

(4)

a/(a b) = c/(c d);

(5)

(a b)/(a RF b) = (c =t d)/(c =F d).

PROPORTION OF POLARIZATION. Light

is only partially polarized when it is passed
through a pile of plates. The proportion of
polarization is given b y :
PP =

Ip

18

Ip +

Is

where I p is the intensity of the light vibrating

parallel to the plane of incidence and I s is the
intensity of the light vibrating perpendicular
to the plane of incidence. For a single surface
the proportion of polarization is only about
8.1% . For m plates (2m surfaces) of refrac
tive index n,
m
PP
/ 2n \ 2
m +
PROTACTINIUM.
Radioactive
Sym bol Pa. A tom ic number 91.

element.

PROTECTOR.
A device used to prevent
damage to lines or equipment by dangerously
high voltages or currents. The device may be
a spark gap, varistor, thermistor, etc. The
device usually has a very high resistance to
ground until the presence of an abnormal
voltage or current causes the resistance to
decrease. The device will then conduct and
eliminate the dangerous condition.
PROTIUM. The name sometimes given to
the lighter isotope of hydrogen, which con
sists of a single proton and electron, has an

PROTON-PROTON CHAIN.
A series of
thermonuclear reactions initiated by a reac
tion between two protons, namely H 1 + H 1
H 2 + /?+ + v, that provides the energy of
some stars where /3+ indicates a positron and
v a neutrino. The subsequent reactions are
presumed to be H 2 + H 1 H e 3 + y (where
y indicates a gamma-ray), followed by
He 3 + H e 8
H e 4 + H 1 + H 1. The net re
sult is the same as in the carbon cycle, namely,
the synthesis of four hydrogen atoms into one
helium atom, with the liberation of the mass
difference as energy. It is thought that the
proton-proton cycle is more important than
the carbon cycle in the cooler stars, and that
the reverse is true in the hotter stars. Both
cycles are believed to be important in the
sun.
PROTON RESONANCE.
Magnetic res
onance using the magnetic moment o f the
proton (see nuclear magnetic resonance).
The proton moment has in this way been
measured at the N ational Bureau of Stand
ards, using a precisely determined, very
homogeneous magnetic field. Proton mag
netic resonance is now often used for the re
verse experiment, i.e., the measurement of un
known magnetic fields, by using the known
proton moment and measuring the resonance
frequency. Nuclear moments are often meas
ured by comparing the resonance frequencies
for the nuclei with that of protons in the same
field. Proton resonance is also used in mo*

lecular studies, since the chemical shift and

the fine structure of the resonance line give
inform ation concerning the location of the
proton in the molecule.
PROXIMITY EFFECT. The change in current distribution (with the related changes in
resistance and capacitance) in a conductor
due to the field produced by an adjacent con
ductor.
PROXIMITY FUSE. Essentially a miniature
radar transmitter-receiver, used in artillery
shells, bombs, and rockets, which trips the
firing mechanism when the armed device ap
proaches within a predetermined distance of
an object.
PRR.

Abbreviation for pulse repetition rate.

PSEUDO-ADIABATIC
PROCESS.
The
process in which saturated (see saturation (4))
air is rising in the atmosphere and is losing
its water vapor by condensation and precipi
tation.
PSEUDO-CRYSTALS OR CRYSTALLITES.
In many organic fibers, the structure consists
o f a number of small units, about 500 A long
and 50 A in diameter (cellulose) arranged so
that they all lie more or less parallel to the
fiber axis. Each such crystallite consists of
a nearly regular array of long chain polymers.
PSEUDOSCALAR. A scalar quantity which
changes its sign when the coordinate system,
to which the quantity is referred, is changed
from a right-handed to a left-handed one, or
vice versa. An example is the scalar product
of a polar vector and a pseudovector. (See
also handedness, right and left.)
PSEUDOSCALAR COUPLING.
T ype of
interaction energy postulated between a
Tr-meson and a nucleon which consists of the
product of the pseudoscalar field of the
7r-meson and a bilinear pseudo-scalar func
tion of the nucleon wave-functions.
PSEUDOSCALAR FIELD. A function of
position and time which is unchanged by a
proper Lorentz transformation, but which
changes sign under an improper Lorentz trans
formation.
PSEUDOSCALAR PARTICLE. A particle,
such as a ir-meson, which may be described
by a pseudoscalar field.

PSEUDOVECTOR. The vector product of

two vectors does not completely satisfy the
formal requirements of a vector for it changes
sign if the coordinate system is changed from
a right-handed to a left-handed one, or vice
versa. It is a typical example of a pseudo
vector (also called an axial vector). Thus
the vector for an element of area, represented
by the vector product dS dx X dy, is not
determined with respect to direction unless an
arbitrary convention is established for the
positive side of the surface element. The
three components of a pseudovector are ac
tually the components of a three-dimensional
antisymmetric tensor of second rank. Phys
ical quantities which are pseudovectors in
clude angular momentum (vector product of
momentum and radius v e c to r ); moment of
a force (vector product of force and distance).
PSEUDOVECTOR COUPLING.
Type of
interaction energy postulated between a nu
cleon and other particles in which a bilinear
pseudovector function of the nucleon wavefunctions appears.
PSEUDOVECTOR FIELD. Four functions
of position and time which transform like a
vector under proper Lorentz transformations
but which transform like a vector, together
with a change of sign, under improper Lorentz
transformations.
P-SHELL. The collection of electrons char
acterized by the principal quantum number
six. The P-shell is started with the element
cesium (atomic number = 55), which has one
electron in its P-shell, and the P-shell is not
completed, as far as is known, even with the
transuranic element of atomic number 1 0 1
(mendelevium).
PSI. (1) Function of (if/). ( 2 ) Tim e-depend
ent wave function (if/).
(3) Total electric
flux (*P). (4) Free energy (2 ) (\p). (5) D is
placement flux (*E0.
( 6 ) Azimuth angle of
principle azimuth angle in optics (\p). (7) A b
breviation for pounds per square inch.
PSI FUNCTION.
(1) The name given by
Gibbs to the function ^ = U TS, where U
is the internal energy, T, the absolute tem
perature, S, the entropy and if/ the psi func
tion, which is discussed in this book under
free energy (2). It is also known as the Helm
holtz free energy, and is perhaps best known

today as the work function. (2 ) A thermo

dynam ic function, also known as the Massieu
function, and defined by the equation

where S, U and T have the meanings given

in ( 1 ) above. This is a less common usage
than (1).
(See also thermodynamic poten
tials.)
P-SPACE. The same as momentum space.
p is the sym bol often used for momentum, or
its analogue, crystal momentum.
p-STATE. A state of one % unit of orbital
angular momentum, where ft is the Planck
constant h divided by 2tt. For a one-electron
atom, p-states are characterized by the
spherical surface harmonics Y i 0t1(^, <f>).
PSYCHROMETER. A com bination of wetand dry-bulb thermometers. A conventional
sling psychrometer consists of two thermom
eters mounted parallel, with the wet bulb
slightly lower than the dry. This instrument
is whirled at approximately 3 m per sec for
3 or more minutes until the wet-bulb reading
reaches a steady reading. The difference be
tween dry- and wet-bulb reading is known
as the w et-bulb depression and is correlated
to other humidity criteria in tabular or graph
form for instant use.
PTM.
tion.

Abbreviation for pulse-time modula

p-TYPE CONDUCTIVITY.
P-type.
PU.

See conductivity,

Abbreviation for pickup.

PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM. A sound re

producing apparatus for use in addressing
large assemblages.
PULFRICH REFRACTOMETER.
fractometer, Pulfrich.

See re-

PULLING FIGURE. The difference between

the maximum and minimum frequencies
reached by an oscillator when the phase angle
of the reflection coefficient at the load imped
ance varies through 360 and the absolute
value of this coefficient is constant and at
a specified value, usually 0.20.
(Voltage
standing wave ratio, 1.5.)

PULLING, FREQUENCY. A change of the

generated frequency of an oscillator caused
by a change in load impedance.
PULL-IN VALUES (RELAY).
pick-up.

See values,

PULL-ON VALUES (RELAY).

pick-up (relay).

See values,

PULSE. (1) A variation of a quantity whose

value is normally constant; this variation is
characterized by a rise and decay, and has a
finite duration. ( 2 ) A waveform whose dura
tion is short compared to the time-scale of
interest, and whose initial and final values are
the same. The word pulse normally refers
to a variation in tim e; when the variation is
in some other dimension, it shall be so speci
fied, such as space pulse. This definition
is broad so that it covers almost any transient
phenomenon. The only features common to
all pulses are rise, finite duration, and decay.
It is necessary that the rise, duration, and
decay be of a quantity that is constant (not
necessarily zero) for some time before the
pulse and has the same constant value for
some time afterwards. The quantity has a
normally constant value and is perturbed dur
ing the pulse. N o relative time scale can be
assigned.
PULSE AMPLITUDE. A general term in
dicating the magnitude of a pulse. For spe
cific designation, adjectives such as average,
instantaneous, peak, rms (effective), etc.,
should be used to indicate the particular
meaning intended. Pulse amplitude is meas
ured with respect to the normally constant
value, unless otherwise stated.
PULSE AMPLITUDE, AVERAGE.
The
average of the instantaneous amplitude taken ,
over the pulse duration.
PULSE AMPLITUDE, AVERAGE ABSO
LUTE. The average of the absolute value of
the instantaneous amplitude taken over the
pulse duration. B y absolute value is meant
the arithmetic value, regardless o f algebraic
sign.
PULSE-AMPLITUDE M ODULATION OR
PAM. See modulation, pulse-amplitude or
pam.
PULSE AMPLITUDE, PEAK. The maxi
mum absolute peak value of the pulse, exclud

ing those portions considered to be unwanted,

such as spikes. Where such exclusions are
made, it is desirable that the amplitude chosen
be illustrated pictorially.
PULSE AM PLITUDE, RMS (EFFECTIVE).
The square root of the average of the square
of the instantaneous amplitude, taken over
the pulse duration.
PULSE (S), BIDIRECTIONAL. Pulses, some
of which rise in one direction and the re
mainder in the other direction.
PULSE (S), BLANKING. Pulse produced to
blank out signal caused by the return sweep
of the cathode-ray beam in both the camera
tube and the cathode-ray tube.
PULSE CARRIER. A carrier consisting of
a series of pulses. Usually, pulse carriers are
employed as subcarriers.
PULSE CARRIER, CREST FACTOR OF.
The ratio of the peak pulse amplitude (see
pulse amplitude, peak) to the root-m eansquare amplitude.
(See pulse amplitude,
rms.)
PULSE, CARRIER FREQUENCY. A car
rier, amplitude-modulated (see modulation,
amplitude) by a pulse. The amplitude of
the modulated carrier is zero before and after
the pulse. Coherence of the carrier (with it
self) is not implied.
PULSE, CLOUD (IN A CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBE). The output resulting from space
charge effects produced by the turning on or
off of the electron beam.
PULSE CODE.

See code, pulse.

PULSE-CODE M ODULATION (PCM).

modulation, pulse-code (PCM).

See

PULSE, COMPOSITE. In pulse navigational

systems a pulse composed of a series of over
lapping pulses received from the same source
via several paths.
PULSE DECAY TIM E.
pulse.

See time, decay,

PULSE DELAY, RECEIVER.

ducer pulse delay.

See trans

PULSE-DEMODER (CONSTANT - DELAY

DISCRIMINATOR).
A circuit which re
sponds only to pulse signals which have a

certain spacing between pulses for which the

device is adjusted.
(Contrast with pulsemoder.)
PULSE, DRIVE.
A pulse magnetomotive
force applied to a magnetic cell from one or
more sources.
PULSE DROOP. A distortion of an other
wise essentially flat-topped rectangular pulse,
characterized by a decline of the pulse top.
PULSE, DUNKING. Colloquialism for the
recycling pulse employed in some amplitude
selection circuits.
PULSE DURATION. (1) The time interval
between the first and last instants at which
the instantaneous amplitude reaches a stated
fraction of the peak pulse amplitude.
(See
pulse amplitude, peak.)
( 2 ) The duration
of a rectangular pulse whose energy and peak
power equal those of the pulse in question.
When determining the peak power, any
transients of relatively short duration are fre
quently ignored.
PULSE-DURATION M ODULATION OR
PDM.
See modulation, pulse-duration or
PDM.
PULSE, ENABLING. A pulse which pre
pares a circuit for some subsequent action.
PULSE(S), EQUALIZING. Pulses at twice
the line frequency, occurring just before and
just after the vertical synchronizing pulses
in television transmission.
The equalizing
pulses minimize the effect of line-frequency
pulses on the interlace.
PULSE FLATNESS, DEVIATION FROM.
The difference between the maximum and
minimum amplitudes of a pulse divided by
the maximum amplitude, all taken between the
first and last knees of the pulse.
PULSE-FREQUENCY M ODULATION.
modulation, pulse-frequency.

See

PULSE FREQUENCY
pulse spectrum.

See

SPECTRUM.

PULSE, FRUIT. A pulse reply received as

the result of interrogation of a transponder
by interrogators not associated with the re
sponsor in question.
PULSE
pulse.

GENERATOR.

See

generator,

PU LSE, G H O ST.

See ghost signals.

PU LSE H E IG H T A N ALYZER.
A device
which records or counts a pulse only if the
amplitude of the pulse falls within specified
limits (single channel) or within specified sets
of limits (m ulti-channel). It thus yields the
pulse height spectrum of a group of pulses.
In many applications this gives the energy
spectrum of nuclear radiations. It is some
times called a differential discriminator.
PU LSE H E IG H T SE LE C TO R . A circuit de
signed to select and pass voltage pulses in a
certain range of amplitudes.
PU LSE, INHIBIT. A drive pulse (see pulse,
drive) that tends to prevent flux reversal of a
magnetic cell by certain specified drive pulses.
PU LSE IN T E R L E A V IN G .
A process in
which pulses from two or more sources are
combined in tim e-division multiplex for trans
mission over a common path.
PU LSE IN T E R V A L .

See pulse spacing.

PU LSE -IN TE R V A L M O D U L A T IO N .
modulation, pulse-interval.
PU LSE L E A D IN G E D G E .
tion of the rise of a pulse.

See

See

PU LSE M O D E .
(1) A finite sequence of
pulses in a prearranged pattern, used for
selecting and isolating a communication chan
nel. (2) The prearranged pattern.
PU LSE -M O D ER . A device for producing a
pulse mode. (Contrast with pulse-demoder.)
PU LSE M O D E , SPURIOUS. An unwanted
pulse mode, formed by the chance com bina
tion of two or more pulse modes, which is in
distinguishable from a pulse interrogation or
pulse reply.
PU LSE
pulse.

M O D U L A T IO N .

See modulation,

PU LSE M O D U L A T IO N , C A T H O D E .
modulation, cathode.

See

PU LSE M O D U L A T IO N , P L A TE . See modu

lation, plate.
PULSE
pulse.

M ODULATOR.

See

PULSE, PARTIAL-READ.
incident-current.

modulator,

See selection, co

PULSE, PARTIAL-WRITE.
coincident-current.

See selection,

PULSE PHASE M ODULATION

See modulation, pulse position.

(PPM).

PULSE POWER, CARRIER-FREQUENCY,

PEAK. See peak pulse power, carrier-frequency.
PULSE POWER, PEAK.
pulse.

See power, peak

PULSE, RADIO-FREQUENCY.
A radio
frequency carrier, amplitude-modulated by a
pulse. The amplitude of the modulated car
rier is zero before and after the pulse. Co
herence of the carrier (with itself) is not im
plied.
PULSE RATE.

The m ajor por

PU LSE -LE N G TH
M O D U L A T IO N .
modulation, pulse-duration.

PULSE PACKET. In radar, the volume of

space occupied by the radar pulse energy.

PULSE, READ.

See repetition rate.

See state, one.

PULSE REGENERATION. The process of

restoring pulses to their original relative tim
ings, forms, an d /or magnitudes. In many de
vices, pulses may become distorted due to
phase or amplitude distortion, limiting, or
other processes. It is often desirable to re
store the pulse to something resembling its
original form before it has become so dis
torted that the original information which it
contains is com pletely destroyed. This proc
ess is normally called pulse regeneration.
PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY. The
pulse repetition rate of a periodic pulse train.
PULSE REPETITION PERIOD. The recip
rocal of the pulse repetition frequency.
PULSE REPETITION RATE (PR F).
repetition rate.

See

PULSE REPLY. The transmission of a pulse

or pulse mode by a transponder as the result
of an interrogation.
PULSE, RESET. A drive pulse (see pulse,
drive) which tends to reset a magnetic cell.
PULSERS IN MICROWAVES. The gener
ator o f an essentially-rectangular current
pulse to power a pulsed microwave oscillator.

T hey are of two varieties, the first of which

is the vacuum-tube (hard-tube) pulser which
discharges a capacitor through the load. The
second is the line-type pulser which charges
an open-ended transmission line through a
high impedance, and discharges it through
the load.
PULSE, SELECTOR. A pulse which is used
to identify for selection one event in a series
of events.
PULSE SEPARATION. The interval between
the trailing-edge pulse-time of one pulse and
the leading-edge pulse-time of the succeeding
pulse.

PULSE, SINGLE-POLARITY.
unidirectional.

See

pulse,

PULSE SPIKE. An unwanted pulse of rela

tively short duration superimposed on the
main pulse. This term came into wide use in
radar to define the first part of the pulse fed
through a TR tube. This portion contains
most of the pulse energy, has a duration about
1 0 ~ 3 that of the rest of the pulse, and an
amplitude up to 1 0 6 to 1 0 9 times that of the
rest of the pulse. Seen on a cathode-ray tube,
it looks like a spike sticking up from the pulse.
B y extension, the term has come to be ap
plied to any unwanted pulse of relatively short
duration, superimposed on the wanted pulse.

PULSE, SERRATED. In television the ver

tical synchronizing signal, which is divided
into six equal pulses which are preceded and
succeeded by six equalizing pulses.
(See
television, synchronizing signal.)

PULSE SPIKE AMPLITUDE.

The peak
pulse amplitude of the pulse spike.

PULSE, SET. A drive pulse (see pulse, drive)

which tends to set a magnetic cell.

PULSE, SYNCHRONIZING LINE. In tele

vision, the horizontal synchronizing signal.

PULSE SHAPER. A transducer used for

changing one or more characteristics of a
pulse. This term includes pulse regenerators.

PULSE TILT. A distortion in an otherwise

essentially flat-topped rectangular pulse, char
acterized by either a decline or a rise of the
pulse top.

PULSE SHAPING. Intentionally changing

the shape of a pulse.
PULSE SPACING (PULSE INTERVAL).
The interval between the corresponding pulse
times of two consecutive pulses. The term
pulse interval is deprecated because it may
be taken to mean the duration of the pulse
instead of the space or interval from one pulse
to the next. Neither term means the space
between pulses.
PULSE SPECTRUM (PULSE FREQUENCY
SPECTRUM). The frequency distribution of
the sinusoidal components of the pulse in rela
tive amplitude and in relative phase. The
definition of this term is phrased to convey
the idea that the spectrum is a complex
(phasor) function of frequency, and to ex
press this function most nearly in a manner
which corresponds to the method of measur
ing it (i.e., measuring amplitude and phase
separately).
PULSE, SHIFT. A drive pulse (see pulse,
drive) which initiates shifting of characters
in a register.

PULSE STRETCHER. A device for increas

ing the duration of a pulse with little or no
change in its other characteristics.

PULSE TIME.

See time, pulse entries.

PULSE-TIME MODULATION.
tion, pulse-time.
PULSE TRAIN.

See modula

A sequence of pulses.

PULSE TRAIN, BIDIRECTIONAL. A pulse

train, some pulses of which rise in one direc
tion and the remainder in the other direction.
PULSE TRAIN, PERIODIC. A pulse train
made up of identical groups of pulses, the
groups repeating at regular intervals.
PULSE-TRAIN
SPECTRUM
( PULSETRAIN FREQUENCY-SPECTRUM).
The
frequency distribution of the sinusoidal com
ponents of the pulse-train in amplitude and
in phase angle.
PULSE TRAIN, UNIDIRECTIONAL.
A
pulse train in which all pulses rise in the same
direction. A unidirectional pulse.
PULSE, UNIDIRECTIONAL. A pulse in
which pertinent departures from the normally
constant value occur in one direction only.

This is sometimes called single-polarity

pulse, a term which is deprecated.
PULSE VALLEY. The part of the pulse be
tween two specified maxima. Unless other
wise specified, it is to be understood that the
maxima are the first and the last.
PULSE W ID T H .
pulse duration.)

A deprecated usage.

PULSE-W IDTH M ODULATION.

ulation, pulse-duration.
PULSE, W RITE.
PULSING,
pulsing.

(See

See mod

See state, one.

FREQUENCY.

See

frequency

PULSING M ETH O D OF MEASURING

VELOCITIES IN LIQUIDS.
The speed
and attenuation for longitudinal waves in liq
uids are measured by transmitting short acous
tic pulses through the liquid. The time of
transmission can be compared with that for
a radio signal to cover the same distance.
PUMP. See amplifier, parametric, and entries
following.
PUMP, DIFFUSION. Pressures of the order
of 1 0 6 1 0 _ 8 millimeter of mercury can not
be obtained in a high vacuum system through
the use of a mechanical pump alone. A t this
point an equilibrium pressure is reached so
that any farther lowering of the pressure can
take place only by inserting between the me
chanical pump and the vacuum system an
auxiliary pump which is capable of pumping
of the order of one to several hundred liters
(at the pressure of the high vacuum side of
the system, 1 0 6 1 0 8 millimeters of mer
cury) of gas per second from the high vacuum
side of the system into the fore vacuum region
(the region from which the mechanical pump
evacuates gas), which has a pressure of the
order of 10 2 millimeters of mercury. The
diffusion pump is ideally suited to serve as
this auxiliary pump. The principle of opera
tion of the diffusion pump may be outlined
briefly as follows. Consider a rectangular box
which has been divided into three regions A ,
B , and C by inserting two partitions. Region
A is a furnace or boiler containing a liquid of
high molecular weight, such as mercury or a
low vapor pressure oil, which is in equilibrium
with its vapor at the boiling point o f the liquid.
Assume that there is an opening between

region A and B which is in the form of an

orifice which will allow a rather well defined
beam of molecules to leave A and pass across
region B and through an opening in the wall
into region C, which is cooled well below the
boiling point of the liquid in boiler A. The
molecules of vapor leaving A will be condensed
into the liquid on striking the interior walls of
C where this liquid will be collected and al
lowed to flow back into the boiler A. Now, if
region B contains a low molecular weight gas
G such as air at a low enough pressure so that
the molecules of the molecular beam leaving A
will undergo not more than one collision with
molecules o f G in traversing region B, mole
cules of G which are struck will acquire an
added momentum directed towards the open
ing into box C, while the molecules coming
from the boiler will, due to their large molecu
lar weight, not be deflected enough by such
collisions to keep them from entering region C.
Thus, due to the diffusion of molecules of G
into the beam and the resulting momentum
picked up by those that undergo collisions,
there will be a flow of the gas G from region
B into C until the difference in the pressure of
G in B and C leads to a compensating flow of
G from C to B and an equilibrium is reached.
Since this equilibrium pressure difference,
which depends on the size of the orifice be
tween B and C, is usually of the order of a
few times 1 0 _ 1 millimeter of mercury, the de
vice described will act as a pump in moving
gas from region B to region C as long as the
pressure in C is kept below about 1 0 1 m illi
meter of mercury with a mechanical fore pump.
Therefore, if region B is connected to the high
vacuum part of a vacuum system, this crude
diffusion pump would serve as the auxiliary
pump mentioned above. W ith a more sophisti
cated design than the crude one used for dis
cussion, pumps, using mercury for the pump
vapor, have been built which will pump many
liters per second from systems at 1 0 7 milli
meters of mercury into reasonable fore vacua.
Pumps have been built using low vapor pres
sure oils which have capacities of hundreds of
liters per second.
One complication arises with all diffusion
pumps. Because of lack of definition of the
beam of pumping molecules, and because some
molecules are scattered from the beam, a resi
due of those molecules fail to pass from B to
C. They condense on the walls and so con

tribute their vapor pressure to B and to the

region being evacuated.
Unless the vapor
pressure of the pumping liquid (at room tem
perature) is well below the pressure desired,
it is necessary to insert a refrigerated trap
(2) between B and the vacuum system and to
maintain this trap at a temperature at which
the vapor pressure of the pumping liquid is
negligibly small.
For specific designs, see entries under dif
fusion pump and pump.
PUMP FREQUENCY. See maser, three level
and amplifier, parametric.
PUMPING. ( 1 ) A term used in maser tech
nology, for example in the use of radiation of
frequency vi3 (the pumping frequency) to in
duce transitions in a three level maser from
the ground state 1 to the excited state 3 .
M aser action is then possible from the now
populated state 3 to the intermediate state 2,
with the emission of radiation of a lower fre
quency v32 (the am plifying frequency). (See
maser, three level.)
( 2 ) In parametric amplifiers, the periodic
variation of a circuit parameter by a driver.
The frequency of the driver is the pumping
frequency.
(See amplifier, parametric.)
(3) The term optical pumping is used for
the process whereby particular atomic sublevels are populated, for example by the ab
sorption of circularly polarized resonance ra
diation. It finds use in atomic and nuclear
magnetic orientation and in the production of
coherent emission light sources.
(See, for
example, Franzen and Enzlie, Phys. R ev., Vol.
108, p. 1453 (1957) ; Bell and Bloom , P h ys.
R ev., Vol. 109, p. 218 (1958) ; Griffiths and
D icke, R ev. Sci. Inst., Vol. 28, p. 646 (1957).)
(4) The process of removing gases and
vapors from a vacuum system.
PUMP, OIL-VAPOR.
A diffusion pump
which uses a low vapor-pressure oil as its
working fluid.
PUMP, SELF-FRACTIONATING.
An oil
diffusion pump which incorporates a fraction
ating device which provides for the segrega
tion of the more volatile constituents of the
oil into regions where they will do no harm,
and also isolates the non-volatile tarry resi
dues formed by chemical association of the
products of cracking with the original oil
molecules or with one another.

PUMP, TITANIUM. A vacuum pump which

uses titanium as a getter. For fast pumping,
electrons from a hot cathode or other source
are provided, so that positive ions of any
residual gases or vapors may be produced.
The action, therefore, is not simple gettering.
In sealed off glass systems, pressures of 10 7
to 1 0 ~ 8 millimeters of mercury are achievable.
PUMP, VACUUM. Meanings of this term in
clude not only the original sense of a me
chanical device designed to remove gases and
vapors from a closed container, but also a con
stantly growing variety of other devices that,
used in combination with a mechanical pump,
serve the same general purpose. Reciprocating
piston pumps are limited by leakage and can
seldom reduce the pressure to much less than
one millimeter of mercury. Such pumps have
been replaced, almost universally, by devices
in which a solid rotating cylinder rotates
within a hollow cylinder, having its shaft ec
centric, so that the two cylinders touch along
a single line of tangency (see pump, vacuum,
Gaede rotary oil). Pressures down to 10-4
millimeters are thus made available.
For better evacuation, diffusion pumps (see
pump, diffusion and related entries) are gen
erally used to achieve pressures of 1 0 - 5 milli
meters to 10 7 millimeters.
All diffusion
pumps deliver the gases removed from the
system to a mechanical pump, not directly to
the atmosphere.
Among the devices to which the term
vacuum pump is applied in a less strict sense
are those employing getters, such as barium,
aluminum, or titanium, and ionization gauges
(see gauge, ionization and related entries)
which act to reduce the pressure in a system
previously evacuated by mechanical or diffu
sion pumps to values as low as 1 0 10 milli
meters of mercury and the vacuum system has
been sealed off from the pumps, usually after
baking at 300C to 450C to accomplish outgassing.
PUMP, VACUUM, BACKING. A pump de
signed to produce a rough fore-vacuum (of
the order of a fraction of an atmosphere) into
which a high-vacuum pump can work.
PUMP, VACUUM FORE. A backing vacuum
pump which maintains a low enough pressure
so that a diffusion pump can operate into it.
Modern forepumps produce pressure down to
about 0 . 0 0 1 mm of mercury.

PUMP, VACUUM , GAEDE ROTARY OIL.

A pump consisting of a steel cylinder, tra
versed by a diametral slot, rotating about its
axis, which is set eccentrically in a cylindrical
steel casing so that the cylinder is in contact
with the casing along the top. T w o vanes,
working in the slot, are pushed apart by a
spring, and slide against the casing as the
cylinder rotates. Inlet and outlet ports are
provided, one on either side of the line of
contact of cylinder and casing. The whole
mechanism is immersed in an oil bath with the
opening of the outlet part below the surface
of the oil. As the cylinder rotates gas is
sucked in from the inlet port and swept along
and rejected into the outlet port. The oil
serves as a lubricant and to seal dead spaces.
PUMP, VACUUM , MOLECULAR. A pump
consisting of a drum which rotates at high
speed within a cylindrical casing, arranged
so that the clearance between them around
part of the circumference is exceedingly small.
The rotation of the drum imparts to the mole
cules colliding with it a drift in the direction
o f rotation, thus the equilibrium pressures at
the ends of the tighter-fitting section of the
casing are different.
PUMP, VACUUM , PUMPING SPEED OF.
The volume of gas extracted by a pump in
unit time, measured at the mean pressure pre
vailing in the vacuum vessel during that time.
PUMP, VACUUM , TAEPLER MERCURY.
A pump whose operation depends on first pro
ducing a Torricellian vacuum above a column
of mercury, allowing this to communicate with
the vessel to be evacuated, and finally sweep
ing the gas away with mercury, this cycle of
operations being repeated again and again.
PUMP, VACUUM , WATER-JET (ASPIRA
T O R ). A pump consisting of an enclosed
nozzle through which a jet of water flows.
The jet entrains air molecules in the enclos
ing chamber, thus reducing the pressure in the
chamber.
PUNCH THROUGH.
A common-emitter
voltage breakdown effect in transistors. As
the collector-em itter potential is increased the
depth of penetration of the collector-depletion
layer increases. A t a certain punch through
potential, the collector-depletion layer extends
com pletely through the base region so that it

merges with the emitter-depletion region.

Transistor action ceases above this potential,
and the emitter voltage then increases with
the collector voltage.
PUPIL.

See entrance pupil; exit pupil.

PURE TONE.

See tone, simple.

PURITY (C O L O R ).
purity).

See purity (excitation

PURITY (EXCITATION PURITY).

The
ratio of the distance from the reference point
to the point representing the sample, to the
distance along the same straight line from the
reference point to the spectrum locus or to
the purple boundary, both distances being
measured (in the same direction from the
reference point) on the C IE chromaticity dia
gram. The reference point is the point in the
chromaticity diagram which represents the
reference standard light mentioned in the
definition of dominant wavelength.
PURITY, COLORIMETRIC. The ratio of
the luminance of a spectrally-homogeneous
component to the luminance of the white
(achromatic) light with which it must be
mixed, in order to match the chromaticity of
a sample of light.
PURITY MAGNET.
ity.

See magnet, color pur

PURITY, SPECTRAL. As applied to radiant

energy, the property of having a single wave
length.
PURKINJE EFFECT. W ith a good level of
illumination, the spectral sensitivity o f the
normal eye is greatest in the yellow-green
region. As the illumination is reduced, the
maximum sensitivity shifts toward the blue.
This shift is called the Purkinje effect.
PURPLE BOUNDARY.
The straight line
drawn between the ends of the spectrum locus.
(See figure in definition of chromaticity dia
gram.)
PUSH-PULL AMPLIFIER.
balanced (push-pull).

See amplifier,

PUSH-PULL CURRENT(S). See current(s),

push-pull; current(s), balanced.
PUSH-PULL ENERGIZATION.
A term
used in electronics to describe a symmetrical

excitation supplied to a network having mirror

symmetry about a neutral, or grounded, point.
H igh-power audio amplifiers are often ar
ranged in a symmetrical push-pull arrange
ment, with two tubes driving a centertapped transformer primary. The symmetry
produces cancellation of even-order harmon
ics, primarily the second harmonic. (See also
amplifier, balanced.)
PUSH-PUSH CIRCUIT. A circuit em ploy
ing two similar tubes with grids connected in
phase opposition and plates in parallel to a
common load, and usually used as a frequency
multiplier to emphasize even-order harmonics.
PW M .
tion.

Abbreviation for pulse-width modula

PWR.

Abbreviation for power.

PYCNOMETER.
A device for measuring
densities of liquids. It is a container of accurately-known capacity that can be com
pletely filled with the liquid. The mass of
liquid is then determined by weighing. A
familiar design is the specific gravity bottle.
PYRAMID. A polyhedron with a polygon
on one face and with triangles as the other
faces, these meeting in a common vertex.
PYRANOL.
Trade name for an Askarel
(chlorinated synthetic) imprgnant for paper
capacitors.
PYRANOMETER. An instrument measuring
radiation from sun or sky by its heating action
upon two blackened metallic strips, as com
pared with the electric current which produces
the same heating effect. Com m only the two
blackened strips differ greatly in thickness,
and hence the temperature rise on exposure to
radiation is less in the thick strip than in the
thin one.
PYRGEOMETER. An instrument measuring
radiation from the earths surface into space.
It has both blackened and polished areas; the
former cool more rapidly by radiation from
them, and the heating electric current neces
sary to prevent this differential cooling meas
ures the amount of radiation.
PYRHELIOMETER.
An instrument for
measuring the total intensity of solar radia

tion, both direct and scattered by the at

mosphere.
PYRISTOR. Trade name for a current-sensi
tive switch for overload protection and for
current-operated triggering devices.
PYROELECTRIC PHENOMENA. Phenom
ena by which charge separation in crystals
may be brought about through heating. One
substance exhibiting this effect is tourmaline.
PYROMETER. In earlier usage a pyrometer
was a device for measuring high temperatures,
but these instruments are now used also for
temperatures in the same range as thermom
eters, and below the thermometric range.
Four major types of pyrometer are the
thermoelectric pyrometer (thermal or thermo
couple) , the resistance pyrometer, the optical
pyrometer (see pyrometer, optical) and the
(total) radiation pyrometer.
PYROMETER, OPTICAL. Several pyrom
eters have been devised, by means of which
the temperature of a very hot surface is deter
mined from its incandescent brightness. One
commercial type is illustrated in the figure.
M F

i ^ o
Arrangement of parts of optical pyrometer (diagram
matic).

The hot body is viewed through a sort of tele

scope, whose objective L produces at F a real
image of the glowing surface. A t this point
a lamp filament F is placed, which is thus
viewed through the eyepiece E against the hot
surface as a background. A monochromatic
filter M is interposed before both, so that their
brightness is compared in one spectral region
only. The current in the filament is so ad
justed by means of the rheostat R that the
filament becomes invisible against the bright
background. The ammeter A then gives the
current, from which the temperature m ay be
deduced; or the ammeter scale may be grad
uated to read temperatures directly. In an
other type the balance is secured by keeping
the current constant and introducing an ab
sorbing wedge between the filament and the
objective, as in a wedge photometer, In still

others, the temperature is determined, not by

the total brightness, but by the relative bright
ness at two selected wavelengths.

tive temperature ranges are used, and the in

crease in kiln temperature is judged from the
progressive deformation of the cones.

PYROMETRIC CONES. Small cones that

differ in the temperatures at which they soften
on heating. They are made of clay and other
ceramic materials and are used in the ceramic
industries to show furnace temperatures with
in ranges. In practice, three or four of the
cones which have softening points at consecu

PROMETRY.
temperatures.

The art of measuring high

PYTHAGOREAN SCALE. A musical scale

such that the frequency intervals are repre
sented by the ratios of integral powers of the
numbers 2 and 3.

Q
Q. (1) A figure of merit of an energy-storing
system equal to
/
average energy stored
\
27r I Venergy dissipated per half cy cle /
which is equal to mL/R for an inductor, where
R is the equivalent series resistance. For a
capacitor, Q is l/wCJ?, again the ratio of re
actance to effective resistance. This param
eter is also called the storage factor or the
quality factor. For a medium, Q is the ratio
of displacement current density to conduction
current density. The basic equation may also
be expanded to include series and parallel
resonant circuits, for which cases appropriate
approximate equations may also be developed
(see sharpness of resonance). ( 2 ) Quantity
of heat, light, or energy (Q ) . (3) Electric
charge (Q or q ). (4) H eat entering system
(q ). (5) Moment of area (Q ). ( 6 ) Electric
quadrupole moment of atomic nucleus (Q ).
(7) Thermoelectric power (Q ).
(8) Maxi
mum permissible body burden of a radionu
clide (q ).
Q-BAND.

See band(s), frequency.

Q-BRANCH.

See Fortrat parabola.

Q, DECREM ENT MEASUREMENT OF.

The measurement of the Q of resonant sys
tems by observing the rate of decay of energy
stored. The equation for Q may be expressed
as
energy at time t
energy at time to
where co is the radian frequency of oscillation,
and zero energy is added between 0 and t.
Q DETERM INATION BY VSWR MEAS
UREMENT. Q is equal to twice the recipro
cal of the percentage change in the frequency
applied to a resonant circuit required to change
its power to 50% of that at resonance. In
microwave systems this change in power is
most easily determined by V SW R (voltage

standing wave ratio) measurements. This re

lationship is only approximate for values of
Q below ten.
Q-ELECTRON.
An electron characterized
by having a principal quantum number of
seven.
Q, EXTERNAL, EFFECTIVE.
Figure of
merit describing the immunity of an oscillator
tube from frequency shift due to change in
output loading. This figure, QX1 is related to
the pulling figure A/ as follow s: Qx = 0.42//A /.
Q, LOAD ED (SW ITCH ING TUBES). The
unloaded Q of the tube modified by the coupled
impedances. As here used, Q is equal to 2 ?r
times the energy stored at the resonance fre
quency divided by the energy dissipated per
cycle in the tube or, for cell type tubes, in the
tube and its external resonant circuit.
Q MEASUREMENT BY TRANSMISSION
(B A N D W ID T H ) (IM P E D A N CE).
Q is
equal to twice the reciprocal of the percentage
change in the frequency applied to a resonant
circuit required to change its impedance to a
value different from its resonant impedance
b y a factor of V 2 . This relationship is only
approximate, but is quite accurate for values
of Q in excess of ten.
Q-NUMBER THEORY.
Second quantized
field theory in which wave functions are re
placed by operators which in general do not
commute. (See second quantization.)
Q OF A CIRCUIT, UNLOADED OR IN
TRINSIC. The basic Q of the circuit by it
self.
Q-SHELL. The collection of electrons char
acterized by the principal quantum number
seven. The Q-shell is started, it is believed,
with the element francium (atomic number =
87) and the elements of higher atomic num
ber have electrons in Q-shells.
Q SIGNAL. A set of three-letter symbols
beginning with the letter Q which serve as

abbreviated messages as standardized by the

International List of Abbreviations for Teleg
raphy.
QUADRANT ELECTROMETER. Discussed
under electrometer.
QUADRATIC EQUATION IN T W O VARI
ABLES. Its general form is A x2 + B xy +
C y 2 + D x + E y + F = 0 and its curve is a
conic section. The nature of the curve is
determined by the invariant of the equation, I
and the discriminant, A.
I = (B 2 - 4A C );

A= *

2A

2C

2F

AA

>0

9 *0

hyperbola
two intersecting straight lines

0
<0

7 *0

parabola
A 9* 0; H = D 2 4AF = 0, one line;
H > 0, two parallel lines;
H < 0, imaginary locus
A 0 , J E 2 ~ 4 C F = 0, one line;
J > 0, two parallel lines;
/ < 0, imaginary locus

QUADRATIC FORMULA. The roots of the

quadratic equation in one variable, ax2 + bx
+ c = 0 are given b y this formula, which is
- b dh v V
x =

thus the surface is symmetric about the co

ordinate origin. It could be an ellipsoid or a
hyperboloid. The other quadric surfaces:
a paraboloid and the degenerate quadrics
(see quadric surface) are non-central quad
rics.

<

aa

When the integral cannot be evaluated in

terms of known functions, numerical, graphi
cal, or mechanical methods may be used.
These are known as approximate or mechani
cal quadratures.
(See numerical integra
tion.) ( 2 ) T o be in quadrature with meaning
77-/2 out of phase with.

A x 2 + B y 2 + Cz2 =

Nature of Curve

0 ellipse; circle if B = 0, A =
imaginary locus
> o
0
a point

y = J f( x ) d x .

QUADRIC, CENTRAL. A special case of a

quadric surface represented by the equation

The possible cases are

it is reduced to quadrature if it may be writ

ten

- 4ac

2a

Its discriminant is D = b2 4ac. I f D > 0 ,

the roots of the equation are real and un
equal; if D = 0, they are real and equal; if
D < 0 , both roots are imaginary.
QUADRATRON. Trade name for a non
linear function generator.
QUADRATURE.
(1) Given a differential
equation of the form F (x ,y ,y ' = dy/dx) = 0 ,

QUADRIC, CONFOCAL. A system of three

quadric surfaces having the same foci. Sec
tions of these surfaces through their axes are
confocal conics. The quadrics composing the
system are represented by the equation

A q

V
B q

= 1

C q

where A > B > C and q is a variable param

eter. W hen q is negative or less than C , the
surface is an ellipsoid; if B > q > C, a h y
perboloid of one sheet; if A > q > B, a h y
perboloid of two sheets; if q > A } the quadric
is imaginary. The three surfaces are mutu
ally orthogonal and are used as a curvilinear
system called ellipsoidal coordinates. If two
of the constants A, B, C become equal, quad
rics o f revolution result; if all three are equal,
the quadric is a sphere.
QUADRIC, DEGENERATE.
surface.

See quadric

QUADRIC SURFACE. A ny of the surfaces

represented in Cartesian coordinates by an
algebraic equation of the second degree in
three variables
A x 2 + B y2 + Cz2 + 2 Fyz +
+

H xy +

Px +

Gxz

Qy + 2 Rz + D =

Special cases, determined by relations be

tween the constants A, B, are ellipsoids,
hyperboloids, paraboloids and the degener
ate quadrics: conical and cylindrical surfaces,
lines, or points. (Also called a conicoid.)
QUADRIPOLE RESONANCE.
nance, nuclear, quadripole.

See

reso

QUADRUPLE POINT. The temperature at

which four phases are in equilibrium. An
example is the case in which an anhydrous
salt, a hydrate of the salt, its saturated solu
tion, and its water vapor are in equilibrium
in a salt-water system.
QUADRUPLE PRODUCT OF VECTORS.
I f A, B, C, D are any four vectors, two types
of products are possible:
(1)

(AXB).(CXD)
= (A -C )(B -D ) -

(2)

(A -D )(B -C );

(A X B) X (C X D)
= (A C X D)B -

(B -C X D)A.

The latter equation is also conveniently written

in the equivalent form
[ACD]B -

[BCD]A = [ABD]C -

[ABC]D,

where the bracket signifies the scalar triple

product.
(See also vector system, recipro
cal; vector product; scalar product; triple
product.)
QUADRUPOLE. Let a collection of electric
or magnetic charges be distributed around a
point; for example, the center of mass of a
system of atoms, molecules, or nuclei. The
potential at a distance r from this point may
be represented by an infinite series of terms
in inverse powers of r. The term in the in
verse first power is the Coulomb potential,
the inverse second power term is the dipole
potential, the inverse third power term is the
quadrupole potential, etc. A typical example
is an array of four charges of equal magnitude
so spaced that they coincide with the vertices
o f a parallelogram. Charges located on op
posite vertices are of the same sign; the dis
tance of separation between charges is taken
to be of the order of molecular or infinitesimal
dimensions.
(See also multipole moments.)
QUADRUPOLE M OM ENT. When the ra
diation field due to a set of moving electric
or magnetic charges is expanded in a series of

powers of the product of the charges times

space coordinates, the sum of the quadratic
terms is the quadrupole moment. (See also
multipole moments.)
QUADRUPOLE RADIATION.
pole radiation.

See multi

QUADRUPOLE
TRANSITIONS, ELEC
TRIC AND MAGNETIC. A transition in
which electric or magnetic quadrupole radia
tion is emitted. See multipole radiations.
QUALITY FACTOR (Q ).
lated entries.

See Q (1) and re

QUANTIC. A homogeneous algebraic func

tion of two or more variables, in general con
taining only positive integral powers of the
variables, and usually a polynomial in sev
eral variables. Quantics are classified into
quadratic, cubic, quartic, quintic, etc., accord
ing to degree, and into binary, ternary, qua
ternary, etc., according to the number of vari
ables involved. (See also multinomial.)
QUANTIZATION. ( 1 ) An observable quan
tity is said to be quantized when its magnitude
is, in some or all of its range, restricted to a
discrete set of values. I f the magnitude of
the quantity is always a multiple of a definite
unit, then that unit is called the quantum (of
the quantity). (2) In information theory, a
process in which the range of values of a wave
is divided into a finite number o f smaller sub
ranges, each of which is represented by an
assigned or quantized value within the sub
range. Quantized m ay be used as an ad
jective m odifying various forms of modula
tion, for example, quantized pulse-amplitude
modulation.
QUANTIZATION, DIRECTIONAL.
The
angular momentum vector J of a quantum
mechanical system is subject to two restric
tions: (1) The square of its measured magni
tude is

j2 = +
where j can take on either integral or odd half
integral values (but not both) for a given
system. ( 2 ) The measured values of its projec
tion Jp along any chosen direction is
</M= m,
where m may take on any of the ( 2 ; + 1 )
values ; + 1 ,
j. The second

condition is known as spatial quantization or

directional quantization. The reference direc
tion jjl, along which the component J^ is taken
is called the axis of quantization and is, by
convention, usually designated as the 2 -direction o f the coordinate system used for the de
scription of the system. (See also quantum
number; magnetic energy states.)
QUANTIZATION LEVEL. In quantization
(of signals) a particular sub-range, or a sym
bol designating it.
QUANTIZATION
quantization.

NOISE.

See distortion,

QUANTIZATION OF SIGNALS.
tization (2).

See quan

QUANTIZATION POSTULATE.
mutation rules.

See com

QUANTIZATION,
quantization.

SECOND.

See second

QUANTIZE. T o restrict the possible values

of a variable to a discrete number of possible
values.
QUANTIZED FIELD THEORY.
theory, quantized.

See field

QUANTUM. As stated under quantization,

an observable quantity is said to be quan
tized when its magnitude is, in some or all of
its range, restricted to a discrete set of values.
If the magnitude of the quantity is always a
multiple of a definite unit, then that unit is
called the quantum (of the quantity). For
example, the quantum or unit of orbital angu
lar momentum is ft (Dirac ft), and the quan
tum of energy of electromagnetic radiation of
frequency v is hv (where h is the Planck con
stant). In field theories, a field (or the field
equations) is quantized by application of a
proper quantum-mechanical procedure and
this results in the existence of a fundamental
field particle, which m ay be called the field
quantum. Thus the photon is a quantum of
the electromagnetic field and in nuclear field
theories, the meson is considered to be the
quantum of the nuclear field. (See quantum
mechanics.)
QUANTUM D EFECT.
tion.

light or other energy, being in general the

ratio of the number of distinct events pro
duced in a radiation sensitized process to the
number of quanta absorbed (the intensitydistribution of the radiation in frequency or
wavelength should be specified). In the photo
electric and photoconductive effects, the
quantum efficiency is the number of electronic
charges released for each photon absorbed.
For a phototube, the quantum efficiency is de
fined as the average number of electrons pho
tom etrically emitted from the photocathode
per incident photon of a given wavelength.
The quantum efficiency varies with the wave
length, angle of incidence, and polarization of
the incident radiation. In a photochemical
reaction, the quantum efficiency is the ratio
of the number of molecules transformed to the
number of quanta of radiation absorbed.

See Rydberg correc

QUANTUM EFFICIENCY. A measure of

the efficiency of conversion or utilization of

QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS. Quan

tized field theory of the interaction between
electrons, positrons and radiation based on
the quantized form o f the Maxwell equations
and the Dirac electron theory. The theory
is characterized by its remarkably accurate
predictions (see radiative corrections; positronium) and its meaningless results. The
latter arise from divergent integrals which
appear in the development of the theory by
perturbation techniques based on expansion
in powers of the fine structure constant (see
vacuum polarization; self-energy).
These
divergences may be pictured in terms of the
model of a vacuum as consisting of an infinite
sea of negative energy electrons, since the
introduction of a charge into this distribution
causes infinite currents to be induced.
In 1948, techniques introduced by Schwinger and Feynman enabled these difficulties to
be avoided, without being removed. Their
relativistically covariant development of the
theory allowed such infinite terms to be
treated unambiguously, and in particular
terms which are to be understood as electro
dynamic contributions to the charge and mass
of a particle were put in a form which is in
variant under Lorentz transformations. The
program of renormalization of charge and re
normalization of mass then enabled such
terms to be related to the experimentally ob
served charge and mass of the particle. (See
Feynman diagram.)

QUANTUM M ECHANICAL AMPLIFIER.

See amplifier, quantum mechanical.
QUANTUM M ECHANICAL SYSTEM. Any
physical system or model for which the ap
plication of classical mechanics yields nonvalid results and which can be treated by the
application of quantum mechanics.
QUANTUM
MECHANICS
( NON-RELATIVISTIC ). Theory of the motion of a d y
namical system valid, as far as is known, pro
vided that there exists an observer for whom
the momenta of the particles of the system
are small compared with c times their mass.
The quantum theory of the motion of a par
ticle does not depart significantly from the
classical theory, however, unless the frac
tional change in the momentum p over a dis
tance of the order of the de Broglie wave
length A = h/p is greater than, or of the or
der of, unity.
Quantum mechanics devel
oped from the inadequacy of classical me
chanics to describe black-body radiation, the
photoelectric effect and atomic spectra with
out the addition of extra hypotheses postu
lated by Planck, Einstein, and Bohr and Sommerfeld, respectively, and from the inability
of the theory, even supplemented by these
hypotheses, to yield complete agreement with
experiment (as, for example, the spectrum of
helium ).
Quantum mechanics was initiated in 1923
by de Broglie who postulated that a wave of
wavelength A given above accompanies an
electron and showed that the Bohr-Sommerfeld conditions for periodic motion around a
closed path follow from the condition that this
phase wave be tuned to the length of the path.
In the following year the idea of a wave ac
com panying the motion of a particle was
shown by Einstein to arise from the applica
tion of Einstein-Bose statistics (see quantum
statistics) to an ensemble of indistinguishable
particles in the same w ay that the application
of these statistics to electromagnetic radiation
yielded the Planck radiation formula already
known to reveal both the wave and particle
nature of such radiation. In 1926 the Schrodinger equation described the motion of the
de Broglie phase waves under the influence
of an externally applied potential, and the
physical significance of the phase wave ip was
recognized, particularly by Born, by identify

ing \p* ( q k)\p(qk)dT with the probability of

finding the system in the element of configura
tion space dr between qi and qi + d q ly etc.
Independently in 1925 Heisenberg developed
a calculus of observable quantities, represent
ing dynamical variables such as momentum,
position, etc., by means of matrices, the time
rate of change of a variable X being given by
ifiX = X H - II X
where H is the Ham iltonian of the system.
This formulation (matrix mechanics) of quan
tum theory is equivalent to the Schrdinger
formulation (wave mechanics) but emphasizes
the role played by the observer in the measure
ment of a physical quantity and the fact that
natural limits imposed on measurements which
he makes must be incorporated into a theory
which purports to describe such measurements.
Thus, in particular, to specify the momentum p
and corresponding position of a particle is
strictly speaking not legitimate since the very
measurement of the one will lead to an unpre
dictability of the other given by the Heisen
berg uncertainty principle Ax Ap ~ ft. D y
namical variables which cannot be measured si
multaneously with arbitrary precision are thus
represented b y matrices, or, more generally,
operators, which may not commute, while a
system in the state \p has a definite value for
the dynamical variable A if \p is an eigen
function of the operator A , i.e., A\p = a\p
(a = number). Thus if A and B do not com
mute 1p cannot be at once an eigenfunction of
both A and B. A system in an eigenstate of
energy is thus described b y the equation
H\p = Exp where H is the Hamiltonian of the
system. In the Schrdinger representation
(wave mechanics) \p is regarded as a function
of position and time and the momentum p
appearing in the Hamiltonian is represented by
the operator ifi grad, which automatically
yields the com m utation rule piXj XjPi =
ifih ij.
In the Heisenberg representation
(matrix mechanics) the position and momen
tum are represented by matrices which satisfy
this commutation relation, and by a con
stant vector in Hilbert space, the eigenvalues
E being the same in the two cases. (See oper
ators, quantum mechanical.)
The Hamiltonian of a particular system is
formally identical with that of the classical
theory, the simplest, for one particle of mass
m m oving in a potential F, being

which in the Schrdinger representation gives

the Schrdinger equation

h2

--------V2 + V ) + = E t .
2m
/
In the presence of a magnetic field B derived
from the vector potential A it is necessary to
replace

p = ihV
by

and in addition to note the contribution p B

to the energy arising from the magnetic m o
ment |i of the particle. The vector |jl is itself
an operator, being, for an electron, (e/mc) S
where S is the electron spin S = (S/2)<r, the
components of <r being the Pauli spin opera
tors. The value e/mc for the electron gyromagnetic ratio was first postulated by Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit and later shown to be a
consequence of the Dirac electron theory.
(It also follows from classical special relativity
theory (see relativity theory, special) under
suitable assumptions.)
Non-relativistic quantum mechanics, ex
tended b y the theory of electron spin and by
the Pauli exclusion principle, provides a re
liable theory for the computation of atomic
spectral frequencies and intensities, of cross
sections for scattering or capture of electrons
b y atomic systems, of chemical bonds and
many properties of solids, including magnetic
properties, although with such more compli
cated systems it has not always proved pos
sible to develop with adequate accuracy the
consequences of the theory. Quantum me
chanics has also had a limited success in nu
clear theory although in this field it is pos
sible that a more fundamental system of
mechanics is required. (See representation

theory, quantum mechanical; quantum

mechanics, postulates of.)
QUANTUM MECHANICS
( RELATIVIST IC ).
Generalization of non-relativistic
quantum mechanics in which the quantum
equations of motion satisfy the principle of
relativity (see relativity theory, special). In
its simplest form the equation of motion of a

particle is the Klein-Gordon equation, but

since this neglects the spin properties of the
particle the best verified form of relativistic
quantum mechanics is provided by the Dirac
electron theory. In general the relativistic
quantum theory of a system may always be
derived (as far as is known) from a Lagrangian, the relativistically covariant properties
of the resulting equations of motion being au
tom atically assured if the Lagrangian is in
variant under Lorentz transformations. (See
also field theory; quantum electrodynamics.)
QUANTUM MECHANICS, OLD. See BohrSommerfeld (old) quantum theory.
QUANTUM MECHANICS, POSTULATES
OF. The concept of quantum mechanical rep
resentation theory makes it possible to con
struct all of the results of quantum mechanics
from five basic postulates:
1. For every dynamical system, there corre
sponds the direction of a unit vector (the
state vector) in a Hilbert space, which
carries all of the information that quan
tum mechanics permits one to know about
the state of the system.
2 . T o every dynamical variable associated
with the system, there corresponds an
operator (see operators, quantum
mechanical), which operates on the state
vectors in Hilbert space.
3. The average value 5 of any dynamical
variable of a system existing in a state
described by the state vector |a) is given
in terms of the operator a corresponding
to the dynamical variable by the ex
pression

a = (a\a\a).
(See representation theory, quantum
mechanical for the meaning of this no
tation.)
4. Any two quantum mechanical operators
a and must satisfy the commutation
condition
a a if i{a },

where i = y/~ 1, ft is the Dirac ft, and

{a,} is the Poisson bracket of a and .
5. A state vector |a) for a system must
have a time dependence determined by
the Schrdinger equation

where H is the matrix representation of

the H am iltonian operator. (For a de
velopm ent of quantum mechanics from
these postulates, see P. A. M . Dirac, The
Principles of Quantum Mechanics, Oxford
at the Clarendon Press, third edition,
1947.)
QUANTUM NUMBER. A number assigned
to each of the various values of a quantized
quantity in its discrete range. The quantum
numbers arise from the mathematics of the
eigenvalue problem and may be related to the
number of nodes in the eigenfunction. When
the quantity has a quantum, the quantum
number is the number of such quanta. A
state may be described by giving a sufficient
set of compatible quantum numbers. In the
customary formulations, each quantum num
ber is either an integer (which may be posi
tive, negative or zero) or an odd half-integer.
For example, for a nucleus the quantum num
bers of most interest are the total angular
momentum quantum number (called the nu
clear spin quantum num ber) and the parity.
(See angular momentum, atomic and nuclear
physics; eigenvalue.)
QUANTUM NUMBER, ANGULAR M O
MENTUM. The quantum mechanical opera
tors J x, J y, and J z corresponding respectively
to the x, y , and z components of total angular
m o m en tu m , must satisfy the com m utation
relationships. J XJy
JyJx == "ihJz, J y j %
J zJ y = ihJx; J ZJX J XJ z ihJy, where fi is
the Dirac ft and i = y / l. Also the opera
tor J 2, where J corresponds to the total angu
lar momentum vector commutes with J x, J y,
and J z. Exactly similar relations hold for
S, Sx, Sy, and S z, corresponding to the spin
angular momentum, and for L, L x, L V) and
L Z) corresponding to the orbital angular m o
mentum. It follows directly from these com
mutation relationships that J2, L2, or S2 can
take on only those values that are given by an
expression of the form 1(1 + l)ft2, where I
may be either an integer or an odd half integer;
and that J z, L z, and S z may take on only those
values given b y an expression of the form
M h, where M can assume any of the values
I, I + 1 , * / 1, / .
When one is
dealing with the total angular momentum J,

I is usually represented b y the symbol j and is

called the total angular momentum quantum
number; and M is usually represented by mj
and called the total magnetic quantum number.
When the orbital angular momentum L is
being considered, I is usually represented by I
and called the orbital angular momentum quan
tum number, or sometimes (in the Bohr-Som merfeld atom model) the azimuthal quantum
number; and M is represented by mt and
called the magnetic quantum number. When
one is discussing the spin angular momentum
S, I is represented by s and commonly referred
to as the spin of the particle, but more cor
rectly as the spin quantum number; and M b y
ms which is the spin magnetic quantum number.
A rather loose terminology which is in common
use tends, for example, to refer to a particle of
orbital angular momentum I rather than the
correct \/l(l + 1 ) fi and of z component of
orbital angular momentum mi rather than the
correct mfij and similarly for spin and total
angular momentum. The values which the
quantum numbers m ay take on are restricted
somewhat further than indicated by the gen
eral considerations above.
In the case of
orbital angular momentum, I may take on only
integral values, and electron with I = 0 being
referred to as being in an s-state, one with
I = 1 as in a p-state, with I = 2 as in a d-state,
etc. For spin angular momentum, s may take
on only odd half integral values for fermions
and integral values for bosons. For total
angular momentum, j will take on only half
odd integral values if the number of fermions
in the system is odd; otherwise it will take on
only integral values.
QUANTUM NUMBER, AZIMUTHAL.
quantum number, angular momentum.

See

QUANTUM NUMBER, INNER.

A term
sometimes applied to the sum of the azimuthal
quantum number and the spin quantum num
ber, representing the resultant of the two cor
responding contributions to the angular mo
mentum of the electron.
QUANTUM NUMBER, ISOTOPIC SPIN. A
nuclear quantum number based upon the con
cept that the proton and the neutron are dif
ferent states of the same elementary particle,
the nucleon. The nucleon is assigned an iso
topic spin quantum number of % , and its two
possible orientations, t z = + % &nd
are
assigned to the neutron and proton, respec

tively. The isotopic spin vectors of all nu

cleons in a given nucleus combine as do an
gular momentum vectors, to give a total iso
topic spin vector T , which is equal to 2 r; and
it has an orientation TZy which is equal to
%tz . The sym bolic space in which these orien
tations occur is called isotopic space; its Z-axis
corresponds to the direction of observable
(negative) charge. Nuclei with a common
value of Tz have the same neutron excess,
equal to 2 Tz, by the relationship:
Tz Z = i V ( + i ) + Z ( - i ) = i ( N - Z)
where Tz is as defined above, N is the num
ber of neutrons in the nucleus and Z is its
number of protons. Both T and Tz are in
tegral for even values of A, and half-integral
for odd values.
QUANTUM NUMBER, MAGNETIC.
quantum number, angular momentum.

See

QUANTUM NUMBER, PRINCIPAL. The

allowed energy levels for an electron, bound
in the attractive field of a nucleus, are found,
by both the old Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum
theory (see atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld) and
quantum mechanics, to depend almost entirely
upon a function of the constants of the sys
tem and the Planck constant multiplied by
l/n2, where n , the principal quantum num
ber, is an integer taking on values from 1 to
infinity. The lowest energy state is given by
n = 1, the next lowest by n = 2 , etc. An exact
solution of the problem shows that the energy
depends in a minor w ay upon the orbital
angular momentum quantum number, I. It is
also found that the average distance of the
electron from the nucleus also depends mainly
upon n, with states having n = 1 forming the
electron shell closest to the nucleus, the Kshell, the states with n = 2 forming the shell
next closest, the L-shell, etc.
QUANTUM NUMBER, RADIAL.
In the
old Bohr-Sommerfeld theory of the atom, the
quantum number that characterized the m o
mentum of an electron in the direction of the
radius vector. (See atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld.)
QUANTUM NUMBER, SPIN.
number, angular momentum.

See quantum

QUANTUM STATISTICS. Statistics of the

distribution of particles of a given type
among the various possible energy values,

taking quantization of the latter into account,

including the principle of the indistinguishability of the particles. In the Ferm i-D irac
statistics, no more than one of a set of identical
particles may occupy a particular quantum
state (i.e., the Pauli exclusion principle ap
plies) whereas in the Bose-Einstein statistics,
the occupation number is not limited in any
way. Particles described by these statistics
are sometimes called jerm ions and bosons,
respectively.
N o particle has been found
to be neither a fermion nor a boson. All
known fermions have total angular moments
+ % )S , where n is zero, or an integer, and
all known bosons have angular momentums
nh. A t sufficiently high temperatures, where
a large number of energy levels are excited,
both quantum statistics reduce to the classical
Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics. The basis of
the two quantum statistics is the observation
that any wave function that involves identical
fermions is always antisymmetric with respect
to interchange of the coordinates, including
spin, of any two of the fermions, whereas for
identical bosons, the wave function is always
symmetric.
QUANTUM THEORY OF H EAT CAPAC
ITY. A theory which explains on the basis
of energy quantization the decrease of spe
cific heats at low temperatures to values be
low their classical values. For the case of
regular solids, the Debye theory of specific
heat forms a good approximation.
QUANTUM THEORY OF RADIATION.
The energy of radiation emitted or absorbed
is concentrated in quanta or photons each
with an energy in ergs of 6.624 X 10 27
times the frequency of the radiation in cycles
per second. (See also Planck radiation for
mula.)
QUANTUM THEORY OF SPECTRA. The
present theory of spectra, which is based on
an idea that there exist in each atom or mole
cule certain permitted energy levels. An atom
or molecule absorbs or radiates energy as it
moves from one energy level to another. The
frequency (v) of the radiation associated with
such change of energy level is given by
E\ E 2 ~ hv.

E i, E 2 are the energy levels and h is the

Planck constant. (See quantum mechanics;

atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld; spectrum, rotationvibration.)

QUANTUM YIELD. The number of photoninduced reactions of a specified type per pho
ton absorbed. In the photoelectric effect, the
quantum yield is more commonly called the
photoelectric efficiency. In photochemistry
it is the ratio of the number of reactions in
duced both directly and indirectly by light to
the number of photons absorbed; a quantum
yield greater than unity indicates a chain re
action. In plant physiology it is the ratio of
the number of reactions of the primary pho
tochemical step of photosynthesis (as yet un
determined) to the number of photons ab
sorbed. (See also quantum efficiency.)
QUART. A unit of dry and liquid measure
in the English system.
1 U.S. liquid quart
U.S. liquid quart
4 U.S. liquid quarts
1 Imperial quart
1 U.S. dry quart
1

= 0.94633 liter
= 2 U.S. pints
= 1 U.S. gallon
= 1.13650 liters
= 1 . 1 0 1 2 liters

QUARTER-WAVE PLATE.
tically-polarized.

See light, ellip-

QUARTZ CRYSTALS. A natural mineral

composed of silicon dioxide, which crystallizes
in hexagonal, positive, uniaxial crystals. Tw o
sorts are found, one rotating the plane of p o
larization clockwise, the other counterclock
wise. Since com pletely clear crystals of quartz
are moderately common, and it is relatively
hard (7 on the Moh scale) and easy to polish,
quartz finds many uses in optical instruments,
particularly those which use polarized light.
Crystal quartz is transparent to shorter ultra
violet radiation, and to longer infrared radia
tion than is ordinary glass. It also has a
broad band of fair transmission for infrared,
starting at about 50 microns and extending
far into the still-longer, infrared region.
Quartz crystals are also useful as piezoelectric
crystals.
QUASI-CONDUCTOR. If the Q of a me
dium is much less than unity, that medium is
sometimes called a quasi-conductor.
QUASI-DIELECTRIC. If the Q of a me
dium is much greater than unity, that medium
is sometimes called a quasi-dielectric.

QUASI - DIFFERENTIATION ( INTEGRA

T IO N ). Approximate differentiation (inte
gration) by a simple circuit.
QUASI FERMI LEVELS. In a semiconduc
tor a potential energy defined so as to give
either the number of holes, or of electrons in
the conduction band, when the material is
not in thermal equilibrium, as if it were the
Fermi level.
QUATERNION.
the form:

A hypercomplex number of
3

-f* ^ 1 CLiBiy

where q ai are real numbers, and e ? = 1 ,

A quaternion of unit
norm
exe2 = e2ei = e3, etc.
3

(ao2 + ^2 ai2 = 1)
i=i
m ay be used to represent a rotation in three
dimensions.
(See also Euler-Rodrigues pa
rameters.)
QUENCH CIRCUIT.
regenerative.

See receiver, super-

QUENCHING
FREQUENCY.
See fre
quency, quenching; receiver, superregenerative.
QUENCHING IN A GAS-FILLED RADIA
TION COUNTER TUBE. The process of
terminating a discharge in a radiation counter
tube by inhibiting reignition.
QUENCHING OF ORBITAL ANGULAR
MOMENTUM. An electric field, such as the
crystal field, m ay be so strong that it causes
rapid precession of the orbit of an electron
moving about an atom. As a result, the mag
netic moment associated with the orbital
angular momentum averages to zero.
QUENCHING OF RESONANCE RADIA
TION. Since the process whereby a fast
electron, upon collision with an atom, excites
or even ionizes it, losing energy in so doing,
is called a collision of the first kind, then the
reverse process is called a collision of the sec
ond kind. This latter process is then a col
lision of an excited atom with a slow elec
tron to yield an unexcited atom and a fast
electron. This process may result in the socalled quenching effect, as exemplified by

the quenching of resonance radiation of

mercury. For example, if the light from a
quartz mercury arc is arranged to strike an
evacuated quartz bulb containing a drop of
mercury the resonance line (A 2537) is ab
sorbed by the mercury vapor so that little or
no radiation passes through the vapor directly.
However, the bulb now acts as a source of
radiation of the pure resonance line owing to
excitation of normal atoms by the absorbed
radiation, and subsequent spontaneous emis
sion o f this radiation occurs in all directions
(scattered radiation ). Such a source has been
designated a resonance lamp. I f the radiation
from this source is now allowed to fall on an
other bulb containing mercury in a vacuum
the same processes of absorption and re-emission of A.2537 are observed again. But if a
gas such as nitrogen, water vapor, or hydrogen
is introduced at low pressure into the second
bulb, the intensity of the emitted radiation is
decreased. It is said to have been quenched.
QUICKITRON. Trade name for storage tube
using a storage screen as the read-write target,
R F -video separation to keep the writing and
reading functions from interfering with each
other, and having a sensitivity-tim e-control
circuit included in the video amplifier stage to
cut over-writing at the targets center.
QUIESCENT. This adjective is used in con
nection with vacuum tubes and other ampli
fiers to indicate the condition in which no

signal (1) is applied to the input.

The
quiescent potentials of the various electrodes
are therefore the steady undisturbed poten
tials of these electrodes, and the electrode cur
rents are similarly defined.
QUIET AUTOMATIC VOLUME CON
TROL. Delayed automatic volume control.
QUIET TUNING.
QUIETING
CEIVERS).
receivers).

See interstation quieting.

SENSITIVITY (IN FM RE
See sensitivity quieting (in FM

QUINCKE TUBE.
A sound transmission
tube with two parallel branches, used for
sound filtration. (See filter, wave.)
QUINHYDRONE ELECTRODE.
trode, quinhydrone.

See elec

QUINTUPLE POINT. The temperature at

which five phases are in equilibrium.
(See
also quadruple point; phase diagram (2).)
Q, UNLOADED (INTRINSIC). The Q of a
tube unloaded by either the generator or the
termination. As here used, Q is equal to 2w
times the energy stored at the resonance fre
quency divided by the energy dissipated per
cycle in the tube or, for cell type tubes, in the
tube and its external resonant circuit.
Q-VALUE. A synonym
energy, nuclear.

for

disintegration

R
(l) Gas constant (R ), specific gas con
stant (r).
( 2 ) Degree Reamur ( R ) .
(3)
Degree Rankine ( R ) . (4) Radius (r), radius
of nucleus (77), hydraulic radius (rH).
(5)
Radius vector (r).
( 6 ) R adioactive range
(12). (7) Roentgen (r). ( 8 ) Reluctance ((R ).
(9) Electric resistance (r or R) . (10) A cous
tic resistance (r). (11) Specific acoustic re
sistance (r). ( 1 2 ) Radiation resistance ( R) .
(13) Thermal resistance ( R) . (14) Plate re
sistance (rp).
(15) Rydberg constant ( R ) ,
Rydberg constant for infinite mass ( Roo) .
(16) Position vector (r). (17) R adiancy or
radiant flux density (cr). (18) Angle of re
flection (r).
(19) Relative humidity (r).
(20) Radius of acoustical tube, disc or mem
brane (R ). (21) In spectroscopy, narrow self
reversal (r), wide self-reversal ( R) .
(22)
Orbital angular momentum of nuclei (rota
tional quantum number) ( R) .
R.

RABBIT. A small container propelled, usu

ally pneumatically or hydraulically, through
a tube in a nuclear reactor for exposing sub
stances experimentally to the radiation and
neutron flux of the active section; used for
rapid removal of samples containing atoms
with very short half-lives. (Sometimes called
shuttle.)
RABI M ETHOD FOR DETERMINING
NUCLEAR MOMENTS BY RADIO-FRE
QUENCY SPECTROMETRY. The nucleus
of an atom may itself have a magnetic mo
ment. This is always much smaller than a
Bohr magneton, and is detected most readily
when the outer electronic structure is bal
anced magnetically so that its net moment is
zero. Nuclear moments do not have any im
portant influence on the magnetic properties
of materials, but they are very important in
the study of nuclear structure.
The particular method known as the
molecular beam resonance m ethod and used
first by R abi and his colleagues is as follows:
As in other experiments a molecular beam
is produced by the oven 0 and defined by the
slits Fx and F 2. When the molecules enter the
field, the vector representing the magnetic mo
ment precesses around the direction of the field.
About half of the molecules are deflected down
ward by the field gradient produced by magnet
A, and upward by the gradient of magnet B,
and arrive at the point D where they are de
tected by a suitable device. Molecules of dif

RAABE TEST. A test for absolute converg

ence of a series. I f the absolute value of the
ratio of successive terms for sufficiently large
values of n can be written
un-\~1
un

^ (

| k2 {

1 -|

|- +

then the series converges absolutely if

/ c i < 1 and diverges if / c i ^ 1.
W ith
slightly less generalization, the third term on
the right may be replaced by 0 ( 1 /np) , where
p > 1 ; i.e., this term is of the order of l/np.

Pump

Pump

Molecular beam apparatus as used in the Rabi method.

928

ferent velocities are focused at the same point

after traversing other paths, provided no
change occurs in the magnetic moment along
the path.
A change in the vertical component of the
moment of some of the nuclei is produced in
the uniform field H of magnet C by superpos
ing upon the field a rather weak alternating
field, of frequency /, produced by current in
the tubes R. The disturbing action of this
field may best be explained by analogy with
a spinning top precessing about a vertical axis
under the influence of gravity. If a disturb
ing force is produced, as by oscillating the
point of support, the top will become unstable,
provided the frequency of oscillation is equal
to the frequency of precession. In the case
of the molecules, instability is produced when
their frequency of precession (proportional to
the field strength H ) and the frequency of
oscillation of the weaker field are equal, and
unstable molecules then deviate from their
previous paths as indicated by the dotted line
E. H is varied slowly until the number of
molecules arriving at D is a minimum, and
H and / are noted.
The ratio of the magnetic moment to the
angular moment is expressed in terms of the
Lande splitting factor g:

RACEMIC. Optically inactive, but contain

ing forms of opposed optical activity.
RACON. An abbreviation of radar beacon.
A transponder for interrogation by a primary
radar.
RAD. A unit of absorbed dose equal to 100
ergs per gram.
(See dose, absorbed; dose,
RBE; dose, exposure.)
RADAR. A general name for radio detecting
and ranging systems that determine the dis
tance and usually the direction of objects by
the transmission return of electromagnetic
energy. The terms primary radar and sec
ondary radar may be used when the return
signals are, respectively, by reflection and by
the transmission of a second signal as a result
of triggering a responder beacon by the inci
dent signal.
RADAR, AIRBORNE INTERCEPT (AI). An
airborne radar used for searching for and
tracking other aircraft.
RADAR, AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE (ASR).
A radar operating at or near an airport, and
used for observation of the positions of air
borne aircraft. It is primarily employed in
the control and organizing of local traffic.

g = (4 TtMc/e)f/H (0.001312 oersted sec)f/H,

M being now the mass of the proton. For the
L i 7 atom, experiment gives / = 5.61 X 106 cps,
H = 3400 oersteds, and hence g = 2.167, and
the magnetic moment is 3.25 nuclear Bohr
magnetons.
RACAH COEFFICIENT. A coefficient which
enters into the transformation for the recoup
ling of three angular m om enta in quantum
m echanics. The coefficient as introduced by
Racah in 1942 was denoted as W(J 1 J2 j j s ; j i 2 j 2 z)
and is related to the Wigner six-y-symbol by
the expression:

W(jihih',h2kz)

P"1-72^121V 3 J J 23 J

= (-

In 1959 the symmetrized W coefficient, denoted

b y W ( j i j 2 j h ) i i 2j 2 s) was introduced. It is
identical with the six-j-symbol.
W v & jh -J M

= \h H h 2 } -

I j sj

J23J

(See angular m o m en tu m , coupling and re

coupling.)

RADAR, DOPPLER. A radar system which

differentiates between fixed and moving tar
gets by detecting the change in frequency of
the reflected wave caused by the Doppler
effects. The system can also measure target
velocity with high accuracy.
RADAR, DOPPLER, PULSED. A pulsed
radar system which utilizes the Doppler effect
for obtaining information about the target
(not including simple resolution from fixed
targets).
RADAR ECHO. The reflected, radio-frequency energy from objects surrounding the
radar transmitter.
RADAR EQUATION. A mathematical ex
pression which relates the transmitted and re
ceived powers and antenna gains of a primary
radar system to the echo area and distance of
the radar target.
RADAR, F IX E D -T A R G E T
See indicator, moving target.

REJECTION.

RADAR FREQUENCY BAND(S).

UHF
up to 1 gigacycle per second
L
up to 1 to 2 gigacycles per second
S
up to 2 to 4 gigacycles per second
up to 4 to 8 gigacycles per second
c
X
up to 8 to 12.5 gigacycles per sec
ond
Ku
up to 12.5 to 18 gigacycles per
second
K
up to 18 to 26.5 gigacycles per
second
Ka
up to 26.5 to 40 gigacycles per
second
Millimeter
40 and up gigacycles per
second
RADAR, GROUND SURVEILLANCE.
A
radar set operated at a fixed point for observa
tion and control of the position of aircraft or
other vehicles in the vicinity.
RADAR INDICATORS. Cathode-ray oscil
loscopes which present the returned signal for
visual observation. (See display; PPI.)
RADAR, MONOPULSE. The transmitting
function of a sum-and-difference monopulse
radar system is the same as for a conventional
radar; that is, a short burst of energy is radi
ated for every pulse cycle illuminating the
area included within the antenna bandwidth.
In a monopulse system the transmitted beamwidth is that of the sum antenna pattern; and
due to reciprocity, this pattern is obtained by
inserting the transmitter output into the r.f.
sum channel. Physically this is accomplished
by using a duplexer, which may consist of two
short slot hybrids and a dual TR tube. D u r
ing the transmit period the T R tubes are fired,
and the hybrid arrangement causes all the
transmitter energy to flow in the port feeding
the sum channel. A fter the transmitted pulse,
the T R tubes deionize, and the hybrid ar
rangement causes all the received energy to
flow in the port feeding the receiver.
The major difference, however, between the
two systems lies in their receiving functions.
The received signal in a basic monopulse sys
tem is utilized by two channels a sum and a
difference channel, whereas one channel is used
in the conventional radar system. The sum
and the difference channels may be derived
from either the azimuth or elevation plane;
the analysis is the same. The sum channel is
similar in operation to a conventional radar

receiver channel where a maximum signal level

is obtained for radar return signals arriving
along the boresight axis of the antenna; and
the degree of target resolution is determined
by the antenna beamwidth. However, an op
posite condition exists in the difference chan
nel, where a minimum signal level is obtained
for radar return signals arriving along the
boresight axis of the antenna. The antenna
characteristics and the r.f. comparison cir
cuitry shape the r.f. signal envelope in the
difference channel so that this minimum signal
level defines the lowest point of a deep, sharp
null. Use of this sharp null indication to de
fine precisely the boresight axis of the antenna,
permits the monopulse system to measure tar
get angles much more accurately than conven
tional radar systems having the same antenna
beamwidth.
RADAR, MOVING-TARGET INDICATION.
See indicator, moving-target.
RADAR PERFORMANCE FIGURE.
The
ratio of the pulse power of the radar trans
mitter, to the power of the minimum signal
detectable by the receiver.
RADAR PILOTAGE EQUIPMENT. Equip
ment utilizing primary radar techniques and
carried on a vehicle for the purpose of deter
mining bearing and distance of recognizable
landmarks, and for indicating the relative posi
tion of other vehicles.
RADAR PULSE DURATION, LENGTH OR
W ID T H . The length of the radar transmis
sion, usually expressed in microseconds.
RADAR
PULSE - REPETITION
FRE
QUENCY. The number of radar transmis
sions made per second.
RADAR RANGE EQUATION.
equation.

See radar

RADAR RELAY. In radar, an equipment for

relaying the radar video and appropriate syn
chronizing to a remote location.
RADAR, SEARCH. A radar primarily in
tended to display targets as soon as possible
after they enter the coverage area.
RADAR SHADOW.
In radar, a region
shielded from radar illumination, by an in
tervening reflecting or absorbing m edium ; this

region appearing as an area void of targets on

a radar display.
RADAR TARGET. A ny reflecting surface
in the beam of the radar antenna which causes
a signal to be returned to the receiver.
RADAR TRANSMITTER.
radar.

See transmitter,

RADAR, V-BEAM. A volumetric radar sys

tem for the determination of distance, bearing
and height by the use of two fan beams.
RADAR, VOLUMETRIC. A radar capable
o f producing three-dimensional position data
on a m ultiplicity of targets. This definition
includes but is not limited to volumetric scan.
RADECHON.
A single-beam, barrier-grid
type of charge storage tube. It employs non
equilibrium writing and capacitance-discharge
reading.
RADIAL. In navigation, one of a number of
radial lines of position defined by an azi
muthal radio navigational facility, and iden
tified in terms of the bearing (usually m ag
netic) of all points on that line from the
facility.
RADIAL DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION. The
radial distribution function for a liquid is de
fined as the function p ( r ) , where 4irr2p (r)d r
is the average number of molecule centers at
distances between r and r + dr from some
selected molecule. If the liquid is isotropic,
p is the average number density at distance r
from the selected molecule. The radial dis
tribution function m ay be computed from
measurements of X-ray diffraction patterns,
and it is of central importance in the kinetic
theory of liquids.
The restricted usage given above indicates
the general meaning of the term. Suppose that
any quantity is a function of the spherical
polar coordinates r, 0 , $, i.e. that
/ = /(r, 6, *).
Then the quantity

F(f) *= Jf0 Jfo /(rA0) sin 0 d0d<

is a function of r alone, and is called the radial
distribution function of /(r , 0 , 0 ), because the in
tegral o f /( r , 0 , <t>) over all space is

ff(rfi,4>)dV = f

Jy

Jq

4:wr2F(r)dr,

dV being the volume element r2 sin Oddd<f>dr.

RADIAL DISTRIBUTION M ETHOD.
A
statistical method for the analysis of data
obtained by measuring the intensity of x-ray
diffraction at various angles, in order to de
termine interatomic distances of liquids and
gases, within certain limitations.
RADIAL TIM E BASE DISPLAY.
position indicator; display.

See plan

RADIAN. A unit for measuring angles. It

is that angle whose intercepted arc in a
circle equals the radius of the circle. Thus
tr radians = 180;
1
radian = 1 8 0 % r =
5 7 . 2 9 5 7 8 - or 57 17'44.6", approximately,
and 1 is approximately 0.017453 radians.
RADIANCE. The radiant flux per unit solid
angle per unit of projected area of the source.
The usual unit is the watt/steradian/square
meter. This is the radiant analog of lumi
nance.
The International Commission on
Illumination recommends the word be aban
doned in favor of emittance, luminous or
radiant, for flux emitted per unit area.
RADIAN FREQUENCY. Often synonomous
with angular velocity. (See frequency, angu
lar or radian; velocity, angular.)
RADIANT. A term denoting motion on a
radius or, more particularly, along a very
great number of radii, as the emission of en
ergy from a point source, which travels along
the various radii of a sphere of constantlyincreasing radius, so that the radiation-pattern
at any instant occupies, in a perfectly homo
geneous medium, the position of the surface
of a sphere. From this original meaning, the
term has been extended in its application to
connote either particles of matter or electro
magnetic energy emerging from a more or less
sharply defined region, or the substance or
entity which emits such particles or radiations.
RADIANT EM ITTANCE.
radiance.

See

emittance;

RADIANT ENERGY.
Energy transmitted
as electromagnetic radiation.
RADIANT FLUX.
radiant energy.

The time rate of flow o f

RADIANT FLUX DENSITY. A measure of

radiant power per unit area that flows across
or onto a surface. (Also called irradiance.)
RADIANT INTENSITY. The energy emitted
per unit time, per unit solid angle about the
direction considered; for example, watts per
steradian.
RADIATING ELEM ENT.
ment.

See radiation ele

RADIATING ELEM ENT, ACOUSTIC. A

vibrating surface in a transducer which can
cause or be actuated by sound waves.
RADIATION. ( 1 ) The emission and propa
gation of energy through space or through a
material medium in the form of waves; for
instance, the emission and propagation of
electromagnetic waves, or of sound and elastic
waves. ( 2 ) The energy propagated through
space or through a material medium as w aves;
for example, energy in the form of electro
magnetic waves or of elastic waves. The
term radiation, or radiant energy, when un
qualified, usually refers to electromagnetic
radiation; such radiation com monly is classi
fied, according to frequency, as Hertzian,
infrared, visible (light), ultraviolet, x-rays,
and *y-rays. (See photon; also radiation field;
also entries under ray and radiation.)
(3)
Corpuscular emissions, such as a- and ^-radia
tion, or rays of mixed or unknown type, as
cosmic radiation.
RADIATION (NUCLEAR). In nuclear sci
ence, the usual meaning of radiation is ex
tended to include moving nuclear particles,
charged or uncharged.
RADIATION,
CERENKOV.
Radiation
emitted by a high-energy charged particle
m oving in a medium having an index of re
fraction enough greater than unity so that the
speed of light in the medium is less than the
speed of the particle. This radiation is due to
the effect of the discrepancy between the high
speed of the particle, and the lower speed of
its associated electric and magnetic fields,
which have a speed equal only to the speed of
light in a vacuum divided by the refractive
index of the medium.
RADIATION CONSTANTS.
See Planck
radiation formula; radiation density constant;
Stefan-Boltzmann law; Wien laws.

RADIATION, COSMIC.
RADIATION COUNTER.

See cosmic rays.

See counter.

RADIATION-COUNTER TUBE. See coun

ter tube, externally quenched; counter tube,
gas-filled, radiation; counter tube, gas-flow;
counter tube, Geiger-Mueller; counter tube,
proportional; counter tube, self-quenched.
RADIATION DAMPING. (1) The damping
due to the loss of energy through radiation.
Such damping creates an apparent frictional
force and is often expressed in terms of a radi
ation resistance. ( 2 ) In quantum electrody
namics the virtual interaction of particles with
the zero point field leads to damping terms
which effect such things as natural level widths
and scattering cross sections.
RADIATION DENSITY CONSTANT. The
constant used in the Stefan-Boltzmann law to
express the total energy density of black body
radiation as a function of the temperature.
a = 8tt5/c4/1 5 c3/i3
= 7.569 X 10~

15

erg cm

deg 4.

RADIATION, ELECTROMAGNETIC.
electromagnetic radiation.

See

RADIATION (RADIATING) ELEMENT.

A basic subdivision of an antenna which in it
self is capable of radiating or receiving radio
frequency energy.
RADIATION FIELD.
When a conductor
carries a-c there are two types of fields set
up in the surrounding space. One of these,
the induction field, is predominant at low fre
quencies such as used in power circuits, while
the other, called the radiation field, predomi
nates at very high frequencies such as used
for radio communication. The induction field
is responsible for the familiar magnetic effects
of coils and the interference between circuits
which are coupled inductively, i.e., the induc
tion field of one links the other. For radio
communication over long distances the radia
tion field is important since it represents the
energy which is radiated outward from the
antenna system and which does not return to
the system but spreads out in space. Close to
the transmitting station both types of field
may be utilized; in fact, certain wireless rec
ord players use the induction field, but at ap
preciable distances (a few wavelengths) the

induction field is negligible. The radiation

field consists of an electromagnetic wave
traveling at the speed of light (3 X 1010 c m /
sec). It is this wave which cuts across the
receiving antenna and induces the signal which
is amplified and demodulated in the receiver.
This radiation goes out from the antenna in
various directions, the exact directions and
strengths being dependent upon the antenna
characteristics. Thus some of the energy m ay
travel along the earths surface to the receiver,
some m ay go upward to the ionosphere and
be refracted so it is returned to the earth giving
long-distance communication. This radiation
field is composed of an electric and a magnetic
component, mutually perpendicular and per
pendicular to the direction of propagation.
Upon leaving the antenna the electric field is
parallel to the antenna and the magnetic per
pendicular to it. Either or both m ay con
tribute to the signal induced in the receiving
antenna. A t extremely high frequencies the
polarization or direction of the electric field
or vector has an effect on the character of the
received signal.
RADIATION FIELD, QUANTIZATION OF.
See second quantization.
RADIATION, FLUORESCENT M ETH O D
OF DETECTING. The detection of radia
tion by means of the fluorescence produced in
a suitable screen, such as zinc sulfide.
RADIATION, HETEROGENEOUS. Radia
tion having several different frequencies, or a
beam of particles of a variety of energies or
containing different types of particles.
RADIATION, HOMOGENEOUS. Radiation
having an extremely narrow band of frequen
cies, or a beam of monoenergetic particles of
a single type. (See also monochromatic.)
RADIATION, IONIZING.
A term which,
strictly speaking, is used to describe any type
of radiation which can, through direct inter
action, in the course of its passage through
matter, produce ionization. Frequently, how
ever, this term is used to describe only those
radiations which, in their passage through m at
ter, produce ionization nearly continuously
along their paths. In this sense, high energy
charged particles are ionizing, y-rays are not.
RADIATION,
radiation.

INFRARED.

See

infrared

RADIATION INTENSITY. In a given di

rection, the power radiated from an antenna
per unit solid angle in that direction.
RADIATION, LEAKAGE. In a transmit
ting system, radiation from anything other
than the intended radiating system.
RADIATION LENGTH.
The mean path
length required for the reduction, by the
factor 1 /e , of the energy of relativistic charged
particles as they pass through matter. Such
particles lose their energy mainly by radiat
ing (see bremsstrahlung).
The radiation
length for relativistic electrons in air is 330
m ; in lead it is 0.5 cm.
RADIATIONLESS DECOMPOSITION OR
TRANSITION. See Auger process and col
lision of the second kind; radiationless transi
tion.
RADIATIONLESS TRANSITION. A transi
tion taking place between two energy states
of a system in which the necessary energy is
taken from it or given up to it by direct inter
action with another system or particle rather
than by absorption or emission of electromag
netic radiation. Several examples of radia
tionless transitions might be mentioned. In
internal conversion, a nucleus makes a transi
tion to a lower energy state by giving up the
excess energy E 0 directly to a planetary elec
tron which leaves the atom with a kinetic en
ergy which is E 0 minus the binding energy of
the atomic electron. In the Auger effect, the
energy released when an atomic electron makes
a transition to a lower energy state is given
directly to one or more electrons which are
weakly enough bound to be separated from
the atom by this energy. Another example
is the excitation or de-excitation of an atom
or molecule by a collision of the first kind or
o f the second kind with another atom or mole
cule.
RADIATION
LOBE,
HALF-POWER
W ID T H . In a plane containing the direction
of the maximum of the lobe, the full angle
between the two directions in that plane about
the maximum in which the radiation intensity
is one-half the maximum value of the lobe.
RADIATION, M ONOCHROMATIC. Radi
ation having one frequency or one wave
length. Actually, no finite amount of radia
tion will ever be strictly monochromatic. It

will, at best, contain a narrow band of w ave

lengths.

interface between two media due to the pas

sage of a sound wave.

RADIATION OSCILLATOR.
oscillator.

RADIATION PYROMETER. A pyrometer,

of which there are several commercial designs,
based upon the principle that the intensity
of the thermal radiation from a heated body
depends in a systematic way upon the tem
perature of its surface. The essential mech
anism involves the focusing of the radiation
upon a thermocouple or some other sensitive
thermometric detector by means of a suitable
mirror. In one form the mirror is concave,
producing a real image of a portion of the
heated surface; in another it is a hollow cone,
in which the radiation converges in an open
ing at the apex, where the thermocouple is
placed. All instruments of this type must be
experimentally calibrated, as temperatures
computed theoretically from the Stefan-Boltzmann law are, for various reasons, found to
be in error. A fundamental difficulty arises
from the fact that no actual radiator is an
ideal black body, and the emissive power of
one surface differs from that of another at
the same temperature. This gives rise to the
term radiation temperature as different
from the actual temperature of the body un
der examination.
In addition to the foregoing type, sometimes
called the total radiation pyrom eter, the
spectrophotometer or the spectroradiometer
(an infrared spectrophotometer) is used in
the case of very high temperatures, and the
temperature deduced from the peak w ave
length in accordance with the W ien displace
ment law. (See Wein laws and Planck radia
tion formula.)

See Planckian

RADIATION PATTERN. A graphical rep

resentation of the radiation of the antenna as
a function of direction.
Cross sections in
which radiation patterns are frequently given
are vertical planes and the horizontal plane,
or the principal electric and magnetic polar
ization planes.
RADIATION, PHOTOGRAPHIC M ETHOD
OF D ETECTING. The detection of radia
tion by means of its action 011 a photographic
film or plate; or the detection of the passage
of a heavily ionizing particle through a photo
graphic emulsion by its activation of indi
vidual crystal grains in the emulsion.
RADIATION POTENTIAL. The potential
difference in volts corresponding to the energy
in electron-volts required to excite an atom
or a molecule to emit one of its characteristic
radiation-frequencies.
RADIATION PRESSURE. (1) That electro
magnetic radiation exerts a pressure upon any
surface exposed to it was deduced theoretically
by M axwell in 1871, and proved experimen
tally by Lebedew in 1900 and by Nichols and
Hull in 1901. The pressure is very feeble, but
can be detected by allowing the radiation to
fall upon a delicately poised vane of polished
metal.
(See Nichols radiometer.)
It may
be shown by the electromagnetic theory, by
the quantum theory, or by thermodynamic
reasoning, making no assumption as to the
nature of radiation, that the pressure against
a surface exposed in a space traversed by
radiation uniformly in all directions is equal
to Ys the total radiant energy per unit volume
within that space. For black-body radiation,
in equilibrium with the exposed surface, the
energy density is, in accordance with the
Stefan-Boltzmann law, equal to (4o-/c)!F4; in
which <t is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, c
is the speed of light, and T is the absolute
temperature of the space. One-third of this
energy density is equal to 2.523 X 10- 1 5 T 4
(ergs/cm 3), which is therefore the pressure in
bars. ( 2 ) In acoustics, radiation pressure is
the average force per unit area exerted on an

RADIATION, RECOIL. A term applied to

radiations emitted during nuclear disintegra
tions which are attended by an observable
recoil of the nucleus emitting the radiation.
RADIATION RESISTANCE. (1) The quo
tient of the power radiated by an antenna by
the square of the effective antenna current
referred to a specified point. (2) The (acous
tic) radiation resistance of a medium is the
acoustic impedance (see impedance, acoustic)
of a plane wave, equal to poc/S where p0 is the
mean density of the medium in gm /cm 3, c is
the velocity of sound in cm /sec, and S is the
area of the wave front under consideration in
cm2.

RADIATION, RESONANCE.
radiation.

See resonance

RADIATOR, HORN. A radiating element

having the shape of a horn.

RADIATION, SPURIOUS.
A ny radiation
from a transmitter other than the produced
by the carrier and its normal sidebands. A
radiated harmonic of the carrier is one ex
ample of a spurious radiation.

RADIATOR, MASS. A source of electromag

netic radiation covering a broad band extend
ing to extremely high frequencies, which con
sists of metal particles suspended in a liquid
dielectric. A high voltage impressed across
the dielectric produces sparking between the
particles, thus releasing the radiation.

RADIATION, STRAY. All radiation which

reaches the detector at wavelengths that do
not correspond to the spectral position under
consideration.
RADIATION, ULTRAVIOLET.
violet radiation.

See ultra-

RADIATOR, NON-SELECTIVE. A radiator

whose spectral emissivity remains constant
throughout the spectrum, being in a constant
ratio to that of a black body at the same tem
perature. (Also called a gray body.)

RADIATION, VISIBLE.
R adiant energy
which is perceived by the normal eye (ap
proximately 3800 to 7800 A ) . (See also infra
red and ultraviolet radiation.)

RADIATOR, PLANCKIAN.
A complete
radiator. (See black body; Planck radiation
formula.)

RADIATIVE CAPTURE.
diative.

RADIATOR, SPHERICAL OR ISOTROPIC.

A radiator which produces the same radiation
intensity in all directions.

See capture, ra

RADIATIVE CORRECTION.
Difference
between the theoretical values of some prop
erty of a dynamical system as computed from
the quantized field theory (see field theory,
quantized) of the system and from the cor
responding unquantized field theory.
Ap
plied particularly to the theory of electrons,
positrons and the electromagnetic field. (See
Lamb shift; anomalous magnetic moment
(electron); vacuum polarization; self-energy;
renormalization.)
RADIATOR. (1) A body which emits energy
quanta or certain material particles; more
com m only a body which emits electromag
netic radiation. ( 2 ) A substance placed in a
beam of radiation, which as a result of the
interaction of the beam with the substance,
emits radiation of a different type. F or ex
ample, a metal foil placed in a beam of
y-radiation will emit secondary electrons as
a result of the photoelectric, Compton, and
pair production processes.
(3) A radiating
element, which m ay be (a) a vibrating ele
ment in a transducer which can cause, or be
actuated by sound waves, or (b) a basic
subdivision of an antenna, which in itself is
capable of radiating or receiving radio-fre
quency energy.
RADIATOR, COMPLETE.
radiator; black body.

See

complete

RADICAL. (1) An indicated root of a num

ber, usually a principal root; thus, the radical
symbol -\/a means the principal nth root of a.
Operations with radicals are expressed by the
formulas:
= < ra < rh,

V *
r

n/ ~

Va

if a and b are positive. Such functions or equa

tions containing them are also called irrational.
( 2 ) A group of atoms which m ay enter into
several combinations as a unit, and take part
in reactions like an elementary substance, vis.,
N H 4 , C H 3 , C 6 H 5 , C 6 H 5 CO , = S 0 4.
RADIO-. Used as a prefix to indicate radio
active.
For example, the radioactive isotope
of carbon of mass number 14, carbon 14, is
often referred to as radiocarbon.
(See also
radionuclide; radioisotope.)
RADIOACTINUM. A thorium isotope of
mass number 277, produced naturally by
-d eca y of actinium 227.
Radioactinium
emits -particles (half-life 18.8 days) to give
radium 223 (actinium X ) .
RADIOACTIVE.
radioactivity.

Exhibiting or pertaining to

RADIOACTIVE CHAIN.
radioactive series.

synonym for

RADIOACTIVE CONSTANT.
under disintegration constant.
RADIOACTIVE DECAY.
and decay, radioactive.

Discussed

See radioactivity;

RADIOACTIVE DECAY CONSTANT.

disintegration constant.
RADIOACTIVE DECAY LAW .
law, radioactive.
RADIOACTIVE
radioactivity.

See

See decay

DISINTEGRATION.

See

RADIOACTIVE DISPLACEMENT LAW . A

law originally stated by Soddy and Fa j ans.
In its more modern and inclusive form it may
be stated as follows: When a nucleus emits
an -particle the new nucleus formed has an
atomic number two less than the parent and
a mass number of four less. When a nucleus
emits a negative p-particle the atomic num
ber of the new nucleus formed is one greater
than the parent and the mass number remains
the same. The emission of a positron or the
capture of an orbital electron decreases the
atomic number by one without changing the
mass number.
Isomeric transitions and
y-emission lead to no change in atomic num
ber or mass number.
RADIOACTIVE EMANATIONS. R adioac
tive gases given off by certain radioactive ele
ments. Thus, radium, thorium, and actinium
give off the radioactive gaseous emanations,
radon, thoron, and actinon, respectively.
RADIOACTIVE EQUILIBRIUM. A condi
tion which m ay obtain in the course of the
decay of a radioactive parent having short
lived descendants, in which the ratio of the
activity of the parent to that of a descendant
is independent of time. This condition can
exist only when no activity longer-lived than
that of the parent is interposed in the decay
chain.
If the half-life of the parent is long
compared to the time of the experiment then
the state is called secular equilibrium. When
secular equilibrium exists among members A ,
B, C, etc., of a decay series, then N AXA =
N BXB = N CXC = * where N A, N B, N 0y * *
are the numbers of atoms of A, B, C, - , re
spectively, and XA, XB, XC) ' * are the corre
sponding decay constants. If the half-life of

the parent is short and a decline in parent ac

tivity is observable, the state is called transient
equilibrium.
When transient equilibrium
exists between a parent, A, and daughter, B,
then N aXa = N b (XB XA) where N A and N B
are the number of atoms and XA and XB the re
spective decay constants.
RADIOACTIVE HEAT. A synonym for ra
diogenic heat. (See radiogenic.)
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPE.
which is radioactive.

An

isotope

RADIOACTIVE NUCLIDES, NATURAL.

Natural radioactive nuclides m ay be classi
fied as follows: ( 1 ) primary, which have life
times exceeding about 1 0 8 yr and presumably
have persisted from the time of nucleogenesis
to the present; they include the -emitters
U 238, u 235, T h 292, S m 147 and the ^-disinte
grators K 40, R b 87, In115, L a138, L u136, R e187;
( 2 ) secondary, which are formed in radioac
tive transformations starting with U 238, U 235
or T h 232; these three nuclides are the parents
of the uranium series, the actinium series, and
the thorium series of natural radioactive nu
clides respectively; known members of this
class all belong to the elements from thallium
to uranium; (3) induced, having geologically
short lifetimes and formed by induced nuclear
reactions currently occurring in nature; ex
amples are C 14 (natural radiocarbon), pro
duced by cosmic ray neutrons in the atmos
phere, and Pu239, produced in uranium min
erals by neutron capture; (4) extinct, of life
times too short for survival from the time of
nucleogenesis to the present, but long enough
for persistence into early geologic times with
measurable effects; at present I 129 is the only
suspected member of this class.
RADIOACTIVE SERIES. A succession of
nuclides, each of which transforms by radio
active disintegration into the next until a
stable nuclide results. The first member is
called the parent, the intermediate members
are called daughters, and the final stable mem
ber is called the end product. Three such
series are encountered in natural radioactiv
ity, and many others are encountered in in
duced radioactivity, particularly among the
heavy elements and fission products.
The
process of successive radioactive transforma
tions in such a series is known as series dis
integration.
A series of induced radionu-

elides that merges into a natural series is

called a collateral series to the latter.

other particles, as well as -y-rays, in their de

composition. (See reaction, nuclear.)

RADIOACTIVE SOURCE STRENGTH. See

Curie.

RADIO BROADCASTING. Radio transmistion intended for general reception.

RADIOACTIVE STANDARD. A sample of

radioactive material, usually with a long halflife, in which the number and type of radio
active atoms at a definite reference time is
known. Hence, it may be used as a radiation
source for calibrating radiation-measurement
equipment.
RADIOACTIVITY.
(1) Spontaneous nu
clear disintegration with emission of particles
or electromagnetic radiations. The principal
types of radioactivity are -disintegration, /?decay (negatron emission, positron emission,
and electron capture) and isomeric transition.
Double p-decay is another type that has been
postulated, and spontaneous fission and the
spontaneous transformations of mesons are
sometimes considered as types of radioactiv
ity. T o be considered as radioactive, a process
must have a measurable lifetime (between
~ 1 0 ~ 12 sec and ~ 1 0 37 yr, according to
present experimental techniques).
R adia
tions emitted within a time too short for
measurement are called prom pt; however,
prompt radiations, including y-rays, charac
teristic x-rays, conversion and Auger electrons,
delayed neutrons, and annihilation radiation,
are often associated with radioactive disinte
grations, since their emission m ay follow the
primary radioactive process. (2) A particu
lar radiation component from a radioactive
source, such as y-radioactivity. (3) A radio
nuclide, such as a radioactivity produced in a
bombardment.
(4) A synonym for activity
(2).
RADIOACTIVITY, ARTIFICIAL.
R ad io
activity induced in an element by bom bard
ing it with particles or radiations or both.
(See radioactivity and radioactivity, induced.)
RADIOACTIVITY, IN D UCED.
The pro
duction of radioactive elements by bom bard
ment of other elements, com m only the stable
ones, with a-particles, neutrons, protons, and
other particles or radiations. The artificial
radioactive elements (com m only called radio
elements) usually, but not always, have short
life-times; they emit electrons, positrons, and

RADIO CHANNEL. A band of frequencies

of a width sufficient to permit its use for radio
communication. The width of a channel de
pends upon the type of transmission, and the
tolerance for the frequency of emission.
RADIO COMMUNICATION. Communica
tion between distant points not directly con
nected by an electrical conductor m ay be ac
complished by electromagnetic waves radiated
through space. Thus radio communication
utilizes radiated energy instead of the con
ducted energy of the wired methods (see radi
ation field). Obvious benefits of the radio
method are the elimination of the expense of
installation and upkeep of a wire communica
tion system, and the communication between
points difficult o f access by wired systems.
Furthermore, since energy may be radiated in
all directions in space, broadcasting to large
numbers of persons is simpler. Radiated elec
tromagnetic waves can be used for communica
tion purposes in three ways. First, they may
be used to create a monotone signal of dots and
dashes comprising a code. This is radio teleg
raphy. It has certain important commercial
and governmental uses, but is not suitable for
broadcasting, as it must be interpreted by
trained operators. Secondly, electromagnetic
waves may be modulated so that they carry
the electrical equivalent of sound waves. A t
the receiver they are caused to reproduce the
original sound, whether it was voice or music.
This is the field of radio telephony and
broadcasting. Thirdly, it is possible to trans
mit, by means o f these waves, electrical pulses
which will re-create at the point of reception,
a scene which originated at the transmitter,
with accom panying sound. This is television.
(See also telemeter; facsimile.)
RADIO COM MUNICATION CIRCUIT. A
radio system for carrying out one communica
tion at a time in either direction between two
points.
RADIO DETECTING
See radar.

AND

RANGING.

RADIOELEMENT. A form or sample of an

element containing one or more radioactive

isotopes. The prefix radio before the name

of an element indicates a particular radio
element, as radiocarbon, radiolead. T o avoid
ambiguity, the prefix radio should not be used
to indicate radiogenic; thus, radiolead should
not be used as a synonym for radiogenic lead.
RADIO FADE-OUT.
RADIO FIELD
field strength.

See fading.

INTENSITY.

See radio

RADIO FIELD STRENGTH. The electric

or magnetic field strength at a given location
resulting from the passage of radio waves.
In the case of a sinusoidal wave, the rootmean-square value is com monly used. Un
less otherwise stated, it is taken in the direc
tion of maximum field strength.
RADIO FIELD-TO-NOISE RATIO. The ra
tio of the field strength of the desired wave
to the field strength of the noise, measured
at a given location.
RADIO FIX. A radio bearing or bearings
to determine geographical position.
RADIO FREQUENCY.
A frequency at
which coherent electromagnetic radiation of
energy is useful for communication purposes.
Also, the entire range of such frequencies.
RADIO FREQUENCY SIGNAL, HIGHLEVEL (TR, ATR, AND PRE-TR TUBES).
A radio frequency signal of sufficient power to
cause firing (2) of the tube.
RADIO
FREQUENCY
SIGNAL, LOW LEVEL (TR, ATR, AND PRE-TR TUBES).
A radio-frequency signal with insufficient
power to cause firing (2) of the tube.
RADIOGENIC.
Produced by radioactive
transformation. Thus, uranium minerals con
tain radiogenic lead and radiogenic helium.
The heat produced within the earth by the
disintegration of radioactive nuclides is known
as radiogenic heat.
RADIOGRAPHY.
Photography by x-ray
radiation or by the y-rays of radium or radio
active nuclides.
In making radiographs, the x-rays emitted
from the anode of the tube (see x-rays) are
directed towards the subject to be examined.
Upon reaching the subject some pass through
while others, meeting parts of the subject

which offer greater absorption, are absorbed

wholly or partially. Thus a shadow of those
parts of the subject which are more opaque
to the passage of the rays is cast on the pho
tographic film and, upon development, a
shadow image of the variations in the trans
parency of the subject to x-ray radiation is
obtained. This photographic image is termed
a radiograph.
W hile all photographic materials are sensi
tive to x-ray radiation, special x-ray emul
sions are available which are more sensitive,
thus permitting shorter exposures, and have
the high contrast necessary to differentiate be
tween slight variations in the absorption of
x-rays by different parts of the subject. Such
films differ from those used in the camera in
having much thicker emulsion coatings; sen
sitivity to x-ray radiation depending largely
upon the amount of silver halide present for
the formation of an image and not, as with
light, on the sensitivity of the different grains
of silver halide in the emulsion.
When the exposure must be kept as short as
possible as in photographing organs of the
body which cannot be immobilized, or thick
sections, intensifying screens are used. These
are screens coated with a fluorescent substance,
such as calcium tungstate, which convert some
of the x-ray energy into ordinary light and so
reduce the exposure. Placed in contact with
the photographic emulsion an intensifying
screen m ay reduce the exposure to % 5 the
exposure required by direct exposure to x-ray
radiation. W ith thick metallic castings the
reduction in exposure m ay in some cases reach
Yxoo- (See also autoradiograph.)
RADIOISOTOPE.
tive isotope.

A synonym for radioac

RADIOLOCATION. Determination of one

or more navigation coordinates made possible
by the constant velocity of rectilinear propa
gation properties of radio waves.
RADIOLUMINESCENCE. Luminescence as
a result of radiant energy bombardment.
RADIO M AGNETIC INDICATOR (RMI).
An indicating instrument which presents a
display combining vehicle heading, relative
bearing, magnetic bearing and omnibearing of
the radio station being utilized for navigation
purposes.

RADIOMETEOROGRAPH.
A
meteoro
graph utilizing small radio transmitters to send
modulated signals which have equivalents in
temperature, humidity, and pressure. A bal
loon carries the measuring devices and the
transmitter aloft to great altitudes. Four d if
ferent methods of sending the signals are used:
(1) time-spaced signals, (2) audio-frequency
change, (3) radio-frequency change, and (4)
codes. Measurements of temperature, relative
humidity, and pressure are introduced into
the transmitter which transmits the measure
ments in terms of a radio signal. An electrical
thermometer is generally used. The humidity
element is usually a special human-hair in
strument (see hygrometer, hair) or an absorp
tion instrument which utilizes change in the
electrical resistance of lithium chloride in a
thin film on a tube. Pressure elements are
generally aneroid cells.
Furthermore, by
tracking the path of the radiometeorograph
through the atmosphere, as with a suitable
direction-finder, inform ation is obtained con
cerning wind velocity at various heights.
RADIOMETER. An instrument for detect
ing, and usually also for measuring, radiant
energy.
Am ong the many types are the
Crookes radiometer and the Nichols radiom
eter (these two being sometimes called vane
radiometers ).
In addition to these, the
pyrheliometer, the bolometer, the radiomi
crometer and the thermopile m ay also be
classed as radiometers.
RADIOMETER, ACOUSTIC.
An instru
ment for measuring sound intensity b y deter
mining the unidirectional steady-state pres
sure caused by the reflection or absorption of
a sound wave at a boundary.
RADIOMETRY. The measurement of radi
ant energy as with a radiometer.
RADIOMICROMETER. An instrument con
sisting primarily of an extremely sensitive
thermocouple, suspended in a magnetic field,
for measuring minute variations in radiation.
RADIONUCLIDE.
A nuclide which ex
hibits radioactivity, whether of artificial or
natural origin. (See also radioactive nuclides,
natural.)
RADIOPAQUE.

Impenetrable to radiation.

RADIOPHARE. This term is identical with

radio beacon (see beacon, radio) and is com
monly used in international terminology.
RADIOPHOTOLUM INESCENCE.
Lumi
nescence exhibited by certain minerals as a
result of irradiation with /?- and y-rays, fo l
lowed by exposure to light. The phenomenon
is related to thermoluminescence, the traps
being filled by the original irradiation and
emptied by further excitation produced by the
light.
RADIO RECEIVER.

See receiver (radio).

RADIOSENSITIVE.

Sensitive to radiation.

RADIO SILENCE, INTERNATONAL.

international radio silence.

See

RADIOSONDE. An instrument which ful

fills the same functions as the aerometeorograph but to much greater altitudes. A small
pilot balloon carries the instrument aloft; a
small parachute lowers it to earth again when
the balloon bursts in the upper atmosphere.
B y means of a small clockwork motor and
very light weight radio-transmitting set, the
indications of instruments sensitive to pres
sure, temperature and humidity are automati
cally transmitted at regular intervals during
the flight. The signals from the radiosonde
are received and recorded on a special re
ceiver on the ground, and are then translated
into readings of pressure, temperature and
humidity at the various altitudes. (See also
telemeter.)
RADIO SPECTRUM.

See spectrum.

RADIOTHERM OLUM INESCENCE.

Lu
minescence exhibited by certain substances as
a result of irradiation by /3- and y-rays, fol
lowed by heating. (See traps.)
RADIOTHORIUM. A thorium isotope of
mass number 228, produced naturally by
/?-decay of actinium 228 (mesothorium I I ).
Radiothorium emits -particles (half-life 1.90
years) to give radium 224 (thorium X ) .
RADIO TRANSMITTER.
radio.

See transmitter,

RADIO
W AVE
PROPAGATION.
The
transfer of energy by electromagnetic radia
tion at frequencies lower than about 3 X 1012
cycles per second,

RADIUM. R adioactive element.

Atom ic number 88.
RADIUS, FOCAL.

Symbol Ra.

See ellipse; hyperbola.

RADIUS OF CURVATURE.
radius of.

See curvature,

RADIUS OF GYRATION. The radius of gy

ration of a mass in respect to a particular
axis is the square root of the quotient of the
moment of inertia divided by the mass. It
is the distance at which the entire mass must
be assumed to be concentrated in order that
the product of the mass and the square of this
distance will equal the moment of inertia of
the actual mass about the given axis. The
numerical value of the radius of gyration, /c,
is given by the following formula in which I
is the moment of inertia and M , the mass.

IT

The radius of gyration of an area is similar

except that the moment of inertia of the area
is involved.
(See inertia, products and mo
ments of.)

RAIN. Liquid water drops ranging in diam

eter from 0.5 mm to approximately 5.0 mm,
usually falling with velocities ranging from
3 m per sec to 8 m per sec. Rain is the most
common type of precipitation.
RAINBOW. Looking into a spray or mist
which is illuminated by strong white light
from behind his own back, an observer sees
one and sometimes two sets of concentric,
spectrally colored rings, called a rainbow. If
two are visible, the inner, called the primary
bow , is brighter and narrower than the outer
or secondary bow. In the primary, the red
is on the outside edge and violet on the in
side; the order in the secondary being the re
verse of this. The colors are not so pure as
in a spectrum, because each wavelength ex
tends over a wide radial range, the rainbow
itself being made up of the fairly pronounced
intensity maxima.
The colors of the rainbow are caused by the
refractive dispersion of the spherical water

RADIUS OF THE UNIVERSE. The length

R = cT where T & 8 X 109 years is the recip
rocal of the Hubble constant, and c is the
speed of light. R is thus of order 1027 cm.
In some cosmological models, R is approxi
mately the mean radius of curvature of the
universe.
RADIX.

Synonym for base.

RADIX POINT. The index which separates

the digits associated with negative powers
from those associated with the zero and posi
tive powers of the base of the number system
in which a quantity is represented. For ex
ample, binary point, decimal point.
RADOME.
tenna.

A dielectric housing for an an

RADON. Radioactive gaseous element, for

which the name emanation is also used. Sym
bol Rn. Atomic number 86.
RADUX. A long-distance continuous-wave,
low -frequency navigational system of the
phase comparison type providing hyperbolic
lines of position.
RAIES ULTIMES.

See persistent spectrum.

Formation of primary bow (above) and secondary

bow (below ). Circles represent raindrops.

drops. Figs. 1 and 2 show, respectively, the

dispersion composing the primary and the
secondary bows. The figures also explain why
the order of colors is reversed, and show that

only the highest drops in the primary and

the lowest in the secondary refract red light
to the eye. The two internal reflections, with
consequently greater loss of light, explain
why the secondary bow is fainter. The center
of the ring system is exactly opposite the
source of light; so that natural rainbows are
seen only when the sun is near the horizon,
unless the observer is elevated high above the
surrounding country and can look obliquely
downward into the rain.
RAIN RETURN. In radar, clutter due to rain.
RAMAN EFFECT. A phenomenon involved
in the scattering of light from the molecules
of transparent gases, liquids, and solids; dis
covered by the Indian physicist, C. V. Raman,
in 1928. It consists in the appearance of ex
tra spectrum lines in the vicinity of each
prominent line of the spectrum of the inci
dent light. For example, if light from a mer
cury arc shines into carbon tetrachloride
(CC14, a liquid), some of the violet lines in
the scattered light, especially the one at 4358
angstroms, have associated with them a fairly
distinct Ram an spectrum, consisting of
several lines, some of which are of longer,
some shorter, wavelength than the much
brighter, unaltered line. The shorter, usually
faint lines, are called "anti-Stokes lines. The
Ram an spectrum for a given line is character
istic of the scattering substance, and is made
up of lines somewhat more diffuse, or
broader, than the corresponding incident
line. W ater gives broad bands. The phe
nomenon extends into the x-ray region. The
R am an effect is explained as being a change
in frequency of the incident radiation due to
a change in rotational or vibrational energy
of the scattering molecules. It is, therefore,
useful in studying molecular structure and
behavior.
RAMARK. A fixed facility which continu
ously emits a signal so that a bearing indica
tion appears on a radar display.
RAMSAUER EFFECT. W hen electrons are
scattered from atoms of the noble gases, it is
found that for some value of the energy, al
ways below 25 electron volts, the scattering
cross section vanishes as if the atom had be
come com pletely transparent to the electrons.
A t energies around this region, the cross sec
tion stays well below that which would be ex

pected from kinetic theory; at energies above

25 electron volts, the cross section approaches
that which would be expected. The Ramsauer
effect is explained on the basis of quantum
mechanics as being due to complete destructive
interference between the scattered waves com
ing from the different regions of the potential
well of the atom.
RAMSAY AND SHIELDS M ODIFICATION
OF EO TV0S EQUATION.
Ram say and
Shields found that at temperatures not too
near the critical point the molar surface en
ergy could be expressed in the form :
7

(M v)* = k(tc - t - 6),

where y is the surface tension of a liquid and

v is its specific volume, both at temperature
t, M is its molecular weight, tc is its critical
temperature, and k is a constant.
RAMSAY-YOUNG RULE.
An empirically
derived relationship between two sets of tem
peratures at which two chemically-similar
liquids have the same vapor pressures, of the
form :
T i / r

I Y /

2Y

in which T\ and T 2 are temperatures at which

the two liquids have the same vapor pres
sure P, and Ti and 7Y are temperatures at
which the substances have the same vapor
pressure P'. This relationship is useful in
comparing vapor pressures at different tem
peratures, and boiling points at different pres
sures, of similar compounds.
RAMSDEN CIRCLE. I f a telescope is fo
cused for infinity, and pointed toward a
bright sky, while a sheet of white paper is
held near the eyepiece, a sharp, bright circle
of light (the exit pupil), called the Ramsden
circle can be found. The diameter of this
circle divided into the diameter of the ob
jective lens gives the magnifying power of the
telescope.
RAMSDEN
Ramsden.
RANDOM
dence.

EYEPIECE.
COINCIDENCE.

RANDOM NOISE.

See

eyepiece,
See

coinci

See noise, fluctuation.

RANDOM W ALK. A problem whose solution

is of importance in the treatment of diffusion,

Brownian motion, and sedimentation problems

in statistical mechanics. Stated in the most
general form in which it has been used in
statistical mechanics, it asks for the probabil
ity that, after N collisions, a molecule will
have moved a distance r in a given direction
from its starting point when the molecule
travels a root mean square distance L between
collisions, and each collision scatters the m ole
cule into a random direction. The solution to
this problem is:
P (x,y,z)d V = L
X (2 tT)~Z

l%* dV.

where P ( x , y , z)dV is the probability that the

molecule will be found in the volume element
d V around a point with coordinates x , y, and z
relative to its starting point and X = L y/ N .
This general expression may be reduced to
equations suitable for two dimensional or one
dimensional random walks, which follow:
P ( x fy)dxdy = ------ e ~ (x2+y2),2x2dxdy,
X (27r)
P (x)d x = -------- - e~x2l2X2dx.
RANGE. (1) The distance that a particle will
penetrate a given substance before its kinetic
energy is reduced to a value below which it
can no longer produce ionization.
For a
heavy ion, such as a proton or an -particle,
the range usually refers to the component of
displacement in the initial direction; it is only
slightly shorter than the path length, or dis
tance measured along the track of the par
ticle. For a meson, whose track shows m od
erate deflections near the end, the range usu
ally refers to the path length. For an elec
tron, whose track may be quite tortuous be
cause of frequent deflections, the range usu
ally refers to the greatest distance of pene
tration in a specified direction; this distance
may be considerably shorter than the path
length. The residual range is the distance
over which the particle can still produce ioni
zation after having already lost some of its
energy in passing through matter. Because
o f the phenomenon of straggling, particles of
a given kind and of the same initial energy
do not all have the same range. For heavy
ions, the ranges are distributed, in a manner
similar to the Gaussian distribution, about the

mean range, or range that is exceeded by half

of the particles. The extrapolated range is
the intercept on the range axis of a straight
line drawn through the descending portion of
a numbers-versus-range curve for initially
monoenergetic particles; it exceeds the mean
range by a few per cent. The maximum range
for a group of ionizing particles is the greatest
distance in a specified direction at which their
ionization can be detected. The linear range
is the range expressed in units of length. The
mass range is the range expressed in units of
surface density; it is thus the mass per unit
area of a layer of thickness equal to the linear
range, and is equal to the product of the linear
range and the density of the substance. (See
Bragg curve.) (2) In ballistics, the horizontal
component of the displacement of a projectile
before it strikes the ground. (3) In naviga
tion, a radio range (see range, radio). In
navigation, the use of range as a synonym for
distance is deprecated. (4) Forces are often
described as being short range or long range.
Short range forces are only appreciable over
small distances and fall off very rapidly with
increasing distances, for example the nuclear
force between nucleons, which is very strong
for distances less than about 10~~13 cm and
is negligible at appreciably greater distances.
Long range forces fall off only gradually with
increasing distance, as for example, the in
verse square forces of the electrostatic and
gravitational fields. (5) See range, effective.
RANGE, EFFECTIVE. A parameter, r0, ap
pearing in the analysis of neutron-proton scat
tering at low energies. It represents a mean
distance of interaction and depends on the
shape of the nuclear potential. (See, for ex
ample, Blatt and W eisskopf, Theoretical N u
clear Physics, W iley, 1952.) (See also scatter
ing length.)
RANGE-ENERGY RELATION. A relation
between the distance a particle will travel
through matter (its range) before giving up
all of its energy and its initial energy. The
term is used with regard to charged particles.
Since the energy loss per unit path length is
a rather complicated function of the energy,
the range-energy relation is not linear. The
relation, usually expressed in the form of a
graph. For -particles and similar heavy ions,
the range involved is usually the mean range,
most commonly in dry air at 15C and 1 atm.

For electrons, it is usually the maximum

range, most com m only in aluminum.
For
p-particles the energy involved is the m axi
mum kinetic energy of the p-particles spec
trum.

vector. (4) The number of independent cut

sets that can be selected in a network. The
rank R is equal to the number of nodes, V,
minus the number of separate parts P. Thus
R = V P.

RANGE,
range.

RANKINE APPARATUS FOR GAS VIS

COSITY. A capillary tube and a wider tube
containing a small pellet of mercury are ar
ranged side by side and connected at top and
bottom. The tubes are inverted, and the pellet
slides down the wider tube, forcing gas through
the lower end of the tube, through the capil
lary, and back into the upper end of the wider
tube. The viscosity is found from the time
of fall of the drop between two points, and the
radii of the tubes.
This is a convenient
method for comparing viscosities of different
gases, or variation of viscosity with tempera
ture.

FREQUENCY.

See

frequency

RANGE MARK. See distance mark. The

use o f the term range mark is deprecated.
RANGE, RADIO. A radio facility which pro
vides radial lines of position by having special
characteristics in its emissions recognizable as
bearing inform ation and useful in lateral
guidance of aircraft. The word beacon is
used to designate a facility which emits signals
not having the above special characteristics,
and from which bearing information can be
obtained only by having directional character
istics in the receiving equipment.
RANGE RESOLUTION. See distance reso
lution. The use of the term range resolution
is deprecated.
RANGE, VISUAL. The value of the range
of p-particles in an absorber, usually alumi
num, estimated by visual inspection of breaks
in the aluminum absorption curve.
(Cf.
Feather analysis.)
RANGE, VISUAL-AURAL.

RANKINE CYCLE. Rankines modification

of the Carnot cycle is the basis of the modern
steam plant cycle even though the Rankine
cycle itself has been modified and changed
with the passing of time. The elements of the
Rankine vapor cycle are shown in Fig. (a).

See VAR.

RANGE, VISUAL RADIO. The name ap

plied to a specific four or six-course radio
range (see range, radio) which included a
vibrating reed presentation. This facility is
now obsolete, but the term has since been
applied to other experimental radio ranges
with visual presentations.
RANGING, ECHO. The determination of the
distance and direction of underwater objects
by the same process used in echo depth sound
ing. Com m only called sonar.
RANK.
(1) A matrix or determinant is of
rank n if it contains at least one non-vanish
ing determinant of order n but all of its higher
order determinants equal zero. (2) A sys
tem of homogeneous linear equations is of
rank n if the matrix of its coefficients has that
rank. (3) W hen used with reference to ten
sors of dimension m the rank is n if the tensor
has mn components. A tensor of rank zero is
a scalar or invariant; one of rank unity is a

It consists essentially of a boiler which re

ceives feed water from a pump, a prime mover
to expand the steam adiabatically, a con
denser to receive the exhaust steam from the
engine and reduce it to water, and a pump
to overcome the pressure difference between
boiler and condenser. Figs. (b) and (c) show
this cycle on the pressure-volume and temperature-entropy planes.
RANKINE TEMPERATURE SCALE.
A
temperature scale which corresponds to the
Kelvin scale, but is based on the absolute zero
o f the Fahrenheit system, so that 0 R an
kine = 459.69F.
RAOULT LA W . The vapor pressure of a
solution is given b y
V = VoXj
where p0 is the vapor pressure of the pure
solvent, and x is the mole fraction o f solvent.

RARE EARTH.
(1) A ny member of the
lanthanide series. (2) The term is sometimes
applied to oxides of these elements, which are
better referred to as rare earth oxides. (3)
Occasionally used of members of the actinide
series.
RAREFACTION, ACOUSTIC. The instan
taneous local decrease in density due to a
passing sound wave or the region in which the
density is decreased at any instant.
RARE GAS.

RATIONAL. Applied to an expression which

involves the variable in only the rational
operations of addition, subtraction, multipli
cation, division, and raising to powers with
constant integral exponents. Rational func
tions are divided into two sub-classes: rational
integral functions or polynomial functions,
and rational fractional functions.
RATIONAL ACTIVITY COEFFICIENT.
The activity coefficient derived from the
Debye-Huckel theory of electrolytes.

See gas, inert.

RASTER. In television, a predetermined pat

tern of lines or traces which provides substan
tially uniform coverage of a target area.
RASTER BURN (CAMERA TUBES).
A
change in the characteristics of that area of
the target which has been scanned, resulting
in a spurious signal corresponding to that area
when a larger or tilted raster is scanned. (See
also blemish; ion burn.)
HAST M ETHOD. See freezing point depres
sion measurement.
RATE OF DECAY OF SOUND. The time
rate at which the sound pressure level (or
velocity level, or sound-energy density level)
is decreasing at a given point and at a given
time. The practical unit is the decibel per
second.
RATING, CONTINUOUS-DUTY. The rat
ing applying to operation for an indefinitely
long time.
RATING CURRENT (RELAY). See coil cur
rent, rated and contact current, rated (relay).
RATING, INTERM ITTENT - DUTY.
The
specified output rating of a device when oper
ated for specified intervals of time other than
continuous duty.
RATIO. The indicated quotient of two num
bers frequently expressed as a fraction and
written as a :b , a/b, or a
b. (See also pro
portion.)
RATIO, CARRIER-TO-NOISE.
to-noise ratio.
RATIO, D EVIATION.

See carrier-

See deviation ratio.

RATIO, FRONT-TO-REAR.
ratio.

See front-to-rear

RATIO, SIGNAL-TO-NOISE.
noise ratio.
RATIO, W ID E BAND.

See signal-to-

See wide-band ratio.

RAT-RACE. See waveguide junction, hybrid

ring (rat-race).
RAY. As the term is used in optics, it may
be defined as that curve or path which at
every position has its tangent pointing in the
direction of propagation of the light waves
under consideration. In the special case of
any region where the medium is homogeneous
and isotropic, a ray is at every point perpen
dicular to the wave front.
RAY ACOUSTICS. The analysis of acous
tical problems under the assumption that
sound travels along straight lines or rays in
passing through homogeneous material. Dif
fraction effects are neglected. The methods
of ray acoustics are applicable only if the
state of the medium and the boundaries of the
medium change only slightly over a distance
equal to the sound wavelength.
RAY, ACTINIC. A misnomer for actinic
radiation, i.e., for radiation, particularly in
the ultraviolet, having pronounced chemical
or biological effects.
RAY, ALPHA.

See alpha-particle.

RAY, BECQUEREL.
RAY, BETA.

See Becquerel rays.

See beta-particle.

RAY, CANAL.

See canal rays.

RAY, CATHODE.
RAY, CHIEF.
RAY, COSMIC.

See cathode rays.

See chief ray.

See cosmic rays.

RAYDIST. A navigation system in which a

cw signal emitted from a vehicle is received at

three or more ground stations; the received

signals are compared in phase to determine the
position of the vehicle.
RAY, EXTRAORDINARY. See discussion of
ray, ordinary, and of double refraction, opti
cal.
RAY, GAMMA.

See gamma-ray.

RAY, INFRARED. A misnomer for infrared

radiation (see infrared radiation), i.e., for
electromagnetic waves in the wavelength re
gion 0.78 to 300 microns. (The upper limit is
often considered to be as high as 1000
microns.)
RAYLEIGH CRITERION OF RESOLVING
POWER. The image of a point object as
seen by any optical system is a diffraction
pattern. The images are com monly said to
be resolved when the principal maximum of
one pattern falls on the first minimum of the
other pattern. For circular optics, this occurs
when the angular separation of the point ob
jects as seen from the objective lens of the
system is
1.22X
0 = --------a
Here A is the wavelength of the light and a
is the diameter of the objective lens.
(See
Robertson, Introduction to Optics, Fourth Ed.,
pages 207 ff.)
RAYLEIGH DISK. A special form of acous
tic radiometer (see radiometer, acoustic)
which is used for the fundamental measure
ment of particle velocity. (See velocity, par
ticle.)
RAYLEIGH DISTILLATION. A simple dis
tillation, wherein the composition of the resi
due changes continuously during the course of
the distillation.
B y analogy, any process
which follows the same mathematical rela
tionship.
RAYLEIGH GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF
RECIPROCITY. See reciprocity theorem.
RAYLEIGH-JEANS EQUATION. From the
standpoint of statistical mechanics, using the
theorem of the equipartition of energy, R a y
leigh and Jeans obtained
dEx = 2trckT \ -4d\,

for the spectral distribution of the radiation

from a black body. This formula agrees with
experiment only at long wavelengths, and fails
com pletely at short wavelengths.
(See the
Planck radiation formula for the true spectral
distribution.)
RAYLEIGH LA W . For small magnetization,
the induction may be approximated by
B = mo# + vH*
yielding
IX

= + ,
fJLQ

v H

where p is the normal permeability, and fi0 the

initial permeability. (See permeability, nor
mal and permeability, initial.)
RAYLEIGH L A W OF SCATTERING.
discussion of scattering, Rayleigh.

See

RAYLEIGH LINE. That component of a

spectrum line in scattered radiation which has
the same frequency as the corresponding inci
dent radiation, arising simply from ordinary
or Rayleigh scattering, not from the Comp
ton or the Raman effect, or from Thomson
resonance or Delbriick scattering.
RAYLEIGH LOOP. A parabolic approxima
tion to the hysteresis loop
B = (mo + vHm)H

- I I 2)

where H = H m at the tips of the loop.

also the Rayleigh law.)

(See

RAYLEIGH NUMBER.
The quantity (R
defined for the fluid-filled space between two
parallel horizontal planes as
(0i - 62)gd3

where a is the coefficient of thermal expansion

of the fluid, 0i 02 is the difference of tem
perature between the bottom plane and the
top plane, g is the acceleration due to gravity,
d is the separation of the planes, v is the kine
matic viscosity, k is the thermal conductivity.
Convection currents appear only when the
Rayleigh number exceeds a critical value. For
rigid planes, the critical Rayleigh number is
of order 1700.
RAYLEIGH RADIATION LAW .
leigh-Jeans equation.

See Ray

RAYLEIGH REFRACTOMETER.
fractometer, Rayleigh.

See re

RAYLEIGH-RITZ M ETHOD.
Variational
principle for the solution of the eigenvalue
equation A^ = \B\jj (A, B operators) based on
taking as a trial function a linear combination
o f a complete set of functions, with coefficients
which are to be varied to give the correct
solution.
RAYLEIGH SCATTERING.
Rayleigh.

RAY TRACING. It is not practicable to set

up completely accurate equations to describe
an image in terms o f the object and optical
surface. However, it is possible to trace a
ray from a point on an object through an
optical system which has only spherical (or
plane) interfaces, with complete accuracy.

See scattering,

RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY.
In
hydrodynamics the instability of the surface
of separation between two fluids of different
densities when the lighter fluid is accelerated
toward the heavier fluid.

For rays from a point on the optical axis,

the four conventional equations are:

RAY, ORDINARY. W hen light is incident

obliquely on an anisotropic crystal or other
double-refracting medium and is split into
two components, the ray which is deviated at
an index of refraction independent of the
angle of incidence is the ordinary ray in ac
cordance with the Snell laws. The deviation
of the other ray, the extraordinary ray, does
not follow the Snell laws. (See double refrac
tion, optical.)
RAY(S), PARALLEL. R ays from a very dis
tant point reach an optical system as parallel
rays: Hence any bundle of rays parallel to
each other, and, particularly, parallel to the
optical axis of an optical system.
RAY(S), PARAXIAL. Rays sufficiently close
to parallelism with the optical axis of a sys
tem that, for the purposes of the computation
being made, the angles between the rays and
the optical axis are so small that sin 0 may be
taken as proportional to 0.

R -f- S
sin i = ----------sin 0
R
n
gin r = sin i
nf
o' = r + e - i
sin r
S' = R - R --------
sin 0
(See also sign convention (lenses and
mirrors).)
More com plicated methods are needed for
skew rays (see rays, skew).
RAY, ULTRAVIOLET.
Ultraviolet radia
tion in the wavelength band between x-rays
and violet visible light.
RBE. Abbreviation
effectiveness.
(See
RBE.)
R-BRANCH.

RAY, RIM. A light ray passing through a

part of a lens which is far from the axis.
RAY, ROENTGEN.

See x-rays.

RC.

for relative biological

dose (dosage); dose,

See Fortrat parabola.

Abbreviation for resistance-capacitance.

RC CONSTANT.

See time constant.

RC COUPLING.

See amplifier.

RAYSISTOR. Trade name for a series of fourterminal switching devices. The output con
sists of a photoresistor which may be excited
by various forms of electrical lamps.

RCM.
ures.

RAY(S), SKEW. R ays that are not confined

to a meridian plane, do not intersect the
optical axis, and are difficult to trace.

R DFRADIO DIRECTION FINDING. A

term formerly used in Great Britain for radio
distance finding (radr).

RCVR.

Abbreviation for radar counter meas

Abbreviation for receiver.

R E A C T A N C E . The imaginary part of im

pedance. See alternating current circuits.
R E A C T A N C E , A C O U ST IC . The imaginary
component of the acoustic impedance (see
impedance, acoustic). The com m only used
unit is the acoustical ohm.
R E A C T A N C E , C O M M U T A T IN G . A reac
tance connected in the cathode lead of mercury-arc rectifier units to insure the current
through the tube holding over when the volt
age on the conducting anode drops until the
next anode can pick up conduction. W ithout
this, the arc would go out, and the tube would
need restarting by some auxiliary means.
R E A C T A N C E , IN TR IN SIC ( X ) . The imagi
nary part of intrinsic impedance. (See sec
ondary electromagnetic constants.)
R E A C T A N C E , LE A K A G E .
The inductive
reactance caused by the flux which links only
one coil of a transformer. The useful flux,
of course, links both windings and is the me
dium of transfer of energy between them.
Leakage reactance is one of the m ajor in
ternal impedance components of the trans
former.
R E A C T A N C E , M E C H A N IC A L . The imag
inary part of the mechanical impedance. The
unit is the mechanical ohm.
REACTANCE,
M E C H A N IC A L
ROTA
T IO N A L (R O T A T IO N A L R E A C T A N C E ).
The imaginary part of the mechanical rota
tional impedance. The unit is the rotational
ohm.
R E A C T A N C E , R O T A T IO N A L .
ance, mechanical rotational.

See react

R E A C T A N C E , SATU RATIO N . The react

ance of the gate windings of a magnetic am
plifier during the saturation interval.
R E A C T A N C E , SPE C IF IC A C O U ST IC . The
imaginary component of the specific acoustic
impedance. (See impedance, specific acous
tic.)
REACTATRON.
capacitor.

Trade name for a silicon

REACTION. (1) In general, a response such

as the equal and opposite force which, accord
ing to the third of the Newton laws of motion,
results when a force is applied to a material

system. Specifically, the force exerted by the

supports or bearings on a loaded mechanical
system. (2) A term sometimes used for re
generation (see feedback, positive).
(3) A
chemical change. Specifically, a change by
which one or more substances are transformed
process being accompanied by a change in
into one or more entirely new substances, the
energy, but not, in most cases, by a noticeable
change in the total mass of the system.
R adioactive reactions, however, both natural
and artificial, do involve a change of the mass
o f the system, which is accompanied by a re
lease of energy, opposite in sign to the change
in mass, and equal to its magnitude multiplied
by the square of the velocity of light. (See
also nuclear reaction.)
R E A C T IO N ENERGY, N U C LE A R . (1) The
disintegration energy of a nuclear reaction;
symbol Q. It is equal to the sum of the ki
netic or radiant energies of the reactants
minus the sum of the kinetic or radiant en
ergies of the products. (If any product of a
specified reaction is in an excited nuclear
state, the energy of subsequently emitted yradiation is not included in the sum.)
(2)
Often, im plicitly, the ground-state nuclear re
action energy, which is the reaction energy
when all reactant and product nuclei are in
their ground states; sym bol Q0.
R E A C T IV A T IO N O F A FIL A M E N T . As
applied generally to the thoriated-tungsten
filament, the process consists of applying
higher than rated filament voltage for a short
period, in order to create a fresh layer of
thorium on the emitting surface.
R E A C T IV E F A C T O R . The ratio of voltamperes, reactive to total volt-amperes. (See
power factor.)
R E A C T IV IT Y (N U C L E A R R E A C T O R ). A
measure of the departure of a reactor from
critical, such that positive values of reactivity
correspond to reactors above critical and nega
tive values to reactors below critical. Often
represented by (a) the multiplication constant
minus one, (b) a quantity proportional to the
inverse asymptotic period. Sometimes used
interchangeably with the term multiplication
constant. (See inhour.)
R E A C T O R . (1) A nuclear reactor is an ap
paratus in which nuclear fission may be sus-

tained in a self-supporting chain reaction.

The term reactor m ay be modified by the
words thermal, epithermal, intermediate, or
fast to indicate the predominant energy of
the neutrons causing fission. It may also be
modified by the terms heterogeneous or homo
geneous to characterize the detailed structure.
The reactor includes fissionable material (fuel)
such as uranium or plutonium, and moderating
material (unless it is a fast reactor) and
usually includes a reflector to conserve escap
ing neutrons, provision for heat removal and
measuring and control elements. The terms
pile and reactor have been used interchange
ably with reactor now becoming more com
mon. T hey usually are applied only to sys
tems in which the reaction proceeds at a con
trolled rate, but they also have been applied
to bombs. Reactors sometimes are designated
according to the moderator used (e.g., graphite
or beryllium reactor), or coolant (e.g., gascooled, liquid metal cooled). (See fuel; mod
erator; reflector.)
(2) A device the primary
purpose of which is to introduce reactance
into a circuit. E.g., a capacitor (electrical) or
a choke coil.
REACTOR, CONTROLLED THERMONU
CLEAR. A power production plant designed
to operate on the exothermic nuclear fusion
reactions in light elements.
Conceptual
models usually consider deuterium or a mix
ture of deuterium and tritium as the fusion
fuel. These fuels need to be heated to ex
tremely high kinetic temperatures of the order
of 108 K for ignition conditions. The fuel
at these temperatures will be a plasma and
must be isolated by electromagnetic means
away from material walls.
(See thermonu
clear device.)
REACTOR, BREEDING. A reactor, usually
surrounded by a blanket of natural uranium,
but sometimes containing layers of natural
uranium within the moderator. The purpose
of the breeder reactor is to have at least one
neutron captured by a uranium 238 atom for
every fission produced within the reactor.
Since the uranium 239 atom produced in this
fashion will decay to neptunium 239 and then
to plutonium 239, there will be at least one
new atom of fissionable material produced
for every one that is burned. In this way it
is thought that it may be possible to use all of
the natural uranium as a nuclear fuel.

REACTOR, BOILING WATER. A nuclear

reactor in which the fissionable material,
usually in the form of Uranium 235, enriched
uranyl nitrate, is dissolved in the light water
which is used as a moderator. The advan
tage of this type of reactor is that it can be
self stabilizing and requires no control rods.
The steam bubbles produced by the boiling
of the light water moderator can reduce the
efficiency of the moderator to a point where
the reaction rate will stabilize at a power level
which the reactor can handle.
REACTOR,
BARE
HOMOGENEOUS
THERMAL. A nuclear reactor in which the
fissions are induced by thermal neutrons, the
fuel being homogeneously distributed through
out the moderator, with no reflector.
REACTOR, COMMUTATING.
mutating reactance.

See

com

REACTOR, CRITICAL ASSEMBLY OF. An

assembly of moderator and fuel which is either
subcritical or just critical, used to study the
properties of system and to determine critical
size, etc.
REACTOR, CRITICAL THICKNESS OF
INFINITE SLAB.
The thickness which
makes the geometric buckling (see buckling,
geometric) equal to the material buckling.
(See buckling, material.)
REACTOR, DIMPLE. The name given Great
Britain's first heavy water moderated reactor
which was put in operation in 1954.
REACTOR, EXPERIMENTAL BREEDER
(EBR). A fast heterogeneous reactor used for
research and breeding. Its core consists of
enriched U 235 surrounded by a blanket of
natural uranium. (See also reactor, breeder.)
REACTOR, HETEROGENEOUS. A nuclear
reactor in which the fuel is distributed
through the moderator (or vice versa) in the
form of discrete lumps.
REACTOR, HOMOGENEOUS. A nuclear
reactor in which the fissionable material and
moderator (if used) are combined in a mix
ture such that an effectively-homogeneous
medium is presented to the neutrons. Such a
mixture is represented either by a solution of
fuel in moderator, or by discrete particles
having dimensions small in comparison with

the neutron mean free path.

heterogeneous.)
REACTOR(S), IM AGE. If
images is used in solving the
tions for a nuclear reactor,
cally introduced new reactors
reactors.

(Cf. reactor,

the method of
criticality equa
the mathemati
are called image

REACTOR, INTERM EDIATE.

A nuclear
reactor in which fission is induced predomi
nantly by neutrons with energies greater than
thermal but less than those of fission neutrons.
REACTOR,
LIQ UID
M ETAL
FUEL
(LMFR). A proposed reactor which would
use a solution of uranium in liquid bismuth
as fuel. In one version the fuel would be
circulated through a graphite structure which
would supply the moderator.
REACTOR, MATERIALS TESTING.
A
nuclear reactor designed for the purpose of
testing materials and equipment under high
radiation fields.
REACTOR, MULTI-GROUP TREATMENT
OF. A treatment of nuclear reactor theory in
which the neutron energy spectrum is con
sidered as being made up of a number of en
ergy groups.
REACTOR, ONE-GROUP THEORY OF. A
treatment of nuclear reactor theory in which
it is assumed that the production, diffusion,
and absorption of neutrons occur at a single
energy, the thermal energy.
REACTOR(S), PERTURBATION THEORY
APPLIED TO. The effect of changes in a
nuclear reactor structure resulting, for ex
ample, from localized poisons or temperature
changes may be determined by means of per
turbation theory.
REACTOR, POWER. A nuclear reactor de
signed principally for the economical produc
tion of power.
REACTOR,
PRESSURIZED
W ATER
(PWR). A power reactor (see reactor, power)
using slightly enriched uranium as fuel. Water
under high pressure is the moderator and
coolant.
REACTOR, PRODUCTION (REGENERA
TIVE). A nuclear reactor designed princi
pally for the production of fissionable m a

terial, usually
breeder.)

Pu239.

(See

also

reactor,

REACTOR, REFLECTOR SAVINGS OF.

The decrease in the critical size of a half
dimension (e.g., half-thickness of a slab) in a
nuclear reactor due to a reflector.
REACTOR, SATURABLE. A saturable re
actor (see reactor (2)) is an adjustable induc
tor in which the current versus voltage rela
tionship is adjusted by control magnetomo
tive forces applied to the core.
An ideal saturable reactor is one having
perfect coupling between power and control
windings and characterized by absence of
losses, winding resistances, and capacitances.
(See also amplifier, magnetic.)
REACTOR, SATURATING.
An inductor
(1) operating in saturation (5) without inde
pendent control means.
REACTOR, SIMPLE. A linear reactor (see
reactor (2)) usually inductive.
REACTOR,
SUBMARINE
INTERMEDI
ATE. A nuclear reactor designed for the pro
duction of power to be used in propelling a
naval vessel, and utilizing neutrons of inter
mediate velocity.
REACTOR, SUBMARINE THERMAL. A
nuclear reactor designed for the production
o f power to be used in propelling a naval ves
sel, and utilizing thermal neutrons.
REACTOR, SW IMM ING POOL. A thermal,
heterogeneous, light-water moderated reactor
used for research.
The fuel elements are
plates of an alloy of uranium-235 and alu
minum, encased in aluminum.
REACTOR SYSTEM, CRITICAL STATE
OF. The state in which just as many neutrons
are being produced by fission as are lost by
absorption and leakage.
REACTOR,
THERMONUCLEAR.
thermonuclear device.

See

REACTOR, TWO-GROUP THEORY.

A
treatment of nuclear reactor theory in which
it is assumed that the neutrons are at two
energies, fast and thermal.
(See neutrons,
fast and neutrons, thermal.)
REACTOR(S), TYPES OF. Nuclear reactors
are classified according to the type of enrich

ment of the fuel, energy of the fissioning neu

trons, type of moderator (if thermal), ar
rangement of the fuel (homogeneous or heter
ogeneous) and purpose. Thus a reactor might
be described as a natural uranium, thermal,
graphite-moderated, heterogeneous, research
reactor. Often the power level and thermal
neutron flux are also given.
READ. T o acquire information, usually from
some form of storage. (See also write.)
READ (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).
T o generate an output corresponding to the
stored charge pattern.
READING SPEED (IN CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES).
The rate of reading successive
storage elements,
READ, NONDESTRUCTIVE. A method of
reading the magnetic state of a magnetic core
without changing its state.
READ NUMBER (IN CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES). T h e number of times a storage ele
ment is read without rewriting.
READ OUT, N ON DESTRU CTIVE.
The
determination of the state of magnetism of a
square-loop magnetic-core memory element
without removing that state of magnetism.
READ PULSE.

See state, one.

READY-TO-RECEIVE SIGNAL.
A signal
sent back to the facsimile transmitter indicat
ing that a facsimile receiver is ready to accept
the transmission.
REBECCA.
The airborne interrogator-responder of R ebecca-Eureka, a secondary radar
system.
RECALESCENCE. A singular phenomenon
exhibited by iron and some other ferromag
netic metals. If iron is heated white hot and
allowed to cool, it will, at a certain tempera
ture, suddenly evolve enough heat to halt the
cooling and even produce a momentary heat
ing. This is easily exhibited by stretching an
iron wire against the tension of a spring and
arranging a lever index to show slight changes
in length. The wire is first heated by an elec
tric current. As it cools and contracts, the
index will at a certain point give a perceptible
jerk, and then resume its steady motion of
contraction.
The effect is due to an exo
thermic change in the crystalline structure.

The reverse phenomenon, exhibited on heat

ing, is called decalescence. For cast iron the
recalescence point is a little below 700C.
Pure iron has two such points, at 780C and
880C.
A somewhat analogous effect is exhibited by
some amorphous solids upon devitrification,
which takes place when the temperature be
comes high enough for the substance to crys
tallize. Non-crystalline sodium silicate, for
example, has such a transition point near
500C, where it suddenly begins to glow.
RECALESCENT POINT.
RECEIVER.
(radio).

See recalescence.

See (1) earphone; (2) receiver

RECEIVER, CRYSTAL-VIDEO. A receiver

consisting of a crystal detector and a video
amplifier.
RECEIVER, DUAL-DIVERSITY. A diver
sity receiving system (see reception, diversity)
which, instead of mixing the signals from the
two or more antenna-receiver systems, has an
automatic selection system which connects
the output to the receiver having the stronger
signal.
RECEIVER, FACSIMILE. The apparatus
employed to translate the signal from the com
munications channel into a facsimile record of
the subject copy.
RECEIVER, LIN-LOG. In radar, a receiver
having a linear amplitude response for small
amplitude signals and a logarithmic response
for large amplitude signals.
RECEIVER, PANORAMIC.
A receiver
which is periodically tuned through a certain
band of frequencies. The receiver output, dis
played on a cathode-ray tube whose time base
is synchronized with the receiver tuning rate,
indicates all signals and their amplitudes
within the swept band. In the microwave
frequencies, this is sometimes called a spec
trum analyzer.
RECEIVER PRIMARIES. See primaries, display.
RECEIVER PULSE DELAY. See transducer
pulse delay.
RECEIVER, RADIO. The radio receiver is
the device which picks up the wave from the
transmitter and converts it to sound. The

simplest form of practical receiver is the crys

tal set which was once used extensively, then
with the advent of satisfactory and cheap
vacuum -tube circuits was largely discarded,
and which is now coming back as a receiver
for ultra high and super high frequencies.
Such a set consists of some means of selecting
or tuning the desired signal, a rectifying type
crystal (galena, silicon, etc.) as a detector
and a head-set. In its present application for
the extremely high frequencies the tuning ele
ments are lines and wave guides. In the early
days of broadcasting the regenerative receiver
was almost universally used. However, it has
serious limitations, chief among them being
its poor audio quality and its radiating ability.
As a consequence it is no longer used for reg
ular broadcast reception and its present use is
confined to the reception of continuous wave
signals, as in radio telegraphy. Tuned radio
frequency receivers were also widely used at
one time but are not used much except in the
cheaper broadcast receivers and in some long
wave commercial stations. This receiver has
an antenna-coupling circuit for tuning and
coupling the antenna to the grid of the first
amplifier tube. This tube m ay be coupled
by a second tuned circuit to another amplifier
or in smaller sets it m ay be coupled to the
detector. Each coupling circuit up to the
grid of the detector is tuned and for home
receivers the present-day sets have all tuning
elements controlled by a single dial. E arly
sets had each element controlled by a separate
dial. W hile the detector m ay be any of the
conventional types it is usually a triode biased
almost to cut-off. This produces rectification
and hence demodulation of the radio signal.
The audio output of the detector is then am
plified by one or more audio-amplifier stages
and fed to the loudspeaker where it is con
verted to sound.
The superheterodyne receiving circuit d if
fers from others in that it converts all incom
ing radio-frequency signals to a common car
rier frequency. This is accomplished in the
first detector, mixer or converter as it is vari
ously called. The signal from the antenna is
fed by a tuned coupled circuit to the mixer
tube (or in more elaborate sets a tuned radio
frequency stage m ay be inserted between the
antenna and the m ixer). In the mixer stage
the incoming signal is heterodyned with a
locally generated signal so a beat frequency

signal, called the intermediate frequency, is

produced. This new frequency signal is radio
frequency, ranging from around 450 kc to
several megacycles depending upon the pur
pose for which the receiver is designed. The
intermediate frequency has exactly the same
modulation as the original signal. In many
broadcast receivers the mixer tube combines
the functions of mixer and oscillator by using
a m ultiplicity of grids (the pentagrid con
verter is an example of such a tube). H ow
ever, at higher frequencies it is desirable or
even necessary to use a separate tube for
oscillator and feed its output into the mixer.
Regardless of how the oscillator operates, its
frequency is always adjusted by the main
tuning control of the receiver so the beat fre
quency output of the mixer is a fixed value.
This intermediate frequency signal is then
amplified by fixed-tuned radio-frequency am
plifiers and then fed to the detector (com
monly called the second detector) where it is
demodulated. The audio is then further am
plified and coupled to the speaker. The simplified-circuit diagram will serve to indicate
the various circuits and their relative posi
tions. In some of the cheaper superhetero
dynes the antenna signal is coupled to the
pentagrid first detector, then the intermediate
frequency output of this coupled without fur
ther amplification to a grid bias or regenera
tive detector and hence to the final power
tube. Various refinements are often added
to the higher quality sets. Among these are
automatic gain control, automatic frequency
control, noise suppression, tone control, fidel
ity and selectivity controls, etc. The super
heterodyne gives much greater selectivity by
its system of frequency changing and also per
mits the use of circuits having a more uniform
response to the sidebands.
The development of television has led to
extensions of the principles involved in the
usual radio receiver but has not required any
radically different ones. The main difference
between the sound receiver and the picture
receiver is in the width of the bands which
must be handled, television requiring a band
several megacycles wide while sound requires
only a few kilocycles. This means that the
radio frequency channels must be capable of
selecting between stations yet also pass very
wide sidebands. In addition the amplifica
tion circuits after the detector (correspond

ing to the audio amplifiers of the sound set)

must satisfactorily am plify over a range of
a few million cycles. Frequency modulation,
on the other hand, has necessitated the use
o f a somewhat different type of detector. The
incoming frequency modulated signal is am
plified, converted to the intermediate fre
quency and this further amplified as in the
usual set. However, since the modulation is
present as a frequency variation and the loud
speaker responds to an amplitude variation it
is necessary to change from one to the other
upon detection. This is accomplished in a
discriminator (a frequency sensitive detector)
and then the resulting audio signals, which
are amplitude variations, are amplified in a
standard audio amplifier. However, the radio
and intermediate frequency channels of the
F M set must be fairly wide band (about 200
kc) and the audio must be good to about
15,000 cycles to realize the full benefits of this
type modulation.
Besides these basic circuit distinctions
radios are often classified according to the
type power supply used. Thus battery re
ceivers for rural and portable use, a-c sets for
operating from the 110-volt a-c house-supply
circuit, a -c -d -c sets for use with either 110
(nominal) volts a-c or d-c, etc., are among
the various types available.
RECEIVER, RADIOTELEGRAPH. A radio
receiver (see receiver, radio) designed for the
reception of radiotelegraph signals. D istinc
tive characteristics include very slow AGC
action, peaked audioresponse to suppress noise
and interfering signals, and some form of
beat-frequency oscillator required to make
the transmission audible.
(See telegraphy,
radio.)
RECEIVERS, A-C-D -C. R adio receivers de
signed without transformers in the power
supply so they m ay be connected to either
alternating-current or direct-current circuits.
The heaters or filaments of the various tubes
are connected in series with the proper series
or parallel resistors to adjust the current to
the correct value. The d-c voltage for the
plates is obtained from a rectifier-filter cir
cuit connected directly to the line. A simple
half-wave type is shown. Such supplies pre
vent the use of a direct ground since the 110volt line has one side grounded and there is
always the possibility of connecting the re

ceiver plug so it would short the line if the

receiver were grounded.
RECEIVER, SINGLE-SIDEBAND. A radio
receiver (see receiver, radio) designed for the
reception of single-sideband modulation. This
device differs from other receivers in that it
must have provisions for restoring all or a
part of the carrier, which is partially or totally
deleted upon transmission.
RECEIVER, SUPERHETERODYNE. A re
ceiver (see receiver, radio) which converts all
incoming radio-frequency signals to a com
mon intermediate carrier frequency before
conversion to the original modulation.
RECEIVER, TELEPHONE. An earphone
for use in a telephone system.
(See trans
ducer, electroacoustic.)
RECEIVER, TELEPHONE, BIPOLAR. A
telephone receiver in which the alternating
force, due to the alternating current in the
electromagnet, operates directly upon a dia
phragm armature of steel.
RECEIVER, TELEPHONE, CRYSTAL. A
telephone receiver consisting of a light dia
phragm connected to a Rochelle salt crystal.
The three corners of a bender crystal are
fastened to the case. The fourth corner is
connected to the diaphragm. (See piezoelec
tric effect.)
RECEIVER, TELEPHONE, DYNAMIC. A
telephone receiver consisting of a light dia
phragm coupled to a voice coil and a suitable
mechanical network for controlling the re
sponse.
RECEIVER, TELEPHONE, INDUCTOR.
A telephone receiver in which a straight line
conductor, located in a magnetic field, drives
a V -shaped diaphragm.
RECEIVER, TELEVISION. A device to re
ceive transmitted television signals and con
vert these signals to the pictures and sounds
of the television program.
RECEIVER, TUNED R.F. A receiver (see
receiver, radio) in which all amplification be
fore detection is performed at the original fre
quency of transmission in stages individually
tuned for this frequency.
RECEIVING
CURRENT
SENSITIVITY.
See response, free-field current.

RECEIVING
VOLTAGE
SENSITIVITY.
See response, free-field voltage.
RECEPTION, DIVERSITY.
A radio re
ceiver (see receiver, radio) system which re
duces sensitivity to fading caused by variable
propagation characteristics. The system gen
erally consists of two or more antennas lo
cated several wavelengths apart, feeding in
dividual receivers whose outputs are com
bined. W hile the output of an individual unit
m ay fade with time, experience indicates that
the combined output of a properly-designed
system will be nearly constant.
RECEPTION, EXALTED-CARRIER.
An
amplitude-modulation receiver system which
maintains the carrier level at a high value at
all times to decrease selective fading and the
resulting detector distortion.
One way in
which this may be achieved is by the syn
chronization of a local oscillator by the car
rier for the purpose of obtaining a constantamplitude voltage of carrier frequency which
m ay be used to drive the detector.
RECEPTION, PERIDYNE. An early radio
receiver which was tuned by a box-enclosed
inductor. The inductance was changed by
changing the position of a metal screen with
respect to the inductor.
RECEPTION, SINGLE-SIGNAL. Reception
achieved with a receiver of sufficiently high
selectivity to eliminate all but the desired
signal.
RECESSION OF NEBULAE.
constant.

See Hubble

RECIPROCAL. Given a number or function

a, its reciprocal is 1 /a.
(See also matrix,
reciprocal; vector system, reciprocal.)
RECIPROCAL ELEM ENT.
See network
element (antireciprocal) (nonreciprocal) (re
ciprocal).
RECIPROCAL LATTICE. Let a, b, c, be
the primitive translations of a given crystal
lattice. Let
b X c
a (b X c)

c X a
b* a (b X c)

a X b
c* --------------------a - (b X c)

Then a*, b*, c*, define the unit cell of the re

ciprocal lattice. This has the properties (i)
the vector r* (hkl) = ha* + fcb* + Ic* of the
reciprocal lattice is normal to the (hkl) plane
of the crystal lattice, (ii) the length of the
vector r*(h kl) is equal to the reciprocal of
the spacing of the (hkl) planes.
RECIPROCAL VELOCITY REGION. The
energy region (generally from 0 to several ev)
in which the capture cross section (see cross
section, capture) for neutrons by a given ele
ment is inversely proportional to the neutron
velocity.
RECIPROCITY CALIBRATION. The cali
bration of a microphone by application of the
reciprocity theorem (acoustical), with the
use of a reversible microphone-loudspeaker
and a separate loudspeaker.
RECIPROCITY L A W (PHOTOGRAPHIC).
The optical density of an exposed emulsion,
with standard development, is a function of
only the irradiance and time of exposure.
This law may be applied only in certain situa
tions in which the exposure time is neither
very long nor very short. The region in which
this law holds depends upon the particular
emulsion being used.
RECIPROCITY
THEOREM,
ACOUSTI
CAL. In an acoustic system comprising a
fluid medium having bounding surfaces Si,
Sa, S3, , and subject to no impressed body
forces, if two distributions of normal veloci
ties vn' and vn" of the bounding surfaces pro
duce pressure fields p' and p ", respectively,
throughout the region, then the surface in
tegral of (p"Vn p'vn" ) over all the bound
ing surfaces Si, S2, S3, *, vanishes. I f the
region contains only one simple source, the
theorem reduces to the form ascribed to H elm
holtz; viz., in a region as described, a simple
source at A produces the same sound pressure
at another point B as would have been pro
duced at A had the source been located at B.
RECIPROCITY THEOREM, ELECTRICNETWORK. In an electric network com
posed of passive bilateral linear impedances,
the ratio of an electromotive force introduced
in any branch to the current measured in any
other branch, called the transfer impedance,
is equal in magnitude and phase to the ratio
that would be observed if the positions of the

electromotive force and the current were in

terchanged. W hen altering the location of an
electromotive force in a network, the branch
into which the electromotive force is to be
introduced must be opened, while the branch
from which it has been removed must be
closed.
RECIPROCITY THEOREM, ELECTROACOUSTICAL. For an electroacoustic trans
ducer satisfying the reciprocity principle, the
quotient of the magnitude of the ratio of the
open-circuit voltage at the output terminals
(or the short-circuit output current) of the
transducer, when used as a sound receiver, to
the free-field sound pressure referred to an
arbitrarily selected reference point on or near
the transducer, divided by the magnitude of
the ratio of the sound pressure apparent at a
distance, d, from the reference point to the
current flowing at the transducer input ter
minals (or the voltage applied at the input
terminals), when used as a sound emitter, is
a constant called the reciprocity constant in
dependent of the type or constructional de
tails of the transducer. The reciprocity con
stant is given by
Mo

M s

RECOIL PARTICLE. A particle that has

been set into motion by a collision or by a
process involving the ejection of another par
ticle. The direction and magnitude of the
recoil are determined by the conservation of
momentum. Examples are Compton recoil
electrons, recoil nuclei in -decay, and fission
fragments.
RECOMBINATION. The reaction of a posi
tive ion and an electron or of any two particles
of opposite sign of charge, to form a neutral
particle. Thus an electron and a hole in a
semiconductor may recombine and so elimi
nate two carriers.
RECOMBINATION, COEFFICIENT OF.
A coefficient A that appears in the law ex
pressing the rate of recombination of ions in
a gas. If n + and
are the respective num
bers per unit volume of the ions of the two
signs, then
dn+

dn~

dt

dt

+ _

The constant depends both on the nature of

the gas and on the pressure. The negative ion
is usually a free electron.

So

where M 0 is the free-field voltage response

as a sound receiver, in open-circuit volts per
microbar, referred to the arbitrary reference
point on or near the transducer; M 8 is the
free-field current response in short-circuit
amperes per microbar, referred to the arbi
trary reference point on or near the trans
ducer; s0 is the sound pressure produced at a
distance d centimeters from the arbitrary ref
erence point in microbars per ampere of input
current; s8 is the sound pressure produced at
a distance d centimeters from the arbitrary
reference point in microbars per volt applied
at the input terminals; / is the frequency in
cycles per second; p is the density of the me
dium in grams per centimeter3; d is the dis
tance in centimeters from the arbitrary refer
ence point on or near the transducer to the
point at which the sound pressure established
b y the transducer when emitting is evaluated.
RECOIL, AGGREGATE.
coil.
RECOIL NUCLEUS.

See aggregate re

See nucleus, recoil.

RECOMBINATION, COLUMNAR. Recom

bination which takes place before the ions
have left the track, in the case where the
ionization takes place along a column, e.g.,
the case of the dense ionization produced
along the track of an a-particle. The magni
tude of columnar recombination in an ioni
zation chamber depends on the direction of
the track relative to the applied field.
RECOMBINATION, PREFERENTIAL. Re
combination which takes place immediately
after the ion-pair is formed, if the components
are not separated quickly enough by the ap
plied field or are deflected back toward one
another by collisions with other molecules.
RECOMBINATION RATE, SURFACE. The
time rate at which free electrons and holes
recombine at the surface of a semiconductor.
RECOMBINATION RATE, VOLUME. The
time rate at which free electrons and holes
recombine within the volume of a semicon
ductor.

RECOMBINATION VELOCITY (ON A

SEMICONDUCTOR SURFACE). The quo
tient of the normal component of the electron
(hole) current density at the surface by the
excess electron (hole) charge density at the
surface.
RECOMBINATION, VOLUME.
Recombi
nation which takes place between positive and
negative ions at low energies throughout the
volume of an ionization chamber or counter.
RECONTROL TIM E
The deionization time.

IN

THYRATRONS.

RECORDED SPOT. The image of the re

cording spot on the record sheet.
RECORDED SPOT X DIMENSION. The
effective recorded spot dimension measured in
the direction of the recorded line.
(1) B y
effective dimension is meant the largest centerto-center spacing between recorded spots which
gives minimum peak-to-peak variation of
density of the recorded line. (2) This term
applies to that type of equipment which re
sponds to a constant density in the subject
copy by a succession of discrete recorded spots.
RECORDED SPOT Y DIMENSION. The
effective recorded spot dimension measured
perpendicularly to the recorded line. B y effec
tive dimension is meant the largest center-tocenter distance between recorded lines which
gives minimum peak-to-peak variation of
density across the recorded lines.
RECORDER, DISK. A mechanical recorder
in which the recording medium has the geom
etry of a disk.
RECORDER, FACSIMILE. That part of the
facsimile receiver which performs the final
conversion of electrical picture signal to an
image of the subject copy on the record
medium.
RECORDER, GALVANOMETER.
vanometer recorder.

See gal

RECORDER, M AGNETIC. Equipment in

corporating an electromagnetic transducer and
means for m oving a ferromagnetic recording
medium relative to the transducer for record
ing electric signals as magnetic variations in
the medium. H owever, the generic term mag
netic recorder can also be applied to an in
strument which has not only facilities for re

cording electric signals as magnetic variations,

but also for converting such magnetic varia
tions back into electric variations.
RECORDER,
MECHANICAL
PHONO
GRAPH
(MECHANICAL
RECORDER).
Equipment for transforming electric or acous
tic signals into mechanical motion of approxi
mately like form and inscribing such motion
in an appropriate medium by cutting or em
bossing.
RECORDER, SOUND, PHOTOGRAPHIC
(OPTICAL SOUND RECORDER). E quip
ment incorporating means for producing a
modulated light beam and means for moving
a light-sensitive medium relative to the beam
for recording signals derived from sound
signals.
RECORDER, TAPE. A device which records
information by magnetization of the mag
netic particles adhering to a plastic or paper
tape.
RECORD, FREQUENCY. A recording of
various known frequencies at known ampli
tudes, usually for the purpose of testing or
measuring.
RECORDING (IN FACSIMILE). The proc
ess of converting the electrical signal to an
image on the record medium. (See recording,
direct; recording, electrochemical; recording,
electrolytic; recording, electromechanical; re
cording, electrostatic; recording, electrother
mal; recording, ink vapor; recording, mag
netic; and recording, photosensitive.)
RECORDING, BLACK. In an amplitudemodulation system, that form of recording in
which the maximum received power corre
sponds to the maximum density of the record
medium. In a frequency-modulation system,
that form of recording in which the lowest
received frequency corresponds to the maxi
mum density of the record medium.
RECORDING, CARBON PRESSURE. That
type of electromechanical recording in which
a pressure device acts upon carbon paper to
register upon the record sheet.
RECORDING CHANNEL. One of a num
ber of independent recorders in a recording
system or one of two or more independent re
cording tracks on a recording medium. One
or more channels may be used at the same

time for covering different ranges of the trans

mitted frequency band, for multichannel re
cording, or for control purposes.
RECORDING, CIRCUIT. A circuit which
produces an impulse capable of operating
some mechanical counting or recording device.
RECORDING, CONSTANT AMPLITUDE.
A mechanical recording characteristic where
in, for a fixed amplitude of a sinusoidal sig
nal, the resulting recorded amplitude is inde
pendent of frequency.
RECORDING, CONSTANT VELOCITY. A
mechanical recording characteristic wherein,
for a fixed amplitude of a sinusoidal signal,
the resulting recorded amplitude is inversely
proportional to the frequency.
RECORDING, DIRECT. T hat type of re
cording in which a visible record is produced,
without subsequent processing, in response to
the received signals.
RECORDING, DUAL-TRACK. In magnetic
tape recording, the recording of information
on two channels on one strip of tape. C om
mercial systems usually record up one side
and down the other, thus effectively doubling
the tape length.
RECORDING, ELECTROCHEM ICAL. Recording by means of a chemical reaction
brought about by the passage of signal-con
trolled current through the sensitized portion
of the record sheet.
RECORDING, ELECTROLYTIC. That type
of electrochemical recording in which the
chemical change is made possible by the pres
ence of an electrolyte.
RECORDING, ELECTROM ECHANICAL.
Recording by means of a signal-actuated me
chanical device.
RECORDING, ELECTROSTATIC. Record
ing by means of a signal-controlled electro
static field.
RECORDING, ELECTROTHERMAL. That
type of recording which is produced princi
pally by signal-controlled thermal action.
RECORDING, INK VAPOR. That type of
recording in which vaporized ink particles are
directly deposited upon the record sheet.

RECORDING,
INSTANTANEOUS.
disk, instantaneous.

See

RECORDING, LACQUER. Any recording

made on a lacquer recording medium.
RECORDING, LATERAL. A disk recording
in which an essentially constant-depth groove
is cut in the plane of the disk, the modulation
being applied radially.
RECORDING LOSS.

See loss, recording.

RECORDING, MAGNETIC. Recording by

means of a signal-controlled magnetic field.
RECORDING M EDIUM , MAGNETIC. A
magnetizable material used in a magnetic re
corder for retaining the magnetic variations
imparted during the recording process. It may
have the form of a wire, tape, cylinder or disk.
RECORDING, PHOTOSENSITIVE.
Re
cording by the exposure of a photo-sensitive
surface to a signal-controlled light beam or
spot.
RECORDING
REPRODUCER,
MAG
NETIC. Equipment for converting magnetic
variations on magnetic recording media into
electric variations.
RECORDING SPOT (IN FACSIMILE). The
image area formed at the record medium by
the facsimile recorder.
RECORDING SYSTEM, MULTITRACK. A
recording system which provides two or more
recording paths on a medium, which may
carry either related or unrelated recordings in
common time relationship.
RECORDING SYSTEM, SOUND. A com bi
nation of transducing (see transducer) devices
and associated equipment suitable for stor
ing sound in a form capable of subsequent
reproduction.
RECORDING, VERTICAL (HILL AND
DALE RECORDING). A mechanical record
ing in which the groove modulation is in a
direction perpendicular to the surface of the
recording medium.
RECORDING, W H ITE. In an amplitudemodulation system, that form of recording

in which the maximum received power corre

sponds to the minimum density of the record
medium. In a frequency-m odulation system
that form of recording in which the lowest
received frequency corresponds to the mini
mum density of the record medium.
RECORDING, W IRE. A method of record
ing involving the longitudinal magnetization
o f a moving magnetic wire.
RECORD, LAM INATED. A mechanical re
cording medium composed of several layers
o f material. Norm ally, it is made with a thin
face of surface material on each side of a core.
RECORD M EDIUM . The physical medium
on which the facsimile recorder forms an image
of the subject copy.
RECORD SHEET. T he medium which is
used to produce a visible image of the subject
copy in record form. The record medium and
the record sheet m ay be identical.
RECOUPLING TRANSFORMATION. See
angular momentum, coupling and recoupling
of.
RECOVERY OF METALS. The return to its
original dimensions of a metal body, such as
a wire, after it has been stressed. The recov
ery to essentially the original state m ay re
quire a considerable time (see relaxation time;
viscoelasticity). The concept of recovery is
also associated with the return to the original
damping coefficient of an oscillating spring fol
lowing a large number of oscillations. (See
elastic after-effect; fatigue.)
RECRYSTALLIZATION.
M etals and al
loys consist of an aggregate of individual
grains or crystals. W hen subjected to me
chanical deformation, as in rolling, forging or
wire-drawing, the grains are distorted, usually
elongated, and if severely worked, as by a
50% reduction in thickness by cold-rolling,
the grains will be fragmented. Recrystalliza
tion is the growth of certain of the grain frag
ments at the expense of others, resulting in
larger, strain-free grains.
Recrystallization
takes place slowly at room temperature but
m ay be accelerated greatly by annealing, the
thermal agitation of the atoms supplying the
necessary activation energy.

RECTANGULAR COORDINATES. See co

ordinate system, rectangular Cartesian.
RECTIFICATION, CONDUCTANCE FOR.
See conductance for rectification.
RECTIFICATION FACTOR. The quotient
of the change in average current of an elec
trode by the change in amplitude of the alter
nating sinusoidal voltage applied to the same
electrode, the direct voltages of this and other
electrodes being maintained constant.
RECTIFIER. A device, having an asymmet
rical conduction characteristic, which is used
for the conversion of an alternating current
into a current having a unidirectional com po
nent. In the m ajority of applications, the
rectifier used is a diode of some variety.
However, the industry does not consider all
diodes to be rectifiers and they are not so
rated. The dividing line is not clearly defined
but, in general, a diode capable of handling
appreciable amounts of power is almost uni
versally called a rectifier and has ratings which
call for cyclic variation of inverse voltage and
forward conduction.
RECTIFIER, BARRIER LAYER.
fier, junction.
RECTIFIER, BRIDGE.
wave bridge.

See recti

See rectifier, full-

RECTIFIER, COM MUTATIVE.

fier, free-wheeling.

See recti

RECTIFIER, COMPLEMENTARY.
H alf
wave rectifying circuit elements connected in
series with output windings of a saturable re
actor in the self-saturating magnetic ampli
fier circuit.
RECTIFIER, CONTACT. A rectifier con
sisting of two different solids in contact, in
which rectification is due to greater conduc
tivity across the contact in one direction than
in the other.
RECTIFIER, CONTROLLED.
A rectifier
whose output is controllable by the adjustment
of one of its parameters. (See control, phaseshift; thyratron; ignitron; transistor; rectifier,
controlled, semiconductor.)
RECTIFIER, CONTROLLED, SEMICONDUCTOR.
A three-terminal P N P N semi

conductor or switch. Its construction is simular to the P N P N diode except that an ohmic
connection is made to the isolated P region.
The insertion of a pulse of current into this
p

RECTIFIER, FORK. A six-phase, half-wave

rectifier as shown in the figure. (See multi
phase circuits.)

N
Cathode

Anode

-O Gate

region cause the device to switch from its high

impedance off state to a very low impedance
on state, thus allowing control of current,
much as in a thyratron.
RECTIFIER, COPPER-OXIDE. A semicon
ductor rectifier utilizing the barrier layer de
veloped between metallic copper and cuprous
oxide. The units are low in efficiency, but
noted for extremely long life.
RECTIFIER, COPPER SULFIDE. A semi
conductor rectifier in which the rectifying
barrier is the junction between magnesium
and copper sulfide.
RECTIFIER, CRYSTAL.
tact; diode, crystal.

See rectifier, con

RECTIFIER, DEMODULATOR.
modulator rectifier.

See

de

RECTIFIER, DOUBLE-Y. Tw o three-phase,

half-wave, Y -connected rectifiers operating
effectively in parallel with respect to the out
put, but with the relative phase voltages in
the two systems 60 out of phase. The re
sult is a six-phase system with a high utiliza
tion factor. (See multiphase circuits.)

ThreePhase
Supply

Fork rectifier.

RECTIFIER, FREE-WHEEL.
A rectifier
placed across (backwards) a d-c, highly-inductive load which is driven from a control
amplifier such as a thyratron or magnetic
amplifier. This rectifier, by providing a path
for the inductive load current during the in
tervals while the control amplifier is normally
off or non-conducting, permits continuous
control of load current which might other
wise be impossible to attain. Also called commulating rectifier.
RECTIFIER, FULL-WAVE BRIDGE.
A
full-wave bridge rectifier as shown in the fig
ure.

RECTIFIER, DRY-DISK. A semiconductor

rectifier with a disk-shaped barrier.
(See
copper-oxide rectifier; selenium rectifier.)
RECTIFIER, ELECTROLYTIC. An electro
lytic system which converts alternating cur
rent to direct current. It consists essentially
of a com bination of two electrodes and an
electrolyte which produces a polarizing film
on one of the electrodes that practically bars
the flow of current into it from the solution,
while freely permitting flow in the opposite
direction. Groups of these cells may be ar
ranged to utilize both halves of the alternat
ing-current cycle.
(See rectifier, full-wave
bridge.)

RECTIFIER, FULL-W AVE, CENTER-TAP.

A full-wave, center-tap rectifier as shown in
the figure.
---------

o<

Full-wave center-tap rectifier.

RECTIFIER, FULL-W AVE DELTA.

A
three-phase, full-wave rectifier as shown in
the figure. (See multiphase circuits.)

RECTIFIER, JUNCTION. A voltage ap

plied to a p-n junction can carry a current
easily if it tends to increase the number of
minority carriers in each part, but not other
wise.
The forward direction is thus that
which carries holes into the n-type material.
Practical devices, such as the selenium and
copper-oxide rectifiers, depend on such a
junction being formed at some point in the
layer structure, e.g., between the oxygen-rich
and copper-rich cuprous oxide layers formed
on copper by direct oxidation.
RECTIFIER, LINEAR. A rectifier, the out
put current or voltage of which contains a
wave having a form identical with that of the
envelope of an impressed signal wave.
RECTIFIER, MAGNESIUM-COPPER SUL
FITE. A dry disk semiconductor rectifier
having a barrier layer consisting of copper
sulfite in contact with a magnesium plate.

RECTIFIER, FULL-W AVE W YE. A threephase, full-wave rectifier, as shown in the

figure. (See multiphase circuits.)

RECTIFIER, MAGNETRON. A cold-cathode, gas diode rectifier which is controlled

with an external field.
RECTIFIER, MERCURY-ARC. A gas tube
rectifier which utilizes mercury vapor as the
conducting medium. The cathode m ay be
either a hot cathode or a pool-type cathode.
(See rectifier, metal-tank, mercury-arc; recti
fier, grid-controlled, mercury-arc; thyratron;
ignitron; excitron.)
RECTIFIER, METAL-TANK, MERCURYARC. A pool-type, mercury-arc rectifier en
closed in a metal tank which generally serves
as a cathode terminal and heat radiator. (See
excitron and ignitron.)

Three

o Phase
Supply
F-ull-wave wye rectifier.

RECTIFIER, GRID-CONTROLLED, MERCURY-ARC.

A m ercury-arc rectifier in
which one or more electrodes are employed
exclusively to control the starting of the dis
charge, as in a thyratron.
RECTIFIER, H ALF-W AVE.
A rectifier
which utilizes only half of the input-alternat
ing waveform. (See rectifier, zig-zag.)

RECTIFIER M ODULATOR. See modulator,

rectifier.
RECTIFIER,
PHASE
phase shift control.

SHIFTING.

See

RECTIFIER, POINT CONTACT. A recti

fying device depending on the ability of a
metallic point applied to a semiconducting
crystal surface to inject holes when biased
positively with respect to the surface. This
is the principle of the crystal detector, and
is due to the binding of electrons in surface
states.
RECTIFIER, POOL-CATHODE.
pool-cathode.

See tube,

RECTIFIER, SELF-SATURATING.
H a lf
wave rectifying circuit elements connected in
series with output windings of a saturable re
actor in the self-saturating magnetic amplifier
circuit.
RECTIFIER STACK. An assembly of semi
conductor rectifier elements or cells.
RECTIFIER, STAR. A six-phase, half-wave
rectifier as shown in the figure. (See multi
phase circuits.)

tube 2, the polarities being as shown on the

diagram. It is seen then that the output
voltage is the sum of the two condenser volt
ages.
RECTIFIER VOLTMETER.
rectifier.

See voltmeter,

RECTIFIER, W YE.
A three-phase, half
wave rectifier as shown in the figure. (See
multiphase circuits.)

ThreePhase
Supply
Wye rectifier.

RECTIFIER, ZIG-ZAG. A three-phase, half

wave rectifier as shown in the figure. (See
multiphase circuits.)
RECTIFIER, TUNGAR. Trade name for a
tube similar to a rectigon.
RECTIFIER, VOLTAGE DOUBLER.
A
connection of condensers and rectifiers across
an a-c source which gives a d-c output voltage
approximately twice that of the normal con
nection. The exact value of the output volt
age depends upon the load and for very high
loads may not even approach the theoretical
Three-o Phase
Supply
Zig-zag rectifier.

RECTIGON.
A relatively high-pressure
thermionic-cathode gas-diode used primarily
for battery charging. R apidly being replaced
by dry-disk semiconductor rectifiers.
Voltage doubler rectifier.

double value. A circuit is shown in the figure.

On one half-cycle C i charges through tube 1
and on the other half-cycle C2 charges through

RECTILINEAR DIAMETERS, LA W
See Cailletet and Mathias, law of.

OF.

RECTILINEAR M OTION OF A PAR

TICLE. The motion of a particle in a straight

line. The motion takes place in accordance

with the type of force acting on particle.
Some common examples are listed below.
(1) N o force, x = v0t + xq.
X q is the initial displacement
Vo is the velocity (constant).
(2) Constant force.
- ( ---- ^ t 2 +

X =

Vot +

X q.

2 \m /
F q is force (constant in magnitude and
direction),
m is mass of particle,
Vo is initial velocity,
X q is initial displacement.
(3) Force proportional to first power of dis
tance from a fixed point.
A. Attractive force. F = kx.
sin f
k
12w
t
c
cos I
\ m
Cf. harm onic m otion.
B. Repulsive force. F = kx.
k
x = R cosh t (catenary).
m
R is initial displacement from fixed
point (initial velocity is zero).
(4) Attractive force. Force inversely pro
portional to square of distance from
fixed point.
k
x A

r 0x

x 2 R 0 sin 1

Rqtt

I 2k

"^ 2
V Rom
R 0 is initial displacement from fixed
point (initial velocity is zero)

equation, for example, they involve three co

efficients.
REDISTRIBUTION (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES). The alteration of charges on
an area of a storage surface by secondary
electrons from any other area of the surface.
RED-SHIFT. Displacement, toward the red
end of the spectrum, of familiar absorption
lines in spectra of the light of stars, nebulae,
and luminous astronomical objects in general.
(See red shift (gravitational); and red shift
(nebulae).)
RED SHIFT (GRAVITATIONAL). Conse
quence of general relativity theory (see rela
tivity theory, general) that the periods of
identical oscillators at different points depend
on the gravitational potentials at those points.
The wavelength of a spectral line coming
from the sun should thus exceed that of the
corresponding line from a source on the earth
by the fraction 2.12 X 10 6.
RED SHIFT (NEBULAE).
Displacement
towards the red of spectral lines from distant
nebulae, usually interpreted as a Doppler ef
fect due to their motion away from our gal
axy.
(See Hubble constant; expanding uni
verse.)
REDUCED. See reduced equation of state;
mass, reduced; focal length, reduced.
R EDUCED EQUATION OF STATE.
A
generalized equation of state containing as
variables the reduced pressure, reduced vo l
ume, and reduced temperature. In the case
of van der Waals equation, the form is:
(3 <f> 1) = 80

RECTILINEAR SYSTEM.
system.
RECURRENCE RATE.

See orthoscopic

See repetition rate.

RECURSION FORMULA.
Relations be
tween successive coefficients in a series, fre
quently the series solution of a differential
equation, making it possible to calculate the
( n + l ) t h member of the series if the nth,
{n l)t h , etc., members are known. They
usually involve only two coefficients but in
some more com plicated cases, the Mathieu

where ir is the reduced pressure, defined as

the ratio of the existing pressure to the criti
cal pressure; < is the reduced volume, defined
as the ratio of the existing volume to the
critical volume; and 0 is the reduced tem pera
ture, defined as the ratio of the existing tem
perature to the critical temperature.
REDUCTION FORMULA. Used in evaluat
ing an integral when the integrand is of the
form xm{a + bxn) p. Introduction of a new
variable and integration by parts converts

the integral successively into simpler inte

grals. One example is:
f x m(a + bxn)pdx

xm~ n+1(a + bxn)p+l

(np + m + l)b

(m n + l)a r
- --------------
xm~n(a + bxn)pdx,
(np + m + 1)6 J
where p is a rational number, n is positive,
and m, n are integers. Although the original
integral may have been difficult to solve, the
reduced form on the right may be easier. If
not, apply the formula again. Several alter
native relations may be derived, for the ex
ponents m and p m ay be either increased or de
creased.
REDUCTION OF AREA.

See Poisson ratio.

REDUCTION POTENTIAL. The potential

drop involved in the reduction of a cation to
a neutral form, as in the electrolytic deposi
tion of metals; or the reduction to a less
highly-charged ion, as in the reduction of fer
ric to ferrous ions.
REDUNDANCY (OF A SOURCE).
The
amount by which the logarithm of the num
ber of symbols available at the source exceeds
the average information content per symbol
of the source. The term redundancy has been
used loosely in other senses. For example, a
source whose output is normally transmitted
over a given channel has been called redun
dant, if the channel utilization index is less
than unity.
REDUNDANCY CHECK.
bidden-combination.

See check, for-

REDUNDANCY
RELATIVE
(OF
A
SOURCE). The ratio of the redundancy of
the source to the logarithm of the number of
symbols available at the source.
REFERENCE COUPLING.
REFERENCE NOISE.

See dbx.

See DBRN.

REFLECTANCE. W hen used without quali

fication the term reflectance usually refers to
radiant reflectance. (See reflectance, radiant.)
REFLECTANCE, LUMINOUS.
The ratio
of the luminous emittance (see emittance, lu
minous) to the illuminance of a reflecting sur
face, both quantities being expressed in con
sistent units.

REFLECTANCE, RADIANT. The ratio of

the reflected radiant flux (see flux, radiant)
to the incident radiant flux.
REFLECTANCE, SPECTRAL. The radiant
reflectance (see reflectance, radiant) for a
specified wavelength of the incident radiant
flux.
REFLECTANCE, SPECULAR.
The ratio
of (1) the radiance measured by reflection to
(2) the radiance measured directly.
This
quantity (specular reflectance) is a function
of the angle of incidence (and reflection), and
of the spectral composition of the incident en
ergy (unless the mirror is nonselective).
REFLECTING FILMS, HIGH-EFFICIENCY. See high-efficiency reflecting films.
REFLECTING GRATING. (1) See grating,
radial. (2) See reflection grating.
REFLECTING TELESCOPE. A telescope
in which the principal light-gathering optic is
a concave mirror. [1960] The largest refract
ing telescope is the 40-inch Yerkes telescope,
the larger 200-inch on M t. Palomar is a re
flecting telescope.
REFLECTION. When a wave, such as radia
tion or sound, traveling in one medium en
counters a different medium, part of it in gen
eral passes on and undergoes refraction, while
part is reflected. Even water waves exhibit
reflection upon meeting an obstacle, and some
of the characteristics of the process are con
veniently observed by watching surface
ripples. In all cases of regular or specular
reflection, in which the direction of propaga
tion is sharply defined after reflection, the
change takes place in accordance with a very
simple law, viz., the reflected and incident
wave trains travel in directions making equal
angles with the normal to the reflecting sur
face and lie in the same plane with it. These
angles are called, respectively, the angle of re
flection and the angle of incidence. For nor
mal incidence, both of these angles are zero.
Rough surfaces reflect in a multitude of direc
tions, and such reflection is said to be diffuse.
Only part of the emission or of the energy
associated with it is reflected; the ratio of
that part to the whole incident emission is
called the reflectivity of the surface.
B y an extension of the term, one often
speaks of the reflection of particles when the

particles interact with massive objects in

an elastic (or nearly elastic) manner. For
example, the reflection of a billiard ball from
a cushion, or the reflection of a charged par
ticle from a potential barrier.
REFLECTION, ABNORMAL.
reflections.

See abnormal

REFLECTION, ANGLE OF. The angle be

tween a ray of light and the normal to a sur
face. This angle and the angle of incidence
are in the same plane. They are related by
the equality R = i .
REFLECTION BY METALS.
index for metals.

See refractive

REFLECTION COEFFICIENT. For plane

waves or transmission lines, the ratio of the
reflected wave to the incident wave. B y ex
tension, the concept is applied to networks to
express the effect of an impedance mismatch.
From the general conception, four specific
definitions follow : (1) The acoustic reflection
coefficient is the ratio of the flow of reflected
sound energy to the flow of incident sound
energy. (2) For a transition or discontinuity
between two transmission media, the reflection
coefficient is that which would be observed at
a specified point in one medium if the other
medium were match-terminated. (See match
ing impedance.) (3) The reflection coefficient
in a transmission medium is defined as fol
lows: A t a given point, and for a given mode
of transmission, the ratio of some quantity
associated with the reflected wave to the cor
responding quantity in the incident wave.
The reflection coefficient may be different for
different associated quantities, and the chosen
quantity should be specified. The voltage
reflection coefficient is most com monly used,
and is defined as the ratio of the complex
electric field strength (or voltage) of the
reflected wave to that of the incident wave.
(4) For reflection coefficient for light, see
Fresnel equations and Fresnel equations for
metallic reflection.
REFLECTION FACTOR. The same as re
flection coefficient, also sometimes called mismatch factor or transition factor.
REFLECTION GRATING. A grating ruled
on a reflecting surface such as speculum metal
or a glass-chromium-aluminum surface. (See

Robertson, Introduction to Optics, 4th Ed.,

p. 235 ff.)
REFLECTION GRATING, CONCAVE. A
grating ruled on the surface of a concave mir
ror. The use of concave reflection gratings
may avoid the presence of lenses in the sys
tem, with their absorption losses.
REFLECTION GRATING, ROW LAND AR
RANGEMENT. A mounting for a concave
reflection grating in which the slit, the grat
ing and the photographic plate all lie on the
circumference of a circle. One system is to
have the three independently mounted on a
circular track. A more common system as
indicated in the figure.
The grating and

photographic plate are mounted on the ends

of a rod of fixed length. The ends of this rod
ride on two, mutually-perpendicular tracks.
The slit is at the intersection of the tracks.
REFLECTION, MULTIPLE.
reflection.

See multiple

REFLECTION,
NON-SPECULAR,
IN
ACOUSTICS. The reflection from rough sur
faces, which produce diffraction and scatter
ing of sound waves.
REFLECTION PLANE. A symmetry ele
ment possessed by certain crystals, whereby
one-half of the crystal is the reflection of the
other half in a plane drawn through the center
of the crystal.
REFLECTIONS, ABNORMAL. Ionospheric
reflections of radiowaves at frequencies higher
than the critical frequency of the layer.
Sometimes referred to as sporadic reflections.
REFLECTION, SPECULAR.
REFLECTION, TOTAL.
reflection.

See reflection.

See total internal

REFLECTIVITY.

See reflection.

REFLECTIVITY ACOUSTICAL.
reflection coefficient.

See sound

REFLECTOMETER. (1) In optics, an in

strument for measuring the reflectance of re
flecting surfaces. (2) In electronics, a direc
tional coupler containing matched calibrated
detectors in both arms of the auxiliary line, or
a pair of single-detector couplers oriented so
as to measure the power flowing in both di
rections in the main line.
REFLECTOR.
(1) A scattering substance
surrounding the core of a nuclear reactor,
used for the purpose of reducing the loss of
neutrons due to leakage, and therefore, m ak
ing the dimensions of the reactor smaller.
Common reflectors are water, graphite, beryl
lium, etc.
(2) In antenna terminology, a
parasitic element located in a direction other
than the general direction of the m ajor lobe
of radiation. An example is an antenna wire
placed behind a dipole to improve its direc
tional characteristics and gain.
REFLECTOR (VELOCITY-M ODULATED
TUBES). See repeller.
REFLECTOR, COMPENSATED. A corner
reflector (see reflector, corner) modified to
provide an increase in the range of angles
over which it m ay be operated.
REFLECTOR, CORNER.
(1) A reflector
(see reflector (2)) consisting of two or three
mutually-intersecting, conducting surfaces.
Corner reflectors m ay be dihedral or trihe
dral. Trihedral reflectors may be used as ra
dar targets.
(2) A reflector (see reflector
(2)) which consists of two plane-conducting
surfaces set at an angle of 45 to 90 with the
driven element on a line bisecting the angle.
The reflecting surfaces are not necessarily
solid, but can be made from wires spaced
about 0.1 wavelength apart.
In a given
amount of space, the corner reflector gives
better directivity than the parabolic reflector.
REFLECTOR, CUT PARABOLOIDAL. A
paraboloidal reflector (see reflector, parabo
loidal) which is not symmetrical with respect
to its axis.
REFLECTOR, CYLINDRICAL.
which is a portion of a cylinder.

A reflector
This cylin

der is usually parabolic, although other shapes

may be used.
REFLECTOR, GRATING. In antenna ter
minology, an open-work metal structure de
signed to provide a good reflecting surface.
REFLECTOR, PARABOLIC.
A reflector
consisting of some form of a paraboloidal mir
ror. Usually used in conjunction with an an
tenna.
REFLECTOR, PARABOLOIDAL.
A re
flector which is a portion of a paraboloid of
revolution.
REFLECTOR SAVINGS.
flector savings of.

See reactor, re

REFLEX OSCILLATOR.
flex.

See klystron, re

REFRACTING TELESCOPE. A telescope

in which the principal light-gathering optic is
a lens. (See also reflecting telescope.)
REFRACTION. (1) The bending of a ray of
light or other radiation as it passes from one
medium to another of different refractive in
dex (see the Snell laws). (2) The variation
of the direction of sound transmission due to
spatial variation of the wave velocity in the
medium.
REFRACTION, ANGLE OF. The angle be
tween a ray of light after refraction at an
interface between two media and the normal
to the interface. This angle and the angle of
incidence are in the same plane.
(See the
Snell law.)
REFRACTION, ATOMIC. The product of
the specific refraction (see refraction, specific)
of an element by its atomic weight.
REFRACTION, CONICAL.
fraction.

See conical re

REFRACTION, DESCARTES LAWS

See Descartes laws of refraction.
REFRACTION, DOUBLE.
fraction.

OF.

See double re

REFRACTION, MOLAR. The product of

the specific refraction (see refraction, spe
cific) by the molecular weight. The form of
this relationship is:
[A] = M r,

in which [i] is the molar refraction, M is the

molecular weight, and r is the specific refrac
tion. The direct form of this relationship is;

[fll " ( ^ T i ) ( 7 ) '

in which [R] is the molar refraction, n is the
index of refraction for any chosen wave
length, M is the molecular weight, and p is the

density.
REFRACTION OF SOUND, CONVEC
TIVE. The refraction of sound in a single
medium, such as the atmosphere, by the effect
of wind on the sound velocity.
REFRACTION OF SOUND, TEMPERA
TURE. The refraction of sound in a single
medium, such as the atmosphere, b y the effect
of point-to-point temperature variations.
REFRACTION, SPECIFIC. A relationship
between the refractive index of a medium at
any definite wavelength and its density:

in which r is the specific refraction of the me

dium, n is its index of refraction at any defi
nite wavelength, and p is its density. The
relation does not always give a constant value
of r as the density is varied, and hence must
be considered as an approximation.
REFRACTION, STANDARD.
The refrac
tion of electromagnetic waves which would
occur in an idealized atmosphere in which the
index of refraction decreases uniformly with
height at the rate of 39 X 10 6 per kilometer.
Standard refraction may be included in ground
wave calculations by use of an effective earth
radius of 8.5 X 106 meters, or 4 /3 the geo
metrical radius of the earth.
REFRACTIVE.
H aving or exhibiting the
property of refraction.
REFRACTIVE DISPERSIVITY. The deriv
ative of the refractive index with respect to
wavelength or frequency.
REFRACTIVE IN D EX.
tion.

See index of refrac

REFRACTIVE INDEX, COMPLEX.

index of refraction, complex.

See

REFRACTIVE IN D EX FOR METALS. For

metals which absorb strongly, the customary
index of refraction, ft, must be replaced by the
complex refractive index n ( l i*) where k
is the absorption index. Then the reflectivity
for normal incidence is
(n l ) 2 + n V
(ft + l ) 2 n2*2
The refractive index varies over a much larger
range for metals than for conventional di
electrics, e.g., sodium at A = 0.546 micron,
n = 0.052 while silicon at A = 0.589 micron,
n = 4.24.
(See also Fresnel equations for
metallic refraction.)
REFRACTIVE INDEX, M A XW E LL RELA
TIONSHIP FOR. See Maxwell relation be
tween dielectric constant and index of re
fraction.
REFRACTIVE INDEX, RELATIVE.
Of
two media, the ratio of the index of refrac
tion of the second relative to the first.
REFRACTIVE M ODULUS.
In the trop
osphere, the excess over unity of the modified
refractive index expressed in millionths. It
is represented by M and is given by the equa
tion
M = (ft + h/a 1)106
where n is the index of refraction at a height
h above sea level, and a is the radius of the
earth.
REFRACTIVITY. (1) In general, the prop
erty of refraction, or a quantitative relation
ship by which it is expressed, which is com
monly some function of the index of refrac
tion. (2) The quantity (ft 1) which enters
many optical formulas is sometimes called
refractivity. Here n is the index of refrac
tion.
REFRACTOMETER.
An instrument for
measuring the index of refraction of a sub
stance. Several types of such instruments
have been developed, including special forms
used for solids, for liquids and for gases. (See
entries immediately following.)
REFRACTOMETER, ABBE. A type of re
fractometer used for liquids. A film of the
liquid is clamped between two similar glass

prisms (see figure), and the total internal re

flection at the interface observed. Any spec
trometer, with a pair of good prisms (preferr

Graticule

> RamsderiEyepiece

Cross bne
^Graduated Scale

of light, entering the test substance, is directed

at grazing incidence upon the interface be
tween it and a test prism. Those rays incident
at less than 90 to the normal of the interface
enter the prism; the others do not, and the
boundary between is sharply defined. The re
sulting half-pencil traverses the prism and
emerges from the other face where the direc
tion of its cut-off edge can be observed (see
figure). The angle between the cut-off bound
ary of the pencil and the first prism face, in
side the prism, is the critical angle, and can be
easily calculated from the observations and
the known data.
REFRACTOMETER, RAYLEIGH. An in
strument in which light from a slit is divided,
passed along two parallel paths, and then re-

Clamp for
Holding Prism
Faces in Contact

X _ _ iu.
Optical system of Abbe refractometer.

ably right-angled) mounted on

table, can be used in this way.

the prism

REFRACTOMETER, PULFRICH. Suppose

that a specimen of the solid or liquid to be
tested is brought into optical contact with one

Rayleigh refractometer. When a double slit, S1S2 , is

illuminated by light from a distant narrow source,
and is placed in front of the objective of a telescope,
interference fringes are observed in the focal plane
PiF. (By permission from Introduction to Optics,
Geometrical and Physical by Robertson, 4th Ed.,
1954, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

united. The introduction of anything into

one path which slightly changes the speed of
the light will result in interference between
the two beams when they are reunited.
REFRACTOMETER, W ILLIAM S.
A re
fractometer in which light from a single slit is
divided by a five-sided prism into two beams.
It has a resolving power considerably greater
than the customary tw o-slit refractometer.
REFRANGIBLE. Capable of being refracted,
or measurably deviated by refraction.
REFRIGERANT. A substance which is suit
able as the working medium of a cycle of
operations wherein refrigeration is accom
plished.
face of a glass prism (or Pulfrich block) of
known, higher index of refraction and known
angle, and that a slightly convergent pencil

REFRIGERATION CYCLE. A cycle that

takes heat at a lower temperature and rejects
it at a higher. Such a cycle must receive a

power input from an external source, and the

amount of heat rejected exceeds that taken in
by the amount of work required to effect the
cycle. Theoretically, any power cycle which
is reversible could be reversed to create a re
frigeration cycle. A ctually, practical consid
erations have caused m odification of the re
versed power cycle for refrigeration use.
Nevertheless, the ordinary vapor compression
refrigerating cycle resembles the Rankine
power cycle to a close degree. (See also heat
engine.)
REGELATION. This thermal phenomenon
is a direct consequence of the fact that the
melting point of ice is measurably lowered by
intense pressure. Ice at the normal melting
point will, if it is subjected to pressure, be
come liquid, and will regelate or refreeze when
the pressure is removed. Crushed ice or snow
m ay thus be molded into clear blocks of any
desired shape. A small, heavy object placed
on a cake of ice not too far below the melting
point will gradually bury itself in the ice, the
water which results from the pressure escap
ing from under it and refreezing above it. In
the same way a cake of ice resting on a metal
grid will hook itself around the bars of the
grid. Ice is slippery even when below the
freezing point, because the pressure of any
hard object, as a skate blade, produces a film
of water at the surface of contact. W ater
extruded under pressure from the terminal
wall of ice at the foot of a glacier sometimes
freezes into snakelike spirals of ice. R egela
tion is believed to explain the flowing motion
of the glacier itself. Only substances which,
like water, expand on freezing are capable of
exhibiting regelation.
A second type of regelation phenomenon
takes place in polar water, where freezing
traps droplets of highly concentrated saline
solution. Because of the dependence of freez
ing point upon concentration, ice melts at the
bottom of these droplets and freezes at the top,
allowing a movement of the drops downward.
Ice in which this phenomenon has had time
to occur is hard and clear, as compared with
spongy younger ice.

REGENERATION (IN ELECTRONIC COM

PUTERS). In a storage device whose infor
mation storing state may deteriorate, the
process of restoring the device to its latest
undeteriorated state. (See also rewrite.)
REGENERATION, DOUBLE.
Regenera
tion supplied to two or more stages simultane
ously.
REGENERATIVE AMPLIFIER. See ampli
fier, regenerative; amplifier, feedback.
REGENERATIVE OSCILLATOR.
cillator, feedback.

See os

REGION,
GEIGER-MUELLER
(RADIATION-COUNTER TUBES). The range of ap
plied voltage in which the charge collected per
isolated count is independent of the charge
liberated by the initial ionizing event. The
designation Geiger-M ueller is preferred over
Geiger only.
REGION OF LIM ITED PROPORTIONAL
ITY. The range of applied voltage below the
Geiger-Mueller threshold, in which the gas
amplification depends upon the charge lib
erated by the initial ionizing event.
REGION, PROPORTIONAL (RADIATIONCOUNTER TUBES). The range of applied
voltage in which the charge collected per iso
lated count is proportional to the charge lib
erated by the initial ionizing event. (1) In
this region the gas amplification is greater
than unity and is independent of the charge
liberated by the initial ionizing event. (2)
The proportional region depends on the type
and energy of the incident radiation.
REGISTER. A device capable of retaining
information, often that contained in a small
subset (e.g., one word) of the aggregate in
formation in a digital computer. (See also
storage.)

See feedback, positive.

REGISTER, CIRCULATING (OR M EM

ORY). A register (or memory) consisting of
a means for delaying information and a means
for regenerating and reinserting the inform a
tion into the delaying means.

REGENERATION (IN CHARGE-STORAGE

TUBES). The replacing of charge to over
come decay effects, including loss of charge by
reading.

REGISTER, DELAY-LINE. An acoustic or

electric delay-line, usually one or an integral
number of words long, together with input,
output, and circulation circuits.

REGENERATION.

REGISTER LENGTH. The number of char

acters which a register can store.
REGISTER, STATIC. A register which re
tains information in static form.
REGNAULT M ETH O D FOR VAPOR PRES
SURE. See direct or static methods for vapor
pressure (2).
REGULA FALSI, M ETH O D OF.
A proce
dure for solving transcendental or other nu
merical equations. Suppose the given equa
tion is f i x ) = 0 and that y = f i x ) is a plot
of the function for various values of x. Fur
ther suppose that x0, x and y 0, y i are two
sets of numbers obtained from such a graph.
Then a more exact value of the root is
x = x 0 + Ax,
O l

where Ax =
REGULAR.

X0) I 7/0 |

\yo\ + \yi\

REGULATOR TUBE.
tube, glow-discharge.

See tube, regulator;

REGULATOR, VOLTAGE. Automatic volt

age regulators are relied upon for maintenance
of constant generator voltage. Alternatorvoltage regulators have, for all practical pur
poses, become limited to four distinct types,
the vibrating, the magnetic, the rheostatic, and
electronic. D -c regulators are usually rheo
static.
REGULEX.
Trade name for a form of dynamoelectric amplifier.
(See amplifier, dynamoelectric.)
REIGNITION, COUNTER TUBE.
counter resolution; counter reignition.
REIGNITION VOLTAGE.
ignition.

See analytic.

REGULARIZATION. Formal device intro

duced into quantized field theory (see field
theory, quantized) in order to remove am
biguities arising in the evaluation of certain
integrals. It corresponds to adding extra fields
with different masses, which then are allowed
to tend to infinity.
REGULATION (OF A GLOW-DISCHARGE
COLD-CATHODE TUBE). The difference
between the maximum and minimum anode
voltage-drop over a range of anode current.
REGULATION, TWO-PILOT. The use of
two pilot frequencies within a transmitted
band so that the change in attenuation due to
twist can be detected and compensated for by
a regulator.
REGULATION, VOLTAGE. The (percent)
voltage regulation of a circuit or device is:
(N o load voltage) (full load voltage)
100 X ------ -----------------------------------------------------(full load voltage)
REGULATOR, CARBON-PILE.
pile regulator.
REGULATOR, FEEDBACK.
regulator.

cables, etc., with a system which employs a

temperature-sensitive wire inside the cable
as an average-temperature sensing element.

See carbon

See feedback

REGULATOR, PILOT WIRE.

The auto
matic regulation of the gain of long telephone

REINSERTER.

See

See voltage, re

See restorer, d-c.

REINSERTION, D-C. In television, the re

adjusting of the video signal at the image
tube to the form it possessed when trans
mitted by the broadcast station. Passage of
the video signal through the a-c coupling net
works of the video amplifiers results in the
removal of the d-c component of the signal.
A d-c restorer circuit, just prior to the cathode-ray tube, reinserts this lost d-c com po
nent.
REJECTOR CIRCUIT.
A band-rejection
filter.
(See filter, elimination; band-rejec
tion.)
RELATIVE
APERTURE
(ACCELERA
TORS). (A ) Vertical. The ratio of the mini
mum vertical clearance for particle passage
(in the accelerating chamber) to the particleorbit radius. (B ) Horizontal. The ratio of
the minimum horizontal clearance for particle
passage (in the accelerating chamber) to the
particle-orbit radius.
RELATIVE
relative.

HUMIDITY.

See

humidity,

RELATIVISTIC INVARIANCE. Invariance

under the Lorentz transformation of special
relativity. (See also invariance principle.)

RELATIVISTIC LIM IT, EXTREM E.

extreme relativistic limit.

See

RELATIVISTIC MASS EQUATION.

equation

The

m = m0( 1 v2/c2) ~ 1A,

where m is the observed mass of a body or
particle of rest mass mo, when its speed rela
tive to the observer is v, and c is the speed of
light.
RELATIVISTIC PARTICLE.
A particle
with a speed so large that its relativistic mass
exceeds its rest mass by an amount which is
significant for the computation or other consid
erations at hand. (See relativistic mass equa
tion; relativistic velocity.)
RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM MECHANICS.
See quantum mechanics (relativistic).
RELATIVISTIC VELOCITY.
A velocity
sufficiently large that the values of some prop
erties of a particle having this velocity are
significantly different from the values of the
same properties when the particle is at rest.
The property of most interest is the mass.
For many purposes, the velocity is relativistic
when it exceeds about one-tenth the velocity
of light. (See relativistic particle; relativistic
mass equation.)
RELATIVITY. A principle that postulates
the equivalence of the description of the uni
verse, in terms of physical laws, by various
observers, or for various frames of reference.
A theory that utilizes such a principle is called
a relativity theory.
(See relativity theory,
general; relativity theory, special; relativistic
mass equation; mass-energy equivalence.)
RELATIVITY, KINEM ATICAL
See kinematical relativity.

(MILNE).

RELATIVITY, NEW TO NIAN. The assump

tion that clocks and rigid measuring rods are
unaffected by their motion relative to an ob
server, which leads to the Galilean transforma
tion equations. {Cf. relativity theory, special;
relativity theory, general; Lorentz transfor
mations.)
RELATIVITY THEORY, GENERAL. Gen
eralization of special relativity theory (see
relativity theory, special) to relate the meas
urements of observers who are accelerated
relative to each other and hence no longer in

an inertial system. The fundamental postu

late is the principle of equivalence which
postulates the equality of the inertial mass
and gravitational mass of a system. In addi
tion, one postulates a generalized relativity
principle, that the equations of mechanics
have the same form for all observers, whether
accelerated or not. The essential equivalence
between an externally applied real gravita
tional field and the fictitious inertial forces
experienced by an accelerated observer is in
troduced by representing the motion of a sys
tem in Riemannian space of which the metric
represents the gravitational potentials,
whether these be real or fictitious. A test
particle is then supposed to move along a
geodesic in this space. The values of the g ^
corresponding to a particular distribution of
matter are given by the solution of the Einstein
law of gravitation. For a point mass, the
Schwarzschild solution of these equations
leads directly to verified predictions of the
bending of light in a gravitational field and
the precession of the perihelion of Mercury.
(Although electromagnetic phenomena have
not been incorporated into general relativity
theory in a completely satisfactory manner,
the motion of a light ray is computed on the
assumption that it moves along a null-geo
desic, the natural generalization of the nullcone (see light cone through an event) of
Minkowski space.) In addition, the theory
predicts the gravitational red shift of light
moving from one point to another in a gravi
tational field.
RELATIVITY THEORY, SPECIAL. Theory
developed by Einstein based on the hypothesis
that the speed of light is the same as meas
ured by any one of a set of observers moving
with constant relative velocity. According to
Newtonian theory and the Galilean transfor
mation the mechanical m otion of an object
with respect to an inertial system could be
predicted from a knowledge of the forces act
ing on it and the initial conditions, inde
pendently of any knowledge of the motion of
the inertial system itself. Einstein extended
this to optical phenomena, postulating that
these also could be described without knowing
the velocity of the laboratory with respect to
the rest of the universe. The null result of the
Michelson-Morley experiment and of other
attempts to measure the velocity of the labora

tory relative to the ether (see ether hypothe

sis) was then interpreted as an immediate
consequence of a fundamental principle of
relativity, namely that the equations of elec
trodynamics have the same form in all sys
tems in which the equations of mechanics are
valid.
From this principle, and the con
stancy of the speed of light, it is possible to
deduce the Lorentz transformation (appropri
ately modified in its interpretation so as to
ignore the ether and to relate the observations
o f two observers m oving with constant rela
tive velocity). Since the Maxwell equations
are covariant under this transformation but
the equations of Newtonian mechanics are not,
one is led to a modified description of the me
chanics of particles which is in accord with the
relativity principle. This description is indis
tinguishable from the Newtonian theory for
systems in which all relative velocities are
small compared with that of light, except that
in this limit it also predicts that when a mass
m0 is annihilated an amount of energy E
m0c2 is released. In the more general case the
mass of a particle is given by m = ym0 where
ino is its rest-mass and y = (1 p 2) -1/2, with
= y/c, v being the speed of the particle rel
ative to the observer, and the expansion of
E = me? in powers of p then yields E = m0c2
+ y2m>oV2 + the second term being the
kinetic energy of the particle in Newtonian
mechanics. The momentum of a particle then
appears as mv, where v is the (vector) velocity
of the particle, and the rate of change of this
expression with respect to the time is equal
to the force acting on the particle. The rela
tion between the energy E and momentum p
of a free particle then becomes E 2 = p 2c2 +
m02c4.
In addition to leading to such well-verified
conclusions, special relativity theory was able
to yield also the few valid consequences of
the ether hypothesis. It provided the first
verification of the Mach principle by its in
sistence on the role of the observer in the de
scription of phenomena which the observer
measures
(cf. quantum mechanics) and
pointed out that even the simultaneity of two
events at different positions is not an in
trinsic property of those events, but depends
also on the motion of the observer who is re
cording them. This result emerges from E in
stein's re-interpretation of the Lorentz trans
formation, referred to above, and is related to

the consequent re-interpretation of the Fitz

gerald factor and to the relativistic slowing
of clocks.
The formal identification of a Lorentz trans
formation with a rotation in Minkowski space
provides a basis for representing the equa
tions of relativistic mechanics as relations be
tween four-vectors analogous to representa
tion of the non-relativistic equations as rela
tions between vectors. In the same way that
the latter representation ensures that the form
of the equations shall be independent of the
particular directions in which the chosen set
of orthogonal axes happens to point, so the
Minkowski representation ensures that the
equations of relativistic mechanics shall be
independent of which Lorentz observer is in
volved. All observers moving with constant
relative velocity thus use equations of the
same form to describe the optical and me
chanical phenomena which they measure.
The theory has been generalized to include
relatively accelerated observers (see relativ
ity theory, general) and to include quantum
phenomena (see quantum mechanics (rela
tivistic)).
RELAXATION. A term applied to the proc
ess by which a physical system reaches equi
librium or a steady state after a sudden change
in conditions. For example, suppose that a
plate of metal is in the presence of a magnetic
field H , directed perpendicular to the plate.
If the source of the field is suddenly removed,
the flux inside the metal does not go to zero
instantaneously. As it starts to decrease, eddy
currents are induced in the metal, in such a
direction as to oppose the change in flux. As
a result, the flux decays exponentially with
time according to the relation
B = B 0e - tlT
where B 0 is the magnitude at the time of the
disturbance, B is the magnitude at time t, e
is the base of the natural logarithms, and r is
the relaxation time, which is proportional to
the magnetic permeability and to the conduc
tivity of the metal.
The term relaxation is generally limited to
processes or phenomena in which dissipative
agents are present to such an extent that the
system does not overshoot and then oscillate
about the equilibrium state; the change is
usually exponential and r is the time taken

for the variable quantity to change by a frac

tion (e l )/ e o f its original departure from
the equilibrium value. The relaxation fre
quency is generally defined either as 1/ r or
as 1/2?rr. Other examples are the change in
the number of electron spins with high energy
after an oscillating field has been applied to
a maser, or the decrease of the number of
minority carriers present in a transistor after
holes or electrons have been injected.
Systems having a relaxation time t can, in
general, respond readily to periodic changes
that have a frequency much less than 1/2?rr;
they show very little response if the frequency
is much greater than 1/2?rr. The behavior
in the intermediate range of frequencies,
2 ?rf ^ 1 / r , depends on the parameters of the
system.
(See also oscillator, relaxation; decay time
in plasmas.)
RELAXATION M ETHO D . Originally used
in certain engineering problems in order to
calculate displacements in a structure sub
jected to known loads, it may also be used
to obtain eigenvalues and eigenvectors of al
gebraic or differential equations. Initial va l
ues of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors are
put into the simultaneous equations of the
problem. If they were the correct ones, each
equation of the system would vanish; other
wise, there would be a set of residuals. The
initial solutions are then varied (relaxed) un
til the residuals are minimized.
RELAXATION TIME.
In many material
phenomena, the response to an abrupt change
is often a time-measurable approach to equi
librium, frequently exponential.
Examples
are: (1) An abrupt change of magnetizing
force usually does not produce an instantane
ous, corresponding change in magnetic induc
tion, but the new value is approached over a
period of time. The time constant involved
in such a phenomenon is often called relaxa
tion tim e; if equilibrium is approached expo
nentially it is the time for (1 1/e) of the
total change to take place. (2) A case closely
related to the foregoing is that of a crystal
in which all the spins are aligned by a mag
netic field, which is then removed. The mag
netic moment will then decay to zero; if this
decay is exponential with time, of the form
e - * / T, then t is the relaxation time. (3) The
time for which an electron may travel in a

metal before it is scattered, and loses its m o

mentum. (4) The time necessary for a stress
in a Maxwellian fluid (see fluid, Maxwellian)
at rest to decay to 1/e 0.368 of its initial
value. The apparent solidification of vitreous
materials is due to a very rapid increase in
the relaxation time. (5) In plasma physics
this term usually denotes the time in which
collisions will produce a large change in an
original velocity distribution. Because of the
com plexity of particle collisions in plasmas,
usually specific relaxation times are indicated,
such as the mean time to deflect a test particle
90 or the time required to reduce substan
tially a lack of isotropy in the velocity dis
tribution.
RELAY. An electromechanical device which
is operated by variation in the conditions of
one electric circuit to affect the operation of
other devices in the same or other electric cir
cuits by either opening contacts or closing
contacts or both.
RELAY, ANNUNCIATOR. A signaling ap
paratus operated electromagnetically, which
indicates whether a current is flowing or has
flowed in one or more circuits.
RELAY, ANTI-PLUGGING.
A relay used
in some control systems to prevent plugging.
RELAY, ARMATURE. A relay operated by
an electromagnet which, when energized,
causes an armature to be attracted to a fixed
pole (or poles).
RELAY, AUXILIARY. A relay which oper
ates in response to the opening and closing
of its operating circuit in order to assist an
other relay or device in the performance of a
function.
RELAY, BAR. A relay so designed that a
bar actuates several contacts simultaneously.
RELAY, CLAPPER.
ture.

A term for relay, arma

RELAY, CLOSE DIFFERENTIAL.

for relay, marginal.

A term

RELAY, CONTINUOUS-DUTY.
A relay
which m ay be energized with its rated coil
voltage or current at rated contact load for a
period of three hours or more without failure
and without exceeding its specified tempera
ture requirements.

RELAY, DEFINITE-PURPOSE. A readily

available relay having some electrical or me
chanical feature which distinguishes it from a
general-purpose relay. Types of definite-pur
pose relays are interlock, selector, stepping,
sequence, latch-in and tim e-delay.
RELAY, DELAY. A relay that is intention
ally designed for a time delay between the
energizing or de-energizing instant and the
time that the relay contacts open or close.
RELAY, DIFFERENTIAL. A relay having
multiple windings, which functions when the
voltage, current or power difference between
the windings reaches a predetermined value.
RELAY, ELECTROM AGNETIC.
A relay
whose operation involves the use of a magnetic
field, produced by an electromagnet.
RELAY, ENCLOSED. A relay with coil and
contacts protected from the surrounding m e
dium by a cover that is not airtight.
RELAY, FAST - OPERATE.
A high-speed
relay specifically designed for short operate
time, but not short release time.
RELAY, FAST-OPERATE, FAST-RELEASE.
A high-speed relay specifically designed for
both short operate time and short release time.
RELAY,
FAST - OPERATE,
SLOW - RE
LEASE. A relay specifically designed for
short operate time and long release time.
RELAY, FAST-RELEASE.
A high-speed
relay specifically designed for short release
time but not short operate time.
RELAY, GASKET-SEALED.
An airtight
relay, sealed with a gasket which is not bonded
' to the other sealing material.
RELAY, GENERAL-PURPOSE. A readily
available relay which has design, construction
operational characteristics, and ratings such
that the relay is adaptable to a wide variety
o f uses.
RELAY, HERM ETICALLY SEALED. An
airtight relay, without a gasket, the sealing
o f which involves fusing or soldering.
RELAY, HIGH-SPEED. A relay specifically
designed for short operate time, release time,
or both.

RELAY, INSTRUMENT. A relay which oper

ates upon principles employed in electrical
measuring instruments such as the electro
dynamometer, iron-vane and D Arsonval.
RELAY, INTERLOCK. A relay composed of
two or more coils with their armatures and
associated contacts so arranged that the free
dom of one armature or move, or its coil to be
energized, is dependent upon the position of
the other armature.
RELAY, INTERMITTENT-DUTY. A relay
which must be de-energized at intervals to
avoid excessive temperature.
RELAY, KIPP. A form of bistable multivi
brator or trigger circuit.
RELAY, LATCH-IN. A relay having con
tacts which lock in either the energized or de
energized position until reset manually or elec
trically.
RELAY, LOCKING.
in.

A term for relay, latch-

RELAY, MARGINAL. A relay which func

tions in response to predetermined changes in
the value of coil current or voltage.
RELAY, MERCURY-CONTACT. A relay in
which the contacting medium is mercury.
RELAY, MOTOR-DRIVEN. A relay which is
actuated by the rotation of the shaft of some
type of motor, for example, a shaded-pole,
induction-disk, or hysteresis motor.
RELAY, NEUTRAL. In contrast to a polar
ized relay, a neutral relay is one in which the
movement of the armature is independent of
the direction of flow of current through the
relay coil.
RELAY, NORMAL-SPEED. A relay in which
no attempt has been made either to increase
or decrease the operate time or the release
time.
RELAY, OVERLOAD. A relay which is spe
cifically designed to operate when its coil cur
rent reaches a predetermined value above
normal.
RELAY, OVERVOLTAGE. A relay which is
specifically designed to operate when its coil
voltage reaches a predetermined value above
normal.

RELAY, PARTIALLY ENCLOSED. A relay

which has either contacts or coil (but not both)
protected from the surrounding medium by a
cover that is not airtight.
RELAY, PARTIALLY SEALED.
which has either contacts or coil
both) sealed in an airtight cover.

A relay
(but not

RELAY, PLUNGER. A relay operated by

energizing an electromagnetic coil which in
turn operates a m ovable core or plunger by
solenoid action.
RELAY, POLARIZED. A relay which is de
pendent upon the relationship of a permanent
magnetic field to the energizing current for
operation or position.
RELAY RADAR. See radar, relay. The use
of the term relay radar is deprecated.
RELAY, RATCHET. A stepping relay (see
relay, stepping) actuated by an armaturedriven ratchet.
RELAY, ROTARY.
driven.

A term for relay, motor-

RELAY, ROTARY STEPPING.

Same
stepping relay. (See relay, stepping.)

as

RELAY, SEALED. A relay which as both

coil and contacts enclosed in an airtight cover.
RELAY, SELECTOR. A relay capable of
automatically selecting one or more circuits
from a number of circuits.
RELAY, SEQUENCE. A relay which con
trols two or more of contacts in a definite pre
determined sequence.

RELAY, SLOW-RELEASE.
A slow-speed
relay specifically designed for long release
time, but not for long operate time.
RELAY, SLOW-SPEED. A relay specifically
designed for long operate time, release time,
or both.
RELAY SOLENOID. A term for plunger
relay. (See relay, plunger.)
RELAY, SPECIAL-DUTY. A relay which is
designed to function with a specified duty
cycle but which might not be suitable for other
duty cycles.
RELAY, SPECIAL-PURPOSE. A relay with
an application that requires special features
which are not characteristic of the conven
tional general-purpose or definite-purpose
relay.
RELAY, STEPPING. A relay with contacts
that are stepped to successive positions as the
coil is energized in pulses. Some stepping
relays may be stepped in either direction.
The stepping relay is also called a rotary
stepping switch or a rotary stepping relay.
RELAY, TELEPHONE-TYPE. A term some
times applied to an armature relay (see relay,
armature) with an end-mounted coil and
spring pile-up contacts which are mounted
parallel to the long axis of the relay coil. The
relay ordinarily used in telephone systems.
RELAY, THERMAL. A relay which is oper
ated by the heating effect caused by the flow
of electric current.

RELAY, SLAVE. A term for auxiliary relay.

(See relay, auxiliary.)

RELAY, TIME-DELAY. A relay in which

a delayed action is purposely introduced.

RELAY, SLOW-OPERATE.
A slow-speed
relay which has been specifically designed for
long operate time but not for long release time.
The usual slow-operate relay has a copper
slug close to the armature, making it at least
partially slow to release, too.

RELAY, TIMING.
delay relay.

RELAY,
SLOW - OPERATE,
FAST - RE
LEASE. A relay specifically designed for
long operate time and short release time.

RELAY, UNDERVOLTAGE. A relay spe

cifically designed to function when its coil
voltage falls below a predetermined value.

RELAY,
SLOW-OPERATE,
SLOW-RELEASE. A slow-speed relay specifically de
signed for both long operate time and long
release time.

RELAY, UNENCLOSED. A relay which does

not have its contacts or coil protected from the
surrounding medium by a cover. (Also called
open relay.)

motor-driven time-

RELAY UNDERCURRENT. A relay spe

cifically designed to function when its coil
current falls below a predetermined value.

RELEASE FACTOR (RELAY).

release (relay).
RELEASE TIM E (RELAY).
lease (relay).
RELEASE VALUES (RELAY).
drop-out (relay).

See factor,

See time, re

See values,

RELUCTANCE.

See magnetic circuit.

RELUCTIVITY.
bility.

R eciprocal of the permea

REM. Abbreviation for roentgen equivalent,

man. (1) In older usage, the dose (absorbed)
of any ionizing radiation that will produce the
same biological effect as that produced by one
roentgen of high voltage x-radiation. (2) The
unit of the R B E dose (see dose, RBE). The
R B E dose in rems is equal to the absorbed dose
in rads times the R B E (relative biological
effectiveness). (ICRU, 1956.)
REMANENCE. The magnetic flux density
which remains in a magnetic circuit after the
removal of an applied magnetomotive force.
This should not be confused with residual flux
density. If the magnetic circuit has a gap,
the remanence will be less than the residual
flux density.
REMOTE CONTROL.

See control, remote.

measure of absorbed dose. It has also been

defined both as 83 ergs absorbed per gram, and
as 93 ergs absorbed per gram. (See also dose,
absorbed; dose, exposure.)
REPEATABILITY (VOLTAGE REGULA
TOR OR VOLTAGE REFERENCE TUBES).
The ability of a tube to attain the same volt
age drop at a stated time after the beginning
of a conducting period. The lack of repeat
ability is measured by the change in this volt
age from one conducting period to any other,
the operating conditions remaining unchanged.
REPEATER. (1) A repeating coil. (2) A
device for receiving, amplifying, and retrans
mitting a signal or wave. The application
m ay involve telephone or telegraph lines,
waveguides, or a complete radio receivertransmitter (in which case reception is on
one frequency and transmission on another,
to prevent interference). In communicating
over long lines the electrical pulses gradually
become attenuated and often distorted so they
must be built back to sufficient amplitude and
correct shape to satisfactorily operate the re
ceiving equipment. The restoration of these
attenuated signals is the function of repeaters.
In telegraph circuits various mechanical re
peaters are often used. One of the simplest
is shown in the diagram. In this simple form

REMTRON. A gas tube frequently employed

in computers and counters.
RENORMALIZATION OF CHARGE.
self-charge.

See

RENORMALIZATION OF MASS. Process

o f adding to the mechanical mass of a par
ticle the extra mass it possesses in virtue of
its self-interaction, and of recognizing that
the measured mass is the sum of these two,
which are not separately distinguishable ex
perimentally. The process is of particular
use in quantized field theory (see field theory,
quantized), in which the mass arising from
self-interaction is infinite.
REP. Abbreviation for roentgen equivalent,
physical. A unit of absorbed dose which has
now largely been replaced by the rad. In one
definition, the rep is that absorbed dose in
animal soft tissue produced by exposure to
one roentgen. Since the absorption varies with
the tissue com position the rep is not a unique

communication is possible in one direction

only, for the receiving station cannot break
the circuit, as it would have to do in order to
insert a key. A repeater station, more com
plicated than that diagrammed, can be in
stalled to provide tw o-w ay telegraphy. Tw o
repeaters having holding coils, and extra bat
teries are required in this system. These,
however, do not restore the original spacing
and shape of the pulses and the resulting sig
nals may still give false operation of the re
ceiving devices. In order to overcome this
fault regenerative repeaters are used on many
telegraph circuits, particularly on teletype or
printing circuits. M oreover, in digital elec

tronic computers, extensive use is made of

fast-acting repeaters.
REPEATER, BACK-TO-BACK. A radio sys
tem repeater consisting of a receiver and a
transmitter. The output of the receiver is
connected directly to the input of the trans
mitter.
REPEATER, CARRIER. An assemblage of
amplifiers and other equipment designed to
raise attenuated carrier signal levels to such
a value that they m ay traverse a succeeding
line section at an amplitude that preserves an
adequate signal-to-noise ratio and maintains
minimum crossstalk.
REPEATER, DROP. A repeater that is pro
vided with the necessary equipment for local
termination (dropping) of one or more chan
nels.
REPEATERING,
REGENERATIVE.
A
process in which each code element in a mes
sage is replaced by a new code element of
specified timing, waveform , and magnitude.
REPEATER, PULSE (TRANSPONDER). A
device used for receiving pulses from one cir
cuit and transmitting corresponding pulses into
another circuit. It may also change the fre
quency and waveforms of the pulses, and per
form other functions.
REPEATER, REGENERATIVE. A repeater
which performs pulse regeneration. Although
this term carries the unfortunate connotation
of a repeater employing a regenerative, or feed
back, amplifier, its use in the literature has
been wide and specifically as given in this
definition.
REPEATER, TELEGRAPH. A relay inserted
at intervals in a telegraph line to am plify the
signal. The relay coil is actuated by the weak
incoming signal, while the relay contacts and
a local battery initiate a strong outgoing sig
nal.
REPEATING COIL.
peater.

See coil; repeating; re

REPEAT POINT. The location on the tun

ing dial of a superheterodyne receiver which
receives an image-frequency transmission.
REPETITION RATE. The rate at which
recurrent signals are transmitted.

REPETITION RATE, BASIC. In loran, the

lowest pulse repetition rate of each of the
several sets of closely-spaced repetition rates
employed by loran.
REPETITION RATE, SPECIFIC. In loran,
one of a set of closely-spaced repetition rates
derived from the basic rate and associated with
a specific set of synchronized stations.
REPLICA. For the study of surfaces with an
electron microscope, a replica is sometimes
made of the surface either by placing a plastic
solution on the surface and allowing it to
evaporate, or by evaporating a thin inorganic
film onto the surface in a vacuum. In either
case, the film is removed from the surface and
then studied in the electron microscope.
REPLICA GRATING. The ruling of a d if
fraction grating is a complicated and expen
sive process. It has been found possible to
flow certain plastic solutions over an original
grating and, after the evaporation of the sol
vent, a film can be removed which has all of
the lines of the grating impressed upon it.
The techniques of making such replica grat
ings are not simple, but the cost is minor com
pared to that of an original grating.
REPLY. In transponder operation, a radio
frequency signal or combination of signals
transmitted as a result of an interrogation.
REPLY EFFICIENCY.
reply efficiency.
REPOSE, ANGLE OF.

See

transponder

See angle of repose.

REPRESENTATION, IRREDUCIBLE. An
irreducible matrix which is a representation
of an operator. (See representation theory,
quantum mechanical.)
REPRESENTATION OF A GROUP. I f A t,
A 2, As, * , A n are abstract elements of a
group G and Di, D 2, D 3, , D are square
matrices forming a group isomorphous with
G, then the matrices are n-dimensional ma
trix representations o f G.
It is often possible to find a transformation
Q " 1D iQ Q being called the reducing ma
trix so that each matrix is changed to the
form :
D/

0 D/'J

where D / is of order m < n and D / ' is of or*

der (n m ) . The representation is then
said to be reducible. The process m ay be
repeated until no further reduction can be
achieved. The representation has thus been
com pletely reduced and is now irreducible.
REPRESENTATION THEORY, QUANTUM
M ECHANICAL. Following the development
o f matrix mechanics by Heisenberg in 1925
and the final development of wave mechanics
b y Schrdinger in 1926, Born, Jordan, and
Schrdinger succeeded in showing the identity
of the two theories by setting up the basis of
quantum mechanical representation theory.
The first step in the construction of this theory
involves a different outlook in the interpreta
tion of the results of wave mechanics. Since
quantum mechanical operators are Hermitian,
the entire set of eigenfunctions of a chosen
operator corresponding to a dynamical variable
of a system can be arranged into a complete
orthonormal set of functions. Since any gen
eral well behaved function of the same vari
ables can be expressed as a linear combination
o f these functions, this orthonormal set of
eigenfunctions can be considered as a set of
unit vectors, or base vectors representing the
directions of coordinate axes in a Hilbert
space. Then the coefficients of the linear ex
pansion of a general wave function satisfying
the Schrdinger equation for the system can
be looked upon as the components of the wave
function considered as a state vector in Hilbert
space. These components of this state vector
m ay be arranged into a column matrix which
is sometimes referred to as a column vector.
A n y operator which operates on the given
wave function, a, will, in general, yield a new
wave function, fa, which will be represented
b y a different column vector in Hilbert space.
If the Dirac notation is used and the first and
second state vectors represented b y |a) and
I b) respectively, it is clear that it should be
possible to find a matrix || a || which will
represent the result of a operating on fa b y
satisfying the equation |6) || a || |a). This
equation is to be considered as the square
matrix II a II multiplying the column matrix
Ia) from the left to give the column matrix
Ib). The matrix || a || is the matrix represen
tation of the operator a. It can be shown
generally that the elements of the matrix \\ a \\
are given b y the expression an = 1 1pi*afadr

where dr is an element of volume in ordinary

space, the integral is over all space, \ffj* is the
complex conjugate of ipj, and fa, fa, fa,
-\pn, constitute the basic set of eigenfunctions
or base vectors of the representation. If \pa* is
represented b y (a |, which is to be considered
as a row matrix or row vector having as its ele
ments the coefficients of the expansion of
in terms of the \pi*, the complex conjugates of
the base eigenfunctions, it can also be shown
that the average value of the dynamical
variable corresponding to the operator a for a
system described b y the state vector |a) will be
= (a I || a || * I a). This triple matrix product
is denoted by Dirac as (a |a | a).
In this way, it becomes clear that once a
basis for the representation has been chosen by
picking the dynamical variable whose eigen
functions shall be used for the base vectors, all
wave functions \f/ can be represented by col
umn matrices of state vectors denoted as |/x),
their complex conjugates b y row matrices or
row vectors (sometimes the vectors |/x) and
I are referred to as being the dual vectors of
each other) denoted as (n \, and all operators
for the system by square matrices |
| ||. In
such a representation all of the equations of
quantum mechanics become matrix equations.
The form which these matrix equations take
will depend upon the basis chosen for the
representation.
Three common and useful representations
are the position, or Schrdinger, representation
in which the base eigenfunctions are those of
the position operator, the Hamiltonian repre
sentation which uses as its base vectors the
non-time dependent eigenfunctions Ue of the
Hamiltonian operator, and the Heisenberg
representation which uses as its basis the eigen
functions f a = EelEtlh of the Hamiltonian
operator which are simultaneously solutions of
the Schrdinger equation. (For a more de
tailed treatment of this subject see David
Bohm, Quantum Theory, Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1951, Chapter 16.)
REPRESENTATIVE OBSERVATIONS. Ob
servations which give the true or typical me
teorological conditions prevailing in an air
mass.
REPRODUCER.
See
speaker and pickup.
REPRODUCER,
moving coil.

items

DYNAMIC.

under

loud

See pickup,

REPRODUCER GROUP. A disc-record re

producing combination consisting of a single
element reproducer with its supporting arm
and equalizer equipment.
REPRODUCING, SOUND, M OTION PIC
TURE. The sound record of a motion picture
film is carried on the sound track, a strip 0.1
in. wide on a 35 mm film. In recording the
sound track, two systems are generally used.
In the variable-area system the transmitted
light amplitude is a function of the amount
of unexposed area in the positive print. In
the variable-density system the transmitted
light amplitude is an inverse function of the
amount of exposure in the positive print. For
reproduction of the sound, light is passed
through the film onto a photocell. The amount
of light which impinges on the photocell is
proportional to the unexposed portion of the
sound track in variable-area recording, or to
the inverse function of the density in variabledensity recording. When the film is in motion,
the light undulations which fall upon the pho
tocell correspond to the voltage variations ap
plied to the recording device.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND.
A
com bination of transducing devices
(see
transducer) and associated equipment for re
producing recorded sound.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, AUDI
TORY PERCEPTIVE. A sound reproducing
system in which the ears of the auditor are
effectively transferred to the original scene
of action, e.g., by picking up the sound on
several microphones, amplifying the signal in
separate channels, with each channel feeding
a separate loudspeaker.
The loudspeakers
are arranged on the stage in the same posi
tions as the microphones on the pickup stage.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, BIN
AURAL.
A sound reproducing system in
which two microphones simulate the ears of
a dummy, each receiving the component of
the original sound that would normally be
received by a human ear at that position.
Each component is reproduced through a sep
arate audio channel; each channel terminates
in a telephone receiver. The sound produced
at the ears of the observer is then identical
to what would have been produced at the
original position of the dummy.

REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, MAG

NETIC. A sound reproducing system em
ploying magnetic tape or magnetized wire for
the recording and reproduction of sound. The
output of a microphone or radio receiver is
amplified and sent through an equalizer. A
recording head, actuated by the amplifier,
magnetizes the wire or tape in a manner cor
responding to the undulations in the original
sound wave. In reproducing, the wire or tape
is pulled past the recording head at the speed
of the original recording or tape. The m ag
netic undulations in the wire generate a volt
age in the coil of the recording head which
corresponds to the original sound vibrations.
The output of the reproducing head is equal
ized and amplified and then fed to a loud
speaker.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, MON
AURAL. A sound reproducing system con
sisting of one or more microphones with pre
amplifiers and mixers, voltage amplifier, at
tenuator, power amplifier and one or more
loudspeakers. It is used for sound reinforce
ment and public address systems.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, PHO
NOGRAPH. A sound reproducing system in
which the general studio equipment is quite
similar to that of a broadcasting studio, ex
cept that an equalizer is used to attenuate the
output below 800 cycles/sec to yield approxi
mately uniform amplitude in that region. A
cutter actuated by the amplifier cuts a spiral
w avy path in the revolving record correspond
ing to the undulations in the original sound
wave. In reproducing the record is turned at
constant speed. A stylus or needle follows
the w avy spiral groove and generates voltages
corresponding to the undulations in the record.
The output is equalized to compensate for the
equalization in the original recording, and is
passed through a low pass filter. The resultant
signal is passed through a power amplifier
which drives the loudspeaker.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, RADIO.
A sound reproducing system in which the out
puts of several microphones are amplified and
fed to attenuators and then through filters,
equalizers and compressors to eliminate noise
and frequency deficiencies, and also to reduce
the volume range.
The output is passed
through an amplifier and isolating amplifier,

and is fed to the transmitter. A small part of

the radio frequency energy radiated by the
transmitter antenna is picked up by the re
ceiving antenna, amplified in the radio fre
quency stages, combined with an intermediate
frequency oscillator and fed into the first de
tector. The output of the first detector is
amplified by the intermediate frequency am
plifier and then fed to the second detector.
The audio frequency output of the second de
tector is then fed to a power amplifier which
drives a loudspeaker.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, SOUND
M OTION PICTURE. A sound reproducing
system in which the outputs of several m icro
phones are amplified and fed to attenuators
and then through filters, equalizers and compessors to eliminate noise and frequency de
ficiencies and also to reduce the volume range.
The output passes through an overall ampli
fier and feeds a light m odulator and a monitor
ing system. B y means of the optical system
and light modulator, the electrical variations
are recorded on the film into corresponding
variations in density or in area.
REPRODUCING SYSTEM, SOUND, TELE
PHONE. A sound reproducing system con
sisting of a carbon microphone (see micro
phone, carbon), a telephone receiver, and a
battery.
REPRODUCTION SPEED. The area of copy
recorded per unit time.
REPULSION, ELECTROM AGNETIC.
electromagnetic repulsion.

See

REPULSIVE FORCES.
Forces between
bodies which tend to m ove them apart. The
existence of such forces between molecules is
shown by their collision diameters and simi
lar properties; while in the case of crystals
these forces, in equilibrium with forces of at
traction, result in the formation of a stable
ionic system.
REPULSIVE FORCES IN LIQUIDS. The
repulsive forces between molecules of a liquid
decrease very rapidly with distance between
the molecule centers, and are often approxi
mated by a force varying as a high negative
power of the separation, e.g., a twelfth power.
They are similar in origin to covalent forces,
and accom pany the increase in potential en
ergy required to raise the electron density in

the overlapping parts of the molecules. (See

also bond, covalent; molecular attraction.)
REPULSIVE POTENTIAL. The force be
tween two atoms keeping them apart at short
distances is due to the overlapping of the elec
tron clouds, especially of the closed shells of
electrons. (See electron shell.) The poten
tial, <t>, m ay be approximately represented as
a function of the internuclear distance, r, in
many ways, the form
a

where n is usually about 10, being very con

venient. (See also Morse equation; molecular
attraction.)
RE-RECORDING. The process of making a
recording by reproducing a recorded sound
source and recording this reproduction. (See
also dubbing.)
RE-RECORDING SYSTEM. An association
of reproducers, mixers, amplifiers, and re
corders capable of being used for combining
or m odifying various sound recordings to pro
vide a final sound record.
Recording of
speech, music, and sound effects may be so
combined.
RESET. (1) T o restore a storage device to a
prescribed state. (2) T o place a binary cell
in the initial or zero state. (See also clear.)
RESET, DEGREE OF. The reset flux level
expressed as a percentage or fraction of the
reset flux level required to just prevent firing
of the reactor (see reactor (2)) in the subse
quent gating alternation under given condi
tions. (See amplifier, magnetic and following
entries.)
RESET, ELECTRIC (RELAY). A qualifying
term applied to a relay, indicating that its
contacts must be reset electrically to their
original positions following an operation.
RESET FLUX LEVEL. The difference in
saturable reactor core flux level between the
saturation level and the level attained at the
end of the resetting alternation. (See ampli
fier, magnetic and following entries.)
RESET-HAND (RELAY). A qualifying term
applied to a relay indicating that following an

operation the contacts must be reset manually

to their original positions.
RESET PULSE.

See pulse, reset.

RESETTING (PRESETTING). The action

of changing saturable reactor core flux level
to a controlled ultimate reset level which de
termines the gating action of the reactor dur
ing the subsequent gating alternation. The
terms resetting and presetting are synony
mous in common usage. (See amplifier, mag
netic and following entries.)
RESETTING HALF-CYCLE.
T h at half
cycle of the magnetic amplifier a-c supply
voltage during which resetting of the satu
rable reactor may take place.
RESETTING INTERVAL. That interval of
the cycle during which the saturable reactor
core flux level is actually changing from the
saturation level to the reset flux level. (See
amplifier, magnetic and following entries.)
RESIDUAL BLUE.
A phenomenon ob
served with white light scattered by small
particles in suspension. Viewed through a
suitably-oriented Nicol prism, the scattered
light appears blue.
RESIDUAL M ODULATION.
level, carrier.

See

noise

RESIDUAL RADIATION. When light or

other radiation falls on the surface of a trans
parent body, part of it is reflected, part is
transmitted, and part is absorbed. The spec
trum of the transmitted portion, when com
pared with that of the original radiation, may
reveal that certain sharply defined wave
length ranges have failed to get through, but
does not indicate whether they have been
absorbed or reflected.
Transparent media sometimes reflect very
copiously those wavelengths whose absence
from the transmitted radiation causes con
spicuous absorption bands. Quartz, for ex
ample, reflects (or absorbs and re-radiates)
infrared radiation of 8.5 microns and also that
of 20 microns wavelength almost as well as a
polished metal. R ock salt does the same at
50 microns. Rubens and Nichols devised an
ingenious method of isolating beams of these
infrared rays by reflection at polished sur
faces of quartz or rock salt, the residue, after
several reflections, called by them R est-

strahlen (residual rays), being almost mono

chromatic. Analogous properties are exhib
ited in the visible spectrum by many aniline
dyes, the selectively reflected light appearing
as a surface color complementary to the
transmitted portion.
RESIDUAL RANGE.

See range.

RESIDUAL RESISTANCE. That part of the

electrical resistance of a metal which is in
dependent of the temperature, and hence re
mains when the resistance due to scattering
of the electrons by lattice vibrations is made
small at low temperatures (see conductivity,
electrical). Residual resistance is caused by
impurities and imperfections in the crystal,
and hence may be reduced by purification,
annealing, etc.
RESIDUAL SCREW
residual (relay).

(RELAY).

See pin,

RESIDUE. If f ( z ) , a function o f the com

plex variable, has a pole at z z0 so that it
m ay be expanded in a Laurent series 'Zciniz
z0) n, then the coefficient a _ i is the residue of
the function at the point z0. (See calculus
of residues.)
RESIDUE
residues.

THEOREM.

See

calculus

of

RESILIENCE.
The resilience o f a body
measures the extent to which energy may be
stored in it by elastic deformation. (See elas
ticity.) The implication of the word stored
in the above definition is that this energy may
be released in the form of mechanical work
when the force causing the elastic deformation
is removed, and that resilience is a property
of a material within its proportional limit.
The modulus of resilience is the maximum en
ergy storage in a unit volume of the material.
In practical units it is the inch pounds of
energy stored in a cu. in. of the material
stressed to the proportional limit (elastic
limit). The modulus of resilience is directly
proportional to the square of the stress, and
inversely proportional to the modulus of elas
ticity.
RESISTANCE.
The uses of this term in
physics are in accordance with its general
meaning of that which tends to oppose m o
tion. (1) M echanical resistance is the op
position offered by frictional effects to forces

which tend to produce motion. Whenever the

power dissipated in friction is proportional to
the square of the velocity, mechanical resist
ance may be defined as the real part of me
chanical impedance, the unit of which is the
mechanical ohm. (2) Electric conductors are
believed to contain free electrons, the m ove
ment of which through the substance consti
tutes electric conduction. In this migration
the m oving particles evidently meet with some
restraint, since heat is generated. Electrical
resistance is the factor by which the square
of the instantaneous conduction current must
be multiplied to give the power lost by dis
sipation as heat or other permanent radiation
of energy away from the electric circuit.
(Consider the radiation resistance of an an
tenna.)
The unit of electrical resistance is
the ohm. (3) Acoustic resistance is defined
as the real component of acoustic impedance,
the com monly-used unit being the acoustic
ohm. A coustic flow resistance (d-c acoustic
resistance) is defined as the quotient of the
pressure difference between the two surfaces
of a sound-absorbing material by the volume
current through the material. (4) Fluid re
sistance is the opposition offered by gases or
liquids to the passage of bodies through them.
(See viscosity, fluid friction; electrode resist
ance; equivalent noise resistance.)

to heavy metal blocks oil the cover. Individ

ual resistors are shorted by wedging metal
plugs between adjacent blocks.
RESISTANCE BOX, POST OFFICE.
post office box.
RESISTANCE, BRONSON.
sistance.

See

See Bronson re

RESISTANCE, CATHODE INTERFACE

(LAYER). The low frequency limit of cathode
interface impedance.
RESISTANCE,
COLLECTOR,
TRAN
SISTOR. See transistor parameter rc.
RESISTANCE, ELECTRON-STREAM D-C.
The quotient of electron-stream potential and
the direct-current component of stream cur
rent.
RESISTANCE, EMITTER,
See transistor parameter re.

TRANSISTOR.

RESISTANCE, EXTERNAL.
The resist
ance of that part of the electric circuit which
lies outside the source of the current, e.g., the
resistance of a wire and other apparatus con
nected externally between the poles of an elec
trolytic cell or cells.

See

RESISTANCE, F L O W (D-C ACOUSTIC

RESISTANCE). The quotient of the pres
sure difference between the two surfaces of a
sound absorbing material, in dynes/cm 2, by
the volume current through the material in
cm3/se c. The unit is the acoustical ohm.

RESISTANCE, BLEEDER. A permanently

connected resistor across the output of a
power supply.

RESISTANCE, FORCING.
A resistance
placed in series with a control winding of a
magnetic or dynamoelectric amplifier to cause
it to have a higher speed of response.

RESISTANCE, ACOUSTIC. The real com

ponent of the acoustic impedance. The com
monly used unit is the acoustical ohm.
RESISTANCE, BASE, TRANSISTOR.
transistor parameter r6.

RESISTANCE, BLOCKED.
blocked impedance.

The real part of

RESISTANCE BOX. A laboratory resistor,

enclosed in a box, with provision for external
adjustment.
RESISTANCE BOX, DIAL.
A resistance
box with dial switches allowing connection of
the resistors in various combinations so that
the resistance between the terminals may be
varied in steps.
RESISTANCE BOX, PLUG. A resistance
box whose individual resistors are connected

RESISTANCE, FOUR TERMINAL.

A
standard resistor having four points at which
connection to an external circuit may be made.
The two outer terminals are used to connect
the resistor to the source of current; the po
tential difference across the two inner termi
nals may then be measured without interfer
ence due to variable resistance at the current
terminals.
RESISTANCE, GATE.
gate winding.

The resistance of one

RESISTANCE HYBRID.
brid.

See network, hy

RESISTANCE, INPUT, SHORT-CIRCUIT

STATIC-VALUE. See transistor parameter

kT0 = 4.00 X 10 21 watt-seconds. (2) The

equivalent noise resistance in terms of the means

h j.

square noise-generator voltage e2 within a

frequency increment A f is

RESISTANCE, INTERNAL. The resistance

within the apparatus which is generating an
electric current; e.g., in a cell, the resistance
of the electrodes and the electrolyte solution.
RESISTANCE, INTRINSIC ((H). The real
part of intrinsic impedance. (See secondary
electromagnetic constants.)
RESISTANCE, KOCH. The resistance pro
duced by an illuminated, vacuum phototube.
RESISTANCE,
LEAKAGE,
IGNITOR
(SW ITCHING TUBES). The insulation re
sistance, measured in the absence of an ignitor
discharge, between the ignitor electrode ter
minal and the adjacent radio-frequency elec
trode.
RESISTANCE, M ECHANICAL.
The real
part of the mechanical impedance. The unit
is the mechanical ohm.
RESISTANCE, M ECHANICAL RECTILIN
EAL (M ECHANICAL RESISTANCE). The
real part of the mechanical rectilineal imped
ance. This is the part responsible for the dis
sipation of energy. The unit is the mechanical
ohm.
RESISTANCE,
M ECHANICAL
ROTA
TIONAL (ROTATIONAL RESISTANCE).
The real part of the mechanical rotational im
pedance. This is the part responsible for the
dissipation of energy. The unit is the rota
tional ohm.
RESISTANCE, NEGATIVE.
A negative
resistance exists in a circuit when the deriva
tive of voltage across the circuit with respect
to the current through the circuit has a nega
tive value.
RESISTANCE NOISE, EQUIVALENT. A
quantitative representation is resistance units
of the spectral density of a noise-voltage gen
erator at a specified frequency. (1) The rela
tion between the equivalent noise resistance
R n and the spectral density W e of the noisevoltage generator is
Rn = OrW e)/(kT 0)
where k is B oltzm an n s constant and T q is
the standard noise temperature, 290K, and

R n = 7 / (4 k T 0Af).
RESISTANCE
NOISE
OR
NOISE. See noise, thermal.

JOHNSON

RESISTANCE PYROMETER OR THER

MOMETER. The fact that the electrical re
sistance of a metal wire increases with rising
temperature is the basis of a very useful class
of instruments. One has only to calibrate a
given length of wire, as to its resistance in
relation to its temperature, enclose it in a
suitable protecting tube, and keep it connected
with the resistance-measuring bridge, to have
a resistance thermometer adapted to a variety
of uses over a very wide temperature range.
The metal nearly always employed is plati
num. The variation of resistivity with tem
perature of platinum is very nearly linear, be
ing closely approximated by the formula
r = 0.000000037 + 0.000011, in ohm-centimeters and centigrade degrees.
Callendar
found that for any given platinum resistance
thermometer there is a slight systematic de
parture from this formula, characteristic of
the particular sample of wire. It is best,
therefore, to
calibrate
each instrument
throughout the range for which it is intended.
(See thermometry.)
RESISTANCE, RADIATION.
resistance; antenna resistance.

See radiation

RESISTANCE,
resistance.

See

RESIDUAL.

RESISTANCE, ROTATIONAL.
ance, mechanical rotational.

residual

See resist

RESISTANCES IN A-C CIRCUITS. The re

sistance of a conductor is not, in general, inde
pendent of the frequency of the current flow
ing in it, because of the effects of distributed
inductance and capacitance and of skin ef
fects. T o a reasonable approximation, a re
sistor may be considered equivalent to a pure
resistance R in series with an inductance L
and with a capacitance C in parallel with the
combination. The impedance of such a com
bination is
Z = (R +

o>L)/(l -

<*2LC + iwCR),

where i is \/ l and co is the 2w times the fre

quency.
A t very low frequencies the real
part of Z, or the effective resistance, is found
to be approximately equal to R, but the resis
tor also has a reactance C
c(L - CR2). The
quantity in parentheses is called the effectivet
inductance; its ratio to R is the time constan
of the resistor. Only when the time constant
is small compared with the inverse of the fre
quency will a resistor behave like a pure re
sistance. A t very high frequencies, the effec
tive resistance is R { 1 cc2C2R 2); the resistor
acts as a pure reactor when a> = 1/CR. H ow
ever, at such frequencies the skin effect may
increase the value of R so greatly that the
approximation involved in assuming this quan
tity to be constant is a very bad one. The
problem must then be considered in greater
detail.
RESISTANCE, SKIN. The skin resistance of
a unit square is equal to l/o-S where o- is the
electrical conductivity of the conductor and
where 8 is the skin depth at the frequency of
measurement. It is thus seen that the skin
resistance is the same as the d-c resistance of
a unit square and thickness 8.
(See skin
depth.)
RESISTANCE, SPECIFIC (RESISTIVITY).
A proportionality factor characteristic of d if
ferent substances equal to the resistance that
a centimeter cube of the substance offers to
the passage of electricity, the current being
perpendicular to two parallel faces. It is de
fined by the expression:
I

RESISTIVITY. See resistance, specific; con

ductivity, electrical.
RESISTOR. An element of apparatus used
to offer resistance to an electric current.
RESISTOR, BALLAST.

See tube, ballast.

RESISTOR, BIFILAR.
A resistor wound
with a wire doubled back on itself, like a long,
narrow hairpin, to reduce the inductance.
RESISTOR, CHAPERON. A resistor with a
modified bifilar winding to reduce distributed
capacitance as well as self-inductance.
RESISTOR, CURTIS W INDING. A type of
winding designed to reduce residual induct
ance and capacitance. This is achieved by
reversing the direction of alternate turns, by
passing the wire through a diametral slot on
a cylindrical coil form.
RESISTOR, NON-INDUCTIVE. A resistor
constructed in such a manner that the induc
tive effects are reduced to a minimum. Such
construction is often required for high-fre
quency work.
RESISTOR, THOMAS
TYPE.
Thomas
standard resistors are wound of bare manganin wire, annealed in an inert atmosphere,
and sealed in a dry, double-walled container.
T hey are very stable against aging drift, and
are used at the National Bureau of Standards
to maintain the ohm.
RESISTOR, W ENN ER W INDING. A type
of winding designed to reduce residual in
ductance and capacitance. Alternate turns
are reversed in direction by looping them
around a heavy, longitudinal cord.

where R is the resistance of a uniform con

ductor, I is its length, A is its cross-sectional
area, and p is its resistivity. Resistivity is
usually expressed in ohm-centimeters.

RESISTOR, W OVEN-W IRE. A resistor hav

ing low capacitance and inductance, wound
with a ribbon containing the resistance wire
in a zigzag pattern.

RESISTANCE, SPECIFIC ACOUSTIC. The

real component of the specific acoustic im
pedance. (See impedance, specific acoustic.)

RESNATRON.
A
high-power, high-efficiency, cavity-resonator tetrode designed to
operate in the V H F region. Up to 60 K W ,
CW , efficiencies of 60% have been obtained.
The principle of operation is similar to that
of a class C oscillator, with careful attention
to beam focusing playing a large part in the
high efficiencies achieved. Cavities compris
ing the oscillating circuits are within the v a c
uum envelope, and are built integral with the
electronic elements of the tube.

RESISTANCE, SPREADING. That part of

the resistance of a semiconductor junction due
to the bulk semiconductor material.
RESISTANCE, STANDARD. A specially de
signed and constructed resistor, whose re
sistance is accurately-known and stable
against drift.

RESOLUTION. (1) A term used in a num

ber of specific cases in science to denote the
process of separating closely-related forms or
entities or the degree to which they can be dis
criminated.
The term is most frequently
used in optics to denote the smallest exten
sion which a m agnifying instrument is able
to separate or the smallest change in wave
length which a spectrometer can differentiate.
In this last sense, it is defined as the ratio of
the average wavelength (wave number or fre
quency) of two spectral lines, which can just
be detected as a doublet, to the difference in
their wavelengths (wave numbers or frequen
cies).
(See Rayleigh criterion of resolving
power.) In connection with measurements of
the energy or momentum of a collection of
particles, gamma-rays, etc., the resolution is
usually defined as the ratio of (a) the width
at half maximum of the response curve for
monoenergetic particles of a given energy (or
momentum) to (b) the energy (or momentum)
o f the particles. (2) The term resolution is
also applied to such varied processes as the
separation of a racemic mixture into its optically-active components (see optical activity)
or as the breaking up of a vectorial quantity
into components. (See vector.)
RESOLUTION, ANGULAR. (1) The ability
of a radar to distinguish between two targets
solely by the measurement of angles. It is
generally expressed in terms of the minimum
angle b y which targets must be spaced to be
separately distinguishable. (2) In optics, the
angular resolution is the angle subtended by
two objects, e.g., the two components of a
double star, which just allows the two to be
recognized as two objects rather than one.
(See also resolving power; Rayleigh criterion
of resolving power.)
RESOLUTION CHART. A chart employed
to check the linearity, definition, and contrast
of television systems,
RESOLUTION, EFFECT OF INCREASING
W AVELEN G TH . Since the effect of increas
ing wavelength upon resolution is given by
the relationship:
------ (AA)/X2,
Av
where A v is the change in wave number cor
responding to a change in wavelength A A , at
a wavelength A, therefore, the resolving power

in wave number units increases rapidly with

decreasing wavelength.
RESOLUTION, HORIZONTAL. In televi
sion, the number of light variations or picture
elements along a line, which can be distin
guished from each other.
RESOLUTION SENSITIVITY.
tivity, resolution.

See

sensi

RESOLVER. Means for resolving a vector

into two mutually perpendicular components.
RESOLVING POWER.
(1) The ability of
an optical system to resolve, i.e., separate,
two entities, such as the ability of a tele
scope to separate the images of the two stars
of a double star, the ability of a microscope
to separate the images of two points which
are close together, and the ability of a spec
troscope to separate two spectral lines. M ost
studies of resolving power are based on the
Rayleigh criterion of resolving power, ( l a)
The resolving power of a microscope is given
by the relation d = 1.22A/2 N.A., where d is
the linear separation of two points, A is the
wavelength used, and N.A. is the numerical
aperture of the objective lens, ( l b) M ost tele
scopes have large objective lenses in order to
have large light-gathering power, and to have
high resolution. This high resolution may
produce resolved images too close together to
be resolved by the human eye. Hence an eyelens or ocular is included in the system for the
purpose of m agnifying the initial image so
that the eye can see it as resolved. N ote that
no amount of magnification of the initial image
can increase the resolving power of the tele
scope over the resolving power of the objec
tive lens. (2) B y extension, the term applies
to instruments separating particles. The re
solving power of a mass spectroscope is the
highest value of the ratio m/Am for the com
plete separation of the mass spectrum lines
differing by Am in mass. (3) In a unidirec
tional antenna, the resolving power is the re
ciprocal of its beam width, measured in de
grees. The resolution of a directional radio
system can be different from the resolving
power of its antenna, since the resolution is
affected by other factors. (4) For the resolv
ing power of a spectroscope or spectrograph,
see resolution; Rayleigh criterion of resolving
power.

R E SO N AN CE.
(1) Every physical system,
in general, has one or more natural vibration
frequencies characteristic of the system itself
and determined by constants pertaining to the
system. Thus a flexible string of length I
and mass 8 per unit length, and subjected to
a tension /, will, if struck or plucked and left
to itself, vibrate with frequencies equal to

121\ I6
11
and to various integral multiples thereof
(overtones). If such a system is given im
pulses with some arbitrary frequency, it will
necessarily vibrate with that frequency even
though it is not one of those natural to it.
These forced vibrations may be very feeble;
but if the impressed frequency is varied, the
response becomes rapidly more vigorous when
ever any one of the natural frequencies is ap
proached, its amplitude often increasing many
fold as exact synchronism is reached. This
effect is known as resonance. The many uses
o f this conception in present-day physics stem
from this initial use in mechanics or acoustics
to denote a prolongation or reinforcement of
sound by induced vibration. Such acoustical
(and mechanical) resonance can often be rep
resented b y a differential equation of the
form :

which gives a minimum impedance (and thus

a maximum current for a fixed impressed volt
age) and unity power factor, is known as se
ries resonance. Where the resistance is small
the current may become quite large. As the
voltage drop across the condenser or coil is
the product of the current and the impedance
of that particular unit it may also become very
large. The condition of resonance may even
give rise to a voltage across one of these units
which is many times the voltage across the
whole circuit, being, in fact, Q times the ap
plied voltage for the condenser and nearly the
same for the coil. This is possible since the
drops across the coil and condenser are nearly
180 out of phase and thus almost cancel one
another, leaving a relatively small voltage
across the circuit as shown in Fig. lb . For a
/

S e rie s

Parallel

(a) Resonant Circuits

+ R + Sx = A cos at,
d t2

dt

which permits a mathematical statement of

velocity resonance and displacement reso
nance (see resonance, velocity and reso
nance, displacement) as shown in the table on
page 985. (2) Electrical resonance is a con
dition which tends to produce relatively great
currents in reactive circuits. There are two
types, series resonance and parallel resonance,
as illustrated in Figure 1( a) . In an a-c cir
cuit containing inductance and capacitance in
series the impedance is given by

where R is the resistance, to is 2tt times the

frequency, L is the inductance, and C, the
capacitance. It can readily be seen that at
some frequency the terms in the brackets will
cancel each other, and the impedance will
equal the resistance alone. This condition,

S e rie s

Parallel

(b ) Vector Relations

Fig. 1.

circuit composed of an inductance unit in

parallel with a capacitance the opposite effects
of these two types of reactance will counter
act one another at some frequency and produce
unity power factor for the circuit. This is
parallel resonance or antiresonance as it is
sometimes called. In such a circuit the cur
rents in the individual branches may be many
times that in the line since they are out of
phase and combine vectorially to give the line
current. The impedance of a parallel reso
nant circuit is very high, its behavior being

T able

of

P r o p e r t ie s

of

R e so n a n t S ystem s

M T T + R ~T +

dr

At Velocity
Resonance

A t Displacement
Resonance

fs _

J L

Frequency

" A cos o)t

dt

2tr \ M

At the Natural
Frequency

R2

Is

fs_

2ir\M ~2M 2

R2

2 t t \ M ~ 4 M2

Amplitude of displacement

R
Amplitude of velocity

R2

n/ I

4M 2

ill
y jM

3R 2

im 2

A
R

BJ1 +

Phase of displacement with

reference to applied force

tan

4M S - 2R2
4M S

R2

R A /1 +

'4

tan - i

- 42

I16M

- 4

For values of R, small compared to 's/'SM , there is little difference between the three cases discussed above.

almost identical with that of the current in a

series circuit if the Q of the parallel circuit is
above 10. Fig. 2 shows a typical frequencyresponse curve for resonant circuits, the ordi
nates being current for a series and impedance

and electronic systems.

The approach of
quantum mechanics clarifies the behavior of
such systems (see resonance, quantum-me
chanical). See also the discussions of reso
nance level; resonance radiation; resonance
spectral lines; and resonance energy.)
(4)
Another resonance phenomenon involving
electrons or atomic nuclei is magnetic reso
nance (see resonance, magnetic; and nuclear
magnetic resonance).
(5)
The term resonance is often used ad
jectivally. (See resonant.)
RESONANCE ABSORPTION (NUCLEAR
REACTOR).
The absorption of neutrons
with energies corresponding to a nuclear reso
nance level of the absorber. Sometimes used
for absorption of all neutrons but thermal
neutrons. (See neutrons, thermal.)

for a parallel resonant circuit. In series reso

nance the resonant condition is given exactly
by the following expression which also holds
for parallel resonance if the Q is high:
coL = 1/toC.
Both types of resonance are widely used in
communication circuits to select certain fre
quencies in preference to others. An example
is the tuning circuit of the radio receiver.
(3) Resonance phenomena are exhibited by all
systems in motion, including molecular, atomic

RESONANCE ABSORPTION, NUCLEAR

AND ELECTRONIC SPIN. The selective
absorption of electromagnetic energy by a sys
tem of particles possessing magnetic moment
and spin, when the energy of the radiation is
equal to the spacing between the Zeeman
components of a single spectral level. (See
also resonance, magnetic; resonance, para
magnetic; nuclear magnetic resonance.)
RESONANCE, AMPLITUDE.
tion, forced.

See oscilla

RESONANCE CAPTURE. The capture of

an incident particle into a resonance level of
the resultant compound nucleus. Resonance
capture is characterized by having a large
probability (cross section) at and very close
to the resonance energy involved, in com pari
son with energies somewhat removed from the
resonance energy.
RESONANCE, CYCLOTRON.
The cyclo
tron frequency of a particle of mass m* and of
charge q in a field of magnetic flux density B
is

eB
^c

2irm*

which is independent of the radius of the circu

lar motion. Ions in a plasma or carriers in a
conductor or semiconductor may respond to
electromagnetic radiation and so m ay show
resonant absorption at this frequency. The
effect is used to measure the effective mass of
carriers in semi-conductors and also, in some
types of mass spectrograph, to measure atomic
masses.
RESONANCE,
DISPLACEMENT.
D is
placement resonance exists between a body,
or a system, and an applied sinusoidal force
if any small change in frequency of the ap
plied force causes a decrease in the amplitude
of displacement. (See table under resonance;
and oscillation, forced.)
RESONANCE, DRIVING-FORCE.
onance frequency.

See res

RESONANCE ENERGY. (1) The kinetic en

ergy, measured with reference to the labora
tory system, of a particle that will be cap
tured or scattered preferentially because of
the presence of an appropriate resonance level
in the compound nucleus (incident particle
plus target nucleus). The relation of the reso
nance energy E re8 to the energy of excitation
E exo of the resonance level above the ground
state of the compound nucleus is given by the
expression
mass of com pound nucleus
E res

E exc

E B)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

mass of target nucleus

where E B is the binding energy of the incident

particle in the compound nucleus.
(2) The
added binding energy of a molecule due to
quantum mechanical resonance.
(See reso

nance, quantum mechanical; exchange en

ergy.)
RESONANCE
ESCAPE
PROBABILITY
(NUCLEAR REACTOR).
For a neutron
slowing down without leakage, the resonance
escape probability between two energies is the
probability that a neutron at the higher en
ergy will reach the lower energy, rather than
be absorbed.
RESONANCE,
nance.

FERMI.

See

Fermi reso

RESONANCE, FERROMAGNETIC.
ferromagnetic resonance.

See

RESONANCE
FLUORESCENCE,
CLEAR. See scattering, resonance.

NU

RESONANCE FREQUENCY.
(1) For a
general discussion of resonance frequency, see
forced oscillations.
(2) A frequency for
which some measure of the response of a cir
cuit element is maximum (or minimum).
Thus amplitude resonance occurs at that fre
quency for which a given amplitude stimulus
yields a maximum amplitude response, phase
resonance occurs when the response is in phase
with the stimulus (i.e., at the frequency yield
ing zero reactance), and period resonance oc
curs when the driving-force frequency is the
natural frequency of the circuit element. (3)
The frequency of a mode of elastic vibration
of a crystal such as quartz, which is coupled
through the piezoelectric effect to an elec
trical system.
(4) In quantum mechanical
systems, resonance absorption of radiation
takes place when the frequency of the incident
radiation satisfies the Bohr condition v
(Ef Ei) /h where E f and E { are the initial
and final energy states of the system and h
is the Planck constant. (See also resonance
radiation.) (5) See Larmor precession; reso
nance, cyclotron; magnetic resonance.
RESONANCE HEATING, ION CYCLO
TRON. A method of heating a conducting
fluid or plasma in which the frequency of the
applied magnetic field is chosen to equal the
ion cyclotron frequency. This is one specific
form of magnetic pumping.
RESONANCE LAMP. If the light from a
quartz mercury arc is arranged to strike an
evacuated quartz bulb containing a drop of
mercury the resonance line (A2537) is ab

sorbed b y the mercury vapor so that little or

no radiation passes through the vapor directly.
H owever, the bulb now acts as a source of
radiation of the pure resonance line. Such
sources are called resonance lamps.
(See
resonance fluorescence.)
RESONANCE LEVEL (NUCLEAR). An ex
cited level of the compound system capable
of being formed in a collision between two
systems (e.g., between a nucleon and a nu
cleus). In a plot of cross section versus en
ergy, there will usually be a maximum corre
sponding to each resonance level. (See reso
nance energy.)
RESONANCE, M AGNETIC. Particles with
intrinsic magnetic moments have quantized
energy levels when placed in a magnetic field
o f flux density B (see energy states, magnetic).
The possible energy states are given (in MKSA
units) by
E = mgnB,NB,
where m is the magnetic quan tu m num ber,
g the g-factor and vb ,n is either us, the Bohr
m agneton for electrons, or /zjv the nuclear
magneton for protons or nuclei. A small
oscillatory magnetic field B L = B' sin cot, at
right angles to the much stronger constant
field B, can induce transitions between these
levels if the Bohr frequency condition co0 =
AE/fi = g\xB,NB/h is satisfied.
This resonant frequency for reorientations
of the magnetic moment is the same as the
classical Larmor frequency of precession of
the angular m o m en tu m vector about the B
direction. A classical interpretation for the
reorienting effect of the B = B' sin cot field
can be given b y resolving it into two com
ponents, each rotating in a plane at right angles
to B. If co = coq, then that rotating com
ponent of B_l that has the same sense as the
Larmor precessional motion continuously ex
erts an extra torque tending to tilt the
angular m o m en tu m vector (and magnetic
m o m en t vector), away from the B direction
if in phase, and towards the B direction if
180 out of phase.
The reorientation of the magnetic moment
at the resonant frequency can be detected by
deflection of the particle in an inhomogeneous
magnetic field, by the accom panying absorp
tion of radiation, or by the changing magnetic
field that results (see Rabi method; resonance,

paramagnetic; nuclear magnetic resonance).

From an experimental determination of the
resonant frequency in a known magnetic field
the gyromagnetic ratio of the particle may be
determined.
Nuclear magnetic moments are o f the order
of 10 ~ 3 smaller than the electronic magnetic
moment, so that the resonance frequencies fall
in different ranges for the same field. Micro
wave frequencies are often used with elec
trons, and radio frequency with nuclei. (See
also microwave absorption spectra; Bloch
equations.)
RESONANCE, M OD E OF. A form of nat
ural electromagnetic oscillation in a resonator,
characterized by a particular field pattern
which is invariant with time.
(See also
mode.)
RESONANCE, NONLINEAR. Provided the
dissipation of the system is low, the curve of
the response (e.g., rms value) to a driving
force, of a double energy-storage, passive sys
tem containing at least one nonlinear energy
storage element, may be double-valued over
a certain range, when plotted against the in
dependent variable of driving force, or fre
quency, or one of the system parameters.
Such a system is said to be in nonlinear reso
nance, if the operating point is on the upper
leg of this double-valued response curve, and
if the lowest-frequency component of the re
sponse is of the same frequency as the funda
mental frequency of the driving force. I f the
circuit parameters or the excitation or both
preclude the existence of a double-valued
response, the system is said to be in nonlinear
resonance if the operating point is in that
range of the curve of response (e.g., rms value)
versus driving force, in which the slope of the
curve is greater than the slope in the vicinity
of the origin. (See also ferroresonance.)
RESONANCE,
NUCLEAR
MAGNETIC.
See nuclear magnetic resonance.
RESONANCE, NUCLEAR QUADRUPOLE.
Similar to nuclear magnetic resonance except
that it involves the interaction of an inhomo
geneous electric field with the nuclear electric
quadrupole moment, instead of the interaction
of a homogeneous magnetic field with the nu
clear dipole moment. The energy o f interac
tion of an axially symmetric quadrupole with

an axially symmetric electric field gradient is

given by
W = -$eQqzz(3 cos2 0 1),
where e is the electronic charge, eQ the quadrupole moment, qzz the second derivative of
the electric potential along the z symmetry
axis, and 0 is the angle between the symmetry
axis of the field and that of the quadrupole
(;z'). As in the magnetic case, cos0 can take
on only specified values, so that the energy
is quantized. The energy levels are given by
Em = eQqzg[3m2 -

1(1 X

l)]/4(2 / -

1)1,

where I is the nuclear spin quantum number

and m is the magnetic quantum number. Also
as in the magnetic case, the z' axis of the
nucleus will tend to precess about the z direc
tion. A radio frequency magnetic field at
right angles to z will couple with the associated
magnetic moment and will cause transitions
from one energy state to another if the radian
frequency co is given b y the Bohr condition
o) = AW/h.
Transitions only occur for
Am = = tl.
Nuclear quadrupole resonances show line
widths resulting from imperfections in the
crystal lattice, magnetic dipole-dipole inter
actions, molecular vibrations, etc. line split
tings occur as a result of symmetry of the
electric field gradient, isotope effects, mag
netic fields, etc.
RESONANCE OF TUBES. The increase in
the average sound energy density in a tube
because of the reinforcement of sound waves
traveling in opposite directions with proper
phase relations. The fundamental resonant
frequency of a tube open at both ends is equal
to c/2l, where c is the velocity of sound in
cm /sec, and I is the length of the tube in cm.
For a tube open at one end only, the corre
sponding fundamental resonant frequency is
equal to c/4 i. Both expressions are approxi
mate, being subject to small corrections for the
cross-sectional size of the tube. Resonances
also occur at harmonic frequencies, the tube
open at both ends showing them at all har
monics and the tube open at one end only at
the even harmonics. (See mechanical vibrat
ing system; closed pipe; and open pipe.)
RESONANCE, PARAMAGNETIC.
M agnetic resonance involving electron magnetic
moments and their associated spins (see reso

nance, magnetic). A free electron placed in a

magnetic field of flux density B can orient its
spin and magnetic moment either parallel or
antiparallel to the field. The energies associ
ated with these two states are given by:
E =
where the g-factor is 2 for a free electron, and
hb is the Bohr magneton. A small alter
nating magnetic field at right angles to B can
induce transitions between these two states if
its radian frequency is

o) = gm B /fi ,
where % is the Planck constant divided by
27r. For magnetic fields of a few kilogauss
( = 0 . 1 W b/M 2), the resonance frequency lies
in the centimeter region of microwaves, and
measurements are made by microwave
absorption methods.
Paramagnetic materials are composed of
atoms, ions, or molecules with at least one un
paired electron, and magnetic resonance due
to such electrons can be observed. However,
the situation is usually more complicated
than in the free electron case. Spin-spin and
spin-lattice relaxation effects cause broadening
of the resonance lines, while spin-orbit inter
actions and interactions with nuclear spins
and nuclear electric quadrupole moments cause
splitting of the lines. Line shifts and split
tings also occur as a result of internal molecu
lar or crystalline fields. A study of the broad
ening and splitting leads to useful information
about molecular and crystalline structure.
(See also nuclear magnetic resonance; Bloch
equations.)
RESONANCE,
PARAMAGNETIC
(NU
CLEAR). See nuclear magnetic resonance.
RESONANCE, PHASE.
quency.

See resonance fre

RESONANCE, it M ODE OF. In travelingwave magnetrons, the mode in which the in

stantaneous phase difference between adja
cent segments is ir radians.
RESONANCE POTENTIAL. See resonance
spectral lines (first, second, etc.)*
RESONANCE, PROTON.
nance.

See proton reso

RESONANCE, SERIES. Resonance exists in

a series circuit when the frequency of the
impressed current or voltage is such that the
impedance is real, i.e., purely resistive; the
inductive and capacitative components of re
actance cancelling one another.

and therefore the name resonance radiation

was adopted. But when Strutt excited sodium
vapor by light of wave number 30.273 cm 1
(second line of the principal sodium series),
the emitted radiation was D -light (16.973
cm - 1 ).

RESONANCE, SHARPNESS OF. Since reso

nant circuits give a response which varies with
frequency, reaching a maximum at the reso
nance frequency and dropping on either side,
it is convenient to have some means of com
paring different circuits. The usual purpose
of such circuits is to select certain frequencies
in preference to others so the common method
of defining the sharpness of resonance is to
specify the frequency band in which the re
sponse will exceed an arbitrary value. This
arbitrary value is often taken as 70.7% of the

RESONANCE SCATTERING. See scatter

ing, potential; and scattering, resonance.
RESONANCE, SERIES. See resonance, for
the application of the term to electric circuits;
see spectrum, resonance, for the application
of the term to spectra.
RESONANCE SPECTRAL LINES (FIRST,
SECOND, ETC.). The spectrum lines emitted
when an electron undergoes transfer to its nor
mal energy state in a given atom from its
next highest energy state (first resonance lin e ),
or from its next-but-one highest energy state
with allowed transition to the ground state
(second resonance line), etc. These resonance
transitions correspond to the first, second, etc.,
resonance potentials, and may be assumed to
be single lines only when no account is taken
of fine structure, hyperfine structure and other
complications.
RESONANCE, SPIN. See resonance, mag
netic; resonance, paramagnetic; nuclear mag
netic resonance; proton resonance.

maximum as this is the point where the power

is half the value at resonance. The narrower
the frequency band between these two points
the sharper the resonance, thus in the figure
the circuit having the response curve 1 has
much sharper resonance than that of curve 2.
The frequency difference between these two
half-pow er points is approximately equal to the
resonance frequency divided by Q (Q > 10).
RESONANCE RADIATION. A process of
re-emission of radiation by gases and vapors.
The process involves excitation, by incident
photons, of atoms to higher energy levels,
from which they m ay return to the ground
state, or to other states. Therefore the radia
tion emitted, while characteristic of the par
ticular atom, is not necessarily of the same
frequency as that absorbed. Resonance ra
diation appears to be a species of fluorescence,
except that it may take place with no change
in frequency. For example, W ood found that
sodium vapor, , upon absorption of D -light
(16.973 cm - 1 ), re-emitted the same frequency

RESONANCE, VELOCITY (PHASE RESO

NANCE). V elocity resonance exists between
a body, or system, and an applied sinusoidal
force if any small change in the frequency of
the applied force causes a decrease in veloc
ity at the driving point; or if the frequency
of the applied force is such that the absolute
value of the driving-point impedance is a
minimum.
(See impedance, driving-point;
see also table under resonance.)
RESONANT. This adjective is often replaced
by the adjectival noun, resonance.
RESONANT CHAMBER.

A resonator.

RESONANT DIAPHRAGM.
resonant.

See window,

RESONANT ELEM ENT.

See waveguide
resonator; entries under resonator.
RESONANT FREQUENCY.
resonant.

See frequency,

RESONANT
FREQUENCY,
ANTENNA.
See antenna resonant frequency.

R E SO N A N T M O D E S IN C Y L IN D R IC A L
C A V ITIE S. W hen a metal cylinder is closed
by two metal surfaces perpendicular to its
axis a cylindrical cavity is formed. The reso
nant modes in this cavity are designated by
adding a third subscript to indicate the num
ber of half waves along the axis of the cavity.

TE,

TE,

TE 2

TE 2.\

(2 3
{ft?.
TE 2

Their shape is shown in Figures 1 and 2.

When the cavity is a rectangular parallele
piped, the axis of the cylinder from which the
cavity is assumed to be made should be desig
nated, since there are three possible cylinders
out of which the parallelepiped may be made.
For T E w>n or T M m?n waves in hollow rec
tangular cylinders, the cutoff wavelength is
Xc = 2 / \ / (m/a)2 + (n/b) 2 where a is the
width of the guide along the x coordinate and
b is the height of the guide along the y coordi
nate.
Table I gives the ratio of c u t o ff wavelengths
to diameters for T M n,w waves in hollow circu
lar metal cylinders:
T

'l
2
m- 3
4
.5

able

1.307
0.569
0.363
0.267
0.2106

0.820
0.448
0.309
0.2375
0.1910

0.613
0.373
0.270
0.2127
0.1750

0.483
0.322
0.241
0.1938

0.414
0.284
0.219

0.358
0.2547
0.200

Table II gives the ratio of cutoff wave

lengths to diameters for T E w>n waves in hollow
circular metal cylinders:

TE 1.2

Fig. 1. The E lines for some of the more elementary

T E modes in rectangular and circular wave guides.

able

II

0.820
0.448
0.309
0.2375
0.1910

1.708
0.59
0.368
0.27
0.21

1.030
0.468
0.315
0.24
0.194

0.748
0.382
0.277
0.22
0.18

0.590
0.338
0.247
0.198

TM

'1
2
= 3
4
.5

The resonant wavelengths o f cylindrical cavities are given b y Xr = l / \ / ( 1 / A C) 2 + (l/2c) 2

where Xc is the cutoff wavelength for the trans
mission m ode along the axis, I is the number
of half-period variations of the field along the
axis and c is the axial length of the cavity.

TM0<,

RESO N AN T R IN G D IP L E X E R . A diplexer
employing a waveguide hybrid junction. (See
diplexer; waveguide junction, hybrid.)
The H lines for some of the more elementary T
modes in rectangular and circular wave-guides.

RESON AN T W IN D O W ,
window, inductive.

See

waveguide

RESONATOR. (1) A device used to utilize

or exhibit the effects of resonance.
(2) A
group of electrons which absorbs electromag
netic radiation of certain frequencies.

ing surface in which oscillating electromag

netic energy is stored, and whose resonance
frequency is determined by the geometry of
the enclosure.

RESONATOR, ANNULAR.
A resonator
which can be considered to be formed from a
short-circuited, half-wavelength, coaxial-line
resonator by folding one end back upon the

RESONATOR, COAXIAL-LINE.
A reso
nator consisting of a section of coaxial line
short-circuited on one end (A /4 lo n g ), or both
ends (A /2 long).
Short-circuiting plungers
to change the resonator length, or lumped ca
pacitance across a point of high electric field
strength may be used to change the frequency
of resonance.
RESONATOR, COMPOUND. A resonator
(see resonator (1)) consisting of two or more
acoustic resonators coupled together.
RESONATOR, COMPOUND, BOYS TYPE.
A long, open, cylindrical tube, coupled at one
end to a Helmholtz resonator.
RESONATOR, CYLINDRICAL CAVITY.
The lowest resonance frequency of a circular
cylindrical cavity in a perfect conductor is
V

where V = c/V m * is the electromagnetic

velocity in the medium filling the cavity, and
d is the cavity diameter.
RESONATOR FILTER. See filter, cavity;
filter, paralleled-resonator.

Structure (a) and the electric-field configuration (b)

of annular resonator (B y permission from M icro
wave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al., 1953,
D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

other. M ore exactly, because of the sharp

corners in the region of the antinode of elec
tric field, the annular resonator is equivalent
to a half-wavelength, coaxial resonator with
a small shunting capacitance at its midpoint.
RESONATOR, BUTTERFLY.
A lumpedparameter resonator derived from a conven
tional, variable capacitor having a stator with
cut-outs, and a rotor. M agnetic coupling is a
minimum when the rotor is moved to align
with the cut-out portions of the stator. Both
electric and magnetic coupling vary as a func
tion of rotor position.
RESONATOR, CAVITY. A dielectric volume
normally bounded by an electrically conduct

RESONATOR, HELM HOLTZ. An enclosure

communicating with the external medium
through an opening of small cross-sectional
area. Such a device resonates at a single fre
quency dependent on the geometry o f the
resonator.
RESONATOR, INPUT. The buncher reso
nator of a klystron or other velocity modula
tion tube.
RESONATOR, LONG-LINE EFFECT ON.
See long-line effect.
RESONATOR, M ICROW AVE. A resonator
employed at microwave frequencies.
RESONATOR M ODE.
lator.

See mode of an oscil

RESONATOR, PARALLEL-WIRE. A sec

tion of a parallel-wire transmission line most
com monly operated with one end of the line
terminated in the tube-electrodes, and the

other end short-circuited.

wires.)

(See also Lecher

RESONATOR(S), TYPES OF PLUNGERS

FOR. The frequency of resonance of m icro
wave resonators (see resonator, microwave)
is changed by means of movable plungers,
which change the effective length of the reso
nator. The contacting plunger has slotted

B u c k e f p lu n g e r

tion or adsorption by that same body or sys

tem.
RESPONDER BEACON.

See transponder.

RESPONSE. Of a device or system, a quan

titative expression of the output as a func
tion of the input under conditions which must
be explicitly stated. The response character
istic, often presented graphically, gives the
response as a function of some independent
variable, such as frequency or direction.
M odifying phrases must be prefixed to the
term response to indicate explicitly what
measure of the output or of the input is being
utilized.
RESPONSE,
AMPLITUDE
(CAMERA
TUBES). See square-wave response.

Capacitance plunger

Types of plungers for resonators.

(By permission
from Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich
et al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

fingers to form a low, ohmic short circuit at

the point of contact. A capacitance plunger
effectively short-circuits the resonator by pre
senting a large capacitance whose position is
controllable. It does not contact the reso
nator walls. M ore complicated non-contact
ing plungers such as the choke, bucket, Splunger, Z-plunger, and possible combinations
of these are used to lower further the shortcircuit impedance, and the power lost past the
plunger.
RESONATOR, W AVEGU ID E.
guide resonator.

See wave

RESORPTION. The absorption, or less com

monly, the adsorption by a body or system
of material previously released from absorp

RESPONSE, AVAILABLE POWER. Of an

electroacoustic transducer used for sound
emission, the ratio of the mean-square sound
pressure (see sound pressure, mean-square)
apparent at a distance of 1 meter in a speci
fied direction from the effective acoustic center
of the transducer to the available electric
power from the source. The available pbwer
response is usually expressed in decibels above
the reference response of 1 microbar squared
per watt of available electric power. The
sound pressure apparent at a distance of 1
meter is determined by multiplying the sound
pressure observed at a remote point where the
sound field is spherically divergent by the ratio
of the distance of that point, in meters, from
the effective acoustic center of the transducer,
to the reference distance of 1 meter. The
available power response is a function not only
of the transducer but also of some source im
pedance, either actual or hypothetical, the
value of which must be specified.
RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS, AMPLI
TUDE VERSUS FREQUENCY. The varia
tion with frequency of the gain or loss of a
device or a system.
RESPONSE CHARACTERISTIC, SQUAREW AVE (CAMERA TUBES). The relation be
tween square-wave response and the ratio of
( 1 ) a ra s te r dimension to ( 2 ) the bar width
in the square-wave response test pattern. Un
less otherwise specified, the raster dimension
is the vertical height.

RESPONSE, FREE-FIELD CURRENT (RE

CEIVING CURRENT SENSITIVITY). Of
an electroacoustic transducer used for sound
reception, the ratio of the current in the out
put circuit of the transducer when the output
terminals are shortcircuited to the free-field
sound pressure existing at the transducer loca
tion prior to the introduction of the transducer
in the sound field. The free-field current re
sponse is usually expressed in decibels, viz.,
2 0 times the logarithm to the base 10 of the
quotient of the observed ratio divided by the
reference ratio, usually 1 ampere per m icro
bar. The free-field response is defined for a
plane progressive sound wave whose direction
of propagation has a specified orientation with
respect to the principal axis of the transducer.
RESPONSE, FREE-FIELD VOLTAGE (RE
CEIVING VOLTAGE SENSITIVITY). Of
an electroacoustic transducer used for sound
reception, the ratio of the voltage appearing
at the output terminals of the transducer when
the output terminals are open-circuited to the
free-field sound pressure at the transducer
location prior to the introduction of the trans
ducer in the sound field.
RESPONSE RATIO, SPURIOUS. The ratio
of ( 1 ) the field strength at the frequency
which produces the spurious response to ( 2 )
the field strength at the desired frequency,
each field being applied in turn, under speci
fied conditions, to produce equal outputs.
Image ratio and intermediate frequency re
sponse ratio are special forms of spurious re
sponse ratio.
RESPONSE, RELATIVE. The ratio, usu
ally expressed in decibels, of the response
under some particular conditions to the re
sponse under reference conditions, which
should be stated explicitly.
RESPONSE, SQUARE-WAVE
(CAMERA
TUBES). The ratio of (1) the peak-to-peak
signal amplitude given by a test pattern con
sisting of alternate black and white bars of
equal widths to ( 2 ) the difference in signal
between large-area blacks and large-area
whites having the same illuminations as the
black and white bars in the test pattern.
Horizontal square-wave response is meas
ured if the bars run perpendicular to the direc
tion of horizontal scan. Vertical square-wave

response is measured if the bars run parallel

to the direction of horizontal scan.
RESPONSE, TRANSMITTING CURRENT.
Of an electroacoustic transducer used for
sound emission, the ratio of the sound pres
sure apparent at a distance of 1 meter in a
specified direction from the effective acoustic
center (see acoustic center, effective) of the
transducer to the current flowing at the elec
tric input terminals. The transmitting cur
rent response is usually expressed in decibels
above a reference current response of 1 m icro
bar per ampere. The sound pressure apparent
at a distance of 1 meter is determined by
multiplying the sound pressure observed at a
remote point where the sound field is spher
ically divergent by the ratio of the distance
of that point, in meters, from the effective
acoustic center of the transducer, to the refer
ence distance of 1 meter.
RESPONSE,
TRANSMITTING
POWER
(PROJECTOR POWER RESPONSE).
Of
an electroacoustic transducer used for sound
emission, the ratio of the mean-square sound
pressure (see sound pressure, mean-square)
apparent at a distance of 1 meter in a speci
fied direction from the effective acoustic cen
ter (see acoustic center, effective) of the
transducer to the electric power input. The
transmitting power response is usually ex
pressed in decibels above a reference response
of 1 microbar squared per watt of electric
power input.
RESPONSE, TRANSMITTING VOLTAGE.
Of an electroacoustic transducer used for
sound emission, the ratio of the sound pressure
apparent at a distance of 1 meter in a speci
fied direction from the effective acoustic center
(see acoustic center, effective) of the trans
ducer to the signal voltage applied at the
electric input terminals.
The transmitting
voltage response is usually impressed in
decibels above a reference voltage response
of 1 microbar per volt.
RESPONSIVENESS, ACOUSTIC.
ciprocal of the acoustic resistance.
sistance (3).)

The re
(See re

RESPONSOR. The receiving component of

an interrogator-responsor,

REST DENSITY OF A FLUID. The local

density of a fluid in a Lorentz frame in which
the fluid is locally at rest.
REST FRAME. Lorentz frame in which the
total momentum of a system vanishes.
RESTITUTION, COEFFICIENT OF (COL
LISION COEFFICIENT). In a tw o-body
collision involving particles 1 and 2 , moving
in the same straight line, the coefficient of
restitution is defined by

v2 - Vi
Ui u2

e = ----------- *

where Ui > u are the velocities with respect

to a primary inertial system before collision
and v 2 > Vi are the corresponding velocities
after collision. For a com pletely elastic col
lision e = 1 . For an inelastic collision e > 1.
(See impact.)
REST MASS. The mass m 0 of a particle in
the system in which it appears to be at rest.
It is the mass in the classical, or Newtonian
sense; that is, it does not include the addi
tional mass which, according to the relativistic
mass equation, is acquired by a particle or
body when set in motion. I f the particle is
annihilated, an amount m 0c 2 of energy is re
leased.
RESTORER, D-C. A circuit which regulates
the average brightness of the television picture
tube (cathode-ray tube) to correspond with
the average brightness of the scene being
transmitted.
RESTRICTED
INTERNAL
ROTATION.
Restriction of the free rotation of the m ole
cules or parts of molecules in some substances,
e.g., solid methane, at certain temperatures,
leading to anomalies in the specific heat. The
origin of the restricting potentials is uncer
tain. Also referred to as hindered rotation.
(See steric hindrance; rotation, free and hin
dered.)
RESTSTRAHLEN.

See residual radiation.

RESULTANT. An entity or quantity ob

tained by means of (or as the result of) a
given process. Thus, the resultant of a sys
tem of forces is the single force that has the
same effect.
RETARDED FIELDS. Electromagnetic field
strengths E, B at a point r at time t derived

from the retarded potentials, i.e., generated

by charges and currents that were at r R at
time

|R|

t -
c

(all R).

RETARDED POTENTIALS. The electro

magnetic potentials at a point r at time t due
to sources at the points r R at times

c
i.e., on the past light cone through the event
r, t.
R E TA R D IN G -F IE L D (POSITIVE - GRID)
OSCILLATOR. See oscillator, retarding-field
(positive-grid) oscillator.
RETENTIVITY (pr8). The property o f a ma
terial which is measured by the residual flux
density corresponding to the saturation induc
tion for the material.
RETGERS, L A W OF. The physical proper
ties of isomorphous mixtures (mixed crystals)
are continuous functions of the percentage
composition. (See isomorphism (2),)
RETICLE. A network of fine lines, wires, or
the like placed in the focus of the objective
of a telescope or other optical instrument.
RETICULAR DENSITY.
The number of
points per unit area in a network, as in that
of a plane in a crystal lattice.
RETICULATED.
work.

Having the form of a net

RETINA. The complicated back surface of

the eye, in which light is changed to nerve
impulses.
RETMA. Abbreviation for R adio-E lectronics-Television M anufacturers Association.
RETMA COLOR CODE. The system of
identifying the magnitude, tolerance, and
voltage ratings of small electronic com po
nents, such as capacitors and resistors, by the
use of different-colored dots or bands.
RETRACE, HORIZONTAL. In cathode-ray
equipment with linear, horizontal time-base,
the rapid right-to-left motion of the electron
beam at the end of each sweep.

RETRACE LINE.

See line, retrace.

RETROACTION.

See feedback.

RETRODIRECTIVE MIRROR. A beam of

light lying in a plane normal to the two sides
of a right-angled dihedral angle with reflect
ing sides will be reflected parallel to its orig
inal path (antiparallel) no matter what its
original direction. A beam of light entering
a trihedral angle with mutually-perpendicular
reflecting sides, will be reflected back parallel
to its original path (antiparallel) no matter
what its original direction. Such a mirror is
called retrodirective.
This idea m ay be used to check the right
angle of a right-angled prism having a pol
ished hypotenuse, with very high accuracy
and without any standard right-angle for
comparison, since only if the angle is exactly
90 will the reflected beam be exactly parallel
with the initial beam.
RETURN, BACKGROUND.
RETURN, GROUND.
RETURN INTERVAL.

See clutter.

See clutter, ground.

See interval, return.

RETURN RATIO, FEEDBACK.

as loop gain.

REVERBERATION TIME.
beration.

See time, rever

REVERSAL TEMPERATURE. When light

from a source giving a continuous spectrum,
such as a black body, carbon arc or incandes
cent lamp, is passed through a luminous gas
and analyzed by a spectrograph, the spectral
lines of the gas will appear as bright or dark
lines, depending on whether the black-body
temperature of the source is below or above a
certain critical temperature, called the re
versal temperature, at which the lines disap
pear against the continuous background.
This temperature is characteristic for a given
spectral line, unless there is statistical equi
librium for all the different excited states in
the gas.
REVERSE CURRENT TRANSFER RATIO,
SHORT-CIRCUIT.
See transistor param
eter^) <Xr.

The same
REVERSED FEEDBACK AMPLIFIER.
amplifier, negative-feedback.

RETURN, SEA. Clutter resulting from irreg

ularities of the sea surface.
RETURN SIGNAL, LOOP.
loop return signal.

REVERBERATION CHAMBER. An enclo

sure in which all of the surfaces have been
made as sound-reflective as possible. R ever
beration chambers are used for certain acous
tic measurements.

See feedback

RETURN TRACE. The lines on the cathoderay tube screen formed as the cathode-ray
beam moves back to its starting position for
line or field. These traces may be removed by
blanking.
RETURN TRANSFER FUNCTION.
feedback return transfer function.

See

REVERBERATION.
The persistence of
sound at a given point, after direct reception
from the source has stopped. This m ay be
due (a) (as in the case of rooms) to repeated
reflections from a small number of boundaries
or to the free decay of the normal modes of
vibration that were excited by the sound
source; (b) (as in the case of underwater
sound in the ocean) to scattering from a large
number of inhomogeneities in the medium or
reflection from bounding surfaces.

See

REVERSE
TRANSFER
ADM ITTANCE,
SHORT-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter y n etc.
REVERSE
TRANSFER
IMPEDANCE,
OPEN-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter zn etc.
REVERSE
TRANSFER
IMPEDANCE,
SHORT-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter zr8, etc.
REVERSE VOLTAGE TRANSFER RATIO,
OPEN-CIRCUIT, TRANSISTOR. See tran
sistor parameter(s) hR; hr\ |ir; \lr .
REVERSIBILITY,
MICROSCOPIC.
microscopic reversibility, principle of.

See

REVERSIBILITY, PRINCIPLE OF. If all

parts of a beam of light are reflected directly
back on themselves, no matter how many
reflections or refractions it has undergone,
the light will travel back over the identical
path (or paths) it followed before reversal.

REVERSIBLE PATH. Path along which a

system moves such that at any point the di
rection can be reversed by an infinitesimal
change in the thermodynamical coordinates of
the system. (See thermodynamics.)
REVERSIBLE PROCESSES. Some physical
processes are of such a nature that if they are
made to take place backward, that is, to go
through the same stages in reverse order, the
corresponding transfers of energy at each
stage are reversed in direction but not in
amount. Such processes are briefly character
ized as reversible. Thus a gas m ay have
its density P and pressure p increased without
any change in temperature (an isothermal
com pression). This is shown by the curve A B
in Fig. 1 . It necessitates the removal of heat
exactly as fast as it is generated by the work
of compression. The process m ay, in theory
at least, be duplicated in reverse, so that B A
coincides with A B , by allowing the gas to
expand and restoring the withdrawn heat en
ergy just as fast as needed to keep the tem
perature constant. Each change of a Carnot
cycle is likewise reversible.
On the other hand, consider the magnetiza
tion of iron, represented by the B -H (induction-intensity) curve M N in Fig. 2 . If, after
increasing the magnetization of iron until its
condition reaches the stage N , the intensity of
the magnetizing field is reduced, no amount of
care will avail to make the curve retrace it
self. The iron persists in retaining some of
the energy that was imparted to it, and re
turns along N M ' to a condition, represented
by M ', of higher magnetic induction than at
first. Magnetizing iron is therefore an ir
reversible process. (See also hysteresis.)
REWRITE. In a storage device whose in
formation storing state m ay be destroyed by
reading, the process of restoring the device to
its state prior to reading.
REYNOLDS AND MOORBY M ETHO D
FOR M ECHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF
HEAT. The dissipating device in this method
is a Froude hydraulic brake through which
water passes in continuous flow. W ater en
ters the brake at 0 C and leaves it at close
to 100C. From the amount of water pass
ing per unit time and its rise in temperature,
the amount of heat generated is determined.

REYNOLDS CRITERION. In geometricallysimilar flow systems in which the boundary

conditions may be fully expressed in terms
of a scale length and a scale velocity, the
condition that a laminar flow shall be stable
or unstable to small disturbances is that the
Reynolds number of flow should lie within a
certain range. M any flows are stable for all
Reynolds numbers below a critical value. In
a classical series of experiments, Osborne
Reynolds found the critical Reynolds number
for pipe flow to be nearly 2 0 0 0 .
REYNOLDS NUMBER. The Reynolds num
ber of a flow is defined as the product of a
scale velocity and a scale length divided by
the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Reynolds
numbers are only comparable when they refer
to geometrically-similar flows, e.g., flow past
spheres of various radii in different fluids at
different speeds, and then, provided all the
boundary conditions can be described by the
scale velocity and scale length, flows of the
same Reynolds number are dynamically sim
ilar.
For fluid flow in a pipe, the Reynolds num
ber is given by the expression FDp/p,, where
V is the mean velocity of the fluid, p, its
density, /x, its viscosity, and D the diameter of
the pipe.
R-F. The frequently-used abbreviation for
radio frequency.
RFC. An abbreviation for radio-frequency
choke.
RHE. The absolute unit by which fluidity is
measured or expressed. It is the reciprocal
centipoise, which is in turn, one-hundredth of
the poise, the c.g.s. unit of viscosity. One
poise is equal to one dyne second per square
centimeter.
RHENIUM. M etallic element.
Atom ic number 75.

Symbol Re.

RHEOLOGY. The study of the flow of ma

terials, particularly plastic flow of solids and
the flow of non-Newtonian liquids.
RHEOPEXY. A property exhibited by
tain sols containing rod-like or plate-like
ticles (such as bentonite and other clay
pensions), which consists in accelerated
ting to the gel form brought about by

cer
par
sus
set
any

mechanical means that will

orientation of the particles.

the

course lines anywhere within the coverage area

of the system.

RHEOSTAT. A variable resistor used for

operation or control of electrical equipment.
Rheostats might be classified as metallic, car
bon, and electrolytic types. The most com
mon form is the metallic type, in which the
resistor is in the form of a metal wire or rib
bon, or cast grid, these being made of a metal
having low conductivity, and little deteriora
tion from heating. The variable resistance of
metallic rheostats is obtained by bringing out
taps from different points of the resistance
wire to the points of a multi-pointed switch
which can be used to short-circuit different
sections of the resistor. Laboratory rheostats
are frequently coils of resistance wire wound
closely on an insulating cylinder or on a form
of approximately toroidal shape and provided
with a sliding contact finger which will bear
on the wires themselves, and which can be
employed to short-circuit any desired number
of turns of the resistance wire.

RHUMBETRON. Another name for cavity

resonator. (See resonator, cavity.)

RHEOTRON.

facilitate

A betatron.

RHM.
A proposed unit of *y-ray source
strength which is of such a magnitude that
a one rhm source will produce one roentgen
per hour at a distance of one meter.
RHO. (1) Density (mass per unit volume)
(p). (2) Linear mass density (p). (3) V ol
ume electric charge density (p). (4) The rhe,
unit of fluidity (p). (5) Radius of curvature
(p).
(6) Reflectance (p).
(7) Reflectivity
(/).
( 8 ) Resistivity, or specific resistance
(p). (9) V apor density (p). (10) Absolute
humidity (p).
RHODIUM . M etallic element.
A tom ic number 45.
RHOMB, FRESNEL.
RHOMBIC.
tice.

Sym bol Rh.

See Fresnel rhomb.

See crystal systems; space lat

RHOMBOHEDRAL (RHOM BOIDAL).

crystal systems; space lattice.

See

RHOMBOHEDRON. A prism with six sides,

all of which are parallelograms.
RHO TH ETA (NAVIGATION SYSTEM). A
polar coordinate navigation system providing
data with sufficient accuracy to permit the use
of a computer which will provide arbitrary

RHUMB LINE. A line on the surface of the

earth, or in general on any sphere, which
makes equal angles with all meridians.
RICCATI EQUATION. A first-order differ
ential equation of the form :
y' = A q{x ) + A i(x )y + A 2(x)y2.
It is the most general form of the first-order
differential equation y ' =
where f(x ,y )
is rational in y and with a general solution
containing no singularities except poles.
E very second-order linear differential equa
tion may be transformed into a Riccati equa
tion.
RICHARDSON-DUSHMAN
EQUATION.
The basic question of thermionic emission,
derived on the basis of thermodynamics and
statistical mechanics. The current density re
sulting from the emitted electrons has a mag
nitude
j = A T 2e~*lkT,
where A is a constant, <f>is the thermionic work
function of the emitter, k is the Boltzmann
constant, and T is the absolute temperature.
The theoretical value of A is 1 2 0 am peres/cm 2;
but departures from this value occur, because
of reflection of electrons at the surface and
other causes.
RICHARDSON EQUATION.
son-Dushman equation.

See Richard-

RICHARDSON NUMBER.
A non-dimen
sional number, R iy representing the ratio of
the energy available from shearing motion to
the potential energy of a stratified fluid. Thus
Ri = gP/(dU/dz)2,
where j8 is the static stability, U the horizontal
velocity, and z is measured vertically.
In turbulent motion the energy extracted
from the mean flow b y the Reynolds stresses
is K m (dU/dz)2 and the gain in potential en
ergy is K Hg$, where K m is the coefficient of
eddy transfer of m o m e n tu m , the eddy stress
then being K m ^XJ/dz, and K H is the coeffi
cient of eddy transfer of heat, or buoyancy.
If K m (dU/dz)2 K HgP > 0; the excess of

energy made available is assumed to take the

form of turbulent motion and so the turbu
lence will grow. Richardson s criterion of
just no turbulence is therefore that
Ri < K

/Kh.

The criterion has been widely misapplied

to the case of turbulent motion as a means of
differentiating growing from dying turbulence.
The ratio K m / is not known, and probably
depends on the Richardson number. A more
useful number for some considerations is the
Flux Richardson Number

where p', w', w' are the fluctuations of density,

horizontal and vertical velocity. Alternatively
R/ m ay be defined as / , where these
coefficients are defined as if the momentum
and buoyancy transferred b y the eddies were
being conducted (with coefficients K h and
K m ) in a medium in steady flow.
In baroclinic flow in the atmosphere the
Richardson number

f e dz

where
are the Christoffel three-index
symbols. The vanishing of this tensor is a
necessary condition for the space to which it
applies (and in particular space-time) to be
flat.
RIEMANN-CHRISTOFFEL TENSOR, CON
TRACTED. See contracted Riemann-Chris*
toffel tensor.
RIEMANNIAN SPACE. Space in which the
magnitude ds of the distance between two
points with coordinates x
+ d x is defined
as a homogeneous quadratic function of
thus:
ds2 = 2 gyiVdxtldx
where g^v is the m etric of the space.
RIEMANN INTEGRAL.
nite (Riemann).

See integral, defi

RIEMANN - PAPPERITZ EQUATION.

A
second-order linear differential equation of
Fuchsian type (see Fuchs theorem) with three
regular singular points in the finite plane at
x = a, 6 , c. It may be symbolized by the R ie
mann P-function

Ri =

in which the shear is represented b y the ther

mal wind, provides a criterion for the stability
of geostrophic airstreams.
RICHARDSON PLOT.
B y plotting the
logarithm of the thermionic current per
squared K elvin degree, i.e., log I/ T 2, against
the reciprocal of the absolute temperature, a
straight line is obtained whose slope is a meas
ure of the activation energy involved (see
Richardson-Dushman equation). A similar
plot is useful in any process involving thermal
activation with a Boltzmann factor.
RID.
Abbreviation for R adio Intelligence
D ivision (of the Federal Communications
C om m ission).
RIEMANN-CHRISTOFFEL TENSOR.
twenty independent quantities

y = P

The

Afiv 1 a<r
_i____ - ---------
dxv
dx*

La"

b"

where a', a ", b\ 6 " , c', c " are the exponents

at the singularities, y is the dependent vari
able and x , the independent variable. A spe
cial case of this equation is that known as
the Gauss hyper geometric equation*
The Riemann problem in the theory of
linear differential equations consisted of the
search for a function to satisfy a given Pfunction. It is shown that the transformation
of variable
(x -

a\k ( x -

c\l

= \x -

b ) \x -

b)

will shift the exponents of the differential equa

tion to a' + fc, a " + fc, b' k Z, 6 " fc J,
c' + I, c " + i, without affecting the singular
points. On the other hand, the general linear
transformation
x = (Az + B)/(Cz + D );

cfi

(A D -

BC) * 0

will shift the singular points to three new po

sitions, say alf bi, Ci, as determined by the

transformation but the exponents will not be

altered. Combination of these two transfor
mations will thus result in a standard form of
the linear differential equation of Fuchsian
type. The standard form is usually taken as
the Gauss hypergeometric equation. The so
lution of any given linear differential equation
o f second order with three or fewer singular
points will therefore be a special case of solu
tions to the Gauss equation, for the given d if
ferential equation can always be converted
into the latter by suitable transformation of
variables as described.
RIEMANN P-FUNCTION.
Papperitz equation.

See

Riemann-

RIEMANN SURFACE. A surface used in

representing multivalued functions of the com
plex variable. One sheet is assigned to each
branch of the function, each sheet is cut at
the branch line, and all are joined together so
that a closed contour may be traced by passing
continuously along the sheets of the surface.
RIEMANN ZETA FUNCTION. An infinite
series in the complex variable z x + iy,
with n an integer:
00

across a magnetic field thus experiences an

electric field which exerts force on the free
charges in the conductor, inducing an emf.
The rule for the sense o f a vector product
leads to a mnemonic device using the thumb
( T ), the forefinger (F ) , and the center finger
(C ) spread to form convenient rectangular
axes. B y letting T represent thrust, or m o
tion; F , the flux; and C, the current; a persons
right-hand yields the correct sense for the in
duced current. Conversely, pointing C with
the current and F with the flux, using the left
hand, gives the resulting thrust in the direc
tion T. This converse case is the left-hand
rule fo r m otor action. (See also handedness,
right and left.)
RIGID BODY. An aggregate of material
particles in which the interaction forces of the
particles are such that the distance between
any two particles remains constant with time.
RIGID BODY, GENERAL EQUATION OF
M OTION. The motion of a rigid body can
be described by the translational motion of
the center of mass and the rotational motion
about the center of mass. The equation for
translational motion has the general form :

f(z ) = X ) n ~*
n=l
The function is meromorphic, with a simple
pole at z = 1 .
RIGHI EXPERIMENT. Because of the non
coherence of light from different sources, it
is difficult to produce beats with light such
as are produced between sounds from two
sources which emit with slightly different fre
quencies. B y use of a rotating Nicol prism, a
Fresnel mirror, a quarter wave plate and a
fixed N icol prism, Righi produced an effect
similar to beats. H owever, other explanations
are possible for his results.
RIGHT H AN DED .
and left.

See handedness, right

RIGHT-HANDED (CLOCKWISE) POLAR

IZED W AVE.
See wave, right-handed
(clockwise) polarized; handedness, right and
left.
RIGHT-HAND RULE (FOR GENERATOR
ACTION). An observer having the velocity
v in a magnetic field B sees an electric field
given by E = v X B. A conductor moving

F is the vector sum of all the forces acting

on the rigid body, M is the total mass, and r
is the position vector of the center of mass.
The equation for rotational motion has the
general form
d ll

L
dt

L is the resultant torque and H the vector

angular momentum about the center of mass
as an origin.
RIGID BODY, GENERAL EQUATION OF
ROTATIONAL M OTION.
For rotation
about a particular origin, the general equation
of motion is
d ll

= L

dt

where H ^(o^xlxx
j(

f k(

^y^xy

^z^xz)

^xlyx |" Uylyy

& xlzx

(ylzy

OiZIy^)
zz)

where H is the resultant angular momentum

about the origin, L is the resultant torque
about the origin; the J-terms are moments and
products of inertia. (See inertia, moments and
products of.)
RIGID BODY, KINETIC ENERGY OF.
(1) The total kinetic energy of a rigid body
undergoing general translation and rotation
can be written as the sum of kinetic energy of
translation of the center of mass and the
kinetic energy relative to center of mass
n

T = %Mv2 + 1 2 niiVi2
1=1
where M = %mi is the total mass, v 2 is the
square of velocity of center of mass, m* is the
mass of ith element, Vi is the velocity of ith
element with respect to center o f mass.
( 2 ) R igid body constrained at a fixed point.
A t any instant there will exist an instanta
neous axis of rotation passing through the
fixed point. The kinetic energy of rotation
with respect to the fixed point can be written
T = fco-H
where co is the instantaneous angular velocity
vector ; H is the instantaneous angular mo
mentum vector.
Expanded, with moments of inertia referred
to principal axes, the kinetic energy becomes
T

2 (Jx x ^ x

"b

ly y ^ y

"1 "

Iz z ^ z )

where I xat, I yy, I zz are moments of inertia (see

principal axes; inertia, moments and products
of.)
(3) R igid body constrained to rotate about
a fixed axis. W hen the rigid body rotates
about a fixed axis, the kinetic energy is writ
ten
T = |7co2

fixed axis, L is the resultant torque about the

fixed axis. (See rigid body, general equation
of motion.)
RIGID BODY, MOTION ABOUT A POINT.
The fundamental equation of motion for ro
tational motion of a rigid body about a fixed
point is:

where is the time derivative of total vector

dt
angular m om entum about the point, L is the
resultant torque about the point.
If the moments of inertia are referred to the
principal axes, with origin at fixed point and
axes fixed in the body, this equation becomes
L = i [ I x x ^ x f"
1

j l

Izz

J yy^y

t"

Iyy)>yO)z]
(IXX

(Iyy

Izz)^z^x\

I x x ) (dxWy]'

(This is also known as the Euler equation of

motion for a rigid body.)
(See also rigid
body, general equation of motion.)
RIGIDITY, MODULUS OF.
The elastic
modulus corresponding to a shear stress on a
pair of orthogonal planes.
(See also Voigt
notation.)
RING. ( 1 ) A toroidal core. ( 2 ) The ringshaped contact between the sleeve and tip on
a phone plug.
RING AROUND.
(1) In secondary radar
(see radar, secondary) the undesired trigger
ing of a transponder by its own transmitter.
( 2 ) In secondary radar, the triggering of a
transponder at all bearings causing a ring
presentation on a PPI.

d
- C M = L,
dt

RINGDOW N. The type of signaling em

ployed in manual operation, as differentiated
from dial signaling. Ringdown signaling uti
lized a continuous or pulsing a-c signal trans
mitted over the line. The term ringdown orig
inated in magneto telephone operation, where
cranking the magneto of a subscriber set
would ring its bell and cause a signal to fall
down at the central switchboard. This type
of telephone service is still in general military
use.

where I is the moment of inertia about the

fixed axis, o> is the angular velocity about the

RINGING. An oscillatory transient occurring

in the output of a system, as a result of a

where I is the moment of inertia about fixed

axis, to is the angular velocity about fixed axis.
RIGID BODY, MOTION ABOUT A FIXED
AXIS. W hen the motion is restricted to a
fixed axis, the general equation of motion of
a rigid body reduces t o :

sudden change
transient.)
RING SCALER.
ring.

in

facsimile,

supplemented b y the Radio-E lectronics-Television M a n u fa ctu red Association.

See scaler, ring; counter,

R-METER. A ny ionization metering instru

ment calibrated to read in roentgens.

input.

(See

RING, SHADING (RELAY). A shorted turn

surrounding a portion of the pole of an alter
nating-current magnet, causing a delay of the
change of the magnetic flux in that part, there
by preventing contact chatter.
RIOMETER. A device for the continuous
measurement of ionospheric absorption in
which the noise power of extraterrestrial waves
are compared with the noise power of a local
source.
RIPPLE(S). (1) Surface waves on a liquid
whose wavelength is so short that the motion
is effectively controlled by surface tension
forces. This requires that the wavelength
should be less than

RMI.

See indicator, radio magnetic.

RMS.

Abbreviation for root-mean-square.

ROBIN LA W . When a system is in a condi

tion of either chemical or physical equilib
rium, an increase of pressure favors the sys
tem formed with a decrease in volum e; a re
duction in pressure favors the system formed
with an increase in volum e; and a change of
pressure has no effect upon a system formed
without a change in volume. (Cf. Le Chatelier Principle.)
ROCHON PRISM.

ROCKY POINT EFFECT.

RODRIGUES
polynomial.

where y is surface tension, and p, liquid density.

For water, Ac = 1.7 cm.
(2) The a-c component from a d-c power
supply, arising from sources within the power
supply. Unless otherwise specified, per cent
ripple is the ratio of the root-mean-square
value of the ripple voltage to the absolute
value of the total voltage, expressed in per
cent.
RIPPLE, PER CENT. The ratio of the ef
fective (root-mean-square) value of the rip
ple voltage to the average value of the total
voltage, expressed in per cent.
RISE TIM E.

See time constant.

RISLEY PRISM.

See prism, Risley.

RITCHIE W E D G E . A photometer in which

the standard source and the test source of
light illuminate two white, diffusing surfaces,
90 apart and intersecting in a movable
w edge; so arranged that they are viewed from
a direction perpendicular to the line joining
the sources.
RITZ COMBINATION
combination principle.

PRINCIPLE.

See

RMA. Abbreviation for the R adio M anu

facturers Association, which has now been

See prism, Rochon.

See flash arc.

FORMULA.

See

Legendre

RODS. A part of the retina of the eye pri

marily responsive to light but not to color.
Absence of or reduced number of rods is con
nected with inability to see well with low level
of illumination. (See cones; night blindness.)
RODS, CONTROL.
clear reactor is

The k constant of a nu

k = N -N l,
where N is the average number of neutrons
produced per fission and N L the average num
ber of neutrons per fission which are lost in
events other than fission, such as escape from
the reactor, capture, etc. In order to increase
or decrease the power level at which the re
actor is operating, it is necessary to increase
or decrease k from the value of unity, which
gives a steady level of operation. This is done
by changing N l through the use of control
rods that have a large neutron capture crosssection. As a control rod is inserted farther
into the reactor, N L increases and k decreases,
and vice-versa . The most commonly used m a
terial for control rods is boron steel or cad
mium coated stainless steel, since both boron
and cadmium have very large capture crosssections for thermal neutrons.
ROENTGEN. A unit of exposure dose. A
quantity of x- or gamma-radiation such that

the associated secondary ionizing particles

produce, in air, ions carrying one electrostatic
unit of charge of either sign per 0.001293 gram
o f air. (See dose, absorbed.) For practical
purposes, 3 Mev is arbitrarily regarded as the
useful upper limit of the energy range over
which the roentgen should be used. (ICRU,
1956.)
(See also dose, exposure; dose, ab
sorbed.)
ROENTGEN EQUIVALENT,
rep; dose, RBE.

MAN.

ROENTGEN EQUIVALENT,
See rep; dose.

PHYSICAL.

ROENTGEN RAYS.

See

See x-rays.

ROLLE THEOREM. Let f { x ) be a function

which vanishes at x = a and at x = 6 , and
which has a finite derivative f ( x ) at all points
in the interval (a, 6 ). Then f { x ) vanishes at
some point x 0 between a and b.
ROLLING RESISTANCE (OR FRICTION).
In the rolling of a wheel on a plane surface
there is some distortion of the two surfaces in
contact due to the normal force between the
surfaces. Such distortion smears out the ideal
line contact and effectively introduces a force
with a component in opposition to the motion.
This component of force is called the rolling
resistance or friction F r and is proportional to
the normal force N. A coefficient of rolling
resistance or friction Ur can be defined by
ur = F r/N , where F r can be determined ex
perimentally by observing the deceleration on
a horizontal surface.
ROLL OUT (VERB). T o read out of a stor
age device by simultaneously increasing by
one the value of the digit in each column and
repeating this r times (where r is the radix)
and, at the instant the representation changes
from (r 1 ) to zero: (a) generating a par
ticular signal, or (b) terminating a sequence
of signals, or (c) originating a sequence of
signals.
RMER
M ETHO D
(VELOCITY
OF
L IG H T ). Rm er, in 1676, first demonstrated
the finite speed of light by observing the ap
parent changes in the periods of the moons of
Jupiter as the distance between the earth and
Jupiter changed during a year.
RONCHI TEST. An improved method over
the Foucault knife-edge test for testing curved

mirrors is to replace the knife-edge with a

transmission grating, having 40-200 lines to
the inch, and to replace the pinhole source with
a slit or a section of the same grating.
ROOM, D EAD. A room which is character
ized by an unusually large amount of sound
absorption*
ROOM, LIVE. A room which is character
ized by an unusually small amount of sound
absorption.
ROOT. ( 1 ) If a is a real number, n an integer,
then x is the nth root if the product of x taken
n times equals a. The number of nth roots is
n but not all of them need be real. They are
given for any number, real or complex, by the
DeMoivre theorem.
(See also radical and
equation, polynomial.)
( 2 ) See algebra,
fundamental theorem of.
ROOTER. A device which takes the nth
root of the instantaneous amplitude of a video
signal. Its function is to linearize the overall
transfer characteristic, and thus improve the
picture quality in a television system.
ROOT-MEAN-SQUARE QUANTITY.
The
square root of the time average of the square
of the quantity, e.g., velocity of a particle. If
the quantity takes on only n discrete values
Xj, the root-mean-square value is
Xrm , =

{(1

AO 2 X/ l H3= 1

If on the other hand, the quantity is a func

tion, say of time tf defined by x(t),
%T
%rms

= {(1 /7 0 f

x 2(t)dt}H.

In the latter case, the integral is extended over

the time for which the rms value is desired or,
if the function is periodic, over any integral
number of periods.
ROOT-SUM-SQUARE. The square root of
the sum of the squares. Com monly used to
express the total harmonic distortion.
ROSA AND DORSEY M ETHOD (VELO C
ITY OF L IG H T ). The ratio between elec
trical quantities expressed in electrostatic units
and in absolute electromagnetic units is al
ways some simple power of the speed of light.
The capacitance o f an electrical condenser may
be measured experimentally in abfarads, and

computed from the geometrical dimensions and

configuration in statfarads.
One abfarad
equals (velocity of light ) 2 statfarads. B y
making these measurements, R osa and D orsey
of the National Bureau of Standards obtained
a value for the speed of light in quite good
agreement with the more direct measurements.
(See also Maxwell equations.)
ROSENBERG C R O SS-F IE L D GENERA
TOR. One form of electrodynamic amplifier.
(See amplifier, electrodynamic.)
ROT (ROTATION).

See curl.

ROTAMETER. An instrument which meas

ures the flow of gases and liquids by the posi
tion of a float in a slightly-conical, vertical
tube inserted in the flow system. B y arrang
ing that the flow rotates the float, sticking of
the float to the walls of the tube can be
avoided.
ROTARY DISPERSION.
rotation.

See dispersion of

ROTARY
rotary.

waveguide

JOINT.

ROTARY RELAY.
driven.

See

joint,

A term for relay, motor-

ROTATION. ( 1 ) M otion of a rigid body in

which one or two points of the rigid body are
kept fixed. ( 2 ) See curl.
ROTATIONAL CONSTANT.
rotation-vibration.

See spectrum,

ROTATIONAL ENERGY OF DIATOM IC

MOLECULES. In the R eport on N otation
for Spectra of D iatom ic M olecules, Mullikan,
Phys. R ev. 36, 623 (1930), the rotational en
ergy E r is defined as the difference between
the energy o f the actual molecule and that of
an idealized molecule obtained by the follow
ing imaginary process: the rotation of the
nuclei is gradually stopped without placing
any new constraint on the vibration of the
nuclei or on the electron motions, in such a
way as might be realized by gradually (i.e.,
adiabatically) coupling an infinite moment of
inertia to the axis of rotation of the mole
cule.
(See adiabatic approximation; rota
tional constant; spectrum, rotation-vibration.)
ROTATIONAL IM PEDANCE.
ance, mechanical rotational.

See imped

ROTATIONAL REACTANCE.
ance, mechanical rotational.

See react

ROTATIONAL RESISTANCE.
ance, mechanical rotational.

See resist

ROTARY STEPPING RELAY.

stepping.

See relay,

ROTATIONAL SPECTRUM.
rotation-vibration.

ROTARY STEPPING SW ITCH

See relay, stepping.

(RELAY).

ROTATIONAL SUM RULE. In symmetric

top molecules if the line strengths of the three
transitions with the same J " are added for a
given electronic transition, apart from a con
stant factor, the value 27" + 1 (or 2 /' + 1
for transitions with the same J ') is obtained;
that is, a (rotational) sum rule holds: the
sums of all the line strengths from or to a
given rotational level are proportional to the
statistical weight o f that level.
(See spec
trum, rotation-vibration.)

ROTATE (LIGHT). T o turn the plane of

polarized light either to the right or left.
ROTATING COORDINATE SYSTEM.
coordinate system, rotating.

See

ROTATING CRYSTAL M ETHO D . A tech

nique for the x-ray analysis of crystal struc
ture, in which a beam of x-rays impinges on
a crystal which is rotated about one of its
crystallographic axes, at right angles to the
beam. As various planes come successively
into position, the reflected beams are received
as spots on a photographic plate.
ROTATING CYLINDER M ETHO D FOR
VISCOSITY. See viscosity, measurement of.
ROTATING JOINT.
rotary.

See waveguide joint,

See spectrum,

ROTATIONAL TRANSFORM. In the con

trolled thermonuclear program this term refers
to a particular type of magnetic field config
uration. A magnetic field is said to have a
rotational transform if any magnetic line of
force, after tracing one circuit around the
system, does not close on itself but is rotationally displaced. The axial magnetic field of
the stellarator is of this type. (See magnetic
surface.)

ROTATIONAL W AVE.
ROTATION, ATOM IC.
atomic or molecular.

See wave, shear.

See rotary power,

ROTATION AXIS.
A symmetry element
possessed by certain crystals, whereby the
crystal can be brought into a physically
equivalent position by rotation about an axis
which can be one-fold, tw o-fold, three-fold,
four-fold or six-fold, according to whether the
crystal can be brought into self-coincidence
by the operations of rotation through 360,
180, 120, 90, or 60 about the rotation axis.
ROTATION, DYNAMICS OF. A body is
said to rotate when all of its particles move in
circles about a common axis with a common
angular velocity. This motion may be either
free or constrained, as illustrated, respec
tively, by the earth turning on its axis, and
by a flywheel or a pendulum.
Through any point of a rigid body there are
at least three lines, mutually perpendicular,
about which the body would rotate freely and
stably without reactions at bearings. It may
be shown that the moment of inertia of the
body with respect to any one of these lines is
either a maximum or a minimum as regards
all lines through the given point. They are
called principal axes. In general there is only
one line about which a free body will rotate
perm anently; it is the principal axis of greatest
moment of inertia through the center of mass.
A body constrained to rotate about an arbi
trary axis will, when released, tend to change
its motion so as to rotate about this permanent
axis, but the adjustment is complicated by
precession, so that the body may wobble like
a badly thrown discus.
The most general case of rotation is that of
a rigid body about a single fixed point, as in
a top or gyroscope. If a free body, at rest,
is given a sudden push along some line not
through the center of mass, it begins to rotate
about some other line beyond the center of
mass and perpendicular to the applied force.
This line is the axis of instantaneous rotation.
It is only a temporary axis, subsequent motion
being such that the center of mass moves with
constant velocity and the body rotates about
the center of mass. The line mutually perpen
dicular to the instantaneous axis and to the
line of the force passes through the center of
mass, and its intersections with the other two
lines are conjugate points, having the same re

lation as the center of oscillation and the

center of suspension of a rigid pendulum. If
the push is given in line with the center of
mass, the axis of instantaneous rotation is at
infinity, and the motion is then one of pure
translation.
A torque applied so as to tend to change
the axis about which a body is rotating results
in the peculiar behavior known as precession.
The angular momentum of a body that is
rotating about one of its principal axes is the
product of its angular velocity by its moment
of inertia about the axis of rotation. The
kinetic energy associated with such rotational
motion is equal, in absolute units, to % the
product of the moment of inertia by the square
of the angular velocity a formula analogous
to that for kinetic energy of linear motion.
(See also inertia, moments and products of,
and entries immediately following rigid body.)
ROTATION, FREE AND HINDERED.
M ethyl and other side chain groups, joined by
single bonds to the rest of a molecule, might
be expected to be able to rotate freely about
the bond axis. However, due to the presence
of other groups in the neighborhood there may
be potential barriers to rotation.
(See also
steric hindrance.)
ROTATION, HINDERED.
tation.

See dipole orien

ROTATION-INVERSIONAXIS. Asymmetry
element possessed by certain crystals by which
the crystal is brought into self-coincidence by
a combined rotation about the axis and inver
sion.
ROTATION, MOLAR.
atomic or molecular.

See rotary power,

ROTATION, MOLECULAR. In the solid

state, certain compounds show anomalies of
specific heat, crystal symmetry and dielectric
constant around a definite temperature. This
has been interpreted as showing the onset of
rotation of the molecules or complex ions in
the lattice, as if they were more or less freely
pivoted at their proper lattice sites. The exact
conditions for this effect to occur before the
crystal melts are complicated, but the phe
nomenon is fairly common, especially in di
atomic molecules of the type of H 2, H C 1, etc.
(See rotary power, atomic or molecular.)

ROTATION OF AXES. See transformation,

orthogonal; coordinate system, rotating.
ROTATION OF PLANE OF POLARIZA
TION OF LIGHT IN M AGNETIC FIELD.
See Faraday effect.
ROTATION OF THE VIBRATION PLANE.
Certain substances, i.e., crystalline quartz
along the optic axis, certain liquids (turpen
tine) and solutions (sugar or tartaric acid),
and certain isotropic substances when placed
in a strong magnetic field or subjected to stress
have the ability to rotate the plane of polari
zation of polarized light passing through them.
(See Robertson, Introduction to Optics, 4th
Ed., D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)
ROTATION PHOTOGRAPH. A photograph
of the diffraction pattern obtained by rota
tion of a single crystal in the beam of im
pinging x-rays.
(See also rotating crystal
method.)
ROTATION-REFLECTION AXIS. A sym
metry element possessed by certain crystals,
whereby the crystal is brought into self-co
incidence by combined rotation and reflection
in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rota
tion. Rotation-reflection axes may be one
fold, tw o-fold, three-fold, four-fold, or six
fold, according to whether the rotation which,
with the reflection, brings the crystal into self
coincidence, is through an angle of 360, 180,
1 2 0 , 90 or 60.
(See optical activity.)
ROTATION, SPECIFIC. The angular rota
tion of the plane of polarization as it passes
through an optically-active material, divided
by the length of the path and the density of
the material. Sugar solutions are ordinarily
measured for 10 cm path-length. The 10 cm
specific rotation of sugar (sucrose) solution
is 66.67.
ROTATION
TRANSFORMATION.
transformation, rotation.

See

ROTATOR. In waveguides, a means of ro

tating the plane of polarization. This may be
done very simply in the case of a rectangular
guide by twisting the guide itself.
ROTATOR, QUANTUM M ECHANICAL.
See spectrum, rotation-vibration.
ROTATOR,
SYMMETRIC
OR
ASYM
METRIC. Sometimes called symmetric or
asymmetric top. Terms used to describe a

molecule when considering it as a rigid body

with three principal moments of inertia (see
inertia, moments and products of) ii, h , and
I 3 and treating its rotational energy states
quantum mechanically. When two of the prin
cipal moments are equal, it is said to be a sym
metric rotator or symmetric top. When all
three of its moments are different, it is said to
be an asymmetric rotator or asymmetric top.
N o complete or general solution for the quan
tum mechanically allowed energy levels of the
asymmetric rotator has been given. For the
symmetrical rotator they are:
J (J + 1 )h2
E jK ' - i h

hk2 ( 1

+ ^ \ T r r j

if 1 1 < 1 2 h and J is the total angular m o

mentum q u a n t u m n u m b e r with K being
that for the a n g u l a r m o m e n t u m projection
on the symmetry axis. (See s p e c t r u m , r o
t a tio n v ib r a tio n .)

ROTATORY. Optically active. Capable of

rotating the plane of polarized light, distin
guished as dextro-rotatory and levo-rotatory.
ROTATORY POWER, ATOMIC OR M O
LECULAR.
The product of the specific
rotation by the atomic or molecular weight.
The form of this relationship is:
[M] = M ol,
in which [M] is the atomic or molecular r o t a
t o r y p o w e r , M is the atomic or molecular
weight, and a is the specific r o t a t i o n . The
direct form of this relationship is
[M] = Md/lp
in which [M ] is the atomic or molecular rotary
power, M is the atomic or molecular weight,
6 is the angle of rotation for a column of liquid
of effective length I, and p is the concentration
of the optically active substance. (See rota
tion, specific.)
ROTATORY POWER, OPTICAL. The abil
ity of a substance to rotate the plane of p o
larization of polarized light.
ROTATROL. A form of electrodynamic am
plifier (see amplifier, electrodynamic) often
used in feedback control systems, which gen
erally consists of two cascaded, simple separately-excited generators driven at constant
speed. The first generator-stage commonly

has two equal field-coils connected in opposi

tion, one of which is excited by a reference
current, the other by a current proportional to
the output of the controlled device.
ROTON.
A unit of excitation energy in
liquids; analogous to the phonon, but corre
sponding to rotational motion rather than to
linear motion. (See Landau theory of liquid
helium.)
ROTOR. The rotating portion of a dynamo
or of any other machine, such as a centrifuge.
(See also generator, electrical.)
ROUND-OFF (VERB). In computer termi
nology, to delete less significant digits from
a number, and possibly apply some rule of
correction to the part retained.
ROUTINE. A set of instructions arranged in
proper sequence to cause a computer to per
form a desired operation, such as the solution
o f a mathematical problem.
ROUTINE CHECK.
check programmed.

See

check,

routine;

ROUTINE, DIAGNOSTIC. A routine de

signed to locate either a malfunction in the
computer or a mistake in coding. (See also
check, programmed.)
ROUTINE, MASTER.

See subroutine.

ROUTINE, TEST. (1) Usually a synonym

for check, routine. ( 2 ) Sometimes used as a
general term to include both check, routine
and diagnostic routine.
(See routine, diag
nostic.)
R OW LAND CIRCLE. The slit, grating and
primary astigmatic focus of a concave diffrac
tion grating all lie on a circle known as the
Rowland circle. (See reflection grating, Row
land arrangement.)
R OW LAND
ghosts.

GHOSTS.

Discussed

R OW LAND M OUNTING.
See
grating, Rowland arrangement.

under

reflection

R O W LINES. Lines formed by the diffrac

tion spots on a rotation photograph of a crys
tal as obtained by rotation of a crystal in a
beam of x-rays, and photographing the d if
fraction pattern.
RPM.
ute.

Abbreviation for revolutions per min

R-R-V. Abbreviation for the rate of rise of

the voltage pulse applied to a magnetron or
klystron. (See time, rise, pulse.)
RSS.

Abbreviation for root-sum-square.

RT BOX. See switch, anti-TR.

the term R T box is deprecated.

The use of

RUBIDIUM. M etallic element.

Atom ic number 37.

Sym bol Rb.

RULING-ENGINE. A mechanism operated

by a long micrometer screw for ruling the
equally spaced line on optical gratings. The
first good ruling-engine was made by H. A.
Rowland (1882).
RUMBLE.

See turntable rumble.

RUNAWAY ELECTRONS. A term referring

to a class of electrons in an ionized gas under
the influence of an externally applied electric
field. As the energy of an electron increases,
the probability of its being inelastically scat
tered decreases. Thus under the influence of
an electric field the faster electrons gain en
ergy at a higher rate than the slow electrons
and eventually run away.
RUNDOW N. The linear fall of plate volt
age in a M iller sweep generator.
RUNGE-KUTTA M ETHOD.
A numerical
method for solving a differential equation.
Let the given equation be y' = f (x ,y ) with
initial values {x0,yo)- Four quantities are cal
culated:
h = f(xo,y0)h,
k2 = f ( x 0 + A /2 , 2/o + fci/2)A,
&3 = K xo + A/2, j/o + &2/2)A,

h = f(%o + A, 2/0 + h)h.

Then
xi -

2/i

x0

+ A,

= 2/o + Ay,

Ay = l / 6 (&i + 2k2 + 2&3 + ki).

The method m ay be generalized for simul
taneous first-order differential equations.
RUPTURE, MODULUS OF. A measure of
the ultimate strength or the breaking load per
unit area of a specimen as determined from
a torsion, or more com monly from a bending
test. The modulus is calculated from the

breaking load assuming that the specimen re

mains elastic until rupture occurs, although
this may not be the case. Its value will be
intermediate between the ultimate tensile and
compressive strengths.
RUSSELL EFFECT.
This effect is also
known as the Vogel-Colson-Russell effect as
it was independently observed in different
forms by all three. It is the general term ap
plied to the formation of latent developable
images on photographic films and papers by
agents other than radiant energy and specifi
cally by resins, metals, printing inks, volatile
liquids, gaseous fumes, etc. In many cases
the effect appears to be due to the release of
hydrogen peroxide which is capable of ren
dering the silver halides developable without
exposure to light.
RUSSELL-SAUNDERS COUPLING.
See
coupling, Russell-Saunders; angular momen
tum, coupling and recoupling of.
RUTHENIUM. M etallic element.
Ru. A tom ic number 44.

Symbol

RUTHERFORD. ( 1 ) A unit of radioactivity,

symbol rd, equal to 1 0 6 disintegrations per
sec. ( 2 ) A quantity of a nuclide having an
activity of 1 rutherford.
RUTHERFORD NUCLEAR
atom, Rutherford nuclear.

ATOM.

RUTHERFORD SCATTERING.
ing, Rutherford.

See

See scatter

RYDBERG. A unit of energy equal to 13.5 ev.

RYDBERG CONSTANT. A quantity which
enters into the frequency or wave number
formulae for all atomic spectra.
(See spec
trum, atomic.) It has nearly the same value
for all elements, and has only to be multiplied
by a factor dependent in a regular way upon
the ordinal number of the line to give the wave
number of each line in a given hydrogen-like
spectral series. Bohr derived the following
expression for the constant in the case of any
atom, the mass of whose nucleus is M :

is clear that R cannot vary much from element

to element.
Its smallest value (for hydro
gen) is about 109,677.591 reciprocal cm, and
it can never exceed R^ = (109,737.309 =b 0.001)
cm - 1 . If R is multiplied by c, the result is the
Rydberg fundamental frequency (called by some
writers the R ydberg constant); and if this be
used in place of R, the spectral series formulae
give frequencies instead of wave numbers. (See
also atom, Bohr-Sommerfeld.)
RYDBERG CORRECTION. In the motion
of an electron about a core which is not a
point charge, the orbits (in the Bohr theory)
were considered not to be simple ellipses, but
ellipses whose orbits rotate uniformly (rosette
m otion). In this case, the energy is not in
dependent of the azimuthal quantum number
I, and is given by the formula:
R 'Z 2
End = ;---- ; rj*
(n

a )2

where E nj is the energy, R ' = hcR, where h

is the Planck constant, c the speed of light,
and R is the Rydberg constant. Z is the
charge on the core (the atomic number less
the core electrons), n is the principal quantum
number, and a is the R ydberg correction,
which depends on the azimuthal quantum
number, and approaches zero with increasing
I.
Basically, this effect is due to the incomplete
screening of the nucleus by the inner electron
shells. Thus, the outer electrons cannot be
treated com pletely as if they were moving in
the field of the nuclear charge minus that of
the inner electrons. The effect depends some
what upon the orbital angular momentum of
the electrons in the outer shells.
RYDBERG SERIES FORMULA. An em
pirical formula, discovered by Rydberg, which
gives a good expression for the frequency v
of the various lines in certain spectral series*
It is:
R

2ir2me4
^

cA 3 ( 1

m /M

in which m is the mass and e the charge of the

electron, c is the electromagnetic constant
(speed of light),, and h is the Planck con
stant. Since m/M is in any case very small, it

where v is the frequency o f the series limit, R

is the Rydberg constant, and ^ is an empirical
constant. This formula has since been derived
from the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantum theory
and from quantum mechanics. (See Balmer
series; series in line spectra.)

s
S. (1) Second (s). ( 2 ) Scattering coefficient
(turbidity) (s). (3) Solubility (s or S ). (4)
Specific surface (s).
(5) Area (S ).
(6 )
Acoustic condensation (s).
(7) Exponential
compressibility (s).
( 8 ) Cross section (s).
(9) Elastance, or reciprocal capacitance (S).
(10) Action (S ).
(11) Displacement (s),
linear displacement (s). (12) Total entropy
(S ), entropy per atom or molecule (s or sm),
entropy per unit mass (s), entropy per mole
(s, S or SM)- (13) Length of path or arc (s).
(14) Slip in electrical machinery (s).
(15)
Stopping power (S ) , mass stopping power
(Sm), linear stopping power (SO, atomic stop
ping power (S0).
(16) Optical object dis
tance {$). (17) Optical image distance (s').
(18) Sensitivity of phototube (dynamic, s)
(static, S). (19) Sulfur (S ). ( 2 0 ) In spectros
copy, shaded or displaced to shorter waves
(s).
(21) Spin quantum number of electric
spin of an electron quantized in units of ft
(s), resultant spin quantum number or result
ant spin-angular momentum of two or more
electrons quantized in units of ft (S ). ( 2 2 )
T ype of electron with azimuthal quantum
number of 0 (s). (23) Spectral term symbol
for L-value of 0 (S ).
SABATIER EFFECT. This effect, studied
by Sabatier, is a reversal phenomenon ob
served with photographic materials under cer
tain conditions as when the developed image
is exposed to diffuse light and redeveloped.
Reversal of the image, under these conditions,
is usually due to the first negative image act
ing as a stencil during the second exposure,
the positive image being formed by the ex
posure of the undeveloped silver halide through
the negative image.
Reversal of the image, however, may also
be produced by the substitution of certain
chemicals, such as sodium arsenite, for the
exposure to diffuse light. Exposure to x-rays
under these conditions does not result in re
versal.
SABIN. A measure of the sound absorption
o f a surface. It is the equivalent of 1 square
fo ot of a perfectly absorptive surface.

SABINE LAW .
An experimental formula
for the reverberation time in a room. It has
the same form as the Franklin equation.
SACCHARIMETER.
A polarimeter cali
brated to read directly the concentration of a
sugar solution.
SACKUR-TETRODE EQUATION. An equa
tion giving the translational entropy of an
ideal gas composed of free fermions. With
certain simplifying approximations, it be
comes:

(2tt mk T )lA

r
S tr = R

In -

h3N

51
..V + - U
2J

in which Str is the translational entropy of one

mole of gas, R is the gas constant, m is the
molecular mass, k is the Boltzmann constant,
T is the absolute temperature, h is the Planck
constant, N is the Avogadro constant, and V
is the molecular volume.
SADDLE.

See col.

SADDLE POINT. A point (xo,yo) on a sur

face f(x ,y ) where f ( x ,y 0) is a maximum at
x = x 0 and f ( x 0,y) at the same time is a mini
mum at y = y 0. A familiar example is the
hyperbolic paraboloid, which has a saddle
point at the origin if its standard equation is
taken as x 2/a2 y 2/b2 = 2 cz.
A person
walking toward the origin in the X Z-plane
would be ascending a mountain peak while he
would be descending into a valley if he walked
in the FZ-plane. (Also called a minimax or
a col.)
SAGITTA. In elementary studies of the op
tics of curved surfaces, an approximate value

for the sagitta to an arc of a circle is frequently

useful. When x <Ky the exact equation for
the circle shown in the figure is r2 = (r x )2
+ y2, which reduces to x y2/2r, where OA
= r is the radius, B D = 2 y is the chord and
OL = x is the sagitta.
S A G IT T A L F O C U S ,

See a s tig m a tic fo c u s,

SAINT ELM O FIRE. A brush-like discharge

from charged objects in the atmosphere. It
occurs on ship masts, on aircraft propellers,
wings and other projecting parts, and, in gen
eral, on objects projecting from high terrain.
SAKATA-TAKETANI EQUATION.
R elativistic equation for a particle of spin zero
which has an appearance similar to that of
the non-relativistic Schrdinger equation.
SALIENT POINT.
scendental point.

See singular point; tran

SALT BRIDGE. A type of liquid junction

used to connect electrically two electrolytic
solutions. It consists com m only of a U-tube
filled with a strong salt solution, and provided
with porous plugs. It is used for such pur
poses as to connect electrolytic half cells in
making measurements of electrode potential.
SAMARIUM. Rare earth metallic element.
Sym bol Sm. A tom ic number 62.
SAMPLE POINT.

See point, sample.

SAMPLING ACTION. In an automatic con

troller, that action in which the difference
between the independent variable and the con
trolled variable is measured and correction
made only at intermittent intervals.
SAMPLING, INSTANTANEOUS. The proc
ess for obtaining a sequence of instantaneous
values of a wave. These values are called
instantaneous samples.

SANDW ICH PHOTOCELL.

for a photovoltaic cell.

Colloquialism

SAP. A bbreviation for Share Assembly Pro

gram, an automatic programming routine for
an IB M 704 digital computer.
SARGENT CURVES. Graphs obtained by
plotting the logarithms of the radioactive dis
integration constants of /?-emitting radioele
ments, against the corresponding logarithms
of their maximum /^-particle energies. M ost
of the points corresponding to the natural
radioelements were found to fall on two
straight lines.
An interpretation of this result was pro
vided by the Fermi theory of p-decay based
upon the neutrino concept, which yielded the
relationship between the disintegration con
stant and the maximum /2-particle energy,
which in its logarithmic form is
log X = log k + 5 log Emax.
SARGENT CYCLE. A quantity of ideal gas
is taken through the following reversible
processes: (a) From pressure P i and tempera
ture 0 i compressed adiabatically to tempera
ture 02. (b) Heated at constant volume from
temperature 02 to temperature 03. (c) E x
panded adiabatically from temperature 03 to
pressure P i and temperature 04. (d) Cooled
at constant pressure
to temperature 0 i.
The efficiency of such an engine is
1

04 01
7 ---------- *
03
02

where y is the ratio of specific heats (Cp/Cv).

SARONG CATHODE.
oxide-coated cathode.

Trade name for an

SATURABLE REACTOR.
urable.

See reactor, sat

SANAPHANT. A circuit with characteristics

intermediate between the phantastron and the
sanatron.

SATURATED ACTIVITY (NUCLEAR RE

ACTOR). Maximum activity obtainable by
activation in a definite neutron flux. The sat
urated activity is proportional to the magni
tude of the flux. Saturation results when the
rate of formation of the activity is essentially
equal to its rate of decay, and is approached
when the irradiation time is long compared to
the half life of the activity.

SANATRO N. A form of the phantastron in

which the gating waveform is generated in a
second tube.

SATURATING SIGNAL. In radar, a signal

of an amplitude greater than the dynamic
range of the receiving system.

SAMPLING PRINCIPLE. The specification

of the least number of discrete values (sam
ples) of an unknown function necessary for
its complete and unambiguous definition.

SATURATION. The state of being satisfied,

or replete, or the action of bringing about that
state. Some specific uses of this term apply
to a single substance, entity or region, and
others to relations between more than one, as:
( 1 ) Saturation current is the ionization cur
rent which results when the applied potential
is sufficient to collect all ions. It is the maxi
mum current that will pass through a gas
under definite conditions of ionization. It is
a measure of the charge carried by the ions
produced in each second, and hence may be
used as a measure of the radioactivity of a
substance.
(2) The attribute of any color
perception possessing a hue that determines
the degree of its difference from the achro
matic color perception most resembling it.
(a) This is a subjective term corresponding to
the psychophysical term purity, (b) The de
scription of saturation is not com monly under
taken beyond the use of rather vague terms,
such as vivid, strong, and weak. The terms
brilliant, pastel, pale, and deep, which are
sometimes used as descriptive of saturation,
have connotations descriptive also of bright
ness. (3) The condition occurring in an elec
tronic device (tube or transistor) when it is
driven so hard that it bottom s, i.e., the de
vice output current can no longer increase in
response to an increase of input signal. In a
transistor switching application, under satura
tion conditions, the charge stored in the base
region prevents the transistor from turning
off quickly.
(See transistor parameter t8.)
(4) The saturated activity in a nuclear re
actor is the maximum activity obtainable by
activation in a definite flux. (5) A saturated
vapor is a vapor whose temperature corre
sponds to the boiling temperature at the pres
sure existing on it.
Expressing the same
thought another way, a vapor is saturated
when its temperature is a function of its pres
sure alone. A saturated vapor may be wet
or dry, and the term does not imply, necessar
ily, a wet vapor. A vapor of 1 0 0 % quality,
having no superheat, is said to be dry and
saturated.
( 6 ) M agnetic saturation is the
maximum magnetization (or the maximum
permanent magnetization) of which a body
or substance is capable. (7) As applied to a
solution, saturation is the process or condition
o f dissolving in a solvent all of a solute which
the solvent can absorb, under equilibrium con
ditions at a given temperature. ( 8 ) Saturation

is the complete neutralization of an acid or

base. (9) A saturated compound is an organic
compound in which each carbon valency is
combined with a distinct atom, except that
double- or poly-linkages between carbon and
certain other elements (particularly nitrogen)
do not cause unsaturation. (10) The term is
applied to discussions of nuclear forces to
express the fact that the binding energy of a
nucleus increases in approximate proportion
to the number of particles in the nucleus rather
than being proportional to the square of the
number of particles, as would be the case if
the forces were long range in nature and were
strictly tw o-body forces. The short range of
the nuclear forces, their exchange nature, and
the Pauli exclusion principle combine to ac
count, at least in part, for this saturation.
(See saturation of forces.)
SATURATION ANGLE.
angle.

Synonym for gate

SATURATION, BLACK.
black.

See compression,

SATURATION CURRENT, COLLECTOR.

See transistor collector current Ico, etc.
SATURATION FLUX DENSITY. See induc
tion, saturation.
SATURATION INTERVAL.
saturation.

See interval,

SATURATION, MAGNETIC. Magnetic sat

uration is a term used generally to describe
the condition of a magnetic material at high
values of induction with small incremental
permeability. (See permeability, incremental;
induction, saturation.)
SATURATION OF FORCES.
Forces be
tween particles are said to exhibit saturation
if a given particle interacts strongly with only
a limited number of other particles, (a) The
forces responsible for the binding of atoms in
molecules are saturated, one atom forming
chemical bonds with only a limited number of
other atoms (see valence), (b) Nuclei have
almost constant densities and binding energies
per particle, indicating that a given nucleon
does not interact strongly with all the other
nucleons in the nucleus, but only with a limited
member of other nucleons (see also nuclear
forces).

SATURATION OF NUCLEAR FORCE.

forces, saturated.

See

SATURATION SCALE. A series of visual

stimuli perceived by an observer to have equal
differences in saturation.
(See saturation
( 2 ).)
SATURATION, TEMPERATURE. The con
dition which exists in a thermionic electron
tube when the space current (for a given set
of electrode voltages) cannot be increased by
further increase of cathode temperature. The
tube is said to be space-charge limited when
operating in the region of temperature satura
tion.

Examples, the atmosphere, in which the tem

perature may vary from one place to another;
an unstirred solvent containing excess solute,
where the concentration may vary before sat
uration (7) is reached. Such a field is char
acterized by the fact that its numerical value
at a point is the same in all coordinate sys
tems. In relativity theory such coordinate
systems are extended to include those obtained
by a Lorentz transformation. (See also in
variance and related entries.)
SCALAR POTENTIAL.
A
function of position and time:
0

SATURATION, VOLTAGE. The condition

which exists in a thermionic electron tube when
the space current (for a given cathode tem
perature) cannot be increased by further in
crease of electrode voltages (neglecting the
increase due to the Schottky effect). The tube
is said to be temperature limited when operat
ing in the region of voltage saturation.
SATURATION, W H IT E .
white.

See compression,

SATURN. A thermonuclear device o f the

magnetic mirror design which has an equa
torial ring plasma source.
SAUSAGE INSTABILITY.
ity.

See kink instabil

SAVART PLATE. A device consisting of two

calcite plates of equal thickness, cut parallel
to the natural cleavage faces and mounted
with corresponding edges at right angles.
Used to detect the presence of polarized light
by means of interference fringes on a prin
ciple first described by Brewster.
SAYBOLT VISCOSIMETER.
measurement of.

See viscosity,

SBA. Abbreviation for standard beam ap

proach.
S-BAND.

See radar frequency bands.

SCALAR. A quantity which has magnitude

only, as distinguished from a vector, which
has direction also. A true scalar has the same
magnitude in all coordinate systems, but see
pseudoscalar.
SCALAR FIELD. A region of space described
at each point by means of a scalar function.

(r) = -

single

valued

f F (r,i)-d s,

Tq
where r is the position vector, r 0 is a vector
locating an arbitrary reference point, t is the
time, ds is an infinitesimal vector displace
ment, and F (r,t) is any vector field. The re
quirement that <f> be single valued insures that
curl F (r,) = = 0 everywhere, and vice versa;
this condition on the curl is equivalent to the
requirement of single valuedness.
(See in
tegral, line; Stokes theorem.)
If the field is independent of time, F (r ) =
grad cf>( r ) . Tw o special cases of time in
dependent fields are: ( 1 ) the electrostatic
field, in which <f>(r) is the electric potential
at r, relative to r0; and ( 2 ) the force field, in
which <(r) is the potential energy at r, rela
tive to r0. (See work.)
An example of the time dependent case oc
curs in the general electromagnetic field, in
which <t>(r,t) is the electromagnetic scalar po
tential that is used in combination with the
magnetic vector potential to determine the
field.
The magnetic field cannot be described com
pletely in terms of a scalar potential, because
the curl of the magnetic field vector H is not
zero over all space. However, in limited re
gions of space in which one can draw no closed
contour containing or enclosing a current, it
is possible to introduce the scalar magnetic
potential, since curl H is zero in such a region.
SCALAR PRODUCT. I f A and B are two
vectors, o f magnitude A, B, respectively, their
scalar product is
A B = A B cos 0 ,
where 0 is the angle between the two vectors.
This product, which is a scalar quantity, is

also known as the dot or inner product. I f

the vectors are complex, the result of multi
plication is the H ermitian scalar product (see
vector space).
The scalar product of two vectors obeys
the commutative and distributive laws:
A B = B A ; A -(B + C) = (A-B) + (A-C).
If A is perpendicular to B, then A - B = 0; and
consequently, if A - B = 0, then A is perpen
dicular to B. If A is parallel to B, then
A - B = AB. Consequently, A - A = A 2 or the
square of the length of A.
SCALE.
(1) A balance used for weighing;
( 2 ) a series of markings at regular intervals
which are used for measurement or com puta
tion. (3) A defined set of values in terms of
which quantities of the same nature as those
defined may be measured, e.g., temperature
scale.
SCALE D IATONIC.

q u a lly

T em pered I n terv a ls

Name of Interval
Unison
Minor second or semitone
Major second or whole tone
Minor third
Major third
Perfect fourth
Augmented fourth)
Diminished fifth
Perfect fifth
Minor sixth
Major sixth
Minor seventh
Major seventh
Octave

(ds)2 = X ) i*2 ( 4 ) 2.
n

(5) In two systems which are geometrically

similar, the ratio of any dimension of one to
the corresponding dimension of the other.
SCALE, JUST. A musical scale (see scale,
musical) formed by taking three consecutive
triads each having the ratio 4 :5 :6 , or
10:12:15. B y consecutive triads is meant
triads such that the highest note of one is
the lowest note of the other.
S ome J u st I n t e r v a ls

See scale, just.

SCALE, EQUALLY TEMPERED. A series

of notes selected from a division of the octave
(usually) into 12 equal intervals.
E

similar device, defined as the ratio of the cur

rent through, or the voltage across, the termi
nals to the deflection. Identical with figure
of merit (2). (4) In curvilinear coordinate
systems, the factors hn that determine the line
element ds in terms of the differentials of the
coordinates dn. Thus

Frequency
Ratio
1:1
1.059463:1
1.122462:1
1.189207:1
1.259921:1
1.334840:1
1.414214:1
J
1.498307:1
1.587401:1
1.681793:1
1.781797:1
1.887749:1
2:1
1200

Cents
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100

(See also cent (1).)

SCALE FACTOR. (1) In analog computing,
a proportionality factor which relates the
magnitude of a variable to its representation
within a computer. ( 2 ) In digital computing,
the arbitrary factor which may be associated
with numbers in a computer to adjust the
position of the radix so that the significant
digits occupy specified columns. (3) A meas
ure of the sensitivity of a galvanometer or

Name of Interval

Frequency
Ratio

Cents

Unison
Semitone
Minor tone or lesser whole tone
Major tone or greater whole tone
Minor third
Major third
Perfect fourth
Augmented fourth
Diminished fifth
Perfect fifth
Minor sixth
Major sixth
Harmonic minor seventh
Grave minor seventh
Minor seventh
Major seventh
Octave

1:1
16:15
10:9
9:8
6:5
5:4
4:3
45:32
64:45
3:2
8:5
5:3
7:4
16:9
9:5
15:8
2:1

111.731
182.404
203.910
315.641
386.314
498.045
590.224
609.777
701.955
813.687
884.359
968.826
996.091
1017.597
1088.269
1200.000

(See cent (1).)

SCALE, MUSICAL. A series of notes (sym
bols, sensations, or stimuli) arranged from
low to high by a specified scheme of intervals,
suitable for musical purposes.
SCALE OF EIGHT. A ring counter which
can absorb eight counts before recycling.
SCALE-OF-TWO CIRCUIT.
ism for bistable circuit.

A colloquial

SCALE, PYTHAGOREAN. A musical scale

(see scale, musical) such that the frequency
intervals are represented by the ratios of in
tegral powers of the numbers 2 and 3 ,

SCALER (SCALING CIRCUIT). A device

that produces an output pulse whenever a
prescribed number of input pulses have been
received. A binary scaler produces an output
pulse whenever two input pulses have been
received. B y putting binary scalers in se
quence, scales of two, four, eight, sixteen, etc.,
are obtained. A decade scaler produces an
output pulse whenever ten input pulses have
been received. B y putting decade scalers in
sequence scales of ten, hundred, thousand, etc.,
are obtained.
SCALER, RING. A scaling circuit (scaler)
in which the asymmetrical condition is passed
along to the next tube in line, with the last
tube feeding back to the first.
SCALING COUPLE.

A bistable circuit.

SCALING FACTOR. The number of input

pulses per output pulse of a scaling circuit
(scaler).
SCALING RATIO. The ratio of input pulses
to output pulses in a scaler.
SCALLOPING. Changes in the interaction
of the beam and helix in a traveling wave tube
caused by non-uniformities in the focusing
field.
SCAN.

See items under display.

SCANDIUM. M etallic element.

A tom ic number 21.

Sym bol Sc.

SCANNER. In television, a device or means

for scanning.
SCANNER (FACSIMILE). T hat part of the
facsimile transmitter which systematically
translates the densities of the subject copy
into signal-wave form.
SCANNER, FLYING SPOT. A television
camera device used predominately for film
and slide subjects. The subject is illuminated
by a flying-spot light-source of constant
intensity, developed on the face of a cathoderay tube with a short-persistence phosphor.
The spot of light is made to follow the con
ventional raster pattern so that a phototube
receiving transmitted or reflected light from
the subject will have a signal output propor
tional to subject brightness and subject posi
tion as required.

SCANNING.
(1) In television, the process
of analyzing successively, according to a pre
determined method, the light values of pic
ture elements constituting the total picture
area.
( 2 ) A periodic motion given to the
m ajor lobe (see lobe, major) of an antenna.
SCANNING (IN FACSIMILE). The process
of analyzing successively the densities of the
subject copy according to the elements of a
predetermined pattern. The normal scanning
is from left to right and top to bottom of the
subject copy as when reading a page of print.
Reverse direction is from right to left and top
to bottom of the subject copy.
SCANNING AMPLITUDE, CAMERA. The
amplitude of the scanning signals which de
termine the area of the television camera
mosaic interrogated for signal content. In
general practice, as much of the surface is
used as possible. However, some adjustments
and measurements can best be made with re
duced mosaic areas.
SCANNING, CIRCULAR.
Scanning in
which the direction of maximum radiation
generates a plane or a right circular cone
whose vertex angle is close to 180.
SCANNING, CONICAL. Scanning in which
the direction of maximum radiation generates
a cone whose vertex angle is of the order of
the beam width. Such scanning may be either
rotating or nutating, according as the direc
tion of polarization rotates or remains un
changed.
SCANNING DISK.

See disk, scanning.

SCANNING, ELECTRON. The periodic de

flection of an electron beam across the screen
of a cathode-ray tube, following a definite
pattern.
SCANNING, ELECTRONIC LINE. That
method of scanning which provides motion of
the scanning spot along the scanning line by
electronic means.
SCANNING, ELECTRONIC RASTER. That
method of scanning in which motion of the
scanning spot in both dimensions is accom
plished by electronic means.
SCANNING FREQUENCY.
scanning; speed, stroke.

See frequency,

SCANNING FREQUENCY, FUNDAM EN

TAL. See frequency, keying, maximum.
SCANNING FREQUENCY, LINE. See fre
quency, scanning, line ( T V ) ; speed, stroke
(facsim ile).
SCANNING, HIGH-VELOCITY. The scan
ning of a target with electrons of such velocity
that the secondary emission ratio is greater
than unity.
SCANNING, INDIRECT.
Essentially the
same scanning mechanism as flying-spot scan
ning (see scanning, flying-spot) except that it
is accomplished mechanically, as in the older
mechanical television systems.
SCANNING, INTERLACED. In television,
a system whereby the odd-numbered lines and
the even numbered lines of a picture are sent
as two consecutive separate fields and super
imposed to create one frame or complete pic
ture.
SCANNING LINE.

See line, scanning.

SCANNING LINEARITY. The uniformity

of scanning speed during the trace interval.
(See interval, trace.)
SCANNING, LOW -VELOCITY. The scan
ning of a target with electrons of velocity less
than the minimum velocity to give a secondary
emission ratio of unity.
SCANNING, M ECHANICAL. See television.
SCANNING PATTERN. The pattern fol
lowed in the scanning process. In television
this pattern is called a raster, while radar
antennas may follow a circular, conical, or
rectangular scanning pattern.
SCANNING, RECTANGULAR. A tw o-dimensional sector scan (see scanning, sector)
in which a slow sector scan in one direction is
superimposed on a rapid sector scan in a per
pendicular direction.
SCANNING, RECTILINEAR. The process
of scanning an area in a predetermined se
quence of narrow, straight parallel strips.
SCANNING, SECTOR.
Circular scanning
(see scanning, circular) in which but a por
tion of the plane or flat cone is generated.

SCANNING, SIMPLE. Scanning of only one

scanning spot at a time during the scanning
process.
SCANNING, SPIRAL.
Scanning in which
the direction of maximum radiation describes
a portion of a spiral. The rotation is always
in one direction.
SCANNING SPOT. The area with which the
scanned area is being explored at any instant
in the scanning process.
SCANNING SPOT (IN FACSIMILE). The
area on the subject copy viewed instantane
ously by the pickup system of the scanner.
SCANNING,
SPOT,
MULTIPLE.
The
method in which scanning is carried on simul
taneously by two or more scanning spots, each
one analyzing its fraction of the total scanned
area of the subject copy.
SCANNING SPOT X DIMENSION. The ef
fective scanning spot dimension measured in
the direction of the scanning line on the sub
ject copy. The numerical value of this will
depend upon the type of system used.
SCANNING SPOT Y DIMENSION.
The
effective scanning spot dimension measured
perpendicularly to the scanning line on the
subject copy. The numerical value of this
will depend upon the type of system used.
SCANNING YOKE.

See deflection yoke.

SCATTERBAND. In pulse systems, the total

bandwidth occupied by the frequency spread
of numerous interrogations operating on the
same nominal radio frequency. The frequency
spread is due to the fact that each interroga
tion is a pulsed transmission, and to the ad
ditional fact that not all transmitters in the
group are exactly on the nominal frequency.
SCATTERING.
In its general sense, this
term means causing the random distribution
of a group of entities, or bringing about a
less orderly arrangement, either in position
or direction. M ore specifically, the term de
notes the change in direction of particles or
photons owing to collision with other particles
or systems; it may also be regarded as the
diffusion of a beam of sound or light (or
other electromagnetic radiation) due to the
inhomogeneity or the anisotropy o f the trans
mitting medium. For the various kinds of

scattering, and the various entities scattered,

see the entries which follow.
SCATTERING, ACOUSTIC. The irregular
and diffuse reflection or diffraction of sound
in m any directions.
Scattering frequently
occurs when the reflecting surfaces or bodies
are small compared with the wavelength of
sound; in certain cases the reflecting bodies
m ay be small inhomogeneities in the medium.
SCATTERING AM PLITUDE. A quantity
closely related to the intensity of scattering
of a wave by a central force field such as that
o f a nucleus. I f ei1cz describes an incident
plane wave of wave number /c, then the scat
tered wave can be expressed as aeikr/r, at large
distances r from the scattering center, where
a is the scattering amplitude. The equation
(t = 4Tr|a|2 relates the scattering amplitude to
the scattering cross section o*. These consid
erations hold for nuclear scattering at m od
erate energies (roughly below 1 0 m ev), where
the scattering is symmetric in the center of
mass system. For higher energies the scat
tering may not be symmetric, and a must be
generalized by expressing it in terms of
Legendre polynomials in the scattering angle.
SCATTERING ANGLE. The angle between
the initial and final lines of motion of a scat
tered particle. It may be specified as apply
ing either to the laboratory or center-of-mass
system.
SCATTERING COEFFICIENT.
sion of absorption coefficient.

electrons. Because the total energy and total

momentum are conserved in the collisions, the
wavelength of the scattered radiation under
goes a change that depends in amount on the
scattering angle. If the scattering electron
is assumed to be at rest initially, the Com p
ton shift is given by the following equation:
Xr X = X0(l cos0) = (h/mec)( 1 cos0),
where
is the wavelength associated with the
scattered photons, A is the wavelength of the
incident photons, A0 is the (Compton) wave
length of the electron and $ is the angle be
tween the paths of incident and scattered
photons. (See also Compton effect.)
SCATTERING, COULOMB. The scattering
of charged particles by an inverse square at
tractive or repulsive field. I f the theory of
this scattering is treated classically, it is re
ferred to as Rutherford scattering. If it is
treated quantum mechanically for the scatter
ing of one particle b y another, identical par
ticle, it is sometimes referred to as Mott scat
tering.
SCATTERING CURVE, EXPERIMENTAL.
For light of wavelength much less than the
radius of the particles doing the scattering,
the scattered energy is nearly independent of
the wavelength. For wavelengths much longer

See discus

SCATTERING, COHERENT.
Scattering,
either of particles or photons, in which there
are definite phase relations between incoming
and scattered waves. Ordinary scattering (see
scattering, Rayleigh) is of this nature. In
coherent scattering interference occurs be
tween the waves scattered b y two or more
centers. This type of scattering is exempli
fied b y the Bragg scattering of x-rays and
the scattering of neutrons b y crystals, which
gives constructive interference only at cer
tain angles, called Bragg angles. T o find the
intensity of coherently scattered radiation in
a given direction, one must add the vector
amplitudes of the various waves, rather than
the intensities. (Cf. scattering, incoherent.)
SCATTERING, COMPTON.
Elastic scat
tering (see collision, elastic) of photons by

than the radius of the particles, the scattered

energy falls off as the inverse fourth power of
the wavelength (Rayleigh scattering).
(See
scattering, Rayleigh.)
For the case where the radii of the particles
and the wavelengths are nearly the same, the
scattered energy is a maximum. Practical
calculations on transmission in this last case
are very complicated.
SCATTERING, DELBRCK. The scatter
ing of light by a Coulomb field, a process
which according to quantum electrodynamics
occurs as a scattering of the light by the
virtual electron-positron pairs produced by
the Coulomb field.
(See virtual process.)
The total cross-section is approximately 6
millibarns for uranium.

SCATTERING, DOUBLE COMPTON.

double Compton scattering.
SCATTERING,
elastic.

ELASTIC.

See

SCATTERING FORMULA,
Mott scattering formula.

See

collision,

M OTT.

See

SCATTERING, INCOHERENT. Scattering,

either of particles or photons, in which the
scattering elements act independently so that
there are no definite phase relations between
different parts of the scattered beam. The
intensity of the scattered radiation at any
point is determined by adding the intensities
of the scattered radiation reaching the point
from the independent scattering elements.
SCATTERING, INELASTIC.
Scattering
brought about by inelastic collisions.
(See
collision, inelastic.)
SCATTERING LENGTH. A parameter, a,
appearing in the analysis of neutron-proton
scattering at low energies. In the limit of
low energies the scattering cross-section ap
proaches that of an impenetrable sphere of
radius a. The scattering length, a, and the
effective range, r0, serve to characterize the
nature of the neutron-proton potential. See,
for example, B latt and W eisskopf, Theoretical
Nuclear Physics, John W iley & Sons, 1952.
SCATTERING MATRIX.
tering.

See matrix, scat

SCATTERING, MULTIPLE. A ny scatter

ing of a particle or photon in which the final
deviation is the sum of many deviations,
usually small, resulting from many individual
scattering processes.
(See also scattering,
plural.)
SCATTERING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
RADIATION. When light enters a body of
matter, however transparent, part of it is
diffusely reflected or scattered in all direc
tions. This is due to the interposition in the
light stream of particles of varying size, from
m icroscopic specks down to electrons, and the
deflection of light quanta resulting from their
encounters with these small obstacles. Simi
lar effects are produced upon infrared, ultra
violet, x-rays, and other forms of electromag
netic radiation, and upon streams of particles
such as cathode rays or a-rays.

SCATTERING OF ELECTRONS IN SOL

IDS. An electron in the conduction band of
a metal or semiconductor may be scattered
by the thermal vibrations of the lattice, by
impurities and lattice defects, by disloca
tions, by the boundaries of the specimen (as
in thin film s), and by the disordered struc
ture of an alloy or solid solution.
SCATTERING OF NEUTRONS BY PRO
TONS. The analysis of the scattering of neu
trons by protons indicates that the forces be
tween neutrons and protons are identical with
those between protons and protons, except for
a correction for electrostatic repulsion in the
latter case. This supports the concept of
charge independence.
SCATTERING OF PHONONS IN SOLIDS.
The transport of heat in solids is limited by
scattering of the thermal vibrations. The in
teraction with other phonons is mainly effec
tive in Umklapp processes. Lattice defects
appear to act by Rayleigh scattering, the ef
fect being inversely as the fourth power of the
wavelength. The crystal boundaries scat
ter the phonons, in default of other resistance,
the reflection being as if from a rough sur
face, except at very long wavelengths in very
smooth crystals, when specular reflection has
been observed. In glasses, and other amor
phous solids, the scattering may be by local
variations in structure, although this also is
ineffective at very long wavelengths.
In
metals the phonons are strongly scattered by
the free electrons the inverse of the electrical
resistance phenomenon.
SCATTERING OF PROTONS, INELASTIC.
Nuclear scattering of protons in which some
of the proton energy is transferred to the
nucleus, leaving the nucleus in an excited en
ergy state, with the subsequent emission of
y-rays.
SCATTERING OF SOUND, SELECTIVE.
Frequency-dependent sound scattering. (See
scattering, acoustic.)
SCATTERING, PLURAL. A ny scattering of
a particle or photon in which the final dis
placement is the vector sum of a small num
ber of displacements. Plural scattering may
be regarded as intermediate between single
and multiple scattering.
(See scattering,
single and scattering, multiple.)

SCATTERING, POTENTIAL.
(1) In nu
clear theory, the part of nuclear scattering
that has its origin in reflection from the nu
clear surface, thus leaving the interior of the
nucleus undisturbed.
The term usually is
used in contradistinction to resonance scatter
ing, which is the scattering arising from the
part of the incident wave that penetrates the
surface and interacts with the interior of the
nucleus. In general, the scattered wave may
have components arising from both kinds of
scattering processes.
(See also scattering,
resonant.)
( 2 ) Scattering of an incident
wave by reflection at a change or discontinuity
in the potential field.
SCATTERING PROBABILITY. W hen elec
trons (or atoms) collide with atoms, the re
sulting scattered current per unit incident cur
rent, per unit path length, per unit pressure at
0C , per unit solid angle in the direction 6 is
the probability of scattering. (See cross sec
tion, differential; cross section, total; and re
lated entries.)
SCATTERING, RAMAN.

See Raman effect.

SCATTERING, RAYLEIGH. F or very fine

dust (or for other fine particles, or even the
molecules of the a ir ), Rayleigh concluded that
the intensity of the light of wavelength A,
scattered in any direction making an angle 6
with the incident direction, is directly pro
portional to 1 + cos 2 0 and inversely propor
tional to A4. The latter point is noteworthy
in that it shows how much greater is the scat
tering of the short wavelengths. These rela
tions apply when the scattering particles are
much smaller than the wavelength of the ra
diation. Thus the sky is blue, and tobacco
smoke appears blue, because blue light is scat
tered more than red. The unscattered light is
of course complementary to blue, that is,
orange or yellow which explains the warm
hues of the sunset. Scattered light is also dis
tinctly plane-polarized. (See polarized light.)
SCATTERING, RESONANT. The scattering
of a photon through a process which involves
its absorption by a quantum mechanical sys
tem (usually an atom or a nucleus) causing
this system to undergo a transition from one
of its stationary states to one of higher energy
with its subsequent remission by the exact in
verse transition. For such a process to take
place, it is necessary that the photon have an

energy which is very close to the energy differ

ence, E 0) between the energy levels involved
in the scattering plus the recoil energy E r
taken up by the absorption system. The
cross section for such a scattering process is
= (ffa + 1) X2 ___________ T*__________
* (2?i + 1) 8tt {{E - E r - E 0) + J r 2]
where r is the level width of the state which
is excited in the scattering, A is the wavelength
o f the photon,
is the spin quantum number
of the initial state, and ; 2 is the spin quantum
number of the state which is temporarily ex
cited during the scattering process. When the
scattering system is an atomic nucleus, such
a process is frequently called nuclear resonant
fluorescence, the preferred term. T o describe
this process as scattering is justified only when
the lifetime of the excited state is very short.
This term is widely used when the scattering
system is a nucleus, since the lifetime of the
excited state is usually less than 1 0 ~ 9 seconds.
SCATTERING, RUTHERFORD. The scat
tering of heavy charged particles by the Cou
lomb field of the nucleus of an atom. In
Rutherfords original work, high speed -p a r
ticles from radon were focused in a narrow
beam to strike a thin gold foil. M ost of them
pass through, but some are scattered.
In plasma physics, Rutherford scattering is
variously described by the terms Coulomb
collisions, long range encounters, or distant
encounters.
SCATTERING, SINGLE. The deflection of
a particle from its original path owing to one
encounter with a single scattering center in
the material traversed. This is to be distin
guished from plural scattering and multiple
scattering, which involve successive encoun
ters with scattering centers.
SCATTERING, THOMSON. The scattering
of electromagnetic radiation by free charged
particles, computed either classically or ac
cording to non-relativistic quantum theory.
Scattering by electrons is interpreted classi
cally as a process in which some of the energy
of the primary radiation is reduced because
electrons radiate when accelerated in the
transverse electric field of the radiation. The
scattering cross section is given by

which is 0.657 barn for an electron and is

called the Thomson cross section, or the clas
sical scattering cross section.
SC AVEN G IN G . The use of an unspecific
precipitate to remove from solution by ad
sorption or coprecipitation a large fraction of
one or more undesirable radionuclides. V o
luminous gelatinous precipitates are usually
used as scavengers, e.g., F e (O H )3.
SCHLAFLI FORMULA. An integral repre
sentation of the Legendre polynomial

_
P n^

~ 2

^ r)

J 2n(t -

z) n+1

dt,

where the contour encircles the point z in the

counterclockwise direction in the complex
plane.
SCHLIEREN. A term descriptive of a num
ber of related methods for the study of optical
inhomogeneities in transparent materials, i.e.,
of regions of the material which do not differ
from the surrounding regions in density, but
rather in index of refraction. In the most
com monly used arrangement, light from a
(point) source is focused by a lens. The
material to be investigated is placed between

change than does the light through other por

tions, however, the wave fronts of this por
tion of the light will not converge to the point
at which the image of the source is cut by the
knife edge. Hence the diffraction pattern of
this part of the light will be affected less
asymmetrically than is the pattern of the rest
of the light and so will produce contrast in the
image. The Foucault knife edge test, when
applied to a lens, m ay be considered to be a
schlieren method in which the lens and the
inhomogeneous material are a single entity,
and the action of a phase contrast microscopic
is closely related.
M any variants on the scheme outlined may
be used. For example, a collimator may be
placed between the source and the lens, or the
inhomogeneous material m ay be placed be
tween the lens and the image of the source,
with an auxiliary lens used to form the second
image.
One application of the schlieren method is
illustrated in the figure. In order to show the
density pattern in the air flow about an ob
stacle in a shock wave tube, this arrange
ment of lenses is used to carry a beam of light
across the tube. The pattern on the screen
will show not only the obstacle, but also the
pattern of turbulent flow, shock waves, and
similar density variations in its neighborhood.
SCHMIDT CORRECTION PLATE. A cor
rector plate placed in front of the reflecting
spherical mirror of a telescope so as to elim
inate spherical aberration and coma. T ele
scopes so made have unusually wide fields of
view.

Idealized Schlieren apparatus for observing shock

wave in supcrsonic tunnel.

SCHMIDT-HILBERT M ETHOD. A method

of solving integral equations with symmetric
kernels. The result is an infinite series in
volving eigenfunctions and eigenvalues.

the source and the lens, in such a position that

a real image of it can be formed, further from
the lens than the image of the source. T o the
approximation of geometrical optics there
would be no contrast in the image of the ma
terial, even if inhomogeneities are present in
the latter. If, however, a knife-like obstruc
tion is placed at the image of the source, in
such a manner that its edge passes through
the point image, all of the diffraction pattern
on one side of the central maximum is ob
scured. I f light passing through any portion
of the material suffers a different phase

SCHMIDT LINES; SCHMIDT LIMITS.

Tw o lines in the plot of nuclear magnetic
moment versus nuclear spin that show the
relationship to be expected according to the
simple form of the independent particle
model. For nuclides of odd atomic numbers
Z, the magnetic moment of the odd proton
can add or subtract from the magnetic m o
ment arising from its orbital m otion; addition
determines the upper Schmidt line, and sub
traction the lower Schmidt line. The two
lines are approximately parallel, and show
an increase in magnetic moment with increas

ing spin. F or nuclides with an odd neutron,

the lack of charge precludes any contribution
to the magnetic moment from orbital motion.
The Schmidt lines therefore are roughly paral
lel to the nuclear spin axis, and are spaced
apart a distance corresponding to twice the
neutrons magnetic moment. Experimentally,
it is found that points describing actual nu
clides do not lie on the Schmidt lines, but are
scattered in the region between them.
SCHMIDT OBJECTIVE. An objective for
reflecting telescopes, designed to correct the
aberration of the spherical mirror without in
troducing the coma (blurring) to which even
a parabolic reflector is subject for wide fields.
The results are obtained in somewhat the same
way that spectacles correct for defects in
vision.
The Schmidt objective as originally de
signed consists of a concave spherical mirror,
functioning in the same way as the objective
of any reflecting telescope, but with a plate of
glass interposed in front of it perpendicular
to its axis at its center of curvature. This
glass plate is not plane, but has one surface
figured in such a way that, as the rays pass
through it on their way to the mirror, it so
modifies their course as to effect almost per
fect correction for the spherical aberration
and coma which the mirror would otherwise
produce. In a later design, the objective con
sists of two coaxial cylinders of glass, in con
tact along a plane perpendicular to the axis.
The rear surface of the rear piece is spheri
cally convex and is silvered on the outside,
thus presenting a concave spherical mirror to
the interior of the glass cylinder. The front
surface of the front piece, passing through the
center of curvature of the mirror, is the cor
rection surface, serving the same purpose as
the glass plate in the older design. The rea
son for using two pieces is that the final real
image is of course produced between the mir
ror and the correction surface; and it is here
that the plane of separation is located, so that
the small photographic film used may be in
troduced.
SCHMIDT PROCESS. A method for con
verting a given set of vectors ui, 112 , * *, u*
into an orthonormal set Vi, V2 , * *, vn. I f the
length of Vi is k and e* = Vi/k is a unit vector,
the calculation m ay be performed with the
recursion formula:

v+1 = u i+i 2

(ekui+i)ek,

k=i
where e k is the transpose of e^. The proce
dure m ay also be used for functions. If, for
example, the original functions are 1 , x, x 2}
, defined over the range x = 1 , the or
thonormal set obtained from them b y the
Schmidt process is a set of Legendre poly
nomials.
SCHONFLIES CRYSTAL SYMBOLS. A no
tation for the description of the symmetry
classes of crystals. (See symmetry classes.)
SCHOTTKY DEFECT. A lattice vacancy
created by removing an ion from its site and
placing it on the surface of the crystal. For
electric neutrality, the number o f cation
Schottky defects must equal the number of
anion Schottky defects. The number, n, of
Schottky defects is given by

where there are N lattice points, and W is the

energy required to remove an ion from a lattice
point, and then add it to the surface. Cs is
a numerical factor of the order of 1 0 3- 1 0 4.
SCHOTTKY EFFECT. The reduction of the
work function of a thermionic emitter by the
application of an accelerating field at the
emitters surface, which permits currents
larger than that which would be predicted
by the Richardson-Dushman equation. The
saturation current predicted by the Schottky
effect is

where I tn is the zero field thermionic current,

T is cathode temperature in degrees Kelvin,
e is the electronic charge, k is the Boltzmann
constant, E is the electric field strength at
the cathode in volts per meter, and e is the
base of natural logarithms.
(See Schottky
theory.)
SCHOTTKY LINE. The plot of the logarithm
of the saturation current from a thermionic
cathode versus the square root of the electric
field strength at the cathode. According to
the theory of the Schottky effect, this plot
should be straight line, of slope (t2kTY^}
where c is the electronic charge, k is the

B o ltz m a n n co n sta n t, and T is the absolute

te m p e ra tu re .
S C H O T T K Y T H E O R Y . A theory of the rec
tification properties of the contact between a
metal and a s e m ic o n d u c to r, which depends on
the formation of a b a r r ie r la y e r at the surface
of contact. (See S c h o ttk y e ffe c t.)
S C H R D IN G E R
E Q U A T IO N .
In 1926,
Schrdinger developed a general wave equa
tion for the phase waves, postulated by
de Broglie in 1923. Letting the w a v e v e c t o r ,
k , for the phase waves associated with a free
particle be, according to de Broglie, k = p / ,
where p is the v e c t o r momentum of the par
ticle and ft the D i r a c , one can construct the
w a v e function:

*(r,t) = - i p
f *(k )ei(k'r- Ml/ 2ml* A
( 2 tt) /2
o

* ,

for a free particle and show that this implies

as a possible wave equation:
h2

------- V V

2m

drfr

= in

dt

I f it is assumed that the wave equation for a

particle m oving under the influence of a poten
tial field F ( r ) will be of the form :

ft2 9
-------- v V +
2m

#
= in .
dt

it can be shown that the requirement that the

Newtonian equations of motion follow in the
classical limit means that g = F (r).
(See
D avid Bohm, Quantum Theory, Prentice-Hall,
1954, p. 194 et seq.) The resulting equation:

n2
-

v V ( r ,0 + V ( tM
2m

d(r,t)
= -T T dt

is the Schrdinger wave equation. It was

shown by Born that the proper interpretation
for t was to consider \l/*\f/dt as the p r o b a b ilit y
that a measurement of the position of the par
ticle would show it to be in the volume ele
ment dr where \f/* is the c o m p le x c o n ju g a t e
of \p. He also showed that the function

should be given the interpretation that

<t>*(p)(t>(p)dpxdpydpz is the probability that a
measurement of the m o m e n t u m of the par

ticle would show it to have x, y, and z com

ponents of momentum falling within the inter
vals dpx, dpy, and dpz. From this it is clear
that the average value p of the momentum
of the particle will be
P =

JJJ 4>*(p)p4>(p)dpxdpyd-pz.

A F o u r i e r t r a n s f o r m of this equation
shows that it is equivalent to

p =J > M

n- V^(r,o] dr,

where V is the g r a d ie n t operator and the

integral is over all space. This leads to the
association of the operator (h/i)V with the
momentum p and to the following method for
finding the average value of any d y n a m ic a l
v a r ia b le associated with the particle. This
variable is first expressed in terms of the
momentum and position vectors of the par
ticle and then the operator associated with
the variable is obtained by replacing the m o
mentum vector by (:H/i)V. If this operator
is represented as a, then the average value of
the variable is = J^axf/dr.

It follows im

mediately that the operator H = (h2/2m)V2

+ F (r), corresponding to the Hamiltonian of
the system, can be used to express the Schr
dinger wave equation as H\f/ = ih(d\f//dt). It
is also clear that operators constructed in this
way must give real average values and are
therefore Hermitian operators (see o p e r a t o r s ,
q u a n t u m m e c h a n ic a l) . It is sometimes of
interest to consider systems which are charac
terized by having a definite value E of the
energy.
This means that H t = E\p. The
wave functions, i.e., the energy eigenfunctions,
or energy eigenstates of such states can be found
by finding the e ig e n f u n c t io n s Ue of the
equation H U e EU e - It is clear that U can
be multiplied by any function f(t) and still
satisfy this equation. Substitution of Uf(t)
into the Schrdinger wave equation gives
f(t) =
Thus the energy eigenstates
are
M r ,t ) = UE(r)e ~ iEtl\
For a particle existing in such a state, the
probability that a measurement of its position
will give a value falling in the volume element
dr is ypE*'tJ/Edr = UE*(r)UE(r)dT. Since this
probability is independent of the time, such

states are sometimes referred to as stationary

states. In all work with wave mechanics, it is
necessary to use wave functions ^ which are
normalized, i.e., j *

= 1 , since the only

physical interpretation is in terms of proba

bility, and for such an interpretation normal
ization is necessary. This means that the only
solutions to the Schrdinger wave equation
which have physical meaning are those for
dr, and

f\p*xn\l/dr

are finite, since the average values of all

dynamical variables associated with the sys
tem must exist. When these conditions are
satisfied there are systems for which the energy
eigenvalue equation has acceptable solutions
only for specific values of E over all or part of
its range. In this case, the system is said to
have quantized energies and these descrete
energies in which the system can exist are
referred to as the energy levels of the system.
(See also q u a n t u m m e c h a n ic s , n o n -r e l a t iv is tic ; q u a n t u m m e c h a n ic s , r e la tiv is tic ;
S c h r d in g e r r e p r e s e n t a t io n ; s im p le h a r
m o n ic
o s c illa t o r ;
sp e c tr u m ,
r o t a t io n v ib r a tio n .)

SCHRDINGER-GORDON
See Klein-Gordon equation.

EQUATION.

SCHRDINGER REPRESENTATION. See

representation theory, quantum mechanical.
SC H U LZE -H A R D Y R U L E . A generalization
derived from certain work on colloidal sys
tems, to the effect that ions of sign opposite
to that of a given colloidal particle are most
effective in coagulating it, and that their co
agulating power increases with increasing
ionic charge. There are however many ex
ceptions to the rule.
SCH U M AN N PLATES. The gelatin of con
ventional photographic plate emulsion is not
transparent to the far ultraviolet. For use
with ultraviolet radiation shorter than about
2200 A, Schumann developed a method for
holding the silver halide to the glass by the
use of so little gelatin that the plates may be
used down to 1200 A.
SCH U R LE M M A . If D ( R ) and D '( R ) are
two unitary, irreducible, rotation transforma
tion matrices of dimensions n and nr, and there
exists a matrix M with n columns and n' rows

such that M D (R ) = D '(R )M for every rota

tion R , then either M = 0 or n nr and the
determinant of M ^ 0. If n' = n, D and D '
are equivalent. This was proved by Schur in
1905.
(See transformation, rotation; repre
sentation of a group.)
SCHUSTER-GANNON M ETHOD FOR M E
CHANICAL EQUIVALENT OF HEAT.
This method is similar to that of Griffiths,
except that instead of the resistance, the cur
rent is measured.
SCHUSTER M ETHOD. A method of focus
ing a prism spectroscope (see spectroscope,
prism) without use of a Gauss eyepiece (see
eyepiece, Gauss) or a distant object.
SCHWARTZ INEQUALITY. I f A and B are
two vectors in three-dimensional space and A
and B are their scalar magnitudes, |A|2|B|2 ^
|A-B|2, the latter term being the scalar prod
uct. The relation also applies to vectors in
n-dimensional space or to a set of orthogonal
functions (see orthogonality), but in the latter
case the inequality takes the form
/

/l

> i J r / d r |2,

where the integrals are taken over the range

o f volume in which the functions \j/ and / are
orthogonal and
is the complex conjugate
of i/r.
SCHWARZSCHILD
ANASTIGMAT.
A
Gregorian type o f reflecting telescope with
the surfaces so modified as to reduce astig
matism.
SCHWARZSCHILD SOLUTION. A rigor
ous solution of the field equations of general
relativity theory (see relativity theory, gen
eral) for a field generated by a point mass.
From it may be derived numerical values for
the rotation of the perihelion of Mercury and
for the bending of light in passing near a star.
SCHWINGER COUPLER.
coupler, Schwinger.

See waveguide

SCINTILLATION. ( 1 ) A flash of light pro

duced in a phosphor by an ionizing event. (2)
On a radar display, a rapid apparent displace
ment of the target from its mean position.
This includes but is not limited to shift of
effective reflection point on the target. Also
called target glint or wander.

SCINTILLATION COUNTER.
scintillation.

See counter,

SCINTILLATION
SPECTROMETER.
W hen a scintillation counter is constructed
with a phosphor that releases a number of
photons proportional to the energy lost in the
phosphor by the radiation being detected, then
the pulse produced at the anode of the photo
multiplier tube will be proportional to the
energy released in the phosphor. If the phos
phor is made thick enough to com pletely ab
sorb all of the energy of the particle being de
tected, the output pulse will be proportional
to the energy of the detected particles. If such
pulses are sent into a device which sorts the
pulses according to their height, one then has a
scintillation spectrometer. (See pulse height
selector.)
SCINTILLATOR, LIQUID. A liquid (such
as xylene or toluene) in which has been dis
solved some organic material (such as p-terphenyl) that causes it to behave as a phosphor.
Such liquid phosphors m ay be used in a
scintillation counter.
SCINTILLATOR, PLASTIC. A plastic m a
terial produced by dissolving an organic sub
stance (such as p-terphenyl) in a monomer
(such as styrene) and then polymerizing. The
resulting product is a plastic phosphor, which
m ay be machined to any shape and size and
used in the construction of a scintillation
counter.
SCLEROMETER. An apparatus for deter
mining the hardness of a material by meas
uring the pressure on a standard point that is
required to scratch the material.
SCLEROSCOPE. An apparatus for deter
mining the hardness of a material by meas
uring the rebound o f a standard ball dropped
on it from a fixed height.
SCOPE, A cathode ray oscilloscope. Use of
this term to mean display is deprecated. (See
also display.)
SCOPOMETER. An instrument for making
turbidimetric or nephelometric measurements
by the contrast between a field of constant
brightness and an illuminated line placed be
hind the solution under test.

SCOPOMETRY. A system of turbidimetry

or nephelometry based on the use of the scopometer.
SCORING SYSTEM. For motion picture pro
duction, a recording system used for recording
music to be reproduced in time relationship
with a motion picture.
SCOTOPIC VISION.
Vision that takes
place through the medium of the rods of the
retina only, and therefore represents a very
low level o f luminance. In scotopic vision,
differences of brightness may be detected, but
differences of hue may not.
SCRAM. (1) Sudden shutting down of a nu
clear reactor, usually by dropping of safety
rods. This may be arranged to occur auto
matically at a predetermined neutron flux or
under other dangerous conditions, the reach
ing of which causes the monitors and associ
ated equipment to generate a scram signal.
( 2 ) T o shut down a reactor by causing a
scram.
SCRAMBLED
SPEECH.
speech; secrecy systems.

See

inverted

SCREEN. (1) In cathode-ray tubes, the sur

face o f the tube upon which the visible pat
tern is produced. ( 2 ) See shield.
SCREEN, FLUORESCENT.
A chemical
coating on the inside of a cathode-ray tube
or on any other surface which emits light at
the point where a cathode-ray beam or any
other radiation strikes.
SCREEN GRID.

See grid, screen.

SCREEN PROCESSES. Processes o f color

photography in which color analysis and syn
thesis are carried out additively by the use of
a mosaic screen of minute primary color fil
ters. The screen m ay be composed of color
filters in the form of a regular geometric pat
tern, or it m ay be an irregular mosaic. In
either case the screen is between the colorsensitive photographic emulsion and the cam
era lens during analysis so that the resulting
effect in the emulsion is that of three colorseparation negatives side by side, completely
intermingled by means of the screens pattern.
SCREENING CONSTANT. (1) A quantity
occurring in the relationship between the fre
quency of a line in a particular x-ray series,

and the atomic number of the element emit

ting the rays, of the form:
V v = a (Z -

a),

in which v is the frequency of the line, a is a

constant, Z is the atomic number of the ele
ment, and (t is the screening constant, that is
the same for all the lines in a given series.
(See Moseley law.) ( 2 ) See screening of nu
cleus.
SCREENING, ELECTRIC. The experiments
o f Faraday revealed that any region com
pletely enclosed by metal or other good con
ductor, however thin, is entirely free from
electrostatic fields due to anything going on
outside the enclosure. Conductors are im
pervious to electric fields, because the free
electrons in the conducting shell surrounding
the enclosure instantly adjust themselves so
as to offset the effect of any electrostatic force
that would otherwise penetrate the interior.
Even a cage of fairly coarse screen wire is
quite effective. Since electromagnetic radia
tion involves electric fields, we have here an
explanation of why metals are opaque to it.

the space charge of the surrounding electrons.

The screening constant of an element is the
atomic number minus the apparent atomic
number that is effective for a given process.
SCREW AXIS. A type of symmetry element
possessed by certain space groups, in which
the lattice is unaltered after a rotation (1)
about the axis and a simultaneous translation
along it.
SCREW, CAPACITIVE.
post, capacitive.
SCREW, INDUCTIVE.
inductive.
SCREW, RESIDUAL
residual (relay).
SCREWS, TUNING.
screws.

See

waveguide

See waveguide post,

(RELAY).

See pin,

See waveguide tuning

SCYLLA.
An experimental thermonuclear
device at the Los Alamos Scientific Labora
tory, which employs radial shock heating and
subsequent magnetic compression, usually in
a magnetic mirror geometry.
SEA BREEZE. When coastal land is heated
considerably by the sun, a sea breeze springs
up, blowing off the cool water onto heated
land. A pure sea breeze is usually not more
than 1500 ft deep, above which there is a
weak returning anti-sea breeze.
SEA LEVEL.

Showing induction and external field.

completely shielded.

Space S is

The screening effect of conductors is utilized

in many kinds of electrical apparatus, as by
enclosing electroscopes and the wires leading
to them in metal cases or conduits, the placing
of metal covers over radio tubes, etc. W hole
buildings are sometimes covered with sheet
iron to prevent induction sparks due to light
ning from setting fire to inflammable contents,
such as gasoline or explosives. (See electro
statics; coaxial lines; and wave guides.)
SCREENING NUMBER.
screening constant.

synonym

for

SCREENING OF NUCLEUS. The reduc

tion of the electric field about a nucleus by

The mean level of the oceans.

SEARCHLIGHTING. The process of pro

jecting a radar beam continuously at an ob
ject.
SEA W ATER CONDITIONS, STANDARD.
See standard sea water conditions.
SEC.

Abbreviation for second, secondary.

SECOND.
(1) Unit of time, abbreviation
S, s, or sec. The definition prior to October,
1960 gave the second as one 86,400th part of a
mean solar day. ( 2 ) The International Astro
nomical Union defines the second as the frac
tion 1/31,556,925.975 of the length of the trop
ical year for 1900. The tropical year is the
period of revolution of the earth relative to
the Vernal Equinox or First Point of Aries.
This definition was accepted by the various
national standardizing laboratories in O cto
ber, 1960. (See mechanical units.) (3) Unit

of angle, abbreviation
One sixtieth part of
a minute, or one 3600th part of a degree.
SECONDARY BOW . A faint rainbow which
sometimes appears outside the brighter pri
mary bow, and has its colors reversed. The
reds of the two bows are toward each other.
SECONDARY COSMIC RAYS. Radiation
or particles produced in the earths atmos
phere or elsewhere as the result of the inter
action of primary cosmic rays with atmos
pheric nuclei and electrons.
SECONDARY ELECTROM AGNETIC CON
STANTS. In transmission line theory, the
propagation constant and the characteristic
impedance (see impedance, characteristic)
are important secondary constants. In three
dimensional theory, the important constants
are the intrinsic propagation constant <r, and
the intrinsic impedance rj, defined by

<t

y /iu i (g

+ tcoe),

rj

\g + te

where i and c are the permeability and the

permittivity, respectively, g is the specific
conductivity, and <o is the radian frequency
o f the wave. These characteristics of the
medium do not depend on the geometry of
the wave.
SECONDARY EMISSION. This term refers
to the result of any of several different proc
esses, in each of which some kind of prim ary
emission, when it encounters some form of
matter, gives rise to another emission of the
same or of different character.
The most familiar example of a secondary
emission is the x-rays, which have their origin
in the impacts of high-speed electrons (cath
ode rays) upon atoms of matter. The result
ing x-rays may themselves act, in turn, as the
primary emission and, falling upon solid bod
ies, cause a secondary x-ray emission. Or
they m ay fall upon a fluorescent substance
(see luminescence) and give rise to a second
ary radiation of visible light. X -rays, ultra
violet rays, or light, falling upon a photosensi
tive metal, m ay cause a secondary emission of
photoelectrons.
(See photoelectric phenom
ena.) The recoil electrons from the C om p
ton scattering of x-rays constitute one form
o f secondary emission. (See Compton effect.)
(Cf. secondary radiation.)

The most common use of the term denotes

the emission of electrons from a solid as the
result of the collision of higher energy elec
trons with the solid.
SECONDARY FOCUS.

See astigmatic focus.

SECONDARY RADIATION.
Particles or
photons produced by the interaction with mat
ter of a radiation regarded as primary. E x
amples are secondary cosmic rays, photoelec
trons, Compton recoil electrons, delta rays,
the electrons liberated from a dynode of a
photomultiplier tube when struck by an elec
tron accelerated from the preceding dynode,
recoil protons from neutron-proton collisions,
and bremsstrahlung radiation.
(See radia
tor; transition effect.)
SECONDARY WAVES.
ciple.

See Huygens prin

SECOND-CHANNEL ATTENUATION.
selectance.

See

SECOND - HARMONIC
CONVERTER
(MODULATOR). See modulator, magnetic.
SECOND QUANTIZATION.
Process by
which a classical field (see C-number theory)
is analyzed as an ensemble of particles. The
field variables (electromagnetic potentials, or
wave functions) are regarded as operators
on which are imposed commutation rules.
These operators then describe the processes of
emission or absorption of light quanta or par
ticles.
SECOND RADIATION CONSTANT.
Planck distribution law.

See

SECRECY SYSTEMS. In much of the twoway radio telephone links it is highly desir
able to make the transmission secret. Since
the radiated energy may be picked up by any
receiver tuned to its frequency and in its path,
the transmission must be altered so it is un
intelligible to anyone not having the neces
sary equipment to restore it to its original
form. N ot only is the equipment necessary,
but these secrecy systems can be decoded only
by a receiving station having the key to the
original alterations. There are several meth
ods of scrambling or altering speech transmis
sions so they will be unintelligible to the or
dinary receiver. One method is to produce
the usual amplitude modulation on some fre
quency other than that of the final carrier.

All but one sideband of this modulation is

discarded and this sideband is then modulated
upon the desired carrier in such a manner as
to invert the frequencies, i.e., the low frequen
cies now appear as highs and vice versa. A n
other method is to divide the audio band into
narrow bands by using filters and then inter
change them, or invert each band separately.
Other modifications involve varying time de
lays for the various bands.
(See also in
verted speech circuit.)
SECTION .
Each individual transmission
span (from transmitter to receiver) is a sec
tion of a radio system. The number of sec
tions in a radio system is one plus the number
of repeaters.
SE C TIO N M O D U L U S.
An inspection of
flexure will reveal that the stress in a mem
ber subjected to a transverse bending is di
rectly proportional to the external bending
moment, and inversely proportional to the
ratio of
moment of inertia of cross section
distance of the farthest stressed element from
the neutral axis.
It is apparent that this ratio is entirely a
property of the shape and size of the crosssection of the structural member. This ratio
is known as the section modulus, and is an
important property of rolled steel sections and
other shapes which are used as structural
members. W hen the bending moment to be
withstood by a beam or column is divided by
this section modulus, the quotient is the m axi
mum bending stress which will exist in that
member.
SE C TO R DISK. A device widely used in
physical apparatus to secure an accurately
known control of the intensity of a beam of
light or other emission. The simplest form
is a circular, opaque disk with a sector or sec
tors, of any desired angle, cut from it. I f the
disk is interposed in the path of light rays,
and rotated rapidly about its center, the re
sulting intensity, as judged visually, is re
duced to a fraction equal to the ratio of the
area of the open sectors to that of the whole
disk. This arrangement is useful, for exam
ple, in a photometer where it is desired to cut
down the intensity of one beam to match that
of another. B y giving the sides of the open

ings suitable curved shapes instead of cutting

them along radii, the intensity m ay be varied
from center to circumference in accordance
with any desired law. This affords, for ex
ample, a non-selective wedge for certain
photometric purposes. When a sector disk is
used in connection with photographic work,
regard must be had for the so-called intermittency effect, which renders the ratio not
strictly accurate.
Sector disks are also used to give a periodic
ity to a radiation beam which falls on a de
tector (thermocouple, photoconductive de
tector, etc.) so as to give an alternating cur
rent output which can be amplified by a-c
methods and also be independent of any un
modulated stray radiation which m ay reach
the detector.
SECTOR, W A R M . That sector of a wave
cyclone occupied by the warmer air mass. A
warm sector is always smaller than the cold
sector which is occupied by the colder air
mass.
SECU LAR D E T E R M IN A N T .
of the form :
y (\) = \ d i j -

b ij\

An equation

|= 0,

which becomes a polynomial in A. when the

determinant is expanded. The roots o f the
polynomial are usually eigenvalues of some
classical or quantum mechanical problem.
SE D IM E N TA T IO N . The process of settling,
commonly of solid particles from a liquid.
SE D IM E N TA T IO N C O N STAN T. A quan
tity obtained in investigating the behavior of
colloidal particles under the action of forces,
chiefly centrifugal forces. This quantity for
a given particle and medium is defined by the
expression:
D
2 r2(P - pO

o = -----------9*

in which S is the sedimentation constant, r

is the radius of the particle, p and p ' are the
reciprocals of the partial specific volumes of
particle and medium, respectively, and tj is
the viscosity of the medium.
SEEBECK E F F E C T . (1) The production of
electromotive force as a result of a circuit con
taining two conducting materials having two
junctions between the materials at different

temperatures. This effect is the basis of all

thermocouples. The Seebeck effect is one of
a number of related thermoelectric phe
nomena, is the inverse of the Peltier effect,
and is closely related to the Thomson effect.
( 2 ) Seebeck observed that if a photographic
emulsion is exposed to the point at which a
visible image appears faintly, and is then ex
posed to colored light, the emulsion assumes
the color of the light to which it is exposed.
The colors, however, are weak and mixed with
gray. M any attempts have been made to per
fect processes of color photography of this
character, but without success.
SEGER CONES. Small cones used for in
dicating furnace temperatures, especially in
the ceramic industries. They are prepared of
mixtures of clay, salt, and other materials in
various proportions, such that the softening
points of the cones vary progressively in the
series, so that they can be used to indicate
temperatures through a considerable range.
SEISMIC DETECTORS. A ny microphone
connected to recording oscillographs and lo
cated in a strategic position on the earths
surface to detect acoustic waves transmitted
through the earth. Interest is usually con
fined to frequencies below 1 0 0 cycles/sec.
SEISMOGRAPH. An instrument for record
ing earth tremors; usually housed for the pur
pose in a suitable seismological observatory.
There are two classes of seismograph, one for
recording horizontal and the other for record
ing vertical components of vibration. A wellequipped observatory has three, a north-south
horizontal, an east-west horizontal, and a ver
tical recorder. The instruments are somewhat
complicated, but the principle is that of a
heavy mass poised in such a w ay that a vi
bration of its support, together with the in
ertia of the mass, causes a relative motion of
mass and support; and this motion, suitably
amplified, produces the record. In the older
forms the recording was done mechanically
b y a stylus tracing on a revolving drum; in
more modern types an electromagnetic cur
rent, generated by the motion, operates a gal
vanometer which, by means of a beam of light
reflected from its mirror, produces a photo
graphic record of the earths vibration on a
moving film.

SELECTANCE. The reciprocal of the ratio

of the sensitivity of a receiver tuned to a
specified channel to its sensitivity at another
channel separated by a specified number of
channels from the one to which the receiver
is tuned. Unless otherwise specified, selectance should be expressed as voltage or fieldstrength ratio. Selectance is often expressed
as adjacent-channel attenuation (A C A ) or
second-channel attenuation ( 2 A C A ).
SELECTION,
COINCIDENT-CURRENT
(STATIC MAGNETIC STORAGE). The se
lection of a magnetic cell for reading or writ
ing, by the simultaneous application of two or
more currents. The selection ratio is the least
ratio of a magnetomotive force used to select
a cell to the maximum magnetomotive force
used which is not intended to select a cell. A
partial-read pulse is any one of the currents
applied which caused selection of a cell for
reading. A partial-write pulse is any one of
the currents applied which cause selection of
a cell for writing. An undisturbed-zero output
is a zero output of a magnetic cell to which no
partial-read pulses have been applied since
that cell was last selected for writing. A disturbed-zero output is a zero output of a mag
netic cell to which partial-write pulses have
been applied since that cell was last selected
for reading. A disturbed-one output is a one
output of a magnetic cell to which partialread pulses have been applied since that cell
was last selected for writing. A partial-select
output is ( 1 ) the voltage response of an un
selected magnetic cell produced by the ap
plication of partial-read pulses or partialwrite pulses, or ( 2 ) the integrated voltage re
sponse of an unselected magnetic cell produced
by the application of partial-read pulses or
partial-write pulses. A one-to-partial-select
ratio is the ratio of a one output to a partialselect output. D elta is the difference between
a partial-select output of a magnetic cell in a
one state and a partial-select output of the
same cell in a zero state.
SELECTION RATIO.
dent-current.

See selection, coinci-

SELECTIVE RADIATOR. An emitter of

radiation yielding radiation of different spec
tral energy distribution from that of a black
body at the same temperature.

T a ble 1

AI
Air

Ml
El

E2
M2

MS
E3

4
M4

Mb
E5

I = 0

SELECTION RULES IN ATOM IC SPEC

TRA. It was found early in the study of
atomic spectra that radiative transitions be
tween certain pairs of stationary states sel
dom or never occur. A set of rules which are
expressed in terms of the differences of the
quantum numbers of the two states involved
allow a prediction of allowed transitions and
forbidden transitions. The conditions for al
lowed transitions are:

No
Yes

Ml
El

None
None

AL (orbital angular momentum) = dbl

AJ (total angular momentum) = 0 or = tl,
A M (magnetic orientation) = 0 or 1
The selection rules are not rigorously obeyed.
In atoms which do not exhibit Russell-Saunders coupling, the quantum numbers L and S
are not defined. Even in atoms which do have
this type of coupling, forbidden transitions
are merely of lower probability than allowed
ones and may occur from a state from which
no transitions are allowed by the rules if con
ditions are such that collisions of the second
kind do not remove the atom from the initial
state before it radiates (e.g., at extremely low
pressures).
SELECTION RULES, NUCLEAR. A set of
statements that serve to classify transitions
of a given type (emission or absorption of ra
diation, /?-decay, and so forth) in terms of
the spin and parity (I and ir) quantum num
bers of the initial and final states of the sys
tems involved in the transitions, in such a
way that transitions of a given order of in
herent probability (after making allowance
for the influence of varying energy, charge
and size of system, and so forth) are grouped
together. The group having highest proba
bility of taking place per unit time is said to
consist of allowed transitions; all others are
called forbidden transitions. Table 1 lists
the selection rules for radiative transitions:
each entry gives the character (E = electric,
M = magnetic) and the multipole order (1
for dipole, 2 for quadrupole, 3 for octopole,
. . .) of the predominant radiation mecha
nism for the indicated spin change AI and
parity change Air; the entry none means
that radiative transitions are strictly for
bidden.
Table 2 lists the selection rules for /?-decay:
the entry A means that for the indicated spin

and parity change the transition is allowed;

I, means that it is first forbidden; II, second
forbidden . . . Only the least forbidden tran
sition is listed in each case.
T

able

A 7
A7T

No
Yes

A
I

A
I

II
I

II
III

IV
III

IV
V

VI
V

Fermi selection rules and Gam ow-Teller

(G T ) selection rules are alternative sets of
rules for allowed /^-transitions; both are pre
dicted by the currently accepted two neutrino
theory, so that a transition allowed according
to either set is actually allowed.
(See also
beta-decay theory.)
SELECTIVITY (OR A RECEIVER). That
characteristic which determines the extent to
which the receiver is capable of differentiat
ing between the desired signal and disturb
ances of other frequencies. (See also selectance.)
SELECTOR. A circuit selecting only that
portion of a waveform having certain char
acteristics of amplitude, frequency, phase, or
time of occurrence.
SELECTOR, COURSE (LINE).
(line) selector.

See course

SELECTOR, VELOCITY. For various types

see neutron velocity selector; mass spectro
graph, velocity focusing; Stern-Zartman ex
periment; ion energy selector.

s-ELECTRON. An electron having an orbital

angular momentum quantum number of zero.
SELECTRON.
Trade name for a grainoriented, silicon-iron magnetic alloy.
SELENIUM. Nonm etallic element.
Se. A tom ic number 34.

Symbol

SELF-ABSORPTION
(SELF-REVERSAL).
The reduction in radiant power at the center
of emission lines, resulting from selective ab
sorption of radiation emitted by the hot cen
tral core into the cooler outer vapor of the
source envelope.
SELF-BIAS. See cathode bias.
SELF-CHARGE. Extra contribution to the
electric charge of a charged particle due to
vacuum polarization arising from the field
produced by the original charge. The self
charge and the original charge cannot be
distinguished experimentally, and the process
of identifying their sum with the observed
charge is called charge renormalization. This
program, together with that of renormaliza
tion of mass enables one to avoid many of the
difficulties arising from divergent integrals
which appear in computations of processes
according to quantized field theory.
(See
field theory, quantized.)
SELF-CHECKING CODE.
bidden-combination.

See check, for-

SELF-CLEANING CONTACTS
See contacts, wiping (relay).

(RELAY).

SELF - CONSISTENT FIELD

M ETHOD
(ALSO CALLED HARTREE M ETHOD).
A method of treating the problem of the
m any-electron atom in which the eigenfunc
tion for the system is represented as the prod
uct of Z single-electron functions which must
satisfy the following condition: The effective
field which is in accord with the assumed
charge density distribution function for any
one electron (that is, represents a solution of
the corresponding Schrodinger equation for a
given form of the potential energy function)
must be consistent with the field deduced from
the charge density distribution due to all the
other electrons.
SELF-ENERGY OF A PARTICLE. Classi
cally, the energy of interaction between d if
ferent parts of the particle (considered, for

example, as a ball of charge). In quantized

field theory (see field theory, quantized) the
contribution to the Hamiltonian arising from
the virtual emission and absorption of other
particles, especially photons or mesons.
SELF IMPEDANCE.
SELF INDUCTANCE.

See impedance, mesh.

See inductance, self.

SELF INFORMATION.
content.

See

information

SELF-SATURATING CIRCUIT. A magnetic

amplifier circuit of the type which employs
self-saturation.
SELF-SATURATION. Self-saturation in a
magnetic amplifier refers to the connection of
half-wave rectifying circuit elements in series
with the output windings of the saturable re
actors. (See reactor, saturable.)
SELF-SHIELDING. ( 1 ) The self-absorption
of radiation by the source of radiation. ( 2 )
In nuclear reactor terminology, the shielding
of one part of a region from particles or radia
tion arising in another part.
SELLMEIER EQUATION. An equation ex
pressing the relationship between the refrac
tive index of a medium and the wavelength
of the light; this variation of refractive index
with wavelength is known as refractive dis
persion. The equation is of the form
B

= A + i?+ i?+ "-

in which n is the index of refraction, and A

is the wavelength. This equation is the same
as the Cauchy formula.
SELSYN. A trade name for the universal
term synchro.
SEMICONDUCTOR.
An electronic con
ductor whose resistivity at room temperature
is in the range 1 0 2 to 1 0 9 ohm-cm (which is
between metals and insulators), in which the
electrical charge carrier concentration in
creases with increasing temperature over some
temperature range. Certain semiconductors
possess two types of carriers, namely nega
tive electrons and positive holes. The essen
tial difference between a semiconductor and
a metal is that, according to the band theory
of solids, the number of free electrons in the
former is very small, the energy bands being

either entirely full or entirely empty, except

for a few electrons and holes created by ther
mal excitation (intrinsic semiconductor) or by
the presence of impurities. Important semi
conducting materials include Si, Ge, Se, Cu 20 ,
PbTe, PbS, SiC, etc., and their uses are mani
fold in such devices as rectifiers, modulators,
detectors, thermistors, photocells and tran
sistors.
SEMICONDUCTOR, COMPENSATED. A
semiconductor in which one type of impurity
or imperfection (e.g., donor) partially can
cels the electrical effects of the other type of
impurity or imperfection (e.g., acceptor).
SEMICONDUCTOR, DEGENERATE.
A
semiconductor in which the number of elec
trons in the conduction band is so high that
they must be described by Fermi-Dirac statis
tics, as in a metal.
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE. An electron
device in which the characteristic distinguish
ing electronic conduction takes place within
a semiconductor.
SEMICONDUCTOR D EVICE, MULTIPLE
tJNIT. A semiconductor device having two
or more sets of electrodes associated with in
dependent carrier streams. It is implied that
the device has two or more output functions
which are independently derived from sepa
rate inputs, e.g., a duo-triode transistor.
SEMICONDUCTOR
D EVICE,
SINGLE
UNIT. A semiconductor device having one
set of electrodes associated with a single car
rier stream. It is implied that the device has
a single output function related to a single
input.
SEMICONDUCTOR
semiconductor.

D IO DE.

See

diode,

SEMICONDUCTOR, EXTRINSIC. A semi

conductor with electrical properties depend
ent upon impurities. (Cf. semiconductor, in
trinsic.)
SEMICONDUCTOR, IMPURITY. A semi
conductor whose properties are due to the
presence of foreign atoms, giving rise to im
purity levels. Such materials are very use
ful, since their electrical properties can be
profoundly altered by changing the concen
tration and type of impurity. (See also band
theory of solids.)

SEMICONDUCTOR, INTRINSIC. A mate

rial which is naturally semiconducting, in the
form of its pure, ideal crystal even when en
tirely free of impurities. All semiconductors
have this property, but it may be of negligible
importance compared with the impurity semi
conduction, and only to be observed at high
temperatures. It is to be described, according
to the band theory of solids, by the thermal
excitation of electrons from the filled band the
whole width of the energy gap to the conduc
tion band.
SEMICONDUCTOR, N-TYPE. An extrinsic
semiconductor (see semiconductor, extrinsic)
in which the conduction electron (see electron,
conduction) density exceeds the hole density.
It is implied that the net ionized impurity
concentration is donor type. (See also band
theory of solids.)
SEMICONDUCTOR, P-TYPE. An extrinsic
semiconductor (see semiconductor, extrinsic)
in which the hole density exceeds the conduc
tion electron density (see electron, conduc
tion). It is implied that the net ionized im
purity concentration is acceptor type. (See
also band theory of solids.)
SEMICONDUCTOR
SYMBOL
ARDS. See transistor parameters.
SEMI-DUPLEX.

STAND

See duplex, semi-.

SEMI-EMPIRICAL MASS FORMULA.

mass formula, semi-empirical.

See

SEMIPERMEABLE MEMBRANE (SEMI

PERMEABLE DIAPHRAGM). A membrane
or septum through which a solvent but not
certain dissolved or colloidal substances may
pass, used in osmotic pressure determinations.
M any natural membranes are semipermeable,
e.g., cell walls; other membranes may be made
artificially, e.g., by precipitating copper ferrocyanide in the interstices of a porous cup, the
cup serving as a frame to give the membrane
stability.
SEMITONE.

See tone, semi-.

SENSATION LEVEL.
threshold; threshold.

See

level

above

SENSATION UNIT. (See also level above

threshold.) A unit of loudness. One sensa
tion unit is equal to 2 0 logi 0 p, where p is the
excess pressure.

SENSE. In navigation, the relation of the

change of the indication of a radio navigational
facility to the change of the navigational pa
rameter being indicated. Also the property
of some navigational equipment permitting the
resolution of 180 ambiguities. As a specific
illustrative example of the relation men
tioned in the definition, one m ay assume that
a particular navigational facility includes a
zero-center meter. Assume further that the
pilot of the vehicle observes that the pointer
of this meter has deflected to the left. Shall
this be interpreted as an instruction to the
pilot, directing him to steer his vehicle to the
left; or shall it be interpreted as an indication
that the vehicle is already on the left-hand
side of the course line, and should therefore be
steered to the right in order to correct the
navigational error? The similar up-and-down
ambiguity must also be resolved.
SENSIBILITY (OF
weighing methods.

BALANCE).

See

SENSING. The process of determining the

sense of an indication.
SENSITIVE TIM E. The duration of super
saturation adequate for track formation fol
lowing expansion of a cloud chamber.
SENSITIVE VOLUM E. That portion of a
counter tube or ionization chamber which re
sponds directly to a specific radiation.
SENSITIVITY. In general, susceptibility to
external action, as measured by speed of re
sponse or degree of responsiveness, as exempli
fied by sensitivity to light or other radiation,
or sensitivity to electric current.
Specific
usages are: (1) The ratio of output response
to a specified change in the measured variable.
(2) The least signal input capable of causing
an output signal having desired character
istics; thus the sensitivity of a camera tube
is the signal current developed per unit inci
dent radiation density (i.e., per watt per unit
area). Unless otherwise specified the radia
tion is understood to be that of an unfiltered
incandescent source of 2870K, and its den
sity, which is generally measured in watts per
unit area, m ay then be expressed in footcandles. (3) The sensitivity of a receiver is
the signal input necessary for the receiver to
produce a standard output. The amount of
the output, the audio-frequency used to mod

ulate the input and the degree of modulation

should be specified. (4) The current sensi
tivity of a galvanometer is the ratio of deflec
tion to galvanometer current. (5) The sensi
tivity (or sensitiveness) of a balance is the
smallest mass to which it can respond. ( 6 )
The sensitivity (or sensitiveness) of an ana
lytical method is the minimum quantity of a
substance which can be detected.
(7) The
sensitivity of a voltmeter is the ratio of its
resistance to its full-scale reading, i.e., the
inverse of the current necessary to produce
full scale deflection.
SENSITIVITY,
CATHODE
LUMINOUS
(PHOTOCATHODES). The quotient of pho
toelectric emission current from the photo
cathode by the incident luminous flux, under
specified conditions of illumination. ( 1 ) Since
cathode luminous sensitivity is not an absolute
characteristic but depends on the spectral dis
tribution of the incident flux, the term is com
monly used to designate the sensitivity of
radiation from a tungsten-filament lamp oper
ating at a color temperature of 2870K. ( 2 )
Cathode luminous sensitivity is usually meas
ured with a collimated beam at normal in
cidence.
SENSITIVITY, CATHODE LUMINOUS (OF
A MULTIPLIER PHOTOTUBE). The quo
tient of photocathode current by incident
luminous flux. The term photocathode cur
rent as here used does not include the dark
current.
SENSITIVITY,
CATHODE
RADIANT
(PHOTOCATHODES). The quotient of the
photoelectric emission current from the photo
cathode by the incident radiant flux at a given
wavelength, under specified conditions of ir
radiation. Cathode radiant sensitivity is usu
ally measured with a collimated beam at
normal incidence.
SENSITIVITY, CONTRAST.
sensitivity.

See contrast

SENSITIVITY, COURSE. The displacement

(o f a vehicle) from the course line which pro
duces a given change of course indication
(usually full scale).
SENSITIVITY, DEFLECTION.
( 1 ) Of an
electrostatic-deflection cathode-ray tube, the
ratio of the deflecting voltage to the spot dis
placement.
( 2 ) Of a magnetic-deflection

cathode-ray tube, the ratio of the deflecting

magnetic field to the spot displacement. (3)
Of a magnetic-deflection cathode-ray tube and
yoke assembly, the ratio of the deflecting-coil
current to the spot displacement.
Deflection sensitivity is usually expressed
in volts per millimeter, gauss per millimeter,
or amperes per millimeter for the three cases
listed above.
( 3 ) See figure of merit ( 2 ); scale factor (3).
SENSITIVITY, D EVIATION. (1) The rate
of change of course indication with respect to
the change of displacement from the course
line. (2) The least frequency deviation (see
deviation, frequency) that produces a speci
fied output power.
SENSITIVITY, DEVIATION, ANGULAR.
The ratio of change of course indication to the
change of angular displacement from the
course line.
SENSITIVITY, DYNAM IC. For phototubes,
the ratio of alternating anode current to the
alternating component of total incident flux.
SENSITIVITY, ELECTRONIC
See tuning sensitivity, electronic.
SENSITIVITY, FREQUENCY.
effect.

TUNING.
See long-line

SENSITIVITY, ILLUM INATION (CAMERA

TUBES OR PHOTOTUBES). The quotient
of signal output current by the incident illu
mination, under specified conditions of illu
mination. Since illumination sensitivity is not
an absolute characteristic but depends on the
spectral distribution of the incident flux, the
term is com m only used to designate the sensi
tivity to radiation from a tungsten-filament
lamp operating at a color temperature of
2870K. Illumination sensitivity is usually
measured with a collimated beam at normal
incidence. (See transfer characteristic (cam
era tubes).)
SENSITIVITY,
LUMINOUS
(CAMERA
TUBES OR PHOTOTUBES). The quotient
of signal output current by incident luminous
flux, under specified conditions of illumina
tion.
Since luminous sensitivity is not an
absolute characteristic but depends on the
spectral distribution of the incident flux, the
term is com monly used to designate the sensi
tivity to radiation from a tungsten-filament

lamp operating at a color temperature of

2870K.
Luminous sensitivity is usually
measured with a collimated beam at normal
incidence.
SENSITIVITY, LUMINOUS (OF A MULTIPLIER PHOTOTUBE CATHODE).
The
quotient of photocathode current by incident
luminous flux. The quantity photocathode
current does not include the dark current (see
current, dark) in this case.
SENSITIVITY, M AXIM UM - DEVIATION,
IN FM RECEIVERS. Under maximum sys
tem deviation, the least signal input for which
the output distortion does not exceed a speci
fied limit.
SENSITIVITY, M AXIM UM , IN FM SYS
TEMS. The least signal input that produces
a specified output power.
SENSITIVITY, QUIETING, IN FM RE
CEIVERS. The least signal input for which
the output signal-to-noise ratio does not ex
ceed a specified limit.
SENSITIVITY,
RADIANT
(CAMERA
TUBES OR PHOTOTUBES). The quotient
of signal output current by incident radiant
flux at a given wavelength, under specified
conditions of irradiation. Radiant sensitivity
is usually measured with a collimated beam at
normal incidence.
SENSITIVITY, RADIANT (OF A PHOTO
TUBE). The quotient of output current by
incident radiant flux of a given wavelength at
constant electrode voltages. The term output
current as here used does not include the dark
current.
SENSITIVITY, RECEIVING
See response, free-field current.

CURRENT.

SENSITIVITY, RECEIVING
See response, free-field voltage.

VOLTAGE.

SENSITIVITY, RESOLUTION. The mini

mum change in the measured variable which
produces an effective response of the instru
ment or automatic controller.
SENSITIVITY, SPECTRAL. ( 1 ) The sensi
tivity of a detector measured for narrow spec
tral bands throughout the spectrum. (2) The
emitted radiant-power wavelength distribu
tion of a luminescent screen under a given

condition of excitation. (3) The sensitivity

of a photoelectric device in relation to the
wavelength of the incident radiant energy.
Spectral sensitivity is usually displayed on
a spectral characteristic.
SENSITIVITY, SPECTRAL, CHARACTER
ISTIC (CAMERA TUBES OR PHOTO
TUBES). The relation between the radiant
sensitivity and the wavelength of the incident
radiation, under specified conditions of irra
diation. Spectral sensitivity characteristic is
usually measured with a collimated beam at
normal incidence.
SENSITIVITY, THRESHOLD. The lowest
level of the measured variable which produces
effective response of the instrument or auto
matic controller.
SENSITIVITY TIM E CONTROL.
control, temporal.

See gain-

SENSITOMETRY. Sensitometry is concerned

primarily with the measurement of photo
graphic sensitivity; however, in the broader
sense it is concerned with the measurement of
the response of photographic materials upon
exposure to light or other forms of radiant
energy, under specified conditions of exposure
and development.
SENSOR. (1) That portion of a navigational
system which perceives deviations from a
reference and converts these deviations into
signals. (2) A transducer.
SEPARATION ENERGY. A synonym for
binding energy of a proton, neutron, or -par
ticle within a nucleus.
SEPARATION FACTOR. The ratio of the
abundance ratio of two isotopes after process
ing to their abundance ratio before a process
or operation. It is given by the following
equation:
n i/ n 2f
r = ---------- *
Ui/n2

ture is allowed to diffuse through a porous

wall or barrier. Separation of the various
isotopes is based on the principle that the
lighter molecules, M ly diffuse through the por
ous wall more readily than the heavier mole
cules, M 2.
SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, CENTRIF
UGAL M ETHOD. A method of separating
isotopes which is based on the fact that if a
gas or vapor flows into a rapidly-rotating cy l
inder, the force acting on the molecules will
result in an increased concentration of the
heavier isotope at the walls, while the lighter
isotope tends to collect nearer the axis of
rotation.
SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, CHEMICAL
EXCHANGE. A method of separating iso
topes which makes use of the fact that the
chemical properties of the different isotopes of
an element are often slightly different. Thus,
in a system consisting of N H 3 gas in equilib
rium with a solution of ammonium nitrate,
containing N H 4+ ions, N 15 tends to concen
trate in the ammonium nitrate solution, while
the N H 3 gas contains relatively more N 14.
SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, DISTILLA
TION M ETHOD. The separation of isotopic
species by fractional distillation is possible
when their vapor pressures or boiling points
are sufficiently different. For example, heavy
water (D 20 ) boils at a temperature about
1.4C higher than ordinary water (H 20 ) ; this
makes the separation of D 2 from H 2 by frac
tional distillation possible.
SEPARATION
OF
ISOTOPES,
ELEC
TROLYSIS M ETHOD. The separation of
isotopes by electrolytic decomposition of a
solution, as in the electrolysis of water for the
concentration of deuterium. The method de
pends on the differing rates of discharge of
isotopic ions, and hence is a function of the
chemical properties of the different isotopes.

where n\ and n2 are the initial mole fractions

o f isotopes of mass numbers
and m2 respec
tively, and rii and n2 are the corresponding
quantities after processing.

SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, ELECTRO

M AGNETIC M ETHOD.
A ny method of
separating isotopes which uses electric and
magnetic fields to accelerate and focus ions
according to their masses, in the manner of
a mass spectrograph.

SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, BARRIER

DIFFUSION M ETHOD. A method of sepa
ration in which a gas that is an isotopic mix

SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, GASEOUS

DIFFUSION M ETHOD. A method of sep
arating isotopes which makes use of the d if

ferent rates of diffusion of gases through an

other gas, the theoretical rate being a func
tion of the molecular mass.
SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, ION M O
BILITY M ETHOD. A process of separation
based on the difference in mobility of differ
ent ions in an electrolytic solution under the
influence of an electric field.
SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES, THERMAL
DIFFUSION M ETHOD. A method of sep
arating isotopes which makes use of the fact
that if a gaseous mixture of isotopes is placed
in a temperature gradient, the lighter m ole
cules tend to concentrate in the regions of
higher temperature.
SEPARATION OF VARIABLES. A method
of finding a particular solution to a linear
partial differential equation. Assume a solu
tion which is the product of functions, each
depending on a single one of the independent
variables. Substitution of this product into
the original differential equation often results
in an equation in which some terms are func
tions of only one variable, while other terms
do not involve this variable. Each term in
volving a single variable may then be set equal
to a constant. The original equation has then
been separated into several ordinary differ
ential equations which m ay then be solved by
the usual methods. The constants of integra
tion furnish enough parameters to satisfy any
imposed boundary conditions.
The procedure is particularly useful for the
equations which occur in physical problems.
For example, for Laplaces equation in Car
tesian coordinates,
d2<b

= T
T
dor

d2(>

d2<b

T
~2 + Tdz7 =
dy*

assume <l>(x,y,z) = X (x )Y (y )Z (z ) and the par

ticular solution becomes
<t>(x,y,z) = exp (kx + ly + mz),
where k2 + I2 + m2 = 0 .
Laplaces equation is a special case of the
more general partial differential equation
V2yp + k2\j/ = 0 . The case k = 0 gives La
places equation; when & is a real constant we
have the H elm holtz equation (the classical
wave equation for a sinusoidal time depend
ence); and when k is a function of the space
coordinates we have Schrodingers equation

with k2 = (2 m/n2)(E - 7 ), where V is the

potential energy of the particle. There are
11 orthogonal coordinate systems in which,
for k = constant (or zero), the equation can
be separated so that \p = F i(q i)F 2 (Q2)Fa(qa),
where qi, q2 and <73 are the three coordinates.
These are ( 1 ) rectangular Cartesian, ( 2 ) cylin
drical, (3) spherical polar, (4) elliptic cylindri
cal, (5) parabolic cylindrical, ( 6 ) conical,
(7) parabolic, (8 ) ellipsoidal, (9) prolate sphe
roidal, ( 1 0 ) oblate spheroidal, ( 1 1 ) paraboloidal. Schrodingers equation will also sepa
rate in these 11 systems if the potential has
the form :

=E fM

/K *,

where f n is a function of the coordinate qn

alone, and hn is the scale factor.
SEPARATOR, FREQUENCY.
nizing separator.

See synchro

SEPARATOR, IMPULSE. In television, a

synchronizing-signal separator.
(See sync
signal.)
SEPTAR.

A form of tube base.

SEQUENCE. A set of quantities $1, S2, ,

sn, , called elements, which can be arranged
in an order so that when n is given the nth
member of the sequence sn is completely speci
fied. The elements are usually arranged by
matching them up, one by one, with the posi
tive integers 1, 2, 3, , n, *. A common
symbol for a sequence is {sn}. It could be
bounded or unbounded; convergent or di
vergent. The common types o f sequences are
infinite series; infinite products; infinite con
tinued fractions.
SEQUENCE, BOUNDED. Let N be an arbi
trary positive number. I f there exists an N
such that iV ^ | s n| for all members sn of a
sequence, then the sequence is bounded.
SEQUENCE, CONVERGENT.
which approaches a limit.
SEQUENCE, DIVERGENT.
which is not convergent.

A sequence

Any sequence

SEQUENCE OF OPERATION, NORMAL

(RELAY). The sequence in which all the
normally closed contacts open before closure
of the normally open contacts of the assembly.

SERIAL. Pertaining to time-sequential trans

mission of storage of, or logical operations on
the parts of a word, using the same facilities
for successive parts.
SERIES.
(1) An expression of the form
di + ^2 + &3 + * *' + an + * * * which has an
infinite number of terms. Its partial sums
constitute the sequence {sn}, where
= a i;

al + a2)

$2 =

SERIES CONNECTION. Network elements

are said to be series-connected if they carry
a common current.

* * * J

sn

22

k 1

ak

( 2 ) See radioactive nuclides, natural and

radioactive series.

SERIES, ALTERNATING.

A series with
alternate positive and negative terms, such as
CLq

-j~ 0 2 &3 rb * * *.

SERIES, ARITHMETIC. The sum of an

arithmetic progression. If there are n terms
in the series, its sum Sn = % n (a - f I) == y2n
[2a + {n l ) d ] where a is the first term, d
is the difference between terms, I is the last
term.
SERIES, ASYMPTOTIC.

that each term is less than or equal to the cor

responding term of another series already
known to be convergent. Similarly, if each
term of a certain series is equal to or greater
than the corresponding term of a series known
to be divergent the unknown series is diver
gent. The comparison series is the known
series used for test purposes.

A divergent series

of the form

SERIES ELEMENTS. ( 1 ) Two-terminal ele

ments are connected in series when they form
a path between two nodes of a network such
that only elements of this path, and no other
elements, terminate at intermediate nodes
along the path. ( 2 ) Two-terminal elements
are connected in series when any mesh in
cluding one must include the others.
SERIES, GEOMETRIC.
A series whose
terms form a geometric progression. If writ
ten as a ( l + r + r 2 + r 3 + * ) its sum to n
terms is
g ( l - r11)
(1

Ai
A2
An
A 0 + - + ^ + ---+ + ---.
x

ar

- r)

When r < 1, the infinite series converges and

its sum is a/( 1 r). The series diverges for
other values of r.

It is an asymptotic representation of a fu n c t io n
/ ( * ) if

lim xn[f(x) (S(a:)] = 0

X - *oo

for any value of n, where Sn(x) is the sum of

the first (n + 1) terms of the series. If a func
tion can be expanded in a power series, the first
n terms of the series may be used as an asymp
totic approximation to the function.

SERIES, BINOMIAL. The infinite series rep

resentation of (x - \ - y ) n where n is not zero
or a positive integer. It is usually given in
the form

(1 +
/i

sn

1 ,

( -!) ( -

1) ,

z)n = 1 + X ) ------ -------- ^ ---------------- zJ

i- 1
r-

which is easily obtained from the first form if

z = y/x. The series con v erg es if \z\ < 1 and
diverges if \z\> 1 .
SERIES, COMPARISON. The convergence
of an infinite series may be established if,
from a certain point onward, it may be shown

SERIES, HARMONIC. A sum of terms which

form a harmonic progression. There is no
general method of finding the sum. It is usu
ally done by taking the reciprocal series and
solving the resulting arithmetic series. (See
series, arithmetic.) I f the series is
00

E 1/nr,
n= 1
with r real, it converges for r > 1 , but di
verges for r < 1 .
SERIES IN LINE SPECTRA. The spectra of
many atoms having one, two, or three electrons
in the outer shell (except H , He + , Li + + *)
consist of a number of overlapping series of
spectral lines each of which is Balmer-like
(see Balmer series) with a characteristic for
mula of the type
R

(a + ci)

(n + c2)

where a, Ci and c 2 are constants characteristic

of the atom and the series, R is the Rydberg
constant for the atom and n is a series of
integers, n > a. The series in which the total
azimuthal quantum number changes from 0
to 1 ( S P ) is called the Sharp series; from
1 to 0 (P > S) is called the Principal series;
from 2 to 1 ( D - P ) is called the Diffuse
series; from 3 to 2 ( F D ) is called the
Fundamental series. N ote that it is from
the names of these series that the notation
L = 0 , S ; L = 1, P ; L = 2, D ; L = 3, F arose.
For other series in the spectrum of hydrogen,
see Lyman series; Paschen series; Pfund
series.
SERIES INTEGRATION. The integrand of
a definite or indefinite integral is expanded
as an infinite series and the integration per
formed term by term. M ore com monly ap
plied to the case of a differential equation
where the solution is assumed to be
00

y = 2

A nxn.

71=0

This series is then substituted in the differen

tial equation and the coefficients A n are deter
mined so that the equation is satisfied. (See
also indicial equation; recursion formula.)
SERIES, OSCILLATING. A series which is
not convergent but which is bounded. A sim
ple example is $n = 1 1 + 1 1 + +
(
f or its sum is either zero or unity
when n is taken as even or odd.
SERIES, POWER. An expression of the form
Xakx k where x is a variable and the numbers
ak are coefficients.
SERIES, REVERSION OF.
series,

A given power

y = a$ + a\X + a2x 2 +
may be reverted to give an explicit representa
tion of x as a function of y. The result is
X = Z + C iZ 2 + c2z 3 + >

where

z ( y a 0) / a i ; c \ = a 2/ a \ )

a s /a i +

2 ( a 2/ a i ) 2 ; c s =

c2 =
a j a x + 5a2a3/ax

5(a2/ai) , * * *.
Also called inversion of the series.
SERIES RESONANCE.
ries.

SERRODYNE. A class of modulators which

can cause frequency translation by sawtooth
transit time modulation of a signal. When
the term is used more generally, it also in
cludes frequency translators using a sawtooth
of phase modulation.
SERVICE AREA. (1) The service resulting
from an assigned effective radiated power and
antenna height above the average terrain.
(2) The area within which a navigational aid
is of use.
SERVO.
trolling a
(or some
compared
difference
effect the

A combination o f devices for con

source of power in which the output
function thereof) is fed back and
to some reference at the input, the
of this comparison being used to
desired control. (See feedback.)

SERVOMECHANISM. A feedback control

system in which one or more of the system sig
nals represent mechanical motion. It should
be noted that servomechanism and regulator
are not mutually exclusive term s; their appli
cation to a particular system will depend on
the method of operation o f that system. (See
feedback regulator.)
SESSILE DROP M ETHOD.
See surface
tension, methods of measurement.
SET. ( 1 ) A collection of numbers or symbols
considered as a whole. For example, the set
of all prime numbers or the set of all matrices
with determinant equal to unity. Geometri
cally, the symbols in a set determine a domain.
( 2 ) T o place a storage device in a prescribed
state. (3) T o place a binary cell in the one *1
state.
SET (OR INTERVAL) CLOSED.
A set
which includes the bounding points as mem
bers of the set.
SET, PERMANENT. When a solid has been
strained beyond the elastic limit and the de
forming stress is completely removed, in gen
eral the strain does not decrease ultimately to
zero but to some non-vanishing value, known
as a permanent set. (See plastic deformation;
plasticity.)
SET POINT.

See point, set.

SET PULSE.

See pulse, set.

See resonance, se

SETTING, RESIDUAL (RELAY). The value

o f the residual gap obtained by the use of an
adjustable residual screw.
SETTLING.
The separation of suspended
solid particles from a liquid by the action of
gravity or other force.
SETTLING, HINDERED. A ny method for
the application of forces to particles under
going settling, which yields better or more
rapid classification by size than can be ob
tained by free settling. For example, such
forces may be applied by flow of fluids, by
vibration, etc.
SETUP. In television, the ratio between ref
erence black level and reference white level,
both measured from blanking level. It is
usually expressed in per cent.
SEXADECIM AL.

See notation, positional.

SHADOW , RADAR.

See radar shadow.

SHADOW ZONE. A region, usually in the

atmosphere or under water, in which ray
acoustics predicts zero penetration of sound
rays.
SHANNON FORMULA. A theorem in in
formation theory which states that a method
of coding exists whereby C binary digits per
second may be transmitted with arbitrarily
small frequency of error where C is given by
C = B log2

+ ^)

and no higher rate can be transmitted; B is

the bandwidth, and S/N is the signal-to-noise
ratio.
SHAPE FACTOR. See Coddington shape
and position factors.

SG. Sym bol frequently used to indicate the

screen grid of a vacuum tube.

SHAPER, PULSE.

SHADE.

SHAPING NETWORK. An equalizing net

work. (See network, equalizing.)

A mixture of a color with black.

SHADING. ( 1 ) A method of controlling the

directivity pattern of a transducer through
control of the distribution of phase and ampli
tude of the transducer action over the active
face. ( 2 ) The process of correcting by com
pensating variable potentials the light distribu
tion in the image produced by the television
camera. (See circuit, shading.)
SHADING COIL (RELAY).
(See ring, shading.)

A shading ring.

SHADING RING (RELAY).

ing (relay).

See ring, shad-

SH AD O W EFFECT (U.H.F.). The reduc

tion in signal strength due to some topograph
ical feature in the line-of-sight path between
the point of transmission and reception. (Cf.
shadow factor.)
SH AD O W FACTOR. The ratio of the elec
tric field strength which would result from
propagation over a sphere to that which would
result from propagation over a plane, other
factors being the same.
SH AD O W
MASK
(COLOR
PICTURE
TUBES). A color-selecting-electrode system
in the form of an electrically conductive sheet
containing a plurality of holes which uses
masking to effect color selection.

See pulse shaper.

SHARPNESS OF RESONANCE.
nance, sharpness of.
SHARP SERIES.

See reso

See series in line spectra.

SHAVING.
In mechanical recording, the
process of removing material from the surface
of a recording medium for the purpose of ob
taining a new recording surface.
SHEAR. Any stress which displaces a plane
of a solid body parallel to itself, relative to
other parallel planes within the body, is known
as a shearing stress. The magnitude of the
shearing stress is the force per unit area on
the plane. The shear strain is the ratio of the
displacement of any plane, relative to a sec
ond plane, to the distance between planes;
i.e., it is (the tangent of) the angle through
which a line perpendicular to the planes is
rotated by the shear.
SHEARED BOUNDARY M ETHOD (FOR
TRANSPORT NUMBER). An experimental
scheme for producing an initial sharp bound
ary for use in the moving boundary method.
SHEARING FIELDS. A magnetic field con
figuration in which the rotational transform
angle varies with distance from the magnetic
axis. It can be proved that this variation

tends to lead to hydromagnetic stability.

transform, rotational.)

(See

SHEAR M ODULUS OR RIGIDITY. In the

case of a homogeneous, isotropic, elastic me
dium, the ratio of the shear stress to the shear
strain. The rigidity of such a medium is
E / 2 (l + or), where E is the Young modulus
and o- is the Poisson ratio.
SHEAR STRENGTH OF SINGLE CRYSTALS.
According to classical theory, the
shear strength of a perfect single crystal
should be of the order of its shear modulus.
This value is larger by a factor of the order
of 105 than that observed in some cases. It
is supposed that actually slip occurs by the
movement of dislocations along the glide
planes.
SHEATH. (1) A space-charge region in a
gas discharge, due to an excess of either posi
tive or negative charges. ( 2 ) The conducting
walls of a uniconductor waveguide.
(See
waveguide, uniconductor; anode sheath.)
SHEATH, CATH ODE. In a gas discharge
tube, the region between the cathode and
plasma across which the cathode fall appears.
SHEATH-RESHAPING CONVERTER.
waveguide converter, sheath-reshaping.

See

SHED. A unit of nuclear cross section equal

to 1 0 ~ 24 barn or 1 0 48 square centimeter.
SHELL M O D EL OF NUCLEUS. ( 1 ) A nu
clear model in which shell structure is postu
lated.
(2) A nuclear model in which shell
structure is a consequence of the postulates.
Hence, usually, a synonym for independent
particle model of nucleus. (See shell struc
ture of nucleus.)
SHELL STRUCTURE OF NUCLEUS. The
arrangement of the quantum states of nu
cleons of a given kind in a nucleus in groups
of approximately the same energy.
Each
such group is called a shell, and the number
of nucleons in each shell is limited by the
Pauli exclusion principle. A closed shell is
one containing the maximum number of nu
cleons allowed by this principle. A nucleus
having all of its nucleons of either or both
kinds in closed shells possesses greater than
average stability. (See nucleus, independent
particle model; magic numbers.)

SHF. Abbreviation for superhigh-frequency,

the 3,000 to 30,000 m egacycle band. The use
of this term is deprecated. (See band(s), fre
quency.)
SHIELD. A ny material used to reduce the
amount o f radiation reaching one region of
space from another region of space.
SHIELDED PAIR. A two-wire transmission
line surrounded by a metallic sheath.
SHIELD, END. Shield placed at either end
of the interaction space of a magnetron to pre
vent electrons from bombarding the end seals.
SHIELD (SCREEN) FARADAY. An elec
trostatic shield made of a series of parallel
wires connected at one end. The common
point is grounded. Electromagnetic waves are
not influenced by the screen.
SHIELDING. ( 1 ) In nuclear reactor termi
nology, the reduction of the amount of radia
tion reaching one region of space from an
other, as effected by a shield, or other device.
(2) In many circuits, particularly in the fields
of communication and electronics where the
currents and voltages are often very small,
it is necessary to protect from external dis
turbances. This m ay be largely accomplished
by shielding. Disturbing voltages may be in
duced in a circuit or part of a circuit by elec
trostatic or electromagnetic (or both) induc
tion. The first is relatively easy to shield
against since it is only necessary to surround
the circuit with a conducting surface which is
grounded. This effectively prevents the elec
trostatic lines of force from reaching the cir
cuit and thus inducing voltages in it. T o
shield from electromagnetic effects the mag
netic lines of force must be prevented from
linking the circuit. Since there are no effec
tive magnetic insulators and no perfect con
ductors this is difficult to do. Fortunately, the
number of lines of force which do get to the
circuit may be reduced to a small value which
will usually not cause trouble. A t low fre
quencies (including the audio range) this is
accomplished by surrounding the circuit by
a material having high magnetic permeability,
the higher the permeability the more perfect
the shielding. A t radio frequencies the effec
tive permeabilities of all magnetic materials
approach unity. A t these frequencies the eddy
currents induced in the shield serve to protect

the circuit. As a consequence, the

conductivity of the shielding the
protection, aluminum and copper
materials ordinarily used. (3) See
of nucleus; Rydberg correction.
SHIELDING CONSTANT.
ing constant.
SHIELDING DISTANCE.
ing distance.

better the
better its
being the
screening

Same as screen-

SHIFT PULSE.

See pulse, shift.

SHIM, NON MAGNETIC (RELAY). A non

magnetic material attached to the armature
or core of a relay to prevent iron-to-iron con
tact in an energized relay.
SHIM, RESIDUAL (RELAY).
non-magnetic.

Same as shim,

See Debye shield

SHIELDING RATIO. The ratio of the field

in a region of interest, with a shield in place,
to the field in that region with the shield re
moved.
SHIELDING THEORY.
(1) A t radio fre
quencies, the effect of a shield can be com
puted, for idealized cases, in terms of the
reflection of traveling waves at a discontinuity
presented by the shield, and by the attenua
tion of the transmitted portion of the wave.
( 2 ) A t very low frequencies, the effects of a
shield can be approximated by their static be
havior, i.e., the shielding can be thought of as
due to induced charges and magnetic mo
ments which tend to neutralize the field.
SHIELDS,
ELECTROSTATIC
SPRING
(RELAY). M etallic shields used between two
relay springs to minimize capacitance between
them.
SHIFT. (1) Displacement of an ordered set
of characters one or more places to the left or
right. I f the characters are the digits of a
numerical expression, a shift may be equiva
lent to m ultiplying by a power of the base.
(2) A shift of a spectral line. (See also Dop
pler effect; red shift.)
(3) Level shift. The
position of an energy level in a quantum me
chanical system m ay be displaced by a small
amount due to an interaction or perturbation.
Such a displacement is usually referred to as
a level sh ift
SHIFT, CYCLIC. An operation which pro
duces a word whose characters are obtained
by a cyclic permutation of the characters of a
given word.
SHIFT OF SPECTRAL LINE. A small dis
placement in the position of a spectral line
that is caused by a corresponding change in
frequency which is due, in turn, to one or more
of a variety of causes, such as the Doppler
effect, etc.

SHOCK-EXCITED
oscillations, free.

OSCILLATIONS.

See

SHOCK HEATING.
The non-isentropic
heating of a fluid by the passage of a shock
wave through the fluid.
SHOCK MOTION. In a mechanical system,
transient motion which is characterized by
suddenness and by significant relative dis
placements.
SHOCK W AVE. A wave in which an abrupt,
finite change takes place in pressure and par
ticle velocity.
(See velocity, particle.)
A
shock wave can also be defined as a finite
amplitude sound wave. Shock waves may be
propagated at speeds appreciably greater than
the speed of sound.
SHORAN (SHORT RANGE NAVIGATION).
A precision position fixing system using a pulse
transmitter and receiver on the vehicle with
two transponders at fixed points.
SHORE EFFECT. The change in the char
acteristics of an electromagnetic wave as it
passes along a land-sea boundary, due to a
difference in the propagation characteristics
of the two regions. A source of error in radio
direction-finders.
SHORT-CIRCUIT. An electrical circuit is
considered to be shorted when the terminals
are connected directly together with only the
impedance of the short connecting leads be
tween them, thus for all practical purposes
there is no resistance between them, hence no
voltage can exist between them. W hile short
ing a circuit which does not contain and is
not connected to any source of voltage will
produce no harmful effects, shorting a set of
terminals across which a voltage normally
exists will produce in many instances disas
trous current flows.
SHORT-PATH
principle.

PRINCIPLE.

See

Hittorf

SHORT-RANGE FORCE. A force of interac

tion between two particles which is essentially
ineffective when the interparticle separation
exceeds a certain distance; usually applied to
nuclear forces which have a range of several
times 1 0 13 cm.
SHORT RANGE NAVIGATION. Seeshoran.
SHORT-RANGE ORDER. The type of order
in which the probability of a given type of
atom having neighbors of a given type (for
example, that an A atom is surrounded by B
atoms) is greater than would be expected on
a purely random basis. There is thus a tend
ency to form small ordered domains, but these
do not link together at long distances. Shortrange order occurs in binary alloys above the
order-disorder transformation temperature,
and is measured by the parameter,
q q(rand)
a --------------------------- *
q(max) q(rand)
where q is the fraction of the total number
o f nearest-neighbor bonds in the solid between
unlike atoms, q(m ax) is the maximum pos
sible value of q for the given ratio of con
stituents, and qirand) is the value of q for
an entirely random arrangement.
Short range order is characteristic of liq
uids and disordered solids, in contrast to the
long range order found in crystalline solids.
SHOT EFFECT. A troublesome phenome
non which gives rise to a sputtering or pop
ping noise in radio and amplifier apparatus.
It was called Schroteffekt (small shot effect)
by Schottky, who first explained it as due to
variations in the number of thermions per sec
emitted from the tube filament. This varia
tion seems to be merely a statistical one, like
the variations in the forces acting on particles
exhibiting the Brownian movement. Its mag
nitude depends upon several factors, among
which is the influence of the space charge
(distribution of electrons) within the tube.
A somewhat similar effect, produced b y ran
dom variations in the velocities of the elec
trons, and depending upon the temperature of
the filament, is manifest in what is called
thermal noise, and is superposed on the shot
noise. There is also a shot effect in the emis
sion of photoelectrons, observable in the op
eration of photoelectric cells.
(See noise,
shot; noise, thermal.)

SHOWER.
( 1 ) Precipitation characterized
by sudden starting and stopping, and by
rapid changes in intensity. Shower rain is
usually associated with cumulonimbus-type
clouds and instability in the air.
(2) For
use of the term shower as applied to charged
particles or photons, see shower, cascade;
shower, extensive; cosmic-ray shower, etc.
SHOWER, CASCADE. A type of cosmicray shower that is initiated when a high-en
ergy electron, in its passage through matter,
produces one or more photons of energies
comparable with its own.
These photons
then convert into electrons and positrons by
the process of pair production. The second
ary electrons in turn produce the same effects
as the primary, and thus the number of par
ticles increases along the way. The cascade
shower of electrons and positrons builds up
until the level of energy is so low that photon
emission and pair production can no longer
occur.
SHOWER, EXTENSIVE. A shower of many
cosmic-ray particles extending over a fairly
large area, on the order of 1 0 0 meters in diam
eter. Such showers presumably are initiated
high in the atmosphere by a single cosmic ray,
having energy as great as 1 0 15- 1 0 17 ev.
SHOWER, PENETRATING. A cosmic-ray
shower in which some or all of the constituent
particles can penetrate as much as 15-20 cm
of lead. The particles are mainly /* mesons.
(See shower, cascade.)
SHOWER THEORY.

See cascade theory.

SHOWER UNIT (COSMIC RAYS).

The
mean path length required for the reduction,
by the factor y2, of the energy of relativistic
charged particles as they pass through matter.
Such particles lose their energy mostly by
radiation (see bremsstrahlung). The shower
unit s is related to the radiation length I by
the equation:
s = Zln 2 0.693Z.
SHUNT. An electrical bypath so arranged
that an electric current divides and flows par
tially through the shunt, and partially
through the equipment that is shunted. Shunts
are used extensively to reduce the sensitivity
and to lower the effective resistance o f gal*

vanometers. In this connection see ammeter;

and shunt, Ayrton.
SHUNT, AYRTON. A device used in con
nection with a galvanometer to provide vari
able current sensitivity (4). The galvanom
eter is connected across a resistance R, ap
proximately equal to that required for opti
mal damping (cf. damping, optimal). The
input terminals are two taps on R, the re
sistance between them being R/n, where n is
usually a positive power of ten.
SHUNT EXCITED . This is a method of ex
citing tower antennae which are not insulated
from the ground at the base. The feeder is
connected to a point about % of the w ay up
the antenna, the exact location depending on
many factors and usually involving some cutand-try.
For proper operation the feeder
should slope up to the point of attachment
from a point some distance from the base of
the antenna, the slope being adjusted experi
mentally. The term is also applied to the
method employed in providing field current
for d-c dynamos. A shunt-excited machine
is one in which the field windings are con
nected across the armature terminals.
SHUNT NEUTRALIZATION.
zation, inductive.
SHUNT RECTIFIER.
free-wheeling.

See neutrali

Synonym for rectifier,

SHUNT TEE JUNCTION.

junction, shunt tee.

See waveguide

SIDEBAND(S).
(1) The frequency bands
on both sides of the carrier frequency within
which fall the frequencies of the wave pro
duced by the process of modulation. (2) The
wave components lying within such bands.
In the process of amplitude modulation with
a sine-wave carrier, the upper sideband in
cludes the sum (carrier plus modulating) fre
quencies; the lower sideband includes the d if
ference (carrier minus modulating) frequen
cies.
SIDEBAND, VESTIGIAL. The transmitted
portion of the sideband which has been largely
suppressed b y a transducer having a gradual
cutoff in the neighborhood of the carrier fre
quency, the other sideband being transmitted
without much suppression.
SIDE CIRCUIT.

See circuit, phantom.

SIDE THRUST. In disc recording, the radial

component of force on a pickup arm caused by
the stylus drag.
SIDETONE. The signal that reaches a tele
phone receiver from the transmitter of the
same set by way of a local path within that
set.
SIEGBAHN UNIT (X-UNIT). A length of
10 11 cm, widely used in expressing the wave
length of x-rays.
SIEMENS.
synchro.

A trade name for a form of

SIEMENS
COUNTERCURRENT
HEAT
EXCHANGER.
A device, in its simplest
form consisting of two concentric tubes, by
which the heat content of a fluid moving in
one tube can be transferred to the fluid m ov
ing in the other tube in opposite direction.
SIF. In television, an abbreviation for sound
intermediate frequency.
SIGMA. (1) M athematical summation (S).
(2) Surface tension (cr, but is more com
monly used). (3 ) M illisecond (cr). (4 ) Cross
section (a), total cross section (o*), cross sec
tion for atom in a mixture ( 04). (5) Electric
conductivity (o-). (6) Collision diameter of
molecule (o-).
(7) Dispersion (o-).
(8 )
Thomson coefficient (<r). (9) Wave number
(o-).
(1 0 ) Stefan-Boltzmann constant (cr).
(11) Exposure (2). (12) Surface charge den
sity (<7 ). (1 3 ) M ass per unit area ( a ) . (1 4 )
Projection of S (the resultant angular mo
mentum of electron spins) on the molecular
axis (Hund case a) (2). (1 5 ) Electronic state
o f molecule having = 0 ( 2) . (1 6 ) 5-state
for which the electronic wave-functions are
symmetric and antisymmetric, respectively,
with respect to any plane containing the m olec
ular axis ( 2 + , 2 ).
SIGMA ELECTRON.

See bond, <r (sigma).

SIGMA PILE (NUCLEAR REACTOR). An

assembly of a moderator material containing
a neutron source, used in the study of the
neutron properties of the material.
SIGNAL. (1) An independent input variable.
( 2 ) A visual, audible, or other indication used
to convey information. (3) The intelligence,
message, or effect to be conveyed over a com
munication system. (4) A signal wave.

SIGNAL, CIRCULATING.
A transmitted
signal which travels one or more times around
the earth.
SIGNAL CONTRAST (IN FACSIMILE).
T h e ratio, expressed in decibels, between
white signal and black signal.
SIGNAL(S), DRIVING. In television, sig
nals that time the scanning at the pickup
point. T w o kinds of driving signals are usu
ally available from a central sync generator.
One is composed of pulses at line frequency
and the other is composed of pulses at field
frequency.
SIGNAL ELECTRODE CAPACITANCE.
See capacitance, electrode.
SIGNAL, END-OF-COPY. A signal indicat
ing termination of the transmission of a com
plete subject copy.
SIGNAL, FACSIMILE (PICTURE SIGNAL).
A signal resulting from the scanning process.
SIGNAL, FACSIMILE, LEVEL. The maxi
mum facsimile signal power or voltage (rms or
dc) measured at any point in a facsimile sys
tem. It may be expressed in decibels with re
spect to some standard value such as 1 milli
watt.
SIGNAL, FRAMING.

See framing signal.

SIGNAL FREQUENCY SHIFT. In a fre

quency shift facsimile system, the numerical
difference between the frequencies correspond
ing to white signal and black signal at any
point in the system.

voice band or part of a band assigned for that

purpose.
SIGNALING DIAL. A type of signaling in
which pulse trains are transmitted to a receiv
ing terminal to operate automatic line selec
tion equipment. The sequence of the dial
pulses is determined by an operator, but their
duration is predetermined by equipment ad
justments.
SIGNALING, IN-BAND. The transmission
o f signaling tones at some frequency or fre
quencies within the channel normally used for
voice transmission.
SIGNALING, OUT-OF-BAND.
Transmis
sion of signals by frequencies outside of the
voice band.
SIGNAL, INPUT. The power, voltage or cur
rent fed into the input of a device or circuit.
SIGNAL LEVEL. A t any point in a trans
mission system, the difference of the measure
of the signal at that point from the measure
of an arbitrarily-specified signal chosen as a
reference. In audio techniques, the measures
of the signal are often expressed in decibels,
thus their difference is conveniently expressed
as a ratio.
SIGNAL, LIM ITED. In radar, a signal that
is intentionally limited in amplitude by the
dynamic range of the system.
SIGNAL, OUTPUT. The power, voltage, or
current delivered by a device or circuit.
SIGNAL, PICTURE.

See signal, facsimile.

SIGNAL(S), GHOST. (1) In Loran and Gee,

identification pulses which appear on the dis
play at less than full repetition rate. ( 2 ) In
Loran, signals appearing on the display which
have a basic repetition rate other than the
basic repetition rate being observed.

SIGNAL POWER, AVAILABLE. The m axi

mum signal power that can be drawn from
the output terminals of a network by a load
whose impedance is the complex conjugate of
the impedance seen when looking back into
the network. (See matching, load (1).)

SIGNALING. A procedure of informing the

distant end of a communication circuit that
intelligence is to be transmitted to it.

SIGNAL,
RADIO-FREQUENCY,
LOW LEVEL (TR, ATR AND PRE-TR TUBES).
A radio frequency signal with insufficient
power to cause the tube to become fired.

SIGNALING, CARRIER. The method by

which necessary supervision (busy signals,
ringing, or dial signaling) is provided by the
transmission of a carrier frequency tone. The
frequency employed for carrier signaling may
lie between channels, or a group of such tones
for a number of channels may be put in a

SIGNALS, EQUALIZING. In television, a

series of six pulses before and after a serrated,
vertical pulse. The action of these pulses
causes the vertical deflection to start at the
same time in each interval.
(See pulses,
equalizing.)

SIGNAL-SHAPING NETWORK.
izer network.
SIGNAL, SPACE.
wave, spacing.)

An equal-

A spacing wave.

SIGNAL, STANDARD TELEVISION.

television signal, standard.

(See
See

SIGNAL(S), SYNCHRONIZING.
See syn
chronizing, radio; synchronizing, television;
synchronizing signal.
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE MERIT.
noise ratio.

See signal-to-

SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO. The ratio of

the value of the signal to that o f the noise.
This ratio is usually in terms of peak values
in the case of impulse noise (see noise, im
pulse) and in terms of the root-mean-square
values in the case of the random noise (see
noise, random). W here there is a possibility
of ambiguity, suitable definitions of the signal
and noise should be associated with the term ;
as, for example: peak-signal to peak-noise
ratio; root-mean-square signal to root-m eansquare noise ratio; peak-to-peak signal to
peak-to-peak noise ratio, etc. This ratio is
often expressed in decibels. This ratio may
be a function of the bandwidth of the trans
mission system.
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO, AVAILABLE.
The ratio of the available signal power to the
available noise power.
(See signal-to-noise
ratio.)
SIGNAL, W H IT E . The signal at any point
in a facsimile system produced by the scan
ning of a minimum density area of the subject
copy.
SIGN CONVENTION (LENS AND MIR
ROR). Since every distance involved in lens
computations must be measured from some
origin, a convention of signs should be adopted
to insure consistency in the derivation and
use of formulae. Unfortunately this has not
been done by all authors. The following prob
ably has the largest following: ( 1 ) D raw all
figures with the light incident on the reflecting
or refracting surface from the left. ( 2 ) C on
sider the object distance p P V positive when
P is at the left of the vertex. (3) Consider
the image distance q = V P ' positive when P f
is at the right of the vertex. (4) Consider the
radius of curvature R = C V positive when the

center of curvature lies to the right of the ver

tex.
(5) Consider the slope angles positive
when the axis must be rotated counterclock
wise through less than tt/2 to bring it into
coincidence with the ray. ( 6 ) Consider angles
of incidence and refraction positive when the
radius of curvature must be rotated counter
clockwise through less than tt/2 to bring it into
coincidence with the ray. (7) Consider dis
tances normal to the axis positive when meas
ured upward.
In the following diagram only
is negative.

When the convention is followed, the simple

lens formula takes the form

- = - + -=
P
q

( n - 1 ) ( ------------- *
\Ri
Rj

SIGN, DIGIT. A character used to designate

the algebraic sign of a number.
SIGNIFICANT FIGURE.
nificant.
SILENT PERIOD.
silence.

See digit(s), sig

See international radio

SILICON. Nonm etallic element.

A tom ic number 14.

Sym bol Si.

SILSBEE RULE. A long circular wire of

radius a cannot carry a supercurrent greater
than y2aH C} where H c is the critical field of
the material. Evidently the magnetic field
of the current itself then destroys the super
conductivity.
SILVER.
M etallic element.
Sym bol
(argentum). Atom ic number 47.

Ag

SILVERSTAT. The trade name for a control

device with a number of contacts arranged so
that the number of contacts closed is propor
tional to a control force. The contacts can,
as an example, short out resistances in series
with a generator field, causing the output
voltage to vary as a direct function of control
force. The control force m ay be developed
by an unbalanced gyro, an electromagnet, etc.

SILVER T H A W .
A fter a period of cold
weather and below-freezing temperature a
mass of warm air passing over the region will
cause frost or glaze to form on objects that are
still at a low temperature. This condition is
known as a silver thaw, and usually lasts only
a few hours, as the warm air soon warms all
exposed objects above 32F.
SIMPLE DOUBLET ANTENNA.
tenna, doublet; antenna, dipole.

See an

SIMPLE HARMONIC M OTION.

monic motion.

See har

SIMPLE TONE (PURE TONE).

simple.

See tone,

SIMPLEX. A method of operation of a com

munication circuit where signals can be trans
mitted in only one direction at a time. A
radio circuit must always be simplex when
only a single carrier frequency is used.
SIMPLEXED CIRCUIT. A circuit used to
transmit two signals simultaneously.
(See
phantom circuit.)
SIMPLEX OPERATION OF A RADIO SYS
TEM . A method of operation in which com
munication between two stations takes place
in one direction at a time. This includes ordi
nary transmit-receive operation, press-to-talk
operation, voice-operated carrier, and other
forms of manual or automatic switching from
transmit to receive.
SIMPSON RULE.
formula

A numerical quadrature

Cb
h
I f(x )d x = - [y0 + 4 (t/i +
3

Ja

2(2/2 +

2/4 +

2/3

H-------- h

* * +

Vn

V n -

2) +

1)

the Lorentz transformation and of the rela

tivity theory that two events that are simul
taneous for one observer may not be simulta
neous for another observer who is moving rela
tive to the first.
SINE W A V E . A wave which can be ex
pressed as the sine of a linear function of
time, or space, or both.
SINE W A VE , ANGLE OF.
phase of.

See sine wave,

SINE W A VE , PHASE OF. The measure of

the progression of the wave in time or space
from a chosen instant or position. The angle
or phase is the value of the entire linear func
tion. In the representation of a sine wave by
a rotating vector, the angle or phase is the
angle through which the vector has progressed.
SINGING. An undesired self-sustained oscil
lation existing in a transmission system.
SINGLE-ADDRESS CODE.
struction.

See code, in

SINGLE CRYSTAL. A megascopic speci

men of a solid in which all parts have the
same crystallographic orientation.
SINGLE OPERATION,
tion.

See simplex opera

SINGLE PARTICLE M OD EL OF NU
CLEUS. A synonym for independent par
ticle model of nucleus.
SINGLE-POLARITY PULSE.
See pulse,
unidirectional. The use of the term single
polarity pulse is deprecated.
SINGLE-SURFACE EQUATION, PARAX
IAL. See paraxial single-surface equation.

Vn]

where h is the interval between equally spaced

values of the independent variable x, and yj
is the value of f ( x ) at the beginning of the
(j + l ) s t interval.
SIMULATION. The representation of phys
ical systems by computers and associated
equipment.
(See analog; analogs and anal
o g y .)

SIMULTANEITY. T w o events are simul

taneous relative to an observer when they
occur at the same time according to a clock
fixed relative to him. It is a consequence of

SINGULAR. Referring to unusual or pe

culiar behavior of a function. Thus, a singu
lar matrix is one for which the determinant
vanishes. An integral equation with infinite
limits of integration or an infinite kernel is
singular. Coefficients of a linear differential
equation become infinite at a singular point
and singular solutions of them may also exist.
I f the slope of a curve becomes infinite the
point is called a singular point for the curve.
SINGULARITY.
A singular point, i.e., a
point at which a function exhibits singular
behavior.

SINGULAR POINT, ELEMENTARY. A t a

regular singular point of a linear differential
equation the difference between the two ex
ponents of the indicial equation is arbitrary,
except that it cannot be zero or integral. If
this difference equals y2} the singularity is
elem entary.

second-order differential equation, the indicial

equation at an irregular singular point is of
first degree or less and there is only one series
solution there or none. An irregular singular
point of a differential equation arises from
the confluence of two or more regular singu
lar points.

SINGULAR POINT, ESSENTIAL. A singu

larity of a function of the complex variable
which is not a pole or a branch point. It is
actually a pole of infinite order. A simple
example is

SINGULAR POINT, NON-ESSENTIAL.

pole of finite order.

and it is seen that no finite values of the ex

ponent n in znw (z ) will remove the singular
point of this function at z = 0.
(See also
Laurent series.)
SINGULAR POINT FOR COM PLEX VARI
ABLE. A particular value of the complex
variable z for which a function of that vari
able f ( z ) is not analytic. Hence any point
which is not an ordinary point. Singular
points or singularities are classified as: ( 1 )
poles or unessential singularities; ( 2 ) essen
tial singularities (see singular point, essen
tial) or poles of infinite order; (3) branch
points caused by the fact that the function is
not single-valued.
SINGULAR POINT FOR PLANE CURVE.
A ny point on a given curve for which the
derivative becomes indeterminate. A ny other
point is an ordinary point. Let the equation
of the curve be f ( x, y) = 0 , then a singular
point occurs at a point (x0,yo) , provided
df/dx = 0

and

df/dy = 0

at that point, for the derivative is

dy/dx = df/dxfdf/dy.
I f there are two, three, etc., tangents to the
curve the singular point is a double point,
triple pointy etc. Functions of the second
derivative are used to classify the singular
point as a node, point of osculation, cusp of
the first or second kind, conjugate or iso
lated point; end point; salient point.
SINGULAR POINT, IRREGULAR. A singu
lar point of a linear differential equation
which is not a regular singular point (see
singular point, regular). In the case of a

SINGULAR POINT, REGULAR. The point

z = z0 is a regular singular point of the sec
ond-order linear differential equation
,
GO*)
--y, +, 7--^ y = 0,
y H
z - z0
(z - z0y
provided: ( 1 ) z0 is not an ordinary point; ( 2 )
both P( z ) and Q{ z ) are analytic functions at
z = z0. I f these conditions are not met, the
singularity is irregular. This classification
of singular points may be extended to linear
differential equations of any order.
SINGULAR POINT, TRANSCENDENTAL.
I f a curve is represented by a transcendental
equation, it may have a singularity, called an
end point, where the curve terminates sud
denly due to a discontinuity; a salient point,
where the two branches o f the curve end be
cause of a discontinuity in the derivative.
Examples are: y = In x } an end point at the
origin; y x tan - 1 ( 1 /a;), a salient point at
the origin.
SINGULAR SOLUTION. A solution to a
differential equation which is not a special
case of the general solution hence not obtain
able from the general solution by assigning a
value to its parameters. (See Clairaut equa
tion.)
SINIMAX.
A nickel-iron-silicon,
permeability magnetic alloy.

medium

SINK. A ny device or system that is used to

absorb some extensive entity. E.g., in ther
modynamics one uses the term to refer to a
massive body that can absorb heat. I f the
absorption can be accomplished without
change in the intensive properties o f the sink
(e.g., the temperature in the case just cited),
the term infinite sink is often used.
SINK OF AN OSCILLATOR. The region of
a Rieke diagram where the rate of change of
frequency with respect to phase of the reflec

tion coefficient is maximum. Operation in this

region may lead to unsatisfactory performance
by reason of cessation or instability of oscilla
tions.

J1J2J12
J*3j 323 J
=

( - l ) , l m1+ ,2 -m2+712-mi2+y3_m3+y_m+

AUM

SINK, PH ASE O F . A term describing that

location of the voltage minimum on the wave
guide at the output of a magnetron which
causes the tube to operate in the sink region.
The correct location for the voltage minimum
is in the anti-sink region, or one-fourth the
waveguide wavelength (A^/4) from the phase
sink.
SIN TERIN G. A process in which a powdered
material, having been previously compressed
into a solid mass of small particles, is heated
to a sufficiently high temperature to allow
diffusion from one particle to another. The
material is thus transformed to a more nearly
homogeneous state.

A y By a} and b being constants, o f which all

but one m ay equal zero. Thus the imaginary
exponential
is sinusoidal.
SIREN. Usually, a revolving disc perforated
with a ring of equally spaced holes which in
terrupt a tube placed close to one side of the
disc. The fundamental frequency of the suc
cessive puffs of air issuing through the holes
is equal to the product of the number of holes
and the number of revolutions per second of
the disc. High sound intensities can be ob
tained.
SIX-J-SYMBOL. A coefficient, introduced by
W igner in 1937, which enters into the trans
formation for the recoupling of three angular
momenta in quantum mechanics. It is related
to the Wigner coefficients by the expression:

\j\j2j\2

23

il2\ y / j l j 23\
\ mi m 2 mi2/ \mi m 77123/

y f

jl

32

x v (

Vm3m 2m 23/

v ( ^

\m3 m mi2)

The symmetry of this coefficient is such that it

remains invariant under any interchange of
columns or the interchange of any pair of upper
and lower indices which keep them in the same
column. Tw o useful orthogonality relations
involving the six-j-symbol are:
a b cl fa b c
d e fi

8f e 8 (aef) 8 (dbf)

id e g

SIN U SO IDAL. A function of an independent

variable x is said to be sinusoidal when it can
be expressed as:
A sin ax + B cos bx,

23

2/

a b cl fa b c

The symbol 8/g is the Kronecker delta and

means that the magnitudes of the in
tegers a, e, and / must be such that as vectors
they could add to a zero resultant.
(See
angular m o m en tu m , coupling and re
coupling; Racah coefficient; W -coeflicient,
U-coefiicient o f John; Z-coefficient.)
8 (aef)

SIX-VECTO R.
An antisymmetrical tensor
which in virtue of the conditions T fiv --- TVfl
has, for fi,v = 1, * * 4, only six independent
components. The electromagnetic field com
ponents E xE yE Zy B xB yB z may be represented
as the components of a six-vector.
SKANATRON. Trade name for a cathoderay tube scanning device which can be used
for the production o f color-separation plates.
SKEW (IN FA C SIM IL E ). The deviation of
the received frame from rectangularity due to
asynchronism between scanner and recorder.
Skew is expressed numerically as the tangent
of the angle of this deviation.

b*3 j J23 J
See cent.

= [(2 /12 + 1) (2.723 + l)]_M( - l ) J'i+ ,2+y3+y

SKHISMA.

SKIASCOPE. An instrument for studying the

optical refraction within the eye.

0 i2Wii2|j m i ; y2m2) (jm\ j i 2m12; j sm3)

O23W231 32 *1 2 ; j 3m3) (jm\ j ymy; jn m 2 z)

Expressed in terms of the symmetrized Y -c o efficients of Racah, it is given by:

SKIATRON.
(1) A dark trace oscilloscope
tube (see tube, dark trace). (2) A display

employing an optical system with a dark trace

tube.
SKIN DEPTH. For a conductor carrying
currents at a given frequency as a result of
the electromagnetic waves acting upon its
surface, the depth below the surface at which
the current density has decreased one neper
below the current density at the surface. Usu
ally the skin depth is sufficiently small so that
for ordinary configurations of good conduc
tors, the value obtained for a plane wave fall
ing on a plane surface is a good approxima
tion. The skin depth is given by the rela
tionship:
1

SKIN E F F E C T (IN A PLA SM A ), E L E C T R O

M A G N E TIC . An electromagnetic wave will
not penetrate into a plasma if its frequency
cd is less than the plasma frequency wp. This
effect is different than the skin effect caused by
collisions. The penetration distance, d, for
this case is
c
1
d = ^ (1 - co2/ ^ 2)
where c is the speed o f light.
SKINNERS C O N STAN T.
SKIN RESISTAN CE.

See sniggle factor.

See resistance, skin.

SKIOGRAPH . An apparatus which measures

the intensity of x-rays.

' s / i r f jl<j

SKIP D ISTA N C E .
where / is the frequency, /a is the permeability,
and <r is the electrical conductivity.
SKIN EFFECT. The phenomenon wherein
the depth of penetration of electric currents
into a conductor decreases as the frequency of
the current is increased.
(See skin depth.)
A t very high frequencies the current flow is
restricted to an extremely-thin, outer layer of
the conductor. In this layer it presents essen
tially a current sheet, which shields parts of
the conductor away from the conducting sur
face, from the effects of external fields, to the
extent that there is little or no tendency for
current to flow in those regions.
The partial differential equation that gov
erns the skin effect is

SKY C O N D IT IO N . The state of the sky is

also known as the sky condition. In terms
of tenths of sky covered, airways observers
in the U.S. recognize four sky conditions:
( 1 ) Clear sky is less than 1/ 10 cover of
clouds.
( 2 ) Scattered clouds is y10 to % 0 cover.
(3) Broken clouds is more than % 0 but not
more than % 0 cover.
(4) Overcast is more than % o cover.
International practice and observations
made for synoptic reports and charts in North
America recognize 10 states of the sky. They
are indicated b y code numbers, as follows:
0
1

2
3
where p and o- are the magnetic permeability
and the conductivity, respectively, of the
medium and J is the current density. The
magnetic flux density B also satisfies the same
equation. In the derivation of these equa
tions the effect of the displacement current
density is neglected, and the equations are
therefore only valid for low frequency fields.
SKIN EFFECT, ANOMALOUS.
A t very
low temperatures the relation given in the
entry on skin depth is not valid and the high
frequency resistance becomes nearly inde
pendent of the conductivity of the material as
measured at low frequencies.
(See R. B.
Dingle, Physica, Vol. 19, pp. 348-364 (1953).)

See distance, skip.

5
6
7

N o clouds
Less than H o

Ho
Ho to Ho
Ho to Ho
Ho to Ho
Ho

M ore than Ho but with openings

8
9 ............... Sky obscured by fog, dust, snow,
etc.
SKY E R RO R. See error, ionospheric.
use of the term sky error is deprecated.
SKY W A V E .

The

See ionospheric wave.

SKY-WAVE A C C U R A C Y PATTERN .
In
navigation, the plot of systematic iso-error
due to sky wave (see wave, sky) on a geo
graphic coordinate system.

SKY-WAVE ERROR.

See error, ionospheric.

SKY-WAVE STATION-ERROR.
In skywave synchronized loran the error of station
synchronization due to the effect of variations
o f the ionosphere on the time of transmission
of the synchronizing signal from one station
to the other.
SLANT RANGE. See distance, slant. The
use of the term slant range is deprecated.
SLATER DETERM INANT. The determinantal wave function employed in the Slater
method and the Hartree-Fock method.
SLATER M ETHOD. A method for treating
the problem of the m any-electron atom, in
volving antisymmetrical functions, which
yields the relative values of coulomb and ex
change energy. As in the Hartree method,
the variational method is used to test the val
ues for the total energy. Phys. R ev. 34, 1293
(1929); 35, 210 (1930).
(See Hartree-Fock
method.)
SLAVE RELAY.

See relay, auxiliary.

SLAVE STATION.

See station, slave.

SLEET. Frozen rain drops (or drizzle) which

fall as particles of ice. (International usage
defines sleet as a mixture of rain and snow.)
SLEEVE. The contact portion of a phone
plug which is farthest from the tip. It is also
the largest in size, and is generally a part of
the plug frame.
SLEEVE STUB.
stub.
SLICER.

See antenna, sleeve stub;

See limiter, clipper.

SLIDE W IRE. In electrical measurements,

any voltage divider consisting of a single
wire connected between two nodes, with a con
tact that m ay be moved along the wire. The
wire is often arranged in a circle or a helix.
SLIDE-WIRE BRIDGE.
stone.

See bridge, Wheat

SLIP. (1) The process b y which a crystal

undergoes plastic deformation, as a result of
which one atomic plane moves bodily over
another. Slip is believed to occur through
the movement of dislocations. The total de
formation of a given crystal is the sum of
many small lateral displacements in parallel

crystallographic planes of a given family.

M oreover each slip plane becomes more re
sistant to further deformation than the re
maining potential slip planes.
( 2 ) A char
acteristic of the induction motor; namely, the
percentage by which the rotor-speed falls
below synchronous speed. The slip varies
from practically zero at no-load, up to maxi
mum at the stalling torque. (3) See slip of a
fluid along a surface.
SLIP, ANGLE OF.

See angle of slip.

SLIP BANDS. Lines formed on the surface

of plastically-deformed, single crystals defin
ing planes in which shear displacement has
taken place. (See slip.)
SLIP OF A FLUID ALONG A SURFACE.
The slip of a fluid flowing past a surface may
be defined as the difference between the veloc
ity of the surface and the mean velocity of the
fluid at a point just outside. Although very
large velocity gradients frequently occur in
the neighborhood of solid surfaces, many ex
periments have shown that the slip is ex
tremely small for liquids and for gases under
normal conditions. For gases, the slip velocity
is of the order of the local velocity gradient
multiplied by the mean free path, and it be
comes appreciable for very low densities or
very high speeds of flow.
SLIP PLANE. An atomic plane of a crystal
along which slip may be supposed to have
taken place in order to create an edge disloca
tion; the latter moves freely along its slip
plane.
SLIP RINGS. Conducting rings attached to a
rotating part of an electrical machine to make
connection through brushes with the station
ary part of the circuit. They are used where
it is not necessary to commutate the current
being conducted. (See commutation.)
SLIT. The long narrow openings by which
radiation enters or leaves certain diffraction
or other optical instruments. Slits are often
used as line sources of radiation or of par
ticles, and combination of two or more slits
are employed to achieve the collimation o f
beams (1).
SLIT, DOUBLE. Tw o long narrow parallel
openings used in certain diffraction and inter
ference experiments.. (See Robertson, In tro

duction to Opticsy 4th Ed., pages 148 and 2 2 1 ,

D . Van Nostrand Co., Inc., Princeton.)

given energy to an energy lower than the given

energy.

SLIT, ENTRANCE.

SLOW ING-DOW N LENGTH (NEUTRON).

The square-root of the slowing-down area.

SLIT, EXIT.

See entrance slit.

See exit slit.

SLOPE. ( 1 ) In rectangular coordinates, the

ratio of the change of the ordinate to the cor
responding change of the abscissa of a point
m oving along a line. I f a straight line is de
termined by the points {xi,y i) and (x2,y2) its
slope m = (y 2 y i ) / ( x 2 X\). I f the line
is not straight its slope is given by
lim m = (dy/dx)x=xi.
X $ * X i

(2) The linear change of attenuation of a

transmission line over the frequency spectrum.
N orm ally, attenuation is greater at high fre

SLOW ING-DOW N M ODEL, CONTINU

OUS. A treatment of the slowing-down proc
ess which replaces the step-wise decrease of
energy due to collisions by a continuous curve.
SLOW ING-DOW N POWER (NEUTRON).
The average loss in natural logarithm of en
ergy (average increase in lethargy) of a neu
tron per unit distance traveled by the neutron
in the substance.
SLOWING OF CLOCKS. Effect predicted
by special relativity theory (see relativity
theory, special) that if in its rest-frame a
clock ticks n times per second then from the
point of view o f an observer moving with
speed v relative to the clock it will appear
to tick.
/

n V - ? )
times per second.
et seq.)
quencies than at low frequencies.
(3) For
use of the term slope in navigation, see glide
slope.
SLOPE ANGLE. In aerial or space naviga
tion, the angle in the vertical plane between
the flight path and the horizontal.
SLOT, ANTENNA.
SLOT, COUPLING.

See antenna slot.

See aperture, coupling.

SLOW ING D O W N . The loss of kinetic en

ergy of a particle resulting from repeated col
lisions with atomic nuclei. Applied particu
larly to neutrons. (See moderator.)
SLO W ING-DOW N AREA. (1) In an infi
nite homogeneous medium, one-sixth the mean
square distance between the neutron source
and the point where the neutron reaches a
given energy. ( 2 ) In the Fermi age model,
the age.
SLO W IN G -D O W N DENSITY (NEUTRON).
A t a given energy and time, the number of
neutrons per unit volume per unit time which
are going from an energy greater than the

(See Introduction, p. 14

SLOW NEUTRONS.

See neutrons, slow.

SLUG. A unit of mass in the f lbf s system of

units, being the mass which is accelerated at
1 f t /s 2 by a force o f one pound. It is equal
to 32.174 lbm.
SLUG (RELAY). A highly conductive sleeve
placed over the core to aid in retarding the
establishment or decay of flux within the mag
netic path.
SLUG TUNER. See tuner, slug; resonator(s),
types of plungers for.
SLUG TUNER, W AVEGU ID E.
guide slug tuner(s).

See wave

SMALL-SIGNAL THEORY. The concept of

using small excursions of current and voltage
from their quiescent operating points in order
that difficulties due to the non-linearities may
be minimized.
SMEAR. Loss of television image definition
due to lack o f sufficiently high video-fre
quency response, or due to smear ghosts.

SMEAR GHOST. In television, ghost images

which follow the desired image so closely that
the overall effect is one of smearing.
SMECTIC PHASE. One of the forms of the
mesomorphic state, or the liquid crystals.
In the smectic phase, flow does not occur nor
m ally; the substance often forms drops which
show a series of fine lines, especially on exam
ination with polarized light. The liquid m o
tion is more of a gliding than a flowing
action, and x-ray diffraction patterns are ob
tained in one direction only.
S METER. A meter used in some communi
cation receivers to measure relative signal
strength. This meter is sometimes placed in
the plate circuit of an intermediate-frequency
amplifier which is subject to automatic gain
control. The plate current in this stage is
thus an inverse function of signal strength.
SMITH DIAGRAM (CHART). A diagram
with polar coordinates, developed to aid in
the solution of transmission line and wave 43

) 4 *

Circles of constant standing wave ratio. (4)

Radius lines representing constant line-angle
loci. The chart employs normalized quanti
ties for maximum flexibility.
SMITH-HELMHOLTZ LA W .
theorem.
SMOG.

See Lagrange

A mixture of smoke and fog.

SMPE. Abbreviation for Society of M otion

Picture Engineers.
SNAP ACTION. In magnetic amplifiers with
excessively large amounts of positive feed
back, the abrupt jump in output current as a
function of control current.
Hysteresis is
present so that the jump up does not occur at
the same value of control current as the jump
down. Other types of feedback systems some
times exhibit similar action.
SNELL LAW (S). ( 1 ) When light passes from
one medium to another, the incident ray, the
normal to the surface at the point of incidence,
and the refracted ray are all in the same plane.
(2 )
The sine of the angle of incidence bears
to the sine o f the angle of refraction a ratio
which is constant for the same two media,
and depends only on the nature o f those
media.
rti sin ii = n2 sin 2,
where nx and n2 are the indices of refraction of
the first and second media, respectively.
For a medium (air) for which ni = 1 (nearly),

n2

sin ii
=

------------

sin i2

If ni > n2, it is impossible to satisfy the

Snell law, for sin i > n 2/rii. Total internal
reflection then occurs. The angle for which
ni sin ti = n2 is called the critical angle.

Smith diagram showing circles of constant standing

wave ratio, each corresponding to a particular termi
nal impedance as follows: (a) The terminal imped
ance (pi is Z ( l ) j = 2 + 10. (b) The terminal imped
ance ( p a ) is Z{1) == 1.5 -f 2.
(c) The terminal
impedance ( p 3) is Z (l) = 0 - f i 0 . (By permission
from Principles and Applications of Waveguide
Transmission by Southworth, 1950, D. Van Nostrand
Co., Inc.)

guide problems. It is composed of the fol

lowing sets of lines: ( 1 ) Constant resistance
circles. ( 2 ) Constant reactance circles. (3)

SNELL L A W APPLIED TO SOUND. Iden

tical in form to the Snell law in optics. For
nondissipative media, sin 0 2/sin 0i = c2/ c i ,
where 0 i is the angle of incidence, 02 the angle
of refraction, Ci the speed of sound in the inci
dent medium and c 2 the speed of sound in the
refracting medium.
SNIGGLE FACTOR. The variable constant
necessarily added to, subtracted from, or mul
tiplied by the experimental data to cause
agreement with theoreticaLpredictions. Some
times known as Skinners con stan t

SNOW.
(1) Solid water in the form of
branched hexagonal crystals sometimes mixed
with simple ice crystals. ( 2 ) The colloquial
term for the random pattern of white dots
present on a television screen under a weak or
zero signal condition. This pattern is due to
thermal- and shot-noise sources within the re
ceiver.
SNOW PELLETS. Whitish, opaque, usually
round pellets with a structure something like
snow. They are compressible and often burst
when striking a hard surface. They are a
shower type of hydrometeor.
SNR.

Abbreviation for signal-to-noise ratio.

SOAP. Abbreviation for sym bolic optimal

assembly program, a programming system for
the IB M 650 digital computer.
SODIUM.
(natrium ).

M etallic element.
A tom ic number 11.

Sym bol Na

SOLAR BATTERY. A silicon junction photo

voltaic cell.
SOLAR CONSTANT OF RADIATION. The
intensity of solar radiation in free space at
the earths mean solar distance. The constant
is usually expressed in cal cm - 2 m in- 1 , and
is equivalent to the amount of radiation inci
dent in unit time on unit surface exposed per
pendicularly to unimpeded radiation from the
sun. Measurements on earth must be cor
rected for the effect of the atmosphere.
SOLAR FILAMENTS. The filamenting struc
ture of the extensive solar arcs seen in the
solar corona. These were first observed dur
ing solar eclipses.
SOLAR FLARES. Bright eruptions on the
suns surface, are closely associated with sun
spot groups. These flares last only for min
utes.

See course soften-

SOLARIMETER. A pyrheliometer for direct

readings of solar radiation intensity from sun
and sky.

SOFTENING TEMPERATURE. A more or

less definite physical constant of a substance
that does not have a definite melting point,
defined as the temperature at which viscous
flow changes to plastic flow.

SOLARIZATION.
( 1 ) An actinic effect of
sunlight or ultraviolet upon glass which re
sults in a reduction in transparency, and some
times permanent coloration. (2) A reversal
of gradation sequence in a dense photographic
image as a result of great overexposure.

SOFT.

See hard.

SOFTENING, COURSE.
ing.

SOFT PHOTOTUBE.
also tube, soft.

See phototube, gas;

SOFT SPOT. See point, low clearance.

use of the term soft spot is deprecated.
SOGASOID.
in a gas.

The

A dispersed system of a solid

SOL. A colloidal solution in which the sys

tem is apparently liquid. If water is the con
tinuous phase the system is termed a hydrosol.
The term sol is also applied to the dispersion
medium of a colloidal solution.
(See also
colloid.)
SOL(S), SENSITIZATION OF. The coagu
lation of a lyophobic sol by the addition of a
lyophilic sol. An example is the coagulation
of certain gold sols by the addition of very
small amounts of gelatine, e.g., 5 X 10 ~ 4 per
cent gelatine for a 0.01 per cent gold sol. (See
also colloid.)

SOLAR RADIATION. The radiation from

the sun comprises a very wide range of wave
lengths from the long infrared rays to the
short ultraviolet rays, with a maximum in
tensity in the visible green at about 5000
angstroms. However, since the air strongly
absorbs the wavelengths toward either end of
the spectrum, the solar radiation received on
the surface of the earth is confined, largely,
to the visible and near infrared regions, with
a very small proportion of the ultraviolet.
The absorption of the ultraviolet radiation
takes place largely in the higher stratosphere,
where it probably contributes to the atmos
pheric ionization (see ionosphere). The longer
infrared is absorbed mainly by dust and
water vapor at lower levels, which accounts
for the low temperature of the air at high
altitudes.
SOLATION. The process of change from a
gel to a sol. The gel is said to solate.

SOLEIL PLATE. A type of optical com

pensator somewhat like that of Babinet, but
so constructed as to introduce the same rela
tive phase-change over the entire field at once,
instead of varying it progressively across the
field.
SOLENOID. A coil which may consist of
one or more layers of windings. It is the
basis of all forms of the electromagnet, and
is thus part of the working-mechanism of
many electrically-operated devices.
The magnetic field strength within a sole
noid whose length L is much greater than
its diameter is nearly uniform and is approxi
mately
B

pH

fxNI/Lj

where N is the number of turns, x is the per

meability of the medium in which the solenoid
is imbedded, and I is the current (rationalized
u n its).
SOLENOID, RING.
shaped coil of wire.

toroidal

or

ring-

SOLENOID, STRAIGHT. A coil of wire

wound in the form of a cylinder, usually a cir
cular cylinder.
SOLID. ( 1 ) A state of aggregation in which
the substance possesses both definite volume
and definite shape. Solids possess e asticity
both of shape and bulk, i.e., they resist any
force that tends to alter their volume or form.
Solids are characterized by very stable sur
faces of distinct outline on all sides. (2) A
geometric solid is any portion of space which
is occupied conceptually by a physical solid.
(See also crystal; solid state; vitreous state.)
SOLID ANGLE.

See angle, solid.

SOLID, GEOMETRIC.

See solid (2).

SOLIDION. Trade name for a solid state

primary cell having no liquid electrolyte.
SOLID OF REVOLUTION. A solid (2) gen
erated by the revolution of a plane area about
a line, the axis of revolution.
SOLID SOLUTION. A homogeneous solid
in which atoms or molecules of one type have
been partially replaced by other atoms or
molecules without altering the basic crystal
structure. The formation of such a mixed

crystal is usually a sign of isomorphism, al

though this is not necessarily the case in sub
stitutional alloys.
SOLID-STATE PHYSICS. Generally speak
ing, that branch of physics which deals with
the structure and properties of solids. It may
perhaps be divided into the anatomy of solids,
i.e., crystallography, theory of the structure
of metals, alloys, ionic crystals, etc., cohesive
forces, band structure, etc.; the physiology of
solids, i.e., specific heats, thermal vibrations,
thermal and electrical conductivity, intrinsic
semiconductivity, superconductivity, photo
conductivity, magnetic and dielectric proper
ties, etc.; the pathology of solids, i.e., impur
ity semiconductivity, plasticity, lattice de
fects, color centers, dislocation theory, crystal
growth, etc.
One may observe a shift of
interest from the former to the latter aspects,
as understanding of the solid state progresses.
SOLIDUS CURVE. A curve representing the
equilibrium between the solid phase (3) and
the liquid phase in a condensed system of two
components. The relationship is reduced to
a two-dimensional curve by disregarding the
influence of the vapor phase. The points on
the solidus curve are obtained by plotting the
temperature at which the last of the liquid
phase solidifies, against the composition, usu
ally in terms of the percentage composition
of one of the two components.
(See phase
diagram (2).)
SOLIQUID. A dispersed system of a solid
in a liquid. (See colloid.)
SOLUBILITY. A property of a substance by
virtue of which it forms mixtures with other
substances which are chemically and phys
ically homogeneous throughout. The degree
of solubility (often spoken of as solubility )
is the concentration of a solute in a saturated
solution at any given temperature. The de
gree of solubility of most substances increases
with rise in temperature, but there are cases
(notably the organic salts of calcium) where
a substance is more soluble in cold than in
hot solvents.
SOLUBILITY,
APPARENT.
The
total
amount of a salt present in unit volume of
a solution. (See solubility, real.)
SOLUBILITY COEFFICIENT OF GASES.
The volume of gas, under the experimental

conditions of pressure and temperature, dis

solved by unit volume of solvent.
SOLUBILITY CURVE. The graph showing
the variation with temperature of the concen
tration of a substance in its saturated solu
tion in a solvent.
SOLUBILITY PRODUCT.
A numerical
quantity dependent upon the temperature and
the solvent, characteristic of electrolytes. It
is the product of the concentrations of ions in
a saturated solution and defines the degree of
solubility of the substance. When the prod
uct of the ion concentrations exceeds the solu
bility product, precipitation com monly results.
Strictly speaking, the product of the activity
(3) of the ions should be used to determine the
solubility product, but in many cases the re
sults obtained using concentrations, as sug
gested by Nernst, are correct.
SOLUBILITY, REAL. The amount of non
ionized dissolved salt that exists in unit vo l
ume of a solution, as distinguished from ap
parent solubility, which includes both the
nonionized and ionized salt.
SOLUBILITY, RETROGRADE.
(1) Solu
bility which decreases with rise in tempera
ture, as that of sodium sulfate above 34C,
and that of a number of organic calcium salts.
( 2 ) A particular case in the conversion of a
one- to a two-phase (3) system for a threecomponent system involving two partiallymiscible liquids. (See miscibility, partial.)
SOLUTE. In a solution of two components
( 1 ) in which the component present in excess
is called the solvent, the other component is
termed the solute.
SOLUTION. (1) A homogeneous mixture of
substances which forms a single phase (3).
Gases are mutually soluble in all proportions;
liquids m ay dissolve gases, other liquids, and
solids; and solutions of solids in solids occur.
(2) The process of finding a required result
by the use of certain given data, previously
known facts or methods, and newly observed
relations; or the result of this process. For
example, the process of finding the root(s) of
an equation; or the root(s) themselves.
SOLUTION,
COLLOIDAL
(DISPERSE
SYSTEM). A heterogeneous system consist
ing of more than one phase (3). The solvent

is termed the continuous phase and the sus

pended matter the disperse phase. The dis
perse phase consists of minute aggregated par
ticles, each of which is very much larger than
any of the constituent molecules.
(This
property distinguishes colloidal from real so
lutions.) If the disperse phase is a solid, the
system is termed a colloid; if liquid, an emulsoid or emulsion (provided the particles of
disperse phase are quite large).
SOLUTION(S), CONJUGATE.
The two
liquid phases (3) of a partly-miscible, twocomponent system in equilibrium, in which
one phase is a saturated solution of component
A in component B , and the other phase is a
saturated solution of component B in a com
ponent A. (See miscibility, partial.)
SOLUTION, DILUTE. The application of
thermodynamics to colligative properties of
solutions gives quantitative results only for
ideal solutions. (See solution, ideal.) Dilute
solutions approach the behavior of ideal solu
tions. The range of concentrations over which
the relations obtained for ideal solutions hold
for dilute solutions will vary with the nature
of the constituents, namely with the solute
and the solvent.
SOLUTION(S), DILUTE, THEORY OF.
Vant Hoffs theory that substances in dilute
solution obey the same laws that apply to
gases. Used in the calculation of osmotic
pressure.
SOLUTION, IDEAL. A solution which be
haves exactly in accordance with the Raoult
law and various relationships derived from
it, at all temperatures and concentrations.
M any real solutions approach ideal behavior
more or less closely when highly dilute, devi
ations from ideality becoming more marked
the higher the concentration.
SOLUTION(S), ISOPIESTIC.
exert equal vapor pressures.

Solutions that

SOLUTION, MOLAL. A solution that con

tains a mole of solute dissolved in one kilo
gram of solvent.
SOLUTION, MOLAR. A solution that con
tains a mole of solute dissolved in one liter
of solution.

SOLUTION, NORM AL. A solution contain

ing one gram equivalent of a particular con
stituent of the solute in a liter of solution.
SOLUTION PRESSURE.

( 1 ) A measure of
the tendency of molecules or atoms to cross a
phase (3) boundary and enter into solution.
( 2 ) A term introduced by Nernst to denote
the property possessed by metals, hydrogen,
and certain non-metals, whereby they tend to
pass into solution as ions. However, it has not
been found possible to devise a method for
the measurement of the absolute potential be
tween an electrode and a solution of its ions.
(For a further discussion, see electrolytic so

lution pressure.)
SOLUTION, SATURATED. A solution con
taining the maximum proportion of solute to
solvent at that temperature under equilibrium
conditions; in other words, a solution which
does not change in concentration of solute as
more solute is added.
SOLUTION, SATURATED, INCONGRUENT. A solution of two or more components
(1), which is unsaturated with respect to one
solid phase (3) present, and saturated with
respect to a second solid phase present, with
the added circumstance that there is a com
ponent in common to all three phases (i.e.,
the solution and the two solid phases). As the
solution becomes more concentrated, one solid
phase enters into solution, while the second
solid phase (e.g., a double salt) separates from
solution.

SOLUTION, SINGULAR.
(1) A solution
whose vapor pressure curve as a function of
com position shows a maximum or minimum
indicating the formation of a constant boil
ing mixture, as in aqueous solutions of alcohol.
( 2 ) For the use of this term in mathematics,
see singular solution.

SOLUTION, STANDARD. A ny solution of

known, definite concentration.
SOLUTION, SUPERSATURATED. A solu
tion which contains a greater quantity of dis
solved solute than that which can exist at the
given temperature in stable equilibrium with
the solute. Supersaturated solutions are meta
stable systems in which a true equilibrium is
not established. Addition of solid substance,
stirring, friction, etc., causes the separation of
the excess of solute.

SOLVATION O F IONS. The attachment of

molecules of solvent to ions.
SOLVENT. Usually the term denotes a liquid
which dissolves another compound to form a
homogeneous one-phase (3) liquid mixture. In
a wider meaning, the term denotes that com
ponent (1) of a gaseous, liquid, or solid mix
ture which is present in excess over all other
components of the system.
SOLVENT, DISSOCIATING. A solvent in
which solutes that associate in many other
solvents enter into solution as single m ole
cules. Thus, various carboxylic acids asso
ciate and hence give abnormal elevations of
the boiling point, abnormal depressions of the
freezing point, etc., in many organic solvents;
in water, however, they do not associate.
Therefore, water is called a dissociating sol
vent for such solutes.
SOLVENT, IM M IS C IB LE.

A liquid that
dissolves or extracts a substance from solu
tion in another solvent without mixing with
the other solvent.

SOLVENT, NONPOLAR.

A solvent whose
constituent molecules do not possess perma
nent dipole moments and which does not form
ionized solutions.

SOLVENT, NORM AL.

A solvent that does

not undergo chemical association, i.e., the
formation of complexes between its molecules.
(See ion, complex.)

SOLVENT, POLAR. A solvent consisting of

polar molecules. In such solvents electrolytes
(salts, acids, and bases) dissociate into ions,
and form electrically-conducting solutions.
W ater, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide are rep
resentative polar solvents.

SOLVER, EQUATION.
computer, analog.

See equation solver;

SOLVOLYSIS. A generalized conception of

the relation between a solvent and a solute
(i.e., a relation between two components (1)
of a single-phase (3) homogeneous system)
whereby the solvent molecule donates a pro
ton to, or accepts a proton from a molecule of
solute, or both, forming one or more different
molecules. A particular case of special inter
est occurs when water is used as solvent, in
which case the interaction between solute and
solvent is called hydrolysis.

SO M M E R FE L D FORM ULA. An approxi

mate propagation relationship for distances
short enough that the earths curvature may
be neglected. It states that
k

pa

8 = ------------ .
d
where 8 is the field strength; K is an antenna
constant; P is the radiated power, d is the
distance away from the antenna and A is a
param eter involving the frequency, the dis
tance, and the soil conductivity.

SO M M E R FE L D LA W O F R EG U LA R OR
RELAT IV IST IC DOUBLETS. The relation
ship:
c?R (Z Av

<
j2) a

--------- -------------------------

n\l +

1)

where cr2 is a screening constant, , the fine

structure constant, n, the principal quantum
number, and I the azimuthal quantum num
ber. The smallest value of I is 1.

SONAR. A term formed from the contraction

of sound navigation and ranging.
Sonar
equipment is employed for underwater detec
tion, ranging, and depth measurement. In a
process analogous to that used in radar, sonic
or supersonic pulses are transmitted, reflected
from an object, and received at the point of
transmission. The required time-interval is
used as a measure of the distance between the
reflecting object and the transmitter.

SONAR, CO M M U NICATION .
Signaling
from ship to ship underwater by means of
sonar equipment. The sound signal in the
water may be a replica of the original voice
or telegraph frequency, or it may be a m odu
lated ultrasonic frequency. In the latter case
the carrier frequency is usually below 1 0 0 kc
because of the very high attenuation at the
higher frequencies.
SONAR, D IR E C T IO N AND RANGING. The
detection of underwater objects by the use of
sonar equipment. An oscillator operates at a
fixed frequency, usually between 10 and 50 kc.
A switch connects the power amplifier of the
oscillator to a subaqueous loudspeaker-microphone used as a loudspeaker. After a short
interval, the switch connects the amplifier
to the loudspeaker-microphone used as a
microphone. I f a reflected sound impulse is

received, it will be indicated by a pip on a

cathode ray tube or as a ping on an air

loudspeaker. The directional pattern of the
loudspeaker-microphone enables the direction
to be determined, while the time-delay of the
returning echo furnishes information on the
range.

SONAR, E C H O DEPT H SOUNDING.

acoustic depth finding, echo method.

See

SONE.

A unit of loudness. B y definition,

a simple tone of frequency 1 0 0 0 cycles per
second, 40 decibels above a listeners thresh
old, produces a loudness of 1 sone. The loud
ness of any sound that is judged by the lis
tener to be n times that of the 1 -sone tone is
n sones. The loudness scale is a relation be
tween loudness and level above threshold for
a particular listener. In presenting data re
lating loudness in sones to sound pressure
level, or in averaging the loudness scales of
several listeners, the thresholds (measured or
assumed) should be specified.
The term
loudness unit has been used for the basic
subdivision of a loudness scale based on group
judgment on which a loudness level of 40
phons has a loudness of approximately 1 0 0 0
loudness units. For example, see Figure 1 of
American Standard for Noise Measurement,
Z24.2-1942.

SONIC DEPTH FIN D ER.

SONICS. A
and Richard
ysis, testing
products by
energy.

See sonar.

term coined by Theodor F. Huter

H. B olt to encompass the anal
and processing of materials and
the use of mechanical vibratory

SONNE. A radio navigation aid that provides

a number of characteristic signal zones which
rotate in a time sequence. A bearing may be
determined by observation (by interpolation)
o f the instant at which transition occurs from
one zone to the following zone. Also called
consol. (Compare with electra.)
SORET EFFECT. An alternative term for
the phenomenon of thermal diffusion.
SORPTION.
A generalized term for the
many phenomena commonly included under
the terms adsorption and absorption when
the nature of the phenomenon involved in a
particular case is unknown or indefinite.

SORTING, VELOCITY.

A ny process of se
lecting electrons according to their velocities.

of a fluid because of focussing effects produced

by variations in the speed of sound.

SOSOLOID. A dispersed system of a solid

phase (3) in a solid phase.

SOUND, DIFFU SE. In a given region, sound

which has uniform energy density (see sound
energy density) and is such that all directions
o f energy flux (see sound energy flux) at all
parts of the region are equally probable.

SOUND.
(1) An alternation in pressure,
stress, particle displacement, particle veloc
ity, and so forth, which is propagated in an
elastic material, or the superposition of such
propagated alterations.
(2) Also, auditory
sensation which is usually evoked by the al
terations described above. In case of pos
sible confusion the terms sound wave or elastic
wave may be used for concept ( 1 ), and the
term sound sensation for concept ( 2 ).

SOUND

ABSORBERS,

FUNCTIONAL.

Sound absorbers usually made in the form of

thin shells of acoustically absorbing material
and suspended on wires. T hey are high effi
ciency absorbers and are often used in loca
tions where appearance is not a factor.

SOUND ABSORPTION.
The process by
which sound energy is diminished in passing
through a medium or in striking a surface.
SOUND
ABSORPTION
C O E F F IC IE N T
(ACOUSTICAL
ABSORPTIVITY).
The
fraction of incident sound energy absorbed by
the surface or medium. The surface is con
sidered part of an infinite area. The value of
the coefficient is a function of the angle of
incidence of the sound.

SOUND ANALYZER. A device for measur

ing the sound band pressure level or pressure
spectrum level (see spectrum level, pressure)
o f a sound as a function of frequency.
SOUND BAND PRESSURE LEV EL. The
band pressure level of a sound for a specified
frequency band is the effective sound pressure
level for the sound energy contained within
the band. The width of the band and the
reference pressure must be specified. When
measuring thermal noise, the standard devia
tion of the sound pressure readings will not
exceed about 1 0 per cent if the product of the
band width in cycles per second and the inte
gration time in seconds exceeds 2 0 .

SOUND BOX.
box).

See pickup, acoustic (sound

SOUND CH A N N EL PROPAGATION.

The
enhanced propagation of sound through a layer

SOUND
DISTRIBUTOR,
H IG H
FRE
QUENCY. A loudspeaker cone containing a
system of vanes, by means of which it is pos
sible to spread the high frequency radiation
and thereby maintain uniform directional
characteristics with respect to frequency.

SOUND ENERGY. The sound energy o f a

given part of a medium is the total energy
in this part of the medium minus the energy
which would exist in the same part of the
medium with no sound waves present.
SOUND-ENERGY DENSITY. The soundenergy density at a point in a sound field is
the sound energy contained in a given in
finitesimal part of the medium divided by the
volume of that part of the medium. The
com monly used unit is the erg per cubic centi
meter. The term instantaneous energy density
has a meaning analogous to the related terms
used for sound pressure. In speaking of aver
age energy density in general, it is necessary
to distinguish between the space average (at
a given instant) and the time average (at a
given p o in t).
SOUND EN ERGY FLUX. The average rate
of flow of sound energy for one period through
any specified area. The com monly used unit
is the erg per second. Expressed mathemat
ically, the sound-energy flux J is
1 rT
J = - I pSva(lt,
1 Jq
where T = an integral number of periods or
a time long compared to a period, p = the
instantaneous sound pressure over the area
S, va = the component of the instantaneous
particle velocity (see velocity, particle) in the
direction a, normal to the area S. In a medium
of density p, for a plane or spherical free wave
having a speed of propagation c, the soundenergy flux through the area S, corresponding
to an effective sound pressure p, is
p2S
J = ----- cos 0 ,
PC

6 is the angle between the direction of propa

gation of the sound and the normal to the
area S.

SOUND-ENERGY F LU X
sound intensity.

DENSITY.

See

SOUND-ENERGY FLU X DENSITY LEV EL.

See sound intensity level.
SOUNDER, A telegraph receiving instrument
consisting of an armature (2) and an electro
magnet. Each current pulse received actuates
the armature, creating an audible click.

SOUND F IE L D .

A region containing sound

that direction.
sion:

This is given by the expres

l
Ia = -

rT
I pvadt,

1 J0

where T = an integral number of periods or

a time long compared to a period, p is the
instantaneous sound pressure, va is the com
ponent of the instantaneous particle velocity
in the direction a. In the case of a free plane
or spherical wave having the effective sound
pressure p, the speed of propagation, c, in
a medium of density p, the intensity in the
direction of propagation is given b y:

waves.

SOUND, FIRST A N D SECOND.

In liquid
helium at a temperature below 2.18 Kelvin,
two types of wave propagation, each with a
different speed, are possible. One of these
occurs when the superfluid and normal com
ponents oscillate in phase with each other to
produce periodic density variations in the
liquid. The propagation velocity of this first
sound is approximately 240 meters per second.
The second type of wave disturbance takes
place when the temperature at a point in the
liquid is varied periodically in time. As the
temperature increases, the superfluid moves
away from the point and the ordinary com
ponent moves towards the point and viceversa. Since the superfluid has a lower tem
perature associated with it than the ordinary
components, a temperature wave is generated
which propagates through the liquid. This is
known as second sound. First sound is ordi
nary sound, i.e., a longitudinal pressure and
density w ave; second sound is a temperature
wave.
(See also Feynman theory of liquid

pc

SOUND INTENSITY LEV E L (SPECIFIC

SOUND-ENERGY FLU X LEVEL) (SOUNDEN ERG Y FLU X DENSITY LEVEL). The
intensity level, in decibels, o f a sound is 1 0
times the logarithm to the base 1 0 of the ratio
of the intensity of this sound to the reference
intensity. The reference intensity should be
stated explicitly. In discussing sound meas
urements made with pressure or velocity mi
crophones, especially in enclosures involving
normal modes of vibration or in sound fields
containing standing waves, caution must be
observed in using the terms intensity and
intensity level. Under such conditions it
is more desirable to use the terms sound pres
sure level or sound velocity level, since the
relationship between the intensity and the
pressure or velocity is generally unknown.

SOUND INTENSITY (SPECIFIC SOUNDEN ERG Y FLU X) (SOUND-ENERGY FLU X

DENSITY). The sound intensity in a speci

SOUND, IN T ERC A RRIER. The method em

ployed in those television receivers which
make use of the television picture carrier and
the associated sound carrier to produce a fre
quency-modulated signal whose center fre
quency (or intermediate frequency) is equal
to the difference between the two carrier fre
quencies.

fied direction at a point is the average rate of

sound energy transmitted in the specified di
rection through a unit area normal to this
direction at the point considered. The com
monly used unit is the erg per second per
square centimeter, but sound intensity may
also be expressed in watts per square centi
meter. The sound intensity in any specified
direction, a, of a sound field is the soundenergy flux through a unit area normal to

SOUND LEVEL. The sound level, at a point

in a sound field has been defined by the Ameri
can Standards Association as the weighted
sound pressure level determined in the manner
specified in the American Standard Sound
Level M eters for Measurement of Noise and
Other Sounds, Z24.3-1944, or its latest revision.
The meter reading (in decibels) corresponds
to a value of the sound pressure integrated

helium II; Landau theory of liquid helium II.)

over the audible frequency range with a speci

fied frequency weighting and integration time.

SOUND L E V E L M ETER. An instrument

including a microphone, an amplifier, an out
put meter, and frequency weighting networks
for the measurement of noise and sound levels
in a specified manner; the measurements are
intended to approximate the loudness level
which would be obtained by the more elabo
rate ear balance method.
SOUND
OCTAVE -BAND
PRESSURE
L E V E L (OCTAVE PRESSURE LEV EL).
The band pressure level for a frequency band
corresponding to a specified octave. The loca
tion of the octave-band pressure level on a
frequency scale is usually specified as the
geometric mean of the upper and lower fre
quencies of the octave.

SOUND P O W E R O F A SOURCE. The total

sound energy radiated by the source per unit
of time. The com monly used unit is the erg
per second but the power may also be ex
pressed in watts.

SOUND PRESSURE, EFFECT IV E (ROOTMEAN-SQUARE SOUND PRESSURE). The

root-mean-square value of the instantaneous
sound pressures, over a time interval, at the
point under consideration.
In the case of
periodic sound pressures, the interval must
be an integral number of periods or an in
terval that is very long compared to a period.
In the case of nonperiodic sound pressures, the
interval should be long enough to make the
value obtained essentially independent of
small changes in the length of the interval.
The term effective sound pressure is frequently
shortened to sound pressure.

SOUND

PRESSURE,

INSTANTANEOUS.

The total instantaneous pressure at a point

under consideration minus the static pressure
at that point. The com monly used unit is the
microbar.
Sometimes called excess sound
pressure.

SOUND PRESSURE LEV EL. The sound

pressure level, in decibels, of a sound is 2 0
times the logarithm to the base 1 0 of the ratio
of the pressure of this sound to the reference
pressure. The reference pressure should be
explicitly stated.
The following reference
pressures are in common use: (1) 2 X 10 4
microbar; (2) 1 microbar. Reference pressure

( 1 ) has been in general use for measurements

dealing with hearing and sound-level measure
ments in air and liquids, while ( 2 ) has gained
widespread use for calibrations, and many
types of sound-level measurements in liquids.
It is to be noted that in many sound fields the
sound pressure ratios are not proportional to
the square root of corresponding power ratios
and hence cannot be expressed in decibels in
the strict sense; however, it is common prac
tice to extend the use of the decibel to these
cases.

SOUND PRESSURE, M AXIM U M .

The
maximum sound pressure for any given cycle
of a periodic wave is the maximum absolute
value of the instantaneous sound pressure o c
curring during that cycle. The commonly used
unit is the microbar. In the case of a sinu
soidal sound wave this maximum sound pres
sure is also called the pressure amplitude.
SOUND PRESSURE, PEAK.

For any speci

fied time interval, the maximum absolute value
of the instantaneous sound pressure in that
interval.
The com monly used unit is the
microbar. In the case of a periodic wave, if
the time interval considered is a complete
period, the peak sound pressure becomes iden
tical with the maximum sound pressure. (See

sound pressure, maximum.)

SOUND PRESSURE SPECTRUM LEVEL.
A t a specified frequency, the effective sound
pressure level for the sound energy contained
within a band 1 cycle per second wide, cen
tered at the specified frequency. Ordinarily
this has significance only for sound having
a continuous distribution of energy within the
frequency range under consideration. The ref
erence pressure should be explicitly stated.
Since in practice it is necessary to employ
filters having an effective band width greater
than 1 cycle per second, the pressure spectrum
level is in general a computed quantity. For
a sound having a uniform distribution of en
ergy, the computation can be made as follow s:
Let L P8 be the desired pressure spectrum level,
p be the effective pressure measured through
the filter system, p0 be reference sound pres
sure, A/ be the effective band width of the filter
system, and Aof be the reference band width
( 1 cycle per second), then
r pe = m
L
lO ,logio

r p2/A/l
-
Lpo / A q/J

For computational purposes, if Lp is the band

pressure level observed through the filter, the
above relation reduces to
LpS = Lp

10

Af
logio ~
Ao/

SOUND PROBE. A device for exploring a

sound field without significantly disturbing
the field in the region being explored.

SOUND PRO O FIN G .

The use of acoustical

absorbing materials in walls and partitions
to cut down the transmission of sound from
one room to another.

SOUND RA N G IN G GUN.

The detection of
gun emplacements by recording the time of
sound reception at three or more stations.

SOUND R A N G IN G IN AIR.

The detection
of the true position of the sound source from
an unseen aerial source such as an airplane.

SOUND R E C O R D E R .

See recorder, sound.

SOUND
R E F L E C T IO N
C O E FFIC IE N T
(ACOUSTICAL
R E FLE C T IV IT Y) .
The
sound reflection coefficient of a surface not a
generator is the ratio of the rate of flow of
sound energy reflected from the surface, on
the side of incidence, to the incident rate of
flow. Unless otherwise specified, all possible
directions of incident flow are assumed to be
equally probable.
Also, unless otherwise
stated, the values given apply to a portion
of an infinite surface, thus eliminating edge
effects.

SOUND REIN FO R C E M E N T . The use of

public address systems in large broadcasting
studios and radio theaters to enable the studio
audience to hear all portions of the program
in proper perspective, whether the sound orig
inates on the stage of the studio or at some
remote point.
SOUND R E IN F O R C IN G SYSTEM. A sys
tem in a theater or hall, consisting of micro
phones distributed on the stage and in the
orchestra and loudspeakers suspended above
the stage. The purpose is to make the sound
energy density, due to the original sound
source and the loudspeakers, as nearly uni
form as possible.
SOUND R E P R O D U C E R , PH OT O GRAPH IC
(OPTICAL SOUND REP R O D U C E R ).
A
combination of light source, optical system,

photoelectric cell, or other light-sensitive de

vice such as a photoconductive cell, and a
mechanism for moving a medium carrying an
optical sound record (usually film ), by means
of which the recorded variations may be con
verted into electric signals of approximately
like form.

SOUND R E P R O D U C IN G SYSTEM.
producing system, sound.
SOUND, SECOND.
second.

See re

See sound, first and

SOUND SOURCE, SIMPLE. A source which

radiates sound uniformly in all directions un
der free-field conditions. (See field, free.)

SOUND
SOURCE,
STRENGTH
OF
(STRENGTH O F A SIM PLE SOURCE).
The maximum instantaneous rate of volume
displacement produced by the source when
emitting a wave with sinusoidal time varia
tion.

SOUND TRACK.

See track, sound entries.

SOUND TRANSMISSION C O EFFIC IE N T

(ACOUSTICAL TRANSMITTIVITY) . Of an
interface or septum, the ratio of the trans
mitted to incident sound energy. The value
of the coefficient is a function of the angle
of incidence of the sound.

SOUND VO LU M E VELOCITY. The rate of

flow of the medium through a specified area
due to a sound wave. The terms instanta
neous volume velocity , effective volume veloc
ity , maximum volume velocity, and peak vol
ume velocity have meanings which correspond
with those of the related terms used for sound
pressure.
SOUND W AVE, CIRC U LA RLY POLAR
IZ E D . See sound wave, elliptically polarized.
SOUND W AVE, E LLIPT IC A LLY POLAR
IZ E D . A transverse wave in an elastic me
dium in which the displacement vector at any
point rotates about the point and has a mag
nitude which varies as the radius vector of
an ellipse. An elliptically polarized wave is
equivalent to two superimposed plane-polar
ized waves of simple sinusoidal form and at
the same frequency in which the displacements
lie in perpendicular planes.
When the two plane waves are of the same

amplitude and are in quadrature (2), the re

sulting wave is circularly polarized.
SOUND W AVE, PLANE P O L A R IZ E D
(LIN EA RLY P O L A R IZ E D SOUND W AVE).
A t a point in an elastic medium, a transverse
wave in which the displacements at all times
lie in a fixed plane which is parallel to the
direction of propagation. The above defini
tion is equivalent to stating that, in a planepolarized sound wave, the displacement vector
at any point lies in a fixed straight line pass
ing through the point.

SOUND WAVES, M EAN FR E E PATH FOR.

In an enclosure, the average distance sound
travels between successive reflections.

SOURCE LEVEL. The sound intensity at a

point on the axis one yard from a source,
measured in decibels above a reference level.
In symbols, the source level S, in decibels, is
given by
=

Jo

10

log

IT
where I 0 is the intensity at a point on the axis
one yard from the source, I r is the reference
intensity, usually corresponding to an rms
pressure of 1 d yn e/cm 2.

SOURCE, N O N U N IFO RM PLANE C IR C U

LA R SURFACE. A plane circular surface
with all parts vibrating in phase (2), but with
the strength varying as a function of the dis

SOURCE. A ny device which supplies some

extensive entity such as electric charge, par

tance from the center.

ticles, matter, energy, etc.

Thus in spec
troscopy, the arc or spark that supplies light;
in electrical circuits the generator, battery,
etc., that supplies electrical energy or charge;
in thermodynamics the device which supplies
heat.

A plane circular surface with all parts vibrat

ing with the same strength and phase (2).

SOURCE, C IR C U L A R RIN G. A curved line

source (see source, curved line) in which the

SOURCE, PLANE C IR C U LA R SURFACE.

SOURCE, PLANE SQUARE SURFACE.

A
plane square surface with all parts of the sur
face vibrating with the same strength and

phase (2).

SOURCE, CO N E SURFACE. A truncated

cone of paper or felted paper used in a direct
radiator type loudspeaker. (See loudspeaker,
direct radiator.)

SOURCE, POINT. A source whose linear

physical dimensions are all very small com
pared to the distance at which the flux from
the source is observed and which is such that
the flux per unit area is the same at all points
that are at the same distance from the source
as is the point of observation.

SOURCE, CU R V E D L IN E .

SOURCE, STRAIGHT LIN E .

SOURCE, CU RV ED SURFACE.

SOURCE, STRAIGHT L IN E , N ON U N I
FORM . The same as a straight line source
(see source, straight line), except that the

line forms a closed circle.

A source com
posed of a large number of point sources (see
source, simple point) , usually of equal
strength, vibrating in phase (2) on the arc of a
circle. The adjacent point sources are sepa
rated by equal, very small distances.
A portion
of a spherical surface, large compared to the
wavelength, and vibrating radially.

SOURCE, DOUBLET. Tw o simple point

sources (see source, simple point), equal in
strength but opposite in phase (2), separated
by a vanishingly small distance.

SOURCE, EQUAL-ENERGY. A light source

for which the time rate of emission of energy
per unit of wavelength is constant throughout
the spectrum.

SOURCE, H ORN .

See horn source.

A large num
ber of simple point sources (see source, point)
of equal strength and phase (2) arranged on a
straight line and separated by equal and very
small distances.

strength of the point sources is a function of

position along the line.

SOURCE,
A

STRAIGHT

non-uniform

straight

LIN E , TAPERED.
line

source

(see

source, straight line, non-uniform) in which

the strength varies linearly from its value at
the center to zero at either end.

SPACE CHARGE. The electric charge car

ried by a cloud or stream of electrons or ions
in a vacuum or a region of low gas pressure,
when the net charge density is sufficient to

produce local changes in the potential distri

bution. It is of importance in thermionic

tubes, photoelectric cells, accelerators, plas

mas, etc.
SPACE C H A R G E D E B U N C H IN G .
bunching, space charge.
SPACE-CHARGE DENSITY.
tric charge per unit volume.

See de

The net elec

SPACE C H A R G E L IM IT A T IO N O F CU R
RENTS. It has been shown by Child that
the current between a plane cathode and a
parallel plane anode at a distance d from it,
when the anode potential is V , cannot exceed
a certain maximum value, determined by the
m odification of the electric field near the
cathode as a result of the space charge of
electrons in that region. If the electrons leave
the cathode with zero speed, the maximum
current per unit area of the cathode is
2e V H

. __ 4e0
9

\ m d2

where e and m are the electronic charge and

mass, respectively, and c0 is the permittivity.
Langmuir has extended the equation to in
clude the case of a cylindrical cathode of
radius a, surrounded by a coaxial cylindrical
anode of radius b . The maximum current per
unit length is then
.

8 tt 0

2e

VH

\ m b (\ n b / a )2

The dependence of the current on the %

power of the potential difference is general,
and is the basis of the definition of perveance.

SPACE CH A R G E R E G IO N (PERTAINING
TO SEM ICON D U CT OR). A region in which
the net charge density is significantly differ
ent from zero. (See also depletion layer.)
SPACE DIVERSITY.
tion.
SPACE, D R IFT .

See diversity recep

In an electron tube, a re
gion substantially free of externally applied
alternating fields, in which relative reposi
tioning of the electrons takes place.
(See

klystron.)

SPACE,
space.

E U CLID EA N .

See

Euclidean

SPACE FACTOR. In antenna arrays, the

summation of the radiation patterns of all
elements with respect to their individual posi
tions, amplitudes, and phases (2) in the array.
I f all elements are identical, the radiation in
tensity of the entire array is the product of
the radiation intensity of an individual ele
ment and the square of the space factor.
SPACE GROUP. When identical objects are
placed at the lattice points of a space lattice
a regular spacial array is obtained, which
has, perhaps, symmetry elements over and
above those of the point group of the original
lattice.
Thus, because of some symmetry
property of the identical objects (that is, of
the unit cells, in a crystal), there may exist
glide planes and screw axes which define op
erations turning the structure into itself. It
has been shown that there are only 230 differ
ent types of symmetry possible for such a sys
tem ; there are the 230 space groups which are
classified according to the symmetry elements
they possess. (See also crystal systems; sym
metry classes.)
SPACE GROUP EXTIN CTION. In x-ray
diffraction by crystals, certain classes of re
flections may be absent owing to the crystal
having certain additional symmetry elements
corresponding to its space group, over and
above its crystal point group symmetry. The
observation of this effect helps in analyzing
the crystal structure, giving information about
the symmetry of the unit cell.

SPACE, H ILBERT.

See Hilbert space.

SPACISTOR. A high-frequency field-effect

transistor in which a strong accelerating field
in the base region accelerates the charge car
riers.
SPACE LATTICE. A regular three-dimensional arrangement of points constructed by
the repeated application of the primitive
translations which carry a unit cell into its
neighbor. Each point in the lattice has ex
actly the same environment and the lengths
and orientations of the primitive translations
fix the type of the lattice. There are only
fourteen kinds o f simple space lattice, which
are classified according to their symmetry
type, as follows:

Symmetry
Type

Cubic
Tetragonal
Orthorhombic

Monoclinic
Triclinic
Hexagonal
Rhomboidal

of an event. In the absence of a gravitational

field, space-time reduces to Minkowski space.

Lattice Type

Simple cube; face-centered cube; bodycentered cube.

Tetragonal prism; body-centered te
tragonal prism.
Rectangular prism; body-centered rec
tangular prism; rhombic prism;
body-centered rhombic prism.
Monoclinic parallelpiped; monoclinic,
one-face centered.
Triclinic parallelepiped.
Hexagonal prism.
Rhombohedron.

(See also crystal systems; symmetry classes.)

SPACE-LIKE SURFACE IN SPACE-TIME.

A three-dimensional surface in four-dim en
sional space-time such that no event (point)
on it lies within the absolute future or abso
lute past of any other event on the surface.
A particular case is any surface t = constant.

SPACE-LIKE VECTOR. A four-vector

in Minkowski space such that
A ^

SPACE,
space.

> 0.

M IN K O W SK I.

See

Minkowski

SPACE, OBJECT O R IM A G E. W ith any

lens system there corresponds to each point
in physical space, considered as an object
point, another point where the image, real or
virtual, of this point is formed. This latter
point is called the conjugate point of the origi
nal and vice versa. Thus the lens system can
be considered as mapping every point of
physical space into a collection of conjugate
points which are said to constitute an image
space. Likewise to every image point in phys
ical space there corresponds a conjugate ob
ject point, the totality of which points consti
tutes an ob ject space. Both object and image
spaces cover all of physical space. (See lens

equation; ray tracing; images, theory of.)

SPACE PATTERN. A geometrical pattern
appearing on a test chart designed for the
measurement of geometric distortion in tele
vision receivers. The R E T M A Ball Chart is
a specific example of a space pattern.
SPACE SIGNAL.
wave, spacing.)
SPACE-TIME.

spacing

wave.

(See

A space of four dimensions

which specify the space and time coordinates

SPACE-TIME PATH O F A CLASSICAL

PARTICLE. A curve drawn in space-time
to represent the position o f a particle as a
function o f time. Also called the life line.

SPACING W AVE
wave, back.

(BACK

WAVE).

See

SPALLATION. A type of nuclear reaction

in which several particles are ejected from the
nucleus. Examples are:
B i 2 09 + H e 4 - A t 210 + 3n
As 72 + H 2 M n 52 + unknown fragments.

SPAN PAD,

See attenuator, span.

SPARK. An electric spark is a sudden break

down of the insulating strength of the dielec
tric separating two electrodes, due to the for
mation of ions by an intense electric field,
accompanied by a rush of electricity across
the spark gap, and a flash of light indicat
ing very high temperature. Unlike the arc,
glow, and brush discharges, the spark is of
very short duration. It may be oscillatory or
intermittent, several discharges taking place
in quick succession. In gases, the spark takes
place only at appreciable pressures, such as
normal atmospheric pressure.
If the voltage across a spark gap is progres
sively raised, a spark passes when it has be
come sufficiently high. The lowest voltage
at which the spark will pass is the sparking
potential; but there is usually a time inter
val, called the spark lag, between the attain
ment of this voltage and the passage of the
spark. Also the voltage may be increased for a
moment considerably above this value without
producing a spark. These characteristics de
pend upon the condition of the gas, especially
upon the ions and the vapors present in it.
After one spark has passed, others follow at
lower sparking potential, because of the ions
already form ed; and this is also true if the
pilot spark takes place across another neigh
boring spark gap. Paschen found that for a
given pressure the sparking potential is a
nearly linear function of the length of the gap,
and for a given gap it is a nearly linear func
tion of the pressure. For spherical terminals,
the relation is so definite that the sphere gap
is often used as a rough measure of high volt

ages. Thus with spherical electrodes 5 cm in

diameter, a 2 -cm spark in air at normal pres
sure corresponds to a potential difference of
56,300 volts; a 5-cm gap to 102,250 volts.
W ith 1 0 -cm spheres, the corresponding volt
ages are 59,460 and 123,850.

SPARK COUNTER.

See counter, spark.

SPARK L IN E (IO N L IN E ).

A spectral line
produced by radiation from ions (a loose
term; see arc line).

SPARK, PILOT. A low-power spark used to

create ionization to prepare the way for a
larger discharge. The keep-alive electrode
in a T R tube (see tube, TR) is one example
of the pilot spark.
SPATIAL PO LA R COORD INATES.
coordinates, spherical polar.
SPEAKER.

See

THEORY.

See

element present in the sample.

(2) The ac
tivity per unit mass of pure radionuclide.
(3) The activity per unit mass of any sample
of radioactive material. Specific activity is
com m only given in a wide variety of units
(e.g., millicuries per gram, disintegrations per
second per milligram, counts per minute per
milligram, etc.).
See

SPE C IFIC GRAVITY. The ratio between

the density of a substance at a given tempera
ture and the density of some substance as
sumed as standard. For liquids and solids
the standard assumed is either the density of
distilled water at 4C , or the density of dis
tilled water at 60F.
(This value is often
used in calibrating industrial hydrometers.)
For gases the standards are air, hydrogen, or
oxygen at 0 C , and a pressure of 760 m illi
meters of mercury, or distilled water at 4C.
The specific gravity is a relative property that
varies with the temperature. The conven
tional symbol for specific gravity is
where
i is the temperature of the substance and t2
is the temperature of the standard.
SPE C IFIC HEAT.

See heat, specific.

SPEC IFIC IN D U C T IV E CAPACITY.

as permittivity.

Same

SPEC IFIC
SOUND - EN ERG Y
LEVEL. See sound intensity level.

FLU X

SPEC IFIC SURFACE.

The surface, or area,

of a substance or entity per unit volu m e; ob
tained by dividing the area by the volume,
and expressed in reciprocal units of length.

SPEC IFIC VOLUM E. The volume of a sub

stance or entity per unit mass, obtained by
dividing the volume by the mass; and ex
pressed in units of length to the third power
and reciprocal units o f mass. Reciprocal of
the density.
See discussion of absorption coefficient.

SPE C IFIC ACTIVITY. ( 1 ) The activity of

a radioisotope of an element per unit mass of

SPEC IFIC E L E C T R O N IC CH ARGE.

electronic charge, specific.

See

SPECTRAL ABSORPTION CO EFFICIEN T .

See loudspeaker.

SPECIAL RELATIVITY
relativity theory, special.

SPEC IFIC HEAT, ELECT RO N IC.

electronic specific heat.

SPECTRAL C EN T RO ID . An average wave

length, computed especially for filters and
other light-transmitting devices, by taking a
weighted average, for each wavelength, o f the
spectral energy distribution, of the incident
light, the transmittance of the device, and the
luminosity data of the eye.

SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTIC.

A rela
tion, usually shown by a graph, between wave
length and some other variable. ( 1 ) In the
case of a luminescent screen, the spectral char
acteristic is the relation between wavelength
and emitted radiant power per unit wave
length interval.
( 2 ) In a photoelectric de
vice, it is the relation between wavelength and
sensitivity per unit wavelength interval. ( 3 )
In color television, it is the set of spectral re
sponses of the color separation channels with
respect to wavelength. The channel terminals
at which the characteristics apply should be
specified and an appropriate modifier may be
added to the term, such as pickup spectral
characteristic or studio spectral characteristic.
Because of nonlinearity, some spectral char
acteristics depend upon the magnitude of ra
diance used in the measurement. Nonlinear
izing and matrixing operations may be per
formed within the channels.
Spectral characteristics are often expressed
as the relation between the variable under
consideration and the frequency, instead of
the wavelength.

SPECTRAL COLORS. (1) Colors present in

the spectrum of white light. ( 2 ) Colors that
are represented by points on the chromaticity
diagram that lie on straight lines between the
achromatic point and the spectrum locus.
SPECTRAL DENSITY. The relative dis
tribution of radiant energy throughout the
spectrum. (See spectral energy distribution.)
SPECTRAL EM ISSIVITY.

See emissivity.

SPECTRAL
EN ERG Y
DISTRIBUTION.
When radiation exhibiting a continuous spec
trum is quantitatively analyzed, it is found
that quite different amounts of power are rep
resented by the radiation within equal ranges
of wavelength or of frequency having different
limits. The proportion in any such range de
pends upon the character of the source. If
one divides the spectrum into small intervals
of wavelength, say 1 0 angstroms, and plots the

extended to the point where the atomic tran

sition itself, or at least the graphical repre
sentation of the transition on an energy level
diagram, is referred to as a spectral line, as
is the spectroscopic image produced by the
light emitted in the transition. This concept
has been extended even farther to the point
where it covers transitions between stationary
states in any quantum mechanical system.

SPECTRAL LINES, PRESSURE W ID E N

IN G OF. See pressure shift and pressure
broadening.
SPECTRAL POSITION. The effective wave
length or frequency of an essentially mono
chromatic beam. N ote that no beam of finite
intensity is absolutely monochromatic. N ote
also that the effective wavelength of a beam
of radiation in a narrow wavelength band at
3.0 microns in a diagram under spectral en
ergy distribution would not be at the wave
length center of the band.

SPECTRAL PURITY.

See purity, spectral.

SPECTRAL RADIANT EMITTANCE.

emittance.

Io

See

SPECTRAL SERIES. In many cases a spec

trum may have a group, or series, of spectrum
lines which seem to be arranged somewhat as
I

5 6

Wave Length-Microns

power output for each range as ordinate with

the mean wavelength of the interval as
abscissa, the result is a curve showing the dis
tribution of power through the spectrum. (See
Planck radiation formula and Introduction,
pp. 18-20.)

SPECTRAL L IN E .

All of the current usages

of this term have their origin in the nature of
the image seen in a spectroscope when mono
chromatic light enters through the collimator
slit. Under such circumstances the image is
a thin vertical line whose angular displace
ment from the position of the zero order spec
trum is that characteristic of the frequency
of the light. Since light composed of several
monochromatic components will have a spec
trum consisting of several such line images,
it soon became customary to refer to such and
such a spectral line, with the appropriate ad
jectives, singling out the line image under
consideration.
This custom has now been

shown below. Such a collection of spectral

lines is known as a spectral series. The fre
quency or wavelength corresponding to the
limit (marked L in figure) approached by the

----- -Wave length

series is known as the frequency or wave

length of the series limit. Sometimes other
lines or series of lines are mixed among those
of a given series, making it hard to recognize
the series by casual observation.
(See also

series in line spectra.)

SPECTRAL

TRANSMISSION.
(1) The
transmission of a filter, i.e., the ratio of ( 1 )
the radiant flux passing through the filter to
( 2 ) the radiant flux incident upon it, for
monochromatic light of a particular, specified,
wavelength.
( 2 ) The transmission of the
filter for monochromatic light, stated as a
function of wavelength.

SPECTRAL TRANSMITTANCE.
mittance.

See trans-

SPECTROGRAM. A record produced by a

spectrograph, i.e., a record of a spectroscopic
process, com m only one obtained by photo
graphic methods.

SPECTROGRAPH. An instrument used to

produce a record of a spectrum. It may be
considered to include the apparatus for pro
ducing the radiations or particles to be investi
gated; and includes the other necessary ap
paratus, i.e., that for selecting a desired por
tion of the radiations or particles; that for
arranging them in a uniform beam ; that for
separating the beam into a spectrum; and that
for recording the spectrum by photographic
or other means. (See also spectroscope.)
SPECTROGRAPH, AUT OCOLLIM AT ING.
A spectrograph in which the same lens that
collimates the incident beam is used to focus
the refracted beam.

SPECTROGRAPH, LIT T ROW . A spectro

graph which makes use of a prism having an
internally reflecting surface, functioning as a
constant deviation prism.
(See prism, con

stant deviation.)

of an optical wedge or similar device.

SPECTROHELIOGRAPH.

The
spectroheliograph pictures the sun in its spectrum.
Essentially the instrument consists of a high
dispersion spectrograph with a second slit
placed directly in front of the photographic
plate so that the radiation from only one
spectral line is received on the plate. The
image of the sun moves across this slit.

SPECTROHELIOSCOPE.

An instrument
for observing an image of the entire sun in
light of one wavelength. If used photograph
ically, it is called a spectroheliograph.

SPECTROMETER. An instrument used to

measure spectra or to determine wavelengths
of the various radiations. (See also spectro
scope.)
SPECTROMETER,
BETA-RAY,
W IT H
ELECTROSTATIC FOCUSING. A 0-ray
spectrometer which uses a radial electrostatic
field to provide velocity focusing. (See spec
troscopy, beta-ray.)
SPECTROMETER, GAMMA-RAY.

SPECTROGRAPH, M AGNETIC. A device

which utilizes the curvature of the path of a
charged particle in a magnetic field to obtain
the velocity (hence energy) spectra of charged
particles in radioactive decay.
(See mass
spectrograph.)
SPECTROGRAPH, MASS.
trograph.

SPECTROGRAPH, W E D G E .
A spectro
graph in which the flux density passing
through the entrance slit is varied by means

See mass spec

SPECTROGRAPH,
graph designed to
ultraviolet region of
trum. The optical

QUARTZ.
A spectro
detect radiations in the
the electromagnetic spec
system is constructed of
quartz because ordinary glass is opaque over
m ost of the ultraviolet spectral region.
SPECTROGRAPH, VACUUM. A spectro
graph in which the entire light path is in
vacuo. The dispersive element is usually a
concave reflection grating. In the absence of
absorption by lenses and air, such an instru

An in
strument for determining the energy distribu
tion of y-rays.
(See spectroscopy, gamma-

ray.)
SPECTROMETER,
Bragg spectrometer.

IO N IZA T IO N .

See

SPECTROMETER, MAGNETIC, ALTER

NATING GRADIENT. A mass spectrograph
using alternating gradient focusing.
SPECTROMETER, M AGNETIC, DOUBLEFOCUSING. A spectrometer using shaped
magnetic fields to focus ions whose velocities
have a component normal to the median mag
netic plane. (See also spectroscopy, beta-ray.)

SPECTROMETER, M AGNETIC, SEM IC IR

CULAR-FOCUSING.
A spectrometer in
which a beam of ions of given charge-to-mass
ratio (for example, electrons) are acted upon
by a magnetic field perpendicular to their

ment may be operated for studies in the ex

treme ultraviolet.
(See also Schumann

direction of motion. They will then be de

flected in circular paths whose radii are de
pendent on the momenta of the ions. (See also

plates.)

spectroscopy, beta-ray.)

SPECTROM ETER, MASS.

trograph entries.

See mass spec

SPECTROM ETER
V ELOCIT Y
TRON). See selector, velocity.

(NEU

SPECTROPHOTOM ETER. An instrument

for analyzing the spectral energy distributions
of sources of light. It is thus a spectroradiometer. Various types are in use. A represen
tative form includes a monochromatic illuminater, from the slit of which proceeds an iso
lated, narrow frequency range of the light
under examination. This may be compared,
by means of a wedge photometer device or
otherwise, with the light of the same frequency
range from a source whose spectral energy
distribution is known.
In interpreting the
results, it is important to take into account the
visibility factor (see photometry), and thus to
distinguish between the relative absolute (en
ergy) and apparent (visual) intensities for d if
ferent wavelengths. There are spectropho
tometers which exhibit directly an approximate
curve of apparent intensity distribution. A
simple type consists of a spectrometer with a
neutral absorbing wedge placed with the thick
base over the upper end of the slit and the
thin edge over the lower. The spectrum then
appears as a strip whose upper margin, pene
trating visibly to various distances into the
region of greater absorption, corresponds to the
distribution curve.

SPECTROPHOTOM ETER,
KONIG-MARTENS. A visual single-unit spectrophotom
eter, having a biprism and a W ollaston prism
(see prism, Wollaston), the latter serving to
polarize coincident images of the two halves
of the entrance slit.

SPECTROPHOTOMETER,
LUMMERBRODH UN .
A visual spectrophotometer
containing a Lummer-Brodhun cube.
SPECTROPHOTOMETER, PH O T O ELEC
TRIC.
A spectrophotometer containing a
photoelectric detector.
SPECTROPHOTOMETRY,
A B R ID G E D .
Spectrophotometry
employing
continuous
spectra sources, but with various narrow band
filters placed in the beam of light, under which
condition the transmittance or reflectance of
the sample is measured.

SPECTROPHOTOMETRY,
REFLECT
ANCE. Measurements of the intensity of
various spectral frequencies, or narrow bands,
of light reflected from surfaces, especially as
applied to the specification of color, to prob
lems in optical microchemistry, to uses in
cytochemistry and histochemistry, and for
other purposes.

SPECTRORADIOM ETER.

An instrument
used to measure the spectral distribution of
radiant energy (see energy, radiant).
(See
also spectral energy distribution; radiation

SPECTROPHOTOM ETER, BECKMAN. (1)

pyrometer.)

A spectrophotometer having a quartz prism,

a concave focusing mirror, and several photo
emission detectors.

SPECTROSCOPE. M any types of instru

ments for producing and viewing spectra are
included under this term. Variations in form
are due, not only to differences in principle,
but also to the type of radiation to be exam
ined, which ranges all the way from infra-red
to x-rays.
The earlier spectroscopes, developed by
Fraunhofer, Angstrom, and others in the early
part of the last century, adapted Newtons
discovery of the dispersion of light by a prism.
The essential features (Fig. 1 ) are a slit, S, a

SPECTROPHOTOM ETER,
BRACE-LEM
ON. See Brace-Lemon spectrophotometer.
SPECTROPHOTOM ETER,
GAERTNER.
( 1 ) A visual spectrophotometer comprising a
Martens photometer (see photometer, Mar
tens polarization) and a constant-deviation
spectrometer. (See also prism, constant devia
tion.)
SPECTROPHOTOM ETER,
Gian spectrophotometer.

GLAN.

See

SPECTROPHOTOM ETER, HtrFNER.

A
visual spectrophotometer having a rhomb di
rectly before the entrance slit of a constantdeviation spectrometer. (See prism, constantdeviation.)

Fig. 1. Diagram of simple prism spectroscope. C,

collimator with slit S ; P , prism; T , telescope for
viewing spectrum at eyepiece E .

collimating lens, C, for rendering the light

from the slit parallel before entering the
prism, one or more dispersing prisms, P, and
a telescope, T (or a cam era), for forming im
ages of the slit in the various wavelengths and
thus providing a method for viewing or photo
graphing the spectrum.
The light passes
through these in the order named, being devi
ated by the prism through various angles ac
cording to the wavelength. W hen a spectro
scope is provided with a graduated circle for
measuring deviations, it is called a spectrom
eter. The direct-vision or non-deviation spec
troscope, employing an A m id prism, is a com
pact instrument for qualitative purposes. The
photographic spectroscope, known as a spec
trograph, is now almost universally used in
spectral research, although the photographic
plate is sometimes replaced by a photosensi
tive device which gives an electrical output
which can be recorded as a function of w ave
length. (See spectrograph.)
M any modern spectroscopes employ the
diffraction grating instead of the prism. In

Fig. 2. Diagram of concave grating spectroscope.

slit; G , grating; E , eyepiece (or plate-holder).

S,

the concave grating spectroscope, developed

b y Rowland, the collimating lens and tele
scope or camera objective are unnecessary be
cause of the focusing effect of the grating
itself (Fig. 2 ).

SPECTROSCOPE, COM PARISON. An in

strument for comparing spectra, as used, for
example, to compare the absorption lines in
the spectra of stars and other astronomical
objects, with the spectra of elements whose
presence in the star is under investigation.
SPECTROSCOPE, DIRECT-VISION.
A
spectroscope without deflection of light, i.e., in
which all components lie along one axis.

SPECTROSCOPE, M ICRO W A V E. An in
strument for obtaining the microwave absorp
tion spectra of samples of material. It is usu
ally composed o f: ( 1 ) a tunable source, usu
ally a klystron oscillator; ( 2 ) an absorption
cell; (3) a crystal diode detector; (4) an am
plifier and indicator; (5) waveguides that
lead the radiation from the source to the ab
sorption cell and from the cell to the detector.
SPECTROSCOPE, PRISM. A spectroscope
in which the resolving element for light of d if
ferent wavelengths is a prism.
SPECTROSCOPIC DISPLACEM ENT, LA W
OF. The arc spectrum (see spectrum, arc) of
an element is similar, especially in regard to
fine structure, to the first spark spectrum
(see spectrum, spark) of the element one place
higher in the periodic table, to the second
spark spectrum of the element two places
higher, and so on. Since the lines in the arc
spectrum are com monly those of the normal
atom, while the first spark spectrum contains
lines of the singly-ionized atom, the second
spark spectrum, those of the double-ionized
atom, and so on, this law asserts a similarity
between the spectrum of an unionized atom,
and that of a singly-ionized atom of an ele
ment one place higher in the periodic table,
and that of a doubly-ionized atom two places
higher in the table, etc.

SPECTROSCOPIC SPLITTING FACTOR.

See Lande splitting factor.
SPECTROSCOPIC STABILITY THEOREM .
This theorem states that the average value of
any d y n a m i c a l v a r ia b le which is described by
an operator (see o p e r a t o r s , q u a n t u m m e
c h a n i c a l ) will be independent of the choice of
the axis of quantization (see q u a n t i z a t io n ,
d ir e c t io n a l) if the system with which this
dynamical variable is associated is in a state
described b y a d e n s it y m a t r i x (ajm\p\ odj'm')
(see r e p r e s e n t a t io n t h e o r y , q u a n t u m m e
c h a n i c a l ) such that its elements in its ir
reducible form ,

(See

prism, Amici.)
SPECTROSCOPE, GRATING. A spectro
scope in which the resolving element for light
o f different wavelengths is a diffraction grat
ing.

= 2 2 ( i ) 8,v~m>+fc*V 2 fc + i - v ( J J
k\
\m m ' q j

(ajm | p | a'j'm !),

are different from zero only when k q 0 .
Here V is the symmetrized V - c o e f f ic ie n t o f

R a c a h 9j , / and m, m' are respectively the total

angular momentum q u a n tu m n um bers and
magnetic quantum numbers, and a and a de
scribe any other quantum numbers such as
those associated with energy etc. of the system.
This statement of the theorem may be shown to
imply that the total transition probability from
a system described b y a density matrix of the
above type remains constant to the first order
even after degenerate levels have been split by
external perturbations.
SPECTROSCOPY. The branch of physical
science treating the theory and interpretation
of spectra. For the spectroscopic notation of
energy states see term, energy state. See also
the various items under spectrum.
SPECTROSCOPY, BETA RAY. T hat field
o f nuclear physics which deals with the meas
urement of the energy or momentum distri
bution of beta particles emitted in nuclear
beta decay (see also beta decay theory) and
the energy dependence of the helicity of such
beta particles. The scintillation spectrometer
is one of the few instruments in general use in
the field which measure energy rather than
momentum of the beta particle. In recent
years it has become the most important and
most widely used type of beta ray spectrom
eter for all measurements which do not require
the greater precision obtainable with some one
o f the magnetic spectrometers or need to sepa
rate the beta particles from accom panying
gamma radiation in order to reduce the total
counting rate in a counter. The one exception
to this statement is the use of proportional
counters to investigate beta particles with
energies below a few kilovolts. The magnetic
beta ray spectrometers fall into three classes.
( 1 ) The simple 180 type of uniform field spec
trometer in which all electrons of a given m o
mentum which leave a source within a very
narrow range of solid angle in a direction per
pendicular to a uniform magnetic field will
come to a focus after traversing a semicircle.
( 2 ) The shaped field spectrom eters which at
tempt to improve the focus and usable solid
angle of the simple 180 type by using a prop
erly designed non-uniform magnetic field,
which m ay place the focal point more than
180 around the path. V ery large increases in
resolution and usable solid angle are achieved
in some instruments of this type.
(3) The
m agnetic lens type of spectrometer, which has

many variations, all o f which attempt to im

prove the resolution and acceptance solid angle
through correction of the inherent spherical
abberations (see particle optics). This last
type has its main advantage in yielding the
largest acceptance solid angle of any of the
various spectrometers. For a more detailed
description of this field and its instruments,
see B eta and Gamma R a y Spectroscopy, Kai
Siegbahn, Interscience, 1955; of measuring
electron and position helicity or polarization,
see Lorne A. Page, p. 759, R eview of Modern
Physics, Vol. 31, 1959.

SPECTROSCOPY, GAM M A RAY. This field

of activity deals with the measurement of the
energies and states of polarization of gamma
rays which are emitted in nuclear transitions
as well as with investigations of the correla
tion between the properties of two or more
gamma rays emitted in sequence when a nu
cleus reaches its ground state through transi
tion of two or more steps. The methods for
making determinations of gamma ray energies
m ay be divided into three classes. The first
class consists of those methods in which the
gamma ray is allowed to transfer all of its
energy to an electron [or an electron position
pair (see pair production) ] which then has
its energy (or their energies) determined by
any one of the methods described under the
entry spectroscopy, beta-ray. For this class,
the transfer of energy to the electron is accom
plished either through the photoelectric effect,
using a thin foil of some high atomic number
element (e.g., lead, uranium, etc.) as a radiator,
or by internal conversion. Strictly speaking,
internal conversion does not involve a transfer
of energy from the gamma ray, but rather the
electron receives its energy directly from the
nuclear transition; however, the result is the
same. In each case the energy measured for
the electron must have added to it its binding
energy in the atomic state from which it is
ejected in order to obtain the energy of the
gamma ray. The second class of measurement
is actually a slight variation on the first: the
gamma gives up its energy to an electron in a
scintillation phosphor (usually a sodium iodide
crystal) where the electron immediately loses
its energy in exciting a number of optical
states proportional to the energy of the elec
tron. Thus the number of photons emitted
from the phosphor will be proportional to the
energy of the gamma ray minus the binding

energy of the electron. These photons are de

tected by a photomultiplier tube which then
gives out an anode current pulse which is re
lated to the gamma-ray energy. This use of
the scintillation counter has, over the past ten
years, become an almost universal method for
gamma ray measurements where high precision
is not needed. The third class of measure
ment is the only one in which the gamma ray
energy, or rather its wavelength, is measured
directly. In this method, use is made of the
Bragg law and the gamma rays are diffracted
from a thin bent crystal which is used to form
a focusing diffraction grating very similar to
a diffraction grating for light. This type of
measurement offers the greatest precision in
energy determination of any available (a few
parts in 1 0 4). For a more detailed discussion
of this method and description of the crystal
gratings see B eta and Gamma R a y Spectros
copy, K ai Siegbahn, Interscience Publishers
(1955), page 100.
All measurements of the polarization of
gamma rays are based upon the polarization
dependence of the Compton scattering cross
section. For example, plane polarized gamma
rays have a greater probability of being scat
tered in their plane of polarization than in
directions perpendicular to it and circular
polarized gamma rays are attenuated differ
ently by iron magnetized to saturation in the
direction of the gamma ray spin than in a
direction opposite the spin (see L. W . Fagg
and S. S. Hanna, R eview s of M od em Physics,
Vol. 31, p. 711, 1959).

SPECTROSCOPY,
M IC R O W A V E .
microwave absorption spectra.

See

SPECTROSCOPY, R A D IO FREQUENCY.
The use of rf fields to investigate nuclear
magnetic moments and nuclear electric quadrupole moments. (See nuclear magnetic reso
nance; resonance, nuclear quadrupole.)
SPECTRUM. (1) A visual display, a photo
graphic record, or a plot of the distribution of
the intensity (and sometimes the phase (2))
of radiation of a given kind as a function of
its wavelength, energy, frequency, momen
tum, mass or any related quantity. ( 2 ) A
continuous range of frequencies, usually wide
in extent, within which waves have some speci
fied common characteristic, e.g., audio-fre
quency spectrum, radio-frequency spectrum,
etc. (3) The resolution (1) pattern of a group

of masses over a region according to increas

ing mass, in which particles of a given mass
are physically isolated from those of neigh
boring masses. (4) In the mathematical sense,
the term is used in three ways, (a) The spec
trum of a matrix consists of all of the eigen
values of the matrix, (b) The spectrum of a
differential equation of the eigenvalue type
consists of all of the eigen or characteristic
values of the equation, (c) The spectrum of
a transformation is a term used in connection
with a line transformation T of a vector space
L into itself. If I is the identity transforma
tion I(X) = X, then the set of all values A for
which T Al does not have an inverse is
called the point spectrum . The set of all
values of A for which T Al has an inverse
which is not bounded is called the continuous
spectrum. The set of all values of A for which
T Al has an inverse whose domain is not
dense in L is called the residual spectrum.

SPECTRUM, ABSORPTION. The spectrum

resulting when the source is continuous radia
tion passed through an absorbing medium,
commonly dark at some of those wavelengths
for which the emission spectrum of the me
dium would be bright. (See also spectrum,
resonance.)
SPECTRUM, ALPHA PARTICLE.
The
distribution in energy or momentum o f the
a-particles emitted by a pure radionuclide,
or, less commonly, by a mixture of radionu
clides. Each -em itting nuclide yields a char
acteristic spectrum consisting of one or more
sharp lines, each line being due to a particu
lar group of monoenergetic particles. When
more than one group is present, the distribu
tion is said to have fine structure; this results
from transitions to more than one nuclear
energy state of the product nuclide, the group
of highest energy coming from the groundstate transition. In exceptional cases (R a C '
and T h C '), lines are observed due to groups
that have very low intensities ( 1 0 6 to 1 0 ~ 4)
relative to those for the main groups. The
particles producing such lines are called longrange a-particles. They result when the emit
ting nuclei are formed in excited states in the
preceding (^-disintegration (of R aC or ThC )
and emit a-particles directly from the excited
states, instead of becoming de-excited by the
more usual gam m a-ray emission. The nor

mal -disintegration energy is then augmented

by the excitation energy.

SPECTRUM ANALYZER. A device for de

termining the frequency-energy distribution
of a signal or group of signals. The device
generally consists of a selective receiver which
is cyclically tuned through the desired fre
quency band. The receiver output may be
displayed on the vertical axis of an oscillo
scope whose horizontal sweep is related to the
receiver sweep-rate, thus giving a visual indi
cation of the frequency and relative strength
of signals present.
SPECTRUM, ARC.

A spectrum produced at
the temperature of the electric arc. The ele
ment or compound under investigation is
placed between the electrodes forming the arc,
or is applied to them as a coating; and the
light emitted from the arc is examined spec
troscopically. Because of the high tempera
ture of an arc nearly all compounds are dis
associated, and the spectra of the elements
rather than of the compound is obtained.
This makes arc spectra particularly useful in
chemical analysis by spectroscopic methods.
Also because of the relatively low potential
differences required for an arc, the spectra of
the normal (or, at most, singly-ionized ele
ments) are obtained rather than the spectra
of the ions, as is the case with spark spectra.

SPECTRUM, ATOM IC. The spectrum of

radiation emitted by an excited atom, due to
changes within the a tom ; in contrast to radia
tion arising from changes in the condition of
a molecule. Atom ic spectra are character
ized by more or less sharply defined lines,
corresponding to pronounced maxima at cer
tain frequencies or wavelengths, and repre
senting radiation quanta of definite energy.

SPECTRUM, BAND.

The spectra of mole

cules consist of groups or bands of closely
spaced lines. These spectra were initially un
resolved, and hence called bands in distinc
tion to the sharp spectral lines of atoms. The
bands of most molecules have now been re
solved into their separate lines. Band spectra
is the customary name for the spectra of m ole
cules.
In nuclear physics, band spectra are useful
in determining nuclear spin and statistics, and
isotopic abundances.
(See also spectrum,

rotation-vibration,)

SPECTRUM, BETA-RAY. ( 1 ) The distribu

tion in energy or momentum of the p.particles (not including conversion electrons)
emitted in a p-decay process.
The /?-ray
spectrum is always continuous up to a maxi
mum energy. Its shape depends upon the na
ture of the particular /?-decay process. ( 2 )
Sometimes (loosely) the energy spectrum of
the electrons emitted by a radioactive source,
irrespective of their origin. In addition to
the continuous spectrum of definition ( 1 ), it
may show lines due to internal conversion or
to Auger electrons.
SPECTRUM, CH A N N ELED. A spectrum in
which there are interference bands, usually
produced by the interaction of light rays ap
proximately one half wavelength apart in
phase (2), as those resulting from reflection
from parallel surfaces.
SPECTRUM, CHARGE-TRANSFER.
A
term applied by Mullikan to spectra resulting
from the transitions of an electron between a
bonding and an antibonding orbital.
SPECTRUM, COM PARISON. A spectrum
used as a standard for comparison to other
spectra in spectrographic work, commonly by
photographic methods. Because of the large
number of well-known lines, the iron arc
spectrum is very commonly used for a com
parison spectrum. Particularly with prism
spectrometers the accuracy of interpolation
between two nearby, known spectral lines is
far greater than could be obtained by the use
of any general dispersion formula for deter
mining the wavelength of a spectral line.
SPECTRUM, CONTINUOUS. Light or any
other radiation may have such composition
that, when analyzed with a spectroscope, it
presents apparently an unbroken continuity
of wavelength over a wide range. Such, for
example, is the light from an ordinary lamp
filament. A ny incandescent solid, liquid, or
gas under high pressure will radiate with a
continuous spectrum.
Sunlight appears to
have a continuous spectrum until analyzed
carefully, when the continuous spectrum is
found to be crossed by a multitude of dark
Fraunhofer lines. A continuous spectrum
may extend without interruption from the
extreme infrared to the extreme ultraviolet.
(Cf. spectral line.)

SPECTRUM, CONTINUOUS, F O R PAR

TICLES. A spectrum exhibiting a continuous
variation in energy or momentum.
SPECTRUM, DARK-LINE.
A spectrum
which contains some lines darker than a con
tinuous spectrum background.
(See Fraun
hofer lines; spectral line.)
SPECTRUM, D ERIV AT IV E. In an absorp
tion spectrum, overlapping bands may be more
easily detected and identified if the derivative
of the transmission with respect to wave
length, rather than the transmission itself, is
plotted against the wavelength.
SPECTRUM, D IFFR A C T IO N .
The spec
trum produced by diffraction, as may be pro
duced by a diffraction grating.
(See also
spectrum, normal.)
SPECTRUM, DISCONTINUOUS. A term
sometimes applied specifically to a combined
band and line spectrum.
(See spectrum,
band and spectrum, line.)
SPECTRUM, DISC RET E. (1) The same as
spectrum, line. ( 2 ) A point spectrum. (See
spectrum (4).)
SPECTRUM, EM ISSION.
The spectrum
(continuous, line or band) produced by ra
diation from any emitting source, as distin
guished from absorption spectra. (See spec

trum, absorption.)
SPECTRUM, EXPLO SIO N . A spectrum ob
tained by the explosion of a solid or liquid
substance, which shows lines of higher exci
tation states.
SPECTRUM, FIN E .

The resolution of lines

in atomic emission spectra, by high-power
spectroscopes, into two or more fine lines situ
ated close together. The fine lines in atomic
spectra arise from so-called term multiplici
ties, i.e., from transition between groups of
higher, to groups of lower, levels, the levels
comprising each group lying close together.
Groups of close-lying levels are obtained by
coupling the orbital angular momentum vec
tor with the spin angular momentum vector
of the atom in a variety of possible com bina
tions. (See coupling, spin orbit; angular mo

mentum, coupling and recoupling of.)

SPECTRUM, FLAM E. A spectrum of a sub
stance obtained at the temperature of flame,

com m only by maintaining a supply of the

substance in the Bunsen flame. Because of
the relatively low temperature and absence
of high electrical potentials in most flames,
flame spectra are best observed in relatively
easily disassociated compounds, such as those
of the first and second groups of the periodic
table.

SPECTRUM, FLASH.

See flash spectrum.

SPECTRUM, H YPERFINE.

In the case of
atomic emission spectra, there is, in addition
to the fine structure (see spectrum, fine) of
the spectral lines attributable to term multi
plicities a hyperfine structure (fine lines very
close together), which is attributable to a
number of causes, including among others the
isotope effect and the effect of the spin of the
atomic nucleus. This spin couples with the
total angular momentum or orbital angular
momentum of the electrons and yields a series
of resulting vectors representative of closelyspaced energy levels.

SPECTRUM, IN FRA R ED . That region of

the electromagnetic spectrum comprising ra
diations having wavelengths extending from
the end of the visible red, at about 7.5 X 10 ~ 5
centimeters, to about 3 X 10 2 centimeters.
The term infrared spectrum is also applied to
a series of lines in this region obtained from
a particular substance by resolution of its ra
diation, or by resolution of radiation trans
mitted through it, whereby dark lines are pro
duced by absorption. The latter is called an
infrared absorption spectrum.
SPECTRUM, IN F R A R E D ABSORPTION
(M OLECULAR). A spectrum produced by
molecular absorption of radiations having
wavelengths in the infrared region. These
spectra depend, for their character and posi
tion, upon the energy changes involved,
whether in vibrational energy, in rotational
energy, or in combination. Their study fur
nishes considerable information about the
groups and linkages in the molecule.
(See
also spectrum, vibration-rotation.)

SPECTRUM, INVERSION.
Lines in the
microwave region of the spectra of some mole
cules, such as the ammonia molecule, N H 3.
In ammonia the inversion line can be visual
ized classically as due to the oscillation of the
nitrogen atom along a line perpendicular to

the plane containing the three hydrogen atoms.

When viewed quantum mechanically, it is
found that there are two energy states for the
molecule, separated by a small energy differ
ence. Transitions between these two energy
states leads to the emission or absorption of
electromagnetic radiation of frequency v =
2.387014 X 1010 S - 1 . M olecules in the two
states differ in their electric dipole moment
and m ay therefore be separated by passage
through an inhomogeneous electric field. This
separation is used in the ammonia maser.

SPECTRUM LEV EL, SOUND PRESSURE.

See sound pressure spectrum level.
SPECTRUM, LIN E .

(1) A spectrum pro

duced by radiation in which the values of the
property being investigated, such as energy,
mass, frequency, wavelength, exhibit one or
more discrete values, in contrast with a con
tinuous spectrum. A group of monoenergetic
radiations is the result of identical quantum
transitions of identical emitting-systems.
There may exist a spread of energies about
a mean value, giving a finite line width to
the spectral line. M oreover, the actual width
of a spectral line is often increased still further
by instrumental imperfections. ( 2 ) A conven
tional name for the spectra of atoms as dis
tinguished from band spectra, the spectra of
molecules. Actually both types of spectra con
sist of lines. (See spectrum, band.)

SPECTRUM LOCUS. The locus of points

representing the chromaticities of spectrally
pure stimuli in a chromaticity diagram.
SPECTRUM, M AGNETIC. A term some
times applied to particles (such as iron filings)
spread out in a magnetic field, and distributed
so as to show lines of force.
SPECTRUM, M A GN ET IC

RESONANCE.

Spectra produced by absorption or emission

of energy, com m only in the radio frequency
region, by molecules which change their mag
netic quantum numbers on absorption or emis
sion of quanta of radiowaves. These spectra
may be produced in the Rabi method, in which
a molecular beam is sent through two inhomo
geneous magnetic fields at right angles to it;
between the two fields is a constant field,
superimposed by a radio frequency field, the
resonance between these last two fields deter
mining the magnitude of splitting of the en

ergy levels. Other methods of observing mag

netic resonance are similar in that they involve
the superposition of a radio frequency field
on a steady or slowly varying magnetic field,
about which the atoms precess. (See Larmor
precession; microwave absorption spectra;
resonance, magnetic; spectroscopy, radio fre
quency.)
SPECTRUM, MASS. A spectrum showing the
distribution in mass or in mass-to-charge
ratio of ionized atoms, molecules, or molecu
lar fragments. The mass spectrum of an ele
ment shows the relative abundance of the iso
topes of the element. The mass spectrum of
a compound is quite com plicated and not
easily related to the relative abundances of
the various kinds of atoms and groups pres
ent; however, under given experimental con
ditions it is characteristic of the compound
and often useful for identification and assay.
SPECTRUM, M IC RO W A V E. A spectrum
of wavelengths lying in the region between
the far infrared and the conventional radio
frequency region.
The boundaries of the
microwave region have not been definitely
fixed, but it is com monly regarded as extend
ing from about 0.1 cm to 30 cm in wavelength,
representing about 8 octaves of the electro
magnetic spectrum. (See also microwave ab
sorption spectra.)
SPECTRUM, M O LEC U LA R. See spectrum,
band and spectrum, vibration-rotation.
SPECTRUM, NORM AL. A term applied to
the diffraction spectrum, because its disper
sion is linear with wavelength, which is not the
case in a spectrum obtained from a prism.
SPECTRUM O F AN INCAN DESCENT
SOLID. In general, the spectrum of an in
candescent solid is a continuous spectrum (see

spectrum, continuous) but not a black body

spectrum.
(See spectral energy distribu
tion.)
SPECTRUM O F T H ERM AL VIBRATIONS
O F A S O LID (PHONON SPECTRUM).
One of the prime problems of lattice dynamics
is to establish the spectrum of the vibrational
modes of crystals. The simplest approxima
tion is that of Debye, who treated the crystal
as a continuum, the atom icity being intro
duced by cutting off the distribution at a
point where the number of modes equalled

the number of degrees of freedom, 3N. This

was improved by Born and von Karman, who
showed that there should be a cut off at a
definite wave number, the same for each of
the different modes of polarization, and hence
corresponding to different maximum frequen
cies for longitudinal and transverse modes.
M ore detailed calculations, based on assumed
interatomic force constants, have confirmed
this general form of spectrum but no simple
representation can be found. The spectrum
fixes the specific heat as a function of tem
perature, and also such properties as conduc
tivity, thermal; infrared and Raman spectra;
etc. (See also Debye theory of specific heat;

is approximately the same for the different

bands, or sometimes of only a single line.
Such series o f bands are called resonance
series; a spectrum excited in the way described
is called a resonance spectrum.
W ith the advent of quantum theory, it be
came clear that the resonance spectrum re
sults from the excitation of an atom from its
ground state to an excited state by the ab
sorption of radiation, and the subsequent emis
sion of light during the return of the atom to
the ground state.

SPECTRUM,

REVERSAL.
A spectrum
which contains some lines darker than a con
tinuous spectrum background.
(See Fraun

Born-von Karman theory of specific heat.)

hofer lines.)

SPECTRUM, PERSISTENT.

SPECTRUM, ROENTGEN.
x-ray*

The spectrum
of a substance which results from the most
moderate excitation. The most persistent of
the lines have been called raies ultim es.

SPECTRUM, PRIM ARY.

The first-order
spectrum produced by a diffraction grating.
SPECTRUM,
PULSE
QUEN CY SPECTRUM).
trum.

(PULSE
FRE
See pulse spec

SPECTRUM, RAMAN. A spectrum obtained

by illuminating a substance with radiation,
and obtaining from the radiations scattered
at right angles a spectrum of those frequencies
differing from the incident radiation.
(See
also Raman effect.)
SPECTRUM, RESONANCE.
A spectrum
excited by the interaction with a substance
(usually a molecular gas) of radiation of a
definite frequency or frequencies. Thus in
the early work, W ood studied the fluorescence
of various molecular gases (e.g., N a 2 vapor)
by exciting their resonance spectra b y one of
the intense lines of a mercury lamp of cad
mium lamp. He found that only a single
progression appears in this fluorescence spec
trum, and not all the bands of the system, as
resulting from excitation by white light. B y
excitation with another wavelength, in gen
eral, another series is obtained. Investigating
the fine structure of such fluorescence bands,
excited by a single line, W ood found them to
consist, in general, of only a few lines. In the
ideal case, when the illuminating line covers
only a single absorption line, the bands con
sist either of only two lines, whose separation

SPECTRUM,

See spectrum,

ROTATION-VIBRATION.

The various forms of molecular spectra are

frequently referred to as rotation-vibration
spectra or sometimes band spectra. There
are three types which are observed. (1) The
pure rotation spectrum , which results from
transitions between the various rotational
levels of a molecule when it behaves as though
it were a simple quantum mechanical rotator.
These bands are observed mostly as adsorption
lines in the far infrared. ( 2 ) The vibrationrotation spectrum which results from transi
tions between the various vibrational levels
of the molecule when it vibrates as a simple
quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator,
with a fine structure caused by the rotational
levels. These bands are found in the near
infrared.
(3) The vibration-rotation-electronic spectrum which results from transitions
between the various vibration-rotation levels
in which the electronic configuration may
change, leading to a change in the binding
energy and moment of inertia of the molecule.
These spectra are found mostly in the visible
and ultraviolet region. The energy levels
which lead to the pure rotation spectrum fol
low from the Schrdinger equation for the
molecule considered as a rigid rotator. (See

rotator, symmetric or antisymmetric.)

L2
n2 [ I d /
d\
= ------- ------------- ( sin 6 )
21

2 j L s in ddd\

m)

l
d2 i
+ ^~-TZT~2
\

=
sin 6 d(f) J

L is the operator (see operators,

q u a n tu m m echanical) for the total ang ular
m o m e n tu m of the rotator, I is its m o m e n t of
inertia, E is its rotational energy, ft is the
Dirac h, and \p is its wave fu n c tio n . The
where

middle expression in this equation results from

the insertion of the explicit expression for L in
terms of a spherical polar coordinate system.
The eigenfunctions of this equation are

P / m) (cos d)etm<t>, where P / m) (cos 0 ) is the

associated Legendre p o ly no m ial in cos 0 ,
y / j(j + i)S is the total angular momentum
of the rotator, and nth is the z component of
its total angular momentum.
The energy
eigenvalues are E = % fi2j ( j + 1 ) // .
This
means that the wave n u m b e r v of a spectral
line emitted in a transition between states of
total angular momentum q u a n tu m num bers
/ and j would be
p

E j'

E j)

2 ttc

n
47r/c

[/(/ +

1)

- j(j +

1 )],

where c is the speed o f lig h t. The selection

rule for these transitions is A j = 1 , so
v = 2 B (j +

1 ),

n2 d2

2p.dE? +

k (B - Ro):

=B[

m. Thus the vibration-rotational en2tt

ergy spectrum will be given b y:

+ 1) + (n + ^ )]h v 0.

Ej,n

----------------------------

he

= Po(n' - n) + B [j'(jf + 1) - j ( j + 1)]

with the s e le c t io n r u le s being An = 1 and
A j = 1 . The lines resulting from A j = 1
make up the i?-branch of the F o r t r a t p a r a b o la
and those from A j + 1 , the P-branch. The
main effect of the neglected asymmetry in the
potential around R 0 is to lead to a breakdown
in the An = 1 selection rule and allow An
to assume any value. The correction on the
energy spectrum is of the order of only a few
percent for the halogen molecules.
If the
change in I from one rotational level is taken
into account, the expressions for the wave
numbers of lines falling on the R and P
branches of the Fortrat parabola are:
R branch:

v = v0An + 2B f + (3B f B )j

+ (S' - B ) f ,
v v0An (B ' + B )j
+ (B' -

B )j2.

If the electronic configuration of the molecule

changes with the transition from one vibrationrotation level to another, three effects must be
taken into account. There will be a further
change in I (and thus in B) with the transi
tion. The effect of the difference in electronic
energy must be taken into account in the ex
pression for the wave number resulting from
the transition. Transitions with A j = 0 will
now be possible, leading to a Q branch for the
Fortrat parabola.
The expression for the
wave numbers of lines in each of the branches
are:
R branch,

V=

electronic

+ 0^71 + 2B'

+ { W r - B )j

EU,

where U is the reduced mass of the system.

The energy eigenvalues for this system are
E n = (n +
= (n + }4)hvo, where v0 =

j (j

The expression for the wave numbers of lines

emitted in t r a n s it io n s between the vibrationrotation energy levels is

P branch:

where j is the total angular momentum of the

lower level, and B = fi/\ivie is the rotational
constant. Since the difference in wave num
bers between tw o successive lines is H/2ivie,
the I for the molecule can be found. If it is
assumed that the vibrational motion of such a
diatomic molecule is independent of the rota
tional level, as it would be if the change in the
equilibrium separation R 0 of the two atoms
along with the resultant change in I were
neglected, the vibrational motion may be
considered as close to harmonic motion
under the influence of a potential energy
V = % k (R Ro)2 and m ay be treated inde
pendently.
The Schrdinger equation for
vibrational motion of such a system as viewed
from the center of mass would be
r

E i.n

+ ( ' P branch,

V=

electronic

B ) j 2,

+ 0^71 (B + B ')j

+ (B' - B )j2,
Q branch,

V=

electronic
+

+<'oAn + (B' B )j

( B ' - B ) J 2.

SPECTRUM, SPARK. A spectrum produced

by the passage of an electrical discharge, i.e.,
an electrical spark, com monly through a gas
or vapor.
(Spark discharges from metallic
electrodes, at suitable potential, yield the
spark spectra of the metallic vapors.) Varia
tion of the applied potential has been found
to change the character of the spark spectra
obtained; the new series of lines observed at
definite values of increasing potential are des
ignated respectively as the first spark spec
trum , the second spark spectrum, etc., those
of higher numbers consisting of shorter w ave
lengths. These successive spectra represent
progressive stages in the ionization of the
atoms emitting them.
(See also spectrum,
arc.)
SPECTRUM, ULTRAVIOLET. The portion
of the electromagnetic spectrum that begins
at the end of the violet portion of the visible
spectrum, at a wavelength of about 39004000 Angstrom units, and consists of the ra
diations of decreasing wavelength extending
down toward the x-ray region to a wave
length of about 2 0 0 Angstrom units.

SPECTRUM, X-RAY. See x-ray(s) continu

ous; x-ray(s) characteristic; crystal analysis;
Moseley law.
SPECULAR TRANSMITTANCE.
mittance.

See trans

SPECULUM

METAL.
An alloy of tin
(3 3 % ) and copper, capable of taking a very
high polish. Especially used for reflection
gratings.
SPEECH INVERTER. See scrambler cir
cuit; secrecy systems; and inversion (3).
SPEECH SCRAMBLER. See scrambler cir
cuit; secrecy systems; and inversion (3).

are always in such a direction that they in

crease any asymmetry that may be present.
The shaft, therefore, bends and this bending
is opposed by elastic forces within the mate
rial. The presence of inertia and of restor
ing elastic forces insures that the shaft shall
be an oscillator (2) with one or more reso
nance frequencies. As the speed is increased
to the lowest resonance frequency, the ampli
tude of vibration becomes larger and it may
reach a dangerously large value if the damp
ing is small (see oscillation, forced). The
speed at which this occurs is called the criti
cal speed. A bove the critical speed a state
of equilibrium m ay again be attained in which
the body virtually rotates about its mass cen
ter. Second, third, and fourth critical speeds
are also possible but the amplitudes of the
shaft vibration are progressively less.

SPEED, DRU M . The angular speed of the

transmitter or recorder drum. This speed is
measured in revolutions per minute.
SPEED ERASING (IN CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES).
The rate of erasing successive
storage elements.
SPEED, GROUN D.

In navigation, the speed

of a vehicle along its track.

SPEED O F LIGH T , M EASUREMENT OF.

See (1) aberration of light, Bradley; (2)
Fizeau toothed wheel; (3) Foucault rotating
mirror. (4) Michelson rotating mirror. (5)
Rosa and Dorsey method, velocity of light.
The best value in 1958, according to Jesse,
W . M . Dumond, was (2.997930 0.000003) X
1 0 10 cm sec- 1 .

SPEED O F RESPONSE.
dead time lag.

See time constant;

SPEECH, VISIBLE.

SPEED O F SOUND. The speed with which

the phase of a sound wave is propagated. The
speed of sound in dry air is (331.4 M/S)
V 7y27 3.1 6 K .

SPEED. The magnitude of the vector veloc

ity. Speed is a scalar quantity and is ex

SPEED, STROKE (SCANNING O R RE

C O R D IN G L IN E FREQUENCY) (FACSIM
IL E ). The number of times per minute, un

An electronic method
o f changing spoken words into visible patterns
that someone can learn to read.

pressed in units of length divided by time.

SPEED, C RIT ICA L.

The rotating parts of

machines, such as shafts, armatures, etc., sel
dom have their masses distributed perfectly
symmetrically about the axis of rotation.
Hence centrifugal forces apt on the m ass; they

less otherwise stated, that a fixed line perpen

dicular to the direction of scanning is crossed
in one direction by a scanning or recording
spot. In most conventional mechanical sys
tems this is equivalent to drum speed. In
systems in which the picture signal is used

while scanning in both directions, the stroke

speed is twice the above figure.

a specified constant difference in great circle

distance from two fixed points on the sphere.

SPHERE.

SPH ERICAL POLAR COORDINATES.

coordinate system, spherical polar.

See spherical surface.

SPHERE O F ATTRACTION O F M O L E C
ULAR FORCES. The distance within which
the potential energy due to mutual attraction
of the molecules may not be neglected relative
to the average thermal energy of the molecules
at room temperature.

SPHERE PH O T O M ET ER (INTEGRATING
SPHERE PH OT OM ET ER).
In order to
measure the total light flux from a lamp, the
intensity in each different direction would
need to be measured. However, by putting
the lamp near the center of a hollow sphere
with perfectly diffusing white walls, the meas
urement of the intensity at one small window
in the wall of the sphere is a measure of the
total flux.

SPH ERICA L ABERRATION.

E xact calcu
lation shows that a perfectly spherical surface,
either reflecting or refracting, can never form
a perfect image of a finite object. This de
fect, being caused by the geometry of a spher
ical surface, is hence called spherical aberra
tion. The rays of light which make the larg
est angle with the optical axis will be the most
influenced by this defect. Spherical aberra
tion may be reduced by use of aspheric sur
faces or, in the case of multiple element sys
tems, by having the errors inherent to the d if
ferent surfaces counteract each other. The
reduction of spherical aberration to an accept
able amount is one of the first problems of the
optical designer.

SPH ERICA L ABERRATION, LATERAL.

See lateral spherical aberration.
SPH ERICA L ABERRATION, L O N G IT U D I
NAL. See longitudinal spherical aberration.
SPHERICAL-EARTH FACTOR. The ratio
of the electric field strength that would result
from propagation over an im perfectly-con
ducting spherical earth to that which would
result from propagation over a perfectly-con
ducting plane.

SPH ERICA L H ARM O N ICS.

See harmonic.

SPH ERICA L HYPERBOLA. The locus of

the points on the surface of a sphere having

See

SPH ERICAL SURFACE.

A surface all
points of which are at a fixed distance, the
radius, from a fixed point, the center. The
term sphere is frequently used for this sur
face but it more properly means a solid (2)
bounded by a spherical surface.
In rectangular coordinates its general equa
tion is:
x2 + y 2 + z2 + Gx + H y + K z + L =

but if the center is taken at the origin of the

coordinate system, the equation becomes
x 2 + y2 + z2 = r2
where r is the radius of the sphere.

SPHERICS.
mospheric.

See interference (spherics) at

SPH ERO ID.

See ellipsoid.

S PH ERO ID A L CO O RD IN ATE. See coordi

nate system, spheroidal (oblate and prolate).
SPHEROM ETER.

A measuring instrument
used to determine the curvature of a spherical
surface. The Geneva Lens Gauge consists of
two fixed legs and a central movable leg which
activates a dial gauge, and reads directly in
diopters. Another type consists of a ring,
which rests on the surface to be measured,
and a central pin which indicates the curva
ture. Still another type has three fixed legs
and a central, m ovable leg.

SPIDER. The highly-flexible perforated disk

used to center the m oving coil of a dynamic
microphone or loudspeaker in the magnetic
gap, without restricting its travel in and out
of the gap.
SPIDER, IN SID E.

The flexible centering de

vice for the voice coil of a dynamic loud
speaker. (See loudspeaker, dynamic.)

SPILL (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).

The loss of information from a storage element
by redistribution.

SPIN. (1) T o rotate about an axis. (2) The

term finds particular application in atomic
and nuclear physics, where it is used to de
scribe the angular momentum of elementary

particles or of nuclei.

It has been found that

all such particles possess intrinsic angular
momentum of amount nfi/2 where n is a small
integer and ft is the Dirac h. Their properties
depend strongly on the magnitude of n. (See

fermion, boson, quantum statistics.)

SPIN-DEPENDENT FO RC E.

The force be
tween two particles which depends on their
relative spin orientations and possibly on their
spin directions relative to the line joining the
particles. Physical basis could be the inter
action between the magnetic moments of the
particles, or in the case of nuclear forces, to
the exchange of 7r-mesons between the nu
cleons. (See also tensor force.)

SPIN E C H O . I f a sample containing nuclei

with net magnetic moments is placed in a
magnetic field H 0, magnetic resonance effects
can be observed by applying an rf magnetic
field at right angles to H 0 (see nuclear induc
tion and nuclear magnetic resonance). When
a single short rf pulse is applied to the sample,
instead of a continuously applied rf field, the
resulting magnetization, at right angles to
both H 0 and the rf field, decays rapidly with
time. This free induction decay results from
the fact that inhomogeneities in the resultant
field H 0 lead to a spread in Larmor fre
quencies, so that the motions of the nuclear
moments soon get out of phase with each other.
However, phase coherence of the nuclear m o
ments m ay last for an appreciably longer time,
and leads to the possibility of spin echoes. If
a second rf pulse, applied after a time interval
t , reverses the motion of the nuclear moments,
they will again be in phase after an additional
time interval r ( 2 r from the first pulse) and a
strong nuclear induction signal (echo) may
be observed. This process may be repeated a
number of times until eventually spin-lattice
relaxation and other effects destroy the phase
coherence among the nuclear spins.

SPIN-LATTICE RELAXATION. The relaxa

tion process by which the electrons in a solid
return to an equilibrium distribution after a
disturbance (e.g., see resonance, magnetic)
that places more electron spins in states of
high energy than would be in such states ac
cording to the Boltzmann factor. In this
process the excess potential energy associated
with the spins in the magnetic field is trans
ferred to the lattice. The relaxation time is

the time taken for the number of

a given state to decay from n0 to
n 6 ) /e , where ne is the number of
the equilibrium condition and e
of the natural logarithms.

electrons in
ne + (n 0
electrons in
is the base

SPINNER. Rotating part of a radar antenna

used to impart any subsidiary motion in addi
tion to the primary slewing of the beam.
SPIN, NUCLEAR. The total angular mo
mentum of an atomic nucleus, when it is con
sidered as a single particle.

SPINOR.

It can be shown that the threedimensional rotation group is isomorphic with

a two-dimensional unitary group, but two
matrix representations of the latter apply to
every matrix of the former group. The ab
stract space described by the unitary matrices
is called spin space and a vector, having two
components in this space, is a spinor of first
order. A dyadic in spin space is a spinor of
second order. Such quantities, as suggested
by their name, are useful in the quantum me
chanics of particle spin. (See group, rotation
and group, unitary.)

SPIN QUANTUM NUMBER, ISOBARIC.

See quantum number, isotopic spin.
SPIN RESONANCE. See resonance, mag
netic; resonance, paramagnetic; nuclear mag
netic resonance; proton resonance.
SPIN SPACE.

See spinor.

SPIN STATE. A system is said to be in a

definite spin state when the quantum mechan
ical wave function describing the system is an
eigenfunction of the various spin operators
corresponding to the square of the total spin

angular momentum and the component (s) of

the spin angular momentum being used to
designate the system. For example, the spin
state of a single particle might be designated
by specifying the particles spin projection
on its direction of motion. The operator cor
responding to this dynamical variable is s-p
where s is the vector operator corresponding
to the spin angular momentum of the particle
and p is the vector operator corresponding to
the linear momentum. For a particle to be
in a definite spin state according to this method
of designation, it must be described by a wave
function which is an eigenfunction of s-p.
As another example, the spin state of a two

particle system might be specified in one of

two ways either by specifying S2 and Sz, the
square of the total spin angular momentum
and its -com ponent respectively, or by speci
fying Su and S2z, the ^-components of the
spin angular momentum of each particle. If
the cases for the two particle system are con
sidered in detail, using non-relativistic quan
tum mechanics and the Pauli spin operators,
one has

Cf 2
_ h
1x2 2.
Oi
<Ti ,

SPINTHARISCOPE. An instrument in which

scintillations are visually observed or counted

S 22 = j f i 2cr22;
S2

= (Si + S2)2 = Si2 + S22 + S r S2

= i ^ V i 2 + o-22 + <71 -0-2) ;

and
S z = S iz

+ S 2z;

with

S\z =
Then letting

S'lld $ 2z =
a

represent the column matrix

/ 0\

and /3 represent the column matrix y J ,

one has
= 2(2 +
= ifta i,

= i ( i + l)S2ft,
Sizfii =
a ifc,

/5i2, and

represent spin
= 2h)

S u = iK,

S 2z

= i#,
S\z =
2

S2Z =

Su

and

through a magnifying lens system.

SPIN WAVE.

In a ferromagnetic crystal at
absolute zero and in an external magnetic
field, all the spins would be lined up parallel
to the magnetic field. If the spin on one atom
is then reversed, this spin deviation will not
remain localized but will propagate as a spin
wave through the lattice.

SPIRAL, CROSSOVER.
over.

See groove, lead-

SPIRAL, ECC EN T RIC.

See groove, locked.

SPIRAL FAST.
S i 2a i

Thus a i a2,
states with

and the populations of the energy levels, E ly

of the spin system will be given by the Boltz
mann factor e~ Ei/kTj where T is the tempera
ture of the lattice. I f the spin populations
are inverted (as in maser action), the spin
temperature will no longer be that of the lat
tice (it may be negative, see negative tem
perature). If the spin lattice relaxation time,
t , is long, experiments of duration less than t
m ay be performed on the inverted spin system.

Slz = \h,

-J#;

^2z ~

2 %]

S2z = \Tty respectively.

Also ct\oi2) i(<*i02 + P i 2); and Pi/32 all rep

resent spin states with S2 = 2h2 but S z = fi\
S z = 0, and S z = ft respectively. The state
1&2 $i<*2) is ne with S2 = 0 and S z = 0.
(See also operators, quantum mechanical;

representation theory, quantum mechanical;

Dirac electron theory; and Dirac operators.)
SPIN TEMPERATURE. In a spin system
with spin-lattice interactions, the lattice acts
as a thermostat for the spin system. In equi
librium, a temperature equal to the tempera
ture of the lattice can be assigned to the spins,

See groove, fast.

SPIRAL, LEAD-IN (GROOVE). The blank

groove of high pitch used to guide the stylus
into the modulated grooves of a disk recording.
SPIRAL, THROW-OUT.
out.

See groove, lead-

SPLASH RING. A shield placed in some

tubes, such as the ignitron, which have mer
cury pool cathodes, to prevent splashing of
mercury onto the other electrodes.

SPONTANEOUS. Occurring by virtue of in

herent properties or energy as distinguished
from processes carried out by deliberate appli
cation of an external agency, as spontaneous
evaporation, combustion, oxidation, etc.
SPORADIC E LAYER.

See ionosphere.

SPORADIC REFLECTIONS.
sphere; and abnormal reflections.

See

iono

SPOT.

(1) The light produced by the impact

of the slender beam of electrons on the fluores
cent screen of a cathode-ray tube. ( 2 ) One
of the exposed regions on a Laue photograph.
(See also cathode spot (of an arc); dynode

spot; ion spot (on a cathode-ray tube screen);

ion spot (camera tubes or image tubes).)

SPOT, SCANNING.

See scanning spot en

tries.

SPOT SPEED. The speed of the scanning or

recording spot within the available line. This
is generally measured on the subject copy or
on the record sheet.

SPRAY POINTS. A row of sharp points

charged to a high d -c potential, the purpose
of which is to charge and discharge the con
veyor belt in a Van de Graaff generator, or
similar device. (See electrostatic generator.)
SPREA DIN G C O E FF IC IE N T . A thermodynamic expression for the work done in the
spreading of one liquid on another. It is the
difference between the work of adhesion be
tween the two liquids and the work of cohe
sion of the liquid spreading, which may be
expressed by the equation:
Fs

Jb 7A

VAB,

where F s is the spreading coefficient, y b is the

surface tension of the stationary liquid, 7 a is
the surface tension of the spreading liquid,
and j a b is the interfacial tension between
the liquids.

SPRING. See energy stored in a spring,

spring constant, Hooke law.
SPRING CONSTANT.

See force constant.

SPURIOUS
spurious.

RADIATION .

See

radiation,

SPURIOUS RESPONSE. Output from a re

ceiver due to a signal or signals having fre
quencies other than that to which the receiver
is tuned. See image response as an example.
SPURIOUS TUBE COUNTS.
spurious tube counts.

See counter

SPUTTER. In a gas discharge, material is

removed, as though by evaporation, from the
electrodes, even though they remain cold.
This phenomenon is known as sputtering.
The term is also used for the corresponding
phenomenon when the discharge is through
a liquid. In some cases, sputtering is a nui
sance that limits the life of a d evice; in others,
it is put to work to make colloidal solutions of
metals or to deposit metallic films on glass,
quartz, etc.
SPUTTERING (CA TH ODE SPUTTERING).
(1) The process in which sputter takes place.
( 2 ) A process sometimes used in the production
o f the metal master, wherein the original is
coated with an electric conducting layer by
means of an electric discharge in a vacuum.
This is done prior to electroplating a heavier
deposit.

A currentcarrying spring to which the contacts are

fastened.

SQUALL. A sudden, strong wind which may

or may not be accompanied by a wind shift.
Rain and snow squalls are showers accom
panied by strong gusts.

SPRING EXTENSION (RELAY).

spring, restoring.

Same as

SQUALL LIN E . Thunderstorms, rain show

ers or squalls, and snow showers or squalls

Same as pile-

often appear in a long line, sometimes reach

ing hundreds of miles, but only one squall in
depth. Such lines of squalls or squall lines
normally move perpendicular to their lead
ing edge.

SPRING, CONTACT (RELAY).

SPRING PILE-UP (RELAY).

up (relay).

SPRING RET RAC T ILE (RELAY).

spring, restoring.

Same as

SPRING, REST O RIN G (RELAY). A spring

which moves the armature to and holds it in
the normal position, when the relay is de
energized.
SPRING SHIELDS, ELECTROSTATIC (RE
LAY). See shields, electrostatic spring (re
lay).
SPRING, TENSION.
ing.

Same as spring, restor

SPROCKET T U N IN G /
See
tuneable, method of tuning.

magnetron,

SQUARE FOOT UNIT O F ABSORPTION.

See sabin.

SQUARENESS RATIO. (1) (j3r/j8 ). For

material in a symm etrically cyclically mag
netized condition, the ratio of the flux density
at zero magnetizing force to the maximum
flux density. ( 2 ) (R s). For a material in a
symmetrically cyclically magnetized condi
tion, the ratio of the flux density when the
magnetizing force has changed half way from
zero toward its negative limiting value, to the
maximum flux density. Both of these ratios

are a function of the maximum magnetizing

force.

stable equilibrium as the metacenter is above

or below the center of gravity.

SQUELCH. T o automatically quiet a re

ceiver by reducing its gain in response to a

STABLE ORBIT (BETATRON, SYNCHRO

TRON). The circle of constant radius de
scribed by accelerated particles. (See acceler
ator, particle.)

specified characteristic of the input.

SQUINT. In radar, an ambiguous term mean

ing either: ( 1 ) The angle between the two
m ajor lobe axes in a lobe switching antenna,
or (2) The angular difference between the
axis of antenna radiation and a selected geo
metric axis, such as the axis of the reflector.
SQU IR R EL -CA GE
electric.

M OTOR.

See

motor,

SQUITTER.

Random firing, intentional or

otherwise, of the transponder transmitter in
the absence of interrogation.

SR.

A bbreviation for saturable reactor.

SRE. A bbreviation for surveillance radar

element.
SS.

Abbreviation for (1) single signal; (2)

single-sideband.

SSB.

Abbreviation for single sideband.

S-STATE. A state of zero orbital angular

momentum.
STABLE.

See stability.

STABLE (OF AN A T O M IC O R N UCLEAR

SYSTEM). Incapable of spontaneous changes;
thus a stable nuclide is one that is not radio
active. The term is sometimes applied to nu
clides for which radioactive transformations
would be energetically possible, but are so
highly forbidden as to result in radioactivity
too feeble to detect by currently available
techniques; thus nuclides with lifetimes ex
ceeding about 1 0 15 to 1 0 18 y r would be con
sidered stable at present. The term m ay be
qualified to indicate incapability of a speci
fied mode of spontaneous change; for exam
ple, /3 -stable means incapable of ordinary
p-disintegration, although possibly capable of

STABILITY. In general, the tendency to re

main in a given state or condition, without
spontaneous change; and thus that attribute
of a system which enables it to develop re
storing forces between its elements, equal to
or greater than the disturbing forces, so as to
restore a state of equilibrium between the
elements. Thus, a body of air is in a stable
state if, when displaced somewhat from its
original position, it tends to return thereto.
A chemical compound is said to be stable if
it is not readily decomposed. In electricity
and electronics, stability denotes the con
stancy of various characteristics of equip
ment; in negative feedback systems, the term
means freedom from oscillatory tendencies.
(See stable [of an atomic or nuclear system];
stable orbit; equilibrium of forces; least energy
principle; buoyancy; stability, mechanical;
statics.)
STABILITY, C O N D IT IO N A L. A condition
of a negative feedback system which causes
it to be stable (non-oscillating) for certain
values of gain, and unstable for other values.

STABILITY FACTOR.

In a transistor cir
cuit, the ratio of the change in collector cur
rent to the change in I c0 (d -c collector current
for zero emitter current). In many circuits,
this ratio is considerably greater than one,
causing large changes in collector current as
a function of temperature, due to the large
temperature coefficient of I co (11% per C for
germanium).

STABILITY FACTOR, CIRCUIT.

sistor circuit stability factor.

See tran

STABILITY, FREQUENCY.

STABLE ELEM EN T . In navigation, an in

strument or device which maintains a desired
orientation independently of the motion of the
vehicle.

This term is
com monly used to denote the accuracy with
which the carrier frequency of a radio trans
mitter maintains a constant value. Various
methods are used to improve this, among them
being crystal control of the oscillator, electron
coupling of the oscillator, high Q, tuned cir
cuits, etc. (See also frequency deviation.)

STABLE E Q U IL IB R IU M O F FLOAT ING

BODY. A floating body is in stable or un

STABILITY, L IM IT E D (C O N D IT IO N A L
STABILITY). In communications, a property

disintegration, double-P disintegration, iso

meric transition, or spontaneous fission.

o f a system characterized by stability when

the input signal falls within a particular
range, and by instability when the signal falls
outside this range.

STABILITY, M E CH A N ICA L. A term for

that property of a body which will cause it to
develop forces in opposition to any position
or motion disturbing influence. The subject
m ay be divided into static stability and d y
namic stability. The former is concerned with
the production of the restoring forces, the
latter with the oscillations that are set up in
the system as a result of the restoring forces.
Another classification is into (1) positive
stability when the displaced object returns to
an initial state of equilibrium after a tem
porary disturbance, ( 2 ) neutral stability when
the object tends to remain in a definite posi
tion but when disturbed m ay come to rest in
a new position, (3) negative stability (i.e.,
instability), when the object assumes an en
tirely new position when disturbed from its
initial state. A simple damped pendulum
illustrates the first; a sphere the second; while
a slender cylinder standing vertically on end
is a case of negative stability.
Let it be assumed that an object at rest or
in a state of uniform motion receives a dis
turbing force.
Depending on the kind of
stability possessed, it might react with one
of the motions shown in the accompanying
figure. If it is dynam ically stable as well as

STABILITY O F A PLASMA. The condition

of a plasma in which its shape is maintained
against externally applied forces (usually mag
netic field pressure) and its constituents are
able to diffuse through the confining fields only
by individual particle diffusion. (See mag
netic field pressure, diffusion across magnetic
fields.)
STABILITY, P R IN C IP L E O F EXCHAN GE
OF. This principle states that in linear sys
tems, which may be either stable or unstable,
depending on the choice of a system parameter,
the complex frequency will change with the
parameter in such a way that both the real and
imaginary parts of the frequency will pass
through zero together. It has been found,
however, that this principle is often violated.

STABILIVOLT. A special type of gas-discharge tube used as a voltage stabilizer or

regulator.

STABILIZATION. In navigation, mainte

nance of a desired orientation independent of
the motion of the vehicle.
STABILIZATION FREQUENCY. See stabil
ity, frequency; and frequency stabilization.
STABILIZED PIN CH . A controlled thermo
nuclear device in the shape of a cylinder or

. Statically

A
i

'Dlsturt

fr.Unstable
I

v statically
V Stable

/ '
\tr ~ v
Disturbance

L eft: Positive stability (both statically and dynami

cally stable). R ight: Negative stability (both dy
namically unstable).

statically stable, its m otion-tim e history may

be one of diminishing oscillation or of simple
subsidence, depending on the magnitude of
damping, and inertial effects. D ynam ic in
stability m ay occur with either static stability
or static instability. These lead to divergent
oscillation, or to complete divergence.

STABILITY, M ISSIN G LINES. A measure

o f the percentage of rf pulses with energy only
30% of normal due to low amplitude, too-short
pulse duration, or incorrect frequency.

A stabilized linear pinch. The arrows show the direc

tion of the enclosed axial magnetic field as well as the
azimuthal field produced by the axial current.

torus which uses the self-constricting pinch

effect for confinement (isolation) of a plasma
and an axial magnetic field for stabilization
of this plasma-field configuration against hydromagnetic instabilities. (See stability of a
plasma.)
STABILIZIN G M A GN ET IC F IE L D . In the
thermonuclear program, a magnetic field which
is added to an experimental device to increase
the stability of the plasma-field configuration.
For example, in the dynamic pinch devices an
axial magnetic field was added to suppress the
hydromagnetic instabilities. (See thermonu
clear device; stabilized pinch.)
STACK (RELAY).

Same as pile-up.

STACKABLE. T o be stackable, a carrier (2)

system must: (1) be designed so the equip
ment for an individual channel can be fur
nished as a complete package, and (2) have a
frequency allocation so that the frequency
bands used for the two directions of transmis
sion are adjacent. In a stackable system, ex
pansion to full capacity consists merely of
adding additional equipment.
STACKING FAULT.

A deviation from the

correct order of stacking of the atomic planes
in the construction of a face-centered cubic
or hexagonal close-packed lattice.

STAGGER. Periodic error in the position of

the recorded spot along the recorded line.
STAGGERING ADVANTAGE. A reduction
intelligible crosstalk between identical
channels of adjacent carrier systems that re
sults from using slightly different frequency
allocations for the different systems.

in

STAGNATION POINT, F L U ID F LO W . In
inviscid flow (see fluid, inviscid), a point,
usually on a bounding surface, at which the
fluid velocity is zero with respect to the bound
ary. The flow around bodies of simple form
(a sphere or a streamline body) has a forward
and a rear stagnation point. A stagnation
point in viscous flow m ay be defined as any
point at which a streamline intersects either
a boundary or another streamline.

STAGNATION PRESSURE. The pressure at

a point of stagnation (zero velocity) on a body
around which fluid flows.

STAGNATION TEMPERATURE.

The tem
perature acquired by a (compressible) fluid

at a stagnation point in adiabatic flow. The

potential temperature defined using the stag
nation pressure as standard.

STALAGMOMETER. An apparatus for the

measurement of surface tension by the dropweight method. (See surface tension, meth
ods of measurement.)
STALO. In radar M T I, a highly stable local
rf oscillator used for heterodyning signals to
produce an intermediate frequency.
STAMPER.

The negative image, usually

chrome-plated for hardness, made from a
master, which is used to make a phonograph
record pressing.

STAMPER, BACKED. In mechanical record

ing, a thin metal stamper which is attached
to a backing material, generally a metal disk
of desired thickness.

STANDARD BEAM APPROACH (SBA). A

vhf 40 me continuous-wave low-approach sys
tem using a localizer and markers. The two
main signal lobes are tone-modulated with the
Morse Code Letters E and T, respectively.
These modulations interlock to form a con
tinuous on-course tone. The airborne equip
ment is instrumented for visual reference, but
the system may also be used aurally.

STANDARD CON DITIONS. For a gas, a

temperature of 0C (32F ) and a pressure
of 1 standard atmosphere (see atmosphere,
standard (1)). For a solid element, the allotropic form in which it most com monly occurs,
at ordinary temperatures, and at one atmos
phere pressure.

STANDARD DEVIATIO N. The root-meansquare value of the deviations of a series of n

like quantities Xj from their mean, x .
given by
- n
-] M

It is

X ) 0 ; - * )2

If the quantities Xj are distributed according

to a Gaussian distribution, the standard devia
tion bears a simple relationship to the average
deviation and to the probable error. (2) The
term is sometimes used to denote the quantity
,

fS(xi L

x ) 2l

n - 1

which is slightly larger than <7 . The difference

is usually negligible if n is large enough to
provide statistical validity.

STANDARD F R E E EN ERG Y INCREASE.

Often referred to as standard free energy.
The increase in Gibbs free energy (see free
energy (1)) when the reactants in a chemical
change, all in their standard states (e.g., unit
concentration, or at one atmosphere pressure)
are converted into the products in their stand
ard states. Given by
AG = - R T In K ,
where R is the gas constant, T , the absolute
temperature, K , the equilibrium constant.
(See also free energy change.)

STANDARD, FREQUEN CY. The standard

o f frequency used in frequency measurement
(see frequency meter), usually an extremely
stable oscillator, of the crystal controlled
maser, or atomic beam type. The funda
mental standard is the rotation of the earth,
and other standards are checked against this.
Standards which may be checked directly (by
means of synchronous clocks) are called 'pri
mary standards, while those which are checked
against primary standards are called second
ary standards.
STANDARD HEAT O F FORM ATION . The
heat required to form one mole of a compound
from its elements in their standard state. The
standard states for liquids and solids are
usually taken as the stable forms at the at
mospheric temperature and a pressure of 1

atmosphere.
R e p r e s e n t a t iv e W

STANDARD, INTERNAL. ( 1 ) A material

present in or added to samples in known
amount to serve as a reference for spectral
measurements. ( 2 ) An electrical component,
such as a standard cell, or a standard resistor,
built into an instrument to allow the instru
ment to be calibrated without the use of ex
ternal standards.
STANDARD,
M AGNETIC
CONSTANTCURRENT (REFERENCE).
A saturable
reactor arranged with a constant magnetic
bias provided by permanent magnets. W ith
the aid of compensating windings, the average
value of the rectified output current can be
made to be extremely constant over a con
siderable range of supply voltage and fre
quency.

STANDARD O R UNIT PLANE. The crystallographic plane which has the Miller in
dices (111).
STANDARD SEA W ATER CONDITIONS.
Sea water at a static pressure of 1 atmosphere,
a temperature of 15C, and a salinity such
that the speed of sound is exactly 1,500 meters
per second.
Under these conditions, the following other
properties are derived from experimental data:
Salinity S = 31.60 parts per thousand
D ensity p = 1.02338 grams per cubic centi
meter
Characteristic acoustic impedance, pc =
1.53507 X 1 0 2 cgs units
Pressure spectrum level of thermal noise
10 logio \kTpc) 82.17 db below 1 m icro
bar.
ater

C o n d it io n s

Sea Water

Fresh Water

30

Salinity (parts per 1,000)

36

Temperature (degrees centi

grade)

25

20

15

25

Velocity (meters per second)

1,418.3

1,493.2

1,461.0

1,513.2

1,505.0

1,523.8

Density (grams per cm3)

1.00000

0.99707

1.02375

1.02099

1.02677

1.02412

Characteristic acoustic im
pedance X 102 (cgs units)

1.4183

1.4888

1.4957

1.5450

1.5453

1.5698

This standard is adopted for the purpose of

establishing consistent relationships between
acoustical quantities which involve the proper
ties of the sound medium. It is not intended
for calibration of echo range or depth scales.
The standard values have been chosen to
represent closely the average conditions on
continental shelves except in tropical waters.
The values likely to be encountered under
actual conditions will usually lie between the
limits given in this table.
H ydrostatic pressure increases the velocity
by 0.018 meter per second per meter of depth.
It also increases the density by approximately
0.000045 gram per cm3 per meter of depth.

STANDARD STATE. The stable form of a

substance at unit activity. The stable state
for each substance of a gaseous system is the
ideal gas at 1 atmosphere pressure; for a solu
tion it is taken at unit mole fraction ; and for
a solid or liquid element it is taken at 1 at
mosphere pressure and ordinary temperature.

STANDARD TRACK.

See track, signal.

STANDARD VOLUM E. The volume of one

mole of a substance, in the form of a gas at
a temperature of 0C , and a pressure of 1
standard atmosphere (see atmosphere, stand-

ard (1)).
STANDING CURRENT.
escent current.

Synonym for qui

STANDING ON-NINES CARRY.

STANDING W AVE.

See carry.

See wave, standing.

STANDING-WAVE IN D IC A T O R .
waveguide coupler, bidirectional.

See also

STANDING-WAVE LOSS FACTOR. The

radio of the transmission loss in an unmatched
waveguide to that in the same waveguide
when matched.
STANDING-WAVE PR O D U CE R . A m ov
able probe introduced into a slotted wave
guide to produce a required standing-wave

and is defined as the ratio of the maximum

amplitude of pressure (or voltage) to the mini
mum amplitude of pressure (or voltage) meas
ured along the path of the waves. Thus, at a
given frequency in a uniform waveguide (see
waveguide, uniform) the standing-wave ratio
is the ratio of the maximum to the minimum
amplitudes of corresponding components of the
field (or the voltage or current) along the
waveguide in the direction of propagation.
Alternatively, the standing wave ratio may
be expressed as the reciprocal of the ratio
defined above.

STAR (NUCLEAR). A group of tracks due

to ionizing particles originating at a common
point, either in a nuclear emulsion or in a
cloud chamber, so named because of its ap
pearance. Some stars are produced by suc
cessive disintegrations of an atom in a radio
active series; others, by nuclear reactions of
the spallation type, for example, by cosmicray particles.
STAR CONNECTION. The same as Y -co n nection in a three-phase circuit and similar in
other multiphase circuits.
STARK EFFECT, The effect of a strong,
transverse electric field upon the spectrum
lines of a gas subjected to its influence. In
many respects it resembles the more com
plicated types of Zeeman effect, but is subject
to different laws, and may change radically in
character and in m ultiplicity of component
lines with increasing field intensity. The phe
nomenon, first observed by Stark in 1913, is
conveniently studied by means of a canalray tube having behind the cathode a third
electrode which may be given a high positive
potential, in order to impose the desired field
upon the radiating canal-ray particles.

STARK-EINSTEIN EQUATION. This equa

tion, which is based on the Stark-Einstein law,
gives the amount of energy absorbed in a
photochemical reaction. It is of the form :

pattern, usually for test purposes.

STANDING-WAVE RATIO. A ny transmis

sion line such as a waveguide or an acoustic
transmission system, unless terminated by its
characteristic impedance, will exhibit a super
position of standing and progressive waves.
The standing wave ratio is a measure of the
relative amplitudes of the two types of wave

E = Nhv,
in which E is the amount of energy absorbed
by one mole reacting, N is the Avogadro con
stant, h is the Planck constant and v is the fre
quency of the radiation. Since N and h are
constants, E is a function only of the fre
quency. This quantity E for a given wave

length is frequently referred to as one Einstein

unit of radiation.

STARK-EINSTEIN LAW .
Each molecule
taking part in a chemical reaction induced
by exposure to light absorbs one quantum
of the radiation causing the reaction.
STARK-LUNELUND EFFECT. The polar
ization of light emitted by a beam of moving
atoms in the absence of a field.

STARTER (GAS TUBES). A control elec

trode, the principal function of which is to
establish sufficient ionization to reduce an
anode breakdown voltage. (See voltage, an
ode breakdown.) This has sometimes been
referred to as a trigger electrode.

STARTING VOLTAGE. See voltage, breakdown. The use of the term starting voltage is
deprecated.

START R E C O R D SIGNAL.

A signal used
for starting the process of converting the elec
trical signal to an image on the record sheet.

START SIGNAL.

A signal which initiates

the transfer of a facsimile equipment condi
tion from standby to active.

START-STOP.

See multivibrator.

STAT-. A prefix used to indicate that elec

trical quantities are expressed in the electro
static system of units. This prefix is em
ployed before the names of units in the prac
tical system, e.g., statvolt, statoersted, (See
esu system of units; electromagnetic units.)

of operators includes all of those which will

commute with the ones in the set, then the
state of the system is as completely specified
as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle al
lows and is characterized by the eigenvalues
of these operators. These eigenvalues are the
results which will always be found if measure
ments of the corresponding dynamical varia
bles are made. In its more limited sense, the
word state is used to refer to the condition
of the system when its wave function is si
multaneously an eigenfunction of the Ham il
tonian operator. In this case the system is
characterized by a definite value of the en
ergy, i.e., the eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian
operator, and is said to be in an energy eigen
state, a stationary state, or a definite energy
state.
(See operators, quantum mechanical
and also entries immediately following.)

STATE, ENERGY.
Schrodinger equation.
STATE, EX CIT ED .

See

state

(3)

and

See excited state.

STATE(S) O F MATTER. The solid, the

liquid and the gaseous state which for any
pure substance, are determined by two varia
bles, temperature and pressure, with the den
sity as a third, related variable. If the tem
perature and pressure are under complete con
trol, it is possible to pass from any one to any
other of the three states, either directly by a
single transition, or by passing through the
third state with two transitions. This will be
clear from the accompanying phase diagram,

STATCOULOMB. See electromagnetic units.

STATE.

(1) In its fundamental connotation,

this term refers to the condition of a substance,
as its state of aggregation, which may be solid,
liquid, or gaseous com pact or dispersed. (2)
As extended to a particle, the state m ay de
note its condition of oxidation, as the state of
oxidation of an atom, or the energy level, as
the orbital of an electron, or in fact, the en
ergy level of any particle. (3) In quantum
mechanics, the word state is used in its most
general context to refer to the condition of a
system which is described by a wave function
satisfying the Schrdinger equation for the
system when this wave function is simultane
ously an eigenfunction of one or more quan
tum mechanical operators corresponding to
one or more dynamical variables. If this set

Temperature-pressure curves for substance like water.

C represents the critical state, T the three-phase equi
librium point.

which represents the temperature-pressure

equilibrium curves, for a substance converg
ing at the three-phase equilibrium or triple
point T. (It is understood that each phase
of the substance is to be strictly pure; for
example, no air is to be mixed with the vapor.)
Thus, if a mass of pure ice were kept com

pletely enclosed by itself at a fixed pressure

below 4.6 mm (its triple poin t), and its tem
perature raised, it would turn directly into
vapor at the sublimation point S; but if the
pressure exceeded 4.6 mm, the ice would first
become liquid at the melting point M , and the
water would then vaporize at the boiling point
B, corresponding to the existing pressure. The
volume of the enclosure would, of course, have
to be varied to keep the pressure constant dur
ing these changes.
When the temperature has exceeded the
critical temperature tc, neither the solid nor
the liquid phase can continue to exist, even
with increased pressure.
The liquid-vapor
curve must be considered as terminating at C,
since it pertains specifically to two phases in
equilibrium, while beyond the point C the sub
stance does not exhibit two phases. The one
apparently homogeneous phase now remaining
is said to be a true gas.

STATE, O NE (STATIC M A GNET IC STOR

AGE). A state of a magnetic cell wherein the
magnetic flux through a specified cross-sectional area has a positive value, when de
termined from an arbitrarily specified direc
tion of positive normal to that area. A state
wherein the magnetic flux has a negative value
when similarly determined is a zero state.
A one-output is (1) the voltage response
obtained from a magnetic cell in a one-state
by a reading or resetting process or (2) the
integrated voltage response obtained from a
magnetic cell in a one-state by a reading or
resetting process.
Output is (1) the voltage response obtained
from a magnetic cell in a zero state by a read
ing or resetting process, or (2) the integrated
voltage response obtained from a magnetic
cell in the zero state by a reading or resetting
process. A ratio of one output to a zero out
put is a one-to-zero ratio.
A pulse, for example a drive pulse, is a
write pulse if it causes information to be in
troduced into a magnetic cell or cells, or it is a
read pulse if it causes information to be
acquired from a magnetic cell or cells.

STATE, STATIONARY.
Schrdinger equation.

See stationary state;

STATE, STEADY. (1) A condition of d y

namic balance, as in an equilibrium reaction,
where at equilibrium the concentration of each

of the reactants remains constant. In such

cases the loss of reactants to form products
just balances the formation of reactants from
the products in the reverse reaction, or the
reaction proceeds in one direction with re
actants being supplied and products removed
at such rates that the concentration does not
change. (2) A physical system is said to be
in a steady state if the various quantities de
scribing the system are either independent of
time or are periodic functions of time. Thus
an alternating current circuit is in a steady
state after all transient effects of a disturbance
have disappeared.

STATE VARIABLES.
In any therm ody
namic treatment o f a system there will be a
limited set of dynamical variables of the sys
tem, such as pressure, temperature, volume,
etc., which are sufficient to describe or specify
the state of the system completely for the con
siderations at hand. These variables are re
ferred to as the state variables of the system.
STATE VECTOR. See representation theory,
quantum mechanical.
STATE, ZERO.

See state, one.

STATIC. The name commonly applied to all

the various random electrical disturbances
which are picked up by a radio receiver.
These can be divided into two general classes,
natural and man-made static. The first is
caused by various types of natural electrical
discharges, the most pronounced being those
of lightning.
However, a static-producing
discharge is not necessarily, or even usually,
a visible lightning discharge. Various static
charges are often continually building up and
discharging in the atmosphere and hence in
ducing disturbances in the receiver. Cosmic
radiations are also responsible for static.
These types of natural static are often called
atmospherics. The types of man-made static
are almost as numerous as the electrical m a
chines which man has developed. A ny spark
ing contact or poor electrical connection will
produce static which will be picked up by
nearby receivers. Unfortunately many types
of this interference may be fed back along the
power lines and directly into the receiver.
X-ray and diathermy machines are also
sources of interference but cannot be properly
classed as static.
The elimination of static presents a par

ticularly difficult problem since the frequen

cies in the static pulse cover a wide band,
certain types being more prevalent in some
frequency ranges than others.
M an-m ade
static is best eliminated by correcting the
fault at the source although a filter in the
power line often helps if the disturbance is
coming into the set through the line. Natural
static can be minimized, but not eliminated.
For amplitude modulation systems, limiting
the frequency band to which the receiver re
sponds will reduce the noise. Various types
of limiters will also reduce the effect since the
static signal is frequently greater than the
desired one. Frequency modulation is inher
ently less susceptible to interfering noise and
offers almost noise-free reception.

STATIC
CH A RACT ERIST IC
(OF
AN
EL ECT RO N TUBE). A relation, usually
represented by a graph, between a pair of
variables such as electrode voltage and elec
trode current, with all other voltages main
tained constant.
(See also characteristic

STATIC PRESSURE.
(1) In a fluid, the
pressure as measured by an observer moving
with the fluid. In practice, the pressure ob
served by inserting in the flow a properly
aligned static pressure tube. This is a tube
pointing into the flow, sealed at the forward
end and communicating with the flow by a
ring of holes some six diameters from the end.
(2) For static pressure in acoustics, see pres

sure, static.
STATIC REACTION. The static force ex
erted on a body by other bodies by which it
is supported in equilibrium.
STATICS. That branch of mechanics that
deals with the equilibrium of material bodies
under the action of forces and torques. The
simplest case is that of a particle, which will
remain at rest if the vector sum of the forces
acting on it is zero. If the forces are all in
one plane, it is easy to represent them by a
vector diagram, such as is shown in the figure.

curve.)
STATIC E LECT RICIT Y.
STATIC E Q U IL IB R IU M .
of forces.

See electrostatics.
See equilibrium

STATICIZER. A storage device for convert

ing time sequential information into static
parallel information.
STATIC M ACH INES.

A variety of devices
have been employed to furnish charges of elec
tricity of considerable quantity at high volt
age. Probably the simplest static machine is
the electrophorus, operating on the principle
of electric induction, but its output and v olt
age are quite limited. Some of the older m a
chines generated charges by friction, but m od
ern machines are of the induction type.
Am ong the latter, the well known ToeplerHoltz and Wimshurst machines have rotating
glass or mica plates bearing metal carriers
on which the charges are induced as on the
metal plate of the electrophorus. Recently
some very powerful induction machines, em
bodying all the principles of the older types,
have been developed by Van de Graaff and
others and have come into use in nuclear re
search.

STATIC M ET H O D .
See vapor pressure,
methods of measurement.

The condition for equilibrium is then identical

with the condition that the polygon of forces
formed by the force vectors shall be closed. In
addition to such graphical methods, one may
set up the analytical conditions for the equi
librium of a particle subject to coplanar forces
as:
S

Fjx

Fjy =

0;

0,

where FjX is the component of the yth force

along any arbitrarily chosen axis in the plane
and Fjy is the component of the same force
along an axis at right angles to the first. The
sums are taken over all of the forces acting on
the particle. This method may be extended
easily to noncoplanar forces if a third condition:
E Fiz = 0,
3

is added, the components here being taken

along an axis perpendicular to both the x and the y - axes.

The equilibrium of an extended body also

requires that the vector sum of the forces act
ing on the body be zero, but in addition it re
quires that the vector sum of the torques, or
moments of the forces, be zero. If the three
axes chosen for the resolution of the forces are
considered as three possible axes about which
the body m ay rotate, the moment of the jth
force about the x-axis is y F jz zFjy, where
F jz and F jy have the same meaning as above
and x , y , z are the coordinates of the point at
which the force acts on the body. As there
are three such axes, the additional conditions
for equilibrium becom e:

X ) {yFjz - z F jy) = 0,
i

( z F jx -

x F jz )

0,

X ) ( x F jy - y F j x) = 0.
j
As the effect of a force on a body is deter
mined only by its magnitude and the line
along which it acts, any point along this line
m ay be chosen to obtain x , y , and z. It is
often convenient to choose the origin of the
coordinate system as the point of application
of one of the forces, because the moment of
this force then becomes zero and so simplifies
the equations. The location of the origin and
the directions of the axes m ay be chosen at
will, since a body that is not rotating about a
particular point cannot be rotating about any
other point.
In the design of structures, it is often neces
sary to find the forces and torques acting on
particular members of the structure. This
may be done by considering the equilibrium
of various points within the structure. I f the
entire structure is in equilibrium, then every
point in it must also be in equilibrium, and the
conditions for equilibrium must be satisfied at
every point. For example, if the structure
lies in a single plane, one m ay start to deter
mine the forces acting at various points (usu
ally the joints between members) by consider
ing first one point, on which all force com po
nents except two are known but the magni
tudes of two of them are unknown. The forces
found in this way will, in general, allow some
of the forces acting at a second point to be
found; the conditions for equilibrium at that
point will allow further forces to be deter

mined. One thus continues stepwise until all

desired forces have been found.
The procedure will work if each relevant
point in the structure is one at which three,
and only three, members meet and if the mem
bers are hinged at the point so that the only
forces that they exert on it are in the known
directions of the members themselves. When
more than three members meet at any point,
or when they are fastened in such a way that
they m ay exert torques on each other, the
problem may or may not be soluble, depending
on whether other conditions (such as the in
ability of one or more members to exert only
tensile forces) are satisfied.
(For a more detailed discussion of static
and for special methods of solutions, see R. B.
Lindsay, Physical M echanics, Second Edit.,
Van Nostrand, 1950, pp. 116-140 and 202216.)

STATIC SOUND PRESSURE.

static.

See pressure,

STATIC STATE.

In meteorology, a state in
which the position or properties of an air mass
or frontal zone are not changing or moving,
such as a static front or static conditions.

STATIONARY CPA AXIS. A fixed-reference

phase with respect to which a carrier color
signal of constant chrominance makes equal
and opposite angles for successive fields; this
reference phase being the same for all chromi
nances.
STATIONARY
equation.

STATE.

STATIONARY WAVES.

See

Schrodinger

See wave, standing.

STATION, CLASS I, II, ETC.

Class I station, etc.

See under

STATION SLAVE. In navigation, a station

in which some characteristic of its emission is
controlled by a master station.
STATISTICAL M ECHANICS. One m ajor
problem of physics involves the prediction of
the macroscopic properties of matter in terms
of the properties of the molecules of which it
is composed. According to the ideas of clas
sical physics, this could have been accom
plished by a determination of the detailed m o
tion of each molecule and by a subsequent
superposition or summation of their effects.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle now in

dicates that this process is impossible, since

we cannot acquire sufficient information about
the initial state of the molecules. Even if this
were not so, the problem would be practically
insoluble because of the extremely large num
bers of molecules involved in nearly all ob
servations. M any successful predictions can
be made, however, by considering only the
average, or most probable, behavior of the
molecules, rather than the behavior of indi
viduals. This is the method used in statistical
mechanics.
In the general approach to classical statis
tical mechanics, each particle is considered
to occupy a point in phase space, i.e., to have
a definite position and momentum, at a given
instant. The probability that the point cor
responding to a particle will fall in any small
volume of the phase space is taken propor
tional to the volume, and the probability of a
specific arrangement of points is proportional
to the number of ways that the total ensemble
of molecules could be permuted to achieve
the arrangement. When this is done and it is
further required that the number of molecules
and their total energy remain constant, one
can obtain a description of the most probable
distribution of the molecules in phase space.
The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law re
sults.
W hen the ideas of symmetry and of micro
scopic reversibility are combined with those
of probability, statistical mechanics can deal
with many steady state problems as well as
with equilibrium distributions. Equations for
such properties as viscosity, thermal conduc
tivity, diffusion, and others are derived in this
way.
The development of quantum theory, par
ticularly of quantum mechanics, forced cer
tain changes in statistical mechanics. In the
development of the resulting quantum statis
tics, the phase space is divided into cells of
volume hf, where h is the Planck constant and
/ is the number of degrees of freedom. In
considering the permutations of the molecules,
it is recognized that the interchange of two
identical particles does not lead to a new
state. W ith these two new ideas, one arrives
at the Bose-Einstein statistics. These sta
tistics must be further modified for particles,
such as electrons, to which the Pauli exclusion
principle applies, and the Fermi-Dirac statis
tics follow.

It is often possible to obtain similar or iden

tical results from statistical mechanics and
from thermodynamics, and the assumption
that a system will be in a state of maximal
probability in equilibrium is equivalent to the
law of entropy. The m ajor difference between
the two approaches is that thermodynamics
starts with macroscopic laws of great general
ity and its results are independent of any par
ticular molecular model of the system, while
statistical methods always depend on some
such model. (See also ensemble; microstate;

macrostate.)
STATISTICAL M E T H O D OF ENTROPIES.
A method performed using partition functions
from assumed molecular models or spectro
scopic data. The relation used is
a (In Z)
S = R l n Z - R ~ ------ ->

d(In /3)

where S is the entropy, R the gas constant, Z

the partition function, and /3 = 1/kT {k being
the Boltzmann constant, T, the absolute tem

perature) .
STATISTICS.

(1) The term applies to the

combination of data obtained from individual
events or from separate entries of events. See
error and the following entries for the appli
cation of statistics to the determination of
uncertainties. (2) The second sense of the
word denotes the distribution laws which re
sult from statistical mechanics.
(See also
quantum statistics; Maxwell-Boltzmann dis
tribution law.) (3) T o understand the mean
ing of this term as it is used in relation to ex
periments using particle counters, such as the
scintillation counter or Geiger counter, con
sider the following problem. It is desired to
determine the probability that in one seconds
time an atom of a given radioactive substance
will decay. A sample containing a known
number N of these atoms is available, and on
being counted with a counter that detects
each particle emitted from a decay if it is
directed into the solid angle O gives n counts
in T seconds. If one neglects any self absorp
tion of emitted particles in the source, it is
seen that the total number of decays R taking
place in the source per second should be
4lTTU
R ----------

SIT

Therefore it would seem that X = R/N =

4:irn/NttT. However, since the decay process
is a random one, R will not be equal to NX, (or
rather n ^ NXQ>T/^) each time a count is
taken. Instead it should be expected that the
average value n, taken from a large number of
identical counting intervals, would in the limit
as the number of intervals goes to infinity be
com e equal to NXtiT/4:t. For such a situation
in which n 1 it can be shown with the aid of
the P o is so n d is tr ib u t io n law that the prob
ability will be that n will be within (n) ^ of
the value of n obtained in a single counting in
terval. Thus (n )y2 plays the role of an u n
ce r ta in ty measure of the individual count n.
Expressed as a percentage uncertainty, this be
com es 100n ~ V2. Thus the greater the number
of counts, n, the smaller the percentage uncer
tainty in the value of the value of n. This has
led to the use of such terms as counting to 1%
statistics, or that the counting statistics are
1 % , or that enough counts were taken to give
1% statistics, in each case meaning that n is
large enough that 100n^ = 1. This term is also
used to indicate that the only source of error is
the statistical error considered above and not
any error due to instrumentation, etc.

STATOR.
namo.
STC.
trol.

The stationary portion of a dy

of the form
I

>b
f g(z)etf(l)dz,
Ja

where t is large, real and positive and f(z) is

a n a ly tic . The path of integration is chosen
so that it passes through a sad d le p o in t z0.
Then if (z z0) = rela, the integral is given
asymptotically by
g(z0)e t/(Zo)+iaV 2tt

ir (2 o )| M

The procedure is sometimes used to evaluate

integrals occurring in statistical mechanics.

STEFAN-BOLTZMANN LAW .
The total
radiation from a black body or complete ra
diator is given by
E = <rT4,
where T is the absolute temperature and
<r = 5.672 X 1 0 ~ 5 erg cm - 2 deg 4 sec- 1 .
Sometimes called the Fourth Pow er Law.
This law m ay be obtained by integration of
the Planck radiation formula, but was known
before the distribution law was developed.

STEINMETZ

Abbreviation for sensitivity time con

STEADY-STATE VIBRATION.
tion, steady-state.

STEEPEST DESCENT, M E T H O D OF. An

approximate method of evaluating integrals

See oscilla

STEAM.

(1) W ater vapor, especially when

at a temperature at or above the boiling point
of water. (2) B y analogy, the vapor of any
liquid at or above the boiling point of the
liquid.

STEAM D IST ILLA T IO N .

The
process
whereby compounds which are sparingly sol
uble in water may be distilled by heating with
water or by blowing steam through the m ix
ture. Compounds of relatively high boiling
point may be distilled at lower temperatures
by this method.

C O EFFICIEN T .
Steinmetz
approximated hysteresis loss by the expression
aBm1Q, where B m is the maximum induction,
and the Steinmetz coefficient, a, is constant
for a given material.
STELLARATOR.
A proposed controlled
thermonuclear reactor which uses an exter
nally applied magnetic field to confine a fusion

Confining field
coils

Divertor

To vacuum
pumps
Ohmic heating
transformer

STEAM POINT. A standard point for tem

perature calibration defined as 100 on the
Celsius temperature scale. It is the tempera
ture at which pure water boils under a pres
sure of exactly 760 mm. of mercury.

Vacuum
tube

Stabilizing
winding

Model C Stellerator.

fuel in the form of a dilute ionized gas or

The confining axial field is produced
in an endless tube in such a way as to prevent

plasma.

the escape of ionized particles from the tube

along lines of force. A simple toroidal field
is not acceptable because of radial magnetic
field gradients. These gradients are modified
by the introduction of a twist or rotational
transform to the axial magnetic field of a
torus by the addition of helical windings..
Originally the modification of a toroidal field
was made by physically twisting the config
uration into a figure eight. The stellarator
provides a plasma by first heating cold gas
ohmically. Then by magnetic pumping it is
expected to reach kinetic ion temperatures ade
quate to produce the fusion reaction. Several
experimental devices using these principles
have been constructed at P roject Matterhorn
in Princeton, N. J.

STELLAR IN T ERFERO M ET ER. An attach

ment for astronomical telescopes by which
M ichelson was first able to measure the an
gular diameters of certain stars.
(See also
interferometer, optical.)
STELLAR M A GN ET IC FIE LD S. The ob
served magnetic fields associated with individ
ual stars. The polar strength of stellar fields
varies from a few oersted (25 oersted for our
sun) to thousands of oersted.

STEM CO RRECT IO N . A correction to be

made in the reading of a thermometer which
has part of its stem containing a portion of
the thermometric-fluid column outside the re
gion at the temperature being measured, so
that amount of the thermometric fluid is not
at the correct temperature.
STEP FUNCTION. The function defined b y :

=0

( t < <o),

f(t) = C (a constant)

(t > i0),

is known as a step function. It is of particu

lar use because it may be expressed as a

Fourier integral:
C f 00 1
- sm ootda).
f(t) = f C H------ I
2 t _oo w
W hen the step function is applied as an input
to any device, such as an amplifier, the output
of the device, plotted as a function of time,
indicates the gain as a function of frequency.

STEPPING.
STERADIAN.

See zoning.
See angle, solid.

STEREO-LOUDSPEAKER.

A loudspeaker
system consisting of two or more loudspeakers
placed in two or more locations, and which can
be energized by a stereophonic amplifier sys
tem so as to produce a stereophonic effect.
(See sound reproducing system, binaural.)

STEREO-MICROPHONES.
Tw o or more
microphones so spaced apart and connected to
a stereophonic amplifier as to enable stereo
phonic recording or reinforcement.
(See

sound reproducing system, binaural.)

STEREOPHONE. An acoustical system in
which a plurality of microphones (or other
transducers), transmission channels and re
producers are arranged so as to provide a
sensation of spatial distribution of the orig
inal sound sources to the listener. (See sound
reproducing system, binaural.)
STEREOPHONIC. Pertaining to or adapted
to the stereophone; produced by the stereophone, as stereophonic magnetic tape record
ings, stereophonic sound system, stereophonic
reproduction.
(See sound reproducing sys
tem, binaural.)
STEREOPHONICS.
The science which
treats of the recording, reinforcement, or re
production of sound in such a manner as to
provide a sensation of spatial distribution of
the original sound sources.
(See sound re
producing system, binaural.)
STEREOPHON IC SOUND SYSTEM.
sound system, stereophonic.
STEREOPHONISM.
stereophonic.

The

state

of

See
being

STEREOPHONISM, COMPRESSED.

The
condensation of a wide acoustic field into a
narrow area. It occurs when a 100-piece or
chestra spread across a 50-foot stage is played
back to sound as though it were coming from
a 10-foot stage.

STEREOPHONISM, CROSSED.
Sources
originally in the right field are heard in the
left ear and vice versa. (In headphone ster
eophony crossing earphones produces the ef
fect.)
STEREOPHONISM, D IFFU SED. The pro
duction of the effect of spreading point sources
(see source, simple point) of sound, charac
terized by loss of precise localization.

STEREOPHONISM , D IP H O N IC . The pro

duction of two localizations for a single sound
source.

STEREOPHONISM , E X PA N D E D .
posite

of

compressed

The op
stereophonism.
(See

stereophonism, compressed.)
STEREOPHONISM , M U LT IP H O N IC . The
production of multiple localization of a single
sound source.
(See sound reproducing sys
tem, binaural.)
STEREOPHONISM , REFLECT IV E.
A
condition occurring when stereophonic effects
are diminished or lost because of excessive
reflection during pickup or reproduction.
STEREOPHONISM , REVERBERATORY. A
condition occurring when stereophonic effects
are diminished or lost because of excessive

reverberation during pickup or reproduction.

STEREOPHONY. The art of using, design
ing, or manufacturing stereophonic equip
ment.
STEREOPHONY, H E A D P H O N E . The art
of producing stereophonic effects with head
phones.
STEREOPHONY, LOUDSPEAKER.
The
art of reproducing stereophonic effects with
loudspeakers.
STEREOPHONY, MULTI-CHANNEL. The
art of producing stereophonic effects with
more than two electrical transmission chan
nels.

STEREOSCOPIC RADIUS.
The greatest
distance at which the stereoscopic effect (see
stereoscope) can be perceived. For unaided
eyes, it has been given as about 1500 ft; with
prism binoculars, it is of course greater.
STEREOSPECTROGRAM.
A method of
representing spectral data in which the three
variables, concentration of solute, optical
density, and wavelength of light, are plotted
in three dimensions to produce a three-dimen
sional figure; or else in two dimensions by
choosing an oblique axis in addition to the
customary -axis and y - axis.
STERIC-FACTOR O R PROBABILITY FAC
TOR. A correction factor applied, in cases
of many slow reactions, to correct the values
calculated for the reaction rates by the col
lision theory. It is believed that the reason
for the discrepancy, or, in other words, the
physical meaning of the steric factor, may be
the large number of degrees of freedom in
which energy transformations must occur, in
certain reactions, to form the activated com

plex.
STERIC H IN D RA N C E.

The effect of the

spatial arrangement of the atoms in the struc
ture of a molecule in retarding a chemical
reaction or process. (See rotation, free and

hindered.)
STERN-GERLACH EXPERIM EN T. An ex
perimental test by 0 . Stern and W. Gerlach
(Germany, 1924) of the magnetic moment of
atoms. A stream of metallic atoms, issuing
from a vaporizing furnace through a narrow

STEREO-POWER. For prism binoculars or

similar stereo systems, the ratio of the dis
tance between the objective axes to the dis
tance between eyepiece axes multiplied by
the magnifying power. A measure of the
stereoscopic radius.
STEREOSCOPE.

The sensation of depth is

due in part to binocular vision; that is, to the
fact that two eyes do not each see exactly the
same view. B y taking two pictures with a
camera moved a few inches or with a double
stereoscopic camera two slightly different
pictures are obtained.
A stereoscope is a
device by which each eye sees only one of these
pictures, and the same sensation of depth is
obtained as with direct binocular vision.

Diagram of Stern-Gerlach experiment for determin

ing magnetic moments of gaseous atoms.
Beam
vaporized metal is split by strong inhomogeneous
magnetic field. (By permission from Ferromagnet
ism by Bozorth, 1951, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

slit, entered a strong magnetic field. The

magnetic intensity was perpendicular to the
atom stream, and had a strong gradient in
its own direction. I f magnetic moments of
atoms are due to revolving electrons, the atoms
should, according to classical theory, begin

to precess at all angles about the field direc

tion, and the atomic beam should simply
broaden into a band. According to the quan
tum theory, they should precess at certain
angles only, and the original stream should
be divided into distinct streams. Since the
beam was split into 2J + 1 different beams,
the experiment showed that in a magnetic
field not all orientations to the field, but only
2J + 1 discrete directions, are possible. Here
J is the total angular momentum quantum
number.
(See also Bohr-Sommerfeld atom
and quantum mechanics.)

STERN-ZARTMAN

E XPERIM EN T .
The
experiment first done by Stern and Zartman,
but sometimes credited to Callendar, in which
the distribution in speeds of molecules in a
molecular beam of silver was measured, using
a rotating drum technique. The molecular
beam was obtained by allowing silver m ole
cules to escape from an oven, at a given tem
perature, through a collimating opening in the
wall. The purpose of the experiment was to
test the velocity distribution predicted by the
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law. This
was done by allowing the molecular beam to
approach a rotating cylindrical drum along
a radial direction. The drum had a thin slit
cut in it parallel to its axis. Those molecules
getting through the slit would condense on the
inner wall of the drum at a point diametrically
opposite the slit if the drum were not rotating.
Due to the rotation of the drum, the point of
condensation of molecules of a given speed will
be displaced by a distance along the surface
given by
d = 2r2co/y,

STICKING PICTURE.

See image, retained.

STICTION.

Static friction.

STIELTJES
Stieltjes.

INTEGRAL.

See

integral,

STIFFNESS. In general the ability of a sys

tem to resist a specified deformation. In the
case of a deformable elastic medium (see elas
ticity), stiffness is the ratio of a steady force
to the elastic displacement produced by it, e.g.,
for a spring the force required to produce unit
stretch. The term is applied most often to an
elastic system vibrating about a position of
equilibrium. Acoustic stiffness is the quantity
which, when divided by 27r times the frequency,
gives the acoustic reactance (see reactance,
acoustic) associated with the potential energy
of the medium or its boundaries. The unit
commonly used is dyne/cm. Mechanical stiff
ness is expressed in terms o f the various elastic
moduli.
STIFFNESS CO EFFIC IEN T . In a linear
mechanical system, the ratio of the applied
force to the displacement from equilibrium.
STIFFNESS CONSTANTS.
uli.

See elastic mod

STIFFNESS ELEM ENT, ACOUSTIC. Any

acoustical element that makes a contribution
to the acoustical equation of motion analogous
to the contribution of the stiffness of a spring
in a mechanical system.

STIGMATIC.
(1) For a bundle of rays,
homocentric. (2) For an optical system, hav
ing equal focal power in all meridians.

where w is the angular velocity of the drum,

r is its radius, and v is the molecular speed.
B y measuring the density of the silver deposit
as a function of d, the molecular speed dis
tribution was determined.

STILB. A unit of brightness of a surface

equal to 1 candle/cm2.

STETHOSCOPE. A device for increasing

the sound transmission from the interior of
the human body to an observers ear. It con
sists of a shallow chamber of relatively large
diameter connected to a long tube of small
diameter. The chamber serves to improve the
acoustic matching between the body tissue
and the air in the narrow tube.

In n! = (^n +

STEWART-HOVDA RELAT IONSH IP.

binaural intensity effect.

See

STIRLING APPROXIM ATION.

If n is a

large number,
In n n
1

In 2w -|----------- 0(1 /n ) ,

12 n

where the last term is of the order of 1 /n 3.

Often approximated b y: In n ! = n In n n.

STIRLING FO RM U LA F O R INTERPOLA
TION. Useful near the middle of a difference
table in finding a value of the dependent vari

able y at a value of the independent

x = Xq + hu, where h is the interval
equally-spaced values of x, i.e., h =
X - 2 ) = ( # 2 ^ i), etc. The formula
central differences:
y

tfVo
m532/o

yo + f y o u +

& Vo

variable
between
{x -i
involves

u2

= i(A2/o+

tude is periodic, the particle velocities are

periodic with a non-zero mean. There is thus
a drift velocity of particles in the direction of
motion of the wave. (See wave, gravity.)

STOKES LA W M ET H O D .
measurement of.

STOKES LAWS. ( 1 ) Fluid motion at such

low velocities (low Reynolds numbers) that
pressure gradients and inertial forces are gen
erally negligible compared with the viscous
forces satisfies the equation:

= i(A 32/-i + A32/-2) J

5mi/o = Amy-mi2(See difference, central and difference, finite.)

ST IRLIN G NUM BER. If the nth degree

polynomial f(x) = x(x 1 ) (a? 2 ) (#

n + 1 ) is written in the form f(x) =

S 0wxn + S fa f* -1 + + S nn_iX the numerical
coefficients S f are known as Stirling numbers.
T hey m ay be calculated successively from the

V2<o = 0,
where <o is vorticity. If the flow is two-dimen
sional or axisymmetric, it is possible to set up a
stream-function \f/which satisfies the equation:
V V = 0,
where V4 is the square of the L aplacian opera
tor V2. Stokes law states that the resistance
to motion under these conditions is given by

recursion formula Sin+1 = *n nSw4_i.

STIRRIN G EFFECT .

The circulation in a
molten charge due to the combined forces of
motor and pinch effects.

STOCHASTIC. A word implying the pres

ence of a random variable, e.g., stochastic
variation is equivalent to the variation of a set
of quantities under probability distributions,
stochastic equations contain some variables
which are random, and so forth.
Stochastic convergence means convergence
in probability, e.g., xn converges to a stochas
tically if, for any positive e, P { \xn a\ > e\
tends to zero as n tends to infinity. T w o
variables are stochastically independent if they
have a joint probability distribution that is
the product of the marginal distribution.
STOCHASTIC PROCESS. A fam ily of ran
do m variables [ x ( t ) } f depending on some
parameters t, often a time variable.

ST O IC H IO M E T R IC .
H aving the exact
proportions of elements to make a pure chem
ical compound.
STOKE. The cgs unit of kinematic viscosity.
(See viscosity, kinematic.)
STOKES D R IF T (OF GRAVITY WAVES).
Stokes showed that, although the motion at
any point in a gravity wave of finite ampli

See viscosity,

R =

67 rr]avy

where rj is the fluid viscosity, a is the radius of

the sphere, v is the speed of the sphere.
Stokes law holds strictly only when the
boundaries of the fluid are at distances very
much greater than R .
(2)
The wavelength of luminescence excited
by radiation is always greater than that of
the exciting radiation. (See antistokes lines.)

STOKES LIN E . A spectrum line which satis

fies Stokes law (2) by having a wavelength
greater than that of the radiation which ex
cited the luminescence of the source.
STOKES TH EOREM . The surface integral
of the curl of the vector function equals the
line integral of that function around a closed
curve bounding the surface

Jv x

V-dS =j>V-ds.

This statement is valid only if the contour is

traversed in taking the line integral in the
direction of turning of a right handed screw
that progresses in the positive dS direction
(assuming a right-handed coordinate system).
When the surface S is part of a closed surface,
it is conventional to take the positive dS direc
tion as outward. If the components of V in
rectangular Cartesian coordinates are 11 , vy w

and the d ir e c tio n co sin es of the normal to

dS are X, i, v the theorem may also be given as

[x ( - ) +

Js L \dy
+ v

( dv

dz/

n ( - )

d n \l

\dz

dx/

-- j J dS = j ) (udx + vdy + wdz).

STOP. The opening, diaphragm, or aperture

which limits the cross section of the beam of
light which may pass through an optical sys
tem. It may be the rim of a lens, or it may
be an especially-introduced diaphragm. The
location of the stop (aperture stop) frequently
plays an important role in reducing aberra
tions in the system.
STOP BAND.

See band, rejection.

STOPPING. The decrease in kinetic energy

of an ionizing particle as a result of energy
losses along its path through matter.

STOPPING CAPACITOR. Another name for

blocking capacitor.
(See capacitor, blocking.)
STOPPING CROSS SECTION.
for atomic stopping power.
STOPPING PO W ER.

A synonym

A measure of the ef
fect of a substance upon the kinetic energy
of a charged particle passing through it. The
linear stopping power Si is the energy loss per
unit distance, and is given by Si = dE/dx,
where E is the kinetic energy of the particle
and x is the distance traversed in the medium.
The mass stopping power Sm is the energy
loss per unit surface density traversed, and is
given by Sm = Si/p, where p is the density of
the substance. The atom ic stopping power
Sa of an element is the energy loss per atom,
per unit area normal to the particles motion,
and is given by Sa = Si/n = SmA / N ; where
n is the number of atoms per unit volume, N
is the Avogadro number, and A is the atomic
weight. The molecular stopping power of a
compound is similarly defined in terms of
molecules; it is very nearly if not exactly
equal to the sum of the atomic stopping
powers of the constituent atoms. The rela
tive stopping power is the ratio of the stop
ping power of a given substance to that of a
standard substance, com monly aluminum,
oxygen or air. The stopping equivalent for a
given thickness of a substance is that thick

ness of a standard substance capable of pro

ducing the same energy loss. The air equiva
lent is the stopping equivalent in terms of air
at 15 C and 1 atm as the standard substance.
The term equivalent stopping power is not
clearly defined, but sometimes is used synon
ymously with relative stopping power and
sometimes with stopping equivalent.

STOP R E C O R D SIGNAL. A signal used for

stopping the process of converting the elec
trical signal to an image on the record sheet.
STOP SIGNAL. A signal which initiates the
transfer of a facsimile equipment condition
from active to standby.
STORAGE. (1) The act of storing informa
tion. (See also store). (2) A ny device in
which information can be stored, sometimes
called a memory device. (3) In a computer,
a section used primarily for storing informa
tion. Such a section is sometimes called a
memory or a store (British). The physical
means of storing information may be electro
static, ferroelectric, magnetic, acoustic, opti
cal, chemical, electronic, electrical, mechanical,
etc., in nature.

STORAGE CAPACITY.

The amount of in
formation that can be retained in a storage (or
memory) device, often expressed as the num
ber of words that can be retained (given the
number of digits and the base of the standard
w ord). When comparisons are made among
devices using different bases and word lengths,
it is customary to express the capacity in bits.
This number is obtained by taking the loga
rithm to the base 2 of the number of distin
guishable states in which the storage can ex
ist. The storage (or m em ory) capacity of a
com puter usually refers only to the principal
internal storage section.

STORAGE C ELL, ULTRASONIC.

lay-line, ultrasonic.

See de-

STORAGE, DELAY-LINE.
A storage or
memory device consisting of a delay line and
means for regenerating and reinserting infor
mation into the delay line.
STORAGE EFFECT.

See minority carriers.

STORAGE ELEM EN T (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES). An area of a storage surface

which retains information distinguishable
from that of adjacent areas.

The storage ele

ment may be a discrete area or an arbitrary

portion of continuous storage surface.
STORAGE FA CT O R (Q).
lated entries.

See Q (l) and re

STORAGE T IM E (IN CHARGE-STORAGE

TUBES). See retention time, maximum, and
time decay. The use of the term storage time
is deprecated.

STORAGE T IM E, TRANSISTOR.
sistor parameter t8.
STORAGE, WILLIAMS-TUBE.

See tranA type of

electrostatic storage.

STORE.

(1) T o retain information in a de

vice from which it can later be withdrawn.

(2) T o introduce information into such a de
vice. (3) British synonym for storage (3).

STORED BASE CH A RGE. See charge, base,

stored.
STORM. A violent disturbance of the atmos
phere, either by wind or other undesirable
meteorological conditions, such as rain, thun
der and lightning, dust or sand, ice or sleet,
etc.
STRAGGLING. The random variation or
fluctuation of a property associated with ions
of a given kind in passing through matter.
Range straggling is the variation in the range
of particles that are all of the same initial
energy. Angle straggling is the variation in
the direction of motion of particles after pass
ing through a certain thickness of matter, the
paths of the particles initially being parallel.
Statistical straggling is that variation in
range, ionization or direction which is due to
fluctuations in the distance between collisions
in the stopping medium and in the energy loss
and deflection angle per collision. Instru
mental straggling is that additional straggling
which is due to such instrumental effects as
noise, gain instability, source thickness, and
poor geometry.
STRAIN. The deform ation produced in a
solid as a result of stress.
The components
of strain may be written eXX} eyy, etc., where

du

dv

du

u, v , w, are the components of the displace

ment of the particles, measured at the point

Xj y , z. The sum exx + eyy + ezz is the dila

tion, and the components of type exy are called
shear strains. (See Voight notation.)

STRAIN, DILATATIONAL. A dilatation is

a change in length or volume of a deformable
body. A dilatational strain is the change in
volume divided by the original volume or the
change in length (as in a rod or wire) divided
by the original length. The former is usually
called a volume strain, the latter a linear
strain. Both are known as dilatational strains
because a change of size of the body is in
volved.
STRAIN, LIN EA R.

See strain, dilatational.

STRAIN, NON-UNIFORM.
(1) A strain
which, as in a non-homogeneous anisotropic
body, varies from point to point under the
same stress. (2) A strain which varies from
point to point because the stress is a function
of position, as in a beam (2).
STRAIN, PERMANENT.
set, permanent.

See discussion of

STRAIN, SHEAR. The strain resulting from

the application of a shear stress, by which
parallel planes in a body suffer relative dis
placement.
The relative displacement di
vided by the perpendicular separation of the
planes is the measure of the shear strain.
STRAIN-VIEWER.

A viewer utilizing the

passage of polarized light through glass or
other isotropic transparent media in order to
observe strained regions, within which bire
fringence is produced by the strains.

STRAIN, VOLUM E.
dilatational.

See discussion of strain,

STRANGENESS. Prior to the discovery of

non-conservation of parity (see beta decay
theory), the decay modes of the so-called
strange particles (see mesons and hyperons)
showed peculiarities. First, some decay modes
could be explained only by the assumption of
the existence of distinct particles that had
identical charge and mass and that differed
only in parity. Second, a number of decay
modes which were expected to be observed
from the known particles were missing. The
first situation was cleared up by the discovery
of nonconservation of parity.
The second
difficulty seems to have been eliminated by
G ell-M anns suggestion that there exists some,

as yet, not recognized or understood dynamical

variable which has associated with it a quan
tum number which has been given the name

cular cross section, the mass flowing per sec

ond is proportional to the pressure difference
and the cube of the radius.

strangeness num ber.

The conservation of
strangeness leads to selection rules in terms of
the strangeness quantum number, which seem
to clear up the second problem.

STREAMING POTENTIAL. A difference of

electrical potential between a porous dia
phragm, or other permeable solid, and a liquid
which is passing through it.

STRANGENESS NUMBER.
A quantum
number describing some, as yet not understood
(1959), property of fundamental particles. A
decay process in which strangeness is not con
served is slower than one in which it is con
served. The neutron, proton, and ir-mesons
have a strangeness number of zero. (For a
complete list of strangeness numbers assigned
to mesons and hyperons, see mesons and

hyperons.)
STRAP.
strap.

See magnetron, strapping; anode

STRATOCUMULUS.
Layer consisting of
large lumpy masses of cloud. It is billowed,
often appears in rolls with occasional blue
showing between rolls. The cloud casts con
siderable shadow with shades varying from
very whitish in thin spots to very dark in
thick spots. Types vary from almost true
cumulus to almost true stratus.
STRATOSPHERE.
earths atmosphere

That portion of the

above the tropopause.
This air is free of all weather phenomena, be
ing practically without moisture, and having,
in general, an isothermal structure.

STRATUS. Uniform layer of dull, grayish,

low-level cloud.
It is not the low-level
equivalent of altostratus, rather it is more a
cloudlike fog. Fragments of stratus torn by
wind or remnants of clearing stratus are usu
ally known as fractostratus.

STREAM FUNCTION. See current function.

STREAMING.

Unidirectional flow.

STREAM ING, M O LEC U LA R, TH EORY OF.

Application of kinetic theory to the flow of
gas through a tube at low pressures, such that
the mean free path is large compared with the
diameter of the tube. In this case, the stream
ing of the gas is due to the random motion of
the molecules, and to the density gradient
down the tube, so that the numbers of mole
cules traversing a given cross section in oppo
site directions is different. For a tube of cir

STREAMING, SOUND.

The production of
unidirectional flow currents in a medium, aris
ing from the presence of sound waves.

STREAMLINE. A line which is always par

allel to the local direction of flow, defined by
dx

dy

dz

where dxy d y, dz are the components along

the three axes of the line element dl, and u , v ,
w are the components of the flow velocity. In
steady flow, the streamlines are identical with
the paths of fluid particles. In two-dimen
sional flow, the streamlines are lines of con
stant stream function. (See current function.)
If the streamlines follow closely the con
tours of a solid body placed in a moving fluid,
the drag is usually low and the body is said
to be of streamline form.

STREAMLINES IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

Lines drawn everywhere tangent to wind vec
tors. T h ey show the instantaneous flow-pattern of the air at a given time only, and do
not indicate trajectories of air parcels.

STREAM TUBE. A stream tube is generated

by the streamlines passing through every
point on a closed contour. B y definition of a
streamline, there is no flow out of a stream
tube except through its ends, and in steady
flow the mass flow across any section is con
stant.

STRENGTH, OSCILLATOR. A quantity,

sometimes called the Ladenburg /, which is
defined in terms of the Einstein transition
probability coefficient A mn by the expression

where j n is the angular momentum quantum

number of level n, similarly for j n m is the
mass of the electron, c0 is the permittivity of
free space, and c is the speed of light. (See
also strength, line.)

STRESS.

The force acting on a unit area

in a solid, as in the theory of elasticity. In
general, the stress has nine components, X x,
X v, X Z) Yx, etc., defined so that, e.g., X y repre
sents the force in the x direction acting per
unit area of a plane whose normal is in the
y direction. However, for equilibrium it is
necessary that Yz = Zyi Zx = X z and X v =
Yx. The component of a stress which acts at
right angles to a surface is known as the nor
mal stress. If this stress is produced by a load
whose resultant passes through the center of
gravity of the area, it is called an axial or
direct stress and is always uniformly distrib
uted over the area. A normal resultant force
which causes the fibers to increase in length is
a tensile stress, while one which shortens the
fibers is a com pressive stress. The latter is
often called a bearing stress. The component
of any stress which lies in the plane of the
area is a shearing stress.
(See Voigt nota

tion.)
D irect tensile or compressive stresses are
known as primary stresses.
The bending
stress, resulting from deflection, is called a
secondary stress. The stresses developed in a
column due to the lateral deflections are of a
secondary nature. The rigidity of the riveted
or welded joints of a truss which has deflected
due to the axial deformation of its members
causes bending stresses in the members which
are classified as secondary stresses. The re
sistance offered by a body to a combination of
direct and bending loads is frequently called
a combined stress. A normal stress which oc
curs at a point in a plane on which the shear
ing stress is zero is known as a principal stress.
If this normal stress is tensile it is often called
a diagonal tension stress; if compressive it is
known as a diagonal compression stress.
The internal resisting force which arises in
a restrained body due to temperature changes
is a thermal stress. The adhesive resistance
which is developed in the concrete surround
ing the steel reinforcing rods when a rein
forced concrete member is subjected to load
is known as bond stress. Safe unit resisting
forces which are used in design are called
working stresses. These are usually taken as
a percentage of the ultimate stress or the elas
tic limit of the material.

STRESS-STRAIN CURVE.

A stress-strain
curve is a graphical representation of the re
lation between unit stress and unit deforma

tion in a stressed body as a gradually increas

ing load is applied.
STRESS TENSOR. The components of the
stress tensor in a continuous material are the
stresses exerted across surfaces normal to the
directions of variation of a single coordinate.
In Cartesian coordinates, the typical com po
nent, pu, is the component of the force per
unit area in the Xj direction across a surface
with normal parallel to xh exerted by the
material at larger values of xt on material of
smaller values of xit (i and j may take the
values 1, 2, 3 corresponding to the three axes.)
The stress tensor is necessarily symmetric,
i.e., pij Pji>
STRESS, TORSIONAL. The shearing stress
which occurs at any point in a body as the
result of an applied torque or torsional load
is called a torsional stress. If the body is a
circular shaft, the stress is found from the
formula:
Tc

in which s3 is required unit stress, T is the

torque, c is the radial distance from the center
of the shaft to the point, J is J*r2dS, where r
is the distance from the axis and dS is an
element of cross-sectional area.
This formula is based on the assumption
that a plane section before twisting remains a
plane after the torque is applied; also that the
radii remain straight. The theory of elastic
ity shows that these assumptions are true for
all sections except those adjacent to the ap
plied torque and the supports.
The cross section of a non-circular body
becomes decidedly warped after twisting, so
the stress must be obtained by formulae de
veloped from the theory of elasticity, by ex
perimental means or by approximate formulae
which are given in textbooks on advanced
strength of materials.

STRIATION (STRIA, PL. STRIAE). (1) A

striped appearance of the positive column of
a Crookes tube. (2) A defect of optical ma
terials, such as optical glass, having the ap
pearance of streaks through the material, and
seriously affecting the material for use as
lenses or windows.

STRIATION T ECH N IQ U E. A method for

rendering sound waves visible by using their
individual ability to refract light waves. (See
also schlieren.)
STRING. A solid body whose length is much
greater than any of its cross-sectional dimen
sions and that possesses no stiffness. It there
fore can support tension, but not compression.
STRING, VIBRATING.

The fundamental
frequency of the string, /, in cycles per second,
is given by

/ = 2Z \ m
where I = length of string, T = tension, m =
mass per unit length. Both even and odd
harm onics (2) occur. The vibration results
from a standing wave (see wave, standing),
the two progressive waves having a speed of
propagation (see velocity, phase) equal to
y / T/m.

STRIPPING. An effect observed in bom bard

ment with deuterons or heavier nuclei, where
by only part of the incident particle merges
with the target nucleus, and the remainder
proceeds with most of its original momentum
in practically its original direction. The effect
is strongly marked in deuteron bombardment,
and in this case typically leads to directional
neutron and proton beams that emerge from
the target (if the latter is sufficiently thin)
predominantly in the forward direction. The
angular divergence of the beams decreases
with increasing energy of the incident deu
terons. Subsidiary peaks are sometimes ob
served at rather small angles relative to the
forward direction. When the (d,p) type of
stripping occurs with deuterons having en
ergies smaller than or comparable with the
Coulomb barrier of the target nucleus, it is
often called the Oppenheimer-Phillips process.
STROBE CIRCU IT . The name sometimes
given to some form of time-selection trans
ducer.
STROBOSCOPE.

An instrument for viewing

moving objects so they appear stationary. In
its simplest form it may consist of a revolving
disk with holes spaced around the edge, the
moving object being observed through these
holes. Since the object can be seen only when
a hole is opposite the eye, a cyclic motion can

be made to appear stationary if the speed of

the disk is adjusted so a hole comes opposite
the eye only when the moving object reaches
the same point in each cycle; at other times
the disk blocks out the view. As the object
is thus always seen in the same position, the
persistence of vision makes it appear to be
still. The principal drawback to this type
stroboscope is the blurring of rapidly moving
objects since they can be seen for a short time
while the disk hole is moving before the eye.
Much more accurate stroboscopes utilize a
flashing light to illuminate the moving ma
chine. Again, if the light flashes once for each
cycle of the motion the eye or camera sees it
only in one position, i.e., that at which the
flash occurs. Even though the machine may
have general illumination so the observer sees
the usual blur of a rapidly moving machine,
the flash of stroboscopic light causes it to ap
pear stationary. The stroboscope is useful
for observing the action of rotating parts, and
obtaining their angular velocity.

STROBOTRON. A special, cold-cathode gas

tube for supplying a short-duration, high-intensity arc for a stroboscope.
STRONG EQUALITY.
Equality between
two dynamical variables which implies that
the Poisson bracket of the difference between
them with any operator is zero.
STRONTIUM.
Sr.

M etallic
Atom ic number 38.

element.

Symbol

STRONTIUM UNIT (SU). A unit of relative

concentration of radioactive strontium. One
SU is equal to one micromicrocurie of Sr 90
per gram of calcium. Since the average adult
skeleton contains about 1 kg of Ca, 1 SU is
equal to a skeletal body burden of 1 millimicrocurie of Sr 90. The maximum permis
sible body burden (skeletal) of Sr 90 has
been set (1958) at 2 iC (or 2000 SU) for oc
cupational personnel.
STROPHOTRON. A transit-time tube which
combines density modulation of the beam with
the control of the electron drift velocity in a
direction perpendicular to the oscillatory m o
tion. The desired electron motion is produced
by crossed electric and magnetic fields as in
the trochotron.

STROUHAL FORM ULA.

The frequency /,
in cycles/sec, of a stretched wire is related to

the velocity of air flowing past at right angles

to the wire by the equation
/ = 0.18 5v/d,
where v is the velocity of the air relative to
the wire and d is the diameter of the wire.

STRUCTURE.

The grouping of the various

parts of an assembled entity, and the points
at which, or the means by which, they are
held together.

STRUCTURE, ATOM IC. The internal struc

ture of the atom, comprising its nucleus and
the electrons which surround it. (See atom,
Bohr-Sommerf eld.)
STRUCTURE, M O LEC U LA R. The inter
nal structure of the molecule, comprising the
various atoms, and the valence bond structure
which holds them together.
STRUCTURE, N UCLEAR.
The
structure of the atomic nucleus.

internal

STRUCTURE O R STRUCTURE A M P L I
TUDE FACTOR. In the diffraction of x-rays
by crystals, the amplitude of the beam which
is reflected, according to the Bragg law, from
the atomic plane (h k l), depends on a factor
which represents the sum of the scattering
by the individual atoms weighted by the ap
propriate phase factors. Thus structure factor
depends only on the crystal structure, and may
be written
( hxn
ky n
lzn\
F(hkl) = 2 nf n exp 2tr il + + )
\ a
o
c /
where xn, y n, %n are the coordinates of the nth
atom in the unit cell, whose dimensions are
a, bj c. f n is the atomic scattering factor of
the nth atom, and the summation is over all
the atoms in the unit cell. In general, only
the square modulus \F (hkl) |2 can be measured
experimentally, and the phase factors have
to be gueseed.

STUB. A short section of waveguide attached

to the guide in a T connection. A stub acts
as a load connected across a transmission line,
the characteristics of the load (capacitance,
inductance, conductance) depending on the
geometry of the stub and the manner in which
it is terminated. Stubs are often used to tune,
i.e. to adjust to resonance or anti-resonance,
waveguides used in measurements at micro
wave frequencies.

STUB, DETU NIN G.

A quarter-wave balun
or matching stub, used to match a coaxial line
to a sleeve-stub antenna (see antenna, sleevestub). The stub or choke prevents energy
loss and pattern distortion by the prevention
of current flow down the outside of the coaxial
feed line. It thus performs a detuning func
tion for the outside of the line, but a tuning
function for the rest of the system.

STUB, SLEEVE.
STUB TUNERS.

See antenna, sleeve stub.

See tuners, stub.

STURM-LIOUVILLE EQUATION.
ferential equation of the form :

A dif

d
+ \g(z) + \w(z)]y = 0,

dz

where A is a parameter, the eigenvalue, chosen

so that the solutions y, the eigenfunctions,
satisfy given boundary conditions. The quan
tity w (z ) is a weighting function used so that
the eigenvalues are orthogonal:

/
N early every eigenvalue problem in mathe
matical physics is of this form.

STURM TH EOREM . A method for locating

the real roots of a polynomial equation. Let
P (x ) = 0 be the equation with real coefficients
and without multiple roots. M od ify the usual
process for finding the highest common factor
of P (x ) and its first derivative P (x) by ex
hibiting each remainder as the negative of a
polynom ial P *, thus:
P q\P\ P 2,

P 2 = #3^3

P 1 Q2P 2 ~ Pbj

P, * * >

P n2 = Qn\Pn1

P 71)

where P n is a constant but not zero. If a and

b are real numbers, with a < b, neither of
which is a root of P (x ) = 0, then the number
of real roots of P (x) = 0 between a and b is
equal to the excess of the number of variations
of sign for
P (x ), P i(x ), P 2(x), , P n_ i(x), P n>
for x = a over the number of variation of signs
for x b. Terms which vanish are to be
dropped out before counting the variations of
sign.

STYLUS. (1) A specially shaped needle used

in a sound recording mechanism to cut or em
boss the record grooves. (2) A needle used to
follow the record grooves in a record playback
system.

SUBCARRIER, CO LOR. The carrier whose

modulation sidebands are added to the mono
chrome signal to convey color information.

STYLUS, CUTTING. The cutting tool in

the cutter. It may be an appropriately-shaped
piece of diamond, sapphire, or steel.

SUBCARRIER, IN TERM EDIA TE. A carrier

which may be modulated by one or more sub
carriers and which is used as a modulating
wave to modulate a carrier or another inter
mediate subcarrier.

STYLUS D R A G (N E E D L E DRAG).

SUBGROUP.

An ex
pression used to denote the force resulting
from friction between the surface of the re
cording medium and the reproducing stylus.

STYLUS, EM BOSSING. A recording stylus

with a rounded tip which displaces the mate
rial in the recording medium to form a groove.
STYLUS FO RC E.

The vertical force exerted

on a stationary recording medium by the
stylus when in its operating position.

STYLUS, R E C O R D IN G .

A tool which in
scribes the groove into the recording medium.

STYLUS, R E P R O D U C IN G . A mechanical
element adapted to following the modulations
of a record groove and transmitting the me
chanical motion thus derived to the pick-up
mechanism.
SU.

Abbreviation for strontium unit.

SUBAQUEOUS M IC R O PH O N E . See micro

phone, hydrostatic; microphone, quartz crys
tal; microphone, subaqueous.
SUBAQUEOUS SIGNALING. Discussed un
der sonar.

SUBATOMIC.

Pertaining to processes or re
actions in which atoms undergo disintegra
tion, as in natural or artificial radioactivity;
or to particles or radiations yielded by such
reactions, such as electrons, positrons, pro
tons, neutrons, helium nuclei, and nuclear
fragments of larger size.

SUBCARRIER.

A carrier which is applied

as a modulating wave to modulate another
carrier or an intermediate subcarrier.

SUBCARRIER, C H R O M IN A N C E . The car

rier whose modulation sidebands are added to
the monochrome signal to convey color in
formation.

Elements of a group, of num

bers less than or equal to the order of the
group, which satisfy the group postulates.
Every group possesses at least two subgroups:
the unit element and the group itself.

SUBGROUP, CONJUGATE. If H is a sub

group of the group G and X is an element of
G, but not necessarily contained in H , then
X ~ 1H X is also a subgroup of G and a conju
gate subgroup to H.

SUBGROUP, INVARIANT. If H and H ' =

X~~1H X are conjugate then these two sub
groups are invariant if H = H\ Also called
normal subgroup or normal divisor.
SUBHARMONIC. A sinusoidal quantity hav
ing a frequency which is an integral submul
tiple of the fundamental frequency (see fre
quency, fundamental) of a periodic quantity
to which it is related. For example, a wave,
the frequency of which is half the fundamental
frequency of another wave, is called the sec
ond subharmonic of that wave.

SUBJECT COPY.

The material in graphic

form which is to be transmitted for facsimile
reproduction.

SUBLIMATE. The condensed vapor from

the process of sublimation, analogous to the
distillate from distillation.
SUBLIMATION. The transformation of a
solid directly to the gaseous condition without
passing through the liquid state. When the
vapor pressure of a solid becomes greater than
the atmospheric pressure the solid vaporizes
com pletely at constant pressure. The tem
perature at the point where the vapor pres
sure of a solid equals the atmospheric pressure
is its sublimation temperature.

SUBLIM ATION CURVE.

The graphical
representation of the variation with temper
ature of the vapor pressure of a solid.

SUBLIME. T o pass from the solid directly

to the gaseous state without melting.

SUBSTITUTION M ET H OD.
measurements.

SUBMAGNAL.

SUBTRACT CIRCUIT.

Designation for a tube base.

SUBM ICRON.
In Zsigm ondys nomencla
ture,
submicrons
are particles
between
5 X 10 9 and 10 7 meters in diameter
(50-1000 Angstrom units).
SUB-MINAR.

Designation for a tube base.

SUBROUTINE. (1) In a routine, a portion

that causes a computer to carry out a welldefined mathematical or logical operation.
(2) A routine which is arranged so that con
trol may be transferred to it from a master
routine and so that, at the conclusion of the
subroutine, control reverts to the master
routine. Such a subroutine is usually called
a closed subroutine. A single routine m ay
simultaneously be both a subroutine with re
spect to another routine and a master routine
with respect to a third. Usually control is
transferred to a single subroutine from more
than one place in the master routine and the
reason for using the subroutine is to avoid
having to repeat the same sequence of instruc
tions in different places in the master routine.
Subsiding air is sinking air
and is associated with lateral divergence.
Subsidence in the atmosphere is a stabilizing
influence; it also decreases relative humidity
within the sinking air as it warms the air.
Atmospheric pressure usually rises under the
influence of subsidence, which is normally as
sociated with anticyclones. Clear or par
tially-clouded skies are the usual weather in
a region of subsidence.

SUBSONIC FREQUEN CY.

infrasonic.

See comparator.

SUBTRACTIVE C O L O R PROCESS.
A
method of photographic color synthesis using
two or more superimposed colorants which
selectively absorb their complementary colors
from white light.
SUDDEN IO N O S P H E R IC DISTURBANCE.
See magnetic storm.
SUHL EFFECT. Holes injected into an ntype semiconductor filament are deflected by
a strong transverse magnetic field to the sur
face, where they may recombine rapidly with
electrons, showing a much reduced lifetime,
or be withdrawn by a probe as if the con
ductance had increased.
SULFUR. Nonmetallic element.
Atom ic number 16.

Sym bol S.

SUMMATION CONVENTION. An abbre

viated notation, used frequently in algebra,
but especially in tensor analysis. Instead of
writing
A

SUBSIDENCE.

See physical

A\

t - 1,2, ,,

Jfe-1
omit the summation sign and remember that
summation is to be carried out for the re
peated index k. Such an index is often called
a dummy or urnbral index. The letter used
for a dummy index can be changed without
changing the meaning of the expression

See frequency,

SUBSTANCE.

A term used to designate a

pure chemical compound or a definite mixture
of such compounds.
The term substance
should not be used as an equivalent to the
term b od y which refers to a definite mass
of material, i.e., two different masses of the
same substance would constitute two bodies
but not two substances.

SUBSTITUTIONAL ALLOY.
A class of
metallic alloy in which atoms of one element
have been replaced by atoms of another, with
out changing the basic crystal structure. (Cf.
interstitial compounds or structures.)

For the meaning of the upper index, see t e n s o r ,

c o n t r a v a r i a n t and t e n s o r , c o v a r ia n t .
The summation convention is used partic
ularly in r e l a t i v i t y t h e o r y , where the summa
tion is over the values 1, 2, 3, 4 (three posi
tion coordinates and one time coordinate).
In this case an expression of the form
, denotes the value obtained
b y summing over values of the dummy in
dices, V, O'

SUM O F STATES.
function.

Synonym for partition

SUM O VER STATES. Synonym for partition

function.

SUMPTNER P R IN C IP L E . W hen a source

o f light is placed at any point inside a sphere
with perfectly diffusing walls, every part of
the interior is equally illuminated.
SUM RU LE. See rotational sum rule; vibra
tional sum rule.
SUM, VECTOR.

See vector addition.

SUN. Abbreviation for the Commission on

Standards, Units, and Nomenclature, an
agency of 1UPAP.
SUNLIGHT R E C O R D E R . A device used in
meteorology and agronomy, which records the
time integral of the suns visible radiation.
The output of a phototube is integrated in a
capacitor integrator, the output of which is,
in turn, integrated by a thyratron-operated
mechanical counter.

tion into a state in which the electrical re

sistance has a value of zero. The critical tem
perature (2) of the superconductor and the
critical field curve characterize the material.
Persistent electric currents may be induced in

a superconducting ring, and show no signs of

decay. However, the Meissner effect cannot
be explained by zero resistance alone, and the

London equations have been invoked to give

a macroscopic description of the superconduct
ing state. For many purposes the two-fluid
model is convenient, e.g., in analyzing thermo
dynamic and thermoelectric effects.
Other
properties of superconductors are associated
with the ideas of the intermediate state and

penetration depth.

SUP. A sym bol used to represent the sup

pressor grid of a vacuum tube.

Apart from variations in the parameters,

the phenomena of superconductivity are es
sentially similar from substance to substance.
No complete fundamental theory exists, al
though progress has recently been made by
Frhlich and Bardeen.
(See Frhlich and

SUPERCHROM AT LENS FORM ULA. A

lens formula, developed by M ax Herzberger

Bardeen
theory.)

in 1959, which makes it possible to construct

three element lenses which are corrected for
chromatic aberration for all wavelengths from
365 to 1010 millimicrons.

SUPERCONDUCTIVITY,
TW O
F L U ID
M O D E L.
A phenomenological theory of
superconductivity, according to which the
conduction electrons belong to two interpene

SUPERCO NDU CT IN G TRANSITION. The

change from the normal to the superconduc
tive state, in the absence of a magnetic field,
is a reversible phase transition of second order.
In the presence of a magnetic field (see Meissner effect) the transition is of first order, and
the specific entropy of the normal state is

trating assemblies having radically different

properties. The normal electrons show elec
trical resistivity, etc., while the superconduct
ing electrons have zero entropy and resis
tivity. The proportion of normal electrons
that have not been condensed into the super
conducting state at temperature T is ( T/Tc) 4
where Tc is the superconducting transition
temperature in zero field.

greater than that of the superconductive state

by an amount

_ He
Air

dHc
dT

where H 0 is the critical field and T is the abso

lute temperature.
SUPERCONDU CTIVE STATE, T H E R M O
DY N A M IC FUNCTIONS OF. Owing to the
existence of the Meissner effect, a supercon
ductor can be described in a thermodynamic
diagram of state with the temperature as the
independent, and the magnetic field as the
dependent, variable.

SUPERCONDUCTIVITY. A t very low tem

peratures, certain metals, alloys, and com
pounds go through a superconducting transi

theory;

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer

SUPERCONDUCTOR.

A substance exhibit

ing superconductivity.

SUPERCONDUCTOR, H A RD , O R NON
ID E A L . Certain superconducting compounds
and alloys show high transition temperatures,
high critical fields, incomplete Meissner effect,
breakdown of the Silsbee rule, etc. The effect
may be reproduced by application of severe
inhomogeneous strains.

SUPERCONDUCTOR, LO N D O N E L E C
TRODYN AM ICAL THEORY OF. A phe
nomenological treatment of superconductivity
has been developed by F. and H. London, in
which the Maxwell acceleration equation is
replaced by a differential equation connecting

the current with the magnetic field, instead

o f the electric.

SUPERCONTROL TUBE. See tube, vari

able mu; tube, remote-cutoff.
SU PERCO OLIN G . The cooling of a liquid
below its freezing point without the separation
o f the solid phase (3). This is a condition of
metastable equilibrium, as is shown by solid
ification of the supercooled liquid upon the
addition of the solid phase, or the application
o f certain stresses, or simply upon prolonged
standing.

SUPEREXCH AN GE. A mechanism invoked

to explain strong antiferromagnetic coupling
such as that, for example, between two M n + +

ions separated by an 0
ion in M nO. A
form of configuration interaction is involved
one of the excess electrons on the oxygen
ion goes on to one of the M n + + ions, where
it couples with its spin. The other electron
on the oxygen ion must be of opposite spin
by the Pauli exclusion principle, and couples
by exchange with the spin of the remaining
M n + + ion.
The overall effect is thus a
coupling between the spins of the M n + + ions,
even though these are much too far apart to
have a direct exchange interaction.

SU PERFLU ID .

A name used to designate a

condensed degenerate gas, obeying the BoseEinstein statistics and in its lowest energy
state. Such a superfluid exhibits zero viscosity
and has zero entropy associated with it. This
effect is of quantum mechanical origin; it
follows from the fact that at very low tem
peratures a significant fraction of the atoms
are in the lowest energy state permitted by
quantum mechanics.
Liquid helium II is
thought to be a mixture of such a superfluid
and a norm al fluid. The ability of liquid
helium to exhibit apparently frictionless flow
through minute pores, capillaries, etc., is
thought to be due to the superfluid component.
On the other hand, the observed real damping
of a rotating cylinder is due to the normal
component.
(See also helium II, two fluid

theory; Landau theory of liquid helium; he

lium, liquid, properties of.)
SUPERGROUP. A group of 60 transmission
channels occupying the range of frequencies
between 312 and 552 ko.

SU PERH EATIN G. A very pure substance

m ay sometimes be heated to a temperature
well above that at which it would ordinarily
go through a change of state, without such
change taking place. For example, a liquid
may be heated to above its normal boiling
point without boiling occurring. Under these
circumstances, a slight disturbance or the in
troduction of any impurities will bring on a
sudden transition to the equilibrium state.
SUPERHET. Colloquialism for superhetero
dyne. (See receiver.)
SU PE R H E TE R O D YN E.

See receiver.

SU PE R H E TE R O D YN E, D O U B LE .
A re
ceiver which employs two heterodyne mixers,
local oscillators, and i-f amplifiers. The i-f
amplifiers are of different frequency, thus per
mitting higher gain without instability.
SU PERIM POSITION
A PP R O XIM A TIO N .
The assumption that in any system compris
ing molecules in fixed positions, the force on
any molecule is the sum of the forces which
would be exerted on the given molecule by
all other molecules in turn acting as if all the
remaining molecules were not present.
SU PE R LA TTICE . A type of arrangement of
atoms in a multi-component solid system, in
which the atoms of an element occupy certain
regular positions in the atomic lattice of an
other element, even though no compound be
tween the two elements of that composition
can be separated or otherwise identified.
SU PERM ALLOY. Trade name of a permal
loy-type of magnetic alloy with a maximum
permeability in excess of one million.
SUPERPOSITION , PR IN C IPL E OF. If a
physical system is acted on by a number of
independent influences, the resultant influence
is the sum (vector or algebraic as circum
stances dictate) of the individual influences.
The principle takes on many specific forms
depending on the nature o f the system and
the influence in question. For example, when
two forces act simultaneously on a particle
the resultant force is the vector sum of the
two. Another example is provided by the
small oscillations of a system about a state of
equilibrium. Thus the total displacement of
a vibrating string is the algebraic sum of all
its various harmonic modes of oscillation

which add without interfering with each

other. The principle is validated in this case
by the fact that the wave equation governing
the oscillations is linear. Superposition does
not apply to non-linear systems.
The principle can also be applied to quan
tum mechanics. Here it is exemplified by the
postulate that any state function of a given
quantum mechanical system corresponding to
a given observable (e.g., the energy) can be
expressed as a linear expansion of the eigen
states of the system for the same observable.

SUPERPOSITION
P R IN C IP L E
OF
NERNST. The potential difference between
junctions in similar pairs of solutions which
have the same ratio of concentrations are the
same even if the absolute concentrations are
different, e.g., the same potential difference
exists between normal solutions of HC1 and
KC1 as exists between tenth-normal solutions
of HC1 and KC1.

SUPERPOSITION T H EOREM . In any elec

trical network in which a linear differential
equation describes the relation between the
instantaneous potential difference across and
the instantaneous current through a circuit
element, each electromotive force present pro
duces currents which are independent of the
existence of other electromotive forces. This
theorem allows each electromotive force to be
considered separately and the total current to
be found by the summation of the partial cur
rents produced by the individual electromo
tive forces.
SUPER-REFRACTION.

The transmission of
microwave frequencies far beyond line of sight
due to an atmospheric duct.

SUPER-REGENERATIVE RE C E IV E R . In
the ordinary regenerative receiver the sensi
tivity goes up as the feedback is increased, but
if the feedback is increased to produce the
maximum amplification (just before oscilla
tions start) the circuit is unstable and breaks
into oscillation. The super-regenerative cir
cuit utilizes this high gain point without the
instability, by introducing a voltage of low
radio frequency in the plate supply lead.
Since this voltage subtracts from the plate
supply voltage every half-cycle, it will lower
the net plate voltage to the point where any
started oscillations die out. The circuit is
adjusted so oscillations actually start to build

up, giving very high gain, but are killed off at

the low radio frequency ( quench frequency)
rate and so do not reach an objectionable
amplitude. The quenching frequency may be
generated by a separate oscillator tube, or
may be generated by the regular detector tube
in a so-called self-quenching circuit. The gain
of these detectors is enormous, but they are
subject to several limitations such as: poor
quality, radiation and subsequent interference
with other receivers, strong interchannel hiss,
poor selectivity, etc. They are, nevertheless,
quite widely used for reception in the very
high frequency region.

SUPERSATURATE. T o carry a process be

yond saturation, as to supersaturate a solu
tion.
SUPERSATURATED AIR.

Air devoid of
salt, dust, and ions can be supersaturated with
respect to a free water surface. Inasmuch
as the atmosphere contains numerous salt par
ticles, dust, and ions, as well as microscopic
plants and animals, supersaturation is seldom
if ever a reality, because these materials, par
ticularly salt particles and ions, serve as
nuclei for condensation.
Actually many
clouds form at less than saturation with re
spect to open water surfaces.

SUPERSATURATION.
The condition of
containing an excess of some material over
the amount required for saturation.
SUPERSONIC FREQUENCY.
quency, ultrasonic.
SUPERSONIC SOUNDING.

See

fre

See sonar.

SUPERSONICS. The general subject cover

ing phenomena associated with speed higher
than the speed of sound (as in case of aircraft
and projectiles traveling faster than sound).
A t one time, this term was used in acoustics
to denote the general subject of high frequency
sound (ultrasonics). Such usage is now depre
cated.
SUPER-SYNC. The combined horizontal and
vertical

synchronizing

signals

of

standard

television transmission.
SUPPLEMENTARY

CO N D IT IO N .
Any
condition imposed on the state vector $ in a
quantized field theory (see field theory, quan
tized) in order that this vector should cor

respond to an actual state; e.g., in quantum

electrodynamics, the Lorentz condition:
dAM

dxM

= 0.

SUPPRESSED CA R R IE R.

See modulation.

suppressor.)
SUPPRESSOR, EC H O . A circuit which de
sensitizes the equipment for a fixed period
after the reception of one pulse, for the pur
pose of rejecting delayed pulses arriving from
indirect reflection paths. Used in radar and
sonar.
SUPPRESSOR, NOISE. A vacuum-tube cir
cuit designed to suppress undesirable noise in
a radio receiver. Suppressors are of two types,
interchannel noise suppressors and large signal
suppressors. The first acts as an automatic
volume control to cut off the audio amplifier
when no carrier is being received. The second
is a peak limiting circuit to suppress all signals
above a certain amplitude.
SUPPRESSOR, NOISE, DYN A M IC. Essen
tially a filter for an audio system whose band
pass is adjusted according to the signal level.
A t low levels where noise is particularly no
ticeable and, at the same time, sensitivity of
the ear is decreased at either end of the hear
ing range, the filter action decreases both the
high and low (or high only) frequency re
sponse of the system; at high levels all filter
ing action is removed.
NOISE,

The locus of points satisfying

an equation in three variables f(x ,y ,z ) = 0.
(See also area.)

SURFACE-ACTIVE COMPOUNDS. Those

substances that lower the surface tension of

SUPPRESSOR. An element or device used in

electric or electronic components or circuits
to prevent or reduce undesired actions or cur
rents. Examples are series resistors in certain
high-voltage circuits to prevent sparking; ad
ditional grids in vacuum tubes to prevent sec
ondary emission from the plate. (See grid,

SUPPRESSOR,

SURFACE.

IN T E RC A RRIER.

a liquid when exposed to a gas, e.g., water in

air, or reduce the interfacial tension between
two immiscible liquids, e.g., kerosene and
water.

SURFACE BALANCE (LANGM UIR).

An
apparatus for the measurement of surface pres
sure and surface area of monomolecular layers
on water. The surface pressure is measured
by arranging a floating barrier on the surface
of the water with a device for measuring the
force acting on the barrier.

SURFACE CO N V ERG EN C E (MULTIBEAM

CATHODE-RAY TUBES). The surface gen
erated by the point of intersection of two
or more electron beams during the scanning
process.

SURFACE DENSITY. The quantity per unit

area of anything distributed over a surface.
Examples are electric charge per unit area
and mass per unit area. It is in the latter
sense that the term is used in nuclear physics,
this being a common way of indicating an
absorber thickness, source thickness, target
thickness, support thickness for thin radio
active sources, etc. The surface density of a
uniform film is the product of the thickness
of the film by its density (1).
SURFACE DUCT. An atmospheric duct for
which the lower boundary is the surface of
the earth.
SURFACE ENERGY.

See energy, surface.

SURFACE ENERGY, FREE. The work per

unit area necessary to increase the area of the
surface of a liquid. Usually expressed in ergs
per square centimeter.

The partial or complete silencing of a receiver

as it is being tuned between stations.

SURFACE ENERGY, INTERFACIAL. The

work per unit area necessary to increase the

SUPPRESSOR, PARASITIC. A device placed

surface of separation between two liquids, a

liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid.

in a circuit to prevent parasitic oscillations

(see oscillations, parasitic). One com m onlyused device is simply a resistance of relativelylow magnitude inserted directly in series with
a tube-electrode at the socket.

SURFACE, EQUIPHASE.

(1) In a threedimensional wave, A (x ,y ,z )e ji(at- * {XVZH9 the

surfaces & (x,y,z) = constant are called equi
phase surfaces.

(2)
Thus, any surface in a wave over which interior, experience forces of attraction from
their neighbors directed normally to the sur
the field vectors at the same instant are in
face. The effect of this force is to make the
phase or 180 out of phase.
liquid behave as if it were contained in a
SURFACE F IL M , CO N DEN SED . A film of
stretched elastic skin. The tension in this
an insoluble substance, on the surface of a
skin is the surface tension.
liquid, and consisting of a monolayer of closely
The coefficient of surface tension is the force
packed molecules, at or near the point at
per unit length that appears to act across lines
which further compression of the film causes
drawn in the surface of the fluid. It measures
the formation of crystals of solid or lenses of
the mechanical effects of the internal energy
liquid in equilibrium with the monolayer.
of the surface layer.
SURFACE O F POSITION. A ny surface de
SURFACE
TENSION, M ETHODS
OF
fined by a constant value of some navigation
MEASUREMENT. (1) D rop weight method.

coordinate.

SURFACE O F REVOLU TION .

The result
of revolving a plane curve about a line lying
in its plane. Special cases of each of the
quadric surfaces may be produced in this way.

SURFACE ORIEN TATION .

The occupa
tion of such positions by certain molecules in
the surface of a liquid that one part of the
molecule is turned toward the liquid; as, e.g.,
on the air-liquid interface of an aqueous sys
tem, molecules containing polar and nonpolar
groups arrange themselves with the polar
groups directed toward the water.
SURFACE RECO M BIN AT ION , VELOCITY
OF. Experiments show that electrons and
holes in semiconductors recombine much more
readily on the surface of the material than
they do in the interior. The process is ana
lyzed in terms of a parameter s, i.e., the veloc
ity with which the carriers would have to drift
to the surface, and there be removed, to match
the observed recombination rate.

SURFACE, RU LE D .

(1) A surface that is

generated by the motion of a straight line
called the generatrix. A ny quadric surface
can be produced in this way but the generatrix
is real only for the cone, cylinder, hyperboloid
of one sheet, and hyperbolic paraboloid. In
the other possible cases, the generatrix is
imaginary. (2) See grating.

SURFACE STATES.

According to a theory
of Bardeen, there is a tendency for electrons
in a semiconductor to be tightly bound into
states on the surface of the sample. This is
the basis of the Bardeen-Brattain theory of

hole injection.
SURFACE TENSION. The molecules close
to the surface of a liquid, unlike those in the

A drop suspended below a tube of radius r

and slowly increasing in size detaches itself
when its weight is
mg = 2irryF
( y is surface tension, p density of the liq u id ).
The function F is of order unity.
(2) Tensiometer method.
This method
measures the force necessary to detach a ring
of known radius from the liquid surface, often
by a torsion balance. The surface tension is
the force divided by twice the perimeter of
the ring.
(3) Capillary rise method. The rise of a
liquid in a capillary tube is given by the Jurin
law, and from it the surface tension may be
calculated.
(4) Jaeger method (maximum bubble pres
sure). The pressure necessary to force air
from a capillary tube of radius r immersed
vertically a distance h into the liquid of den
sity p is

V = Vo + pgh +

27

/r ,

where po is the pressure on the free surface of

the liquid.
(5) Sessile drop method. The shape of a
drop resting on a surface that it does not wet
depends on surface tension. Measurements
of drop depth and mass are sufficient to de
termine the surface tension.
(6) Pendant drop method. A method sim
ilar to (5 ), but applicable to wetting fluids.

SURFACE TENSION, NUCLEAR.

cleus, liquid drop model of.

See nu*

SURFACE WAVES. (1) Waves of distortion

on the free surface separating two fluid phases,
usually a liquid and a gas or vapor of low
density. The waves are classed as gravita

tional waves or ripples, depending on whether

gravity or surface tension is the controlling
force in their motion.
(2) An electromag
netic wave component traveling parallel to
the earths surface. Also called the ground
wave.

SURGE. (1) An oscillation of relatively great

magnitude set up by an electric discharge in
a line or system.
(2) A general change in
barometric pressure apparently superposed
upon cyclonic and normal diurnal changes.
SURGE

ELECTRODE

CURRENT.

older term for fault electrode current.

An
(See

current, electrode, fault.)

SU RV EILLAN CE RADAR, AIRPORT.
radar, airport surveillance.

See

SU RV EILLAN CE
RADAR
ELE M E N T
(SRE). The radar of the GCA system used to
direct traffic to a region where it may be ob
served by the PAR radar.

SURV EILLAN CE RADAR, G RO U N D.

radar, ground surveillance.

SUSCEPTANCE. The imaginary part of ad

mittance. N ote that if the impedance
jX j

the admittance
A

1
R + jX

R -^ X
R2 + X 2'

and the susceptance is

-X
S = R 2 + X 2'

See mag

SUSPENDED

TRANSFORMATION.
The
cessation of action before true equilibrium
has been reached, or the failure of a system
to readjust itself immediately when conditions
are changed. Metastable equilibrium, super
cooling, etc., are examples.
SUSPENSION. A system of particles dis
persed in a liquid, which do not separate be
cause of their small size, the motion imparted
to them by collision with water molecules, etc.
Such a system is also called a suspensoid, or a
colloidal suspension. (See also colloidal sys
tem.)
SUTHERLAND EQUATION.
A relation
ship between the mean free path of a mole
cule and the molecular diameter. This rela
tionship is expressed in the following equa
tion:
1
d o c ------ n l V 1 + C/T

See

SURVEY INSTRUMENT. A portable in

strument, used for detecting and measuring
radiation under varied physical conditions.
The term covers a wide range of devices utiliz
ing most of the available detection methods.

Z = R +

SUSCEPTIBILITY, MAGNETIC.
netic susceptibility.

in which d is the molecular diameter, n is the

number of molecules per unit volume, I is the
mean free path, T is the absolute temperature,
and C is the Sutherland constant.

SVEDBERG

EQUATION.
A relationship
between the amplitude of a particle which
exhibits Brownian movement and its period
of vibration. The generalized form of this
relationship is : a oc t, in which a is the ampli
tude of vibration, and t is the period.
SW. Abbreviation for short wave switch.
SWAMI. A bbreviation for Standing T7ave
^4rea M otion indicator. An electronic sur
veillance system in which any motion or in
trusion in a given area induces a change in the
P R F of a U H F oscillator.

(See alternating current circuits.)

SWBD.

SUSCEPTANCE, T UNING (ATR TUBES).

The normalized susceptance of the tube in its

SWEEP.

mount due to the deviation of its resonance

frequency from the desired resonance fre
quency. Normalization is with respect to the
characteristic admittance of the transmission
line at its junction with the tube mount.

SW EEP
sweep.

tron beam in the horizontal plane.

SUSCEPTIBILITY, ELE C T R IC . See polar

ization (due to induced dipoles), dielectric
constant, electric induction.

SWEEP, SLAVE. A time base which is syn

chronized or triggered by a waveform from a
source external to the time base. Used in navi

Abbreviation for switchboard.

The uniform motion of the electron

beam across the face of the cathode-ray tube.

FREQUENCY.

SWEEP, H ORIZON TAL.

See

frequency,

Sweep of an elec

gational systems for displaying or utilizing

the same information at different locations, or
in displaying or utilizing different information
with a common or related time base.

SW ELLIN G .

The phenomenon observed

when certain solid substances absorb liquids
with which they are brought in contact with
the result that they increase in volume. E x
amples are dry gelatine or agar placed in
water. A similar behavior is found with many
natural and synthetic polymers in organic
solvents.

SWGR. Abbreviation for switchgear.

SW ITCH, ANTICAPACITANCE.

A switch
designed to present the smallest practical
series capacitance when in its open position.

SW ITCH, ANTI-TR. A gas-discharge switch,

employed when a common transmitting and
receiving antenna is used, which automatically
decouples the transmitter from the antenna
during the receiving period.
SW IT CH D ETECTOR. See detector, switch.
SW ITCH, ELE C T R O N IC . An electron tube
device for alternately switching between two
input signals. It consists of two amplifier
channels, each fed by one of the inputs, ar
ranged so they are alternately biased to cut
off (i.e., become inoperative) and feeding a
common output.

SW ITCH, M AGNETIC. A term for relay.

SW ITCH,
RESONANT-CHAMBER.
A
waveguide switch which diverts power from
one guide to another by detuning a cavity

resonator of high Q in the branch which is to

refuse the power. (See window, resonant.)
SW ITCH, RESONANT-IRIS. A waveguide
switch which diverts power from one guide
to another by detuning a resonant iris inserted
in the branch which is to refuse the power.
(See window, resonant.)
SW ITCH, ROTARY STEPPING (RELAY).
Same as stepping relay.
SW ITCH, TR. A switch, frequently of the
gas-discharge type, employed when a common
transmitting and receiving antenna is used,
which automatically decouples the receiver
from the antenna during the transmitting
period.
SW ITCH,
TRANSMIT-RECEIVE
(T-R
SW ITCH) (T-R GAP) (T-R TUBE). An open
spark gap or gas-filled tube used in a duplexer. A t frequencies above 3000 Me, the
gaps are usually incorporated into cavities be-

SW IT C H IN G. The connection of two points

of a network at controllable instants of time.
An alternative term is clamping.
S W IT C H IN G C O E F F IC IE N T (Sw). The de
rivative of applied magnetizing force with re
spect to the reciprocal of the resulting switch
ing time. It is usually determined as the
reciprocal of the slope of a curve of reciprocals
of switching times versus values of applied
magnetizing forces. The magnetizing forces
are applied as step functions.

SW IT C H IN G G R IL L E .
switching grille.
SW IT C H IN G TIM E.

See focusing and

See time, switching.

SW ITCH, L O A D M ATCHING. In induc

tion and dielectric heating usage, a switch in
the load matching network to alter its char
acteristics to compensate for some sudden
change in the load characteristics, such as
passing through the Curie point.

Typical T -R box. (By permission from Microwave

Theory and Techniques by Reich et al., 1953, D. Van
Nostrand Co., Inc.)

cause of lower losses. In order to reduce the

field strength required for breakdown of the
T -R tube, the tube is provided with a keep
alive electrode. A typical assembly for co
axial lines is shown.

SW IT C H TUBES. See tube, anti-transmit

receive; tube, attenuator; tube, broad-band;
tube, cell-type; tube, fired (1); tube, phasetuned; tube, pre-TR; tube, TR; tube, unfired.
SWR.

Abbreviation for standing wave ratio

(same as current or voltage standing-wave
ratio).

SYMBOL, L O G IC A L .

See logical symbol.

SYMMETRIC.

Arranged in accordance with

a certain similarity with reference to a certain
geometrical entity or position, which may be
a point (center or point of symmetry), a line
(symmetry, axis of), or a plane (symmetry,
plane of), etc. A symmetric function is
transformed into itself when its variables are
interchanged in pairs.
(See antisymmetric
and matrix, symmetric; tensor, symmetric.)

SYM M ETRIC TOP M O L EC U LE . A non

linear molecule having only one axis of 3-fold
or higher symmetry, where this axis is the axis
of highest symmetry. (See also rotator, sym

SYMMETRY AXIS O F SECON D K IN D O R

ROTATION-REFLECTION AXIS. A sym
metry element by which the crystal is brought
into self-coincidence by a combined rotation
and reflection in a plane perpendicular to the
axis of rotation. In Schoenflies crystal sym
bol, Sn for an n-fold axis. (See symmetry

classes.)
SYMMETRY, CENTER OF. A symmetry
element such that any line through it will
intersect the crystal at equal distances on
either side. Schoenflies crystal symbol, sub
script i. (See symmetry classes.)

SYMMETRY CLASSES.

metric or asymmetric.)
SYM M ETRICALLY, CY CLICA LLY M AG
N E T IZ E D C O N D IT IO N . See magnetized
condition, symmetrically, cyclically.
SYM M ETRICAL N ETW ORK.
structurally symmetrical.

SYMMETRY, AXIS OF. A line drawn within

a body or within a set of points in such a
location and direction that a rotation of the
body through an angle (2ir/n) radians about
the line as an axis, n being an integer, greater
than unity, results in a configuration indis
tinguishable from the original configuration.
A body or set having such an axis is said to
have n-fold sym m etry, and the line is said to
be an n-fold axis. Thus a line through the
center of a cube and parallel to a face is a
four-fold axis of symmetry, while a body
diagonal of the cube is a tw o-fold axis.

See network,

Every crystal be
longs to one of the 32 different classes o f sym
metry, or point groups. The standard nota
tion for describing these classes is that of
Schoenflies, who assigned symbols to the vari
ous possible symmetry elements according to
the following rules:

SYMMETRY ARGUMENT.

A logical treat
ment based on the idea that when there is no
apparent reason that either of two possible
behaviors should be preferred to the other,
neither will occur. Examples are the proof
that a spherically symmetric body resting on
a horizontal surface is stable in all positions,
and the proof that the electrostatic field around
a long, straight charged conductor must be
radial. In the first case, it is argued that a
rotation of the body about the point of sup
port in any direction leads to a system indis
tinguishable from rotation in any other direc
tion. In the second, there is no reason that
the lines of force should be circulating either
clockwise or counter-clockwise about the con
ductor when viewed from either end; therefore
the field can have no tangential component.

Symbol
Cn
Dn
Sn
V
T (tetrahedral)
0
subscript v
subscript h
subscript d
subscript i
subscript s

Symmetry Element Possessed

by Group
n-fold axis
n-fold axis, and n two-fold axes
perpendicular to it
n-fold axis of rotary-reflection
three mutually perpendicular two
fold axes
four three-fold axes toward ver
tices of regular tetrahedron
three mutually perpendicular four
fold axes (cubic group)
(vertical) reflection plane contain
ing symmetry axis
(horizontal) reflection plane per
pendicular to symmetry axis
(dihedral) reflection plane bisecting
angle between two two-fold axes
inversion
reflection plane

Another system of notation is that of the

Hermann-Manguin symbols.
SYM M ETRY, D Y A D .

A tw o-fold symmetry

axis.
SYM M ETRY E L E M E N T .
An operation
which brings a crystal into a position that is
indistinguishable from its original position.
The symmetry elements are: rotation axes,
reflection planes, inversion centers and rotation-reflection axes.
A six-fold symmetry

SYM M ETRY, H E X A D .

axis.
SYM M ETRY, M IR R O R . See symmetry, plane

of.
SYM M ETRY O P E R A TIO N .

See symmetry

element.
SYM M ETRY, PLA N E OF. A plane passed
through a body or through a set of points in
such a location and direction that the reflec
tion of all points in the plane results in a con
figuration indistinguishable from the original
configuration. Thus, a cube has many planes
o f symmetry through its center, including
those parallel to the faces and those passing
through face diagonals.
A four fold sym

SYM M ETRY, T E T R A D .

metry axis.
SYM M ETRY,

T R IA D .

three-fold

sym

metry axis.
SYNC.
Abbreviation
synchronizing.
SYNC

for synchronous

C O M PRESSION .

and

See compression,

sync.
SYNCH RO. An electrical system for remote
control or indication. The typical system in
cludes a rotating device which is supplied with
single phase or polyphase power and has an
output depending in phase, in amplitude, or in
both on the position of the rotor. This output
is amplified and fed to a second rotating device
which follows the motion of the first.
SYN CH RO C Y C L O TR O N . The ordinary cy
clotron encounters difficulty when it is desired
to accelerate particles to an energy where a
relativistic increase in their mass becomes sig
nificant. (See relativity theory, special.) If
the frequency of the oscillator driving the dees
remains fixed, the strength of the magnetic

field must increase radially beyond the radius

at which such a relativistic mass increase sets
in. This is seen from the relationship between
frequency f, mass m, and magnetic flux density
B, which must be satisfied for resonance. This
relation is:
_ eB
^

2 ttm

where e is the charge on the ion being ac

celerated. Since a radially increasing mag
netic field will lead to defocusing of the beam
of particles being accelerated, and hence a loss
of the beam, this solution to the difficulty is
not satisfactory unless strong focusing is em
ployed (see accelerator, fixed field, alternating
gradient) . The other solution to the problem
is to give up continuous acceleration of par
ticles and inject them in bursts or bundles each
of which is accelerated to its final energy be
fore the next one is started. Then, as a given
bundle of particles increases in energy and
mass the frequency of the driving oscillator
m ay be decreased in synchronism in such a
way as to satisfy the resonance condition. A
cyclotron designed to operate on this principle
is called a synchro-cyclotron. (See accelera

tors, particle.)
SYNCH RODYNE.

A homodyne detector or

demodulator.
SYNCHRONISM . Tw o oscillators or other
a-c sources are in synchronism if they have
identical frequencies and phase angles.
SYN C H RO N IZA TIO N .
In television, the
process of keeping the moving beam of elec
trons at the picture tube in the exact relative
position with the scanning process at the trans

mitter.
SY N C H RO N IZA TIO N , F L Y W H E E L .
The
synchronization of a sinusoidal oscillator with
the use of pulses of constant phase and fre
quency.
SY N C H RO N IZA TIO N ,
LO N G -TIM E .
A
synchronization process for pulse systems, in
which the timing operations are controlled by
a sinusoidal component obtained by filtering
the received pulse train with a filter having a
very narrow pass-band.
SY N C H RO N IZA TIO N , START-STOP. Syn
chronization of a pulse system on a zero-delay
basis.

SYNCH RON IZE. T o bring two sources of a-c

into synchronism by adjustment of the fre
quency or the phase angle of one or both.
SY N C H RO N IZIN G (IN FA C SIM ILE ).

The
maintenance of predetermined speed relations
between the scanning spot and the recording
spot within each scanning line.

SY N C H R O N IZIN G

(IN

TELEVISION).

ning spot and recording spot within each

scanning line.
SYNCHRONOMETER.

An auxiliary device
for frequency standards, which effectively
counts the number of cycles executed by the
standard in a given time-interval. It thus
functions as an extremely accurate clock
driven by the frequency standard.

M aintaining two or more scanning processes

In phase.

SYNCHRONOUS CONVERTER.
verter,

SYN C H R O N IZIN G
compression, sync.

SYNCHRONOUS DEM O DU LA TOR.

detector, homodyne.

COM PRESSION.

S YN C H R O N IZIN G LEV EL.

See

See sync level.

SYN CH RON IZIN G , P O W E R

See parallel operation.

CIRCUITS.

SYNCHRONOUS DETECTOR.
tor, synchronous.

SYN C H RO N IZIN G ,

CIRCUITS.

SYNCHRONOUS IM PED AN CE.

pedance, synchronous.

R A D IO

There are various types of synchronizing re

quirements in the field of radio and television
engineering. In certain applications two or
m ore oscillators need to be synchronized, i.e.,
tied together so their frequencies remain the
same. This may be accomplished by injecting
into each circuit a synchronizing signal from
some common source (which may be one of
the oscillators being synchronized).
It is
characteristic of many oscillator circuits that
they will lock in frequency with an injected
signal if its frequency is near the natural fre
quency of the oscillator or is a harmonic of
the natural frequency. In television it is es
sential that the reproducing circuits of the
receiver be synchronized with the transmitter
camera device so the reconstructed scene will
have its components in the proper places.
This is accomplished by transmitting syn
chronizing pulses from the transmitter. In
m any electronic devices the synchronization of
various components of the system plays an
extremely important part, but the basic
method is that used for two oscillators.

S YN C H R O N IZIN G
SEPARATOR.
That
portion of a television receiver which oper
ates the synchronizing signals (see sync sig
nal) from the video signal.
S YN C H R O N IZIN G SIGNAL.
nal.

See sync sig

S YN C H RON IZIN G SIGNAL (IN FA CSIM

IL E ). A signal used for maintenance of pre
determined speed relations between the scan

See con

See

See detec

See

im

SYNCHROSCOPE. A device used to test

whether two oscillators, or other sources of
a-c are in synchronism.
SYNCHROTRON. A high energy particle ac
celerator (see accelerators, particle) which
varies the frequency of the radio frequency
accelerating voltage and the strength of the
magnetic guiding field in synchronism in such
a way as to hold the particle in an orbit that
is approximately constant as the energy of the
particle increases. In this type of accelerator
the more or less closed path or orbit followed
by the particles is not necessarily circular.
It m ay in fact have the shape of any plane
closed curve; however, the most practical
shape is that which can be made up of sections
of circles of constant radius and of straight
sections. This has led to a more or less race
track shape for most of the planned or con
structed machines. Since, during acceleration,
particles oscillate both radially and vertically
around the equilibrium orbit, the vacuum
chamber used with these machines must supply
enough clearance around the equilibrium orbit
to contain the oscillations. The magnetic field
used with these machines serves two purposes.
First it is designed to have the proper strength
at every point along the equilibrium orbit to
bend the particle into this orbit. This means
that its strength must increase in the proper
way as the energy of the particle increases.
Secondly wherever the field is bending the
particle into the arc of a circle, it must have
the proper radial gradient to give maximum

focusing of the particle beam. The particle is

accelerated by dividing the vacuum chamber
into several sections with insulating segments
or gaps and applying a radio frequency elec
tric field across these gaps so that the field
will be in the right phase to accelerate the
particles as they cross each gap. It is clear
from the design of such a machine that the
particles must be injected in bunches and each
bunch brought up to full energy before the
next one is started, since the magnetic field
must be brought up in strength as a particular
bunch is brought up in energy. A distinction
is made between the electron synchrotron
and the proton synchrotron. In the latter
case, the protons are usually injected into the
machine at energies of the order of several
Mev while in the former a betatron action is
used to bring the electrons up from their in
jection energy of several thousand electron
volts to the energy where the machine starts
operating as a synchrotron. This betatron
action is accomplished by having what are
called flux rings shorting the magnetic circuits
inside the orbit as the magnetic field starts its
initial increase, the increasing flux through
these rings produces the induced electric field
for the betatron action. W hen the field has
brought the particles up to a certain energy,
the rings saturate and the synchrotron action
takes over. For a more detailed discussion
o f the synchrotron, see page 9-162, H andbook
o f Physics, Condon and Odishaw, M cG raw H ill (1958). (See also phase stability.)

SYNCHROTRON, ALTERNATING G R A D I
ENT. A synchrotron using alternating gradi
ent focusing.
SYNC LEV EL. The level of the peaks of the
sync signal.
SYNC SIGNAL (SYN C H RON IZIN G SIG
NAL). The signal employed for the syn
chronizing of scanning. In television, this sig
nal is composed of pulses at rates related to
the line and field frequencies. The waveform
specified by the U.S. Monochrome Standards
is shown under television, sync signal. The
signal usually originates in a central sync
generator, and is added to the combination of
picture signal and blanking signal, comprising
the output signal from the pickup equipment,
to form the composite picture signal. In a
television receiver, this signal is normally

separated from the picture signal, and is used

to synchronize the deflection generators.

SYNERESIS.

The contraction of a gel with

accom panying pressing out of the interstitial
solution or serum. Observed in the clotting
of blood, with silicic acid gels, etc.

SYNOPTIC REPORTS AND CHARTS. In

meteorology, observed weather conditions are
placed in brief coded form as a synopsis of the
conditions.
Such briefs of conditions are
known as synoptic reports. Likewise, a map
upon which an analysis of the data appears is
known as a synoptic chart. Synoptic charts
m ay show conditions at sea level, any other
level, or in cross section.
SYNTHETIC D IV ISIO N .

An abbreviated
process, using detached coefficients, for finding
the quotient of a polynomial in one variable
x by a divisor of the form x r, where r is a
constant. The procedure may be illustrated
by the polynom ial a0x4 + axs + a2x2 + a$x
+ 0 4 . The results can be obtained in the fol
lowing form which is self-explanatory:
CLq

Q>x
a0r

d2
A xr

a0,

A x = a0r + aly

A 2 = A xr + a2,

A 2r

4
A 3r

A 3 = A 2r + a3,

R = A 3r + a4

03

The quotient is a0xs + AiX2 + A 2x + As and

the remainder is R. A similar process applies
to a polynom ial of any other degree. In the
general case, if the coefficient of any power of
x is missing, a zero should be supplied in the
appropriate place in the first line of the
scheme. I f the remainder in the synthetic
division is zero, then the divisor is a factor of
the given polynomial.

SYSTEM.

(1) A specified region, or portion

of matter, containing a definite amount of a
substance or substances, arranged in one or
more phases. ( 2 ) A plan of arrangement of
terms or entities, especially those composing
a larger aggregate.

SYSTEM(S),
BINARY,
TERTIARY_____
Systems composed of, respectively, two, three
. . . components.

SYSTEM, CO N D EN SED . A system from

which the gaseous phase is absent or, more
com m only, is disregarded because of its very
slight effect upon the processes under con
sideration.
SYSTEM D E V IA T IO N , M A XIM U M (FM
SYSTEMS). The greatest frequency devia
tion specified in the operation of the system.
In the case of F M broadcast systems in the
range from 88 to 108 megacycles per second,
the maximum system deviation is 75 kilo
cycles per second.

SYSTEM, H ET EROGEN EOU S.

A system

having more than one phase.

SYSTEM, H OM O G EN EO U S. A system hav

ing only one phase.

SYSTEM, ISOLATED.

See isolated system.

SYSTEM(S), NONVARIANT, M O N O V A RI
ANT, DIVARIANT. . . . Systems having,
respectively, zero, one, two . . . degrees of
freedom.
SYSTEM, SOUND, STEREOPHONIC. A
sound reproducing system in which a plurality
o f microphones, transmission channels, and
loudspeakers is arranged so as to provide a
sensation of spatial distribution of the sound
sources to the listener to the reproduction.
(See sound reproducing system, binaural.)

SYSTEM, STABLE.

A system that can un

dergo considerable variation in external con
ditions, such as temperature, pressure, etc.,
without fundamental change.

T
T. (1) Temperature, absolute (T), tempera
ture, Kelvin ( T) , temperature of freezing
point of water (absolute, T 0) (ordinary 0),
ordinary temperature (), critical tempera
ture ( tc or Tc). (2) Time (t). (3) Rever
beration time ( T ).
(4) Transport number
( T) .
(5) R adioactive half-life ( T or hA).
(6) Oscillation period, or period of a periodic
motion ( T ).
TACAN.

A word coined from the expression

tactical air navigation ; a system whereby
the distance and bearing of an airplane from
a fixed point is indicated on dials, or other
devices within the airplane. U ltra-high-frequency signals pass between plane and ground
station, the operator in the plane tuning to the
station frequency. Because of the straightline direction of these high-frequency waves,
the effective range is essentially limited to the
line of sight, and many ground stations are re
quired in a complete system.

TABLE TOP. A controlled thermonuclear

device of the magnetic mirror design, built
and operated at the Livermore Laboratory.

TACHOM ETER.
An instrument used to
measure angular velocity, as of a shaft, either
by registering the number of rotations during
the period of contact, or by indicating directly
the number of rotations per minute.

in which the iodine atom is the radioactive

isotope of mass number 128. (See also tracer.)

T A ILIN G

(HANGOVER).
The excessive
prolongation of the decay of a signal.

TAKING CHARACTERISTIC.
spectral characteristic.

TALBOT. The M .K.S. unit of luminous en

ergy (see energy, luminous). One talbot is
equal to 107 lumergs. One joule of radiant
energy having a luminous energy efficiency of
x lumens per watt is x talbots of luminous en
ergy. One lumen is a luminous flux of one
talbot per second.
TALBOT BANDS.

I f a glass plate of the

proper thickness is inserted, from the side of
the blue end of the spectrum, into a spectro
scope so as to cover one-half of the aperture,
a series of bands appear in the spectrum. (See
Ditchburn, Light, 1952, Interscience Publish
ers, for detailed explanation.)

TALBOT LAW .

The apparent brightness of

an object viewed through a slotted-disk, ro
tating above a critical frequency, is propor
tional to the ratio of the angular aperture of
the open to the opaque sectors. (See sector

disk.)

TACITRON.

TAMM-DANCOFF

TAGGED. A term used to describe molecules

in which one or more atoms are replaced by
isotopes which are either radioactive or are of
a different mass from the atoms that normally
make up the molecule. For example, heavy
water composed of ordinary oxygen and heavy
hydrogen of mass number 2, or sodium iodide

TAMM LEVELS.

A thyratron capable of current

interruption by grid action, which also gen
erates much less noise than a conventional
thyratron. Its anode current can be turned
on or off in about a microsecond without the
necessity of anode voltage removal, due to a
special grid design which limits ion generation
to the grid-anode region.

See camera

M ET H OD.
Technique
for approximating the wavefunction of a
system of interacting particles, especially nu
cleons and mesons, by describing it as a super
position of a certain number of possible states.
This number is decided upon a 'priori and de
termines the order of the approximation. N o
explicit assumption is made about the small
ness of the interaction and indeed in contrast
to the usual perturbation theory the theory
of the motion is developed non-adiabatically,
i.e., the equation of motion of the interacting
particles is developed at the same time as the
term describing their interaction.
See surface states.

TAND EM (CASCADE). Two-terminal pair

networks are in tandem when the output ter
minals of one network are directly connected
to the input terminals of the other network.
TANGENT. Take a point P on a curve, a
neighboring point P ', also on the curve, and
draw the secant line PP\ As P ' approaches
P, the secant approaches a limiting position
which is the tangent to the curve at P. The
slope of the tangent at P is frequently called
the slope of the curve at that point.
I f the curve is described by y = f ( x ) and
the coordinates of the point of tangency are
P(#i?2/i), then the slope of the tangent is the
derivative f ( x i ). The equation of the tan
gent is:
y y 1 = / ' ( i)(s -

zi).

All tangents to a surface at a given point lie

in a tangent plane to the surface. If the sur
face is given by z = f(x ,y ), the equation of the
tangent plane at the point (xi,2/i,zi) is:
df +. (y
/ - yi)N
^ = z - zh
(x - x x)^
dx
dy
where the partial derivatives are to be evalu
ated at the given point.
TANGENTIAL FOCUS.
cus.
TANK.

See astigmatic fo

See tube, pool.

TANK CIRCUIT. A circuit capable of stor

ing electrical energy over a band of frequen
cies continuously distributed about a single
frequency at which the circuit is said to be
resonant, or tuned. The selectivity of the
circuit is proportional to the ratio of energy
stored in the circuit to the energy dissipated.
This ratio is often called the Q of the circuit.
TANK CIRCUIT, K OF THE. The ratio of
the tank circuit volt-amperes to watts dissi
pated, including the load, is sometimes called
K . This ratio is more generally known as Q.
TANTALUM. M etallic element. Symbol Ta.
A tom ic number 73.
TAPE, M AGNETIC. A magnetic recording
medium having a width greater than approxi
m ately 10 times the thickness. This tape may
be homogeneous or coated.
TAPE, MAGNETIC POWDER-COATED
(COATED TAPE). A tape consisting of a

coating of uniformly dispersed, powdered fer

romagnetic material on a nonmagnetic base.
TAPE, MAGNETIC POWDER-IMPREG
NATED (IMPREGNATED TAPE) (DIS
PERSED MAGNETIC POWDER TAPE).
A magnetic tape which consists of magnetic
particles uniformly dispersed in a nonmagnetic
material.
TAPERED TRANSMISSION
waveguide, tapered.
TAPE THICKNESS.
TAPE W ID T H .

LINE.

See

See core, tape-wound.

See core, tape-wound.

TARGET. (1) A substance or o b ject exposed

to bombardment or irradiation. A thin tar
get is one of thickness so small that there is
negligible energy loss or absorption of the in
cident particles or photons traversing it. A
thick target is one of such thickness that there
is appreciable energy loss or absorption of the
incident particles or photons traversing it. An
infinitely thick target is one of such thick
ness that there is complete absorption of the
incident particles or photons. (2) The anode
or anticathode of an x-ray tube, from which
the x-rays are emitted as a result of electron
bombardment.
(3) The initially stationary
atom or nucleus in a nuclear reaction. (4)
In radar, (a) specifically an object of radar
search or surveillance, (b) broadly any dis
crete object which reflects energy back to the
radar equipment. (5) The signal electrode of
an image-dissector tube.
(6) In a camera
tube, a structure employing a storage surface
which is scanned by an electron beam to gen
erate a signal output current corresponding to
a charge-density pattern stored thereon. The
structure may include the storage surface
which is scanned by an electron beam, the
backplate and the intervening dielectric.
TARGET, COMPLEX. In radar, a target (4)
composed of a number of reflecting surfaces
which in aggregate are smaller in all dimen
sions than the resolution capabilities of the
radar.
TARGET, COMPOUND. In radar, a target
(4) composed of a number of randomly dis
posed reflecting surfaces the aggregate extent
of which exceeds any of the dimensions of the
pulse packet.

TARGET GLINT.

See scintillation.

TARGET, PHANTOM.

/(*) = Ra) + (x - a)f'(a)

See echo box.

TARGET, RADAR. See radar target; target,

complex; target, compound; target, simple.
+ (X
TARGET, SIMPLE. In radar, a target (4)
having a reflecting surface, such that the am
plitude of the reflected signal does not vary
with the aspect of the target; e.g., a metal
sphere.
TARGET STRENGTH. The target strength
T, in decibels (an acoustic term ), is given by
T = E - S + 2H,
where E = echo level in decibels, S source
level in decibels, 2H = total transmission loss
in decibels.
TAU. ( 1 ) Tim e ( t ) . ( 2 ) Time constant ( r ) .
(3) R adioactive mean life ( t ) .
(4) Trans
mittance (r). (5) Unit vector tangent to path
(t).
(6) Decay modulus (r).
(7) Element
of volume (dr). ( 8 ) Relaxation time ( t ) .
TAYLOR
INTERFERENCE
EXPERI
MENT. G. I. T a ylor set up a diffraction ex
periment using light so faint that it was un
likely that there should be two photons in the
apparatus at the same time. Very long pho
tographic exposures were required. The d if
fraction pattern was just the same as that ob
tained with a strong source of light. This
experiment raised an interesting question.
Since light energy is concentrated in quanta
(photons) and only one photon was present
at a time, it could go over only one of the two
possible paths. Then what did it react with
to form a diffraction pattern? Quantum me
chanics supplies an answer by indicating that
the wave properties of light, which allow in
terference, merely determine the probability
o f the photon reaching a given location.
H ence the photon m ay be said to interfere
with itself.
TAYLOR-OROWAN
dislocation, edge.
TAYLOR SERIES.

DISLOCATION.

See

See Taylor theorem.

TAYLOR THEOREM. The T a ylor theorem

states that f ( x ) may be expressed as a finite
series in powers of (x a ),

(a) + R n.

a\

(n - 1)!

The last term, which has several different

forms, is the remainder after n terms. I f the
remainder approaches zero as the number of
terms increases without limit, the resulting
power series is called the Taylor series. In
order to expand a given function in such a
series, both the function and its derivatives
must exist at x = a. The theorem may be
extended to give a series for functions of two
or more variables. (See also the Maclaurin
theorem.)
TCHEBCHEF POLYNOMIAL.
byscheff polynomial.

See Tsche-

TE.
Abbreviation for transverse
(See wave, transverse electric.)

electric.

TEARING.
In television, a synchronizing
circuit disruption which causes the displace
ment of lines from their normal position. The
visual effect is as though portions of the image
had been physically torn away.
TECHNETIUM.
Radioactive element, not
found in nature. Symbol Tc. Atomic number
43.
TECHNETRON. A three-element semicon
ductor amplifying device which controls its
output current by field effect modulation.
The impedance of a cylindrical semiconduc
tor is modified by a striction effect caused by
the application of an external electric field.
TEE JUNCTION.
tee.

See waveguide junction,

TEE, W AVEGUIDE.
tion, tee.

See waveguide junc

TELECAMERA. Any of the various tubes,

such as the image dissector, orthicon, icono
scope, which relate an optical image to elec
trical current.
TELECENTRIC SYSTEM.
A telescopic
system with the aperture stop placed at one
of the foci of the objective lens. If the aper
ture stop is placed at the focus on the side of
the image, the system is telecentric on the side

of the image. I f the aperture stop is placed

on the side of the object, the system is telecentric on the side of the object. This is use
ful in measuring telescopes, since a slight
change from exact focus will not greatly
change the apparent size of the object.
W ith a telecentric system, either the en
trance or the exit pupil is at infinity.
TELEDELTOS.
electrography.

special paper used in

TELEGON. Trade name for one type of

selsyn or synchro which, because of its design,
does not require moving contacts.
TELEGRAPH SOUNDER.

See sounder.

TELEGRAPHY.
Communication by tele
graph, whether the older manual type or the
more recent automatic or printing type, is
done by a code of electrical pulses. In the
manual type the operator sends a certain
com bination of pulses for each letter of his
message and the receiving operator then tran
scribes them into the characteristic letters. In
the more com plicated automatic types the
sending operator uses a keyboard similar to
that of a typewriter, and the equipment trans
forms the striking of a key into the proper
signals (not the same code as for manual op
eration) and a machine at the receiving end
selects the proper letter and the message is
typed. The message m ay be transcribed to a
punched tape and then transmitted automati
cally.
TELEGRAPHY, RADIO. R adio telegraphy
is that form of radio communication which
utilizes the dots and dashes of a code, com
m only the International code, to transmit the
intelligence. B asically the system involves
some generator of high-frequency (radio-frequency) a-c which can be interrupted accord
ing to the code and which is fed to the trans
mitting antenna where it is radiated into space,
and a receiving system for picking up part of
this radiated energy and converting it into an
audible or visual reproduction of the original
dots and dashes. Practically all present day
radio telegraph circuits em ploy continuous
waves.
A t the lower radio frequencies the alternat
ing currents can be generated by special ro
tating machines, such as the Alexanderson al
ternator, and in fact were so generated at

first. Now nearly all radio signals are gen

erated by vacuum-tube circuits so we shall
confine this discussion to them. Regardless of
the size or rating of the transmitting station,
the high-frequency a-c originates in the oscil
lator. In the simplest transmitters the output
of the oscillator may be connected directly to
the antenna but usually this oscillator output
feeds an amplifier stage or stages where the
power is built up by the amplifying action of
vacuum tubes and their associated circuits.
N ot only is the power increased beyond that
which can satisfactorily be obtained from
oscillators directly, but the character of the
transmitted signal is improved.
The fre
quency of an oscillator varies with the voltage,
with the load, etc., so by using a buffer ampli
fier the frequency stability of the station is
improved and this is reflected in more reliable
reception and decreased interference between
stations. Where it is necessary to operate over
a considerable range of frequencies the oscil
lator is self-controlled, i.e., its frequency may
be varied by varying the tuning control just
as is done in the familiar broadcast receiver,
while for fixed-frequency operation the oscil
lator is preferably crystal-controlled. Often
where only a few fixed operating frequencies
are needed the oscillator is still crystal-con
trolled with several crystals which may be cut
in by a selector switch. A simple radio tele
graph transmitter is shown in Fig. 1. N ot only

Fig. 1.

Simple radio telegraph transmitter.

must the transmitter generate the necessary

a-c power for the antenna but suitable means
for interrupting this to produce the dots and
dashes of the code must be incorporated.
While it is necessary in some types of service
to stop the oscillation completely for spaces
and hence becomes necessary to key in the
oscillator, this produces some frequency drift
and often an undesirable chirpy signal unless

extreme care is taken in the design and opera

tion of the transmitter. As a consequence of
this effect on the output signal, the keying is
often done in one of the amplifier stages, the
oscillator operating continuously but the keyed
amplifier preventing the signals from reach
ing the antenna. The radio-frequency energy
is radiated into space by the antenna, the
exact spatial distribution depending upon the
antenna system which is often designed for
the particular type of service. M any tele
graph stations employ directional antennae
as most of their work is with fixed stations
and does not require general coverage.
The receiving antenna intercepts the radio
wave and hence has a very small voltage in
duced in it. This voltage is fed into the re
ceiver which involves some sort of selective
circuit for tuning in the desired station, usu
ally one or more stages of amplification, a
detector and an audio amplifier. The recep
tion of continuous wave signals by ear re
quires some means of converting the high ra
dio frequencies into an audible frequency.
This is accomplished by heterodyning the in
coming signal with a slightly different fre
quency of locally generated a-c to produce
an audible beat. This beat, upon detection,
becomes an audio-frequency current which
can operate the diaphragm of the headphones
or speaker to give a sound. This, of course,
responds to the keying of the original radio
wave. (See heterodyne and detection.) Fig.
2 shows the wave forms produced in this de
tection process.

The simplest form of vacuum-tube receiver

for this type of action is the regenerative de
tector which serves as an oscillator and de
tector at the same time. The output may be

fed directly into phones. However, this has

minor commerical application, much more
elaborate circuits being used in modern com
mercial receivers. Even where the regenera
tive detector is used it is usually preceded by
a stage or two of tuned radio-frequency am
plification and followed by one or more audio
amplifier stages. Such a receiver is shown in
Fig. 3. The various tuned circuits are ad
justed so their response is a maximum at the
frequency of the station desired. This gives
the needed selectivity. A fter detection the
audio signal is built up by the amplifiers to
drive a head-set or speaker. M uch of the
present day reception is done with super
heterodyne receivers, a beat-frequency oscil
lator being added to the basic circuit. This
oscillator is fix-tuned to the intermediate fre
quency plus, let us say, 1000 cycles and its
output mixed with the intermediate frequency
output at the detector. The result is the 1000cycle beat note. Other refinements include
crystal filter circuits to cut out interference
from stations on almost the same frequency as
the desired one.
Manual operation of the radio telegraph
employing a hand-operated key at the trans
mitting end and earphones at the receiver, is
satisfactory for a great many services. H ow
ever, there are instances where limitations in
speed of transmission of messages, caused by
the inability of even trained and competent
operators to receive more than approximately
40 words per min, do not fully develop the
possibilities of either the investment or of the
channel allotment. Particularly, in point-topoint commercial wireless telegraphy auto
matic transmitting and receiving equipment
is justified. In one system the message is
typed out on a machine having a keyboard
similar to a standard typewriter. Operation
of this machine perforates a roll of paper
which is then fed into an automatic trans
mitter, in which the perforations in the tape
create an action which takes the place of the
manual keying of the hand-operated trans
mitter. Since the perforation of the tape and
its use occur in two different machines, there
need not be any equality of the speed of per
forating the roll and the speed with which it
is then fed through the automatic transmitter.
Several perforating machines might be em
ployed to supply messages to one automatic
transmitter, so the limitations imposed by an

Fig. 3.

Commercial radio telegraph receiver.

operators speed of typing need not affect the

transmitter. As a result, the latter can be
made to transmit over 200 words per min.
This greatly increases the use to which a
p oint-to-point wireless telegraph system may
be put. N aturally, reception of such high
speed signals must also be the function of a
machine. A com m only used system has an
ink recorder in which movement of the pen is
controlled by the incoming signal, and a rec
ord of dots and dashes is made upon a con
tinuous roll of paper. Operators may then
transcribe this ink record into the original
message.
TELEMETER. The measurement of various
quantities at a distance by the transmission
of a suitable signal by telegraph, telephone or
radio. Also the complete equipment used for
this purpose.
TELEPHONE
telephone.

RECEIVER.

See receiver,

TELEPHONE, SOUND - POWERED.

A
point-to-point telephone communicating sys
tem employing no batteries, amplifiers or other
means of external power. The human voice
produces a sound wave which actuates the
microphone at the transmitting end. The
microphone converts the acoustic energy into
the corresponding electric energy. This energy
is carried on wires to the receiving end, where
the electrical variations are converted into
sound vibrations by the receiver.
TELEPHONY. The science of com municat
ing speech by electrical means over wire cir
cuits. The complete system has at least three

fundamental components, the transmitter

which converts the sound variations into elec
trical variations, the transmission circuits and
the receiver which converts the electrical vari
ations back into sound.
TELEPHOTO.
(1) See facsimile.
(2) A
telephoto lens is one which has been designed
to have a long focal length while keeping the
distance from the lens to image plane short.
This is accomplished by a design which places
both nodal points ahead of the lens, i.e., on
the side of the lens away from the image plane.
TELEPHOTOGRAPHY. Photography of dis
tant objects by means of a special, magnifying,
camera-objective (telephoto lens). Telepho
tography has become very important in photo
graphing the ground from high flying aircraft
(aerial photography).
TELERAN (TELEVISION AND RADAR
NAVIGATION SYSTEM). A radar naviga
tion system in which the positions of aircraft
are determined by ground radar, the PPI being
televised, superimposed on a map, and trans
mitted to the aircraft.
TELESCOPE. A device which may consist
of a single lens or mirror, but frequently is a
telescopic system, by which distant objects
m ay be observed.
(See also telescopic sys
tem.)
TELESCOPE, CASSEGRAINIAN.
segrainian telescope.
TELESCOPE, DAHL-KIRKAM.
Kirkam telescope.

See Cas-

See Dahl-

TELESCOPE, ELECTRON. A device by

means of which an infrared image of a distant
object, focused upon a photosensitive cathode,
gives rise to an enlarged electron image on a
fluorescent screen, as in an electron image
tube. (See infrared detectors.)
TELESCOPE EXIT PUPIL (EYE RING).
The exit pupil or eye ring of a telescope is the
image of the aperture stop, com monly the ob
jective lens, formed by the ocular. For maxi
mum field of view, the exit pupil of the tele
scope should coincide with the entrance pupil
of the observers eye. The intersection of the
plane of the exit pupil with the optical axis
of the instrument is the eye point, i.e., the
proper position for the observers eye. A
Galilean telescope has a virtual exit pupil,
and hence the field of view is restricted.
TELESCOPE,
telescope.

GALILEAN.

TELESCOPE, GREGORIAN.
telescope.

See

Galilean

See Gregorian

TELESCOPE, NEW TONIAN.

nian telescope.

See Newto

TELESCOPE, REFLECTING.
ing telescope.

See reflect

TELESCOPE, REFRACTING.
ing telescope.

See refract

TELESCOPIC SYSTEM. A combination of

objective and ocular with which distant ob
jects may be observed visually, photographi
cally or by other detecting means.
TELETORQUE.

pulses of the scene to corresponding electrical

pulses.
(3) Transmitter to convert the electrical
pulses into proper form to be transmitted to
the receiver.
(4) Receiver to pick up the transmitted
signals and convert them to the proper form
to apply to a transducer.
(5) Transducer to convert the electrical
pulses back into light in a reproduction of the
original scene.
While in both still and motion pictures the
entire scene is utilized at the same time to
produce the film image, in all the present
practical systems of television it is necessary
to break up the scene into minute elements
and utilize these elements in an orderly se
quence. This process is called scanning and
is very similar to the process of reading line
by line the printed page. In reading the eye
progresses along the line word by word, rela
tively slowly, and then returns rapidly to the
beginning of the next line, and repeats this
process on down the page. In scanning the
picture must be broken down into lines of suc
cessive elements just as the eye breaks down
the printed page into words. W hile there
have been various methods developed for per
forming this function all those in use at the
present time utilize some electrical means.
However, since it gives a rather clear idea of
the basic process, we might consider one of
the earlier mechanical methods using a re
volving disk. This disk had a series of small
holes along a spiral near its outer edge as
shown in Fig. 1. Suppose, now, the picture

Trade name for a synchro.

Scene Being VieweJ

TELETYPE. A telegraph system which em

ploys a typewriter mechanism for transmis
sion and reception. Pressing a given key at
the transmitter initiates a coded signal which
causes the corresponding key to be actuated
at the receiver.
TELEVISION. Television is the transmission
and reception of visual images, either still or
motion, by electrical means, com monly by
radio, for instantaneous viewing without per
manent recording.
For a practical system
certain fundamental components or functions
are necessary:
(1) Camera device to pick up the scene.
(2) Transducer to convert the light im

Fig. 1.

Mechanical scanning disc.

is viewed through these holes as the disk is

rapidly revolved. The outermost hole passes
across the top of the picture so if the observer

is looking through it he sees successively the

parts of the picture opposite the hole as it
passes across the scene. As the first hole
moves beyond the edge of the picture, the sec
ond comes to the other edge, and since it is
one hole diameter nearer the center of the disk
than the first, it covers a second line across
the picture. Then the third hole crosses a
line just below the second and so on until the
disk has made a complete revolution when the
entire picture has been covered. This is re
peated at the rate of revolution of the disk.
If these successive small sections of the pic
ture as seen through the disk can be made to
produce corresponding electrical effects the
entire picture can be reproduced in an orderly
sequence of electrical pulses. W hen the disk
was the standard means of scanning this was
accomplished by replacing the eye of the above
discussion by a phototube.
M odern tele
vision, as has been said, utilizes an electrical
scanning method.
The received scene must be reconstructed
from these electrical pulses, or their received
equivalents. If we assume that the original
scanner broke the picture down into ten lines
and each line had ten elements side by side
(this is determined by the width of the hole,
being the width of the picture divided by the
hole width) then we have 10 times or 100
elements in the scene and our reproduced p ic
ture must be built of 100 blocks. It can read
ily be seen that this would give a very coarse
mosaic effect to the picture since each ele
ment is fixed in intensity of light. M ore lines
would give more elements and finer detail in
the receiver scene. A close comparison may
be drawn between this and the printed pic
tures of newspapers and magazines. The rela
tively coarse newspaper pictures are lacking
in detail while the usual magazine half-tones
give very good detail. The difference between
these pictures is the number of dots or ele
ments (clearly visible if the printed picture
is viewed through a magnifying glass) of
which they are composed. Various technical
considerations dictate the exact number of
lines into which the television scene may be
broken, but at present it is of the order of 500,
while the future holds promise of much higher
numbers and consequently much better detail.
Besides the number of lines per scene, the
engineer must decide upon the repetition rate.
In moving pictures at present the action ef

fect is produced by projecting upon the screen

successive scenes taken and projected at the
rate of 24 per sec. The persistence of vision
of the eye then gives the effect of smooth m o
tion. The television pictures must also be
repeated at a rate high enough to give the
illusion of smooth motion. W hile the motion
picture rate of 24 frames per sec would be
satisfactory for this, the standard power sup
ply frequency of 60 cycles dictates the use of
30 frames per sec for television. Further to
improve the quality of the reproduced pic
ture, the scanning is not done for adjacent
lines in order, but the picture is scanned over
alternate lines first and then scanned again
over those missed the first time. This double
scanning, known as interlaced scanning, is
done in the thirtieth-of-a-second period of one
frame.
A block diagram of a complete television
system is shown in Fig. 2. The original scene
is focused on the camera tube by a light lens
system. The camera tube converts this light
picture into the sequence of electrical elements
necessary for transmission. (For the opera
tion of two of the various types of camera
tube see tube, iconoscope and image dissec
tor.) The very minute electrical signals com
ing from the camera tube are amplified by
wide band amplifiers, the wide band being
necessitated by the great range of frequencies
produced by the modern multi-line systems.
This wide band amplifier feeds a monitor cir
cuit which reproduces the televised scene on a
picture tube so the operator can check the
camera circuit operation continuously.
It
also drives the modulator which modulates the
picture signals on the radio-frequency carrier
in a manner very similar to that of the audio
modulation of conventional broadcasting. The
modulated radio frequency is then fed to the
antenna and radiated into space. A t the same
time the microphone is picking up the sound
associated with the scene.
This signal is
amplified and impressed on the radio frequency
sound carrier just as for any amplitude modu
lated transmitter. The sound-modulated car
rier is radiated simultaneously with the pic
ture carrier. Both are then picked up by the
receiving antenna, amplified and fed through
the first detector and intermediate frequency
amplifiers of a superheterodyne receiver. The
two types of signal are then separated and
each is fed to its proper detector or demodu

V id eo
Antenna

S peaker

Fig. 2.

Block diagram of television system.

lator. The sound signals, now at audio fre

quency, are further amplified and drive the
loudspeaker. The picture signal circuits are
much more complex. In order to reproduce
the scene at the receiver, it is necessary for the
receiver transducer, whatever its nature, to
follow exactly the operation of the camera
tube. Thus when the camera tube scans the
scene at a given rate, each scanning line start
ing at a definite time after the preceding one,
the picture tube must retrace the scene in ex
actly the same order, each line starting at the
same time interval after the preceding one.
Otherwise the various lines might get badly
skewed or out of synchronism and a badly dis
torted picture would result. T o insure accu
rate synchronization between the transmitting
end and the receiving end, synchronizing
pulses are transmitted at the end of each scan
ning line. In addition synchronizing pulses to
govern the return of the scanning to the top of
the scene are also transmitted. These various
pulses are impressed on the signal in the trans
mitter during the short time interval while the
scanning is returning from the end of one line
to the beginning of the next. In the receiver
these synchronizing pulses must be separated
from the detected signal and routed into the

proper channels. They are then used to syn

chronize the sweep oscillators which give the
reversed scanning at the receiver or picture
tube. The video signals without the synchro
nizing pulses are amplified in the proper chan
nels of the circuit and also fed to the picture
tube. The electronic picture tube is the cath
ode ray tube. The electron beam issuing
from the gun is modulated in intensity by the
picture or video signal so the intensity of the
fluorescent spot produced by it on the tube
screen is a reproduction of the intensity of
the corresponding part of the original scene.
The synchronizing and scanning circuit pro
duces a sweep signal which is applied to the
picture tube by plates or coils just as in the
oscilloscope discussed in the section on cath
ode ray tubes. This sweep action carries the
electron beam relatively slowly across the
screen, then blanks it and returns it rapidly,
moves it down and repeats, the time for each
operation being the same as for the corre
sponding operation in the camera tube, the
two operations being linked together by the
synchronizing pulses. A fter completing the
scanning of alternate lines of the picture, the
beam is deflected back to the top of the pic
ture and repeats this operation, now filling in

the alternate lines which were skipped on the

first scanning, again in exact synchronism
with the same process in the camera tube. It
can be seen, then, that since the intensity of
the spot corresponds at each instant to the
intensity of the original scene and the posi
tion of the spot corresponds with the posi
tion of the original scanning position at the
original scene, the reproduced effect on the
screen of the picture tube is the scene which
was picked up by the camera.
W hile the various systems of television in
current use are all electronic in nature and
differ in details rather than principle, the sys
tems are highly com plicated and are subject
to certain limitations. The frequency band
of the video signal is proportional to the num
ber of lines, the width of the elements in any
line and the number of frames per second, giv
ing a band width of several megacycles for
satisfactory reproduction. Since this requires
a correspondingly wide radio-frequency chan
nel it is entirely impracticable to use carrier
frequencies in the ordinary broadcast band,
both because the entire band could accom m o
date less than one station, and also because of
com plications in designing suitable selective
circuits at these frequencies. These factors
have forced television to the very high fre
quency region. Further to aid in the problem
of getting the most out of the available spec
trum space, both sidebands are not trans
mitted, but one is eliminated except for the
components nearest the carrier. This is known
as vestigial transmission and is a compromise
between conventional double sideband and
single sideband transmission. The audio sig
nal band is transmitted on adjacent frequen
cies, the spectral arrangement being shown in
Fig. 3. Because of the nature of propagation

greater than line-of-sight distances. Under

abnormal atmospheric conditions reception can
be secured over greater distances, sometimes
even running into hundreds of miles, but this
is extremely erratic and occurs only rarely.
The reflection and diffraction problems which
accom pany these high frequencies also enter
the problem and limit the satisfactory recep
tion of television.
TELEVISION AND RADAR NAVIGATION
SYSTEM. See teleran.
TELEVISION CAMERA TUBE. A cathoderay tube used to convert the light and shade
portions of a scene into electrical signals.
TELEVISION,
D OT
SEQUENTIAL,
COLOR. A system of color television where
in the dots or smallest picture elements are
produced in a red, blue, green sequence.
TELEVISION,
FIELD
SEQUENTIAL,
COLOR. A system of color television in
which the fields are produced in a red, blue,
green sequence.
TELEVISION,
LINE
SEQUENTIAL,
COLOR. A system of color television in
which the lines are produced in a red, blue,
green sequence.
TELEVISION, M ULTICHANNEL. A tele
vision system which divides the video signal
information among several different transmit
ters occupying individual frequencies.
TELEVISION PICTURE TUBE. A cathoderay tube in which a picture being transmitted
is recreated by a m oving beam of electrons.
TELEVISION
television.

RECEIVER.

See

receiver,

TELEVISION SYSTEM, SCOPHONY. An

early British mechanical television system
utilizing a Kerr cell as a light shutter, and a
rotating-mirror system for scanning.
TELEVISION, SIGNAL, STANDARD.
A
signal which conforms to the television trans
mission standards.
TELEVISION TRANSMITTER.
mitter, television.

Fig. 3.

See trans

Spectral distribution of signal.

at these high frequencies the range of tele

vision stations is very limited, reliable recep
tion being possible over distances very little

TELLER-REDLICH PRODUCT RULE. For

two isotopic molecules the product of the fre
quency ratio <o(i)/<o values for all vibrations
of a given symmetry type is independent of

the potential constants and depends only on

the masses of the atoms and the geometrical
structure of the molecule.
(See 0 . Redlich,
Z. physik. Chem. B. 28, 371 (1935).)
TELLURIUM. Nonmetallic element.
bol Te. A tom ic number 52.

Sym

TEM . Abbreviation for transverse electro

magnetic. (See wave, transverse electromag
netic.)
TEm>WiP RESONANT M ODE (IN CYLIN
DRICAL CAVITY).
See resonant mode,
TEmtntP (in cylindrical cavity).
TEm,n W A V E
(IN CIRCULAR W A V E
GUIDE). See wave, TEm,w (in circular wave
guide).
TEm,w W A V E (IN RECTANGULAR W A V E
GUIDE). See wave, TEm,n (in rectangular
waveguide).
TEMPERATURE. Fundamentally, tempera
ture is a manifestation of the average transla
tional kinetic energy of the molecules of a
substance due to heat agitation, and is meas
urable by any one of many physical effects
due to changes or differences in this energy.
Thus, substances expand, their electrical re
sistivity changes, gases and vapors exert va ry
ing pressure, the viscosity of fluids alters, etc.,
as the temperature varies; and the state of
aggregation of any substance (whether solid,
liquid, or gaseous), under a fixed pressure,
depends primarily upon the temperature. Very
im perfectly, also, our special temperature sense
is able to judge whether one body with which
we come into contact is warmer or colder than
another. H eat energy always transfers itself
spontaneously from the warmer to the cooler
parts of any body or system of bodies, never
in the reverse direction, and the transfer ceases
when the temperatures become equalized. The
temperature of a vacuum may be defined as
the temperature of a small body placed in it
and in thermal equilibrium with it. All meas
urements of temperature, upon whatever prin
ciple they are based, are comprised under
thermometry. (See also temperature scales.)
TEMPERATURE, ABSOLUTE.
(1) The
temperature measured on the thermodynamic
scale.
(2) The temperature measured from
the absolute zero ( 273.16C ).
Degrees
centigrade+ 273.16 = degrees absolute. (See

temperature scale, Kelvin, and temperature

scale, absolute.)
TEMPERATURE, AMBIENT. The tempera
ture of the surrounding medium, such as gas
or liquid.
TEMPERATURE
COEFFICIENT
OF
VOLTAGE DROP (GLOW-DISCHARGE
TUBES). The quotient of the change of tube
voltage drop (excluding any voltage jumps)
by the change of ambient (or envelope) tem
perature. It must be indicated whether the
quotient is taken with respect to ambient or
envelope temperature.
TEMPERATURE, COLOR. Temperature of
the complete (black body or Planckian) radi
ator required to produce the same chromaticity as the light under consideration.
TEMPERATURE COLOR SCALE. The re
lationship between the temperature of an in
candescent body or substance, and the color
of the light emitted. Thus, when metals are
heated, a faint red glow becomes perceptible
at 500C, or slightly higher, becoming bright
red at around 800-900C , and reaching
white heat at about 1500C. (See also tem
perature, color.)
TEMPERATURE,
CONDENSED - MER
CURY (OF A MERCURY-VAPOR TUBE).
B y definition, the temperature measured on
the outside of the tube envelope in the region
where the mercury is condensing in a glass
tube, or at a designated point on a metal tube.
TEMPERATURE, CORRELATED COLOR.
The color temperature (see temperature,
color) of a source where the black body
chromaticity not only matches the source, but
is as similar as possible to it. (See chroma
ticity.)
TEMPERATURE, CRITICAL.
That tem
perature above which a gas cannot be lique
fied by application of any pressure, however
great. The following are the critical tem
peratures of some common substances (in de
grees centigrade):
Carbon dioxide.............
Ammonia.......................
Ether..............................
Water.............................
Nitrogen........................
Oxygen...........................

31.1
132.9
190
374
147.1
-118 .8

TEMPERATURE GRADIENT.
The tem
perature gradient, which determines the di
rection of heat flow by thermal conduction, is
directed normally to the isothermal (3) sur
faces. Its magnitude is the space rate of
change of temperature in this direction, i.e.,

As-0

As

where 1 and t2 are the temperatures on two

isothermal surfaces separated by a distance
As. In many cases of linear heat flow, the
value of (2 i)/A s is independent of As and
the average temperature gradient is the same
at any point.
TEMPERATURE GRADIENT IN THE AT
MOSPHERE.
The maximum rate of de
crease of temperature with distance in the
atmosphere is known as the thermal gradient.
Temperature gradients directed vertically are
known as lapse rates.
TEMPERATURE, LUM INANCE. For any
source of radiation, the luminance tempera
ture is that of a black body which has the same
luminance for a specified wavelength (or in
practice, for a specified narrow spectral re
gion) .
TEMPERATURE (T *), MAGNETIC.
magnetic thermometer.

See

TEMPERATURE, NEGATIVE. A collection

of atomic or molecular systems is said to be
in a negative temperature state when more of
the atoms (or molecules) are in high energy
states than in low energy states. For example,
consider a collection of quantum mechanical
systems with only two energy levels (e.g., an
atomic system with only two spin states). In
equilibrium at a temperature T, the number
in the higher energy state (2) relative to the
number in the lower energy state (1) is given
by the Boltzmann factor
N 2/N i = e- {E* -E')IkT,
where T is the absolute temperature. Sup
pose that T is defined by this equation, i.e.,

(E 2 E i)
k log* (N 2/N i )

Under normal conditions N 2 is less than N x

and T is positive. If N 2 = N 1 , T is infinite.
If JV2 is greater than N 1 , then T is negative.

As Nx approaches zero, T approaches zero.

Thus, if all of the atomic systems in a two
level system were in the upper energy state
(E 2), the absolute temperature would be zero,
but it would have been approached from nega
tive temperatures. On the other hand if all
o f the systems are in the lower energy state
(E 1 ), the absolute temperature would again
be zero, but it would have been approached
from positive temperatures. (See also inver
sion (6); maser, two-level.)
TEMPERATURE, NEUTRAL. The temper
ature at which the electromotive force pro
duced by heating one junction of a thermo
couple, the other junction being constant at
0C , reaches a maximum. Above this tem
perature the electromotive force steadily de
creases until it reaches a zero value. The
latter point is called the temperature of in
version.
TEMPERATURE
thermometry.

POINTS,

FIXED.

TEMPERATURE, POTENTIAL.
tial temperature.

See

See poten-

TEMPERATURE, RADIATION. For any

source of radiation, the radiation temperature
is that of a black body, which has the same
total radiant emittance. (See emittance, total
radiant.)
TEMPERATURE, REDUCED.
equation of state.

See reduced

TEMPERATURE, REVERSAL.
temperature.

See reversal

TEMPERATURE
SCALE,
ABSOLUTE.
A ny temperature scale whose zero is the ab
solute zero of temperature, 273.16C or
459.7F. The most commonly used scale
is the Kelvin scale, but the Rankine scale is
also employed. (See temperature scale, Kel
vin; temperature scale, Rankine.)
TEMPERATURE SCALE, CELSIUS.
A
temperature scale based on the mercury-inglass thermometer, with the freezing point of
water defined at 0C and the boiling point
defined as 100C, both under conditions of
normal atmospheric pressure. Often called
the Centigrade scale.
(See also thermom
etry; and thermal units.)

TEMPERATURE SCALE, CENTIGRADE.

The older name of the Celsius temperature
scale in the English-speaking countries. Offi
cially abandoned by international agreement
in 1950, but still in common use. (See also
thermometry.)
TEMPERATURE SCALE, FAHRENHEIT.
A temperature scale based on the m ercury-inglass thermometer, with the freezing point of
water defined as 32F and the boiling point
as 212F, both under conditions of normal
atmospheric pressure.
(See also thermom
etry.)
TEMPERATURE
SCALE,
INTERNA
TIONAL. A scale of temperature fixed by
international agreement. Between 190C
and + 6 6 0 C , it is based upon the resistance
of a standard platinum resistance thermom
eter in accordance with the following formulas
for resistance at temperature t :
Below 0 C :
Rt = Roll

A t -b B t2 -f- C(t 100)Z3],

A bove 0C :
Rt == R qO- I- A t -f- Bt2),
where A , B , C are empirical constants. From
+ 6 6 0 C to the gold point, it is based upon
the platinum-platinum rhodium thermocou
ple, and beyond this upon the optical pyrom
eter. (See also resistance pyrometer.)
TEMPERATURE SCALE, KELVIN.
A
thermodynamic temperature scale based upon
the efficiency of a reversible heat engine, oper
ating in cycles between two heat reservoirs.
The temperatures of the two reservoirs are
in the same ratio as the quantities of heat
transferred between the reservoirs and the
machine. In this manner the temperature
ratio becomes independent of the working
substances. T o fix the temperature values
themselves, zero on this scale is defined as
that temperature of the heat sink at which
the efficiency of the heat engine is 100%. The
scale m ay be identified with the ideal gas
scale by defining the size of the degree to be
the same in both cases, and by defining the
ice point on the Kelvin scale as occurring at
273.16 degrees. (See Carnot cycle and ther
mometry.)

T E M PE R A T U R E SCALE, RANKINE. An
absolute temperature scale on which the d if
ference of the boiling and freezing points of
water is 212 and the zero of which is the
absolute zero of temperature. The freezing
point of water, under normal atmospheric
pressure, is at 491.7R. One degree Rankine
( R ) = one degree Fahrenheit ( F ).
(See
also thermometry.)
T E M PE R A T U R E
SCALE, T H E R M O D Y
N A M IC . See discussion of thermometry and
temperature scale, Kelvin.
TE M PE R A T U R E , STA N D A R D . In general,
a temperature established by some unvarying
process, such as a melting or boiling point or
pressure or volume of a substance under fullydefined conditions. In common use, the term
is applied to the temperature of a mixture of
pure ice and water when the pressure on the
water surface is one atmosphere. This is the
temperature of 0 on the Celsius scale, or
273.16 on the Kelvin scale.
TE M PE R A T U R E , TR A N SITIO N (TRAN SI
TIO N PO IN T ). T hat temperature at which
one phase (3) of a complete heterogeneous
equilibrium disappears, and another phase
takes its place. Thus the melting point of a
homogeneous solid or the boiling or freezing
points of a homogeneous liquid, are transition
points. The term is most widely used, how
ever, for the particular case of transition be
tween two solid states of a polymorphic sub
stance. It is the temperature at which two
forms, com monly crystalline, can coexist in
equilibrium, whereas above or below that tem
perature only one form or the other, respec
tively, are stable.
T E M PE R A T U R E , V IR TU A L .
temperature.

See virtual,

TE N SILE STREN GTH . The resistance o f

fered by a material to tensile stresses, as
measured by the tensile force per unit crosssectional area required to break it.
TE N SIM E TER . An apparatus used to de
termine transition points (see temperature,
transition) indirectly by measuring small
changes in vapor pressure.
TE N SIO M E TE R . An apparatus for measur
ing the surface tension of a liquid by register

ing the force necessary to detach a metal ring

from the surface.
TENSIOMETER M ETHOD.
See
tension, methods of measurement.

surface

TENSION. A force, usually in a wire, string

or rod, supporting a weight or otherwise
stretched between two points. (See also ten
sion, surface.)

The Einstein sum m ation convention is un

derstood and the upper suffix is not an ex
ponent but a means of designating the differ
ent components. Contravariant tensors of
higher rank are defined in a similar way. Thus,
for a tensor of rank two
dx1 dx3
A 13 = ---------- A rs.
dxr dxs

TENSION, COVARIANT DERIVATIVE OF.

See derivative, covariant.

A tensor of rank zero is a scalar; of rank one,

a vector.

TENSION, SURFACE.

TENSOR, COVARIANT. See tensor, contra

variant. The transformation laws are:

See surface tension.

TENSOR. A set of nr components which are

functions of the coordinates of any point in
n-dimensional space. They transform linearly
and homogeneously, according to certain rules,
when a transformation of coordinates is made.
Tensors are called covariant, contravariant, or
mixed, according to the law of transforma
tion. The number r is called the rank or order
of the tensor.
TENSOR CONTRACTION. Suppose two in
dexes in a tensor, one upper and one lower,
are identical, A mnpm. Then summation over
the repeated index shows that the tensor is
actually of lower rank, for its transformation
law is
dxm dxj dxk dxh .
------------------ A 1
A
npm
dxi dxn dxp dxm lkh
dxj dxk
dx3' dxk . .
= ----------- SihA likh =
dxn dxp
dxn dxv

jkij

where Sth is a mixed tensor. The result could

properly be written A jk since the tensor trans
forms like a covariant tensor of rank two.
The process of contraction, which can be used
for tensors of any rank, thus consists of delet
ing a repeated upper and lower index.
TENSOR,
CONTRAVARIANT.
Suppose
(a;1, x2, , xn) are the coordinates of a point
referred to a given coordinate system in n-di
mensional space and (x1, x 2,
x n) are the
coordinates of the same point referred to an
other coordinate system. Then n quantities
(A 1, A 2, , A n), functions of these coordi
nates, are the contravariant components of a
tensor of rank one if they transform as fol
lows :
dx1
A 1 = A r; i = 1 ,2,
dxr

dxr

= ~ l^ r)
dx1

dxr dxs

dx dx3
for covariant tensors of rank one and two,
respectively, the meaning of xr, #*, etc., being
the same as in the entry on tensor, contra
variant. N ote that subscripts are used for
the components of a covariant tensor and su
perscripts for those of a contravariant tensor.
TENSOR, CURVATURE.
Christoffel tensor.

See

Riemann-

TENSOR DIFFERENTIATION.
Differen
tiation of a covariant tensor does not yield
a tensor, for the derivative does not transform
properly. The covariant derivative of a co
variant tensor of rank one is then defined as
dAi
A i,j = ^ j ~

i*i M A h,

where {ij,h } is a Christoffel three-index sym

bol (not a tensor) and this function trans
forms like a covariant tensor of rank two.
Derivatives of contravariant and mixed ten
sors of all ranks may be defined in a similar
way. (See also derivative, covariant; deriva
tive, intrinsic.)
TENSOR, ENERGY-MOMENTUM.
ergy-momentum tensor.

See en-

TENSOR FORCE. A non-central spin-de

pendent force between the neutron and the
proton, of the type of an interaction between
magnetic dipoles, postulated to account for

the observed values of the deuteron magnetic

moment and electric quadrupole moment.
(See also nuclear forces.)

dx1 dxs
A / = ----------. A tr.
dxr dx3
Mixed tensors of higher rank may be defined
by analogy. An important mixed tensor is
similar to the Kronecker delta,

TENSORIAL SET. A term which has re

cently come into general usage to refer to any
set of quantities which are defined in connec
tion with a system of space coordinates and
which experience a linear transformation when
this system rotates. If the set contains n ele
ments it is said to be of order n. Examples of
tensorial sets are the set of components of an
ordinary tensor, the set of eigenfunctions of a
quantum mechanical operator, the set of co
efficients of the expansion of the wavefunction
of a quantum mechanical system in terms of
its eigenfunctions, and the set of unit vectors
or unit tensors in ordinary space. (See ten
sorial set, irreducible.)

TENSOR PARAMETER.
cal.

TENSORIAL SET, IRREDUCIBLE. A ten

sorial set which has all of its matrices that
describe its transformation to a rotated co
ordinate system in their irreducible form (see
representation of a group).

TENSOR, SKEW SYMMETRIC. If A =

A ji are components of a tensor, the tensor
is said to be skew sym m etric. The property
is unaltered upon transformation to another
coordinate system.

TENSOR, METRIC. A tensor which estab

lishes a connection between the physical sep
aration of two points and the coordinate dis
placement of one of these points with respect
to the other. I f dxa represents the -com p o
nent of the displacement vector dr of the
second point with respect to the first, then the
square of the separation is

TENSOR, STATISTICAL.
Any quantum
mechanical system or ensemble is com
pletely described b y its density matrix. For
many problems in which it may be desirable to
transform the description of the problem from
one coordinate system to another, obtained
b y rotation of the original one, it is useful to
have the density matrix expressed in terms of
elements of its irreducible representation (see
representation o f a group) since these ele
ments have standard transformations under
rotations. The elements of the irreducible rep
resentation are given in terms of the usual
elements (Jm\p\fm') of the density matrix by
the expression

(ids) 2 = gapdxadxP,
where the Einstein sum m ation convention
has been used. The Cartesian coordinate
system has been so defined that gap = $<*/?
(see Kronecker delta). In a general coordi
nate system, the gap can be found b y using
the transformation law for a covariant tensor.
The magnitude of any vector V whose com
ponents are V a in a general coordinate system
is given as |V| = gapVaVP. In a space which
is not flat (see Riem ann-Christoffel tensor),
it will not be possible to transform to a coordi
nate system in which the gap = 8 a0 , i.e.
a Cartesian coordinate system does not exist
in such a space.
(See Christoffel three
index sym bols; covariant derivative.)
TENSOR, M IXED .
See tensor, contravar
iant and tensor covariant. The transformation
law for a mixed tensor of second rank is:

dnn = 1; dnm = 0, m j* n.
It transforms properly for
dxm ___
dxj $ %
.
c m _ __
dxi dxn 3
dxm dx1 _ dxn
dx1 dxn

dxn

nn
O

See tensor, statisti

= ' / ( - l ) 3j' - m'+k- gV 2 k + i - v l 3

mm'

X m - m - q /

where V is the V-coefficient of Racah. The

elements [(j\p\f)Y k) q are frequently referred to
as the statistical tensor, or sometimes the tensor
parameters of the system.
TENSOR, SYMMETRIC. If the components
of a tensor satisfy the relation A ij = A j\ the
tensor is symmetric. If the components are
neither symmetric nor skew symmetric, they

may always be expressed as A ij =

+ Tli,
where Sij = y 2 (A ij + A ji) which is a sym
metric tensor and Ti} = y 2 (A ij A ji) which
is skew symmetric.
TERA-.
T.

A prefix meaning 1012.

TERBIUM.
Sym bol Tb.

Abbreviated

Rare earth metallic

Atom ic number 65.

element.

TERM, ENERGY STATE. The energy states

of an atom are called S, P, D , F, terms,
respectively, corresponding to the values 0, 1,
2, 3, * of L, the resultant angular momen
tum quantum number of the atom. The en
ergy states of a molecule are called S, n , A,
<i> * * * terms, respectively, corresponding to the
values 0, 1, 2, 3 of A, the electronic orbital
angular momentum (about internuclear axis)
quantum number.
The letters indicating the value of L are
usually preceded by a superscript denoting
the multiplicity (2S + 1) and followed by a
subscript denoting the total angular momen
tum quantum number J. In addition, the
principal quantum number is often written
as a coefficient. Thus, in the diagram on
page 417, the second triplet state of the mer
cury energy levels is the
6 3P 2, indicating that N = 6,
L = 1, S = (3 - 1 )/2 = 1, J = 2.
(See also configuration, electronic; energy
levels; state, energy; energy eigenfunction.)
TERMINAL. A point at which any element
may be directly connected to one or more
other elements.
TERMINAL, ACCESSIBLE. A network node
that is available for external connections.
TERMINAL PAIR. An associated pair of
accessible terminals, such as input pair, out
put pair, and the like.
TERMINATION, EXTERNAL (OF THE
/TH TERMINAL OF AN n-TERMINAL
NETW ORK). That passive or active tw oterminal network which is attached externally
between the jth terminal and the reference
point.
TERM INATION,
M ATCH ED
(FOR
A
W A VEG U ID E). A termination producing no
reflected wave at any transverse section of the
waveguide.

TERMINATOR.

See waveguide terminator.

TERMINATOR,
W AVEGU ID E,
PLUGTYPE. A piece of suitably-shaped, high-loss
dielectric placed in a waveguide to act as a
matched load. (See matching, load.)
TERM SPLITTING. The separation of the
energy values of a group of degenerate energy
states, usually in an externally applied field.
(See Zeeman effect; term, energy state; Stark
effect; Lande splitting factor.)
TERNARY.

See notation, positional.

TERRAIN ECHOES.
TESSAR LENS.

See clutter, ground.

See camera lenses.

TESTING, MARGINAL.
checking, marginal.

Synonym

for

TEST PATTERN. In television, a drawing

containing a group of lines and circles, etc.,
transmitted for receiver and transmitter test
purposes.
TETRADIC. An operator, related to tensors
of the third rank, which transforms one dyadic
into another. Thus, in three dimensions, the
tetradic J has 81 components and its operation
on a dyadic & is such that J : Q = (B, where
(B is a dyadic. Tetradics are obtained from
tensors by modification of the scale factor so
that the dimensionality is unchanged upon
transformation.
TETRAGONAL.
lattice.

See crystal systems; space

TETRAHEDRAL ATOM. A configuration of

atoms with a valence of 4 in which the valence
bonds are directed from the center of a reg
ular tetrahedron, representing the location of
the atom under consideration, to the four
corners, representing the location of the near
est neighbors.
TETRATOHEDRAL CRYSTALS. That class
of crystal symmetry which has only one quar
ter of the maximum number of faces allowed
by the crystal system to which the class be
longs.
TETRODE. A four-electrode electron tube
containing an anode, a cathode, a control elec
trode, and one additional electrode that is ordi
narily a grid.
TE W AVE.

See wave, TE.

THALLIUM . M etallic element.

Atom ic number 81.

Symbol Tl.

THALOFIDE (CELL). A photoconductive

cell using a compound of thallium, oxygen and
sulfur as the sensitive element. Useful only
in the very near infrared.
TH AW -M ELT M ETHOD. A method of ob
taining accurate thermal data needed in the
study of equilibria between solid and liquid
phases of systems containing two or more
components.
The finely-divided solid of
known composition is heated slowly in a glass
tube and is pressed from time to time to expel
the first drops of liquid as soon as they are
formed, giving the thaw point or the tem
perature at which fusion commences (a point
on the solidus curve). Then slow heating is
continued until the solid melts completely,
giving the melt point, or the temperature
at which the solid phase disappears (a point
on the liquidus curve).
THEODOLITE. An instrument used, par
ticularly in surveying, for measuring hori
zontal or vertical angles.
THERMAL. Of or pertaining to heat, as
thermal capacity, thermal conductivity.
THERM AL CAPACITY. See heat capacity;
heat, specific; internal energy.
THERMAL COLUMN. A column of moder
ator extending through the shield of a reactor
to provide a source of thermal neutrons ex
ternal to the shield.
THERM AL CONDUCTANCE. See thermal
conductivity; thermal conduction.
THERM AL CONDUCTION.
tion, thermal.

See conduc

THERM AL CONDUCTION IN SOLIDS.

In metals, heat is transported mostly by the
free electrons, which are also responsible for
the conduction of electricity. The relation
between the electrical conductivity and the
thermal conductivity is expressed by the
Wiedemann-Franz law whence it follows that
the conductivity should be nearly independent
of temperature at high temperatures; it varies
as 1 /T 2 at low temperatures, until it is limited
by the residual resistance due to impurities
and imperfections. In electrical insulators the
conduction is by means of lattice vibrations

or phonons, which are scattered by crystalline

imperfections, or which interact with one an
other in such a way as to limit the conductiv
ity. In the absence of imperfections the con
ductivity should be inversely proportional to
the absolute temperature at high temperatures,
but according to Peierls theory of the umklapp process it should increase roughly as
ee/2T (where is
Debye temperature) as
the temperature is lowered, until it is limited
by boundary scattering.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY. The ratio *
of the time rate of heat flow per unit area to
the negative gradient of the temperature:
dQ/dt
A(dT /dx)'
where dQ/dt is the energy flow per unit time
through the area A , taken perpendicular to the
direction along which the temperature changes
most rapidly (x) and dT/dx is the rate of
change of temperature with distance. When
the temperature is independent of time and
varies linearly with distance, this is equivalent
to:
(dQ/dt) (x 2 2 i)
A (T X -

T2)

where
is the temperature at position Xi
and T 2 at x2.
Thermal conductivities are measured in units
of energy tim e-1 distance-1 temperature- 1 ,
e.g., joule (sec m deg C ) 1 ( = kms-1 deg C 1),
cal/sec cm deg C, (B T U ) in ./ft.2 hr deg F.
THERMAL
CONDUCTIVITY
OF
A
PLASMA. From consideration of the thermo
dynamics of irreversible processes and the
coupling between temperature gradients and
electric fields in a conducting fluid, the ther
mal conductivity of a Lorentz gas is
KL -

rpH
1.86 X 10 12-------- .
z In A

where T is the electron kinetic temperature

in K and z is the ionic charge. The factor
In A is dependent on the electron density and
is approximately 10 for most experimentally
observed densities.
The thermal conductivity of an actual
plasma, taking into account the electron-electron interactions, is dependent on the ionic
charge. For example, the Lorentz gas con

ductivity is multiplied by 0.236 to give the

thermal conductivity of a hydrogen plasma.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF GASES,
L O W PRESSURE. The elementary theory
of thermal conductivity of gases does not
apply at low pressures, where the mean free
path becomes of the same order as the dimen
sions of the apparatus. In the case when the
mean free path is much larger than the dis
tance separating the plates between which the
heat is transported, it can be shown that the
net heat transferred per second per unit area
is
Q = \pcCv{T 2 -

T {)f

where p is the density, c the mean speed of

the molecules, C v the specific heat at constant
volume (T 2 T i) the temperature difference
and /, a numerical factor. Q, therefore, de
pends upon the temperature difference and not
the temperature gradient, and is proportional
to the pressure. These facts are confirmed by
experiment, and the latter property is one of
the bases of a method of measuring low pres
sures (Pirani gauge). For the meaning of /,
see accommodation coefficient.
THERM AL CONDUCTIVITY OF GASES,
THEORY. From elementary kinetic theory,
by considering the number of molecules cross
ing a plane per second, it can be shown that
the thermal conductivity of a gas is given by
K =

\ p \ c C vy

where K is the thermal conductivity, p the

density, A the mean free path, c the mean
speed of the molecules (see molecular veloc
ity, mean), and C v the specific heat at constant
volume. This formula indicates that K is
independent of the density (and therefore the
pressure), since p oc 1/A. This is confirmed
by experiment over a moderate range, but the
absolute values differ from those given by the
above equation by a factor of about 2. A more
refined theoretical treatment introduces a fa c
tor of about 1.5, giving a closer agreement
with experiment. The equation does not hold
even qualitatively at high or low pressures.
Values of the thermal conductivity may be
used to deduce the mean free path, and hence
the molecular diameter, since
A
X = ----- r
TZUd

where n is the number of molecules per unit

volume, o-, the molecular diameter, and A , a
numerical factor not very different from unity,
which can be evaluated theoretically.
A similar theoretical treatment may be ap
plied to the visco sity of gases. Combination
of the results gives the relation K/rj = Cv
where rj is the viscosity.
This relation is
obeyed well, provided that a further numerical
f a c t o r /i s introduced, giving K/rj = f C v.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF METALS,
METHODS OF MEASUREMENT. The pro
duction of a steady flow of heat along a uni
form bar of the metal, and measurement of the
temperature gradient. The usual formula is
then applied:
dT
Q = KA >
dx
where Q is the rate of heat flow, A the area
of cross section, and dT/dx the temperature
gradient. This assumes no loss of heat from
the sides of the bar.
One end of the bar is heated electrically by
a resistance coil. In the earlier methods, the
other end was cooled by passing a stream of
water through a spiral tube in good thermal
contact with the bar. The temperature dis
tribution m ay be determined by means of
thermocouples attached at various points, and
hence the temperature gradient found. Heat
loss from the sides is minimized by careful
lagging, and residual heat loss determined at
any temperature by heating the bar uniformly,
and then measuring its rate of cooling.
The temperature range and accuracy of the
method have been increased by using smaller
specimens, enclosed in a metal vacuum -jacket,
with the cold end in good thermal contact with
a heat sink at constant temperature. The ap
paratus may be immersed in a Dewar flask,
and measurements made down to the tempera
tures of liquid helium ( ~ 2 K ) . The tempera
ture difference between points a known d if
ference apart may be measured with suitable
resistance or gas thermometers.
A method was originated by Kohlrausch in
1900, in which the metal specimen is heated
by the passage through it of an electric cur
rent, and the temperature distribution along
the specimen measured. In the steady state,
the heat generated in an element of the speci
men by the passage of the electric current is
equal to the heat lost by conduction along the

rod, assuming no heat loss from the surface.

Using this fact, an expression may be derived
containing constants which can be evaluated
under various experimental conditions, and
yielding a value of the ratio of thermal to
electrical conductivity.
(See WiedemannFranz law.)
An accurate application of the electrical
method was applied by Jaeger and Diesselhorst
to many metals at 18C and 100C, in which
two ends of the cylindrical specimen were kept
in constant-temperature baths at the same
temperature. The theory then gives the sim
ple expression:
K

( F

colder, which, sinking to the bottom, is

warmed in its turn. The process is more
clear-cut when a definite circuit is provided,
as in the heating coil attached to a hot-water
tank or radiator system. Gasoline engines are
cooled by a similar circulation, either entirely
automatic or augmented by a small rotary
pump. Gases likewise exhibit convection. A
chimney draws when the air inside it is
warmer than that outside, so that the greater
pressure difference outside forces the air in
ward at the bottom.
(The term draw is
manifestly misleading.) The motion of the air
in hot-air furnaces and in the winds of the
atmosphere are good examples.

F i ) 2

T2 T\

and the ratio K/<r of thermal to electrical con

ductivity could then be determined by meas
urement of the potential difference (F 3 7 i)
between the two ends of the bar, and of the
temperature difference (T 2 Tx) between the
middle and the ends. The heat loss was made
definite by surrounding the specimen with a
double-walled copper case, through which
water or steam was passed, and a correction
for it was worked out. Jaeger and Diessel
horst also showed that effects due to a radial
temperature gradient, caused by this heat loss,
were negligible.
An application of the electrical method was
developed by Meissner. The specimen is con
tained inside an evacuated, thin-walled constantan tube, a correction for the current flow
ing through this tube being made. The ratio
of thermal to electrical conductivity is deter
mined by measuring the resistance of the
specimen and the potential difference between
its ends with two different currents. The ends
are kept at the same constant temperature as
in the method of Jaeger and Diesselhorst.
The necessary modification for this case, where
the temperature of the middle of the rod is
not measured directly, was made by Diessel
horst.
THERMAL CONVECTION. The transfer
of heat by the automatic circulation of a fluid
(liquid or gas) due to differences in tempera
ture and density. W hile water and liquids
generally are poor conductors, a kettle of
water is quickly heated throughout by apply
ing heat at the bottom. The warmer water,
being less dense, is compelled to rise by the

THERMAL CROSS SECTION. The cross

section as measured with thermal neutrons.
(See neutron, thermal.)
THERMAL
scales.

DEGREE.

See

temperature

THERMAL DIFFUSION. The phenomenon

by which a temperature gradient in a mixture
of two or more fluids tends to establish a con
centration gradient. In a binary isotopic mix
ture in which a steady state temperature
gradient is established, and in which there is
no convective flow, the equilibrium distribu
tion is given by
f ^ T ~ aT = const.

Vi - n J

Here Nx is the mole fraction of the component,

and clt is the thermal diffusion constant, re
lated to the thermal diffusion coefficient D T by
D t = oltNx(\ N\)D\2 )
where D i2 is the ordinary diffusion coefficient.
For isotopic mixtures, aT is substantially inde
pendent of concentration. It is also, within
wide limits, independent of pressure, and has
no strong dependence on temperature.
THERMAL DIFFUSION M ETHOD.
See
separation of isotopes, thermal diffusion
method.
THERMAL DIFFUSION RELAXATION.
A source of internal friction in solids. Heat
generated at one point of the material by
rapid compression diffuses into other regions
before the strain is relaxed, and hence is irre
versibly lo st

THERM AL DIFFUSIVITY.
The quantity
Kp/Cv, where K is the thermal conductivity,
p is the density, and Cv is the specific heat.
The magnitude of this quantity determines
the rate at which a body with a non-uniform
temperature approaches equilibrium.
(See
relaxation time.)
THERM AL ENERGY.

See heat energy.

THERM AL EQUATOR. The belt of maxi

mum temperature surrounding the earth
which moves north and south with (but lag
ging) the suns motion. It is also spoken of
as the center of the area bounded by the yearly
mean isotherms of 80F.
THERM AL EXCITATION. The acquisition
of excess internal energy by atoms or mole
cules by collision processes with other par
ticles.
THERM AL EXPANSION OF SOLID. As a
consequence of the anharmonic terms in the
potential energy of a solid, when the atoms
have large amplitudes of thermal vibration
their average positions tend to m ove apart.
It can be shown that the expansion coefficient
is nearly constant at high temperatures (see
Gruneisens constant), whilst at low tempera
tures a relation of the form :
8 V oc 8 Uj

holds, where SV is the change in volume from

the absolute zero and 8U is the thermal en
ergy of the lattice.
THERM AL FACTOR. A measure of the fre
quency change in a magnetron produced by a
given change in anode temperature.
THERM AL INSTABILITY.
stability.

See heating in

THERMAL INSULATION (IN A PLASMA).

In the presence of a large magnetic field, the
thermal conductivity of a plasma, transverse
to the field, can be cut down by (ovr) 2 where
is the (radian) electron cyclotron frequency
and t is the collision time. This effect may be
used to provide thermal insulation.
THERM ALIZ ATION
(OF
NEUTRONS).
Reduction of the kinetic energy of neutrons,
as by repeated collisions with other particles,
to a point where they have approximately the
same kinetic energy as the atoms or molecules
of the medium in which the neutrons are under

going elastic scattering. Since this atomic or

molecular energy is thermal in origin, being a
direct temperature function, the neutrons
whose energies have been so reduced are called
thermal neutrons, and the process thermalization.
THERMAL LUMINESCENCE. See discus
sion under luminescence and thermolumines
cence.
THERMAL NEUTRON. See neutron, ther
mal; thermalization of neutrons.
THERMAL RADIATION. All bodies that
are not at absolute zero emit radiation excited
by the thermal agitation of their molecules or
atoms, whether there are other causes of ex
citation or not. This thermal radiation, how
ever, depends upon the nature of the body and
upon its temperature.
The total emissive
power of a surface at any temperature is the
rate at which it emits energy of all wave
lengths and in all directions, per unit area of
radiating surface. The flux density (per unit
solid angle) in various directions obeys the co
sine emission law approximately; but strictly
only in the case of a black body. Thermal
radiation is observed and measured by means
of different types of radiometer, by the bolom
eter, and by the radiomicrometer; also, in the
shorter wavelengths, by its photographic and
photoelectric effects.
M any of the properties of thermal radia
tion can be derived on a thermodynamic basis
(e.g., the Stefan-Boltzmann law and the first
Wien law). The more complete theory, how
ever, demands the use of the electromagnetic
theory of light and of the methods of statis
tical mechanics, to which must be added the
quantum hypothesis. When all of these are
combined the Planck radiation formula re
sults as the best description of thermal radia
tion.
THERMAL SHIELD (NUCLEAR REAC
TOR). A high density heat-conduction por
tion of a shield placed close to the reflector.
Its function is to remove a m ajor portion of
the energy carried by the radiation emanating
from the core.
THERMAL SIPHON. A closed loop contain
ing fluid, a vertical member of which is kept
at a different temperature from that of an

K elvin (K ) is taken in such a w ay that the

difference of the temperatures of the freezing
and boiling points of water shall be 100K.
Careful measurements have demonstrated that
the zero of the Celsius scale is at 273.16K.
The Rankine temperature scale is an abso
lute scale in which the degree ( R ) is matched
to the Fahrenheit thermometer.
The recommendation of the International
Union of Pure and Applied Physics in 1955
that the triple point of water (i.e., the tem
perature at which ice, water, and water vapor
can exist in equilibrium) be defined as
273.16K and be used as the basis of deter
mining the size of one degree Kelvin. This
recommendation would make the Kelvin scale
fundamental, rather than the Celsius scale.
It can be expected to be used increasingly.
Since heat is a form of energy, any of the
mechanical units of energy, such as the erg,
joule, or foot pound, may be used to measure
quantity of heat. Other units, based on the
thermal properties of water, had become well
established before the first law of therm ody
namics was enunciated. The use of these units
persists, and several of them are used inter
changeably with the mechanical units in this
dictionary. The most widely accepted is the
calorie (cal) which was originally defined as
the heat necessary to raise the temperature of
one gram of water through a temperature in
crease of one degree Celsius. This definition
makes the unit depend on the initial tempera
ture of the water, so the calorie has been rede
fined as equal to 4.1840 joules. The kilocalorie or large calorie (kcal) is exactly 1000
cal. The British thermal unit (B T U ) is the

other vertical member. In this way, circula

tion is established without the use of a pump.
THERM AL UNITS. Thermal measurements
involve, in addition to the mechanical units,
the specification of temperature on some scale.
T w o temperature scales have been commonly
used, both being defined in terms of measure
ments made with a m ercury-in-glass ther
mometer and both having the freezing and
boiling points of pure water at normal atmos
pheric pressure as fixed points. The Celsius,
or Centigrade, scale is obtained if the freezing
point is taken as zero degrees and the boiling
point as 100 degrees. The Fahrenheit scale
is obtained if these points are taken as 32 de
grees and 212 degrees, respectively. Thus the
degree Celsius (C ) is the temperature differ
ence which causes the mercury in a thermom
eter to expand by 0.01 as much as it expands
between the freezing and boiling points. The
degree Fahrenheit (F ) is defined similarly,
and is therefore 5 C /9 .
The original definitions of the Celsius and
Fahrenheit scales would limit the measure
ment of temperature to the range in which the
mercury-in-glass thermometer can be used.
These scales are extended upward and down
ward with the help of the gas thermometer
and of well established thermodynamic laws.
The K elvin , or absolute, temperature scale is
based on the second law of thermodynamics,
and is independent of the properties of any
particular substance, except for the definition
of the size of a degree. Its zero is the lower
limit of temperature, which can be approached
but never reached, and the size of a degree
R e l a t io n s

among

herm al

U n it s

Equivalents in Other Systems

Quantity

MKS C
System

cgs K
System

MKS K
System

f lbm s F
System

f lbm s R
System

Temperature 1C
difference

1K

1K

1.80F

1.80R

Temperature x C

(273.16 + x ) K

(273.16 + x ) K

(32 + 9*/5)F

(491.7 + 9x/5)F

(10)7 erg

9.478(10) 4 BTU 9.478(10)- 4BTU

0.7135 ft lbf

Energy

1 joule
1 joule
= 0.2390 cal

heat required to raise the temperature of one

pound of water through one degree Fahren
heit.
The four basic systems of thermal units em
ployed in this volume are summarized in the
table. Relations among derived units, such as
those of specific heat, entropy, etc., m ay be
obtained by methods identical with that out
lined under mechanical units. For example:
0.0235 B T U

0.0235 B T U

0F
1 joule
X 9.478(10) 4 B T U
w 1.80F
X

1K

44.6 joule

THERM AL UTILIZATION. The probability that a thermal neutron which is absorbed

is absorbed usefully; usually used to describe
the probability that a neutron is absorbed in
a fissionable material.
T H E R M A L U T IL IZ A T IO N F A C T O R . In a
nuclear reactor, the ratio of thermal neutrons
(see neutron, thermal) absorbed in fuel to
the total thermal neutrons absorbed.
T H E R M A L V IB R A T IO N O F CR YSTAL
L A T T IC E . The assembly of atoms bound
together by local interatomic forces to make
up a crystal lattice is capable of vibrating in
a large number of independent normal modes
about the static equilibrium configuration. In
these vibrations is stored a large proportion
of the thermal energy of the solid, and hence
the m ajor contribution to the specific heat.
The vibrational energy is quantized, so that
there is some zero-point motion even at 0K ,
and the energy of each mode may only increase
in multiples of hv7 where v is the frequency
and h, Plancks constant. The exact frequency
spectrum cannot be calculated easily (although
it m ay be observed by x-ray and neutron dif
fraction) but the Debye theory, which treats
the lattice as an elastic continuum with a
limited number of degrees of freedom, is usu
ally a good approximation.
The thermal vibrations are important in all
theories of electrical conductivity, thermal
conductivity, infrared absorption, etc.
(See
also phonon.)

THERMEL. The well-known Seebeck effect

(see thermoelectric phenomena) is the prin
ciple underlying a large class of thermoelec
tric thermometers. The essential feature is
a circuit composed of two different metals, the
two junctions of which are at different tem
peratures, and in which a net electromotive
force develops as a result of this temperature
difference. A ny device which uses this elec
tromotive force, or the current due to it, as a
measure of temperature is called a thermel.
The simplest form is a thermocouple, com
posed of two pieces of metal, or wires, soldered
or welded together at their ends, the other ends
being connected to a galvanometer or a poten
tiometer. Various pairs of metals are used,
for example, antimony and bismuth, copper
and iron, or copper and constantan (an alloy
of copper and nickel).
High-temperature
thermocouples are com m only of platinum,
with some other refractory metal such as
iridium or an alloy of platinum and iridium,
rhodium or chromium. One of the junctions
may be enclosed in a protecting tube, the other
being kept at zero by means o f melting ice or
at another reference temperature. In cases
where a temperature difference only is desired,
the two copper or platinum lead-wires m ay be
attached to the opposite ends of a single wire
of the other metal, and the two junctions
placed at the two points to be compared.
THERMION.
A charged particle, either
negative or positive, emitted by a body in
the process of thermionic emission. (See also
thermionic phenomena.)
THERMIONIC
thermionic.

CATHODE.

See cathode,

THERMIONIC EMISSION, L A W OF.

Richardson-Dushman equation.
THERMIONIC EMISSION.
phenomena.

See

See thermionic

THERMIONIC GRID EMISSION.

emission, thermionic, grid.

See

THERMIONIC PHENOMENA. The emis

sion of charged particles (electrons or ions)
from the surface of a conducting material at
high temperatures.
In general, thermionic
emission results from a small proportion of
the electrons or ions in the material acquiring
sufficient kinetic energy in their random m o
tions to overcome the surface barrier that

binds them to the solid or liquid. A t tempera

tures below about 1200 Kelvin positive ion
emission often predominates; at higher tem
peratures electron emission. This depends,
however, on the purity of the emitting ma
terial (particularly of its surface), on its work
function, and on the presence of electric fields
near the surface to sweep charges of one sign
away and to return charges of the other sign
to the surface.
Thermionic emission is essential to the op
eration of all vacuum tubes, in which the emit
ting surface (the cathode) is usually a coating
of alkaline earth oxides on a base of metal,
which is maintained at high temperature by
an electrical heater.
(For further details concerning thermionic
emission and for an understanding of the
process, see free electron theory of metals;
Richardson-Deishman equation; Schottky ef
fect; space charge limitation of currents.)
THERM IONIC TUBE. See tube, thermionic.
THERMISTOR. A resistance element made
of a semiconductor material which exhibits
a high negative temperature coefficient of re
sistivity.
THERMISTOR, BEAD. A thermistor con
sisting of a small bead of semiconductor ma-

Bead thermistor. (By permission from Microwave

Theory and Techniques by Reich et al., 1953, D. Van
Nostrand Co., Inc.)

terial placed between two wire leads. It is

used for m icrowave power measurement, tem
perature measurement, and as a protective
device.
THERMOCOUPLE. A device consisting of
two metals, one of whose junctions is kept at
a fixed temperature. The thermoelectric elec
trom otive force generated in the circuit is
measured to give the temperature of the other
junction, making a convenient and simple
thermometer.
(For detailed discussion, see
thermel.)
THERM OCOUPLE METER.
A com bina
tion of a thermocouple and a sensitive m illivoltmeter which measures the electromotive
force developed by the thermocouple as the
result o f its heating by the current passed

through a resistance element in thermal con

tact with it. Thermocouple meters read rootmean-square values of alternating currents at
frequencies extending as high as radio fre
quencies.
THERMOCOUPLE, VACUUM. (1) A de
vice for measuring small electric currents,
either alternating or direct, by means of their
heating effect. The current to be measured is
passed through a short, very fine platinum
wire enclosed in a small, evacuated glass bulb.
In good thermal contact with the center of
this wire is placed one junction of a small
thermocouple composed of platinum platinumrhodium wires (or other m etals), the other
junction being kept at the constant tempera
ture for which the instrument has been cali
brated. When the unknown current is turned
on, it heats the fine platinum wire, and thus
produces a change of electromotive force in
the couple which bears a definite relation to
the heating current, as determined by calibra
tion with known currents. This voltage change
may, if necessary, be amplified by a d-c am
plifier in order to make it measurable. The
glass bulb containing the thermocouple must
be housed in a heat-insulating, opaque case
to prevent heat from reaching the couple by
either radiation or conduction, and thoroughly
evacuated to avoid convection.
(2) An ar
rangement similar to that described above,
but without a heating element, used for the
measurement of radiation. The junction is
attached to a receiver, which absorbs the radia
tion and is heated by it. V ery often two
junctions and two receivers are included in
the evacuated envelope, the second acting as
a compensating device for the one on which the
radiation falls. Disturbances due to changes
in ambient temperature are thus largely
eliminated.
THERMODYNAMIC
EQUATIONS
OF
STATE. Any equation derived by considera
tion of reversible energy changes, which gives
a relationship between pressure, volume and
temperature for a state of matter. Specifi
cally, the two exact equations

\ d T /v

\ d V /T

where p is the pressure, 7 , the volume, U, the

internal energy, H , the enthalpy, and T , the
absolute temperature.
They are useful in
evaluating thermodynamic functions when the
equation of state is known.
THERM ODYNAMIC POTENTIALS.
(1)
A ny of several additive (extensive) quantities
which depend only on the state of a thermo
dynamic system (not on its past history) and
which have extremal values when the system
comes to equilibrium with its surroundings
under specified conditions. Those used com
monly are indicated in the table below, to
gether with the expressions for their deriva
tives and an indication of the conditions under
which a process must take place for the par
ticular potential to be the appropriate one to
determine the state of equilibrium. In this
table: p denotes pressure; V, volume; T, tem
perature; , entropy; U, internal energy.
A p p ro p r ia te

D e fin in g

C o n d itio n s

D iffe r e n tia l

E q u a tio n

Enthalpy

(H )

d H = Td S Vdp

H = U + p V

Isentropic (ad
iabatic), and
isobaric

Helmholtz Free Energy (A)

A = U TS

d A = S d t p d V

Gibbs Free Energy

G = U T S + p V

d G = S d T Vdp

Isotherm al,
and isovolu m ic (iso
m etric)
(G )

Isoth erm al,

and isobaric

The quantities p and V enter through the con

sideration of the work done by the system;
they m ay be replaced by <\> and q (electrical
potential and charge) respectively, by H and
B (magnetic field and flux density) respec
tively, or by both variables of any pair in
volved in the transfer of energy in forms other
than mechanical work (pd V ) or heat ( dQ =
TdS). (2) For a substance in any given state,
the energy which is required to bring unit mass
of the substance to the state in question from
some arbitrarily defined initial state.
(3)
See chemical potential.
THERM ODYNAMIC PROBABILITY. The
number of different microstates of a system
which produce the same macrostate of the sys
tem is known as the thermodynamic proba

bility of the given macrostate. The proba

bility of occurrence of a macrostate is obtained
if the thermodynamic probability of this state
is divided by the total number of possible
microstates o f the system and it is assumed
that each microstate is equally probable.
THERMODYNAMIC QUANTITIES. Mac
roscopic quantities which affect the internal
state of a system, determining its internal en
ergy.
THERMODYNAMICS.
This
branch of
physics had its origin in the classical discov
eries of Rum ford, D a vy, Joule, and others
early in the nineteenth century, which identi
fied heat as a form of energy. Gradually the
mechanism of heat and the statistics of m olec
ular motion were revealed by the researches
of such men as Maxwell, Kelvin, Clausius, and
Boltzmann, until now, with the added assist
ance of the quantum theory, we discuss the
dynamics of molecules almost as confidently
as that of visible bodies.
The variables com monly chosen in thermo
dynamic reasoning are temperature, entropy,
pressure, and volume, and in terms of these
we write the characteristic equations of the
substances, such as air, steam, etc., used in
engines. The purely dynamic aspects are es
pecially concerned with volume and pressure,
and thermodynamic diagrams are often
drawn with these as coordinates. For example,
if a gas expands and its pressure diminishes,
this change may be represented by the curve
A B and the corresponding work by the area
ABfia (Fig. 1 ); while if, as in an engine, the
change is a cyclic one, the net work derived
from each cycle on one side of the piston is
represented by the area W enclosed by the
curve (Fig. 2). A steam engine indicator, for

Fig. 1.
Representation of work during a unidirectional or a
cyclic change in volume and pressure.

example, automatically draws such a curve

at each stroke of the engine, the efficiency of
whose performance can thus be deduced. (See

thermodynamics, first law of; thermodynam

ics, second law of; thermodynamics, third law
of; thermodynamics, zeroth law of; Carnot
cycle; Rankine cycle; entropy; Joule-Thomson
effect; reversible procsses.)
THERMODYNAMICS,
BASIC
EQUA
TIONS. The four following equations were
called by Gibbs the fundamental equations of
therm odynam ics:

dU = TdS - pdV + J 2 Pidni,

i
dA = Sdt pdV

Vidni,
i

dH = TdS + Vdp + X Vidni,

i

d G --- Sdt + Vdp + Z wdi,

i
where T is the absolute temperature, S, the
entropy, p, the pressure, V, the volume and
Pi, the chemical potential of the species i, of
which rii moles are present in the phase (3).
i
denotes summation over the species in the
phase, and U (internal energy), A (free energy (2)), H (enthalpy) and G (free energy
(1)) are thermodynamic potentials. B y use
of these equations, all the thermodynamic
functions can be expressed in terms of the
chosen thermodynamic potential.
THERMODYNAMICS, FIRST L A W OF.
This law is a consequence of the law of the
conservation of energy. It states that the
quantity of energy supplied to any system in
the form of heat is equal to the work done by
the system plus the change in the internal en
ergy of the system, the latter being a function
of the state of the system. Thus
Q = U2 -

U, + W ,

where U\ and U 2 are respectively the internal

energies of the system before and after the
process involving the supply of the heat Q and
the doing of the work W .
THERMODYNAMICS,
IRREVERSIBLE.
See non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
THERMODYNAMICS, SECOND L A W OF.
One of the many forms of the statement of
this law is that heat cannot pass from a colder
body to a hotter body without changes in other
bodies. A consequence of this statement is
that it is impossible to construct a device that

will operate in cyclic fashion and will do work

at the expense of heat supplied to it from a
source, without other effects (such as the dis
charge of heat to a sink). The mathematical
form of the law is that there exists a function
of state, called the entropy, S, whose change
during any reversible process is
r 2 dQ

where dQ is the infinitesimal quantity of heat

supplied to the system during a part of the
process during which the absolute tempera
ture is T .
THERMODYNAMICS, THIRD L A W OF.
Every substance has a finite positive entropy
which may become zero at a temperature of
absolute zero, as it does in the case of crystal
line substances.
(Methods of quantum sta
tistics, however, show that entropies at abso
lute zero, while small, are not necessarily zero,
there being, for example, a finite entropy due
to nuclear spin.)
THERMODYNAMIC SYSTEM. A system
whose behavior may be described by thermo
dynamic quantities. As used in the Gibbsian
formulation of statistical mechanics, a m acro
scopic thermodynamic system is a finite vol
ume of matter composed of a very great num
ber of constituents or elements (e.g., atoms,
molecules, etc.) which may interact with each
other but are distinguishable as separate iden
tities. The number of degrees of freedom of
the system is vn where v is the number of de
grees of freedom of one constituent and n is the
number of constituents in the system. The
Gibbsian formulation of statistical mechanics
considers an ensemble (1) of identical m acro
scopic thermodynamic systems.
THERMODYNAMICS, ZEROTH L A W OF.
The statement that if two bodies are each in
thermal equilibrium with a third body, they
are also in thermal equilibrium with each
other. This is equivalent to saying that any
number of bodies among which there is no net
exchange of heat are at the same temperature.
THERMODYNAMIC
TEMPERATURE
SCALE. See discussion of thermometry.
THERMOELASTIC COEFFICIENT.
The
modulus of elasticity, which is defined by one
of the following expressions:

(isothermal bulk m odulus),

/ dp\
) (adiabatic bulk modulus),

\dv/s

where v is the volume, p , the pressure, T , the

absolute temperature, S, the entropy. These
quantities are the reciprocals, respectively, of
the isothermal and adiabatic compressibili
ties.
THERMOELASTIC RELAXATION
See thermal diffusion relaxation.

LOSS.

THERM OELECTRIC PHENOMENA.

As
both electric and thermal currents in conduct
ing materials are carried to a large extent by
electrons, they are not independent of each
other. The Thomson effect, the Peltier effect,
and the Seebeck effect are examples of ther
moelectric phenomena and are interrelated.
The absolute therm oelectric power of an elec
tronic conductor is defined as the derivative
with respect to temperature of the electromo
tive force that appears between two points on
the conductor, one of which is at temperature
T and the other at zero degrees Kelvin. It is
dE
dT

rT

- I

T dT

where a is the Thomson coefficient of the m a

terial. The Peltier coefficient for two m a
terials is
7ri2 = ~ T ( s 2 Si),
where T is the Kelvin temperature and $1 and
s 2 are the absolute thermoelectric powers of
the two materials.

and then heated, they give off light at a rate

that depends both on the temperature and on
the rate of temperature rise. This phenome
non of thermoluminescence is apparently due
to the fact that electrons whose energy has
been raised by the original radiation can be
caught in traps, i.e. in stable states from which
they cannot return directly to their original
energy levels (see trapping). Upon heating of
the phosphor, the electrons acquire sufficient
thermal energy to be lifted from the traps to
higher energy states, from which they can
fall with the emission of radiation. The rate
of such emission depends on the density of
trapped electrons and on the ratio of the
energy required to raise them from the traps
to k T } the product of the Boltzmann constant
and the absolute temperature. Hence, it de
pends on the past history of the phosphor,
which determines the density of filled traps.
THERMOMAGNETIC
EFFECT,
thermo-magneto-galvanic effects.

See

THERMO - MAGNETO - GALVANIC

EF
FECTS.
Because the same electrically
charged carriers are responsible for the elec
trical conduction and much of the thermal
conduction in conductors and semiconductors,
thermal transfer always accompanies electric
currents and charge transfer accompanies
thermal flow. Further, because the moving
carriers are subject to forces in the presence
of magnetic fields, current flow (electrical or
thermal) is modified by such fields.
(For
further detail see Thomson effect; Seebeck
effect; Peltier effect; Nemst effect; RighiLeduc effect; Ettinghausen effect.)

THERMOGRAPH. An instrument used to

make a continuous record of temperature.

THERMOMETER. An instrument used to

measure the temperature of a body, usually
constructed so that the expansion caused by
heat furnishes the measure of the temperature.
Instruments for measuring high temperatures
are termed pyrometers, and are based upon
measurements of the amount of radiation
emitted by the hot body, or by measurement
of the amount of radiation of a particular fre
quency or narrow band of frequencies, or by
measurement of the change in resistance of a
standard length of wire, or by the use of a
thermocouple. (See thermel.)

THERMOLUMINESCENCE.
If
certain
phosphors are irradiated at low temperatures

THERMOMETER, BOURDON. A flat hol

low tube filled with an organic liquid. As

THERM OELECTRIC POWER.

electric phenomena.

See thermo

THERM OELECTROMOTIVE FORCE. See

thermoelectric phenomena.
THERMOELECTRON.
mion.

negative

THERM OGALVANIC EFFECT.

mo-magneto-galvanic effects.

ther

See ther

the temperature of the liquid increases, its

expansion causes the tube to straighten.
THERMOMETER, CONSTANT-PRESSURE.
An instrument for measuring temperatures
based on the expansion of a gas with increas
ing temperature, the pressure remaining con
stant. The gas is contained in a bulb con
nected by a tube to a suitable device for keep
ing the pressure constant and measuring the
change in volume on expansion (e.g., a mer
cury manometer with additional reservoir of
m ercury). Various practical corrections must
be made, notably for the dead space con
taining gas not at the temperature to be meas
ured, and the instrument must be calibrated
at the standard fixed points. Gases are used
which are as near as possible to being ideal.
When corrected for departure from ideality,
the ideal gas scale temperature thus measured
can be shown to be identical with the absolute
thermodynamic scale temperature (discussed
under thermometry).
THERMOMETER, CONSTANT VOLUME.
An instrument for measuring temperatures
based on the increase in pressure of a gas with
temperature, the volume remaining constant.
The gas is contained in a bulb connected by a
tube to a suitable device for keeping the v o l
ume constant, and measuring the change in
pressure. Corrections must be made similar
to those for the constant pressure thermom
eter (preceding article), and the instrument
then also gives temperatures identical with the
absolute thermodynamic scale temperatures
(discussed under thermometry).
THERMOMETER, HYDROGEN.
A gas
thermometer using hydrogen. (See thermom
etry.)
THERM OMETER,
LIQUID-EXPANSION.
This familiar instrument for measuring tem
perature, developed by Fahrenheit and others,
makes use of the relative expansion of a liquid
and its transparent container. The use of mer
cury as a thermometric substance is recom
mended by its high boiling point ( + 357C)
and low freezing point ( 3 9 C ), and by the
constancy of its expansion coefficient. Alcohol
is often substituted, because of its much lower
freezing point ( 114C ), and because its ex
pansion coefficient is more than six times that
of mercury; it is also lighter and cheaper. Its
boiling point, however7 is so low (78C ) that it

cannot be used for high temperatures; and it

must be stained to be easily visible. In some
mercury thermometers an inert gas is intro
duced above the mercury, the pressure of
which, as the mercury expands, raises the boil
ing point of the mercury and hence increases
the range.
The Beckmann mercury ther
mometer has a very large bulb and a very
fine bore with a storage reservoir for mercury
at the top. It is used only for differential
temperature measurements, with a range of
only a few degrees, and is graduated to hun
dredths o f a degree.
Some thermometers are designed to indicate
the maximum or the minimum temperature
attained during a given period. The best

A maximum-minimum thermometer (Sixes form).

maximum thermometers employ mercury, with

a constriction just above the bulb at which
the mercury thread separates when the tem
perature starts to fall, leaving the top of the
column to mark the highest temperature.
Minimum thermometers employ alcohol, with
a light, solid index or marker just inside the
free surface. As the temperature falls, this
marker is pushed down by the surface tension,
and remains at the lowest point attained. In
a thermometer devised by Sixe, both maximum
and minimum temperatures are similarly in
dicated by a small iron marker, which can be
adjusted by means of a magnet.
Liquid thermometers are subject to certain
inherent errors, among which are those due to
the unequal temperature of bulb and stem and
to the imperfect recovery of the volume of the
bulb after heating. The latter effect may
accumulate over a long period, requiring re
calibration from time to time, especially if
the instrument is used over wide ranges of
temperature.
THERMOMETER, MAXIMUM.
mometer, liquid-expansion,

See ther

THERM OMETER, M INIM UM.

mometer, liquid-expansion.

See ther

THERMOMETER, SOLID EXPANSION.

M any devices have employed the expansion
of solid bodies as an indicator of temperature
change. W edgewood, a celebrated 18th-cen
tury potter, used small blocks of burned clay
to estimate, by their expansion, the tempera
ture of his kilns. Because of the low expan
sion coefficient, any such direct application of
solids is necessarily very insensitive; on the
other hand the requirement of durability
favors their use in certain cases. One rather
crude arrangement, sometimes used, is a long
wire passing over pulleys, its length being
sufficient to insure a measurable expansion.
M ore com monly, use is made of the warping
produced by the differential expansion of two
solid strips fastened together. The Breguet
spiral is composed of two spiral strips, like
watch springs, made of different metals and
securely welded together throughout their
length. A change in temperature causes the
combination to coil or uncoil, a motion which,
communicated through gears to a pointershaft, serves to give temperature readings on a
dial.
THERMOMETER, W EIG H T.
Instrument
for measuring the apparent coefficient of ex
pansion of a liquid relative to a containing
vessel by determination of the amount of liq
uid expelled from the vessel on heating through
a measured temperature interval.
THERM OMETRIC COEFFICIENT.
One
of the following two coefficients: (1) Coeffi
cient of change of pressure at constant volume
defined as
i /

p\

p \dT) v
(2) Coefficient o f expansion at constant pres
sure, defined as

\dT/p

In these expressions, p is the pressure, T , the

absolute temperature, v, the volume.
TH E R M O M E T R Y .
temperature and of
has been based upon
fects. Among those

The measurement of
changes in temperature
many different heat ef
which have been exten

sively developed are: (1) the expansion of

solids, liquids, and gases, illustrated by ther
mometer, solid expansion; thermometer,
liquid expansion; and the constant pressure
gas thermometer; (2) the change of pressure
in a gas kept at constant volume (constant
volume gas thermometer), or of the saturated
vapor pressure of a liquid (see vapors); (3)
the change in resistivity of metals (metallic
resistance thermometer); (4) the Seebeck
thermoelectric effect (thermel);
(5)
the
brightness of very hot bodies (optical pyrom
eter) ; and (6) the character of the thermal
radiation from the heated body (radiation
pyrometer).
W ith so many temperature indices, it is nec
essary to have a standard of temperature
measure. For various reasons, it was once
found desirable to fix upon gas pressure at
constant volume as the practical standard
measure of temperature.
That is, equal
changes of temperature were defined as those
corresponding to equal changes of pressure in
a selected gas (hydrogen) kept at constant
volume.
The constant volume hydrogen
thermometer thus became the reference instru
ment for the calibration of other types. In
1927, however, the United States, Great
Britain, and Germany proposed, and thirtyone nations represented at the Seventh Gen
eral Conference of Weights and Measures
unanimously adopted, what is now called the
international temperature scale. In 1948, this
scale was modified slightly.
From 190
to + 6 6 0 C , the measure of temperature is
based upon the indications of a standard
platinum resistance thermometer, specified
and used in accordance with certain formulas.
From + 6 6 0 C to the melting point of gold a
platinum-platinumrhodium thermel is the ref
erence instrument; and above the gold point,
the optical pyrometer is used as standard. The
basic fixed points of this scale are the boiling
point of oxygen ( 182.970C ), the freezing
and the boiling points of water (for recent
modification, see thermal units and triple
point of water), the boiling point of sulfur
(+ 4 4 4 .6 0 0 C ), the melting point of silver
( + 960.8C ), and the melting point of gold
( + 1063.0C).
Kelvin was long ago impressed with the
dependence of such thermometric methods
upon characteristic properties of certain arbi
trarily chosen substances.
Even constant-

volume gas thermometers, using different

gases, do not quite agree. Kelvin therefore
proposed an ideal absolute temperature scale
on which changes of temperature, whatever
the substance concerned, are strictly propor
tional to the quantities of heat converted into
mechanical work during Carnot cycles bounded
by the respective temperatures and by the
same two adiabatic entropy limits. A constant-volume gas pressure thermometer using
a gas obeying the ideal gas law would perform
in exact agreement with this standard. The
subsequent researches of Joule and Kelvin on
the Joule-Thomson effect enabled them to cal
culate the corrections necessary to convert
the hydrogen constant volume standard into
this thermodynamic scale (more properly,
the thermodynamic standard of temperature
measure) proposed by Kelvin, which is now
used as the basis of the international scale
above mentioned.
THERM OMOLECULAR PRESSURE.
If
two vessels containing a gas are separated by
an insulating partition, in which there is an
orifice whose linear dimensions are small
compared with the mean free path of the gas
molecules, it is found that a temperature d if
ference between the two vessels is accom pa
nied by a difference in pressure. This is
known as the thermomolecular pressure dif
feren ce, and it can be shown from elementary
kinetic theory that

Pi =
V2

V T2

where
T are the pressure and temperature
in one vessel, and p 2, T 2 the pressure and tem
perature in the other. This effect also takes
place when a tube, along which there is a
temperature gradient, contains a gas at such
a pressure that the mean free path of the
molecules is comparable with the diameter of
the tube. In this case, however, the simple
relationship does not apply. The effect is
especially important in low-temperature gas
thermometry.
THERMONUCLEAR D EVICE. An experi
mental machine designed to explore the heat
ing, confinement and (hopefully) the burn
ing of a nuclear fusion fuel usually in the
plasma state. There are two general types of
fusion devices, those which store fuel which

has been heated externally and those which

heat and confine in one integrated operation.
The mirror machine and the D C X are exam
ples of storage devices. The stabilized pinch
and the stellarator are examples of integrated
devices.
THERMONUCLEAR REACTION.
A nu
clear reaction in which the energy necessary
for the reaction is provided by colliding par
ticles that have kinetic energy by virtue of
their thermal agitation. Such reactions occur
at appreciable rates only for temperatures of
millions of degrees and higher, the rate increas
ing enormously with temperature. The energy
of most stars is believed to be derived from
exothermic thermonuclear reactions.
(See
carbon cycle; proton-proton chain; fusion;
thermonuclear device.)
THERMOPHONE. An electroacoustic trans
ducer (see transducer, electroacoustic) in
which sound waves of calculable magnitude
result from the expansion and contraction of
the air adjacent to a conductor whose tem
perature varies in response to a current input.
When used for the calibration of pressure
microphones, a thermophone is generally used
in a cavity the dimensions of which are small
compared to a wavelength.
THERMOPHOSPHORESCENCE.
moluminescence.

See ther

THERMOPILE. A device for measuring tem

perature (difference), consisting of a closed
electric circuit made of two different metals
and an electric meter. It consists of a number
of thermocouples in series, all junctions of
type A -B being thermally connected, as are
all of type B -A . When the two sets of junc
tions between the metals are at different tem
peratures, an electromotive force is developed.
Radiation, incident upon and absorbed by one
set of junctions, is measured by the emf de
veloped by the resulting rise in temperature
of that junction. Also called the thermel.
THERMOSTAT. An apparatus arranged so
that it may be adjusted to maintain and keep
constant any practicable temperature. A sys
tem enclosed in a thermostat is thus kept at a
definite constant temperature. This is usu
ally accomplished by actuating controls which
turn the heating mechanism off when an up
per temperature limit is reached and which

turn it on when a lower temperature limit is

reached.

bentonite clays, and certain gelatin prepara

tions.

THETA. (1) Temperature absolute or K el

vin (, but T is more com monly u sed), Debye
temperature, characteristic ( ), temperature,
ordinary (0 or t). (2) Angle, plane (0), angle,
glancing (0), angle of contact (0), angle of
optical rotation (0), angular displacement (0).

THOMAS-FERMI DIFFERENTIAL EQUA

TION. An equation which occurs in studying
the electron distribution in an atom:

TH ETA FUNCTION.
the form :

An infinite series of
00

9(z,q) = 1 + 2 ^2 qn2 cos 2nz,

71= 1

which is related to elliptic functions and which

is especially useful in making numerical cal
culations with such functions.
THETA POLARIZATION. See polarization,
theta (0).
THEVENIN THEOREM.
The current in
any terminating impedance Z r connected to
any network is the same as if Z T were con
nected to a generator whose voltage is the
open circuit voltage of the network, and whose
internal impedance ZR is the impedance look
ing back from the terminals of Z r, with all
generators replaced by impedances equal to
the internal impedance of these generators.
THIN-LENS RELATIONSHIPS.
equation; lens makers equation,

See

lens

THIRD ORDER THEORY. Lens com puta

tions in which the first two terms only of the
series expansion of

03

05

sin 0 = 0 --------- 1------------ 3!

5!
are used. Third order theory gives the five
geometrical aberrations of Seidel.
THIRTYFIVAR. Designation for a particular
tube basing arrangement.
THIXOTROPY. The property exhibited by
certain gels of liquefying when subjected to
the action of vibratory forces, such as ultra
sonic waves or even simple shaking, and then
setting again on standing. Gels of this type
m ay be formed by the addition of small quan
tities of electrolyte to concentrated sols of
certain metallic oxides, such as ferric oxide,
aluminum trioxide, zirconium dioxide, etc.,
and also other sols, including those of the

y"V ~ X =
Although a special solution can be given as
x?y = 144, it is required for physical reasons
that 7/(0) = 1, y ( oo ) = 0. Solutions satis
fying these boundary conditions must be
found by numerical or graphical methods.
THOMAS-FERMI M ODEL. A method for
the calculation of atomic energy levels based
on a statistical treatment of the assembly of
electrons.
(See Thomas-Fermi differential
equation.)
THOMAS METER. An instrument for meas
uring the rate of flow of a gas in terms of the
increase in temperature of the gas produced
by a known quantity of heat.
THOMAS PRECESSION. If in the Lorentz
frame instantaneously at rest relative to an
accelerated system there is a vector in that
system which appears to be constant, then
relative to an observer for whom the system
has velocity v, and an acceleration v the vec
tor will appear to precess with the angular
velocity

-v X v .
This is the kinematical basis for spin-orbit
coupling in atoms.
THOMSON - BERTHELOT
PRINCIPLE.
The assumption that the heat evolved in a
chemical reaction is a direct measure of chem
ical affinity, and that every chemical change
taking place without the intervention of ex
ternal energy tends to the production of that
system which evolves most heat. This as
sumption is in general wrong except for cer
tain special cases, since according to the prin
ciple, no spontaneous reactions could take
place which absorb heat, and all reactions
should proceed in one direction only, i.e., re
versible reactions should be impossible. The
correct criterion for a chemical reaction is the
change in free energy, and the principle is
thus true or approximately true when this is
equal or nearly equal to the heat of reaction,

e.g., in constant-volume reactions, in reac

tions between liquids and solids, and at low
temperatures.
THOMSON COEFFICIENT.
effect.

relation between the Thomson coefficients crAf

(TB, of two metals, and their Peltier coefficient
TTABd

See Thomson

THOMSON EFFECT. One of the thermo

electric effects (see thermoelectric phenom
ena). When an electric current J passes be
tween two points of a homogeneous wire
whose temperature difference is AT, an amount
of heat a jA T is emitted or absorbed in addi
tion to the Joule heat, a is the Thomson co
efficient.
THOMSON ISOTHERM. An S-shaped iso
therm showing the continuous transition from
the gaseous to the liquid state.
THOMSON, L A W OF (L A W OF H ELM
HOLTZ, THOMSON S RULE). In an elec
tric cell the heat of reaction is a direct meas
ure of the electromotive force, i.e., the chemi
cal energy is simply converted into electrical
energy. This is only approximately true, for
part of the energy of an electric cell appears
as heat, either absorbed or evolved as the case
may be. (See Gibbs-Helmholtz equation for
a reversible cell.)
THOMSON PARABOLA M ETHOD.
The
method of investigating the charge-to-mass
ratio of positive ions in which the ions are
acted upon by electric and magnetic fields ap
plied in the same direction normal to the path
of the ions. It can be shown that ions of a
given charge-to-mass ratio but different ve
locities will be deflected so as to form a parab
ola.
THOMSON PRINCIPLE.
The hypothesis
that, if therm odynamically reversible and ir
reversible processes take place simultaneously
in a system, the laws of thermodynamics may
be applied to the reversible process while ig
noring for this purpose the creation of entropy
due to the irreversible process. Applied orig
inally by Thomson to the case of thermoelec
tric effects. Also used in the treatment of elec
trochemical cells, thermal diffusion, etc.
THOMSON RELATIONS. Equations gov
erning thermoelectricity, deduced originally
by thermodynamics (see Thomson effect,
Peltier effect). An important result is the

/ tta b \

a A <*b

dT \ T ~ ) =

THOMSON SCATTERING.
Thomson.

See scattering,

THORIUM.
M etallic radioactive element.
Symbol Th. Atom ic number 90.
THORIUM SERIES. The radioactive series
starting with thorium of mass number 232.
THORON. Thorium emanation, an isotope
of radon of mass number 220.
THREE-ADDRESS CODE.
struction.

See code, in

THREE-BODY PROBLEM.
problem.

See many-body

THREE-INDEX SYMBOLS.
brackets.

See Christoffel

THREE-J SYMBOL. A coefficient related to

the Wigner coefficient by the expression
/71 32 j \
\ m i m 2m /

= ( - iyW l+ m (2j +

- m\jlml, j 2m2).

This coefficient has a much higher degree of

symmetry than the ( j m \ j x m i , j 2m ^ ) . For ex
ample, any even permutation of the columns
leaves the value of the coefficient unchanged
while an odd permutation is equivalent to mul
tiplication by
It may also be
shown that
/j l

J2 J S\ _

jy i+y2+y3/

\mim2m/

jl

J2

js

'

m2 m3/

(See angular momentum, coupling and re

coupling of; V coefficient.)
THREE PHASE.

See multiphase circuits.

THREE-PHASE EQUILIBRIUM. For every

pure, chemically stable substance there is a
certain temperature and pressure at which it
can exist in all three states or phases (3), solid,
liquid, and vapor, each phase being in equi
librium with each of the others.

THRESHOLD, ABSOLUTE LUMINANCE.

The minimum luminance which can be dis
criminated by the fully dark-adapted eye.
THRESHOLD, ABSOLUTE PURITY. The
minimum purity perceptible in contrast with
white, by the light-adapted eye. The abso
lute purity threshold is a function of wave
length.
THRESHOLD AUDIOGRAM.
gram.

See audio

THRESHOLD, COLOR.
Any measure,
either absolute or differential, of the degree
of color discrimination. (See discrimination,
color.)
THRESHOLD, DIFFERENTIAL COLOR.
The amount of difference between two colors
which is necessary for perceptibility in a stip
ulated percentage of independent trials.
THRESHOLD ENERGY OR THRESHOLD.
(1) The energy limit for an incident particle
or photon below which a particular endo
thermie reaction will not occur. It is specified
with reference to the laboratory system of
coordinates. For a reaction between two nonrelativistic particles, the relation of the thresh
old energy to the Q-value is:

(m i

Threshold energy = Q ( ------ h i )

xntt
/
where ra* is the mass of the incident particle;
mt, of the target nucleus, and the Q-value is
the nuclear disintegration energy.
(2) The
energy limit for an incident particle or photon
below which a particular nuclear reaction can
not be observed; sometimes called the prac
tical threshold energy. It is frequently deter
mined by Coulomb barrier effects.
Exo
thermic as well as endothermie reactions may
have threshold energies.
THRESHOLD (SENSATION LEVEL) FOR
A PARTICULAR LISTENER. In presenting
data relating loudness in sones to sound pres
sure level, or in averaging the loudness scales
of several listeners, the thresholds (measured
or assumed) should be specified. The term
loudness unit has been used for the basic
subdivision of a loudness scale based on group
judgment on which a loudness level of 40 phons

has a loudness of approximately 1,000 loudness

units. (See also level above threshold.)
THRESHOLD FREQUENCY.
The mini
mum frequency of radiation for a given sur
face for the emission of electrons. (See pho
toelectric threshold.)
THRESHOLD, IMPROVEMENT. A char
acteristic of fm radio receivers which deter
mines the minimum r-f signal power required
to overcome the inherent thermal noise. For
increasing values of r-f power above this point,
an improvement of signal-to-noise ratio is ob
tained.
THRESHOLD OF DETECTABILITY.
audibility, threshold of.

See

THRESHOLD OF FEELING (OR DISCOM

FORT, TICKLE, OR PAIN). For a specified
signal, the minimum effective sound pressure
(see discussion under sound pressure, effec
tive) of that signal which, in a specified frac
tion of the trials, will stimulate the ear to a
point at which there is the sensation of feeling
(or discomfort, tickle, or pain). Character
istics of the signal and the measuring tech
nique should be specified in every case. This
threshold is customarily expressed in decibels
relative to 0.0002 microbar or 1 microbar.
THRESHOLD OF IMPROVEMENT.
improvement threshold.
THRESHOLD PRESSURE.
of audibility, threshold of.

See

See discussion

THRESHOLD, RELATIVE LUMINANCE.

The ratio of the differential luminance thresh
old (see threshold, absolute luminance) of
two colors to the luminance of the less lumi
nous of the two. This is called the Fechner
fraction. (See also Mackenzie equation.)
THRESHOLD SENSITIVITY.
ity, threshold.

See sensitiv

THRESHOLD SIGNAL. In navigation the

smallest signal capable of effecting a recog
nizable change in positional information.
THRESHOLD VALUE. The minimum input
which produces a corrective action in the
power element of an automatic controller.
THRESHOLD
threshold.

VOLTAGE.

See

voltage,

THRESHOLD W AVELENG TH . The maximum wavelength of radiation for a given sur

face for the emission of electrons. (See pho
toelectric threshold.)
THROAT, HORN. N orm ally the end of an
acoustic horn with the smaller cross-sectional
area.
THROTTLING PROCESS. An irreversible
and adiabatic process in which a gas expands
by passing from one chamber at pressure P i
into a second chamber at pressure P 2, P 2 < PiThe enthalpy before and after is the same and
thus H ~ U + P V = constant. For an ideal
gas, no change in temperature occurs. For a
real gas, the temperature may increase or de
crease depending on whether the initial tem
perature is greater or less than the critical
temperature. The Linde process for liquefy
ing gases uses a throttling process. (See JouleThomson effect; low temperature production
by Linde method.)
THROUGH
through.

PATH.

See

feedback

THROUGH TRANSFER FUNCTION.

feedback transfer function, through.
TH RO W
ture.

path,

See

(RELAY). See contact nomencla

THUNDERSTORMS. Cumulonimbus clouds

accompanied by lightning and thunder. N or
mally thunderstorms are accompanied by tor
rential rain for brief moments during the pas
sage of the storm, but occasionally no pre
cipitation reaches the ground.
Often they
cause hail and gusty surface winds of con
siderable velocity. Sometimes they are at
tended by tornadoes which cause great dam
age. Vertical velocities inside thunderstorms
are extremely erratic and as high as 120 mph.
THYRATRON. A hot-cathode gas tube in
which one or more control electrodes initiate,
but do not limit, the anode current, except
under certain operating conditions.
THYRATRON, SHIELD-GRID. A four-ele
ment thyratron employing a massive shield
grid, usually operated at cathode potential,
to almost com pletely shield the control grid
from the cathode, anode, tube walls, and light
in order to reduce the current drawn by the
control grid before ignition.
THYRISTOR. A trade name.
controlled, semiconductor.)

(See rectifier,

THYRITE. Trade name for a silicon carbide

material with a large negative voltage coeffi
cient of resistivity. A form of varistor.

See groove, lead-

THYRODE. Trade name for a rectifier, con

trolled, semiconductor.

THRUST. The reaction force to the gaseous

discharge from a rocket or jet. It is equal to
fiV, where ^ is the mass discharge per unit
time, and V is the velocity of discharge. (See
Newton laws of motion (3).)

TICKLER. The coil used to couple platecircuit energy into the grid circuit of some
forms of regenerative detectors and oscillators.

THROW -OUT SPIRAL.

out.

THULIUM .
Sym bol Tm .

Rare earth metallic

Atom ic number 69.

element.

THUNDER. A sound wave set up by an elec

trical discharge in the atmosphere, all along
the column of air in which the discharge has
occurred. I f the discharge occurs close at
hand, there is one sharp burst or explosion,
but if the discharge occurs some distance
away then portions of the sound wave reach
an observer over a period of time. Echoes
of thunder also occur when the sound wave
or parts of it are reflected from objects pro
jecting from the earth, such as hills and build
ings.

TIDES, DYNAM ICAL THEORY OF. The

theory of tidal motion in the sea that con
siders the effects on the rise and fall of the
necessity for the water to flow in seas of finite
depth bounded by land masses. It provides
explanations of the differences between the
observed tides and the tides computed on the
equilibrium theory.
TIDES, EQUILIBRIUM THEORY OF. A
theory which assumes the sea surface to be
always coincident with a surface of constant
gravitational potential due to the attractions
of the earth and moon. Its predictions are
seriously in error near land masses or in en
closed seas where dynamical effects lead in
general to much larger tides.

TIE LINE. On an equilibrium diagram, a

line joining two points which represent the
compositions of systems in equilibrium. (See
phase diagram.)
TIGHT BINDING APPROXIMATION. One
of two alternative approaches to the problem
o f calculating the energy of an electron in a
solid. It is assumed that the electron is effec
tively in an atomic orbital centered on a par
ticular atom of the lattice, with a small per
turbation allowing it to jump to neighboring
sites. The assumed wave function is thus a
Bloch function in which the periodic function
is a pure atomic wave function. This approxi
mation works well for narrow deep-lying
bands, but must be augmented with the freeelectron type of approximation for conduction
electrons. (See also band theory of solids.)
TILDE. The symbol ", used over a symbol
representing a matrix. (See matrix, associate.)
TIMBRE (MUSICAL QUALITY). T hat at
tribute of auditory sensation in terms of
which a listener can judge that two sounds
similarly presented and having the same loud
ness and pitch are dissimilar. Timbre depends
primarily upon the spectrum of the stimulus,
but it also depends upon the wave form, the
sound pressure, and the frequency location of
the spectrum of the stimulus.
TIM E, ACCESS (COMPUTER). A time in
terval which is characteristic of a storage unit,
and is essentially a measure of the time re
quired to communicate with that unit. M any
definitions of the beginning and ending of this
interval are in common use.
TIM E AVERAGE. The time average of any
time-dependent physical quantity over a given
time interval is the time integral of the quan
tity taken over the interval, divided by the
magnitude of the interval. (See average.)
TIM E, CLIPPING. The time constant of the
clipping circuit.
(See circuit, clipping (2)
and (3).)
TIM E CONSTANT. (1) All photon detectors
require a certain time to respond to a radia
tion pulse and continue to respond for a small
time after the radiation is cut off. The time
involved may vary from a fraction of a m icro
second to several seconds, according to the
nature of the detector. A common definition

(1955) of time constant T is given by

T = l/27r/ where / is the frequency of chop
ping of the radiation by a sine wave which
causes the root-mean-square signal to decrease
by 3 decibels from the signal for very slow
chopping. (2) It may also be defined as the
time required for the voltage or current in a
circuit to rise to 63% of its final value, or fall
to 37% (1/e) of its initial value, as a result of
step function input. (3) See rise time.
TIM E CONSTANT CIRCUIT.
time constant.

See circuit,

TIME CONSTANT, THERMAL TUNING.

The time required for the frequency to change
by a fraction (1 1 /e) of the change in equi
librium frequency after an incremental change
of the applied thermal tuner power. If the
behavior is not exponential, the initial condi
tions must be stated. Here e is the base of
natural logarithms.
TIME, CORRECTION. The time required
for the controlled variable in an automatic
controller to reach and stay within a predeter
mined band about the control point following
any change of the independent variable or
operating condition.
TIME CORRECTION, DEAD. Correction
to the observed counting rate to allow for
the probability of the occurrence of events
within the counter dead time. (See time, dead,
counter.)
TIME, DEAD. The minimum interval fol
lowing a pulse during which a transponder, or
component circuit thereof, is incapable of re
peating specified performance.
TIME, D EAD, COUNTER. In a radiation
counter, the time from the start of a counted
pulse until a succeeding pulse can occur. (See
also time, recovery.)
TIME, DEAD, LAG.
tion.

See delay, transporta

TIM E, DECAY (IN A CHARGE-STORAGE

TUBE). The time interval during which the
magnitude of the stored charge decays to a
stated fraction of its initial value. The frac
tion is com m only 1/e, where e is the base of
natural logarithms. (See relaxation time.)
TIME, DECAY, PULSE. The interval be
tween the instants at which the instantaneous

amplitude last reaches specified upper and

lower limits, namely, 90 per cent and 10 per
cent of the peak-pulse amplitude (see pulse
amplitude, peak) unless otherwise stated.
TIM E, DEIONIZATION. The time required
for the grid of a gas-discharge tube to regain
control after anode-current interruption. T o
be exact, the ionization and deionization times
of a gas tube should be presented as families
of curves relating such factors as condensedmercury temperature, anode and grid cur
rents, anode and grid voltages, and regulation
of the grid current. (See also time, recovery.)
TIM E DELAY. The time required by a spe
cific voltage or current to travel through a
circuit.
TIM E, DELAY, OHM IC, TRANSISTOR. See
transistor parameter td.
TIM E DELAY, SUPPRESSED. A deliberate
displacement of the zero of the time scale
with respect to time of emission of a pulse in
order to simulate electrically a geographical
displacement of the true position of a trans
ponder. (See delay, coding.)
TIM E DILATION.

See slowing of clocks.

TIM E DIVISION. The process of propagat

ing a plurality of information-bearing signals
over a common medium, allocating a different
time interval for the transmission of each sig
nal. (See multiplex, time-division.)
TIM E, DYNAM IC.
ity.

See kinematical relativ

TIM E, FIRING, HIGH LEVEL (SW ITCH

ING TUBES). The time required to estab
lish a radio-frequency discharge in the tube
after the application of radio-frequency power.
TIM E, FIRING, IGNITOR (SWITCHING
TUBES). The time interval between the ap
plication of a d-c voltage to the ignitor elec
trode and the establishment of the ignitor
discharge.
TIM E, FLIGHT (RELAY). A synonym for
transfer time. (See time, transfer (relay).)
TIM E, HEATING, TUBE
(MERCURYVAPOR TUBES). The time required for the
condensed-mercury temperature to reach a
specified value.

TIME INTERVAL. The number of times

that a specified periodic process is observed
to take place between two events. The time
taken for each repetition of the periodic proc
ess is used as the unit of time. (See mechan
ical units and clock.)
The interval from
event A to event B is usually taken as posi
tive when B occurs after A ; negative when B
occurs before A ; zero when the two are simul
taneous. This is the only sense in which time
has meaning in physics, because the older
concept of absolute time has been shown by
relativity theory to be unsound two events
that are simultaneous for one observer are
not necessarily simultaneous for another.
TIME, IONIZATION (OF A GAS TUBE).
The time interval between the initiation of
conditions for, and the establishment of con
duction at some stated value of tube voltagedrop.
TIME, KINEMATIC.
tivity.

See kinematical rela

TIME-LIKE VECTOR. A four vector A , in

Minkowski space such that A^A^ < 0.
TIME, OPERATE (RELAY). If a relay has
normally closed contacts, its operate time is
the longest time interval given by definition
(1) below. If a relay has normally open con
tacts (regardless of whether or not it has nor
mally closed contacts) its operate time is the
longest interval given by definition (2). (1)
Operate time for normally closed contacts.
The total elapsed time from the instant the
coil is energized until the contacts have opened ;
i.e., the contact current is zero. (2) Operate
time for normally open contacts. The total
elapsed time from the instant the coil is ener
gized until the contacts are closed and all con
tact bounce has ceased.
TIME, OPERATION. The time after simul
taneous application of all electrode voltages
for a current to reach a stated fraction of its
final value. Conventionally the final value is
taken as that reached after a specified length
of time. All electrode voltages are to remain
constant during measurement. The tube ele
ments must be at room temperature at the
start of the test.
TIME PATTERN. A picture-tube presenta
tion of horizontal and vertical lines or dotrows generated by two stable frequency

sources operating at multiples of the line and

field frequencies in television.
TIM E, PULSE, LEADING-EDGE. The time
at which the instantaneous amplitude first
reaches a stated fraction of the peak pulse
amplitude. (See pulse amplitude, peak.)
TIM E, PULSE, MEAN. The arithmetic mean
of the leading edge pulse time and the trail
ing edge pulse time. For some purposes the
importance of a pulse is that it exists (or is
large enough) at a particular instant of time.
For such applications the important quantity
is the mean pulse time. The leading edge
pulse time and trailing edge pulse time are
significant primarily in that they m ay allow a
certain tolerance in timing.
TIM E, PULSE RISE. The interval between
the instants at which the instantaneous am
plitude first reaches specified lower and upper
limits, 10 per cent and 90 per cent of the peakpulse amplitude (see pulse amplitude, peak)
unless otherwise stated.
TIM E, PULSE, TRAILING-EDGE. The time
at which the instantaneous amplitude last
reaches a stated fraction of the peak pulse
amplitude.
(See pulse-amplitude, peak.)
TIMER. In navigational equipment, the pro
gramming unit.
TIM E, RECOVERY (OF A RADIATION
COUNTER). The minimum time from the
start of a counted pulse to the instant a suc
ceeding pulse can attain a specific percentage
of the maximum value of the counted pulse.
TIM E, RESOLVING (OF A RADIATION
COUNTER).
(1) The time from the start
of a counted pulse to the instant a succeeding
pulse can assume the minimum strength to
be detected by the counting circuit.
(This
quantity pertains to the combination of tube
and recording circuit.) (2) See counter, coin
cidence.
TIM E, RESPONSE OF A M AGNETIC AM
PLIFIER. The period of time required for
a change of average output current of 63 per
cent of the total change.
Response time
should be specified for operation of the m ag
netic amplifier at its rating, except for con
trol currents and output currents. The out
put current should change between the rated
value and a lower value. Unless otherwise

specified, the lower value should be zero where

possible. Otherwise, it should be minimum
output plus 10 per cent of the difference be
tween rated and minimum output. The signal
should be that step change of voltage which
yields these values of output current. The re
sponse time specified should be the maximum
which exists for any condition within the
rating (e.g., such effects as growth or decay,
time phase of signal application, temperature).
The 95 per cent response time of a magnetic
amplifier is that period of time required for a
change of output of 95 per cent of total change,
under the conditions and limits given in the
definition of response time.
TIMER, CYCLE (RELAY). A controlling
mechanism which opens or closes contacts ac
cording to a pre-set cycle.
TIMER, REPEATING (RELAY). A timing
device which upon completion of one operating
cycle continues to repeat automatically until
excitation is removed.
TIM E, RECOVERY (ATR TUBES). The
time required for a fired tube to deionize to
such a level that the normalized conductance
and susceptance of the tube in its mount are
within specified ranges. Normalization is with
respect to the characteristic admittance of the
transmission line at its junction with the tube
mount.
TIM E, RECOVERY (GAS TUBES). The
time required for the control electrode to re
gain control after anode current interruption.
T o be exact, the deionization and recovery
time of a gas tube should be presented as
families of curves relating such factors as condensed-mercury temperature, anode current,
anode and control electrode voltages, and con
trol circuit impedance.
TIM E, RECOVERY (TR AND PU-TR
TUBES). The time required for a fired tube
to deionize to such a level that the attenuation
of a low-level radio frequency signal trans
mitted through the tube is decreased to a
specified value.
TIME, RECOVERY, CONTROL ELEC
TRODE
DISCHARGE
(ATTENUATOR
TUBES). The time required for the control
electrode discharge to deionize to a level such
that a specified fraction of the critical high
power level is required to ionize the tube.

TIM E, RECOVERY, PHASE (TR AND PRETR TUBES). The time required for a fired
tube to deionize to such a level that a specified
phase shift is produced in the low-level radio
frequency signal transmitted through the tube.
TIM E, REFERENCE (T0). An instant near
the beginning of switching chosen as an origin
for time measurements. It is variously taken
as the first instant at which the instantaneous
value of the drive pulse, the voltage response
of the magnetic cell, or the integrated voltage
response reaches a specified fraction of its peak
pulse amplitude.
TIM E REFERENCE, ZERO. The time ref
erence of the schedule of events in a cycle of
operation of a radar.
TIM E, RELEASE (RELAY). If a relay has
only normally open contacts, its release time
is the longest time interval given by definition
(1) below. If a relay has normally closed
contacts (regardless of whether or not it has
normally open contacts) its release time is
the longest time interval given by definition
(2). (1) R elease time for normally open con
tacts. The total elapsed time from the instant
the coil current starts to drop from its rated
value until the contacts have opened; i.e., the
contact current is zero. (2) Release time for
normally closed contacts. The total elapsed
time from the instant the coil current starts to
drop from its rated value until the contacts are
closed and all contact bounce has ceased.
TIM E, RESOLVING. The minimum time in
terval by which two events must be separated
to be distinguishable in a navigation system,
by the time measurement alone.
TIM E,
RETENTION,
M AXIM UM
(IN
CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES). The maxi
mum time between writing into and reading
an acceptable output from a storage element.
TIM E, REVERBERATION. F or a given fre
quency, the time required for the average
sound-energy density, originally in a steady
state, to decrease after the source is stopped
to one-millionth of its initial value (i.e., by 60
d b ). Usually the pressure level for the upper
part of this range is measured and the result
extrapolated to cover 60 db.
TIM E REVERSAL. The operation of re
placing the b y t in the equations of m o

tion of a dynamical system. Of particular

interest in quantum mechanics where the
operation corresponds to a unitary transfor
mation on the wave function. From this some
general properties of the scattering matrix
(e.g., the reciprocity theorem) may be de
duced for a system for which time-reversal
is possible without changing the Hamiltonian
fundamentally.
TIME, RING. In radar, the time during which
the output of an echo box remains above a
specified level. The ring time is used in meas
uring the performance of radar equipment.
TIME, STANDARD. W ith the adoption of
mean solar time and the improvement in the
manufacture of timepieces, each locality set
its clocks to indicate its own local mean time.
As railway systems developed, an intolerable
confusion resulted from so many different
local times being used along the lines. The
first step toward standard time was the in
troduction of so-called railway time which
was the local civil time of some important
station on a particular railroad. As interstate
and international communication expanded,
particularly after the invention of the tele
phone and telegraph, it became apparent that
a universal standardization of time must be
adopted.
The modern plan developed from a sugges
tion made by Sandford Fleming in 1878 and
is now used by the armed services and inter
national sea and air transport systems. This
Zone Time has never been adopted for civilian
life, although it is approximated by in the
Standard Tim e system which is in general use.
A few of the smaller nations still use the local
civil times of their individual capitals as
standard everywhere within their borders.
The larger nations employ a system on which
the earth is divided into standard time zones.
Each zone is 15 of longitude, or one hour of
time, in width, with the center of each zone
an integral number of hours east or west of
Greenwich, England.
In Canada and the United States five stand
ard time zones are employed. These are
known as Atlantic (M aritim e), Eastern, Cen
tral, Mountain, and Pacific, and the centers
of each are 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 hours west of
Greenwich, respectively. The boundaries of
each zone are not set along meridians of longi
tude, but are determined by national, state,

municipal, or commercial convenience. In re

gions close to the zone boundaries there is still
some confusion remaining, but the conditions
are infinitely better than those of 85 years ago.
TIM E, STARTING, PULSED OSCILLATOR.
The interval between the leading-edge pulse
time of the pulse at the oscillator control ter
minals, and the leading-edge pulse-time of the
related output pulse.
TIM E, STORAGE (IN CHARGE-STORAGE
TUBES). See time, retention, maximum and
time, decay. T he use of the term storage time
is deprecated.
TIM E STORAGE, TRANSISTOR.
sistor parameter t8.

See tran

TIM E, SW ITCHING (STATIC MAGNETIC

STORAGE). (1) ( Ta), the time interval be
tween the reference time and the last instant
at which the instantaneous voltage response
of a magnetic cell reaches a stated fraction of
its peak. (2) ( Tx), the time interval between
the reference time and the first instant at
which the instantaneous integrated voltage
response reaches a stated fraction of its peak
value.

TIM E, TRANSIT.
The time required for
an electron in a beam to pass between a given
pair of electrodes.
TIM E, UNIT OF. The fundamental unit of
time in all standard systems of physical units
is the second.
TIME-VARIED GAIN (TVG).
trol, temporal.
TIM E, W ORD.

See gain-con-

Synonym for cycle, minor.

TIN. M etallic element. Symbol Sn (Stannum ). Atom ic number 50.

TINT.

A mixture of a color with white.

TINT OF PASSAGE. Color produced by a

non-colored plate placed between crossed po
larizers, if the plate rotates the plane of polar
ization through an angle which depends on
the number of wavelengths of light in the
thickness of the plate. Suppose, for example,
that a piece of quartz has a thickness such
that rotation is 90 for a wavelength of light
in the green-yellow region, that is, about
5600 A. Suppose that this piece of quartz is
inserted between a polarizer and an analyzer,

TIM E, THERM AL TUNING (HEATING).

The time required to tune through a specified
frequency range when the tuner power is in
stantaneously changed from zero to the speci
fied maximum. The initial condition must be
one o f equilibrium.
TIM E, THERM AL TUNING (COOLING).
The time required to tune through a specified
frequency range when the tuner power is in
stantaneously changed from the specified m ax
imum to zero. The initial condition must be
one of equilibrium.
TIM E, TRANSFER (RELAY).
The total
elapsed time between the breaking of one set
of contacts and the making of another set of
contacts. (1) Transfer time on operate. The
total elapsed time from the instant the nor
mally closed contacts start to open until the
normally open contacts are closed and all con
tact bounce has ceased. (2) Transfer time on
release. The total elapsed time from the in
stant the normally open contacts start to open
until the normally closed contacts are closed
and all contact bounce has ceased.

P'

Diagram to show the meaning of tint of passage

when a piece of quartz cut with faces perpendicular
to the optic axis is placed between an analyzer and a
polarizer. (By permission from Introduction to Op
tics, Geometrical and Physical by Robertson, 4th
Ed., 1954, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

the vibration plane of the former being repre

sented by PO P' plane in the figure. In the
same figure, then the vibration plane for light

of wavelength 5600 A on emergence from the

crystal is represented by M O M ', the angle
P O M being equal to 90. For a longer w ave
length, 6000 A, for example, the vibration
plane is represented by N O N ' the angle PON
being considerably less than 90. For a shorter
wavelength such as 5200 A, the vibration plane
is rotated through a greater angle, and hence
is represented by ZOZ'.
If, now, the analyzer is turned so that its
vibration plane is parallel to that of the polar
izer, light of wavelength 5600 A is com pletely
cut off, the resultant shade of the transmitted
light being a grayish-violet. A slight rotation
one way from this position evidently increases
the transmitted intensity of 6000 A and other
wavelengths toward the red end of the spec
trum, but decreases that of 5000 A and the
shorter waves at the blue end. The grayishviolet tint is then replaced by a deep pink.
A slight rotation in the opposite direction,
however, decreases the intensity of the longer
waves, increasing that of the shorter, and so
causes a quick change from the grayish-violet
to a deep blue. As the contrast between pink
and blue is very marked and takes place as
the result of a slight rotation, the gray-violet
shade is called the tint of passage or sensitive
tint. Because of this fact, even with white
light as a source it is possible to set an ana
lyzer in a critical position, if a piece of quartz
of such a thickness is placed before it.

TM mn>p RESONANT M ODE (IN CYLIN

DRICAL CAVITY).
See resonant mode,
T M m,ntP (in cylindrical cavity).
TM W AVE.

See wave, TM.

TM m,n W A V E (IN CIRCULAR W AVEGUIDE). See wave, T M w>n (in circular wave
guide).
T NETWORK.

See network, T.

TOE AND SHOULDER (OF AN H AND D

CURVE). The terms applied to the nonlinear
portions of the H and D curve which lie, re
spectively, below and above the straight por
tion of this curve.
TOEPLER-HOLTZ MACHINE.
machines.

See static

TOLERANCE, FREQUENCY.
See fre
quency tolerance of a radio transmitter.
TOMONAGA-SCHRDINGER EQUATION.
Equation of motion of the state vector of a
quantized field <j>(x), expressed as a covariant
equation by giving a prescription for finding <f>
on a space-like surface a( x) when it is speci
fied on another such surface which is infinitesimally close.
d$
i h --------= H(x)<i>.
d<r(x)
(See also Schrdinger equation.)

TINTOMETER.
A widely used type of
colorimeter, in which the intensity of color,
and hence the concentration of the colored
substance in a colored solution, is determined
by comparison with colored glass slides or
standard solutions.
TINTOM ETER, LOVIBOND. An empirical
colorimeter (see colorimeter, empirical) in
which light to match a sample is passed suc
cessively through three glass filters, each of
which is chosen from a series (yellow, red and
blue) to effect the best possible match.
TISELIUS M ETHOD.
by Tiselius method.

See electrophoresis

TITANIUM. M etallic element.

Atom ic number 22.

TON. In the United States, a unit of weight

equal to 2000 pounds (short ton). The long
ton is equal to 2240 pounds and is more widely
used in England. The m etric ton is equal to
1000 kilograms.
TONE. (1) A sound wave capable of excit
ing an auditory sensation having pitch. (2)
A sound sensation having pitch.
TONE ARM.

See arm, pickup.

TONE, COMPLEX. (1) A sound wave pro

duced by the combination of simple sinusoidal
components of different frequencies. (2) A
sound sensation characterized by more than
one pitch. (See also timbre.)

Symbol Ti.

TM . Abbreviation for transverse magnetic.

(See wave, transverse magnetic.)

TONE, FUNDAMENTAL.
(1) The com
ponent in a periodic wave corresponding to
the fundamental frequency. (See frequency,
fundamental.)
(2) The component tone of

lowest pitch in a complex tone.

complex.)

(See tone,

TONES, AEOLIAN.
The tones produced
when a current of air strikes a stretched wire
normal to its length. (See Strouhal formula.)
TONES, COM BINATION. Due to distortion
in the ear, the vibrations received in the
cochlea, with the consequent sensations, do
not accurately represent the periodic varia
tions of the air pressure in the auditory canal,
and sounds are heard subjectively which have
no external physical existence. When two
pure musical tones (see tone, simple) are
sounded, many persons can hear other tones in
addition to the two actual ones. These sub
jective sensations are called combination
tones, from the fact that they correspond in
pitch to tones having frequencies equal to the
difference, to the sum, or to other simple com
binations of the two actual frequencies. It
was formerly supposed that the difference tone
was the effect of beats, but Helmholtz detected
the sum tone, and showed, further, that the
difference tone sensation is too loud to be at
tributed to beats.
TONE, SEMI- (HALF STEP). The interval
between two sounds whose basic frequency
ratio is approximately equal to the twelfth
root of two. The interval, in equally tem
pered semitones, between any two frequencies,
is 12 times the logarithm to the base 2 (or
39.86 times the logarithm to the base 10) of
the frequency ratio. (See also scale, equallytempered, and scale, just.)
TONE, SIMPLE (PURE TONE).
(1) A
sound wave, the instantaneous sound pressure
of which is a simple sinusoidal function of
the time. (2) A sound sensation character
ized by its singleness of pitch.
TONES, SUMMATION AND
DIFFER
ENCE. Discussed under combination tones.
(See tones, combination.)
TONES, SUSTAINED.
Tones that are
sounded for a sufficiently long interval so that
steady-state conditions (see state, steady) can
be assumed in the room in which they are
sounded.
TONE, W ARBLE. A pure tone (see tone,
simple) whose frequency is modulated ac
cording to some regular pattern.

TONE, W H O LE (W H OLE STEP). The in

terval between two sounds whose basic fre
quency ratio is approximately equal to the
sixth root of two.
(See also scale, equallytempered, and scale, just.)
TONOTRON.
storage tube.
TOP.

Trade name for a particular

See rotator, symmetric or asymmetric.

TOP MOLECULE.
asymmetric.

See rotator, symmetric or

TOP, MOTION OF.

tion.

See precession; nuta

TOP, SLEEPING. A top is said to sleep

when it rotates with constant angular speed
about its axis in a vertical position with
neither precession nor nutation,
TORNADOES. Some thunderstorms, partic
ularly the line-squall type, occasionally de
velop a violent whirl of air which extends
down from the base of the cloud and touches
the earth. It often draws up into the cloud
again and may strike some distance away or
never reappear. Very low pressure prevails
inside a tornado because of its great vorticity.
TOROIDAL COORDINATES.
nate system, toroidal.

See coordi

TORQUE.
(1) For a single particle the
torque is the moment of the resultant force on
the particle with respect to a particular ori
gin. This is expressed by the vector product
L = r X F, where L is the torque, r is the
position vector with respect to the origin, and
F is the resultant force. The torque is equal
to the time rate of change of the angular mo
mentum. (See rigid body, general equation).
(2) For a rigid body acted upon by body
forces the torque with respect to a set of axes
is expressed by the relation
L = | r X F Vdv,

Jv

where F v is the resultant force per unit volume

due to external forces on the element dv and r
is the position vector of the volume element.
(See moment of force.) For a rigid body
undergoing free rotation about a single axis,
the torque L = l a , where I is the moment
of inertia and a is the angular acceleration.
(See inertia, moments and products of,) (3)

In engineering mechanics usage a torque often

refers to the torsional or twisting moment or
couple which tends to twist a rigidly fixed ob
ject such as a shaft about an axis of rotation.

where 7ii is the index of refraction of the me

dium in which the radiation is incident and
n 2 that of the second medium.

A ir

/
A/y v \
/Y / X \

nt

W ater

nz

= n2sin i2
y = 9 0
2 = <P= C r itic a l Angle
ni = sm (p

sin

\ \

for

In the accom panying illustration a shaft of

diameter d is connected to a rigid support.
The forces P form a couple with a torque of
magnitude L = Pd and tend to rotate the shaft
in a counterclockwise direction.
TORQUE ON A RIGID
force on a rigid circuit.

CIRCUIT.

See

TORRICELLI LAW . The velocity of efflux

from an orifice in a container of liquid is equal
to the velocity attained by a body falling
freely from rest a distance equal to the depth
of the orifice below the free surface.
TORSION. The twisting of a solid cylinder
about its axis of symmetry in such a fashion
that lines originally parallel to the axis be
come helices. It is measured by the angle
through which the radius of any chosen circu
lar section of the cylinder is rotated from its
equilibrium position.
(See also stress, tor
sional; torque (3).)
TORUS.

See anchor ring.

TOTAL EMISSIVITY.

See emissivity.

TOTAL H EAD TUBE. A tube inserted in a

flow to measure the stagnation pressure or
the total head. (See pitot tube.)
TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION.
No
conventional mirror will ever reflect all of the
radiation striking it.
(See reflection coeffi
cient.) However, radiation in a more dense
medium, meeting the boundary o f a less dense
medium at an angle greater than the critical
angle, will be totally reflected back into the
more dense medium. The critical angle is

2
^
for Air n, 1
1

TOTALLY
UNBALANCED
(ON A BALANCED LINE).
push-push.

<pc = sin

See emit-

TOTAL STRESS ON SURFACE (IN ELEC

TRIC FIELD). The mutual repulsions of the
elements of charge on a charged body, say a
sphere, produce a tensile stress tending to ex
pand the body. A sphere of radius r, and
charge Q has the potential
V = Q/nr
where k is the dielectric constant of the sur
rounding medium (unrationalized units). The
increase of energy upon the addition of charge
dQ is
QdQ
dU = VdQ =

KT

so that
u = \Q2/kt.
If now the sphere is allowed to expand under
the effects of the radial stress S (per unit area
of surface)

dU

QdQ

wr2Sdr

kt

so that for constant Q:

n2

(dU\ _ _ 1 Q2

nx

\ dr ) q

CURRENTS
See current,

TOTAL RADIANT EMITTANCE.

tance.

but
.

<p is the C r itic a l Angl*

kt 2

so

product. Also called Spur from the German

word. W hen a matrix is a representation of
a group, its trace is called the character of the
representation. (See also line; display.)

Now

Q = 47rr2<r
where a is the surface charge density, hence
S = 2 tt(t2 /k.
TOURMALINE.
A natural mineral with
double-refracting crystals, and the added
property that the two rays are absorbed very
unequally. The use of tourmaline because of
its dark color has been largely replaced by
the use of polaroid.
TOW N SEN D COEFFICIENT, FIRST (<*).
The number of ion pairs formed by an elec
tron in each centimeter of drift toward the
central wire of a counter. It is a function of
the field strength, the nature of the gas, and
the gas pressure. An empirical formula due
to Townsend is:
a = A p e ~Bp/E,
where A and B are experimentally determined
constants, E is the field, p the pressure, and
a is the first Townsend coefficient, equal to
the number of electrons released by an initial
electron in traveling one centimeter through
the Townsend discharge.
(See discharge,
Townsend.)
TOW N SEN D COEFFICIENT, SECOND.
Usually denoted by y and defined as the num
ber of secondary electrons escaping from the
cathode of an ionization chamber per positive
ion produced in the gas.
TOW N SEN D THEORY. The theory describ
ing the formation of an electron avalanche in
a counter. (See avalanche, Townsend.)
TOY TOP. An experimental thermonuclear
device at the Livermore Laboratory, using the
magnetic mirror design and having high mag
netic compression after initial injection of
deuterium ions and electrons. (See magnetic
mirror.)
TPR.
TR.

Abbreviation for teleprinter.

Abbreviation for transmit-receive.

TRACE. The sum of the diagonal elements

of a matrix, indicated by Tr A = %A{i. Its
properties include Tr AB Tr BA; Tr C =
Tr A -T r B, where C = A X B, the direct

TRACER. In physics and to a lesser extent

in biology and chemistry, the term tracer,
without an adjective, is almost universally
accepted as meaning a radioactive isotope
which is used in a physical, chemical, or bio
logical process to trace the path followed by
some component of a system or the speed with
which the component follows a given path.
For instance the speed and efficiency of uptake
of iodine by the thyroid gland can be deter
mined by mixing with iodine taken in by the
body a known amount of the radioactive iso
tope I 131 and observing the number of I 131
gamma rays being emitted from the thyroid
as a function of time after administering the
iodine. In general, the term tracer refers to
any tagged atom molecule, compound, or com
ponent which can be expected to follow an un
known course or path and which by virtue of
its tag may later be identified and thus aid in
learning the nature of the path or course it
followed.
TRACK.

See course.

TRACK (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS).

That portion of a m oving-type storage me
dium which is accessible to a given reading
station; e.g., as on film, drum, tapes, or discs.
(See also band.)
TRACK, BILATERAL-AREA.
A photo
graphic sound track having the two edges of
the central area modulated according to the
signal.
TRACK, CONTROL. A supplementary sound
track, usually placed on the same film with
the sound track carrying the program mate
rial. Its purpose is to control, in some respect,
the reproduction of the sound track. Ordi
narily, it contains one or more tones, each of
which may be modulated either as to ampli
tude or frequency.
TRACK, DESIRED.
TRACK, FLIGHT.

See course line.

See flight track.

TRACK FOLLOW ER, AUTOMATIC.

chart-line follower, automatic.

See

TRACK HOMING. The process of following

a line of position known to pass through an
objective.
TRACKING. (1) The maintenance of proper
frequency-relations in circuits designed to be
simultaneously varied by gang operation. (2)
The process of keeping radio beams set on a
target. A motion given to the m ajor lobe (see
lobe, major) of an antenna, such that some
pre-assigned moving target in space is always
contained within the m ajor lobe.
(3) The
following of a groove by a phonograph needle.
(4) The process of causing an index to follow
the variation of a quantity by means of an
inverse feedback (servo) loop.
TRACKING, AID ED . A tracking system in
which the manual correction of the tracking
error (see error, tracking) automatically cor
rects the rate of motion of the tracking
mechanism.
TRACKING, AUTOM ATIC.
Tracking in
which a servo-mechanism automatically fol
lows some characteristic of the signal.
TRACKING NOISE. A ny deviation of the
tracking axis from the center of reflectivity
of a radar target (deviations other than nor
mal dynamic loop ).
TRACK, SINGLE (STANDARD TRACK).
A variable-density or variable-area sound
track in which both positive and negative
halves of the signal are linearly recorded.
TRACK, SOUND. A narrow band, usually
along the margin of a sound film or along a
magnetic tape which carries the sound record.
In some cases, a plurality of such bands may
be used.
TRACK, SOUND, CLASS-A PUSH-PULL.
Tw o single sound tracks side by side, the
transmission of one being 180 out of phase
with the transmission of the other. Both posi
tive and negative halves of the sound wave
are linearly recorded on each of the two tracks.
TRACK, SOUND, CLASS-B PUSH-PULL.
Tw o sound tracks side by side, one of which
carries the positive half of the signal only,
and the other the negative half. During the
inoperative half cycle, each track transmits
little or no light.

TRACK, SOUND, MULTIPLE. A group of

sound tracks, printed adjacently on a common
base, independent in character but in a com
mon time relationship, e.g., two or more have
been used for stereophonic sound recording.
TRACK, SQUEEZE.
A variable density
sound track wherein, by means of adjustable
masking of the recording light beam and
simultaneous increase of the electric signal
applied to the light modulator, a track hav
ing variable width with greater signal-to-noise
ratio is obtained.
TRACK, UNILATERAL AREA.
A sound
track in which one edge only of the opaque
area is modulated in accordance with the re
corded signal. There may, however, be a sec
ond edge modulated by a noise reduction de
vice.
TRACK, VARIABLE AREA. A sound track
divided laterally into opaque and transparent
areas, a sharp line of demarcation between
these areas forming an oscillographic trace of
the wave shape of the recorded signal.
TRACK, VARIABLE DENSITY. A sound
track of constant width and usually, but not
necessarily, of uniform light transmission on
any instantaneous transverse axis and of which
the average light transmission varies along the
longitudinal axis in proportion to some char
acteristic of the applied signal.
TRADITOR. A m ulti-port non-linear net
work element which is characterized by the
property of neither dissipating nor storing, but
only transferring energy.
TRAILING EDGE.
the decay of a pulse.

The major portion of

TRAJECTORY. A path in space which a

particle or system traverses. The forces act
ing on the particle or system determine this
path.
TRANCOR. Trade name for a highly-oriented,
3 % silicon-iron magnetic alloy.
TRANSADMITTANCE. See transadmittance
interelectrode; transadmittance, forward.
TRANSADMITTANCE, BEAM. In velocitymodulated electron tubes, the ratio of the
fundamental component of beam-current
through the output gap, to the fundamental

com ponent of the voltage

stream at the input gap.

applied

to

the

TRANSADMITTANCE
COMPRESSION
RATIO. The ratio of the magnitude of the
small-signal forward transadmittance of the
tube to the magnitude of the forward trans
admittance at a given input signal level.
TRANSADMITTANCE, FORWARD.
The
complex ratio of the fundamental component
of the short-circuit current induced in the
second of any tw o gaps to the fundamental
component of the voltage across the first.
TRANSADM ITTANCE,
FORW ARD,
SMALL-SIGNAL. The value of the forward
transadmittance obtained when the input
voltage is small compared to the beam voltage.
TRANSADM ITTANCE,
INTERELEC
TRODE (j-l INTERELECTRODE TRANS
AD M ITTAN CE OF AN n-ELECTRODE
ELECTRON TUBE). The short-circuit trans
fer admittance from the ;th electrode to the
Zth electrode.
TRANSADM ITTANCE, OVERALL. In v e
locity-m odulated electron tubes, the ratio of
the load current developed by the beam to
the actual beam current, multiplied by the
beam transadmittance.
(See transadmit
tance, beam.)
TRANSCEIVER. A portable device which
can perform both the functions of transmis
sion and reception of radio communications.
TRANSCENDENTAL. A term for numbers,
equations, or functions which are not alge
braic.
(For example, trigonometric and ex
ponential functions; see algebra.)
TRANSCONDUCTANCE.
As most com
monly used, the interelectrode transconduct
ance between the control grid and the anode.
A t low frequencies, transconductance is the
slope of the control-grid-to-anode transfer
characteristic.
(See transconductance, con
version (of a heterodyne conversion trans
ducer); transconductance, interelectrode (j-l
interelectrode transconductance).)
TRANSCONDUCTANCE,
CONVERSION
(OF A
HETERODYNE
CONVERSION
TRANSDUCER). The quotient of the mag
nitude of the desired output-frequency com
ponent of current by the magnitude of the in

put-frequency component of voltage when the

impedance of the output external termination
is negligible for all the frequencies which may
affect the result. Unless otherwise stated, the
term refers to the cases in which the inputfrequency voltage is of infinitesimal magni
tude. All direct electrode voltages and the
magnitude of the local-oscillator voltage must
be specified, fixed values.
TRANSCONDUCTANCE,
INTERELEC
TRODE (j-l INTERELECTRODE TRANS
CONDUCTANCE). The real part of the j-l
interelectrode transadmittance.
TRANSCRIBER. Equipment associated with
a computer for the purpose of transferring in
put (or output) data from a record of infor
mation in a given language to the medium and
the language used by a digital computer; or
from a computer to a record of information.
TRANSCRIPTION, ELECTRIC(AL). A 16inch, 33 Ys rpm recording mode, used primarily
for broadcast purposes.
TRANSDUCER. (1) A device by means of
which energy can flow from one or more trans
mission systems to one or more other trans
mission systems. The energy transmitted by
these systems may be of any form (for exam
ple, it may be electric, mechanical, or acous
tica l), and it may be of the same form or dif
ferent forms in the various input and output
systems.
(2) For some purposes the trans
ducer is defined (more narrowly) as a device
capable of being actuated by waves from one
or more transmission systems or media, and
of supplying related waves to one or more
other transmission systems or media. It is
sometimes implied that the input and output
energies shall be of different forms. E.g., an
electroacoustic transducer accepts electrical
waves and delivers acoustic waves.
TRANSDUCER, ACTIVE.
A transducer
whose output waves are dependent upon
sources of power, apart from that supplied
by any of the actuating waves, which power is
controlled by one or more of these waves.
TRANSDUCER, ATTENUATION VOLT
AGE. The ratio of the magnitude of the volt
age across the input of the transducer to the
magnitude of the voltage delivered to a speci
fied load impedance connected to the trans
ducer. I f the input and/or output power con

sist of more than one component, such as

multifrequency signal or noise, then the par
ticular components used and their weighting
must be specified. B y an extension of the term
decibel, this attenuation is often expressed in
decibels by multiplying its common logarithm
by 20.

related is meant any relation of linear char

acter whether by linear algebraic equation or
by linear differential equation or by other
linear connection.
The term waves con
cerned connotes actuating waves and related
output waves, the relation of which is of pri
mary interest in the problem at hand.

TRANSDUCER, BILATERAL. A transducer

capable of transmission simultaneously in both
directions between at least two terminations.

TRANSDUCER, M ODE (MODE TRANS

FORMER). A device for transforming an
electromagnetic wave from one mode of prop
agation to another.

TRANSDUCER, CONVERSION. An elec

tric transducer in which the input and the out
put frequencies are different.
If the frequency-changing property of a conversion
transducer depends upon a generator of fre
quency different from that of the input or
output frequencies, the frequency and voltage
or power of this generator are parameters of
the conversion transducer.
TRANSDUCER, DISSYMMETRICAL (DIS
SYMMETRICAL NETW ORK).
A trans
ducer whose input and output image imped
ances (see impedances, image) are not equal.
(2) A transducer in which the interchange of
at least one pair of specified terminations will
change the transmission.
TRANSDUCER, ELECTRIC. A transducer
in which all of the waves concerned are elec
tric.
TRANSDUCER, ELECTROACOUSTIC. A
transducer for receiving waves from an elec
tric system and delivering waves to an acous
tic system, or vice versa.
TRANSDUCER, ELECTROM ECHANICAL.
A transducer for receiving waves from an elec
tric system and delivering waves to a me
chanical system, or vice versa.
TRANSDUCER, IDEAL. An hypothetical
passive transducer (see transducer, passive)
which transfers the maximum possible power
from a specified source to a load. In linear
electric circuits and analogous cases, this is
equivalent to a transducer which (a) dissi
pates no energy and (b) when connected to
the specified source and load, presents to each
its conjugate.
TRANSDUCER, LINEAR. A transducer for
which the pertinent measures of all the waves
concerned are linearly related. B y linearly

TRANSDUCER, PASSIVE.
A transducer
whose output waves are independent of any
sources of power which is controlled by the
actuating waves.
TRANSDUCER POWER AMPLIFICATION.
See amplification, power (3).
TRANSDUCER, RECIPROCAL.
A trans
ducer which satisfies the principle of reciproc
ity.
(See reciprocity theorem, acoustical;
and reciprocity theorem, electroacoustical.)
TRANSDUCER, REVERSIBLE.
A trans
ducer in which the transducer loss is inde
pendent of the direction of transmission.
TRANSDUCER, SYMMETRICAL.
(1) A
transducer whose input and output image im
pedances (see impedances, image) are equal.
(2) A transducer in which all possible pairs
of specified terminations may be interchanged
without affecting transmission.
TRANSDUCER, TIME-SELECTION. A gat
ing or coincidence circuit.
TRANSDUCER, UNILATERAL.
A trans
ducer which cannot be actuated at its outputs
by waves in such a manner as to supply re
lated waves at its inputs.
TRANSDUCTOR. The name frequently ap
plied, in Europe, to a saturable reactor.
TRANSFER. (1) T o transmit, or copy, in
formation from one device to another. (2) T o
jump. (3) The act of transferring.
TRANSFER ADM ITTANCE (FROM THE
/TH TERMINAL TO THE fcTH TERMINAL
OF AN n-TERMINAL NETWORK). The
quotient of the complex alternating com po
nent I k of the current flowing to the kth ter
minal from the kth external termination by
the complex alternating component Vj of the

voltage applied to the ;th terminal with re

spect to the reference point when all other
terminals have arbitrary external termina
tions.
TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC. In elec
tron tubes, a relation, usually shown by a
graph, between the voltage of one electrode
and the current to another electrode, all other
electrode voltages being maintained constant.
(See characteristic curve.)
TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC (CAMERA
TUBES). A relation between the illumina
tion on the tube and the corresponding signal
output current, under specified conditions of
illumination.
The relationship is usually
shown by a graph of the logarithm of the sig
nal output current as a function of the loga
rithm of the illumination.
(See sensitivity,
illumination.)
TRANSFER CONSTANT.
(1) Of a trans
ducer, one-half the natural logarithm of the
com plex ratio of the steady-state product of
the force and the velocity, or the pressure and
volume velocity, or the voltage and current
entering the transducer to that leaving the
transducer when the latter is terminated in an
image impedance (see impedances, image).
(2) Of a network, one-half the natural loga
rithm of the complex ratio of the steady-state
volt-amperes entering and leaving the net
work, when the latter is terminated in its
image impedance.
TRANSFER CONTROL.

Synonym for jump.

TRANSFERENCE NUMBER (OR TRANS

PORT NUMBER). The transport number of
a given ion in an electrolyte is the fraction
of total current carried by that ion.
TRANSFERENCE NUMBER, METHODS
FOR. See sheared boundary method; mov
ing boundary method; Hittorf method.
TRANSFER FUNCTION. A relationship be
tween one system variable and another that
enables the second variable to be determined
from the first.
(For various transfer func
tions, see entries under feedback.)
TRANSFER OF CONTROL.
ditional.

See jump, con

TRANSFER OF CONTROL, UNCONDI

TIONAL. Synonym for jump, unconditional.
TRANSFER RATIO, The transfer function
from one system variable to another in a linear
system, expressed as the ratio of the Laplace
transform of the second variable to the L a
place transform of the first variable, assuming
zero initial conditions.
TRANSFER RATIO, LOOP.
loop transfer ratio.

See feedback

TRANSFER, UNCONDITIONAL (OF CON

TROL). In a digital computer which obtains
its instructions serially from an ordered se
quence of addresses, an instruction which
causes the following instruction to be taken
from an address which becomes the first of
a new sequence.
TRANSFLUXOR. A magnetic memory ele
ment in which the magnetic field varies ap
preciably across the core, to give non-destruc
tive read-out.
A two-holed transfluxor is
illustrated below,

The cross-sectional area A is at least equal to the

sum of the areas B and C . The ratio of the diameter
of the larger hole to the outside diameter of the en
tire core is chosen small enough so that the field pro
duced by a field in the set winding varies appreciably
across the core diameter.

The cross-sectional area A is equal or greater

than the sum of the areas B and C. The ratio
of the diameter of the larger hole to the out
side diameter of the entire core is chosen small
enough so that the field produced by a field in
the set winding varies appreciably across the
core diameter.
TRAN SFORM .
(1) If A, B, X are three
matrices or three elements of a group, then
B = X ~ 1A X is the transform of A by X and
A and B are conjugate to each other. The
complete set of group elements which are con
jugate to each other form a class of the group.

(2) An integral equation of the first kind,

g(z) = J K (x ,z ) f (x ) d x

TRANSFORMATION,
COLLINEATORY.
Tw o matrices so related that one is the trans
form of the other:
B = X _1A X ,

is called the transform of f ( x ) . Special cases

are the Euler, Fourier, Laplace, Hankel, Mellin, etc., transforms. (3) See conformal.
TRANSFORMATION. (1) A change of vari
ables in an algebraic expression. I f inter
preted geometricallly it is a map or mapping.
Matrix notation is frequently convenient for
discussing transformations. (2) The expres
sion of quantities referred to a new coordinate
system in terms of the representation of the
quantities with respect to the old coordinate
system.
TRANSFORMATION, AFFINE.
A trans
formation (1) of the form x' = axx + bxy +
Ci; y ' = a2x + b2y + c2. If the determinant
of the coefficients, A = axb 2 a2bx ^ 0, special
cases of it are translations, rotations, reflec
tions in the axes, strains, elongations, and
compressions. Parallel lines or finite points
are transformed into similar configurations;
the line at infinity remains fixed. If A = 0,
the transformation is singular.
TRANSFORMATION,
CANONICAL.
A
transformation from one set of generalized
coordinates and momenta to a new set such
that the form of the canonical equations of
motion is preserved. This usually involves
finding a transformation function S which is
a continuous and differentiable function of the
old and new generalized coordinates and the
time. The transformation can be defined by
dS
L(qyq) = L'(Q,Q) +
dt
where L is the Lagrangian function in orig
inal set of coordinates, and U is the Lagran
gian function in the transformed set of co
ordinates.
(C f. canonical equation of mo
tion; Lagrangian function.)
TRANSFORMATION CIRCLE. In imped
ance matching, a circle on a complex fre
quency plane which may be transformed by
various impedance-changing schemes to co
incide with the definition circle. (See Smith
chart.)

where X -1

is the reciprocal to X.

(Also

called, from the German, hnlichkeitstransformation.)

TRANSFORMATION, CONGRUENT.

Tw o

matrices so related that B = XAX, where X

is the transpose of X.
TRANSFORMATION,
CONJUNCTIVE.
Tw o matrices, A and B, so related that B =
X^AX, where X* is the Hermitian conjugate
of X. I f the matrices are all real, the trans
formation is also congruent. (See transforma
tion, congruent.)
TRANSFORMATION CONSTANT.
onym for disintegration constant.

A syn

TRANSFORMATION, CONTACT. A trans

formation (1) which transforms line elements
(position and direction) rather than points.
The law of transformation from (x ,y ,z ) to new
coordinates (xf,y',z') is expressed as:
J f ( x ,y ,z ; x',y',z')dT = const.
When
xdS/dx + ydS/dy = 0
and
x'dS/dx' + y fdS/dy' = 0,
then S is a contact transformation.
TRANSFORMATION INVERSION.
version; symmetry, center of.

See in

TRANSFORMATION, LINEAR. A change

in variable, conveniently given in matrix form
as x' = Rx (see vector). A more general re
lation is the linear fractional transformation
which is a mapping or transformation in the
complex plane:
az + b
w = ---------- ;
cz + d

(ad be) ^ 0,

where a, b, c, d are constants, real or com

plex. A circle in the 2 -plane is transformed
into a circle in the w-plane. A straight line
transforms in the same way, for it may be
regarded as a special case of a circle. Since
there are only three independent constants in

the transformation, any three points zi, z2, z 3

are images of w i, w2, w$. Thus the points in
the ^-plane become 0, 1, oo by the transfor
mation:
(*2 -

Z3) ( z -

Z i)

w ------------------------------(z2 - zi)(z - z3)

Other terms used for this type of transforma
tion are M obius, general bilineary and homo
graphic transformation.
TRANSFORMATION OF COORDINATES.
An equation describing a physical problem
may be expressed in any one of many different
coordinate systems. It may be re-expressed
in a different coordinate system by means of
a set of transformation equations that give
the coordinates of one system in terms of the
coordinates of the other system.
T ypical
transformation equations may be found in the
entries for the various coordinate systems.
(See also transformation, orthogonal.)
TRANSFORMATION,
ORTHOGONAL.
(1) A linear transformation from one rectan
gular Cartesian coordinate system
x2, x3)
to another ( x / , x2 , x 3') can be written:
Xi

1 1 ^ 1 +

12^2 +

^13^3*

x 2 a2\Xi + a22x 2 + a23x3f

Xz

= 31^1 + 32^2 + 33^3 -

If x\, x2, 3 specify a radius vector, then the

radius vector specified by X i, x 2 , x 3' must be
of the same magnitude (see invariance
principle). This requires that
y^ agaik
i

8 jk)

where j, k = 1, 2, 3, and bjk is the Kronecker

delta. A transformation that satisfies these
relations is called orthogonal.

As an example, consider the transformation

from the two-dimensional system x 1} x 2 to the
rotated system X i, x 2 . The transformation
equations are:

Xi = X\ cos <f> + x 2 sin <t>,

x 2 = xi sin <j> + x 2 cos <.
It is easily shown that the orthogonality rela
tions are satisfied for this transformation.
A linear orthogonal transformation can be
expressed in terms of a transformation matrix,

( an

ai2

ai3

21

a 22

a 23

3 1

a S2

^33

The transformation equations can then be

written as Ar = r' where A is a matrix
operator, operating on the vector r and trans
forming it into the vector r'. For the two
dimensional example the transformation matrix
is
cos <j> sin 4 )\
sin <j> cos $ /
(2) The above ideas can be generalized to
multidimensional spaces such as Hilbert space.
(See also complete orthogonal set, expansion
in; eigenfunction.)
TRANSFORMATION,
REAL
ORTHOG
ONAL. A transform which is both collineatory and congruent:
B = X A X = X xA X .
(See transformation, collineatory and trans
formation, congruent.)
TRANSFORMATION, REORDERING.
A
term used in matrix algebra to describe any
matrix for which all non-zero elements are
unity and which has one and only one non
zero element in each row and each column.
Multiplication of any general matrix M by
such a matrix does nothing more than reorder
the elements of M . More generally, if R is
considered as a matrix representing a trans
formation of coordinates, it can be seen that it
reorders the coordinate axes, corresponding to
nothing more than a relabeling of them.
TRANSFORMATION, ROTATION. When a
set of quantities used in the description of a
physical system is expressed in terms of a sys
tem of space coordinates, this set of quantities
will undergo a transformation if the original
space coordinates are replaced by a new co
ordinate system. If the new coordinate system
is obtained from the old by a simple rotation,

then the transformation rotating the set of

quantities under consideration in the new co
ordinate system to the set in the old coordinate
system is called a rotation transformation.
This transformation is usually expressed in
terms of a matrix which is called the rotation
matrix for the set under consideration. Every
set will in general have its own rotation matrix
which will depend upon the axis around which
the rotation is carried out and the angle of the
rotation. However, if the set is a tensorial
set which is first transformed to its irreducible
form and, while keeping it in its irreducible
form, further transformed to make the matrix
representing an infinitesimal rotation around
the -axis of the underlying Cartesian coordi
nate system differ from the unit matrix by a
pure imaginary matrix, then any set am of
order ( 2 ; + l ) will have the same set of rotation
matrices. The elements of the rotation matrix
for such a standard irreducible tensorial set are
0, <t>) =

[(j+m) ?0'm) !Q+m) !Q~wr) !]^

( j ixr)\(j-\-mr)\r\(r+iLm)\
/

0\2 j~ -n + m 2r

( cos I
V
2/

0\ 2r+/xm

* ( sin I
V
2/

>

where the rotation is being described in terms

of
6 y and (> as follows.
First a rotation of 4> around the 2 -axis, then
a rotation 6 around the ?/-axis and finally a ro
tation around the z-axis. It can be seen that
i/', 0, </>are actually the Euler angles of the ro
tation. In terms of D, the elements of the set
a'*V is in the new coordinates are given in terms
of afJm b y the expression.
a'% = X )

6,

For two special cases, D becomes especially

sim ple:
/ 47T \ ^ .

where YJm is the normalized spherical har

m onic.
TRANSFORMATION
for radioactive series.

SERIES.

Synonym

TRANSFORMATION, SIMILARITY.
transformation, collineatory.

See

TRANSFORMATION, UNITARY. A trans

formation which is both collineatory and con
junctive (see transformation, collineatory and
transformation, conjunctive):
B = X fA X = X ^ A X .
TRANSFORMER. A device for transferring
electric energy from one circuit to another by
magnetic induction, usually with a change of
voltage. There are no moving parts, nor is
there any electrical connection of the two cir
cuits (except in the case of the auto-trans
former) ; the energy is transferred through
magnetic linkage. Regardless of the voltage,
the energy supply circuit is termed the pri
mary, and the energy receiving circuit the
secondary.
Transformers may be classed as follows:
1. According to purpose.
a. Constant voltage ratio.
b. Constant current.
c. Feeder voltage regulation.
2. According to use.
a. H eavy duty. Power type as used in
substations.
b. Distribution. A t customer end of the
distribution system.
c. Instrument.
Potential and current
transformers of small capacity and
light weight, but having accurate ra
tios and phase relationships between
input and output.
3. According to arrangement of magnetic cir
cuit.
a. Shell type. Large, low-voltage units.
b. Core type. Small, high-voltage units.
4. According to arrangement of electric cir
cuit.
a. Single- or three-phase. Small trans
formers are often three-phase, but
large capacity is met by the threephase connection of three single
phase transformers.
b. Connection of three-phase windings.
A to A, A to Y , to Y, open A.
(See
multiphase circuits.)
5. According to cooling.
a. Air-cooled.
b. Oil-filled. Oil-cooled by direct radia
tion or by heat transfer to separate
water-cooling system.
c. Pyranol-filled.

TRANSFORMER, ANTIHUNT.
A trans
former used in d -c feedback systems as a
stabilizing network. In general practice the
primary of this transformer is in series with
the load connected to the system. The second
ary of the transformer has a voltage which is
proportional to the derivative of the primary
current, and is thus an appropriate signal to
be fed back into some other part of the loop
to prevent self-oscillations.
TRANSFORMER, CERAMIC. A device that
has characteristics much like those of a trans
former fabricated from a ceramic material,
such as barium titanate, made permanently
piezoelectric. The application of a periodic
field to the driver portion of the bar causes
the whole bar to vibrate by the converse piezo
electric effect. The vibration will be maxi
mized if the frequency of the driving voltage
corresponds to one of the resonant frequencies
o f the mechanical system. The large strain
resulting in the right side of the bar produces
a potential difference across the output termi
nals by the direct piezoelectric effect.
Appreciable voltage ratios m ay be achieved
by these devices. Although they may be op
erated at power levels of several watts, they
are basically high impedance devices, suitable
for providing voltages for cathode-ray tube
accelerating potentials, etc.
Since the operation of the device is inher
ently frequency-sensitive, it can be used as a
filter.
TRANSFORMER, CURRENT.
former, instrument.

See

trans

TRANSFORMER, D-C. A magnetic ampli

fier used to instrument the measurement of

TRANSFORMER, DELTA-MATCHING. A
matching network (see network, matching)
used between half-wave antennas and twowire transmission lines. The antenna is not
cut, as its center and the transmission lines
are fanned out before connection to it. The
resultant delta-shaped pattern gives the net
work its name.
TRANSFORMER, DIFFERENTIAL. A type
of hybrid network sometimes used for joining
two or more sources of signals to a common
line. (See network, hybrid.)
TRANSFORMER, FLYBACK.
The trans
former, usually made with a ferrite core, which
serves as an impedance-matching element be
tween the horizontal output tube and the hori
zontal deflecting coils in a television receiver
or similar equipment. The name flyback is
applied because of an additional function per
formed by the transformer. The high volt
age induced in the deflection coils caused by
the collapse of the magnetic field during the
flyback period is further increased by trans
former action, at which level it is rectified by
a tube whose heater is also supplied from a
winding on this transformer. The net d-c
voltage developed is in the order of 10 to 20
thousand volts and is used for post-deflection
acceleration.
TRANSFORMER, HYBRID.
hybrid.

See network,

TRANSFORMER, IDEAL.
(1) A hypo
thetical transformer which neither stores nor
dissipates energy. Its self-inductances have
a finite ratio, and unity coefficient of coupling.
Its self- and mutual-impedances are pure in
ductances of infinitely great value. An ideal
transformer satisfies the following relations:
Ei = nE 2,
11 = J2/n ,
and transforms load impedances by the fac
tor n2. (2) An ideal transformer may also be
defined as a transformer employing ideal core
or cores operating in the unsaturated region
of the core characteristic, having perfect cou
pling between windings and further character
ized by absence of winding resistances, losses,
and capacitances.

direct-currents. The current to be measured

is used as a control signal, resulting in a pro
portional alternating current. (See figure.)

TRANSFORMER, INSTRUMENT.
When
currents, potential differences, power, etc., are

to be measured in an alternating current cir

cuit, it is often more convenient to use instru
ment transformers, rather than shunts and
multipliers, to extend the range of the instru
ments. A 'potential transformer is one having
a ratio of secondary to primary turns that is
less than u n ity ; its primary is connected across
the two points between which the potential
difference is desired and its secondary to the
terminals of a voltmeter or of the potential
coil of a wattmeter. A current transformer
has a corresponding ratio greater than unity;
its primary is connected in series with the
circuit element through which the current is
to be measured and its secondary to the ter
minals of an ammeter or of the current coils
o f a wattmeter. Because of the availability
of instrument transformers, many alternating
current instruments are designed for full scale
ranges of five amperes or 150 volts.
(For
further details, see also W . C. Michels, E lec
trical M easurem ents and Their Applications,
D . Van Nostrand Co. Inc., 1957, Chap. 4.)
TRANSFORMER, INTERPHASE. A trans
former (usually a center-tapped autotrans
former) employed in some polyphase rectifier
circuits to connect two points having the same
average d-c potential, but different a-c po
tentials. The d-c current is customarily taken
from the center tap of this transformer.

and power windings are employed, commonly

to secure voltage transformation or circuit
isolation from the a-c supply.
TRANSFORMER, SECONDARY OF.
A
transformer winding connected to a load. An
energized winding is called a primary.
TRANSFORMER, W AVEGUIDE.
guide transformer.

See wave

TRANSFORM,
ROTATIONAL
(ROTA
TIONAL TRANSFORM ANGLE). Consider
a magnetic field in a system which is topo
logically equivalent to a torus, as shown in
Fig. 1.

And consider the intersection of a single line

of force with the plane A. Fig. 2.

TRANSFORMER, MATCHING.
A trans
former used for purposes of impedance match
ing.
TRANSFORMER, PEAKING. A transformer
which is supplied, through a large series im
pedance, with a voltage of many times the
magnitude necessary to produce normal flux
densities in the core. Tw ice each cycle, there
fore, the flux travels rapidly from one satura
tion region to the other, resulting in a sharp
pulse of induced voltage in a secondary wind
ing. The secondary winding is sometimes
wound on a core made of high-permeability
material with a smaller cross-sectional area,
to increase the saturation effects resulting in
a sharper pulse. Used to provide firing pulses
for ignitrons and thyratrons, it is sometimes
also called an impulse transformer.
TRANSFORMER, POTENTIAL.
former, instrument.

If the field possesses the property that the

successive intersections differ by a rotation
through an angle i (called the rotational trans
form angle), it can be shown that an approxi
mate surface will be traced out as in Fig. 3.

Magnetic surfaces

See trans

TRANSFORMER, SATURABLE. A satur

able reactor in which both output windings

Fig. 3.

This surface is called a magnetic surface.

(The point 0 is the magnetic axis.) M agnetic
fields with the above properties are said to
possess rotational transforms. The field of
the stellarator is of such a nature. It can be
shown that the existence of a rotational trans
form tends to confine a plasma for use as a
controlled thermonuclear reactor.
TRANSIENT. (1) That part of the forced
oscillation (see oscillation, forced) of a lin
ear system which decays more or less rapidly
after the imposition of the force; to be dis
tinguished from the steady state. (See decay
modulus; logarithmic decrement.)
(2) The
non-permanent terms in the response of an
electric network to a stimulus.
(See state,
steady.)
TRANSIENT, FACSIMILE. A damped os
cillatory transient occurring in the output of
the system as a result of a sudden change in
input.

TRANSISTOR. An electronic device for rec

tification an d /or amplification consisting of a
semiconducting material to which contact is
made by three or more electrodes, which are
usually metal points, or by soldered junctions.
In essence, a transistor consists of a rectify
ing junction between the base and the col
lector. Characteristic of such a junction is a

Il
Ie"0.5
/

1
V-~Jt
j

!
/

/f
/

. i
! ;
>
/
//.

*/
/
/

^*

r\r\
f-e--1
1

r!
/
/

/
\/

//
(

/
I

'h

/
y
-

Ve=50-

'

J
r

i
(..

1
1

/
//

f\

/
/

-t i-.
J
e r/
u
,/j
V/
1

W
vec0.1T
.. Ve=0.2
...
-Ve !0.3

XC

TRANSIENT MOTION. A motion which has

not reached or has ceased to be a steady state.
(See state, steady.)

Transistor characteristic curves, Vc is collector volt

age, Ic is collector current, Ve is emitter voltage and
Ie is emitter current.

TRANSIENT RESPONSE, ACOUSTIC. The

response of an acoustical system to a sud
denly impressed force or pressure.

space-charge layer. B y injecting, from an

emitter, carriers of the opposite sign, the cur
rent carried by the junction can be altered
and controlled. This is realized in practice
in various ways, as in the type-A , filamentary,
and p-n junction transistors.
Compared with a vacuum tube, a transistor
requires no heater current, is small and light,
can be made mechanically rigid and longlasting, and operates at low voltages with rela
tively high currents. However, transit time
effects limit the frequency response, and the
operating characteristics depend on tempera
ture.

TRANSINFORMATION (OF AN OUTPUT

SYMBOL ABOUT AN INPUT SYMBOL).
The difference between the information con
tent of the input symbol and the conditional
information content of the input symbol given
the output symbol.
If Xi is an input symbol and t/;- is an output
symbol, the transinformation is equal to

[ - logp(xi)] - [ - log v (x i\y})]

.

V&i, Vi)

P i*i)

p (,X i)p (y j)

where p{xi\yj) is the conditional probability

that Xi was transmitted when yj is received,
and p(xi, yf) is the joint probability of Xi and
yj. This quantity has been called transferred
information, transmitted information and mu
tual information.
TRANSINFORMATION, AVERAGE
(OF
OUTPUT SYMBOLS AND INPUT SYM
BOLS). Transinformation averaged over the
ensemble of pairs of transmitted and received
symbols.

TRANSISTOR,
AVALANCHE.
Another
name for a semiconductor controlled rectifier.
TRANSISTOR BASE CURRENT IB0, I beo,
Ibco* The base current when the base is biased
in the reverse (high resistance) direction with
respect to the reference electrode, and the
other electrode (s) is d-c open-circuited (to
the reference electrode). (For further infor
mation concerning these parameters see tran
sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR BASE CURRENT I BB9 I BES,
I bcs The base current when the base is biased
in the reverse (high resistance) direction with

respect to the reference electrode, and the other

electrode (s) is d-c short-circuited (to the ref
erence electrode).
(For further information
concerning these parameters see transistor
symbols.)
TRANSISTOR BASE RESISTANCE.
transistor parameter r6.

product of the individual h /s. An example

of the common-emitter connection is shown
below.

See

TRANSISTOR, BILATERAL. A transistor

in which the emitter-base junction is identical
to the collector-base junction.
Thus, the
emitter may be interchanged for the collector
without deterioration of characteristics merely
by reversing the respective emitter-collector
bias potentials.
TRANSISTOR, BIPOLAR.
A
transistor
which utilizes charge carriers of both polari
ties.
TRANSISTOR CIRCUIT STABILITY FAC
TOR. The circuit stability factor is expressed
by

TRANSISTOR, CONDUCTIVITY M ODU

LATION. A transistor in which the active
properties are derived from minority carrier
modulation of the bulk resistivity of a semi
conductor.
TRANSISTOR
CURRENT
AMPLIFICA
TION. See transistor parameter h 2 1.
TRANSISTOR
CURRENT
transistor parameter a.
TRANSISTOR, DIODE.

where I c is the d-c collector current and I co

is the cutoff d-c collector current with the
emitter open-circuited.
TRANSISTOR COLLECTOR CURRENT
lco-> Icbo> Iceo The collector current when
the collector is biased in the reverse (high
resistance) direction with respect to the refer
ence electrode and the other electrode (s) is
d -c open-circuited (to the reference electrode).
(For further information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR COLLECTOR CURRENT
Ics, Ices, Icbs The collector current when the
collector is biased in the reverse (high resist
ance) direction with respect to the reference
electrode, and the other electrode (s) is d-c
short-circuited (to the reference electrode).
(For further information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR COLLECTOR RESISTANCE.
See transistor parameter rc.
TRANSISTOR,
COMPOSITE
(COM
POUND). A combination of two or more
junction transistors in such a manner as to
provide a single input, a common load im
pedance, and an hf (current gain) which is the

GAIN.

See

See diode, PNPN.

TRANSISTOR DOUBLE-BASE. See transis

tor, unijunction; transistor, tetrode.
TRANSISTOR, DOUBLE - SURFACE.
A
point-contact transistor (see transistor, pointcontact) in which the emitter and collector
whiskers contact the opposite sides of the base
region.
TRANSISTOR EMITTER CURRENT IEOl>
Iebo? Ieco* The emitter current when the
emitter is biased in the reverse (high resist
ance) direction with respect to the reference
electrode and the other electrode (s) is d-c
open-circuited (to the reference electrode).
(For further information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR EMITTER CURRENT, I Eth
I e b s , I E o s
The emitter current when the
emitter is biased in the reverse (high resist
ance) direction with respect to the reference
electrode, and the other electrode (s) is d-c
short-circuited (to the reference electrode).
(For further information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR EMITTER
See transistor parameter re.

RESISTANCE.

TRANSISTOR, FIELD-EFFECT. A transis

tor utilizing the change of barrier thickness
with applied voltage as a control mechanism.

then are made to each end of the bar, while

the base contact is made to the base region,
generally located approximately midway be
tween the two ends, as shown in Figure 1.
B

Fig. 1. Grown-junction transistor.

In a field effect transistor, current flows through a
channel whose width is controlled by the instantane
ous bias on the gates.

TRANSISTOR, FILAMENTARY. A conductivity-m odulation transistor (see transistor,

conductivity-modulation) with a length much
greater than its transverse dimensions.

Shortly after the grown-junction technique

was introduced, the alloy technique was de
veloped, in which small dots of indium were
fused, or alloyed, into opposite sides of a ger
manium wafer of suitable conductivity. (See
Figure 2.)
Emitter and collector contacts

TRANSISTOR, HOOK - COLLECTOR.

A
tetrode junction transistor (P -N -P -N ) which
has a current amplification in excess of unity
by virtue of the hook effect at the collector
junction.
TRANSISTOR, INPUT IMPEDANCE.
transistor parameter h u.

See

TRANSISTOR, INTRINSIC BARRIER.

transistor, PNIP or NPIP.

See

TRANSISTOR, JUNCTION.
A transistor
having a base electrode and two or more junc
tion electrodes.
TRANSISTOR(S), JUNCTION, CLASSIFI
CATION. Transistors may be classified in
four m ajor categories: grown, alloy, electro
chemical, and diffusion transistors according
to the technique used to fabricate the emitter
region. In this classification scheme the d if
fusion category includes only one of many
types of transistors made by diffusion; other
types of transistors made by diffusion are listed
under the alloy, grown, and electrochemical
categories.
Classical Techniques
The first junction transistors, in 1951, were
of the grown-junction type. This type of
transistor consists of a rectangular bar cut
from a germanium crystal that has been grown
from a melt to which suitable impurities have
been added. Emitter and collector contacts

then are made to each of the dots, and the base

contact is made to the wafer. Silicon transis
tors also can be made by each of these two
techniques.
Attempts to reduce the dimensions of alloy
transistors for high-frequency use led to the
introduction of electrochemical etching and
plating techniques and subsequently to the
development of the surface-barrier transistor.
Physically the construction of this type tran
sistor is very similar to that of the alloy tran
sistor, except that depressions are etched into
the wafer before the collector and emitter dots
are added, and the latter are generally much
smaller than in the conventional alloy tran
sistor.
In each of these three classical methods of
fabrication the three regions of the transistor
emitter, base, and collector generally are
of uniform resistivity.
Diffusion Techniques
Solid-state diffusion techniques have pro
vided a new junction-transistor-fabrication
method which has a high degree of control.
Moreover, with diffusion techniques it is pos-

sible to form non-uniform emitter, base, and

collector regions which provide better tran
sistor electrical characteristics than are ob
tainable from the classical designs of uniformresistivity regions.
Diffusion of impurities can take place from
within the crystal or through the surface from
an external source; the latter process is gen
erally termed gaseous diffusion. It also is
possible to combine diffusion techniques with
one of the classical techniques described above.
For example, a non-uniform base region can
be obtained by diffusion, while the emitter and
collector junctions can be made by the alloy
technique.
Alternatively, one p-n junction
can be formed by diffusion and the other by
one of the classical techniques, or both p-n
junctions can be formed by diffusion.
As a result of this flexibility, transistors
made by diffusion m ay assume any one of
several physical appearances, some of which
are identical with corresponding classical
structures. On the other hand, many types
of diffusion transistors are of the mesa con
struction (Figure 3a), in which the semicon-

Classification Scheme
Figure 4 illustrates how diffusion is com
bined with the other transistor fabrication
methods to produce different types of tran
sistor structures.
Only p-n-p and n-p-n

Double Doped

Grown unctions

Grown - Diffused *

Rate - Grown

I
Melt - back

i
Melt - back Diffused -

Alloy or fused

Diffusion
Techniques

Diffused - Alloy
(Drift)
Alloy unctions
Alloy - Diffused

Diffused - Base

Surface - barrier
(SBT)
Electrochemical
iical
I
etch and plating
iting ""y
techniqui

Micro Alloy (MAT)

I
Micro - Alloy
Diffused (MADT)

Diffused emitter
and - base
or Double - Diffused

Fig. 4. Transistor classification scheme.

structures are discussed here; however, tran

sistors having an intrinsic region, i.e., p-n-i-p
or n -p-i-n structure, also can be formed by
the diffusion technique.
Grown-Junction Transistors (Figure 1)

Fig. 3.

Mesa-type diffused base or double-diffused

transistors.

ductor wafer is etched down in steps so that

the base and emitter regions remain as
plateaus above the collector region. Both
rectangular and circular cross sections have
been employed, as illustrated by Figure 3b
and 3c, respectively.

D ou ble-D oped Transistors. The original

grown-j unction transistor, formed by growing
a crystal and successively adding p- and n-type
impurities to the melt while the crystal is
being grown.
R ate-G row n or Graded-Junction Transis
tors. A variation of the double-doped type
described above, in which n- and p-type im
purities are added to the melt. The growth
rate is then varied in a periodic manner while

the crystal is drawn from the melt. The crys

tal contains a predominance of p-type impuri
ties during one stage of the growth cycle and
a predominance of n-type impurities during
the other stage, resulting in a crystal from
which n -p-n transistors can be cut.
M elt-B a ck Transistors. A variation of the
rate-grown transistor in which the rate grow
ing is performed on a very small physical scale.
This results in a lower thermal time constant
for the crystal growing system, producing
thinner base regions and hence higher-frequency transistors.
M elt-Q uench Transistors. V ery similar to
the m elt-back transistors described above.
Grown-D ifjused Transistors. A transistor
made by combining diffusion techniques and
the double-doped process. In this case, suit
able n- and p-type impurities are added simul
taneously to the melt while the crystal is being
grown.
Subsequently, the base region is
formed by diffusion during the continued
growth of the crystal.
M elt-B a ck Diffused Transistors. A tran
sistor made by combining diffusion techniques
and the m elt-back process, analogous to the
combination of the grown and diffusion tech
niques described above for grown-diffused
transistors. In this case, however, the impuri
ties are added to the transistor bar by the
m elt-back process, and then the transistor bar
is baked to form the base region by diffusion.
A lloy-Junction Transistors (Figure 2)
A lloy or Fused Transistor. A semiconduc
tor wafer of p- or n-type material with two
dots containing p- or n-type impurities fused
or alloyed into opposite sides of -the wafer to
provide emitter and base junctions, while the
base region comprises the original semicon
ductor wafer.
D rift Transistors
1. In scientific literature, a drift transistor
is a type which has a non-uniform, or graded
base region that provides a better high-frequency response than a similar uniform-base
structure.
2. D rift transistor, commercial. A trade
name for what is termed here a diffused-alloy
transistor.
D iffused-A lloy Transistor.
A transistor
made by combining diffusion and alloy tech
niques. The semiconductor wafer first is sub

jected to gaseous diffusion to produce the nonuniform base region, and then alloy junctions
are formed as in a conventional alloy tran
sistor.
An intrinsic region transistor, e.g.,
p-n -i-p, can be made by this technique by
starting with a semiconductor wafer of essen
tially intrinsic conductivity.
A lloy-D iffused Transistor. Another type of
transistor made by combining diffusion and
alloy techniques. In this case, the alloy dot
material contains both n- and p-type impuri
ties. Then the emitter-base junction is formed
by the conventional alloy process, while the
base region and collector-base junction are
formed by diffusion.
The collector region
comprises the original semiconductor wafer.
Alternatively, if the original wafer is of the
same conductivity type as the base region,
then the emitter-base junction and the base
region can be formed as just described, while
the collector junction can be formed by the
conventional alloy process. In this case, as
in the case of the diffused-alloy transistor, an
intrinsic region can be included between base
and collector.
D iffused-Base Transistor (Figure 8 ). A n
other type of transistor made by combining
diffusion and alloy techniques. In this case,
a non-uniform base region and the collectorbase junction are formed by gaseous diffusion
into a semiconductor wafer that constitutes
the collector region. Then the emitter-base
junction is formed by a conventional alloy
junction on the base side of the diffused wafer.
E lectro chemically Etched and Plated Tran
sistors
Surf ace-Barrier Transistor ( S B T ) . A wafer
of semiconductor material into which depres
sions have been etched on opposite sides of
the wafer by electrochemical techniques. The
emitter- and collector-base ju n ction s/7 or
m etal-semiconductor contacts are then formed
by electroplating a suitable metal on the semi
conductor in the etched depressions, while the
original wafer constitutes the base region.
M icro-A lloy Transistor ( MA T ) . A varia
tion of the surface-barrier transistor described
above in which suitable n- or p-type impuri
ties are first plated in the etched depressions
and then alloyed in the p- or n-type semicon
ductor wafer.
M icro-A lloy Diffused Transistor ( M A D T ) .
A transistor made by incorporating diffusion

techniques with the m icro-alloy transistor con

struction described above. In this case the
semiconductor wafer is subjected to gaseous
diffusion to provide a non-uniform base region
prior to the electrochemical plating process.
D iffusion Transistors (Figure 8)
D iffused-E m itter and -Base or D ou b le-D if
fused Transistor.
A semiconductor wafer
which has been subjected to gaseous diffusion
o f both n- and p-type impurities to form two
p-n junctions in the original semiconductor
material. An intrinsic-region transistor, e.g.,
p -n -i-p, can be made by a variation of this
process.

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER, B V C0, B V Cb o ,

B V ceoi B V eoi B V eboi B V ecoi B V b o* B V b eo*
B V b c o The breakdown voltage between the

electrode indicated by the first subscript when

it is biased in the reverse (high resistance)
direction with respect to the reference elec
trode and the other electrode is open-circuited.
(For further information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER hf , hfbl hf
hfei ^ 2 1 9 ^ 2 1
^ 2 ic 9 h,2 ie* The small-signal
short-circuit forward current transfer ratio,
d ie

i.e.,

hfb

dlE

V c b constant

TRANSISTOR OUTPUT ADMITTANCE.

See transistor parameter h22 .

(For further information concerning these

parameters, see transistor symbols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER,
afc9 a /6,
ctfe. The small-signal short-circuit forward cur
rent ratio,
d ie
i.e.,
<x/b =
3I e Vcb constant*

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h F, h FB, h FE,

H fc The static value of the short-circuit for
ward current transfer ratio,

The algebraic sign of a for the com mon base

configuration is taken as positive in accordance
with established usage, therefore
= hfb =
h2 ib- (For further information concerning
these parameters, see transistor symbols.)

i.e.,

Ic
I e V c b constant*

(For further information concerning these

parameters, see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h {, h i b , h i c ,
h i e , h n , h u b , h U c , h u e The small-signal
value of the short-circuit input impedance,

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER, aF9 aFB9 aFC,

clfe

The static value of the short-circuit for

ward current transfer ratio,
i.e.,

Feb

i.e.,

hib T
V c b constant

+ rc[re

Ic
OLFB
Ie

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER,
a rc. The small-signal short-circuit reverse cur
rent transfer function,
SIe

rb( 1

a)]

rb + rc

Vcb constant*

The algebraic sign of a for the com mon base

configuration is taken as positive in accordance
with established usage, therefore a/b = hfb =
/i2 ib- (For further information concerning
these parameters, see transistor symbols.)

(For further information concerning these

parameters, see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h u hIB, hIC,
hiE. The static value of the short-circuit in
put resistance,
i.e.,

V eb

hi =
Ie

V c b constant*

(For further information concerning these

parameters, see transistor symbols.)

i.e.,
d ie Veb

constant*

The algebraic sign of a for the com mon base

configuration is taken as positive in accordance
with established usage, therefore
= hfb
^2 i 6 - (For further information concerning
these parameters, see transistor symbols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h 09 h oh, h 0C9

h oe9 I12 2 1 ^ 2 2 b? ^ 2 2 0 h,2 2 e* The small-signal
value of the open-circuit output adm ittance,
1

d ie
i.e.,

hob
dV

IE constant

Tb 4 ^e

(For further information concerning

parameters, see transistor symbols.)

these

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h 0, h 0B, h o c ,

Hoe- The static value of the open-circuit out
put conductance,

i.e.,

hoB =

these

(For further inform ation concerning these

parameters, see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER hR, hRB, h B C 9
I i r e . The static value of the open-circuit re
verse voltage transfer ratio,
hRB =

V jsb
V cb I e constant*

(For further inform ation concerning

parameters, see transistor symbols.)

d lc Ie constant.

dVc
d lc Ie constant

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER h r, h rh9 h rc,

^ 1 2 9 h i 2 bi h i 2 ci h\2 e*
The small-signal
value of the open-circuit reverse voltage trans
fer ratio,
dV eb
n
hrb
i.e.,
dV cb I e constant
^b f" Tc

i.e.,

dVc

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER rc. The backresistance of the collector-base diode of a tran

sistor which is equal to:

V cb I e constant*

(For further inform ation concerning

parameters, see transistor symbols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER rb. The base

resistance of a transistor is equal to:

these

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER |if9 \ifb9 \ifc9

|jlf e.
The small-signal open-circuit forward
voltage-transfer ratio. (For further informa
tion concerning these parameters, see tran
sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER \lF9 jiFB9 \lFc,
Iife> The static value of the open-circuit for
ward voltage-transfer ratio. (For further in
formation concerning these parameters see
transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER
|ir6, [Lrc3
Ii re.
The small-signal open-circuit reverse
voltage-transfer ratio. (See also transistor
parameter h r.)
(For further information
concerning these parameters see transistor
symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER p.*, \lRB9 |ir c ,
Iire*
The static value of the open-circuit
reverse voltage transfer ratio. (See also tran
sistor parameter H r . ) (For further inform a
tion concerning these parameters see tran
sistor symbols.)

~ rb.

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER re. The emit

ter resistance or forward resistance of the
emitter-base diode of a transistor is equal to
d
J l
- rb.
die Ic constant
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER rm. The prod
uct of afb and rc. (For further information
concerning these parameters see transistor
symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER td (OHMIC
DELAY TIM E). The time interval between
the rise of a pulse applied to the input ter
minals and the rise of the minority-carrier
generated pulse appearing at the output. (For
further information concerning these param
eters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER t 8 (STORAGE
TIM E). The time interval between the fall
of a pulse applied to the input terminals and
the fall of the carrier-generated pulse at the
output terminals.
(For further information
concerning these parameters see transistor
symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER

VCf 9

V Cb f ,

Ve F) Ve BF9 V CEF> V b CFi Ve CFi Vb F, Vbe F9

V b c f The d-c open-circuit voltage (floating

potential) between the electrode indicated by

the first subscript and the reference electrode
when the other electrode is biased in the re
verse (high resistance) direction with respect
to the reference electrode. (For further infor
mation concerning these parameters see tran
sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER y f9 y fb9 y fc9
yfe9 y 2 u y 2 1 b, y 2 io y 2 ie- The small-signal
short-circuit forward transfer admittance.
(For forther information concerning these
parameters see transistor symbols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER y i9 y ib9 y ie9

y i a y l u yu bi y i u , y lieThe small-signal
short-circuit input adm ittance. The recipro
cal of transistor parameter ft*. (For further
information concerning parameters see tran
sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER y0, yo6, yo<9
yoe, y 2 2 i y 2 2 b9J 2 2 y 2 2 e* The small-single shortcircuit output adm ittance. (For further infor
mation concerning these parameters see tran
sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER y y r6, y re,
yve, y i 2 i y 1 2 6 9 y i 2 o yi2eT h e
s m a ll-s ig n a l
s h o r t-c ir c u it
re v e rse
tra n s fe r
adm ittance.
(F o r

fu r th e r

p a ra m e te rs

see

in fo r m a tio n

c o n c e r n in g

th ese

transistor symbols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER * C 9
*09
%ibo* * 1 1 9 * n & 9 * 1 1 cei * 1 1 bee* The small-signal
open-circuit input impedance. (For further
information concerning these parameters see
transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER
z fb, */0,
* / 6 0 9 * 2 1 9 * 2 1 6 9 * i 2 c e 9 %2 ibee*
The small-signal
open-circuit forward transfer impedance. (For
further information concerning these param
eters see transistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR PARAMETER
Zfes

T h e

s m a ll-s ig n a l

impedance.
sistor parameter 3 7 .

tra n sfe r

tio n

c o n c e r n in g

th ese

* / 9

s h o r t-c ir c u it

T h e

r e c ip r o c a l

(F o r

fu r th e r

p a ra m e te rs

69

* /

ZfC89

fo r w a rd
o f

tran

in fo r m a

see

tran

sistor symbols.)
TRANSISTOR

PARAMETER *19 %ib9 * l 09

&iicei %nbce* The small-signal
open-circuit input impedance. (For further
information concerning these parameters see
transistor symbols.)

*6 0 9

*119

*1169

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER * t S 9 %ibsi * t C S 9

The small-signal short-circuit input im
pedance. Equivalent to transistor param
eter h i, etc. (For further information con
cerning these parameters see transistor sym
bols.)

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER
* 06s, * 0ca,
z 0 es.
The small-signal short-circuit output
impedance.
(For further information con
cerning these parameters see transistor sym
bols.)
TRANSISTOR

PARAMETER z r9 *r6, *r09

The small-signal
open-circuit reverse transfer impedance. (For
further information concerning these param
eters see transistor symbols.)
*r&09 *129 *1269 *i2ce9 *i2 6ce.

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER *r9 * r 69 * r C S 9

Zres The small-signal short-circuit reverse
transfer impedance. The reciprocal of tran
sistor parameter y r. (For further informa
tion concerning these parameters see transistor
symbols.)
TRANSISTOR, PNIP, NPIN. A high fre
quency transistor construction in which col
lector capacitance is decreased by the insertion
of a thin layer of intrinsic semiconductor be
tween the base and collector regions.
TRANSISTOR PNPN SWITCH.
fier, controlled, semiconductor.

See recti

TRANSISTOR, POINT-CONTACT. A tran

sistor having a base electrode and two or more
point-contact electrodes.
TRANSISTOR, POINT-JUNCTION. A tran
sistor having a base electrode and both
point-contact and junction electrodes.
TRANSISTORS, P-N JUNCTION, OR P-N-P
TRANSISTOR. A transistor consisting of two
p-type regions separated by an n-type region.
When a small forward bias is applied to the
first junction and a large negative bias to the
second junction, the system behaves much like
a vacuum-tube triode. (See figure.)

Zies.

TRANSISTOR PARAMETER *09 * 0 6 9 *009

* 2 2 9 * 2 2 6 9 * 2 2 c e 9 * 2 2 bee*
The small-signal
open-circuit output impedance. The recipro
cal of transistor parameter ho, etc. (For
further information concerning these param
eters see transistor symbols.)

0609

p - n junction transistor (or p - n - p transistor).

(By
permission from Electrons and Holes in Semicon
ductors by Shockley, 1950, D. Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.)

TRANSISTOR SYMBOLS.
Introduction
These Standards are supplementary to the
IR E Standards on Abbreviations, Graphical

Sym bols, Letter Symbols, and Mathematical

Signs 1948, Section I. The usage conforms
to Section 101, General Principles of Letter
Sym bol Standardization. This Standard pro
vides a uniform system of letter symbols for
electrical quantities and parameters as applied
to semiconductor devices in the same way that
Section 102 provides symbols for electron
tubes. The Standard has been divided into
three Sections:
(1) Electrical quantities, dealing primarily
with voltage, current, and time quan
tities.
(2) Electrical parameters, dealing with the
relationship between specific electrical
quantities.
(3) List of letter symbols in alphabetical
order.

square values; maximum or average

values may be represented by the addi
tion of a subscript m or av.
E x a m p le s . tCm, I cm, I CM) J-caV) T'CAV

1.2.4

Abbreviations to be used as subscripts

(For example, see the figure and Basic
Symbols Chart.)

E, e
B ,b
C, c
J, j
X, x
Mj m
A V , av
Q

= emitter electrode
base electrode
= collector electrode
electrode, general
= circuit n o d e
= maximum value
= average value
= average (dc) value with signal
applied.

Max. varying
component value

Electrical quantities at the device terminals

are defined in Section 1. The electrical param
eters of Section 2 are ratios of the terminal
electrical quantities; i.e., they are two term inal-pair open- and short-circuit ratios.
Letter subscripts are used for these ratios
throughout this Standard; numeric subscripts
following the matrix convention m ay be used
when convenient, especially in the analysis of
electric circuits.
1* Electrical Quantities
1.1
1.1.1

1.1.2

1.2
1.2.1

1.2.2

1.2.3

Quantity Symbols
Instantaneous values of current, volt
age, and power, which vary with time,
are represented by the lower case letter
of the proper symbol.
Examples: i, v , i e, v EB
Maximum, average (d-c), and rootmean-square values are represented by
the upper case letter of the proper sym
bol.
Examples: I, V, I e, VEB

With signal------ ---------------

sjgnal

Illustration of proper transistor symbol usage.

1.2.5

Basic Symbols Chart

Sym bols

, v, p

7,

V,P

Subscripts for Quantity Symbols

D C values and instantaneous total
values are indicated by upper case sub
scripts.
Examples: i c , l e , v EBt V e b , P c , P c
Varying com ponent values are indicated
by lower case subscripts.
Examples: i c, I c, v eh, V eb, p c, P c
If necessary to distinguish between
maximum, average, or root-mean-

e
bInstantaneous Varying
c Component Value
j
E

Instantaneous Total
Value

RMS or Effective Vary

ing Component Value

Average (dc) Value

1.3 The Subscript Sequence Conforms to the

Mathematical Convention for Writing De
terminants from a Set of Fundamental Kirchhoff Equations
1.3.1

1.3.2

The first subscript designates the elec

trode at which the current is measured,
or where the electrode potential is meas
ured with respect to the reference elec
trode, or circuit node, designated by the
second subscript.
(Conventional cur
rent flow into the electrode from the
external circuit is positive.) When the
reference electrode or circuit node is
understood, the second subscript may
be omitted, where its use is not required
to preserve the meaning of the symbol.
Supply voltage may be indicated by
repeating the electrode subscript. The
reference electrode may then be desig
nated by the third subscript.
Examples: V , cc, V , V eeb, V,

2.1.2

2.2

1.3.4

In devices having more than one elec

trode of the same type, the electrode
subscripts are modified by adding a
number following the subscript and on
the same line.
Exam ple: 2
In multiple unit devices the electrode
subscripts are modified by a number
preceding the electrode subscript.
Example: 2 B
W herever ambiguity might arise the
complete electrode designations are
separated by hyphens or commas.
Exam ple: V 1 C i - 2Ci
W hen necessary to distinguish between
components of current or voltage the
symbols may be used as shown in the
figure on page 1173, which applies to a
case where a small varying component
is developed in the collector circuit of a
transistor.
2. Electrical Parameters

2.1
2.1.1

Parameter Symbols
Values of four-pole matrix parameters,
or other resistances, impedances, ad
mittances, etc., inherent in the device,
may be represented by the lower case
symbol with the proper subscripts.
Examples: hfb, 2/, > /&> hiB, aFB

Subscript for Parameter Symbols

2.2.1 Static1 values of parameters are indi

2.2.2

2.2.3

cated by the upper case subscript.

Examples: rB, hJB, aFB
Small-signal values of parameters are
indicated by the lower case subscript.
Examples: rb, y CJ hib, zob, afb
The first subscript or subscript pair in
matrix notation, identifies the element
of the four-pole matrix.
i
o
/
r

B B C
1.3.3

Values of four-pole matrix parameters

or other resistances, impedances, ad
mittances, etc., in the external circuits,
may be represented by the upper case
symbols with the appropriate sub
scripts.

or 11
or 22
or 21
or 12

Examples:

input
= output
= forward transfer
= reverse transfer
Vi = hJi + hrV 0
Vi = h n li + h12V2
Io = h/Ii -f* h0V 0
I 2 h2\I\ + h22V2

N o te : Voltage and current symbols in ma

trix notation are designated with a single digit
subscript. The subscript 1 = input. The sub
script 2 = output.
2.2.4

The second subscript or the subscript

following the numeric pair identifies
the circuit configuration.
When the
common electrode is understood, the
second subscript may be omitted.

e = c o m m o n e m it t e r
b = c o m m o n b a se
c = c o m m o n c o lle c to r
j com mon electrode, general.
Examples: (common base)
=

V i i > V ib

-|~ V r b V o b

h = VnbVib + Vi2bV2b
Io = VfbVib h VobVob

12 = 2/216^16 + V22bV2b
1The static value is the slope of the line from the
origin to the operating point on the appropriate charac
teristic curve.

2.2.5

Electrical parameters characterizing

the behavior of a device with associated
circuitry are designated by upper case
symbols with an appropriate subscript;
e.g., Ziy Z0. The termination may be in
dicated by an additional subscript such
as: o = ac open circuit termination;
s = ac short-circuit termination; a or
other appropriate subscript for other
terminations.
This additional sub
script m ay be omitted.
Examples: Zfo) Zi8, Zia) Z\ match

(For listing of parameters, see transistor

parameter entries.)
TRANSISTOR, SYMMETRICAL.
sistor, bilateral.

See tran

TRANSISTOR, TETRODE.
A high fre
quency transistor in which an ordinary n-p-n
junction triode is provided with a second
ohmic contact to the base layer on the other
side of the bar. The application of a bias volt
age between the two base terminals causes an
effective decrease of the effective base layer
width, thus permitting faster diffusion from
emitter to collector. Variations of this baseto-base voltage also controls the current gain
of the transistor, making it a useful control
device.
TRANSISTOR THYRATRON.
An early
semiconductor device having a junction emit
ter and a point-contact collector. Thyratronlike characteristics could be obtained in which
the device would switch from a very high to a
very low resistance in a short time in response
to a control signal. Largely replaced by the
semiconductor controlled rectifier.
TRANSISTOR, TYPE A.
A transistor in
which emitter and collector are metallic point
contacts spaced close together on the surface
of n-type semiconductor. It depends for its

action on the holes injected by the emitter into

the neighborhood of the collector. (See fig
ure.)
TRANSISTOR, U NIJUNCTION.
A semi
conductor diode in which a potential gradient
is produced across the base region by the ap
plication of a voltage between two electrodes
at either end of the base. The correct polar
ity and magnitude of this voltage causes the
diode to exhibit a controllable, negative re
sistance between one of the base electrodes
and the anode.
TRANSISTOR, U N IPO LAR.
A transistor
which utilizes charge carriers of only one p o
larity.
TR A N SIT A N G LE.

See angle, transit.

TR A N SIT IN STRU M EN T. An astronomical

instrument consisting essentially of a tele
scope mounted on a horizontal transverse axis,
which is adjusted so as to be perpendicular to
the plane of the meridian of a place. It is
used for observing the exact time of the pas
sage of a celestial body across the meridian.
TR A N SITIO N . (1) A change of form or ex
ternal appearance.
(2) A change of state.
(3) A change of phase. (4) The process by
which a quantum mechanical system, such as
an atom or a nucleus, changes from one energy
eigenstate to another, with the energy differ
ence being balanced by changes in interacting
systems or by the emission or absorption of
particles or electromagnetic radiation.
TR A N SITIO N , A L L O W E D .
rules.

See selection

TR A N SITIO N C E LL. An electrolytic cell

containing an electrolyte which is undergoing
a definite change in valence of one of the ions
present, or of other nature, with a correspond
ing change in electromotive force.
TR A N SITIO N E LE M E N T. (1) An element
which couples one type of transmission sys
tem to another, as a coaxial line to wave
guide. (2) See transition metal.

Type A transistor. (By permission from Electrons

and Holes in Semiconductors by Shockley, 1950,
D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

TR A N SITIO N , FIRST O R D E R . A transi

tion in which there is a discontinuous change
in the first-order derivative of the Gibbs
function (see free energy (1)), and which is
accompanied by a latent heat.

TRANSITION, FORBIDDEN.
rules.

See selection

TRANSITION, FORCED. A transition be

tween two energy eigenstates of a quantum
mechanical system which is brought about by
the interaction of the system with an external
field originating from some source other than
the vacuum polarization.
TRANSITION, FORCE-FREE.
tion, spontaneous.

See transi

TRANSITION, IN D UCED. Same as transi

tion, forced.
TRANSITION,
transition.

ISOMERIC.

See

isomeric

TRANSITION M ETAL. A member of one

of several groups of elements in the periodic
table having an incomplete inner shell, e.g.,
Fe, with only 6 out of 10 possible 3d elec
trons, and yet with 2 electrons in the 4s state.
The magnetic properties of these elements are
important, since the electron spins in the in
complete shell tend to line up (Hund rule),
and hence have large magnetic moments.
TRANSITION MULTIPOLE
See multipole moments.

MOMENTS.

TRANSITION POINT. A point at which a

system changes phase.
Familiar examples
are those of melting, vaporization, etc. These
are first-order transitions (see transition, first
order) in which there is a discontinuous change
in the first-order derivatives of the Gibbs
function (see free energy (1)) and which are
accompanied by a latent heat. Examples of
transitions of the second order are also known.
(See transition, second order.)
TRANSITION PROBABILITY. The prob
ability per unit time, symbol m*/, that a sys
tem in state i will undergo a transition to state
/. The quantity
Wi =
over

Wif

all

is the total transition probability for state i.

The probability that the system is still in
state i at the end of time t is then e ~ wil. For
radioactive transitions, the symbol X is used
instead of Wi, and the total transition prob
ability is then called the disintegration con

stant.
ties.)

(See also Einstein transition probabili

TRANSITION, RADIATIVE. A transition

between two energy eigenstates of a quantum
mechanical system, accompanied by the emis
sion of electromagnetic radiation.
TRANSITION REGION.
The region, be
tween two homogeneous semiconductor re
gions, in which the impurity concentration
changes.
TRANSITION, SECOND ORDER. A transi
tion in which there are discontinuous changes
in the second-order derivatives of the Gibbs
function (see free energy (1)). It is accom
panied by a sharp peak in the specific heat,
and in an ideal second-order transition there
is no latent heat. Examples: the transition
of helium I to helium II at 2.19K ; supercon
ductive transition in the absence of a magnetic
fluid; transition from ferromagnetism to
paramagnetism.
TRANSITION, SPONTANEOUS. A transi
tion between two energy eigenstates of a
quantum mechanical system which is brought
about by the interaction of the system with
the field due to vacuum polarization. (See
transition, forced; state, stationary.)
TRANSITION ZONE. In meteorology, the
relatively narrow region occupied by a front
wherein the meteorological properties exhibit
large variations over a short distance and
possess values intermediate between those
characteristic of the air masses on either side
of the zone.
TRANSIT TIME EFFECT. A t low frequen
cies the transit time in a conventional triode,
etc., is small compared to the period (transit
angle is sm all). As higher frequencies are
approached the electrons, because the transit
angle may be an appreciable part of a cycle,
act essentially as though they were out of
phase with the grid signal resulting in a greatly
increased grid-cathode conductance.
TRANSIT-TIME M ODE.
oscillator.

See mode of an

TRANSIT-TIME SPREAD (PHOTOSENSI

TIVE DEVICES). The increase in the width
of the output pulse over that of the input
pulse. Pulse width is measured at 50 per
cent of the pulse height.

TRANSLATION GROUP.

The totality of
operations by which a c r y s ta l la ttic e m ay be
transformed into itself by bodily displace
ments without rotation.
(See also sp ace
g ro u p .)

TRANSLATION OPERATION. The geo

metrical process of displacing a body along a
straight line, keeping lines fixed in the body
always parallel to themselves.
TRANSLATOR. A n e tw o rk or system having
a number of inputs and outputs and so con
nected that signals representing information
expressed in a certain c o d e , when applied to
the inputs, cause output signals to appear
which are a representation of the input infor
mation in a different code. Sometimes called
m a tr ix .

The voltage transmission coefficient is com

m only used and defined as the complex ratio
of the resultant e le c tric fie ld stren g th (or volt
age) to that of the incident wave. (2) For a
transition or discontinuity between two trans
mission media, at a given frequency, the ratio
of some quantity associated with the trans
mitted wave at a specified point in the second
medium to the same quantity associated with
the incident wave at a specified point in a
first medium, the second medium being
m a tc h -te rm in a te d .
(3) In atomic physics,
transmission coefficient is a synonym for pene
tra tio n p ro b a b ility . (4) For acoustical trans
mission coefficient, see so un d tra n sm issio n co
e fficie n t.

TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENT, SOUND.

See sound tra n sm issio n co e fficie n t.

TRANSMISSION (TRANSMITTANCE).

(1)

Transmission, as applied to photographic re

cording, is the ratio of the light flux trans
mitted by the medium to the light flux inci
dent upon it. Transmission may be either
diffuse of specular.
(See also p ro p a g a tio n ,
m o de o f.)
( 2 ) See lin e , tra n sm issio n .

TRANSMISSION

ANOMALY.

In under
water sound, the deviation of transmission
from inverse square law propagation. The
transmission anomaly A in d e c ib e ls is given
by
A = H -

20 log R,

where H = transmission loss in decibels, R =

horizontal range in yards.

TRANSMISSION, BLACK.

TRANSMISSION,
CONSTANT - LUMI
NANCE. A method of color transmission in
which the c a r r ie r c o lo r s ig n a l controls the
c h ro m a tic ity of the produced image without
affecting the lu m in a n c e , the luminance being
controlled by the m o no chro m e sig n a l.

TRANSMISSION, D-C.

The transmission of
a te le v is io n signal with the d ire c t c u rre n t com
ponent represented in the picture signal.

TRANSMISSION DENSITY, DIFFUSE. The

value of the o p tic a l d e n s ity obtained when the
light flux impinges normally on the sample,
and all the transmitted flux is collected and
measured.

TRANSMISSION

DENSITY,

SPECULAR.

In an am p litu d e m o d u la tio n system, that form of transmission

in which the maximum transmitted power cor
responds to the maximum d e n s ity of the su b
je c t c o p y .
In a fre q u e n c y -m o d u la tio n sys
tem, that form of transmission in which the
lowest transmitted frequency corresponds to
the maximum density of the subject copy.

The value of the o p tic a l d e n sity obtained

when the light flux impinges normally on the
sample, and only the normal component of
the transmitted flux is collected and measured.

TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENT.

TRANSMISSION, FACSIMILE. The trans

mission by electrical means of any graphic
material such as pictures, printed matter,
maps, etc. There are three methods of trans
mission in use, transmission by radio, by land
telephone lines and by submarine cable. Each
of these introduces its own problems, but the
fundamentals of the system are the same for
all, the material must be broken into sequen
tial elementary parts which may be trans

(1) In

a transmission medium, at a given frequency,

at a given point, and for a given mode of
transmission, the ratio of some quantity asso
ciated with the resultant field, which is the
sum of the incident and reflected w a v e s , to
the corresponding quantity in the incident
wave. The transmission coefficient may be
different for different associated quantities,
and the chosen quantity should be specified.

TRANSMISSION, DIPLEX RADIO.

The
simultaneous transmission of two signals using
a common carrier wave.

mitted by electrical means and then the parts

converted back into a graphic presentation at
the receiver. T o be specific let us discuss the
transmission of a picture although it should
be kept in mind that exactly the same proce
dure applies to any graphic material. The
picture is broken into the sequence of elemen
tal parts by the process of sc a n n in g . This
m ay be done by mounting the picture on a
revolving drum and projecting a very small
beam of light on or through it. The light is
reflected (or transmitted) to a p h o to tu b e , the
light and hence the phototube output being
proportional to the picture d e n s ity . The light
is moved along the picture (parallel to the
axis of the drum) at such a rate that it dis
places axially its own width for each revolu
tion of the drum. Thus the spot of light pro
gressively covers every spot on the picture.
The output of the phototube is an electrical
breakdown of the picture, and is then m odi
fied for transmission. For radio and land lines
this means m o d u la tio n upon a suitable c a r r ie r .
There are several methods of doing this but
these are merely details of the system. For
submarine cable transmission the signal is
amplified by d-c amplifiers and fed directly
to the cable since these cables cannot handle
high frequencies. A t the receiving end the
modulated signal is demodulated and fed to
the recorder. This varies with different sys
tems but two types are in wide use. One de
pends upon a variable light on a photographic
paper or film. The light is varied in different
ways, one being to use a specially constructed
gas-filled lamp whose intensity varies with
the signal, others use lig h t v a lv e s , but in each
case the result is a spot of light whose inten
sity varies with the picture focused on the
paper.
There are some direct-developing
papers, but others require a development
process after removal from the receiver. The
other method of recording is to utilize a paper
sensitized to electrical current passage and to
pass the received signal current (after detec
tion, of course) through it. Regardless of the
method of recording it is necessary for the
receiver to be s y n c h ro n iz e d with the transmit
ter. Sometimes this is accomplished by de
pending upon the stability of the power s y s
tems and the use of synchronous motor drives;
other methods involve the transmission of
synchronizing pulses periodically. Facsimile
transmission has a wide field of application

in the transmission of news pictures, legal

documents, maps, etc.
T R A N S M I S S IO N G R A T I N G . A diffraction
g ra tin g ruled on a transparent base.
(M ost

transmission gratings are plastic replicas of

The radiation is trans
mitted through, rather than reflected from
such a grating.
re fle c tio n g ra tin g s .)

T R A N S M I S S IO N L E V E L . The level of the

s ig n a l p o w e r at any point in a transmission

system which is the ratio of the power at that

point to the power at some point in the system
chosen as a reference point. This ratio is
usually expressed in d e c ib e ls.
T R A N S M I S S IO N L I M I T . A limiting w a v e
le n g th or fre q u e n c y above or below which a

given type of radiation is practically all ab

sorbed by a given medium. I f the limits are
sharply defined, the medium acts as a sharp
cut-off filte r for that radiation.
T R A N S M I S S IO N L I N E E N T R I E S .

See en

tries under lin e .

T R A N S M I S S IO N , M O D E O F .
tio n , m ode o f.

See p ro p ag a

T R A N S M I S S IO N M O D E , P R I N C I P A L . The
dominant tra n sm issio n m ode of a waveguide.
T R A N S M I S S IO N , M O N O C H R O M E .
The
transmission of te le v is io n signals which can
be reproduced in gradations of a single color
only.
T R A N S M I S S IO N
M U L T IP A T H
(M U L T IP A T H ) . The propagation phenomenon which

results in signals reaching the radio receiving

antenna by two or more paths. In fa c s im ile ,
multipath causes jitte r.
T R A N S M I S S IO N , M U L T I P L E X . The simul
taneous transmission of two or more signals
within a single c h a n n e l. Multiplex transmis
sion as applied to F M broadcast stations
means the transmission of facsimile or other
signals in addition to the regular broadcast
signals.
T R A N S M I S S IO N ,

M U L T IP L E X

R A D IO .

The simultaneous transmission of two or more

signals using a common c a r r ie r w a v e .
T R A N S M I S S IO N ,

O B L IQ U E - IN C ID E N C E .

The name sometimes applied to radio waves

received via reflections from the io n o sp here.

T R A N S M I S S IO N O F L I G H T ( T R A N S M I T T A N C E ) . The ratio of the light flux trans

mitted by a medium to the light flux incident

upon it. Transmission may be either diffuse
or specular.
T R A N S M I S S IO N , P A R A L L E L . The system
of in fo rm a tio n transmission in which the c h a r
ac te rs of a w o rd are transmitted (usually si

multaneously) over separate lines, as con

trasted to serial transmission. (Cf. tra n s m is
sio n , s e ria l.)
T R A N S M I S S IO N P L A N E . The p la n e o f v i
b ra tio n of p o la riz e d lig h t which will pass
through a given p o la r iz e r , such as a N ic o l
p ris m .
T R A N S M I S S IO N R A T I O , P O W E R .
The
ratio of the average acoustic energy trans
mitted normally through a surface to the aver
age acoustic energy incident normally upon
that surface.
T R A N S M I S S IO N ,

S E Q U E N T IA L

C O LO R.

In television, the sending of the signals arising

from differently-colored sections of an image
one after the other, in a certain order. (See
te le v is io n , c o lo r, d o t-se q u e n tia l; te le v is io n ,
c o lo r, fie ld -s e q u e n tia l; and te le v is io n , c o lo r
lin e -s e q u e n tia l.)
T R A N S M I S S IO N , S E R I A L . A system of in
fo rm a tio n transmission in which the charac

ters of a word are transmitted in sequence over

a single line, as contrasted to parallel transmis
sion. (Cf. tra n s m is s io n , p a r a lle l.)
T R A N S M I S S IO N ,

S IN G L E

- S ID E B A N D .

That method of signal transmission in which

one s id e b a n d is transmitted and the other
sideband is suppressed. The c a r r ie r wave may
be either transmitted or suppressed.
T R A N S M I S S IO N , S P E C T R A L .
The tra n s
m issio n of a plate of material measured for
narrow spectral bands throughout the sp e c
tru m .
T R A N S M I S S IO N , V E S T I G I A L S I D E B A N D .

In radio communication, a method of sup

pressing part of one sideband to limit band
width requirements.
T R A N S M I S S IO N , W H I T E .
In an amplitu d e -m o d u la tio n system, that form of trans

mission in which the maximum transmitted

power corresponds to the minimum d e n s ity of

the s u b je c t co p y . In a fre q u e n c y -m o d u la tio n

system, that form of transmission in which
the lowest transmitted frequency corresponds
to the minimum density of the subject copy.
T R A N S M IS S IV IT Y .
Ordinarily defined as
the ratio of the transmitted ra d ia tio n to the
norm ally-incident radiation, as radiation is
passed through a boundary between two
media, or through a plate of one medium im
bedded in another medium. Also expressed
as per cent transmission by multiplying by

100.
T R A N S M I T - R E C E I V E R C I R C U I T . See d u
p lexe ra s w itc h (tra n s m it- re c e iv e ); tu b e (transm it-re c e iv e ).
T R A N S M IT - R E C E IV E T U B E
See s w itc h , tra n sm it-re c e iv e .

(S W IT C H ).

T R A N S M I T T A N C E . The ratio of the r a d i

a n t p o w e r transmitted by a body to the total

radiant power entrant to the body. Com

monly, the body is in the form of a parallel
sided plate, and the radiation in the form of
a parallel beam incident normally on the sur
face of the plate.
Transmission measure
ments should be corrected for re fle c tio n and,
in most cases, for sc a tte rin g . Transmittance
so corrected is sometimes called internal trans
mittance.
If only the emergent radiation
which is parallel to the entrant beam is ob
served, the transmittance is called specular.
If all the emergent radiation is observed, the
transmittance is called diffuse. The transmit
tance may be measured for any radiation, for
visible light ( optical transmittance), or as
a function of the wavelength of the radiation
(spectral transmittance).
T R A N S M IT T A N C E , D IR E C T IO N A L L U
M IN O U S . The ratio of the lu m in a n c e of the

surface at which light leaves a diffusing ob

ject to the illu m in a n c e of the surface at which
the light is incident upon the object; provided
that ( 1 ) the luminance of the emergent sur
face is expressed in la m b e rts and the illumi
nance of the incident surface in lu m e n s/sq cm,
or ( 2 ) the luminance of the emergent surface
is expressed in fo o t-lam b erts and the illumi
nance of the incident surface in fo o t-can d les.
T R A N S M I T T A N C Y . The ratio of the tra n s
m itta n c e of a so lu tio n to that of the pure
so lv e n t in equivalent thickness.

T R A N S M IT T E D
tra n s in fo rm a tio n .

IN F O R M A T IO N .

See

T R A N S M IT T E R .
( 1 ) A device for convert
ing sound waves into corresponding electrical
oscillations, e.g., a m icro p h o n e or te lep h o n e
transmitter.
( 2 ) In radio communications,
the complete group of equipment utilized in
converting sound, or an a u d io -fre q u e n c y elec
trical signal into the modulated ra d io -fre
q u e n c y signal fed to the a n te n n a . The usage
varies somewhat and may connote the m od
ulators and radio-frequency stages, or may be
applied to more or less of the equipment con
stituting the complete broadcasting system.
T R A N S M I T T E R , A L T E R N A T O R . A tra n s
m itte r which utilizes power generated by a
radio-frequency a lte rn a to r.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,
A M P L IT U D E - M O D U
L A T E D . A tra n s m itte r which transmits an
amplitude-modulated (see m o d u la tio n , a m
p litu d e ) wave. In most amplitude-modulated

transmitters, the frequency is stabilized.

T R A N S M IT T E R ,
A M P L IT U D E - M O D U
L A T E D , A V ER A G E PO W ER O U TPU T O F.
The radio-frequency p o w e r delivered to the

transmitter output terminals averaged over

a m o d u la tio n cycle.
T R A N S M I T T E R , A U R A L . The radio equip
ment used for the transmission of the aural
(sound) signals from a te le v is io n broadcast
station.
T R A N S M IT T E R , B R O A D C A S T .
A tra n s
m itte r used for the commercial A M , F M and
T V channels, singly or in combination.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,
C R YSTA L - CON
T R O L L E D . A tra n s m itte r whose carrier fr e
q u e n c y is directly controlled by the electro

mechanical characteristics of a piece of m a

terial of crystalline structure.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,

C R Y S T A L - S T A B IL IZ E D .

The appa
ratus employed to translate the s u b je c t co p y
into signals suitable for delivery to the com
munication system.

T R A N S M IT T E R , F A C S IM IL E .

T R A N S M IT T E R , IM P A C T - E X C IT E D .

sentially some form of spark transmitter.

Es
(See

tra n s m itte r, s p a rk .)
M O B IL E .
A tra n s m itte r
designed for installation in a vessel, vehicle,
or aircraft, and normally operated while in
motion.

T R A N S M IT T E R ,

T R A N S M IT T E R ,
M U L T IC H A N N E L
R A D I O . A tra n s m itte r having two or more

complete radio-frequency portions capable of

operating on different fre q u e n c ie s , either in
dividually or simultaneously.
T R A N S M IT T E R , M U L T IF R E Q U E N C Y . A
tra n s m itte r capable o f operating on two or

more selectable frequencies, one at a time,

using preset adjustments of a single radio
frequency portion.
PO RTA BLE.
Commonly
used at present for transportable transmit
ter.
Preferred use of this term covers a
tra n s m itte r which can be readily carried on a
person and may or m ay not be operated while
in motion. This includes the class of so-called
walkie-talkies, handy-talkies, and per
sonal transmitters.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,

T R A N S M IT T E R , P U L S E .
A pulse-modulated tra n s m itte r whose peak power-output

capabilities are usually large with respect to

average power-output rating.
T R A N S M IT T E R P U L S E D E L A Y .
d u c e r p u lse d e la y .

See tra n s

T R A N S M I T T E R , R A D A R . The transmitting
portion of a ra d io d e te ctin g and ra n g in g sys
te m .
T R A N S M IT T E R ,

R A D IO .

See tra n s m itte r

(2).

A tra n s m itte r employing a u to m a tic fre q u e n c y

c o n tro l, in which the reference frequency is
that of a crystal o s c illa to r.

T R A N S M IT T E R , S IN G L E - S ID E B A N D .
A
tra n s m itte r in which one sid e b a n d is trans

T R A N S M IT T E R , D O U B L E - S ID E B A N D . A
tra n s m itte r which transmits the c a r r ie r fr e
q u e n c y and both s id e b a n d s resulting from the
m o d u la tio n of the carrier by the modulating

SPARK.
A tra n s m itte r
which utilizes the o s c illa to ry d isc h a rg e of a
c a p a c ito r through an in d u c to r and a spark
gap, as the source of its radio-frequency
power.

signal.

mitted and the other is effectively eliminated.

T R A N S M IT T E R ,

T R A N S M I T T E R , T E L E V I S I O N . The aggre
gate of such radio-frequency and modulating
equipment as is necessary to supply to an
an te n n a syste m modulated radio-frequency
power by means of which all the component
parts of a complete television signal (includ
ing a u d io , v id e o , and s y n c h ro n iz in g s ig n a ls)
are concurrently transmitted.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,
TR A N SPO RTA BLE.
A
tra n s m itte r designed to be readily carried or

transported from place to place, but which is

not normally operated while in motion. This
has been com m only called a portable trans
mitter, but the term transportable transmitter
is preferred.
T R A N S M IT T E R ,
V A C U U M -T U B E.
A
tra n s m itte r in which electron tu b es are uti

lized to convert the applied electric power into

radio-frequency power.
T R A N S M IT T E R , V E S T IG IA L - S ID E B A N D .
A tra n s m itte r in which one sid e b a n d and a

portion of the other are intentionally trans

mitted. (See s id e b a n d , v e s tig ia l.)
(1) A ll parts of
a television transmitter which handle picture
signals, whether exclusively or not. ( 2 ) Some
times, however, limited to the radio equip
ment for the transmission of visual signals
only.
T R A N S M IT T E R , V IS U A L .

T R A N S M I T T I V I T Y . The internal transmit

tance (see tra n s m itta n c e ) for unit thickness
of a non-diffusing substance.
T R A N S M IT T IV IT Y ,
A C O U S T IC A L .
so un d tra n sm issio n c o e ffic ie n t.

See

T R A N S -y u F A C T O R (M U L T IB E A M E L E C
T R O N T U B E S ) . The ratio of (1) the magni

tude of an infinitesimal change in the voltage

at the control g rid of any one beam to ( 2 ) the
magnitude of an infinitesimal change in the
voltage at the control grid of a second beam.
The current in the second beam and the volt
age of all other electrodes are maintained con
stant.
T R A N S M U T A T I O N . A term used to describe
the process by which the n u c le u s of an atom
of given a to m ic n u m b e r is changed into one of
a different atomic number by r a d io a c tiv e de
c a y , capture of bombarding particles, etc. For
example, the capture of a bombarding p ro to n

by a d e u te ro n will transform the original atom

of hydrogen (H ) into an atom of helium
(H e3).
A storage and control
device which operates by the controlled trans
fer of polarization through two or more fe rro
e le c tric dielectric sections in series.
T R A N S P O L A R IZ E R .

A transmitter-receiver fa
cility the function of which is to transmit sig
nals automatically when the proper in te rro
g a tio n is received. (See also p u lse re p e a te r.)
TRAN SPO N D ER.

TRAN SPO N D ER
p o n d e r.

BEACO N .

See

tra n s

T R A N S P O N D E R , C R O S S B A N D . In n a v ig a
tio n , a tra n sp o n d e r which replies in a different
frequency band from that of the received in
te rro g a tio n .
( D E L A Y ) . Syn
onym for dead-time lag. See tim e , d e a d ; d e ad

T R A N S P O R T A T IO N L A G
band.

T R A N S P O R T M E A N F R E E P A T H (N U
C L E A R R E A C T O R S ).
( 1 ) Where the F i c k
la w is applicable, three times the diffusion co
efficient of n e u tro n flu x . (2) A modified m ean
fre e p a th used to correct for the persistence
of velocities and anisotropy of s c a tte rin g .
T R A N S P O R T N U M B E R (O R T R A N S F E R
E N C E N U M B E R ) . The transport number of
a given io n in an e le c tro ly te is the fraction of
total current carried by that ion. See sh e a re d
b o u n d a ry m e th o d ; m o v in g b o u n d a ry m e th o d ;
H it t o r f m eth o d .
A theory based on
an approximation to the B o ltz m a n n tra n sp o rt
e q u a tio n for such conditions that the F i c k
la w is not applicable.
TRAN SPO RT TH EO R Y.

TRAN SPO SE.

See m a tr ix , tran sp o se d .

T R A N S P O S I T I O N . A cyclic permutation of
degree two. (See p e rm u ta tio n , c y c lic .)
R e c tific a tio n in
one circuit as a result of an applied signal in
another. An example is the p la te or anode

T R A N S R E C T IF IC A T IO N .

b e n d d e te cto r.
FA CTO R.
The
quotient of the change in average current of
an e le c tro d e by the change in the amplitude
T R A N S R E C T IF IC A T IO N

of the alternating sin u s o id a l voltage applied

to another electrode, the direct voltages of this
and other electrodes being maintained con
stant. Unless otherwise stated, the term refers
to cases in which the alternating sinusoidal
voltage is of infinitesimal magnitude.

T R A P E Z O I D A L R U L E . A special case of
the N ew to n -C o tes fo rm u la for n u m e ric a l in
te g ra tio n :

Jl (x)dx
a
Vn

A name which has been

applied to a unipolar transistor.
(See tr a n

T R A N S T R IC T O R .

Vi +

2/2 H---------- h V n - i +

where h is the interval between equally-spaced

values of x, the independent variable.

sisto r, u n ip o la r.)
T R A N S U R A N IC E L E M E N T S .
Elements
with a to m ic n u m b e rs higher than uranium,

which has an atomic number of 92.

TRA N SV ERSE RO D SU SCEPTA N CE.
tu n e r, s c re w .

= h

See

T R A N S V E R S E S E P T A ( S E P T U M ) . Trans
verse d ia p h ra g m s placed in w a v e g u id e s .
TRAP.
(1 ) An absorption filter (see filte r ,
ab so rp tio n ) used to trap or remove an unde
sired signal from a r e c e iv e r , as in the sound
tra p used in the video amplifier of a television

receiver to prevent the sound signal from in

terfering with the picture. ( 2 ) A device de
signed to reduce the effect of vapor pressure
of the mercury or oil in a d iffu sio n p u m p on
the high-vacuum side of the system. (3) Any
la ttic e site at which tra p p in g may occur.
Thus a v a c a n c y , i.e., a position at which an
ion that would be present in a perfect crystal
is missing, m ay act as a trap for a carrier. If
the missing ion would carry a negative charge,
the e le ctro n s m ay be trapped; if a positive
charge, h o le s m ay be trapped. Traps may or
m ay not be identical with c o lo r c e n te rs.
Trapped carriers m ay generally be lifted from
the traps to the c o n d u c tio n b a n d by heating.
In this process of thermoluminescence, carriers
are excited from traps that have previously
been filled by irradiation of the crystal. W hen
electrons so excited to the conduction band
return to the v a le n c e b a n d , or when electrons
from the conduction band combine with holes
released from the traps, p h o sp h o re scen ce oc
curs. (See also tra p p in g .)
A L K A L I- M E T A L M E R C U R Y .
A
m ercury-vapor trap (see tra p (2 )) consisting

TRAP,

of a section of tubing lined internally with

a substantial amount of sodium or potassium.
The trapping action depends on the formation
of an amalgam of very low vapor pressure.

T R A P , L O W - R E S I S T A N C E . One of a vari
ety of traps (see tra p (2 )) designed to have

a low resistance to molecular flow, so that high

pumping speed is maintained.
T R A P P I N G . An electron in the c o n d u ctio n
b a n d of a se m ic o n d u c to r or p h o sp h o r may be

caught by any irregularity in the crystal lat

tice and trapped there until it can be re
leased by thermal agitation. The rate of re
lease will depend on exp ( E / kT ) where E
is the depth of the trap hence a material
containing large numbers of deep traps may
show reduced p h o to c o n d u c tiv ity , for example,
and a slow decay as the electrons are released
after the light has been removed.
A trap (see tra p
( 2 )) which consists of a section of the vacuum
line refrigerated to very low temperature, so
that condensation of mercury, water or o il
vapor takes place.

T R A P , R E F R IG E R A T E D .

T R A U B E R U L E . A relationship between the

effects upon the s u rfa c e te n sio n of water pro

duced by the addition of organic substances

in various h om ologous se rie s. In dilute solu
tions, the effect o f each additional C H 2
group in a given series is to decrease by three
times the concentration at which equal lower
ing of surface tension is obtained.
TR BOX.

See s w itc h , T R .

A set of connected b ra n c h e s includ

ing no m esh es.
TREE.

TRF.

A bbreviation

for

tuned

radio

fre

quency.
T R IA D .

See t r ip le t ; s c a le , ju s t.

T R IA L , C O L O R .

See c o lo r t r ia l.

A p o lyg o n with three sides and

three angles all lying in the same plane. From
their properties, they are named as follows:
T R IA N G L E .

acute, all interior angles acute; congruent,

two or more triangles which m ay be super
imposed and which then become equal in all
of their properties; equal, with equal areas
but not necessarily congruent; equiangular,
with three equal interior angles and therefore
also equilateral, with three equal sides;
iso sce le s, two sides are equal; oblique, con
taining no right angle; obtuse, containing one
obtuse interior angle; right, one angle is 7r/ 2
(the opposite side is the hypotenuse and the
other sides are the two l e g s ) ; scalene, no sides
are equal; similar, the angles are equal and
the corresponding sides are proportional.
Given a sufficient number of parts of a tri
angle (sides and angles), the remaining parts
may be found by trigonometric methods, a
process called solving the triangle. For a
right triangle, two parts must be given in ad
dition to the right angle and one of these must
be a side. For an oblique triangle, there are
six parts, three each angles and sides. If
three are given, including one side, the other
three m ay be found.
A spherical tri
angle is a figure bounded by arcs of three
great circles on a sphere. It is a p o lyg o n with
three sides. The sum of its angles is greater
than 180 but less than 540. The difference
between the sum of its angles and 180 is the
s p h e ric a l e xce ss. I f E is this excess and the tri
angle is cut from a sphere of radius R , the area
of the spherical triangle is S = ttR 2E/180.
Such triangles are named according to their
properties and may be solved by methods of
spherical trigonometry, an extension of the
methods of plane trigonometry.
T R IA N G L E , S P H E R IC A L .

T R IB O - E L E C T R IF IC A T IO N .
The produc
tion of e le c tro sta tic charges by frictional ef

fects.
T R I B O L U M I N E S C E N C E . L u m in e s c e n c e at

tributable to friction.
crystalline substances.

It occurs usually in

T R IC L IN IC .
tic e .

T R I C O N . A radio navigation system in which

the airborne receiver accepts p u lse s from a
triple or chain of three stations pulsed in vari
able time sequence. The time sequences vary
so that pulses arrive at the same time along
paths of various lengths.
T R IG A T R O N .
An electronics switch in
which conduction is initiated by the break
down of an auxiliary gap.

T o set off or initiate a certain

action in an electrical circuit by the applica
tion of a p u lse of voltage.

T R IG G E R .

T R IG G E R A C T IO N .
tio n .

Synonym for sn a p a c

T R IG G E R C IR C U IT .
s ta b le .

See m u ltiv ib ra to r, b i

T R IG G E R E L E C T R O D E .
tro d e .

LEV EL.
In a tra n sp o n d e r, the
minimum input to the r e c e iv e r which is capa
ble of causing a tra n s m itte r to emit a reply.
T R IG G E R

T R I G I S T O R . A silicon P N P N se m ico n d u c
to r device with the property of being con

trolled from the base in such a manner as to

be either triggered on or off. See re c tifie r
c o n tro lle d se m ic o n d u c to r.
T R IG O N A L .
Same as rh o m b o h e d ra l.
c r y s ta l syste m s; sp ace la ttic e .

See

T R I G O N O M E T R I C F U N C T I O N . If 6 is one
of the acute angles in a right-angle tria n g le , x
is the side of the triangle nearest to 6 , y the
side opposite the angle, and r the hypotenuse,
the trigonometric functions are

sin0 = y/r;

The property of exhibiting

three different colors when viewed in as many
different directions.
Three
coefficients, based on the response of the
standard eye to the spectral distribution of
light from a standard source, which may be
used to describe the c h ro m a tic ity of a source.

See sta rte r e le c

T R IG G E R IN G .
(1) An instability which
m ay occur in self-saturating magnetic a m p li
fie rs in the vicinity of cut-off. ( 2 ) See trig g e r.

T R IC H R O IS M .

T R IC H R O M A T IC C O E F F IC IE N T S .

See c r y s ta l syste m s; sp ace la t

cos 9 = x/r;

csc 9 = 1/sin 9;

tan 9 = y/x;

sec 9 = 1/cos 9;

cot 9 = 1/tan 0.
Other quantities, but not often used, are vers
covers 9, hav 0 , exsec 9. (See also inverse

9,

trigonometric function.)
In the U.S. and France, 1012.
In England, 1018. (See also te ra .)

T R IL L IO N .

T R I N I S T O R . A trade name.
c o n tro lle d , s e m ic o n d u c to r.)

(See re c tifie r,

A color-television viewing
arrangement consisting of three k in e sc o p e s,
three le n se s, and three d e fle c tio n y o k e s.
T R IN O S C O P E .

A three-electrode e le c tro n tu b e
containing an anode, a cathode, and a control
electrode.
T R IO D E .

T R I O D E , C L O S E - S P A C E D . A trio d e with
extremely small grid-cathode spacing (0.0006
in. as an example) developed because of its
superior g a in -b a n d w id th p ro d u c t.
T R IO D E , D O U B L E .

See d u o trio d e .

T R I O D E , G A S . A triode gas tube.

tu b e ; th y r a tr o n .)
T R IO D E , P E N C IL .

Ay

Bx

By

cx

Cy

c,

Its properties include

(See gas

See tu b e , p e n c il.

IN D IC A T O R .
In weather map
analysis, a d is c o n tin u ity or marked change
in temperature, dew point and wind direction
across a relatively narrow area on a synoptic
chart constitutes a triple indicator of the ex
istence of a frontal zone in that area.

T R IP L E

M O L E C U L A R C O L L IS IO N .
A
collision occurring when three molecules col
lide simultaneously, or come into contact for
a short period of time. The probability of
occurrence is very small. Sometimes postu
lated to explain certain phenomena, e.g., re
combination of atoms in chemical kinetics.

T R IP L E

P O IN T .

[ABC] =

Ax

[ABC] = [BCA] = [ C A B ] ------ [ACB]

T R I P A C T I O N ( I N S T A B I L I T Y ) . Of a mag
netic a m p lifie r, an instability caused by fe e d
b a c k . It is said to occur when the c o n tro l
c h a ra c te ris tic ceases to be single-valued.

T R IP L E
r iu m .

as A and magnitude A B C cos 6 , where 0 is the

angle between B and C. ( 2 ) A - (B X C ), the
scalar triple product, giving the volume of a
parallelepiped with edges A, B, C. It is fre
quently indicated by the symbol [AB C ] and
if the three vectors all lie in the same plane
[AB C ] = 0 . It may be written in terms of its
components as a d e te rm in a n t

See th ree-p h ase e q u ilib

T R I P L E P O I N T O F W A T E R . See states of
m a tte r. The pressure p t and temperature T t
of the t r ip le p o in t o f w a te r are p t = 4.6 mm

of mercury, T t = 273.16K. This tempera

ture is the primary defining temperature of the
Kelvin te m p e ra tu re s c a le .
(See th e rm a l
u n its .)
T R I P L E P R O D U C T O F V E C T O R S . If A ,
B , C are three v e c to rs , they may be combined

to form products with meaning as follows:

( 1 ) A ( B - C ) , a vector with the same direction

= [BAC] = - [C B A ].
(3) The vector triple product, V = A X (B X C)
is perpendicular to both A and the vector
B X C. It therefore lies in the plane deter
mined by B and C. Its properties include:
A X (B X C) = B(A* C) - C (A -B ) -A X (C X B ) = (C X B )X A = -(B X C )
X A.
T R IP L E T .
( 1 ) In navigation, three radio
stations operated as a group for the determina
tion of positions. (2) See m u ltip lic it y .
TR IP VALUES (RE LAY ). The trip voltage,
current or power is the rated value at which
a bistable polarized r e la y will transfer from
one contact to another.
TR ISTIM U LU S VALUES. A n y sample of
light can be matched by the mixture of three
different standard stimuli. The magnitudes
of the three stimuli needed to match a par
ticular sample are called the tristimulus values
of that sample. The standard stimuli must be
specified. Those most commonly used are the
C IE color mixture functions X , Y , Z, of which
Y is the lu m in o s ity fu n c tio n (see Science of
Color, pp. 254-316, Crowell (1954)).
TR IT IU M .

The hydrogen isotope of mass 3.

T R IT O N . The nucleus of tr itiu m , that is of

hydrogen of mass number 3, particularly when
it is used as a bombarding particle or is
emitted as a result of a n u c le a r re a c tio n .
The path described by a point
on a diameter of a circle as the circle rolls
along a straight line. If the given line is the
T R O C H O ID .

X -a xis and the point is originally on the Y axis, the curve is given b y:

x = ad b sin 0 ;

y = a b cos 6,

where a is the radius of the circle, b the dis

tance of the point from the center of the circle,
and 6 is the angle through which the circle
has rolled. I f b = a, the curve is called a
c y c lo id ; if b < a, the cycloid is c u rta te and if
b > a, p ro la te .
T R O C H O I D A L M A S S A N A L Y Z E R . A m ass
sp e c tro m e te r wherein the io n beams traverse
trochoidal paths within e le c tr ic and m a g n e tic
fie ld s mutually perpendicular.
T R O C H O T R O N . A multi-electrode vacuum
tu b e used for s c a lin g , which operates by uti
lizing an electron beam in a m a g n e tic fie ld to

charge elements in sequence.

TRO LA N D .
A unit of retinal illuminance
(see illu m in a n c e , r e t in a l) , being the visual

stimulation resulting from an illuminance of

1 c a n d le /s q m when the apparent area of the
e n tra n c e p u p il of the eye is 1 sq m.
TRO LA N D AND F L E T C H E R

T H E O R IE S .

Theories of hearing which maintain that the

sensation of p itc h depends upon the time na
ture of the stimulation.
In addition the
Fletcher theory emphasizes the importance of
the position of excitation on the b a s ila r m e m

and curved cyclonically. A V-shaped trough

normally contains a fr o n t; a U-shaped trough
generally contains no front or a very weak
one. Usually there is considerable weather
associated with a trough line of the V-variety.
Trough line movements can be computed and
a forecast made of future positions.
T R O U T O N R U L E . The ratio of the m o la r
latent h e a t o f v a p o riz a tio n of a liquid to its

boiling point on the absolute scale is a con

stant, approximately 23 calories/deg. This
rule applies only in a limited number of cases.
Compounds which associate, such as alcohol,
do not obey this law. Deviations are also
observed with materials of low boiling points
and low m o le c u la r w e ig h ts , and with sub
stances of high boiling points.
T R O Y S Y S T E M . A system of weights and
measures in which the ounce is identical with
that in the a p o th e c a rie s syste m .

Troy System
24 grains = 1 pennyweight
2 0 pennyweights = 1 ounce
12 ounces = 1 pound
1 pound (Troy) = 373.25 grams
1 pound (Troy) = 0.823 pounds (avoirdupois)
T R T U B E . See tu b e , T R (tra n s m it- re c e iv e );
s w itc h , tra n s m it-re c e iv e .

b ra n e .
TRO PO PA U SE.
The discontinuity surface
separating the stra to sp h e re from the trophosp h e re . It varies in height from about 55,000

T S C H E B Y S C H E F F E Q U A T I O N . A special
case of the G a u ss h y p e rg e o m e tric d iffe re n tia l
e q u a tio n :
(1 - z2)y" -

ft at the equator to 25,000 ft over the poles.

T hat part of the earths
atmosphere in which temperature generally
decreases with altitude, clouds form, and con
vection is active. The troposphere occupies
the space above the earths surface up to the

TRO PO SPH ERE.

zyf + n2y = 0,

where n is an integer. Its general solution is

a linear combination of the two kinds of
T s c h e b y s c h e ff p o ly n o m ia ls .
(The name is
often spelled differently, particularly Tcheby-

cheff.)

tro p o p a u se .
TRO PO TRO N .

One form of m a g n e tro n .

T R O U B L E - L O C A T IO N
PRO BLEM .
In
c o m p u te r terminology, a test problem whose

incorrect solution supplies information on the

location of faulty equipment; used after a
c h e c k p ro b le m has shown that a fault exists.
T R O U G H L I N E . A line drawn in a pressure
field along which the iso b a rs are symmetrical

T S C H E B Y S C H E F F P O L Y N O M I A L . A so
lution of the T s c h e b y s c h e ff e q u a tio n . The

two linearly independent solutions are known

as p o ly n o m ia ls of the first and second kind.
Those of the first kind, which are the more
familiar ones, may be represented by the h y
p e rg e o m e tric se rie s:

T n(z) = F (n ,

Other definitions of them are:

for pulse reception.

T n(z) = cos (n cos - 1 z) ;

TU BE, ATR.

T n(z) = z - ( ^ j z " - 2( l - z 2)

+ g

2- ( l

A gas-filled radio
frequency switching tube in which a gas dis
charge, initiated and regulated independently
of radio-frequency power, is used to control
this power by reflection or absorption.

- 2 ) =F-

( _ 1 ) V ( 1 - z2) cT

BA LLA ST.
A re sista n c e element
sealed in a tube, usually in a hydrogen atmos
phere, used as a series component of a circuit
to maintain the current constant. This is ac
complished by designing the ballast tube so
the resistance increases and decreases rapidly
with corresponding changes of current through
it.
TU BE,

1 -3 -5 - -(2n 1) dzn

See also g e n e ra tin g fu n c tio n .

mials are o rth o g o n a l:

See tu b e , a n ti-tran sm it-re ce iv e .

TU BE, ATTEN U ATO R.

r,(*) = ---- ------------ - (1 - z )n

(See also s w itc h , T R ;

s w itc h , A T R .)

The polyno

Tm{z)T n{z)

f
where I mn = 0, m 7 ^ n ; 7mw == 7r / 2 ; / 00 = tt.
Similar definitions and properties may be given
for polynomials of the second kind.

T U B E , B A N D - I G N I T O R . A g lo w -d isch arg e
tu b e in which conduction is initiated by the

T S E C T I O N . A n e tw o rk connection which
has two elements in series in one line and a
third element in shunt from the junction of
the two series elements to the opposite line,
thereby giving a circuit diagram which looks
like a T.

TU BE
B A N D -P A SS
(T R
AND
P R E-T R
T U B E S ) . Tube, broadband (T R and pre-T R
tu b e s ).

TTM .
tio n .
TTY.

Abbreviation for tr a n s it tim e m o d u la

Abbreviation for te le ty p e w rite r.

The word tube, when used in this

book without qualification, refers to an elec
tron tube. (See tu b e , e le c tro n .)

TU BE.

A tube (see tu b e , e le c tro n )

having small electrodes of essentially conven
tional shape which has an upper frequency
limit of approximately 1 2 0 0 me. Its name
comes from the fact that its shape and size is
approximately that of an acorn.
TU B E, ACORN.

T U B E A D M IT T A N C E , IN P U T .
ta n c e , e le c tro d e .

See a d m it

T U B E , A D M IT T A N C E , O U T P U T .
m itta n c e , e le c tro d e .
T U B E , A M P L IF IC A T IO N
See a m p lific a tio n fa c to r.

See a d

FA C TO R

O F.

A
gas-filled radio-frequency switching tube used
to isolate the transmitter during the interval
TU BE,

A N T I- T R A N S M IT - R E C E IV E .

application of a high potential between the

cathode and an external metal band.

T U B E , B A N T A M . An octal-based tu b e with
a cylindrical glass envelope roughly the same
diameter as the base. It is designated by the
letters G T after the tube type-number, while
its electrical equivalent in a larger envelope
simply has the suffix G.
T U B E , B E A M - D E F L E C T I O N . An electronbeam tube (see tu b e , e le ctro n -b e am ) in which

current in an output circuit is controlled by

transverse movement of the electron beam.
T U B E , B E A M - I N D E X I N G C O L O R . A color
picture tu b e in which a signal, generated by

an electron beam after deflection, is fed back

to a control device or element in such a way
as to provide an image in color.
T U B E , B EA M -P O W ER .
An electron-beam
tube (see tu b e , ele ctro n -b e am ) in which use
is made of directed e le c tro n b eam s to con
tribute substantially to its power-handling
capability, and in which the control g rid and
the screen g rid are essentially aligned.
T U B E , B R O A D B A N D (T R A N D P R E -T R
T U B E S ) . A gas-filled fixed-tuned tube incor
porating a band-pass filte r of geometry suit

able for radio-frequency switching.

T U B E , C A M E R A . See tu b e , o rth ic o n ; tu b e ,
im a g e d is s e c to r; tu b e , ico n o sc o p e ; tu b e , v id ico n.
CA M ER A , NON -STO RA G E.
A
camera tube whose output is proportional to
the instantaneous light value being received
by a basic p ic tu re e le m e n t of the m o sa ic at
the time of sc a n n in g .
TU BE,

A special form of
vacuum tube used in various electronic appli
cations, e.g., as the picture tube of the tele
vision receiver and as an oscilloscope tube.
The tube consists fundamentally of three sec
tions enclosed in an evacuated bulb. The first
is the electron gun which produces and pro
jects down the tube a beam of electrons. This
gun has a ca th o d e , usually indirectly heated,
which emits a plentiful supply of electrons,
then a g rid which controls the number of elec
trons drawn towards the anode and finally
the an o d e. Both the grid and anode are d if
ferent in structure from the corresponding
elements of the conventional vacuum tu b e .
They consist of metal cylinders, coaxial with
the cathode and closed at the end except for
a small circular hole. M any of the electrons
which are drawn towards the anode under
the influence of the grid and anode voltages
pass through these holes and are projected as
a beam into the main part of the tube. Here
they are focused upon the screen by electric
or magnetic fields in a manner analogous to
the focusing of light rays by a lens system.
In passing down the tube the beam passes
between two sets of plates, called deflecting
plates, which are perpendicular to one an
other. A voltage applied to either of these
sets will deflect the beam towards the positive
plate. Sometimes the plates are omitted and
coils outside the tube substituted. A current
through the coils will set up a magnetic field
and hence cause deflection of the beam.
Finally the beam hits the screen which is a
coating on the end of the tube of some ma
terial which will fluoresce under the impact
of the electrons. Reference to the figure will
T U B E , C A T H O D E-R A Y .

show the relative positions of the various parts

of the tube. (See also k in e sc o p e .)
T U B E , C A T H O D E-R A Y , A F T E R -A C C E L
E R A T IO N (P O S T - D E F L E C T IO N A C C E L
E R A T I O N ) . A system in which the electron
beam of a cathode-ray tu b e receives a part

of its energy by being accelerated after being

deflected.
TU BE,
C A T H O D E-R A Y ,
D E F L E C T IO N
D E F O C U S I N G . The change in spot size or

beam width due to the deflection process.

T U B E , C A T H O D E -R A Y (O P E R A T E D AS
O S C IL L O S C O P E O R T E L E V IS IO N P IC
T U R E T U B E ) . The o scillo sco p e is used pri

marily for studying the current or voltage

wave forms present in a circuit which is being
investigated. If the voltage being studied is
connected to one set of the deflecting plates
it will cause the e le c tro n b e am in the tube to
move back and forth as the voltage varies.
This will cause the fluorescent spot on the
screen to move, and due to the persistence of
the screen it will appear as a line. If now,
another voltage is placed on the other set of
plates it will move the beam and hence the
screen spot, the resultant being a line pattern
which is a combination of the effects of both
voltages. Usually the second voltage is a saw
tooth w a v e which gives linear (with respect
to time) deflection of the spot and hence the
pattern will be the same as if the first wave
were plotted on conventional rectangular co
ordinates. For current study either the volt
age drop, caused by the current through a
resistor, is used or the current is passed through
the coils of the magnetic deflection type. For
use as a te le v is io n picture tube the picture
signals are applied to the various electrodes so
the flu o re sce n ce of the screen is a reproduction
of the original scene being televised.
T U B E , C E L L - T Y P E (T R , A T R , A N D P R E T R T U B E S ).
A gas-filled radio-frequency

switching tube which operates in an external

resonant circuit. A tuning mechanism m ay be
incorporated in either the external resonant
circuit or the tube.

Deflecting

T U B E , C H A R G E - S T O R A G E . A storage tu b e
in which information is retained on a surface
in the form of electric charges.
T U B E , C O D IN G .
An electron-beam tube
(see tu b e , e le ctro n -b e am ) that transforms

low pressures; especially the study of the

emission by the cathode of radiations which
were, therefore, called cath o d e ra y s , and were
found to be streams of electrons. Later the
positive rays, i.e., streams of positively
charged io n s, were found to be produced in
modified tubes of this type.
In electromagnetic-deflection, cathode-ray tu b e s, a tube used with
magnetic deflecting-coils to prevent any tra n
sie n t oscillations from being set up in the tube
or its associated circuits.

T U B E , D A M P IN G .
Functional diagram of the coder. (By permission
from Modulation Theory by Black, 1953, D. Van
Nostrand Co., Inc.)

speech samples into patterns of code charac

ters.
T U B E C O E F F IC IE N T S (C H A R A C T E R IS
T I C S ) . The constants that describe the pa
rameters of a tu b e . (See, for example, transc o n d u c ta n c e , a m p lific a tio n fa c t o r , p la te re
sista n c e and c h a ra c te ris tic c u rv e s .)
T U B E , C O L D - C A T H O D E . An electron tube
(see tu b e , e le c tro n ) in which the cathode
emission does not arise from th e rm io n ic
emission, but from field, secondary, or p hoto
e le c tr ic emission.
T U B E , C O L O R P I C T U R E . An electron tube
used to provide an image in color by the sc a n
n in g of a ra s te r and by varying the intensity
o f excitation of p h o sp h o rs to produce light of
the chosen primary colors.
C O L O R , R E F L E C T IO N .
A color
picture tube which produces an image by
means of electron reflection techniques in the
screen region.
TU BE,

T U B E , C O N V E R T E R . An electron tube (see

tu b e , e le c tro n ) that combines the m ix e r and
lo c a l- o s c illa to r functions of a heterodyneconversion tra n s d u c e r.
T U B E , C O R O N A . A gas discharge tu b e em
ploying a corona d is c h a rg e , used as a voltage

reference tube.
T U B E C O U N T . A terminated discharge pro
duced by an io n iz in g e v e n t in a radiation
c o u n te r tu b e .
TU B E, CO U N TER.

See entries under co u n

te r.
T U B E , C R O O K E S . A tube used in the in
vestigation of the phenomena associated with
the conduction of electricity through gases at

T U B E , D A R K T R A C E . A cathode-ray tu b e ,
of which the face is bright, and signals are
displayed as dark traces or dark b lip s .
T U B E , D E M O U N T A B L E . An electron tu b e
which may be taken apart for inspection or
repair. Usually limited to large-sized units
which are continuously-pumped during opera
tion.
T U B E , D IO D E .
An electron-tube
(See tu b e , e le c tro n ; also d io d e .)

diode.

T U B E , D IS C H A R G E .
( 1 ) A tube biased to
cut-off, and therefore non-conducting except
when triggered by a positive p u lse . A con

denser, connected in the plate circuit of the

tube, charges when the tube is non-conducting
and discharges when the tube is triggered and
forced into conduction. The tube may be
either v a c u u m or gaseous. ( 2 ) Any tube con
taining a gas or vapor at low pressure and
capable of showing a gaseous discharge. (See
d is c h a rg e , g aseo us.)

A tu b e designed with
low interelectrode spacings, and low electrode
lead inductances for use at ultra-high fre
quencies. Connections to the electrodes are
made through disks sealed in the tubes en
velope. The disks in turn are usually fitted
into re so n a n t c a v itie s designed to receive
them.
T U B E , D IS K - S E A L E D .

A vacuum tu b e espe
cially built for ultra high fre q u e n c y use where
the lead in d u c ta n c e and the c a p a c ita n c e be
tween electrodes of the conventional tubes pre
vent their use. The door-knob tube gets its
name from its resemblance to a door knob, the
peculiar shape being the result of an effort to
get the leads as short as possible and have a
minimum amount of d ie le c tric material in the
T U B E , D O O R -K N O B .

construction. These tubes do not have a con

ventional base, the leads being brought out
directly through the glass and made heavy
enough to serve as connections.

TUBE, DISSECTOR.

A camera tube (see

tu b e , c a m e ra ) having a continuous p h o to ca th
ode on which is formed a photoelectric emis-

sion-pattern which is scanned by moving its

electron-optical image over an a p e rtu re .

TUBE, ELECTROMETER.

A high-vacuum

tu b e having a very low control-electrode co n

d u c ta n c e to facilitate the measurement of ex

tremely small direct current or voltage.

entries under e le c tro m e te r.)

TUBE, ELECTRON.

(See

An electron device in
which conduction by electrons takes place
through a vacuum or gaseous medium within
a gas-tight envelope.
The electron tubes
form the heart of many of the modern devel
opments in communication and industry. It
is safe to say that without them we would
have no ra d io , te le v is io n , satisfactory long
distance telephone service, and many of our
com mon every-day necessities could not be
produced as cheaply and as well without the
tubes. The electron tube is a device in which
e le c tro n s are freed from the restraints of a
solid conductor, pass across a free space (vac
uum or gas at low pressure) and are again
collected by a solid conductor, but during this
passage in free space are controlled in man
ners which would be impossible if they had
not been temporarily freed. Thus we may
control the flow of electric current in a wire
by controlling the voltage across its terminals,
but when the electrons are passing between the
electrodes of a tube we can superimpose many
kinds of com plicated controls if desired.
Tubes may be classified in various ways and
no one way gives a complete picture. As a
first general classification we might use v a c
uum and gas-filled, the first being a tube
which has been as highly evacuated as pos
sible and the latter being one which has been
evacuated and then partially refilled with a
gas at low pressure. The characteristics of
the two groups are usually quite different.
Then they may be classified according to the
number of elements, two-electrode tubes be
ing diodes (the simplest electron tube must
have at least two electrodes), three-electrode
tubes being triodes, four being tetrodes, five

being pentodes and so on. T o give anything

approaching a satisfactory picture of the tube
it is necessary to use both types of classifica
tion and this is usually done.
Let us examine the vacuum-tube family
first, starting with the simple diode. This has
a thermionic cath o d e which may be directly
(filament type) or indirectly heated to pro
duce electron emission. The other electrode
is the an o d e which collects the electrons.
Since electrons are negative charges they are
attracted by positive-charged electrodes and
repelled by negatively charged ones. Thus if
the anode is made positive with respect to
the cathode the emitted electrons will be at
tracted to it, the current usually varying as
the % power of the applied voltage. I f the
anode is negative it repels the electrons and
no current flows from one electrode to the
other since the electrons are the carriers of
the charge. It should be noted that the direc
tion of the electron flow is opposite the con
ventional current direction.
W e can see,
then, that if an alternating voltage is im
pressed across a diode current will flow only
during the part of the cycle in which the anode
is positive, thus giving r e c tifie r action. This
is the m ajor use of this tube.
If a third electrode is inserted in the form
of a g rid between the c a th o d e and an o d e its
potential will also affect the electron flow
across the tube. As this new electrode, the
grid, is much closer to the cathode than the
anode is, a given voltage on it will have much
more effect on the electrons than the same
voltage would if impressed on the plate. This
is the basis of the amplifying action of all the
grid-controlled tubes and the a m p lific a tio n
fa c to r of the tube is a measure of this relative
effectiveness, varying from two or three to ap
proximately a hundred in triodes and much
higher for tetrodes and pentodes. The elec
trons which are controlled by the voltage on
the grid pass on through the open grid struc
ture and go to the plate (when it is positive
as it normally is), thus giving the grid con
trol over the plate current. Another advan
tage of this control is that the grid takes
little or no p o w e r from the controlling circuit,
yet the controlled power in the plate circuit
may be quite large (there is no creation of
energy involved since the additional power
comes from the direct current operating
source).

The triode has undesirably high c a p a c ita n c e

between the anode and grid so a second grid
may be put between these two electrodes to
shield them electrostatically from one an
other. This gives the screen grid or tetrode
tube. The screen grid is operated at a posi
tive potential and ordinarily serves no pur
pose except shielding although in certain ap
plications it is used for other effects. This
tube is characterized by a high a m p lific a tio n
fa c t o r , often many hundred, and a high
dynamic p la te re s is ta n c e , running well over
a megohm in some cases. Its big disadvan
tage is a se co n d a ry e m issio n effect when the
plate potential is lower than that of the screen.
This is overcome in the pentode by inserting a
third grid, the suppressor, between the screen
grid and the plate, the suppressor being con
nected to the cathode. This new grid effec
tively suppresses secondary emission and at
the same time the tube retains the desirable
characteristics of the tetrode. Another method
of accomplishing the same result is the beam
tube which is often used for power a m p lifie rs .
In this tube the electron stream across the
tube is focused in such a way that it serves as
its own suppressor.
Certain special-purpose vacuum tubes have
still other electrodes, the pentagrid converter
tube, for example, has five grids which are
utilized to make the tube serve both as the
o s c illa to r and mixer tube of a superhetero
dyne r e c e iv e r . Other multigrid tubes are used
for mixing two or more signals to give a com
bined effect in the output. Other tubes have
effectively two distinct tubes within the same
envelope, e.g., a diode or duodiode and triode
or pentode are often in the same envelope to
serve as d e te c to r and first audio a m p lifie r of
a receiver.
The vacuum -tube fam ily ranges from ex
tremely small tubes used for u lt r a h ig h f r e
q u e n c y work to the giants of many kilowatt
capacity used in radio tra n s m itte rs and large
industrial applications. M any of these larger
sizes are water-cooled to dissipate the large
amount of heat generated by the losses in the
tube. The diodes are often called kenotrons
and the grid-controlled tubes pliotrons, par
ticularly in industrial applications.
The second group of tubes, the gas-filled,
have in general quite different characteristics
due to the ionization of the gas during opera
tion. The diode is used primarily as a recti

fier and is similar in general construction to

the vacuum diode. It is possible to have a
cold cathode in a gas-filled tube and in some
low power applications such a cathode is often
used. Besides the passage of electrons as in
the kenotrons, the ionized gas gives positive
io ns as additional current carriers. The pas
sage of the original electrons across the tube
will produce ionization by collision with the
gas molecules if the voltage applied across
the tube is sufficient to give the electrons the
necessary velocity. This ionization gives rise
to more electrons and the positive ions, the
latter being attracted to the negative cathode
where they neutralize the space charge sheath
around the cathode. The result of this is a
greatly lowered tube voltage drop with the
tube current going up tremendously and no
longer following the % power law. In fact,
if the current is not limited by external re
sista n ce it reaches destructive values in a
small fraction o f a second. Hence gas-filled
tubes must always be used in circuits with
enough resistance to limit the current to safe
values. Gas-filled diodes are widely used for
rectifiers where large currents are desired
since the drop across the tube is low and con
sequently the efficiency is high. The usual
hot cathode tube has a drop between 8 and
15 volts. The m e rc u ry po o l tu b e is a special
type of gas-filled diode. The hot cathode tubes
are often called phanotrons.
If the grid is inserted between the cathode
and anode of a gas-filled tube the effect is de
cidedly different from the vacuum tube. A t
low grid voltages the tube behaves as a va c
uum tube, but as the grid voltage is raised,
the gas suddenly breaks into a discharge, the
voltage drop falling to a low value and the
current increasing to a high value. Thus a
voltage on the grid can trigger a large current
in the plate circuit. This grid-controlled, hot
cathode, gas-filled tube is the thyratron. The
behavior of the thyratron can be forecast from
its grid control characteristic curve, which
shows the relation between the grid voltage
and the anode voltage for breakdown of the
gas. Thus for any given anode voltage the
critical grid voltage to cause the tube to trig
ger m ay be obtained. Once that tube has
broken down the grid no longer has control.
For the grid to regain control it is necessary
for the plate voltage to fall below the tube
drop value and remain below this long enough

for the gas ions to recombine. This deioniza

tion time puts a definite limit to the frequency
with which the tube can be triggered and con
trolled. On a-c the anode voltage falls every
cycle and if the cycle lasts long enough the
tube will not start on the next positive half
cycle unless the grid voltage exceeds the criti
cal value. Thus while the control is not con
tinuous as it is in vacuum tubes, it is possible
to control within one cycle, which is sufficient
for many applications. W hile it has limited
use in communication work it is very valuable
for industrial control where a minute actuat
ing power may control, through the thyratron,
kilowatts of power in the plate circuit. For
many industrial applications the triggering
effect is exactly what is desired, the operation
being equivalent to a switch without any arc
ing contacts, mechanical time lag, etc. B y
using special circuits, such as the p h ase s h ift
c o n tro l, various special effects m ay be ob
tained with the thyratron. M any of these
tubes have other grids for producing the de
sired characteristics. The ig n itr n is another
type of controlled gas-filled tube. The gridglow tube is a cold cathode tube similar to the
thyratron.
Besides the tubes discussed here the p h o to
tu b e is also an electron tube.
T U B E , ELEC T R O N -B EA M .
An electron
tu b e , the performance of which depends upon

the formation and control of one or more

ele ctro n -b e am s.
T U B E , E L E C T R O N I M A G E . A c ath o d e -ra y
tu b e used to increase the brightness or size

of an image or to produce a visible image

from invisible r a d ia tio n such as in fr a r e d . A
large, light-sensitive, cold cathode serves as
the focal plane for the optical image. The
resulting emission from the cathode is ac
celerated through an appropriate lens system
before striking a fluorescent screen, where it
produces an enlarged and brightened repro
duction of the original image. This device
has been employed in electron m icro sco p e s
and telescopes, infrared microscopes and tele
scopes, and fluoroscope intensifiers.
T U B E , E LEC T R O N -R A Y .
tu n in g ; tu b e , in d ic a to r.

See

in d ic a to r,

of initially-uniform ch a rg e d e n s ity , but which

have different individual average velocities,
and have superimposed upon their average
velocities a sinusoidal fluctuation, to generate
an electron-wave. The electron-wave is es
sentially a c o n v e ctio n c u rre n t that consists
of a beam of uniform charge distribution upon
which is superimposed a propagated sinu
soidal fluctuation. When the electron-wave
is passed through a suitable output device,
the kinetic energy of the electrons in the wave
is converted to radio-frequency energy that is
available at the output terminals.
T U B E , F IR E D (T R , A T R , A N D P R E -T R
T U B E S ) . ( 1 ) The condition of the tube dur

ing which a radio-frequency glow discharge

exists at either the resonant gap, resonant
window or both. (2) The condition of anode
conduction of any gas or glow-discharge tube.
(3) The condition of the tube at which a
gaseous discharge exists between two or more
electrodes.
An electron tube in which the
pressure of the contained gas or vapor is such
as to affect substantially the electrical char
acteristics of the tube.
(See e x c itro n ; ig n i

T U B E , G AS.

tr n ; th y ra tro n ; tu b e , e le c tro n .)
T U B E , G A T E D - B E A M . Essentially a p e n
tode with a very sharp cut-off and maximum

anode current.
This sharp transition is
achieved with the aid of fixed-potential elec
trodes, which form a sheet b e am of electrons,
which may be deflected away from the anode
by the application of a relatively small volt
age to a control electrode.
T U B E , G L O W - D IS C H A R G E , C O L D - C A T H O D E . A gas tu b e that depends for its opera
tion on the properties of a g lo w d isc h a rg e .
T U B E , G R I D C U R R E N T . See c u rre n t, e le c
tro d e ; e m issio n , g rid , s e c o n d a ry ; e m issio n ,
g rid , th e rm io n ic ; gas c u rre n t.
G R ID - G L O W .
A glow-discharge,
cold-cathode tube (see tu b e , g lo w -d isch arg e ,
co ld -cath o d e) with a grid or starter anode
which m ay be used to initiate anode current
flow. Sometimes referred to as a cold-cathode
gas triode.

TU BE,

T U B E , ELEC T R O N -W A V E.
A microwave
tu b e which depends for its characteristics upon

T U B E , G R O U N D E D - G R ID .

interaction of electrons, which are in a beam

g ro u n d e d -g rid .)

a grounded-grid

amplifier.

A tube used in
(See a m p lifie r,

See

T U B E , H EA TED -C A TH O D E.
h o t ca th o d e .

tu b e ,

T U B E , H O T - C A T H O D E . An electron tube
(see tu b e , e le c tro n ) containing a hot cathode.
(See c a th o d e , h o t.)
T U B E , H O T-C A TH O D E, H E A T E R -T Y P E .
A hot-cathode tube employing an indirectlyheated cathode.
(See c a th o d e , in d ire c tly h e a te d ; also h e a te r.)
T U B E , I C O N O S C O P E . A pick-up tube in
which a high velocity e le c tro n b e am scans a
photoactive mosaic which has electrical sto r
age capability.

T U B E , I G N I T R O N . An electron tu b e of the
m e rc u ry -a rc type having a special starting

principle. The tube consists of a mercury pool,

to serve as ca th o d e , and an an o d e for the main
part of the circuit and an auxiliary electrode,
the igniter, which dips into the mercury pool.
Since all mercury pool tubes are essentially
cold cathode devices until the arc is started
some means must be provided for initiating
IMAGE SECTION

the arc. For rectification of a-c where no

provision is made for keeping the arc alive
from cycle to cycle or for control purposes
where the tube may be alternately turned on
and off under the influence of auxiliary equip
ment, the arc must be restarted at intervals.
In the ignitron this is accomplished by the
igniter, a rough-surfaced material which will
not be wet by the mercury. The resultant
points of contact between the igniter rod and
the mercury will carry very high current den
sities if a p u lse having only a fair current
value is passed through it. This high current
density, possibly coupled with high fields
where the mercury and rod are not actually
in contact, cause the creation of a minute
cathode spot at the junction of the mercury
surface and the rod. This gives the electron
emission necessary to start conduction to the
main anode if the latter is positive. The cur
rent between the spot and the anode then will
develop the spot to its normal size. This tube
has the advantages of the ordinary mercuryarc tube plus the great advantage of an easily
controlled starting mechanism not involving
any moving parts. It has rapidly come into
extensive use for applications requiring ease
of control and high current capacities; espe
cially capacities of short-time duration, such
as motor control, welding control, rectifiers in
electrochemical processes, etc.
T U B E , I M A G E . A camera tu b e in which an
electron image produced by a photo-emitting
surface is focused in the plane of a defining
a p e rtu re and is scanned past that aperture.
SCANNING SECTION

1!

Simplified functional drawing of image orthicon.

MULTIPLIER SECTION

TU B E,

IM A G E -C O N V E R T E R .
See tu b e ,
ico n o sco p e ; tu b e , o rth ic o n ; tu b e , c a m e ra .
TU BE, IM A G E IC O N O SC O P E . A camera
tube which combines the action of a conven
tional ico n o sco p e and an im a g e d isse c to r tube.
It has about ten times the sensitivity of the
iconoscope.
TU B E, IM A G E O R T H IC O N . A camera tu b e
in which an electron image is produced by a
photo-em itting surface, and focused on a sep
arate sto rag e target, which is scanned on its
opposite side by a low -velocity e le c tro n b e a m .
See figure on page 1192.
TU BE, IN D IC A T O R . An electron-beam tube
(see tu b e , e le ctro n -b e am ) in which useful in
formation is conveyed by the variation in cross
section of the beam at a luminescent target.
Indicator tubes are sometimes used as tu n in g

and im ag e d is s e c to r). The beam of electrons

then hits the fluorescent end screen of the tube
and reproduces the scene being televised. (See
tu b e , p ic tu r e .)

TU BE, L A W R E N C E .

A ch ro m a tro n .

TU BE, LIG H T H O U SE .
A form of disksealed tube used as a U H F oscillator and
amplifier. (See tu b e , d isk -se a le d .)
TU BE, L O C A L O SC IL L A T O R . An electron
tube (see tu b e , e le c tro n ) in a h e te ro d yn e co n
v e rs io n tra n s d u c e r to provide the local hetero
dyning frequency for a mixer tu b e .
TU BE M A G IC-E Y E. An indicator tube.
(See tu b e , in d ic a to r; tu n in g d e v ic e s .)
TUBE, M A G N E T IC C RO . A cath o d e -ra y
tu b e with magnetic deflection and focusing.

in d ic a to rs .

TU BE, M E M O R Y. See tu b e , sto rag e. The

use of the term memory tube is deprecated.

TU BE, IN D U C T IO N -O U TP U T . A tu b e in
which the output electrode receives its energy
from the electron stream by in d u c tio n rather
than collection.

TU BE, M ERCU RY-VAPO R. A gas tu b e in

which the active gas is mercury vapor.

TU BE, IO N IC -H E A T E D C A T H O D E .
An
electron tube (see tu b e , e le c tro n ) containing
a c a th o d e heated by the bombardment of posi
tive ions.
TU BE, KIN E SC O PE .

This is a cathode-ray

tu b e used as the picture tube in a te le v is io n

receiver. The signal representing the picture

intensity is fed to the g rid of the electron gun
so the intensity of the beam varies with the
intensity of the original scene. This variable

ION-TRAP
MAGNET
GLASS
NECK SECTION
BASE
\

CATHODEGRIDJ / GRID
N*| / N*3
GRID

Kinescope tube.

beam is swept back and forth, up and down

by deflecting voltages impressed on the de
flecting plates and synchronized with the
scanning of the camera tube (see icon o scop e

TU BE, M IX E R . An electron tube (see tu b e ,

e le c tro n ) that performs only the frequencyconversion function of a h e te ro d yn e c o n v e r
sio n tra n s d u c e r when it is supplied with volt
age or power from an external o s c illa to r.
TU BE, M U L T IE L E C T R O D E . An electron
tube (see tu b e , e le c tro n ) containing more
than three e le ctro d e s associated with a single
electron-stream.
TU BE, M U LTIPLE -U N IT. An electron tube
(see tu b e , e le c tro n ) containing within one en
velope two or more groups of electrodes asso
ciated with independent electron streams. A
multiple-unit tube may be so indicated; for
example, duodiode, duotriode, diode-pentode,
duodiode-triode, duodiode-pentode, and triodepentode.
TUBE O F F O R C E (O R D IS P L A C E M E N T ).
A tube of force is region of space bounded by
surfaces that are everywhere tangent the field
vector (the e le c tric fie ld stren g th E or the
m a g n e tic fie ld stren g th H ). Thus the bound
ing surfaces are never crossed by any line of
force; any line within a given tube remains
within the tube throughout its length. A tube
of displacement is similarly defined, except
that the d isp la c e m e n t v e c to r D or B replaces
the corresponding field vector. In iso tro p ic

media tubes of force are also tubes of displace

ment.
Tubes of displacement are usually
chosen to have a cross-sectional area such that
the number of tubes per unit area crossing a
surface perpendicular to the displacement is
equal to the magnitude of the flu x d e n sity .
T U B E , O R T H I C O N . A p ick-u p tu b e in which
a low velocity e le c tro n b e a m scans a photo
active m o sa ic which has electrical storage

capability.

an external coil assembly. Anodes placed

along the circumference of a circle having the
cathode as its center are swept by the beam
twice in each beam-revolution.
A vacuum tu b e oper
ated in such a way that it presents the char
acteristics of a re a c ta n c e to the rest of the
circuit. As reactance takes a current which
is essentially 90 out of phase with the voltage
it is necessary that the tube do the same.

TU BE, REACTAN CE.

A type of disk-seal tube

made in the shape of a pencil.
(See tu b e ,
T U B E , P E N C IL .
d isk -se a l.)
T U N E D (T R T U B E S ).
A
fixed tuned broad band T R tube, wherein the
p h ase a n g le through and the reflection intro
duced by the tube are controlled within limits.
TU BE, PH ASE

T U B E , P H A S IT R O N .

See p h a s itro n .

T U B E , P H O T O E L E C T R IC .

See p h o to tu b e .

T U B E , PH O TO G LO W .
A special form of
p h o to tu b e which has increased sensitivity by

virtue of the glow initiated by light falling on

the cathode.
T U B E , P I C T U R E . A cathode-ray tu b e used
to produce an image by variation of the beam
intensity as the beam scans a ra s te r.
(See
also tu b e , k in e sc o p e .)

A tu b e in
which the electrodes lie in parallel planes.

T U B E , P LA N A R -ELEC T R O D E.

T U B E , P L A T E R E S IS T A N C E O F .
re s is ta n c e .

See p la te

P O S IT IV E .
The term sometimes
given a th y ra tro n with a positive-grid char
acteristic (i.e., a positive grid-voltage is re
quired to initiate the discharge).

TU BE,

A tube de
signed for the purpose of producing relatively
large power output and power g a in .
(See

T U B E , P O W E R - A M P L IF IE R .

a m p lifie r, p o w e r.)

A gas-filled radio-frequency
switching tube used to protect the T R tube
from excessively high power and the receiver
from frequencies other than the fu n d a m e n ta l.

T U B E , P R E-TR .

T U B E , R A D I A L B E A M . A switching tube
(see tu b e , s w itc h in g ) which employs a radial

beam of electrons which is rotated around the

cathode by the m a g n e tic fie ld produced by

Reference to the circuit will indicate one

method of connecting it to accomplish this.
The g rid is excited by a voltage obtained from
the plate voltage by the resistan ce -co n d e n se r
circuit (the condenser connected to the cathode
is merely a d-c blocking condenser and has
a value which produces no other appreciable
effect). The resistance-condenser circuit ap
plies a voltage to the grid which is nearly 90
out of phase with the plate voltage. Since,
in a pentode, the plate current is in phase with
the grid voltage, this means that the plate
current (a-c component) is 90 out of phase
with the plate voltage, thus the plate circuit
has the desired reactance characteristics. The
advantage of the tube over a conventional
reactance is that the magnitude of its re
actance effect m ay be easily varied by ad
justing the d-c bias applied to the grid. The
circuit shows the tube connected as part of
the tuning capacity of an o s c illa to r. B y vary
ing the grid bias (hence the gain) of the tube
the tuning of the oscillator is varied. This is
used in many frequency-m odulation trans
mitters to give the frequency modulation. In
this application a suitable audio signal is fed
to the grid of the reactance tube so its react
ance effect will vary with the audio and hence
frequency modulate the oscillator. It is also
used in frequency-stabilizing circuits where
the deviation from the desired frequency is
made to vary the grid bias of the reactance
tube and hence correct the oscillator fre
quency.

One of the character

istics of the glow and arc types of discharge
tu b e is their tendency to maintain a constant
voltage across the tu b e . This property is used
in the various voltage regulator tubes, which
are two e le c tro d e glow discharge tubes oper
ated in the current range where this constant
voltage characteristic is very pronounced.
When such a tube is connected in series with
a re s is ta n c e across a source of d -c it will main
tain a constant voltage across its terminals
for wide variations in the source voltage.
W hile the current which can be supplied by
such a circuit is rather limited, it is sufficient
for numerous electronic circuits.
TU BE, REG U LA TO R.

A tube which,
by virtue of unevenly-spaced grid-wires, has
a tra n s c o n d u c ta n c e which varies essentially
logarithm ically over an appreciable range of
negative-grid voltages. The action is similar
to that of several elemental tubes of different
a m p lific a tio n fa c to rs operating in parallel.
(See tu b e , v a r ia b le m u .)

T U B E , R E M O T E C U T -O FF.

T U B E , S H A R P C U T - O F F . A tu b e which has
a reasonably-constant a m p lific a tio n fa c to r

down to small values of plate current, as con

trasted to the remote cut-off tube. (See tu b e ,

T U B E , T H E R M IO N IC .
A n electron tube
(see tu b e , e le c tro n ) in which one of the elec

trodes is heated for the purpose of causing

electron or ion emission from that electrode.
TU B E, TH YRATRO N .

See th y ra tro n .

A gas^
filled radio-frequency switching tube used to
protect the receiver in pulsed ratio-frequency
systems. (See s w itc h , T R .)

T U B E T R (T R A N S M IT R E C E I V E ) .

TU B E, TRAN SCO N D U CTAN CE OR M U

T U A L C O N D U C T A N C E O F . See tra n sc o n
d u c ta n c e .
T U B E , T R A N S IT A N G L E O F .
a n g le .

See tra n s it

TU BE,
tim e .

See tra n s it

T R A N S IT

T IM E

O F.

T U B E , T R A V E L I N G - W A V E . A broad-band,
m ic ro w a v e tube which depends for its char

acteristics upon the interaction between the

field of a wave propagated along a w a v e g u id e
and a beam of electrons traveling with the
wave. In this tube, the electrons in the beam
travel with velocities slightly greater than that
of the wave, and on the average are slowed
down by the field of the wave. The loss in

rem o te cut-o ff.)

A tu b e which has not been

com pletely evacuated, or a vacuum tube (see
tu b e , v a c u u m ) which has lost part of its v a c
uum due to gas released from the electrodes
and envelope.

T U B E , SO FT.

T U B E , S P A C E - C H A R G E . A tu b e in which
sp ace c h a rg e is present to the extent that it

affects the characteristics of the tube.

An early
velocity-m odulation tube whose grid resem
bled a squirrel cage.

T U B E , S Q U IR R E L - C A G E G R ID .

T U B E , S T A T IC C H A R A C T E R IS T IC O F A .

The families of curves or graphs which repre

sent the steady-state volt-am pere character
istics of an electron tube. (See tu b e , e le c tro n ;
c h a ra c te ris tic c u r v e .)
T U B E, STO RAG E.
An electron tube into
which in fo rm a tio n can be introduced and then

Schematic drawing of the traveling-wave amplifier.

(By permission from Microwave Theory and Tech
niques by Reich et al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.)

kinetic energy of the electrons appears as in

creased energy conveyed by the field of the
wave. The traveling-wave tube may, there
fore, be used as an a m p lifie r or as an o s c illa to r.
In addition to the type of tube shown here the
magnetron may function as a traveling wave
tube. (See m ag n e tro n , tra v e lin g - w a v e .)

extracted at a later time.

TU BE, TETRO D E.

See te tro d e.

T U B E , T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , B A C K W A R D W A V E . A traveling-wave tube in which the

electrons travel in a direction opposite to that

in which the wave is propagated.
T U B E (S ), T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , C IR C U IT S
U S E D IN .
In addition to the helix (tu b e ,
tra v e lin g - w a v e ), other devices may be used to

provide the correct wave propagation char

acteristics. Among these are:

traveling-wave tube.

(See tu b e (s ), tra v e lin g

w a v e , c irc u its u sed in .)

T U B E , T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , M A G N E T R O N
T Y P E . See m a g n e tro n , tra v e lin g -w a v e .
TU BE,

T R A V E L IN G - W A V E ,

M IL L M A N .

A traveling-wave tube which employs a w a v e

g u id e loaded by means of a transverselyslotted ridge for its interaction space.
T U B E , T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , T R A N S V E R S E
B E A M . A traveling-wave tube in which the

(a) Apertured - disk waveguide circuit (Pierce)

direction of motion of the electron beam is

transverse to the average direction in which
the signal wave moves.
T U B E , T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , T R A N S V E R S E
F I E L D . A traveling-wave tube in which the
traveling e le c tric fie ld s which interact with

the electrons are essentially transverse to the

average motion of the electrons.
(b) Disk-loaded coaxial line (Pierce)

T U B E , T R IO D E .

See trio d e .

T U B E , U N F IR E D (T R , A T R , A N D P R E - T R
T U B E S ) . The condition of the tube during

which there is no radio frequency glow dis

charge at either the resonant gap or resonant
window.
(c) A circuit consisting o f a number o f resonators

TU BE, VACUUM .
An electron tube (see
tu b e , e le c tro n ) evacuated to such a degree

that its electrical characteristics are essentially

unaffected by the presence of residual gas or
vapor.
(d) Helical- waveguide structure ( cield)

(e) A circuit consisting o f a ridged, waveguide

with transverse slots or resonators in the ridge (Field)

Some slow wave circuits for use in traveling-wave

tubes. (By permission from Traveling-Wave Tubes
by Pierce, 1950, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., and
Some Slow-Wave Structures for Traveling-Wave
Tubes by Field, P r o c . I . R . E . 3 7 , 3^40, 1949.)
T U B E , T R A V E L IN G - W A V E , IN T E R A C
T I O N C I R C U I T . An extended electrode ar

rangement in a traveling wave tube designed

to propagate an e le c tro m a g n e tic w a v e in such
a manner that the traveling electromagnetic
fields are retarded and extend into the space
occupied by the electron stream. Travelingwave tubes are often designated by the type
o f interaction circuit used, as in helix type

T U B E , V A R I A B L E M U . An electron tube
(see tu b e , e le c tro n ) in which the a m p lific a
tio n fa c to r varies in a predetermined way with

control-grid voltage. T o accomplish this the

spacing of the grid wires is not constant but
varies regularly along the grid. The result is
that the mutual c o n d u c ta n c e characteristic of
the tube approaches the grid-voltage axis very
gradually rather than abruptly as in tubes of
other types. The figure shows the character
istics of both conventional and variable mu

tubes. Since the slope of this curve is the

mutual conductance of the tube, it will be
apparent at once that the mutual conductance
of the variable mu tube may be varied over
a wide range b y varying the operating b ia s of
the tube. This property is utilized in all
standard a u to m a tic v o lu m e c o n tro l circuits,
the gain of the tube being controlled by the
bias voltage which is obtained from the recti
fied c a r r ie r .
T U B E , V E L O C IT Y
k ly s tro n entries.

M O D U L A T IO N .

T U B E , V E L O C I T Y V A R IA T IO N .
tro n e n trie s .

See

See k ly s

photoconductor which is scanned by an elec

tron beam, usually of low -velocity electrons.
T U B E , V O L T A G E - A M P L I F I E R . A tu b e de
signed to produce voltage g ain s associated

little

available

output

T U B E , V O L T A G E G A I N . See a m p lific a tio n ,

v o lta g e (t ra n s d u c e r ); a m p lifie r.
V O LTA G E R EFER EN C E.
A gas
tube in which the tube voltage drop is approxi
mately constant over the operating range of
current and relatively stable with time at fixed
values of current and temperature. Designed
for greater long-term stability than the voltage-regulator tube.
TU BE,

A gas
tube voltage drop is approximately constant
over the operating range of current.
(See
TU BE,

V O LTA G E

REG U LA TO R.

tu b e , r e g u la to r.)

An evacuated glass or metal

tube used to produce x -ra y s. It usually con
tains a heated c a th o d e , which supplies e le c
tro n s, and an a n o d e , or anti-cathode made of
a metal of high a to m ic n u m b e r and main
tained at a p o te n tia l of + 1 0 4 volts or more,
relative to the cathode. W hen the energetic
electrons strike the anti-cathode, x-rays are
produced, both by a b re m s s tra h lu n g process
and as a result of excitation of the atoms of
the anti-cathode. Thus the spectrum of the
x-rays usually includes both a continuous com
ponent and sharply defined w a v e le n g th s char
acteristic of the anti-cathode material.

T U B E , X -R A Y .

in the grid an d /or plate circuits. As com

monly used it denotes a type of re c e iv e r other
than a superheterodyne which has one or more
such stages preceding the d e te c to r, the con
denser or inductance of the resonant circuit
being varied to select the particular station
desired. (See also r e c e iv e r .)
T U N E R , S L U G . A w a v e g u id e tuner contain
ing one or more longitudinally adjustable
pieces of metal or dielectric. (See also reso
n a to r (s ) , typ es o f p lu n g e rs fo r .)
A n im
pedance-matching technique which employs
two quarter-wavelength dielectric beads or
slugs inserted in the line. Each slug acts as
a quarter-wavelength line tra n s fo rm e r. The
position between the slugs is varied to achieve
the desired tuning effect.
T U N E R , S L U G , C O A X IA L - L IN E .

T U B E , V I D I C O N . A camera tube in which a

ch a rg e -d e n sity pattern is formed by p h o to
c o n d u c tio n and stored on that surface of the

with com paratively

power.

T U N E D R A D I O F R E Q U E N C Y . A type of
amplifier circuit which uses re so n a n t c irc u its

T U N E R S , S T U B , S IN G L E A N D D O U B L E .

Adjustable sections of short-circuited trans

mission lines added to a transmission lin e to
tune or adjust it for maximum power trans
fer. The position of the stu b as well as its
length must be adjusted to secure perfect
match with a single stub. W ith two stubs
located a quarter of a wavelength apart, most
matching problems can be solved without m ov
ing the stubs with respect to the load.
TU N ER,
tu n e r.

W A V E G U ID E .

TU N G STEN

ment.

w a v e g u id e

Metallic
A tom ic number 74.

(W O L F R A M ).

Symbol W .

See

ele

D O U B LE-S P O T .
The reception
of a given station by a superheterodyne re
c e iv e r at two different dial settings corre
sponding to two local o sc illa to r-fre q u e n c ie s.
One setting corresponds to the sum of the
given frequency and the local oscillator, while
the other reception point is due to the d if
ference frequency.

T U N IN G ,

The process of
changing the operation frequency of a system
by changing the characteristics of a coupled
electron stream. Characteristics involved are,
for example, velocity, density or geometry.

T U N IN G , E L E C T R O N IC .

T U N IN G F O R K .
A convenient device for
producing a comparatively pure h a rm o n ic v i
bration fre q u e n c y at nearly constant value.

It is a U-shaped bar of elastic material, usu

ally steel (but in some modern forks, of fused
quartz), the prongs of which vibrate alter
nately toward and away from each other with
two nodes near the bend of the U. The fork
m ay be set vibrating by striking one prong
with a mallet, and will, after a moment to
allow some high overtones to die out, emit a
nearly pure musical tone. Large forks are
often made to be driven electrically, like an
electric bell or buzzer, and will then vibrate
continuously for an indefinite time. Tuning
forks are used in many experiments on musi
cal sounds, as standards of pitch and also for
the control of electric oscillations and electric
timing devices.
The variation
of the resonance frequency of the tuned cir
cuits of a receiver or transmitter by changing
the effective p e rm e a b ility of the inductors
core. The most general way in which this is
done is by varying the position of a fe rr ite
slug with respect to the coil. An alternate
method, which is less used because of its dele
terious effects on the Q of the coil, decreases
the coil inductance by inserting a brass, cop
per or aluminum slug into the center of the
coil.
T U N IN G , P E R M E A B IL IT Y .

semi-automatic method of tuning a radio re c e iv e r to

any one of several preselected stations. The
usual types may be divided into two classes,
mechanical and electrical. The first is simply
a mechanical linkage between the pushbutton
on the panel and the tuning condenser or coil
in the set. T o set this type the linkage is ad
justed to vary the tuning just the right amount
to set the receiver to the desired station. In
the more refined electrical system each button
switches in a fixed tuning unit which has been
pre-set to the desired frequency. Since these
frequencies can be very accurately set and re
quire no mechanical linkages, the results are
more satisfactory than the mechanical type.
In either type, however, the various buttons
and associated circuits or mechanisms are pre
adjusted for various com monly desired sta
tions and then by pushing the proper button
the station is tuned in.
T U N IN G ,

T U N IN G

PU SH BU TTO N .

RANGE

(S W IT C H IN G

T U B E S ).

The frequency range over which the resonance

frequency of the tube may be adjusted by

mechanical means provided on the tube or

associated cavity.
T U N I N G R A N G E , E L E C T R O N I C . The fre
quency range of continuous tuning between
two operating points of specified minimum
power output for an electronically-tuned oscil
lator. The reference points are frequently the
half-power points but should always be speci
fied.
T U N IN G R A T E , T H E R M A L .
The initial
time rate of change in frequency which occurs
when the input power to the tuner is instan
taneously changed by a specified amount.
This rate is a function of the power input to
the tuner as well as the sign and magnitude
of the power change.
T U N IN G

S E N S IT IV IT Y ,

E L E C T R O N IC .

A t a given operating point, the rate of change

of o s c illa to r frequency with the change of the
controlling electron stream. For example, this
change may be expressed in terms of an elec
trode voltage or current.
T U N I N G S E N S I T I V I T Y , T H E R M A L . The
rate of change of resonator equilibrium fre
quency with respect to applied thermal tuner
power. (See tu n in g , th e rm a l.)
T U N I N G , S L U G . A means for varying the
frequency of a re so n a n t c ir c u it by introduc

ing a slug of material into either the electric

or magnetic fields or both.
T U N IN G , S T A G G E R E D .
In superhetero
dyne re c e iv e rs , the peaking or resonating of

each of the tuned circuits in an intermediatefrequency system to different frequencies.

This is done to achieve a broad response.
T U N I N G , T H E R M A L . The process of chang
ing the operating frequency of a system by
using a controlled thermal expansion to alter
the geometry of the system.
TU N N EL E FFE C T .
a b ilit y .

See p e n e tra tio n p ro b

T U N N E L E X P E R IM E N T (V E L O C IT Y O F
L IG H T ).
See M ic h e ls o n ro ta tin g m irro r.
T U N N E L IN G .

See p e n e tra tio n p ro b a b ility .

An instrument which
measures the reduction in tra n sm issio n of
light that is caused by interposing a solution
containing solid particles between the light
T U R B ID IM E T E R .

source and the eye. B y using a known v o l

ume of solution in comparison with a stand
ard, this instrument makes it possible to de
termine the mass effect, attributable to the
number and size of the particles in the solu
tion, and thus the quantitative amount of m a
terial present.

Those c ry s ta ls in which
one or more parts regularly arranged are in
reverse position with reference to the other
part or parts. They often appear externally
to consist of two or more crystals symmetri
cally united, and sometimes have the form of
a cross or star.

T U R B ID IM E T R Y .

The methods of analysis

and measurement made by means of the tu r

T W IN L E A D .

b id im e te r.

T W IN N IN G .
( 1 ) A process in which a re
gion in a c r y s ta l assumes an orientation which

The cloudiness in a liquid

caused by the presence of finely-divided, sus
pended material.
T U R B ID IT Y .

T U R B U L E N C E . An irregular eddying m o
tion characteristic of fluid motion at high
R e y n o ld s n u m b e rs.
The irregular eddying
acts to transport fluid in bulk from one part
o f the flow to another, and is consequently an
extremely effective agent for the transport of
momentum, heat and matter.
T U R N -O V ER .
p e a k -re a d in g .

See

v o ltm e te r,

e le c tro n ic ,

Low -frequency v i
bration mechanically transmitted to the re
cording or reproducing turntable and super
imposed on the reproduction.
TU R N TA B LE R U M BLE.

TU RN TA BLE W OW .
TV.

TW .

G A IN ).

See lin e , tw in .

is symmetrically related to the basic orienta

tion of the crystal. Usually, layers of atoms
within this region are translated with respect
to a basic plane (the twinning plane). Each
atomic plane is displaced by a distance which
is proportional to its distance from the twin
ning plane. Bands of metal (twin bands)
thus assume a la ttic e s tru c tu re which is the
mirror image of the unchanged portion of the
lattice. (2) A fault condition in a television
system with in te rla c e , whereby the lines in
alternate fields are not equally spaced, but
tend to fall on top of one another, causing a
loss of definition. (Also called lin e p a irin g .)
Same as c lo c k p a ra d o x ,
with reference to a pair of twins instead of a
pair of clocks.
T W IN P A R A D O X .

T W I S T . The change of the slope of the attenuation-frequency characteristic of a trans

mission lin e with varying weather.

See w o w .

Abbreviation for te le v is io n .

T V G (T IM E - V A R IE D
it y tim e co n tro l.

T W IN C R Y S T A L S ,

See s e n s itiv

Abbreviation for tr a v e lin g w a v e .

A memory device composed of

interwoven wires. One set of wires is com
posed of a nickel-iron alloy which has a recT W IS T O R .

TW EETER.
A high-frequency lo u d s p e a k e r
used in high fidelity apparatus, often in con
junction with a cross-o ver n e tw o rk and a
w o o fe r.
T W E N T Y N I N A R . Designation for a partic
ular tube basing arrangement.
T W I N , A N N E A L I N G . A structure occurring
in several fa ce -ce n te re d cubic metals after re

crystallization. The (111) planes go in the

sequence C B A C B A - - instead of A B C A B C
as in the rest of the crystal. (See clo se
p a c k e d s tru c tu re .)
T W I N B O U N D A R Y D I F F U S I O N . A source
of in te rn a l fr ic t io n in solids due to the dis
placement of the boundary between tw in n e d

crystallites.

The illustration shows a small segment of wire which

has had some torsion applied. The easy direction of
magnetization is a helix in the same direction as the
applied torsion. If a helical magnetic field is applied
to the wire, the magnetization can be switched from
one stable state along the helix to the second state
which is oriented 180. Thus, the state of magnetiza
tion can represent information stored.

tangular h y ste re sis loop. In addition, the ma

terial is m a g n e to s tric tiv e .

one of two fixed positions in an a u to m a tic

c o n tro lle r to the other.

T ype of interaction
between two particles which is unmodified by
the presence of other particles, e.g., C o u lo m b
fo rc e between an electron and a proton.
(Compare m an y-b o d y fo rc e .)

T W T . Abbreviation for traveling-wave tube.

(See tu b e , tra v e lin g - w a v e .)

The so-called tw obody problem is the foundation of c e le s tia l

m e c h a n ic s. The solution of the problem re
quires two fundamental assumptions: ( 1 )
that two and only two objects exist in the uni
verse, and ( 2 ) that some law of force between
the two objects is given. W ith these assump
tions admitted, the tw o-body problem may
briefly be stated as follows: given the relative
positions of two objects at any instant, to
gether with their motions and masses at that
instant, to predict the positions and motions
of the objects at any subsequent instant. (See
also m an y-b o d y p ro b le m .)

An in te rfe ro m e te r in which the initial parallel

beam is divided by a half-silvered mirror, onehalf reflected through a lens to an observing
pinhole, while the other half is passed twice
through a prism, lens, or block of glass before
being reflected to the same pinhole. Used for
testing the quality of optical materials and
the flatness of surfaces.

T W O -B O D Y F O R C E .

TW X.

Abbreviation for teletypewriter ex

change.
TW YM AN - G R EEN

TW O -B O D Y P R O B L E M .

IN T E R F E R O M E T E R .

Acronym for typical digital automatic com puter, an imaginary computer hav
ing representative characteristics of existing
machines.
TYD AC.

See r e g u la

TYN D A LL E FFE C T .
A phenomenon first
noticed by Faraday (1857). When a power
ful beam of light is sent through a c o llo id a l
so lu tio n of high d is p e rs ity , the sol appears
fluorescent and the light is polarized, the
amount of p o la riz a tio n depending upon the
size of the particles of the colloid. The polar
ization is complete, if the particles are much
smaller than the wavelength of the radiation.
(See also s c a tte rin g .)

That action in
which a final control element is moved from

T Y P O T R O N . Trade name for sto rage tube

which can display a wide range of predeter
mined characters.

T W O C O M P O N E N T N E U T R IN O T H E O R Y .
See b e ta d e c a y th e o ry .
T W O -H O L E D IR E C T IO N A L C O U P L E R .
See w a v e g u id e c o u p le r, d ire c tio n a l, tw o -ho le.
TW O PH A SE.

See m u ltip h a s e c irc u its .

T W O - P IL O T R E G U L A T IO N .
tio n , tw o -p ilo t.
T W O - P O S I T IO N

A C T IO N .

u
U.
(1) Unit (w). ( 2 ) Overall coefficient of
heat transfer (17).
(3) D e n s ity of radiant
energy (u).
(4) Total in te rn a l e n e rg y (C7),
internal energy per atom or molecule (u or
um)j internal energy per unit mass (u), in
ternal energy per mole (UM, U, or u).
(5)
Potential e n e rg y ( U) .
( 6 ) Radiant energy
( U) , spectral radiant energy (U\), radiant
energy density (u).
(7) Reaction velocity
[u).
( 8 ) V e lo c it y ( u ) , velocity, linear or
particle ( u ) , velocity at time t (u or u * ), v e
locity, average (uav or u ) , v e lo c it y , g ro u p
(% or u ) , velocity components (u *, uy, u * ),
velocity initial (u 0) , v e lo c it y , p h ase or wave
(uto or u 0) . (9) Time-independent w a v e fu n c
tio n (u ). (10) Uranium (U ). (11) Angle of
slo p e (object space) (u). ( 1 2 ) Angle of slope
(image space) (u').
(13) In spectroscopy,
unsymmetrical (u ).
U -C EN TER .

See c o lo r c e n te r.

= ( -l) -^ -v W

X [( 2 j 12 + 1 ) ( 2 j 23 + 1 ) ] * {J1J2J12}
W

(See a n g u la r m o m e n t u m , c o u p lin g
r e c o u p lin g .)

J23 J

and

Contribution to the in
teraction of two particles arising from v a c u u m

U E H L IN G T E R M S .
p o la riz a tio n .

Abbreviation for u ltra -h ig h fre q u e n c y ;

a deprecated usage. See b a n d (s ), fre q u e n c y .

U H F.

U L B R I C H T S P H E R E . An integrating sphere
used in a sp h ere p h o to m e te r, so-called be
cause Ulbricht first used the S u m p tn e r p r in
c ip le for this purpose.
U LTO R.

An e le c tro d e , in te n s ifie r.

U L T R A F IL T R A T IO N .
The separation, by
a special method of filtration, of highly dis
persed substances in c o llo id a l so lu tio n s, from
the d isp e rse m e d iu m . Ultrafilters differ from
ordinary filters only in the fineness of the
pores through which the liquid must pass. B y
using a series of filters of graduated fineness it
is possible to prepare a series of sols in which
the sizes of the disperse p h ase particles pro
gressively decrease.
F R E Q U E N C Y . The band of
frequencies between 300 and 3000 megacycles
per second.

U L T R A H IG H

The ultramicro
scope is not an instrument of extraordinary
m a g n ify in g p o w e r, as its name might suggest.
The term has reference rather to a special
system of illumination for very minute ob
jects. Such objects as colloidal particles, fog
drops, or smoke particles are held in liquid or
gaseous suspension in an enclosure with an
intensely black background (usually of the
b la c k -b o d y typ e). They are illuminated by
a convergent pencil of very bright light enter
ing from one side and coming to focus in the
field of view the so-called Tyndall cone
familiar in experiments on s c a tte rin g . W ith
this arrangement, objects too small to form
visible images in the microscope produce small
d iffra c tio n ring systems, which appear as
minute bright specks on a dark field. The
device is used in studying the B ro w n ia n m o ve
m e n t, in the M illikan droplet method of meas
uring the electronic charge, in observing ion
ization tracks in the c lo u d c h a m b e r, etc.

U L T R A M IC R O S C O P E .

U - C O E F F I C I E N T O F J O H N . A coefficient
which enters into the transformation for the
recoupling of three a n g u la r m o m e n ta in
q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic s. This coefficient is ex
pressed in terms of the Wigner six-j-sym b o l b y
the formula:
U ( j x j 2j h ; j i 2 j 2 3 )

U L T R A C E N T R I F U G E . A c e n trifu g e that is
operated at extremely high a n g u la r v e lo c ity
and is widely used in research in colloid chem
istry and biochemistry.

U L T R A P H O T IC R A Y S .
R ays beyond the
visible region of the sp e ctru m . This term is
used as a general expression for u ltra v io le t
and in fr a r e d ra y s .
1201

U L T R A S C O P E . Trade name for an imageconverter tu b e sensitive to the ultraviolet

U L T R A V I O L E T R A D I A T I O N . A range of
ra d ia tio n of frequencies next higher than

spectrum.

those of the visible violet. If light from an

open a rc is passed through a quartz prism and
allowed to fall on a white wall, the familiar
c o n tin u o u s s p e c tru m appears, ranging from
the extreme red to the extreme violet. But if
we substitute for the white wall a suitable
fluorescent screen, the spectrum is seen to ex
tend considerably beyond the violet, that is,
into the region of shorter wavelengths known
as ultraviolet. This spectral region has been
observed over more than three o ctave s of the
radiation frequency scale, roughly, from 4000
A (a n g stro m s) at the extremity of the violet
to below 400 A on the border of the x-ra y re
gion. The ultraviolet range has pronounced
photographic and io n iz in g effects, and so is
easily detected. The chief hindrance to its
study is its rapid absorption in most forms of
matter; even air is a serious obstacle to the
shorter ultraviolet waves.
Therefore, sun
light reaching the earth contains little radia
tion below 3000 A. It is therefore necessary to
turn to artificial sources, chief among which
are solid-electrode arcs and, especially, the
m e rc u ry a rc . Since quartz and fluorite are
much more transparent to ultraviolet than is
glass, it is necessary that plates, lenses, and
prisms for this region be made of these m a
terials. Silver is a much poorer reflector of
ultraviolet rays than certain alloys, so that
mirrors and reflection gratings are made of
the latter. Schumann developed the tech
nique of spectroscopy in the far ultraviolet
(the Schumann region) and prepared plates
especially adapted to its photography; so that
now, with the vacuum spectrograph and Schu
mann plates, the ultraviolet spectra of sub
stances are studied almost as thoroughly as
the visible. The region from the extremity of
the visible violet down to 2 0 0 0 A is some
times called the near ultraviolet, and that from
2 0 0 0 A down to the border of the x-ray region
(below 400 A ), the far ultraviolet.

A modifier indicating a de
vice or system intended to operate at ultra
sonic frequencies.
(See fre q u e n c y , u lt r a

U L T R A S O N IC .

s o n ic .)
U L T R A S O N IC
tio n .

C A V IT A T IO N .

See c a v ita

U L T R A S O N I C C O A G U L A T I O N . The bond
ing of small particles into larger aggregates
b y the action of u ltra s o n ic waves.
U L T R A S O N IC

D ETERG EN T

A C T IO N .

The cleaning effect exhibited by the subjec

tion of clothes, mixed with conventional soap
and water solutions, to high intensity u lt r a
so n ic radiation.
U L T R A S O N IC

L IG H T

D IF F R A C T IO N .

The formation of optical d iffra c tio n spectra

when a beam of light is passed through a
longitudinal u ltra s o n ic wave field. The d if
fraction results from the periodic variation
o f the light refraction in the sound field.
U L T R A S O N IC

M A T E R IA L

D IS P E R S IO N .

The production of suspensions or emulsions of

one material in another due to the action of
high-intensity u ltra s o n ic waves.
U L T R A S O N I C M A T E R I A L T E S T I N G . The
use of u ltra s o n ic echo or transmission devices
for the detection of flaws, such as hollows or
cracks, in optically opaque media.

The general subject of

acoustic phenomena in the fre q u e n c y range
above the audible frequency range, i.e., above
about 15 kilocycles. A t one time, this sub
ject was known as supersonics, but this word
is now generally reserved to indicate speeds
greater than that of sound.
U L T R A S O N IC S .

U L T R A S O N I C S T R O B O S C O P E . A light in
terrupter whose action is based on the m o d
u la tio n of a light beam by an u ltra s o n ic field.
T H E R M A L A C T I O N . The
temperature rise in the u ltra s o n ic field in a

U L T R A S O N IC

liquid because of the dissipation of the sound

by a b so rp tio n .
U L T R A S O N I C W A V E S . Elastic w a v e s , the
fre q u e n c y of which is above the audible range

(i.e., above about 15 kilocycles).

UM BRA.

See p e n u m b ra .

PRO CESS.
From the German,
meaning flop over process. A type of col
lision between p h o n o n s, or between phonons
and electrons, where c r y s ta l m o m e n tu m is not
conserved. This violates no principles, be
cause crystal momentum, or the w a v e -v e c to r,
is arbitrary up to the addition of any mul
U M KLAPP

tiple o f a vector of the r e c ip r o c a l la ttic e .

U-processes provide the m ajor part of thermal
resistance in dielectric solids, and are impor
tant in electrical conduction in metals.
U N A V A IL A B L E E N E R G Y .
When an ir r e
v e rs ib le p rocess takes place, the effect on the

universe is the same as that which would be

produced if a certain quantity of e n e rg y in
a form com pletely available for w o r k were
converted to a form in which it was com
pletely unavailable for work. This amount of
energy is called the unavailable energy.
General term for the esti
mated amount by which the observed or cal
culated value of a quantity m ay depart from
the true value. The uncertainty is often
expressed as the a v e ra g e d e v ia tio n , the p ro b
a b le e rro r, or the s ta n d a rd d e v ia tio n .
U N C E R T A IN T Y .

U N C E R T A IN T Y P R IN C IP L E .
b e rg u n c e rta in ty p r in c ip le .

See H e is e n

U N C O N D IT IO N A L T R A N S F E R O F C O N
T R O L . Synonym for ju m p , u n c o n d itio n a l.

M any in
stances of deviations of observed spectra from
those predicted have their origin in the fact
that in te ra c tio n s which were neglected or re
garded as small in the idealized c o u p lin g
cases really have an appreciable magnitude,
and particularly that the relative magnitude
of the interactions changes with increasing
a n g u la r m o m e n tu m .
Therefore, sometimes,
with increasing magnitude of the angular m o
mentum associated with one part of the cou
pled system, a transition takes place from one
coupling case to another. Angular momentum
vectors coupled to the internuclear axis when
they are small are uncoupled from it as their
magnitudes increase. For detailed discussion,
see Herzberg, Spectra of D iatom ic M olecules,
Second Edition (Van Nostrand, New York,
1950).
(See also a n g u la r m o m e n tu m , co u

U N C O U P L IN G

The amount by which the

nominal line width exceeds the re c o rd e d spot

U N D E R LA P Y.
Y d im e n sio n .

U N D E R W A T E R SO U N D P R O JE C T O R . A
tra n s d u c e r used to produce sound in water.
U N D IS T U R B E D - O N E O U T P U T .
tio n , c o in c id e n t-c u rre n t.
U N D IS T U R B E D - Z E R O O U T P U T .
le c tio n , co in c id e n t-c u rre n t.

See se le c
See se

U N I A X I A L . Characteristic of or by a single
a x is , as an object which has only one axis, or

a flow of energy that travels only along one

axis of a c r y s ta l or other medium.
A b ire frin g e n t crys
tal with a single axis along which light can be
propagated without exhibiting d o u b le-refrac-

U N IA X IA L C R Y S T A L .

tio n .

PH EN O M EN A.

p lin g a n d u n c o u p lin g o f.)

U N D E R B U N C H IN G .

A condition represent

ing less than optimum b u n c h in g .

U N D E R C O O L IN G .
U N D ERD AM PED .
m o tio n , d a m p e d .

See su p e rc o o lin g .
See d a m p in g ; h a rm o n ic

The amount by which the

center-to-center spacing of the re c o rd e d spots

U N D ERLA P X.

exceeds the recorded spot X dimension. The

effect arises in the type of equipment which
responds to a constant density in the subject
copy by a succession of discrete recorded
spots.

U N ID E K A R .

Designation for a tube base.

U N IF IE D F I E L D
th e o rie s, u n ifie d .
U N IF O R M .

See fie ld

T H E O R IE S .

See a n a ly tic .

U N I L A T E R A L I Z A T I O N . A special case of
n e u tra liz a tio n in which the fe e d b a c k param

eters are completely balanced out. In the

case of tra n s is to rs , these feedback parameters
include a resistive component in addition to
a capacitive component.
Unilateralization
changes a bilateral tra n s d u c e r into a unilateral
transducer.
U N IL A T E R A L N E T W O R K .
u n ila te r a l.
U N IL A Y E R .

See m o n o m o le c u la r la y e rs .

U N IM O L E C U L A R L A Y E R .
u la r la y e r .
U N IP O L E .

See tra n s d u c e r,

See m o no m o lec

See a n te n n a , iso tro p ic .

U N IP O T E N T IA L C A T H O D E .
in d ire c tly -h e a te d .

See cath o d e ,

( 1 ) A single entity, as one element

of apparatus in an industrial plant. ( 2 ) A
standard of measurement as a unit of length,
U N IT .

capacity, electromotive force, radiation in

tensity, etc. (3) A portion of subassembly of
a c o m p u te r which constitutes the means of
accomplishing some inclusive operation or
function, as arithmetic unit.
U N I T , A B S O L U T E . An absolute u n it (2 ) is
one that m ay be defined in terms of the fun
damental units (cf. u n it, fu n d a m e n ta l) of a
system of units, without recourse to the in
troduction of other arbitrary standards. A b
solute units are distinguished from gravita
tional units in mechanics and from the old
In te r n a tio n a l units in electricity.
U N IT , A R IT H M E T IC .
m e n t.

See a rith m e tic e le

U N IT C E L L .
The basic unit of a c r y s ta l
s tru c tu re , being the minimum volume from

which the crystal may be

tra n s la tio n operations only.

constructed by

U N I T , D E R I V E D . A nonfundamental unit
which, however, may be expressed in terms
of fundamental units. For example, a re a ,
v o lu m e , d e n s ity , etc.
U N I T E L E M E N T . A necessary member of
every g ro u p . If the unit element is desig

U N I T S O F L E N G T H , O P T I C A L . See Siegb a h n u n it = 1 0 _ 11 cm, A n g stro m u n it =

1 0 8 cm, m illim ic r o n = 1 0 7 cm, m ic ro n =
10~4

cm.

A set of definitions of
standard physical quantities, in terms of
which similar quantities may be measured or
expressed, each quantity being specified in
terms of some arbitrary standard or by a de
fining equation, and all of the definitions being
mutually consistent.
U N IT S , S Y S T E M O F .

U N IT V E C T O R .
U N IV A C .
c o m p u te r.

See v e c to r, u n it.

A high-speed, electronic, digital

U N I V A R I A N T S Y S T E M . A ccording to the
p h ase r u le , a system which has but one degree
o f fre e d o m , e.g., the system liquid water

water vapor.
U N IV E R S A L F E R M I IN T E R A C T IO N .
b e ta d e c a y th e o ry .

See

U N IV E R S E , D E S IT T E R .
v e rs e .

See de S itte r u n i

U N IV E R S E , E IN S T E IN .
v e rs e .

See E in s t e in u n i

See e xp a n d in g

nated by E and if A is any other element of

the group, then E A ~ A E = A.

U N IV E R S E , E X P A N D IN G .
u n iv e rs e .

A ny one of the
basic set of arbitrarily defined u n its (2 ) on
which a system of units is based. All other
units of the system may be derived from the
set of fundamental units, and every physical
quantity expressed in the system has d im e n
sions that m ay be expressed as combinations
o f the fundamental units. For the sets of
fundamental units in common use, see m e c h a n

U N P O L A R I Z E D L I G H T . W hile each pho

to n is polarized, a finite beam of light consists

U N IT , F U N D A M E N T A L .

ic a l u n its ;
u n its .

e le c tro m a g n e tic

U N IT , M A T R IX .

u n its ;

th e rm a l

See m a tr ix u n it.

A unit in the modification of

the metric system which has as its fundamen
tal units the meter, kilogram and second. (See

U N I T , M .K .S .

m e c h a n ic a l u n its ; e le c tro m a g n e tic u n its .)

U N I T , M E T R I C . See m e c h a n ic a l u n its ; e le c
tro m a g n e tic u n its .
U N I T P L A N E S . Another name for the p r in
c ip a l p la n e s of a len s or optical system.

in general of many photons with their planes

of vibration oriented at random about the
axis of the beam. Hence, an ordinary beam
of light does not show any of the properties
of p o la riz e d lig h t.
U N STA BLE.
sta b le .

See s ta b ility ; e q u ilib riu m , u n

U N S T A B L E E Q U IL IB R IU M O F F L O A T
I N G B O D Y . A floating body is in unstable
equilibrium if the m e ta c e n te r is below the
c e n te r o f g ra v ity .
U -P R O C ESS.

See u m k la p p p ro ce ss.

M etallic element.
Atom ic number 92.

U R A N IU M .

Symbol U .

U R A N I U M , A L P H A . The a llo tro p ic modifi

cation of u ra n iu m metal which is stable below
approximately 660C. It has an orthorhom b ic crystal structure.

U R A N I U M , B E T A . That a llo tro p ie m odifi

cation of u ra n iu m metal which is stable be
tween approximately 6 6 0 C and 7 7 0 C . The
structure has been determined to be orthorh o m b ic .
U R A N I U M , G A M M A . That a llo tro p ie m odi
fication of u ra n iu m metal which is stable
above approximately 7 7 0 C . It has a bodyc e n te re d cubic structure.

Abbreviation for U n iv a c Scientific E x

change, an automatic program assembler for
the Univac 1103A co m p u te r.

U SE.

U S E F U L L IN E .

See lin e , a v a ila b le .

U SEFU L
M A G N IF IC A T IO N .
under e m p ty m a g n ifica tio n .

Discussed

U T IL IZ A T IO N F A C T O R .
When a tra n s
fo rm e r is used to supply a r e c tifie r system the

current wave forms are normally irregularly

shaped and hence the losses are different than
would be expected at first glance, the trans
former running hotter for a given current than
if it were supplying a re sista n c e load. The
ratio of the d-c power output to the normal
a-c rating for the same heating losses is the
utilization factor of the transformer.
U V I O L G L A S S . A glass developed by Schott,
which is highly transparent to the u ltra v io le t.

V
( 1 ) V o lu m e (v or F ), v o lu m e , m o le c u la r
( F ) , volume of a cavity or room ( V) , volume
o f configuration space ( V) , volume, total ( F) ,
volume, specific (i>), volume per unit mass
( v) , volume of atom or molecule (v or v m),
volume per mole (v, Vm or F ) , v o lu m e , c r it ic a l
( Vc), a to m ic v o lu m e (F ). ( 2 ) V e lo c it y ( v ) ,
velocity, linear or partial ( v ) , velocity at
time t ( v or v ^ , v e lo c it y , a v e ra g e ( v av or v ) ,
v e lo c it y , g ro u p (yg or v ) , velocity components
(vw, y y, y z) 7 velocity initial ( v 0) , velocity of
sound or other waves ( v ) .
(3) V a n a d iu m
(V ).
(4) P o te n tia l, electric ( F) , p o te n tia l
d iffe re n c e , steady a-c ( F) , potential differ
ence, rm s or effective ( F) , potential differ
ence, average (F or V av), potential difference,
Peltier (Fw), potential difference, S e e b e ck
( V8), potential difference, T h o m s o n (F*), p o
tential difference, average (F av), potential
difference, c o n ta c t or Volta (F ), potential
difference, e x c ita tio n (F e), potential differ
ence, maximum (F m or F moa,), potential d if
ference (F , Vp or Vpk). (4) Inner potential
of metals (F or Ft). (5) Io n iz a tio n p o te n tia l
(F or Vi). ( 6 ) Potential e n e rg y (F or U or
E p).
(7) Vibrational q u a n tu m n u m b e r ( v).
( 8 ) V e r d e t co n sta n t, specific m a g n e tic ro ta
tio n ( F) .
V.

VA.

A bbreviation for vo lt-a m p e re .

V A C A N C Y . A s ite in the c r y s ta l la ttic e of

an io n ic c r y s ta l from which the ion which

should be present is missing. The vacancy

behaves like a charge of sign opposite to that
of the missing ion.
A form of M c L e o d gauge
useful in the range 1 0-10 2 mm Hg.

V A C U S T A A T .

Theoretically a space devoid of

matter; practically a region of space in which
the atmospheric pressure has been reduced as
much as possible with present pumping sys
tems, or as much as is necessary to prevent
influence of the atmosphere on processes be
ing carried on within the space. See p u m p ,
v a c u u m ; p u m p , d iffu s io n ; and related entries

VACUUM .

for methods of producing high vacuum and the

various entries under gauge for methods of
measuring p ressu re s in vacuum systems.
C U T - O F F , H IG H .
A device
which permits the apparatus being exhausted
to be temporarily disconnected from the pum p/
VACUUM

V A C U U M E L E C T R O N . In the D ir a c e le c
tro n th e o ry , an electron in one of the negative

energy states which are supposed to be all

filled for the case of a vacuum.
LEA K D ETECTO RS.
Devices,
operating on several principles, which are used
to detect and locate leaks in high-vacuum
systems. One of the most sensitive leak de
tectors is a m ass sp e ctro m e te r which can de
tect as little as one part of helium (introduced
at the leak) in 4 X 105 parts of air at an
operating pressure of 3 X 10 4 mm Hg. A
more com m only used leak detector for glass
vacuum systems is a T e s la c o il, one terminal
of which is moved over the surface of the
glass. A visible discharge through the glass
often appears at the leak.

VACUUM

V A C U U M M E T E R , P H IL IP S .
P h ilip s io n iz a tio n .

See gauge,

VACUUM
P O L A R IZ A T IO N .
Process by
which an e le c tro m a g n e tic fie ld generates vir
tual electron-positron p a irs which m odify the
charge and current distribution which pro
duced the original electromagnetic field. The
effect lifts the 2 Sy2 state of hydrogen by 27
megacycles, and, for example, the 3 D state
of a Fh-fi mesonic atom by approximately
9200 electron-volts.
(See a to m , m e so n ic ;
L a m b s h ift.)
VACU UM PUM P.

See p u m p , v a c u u m .

V A C U U M R E S E R V O I R . A large vessel in
serted between the fo re p u m p and high vac

uum pump in a vacuum system. When evac

uated to the fore vacuum it may be sealed off
from the fore pump, thus permitting the fore
pump to be turned off.
1206

VACUUM TH ER M O C O U PLE.
c o u p le , v a c u u m .
VACUUM TU BE.

See therm o-

See tu b e , v a c u u m .

The property of an atom or

radical to combine with other atoms or rad
icals in definite proportions, or a number rep
resenting the proportion in which a given atom
or radical combines. The standard of refer
ence is hydrogen, which is assigned a valence
o f 1 , and the valence of any given atom or
radical is then the number of hydrogen atoms,
or their equivalent, with which the given atom
or radical combines.
M any elements have
more than one valence, and their compounds
are classified and designated accordingly.

V A LEN C E.

The v a le n c e which an
element exhibits in any particular compound,
e.g., the active valence of iron in the ferrous
salts is two.

V A L E N C E , A C T IV E .

A N G LES.
Angles between the
successive valence b o nd s of an atom.

V A LEN C E

V A L E N C E , A N O M A L O U S . An exceptional
v a le n c e that an element has in certain com

pounds.
V A LEN C E BAND.
The range of e n e rg y
states in the s p e ctru m of a solid c r y s ta l in
which lie the energies of the v a le n c e e le ctro n s

which bind the crystal together. In an in

sulating or se m ico n d u c to r material, the band
below the c o n d u c tio n b a n d . Instead of the
valence electrons being thought of as localized
in bonds, they are supposed to be spread into
a filled band.
V A LEN C E

A covalent c r y s ta l.

CRYSTA L.

V A L E N C E , D A T IV E .

See c o v a le n c e .

A v a le n c e that is
due to the transfer of an electron or electrons
from one atom to another.

V A LE N C E , ELEC T R O -.

An electron in the
outer shell of an atom. (See e le c tro n s h e ll.)
Such electrons are called valence electrons be
cause, by gaining, losing, or sharing these
outer-shell electrons, atoms combine to form
molecules. Therefore, the number of these
outer-shell electrons often determines the v a
le n c e or valences of the atom.
(See a to m ic

V A LEN C E ELEC TRO N .

s tru c tu re .)

V A L E N C E F O R C E F IE L D .
An assumed
fo rc e fie ld utilized in order to solve the equa
tion in which the potential e n e rg y of vibration

of a polyatom ic molecule is expressed in terms

of the energies of the restoring forces of each
atom and the energies of their in te ra c tio n
terms. This simplifying assumption is that
a force constant is associated with every va
lence bond and every valence angle, repre
senting their resistance to change in length or
magnitude.
A v a le n c e that does not
appear to be satisfied, as the valence of a

V A LEN C E, FR EE .
fre e r a d ic a l.

V A L E N C E , M A X IM U M .
The highest v a
le n c e shown by an element in any of its com

pounds. W ith chromium it is six; potassium,

one; nitrogen, five; etc.
V A L E N C E , N E G A T I V E . An electro-valence
possessed by an atom because it has become
ionized by addition of an electron or electrons.

The v a le n c e that an
element exhibits in a m ajority of its com
pounds.

V A L E N C E , N O RM A L.

V A L E N C E , N U L L . According to the elec

tronic conception of v a le n c e , a condition in
which an element has no valence because, in
its normal state, it has a complete outer e le c
tro n s h e ll, as in the case of the n o b le gases.
V A L E N C E N U M B E R . A number assigned
to an atom or io n that is equal to its v a le n c e ,

preceded by a plus or minus sign to indicate

whether the ion is positive or negative, or
whether the atom, in reaching the state of
o xid a tio n under consideration, has lost or
gained electrons from its normal state. The
basis of this computation of positive and nega
tive numbers is the assignment to hydrogen
ions or combined atoms (except in metallic
hydrites) of a value of + 1 . The other ele
ments are then assigned valence numbers such
that in any stable molecule the sum of the
valence numbers is zero.
V A L E N C E , P O S I T I V E . A v a le n c e state of
an atom in which the v a le n c e n u m b e r is posi

tive.
The group of electrons
constituting the outer e le c tro n s h e ll of an
atom. (See v a le n c e e le c tro n .)
V A LEN C E SH ELL.

V A L E N C E , S U P P L E M E N T A R Y . A residual
v a le n c e connecting atoms, groups, or m ole

cules in which the ordinary valences are al

ready saturated. Supplementary valences are
found in coordination co m p o u nd s and often
in associated molecules.
V A L E N C Y , T H E O R Y O F . Atoms combine
with other atoms in proportions which are de
termined by a property known as v a le n c e , the
standard of which is the valence of hydrogen
taken as one, or, better, of oxygen taken as
two. This conception has been extended to
include combinations entered into by groups
of atoms as well as individual atoms. The
present conception of the mechanism of the
process is by the transfer or sharing of elec
trons between atoms. (See v a le n c e and the
various entries under the terms atom and

the amount of the mixture, and is also a func

tion of the composition of the mixture. The
change in value created by a c a sc a d e is di
rectly proportional to the number of separat
ing elements it contains. For a binary mix
ture, the value of Q m o les of mixture, taking
the equimolar mixture as the reference state,
is given by
Q( 2 N -

On hot days, uneven

terrain gives rise to uphill breezes, i.e., from
the valley up mountain or hill slopes. This
breeze is known as a valley breeze; it is an
a n a b a tic w in d . W ith sunset, the breeze dies.

d a n ce ra tio .

When referred to an arbitrary mole fraction

N 0 as the reference state the value of Q moles
of mixture is
V

\(2N 1 ) In

N ( 1 - No)
N 0{1

The amount or magnitude of a

quantity or property.

The drop
out current, voltage or power is the maximum
value for which the contacts of a previously
energized r e la y will always assume their un
energized positions.
V A L U E , D R O P -O U T (R E L A Y ).

V A L U E , H O L D ( R E L A Y ) . The hold current,

voltage or power is the minimum value for
which the contacts of a previously energized
r e la y will always maintain their energized
positions.
V A L U E , M U N S E L L . The dimension of the
M u n s e ll syste m of object-color specification

which indicates the apparent luminous trans

mittance or reflectance of the object on a
scale having approximately equal perceptual
steps under usual conditions of observation.
N O N -O P ER A T E (R E L A Y ).
The
non-operative voltage, current or power is the
maximum value for which the contacts of the
previously de-energized relay will always
maintain their de-energized positions.

V A LU E,

V A L U E O F I S O T O P E M I X T U R E . A meas
ure of the difficulty of preparing a quantity
o f an isotope mixture. It is proportional to

N)

+ ( N - N 0) ( l

BREEZE.

V A LU E.

In R ,

when N is the m o le fra c tio n of either com

ponent, R is N / l Nj the molecular ab u n

b o n d .)
V A LLEY

1)

- 2No)

N o d - No)
The total value created by a separating
is the difference between the total value
outgoing materials and the total value
ingoing materials. This resultant is
pendent of N 0.
VA LU E, O PERA TE
v a lu e , p ick-u p .

'

plant
of all
of all
inde

Same

(R E L A Y ).

Q'

as

( R E L A Y ) . The pick-up
voltage, current or power is the minimum
value for which the contacts of a previously
de-energized r e la y will always assume their
energized position.
V A L U E , P IC K - U P

V A L U E , P U L L - IN (R E L A Y ).
p ic k -u p .
V A L U E , P U LL-O N
v a lu e , p ick-u p .

Same as v a lu e ,

(R E L A Y ).

V A LU E, R ELEA SE
v a lu e , drop-out.

(R E L A Y ).

term for

Same

as

(1 ) A device designed to regulate

the flow of a liquid or gas. ( 2 ) A British term
used as equivalent to the term tu b e in the
United States.
V A LV E.

M etallic element.
Atom ic number 23.

V A N A D IU M .

Symbol V .

The name applied to

the two toroidal belts of radiation which en
circle the earth at high altitudes. These belts
VAN A LLE N B E LT S .

are composed of charged particles (alm ost en

tirely e le ctro n s and p ro to n s ), which are
trapped in the earths m a g n e tic fie ld . The
inner belt has its center two to three hundred
kilometers above the surface of the earth, at
the magnetic equator.
It contains of the
order of 2 X 109 electrons per cm 2 per sec
ond per steradian with energies greater than
2 0 K ev and 2 X 104 protons per cm 2 per
second per steradian. The outer belt is cen
tered at an altitude which varies greatly with
the seasons of the year and, at times, some
what from day to day. It is considerably
higher than the inner belt and is composed
m ostly of electrons (with of the order of 1 0 11
electrons per cm 2 per second per steradian)
having energies greater than 30 Kev.

VAN D E R W A A L S SU RFACE TEN SION

R E LA TIO N SH IP.
7

V A N D E R W A A L S A D SO R PT IO N .

See a d

s o rp tio n , ty p e s o f.

T/TC)B

where A is a constant, ~ 1.23, pc is the d e n

s ity at the c r it ic a l te m p e ra tu re , M is the m o le c
u la r w e ig h t, is the s u rfa c e te n sio n at tem
perature r .
V A N T H O F F E Q U A T IO N . A relationship
representing the variation with temperature
(at constant pressure) of the e q u ilib riu m co n
s ta n t of a gaseous reaction in terms o f the
change in h e a t c o n te n t, i.e., of the heat of re
action (at constant pressure).
It has the
form :
dhxKv
dT

V AN D E G R A A F F , G E N E R A T O R . See e le c
tro s ta tic g e n e ra to r; a c c e le ra to rs , p a r tic le .

= A ( Pc/ M )HTc( 1 -

AH
= R T *'

in which K p is the equilibrium

constant pressure, T is absolute
R is the gas c o n sta n t, and A H is
change in heat content, or, for
the change in heat content.

constant at
temperature,
the standard
ideal gases,

VAN D E R W A A L S E Q U A T IO N . A form of
the e q u a tio n o f sta te , relating the p re s s u re ,
v o lu m e , and te m p e ra tu re of a gas, and the
gas c o n sta n t. Van der W aals applied correc
tions for the reduction of total pressure by the
attraction of molecules (effective at boundary
surfaces) and for the reduction of total volume
by the volume of the molecules. The equa
tion takes the form :

V A N T H O F F F A C T O R . A factor which
expresses the ratio of the observed o sm o tic
p re ssu re o f a solution to the value calculated
upon the basis of ideal behavior, i.e., direct
proportionality of the osmotic pressure to the
product o f the temperature and the gas co n
s ta n t, divided by the volume.

(p + ) ( V - - B T ,

V A N T H O F F L A W . A dissolved substance
has the same o sm o tic p re ssu re as the gas pres
sure it would exert in the form of an id e a l
gas occupying the same volume as that of the

in which P is the
volume, T is the
the gas constant,
terms which have
for many gases.

pressure of the gas, V is the

absolute temperature, B is
and a and b are correction
been evaluated and reported

V A N D E R W A A L S FO RC E S. Interatomic
or intermolecular fo rc e s of attraction due to
the in te ra c tio n between fluctuating d ip o le m o
m en ts associated with molecules not possess
ing permanent dipole moments. These dipoles
result from momentary displacement of the
centers of the positive and negative charge of
the atom or molecule, and of neighboring atoms
or molecules. These dipoles tend to align in
a n t ip a r a lle l direction and thus result in a net
attractive force. This force varies inversely
as the seventh power of the distance between
ions. (See m o le c u la r a ttra c tio n .)

so lu tio n .

V AN V L E C K TH E O R Y O F P A R A M A G N E T
ISM . See p a ra m a g n e tis m , q u a n tu m th e o ry
o f.

VA PO R . A substance in the gaseous state,

but below its c r it ic a l te m p e ra tu re , is called
a vapor. I f a pure liquid partly filling a
closed container is allowed to stand, the space
above it becomes filled with the vapor of the
liquid, which develops a pressure. This v a p o r
p re ssu re increases up to a certain limit, de
pending upon the temperature, where it be
comes constant, and the space is then said to
be saturated.
Such a body of vapor is not subject to all of
the laws of gases. I f the space occupied by
it is diminished without change o f tempera

ture, there is no increase in pressure, but in

stead part of the vapor condenses. And if
the temperature is raised, the pressure goes
up not at a uniform but at an increasing rate,
because of both the expansion of the liquid
and the further e v a p o ra tio n from it. The re
lation of vapor to liquid takes on a curious
aspect as the c r it ic a l p o in t is approached, at
which the vapor and the liquid have equal
d e n s ity .
VAPO R
tio n .

C A P A C IT Y

OF

A IR .

See s a tu ra

V A P O R D E N S IT Y .
The d e n s ity of a gas
referred to the density of hydrogen or air as
unity.
V A P O R I M E T E R . An instrument used to de
termine the v a p o r p re ssu re of a substance,
particularly that of alcoholic liquids, whereby
their content of alcohol may be estimated.

The change of a substance

from the liquid or solid state to the gaseous
state.
V A P O R IZ A T IO N .

V A P O R IZ A T IO N , H E A T O F ( L A T E N T ) , A T
A B S O L U T E Z E R O . Quantity appearing in
the general vapor-pressure equation (see v a p o r
p re s s u re , g e n e ra l e q u a tio n ). It may be de

fined by the equation:

X = X0 + f

CgdT -

rT

I CsdT ,
A)

where A is the molar la te n t h e a t o f v a p o riz a

tio n of the solid at temperature T, Cg the
molar s p e c ific h e a t at constant pressure of the
vapor, C 8 the molar specific heat of the solid,
and Ao the molar latent heat of vaporization
at the absolute zero.
V A P O R IZ A T IO N , H E A T
OF
(L A T E N T
H E A T O F V A P O R IZ A T IO N , H E A T O F
E V A P O R A T I O N ) . The amount of heat re

quired to convert a unit mass of a substance

into its v a p o r at the v a p o r p re ssu re of the
system and without temperature change. The
amount of heat required varies with the tem
perature at which the evaporation is carried
on, generally decreasing as the temperature
increases.
V A P O R IZ A T IO N , M O L A R L A T E N T H E A T
O F ( M O L E C U L A R H E A T O F V A P O R IZ A
T I O N ) . The amount of heat required to con
vert one g ram -m o le cu le of substance into its

vapor at a constant temperature and at the

vapor pressure of the system; numerically
this quantity is equal to the product of the
heat of vaporization and the g ram -m o le cu la r
w e ig h t.

The vapor pressure of

a substance (solid or liquid) is the pressure
exerted by its vapor when in e q u ilib riu m with
the substance. For pure substances it depends
only on the temperature. The simplest way
to measure the vapor pressure of a substance
is to introduce a small amount of it into the
closed end of a b a ro m e te r tube and note the
decrease in the height of the barometer.
The vapor pressure of a s o lv e n t is lowered
on dissolving the so lu te in it. This lowering
for dilute solutions is proportional to the m o le
fra c tio n of the solute (see R a o u lt l a w ) . The
lowering of the vapor pressure of the solution
can be related to the lowering of the fre e z in g
p o in t and the elevation of the b o ilin g p o in t.
These phenomena serve as a basis for m o le c
u la r w e ig h t determinations. If both com p o
n en ts of the solution are v o la tile , each lowers
the vapor pressure of the other and the ratios
of the two substances in the liquid and vapor
phase are not necessarily the same. Use is
made of this fact to separate the two sub
stances by d is tilla tio n .
VAPO R PRESSU RE.

V A P O R P R E S S U R E , C H E M IC A L C O N
S T A N T O F . The constant of in te g ra tio n in

the general vapor-pressure equation

substance (see v a p o r p re ssu re , g e n e ra l
t io n ) . Its value can be found both by
urement of the other quantities in the
tion, and from s ta tis tic a l m e c h a n ic s.

for a
e q u a

meas
equa

VAPO R P R ESSU R E, CO N STAN T V O LU M E

M E T H O D F O R . A known weight of the sub

stance is vaporized in a constant, known vol

ume at a known temperature, and the increase
in pressure measured. The apparatus consists
of a glass bulb surrounded by a constant-temperature bath and connected to a limb of a
mercury m an o m e te r, the level in this limb
being kept at the same height before and after
vaporization.
Knowing the weight of the
vapor and its volume, the density can be cal
culated at the temperature of the experiment,
and at a pressure equal to the partial pressure
o f the vapor, which is equal to the increase in
pressure observed.

V A P O R P R E S S U R E , D I R E C T O R S T A T IC
M ETH O D S FO R.
( 1 ) For non-metals at

pressures
mercury,
perature.
liquid is
perature,

between about 1 cm and 1 0 0 cm of

and temperatures below room tem
A vessel containing the solid or
maintained at a constant low tem
and is connected to a mercury m a
n o m e te r at room temperature, the vapor pres
sure being measured directly. One use of this
method is for permanent gases between freez
ing-points and boiling-points.
(2) F or substances which are liquid at or
dinary temperatures (Regnault m ethod). A
few drops of the liquid are introduced into
the vacuum at the top of an inverted tube
containing mercury, which is connected at the
bottom to an open reservoir of mercury. The
resulting depression in the column gives the
vapor pressure.
The top of the tube is kept in a constanttemperature bath, and corrections must be
made for the weight of the liquid and the
change in surface tension when the liquid is
introduced. This method is used in a tem
perature range from about 0C to 50C. The
method m ay be extended to higher pressures
by using a thick-walled, inverted tube con
nected to a closed reservoir to which pressure
may be applied, the pressure then being meas
ured by a suitable manometric device.
VAPO R
PRESSU RE, G EN ER A L EQ U A
T I O N . Equation for the v a p o r p re ssu re of a
solid obtained by integration of the C la p e y ro n C la u s iu s e q u a tio n , assuming that the v a p o r

obeys the id e a l gas la w :

In p = --------- + - In T
y
RT
2
T

,
- i

- I
f

RJ0

------- ------( C .

d T

i.

T2

In this equation, p is the vapor pressure, R,

the gas c o n sta n t, T , the absolute temperature,
C 8 the m o la r specific heat of the solid, and
Ci the internal m olar s p e c ific h e a t of the vapor
due to rotations and vibrations. Ao and i are
constants of integration known as the la te n t
h e a t o f v a p o riz a tio n and the chemical con
stant respectively. The equation is slightly
different for the case of a liquid.

V A P O R P R E S S U R E , K IR C H H O F F F O R
M U L A F O R . Special case of the v a p o r p re s
su re g e n e ra l e q u a tio n in which the in te g ra
tio n is taken between temperature limits suf

ficiently close for the specific heats to be re

garded as constant. This gives the equation:
B
In p = A C In T,
where p is the v a p o r p re ssu re , T the absolute
temperature, and A , B , and C are constants.
VAPO R P R ESSU R E, M ETH O D S O F M EAS
U REM EN T.
( 1 ) Methods for the measure
ment of the saturation v a p o r p re ssu re at a

known temperature are:

(a) Static method, in which the pressure of
vapor in equilibrium with liquid is measured
directly by a mercury m an o m e te r or other
wise.
(b) B y measuring the variation of b o ilin g p o in t with pressure in an atmosphere which
neither dissolves in nor reacts with the liquid.
(c) B y measuring the rate of transpiration
of the v a p o r into a v a c u u m through a small
hole in a container filled with vapor at the
s a tu ra tio n pressure. This may be done by
weighing, and is especially suitable for the
measurement of extremely low vapor pres
sures.
(2 )
T o measure the partial pressure of a
vapor in the presence of other gases, several
methods are available:
(a) W et and dry bulb (differential) ther
mometer. The vapor pressure is determined
by observing the temperature difference be
tween a surface wetted with the liquid (usu
ally water) and exposed to a suitable current
of the gas-vapor mixture and a similar dry
surface.
(b) D e w -p o in t method. A bright surface
is cooled until vapor is just on the point of
depositing. The partial pressure in the mix
ture then equals the saturation vapor pres
sure at this temperature.
(c) B y absorbing chemically the vapor
from a known quantity of the mixture and
weighing.
(See also D u m a s m e th o d ; H o f
m a n n m e th o d ; V ic t o r M e y e r m e th o d ; F a ir b a irn a n d T a t e m e th o d ; K n u d s e n m e th o d ;
L a n g m u ir m e th o d ; co n sta n t v o lu m e m e th o d ;
b o ilin g m e th o d ; d ire c t o r s ta tic m e th o d s.)

V A P O R P R E S S U R E , R E L A T IV E L O W E R
I N G O F . A quantity given by the expression:

V
o-V
----------------------- ,
Po
where p 0 is the v a p o r p re ssu re of pure so lv e n t,
and p is the vapor pressure of the s o lu tio n .
V A R IA B L E .
A quantity, as distinguished
from a c o n sta n t, to which any number of
values in a given set may be assigned. The
numbers m ay be r e a l or c o m p le x. If the set
comprises a d o m a in (a,b ) , then the variable

is only defined over this interval and all values

outside of the interval are ignored.
W hen an im p lic it fu n c tio n defines a rela
tion between two or more variables, it may
usually be solved to find an e x p lic it fu n c tio n
of the form such as y =
The vari
ables x , z , * are independent, for values must
be given to each of them in order to fix the
dependent variable y. Choice of the dependent
and independent variables can be made as
desired in a given problem but some particular
choice is likely to be more convenient than
others.
V A R IA B L E
tro lle d .

C A R R IE R .

See

c a r r ie r ,

co n

That quantity
or condition which is measured and controlled
by an a u to m a tic c o n tro lle r.

V A R IA B L E , C O N T R O L L E D .

V A R I A B L E F O C U S L E N S . A lens system,
part of which is movable, and so designed as
to have correction for lens a b e rra tio n s , con
tinual sharp focusing of the image on the re
ceiving film and constant f-system as the focal
length is changed. Such a lens gives the effect
of moving the camera towards or away from
the object. Variable focus lenses are used in
m otion picture and television cameras; com
monly called Zoomar lenses.
V A R IA B L E IM P E D A N C E T U B E .
re a c ta n c e .

See tu b e ,

(1) For the

mathematical meaning of this term, see fu n c
tio n . ( 2 ) That independent quantity or con
dition which, through the action of the control
system of an a u to m a tic c o n tro lle r, directs the
change in the controlled v a r ia b le according
to a predetermined relationship.
V A R IA B L E , IN D E P E N D E N T .

V A R IA B L E R E L U C T A N C E
See re lu c ta n c e p ic k u p .

C A R T R ID G E .

The property of departing

from an established value or standard, or the
amount of such departure.
V A R IA B IL IT Y .

V A R I A C . Trade name for a particular au to

tra n s fo rm e r.
V A R IA N C E .
(1 ) Either the number of de
grees o f fre e d o m possessed by a system, or the

degrees of freedom themselves.

(See also

p h ase r u le .)
(2) The square of the sta n d a rd
d e v ia tio n , i.e., a2.

An approxima
tion method of calculating an upper limit to
the lo w e s t e n e rg y state of a system by sub
stituting in the so-called variational integral
an arbitrary function in place of the true
w a v e fu n c tio n and varying parameters in the
trial wave function to obtain a minimum for
the variation integral.

V A R IA T IO N A L M E T H O D .

V A R IA T IO N A L P L A T E R E S IS T A N C E .
re s is ta n c e , d y n a m ic p la te .

See

Trade name for a silicon c a p a c i

V A R IC A P .
to r.

V A R I G N O N T H E O R E M . The algebraic sum

of the m o m en ts of two coplanar concurrent
fo rc e s with respect to a point in their plane

is equal to the moment of the resultant with

respect to the same point.
V A R I O C O U P L E R . A radio-frequency tra n s
fo rm e r in which one of the windings m ay be

rotated with respect to the other, in order to

change the coefficient of c o u p lin g .
A variable in d u c to r in which
the variation of inductance is obtained from
the change in mutual inductance between two
coils as one is rotated with respect to the other.
(See e le c tro m a g n e tic in d u c tio n .)

V A R IO M E T E R .

A two-electrode se m ico n d u cto r

device having a voltage-dependent, nonlinear
resistance.

V A R IS T O R .

Abbreviation for the valence bond

method of setting up approximate w a v e fu n c
tio n s for a molecule.
(See H e itle r- L o n d o n

VB.

th e o ry .)
V -B A N D .

See b a n d (s ), fre q u e n c y .

Vi CEN TER.

See c o lo r c e n te r.

A coefficient related to the

In recent literature there
have been two 7-coefficients in use. One is
V C O E F F IC IE N T .
W ig n e r co e ffic ie n t.

the coefficient denoted as V , which was intro

duced b y R acah in 1942. It is related to the
W igner coefficient by the expression:

= ( - l ) m~3(2j + l)~'A(j - ni\j1mhj 2m2)In 1959, R acah introduced a F-coefficient hav

ing more desirable symmetry properties. This
coefficient is usually denoted as V and is related
to V b y the expression :
1 32

3 \ _ ^ _ _ ^ 2 U - j 2) y

Thus V is given in terms of the W igner coeffi

cient b y :

hold, the directed line segment from the co

ordinate origin to the point is not a vector but
it m ay be a p se u d o v e cto r. The vector con
cept is readily extended to an abstract ve c to r
sp ace of n dimensions. (See also v e c to r, co n
t r a v a r ia n t ; te n so r, c o v a ria n t; te n so r, contrav a r ia n t .)
V E C T O R A D D I T I O N . If A and B are v e c
tors with co m p on ents
A y, A z and B x, B y, B z,
respectively, their sum is a new vector C =
A + B , with components A x + B X1 A y + B y,
A z + B z. Vector addition obeys the co m
m u ta tiv e and a s so c ia tiv e la w s of algebra:
A + B = B + A ; (A + B ) + C = A + ( B +
C ) . T o subtract a vector B from a vector A ,
take the negative of B and add B to A .
V E C T O R , A X IA L .
p se u d o v e c to r.)

y f h k i )

= { - \ y ~ 2h+m(2j + l ) ~ V2( j - m \]lmlj 2m2)

and in terms of the W igner 3 -j- s y m b o l b y :

Also called a rotor.

(See

V E C T O R , B A S E . See re p re se n ta tio n th e o ry ,
q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic a l.
V E C T O R , C O LU M N .
See
th e o ry , q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic a l.

re p re se n ta tio n

y / i i 32 3 \
V EC T O R , CO M PO N EN T O F.
n e n t (2 ).

VM\m2m
V E C T O R . A quantity possessing both mag
nitude and direction, as distinguished from a
s c a la r which has magnitude only. T ypical
vectors are the d is p la c e m e n t, v e lo c it y , and
a c c e le ra tio n of a particle; its m ass, te m p e ra
tu re , and d e n s ity are scalars. A more precise
definition of a vector is often required. Sup
pose a point, located in a rectangular coordi
nate system has components (xi,x 2,x3). The
same point, however, could also be described
in other c o o rd in a te syste m s, obtained from
the first one b y tra n s la tio n of the origin and
rotations about the coordinate axes. I f the
components of the point in the second system
are
assumed for convenience to
have the same origin as that of the first sys
tem, then the relation between the co m p o
n e n ts, called a linear tra n s fo rm a tio n , is:

V E C T O R , C O N T R A V A R I A N T . A ny set
of four functions of the coordinates x* which
under a general coordinate transformation
becomes
_ dx
*"* = Z * r.
,

dxv

The notion is of particular use in the general

relativity theory.
(See r e l a t i v i t y , g e n e r a l
th e o r y o f) te n s o r, c o n t r a v a r ia n t .

A ny set
of four
functions of the coordinates xP which under
a general coordinate tra n s fo rm a tio n x * > af*
becomes
V E C T O R , C O V A R IA N T .

(See also te n so r, c o v a ria n t.)

X{

See co m p o

c^jXj,

1, 2, 3,

;=1
where the Cy are the nine d ire c tio n co sin es
between the various coordinate-axis pairs.
M a t r ix notation m ay also be used to write
x ' = R x , where x ' and x are column vectors;
R is the orthogonal m a tr ix of the direction
cosines. I f this transformation law does not

V E C T O R C O U P L I N G C O E F F I C I E N T . A n
other name for the C le b sc h -G o rd o n or W ig n e r
co e fficie n t.
V E C T O R D E R I V A T I V E . I f a v e c to r R is a
function of a single s c a la r variable t, there
are three possible ways in which R may vary
with t, for if R j and Rg refer to tx and

respectively, then R 2 may differ from R x:

( 1 ) in magnitude on ly; ( 2 ) in direction only;
(3) in both magnitude and direction. Since
even the general case is relatively simple, as
sume that a curve is traced by the terminus
of the continuously varying vector R, the
origin of the vector being kept fixed at the
origin of a coordinate system. Let A and B
be two neighboring points on this curve and
let R i and R 2 be their position vectors, then
the vector AR = R 2 R x has the direction of
the secant A B , which approaches the tangent
to the curve at A as At = t2 ti approaches
zero. The quotient AR/A is the average rate
o f change of R in the interval between t and
i2. The derivative is defined as
AR
dR
l i m -------- ------Ai->o At
dt

In terms of u n it v e c to rs , and with the use

of primes for differentiation, R = \RX + \Ry +
k j Rz] R r = i R x -\
- ]Ry -f- k R / ;

R /r = i R x" -h

+ kR " .
For a composite function of
two or more vectors, each depending on a
single scalar t, the usual rules of differentia
tion hold except that the order of the vectors
must be retained, if v e c to r p ro d u cts are in
volved. F or the time derivative of a vector
in a coordinate system whose unit vectors are
not fixed, see co o rd in a te syste m , ro ta tin g .
(See also d e r iv a t iv e , v e c to r; d e r iv a tiv e , in t rin
s ic .)
V E C T O R , D U A L . See re p re se n ta tio n th e o ry ,
q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic a l.
VECTO R,
v e c to r.

E L E C T R IC .

V EC TO R , EN TRO PY.

See e le c tric

fie ld

See e n tro p y v e c to r.

A region of space, each

point of which is described by a v e c to r. Thus,
in three dimensions, each point is described
by three quantities, the co m p o n ents of the
vector along the coordinate axes. Examples
are wind v e lo c itie s in the atmosphere, elec
trostatic or e le c tro m a g n e tic fie ld s . (See also
V E C T O R F IE L D .

s c a la r fie ld .)
V EC TO R , F L U X O F A.

See flu x (1 ).

V E C T O R , F O U R . A v e c to r with four co m
po n e n ts.
One type is called a q u a te rn io n .

Another, used principally in relativity theory,

has for its components (x, y, z, ic t ) 9 where

x , y, z are positional coordinates, i = V
c is the speed of light, and t is the time. The
components of the vector in one co o rd in a te
syste m are related to the components in an
other system b y a L o r e n t z tra n sfo rm a tio n .
V E C T O R F U N C T I O N . I f {af ,y',zr) are func
tions of (x,y,z)j then the vector V ' = ioif +
jV + k zf is a v e c to r fu n c tio n of the vector
V = ix + jy + kz, where ( i,j,k ) are u n it v e c
to rs. The function is a lin e a r v e c to r fu n c tio n
if V ' (A + B ) = V ' ( A ) + V ' ( B ) , for all vec
tors A , B .
V E C T O R IN T E G R A L .
The in v e rs e opera
tion to vector d iffe re n tia tio n . (For vector in
tegrals corresponding to ordinary definite in
tegrals, see in te g ra l, lin e ; in te g ra l, s u rfa c e ;
and in te g ra l, v o lu m e .)
V E C T O R , I R R O T A T I O N A L . If the c u r l of
a v e c to r fu n c tio n of position vanishes every
where in a certain region, the function is said
to be an irrotational vector (or a lamellar
vector) in this region. It follows that if V
is an irrotational vector so that V X V = 0,
then V = V<, where <j> is some s c a la r func
tion of position. (See also in te g ra l, lin e .)
VECTO R, LA M ELLA R .
tio n a l.
VECTO R M O D EL O F
ato m , v e c to r m o d e l o f.

See v e c to r, irro ta

TH E

ATO M .

See

V E C T O R M U L T IP L IC A T IO N .
There are
two distinct kinds of products of two vectors:
the s c a la r p ro d u c t and the v e c to r p ro d u c t
(but see also p s e u d o v e c to r) . Combining these
two types of products, there are three kinds
of tr ip le p ro d u cts o f v e c to rs , and several
q u a d ru p le p ro d u cts o f v e c to rs , giving rise to
the v e c to r syste m , r e c ip ro c a l.
V E C T O R N O T A T IO N .
A v e c to r is com
monly indicated by a bold-face letter such
as A , which stands for its three s c a la r co m
po nen ts ( A1} A 2, A s) referred to some c o o rd i
n ate syste m . In the Gibbs notation, s c a la r
and v e c to r p ro d u cts are shown with dots and
crosses, respectively.
Less commonly used
symbols, have been proposed by Hamilton,
Grassmann, Heaviside, and others. They in
clude: TA ( T for te n s o r ), \A\ for the magni
tude of a vector; S A B , ( A B ) for the s c a la r

product; F A B , A A B , and [ A B ] for the vec

tor product.

can write B = V X A . The vector potential

due to a distribution of current density is

O F . A v e c to r is often
indicated graphically by means of an arrow
(technically called a stroke). The length of
the arrow is proportional to the s c a la r mag
nitude of the vector and the direction in which
the arrow points is the direction of the vector.
The tail or initial point of the arrow is its
o rig in ; the head or final point is its terminus.

where r is the distance between the point o f

observation and dv, the volume element. For a
closed linear current loop, this becomes

V E C T O R , O R IG IN

V E C T O R , O R T H O G O N A L . A vector A per
pendicular to another vector B . Their s c a la r
p ro d u c t vanishes, or A * B = 0.
(See o rth o

so that
H = B/ ijl = V X A h i

g o n a lity .)

dl X r

V EC TO R , PO LAR.
Also called a proper
v e c to r or a localized vector. I f its com po

nents in one Cartesian coordinate system are

given b y the column vector x , then its com
ponents in another such system are x ' = R x ,
where R is an orthogonal m a tr ix . (Compare

=,/ ' 0 x j = ' j

Thus result is often expressed by the (non
unique) resolution into differential elements:

dlXr
dH = I 5

r6

p s e u d o v e c to r.)
V E C T O R , P O S I T I O N . If, in a rectangular
c o o rd in a te syste m , a point has coordinates
(x,y,z) then its position v e c to r is one drawn

from the coordinate origin to the point. It

may be written as R = ix + \y + k z , where
( i ,j,k ) are u n it v e c to rs .
(1) Three functions
of position and time, forming a vector A ( r ,t)
in ordinary space, used together with the
s c a la r p o te n tia l < to specify an electromag
netic field.
In the absence of conducting
media, A satisfies the equation:

V E C T O R P O T E N T IA L .

1 d2A

v A ~ ? ~ d F = -47 rJ
which follows from the defining equation, B =
V X A , and Maxwell's equations. In M in k o w
s k i s p a c e , A x, A y, A z, i<l> form the components
of a f o u r - v e c t o r .
In Gaussian units the
electromagnetic field is given b y :

which is known as the A m p e re la w , or

th e

B io t- S a v a rt la w .
V E C T O R P R O D U C T , A X B . I f two vectors
A = A xi -f- A y]
A zk and B = B xi -f- B yj

+ B zk are considered in a right handed

Cartesian c o o r d in a t e s y s t e m designated by
the three u n i t v e c t o r s i , j , k taken in this
cyclic order, then their vector product A X B
is A X B = ( A yB z B yA z) i + ( A ZB X
A XB Z)j + (A xB y A yB x)k. The magnitude
| A X B |= A B sin 0 , where 0 is the smaller
angle between A and B . A X B is directed
perpendicular to the plane containing A and B
in the direction in which a right handed screw
would advance if it were rotated so as to turn
A through the smallest angle into B .
(See
h a n d e d n e s s , r i g h t a n d l e f t .)
V E C T O R , R A D I U S . In a polar or spherical
polar c o o rd in a te syste m , a v e c to r drawn from

the origin of the coordinate system to a point.

V E C T O R , R O W . See re p re se n ta tio n th e o ry ,
q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic a l.

B = V x A,

dA

E = V 0 --------- -

V E C T O R , S O L E N O I D A L . If the d iv e rg e n c e
of a v e c to r fu n c tio n of position vanishes

(2 ) A solenoidal v e c t o r f ie ld , such as m a g
n e t i c f l u x d e n s i t y , is one whose d iv e r g e n c e
vanishes everywhere: V B = 0. Such a vector

everywhere in a certain region, the function is

said to be a solenoidal vector in that region.
It follows that if V is a solenoidal vector so
that V V = 0 , then V = V X W , or V i s t h e

c dt

is derivable from a vector potential; i.e., we

c u r l o f some vector W .
th e o re m .)

(See also G a u ss

A generalization of ordi
nary three-dimensional space to n dimensions.
A v e c to r in such space, if its components are
r e a l numbers x lf x2, , xn m ay be considered
as a row or column m a tr ix x . The s c a la r p ro d
u c t of two vectors x and y is a s c a la r
V EC TO R SPACE.

x y = xnji + x 2y 2 H------- h x ny n

where x is the t r a n s p o s e of x and the two

vectors are o r t h o g o n a l in such a space if their
scalar product vanishes, x y = 0. The square
of the length of the vector (or its n o r m
squared) is also a scalar

N 2 = x x = x i 2 + x22 -{--[- xn2.

I f N = 1, the vector is n o r m a liz e d .

If the components of the vector are c o m

p le x , the space is a H e r m i t i a n (or u n i t a r y )
space. The H e r m i t i a n s c a l a r p r o d u c t is
x +y = Xi*yi + x 2 *y 2 H------- b Xn*yn

where x* is the a s s o c ia t e m a t r i x to x and Xi*

is the c o m p le x c o n ju g a t e to X{. The norm is
defined b y N *N = x^x. T he condition for
orthogonality is x +y = y +x = 0 and the vector
is normalized if x^x = 1 . (See r e p r e s e n t a
t io n th e o r y , q u a n t u m
b e r t s p a c e .)
VECTO R, STATE.

m e c h a n ic a l; H il

See sta te v e c to r.

S Y S T E M , R E C IP R O C A L .
From
the properties of the q u a d ru p le p ro d u c t o f
v e c to rs , the following relation is found to hold
for any four vectors r , a , b , c :
VECTO R

r [a b c ] = [r b c ]a + [r c a ]b + [r a b ]c ,

which may also be written in the equivalent

form :
r = r - a ' a + r - b 'b + r - c 'c .

The system of three vectors,

b X c
a ' ==--------
[a b c]

c X a
b ' = --------- :
[a b c]

a X b
= ---------
[ab c]

VECTO R,
o rig in o f.

T E R M IN U S

O F.

See

v e c to r,

V E C T O R , U N I T . ( 1 ) In general, any v e c to r
of unit length or n o rm . (2) Frequently used,

more specifically, to refer to vectors of unit

length having the directions of the positive
tan g e n ts to the curves along which two of the
three coordinates are constant. In a rectan
gular Cartesian co o rd in a te syste m , the unit
vectors are usually denoted by i, j, and k ; in
other systems by e i, e2, and e3, directed toward
increasing qlt q2) and q3, respectively, ( i = ex,
j = e y, k = ez.) S c a la r and v e c to r p ro d u cts
of the unit vectors in any right handed or
thogonal coordinate system have the following
properties:
ez em = Sim (see K r o n e c k e r d e l t a ) ;
ez X e m = en

j Where I 7^ m and /, m, n,

e m X i = e nJ are

cy clic order;

ei X e m = 0 (I = m );
W IN D .
A ny clockwise change
in wind direction is known as veering of the
wind. It is opposite to backing.
V E E R IN G

V E L O C I T I E S , A D D I T I O N O F . See a d d i
tio n o f v e lo c itie s ; v e c to r a d d itio n .

Trade name for a certain

external cavity reflex k ly s tro n .

V E L O C IT R O N .

(1) The time rate of change of

position. V elocity is a v e c to r quantity; a
statement of a velocity therefore includes both
a s c a la r magnitude, expressed in units of
length divided by time, and a direction rela
tive to some frame of reference. The defin
ing equation for instantaneous velocity is
v = dx/dt, where x is the vector specifying
position relative to an origin and t is the time.
(C f. v e lo c it y , a v e ra g e .) The origin is located
with reference to an in e r tia l fra m e , commonly
axes fixed to the earth. ( 2 ) Sometimes loosely
used to express magnitude only, i.e., synon
ymous with sp eed . (See also d e riv a tiv e , in
V E L O C IT Y .

tr in s ic .)

is reciprocal to the three non-coplanar vectors

a , b , c . The unit vectors i, j, k form a system
which is its own reciprocal. Conversely, a
system which is its own reciprocal is a set of
mutually perpendicular unit vectors, forming
either a right-handed or left-handed Cartesian

V E L O C IT Y , A N G U LA R .
ity .

co o rd in a te sy ste m .

single material

See a n g u la r v e lo c

V E L O C I T Y A N T IR E S O N A N C E .
re so n a n c e , v e lo c ity .
V E L O C IT Y ,

AVERAG E.

particle,

See a n ti

Referring to a
the ratio of the

change in the position v e c to r to the time in

terval involved in the change. It is a vector
quantity whose magnitude is usually called
the average sp eed ,
V E L O C IT Y , C H A R A C T E R IS T IC , O F
A
M E D I U M . The p h ase v e lo c it y of an e le c tro
m a g n e tic w a v e , v = l/V /x , where jx is the
p e rm e a b ility and e the p e rm ittiv ity o f the

medium.
elastic

For a compressional wave in an

medium,

v = yK /p,

where

is

Y o u n g s m o d u lu s for a solid medium or the

b u lk m o d u lu s for a liquid.
V E L O C I T Y , C O E F F I C I E N T O F . The ratio
o f the mean flow v e lo c it y in a liquid jet to the

theoretical velocity of discharge of a frictionless liquid, the latter being given by V 2 gh.
V E L O C I T Y D IA G R A M (V E L O C IT Y - M O D U L A T I O N T U B E S ) . See A p p le g a te d ia g ra m .
V E L O C IT Y F IL T E R .

See s e le c to r, v e lo c ity .

(1) The velocity of

propagation of the crest of a group of inter
fering waves where the component wave
trains have slightly different individual fre
quencies and phase velocities. In a d is p e rs iv e
m e d iu m in which the p h ase v e lo c it y 7 is a
function of the frequency /, the group velocity
U is
V E L O C IT Y , G R O U P .

17l

V E L O C IT Y ,
IN S T A N T A N E O U S
L A R . See v e lo c ity , a n g u la r.

ANGU

V E L O C I T Y L E V E L . The velocity level, in

d e c ib e ls , of a sound is 2 0 times the lo g a rith m
to the b ase 1 0 of the ratio of the particle ve

locity of the sound to the reference particle

velocity (see v e lo c it y , p a r t ic le ) . The refer
ence particle velocity should be stated ex
plicitly. In many so un d fie ld s the particle
velocity ratios are not proportional to the
square root of corresponding p o w e r ratios and
hence cannot be expressed in decibels in the
strict sense; however, it is common practice
to extend the use of the decibel to these cases.
V E L O C I T Y , M A X IM U M .
The maximum
v e lo c ity for any given c y c le is the maximum

absolute value of the instantaneous velocity

during that cycle.
V E L O C I T Y , M A X I M U M A N G U L A R . The
maximum a n g u la r v e lo c ity for any given c y c le

is the maximum absolute value of the instan

taneous angular velocity during that cycle.
The usual unit is the radian per second.
V E L O C I T Y , M O D U L A T IO N .
tio n , v e lo c ity .

See m o d u la

V E L O C IT Y O F L IG H T , M E A S U R E M E N T
O F . See sp eed o f lig h t, m e a su re m e n t o f,
V E L O C IT Y
so un d .

OF

SO UN D .

See

sp eed

of

V E L O C I T Y , P A R T I C L E . In a so un d w a v e ,
the v e lo c ity of a given infinitesimal part o f
the medium, with reference to the medium as
where V 0 is the mean phase velocity of the
a whole, due to the sound wave. The com
com ponent wave trains, /o the average frem only used unit is the centimeter per second.
( dV\ .
quency in the group and ( ) is the value of
The terms instantaneous particle velocity,
\ d f /o
effective particle velocity, maximum particle
the derivative taken at the average frequency.
v elocity, and peak particle velocity have
(2)
Th e Institute of R adio Engineers defini
meanings which correspond with those of the
tion of group velocity is as follow s: Of a
related terms used for so un d p re ssu re .
traveling plane wave, the velocity of propa
gation of the envelope of a wave occupying a
V E L O C I T Y , P E A K . The peak v e lo c it y for
frequency band over which the envelope de
any specified time interval is the maximum
lay is approximately constant. It is equal to
absolute value of the instantaneous velocity
the reciprocal of the rate of change of p h ase
(see v e lo c it y , in sta n ta n e o u s) in that interval.
co n sta n t with a n g u la r fre q u e n c y . Group ve
V E L O C I T Y , P E A K A N G U L A R . The peak
locity differs from phase velocity in a me
a n g u la r v e lo c ity for any specified time in
dium in which the p h ase v e lo c it y varies with
terval is the maximum absolute value of the
frequency.
instantaneous angular velocity (see v e lo c ity ,
in sta n tan e o u s a n g u la r) in that interval. The
V E L O C I T Y , I N S T A N T A N E O U S . See v e lo c
usual unit is the r a d ia n per second.
it y .

V o \ d f/ o

V E L O C I T Y , P H A S E . Of a tra v e lin g p la n e
w a v e at a single frequency, the velocity of an
e q u ip h a se s u rfa c e along the w a v e n o rm a l.
(See also g ro up v e lo c it y .)

the convergence of the flow approaching it

continues beyond the exit section, and the
final section of the jet has smaller cross section
than the exit section.

V E L O C IT Y P O T E N T IA L O F SO U N D . A
s c a la r point function whose g ra d ie n t gives the
particle velocity at any point (see v e lo c ity ,
p a r t ic le ) . Some authors, in analogy with the
electric s c a la r p o te n tia l, define the velocity

A flo w m e te r for liquids

or gases utilizing the Venturi principle. A
tapered constriction is placed in the pipe, and
the pressure difference taken between a point
in the pipe before the constriction begins, and
a point in the throat, or the narrowest part of
the constriction. The observed pressure dif
ference is a function of the rate of flow and
may be calibrated or calculated to obtain
flow rates.

potential function so that its negative gradient

gives the particle velocity at any point.
V E L O C IT Y , P R E C E S S IO N A L .
sio n .

See p re c e s

The graphical rep

resentation of the variation with displacement
normal to the general direction of flow of the
mean flow v e lo c it y in a sh e a r flow. For ex
ample, the velocity profile of laminar flo w
through a circular tube is parabolic.
V E L O C IT Y P R O F IL E .

V E L O C IT Y , R E L A T IV E .
The relative velo c ity of a point with respect to a reference

frame is the time rate of change of a position

v e c to r of that point with respect to the ref
erence fra m e .
V E L O C IT Y , R O O T -M E A N -S Q U A R E (O F A
S Y S T E M ) . The square root of the average of
the square of the sp eed of the particles com

posing the system. This average is formed

by summing the squares of the speed of each
particle and dividing by the number of par
ticles.
A n g u la r v e lo c ity about
an axis fixed in either space or in the spinning
body.
V E L O C I T Y , S P IN .

V E L O C IT Y ,

T E R M IN A L

(F R E E

F A L L ).

When a particle falls in air or some other fluid

medium which resists its motion with a force
varying as some power of the speed, analysis
shows that it approaches a limiting speed
which can be calculated by equating the mag
nitude of the resisting force to the w e ig h t of
the body.
V E L O C IT Y ,
u n its .

U N IT S

O F.

V E L O C IT Y , V O L U M E .

See m e c h a n ic a l

See v o lu m e v e lo c ity .

C O N T R A C T A . The phenomenon of
the contraction of the free je t of liquid issu
ing from a container through an o rific e . Un
less the orifice is a properly designed nozzle,

VEN A

VEN TU RI M ETER.

CO N STAN T.
A proportionality
factor in an equation of the F a r a d a y e ffe ct,
the rotation of the plane of p o la riz a tio n of
light by transparent substances in a m a g n e tic
fie ld . In the relationship:
VERD ET

a = colH,
a is the angle of rotation, I is the depth of
the medium transversed by the light, H is
the intensity of the magnetic field, and <o is
the Verdet constant.
The process of checking
the results of one data transcription against
the results of another data transcription.
Both transcriptions usually involve manual
operations. (See also c h e c k .)

V E R IF IC A T IO N .

A device used to aid in the more

accurate reading of scales. One of the best
illustrations of a vernier and its use is the
vernier caliper, which consists of a steel scale
with a fixed flat faced arm or jaw attached to
one end in such a manner that the inside face
of the jaw is perpendicular to the length of the
scale and would intersect the graduations on
the scale at the zero mark if it were extended.
A second movable jaw is attached to the scale
so that the length or width of an object may
be measured by sliding it between the jaws
and noting the scale reading of an index mark
on the movable arm. The movable jaw has
inscribed upon it an auxiliary scale, the ver
nier, having its zero at the proper position for
a direct reading of the spacing between the
jaws and graduated as follows. If it is desired
to read lengths to an accuracy of (1 /N) times
that of the smallest scale division, then this
auxiliary scale should have inscribed on it
either (N 1 ) or (N + 1 ) equally spaced di

V E R N IE R .

visions in an interval equal to N divisions on

the main scale. The case of (N + 1) divisions
is more frequently encountered and will be the
case described here. In this case each division
on the vernier will be equal to {N 1 )/N
times a division on the main scale, so that the
movement of the movable jaw from a position
of coincidence of a given mark on the vernier
with a mark on the main scale to one of coinci
dence of the next mark on the vernier with the
next mark on the main scale will be a (1/AT)
of a main scale division. Thus if the zero
mark on the vernier is just beyond a given
main scale mark and the nth mark on the ver
nier comes closest to matching a main scale
mark the length is (n/w) of a main scale di
vision longer than the main scale division just
passed by the vernier zero.
If 9 is an a n g le , versine 0 = vers
cos 0 .

V E R S IN E .
0 = 1

VERTEX.
(1) Also called a p e x . (See p a ra b
o la ; c o n ic a l s u r fa c e ; p o ly g o n ; p o ly h e d ro n ;
n o d e .)
(2) The vertices of a le n s (or other

Abbreviation for v e r y h ig h fre q u e n c y ,

a deprecated usage. (See b a n d (s ), fre q u e n c y .)

VH F.

V H F A U R A L - V IS U A L R A N G E .
( V H F a u ra l- v is u a l ra n g e ).
V H F O M N IR A N G E .
ra n g e ).

See V A R

See V O R ( V H F O m n i

V IB R A T IO N A L
M O LEC U LES.

EN ERG Y

OF

V IB R A T IO N A L

P A R T IT IO N

D IA T O M IC

In the R eport on N otation

for Spectra of D iatom ic M olecules, Mullikan,
Phys. R ev. 36, 623 (1930), the vibrational
energy E v is defined as the difference between
the energy of a molecule idealized just to the
extent of making the ro ta tio n a l e n e rg y E r = 0
and the energy of a further idealized molecule
obtained by the following imaginary process:
the vibration of the nuclei is gradually
stopped without placing any new constraint
on the electron motions, in a way such as
might be realized by leaving the charges of
the nuclei unchanged but gradually increasing
the masses until they are infinite.
F U N C T IO N .

optical component) are the points of intersec

tion of the surfaces of the lens (or component)
with the optical a x is .

See p a rtitio n fu n c tio n .

PO W ER O F A LEN S.
ciprocal of the b a c k fo c a l le n g th .

upper or the same lower state are proportional

to the number of molecules in the upper and
lower state, respectively. The band strength
is the emission intensity divided by v4 or the
absorption intensity divided by v, where v is
the fre q u e n c y . In absorption, in place of the
intensity, the integrated absorption coefficient
may be used. In emission, the intensities used
must, if necessary, be corrected for self-ab
so rp tio n . This rule is valid only if the elec
tronic transition moment is a constant for all
vibrational transitions that give an appreci
able contribution to the sum.

VERTEX

The re

V E R T I C A L I L L U M I N A T O R S . It is difficult
to illuminate the surface of an opaque sub
stance, such as a metal, so that it can be ob
served with a high-power m icro sc o p e . T o
avoid this difficulty, certain microscopes are
provided with a means by which light from a
lamp may be passed down through the o b je c
tiv e le n s normal to the surface to be observed.
(Also called metallographic m icroscope.)
RETRACE.
In television, the
return path of the electron beam during the
v e r t ic a l b la n k in g interval.
V E R T IC A L

H I G H F R E Q U E N C Y . The band of
frequencies between 30 and 300 megacycles
per second.

VERY

LO W FR EQ U EN C Y.
The band of
frequencies between 10 and 30 kilocycles per
second.

VERY

VF.

Abbreviation for v o ic e fre q u e n c y .

VFO .
Abbreviation for variable frequency
o s c illa to r.

V I B R A T I O N A L S U M R U L E . The sums of
the b a n d stren g th s of all bands with the same

These terms
are used in very broad senses and apply to a
large variety of phenomena and processes.
Vibration com monly refers to a to-and-fro
motion, its meaning is often broadened to
include any periodic physical process, such,
for example, as a cyclic variation in e le c tric
or m a g n e tic fie ld intensity. When an elastic
body is deformed and released, it is in general
set into o s c illa tio n such that the displacement
of any particle from its equilibrium position
is a more or less complicated h a rm o n ic func
tion of the time. The vibration may or may
V IB R A T IO N (S ) A N D W A V E S .

not be symmetrical with respect to the neutral

position; in any case the maximum displace
ment is called the amplitude of the vibration.
B y analogy, the same terms and the same
analysis are applied to vibrations of any type.
I f a vibratory disturbance occurs at any
point in a medium having sufficient continuity
to transmit displacements from one part to
another, a train of w a v e s is propagated out
ward from the seat of the disturbance. The
speed of propagation depends upon the close
ness of coupling between adjacent particles
of medium and the consequent magnitude of
the restoring forces; and upon whatever re
action of the medium corresponds to mechani
cal inertia. In some cases also the speed
varies with the fre q u e n c y , as with light in a
material medium.
In any case the w a v e
le n g th , viz., the distance traversed during a
complete vibration p e rio d , is related to the
frequency of vibration and the speed of propa
gation by the simple equation v = vX in which
v is the speed, v the frequency, and X the w ave
length. Thus, if sound waves of frequency
250 vibrations per sec are traveling with a
speed of 1000 ft per sec, the wavelength is 4 ft.
In case the vibrations are of complex char
acter and the different components travel with
different speeds, the resulting wave group,
traveling with its characteristic g ro up v e lo c ity ,
may be very sharply defined and may thus
constitute a wave packet, resembling a single
p u lse or unrepeated wave.
The theorem of Fourier states that any v i
bration or wave train, however complex, can
be resolved into simple harmonic components
o f various amplitudes and frequencies and in
various phases (see F o u r ie r s e rie s .) Of these
components, the one of lowest frequency (and
in the case of elastic vibrations, usually of
greatest amplitude) is the fundamental; the
others are overtones.
The character of a wave process may be
described mathematically by means of a
w a v e e q u a tio n which specifies the condition
at any point of the wave field in terms of the
position and of the tim e; or graphically by
one or more w a v e fo rm curves, of which the
ordinates represent the periodically variable
displacements at any point, and the abscissas
the time.
V IB R A T IO N , F U N D A M E N T A L M O D E O F .
The mode of vibration of a system (see v ib r a

tio n , n o rm a l m ode o f) which has the lowest

frequency.
V I B R A T I O N M E T E R ( V I B R O M E T E R ) . An
apparatus for the measurement of d is p la c e
m e n t, v e lo c ity , or a c c e le ra tio n of a vibrating

body.
See

V IB R A T IO N - R O T A T IO N S P E C T R U M .
sp e c tru m , ro ta tio n -v ib ra tio n .

A musical embellishment which

depends primarily upon periodic variations of
fre q u e n c y which are often accompanied by
variations in a m p litu d e and w a v e fo rm . The
quantitative description of the vibrato is usu
ally in terms of the corresponding m o d u la tio n
of frequency, amplitude, wave form, or all
three.
V IB R A T O .

V IB R A T O R .
v e rte r.

See

c h o p p e r;

in v e rte r ;

co n

V IB R A T O R , Q U A N T U M
M E C H A N IC A L .
See sp e c tru m , ro ta tio n -v ib ra tio n .
V IB R A T R O N .
V IB R O T R O N .

A re so n a to r having a high Q .
A movable-anode trio d e .

V IC T O R M E Y E R M E T H O D F O R V A P O R
P R E S S U R E , A small, stoppered, glass vessel

containing a weighed amount of liquid is

dropped into a large bulb at the bottom of a
long vertical tube. The bulb and part of the
tube are surrounded by a constant-temperature bath, whose temperature is higher than
the boiling point of the liquid, but need not
be known. The liquid vaporizes, forcing off
the stopper, and the vapor displaces an equal
volume of air from the large bulb. This dis
placed air is led away, and its volume meas
ured, e.g., by a gas burette, or by collecting
it in an inverted graduated vessel filled with
water, over a pneumatic trough. Thus, know
ing the weight and volume, the v a p o r d e n sity
can be found. The method is simple and
rapid, and is accurate to about 5% . M odifi
cations have been made for low pressures and
high temperatures, e.g., by Matheson and
Maass, Mousching, and M eyer and Nernst.
V ID .

A bbreviation for v id e o .

V I D E O , The portion of the te le v is io n signal

which contains the picture information.

V ID E O , C A N C E L L E D .
In a r a d a r M T I
system, the video output remaining after the
cancellation process.

particle in F i} the virial of the system is de

fined to be

In r a d a r M T I , video
signal output employed in a coherent system.

-hH vvFi.
i= 1

V ID E O , C O H E R E D .

The frequency of
the signal voltage containing the picture in
formation which arises from the te le v is io n
scanning process.

V ID E O

FREQ U EN CY.

V ID E O
v id e o .

IN T E G R A T IO N .

V ID E O M A P P IN G .

See in te g ra tio n ,

See m a p p in g , v id e o .

S T R E T C H IN G .
In navigation, a
procedure whereby the duration of a video
p u lse is increased.

V ID E O

V ID E O T R O N .
V ID IC O N .

A m o no sco p e.

See tu b e , v id ic o n .

V I E W F I N D E R . An attachment to a te le
v is io n camera which enables the cameraman

to observe the area within view of the camera.

View finders m ay be optical in nature or may
consist of a cathode-ray tube monitor.
V I E W I N G S C R E E N . In a cathode-ray tube,
the medium which converts the energy of the
beam electrons into visible radiation.
(See
tu b e , c a th o d e -ra y .)
V I G N E T T I N G E F F E C T . The falling-off in
b rig h tn e ss towards the margin of an illumi

nated field, due to the mutilation of the more

oblique bundles of light by the combined
effects of d ia p h ra g m and lens a p e rtu re . This
is a source of trouble in photographic o b je c
tiv e s when they are used at large apertures,
or close to the limit of their fully-illuminated
fields.
V IL L A R I E F F E C T .
n e to s tric tio n .

See discussion of m ag

N EU TRO N S.
N e u tro n s from any
source, before they make a collision.

V IR G IN

V IR IA L C O E F F IC IE N T S .
sta te , g e n e ra l.

See e q u a tio n o f

I f in a system of n
particles confined to a finite region of space
whose position v e cto rs with respect to a given
origin are Vi the resultant force on the ith
V IR IA L O F A S Y S T E M .

The bar over the sum refers to a time aver

age over a time interval long compared with
the time taken by a particle to traverse the
region in which the particles are confined. It
is understood that not only are the magni
tudes of the position vectors r* bounded, but
that the same is true of the v e lo c itie s of the
particles. According to the virial theorem the
virial of the system is equal to the average
kinetic e n e rg y of the system.
V IR IA L T H E O R E M .

See v ir ia l o f a syste m .

EN TRO PY.
The e n tro p y of a
system neglecting the contribution due to nu
clear s p in , which is generally a factor inde
pendent of temperature and does not contrib
ute to h e a t c a p a c itie s . This also excludes
entropy of mixing of different isotopic forms,
which remains virtually the same in a chem
ical reaction. (Also known as practical en
tropy.)
V IR T U A L

V IR T U A L H E IG H T .

See h e ig h t, v ir t u a l.

V IR T U A L L E V E L , V IR T U A L S T A T E .

(1 )

A quasi-stationary e n e rg y le v e l or state o f a
compound n u c le u s , characterized by a lif e
tim e long compared with the tra n s it tim es of
the nucleons across nuclear dimensions at
energies corresponding to the excitation in
question; therefore, very often a reso n a n ce
le v e l.
(2) A term that has frequently been
used to refer to the so-called unbound singlet
state of the deuteron. However, such a usage
gives this state undue importance, for it
does not actually exist; its invention arose
from the merely formal possibility of calcu
lating a fictitious negative b in d in g e n e rg y of
the singlet neutron-proton system that would
give the same s c a tte rin g le n g th as is observed
in neutron-proton scattering. (See also v ir t u a l
p ro c e ss.)
PRO CESS.
Process which may
be pictured as the emission of a particle or
q u a n tu m followed so quickly by its absorption
or further in te ra c tio n that the e n e rg y and
m o m e n tu m of the particle in this intermediate
state are ill-defined. Each such process cor
responds to a term in the series expansion of
V IR T U A L

the H a m ilt o n ia n for the whole process and

may be represented on a F e y n m a n d ia g ra m .
Q UAN TUM .
In second and
higher order p e rtu rb a tio n th e o ry , a m a trix
e le m e n t connecting an initial state with a
final state involves intermediate states in
which e n e rg y is not conserved. A q u a n tu m
or p h o to n in such an intermediate state is
termed a virtual quantum. Thus the s e lf
e n e rg y of an electron (due to the e le c tro
m a g n e tic fie ld ) is pictured as arising from the
continual emission and reabsorption by the
electron of virtual quanta.
Similarly the
C o u lo m b e n e rg y between two electrons may
be pictured as arising from the emission of
virtual quanta by one of the electrons and
their absorption by the other.
V IR T U A L

V I R T U A L T E M P E R A T U R E . Air free
water vapor has a certain d e n s ity for
te m p e ra tu re and p re ssu re . If, however,
water enters the air as v a p o r and the

from
fixed
some
pres
sure is held constant, the density will decrease
slightly because the m o le c u la r w e ig h t of
water is 18, compared to 28.97 for air. Also,
if the air remains water-free and the tempera
ture increases slightly, the density will also
decrease. Virtual temperature of air is that
temperature required to maintain its density
constant if its w ater-vapor content is re
moved. Virtual temperature in air contain
ing water is always greater than existing
temperature.
T
T v = --------------------- .
1 - 0.37 9p /P
where T v is the virtual temperature, t is the
existing temperature, p is the v a p o r p re ssu re
of water vapor, and P is the total pressure of
the air.
V IR T U A L W O R K P R IN C IP L E .
See e q u i
lib riu m o f fo rc e s on r ig id b o d y ; le a s t e n e rg y
p r in c ip le .

A perfectly elastic
body is one in which the application of steady
stress produces stra in s that take on constant
values as soon as the tra n s ie n t effects of the
change of stress have been damped out and
which returns to its original state when the
stresses are removed. On the other hand, a
perfectly plastic body is one that retains its
stressed shape and dimensions after the stresses
are removed. Except in the limit of very

small strains and stresses, real materials sel

dom show behavior consistent with either of
these definitions. Instead, the application of
stress leads to a strain which approaches its
e q u ilib riu m value slowly, i.e., that exhibits a
re la x a tio n tim e . Because their behavior resem
bles that of a viscous flu id under the action
of applied forces, such materials are referred
to as visco-elastic. See e la s tic a fte r e ffe ct o r
la g ; re c o v e ry o f m e ta ls ; h yste re sis.
V IS C O M E T E R .

See visc o sim e te r.

V IS C O S IM E T E R .
An instrument for the
measurement of v is c o s ity , usually a practical
instrument designed to measure relative val
ues and not suitable for absolute measure
ments.
(See also v is c o s ity , m e a su re m e n t o f
for various types of viscosimeter.)
V I S C O S I T Y . The phenomenon of the gen
eration of stresses in a fluid by the distortion

of fluid elements by the flow. The stresses

act to oppose the distortion and to dissipate
energy. The term is usually taken to mean
a Newtonian viscosity. (See flu id , N e w to n
ia n ; flu id , v is c o u s ; and immediately following
entries.)
V IS C O S IT Y , C O E F F IC IE N T O F .
If the
stress te n so r in an isotropic fluid is a linear
function of the rate o f stra in , then

.
,
( Ui
dUj\
where Pij is the stress tensor, I -)-------) is
\dXj
bxj
the rate of strain tensor, p is the hydrostatic
pressure, 5# is the K ro n e ck e r d e lta ( = 1, if
i = j ; = 0 if i ^ j).
The constant coefficient, 77, is the ordinary
coefficient of viscosity, and the other one, 77',
is the second coefficient of viscosity. The second
coefficient describes effects that depend on
volume d ila ta tio n .

V IS C O - E L A S T IC IT Y .

V IS C O S IT Y ,

E Y R IN G

TREA TM EN T

O F.

See E y r in g tre a tm e n t o f v is c o s ity .

IN T R IN S IC .
The value ob
tained by extrapolating, to zero c o n c e n tra
tio n , the ratio of the specific v is c o s ity of a
so lu tio n to the concentration of the so lu te .
V IS C O S IT Y ,

V IS C O S IT Y , K IN E M A T IC .
The fluid v is
c o s ity divided b y the fluid d e n s ity . It meas

ures the kinematic effect of the viscosity, that

is, the a c c e le ra tio n s of the fluid arising from
a given distortion. It m ay be regarded as
the diffusion coefficient for v o r t ic it y and, to
a lesser extent, for m o m e n tu m . T ypical va l
ues of the kinematic viscosity, denoted by v,
are:
W ater (20C)

v = 0.0100 cm 2 sec 1

M ercury (20C)

v = 0.00118 cm2 sec 1

Glycerine (20C)

v = 6.8 cm2 sec 1

Air (20C, 760 mm)

v = 0.152 cm2 sec 1

The cgs unit of kinematic viscosity is some

times called the sto ke .
V IS C O S IT Y , M E A S U R E M E N T O F .
(a)
Absolute methods: (1) Stokes law methods.
These involve measuring the rate of fall under
gravity of a small sphere in the liquid whose
v is c o s ity is required. A variant is to measure
the rate of rise of a small glass bulb. In
either case, the viscosity r] is given by

2gr2(p V

pi)

9F

where r is the radius of the sphere or bulb,

p is the density of the sphere or bulb, pi is the
density of the liquid, V is the rate of fall or
rise.
(2) Capillary tube methods. These meth
ods apply the P o is e u ille e q u a tio n to the meas
urement of viscosity. The flow through a
tube of known internal radius and length is
measured for a known pressure difference be
tween the ends.
(3) R otating
cylinder
methods.
The
to rq u e transmitted to a stationary inner cy l
inder when the outer one is rotated at con
stant speed is given by a simple equation in
volving the viscosity, provided the speed of
rotation is not too high. This method is wellsuited for precision measurement, as end ef
fects may be eliminated by guard rings.
(4) Oscillating disc method. A disc oscil
lating in a plane parallel and close to a plane
surface undergoes a damping due to the vis
cosity of the intervening fluid. Knowing the
dimensions of the apparatus and the rate of
damping, the viscosity m ay be calculated.
(5) The viscosity of a gas or liquid is meas
ured by the d a m p in g of the oscillations of a
cylinder which is suspended on a torsion fiber

inside a stationary cylinder. The space be

tween the cylinders is filled with the gas or
liquid under investigation.
(b)
Relative methods: M ost of the abso
lute methods have been applied in simplified
form to the measurement of relative viscosity,
the apparatus being calibrated by the use of
a fluid of known viscosity. For example, the
Engler and Saybolt viscosimeters use the time
taken for a sample of liquid to flow past a
constriction in a U-tube as a measure of the
viscosity.
A theoretical treat
ment similar to that used for the th e rm a l co n
d u c tiv ity o f gases gives the relation
V IS C O S IT Y O F G A S E S .

rj = ^pc\
where rj is the v is c o s it y , p the d e n s it y , c the
mean molecular speed, and X the m e a n f r e e
p a t h . This formula indicates that the viscos
ity should be independent of the density (and
therefore pressure), since p oc 1/X, and should
increase as the square root of the absolute tem
perature T , since c cc \/T. This is found to
be approximately true except at high and low
pressures. Measurement of rj m ay be used
to deduce values of the mean free path and
hence molecular diameter, with the introduc
tion of numerical factors given by more re
fined theory. (See t h e r m a l c o n d u c t i v i t y o f
g a s e s , t h e o r e t ic a l.)
V IS C O S IT Y , R E L A T I V E .
(1) The ratio of
the v is c o s ity of a so lu tio n to the viscosity of
the pure so lv e n t. (2) The ratio of the vis
cosity of a liquid to that of another liquid
taken as a standard.
V IS C O S IT Y , S P E C IF IC .
The specific v is
c o s ity of a s o lu tio n is the ratio of the differ

ence between the viscosities of the solution

and of the pure so lv e n t to the viscosity of the
pure solvent.
V IS C O S IT Y , T H E O R IE S O F .
(1 ) Gas ki
netic theory. I n t e r a c t i o n between the mole

cules is supposed negligible except for the

comparatively short time occupied in molec
ular collisions. The development of a s h e a r
s t r e s s in a velocity g r a d ie n t is caused by the
diffusive movements of molecules along the
gradient, and the kinematic viscosity (see
v is c o s it y , k in e m a t i c ) is of the same order of
magnitude as the self-diffusion coefficient, of

order
(c, the mean molecular speed, X,
the m e a n fr e e p a t h ) .
(2)
Imperfect solid theory. The yielding
of a liquid to a shear stress is compared with
the c r e e p of crystalline solids at high tem
peratures. The rate of creep for a given stress
depends on yielding along grain boundaries,
which requires an a c t iv a t io n e n e r g y derived
from the thermal energy. The f l u i d i t y then
increases with temperature, roughly as ewlkt,
where W is activation energy.
The pos
sibility of extending this theory to liquids de
pends on the existence of s h o r t r a n g e o r d e r ,
or of c lu s t e r s of liquid molecules correspond
ing to crystal grains.
V IS C O S IT Y , U N IT S
O F.
The common
metric unit of viscosity is the p o ise , which is
equal to 1 d yn e-cm - 2 sec. There is also the
centipoise (0.01 poise). Another metric unit
is the k g -w t-cm _2 sec. English units are the
lbm f t -1 sec- 1 and the lbf f t - 2 sec. M any
specialized units are used in engineering prac
tice, related to specific instruments for the
measurement of viscosity, e.g., Engler degree,
Saybolt second.
V IS IB L E

SPEEC H .

V I S I O N , P E R S I S T E N C E O F . The sensation
of the r e tin a does not cease at once when
the stimulus is removed. For a brightness of
about a c a n d le per square meter, the critical
fre q u e n c y beyond which no flic k e r may be
detected is about 30 times per second. The
limit, however, depends greatly on the condi
tions of observation, and particularly on the
b rig h tn e ss alternation.
V IS U A L A U R A L R A N G E .

See V A R .

( G L A S S Y ) S T A T E . When cer
tain liquids are cooled fairly rapidly, crystals
do not form at a definite temperature, but the
v is c o s ity of the liquid increases steadily until
a glassy substance is obtained. A glass may
be thought of as a disordered amorphous solid,
or as a supercooled liquid which only d e v itrifies into the crystalline state after extremely
long standing. Glasses are optically isotropic,
which explains their value in optical instru
ments. The property of forming a glass is
possessed particularly by the oxides of silicon,
boron, germanium, arsenic, phosphorus, etc.,
V IT R E O U S

See sp e e ch , v is ib le .

That greatest distance toward

the horizon at which an unaided normal eye
can clearly distinguish prominent objects
without aid of optical devices. In measuring
visibility, officially, it is necessary that the
given value exist over more than one-half the
horizon.

V IS IB IL IT Y .

V IS IB IL IT Y F A C T O R
(D IS P L A Y LO S S )
(R A D A R ).
(1) The ratio of the minimum

signal input power detectable by ideal instru

ments connected to the output of a receiver,
to the minimum signal power detectable by
a human operator through a d is p la y connected
to the same receiver. The visibility factor
m ay include the scanning loss. (2) See lu m i
n o s ity fu n c tio n .
V I S I B I L I T Y (O F F R IN G E S ).

The visibility

of fringes is defined as
^m ax

I min

^max +

i min

----------------------

where / max is the maximum intensity of the

fringe system and I min is the minimum in
tensity.

Two-dimensional diagram showing (A ) an oxide of

composition X 20 3 in the crystalline form ; and (B)
the same oxide in the vitreous state.

and by many organic compounds, especially

those containing several hydroxyl groups per
molecule. (See figure.)

Abbreviation for v e r y lo w fre q u e n c y .

deprecated usage.
(See b a n d (s ), f r e

VLF.

q u e n c y .)
V O C O D E R . An instrument for the produc
tion of synthetic speech, employing recorded
voice signals to actuate the system instead of
the mechanical keys used by the v o d e r.

The name applied to a tw o-w ay,

radio-telephone transmission system em ploy
ing the same frequency for transmission and
reception. Voice-operated relays prevent si
multaneous operation of transmitter and re
ceiver.

VO D AS.

An instrument for the production

of synthetic speech, employing a series of
electron tubes, controllable by mechanical
keys, to vary the fre q u e n c y , in te n s ity , tim b re ,
duration, growth and decay o f tones.

VO D ER.

Abbreviation for voice-operated

gain-adjusting device. A volume co m p re sso r
or e xp a n d o r.
(See a m p lifie r, vo lu m e -lim it-

VOGAD.

in g .)
V O G EL-C O LS O N -R U S S ELL E F F E C T .
R u s s e ll e ffe ct.

See

A small lo u d sp e a k e r
mounted in a shaped baffle which is propor
tioned to simulate the acoustical constants of
the human head. The artificial voice is used
for calibrating and testing close-talking m i
crophones.
(See m ic ro p h o n e , c lo se -ta lk in g .)
V O IC E , A R T IF IC IA L .

V O IC E C O IL .

See c o il, v o ic e .

M E C H A N IS M .
The entire system
for the production of human speech. It con
sists of three parts: the lungs and associated
muscles for maintaining a flow of air, the
larynx for converting the steady air flow into
a periodic m o d u la tio n , and the vocal cavities
o f the pharynx, mouth and nose, which vary
the h a rm o n ic content of the output of the
larynx.

V O IC E

V O I G T E F F E C T . W hen a strong m a g n e tic

fie ld is applied to a vapor through which light
is passing perpendicular to the field, d o u b le
r e fr a c tio n occurs. This phenomenon is asso
ciated with the Z e e m a n e ffe ct.
V O I G T N O T A T I O N . A notation used in the
theory of e la s tic it y , whereby the e la s tic co n
stan ts and e la s tic m o d u li are labeled accord

ing to a scheme in which the pairs of letters

xx, y y , zz, yz, zx, and x y are replaced by the

numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively.
Thus the elastic constants are the coefficients
Su, i 2, etc., in the following equations be
tween the stra in s exx, eyy, etc., and the stresses
X ^ , Y y, etc.
&xx =

S1 2 Y y +

Si%Zz +

S1 4 Y z

+ S15Z x + SiqX v;
eyy = 82\ X x +

$22 Yy "1 $23 Z z +

+ S25%x +
ezz = SsiXz + $32 ^ /
+ $35 Zx +
eyz = S4 lX e + S42 Y y
+

$4 b Z

$24 Y z

826% y ;
+ $33 Z z + S34 Y z

SseXy ;
+ $43^2 + $44 !%

S4$X y ;

zx 5 l X x 1 $52-^2/ H $ 5 3 Z z 1" S5

Y z

+ $55Zx + S^Xy]
exy = SQlXx +

Sq2 Y v +

$63^z +

$64 "Yz

+ $65Zx + SftfiXy.
The elastic moduli are the coefficients en , C12,
etc., in the inverse relations, i.e.,
X x = C\\exx -j- C\2^yy f C\^6 ZZ
C\^ezx -f- C\6Xy)

Ci6yZ

Yy =

C21&XX 4 " C22&yy " 1 C23@ZZ t " 2 4 ^ 2 / 2

Zz

c^\exx - J - c^2^yy ~i~ c^ezz

+
=

C25CZx +

C2Qex y ;
-f-

c^6yz

cssezx + c ^ e xy;
Yz =

c ie xx +
+

c^ yy +
c ^ e zx +

c ^ e zz +

c ^ e yz

cex y )

Zx = c&\exx + c52^yy + c ^ e zz + c*>eyz

+ 55^22 I ^56&xyj
X y

C Q ie x x

CQ2@ yy

c*>ezx +

c q s ^ zz

c ^ e yz

CQexy.

V O L A T IL E .
(1) H aving a low boiling or
subliming temperature at ordinary pressure;
in other words, having a high v a p o r p re s s u re ,
as ether, camphor, naphthalene, iodine, chlo
roform, benzene, or methyl chloride. (2) In
computer terminology, a term descriptive of
a storage medium in which information can
not be retained without continuous power dis
sipation. Storage devices or systems em ploy
ing non-volatile media m ay or m ay not retain
information in the event of planned or acci
dental power removal.
V O L A T IL IT Y P R O D U C T . The product of
the c o n c e n tra tio n s of two or more io ns or
m o le c u le s that react to produce a v o la tile
substance. The volatility product is analo
gous to the s o lu b ility p ro d u c t, except that,
when it is exceeded, the substance escapes
from the system by volatilization rather than
precipitation. As with the solubility product,

if any of the reacting ions or molecules have

a numerical coefficient greater than one, then
the concentration term of that ion or m ole
cule is raised to the corresponding power.
V O L T . A unit of electrical p o te n tia l d iffe r
e n ce , abbreviation V or v. (1) The absolute

volt is the steady potential difference which

must exist across a c o n d u c to r which carries
a steady c u rre n t of one absolute am p e re and
which dissipates thermal energy at the rate
of one w a tt. The absolute volt has been the
legal standard of potential difference since
1950.
(2) The International volt, the legal
standard prior to 1950, is the steady potential
difference which must be maintained across a
conductor which has a resistance of one Inter
national ohm and which carries a steady cur
rent of one International ampere.
1 Int. volt = 1.000330 Abs. volts.
V O LTA LA W .
e n ce .

See c o n ta c t p o te n tia l d iffe r

V O LTA G E.
E le c tr o m o t iv e fo rc e or differ
ence of p o te n tia l measured in volts.
V O L T A G E , A N O D E , B R E A K D O W N (O F
A G L O W - D IS C H A R G E C O L D - C A T H O D E
T U B E ) . The anode voltage required to cause
conduction across the m a in g a p , with the
s ta rte r gap not conducting, and with all other

tube elements held at cathode potential be

fore breakdown.
V O L T A G E B R E A K D O W N (O F A N E L E C
T R O D E O F A G A S T U B E ) . The voltage of
an electrode at which b re a k d o w n occurs to

that electrode. The breakdown voltage is a

function of the other electrode voltages or
currents and of the environment. In special
cases where the breakdown voltage of an
electrode is referred to an electrode other than
the cathode, this reference electrode should be
indicated. This term is to be preferred to
pickup voltage, firing voltage, starting
voltage, etc., which are frequently used for
specific types of gas tubes under specific con
ditions.
(See v o lta g e , c r it ic a l, g rid (m u lt i
e le ctro d e gas tu b e s ).)
V O L T A G E , B R E A K D O W N , T R A N S IS T O R .
See tra n s is to r p a ra m e te r B V Go> etc.

electrode voltages in establishing the spacec h a rg e -lim ite d current.

V O LTA G E,
C O R R E C T IO N ,
IN T E R N A L
( E L E C T R O N T U B E S ) . The voltage that is

added to the composite controlling voltage

and is the voltage equivalent of such effects
as those produced by initial electron velocity
and contact potential.
V O L T A G E C R IT IC A L A N O D E (M U L T I
E L E C T R O D E G AS T U B E S ).
Synonymous

with anode breakdown voltage gas tubes.

V O L T A G E , C R IT IC A L , G R ID
(M U L T I
E L E C T R O D E G A S T U B E S ) . The grid v olt

age at which anode breakdown occurs. The

critical grid voltage is a function of the other
electrode voltages or currents and of the en
vironment. (See v o lta g e , b re a k d o w n (o f an
e le c tro d e o f a gas tu b e ).)
V O LTA G E,

C R IT IC A L

M AG N ETRO N .

The highest theoretical value of steady anode

voltage, at a given steady m a g n e tic flu x d e n
s ity , at which electrons emitted from the
cathode at zero velocity would fail to reach
the anode. (See also c r it ic a l p o te n tia l.)
Of an electron tube,
that electrode voltage which reduces the value
of the dependent variable of an electron-tube
characteristic to a specified low value. A
specific cutoff characteristic should be identi
fied as follows: current versus grid cutoff volt
age, spot brightness versus grid cutoff volt
age, etc.

V O LTA G E, C U TO FF.

V O L T A G E , C U T O F F , T A R G E T (C A M E R A
T U B E S ) . The lowest target voltage at which

any detectable electrical signal corresponding

to a light image on the sensitive surface of the
tube can be obtained.
V O LTA G E,
D E C O M P O S IT IO N
(D IS
C H A R G E P O T E N T IA L ).
The minimum
e .m .f. required to cause steady electrolysis in

a solution. In normal solutions of sulfuric

acid and zinc sulfate it is 1.67 volts and 2.35
volts, respectively.
V O L T A G E D IV ID E R .

V O L T A G E , C O M P O S IT E C O N T R O L L IN G .
The voltage of the an o d e of an equivalent
d io d e , combining the effects of all individual

(See

v o lta g e , b re a k d o w n (o f an e le ctro d e o f a gas

tu b e ).)

V O LTA G E D O U BLER.
age d o u b le r.

See d iv id e r , v o lta g e .
See re c tifie r, v o lt

V O L T A G E D R O P , A N O D E (O F A G LO W D IS C H A R G E
C O LD -C A T H O D E
T U B E ),

The main gap voltage drop after conduction

is established in the m a in gap ,
V O L T A G E D R O P , IG N IT O R
(S W IT C H I N G T U B E S ) . The d-c voltage between the
cathode and the anode of the ig n ito r discharge

at a specified ignitor current.

V O LTA G E
DRO P,
STARTER
(G A S
T U B E S ) . The s ta rte r voltage during conduc

thus ceasing to act as a re c tifie r. In certain

circuits this type of conduction will result in
currents of destructive magnitude.
V O LTA G E
JU M P
(G L O W - D IS C H A R G E
T U B E S ) . An abrupt change or discontinuity
in tube v o lta g e drop during operation. This

m ay occur either during life under constant

operating conditions or as the current or tem
perature is varied over the operating range.

tion to the starter.

V O L T A G E , M A G N ETR O N C U T -O FF.
m ag n e tro n v o lta g e , c r it ic a l.

The anode v olt

age during the conducting period.

V O LTA G E,

V O LTA G E DRO P, TU BE.

V O L T A G E , E L E C T R O D E . The voltage be
tween an electrode and the ca th o d e or a speci

fied point of a filamentary cathode.

The
terms grid voltage, anode voltage, plate volt
ages, etc., are used to designate the voltage
between these specific electrodes and the cath
ode. Unless otherwise stated, electrode v olt
ages are understood to be measured at the
available terminals.
V O L T A G E , E X T IN C T IO N .
e x tin c tio n .

See p o te n tia l,

V O L T A G E F E E D B A C K R A T IO , T R A N S IS
T O R . See tra n s is to r p a ra m e te r hr.
V O L T A G E , F IL A M E N T .
The voltage be
tween the terminals of a fila m e n t.
V O L T A G E , F IR IN G .
See v o lta g e , b re a k
d o w n . The use of the term voltage firing is

See

N O IS E .
Spontaneous fluctua
tions in voltage in a physical system, such as
a s e m ic o n d u c to r filament.
V O LTA G E,

PEAK

FO RW A RD

AN O D E.

The maximum instantaneous anode voltage in

the direction in which the tube is designed to
pass current.
The
maximum instantaneous anode voltage in the
direction opposite to that in which the tube
is designed to pass current.

V O L T A G E , P E A K IN V E R S E A N O D E .

V O L T A G E , P IC K U P .
See v o lta g e , b re a k
d o w n . The use of the term pickup voltage

is deprecated.
Voltages (rel
ative to ground) on the two conductors of a
balanced line which, at every point along the
line, are equal in magnitude and have the same
polarity.
V O L T A G E (S ), P U S H -P U S H .

deprecated.
The peak inverse
voltage at which ionization occurs in a gasV O LTA G E, FLA SH BA C K.

tu b e .
V O L T A G E - G A IN
fic a tio n , v o lta g e .

E Q U A T IO N .

See a m p li

V O L T A G E , G A T E . The voltage across the

terminals of the gate w in d in g .
V O L T A G E , H E A T E R . The voltage between
the terminals of a h e a te r.
V O L T A G E , IN V E R S E P E A K .
The peak
voltage which may be safely impressed across
an electron tu b e in the inverse direction, i.e.,
with the an o d e negative and the cath o d e
positive. If this voltage rating of the tube is
exceeded there is danger of the tube conduct
ing in the inverse direction (see a rc b a c k ) and

V O L T A G E R E G U L A T IO N .
v o lta g e .

See re g u la tio n ,

V O LTA G E R EG U LA TO R TU BE.
re g u la to r.

See tu b e ,

V O L T A G E , R E IG N IT IO N .
In a gas-disch a rg e device, that voltage which, if applied
during the deionization tim e , is just sufficient

to reestablish conduction. It is an inverse

function of time, being essentially equal to
the normal discharge-drop when the discharge
has just been extinguished, and approaching
the peak forward voltage as the deionization
process is completed.
V O L T A G E , R I P P L E . The alternating com
ponent of the unidirectional voltage from a
re c tifie r or g e n e rato r used as a source o f direct-current power.

V O L T A G E , S A T U R A T IO N .
(1) The mini
mum value of applied potential required to
produce saturation current (see s a tu ra tio n
(1 )). (2) The highest voltage which may be
impressed on a gate w in d in g without causing
saturation for the condition of zero net d-c
magnetomotive force.
V O L T A G E S T A N D IN G W A V E R A T IO .
sta n d in g w a v e ra tio .

See

V O L T A G E , S T A R T IN G
(O F A N E L E C
T R O D E O F A G AS T U B E ).
See v o lta g e ,
b re a k d o w n .
The use of the term starting

voltage is deprecated.
V O L T A G E , S W E E P . The voltage producing
the horizontal deflection (sweep) in a cathoderay o s c illo g ra p h , usually a linear, sawtooth
voltage. Also, the horizontal and vertical
sweep voltages used to generate the sc a n
n in g ra s te r in a television receiver.
(See
o s c illa to r , s w e e p .)
V O L T A G E , S Y N C H R O N O U S (O F A T R A V
E L IN G - W A V E T U B E ) .
The voltage re

quired to accelerate electrons from rest to a

velocity equal to the phase velocity of a wave
in the absence of electron flow.
VO LTA G E, TA R G ET
(IN
A
CAM ERA
TU BE
W IT H
L O W - V E L O C IT Y
SCAN
N IN G ).
The p o te n tia l d iffe re n c e between
the thermionic c a th o d e and the b a c k p la te .
V O L T A G E , T H R E S H O L D , F O R G E IG E R
C O U N T I N G A C T I O N . The lowest voltage
at which all p u lse s produced in the c o u n te r
b y any io n iz in g e v e n t are of the same size,
regardless of the size of the p r im a ry io n iz in g
e v e n t.
V O L T A G E , T IM E - B A S E .
The sw ee p v o lt
age applied to a ca th o d e -ra y tu b e .
V O LTA G E
TRA N SFER
R A T IO ,
W A R D . See tra n s is to r p a ra m e te r

FO R
e tc .

V O L T A G E T R A N S F E R (F E E D B A C K ) R A
T IO , R E V E R S E , O P E N - C IR C U IT , T R A N
S I S T O R . See tra n s is to r p a ra m e te r(s ) hB; hr;

Hr5 |ifl.
V O L T A G E , Z E N E R . (1) The field required
to excite the Z e n e r c u rre n t, of the order of
1 volt per unit cell, or 107 volts/cm . (2) The
v o lta g e associated with that portion of the
reverse volt-am pere characteristic of a se m i

c o n d u c to r, wherein the voltage remains sub

stantially constant over an appreciable range
of current values. Since the effect is consid
ered by some to be analogous to b re a k d o w n
in a gas d is c h a rg e , it is sometimes referred to
as a T o w n s e n d d isc h a rg e or e le c tro n a v a
la n c h e .
V O L T A IC .
V O L T A IC
T R IC IT Y ,

Furnishing an e le c tric c u rre n t.

C U R R E N T (V O L T A IC E L E C
V O L T A IS M ).
Terms formerly

used to designate the electricity furnished by

the voltaic c e ll, before the identity of the
electricity from different sources was recog
nized.
V O LTA M ETER.

A c o u lo m e te r.

V O LT -A M P ER E.
The product of effective
voltage (see v o lta g e , e ffe c tiv e ) and effective
current (see c u rre n t, e ffe c tiv e ) in an a lte rn a t
in g c u rre n t load is its volt-am pere input. The
real component E l cos <f> is the real power
input, measured in watts.
(< is the p h ase
an g le between the voltage and the current.)
The reactive component E l sin <j> is the reac
tive power and is measured in vars (voltampere, reactive).
V O LT -A M P ER E,
a m p e re .

R E A C T IV E .

See

vo lt-

V O L T E R R A D IS L O C A T IO N .
A model of
a d is lo c a tio n obtained by taking a ring of

material, cutting it, displacing the cut sur

faces, and rejoining them.
V O L T E R R A E Q U A T IO N .
In te g r a l e q u a
tio n of the first or second kind similar to
F r e d h o lm s e q u a tio n , except that the upper

limit of integration is x, the independent vari

able. It m ay be hom ogeneous or inhom ogeneous. An example of the former type and
of the first kind is the A b e l e q u a tio n .
V O L T M E T E R ( S ) . The usual instruments of
this class differ from am m eters used on the
same type of service in only one essential
respect: they are of very high re sista n c e .
Therefore, when connected across the termi
nals between which the v o lta g e is to be meas
ured, they take very little c u rre n t and cause
but a very slight drop in the p o te n tia l d iffe r
en ce . The current through the voltmeter is
proportional to the voltage, and the scale may
therefore be graduated to read directly in
volts. Instruments are made which, with the

proper change in connections, serve either as

voltmeters or ammeters, the scale having two
graduations. For high voltages, the voltmeter
is placed in series with a large resistance,
called a multiplier, so that the potential d if
ference between its terminals is a known frac
tion of the voltage under test.
There are electrostatic voltm eters which
m ay be used to measure electrostatic poten
tials of thousands of volts. A common form
resembles a gold-leaf e le c tro m e te r of large
size, but with a brass pointer swinging on a
scale in place of the gold-leaf.
A meter whose
indication is proportional to the half-w ave
average value or to the full-wave average
absolute value of an alternating voltage. The
more generally used full-w ave voltmeter em
ploys some form of fu ll- w a v e r e c tifie r, as its
name implies, and does not have tu rn -o ve r
error as does the half-w ave circuit. The in
struments are frequently calibrated in terms
of the rms value of an assumed s in u s o id a l
voltage.
VO LTM ETER, AVERAG E.

A meter which
uses as an indicator the known relationship
between the magnitude o f voltage, electrode
spacing, and the start of a c o ro n a d is c h a rg e ,

V O LT M E T E R , CO RO NA.

V O L T M E T E R , E L E C T R O D Y N A M IC .
e le c tro d y n a m o m e te r.

V O L T M E T E R , IN V E R T E D .
step -do w n.

See a m p lifie r,

An inexpen
sive, rugged, insensitive type of instrument
much used at power frequencies. A soft-iron
vane is deflected by the m a g n e tic fie ld of a
coil across which the unknown voltage is
impressed. The meter has an approximately
s q u a re -la w response.
V O L T M E T E R , IR O N - V A N E .

P EA K -TO -P EA K .
Essen
tially two peak-reading voltmeters used to
gether in order to produce a reading propor
tional to the voltage difference separating the
positive and negative peak o f an electric wave.
(See v o ltm e te r, e le c tro n ic , p e a k -re a d in g .)
V O LTM ETER,

A d-c meter
movement, combined with a small b rid g e
r e c tifie r to make it respond to a-c.
V O L T M E T E R , R E C T IF IE R .

A v o ltm e te r
(usually electronic) in which the unknown
voltage is compared to a calibrated, adjust
able voltage-source, the calibrated adjustable
source being adjusted until equal to the un
known.
V O L T M E T E R , S L ID E - B A C K .

See

V O LTM ETER,
E L E C T R O N IC ,
PEAKR E A D I N G . Essentially some form of half
wave r e c tifie r circuit which charges a c a p a c i
to r to either the positive or negative peak of
an electrical wave. Usually a d-c vacuum -

tube voltmeter is used to measure the average

value of the capacitor voltage. The meter
is subject to turn-over error in that it will
give different readings, depending upon the
actual connection employed, when measuring
nonsinusoidal waves with different positive
and negative peaks. The voltmeters are fre
quently calibrated in terms of the rm s value
of an assumed s in u s o id a l voltage.
An in
dicating instrument in which the deflecting
torque results from the electrostatic attraction
or repulsion between charged conductors.
Low -voltage, portable instruments are gener
ally of the attraction type and employ inter
leaved type c a p a c ito r plates, one set of which

V O L T M E T E R , E L E C T R O S T A T IC .

is pivoted and coupled to a suitable pointer

mechanism.

V O L T M E T E R , T H E R M O C O U P L E . A com
bination of a sensitive, low-resistance g a lv a n
o m ete r, a th e rm o c o u p le element, and a heat
ing wire across which the voltage is impressed.
(See th e rm o co u p le v a c u u m (1 ).)
V A C U U M -T U B E.
C om
monly a very high input impedance v o lt
m e te r, utilizing the power g a in of a vacuum
tu b e for operating a suitable meter m ove
ment without loading the source of the v olt
age to be measured.
V O LTM ETER,

V O L T M E T E R , V A C U U M T U B E , R E S IS T
A N C E M E A S U R E M E N T S W I T H . Since a
vacuum-tube v o ltm e te r can have a very high
input im p e d a n c e , it provides a simple means
of measuring re s is ta n c e by comparison with

a fixed resistance. The unknown resistance

is connected in series with a fixed resistance
and a fixed v o lta g e . The voltage appearing
across the unknown is a simple function of the
unknown resistance, and the voltmeter scale
can be made direct reading in ohm s.

AREA.
T hat area under
the curve of supply voltage vs. time which
corresponds to the flu x change in the co re of
a s a tu ra b le re a c to r.
V O LT -S EC O N D

(1) The space occupied by any

body. It is definite for any specific tempera
ture and pressure. The metric units of v o l
ume are the cubic centimeter and the liter.
The volume of one g ra m m o le c u le of a gas
at standard temperature and pressure is about
22.4 liters.
(2)
The v o lu m e of a p a ra lle le p ip e d is often
represented as a scalar tr ip le p ro d u c t of three
vectors, the edges of the solid. In c a lc u lu s ,
the volume of a solid may be found by means
of d e fin ite in te g ra ls , as follows: (a) I f a plane
perpendicular to the X -a xis at a distance x
from the origin cuts, from a given solid, a sec
tion whose area is A ( x ) , then the volume of
that part of the solid between x = a and x = b
is given by the definite integral
V O LU M E.

V O LU M E A D V A N TA G E FA C TO R .
a c to r theory, the ratio

In re

0aO
(^acOeff
where <ra0 is the absorption cro ss se ctio n of
the fuel for neutrons at a given energy, and
(oao)eff is a function of the a b so rp tio n cross
se ctio n and the s c a tte rin g cross se ctio n .
V O LU M E CO M PRESSO R.
v o lu m e .
V O LU M E C O N TRO L.
g a in .

See co m p re sso r,

See c o n tro l, m a ste r

The volume occu

pied by one gram of a liquid or gaseous sub
stance at its c r it ic a l te m p e ra tu re and c r it ic a l
V O L U M E , C R IT IC A L .

p re ssu re .

V O L U M E I N D I C A T O R . A standardized in
strument having specified electrical and d y
namic characteristics and read in a prescribed
manner, for indicating the v o lu m e (3 ) of a
V = f A (x)d x.
complex electric wave such as that correspond
Jn
ing to speech or music. The reading in v o l
u m e u n its is equal to the number of d e c ib e ls
(b)
Suppose the solid is that part of a right
above a reference level. The s e n s itiv ity is ad
circular cylinder included between the X O Y justed so that the reference level, or zero
plane and the surface z f (x,y), then its
volume units, is indicated when the instrument
volume is given b y the definite d o u b le in t e g r a l
is connected across a 600-ohm resistor in which
there is dissipated a power of 1 milliwatt at
I f(x,y)d xd y
1,000 cycles per second.
at %

where the base of the cylinder is bounded b y

the curves x
x = a2, y = &i, y b2.
(c) If the solid is divided into volume ele
ments, dr = dxdydz which are right prisms
with base dxdy and altitude dz, the volume
of the solid is given b y the t r i p le definite
in t e g r a l

pX2V2Z2
V = I
dxdydz
Jxiyizi

V O L U M E , M O L E C U L A R (G R A M - M O L E C U L A R V O L U M E ) . The volume occupied by

a g ra m m o le c u le of any substance. It is
equal to the product of the s p e c ific v o lu m e
by the m o le c u la r w e ig h t.
VO LU M E, R ED U C ED .
tio n o f sta te .

See re d u c e d e q u a

That magnitude
o f a complex electric wave, such as that cor
responding to speech or music, which gives a
reading of zero v o lu m e u n its on a standard

V O LU M E, R E F E R E N C E .

where the limits are determined b y the bound

ary of the given solid. V e c to r methods are
v o lu m e in d ic a to r.
often useful (see in te g ra l, v o lu m e ).
V O LU M E, STAN D ARD .
The volume oc
(3)
The magnitude, as measured on a
cupied by one g ra m m o le c u la r w e ig h t o f a
standard v o lu m e in d ic a to r, of a complex
gas at 0C and a pressure of 1 standard at
voice-frequency wave in an electric circuit.
mosphere.
(See atm o sp h ere , s ta n d a rd (1 ).)
The volume is expressed in v o lu m e u n its . In
addition, the term volum e is used loosely to
V O LU M ETER M ETH O D FO R GAS D EN
signify either the in te n s ity of a sound or the
S I T Y . The gas is contained in a large globe
of known volume, and its pressure measured
magnitude of an electrical wave.

at a known temperature. The gas is then

transferred to a small bulb (e.g., by absorp
tion on charcoal in the bulb at a low tem
perature), and the weight of gas found as
the difference between two com paratively
small quantities, thus avoiding the difficulty
of weighing the large globe. An alternative
method is to transfer the gas from the small
bulb to the large bulb.
V O L U M E U N I T ( V U ) . A quantitative ex
pression for v o lu m e in an electric circuit. The

volume in vu is numerically equal to the

number of d e c ib e ls which expresses the ratio
of the magnitude of the waves to the magni
tude of reference volume. The term vu should
not be used to express results of measurements
of complex waves made with devices having
characteristics differing from those of the
standard v o lu m e in d ic a to r.
The rate of flow of
the medium through a specified area due to
a sound wave. The terms instantaneous vol
ume v elocity, effective volume velocity, maxi
mum volume velocity, and peak volume veloc
ity have meanings which correspond with
those of the related terms used for so u n d

V O L U M E V E L O C IT Y .

p re ssu re .
VON
N E U M A N N - W IG N E R
n o n -cro ssing r u le .

R U LE.

V O R T E X M O T I O N . The motion of a fluid

with non-zero v o r tic ity . W e may distinguish:

(1) M otion in which the vorticity is confined

to small regions of space, i.e., a e ro fo il and
b o u n d a ry la y e r th e o ry , motion of isolated vor
tices. (2) M otion in which the vorticity is
everywhere nearly the same, i.e., small per
turbations of a uniformly rotating field. (3)
Viscous motion.
(4) Random ly distributed
vorticity, i.e., turbulent motion.
V O R T E X M O T I O N , L A W S O F . In an in
v is c id , incompressible fluid, v o r tic ity is con
vected by the fluid and the K e lv in c irc u la tio n
th e o re m shows that the strength of vortex

tubes remains constant. So fluid with vor

ticity remains distinct from fluid with no vor
ticity, however the flow develops. I f the fluid
is viscous, the Lagrangian rate of change of
vorticity is given by

See

An expres
sion for the rate of formation o f particles of
c o llo id a l size from smaller particles such as
ions and molecules. It has the form :

V O N W E IM A R N

(1 ) A line everywhere par

allel to the local direction of the v o r tic ity . In
an incompressible, in v is c id fluid, vortex lines
are convected by the fluid. (2) A line of con
centrated v o r tic ity such as are found trailing
from the free end of an a e ro fo il. Since vor
ticity is a solenoidal v e c to r, the direction of
the vorticity is parallel to the line.
V O R T E X L IN E .

E Q U A T IO N .

K< - *
in which Vi is the initial rate of condensation
or coalescence, k is a constant, P i is the
condensation pressure, and P 2 is the condensa
tion resistance.
V O R ( V H F O M N I R A N G E ) . A specific type
of range operating at v h f and providing radial

lines of position in any direction as deter

mined by bearing selection within the receiv
ing equipment. This facility emits a nondirectional reference modulation and a rotat
ing pattern which develops a variable m od
ulation of the same frequency as the reference
modulation. Lines of position are determined
by comparison of phase of the variable with
that of the reference.

do)i

dui

d2cOi

dt

dXj

dxj

= cOj ------ b v -
where
Ui are the components of vorticity
and flow velocity parallel to 0 xif and v is the
kinematic v is c o s ity . From this it follows that
if a flow starts from rest, v o r tic ity can only be
produced by diffusion from the flow bound
aries where vortex sheets are found.
VO RTEX

R IN G

(O R C O L L A R

V O R T E X ).

The motion associated with a closed circular

vortex line of concentrated v o r tic ity . Ring
vortices form whenever fluid is given a local
impulsive movement, e.g., smoke rings or
ground explosions.
S T A T IO N A R Y .
A vortical m o
tion steady in space and time. Standard ex
amples are the two stationary eddies found
behind a cylinder placed in a stream of vis
cous fluid. Another is the bound vortex trail
ing from the wing-tip of an aircraft.
VO RTEX,

V O R T I C I T Y . The v e c to r obtained by taking

the c u r l of the flow v e lo c ity . It is also the

VPM -

1232

vu

antisymmetric part of the velocity gradient

t e n s o r dui/dxj (ui is the component of the
velocity parallel to Oo^-).
It measures the
rate of rotation of the fluid, e.g., in a uni
form ly rotating fluid the vorticity is twice the
a n g u la r v e lo c it y .
VPM .

Abbreviation for volts-p er-m eter.

V R . Abbreviation for v o lta g e re g u la to r and

v o lta g e re fe re n c e .
VSB.

Abbreviation for vestigial sid e b a n d .

VSW R.
Abbreviation
w a v e ra tio .

for voltage sta n d in g

The voltage standing

wave ratio or ratio of incident wave voltage
to reflected wave voltage, presented by an am
plifier tube with no voltages applied.
VSW R, C O LD T U B E .

VSW R,
H IG H
LEV EL
(S W IT C H IN G
T U B E S ) . The v s w r due to a fired tube in

its mount located between a generator and

matched termination in the w a v e g u id e .
VT.

Abbreviation for v a c u u m tu b e .

VTVM .
m e te r.
VU,

Abbreviation for vacuum-tube v o lt

See v o lu m e u n it.

w
W . (1) W o r k (w or W ). (2) N e t w o r k fu n c
tio n , electronic ( w ) , gross work function, elec
tronic ( wg).
(3) W ater v a p o r content (w).
(4) W a t t (w).
(5) R a d ia n t flu x d e n s ity , or
irradiance ( W ).
(6) T u n g s te n (wolfram )

( W) .
(7) Transverse acoustical displace
ment ( w).
(8) In spectroscopy, wide ( w),
very wide ( W ).
M O U N T IN G .
A device
which operates as a constant-deviation prism.
(See p ris m , c o n sta n t-d e v ia tio n .) The W ads
worth mounting is composed of a prism and
W AD SW O RTH

supplant the Bureau of Standards c a n d le .

Defined as the luminous intensity o f 1 cm2
of a b la c k b o d y at the melting point of
platinum.
The region behind a body moving
through a fluid within which most of the
effects of the body on the motion of the fluid
are concentrated.

W A KE.

W A L D E N R U L E (W A L D E N E M P IR IC A L
E Q U A T IO N ).
A relationship between the
equivalent co n d u c ta n c e at infinite dilution of
a given e le c tro ly te , A0, and the v is c o s ity of

the solvent,

tj0j

A qtjq = constant.
This rule has many limitations, and is most
closely obeyed by ions of the type N R 4 + ,
where R is a relatively large radical.
EN ERG Y.
The e n e rg y (per unit
area) of the boundary between oppositely
oriented ferromagnetic d o m ain s (3 ).

W A LL

W A LLM A N
c asco d e .

A M P L IF IE R .

W A N D ER.

See s c in tilla tio n .

See

a m p lifie r,

W A N N I E R F U N C T I O N . The F o u r ie r tra n s
fo rm of the momentum e ig e n fu n c tio n for a

crystal, i.e.
a plane mirror. This is a common mounting
for infrared sp e c tro m e te rs, in which an in
frared detector is placed outside of an exit slit.
(See also L it t r o w m o u n tin g , in which the ra
diation, after reflection by the plane mirror,
again passes through the prism.)

where ? r(k ) is the momentum eigenfunction,

k is the w a v e v e c to r, and A is a n o rm a liz a tio n
factor.

W A G N E R G R O U N D . An addition to a lte r
n a tin g c u rre n t bridges (such as the W ie n
b rid g e ) that is necessary to reduce errors when
high im p e d a n ce s are involved. It consists

W ater of ex
ceptional purity, prepared by repeated dis
tillation, and used in electrical c o n d u c tiv ity
measurements of aqueous so lu tio n s.

essentially of two additional bridge arms

which effectively balance the original b rid g e
with respect to ground.

W (r) = A ^ 7r(k)e*k 'rdk,

W A T E R , C O N D U C T IV IT Y .

CO N STAN TS O F,
Temperature
of maximum d e n s ity , 4 C ; v is c o s ity (2 0 C ),
1.008 centipoise; thermal c o n d u c tiv ity , 6.30 X
10_3 watt cm -1 C _ 1 ; electrical conductiv
W A ID N E R - B U R G E S S
STAN D ARD .
A
ity, 0.04 X 10 6 ohm -1 cm 1; d ie le c tric constandard of lu m in o u s in te n s ity designed to
1253
W A TER,

sta n t, 81.1; io n iz a tio n c o n sta n t, 1.2 X 10- 4 ;

hydrogen io n concentration, 1 X 10 ~ 7.
SPO U T.
Funnel-shaped tornado
cloud at sea or over water of lakes or rivers.
It is the equivalent of a to rn a d o but does not
usually reach the same violence.
W ATER

W A T T . A unit of p o w e r, abbreviation W or
w. The rate of e n e rg y consumption or con
version when one jo u le of energy is consumed
or converted per second.
W A TTH O U RM ETER.
An in te g ra tin g m e
te r for measuring an d /or recording the elec

tric energy used during a period; in other

words, the product of power and time.
W A TTH O U RM ETER,
CO M M U TATO RT Y P E . Essentially an electrodynamic w att
meter (see w a ttm e te r, e le c tro d y n a m ic ) incor

porating a commutator, so that it becomes

a m otor whose to rq u e is proportional to load
p o w e r. B y adding an eddy-current brake, its
speed becomes proportional to power; hence
a revolution counter indicates energy, usually
in watthours.
W A T T H O U R M E T E R , IN D U C T IO N .
An
a-c w a tth o u rm e te r comprising a precision in

duction m otor with magnetic braking.

M ERCU RY.
A d-c
motor type of meter (cf. w a tth o u rm e te r, comm u ta to r-typ e ) in which commutator friction
W A TTH O U RM ETER,

is almost eliminated by using a copper-disc

rotor (Barlow wheel) connected via a mercury
pool.
W A TTH O U RM ETER,
PO LYPH A SE.
A
pair of single-phase w a tth o u rm e te r elements
connected to a single shaft. (Cf. w a ttm e te r,
p o ly p h a s e .)
W A T T M E T E R ( S ). A meter for measuring
p o w e r, which usually has two c o ils , one fixed,

the other capable of turning in the field of the

first, both coils being without iron cores. The
fixed coil is connected in series with the main
circuit, so as to carry the whole current (or
a known fraction of it, as determined by a
sh u n t in d-c circuits or by a current tra n s
fo rm e r in a-c circuits).
The movable coil,
which is of high resistance, is connected across
the terminals of the load, that is, that por
tion of the circuit in which the power is to be
measured, and the small current in the coil
is therefore proportional to the voltage be

tween these terminals. This coil turns against

a hairspring, and since the to rq u e is propor
tional to the product of the instantaneous
values of the currents in the two coils, it is
proportional to the product of the main c u r
re n t by the terminal v o lta g e , that is, to the
required power. The scale may therefore be
graduated directly in w a tts .
A S T A T IC .
An electrody
namic wattmeter (see w a ttm e te r, e le c tro d y
n a m ic ) designed to be insensitive to uniform
external m a g n e tic fie ld s.
W A TTM ETER,

W A T T M E T E R , C O M P E N S A T E D . An elec
trodynamic wattmeter (see w a ttm e te r, e le c
tro d y n a m ic ) with an added reversed current
coil arranged to compensate for the c u rre n t
drawn by the vo lta g e coil. This arrangement
is needed when the load has a small p o w e r
fa c to r.
W A TTM ETER,

C O M P O S IT E - C O IL .

An

electrodynamic

wattmeter (see w a ttm e te r,

e le c tro d y n a m ic ) in which the to rq ue pro
duced by the a lte rn a tin g c u rre n t being meas
ured is balanced by an adjustable d ire c t c u r
re n t applied to an auxiliary coil.
W A T T M E T E R , E L E C T R O D Y N A M IC .
An
e le c tro d y n a m o m e te r having its fixed coil (c u r
re n t coil) in series with the load, and its m ov
able (v o lta g e ) coil connected across the load.

The resulting deflection is proportional to the

average p o w e r.
W A T T M E T E R , E L E C T R O N IC .
A w a tt
m e te r comprising matched, sq u a re -la w elec
tronic v o ltm e te rs. One v o lta g e is that ap

pearing across the load, the other is obtained

from an IR drop in the line. B y proper cir
cuit arrangement, the combination can be
made to yield the product of the two applied
voltages, hence the p o w e r.
W ATTM ETER,
E L E C T R O S T A T IC .
A
quadrant e le c tro m e te r can be used as a w a tt
m e te r. A re sisto r carrying the load c u rre n t
provides a p o te n tia l d iffe re n c e for the quad
rant pairs. The load v o lta g e is applied to

the needle.
W A T T M E T E R , P O L Y P H A S E . Three-phase
p o w e r can be measured using two single-phase
w a ttm e te rs , and adding readings. B y using

a single shaft for the two movements, the

separate to rq u e s can be added mechanically,

yielding a three-phase wattmeter.
TH ER M O C O U PLE.
A
matched-pair,
double-thermocouple
w a tt
m e te r, one junction heated by the load v o lt
ag e, the other by the load c u rre n t.

A M P L IT U D E .
The magnitude of
the maximum change from e q u ilib riu m of the
disturbance characterizing the w a v e .
W AVE

W A TTM ETER,

W A T T M E T E R , T O R S I O N - H E A D . An elec
trodynamic wattmeter (see w a ttm e te r, e le c
tro d y n a m ic ) in which the deflection is reduced

to zero by counter-rotation of the torsion head

holding the to rq u e spring. Such hand bal
ancing of the torque makes the instrument
slow in use, but considerably more precise
than the deflection type of instrument.
A disturbance which is propagated
in a medium in such a manner that at any
point in the medium the displacement is a
function of the time, while at any instant the
displacement at a point is a function of the
position of the point. A ny physical quantity
which has the same relationship to some in
dependent variable (usually time) that a
propagated disturbance has, at a particular
instant, with respect to space, may be called
a wave. In this definition, displacement is
used as a general term, indicating not only
mechanical displacement, but also electric dis
placement, etc. In short, a wave is a timevarying quantity which is also a function of
position; for example, any tim e-varying volt
age or current in a n e tw o rk is often called a
wave.
Other examples of waves are: (1)
wave on the surface of a liquid, in which the
disturbance is the displacement of any par
ticle in the surface from its equilibrium posi
tion; (2) acoustic wave, in which the disturb
ance is the change in pressure from its equi
librium value at any point in a material me
dium (fluid or s o lid ); (3) e le c tro m a g n e tic
w a v e , in which the disturbance is the change
in the e le c tr ic and m a g n e tic fie ld intensities
from their equilibrium values in space. The
first two types are known as mechanical
waves, since the propagated disturbance in
volves motion of a medium.

W AVE.

W A V E A C O U S T I C S . The analysis of acous

tical problems under the assumption that
sound travels in waves through a three-di
mensional, bounded space.
W A VE, A LFV EN .

See A lfv e n w a v e .

W AVE, BACK.

See w a v e , sp a c in g .

(1 ) A w a v e propa
gating in a negative direction, as in the re
flected wave in a mismatched transmission
lin e .
(2) In a traveling-wave tu b e , a wave
whose group velocity is opposite to the direc
tion of electron stream motion.

W AVE, BACKW ARD.

W A V E , C A R R IE R .
tio n .

See ra d io c o m m u n ic a

C IR C U IT S , S LO W .
A m ic ro w a v e
circuit designed to have a p h ase v e lo c ity con
siderably below the sp eed o f lig h t. The gen
eral application of such waves is in travelingwave tubes.
(See tu b e s, tra v e lin g -w a v e c ir
W AVE

c u its fo r.)
W A V E , C I R C U L A R E L E C T R I C . A trans
verse electric wave (see w a v e , tra n sv e rse e le c
t r ic ) for which the lines of electric force form

concentric circles.
C IR C U L A R L Y P O L A R IZ E D .
An
electromagnetic wave for which the electric
a n d /or the magnetic fie ld v e c to r at a point
describes a circle. This term is usually ap
plied to transverse waves.
(See also sound

W AVE,

w a v e , c ir c u la r ly p o la riz e d .)
W A V E , C I R C U L A R M A G N E T I C . A trans
verse magnetic wave (see w a v e , tra n sv e rse
m a g n e tic ) for which the lines of magnetic

force form concentric circles.

W A V E , C I R C U L A T I N G . A w a v e of which
the e q u ip h a se s u rfa ce s are half-planes issu

ing from an axis, called the axis of circula

tion. Such waves are possible only in nondissipative media.
A w a v e in an
elastic medium which causes an element of
the medium to change its volume without
undergoing rotation.
(1) M athem atically, a
wave whose in te n s ity fie ld has zero c u r l. (2)
A compressional plane wave is a longitudinal
wave. (See w a v e , lo n g itu d in a l.)

W A V E , C O M P R E S S IO N A L .

W A VE,

C O N T IN U O U S ,

IN T E R R U P T E D .

A wave which is the result of chopping up or

interrupting a normal continuous wave radio
signal at an audio rate. This interruption is
distinct from the normal k e y in g and is at a

rate high enough to give several interruptions

even for a dot of the International code. The
result is an audio output from the re c e iv e r
without the use of some method of h e te ro
d y n e action. The interruption of the wave,
however, causes the radiation of many more
s id e b a n d frequencies and hence the need of a
wider c h a n n e l. For this reason such trans
missions are not widely used.
W A V E ( S ) , C O N T IN U O U S O R C W .

W aves,

the successive oscillations of which are iden

tical under stead y-state conditions.
W A V E , C O N V E R G I N G . A spherical wave
(see w a v e , s p h e ric a l) which is traveling in

the direction of decreasing radius.

W AVE CO N VERTER.
m e n t (1 ).

See tra n s itio n e le

energy had been dissipated.

Since these
waves are not as effective for radio transmis
sion as the continuous waves, and since they
give rise to interference by virtue of their
broad frequency band, they are no longer used
for this purpose.
W A VE,
D E C IM E T R IC .
W aves
h a v in g
w a v e le n g th s between 1 and 0.1 meter.

I f a w a v e fro n t is
limited by an obstruction, H u y g e n s p rin c ip le
indicates that each point on the unobstructed
portion of the wave front will act as a source
for small Huygens wavelets some of which
will spread into the region which would be in
the geometrical shadow according to r a y trac
ing. These waves are diffracted waves, and
the in te rfe re n c e of these waves among them
selves produces the diffraction pattern.

W A V E , D IF F R A C T E D .

W AVE CREST.

The position of maximum

positive disturbance in a progressive wave.
(See w a v e , p ro g re s s iv e ; w a v e tro u g h .)

W A V E , D IR E C T .

W A V E C YC LO N ES.
C y c lo n e s which de
velop in the temperate zone are waves on
frontal surfaces, in contrast with tropical
cyclones in which fronts are not prominent
features. Cyclones develop more frequently
along a polar front than any other place, but
they also appear on the inter-tropical front
and on other minor fronts. It is on the polar
front, however, that wave cyclones develop
into m ajor storms and climax their life as
large-scale v o rtic e s .

W A V E D IS P L A C E M E N T .

W A V E , C Y L IN D R IC A L .
A w a v e whose
e q u ip h a se s u rfa c e s form a fam ily of coaxial

The w a v e which travels

from the transmission so u rce to the point of
reception without re fle c tio n or re fra c tio n .

W A V E D IS T U R B A N C E .

See w a v e .
See w a v e .

W A V E , D I V E R G I N G . A spherical wave (see

w a v e , s p h e ric a l) which is traveling in the

direction of increasing radius.

The guided wave hav
ing the lowest cut-off frequency. It is the
only wave which will carry energy when the
e x c ita tio n fre q u e n c y is between the lowest
cut-off frequency and the next higher cut-off
frequency of a w a v e g u id e .
W A V E , D O M IN A N T .

or confocal cylinders.

W AVE DUCT.

W A V E (S ), D A M P E D .
A term ordinarily
used to designate electric waves which de
crease in a m p litu d e with time. In an oscil
latory circuit which contains resistance (and
all practical ones will) the o s c illa tio n s will be
dissipated in resistance losses, and the am
plitude of the oscillations will gradually de
crease unless e n e rg y is continually added to
the circuit. When energy is added to over
come this dissipation and maintain the am
plitude constant, continuous waves result. A
co n d e n se r discharging through an in d u c ta n c e
will give rise to damped waves, and this was
the basis of the old spark radio transmitters
where the s p a rk g ap initiated the discharge
and the oscillations continued until all the

W A V E , E L A S T I C . A w a v e in which the dis

turbance is a change in some property of an
elastic material medium (e.g., pressure, den
sity) . This is a mechanical wave.

A w a v e g u id e .

W A V E , E L E C T R IC .
a n d e le c tric w a v e s .

See e le c tric o sc illa tio n s

E L E C T R O M A G N E T IC .
A wave
characterized by variations of e le c tric and
m a g n e tic fie ld s . Electromagnetic waves are
known as radio waves, heat waves, light
waves, etc., depending on the fre q u e n c y .
W A VE,

W A V E (S ), E L E C T R O M A G N E T IC P L A N E ,
B A S IC T Y P E S .
The three basic types of

electromagnetic plane wave are:

(1) Trans

verse electrom agnetic (T E M ) Both the E

and H components of the field lie in the plane
that is transverse to the direction of propa
gation.
(2) Transverse electric ( T E ) The
E field lies wholly in the plane that is trans
verse to the direction of propagation, whereas
the H field does not. (3) Transverse mag
netic ( T M ) The H field lies wholly in the
plane that is transverse to the direction of
propagation, whereas the E field does not.
W A V E , E L L I P T I C A L L Y - P O L A R I Z E D . An
electromagnetic wave (see w a v e , e le c tro m a g
n e tic ) for which the e le c tr ic a n d /or the m a g
n e tic fie ld v e c to r at a point describes an
ellipse.
(See also so u n d w a v e , e llip t ic a lly
p o la r iz e d ; lig h t, e llip tic a lly - p o la r iz e d .)

The total en
ergy (kinetic plus potential in the case of a
mechanical wave) per unit volume in the
medium traversed b y the wave. The average
energy density multiplied by the wave veloc
ity (for a harmonic progressive wave) is the
intensity of the wave. (See w a v e in te n s ity .)

W A V E , E N E R G Y D E N S IT Y .

W A V E E Q U A T I O N . (1) The partial d iffe r

e n tia l e q u a tio n of wave motion. I f denotes

the quantity characterizing the propagated

disturbance, the equation in rectangular co
ordinates has the form :
d2%

d2

dx2

dy2

dz*

V 2 dt2

where V is the speed of the wave. Actually

the above is the wave equation for waves that
suffer no dissipative attenuation. M ore gen
erally this wave equation is written in the form :
*72,
1 ^
V = --------5
V 2 dt2
where V2 is the L a p la c ia n o p e ra to r, which
m ay be expressed in a variety of c o o rd in a te
syste m s.
(2) F or the q u a n tu m m e c h a n ic a l
wave equation, see S c h r d in g e r e q u a tio n .
E Q U A T IO N , F O R M S O F .
(1 ) A
form of the general wave equation, useful for
solving problems in acoustics, is the follow
ing:
3 0\
d220r
./ 3 0,
_3 0

W AVE

df?

+ ?
dy2 +
~ e (\dx*
i? +
+ O " '

where 0 is the v e lo c it y p o t e n t ia l and c is the

speed of sound propagation.

(2)
For problems in light, the general wave
equation may be written as
n 2 d2q
V2q =
7 a*2
where n is the r e f r a c t iv e in d e x , c is the phase
v e lo c it y and q is the displacement.
For a plane wave m oving in the ^-direction
without attenuation:
q = a sin 2 ir

(H ->

where q is the displacement, a the a m p l i t u d e ,

T the p e r io d , A the w a v e le n g t h , t the time
variable, x the space variable, and 5 the epoch
angle.
W A V E F IL T E R .

See filte r , w a v e .

W A V E , F L E X U R A L . A w a v e in an elastic
medium which causes an element of the me
dium to change its volume and simultaneously
to undergo rotation.
,

In a specific usage in com

munications, a c u rre n t or v o lta g e considered
as a function of time in a rectangular coordi
nate system.

W A VEFO RM .

W A V E , F O R W A R D (IN A T R A V E L IN G W A V E T U B E ) . A w a v e whose g ro u p v e lo c ity

is in the same direction as the electron stream

motion.
W AVE,
FREE
P R O G R E S S IV E
(F R E E
W A V E ).
A wave in a medium free from
b o u n d a ry effe cts. A free wave in a steady

state can only be approximated in practice.

W A V E F R O N T . A surface at all of whose
points the p h ase of the wave has the same

value at a given instant. W ave propagation

can be thought of as the motion of a wave
front through a medium.
FRO N T, PLA N E.
I f the loci of
points of constant p h ase o f a beam of radia
tion are parallel planes, the wave fronts are
called plane and the radiation is spoken of
as parallel.

W AVE

As radiation
from a point source passes through a uniform
medium, the loci of points with the same p h ase
will be a series of concentric spheres. The
radiation travels in a direction normal to these
spheres or w a v e fro n ts .
W A V E F R O N T , S P H E R IC A L .

W A V E F U N C T I O N . The solution of a d if
ferential or partial d iffe re n tia l e q u a tio n for

surface before reaching the point of recep

tion.

wave propagation through a medium.

W A V E F U N C T IO N , A D J O IN T .
w a v e fu n c tio n .
W AVE
o rb ita l.

F U N C T IO N

OF

See a d jo in t

BO N D.

See

F U N C T IO N , S C H R D IN G E R .
A
function
of the coordinates and the time
that determines the state o f a system and
satisfies the S c h r d in g e r e q u a tio n :

W A V E (S ), G R O U P V E L O C IT Y O F .
The
velocity with which the envelope of a group
of w a v e s of neighboring frequencies travels in
a medium in which the phase v e lo c ity is a
function of frequency. It is

W AVE

H\p = iMyp/dt
where H is the H a m i l t o n i a n operator and
i = V -i.
(See r e p r e s e n t a t io n t h e o r y ,
q u a n t u m m e c h a n i c a l .)

(1) Surface waves whose

motion is controlled by gravity and not by
s u rfa c e te n sio n . In a liquid of depth h and
density p, the w ave-velocity of gravity waves
of wavelength A is
W A V E , G R A V IT Y .

c =

r g\

2 tA -1 *

L27T

AJ

ta n h -----

(2) The w a v e disturbance produced in the

g r a v ita tio n a l force fie ld due to time varying
distributions of matter.

and is usually identical with the velocity of

energy propagation ( c is wave velocity at
wavelength A).
A system of material bound
aries capable of guiding w a v e s .

W A V E G U ID E .

W A V E G U ID E A T T E N U A T O R .
A w ave
g u id e device for the purpose of producing at

tenuation by any means, including absorption

and reflection.
W A V E G U ID E A T T E N U A T O R , F L A P O R
F I N . A w a v e g u id e a tte n u a to r in which a fin

or flap of conducting material is moved into

the guide in such a manner as to cause power
absorption.
W A V E G U ID E
V E R S E F IL M .

ATTEN U ATO R,

TRAN S

An attenuator consisting of
a conducting film placed transverse to the axis
of a w a v e g u id e .

W A V E , G R O U N D . (1 ) In general, a surface
wave (see w a v e , s u r fa c e ).
(2) The energy
which reaches the radio receiving a n te n n a
from the tra n s m itte r by travel along the sur
face of the earth rather than by reflection
from the io n o sp h e re . The ground wave is un
affected by seasonal or diurnal variations and
is consequently very reliable for communica
tion. H owever, it is attenuated by absorp
tion of the earth and gradually becomes too
weak to furnish a reliable signal. This at
tenuation depends in a complicated way upon
the fre q u e n c y , the soil c o n d u c tiv ity and d i
e le c tr ic c o n sta n t, but increases markedly with
frequency. Thus, while it is suitable for com
munication over several thousand miles at the
lower radio frequencies, over a hundred or two
in the broadcast band, it becomes almost use
less at the high frequencies. See fa d in g for
its effect on the total received signal.

W A V E G U I D E B E N D , H - P L A N E . For a rec
tangular uniconductor w a v e g u id e operating in
the dominant mode, a bend in which the longi
tudinal axis of the guide remains in a plane
parallel to the plane of the m a g n e tic fie ld
v e c to r throughout the bend.

A w ave
reflected one or more times from the earths

W A V E G U ID E B R ID G E
S E C T IO N .
See
w a v e g u id e ju n c tio n , h y b r id ; w a v e g u id e ju n c

W A V E, G R O U N D -R EFLEC T ED .

W A V E G U I D E B E N D . A section of w a v e
g u id e in which the direction of the longitudinal

axis is changed.
W A V E G U I D E B E N D , E - P L A N E . For a rec
tangular uniconductor w a v e g u id e operating
in the dominant m o d e, a bend in which the

longitudinal axis of the guide remains in a

plane parallel to the e le c tr ic fie ld v e c to r
throughout the bend.

tion, magic-tee; waveguide junction, hybrid

ring (rat-race); waveguide Wheatstone bridge.

A mechan
ical device for electrically joining separable
parts of a waveguide system. (See entries
under waveguide junction; waveguide joint;

W AVEG U ID E CONNECTOR.

waveguide flange, choke.)

W AVEG U ID E CONVERTOR. See transition
element (1).

Capacitance-loop directional coupler. (By permission

from Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich
et al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

W AVEG U ID E COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL.

remote from the guide cutoff frequency, this

type of coupler has little frequency sensitivity.
(See waveguide coupler, directional.)

A directional coupler is a junction between four

pairs of terminals, as shown in the figure, hav-

W AVEGUIDE COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL,

TW O-HOLE. A type of directional coupler

Basic directional coupler. (By permission from Mi

crowave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

ing such characteristics that there is free trans

fer of power, without reflection between ter
minals A and B and no transfer of power be
tween terminals A and C or between terminals
B and D. Thus an indication of power at
point D indicates that power is flowing from
A to B while an indication at C indicates
power flow from B to A . The coupling factor
is defined by the relationship: coupling factor
= 10 logio (P a / P d )da] while the directivity is
defined by the equation: directivity = 10 logio
(PD/Pc )d0.
W AVEGU ID E COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL,
BETHE-HOLE. A directional coupler (see
coupler, directional) in which directivity is

obtained by the simultaneous use of magnetic

and electric coupling from the main line to the
auxiliary line. Coupling takes place through
a hole in a broad face common to the two
guides, the electric and magnetic coupling are
made equal by rotating the auxiliary guide
about the coupling hole.
W AVEGU ID E COUPLER, DIRECTIONAL,
CAPACITANCE-LOOP. A combined mag

netic-electric, field-coupling, directional cou

pler in which a coupling link, short in length
compared to a quarter wavelength, is placed
lengthwise in a waveguide. At frequencies

operating upon the antenna-array principle.

It consists of two sections of waveguide with
a common side wall (wall parallel to the elec
tric field) in which are two holes spaced longi
tudinally by the distance s. Waves traveling

I
I
r
I

Top view of two-hole coupler. (By permission from

Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

from A to D through the two holes arrive in

phase, and reinforce each other, while the
waves arriving at C have a phase difference,
which causes cancellation. Because of the
dependence of the amount of phase shift upon
the length s, the coupler is frequency-sensitive.
(See waveguide coupler, directional.)
W AVEGUIDE

COUPLER,

SCHWINGER.

A reverse-coupling type of directional cou

pler in which the coupling is between the longi
tudinal magnetic field in one waveguide and
the transverse field in the other. Variation
of directivity with frequency is small in this
type of coupler.
A wave whose energy is
concentrated near a boundary, or between
substantially parallel boundaries, separating
materials of different properties, and whose

W AVE, GUIDED.

direction of propagation is effectively parallel

to these boundaries.

ergy is equally divided between the two

branches.

W AVEGU ID E, DIELECTRIC.
A wave
guide consisting of a dielectric structure.

W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, HYBRID RING

(RAT-RACE). A hybrid junction which con

W AVEGU ID E FILTER.
guide.

See filter, wave

A waveguide contain
ing a thin, metallic longitudinal fin. The fin
is generally applied to the circular waveguide
as a means of increasing the wavelength
range over which the waveguide may be
operated.

W AVEG U ID E, FIN.

W AVEGU ID E FLANGE, CHOKE. A lowloss, waveguide coupler. It consists of a

sists of a re-entrant line of proper electrical

length to sustain standing waves, to which four
side-branches are connected in proper intervals
by means of series or parallel junctions. In
the practical form of this device, a waveguide
is used for the line.
A cross-sectional view, taken through a
plane parallel to the electric field, of a seriesconnected ring is shown below. When power
enters the ring through arm 1, waves of equal
amplitude, but opposite phase, leave the junc

half-wavelength, low-impedance line inserted

in series with the waveguide at the joint.
(See also waveguide connector.)
W AVEGU ID E FREQUENCY FILTER.
filter, waveguide.

See

W AVEG U ID E HYBRID JUNCTION.

references under waveguide junction.

See

W AVEG U ID E IRIS.

See iris; diaphragm.

W AVEG U ID E JOINT, BUTT. A connection

between two waveguides which provides phys

ical contact between the ends of the wave

guides in order to maintain electrical con
tinuity.
W AVEG U ID E JOINT, CHOKE. A connec
tion between two waveguides which provides

effective electrical continuity without metallic

continuity at the inner walls of the wave
guides.
W AVEG U ID E JOINT, ROTARY. A joint
connecting an immobile section of a waveguide
or coaxial line to a section which must be free

to turn. Since reliable, current-conducting

sliding-contacts are difficult to maintain, one
or more half-wavelength short-circuited lines
are usually incorporated in the joint in such
a manner that the actual point of sliding con
tact is at or near a current minimum.
W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, HYBRID.
A
waveguide arrangement with four branches

which, when branches are properly terminated,

has the property that energy can be trans
ferred from any one branch into only two of
remaining three. In common usage, this en

tion and move around the ring in opposite di

rections. They meet at junction 4, which is
diametrically opposite, and produce a voltage
node at that point. Other voltage nodes ap
pear at points 2 and 6, whereas voltage anti
nodes appear at points 1, 3, and 5. Since
power flows into a branch line, connected
through a series junction, to a point on the
main line at which there is a voltage node,
power is delivered to the side arms at 2 and 4.
If the side arms are terminated in their char
acteristic impedance, equal amounts of power
are withdrawn through arms 2 and 4. Waves
moving past 2 toward 3 and past 4 toward
3 therefore are attenuated equally and, since
junctions 2 and 4 are identical, the waves ex
perience equal phase-shifts. The two waves
therefore arrive at point 3 with equal ampli
tudes and phase, and still produce a voltage
antinode. Because no power is delivered to
a side-arm connected through a series junc
tion at a voltage antinode (current node) no
power is delivered to the side-arm at 3.
If the power enters the ring through arm 2

and the remaining arms are terminated in

their characteristic impedances, voltage min
ima appear at points 1 and 3 and a voltage
maximum at point 4. Equal amounts of power
are then delivered to arms 1 and 3, and no
power to arm 4.

W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, TEE. A junc

tion of waveguides in which the longitudinal

W A VEG U ID E JUNCTION, HYBRID TEE.

A hybrid waveguide junction composed of an
E-H tee with internal matching elements,

W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, TEE, E-PLANE.

For a rectangular uniconductor waveguide, a

guide axes form a T. The guide which con

tinues through the junction is the main guide;
the guide which terminates at a junction is
the branch guide.

which is reflectionless for a wave propagating

into the junction from any arm when the other
three arms are match terminated.

tee junction of which the electric field vector

of the dominant wave of each arm is parallel
to the plane of the longitudinal axes of the
waveguides.

W AVEG U ID E JUNCTION, MAGIC TEE.

A hybrid waveguide junction which is a com

W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, TEE, H-PLANE.

For a rectangular uniconductor waveguide, a

bination of an /-plane tee and an //-plane tee

(see figure). Since the waveguide dimensions

tee junction of which the magnetic field vector

of the dominant wave of each arm is parallel
to the plane of the longitudinal axes of the
waveguides.
W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, TEE, SERIES.

A waveguide tee junction having an equivalent

circuit in which the impedance of the branch
guide is predominantly in series with the im
pedance of the main guide at the junction.
W AVEGUIDE JUNCTION, TEE, SHUNT.

A waveguide tee junction having an equivalent

circuit in which the impedance of the branch
guide is predominantly in parallel with the
impedance of the main guide at the junction.
One form of a microwave magic tee. (By permission
from Microwave Theory and Techniques by Reich
et al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

are such that only TElt0 propagation is pos

sible, and the E-field in the parallel arm P is
normal to that in the series arm S, there is no
direct transmission between the series and
parallel arms if they are symmetrically placed.
The characteristics of series and shunt tees
are such that when waves of equal amplitude
and phase enter the P and S arms, the outputs
cancel in one of the side-arms and add in the
other. By the reciprocity principle, therefore,
energy applied to 1 or 2 is divided equally
between the P and S arms, none emerging from
the opposite side-arms.
W A VEG U ID E
JUNCTION,
TAPEREDRIDGE. A waveguide-coaxial line junction

which uses a tapered section of ridge wave

guide to widen the band over which low stand
ing wave ratios may be obtained. (See wave
guide, ridge.)

W AVEGU ID E JUNCTION, W YE. A junc

tion of waveguides such that the longitudinal

guide axes form a Y.

A waveguide
having no reflected wave (see wave, reflected)
at any transverse section.

W AVEGU ID E, M ATCHED.

W AVEGU ID E M ODE SUPPRESSOR.

A
filter, of correct waveguide dimensions, which
tends to suppress undesirable modes of propa
gation in the waveguide.

A device
for adjusting the phase of a particular field
component (or current or voltage) at output
of device relative to the phase of that field
component (or current or voltage) at the input.
It may consist, in its simplest form, of merely
a variable-length section so that the traveled
path may be modified. Another method of
obtaining a variable phase shift is to insert a
slab of low-loss dielectric into the waveguide

W AVEGU ID E PHASE SHIFTER.

as shown in the figure. The electrical length

of the guide appears longer as the strip is
moved towards the center, because of the de-

I
l

K------ a '------- H

(a )
Dielectric phase shifter. (By permission from Mi
crowave Theory and Techniques by Reich et al.,
1953, D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.)

7 ,
2b'

creased phase velocity which accompanies such

a move.
In a waveguide,
a longitudinally-movable obstacle which re
flects essentially all the incident energy.
W AVEG U ID E PLUNGER.

l<-------a '------->\
<----------------------a ---------------------- >.

7
2b

(b)

In a waveguide, a
cylindrical rod placed in a transverse plane
of the waveguide and behaving substantially
as a shunt susceptance. (See waveguide post,

W AVEG U ID E, POST.

capacitive; waveguide post, inductive.)

W AVEG U ID E POST, CAPACITIVE.
A
waveguide tuning or matching device which

consists of a metal post or screw extending

completely across the waveguide at right
angles to the E-field. In this position the post
adds capacitive susceptance in parallel with
the guide.
W AVEG U ID E POST, INDUCTIVE.
A
waveguide tuning or matching device which

consists of a metal post or screw extending

completely across the waveguide parallel to
the E-field. In this position the post adds
inductive susceptance in parallel with the
guide.
W AVEG U ID E RADIATOR. An open-ended
waveguide. For purposes of matching and
directivity, the open-ended guide is custom
arily fitted with a horn.

(a) Single ridge waveguide; (b) double-ridge wave

guide. (By permission from Microwave Theory and
Techniques by Reich et al., D. Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.)

acteristic impedance of the waveguide, and

lower its phase velocity.
W AVEGU ID E RING.
tion, hybrid ring.

See waveguide junc

W AVEGUIDE SHEATH-RESHAPING CON

VERTER. A device which changes the mode
of propagation in a waveguide by shaping the

walls of the waveguide and/or by employing

sheet gratings in the waveguide.
W AVEGUIDE SLUG TUNER(S). Quarterwavelength long dielectric slugs inserted into

the waveguide for tuning purposes. In order

that the widest variation of load conditions
may be matched, two slugs, variable in posi
tion and depth of penetration, are usually
employed.
W AVEGU ID E, SQUEEZABLE. In radar, a
variable-width uniconductor waveguide for
shifting the phase of the radio-frequency wave

W AVEG U ID E RESONATOR (RESONANT

ELEM ENT). A waveguide device primarily

traveling through it.

intended for storing oscillating electromag

netic energy.

W AVEGU ID E, STUB. An auxiliary section

of waveguide with an essentially nondissipa-

W AVEG U ID E, RIDGE. A modification of

a rectangular waveguide, which may have

either a single or double ridge. The ridge or

ridges act as a uniform, distributed-capacitance loading, and therefore reduce the char-

tive termination and joined at some angle

with the main section of waveguide.
W AVEGUIDE STUB TUNER. A waveguide
tuning (or detuning) device consisting of a
piston in a short piece of pipe connected to

the waveguide. Its dimensions and placement

on the waveguide are such that changing the
plunger position modifies the susceptance seen
by the waveguide.
W AVEG U ID E SW ITCH. A waveguide com
ponent capable of switching waveguide power
from one branch to another. As examples,
see switch, resonant-chamber; switch, resonant-iris and switch, T-R.
W A VEG U ID E, TAPER. A section of tapered
waveguide.

W AVEGU ID E W AVELENGTH .
For a
traveling plane-wave at a given frequency,
the distance along the waveguide between

points at which a field component (or the

voltage or current) differs in phase by 2tt
radians.
W AVEGU ID E

W HEATSTONE

BRIDGE.

A waveguide structure with six arms which

may be used to measure the ratio of admit
tances. (See figure.)

W A VEG U ID E, TAPERED. A waveguide in

which a physical or electrical characteristic
changes continuously with distance along the
axis of the guide.
W AV EG U ID E TEE.
tion, tee.

See waveguide junc

A junction com
posed of a combination of E and H-plane tee
junctions having a common point of intersec
tion with the main guide.

W A V EG U ID E TEE, E-H.

W A VEG U ID E
TERMINATOR,
LONGI
TUDINAL FIN. A thin dissipative strip in
serted in a waveguide to act as a matched
load.

Physical structure of microwave Wheatstone bridge.

(By permission from Microwave Theory and Tech
niques by Reich et al., 1953, D. Van Nostrand Co.,
Inc.)

W AV EG U ID E TRANSFORMER. A device,
usually fixed, added to a waveguide for the

W A V E, HARMONIC.

purpose of impedance transformation.

W A VEG U ID E TUNER. An adjustable de
vice added to a waveguide for the purpose of

impedance transformation.
W AV EG U ID E TUNER, E-H. A waveguide
tee, E-H used for impedance transformation,

having two arms terminated in adjustable

plungers.

A wave in which the

disturbance at any point in space through
which the wave is propagated varies sinu
soidally with the time. Specifically if the
wave is a plane sinusoidal wave in the ^-direc
tion, the disturbance is given by
= A sin (ut kx),

where A is the wave amplitude, w = 2?r/ (where

/ is the frequency) and k = &/V (where V is
the wave velocity). (Cf. wave propagation.)

A waveguide sec
tion in which there is a progressive rotation
of the cross section about the longitudinal axis.

W AVE, HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED. A

linearly polarized wave whose electric field
vector is horizontal.

W A VEG U ID E,
UNICONDUCTOR.
A
waveguide consisting of a metallic surface
surrounding a uniform dielectric medium.

W AV E , HYBRID ELECTROMAGNETIC
(HEM W AVE). An electromagnetic wave
having components of both the electric and
magnetic field vectors in the direction of
propagation.

W A V EG U ID E TW IST.

Common cross-sectional shapes are rectangu

lar and circular.
A waveguide
in which the physical and electrical character
istics do not change with distance along the
axis of the guide.
W A VEG U ID E, UNIFORM.

W AVE(S) IN A ROD, TORSIONAL, VE

LOCITY OF PROPAGATION OF. For a

homogeneous bar of circular cross-section, the

speed of propagation, c, is given by

in the ^-direction with angular frequency <o,

so that the disturbance has the form

F
2p(cr + 1)

Where Y is the Young modulus, p is the density,

<r is the Poisson ratio.
In a medium of cer
tain propagation characteristics, a wave which
impinges on a discontinuity or a medium of
different propagation characteristics.
W A V E , INCIDENT.

W A V E INTENSITY. The average rate of

flow of energy in the direction of propagation
per unit area of the wave front. (Cf. wave
energy density; Poynting vector.)
W A V E INTERFERENCE.
wave.

See interference,

A radio wave that

is propagated by way of the ionosphere. This
wave is sometimes called a sky wave .

W A V E , IONOSPHERIC.

W A V E , IRROTATIONAL. An elastic wave

in which the curl of the vector displacement

from equilibrium vanishes. A plane irrotational wave is longitudinal. (See wave, longi
tudinal, and compare wave, shear.)
W A V E , KEYING.

See wave, marking.

W A V E , KINETIC ENERGY DENSITY. The

kinetic energy per unit volume in a medium

traversed by a mechanical wave. It is a func

tion of time and space.
WAVE,
LEFT - H AN DED
(COUNTER
CLOCKW ISE) POLARIZED.
An ellipti-

cally-polarized,

transverse

electromagnetic

sin (o)t kx),

the wavelength is
X = 2ir/k = 2t V/o>,

where V is the wave velocity.

W AVELENG TH
ASSOCIATED
W IT H
ONE ELECTRON-VOLT. By combining the
basic relation of quantum theory that the en
ergy of a photon is the Planck constant multi
plied by the frequency, with the energy which
an electron receives in falling through one volt
of potential difference, there results a wave

length associated with one electron-volt of

12397.67 0.22 X 10-8 cm (Dumond, 1955).
W AVELENGTH , COMPLEMENTARY.

(1)

The wavelength of light of a single frequency

(practically, a narrow band of frequencies),
which matches the reference standard light
when combined with a sample color in suitable
proportions. The wide variety of purples
which have no dominant wavelengths, includ
ing nonspectral violet, purple, magenta, and
nonspectral red colors, are specified by use of
their complementary wavelengths. (Refer to
wavelength, dominant.)
(2) A wavelength
represented by a point on the chromaticity
diagram, which lies at the intersection of the
spectrum locus with the straight line connect
ing the sample point and the achromatic
point. The intersection on the same side of
the achromatic point as the sample is the
dominant wavelength, that on the opposite
side is the complementary wavelength.

wave in which the rotation of the electric field

vector is counter-clockwise for an observer
looking in the direction of propagation. (See
also handedness, right and left.)

W AVELENG TH
number.

W AVELENG TH . Of a periodic wave in an

isotropic medium, the perpendicular distance
between two equiphase surfaces in which the
displacements have a difference in phase of
one complete period. Otherwise phrased, the

W AVELENG TH , CUTOFF. Of a uniconduc

tor waveguide, the ratio of the velocity of the
electromagnetic wave in free space to the cut

wavelength is the space period of a wave, i.e.,

the least translation distance that leaves the
wave invariant.
In a harmonic wave the wavelength is the
distance between any two points at which the
phase at the same instant differs by 2?r, spe
cifically if the wave is a plane harmonic wave

CONSTANT.

W AVELENG TH , CROVA.
length,

See wave

See Crova wave

off frequency.
W AVELENG TH , DOMINANT. The wave
length of light of a single frequency, which

matches a color when combined in suitable

proportions with a reference standard light.
Light of a single frequency is approximated
in practice by the use of a range of wavelengths

within which there is no noticeable difference

of color. Although this practice is ambiguous
in principle, the dominant wavelength is usu
ally taken as the average wavelength of the
band used in the mixture with the reference
standard matching the sample. Many differ
ent qualities of light are used as reference
standards under various circumstances. Usu
ally the quality of the prevailing illumination
is acceptable as the reference standard in the
determination of the dominant wavelength of
the colors of objects.
W A V E , LINEARLY POLARIZED. A trans
verse electromagnetic wave whose electric field
vector at all times is parallel to a fixed plane
containing the direction of propagation.
W A V E , LONGITUDINAL. A wave in which
the direction of displacement at each point
of the medium is normal to the wave front.

In
telegraphic communication, the emission
which takes place while the active portions of
the code characters are transmitted.

W A V E , MARKING (KEYING W A V E ).

W A V E , MATTER. See de Broglie wave

length; Schrdinger wave equation; wave
mechanics.
W A V E M ECHANICS. The quantum me
chanics of Schrdinger, Born, and Jordan,
which grew out of the de Broglie hypothesis

that one may associate a phase wave of

wavelength A = h/p with each particle of mo
mentum p. The basic equation of wave me
chanics is the Schrdinger equation. The
de Broglie hypothesis seems to be well con
firmed by the now classic Davisson-Germer
experiment and other experiments showing
the diffraction of material particles.
A device for determining
the wavelength (frequency) of an electric
wave. (See frequency meter, absorption, as
one example.)

W AVEM ETER.

W AVEM ETER , ABSORPTION.

quency meter, absorption.

See fre

A wave, some char

acteristic of which varies in accordance with
the value of a modulating wave.

W A V E , M OD U LATED .

W A V E , M ODULATING.
A wave which
causes a variation of some characteristic of
the carrier.

W AV E M OTION.

See wave.

NORMAL. The family of curves

normal to the equiphase surfaces of a wave
is the family of wave normals. The equiphase
surfaces are those satisfying (x,y,z) = con
stant for the wave A (X jy ,z)ejiojt~ * {xv>z)]. The
wave normal may also be defined as a unit
vector normal to an equiphase surface, with
its positive direction taken on the same side
of the surface as the direction of propagation.
In isotropic media, the wave normal is in the
direction of propagation.
WAVE

W A V E NUMBER (PARAMETER). The re

ciprocal of the wavelength in a harmonic
wave. Some authors use 2ir/\ instead of 1/A
in this sense. (See wave vector and wave
constant.)
PACKET.
The wave disturbance
produced by the superposition of waves of dif
ferent frequencies in such a way as to pro
duce, at a given instant of time, constructive
interference over a certain region of space and
complete destructive interference elsewhere.
This region of constructive interference will,
in general, move through space with a group
velocity which is the velocity associated with
the wave packet. As a result of dispersion,
the packet may change its shape in time. (See
WAVE

velocity, group.)
WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY.
mentarity principle.

See comple

PATH, TANGENTIAL.
In radio
wave propagation over the earth, a path of
propagation of a direct wave, which is tan
gential to the surface of the earth. The tan
gential wave path is curved by atmospheric
refraction.

WAVE

W AV E PERIOD, In a harmonic wave the

time between attainment of successive maxi
mum disturbances at the same place. The
reciprocal of the frequency.

A wave in which the

disturbance repeats itself in equal intervals
of time at each point of space and at equal
intervals of space at each given instant of
time.
W A V E , PERIODIC.

W A V E PHASE. The argument in the wave

function. Thus in the general arbitrary pro

gressive wave function f ( x Vt) the phase is

For a harmonic plane wave in which
the disturbance has the form sin (wt k x ) ,
the phase is (ot kx. Here is the angular
frequency = 2irf, where / is the actual fre
quency, k 2?r/A, where A is the wavelength.

(4) The magnetic scalar potential

x Vt.

W AVE(S), PHASE
phase velocity.

VELOCITY

OF.

See

jvy.

The field is given by

E = joofiX VF V X F
H

W AVE, PLANE. A three-dimensional wave

depending only upon time and one rectangu
lar, spatial coordinate. The equiphase sur
faces are planes. In other words, a plane
wave is a wave whose equiphase surfaces form
a family of parallel planes.
W A V E , PLANE-POLARIZED.
linearly-polarized.

See wave,

W AVE,
POTENTIAL
ENERGY
ASSO
CIATED W IT H . An elastic medium trav

ersed by a wave will possess at a given instant

a certain energy density. This will be made
up of two parts: (1) the kinetic energy den
sity, which is simply one-half the product
of the mass density and the square of the in
stantaneous particle velocity and (2) the po
tential energy density which is the energy per
unit volume due to the elastic distortion of
the medium (e.g., compression or rarefaction).
The general form of the potential energy den
sity is one-half the product of an appropriate
elastic modulus and the square of the instan
taneous strain associated with the wave dis
turbance.
The product of the time average of the total
energy density and the velocity of propaga
tion is the intensity of the wave. (See waveintensity.)

V X A -

VC/

(<r +

jue)F .

PROGRESSIVE.
Traveling
waves, as opposed to stationary waves. (See

W AVE(S),

wave, standing.)
W AVE PROJECTOR.

An antenna.

When a wave in a
medium of certain propagation characteris
tics is incident upon a discontinuity or a sec
ond medium, the wave component that re
sults in the first medium in addition to the
incident wave. (See wave, incident.)
W A V E , REFLECTED.

W A V E, REFRACTED.
That part of an
incident wave (see wave, incident) which

travels from one medium into a second me

dium.
W AVE(S), REINFORCEMENT OF. Inter
ference of waves (see interference, wave)

when the square of the resultant amplitude

exceeds the sum of the squares of the ampli
tudes of the components.
W AV E , RIGHT-HANDED (CLOCKWISE)
POLARIZED.
An
elliptically-polarized,

transverse electromagnetic wave in which the

rotation of the electric field vector is clock
wise for an observer looking in the direction
of propagation. (See also handedness, right
and left.)

Strictly speaking, the concept of potential

energy density of a wave applies only to elas
tic waves, where actual motion of a material
medium is involved.
W A V E POTENTIALS. A sinusoidal, elec
tromagnetic wave of angular frequency a> can

be expressed as derived from four wave po

tentials :
(1) The magnetic vector potential, A.
(2) The electric vector potential F.
(3) The electric scalar potential

<T+ jJ

W A VE , SAWTOOTH.
A periodic wave
whose amplitude varies, substantially linearly
with time, between two values, the interval
required for one direction of progress being
longer than that for the other.
W A V E, SHEAR (ROTATION W AVE). A
wave in an elastic medium which causes an

element of the medium to change its shape

without a change of volume. Mathemati
cally, a wave whose velocity field has zero
divergence. A shear plane wave in an iso
tropic medium is a transverse wave. (See
wave, transverse; wave, solenoidal and com
pare wave, irrotational.)

A wave in
which the disturbance at any place is a sim
ple harmonic function of the time. Specifi
cally for a simple sinusoidal wave of angular
frequency a> traveling with velocity V the dis
turbance has the form:

W A V E , SIMPLE HARMONIC.

K>

= A sin CO
(See wavelength.)

W A V E , SOLENOIDAL. A wave in which

the divergence of the vector quantity repre

senting the disturbance vanishes identically.

A plane solenoidal elastic wave is a trans
verse wave. (See wave, transverse.)
A wave reaching the recep
tion point which is made up of ground-re
flected and direct waves.

plifiers, networks, etc. These square waves

may be generated by a variety of electronic
circuits. (See also step function.)

A wave disturbance
which is not progressive, i.e., one in which any
component of the field can be specified as a
function of position multiplied by a sinusoi
dal function of time. Standing waves result
from the superposition of two waves travel
ing in opposite directions, having identical
amplitudes and frequencies. Thus, if two
plane waves, both having amplitudes A, wave
length A, and frequency /, are traveling in
opposite directions along the ar-axis, their
combined effect at the position x and at time?
is
i, ,i

W A V E, STANDING.

W A V E , SPACE.

In telegraphic communi
cation, the emission which takes place between
the active portions of the code characters or
while no code characters are being trans
mitted.
W A V E , SPACING.

W A V E , SPHERICAL. A wave whose equiphase surfaces form a family of concentric

spheres.
A wave which alternately
assumes two fixed values for equal lengths of
time, the time of transition being negligible
in comparison with the duration of each fixed
value.
A square wave requires a considerable num
ber of sinusoidal frequencies to express it.
These components are not mere mathematical
fictions but are true electrical components in
the case of an electric wave. They may be
separated and examined by means of proper
filter circuits. Since a square wave will con
tain a long series of frequencies it may be
used for rapidly determining the frequency
response of a piece of equipment by applying
the wave to the input and noting the distor
tion of the output wave. The distortion is
due to certain frequencies of the original wave
being attenuated or amplified out of propor
tion in passing through the circuit. Thus the
necessity of making a laborious series of tests
at various frequencies using sine waves is
avoided.
When an operator is properly
trained in interpreting the results of such test
ing, it offers a rapid means of checking am
W A V E , SQUARE.

y A sin 27r

ft^j + A sin 2ir

+ ft'j

2wx

= 2A sin---- cos 27rft.

X

The points x = n\/2 (n an integer), at which

sin 2ttx/\ = 0, show no disturbance and are
known as nodes (1). The disturbance is maxi
mal at x = (2n + l)A/4, and such points are
called antinodes or loops.
W A VE , STANDING, RATIO.
standing, voltage ratio.
W AV E ,

STANDING,

See wave,

VOLTAGE

RATIO.

The ratio of the maximum to the minimum

voltage of the standing wave. (See wave,
standing.)
W A V E, STATIONARY.

See wave, standing.

W AVE(S), SURFACE. (1) Waves of distor

tion on the free surface separating two fluid
phases, usually a liquid and a gas or vapor
of low density. The waves are classed as
gravitational waves or ripples, depending on
whether gravity or surface tension is the con
trolling force in their motion. (2) An electro
magnetic wave component traveling parallel
to the earths surface.
(Also called the
ground wave.) (See also equiphase surface;
wave-velocity surface.)
W AV E , TEw>n (IN CIRCULAR W A V E
GUIDE), In a hollow circular metal cylin
der, the transverse electric wave for which m

is the number of axial planes along which the

normal component of the electric vector van
ishes, and n is the number of coaxial cylinders

(including the boundary of the waveguide)

along which the tangential component of the
electric vector vanishes. TE0,n waves are cir
cular electric waves of order n. The TE0fi
wave is the circular electric wave with the low
est cut-off frequency. The TEi^ wave is the
dominant wave. Its lines of electric force are
approximately parallel to a diameter.
W AVE, TEwn (IN RECTANGULAR W A V E
GUIDE). In a hollow rectangular metal cyl
inder, the transverse electric wave for which

m is the number of half-period variations of

the electric field along the longer transverse
dimension, and n is the number of half-period
variations of the electric field along the
shorter transverse dimension.
In general,
any treatment that assumes light to be describable as a wave motion. The term there
fore includes both the older mechanical wave
models of light and the currently accepted
concept that light is an electromagnetic wave
and that the observed phenomena can be pre
dicted by the use of the Maxwell equations.

W A V E THEORY OF LIGHT.

W A V E , TIDAL. (1) A gravitational wave in

the sea or the atmosphere induced by gravi
tational or thermal effects of the moon or sun.
(2) A gravitational wave in which the vertical
movement of fluid particles is negligible com
pared with the horizontal movement. For
water waves, this requires that the wave
length should be large compared with the
depth of water, ft, and the wave (and group)
velocity is
C= VgL

W A V E , TM w,n (IN CIRCULAR W A V E

GUIDE). In a hollow circular metal cylin
der, the transverse magnetic wave for which

m is the number of axial planes along which

the normal component of the magnetic vector
vanishes, and n is the number of coaxial cyl
inders to which the electric vector is normal.
T M 0fn waves are circular magnetic waves of
order n. The T M 0,i wave is the circular mag
netic wave with the lowest cut-off frequency.
W A V E , TM m,n (IN RECTANGULAR W A V E
GUIDE). In a hollow rectangular metal cyl
inder, the transverse magnetic wave for which

m is the number of half-period variations of

the magnetic field along the longer transverse
dimension, and n is the number of half-period

variations of magnetic field along the shorter

transverse dimension.
The series of waves pro
duced by a vibrating body is called a train
of waves.

W A VE TRAIN.

WAVE-TRAIN SHAPE. Waves in general

are not simple sinusoidal disturbances of a
given frequency, but are combinations of a
number of overtones superimposed on a fun
damental. Hence a plot of the amplitude vs.

distance along the wave may have almost any

shape, but is properly single-valued and con
tinuous, with continuous derivatives.
When a wave in
a medium of certain propagation character
istics is incident upon a discontinuity or a
second medium, the forward traveling wave
that results in the second medium is the trans
mitted wave. In a single medium the trans
mitted wave is that wave which is traveling
in the forward direction.
W A V E, TRANSMITTED.

W A VE , TRANSVERSE. A wave in which

the direction of displacement at each point
of the medium is parallel to the equiphase
surface.
W A V E, TRANSVERSE ELECTRIC (
W A V E). In a homogeneous isotropic me

dium, an electromagnetic wave in which the

electric field vector is everywhere perpen
dicular to the direction of propagation.
WAVE,
TRANSVERSE
ELECTROMAG
NETIC ( W AV E ). In a homogeneous
isotropic medium, an electromagnetic wave
in which both the electric and magnetic field
vectors are everywhere perpendicular to the
direction of propagation.
W A VE , TRANSVERSE M AGNETIC (TM
W A V E ). In a homogeneous isotropic me
dium, an electromagnetic wave in which the
magnetic field vector is everywhere perpen
dicular to the direction of propagation.
W A V E TRAP.

See trap.

W A VE , TROPOSPHERIC. A radio wave

that is propagated by reflection from a place
of abrupt change in the dielectric constant or
its gradient in the troposphere. In some cases
the ground wave may be so altered that new
components appear to arise from reflections
in regions of rapidly changing dielectric con

stants; when these components are distin

guishable from the other components, they are
called tropospheric waves.
A point of minimum (al
gebraic) value of the disturbance in a pro
gressive wave. Opposite of wave crest.
W A V E TROUGH.

W A V E , UNIFORM CYLINDRICAL.
A
wave whose equiphase surfaces form a family
of coaxial cylinders, with the wave amplitude
the same at all points of a given equiphase
surface.
W A V E , UNIFORM PLANE. A plane wave
in which the electric and magnetic field vec
tors have constant amplitude over the equi
phase surfaces. Such a wave can only be

found in free space at an infinite distance

from the source.
W A V E VECTOR. A vector, usually repre
sented as k, which, at each position in space,

points in the direction of propagation of the

wave under consideration. The magnitude
assigned to the wave vector associated with a
wave of wavelength A is not unique, but with
present usage it is almost certain to be either
unity, 1/A, or 2tt/A. The magnitude of the
wave vector is called the wave number when
|fc| = 1/A and sometimes when |fc| = 2tt/A.
W A V E VELOCITY.

Same as phase velocity.

An ellipti
cal surface used to indicate the difference in
the velocity of the ordinary and the extraor
dinary ray of radiation in different directions
in a double-refracting crystal. (See double
W AVE-VELOCITY SURFACE.

refraction.)
W A V E , VERTICALLY-POLARIZED. A lin
early-polarized wave whose magnetic field
vector is horizontal.

A thick disk of wax upon

which an original mechanical disk recording
may be inscribed.
W A X , CAKE.

A mechanical recording
medium, in disk form, prepared by melting
and flowing wax onto a metal base.

W AX, FLOW ED.

W A X ORIGINAL
master, wax.
W A Y POINT.

(W A X MASTER).

See

W EAK
weak.

See coupling, weak.

ELECTROLYTE.

See electrolyte,

W EAK EQUALITY. Equality between two

operators which does not imply that the
Poisson bracket with any operator of the dif

ference between them is zero.

W EATHER. All the atmospheric phenomena
occurring for short periods such as hourly or
daily. Thus, existing phenomena constitute
weather, while the average weather over long
periods of time constitutes climate.
Synoptic weather
reports received from a relatively large area,
i.e., part of a continent, or part of the world,
are plotted on a weather chart in a systematic
manner. The chart is then analyzed in such
a manner that fronts, isobars, isallobars,
isotherms, precipitation areas, clouded areas,
and air masses are indicated. Also, forecast
movements of prominent features are usually
indicated.
W EATHER ANALYSIS.

W EATH ER PHENOMENA, OROGRAPHICAL. See orographical weather phenomena.

The surface
chemical attack and change in glass due to
exposure to the atmosphere. Weathered glass
is apt to give much more trouble due to gas
sing when used in vacuum apparatus than is
fresh glass.

W EATHERING OF GLASS.

The mksa unit of magnetic flux.

It is that flux which, when linked with a single
turn, generates an electromotive force of one
volt in the turn, as it decreases uniformly to
zero in one second.
(See electromagnetic
WEBER.

units.)
W EBER

DIFFERENTIAL

EQUATION.

The second-order differential equation

y " + (n + I - \x2)y = 0.

It has an irregular singular point at oo and

occurs in solving the wave equation in para
bolic cylindrical coordinates. It is a special
case of the confluent hypergeometric equation
and its solutions are confluent hypergeometric
series.
(See coordinate system, parabolic
cylindrical.)

See point, way.

W COEFFICIENT.

W EAK COUPLING.

See Racah coefficient.

A psychophysical relation
ship which states that the minimum percepW EBER LA W .

tible difference between the physical magni

tudes of stimuli is a constant fraction of one
of them. (See Mackenzie equation.)
W E D D L E RULE. A procedure for numeri
cal integration. If y 0f y 1} y 2, * * *, y Q are the
values of y = j ( x ) at seven equally-spaced
values of x 0, x l7 *, x s and h = Xi Xj, then

x%
3h
f(x)d x = (y0 + by i + y2 + 62/3
+

4 +

by5 +

2/e) +

Rj

where R is a remainder term, giving the error

in the value of the integral.
( 1 ) A simple machine in the form
of a triangular prism. The theoretical me
chanical advantage is the ratio of the length
to the base. (2) In television, those portions
of a test pattern containing a series of lines
which converge at one end, this end generally
positioned at the center of the pattern.
W ED G E.

W E D G E LINE. A line drawn symmetrically

in a wedge of pressure along which the iso
bars are curved anticyclonically and sym
metrically. Wedge lines or wedges or pres
sure are elongated anticyclones and are al
ways U-shaped, in contrast to trough lines
which often are V-shaped.
W E D G E PHOTOMETER.
In the many
forms of bench photometer, the illuminations
or luminous flux densities from the two sources
to be compared are made equal by regulating
the relative distances. In photometers of the
wedge type, the same object is accomplished
by pushing into the beam from the brighter
source a graduated wedge of absorbing mate
rial until its intensity is cut down to equality
with that from the other source. The scale
reading on the wedge indicates the ratio in
which the flux density has been reduced, and
hence the luminous intensity ratio of the two
sources. It is highly important that the ab
sorbing wedge shall be neutral, that is, not
selective as to wavelength, in its absorption;
otherwise there will be an alteration of color
as well as of total intensity.
WEIERSTRASS

ELLIPTIC

The elliptic integral,

dt

FUNCTION.

defines x as a function of u, where g2 and g3

are parameters. The quantity x = p{u) is
the Weierstrass elliptic function. It is doubly
periodic, has double poles, and satisfies the
differential equation:

\ dx)

4 3

02

W EIG H IN G METHODS. The use of a bal

ance for measuring masses is something more

than the mere placing of equal weights on the

two pans. The chief reasons are that the re
finement required often goes beyond the small
est weights in any set, and that the arms of a
balance are never exactly equal in length.
The former condition is commonly met by
the use of a rider, a small weight (usually 1
milligram) sliding along a scale on the beam.
The most approved procedure, however,
makes use of the known sensibility of the bal
ance, expressed in divisions of the pointer
scale per unit excess weight on one pan. The
arm inequality may be allowed for by the
substitution method, in which the object to be
weighed is first counterpoised, or nearly so,
and then replaced by known weights on the
same pan, the small difference in pointer
reading being noted and the difference in
weight computed from it.
Both difficulties can be met at once by the
method of double weighing. The object is
first placed on the left pan and weights nearly
equal to it on the right, the resulting pointer
reading being 7*1 . The object and weights are
now interchanged, with pointer reading r2.
Then if the sensibility of the balance is s, and
if the weights used total a value
the weight
of the object is given by
W = w+

- r2
2s

The sensibility is, in general, a function of

the load, and before precise weighing is at
tempted, a table or a graph should be pre
pared from which s can be obtained from the
value of w. When the pointer is used, it
should not be allowed to come to rest, but its
equilibrium position should be deduced from
the extremes of its small oscillation (see
damping).

It is of course presumed in any case that

the errors of the weights themselves have been
accurately determined. Due allowance must
also be made in precise weighing, for the

buoyancy of the air, or rather for the differ

ence of the buoyant force on the object to be

weighed and that on the weights in the oppo
site pan. If the weights are mainly of brass
(density 8.4 g/cm 3), the corrected or vacuum
weight of an object of volume V (cm3),
weighed in air of density p (g/cm3), is

where W is the uncorrected result of the

weighing. Under ordinary laboratory condi
tions, the value of p is approximately 0.00119
g/cm 3, giving 0.99986 as the coefficient of W
in the above formula.
(1) The force with which a body
is attracted toward the earth; the product of
the mass of a body and the acceleration of
gravity. The force of 980 dynes is the weight
of one gram at the place where the accelera
tion of gravity equals 980 cm/sec2. The value
of the acceleration due to gravity increases
slightly from equator to pole so that the
weight of a body varies according to its geo
graphical location. The mass of a body, how
ever, is constant.
In view of the difficulty, under most cir
cumstances, of determining mass directly,
masses are commonly determined in chemical
operations by comparison of the weight of the
unknown mass with the weight of known
masses, a process called weighing, which in
volves, in very accurate work, certain correc
tions or methods to avoid the necessity for
those corrections. (See weighing methods.)
Although the above definition is satisfac
tory in most cases, some ambiguities in the
meaning of the term weight may arise, and
various authors differ in its use. For ex
ample, the weight of a solid object submerged
in a fluid less dense than itself may be said
to be either the same as that of the body in
air or equal to the weight in air less the
buoyancy. Some writers speak of the latter
as the apparent weight. An even finer dis
tinction arises when we ask whether the weight
of an object is the gravitational force on it,
or whether it is that force added vectorially
to the centrifugal force resulting from the
earth's rotation. Because of the wide variety
of usage, one must often judge from context
as to the exact meaning of the term in doubt
ful instances.
W E IG H T.

(2) An even more general usage of the term

specifies the force necessary to hold an object
at rest relative to some frame of reference.
(3) The term is also used to refer to one of
the masses belonging to a set of standard
masses used in weighing.
W EIG H T, COMBINING (EQUIVALENT,
REACTING, OR SYMBOL W EIGHTS). The

number of parts by weight of any element

which can enter into combination with one
part, by weight, of hydrogen or eight parts,
by weight, of oxygen, or the atomic weight
divided by the valence. Where an element
possesses more than one valence the equiva
lent weight will depend upon the sense in which
the element is reacting. In ferrous salts the
equivalent weight of iron is 27.925 (55.85 -r2) and in ferric salts it is 18.613 (55.85 -h 3).
The equivalent weight of a compound is its
molecular weight divided by the valence of
its principal element.
W EIG H T, EQUIVALENT.
bining.

See weight, com-

In the
statistical investigation of a given quantity, a
statistical weight can be assigned to each
value or range of values of the quantity, which
is the number of times this value or range of
values occurs. In statistical mechanics, it is
defined as the number of microstates corre
sponding to a given macrostate.

W E IG H T FACTOR, STATISTICAL.

(1) The artificial adjust

ment of measurements in order to account for
factors which, in the normal use of the de
vice, would otherwise be different from the
conditions during measurement. For exam
ple, background noise measurements may be
weighted by applying factors or by introduc
ing networks to reduce measured values in
inverse ratio to their interfering effects. (2)
When several different determinations of the
same physical quantity have been made, the
more accurate of the measurements should
be counted more heavily than the less accu
rate in estimating the most probable value
of the quantity. Thus, if qlf q2, etc., are the
individual values, the most probable value is

W EIGHTING.

iQi + w 2q 2 H------

--- -----------------------------------------------,

Wi + w2 -----

where wly w2y etc., are weighting factors. The

theory of the propagation of errors shows that

the weighting factor for any individual de

termination is inversely proportional to the
square of the uncertainty of that determina
tion. The quantity q is called the weighted
mean. (3) In statistical mechanics, certain
states of a system are often more probable
than others, especially when degeneracy is
present. In computing average values, these
states must be weighted with factors propor
tional to their probabilities, the computation
then proceeding as in (2) above. (4) The
evaluation of the relative interfering effects
of the various frequencies in the voice fre
quency spectrum as compared to 1000 cps.
A weighting network is essentially an equal
izer which attenuates frequencies in the same
manner as would be done by the average ear
with the specific listening apparatus to which
the weighting refers.
In many physi
cal problems, it is desirable to find the average
value of some variable /, associated with each
system in a collection of systems, when this
variable / is a function f(x ) of some parameter
x, connected with each system. In order to
find this average /, it is necessary to know the
probability W (x) dx that the parameter will
have the given value x between x and x + dx
in a given system. Then the average value of
/is

W EIG H TIN G FUNCTION.

through which water flows, the notch at no

time becoming completely submerged. A weir
is usually employed to measure the volume
in a flow of water. This it accomplishes
through the fact that a discharge through a
weir bears a certain definite relationship to
the head of water over its crest, and this head
is comparatively easy to measure.
M ETHOD.
An experi
mental technique for the x-ray analysis of
crystal structure in which, whilst the crystal
is rotated in the beam of x-rays, the photo
graphic plate is moved parallel to the axis of
rotation, the crystal being surrounded by a
sleeve having a slot which is set so as to pass
only one layer line. In this way, the various
spots on the pattern may be positively identi
fied.
WEISSENBERG

WEISS MAGNETON. A unit of magnetic

moment, equal to 1.87 X 10 21 erg/oersted,
about one fifth of a Bohr magneton.
WEISS THEORY OF FERROMAGNETISM.

A theory of ferromagnetism based on an

ensemble of independent molecular magnets,
each of magnetic moment p A , subject to the
aligning effect of magnetizing force, and the
disorienting effect of thermal agitation. The
average component of atomic moment in the
direction of the field turns out to be

= Jw(x)f(x)dx,
pa

where the integral is over the entire range of

x. The function W {x) is called the weighting
function. (See also distribution function.)
The weight of a
molecule of any substance referred to a stand
ard. By international agreement the base for
this standard is the atomic weight of natural
oxygen taken as 16. (However, in the socalled physical atomic weight the basis is the
oxygen isotope of mass number 16, and not
natural oxygen, which consists of isotopes of
mass numbers 16, 17, and 18.) Chemical mo
lecular weights are therefore less than physical
molecular weights by a factor
W EIG H T, MOLECULAR.

16.0000

1.00000

16.0044

1.00028

Any dam or bulkhead over which

water flows, or a bulkhead containing a notch
W EIR.

= PA

ctnh

pa H

kT 1

kT

where H is the applied field; k} the Boltz

mann constant; and T , the absolute tempera
ture.
WEIZSCKER-WILLIAMS
METHOD.
Method of computing bremsstrahlung emitted

in the collision of two particles with relative

kinetic energy large compared with their rest
energy. In the system in which one particle
is at rest the field of the other is equivalent
to a set of virtual light waves which are
Compton scattered by the particle at rest.
W ENNER DIFFERENCE POTENTIOM
ETER.
See potentiometer, Wenner-difference.
WENTZEL-KRAMERS-BRILLOUIN (WKB)
APPROXIMATION. Due also to Rayleigh

and Jeffreys. Method of approximate solu

tion of problems, especially in quantum me

chanics, based on an expansion of the loga

rithm of the wave function in powers of the

Planck constant. Useful only when the mo
mentum of a particle changes only by a small
fraction of itself in a distance equal to the
de Broglie wavelength of the particle.
BALANCE.
A balance de
signed to measure directly the specific gravity
of liquids by observing the loss in weight of
a standard plunger which is immersed in the
liquid.
W ESTPHAL

W E T AND DRY BULB THERMOMETER.

See vapor pressure, methods of measurement;
also hygrometer.
W ET TIN G AGENT. A substance that causes

a liquid to spread more readily upon a solid

surface, owing its action chiefly to its effect
in reducing the surface tension. Specific wet
ting agents have been developed in many
industries.
W E Y L UNIFIED FIELD THEORY.
field theory, W eyl unified.
WH.

See

Abbreviation for watt-hour.

W H E E L AN D AXLE. A simple machine

whose theoretical mechanical advantage is

the ratio of the radius of the wheel to that of

the axle.
W HEELER-FEYNM AN THEORY.
tion at a distance.

See ac

Small cyclonic whirls of air

usually not more than a few hundred feet high
and several tens of feet in diameter.

W H IR LW IN D .

(1) The fine, sharpened elec

trode forced into contact with the semicon
ductor material in a semiconductor diode or
point-contact transistor.
(See transistor,
point-contact.)
(2) Certain small crystals
possessing great shear strength. For example,
it has been shown that a very small crystal
of tin (10~4 cm in diameter) can tolerate ex
tremely large strains in bending without plas
tic deformation. This large shear strength,
approaching the classical limit, is due to the
absence of dislocations.

WHISKER.

WHISKER RESISTANCE.
The resistance
of the whisker element of a semiconductor

device.

W HISTLE, HETERODYNE.
dyne whistle.

See hetero

In color television, the term white

is used most commonly in the nontechnical
sense. More specific usage is covered by the
term achromatic locus, and this usage is ex
plained under that term.

W H ITE.

ALICE.
A tropospheric-scatter
communication system established for rela
tively long distance operation in Alaska.

W H ITE

W H IT E COMPRESSION (SATURATION).
See compression, white.
W H ITEH EA D THEORY OF GRAVITA
TION. Theory in which the gravitational
field is treated as a tensor field in flat space
time. Formally similar to the general theory
of relativity (see relativity theory, general),

although it lacks the equivalence principle.

Yields correct values for the three astronomi
cal tests of a theory of gravitation.
W H IT E LEVEL, REFERENCE,
COMPOSITE PICTURE SIGNAL.

OF

A level
removed (in the direction of white) from the
synchronizing signal peak by an amount equal
to 4.0 times the peak-to-peak amplitude of the
synchronizing signal component.

W H IT E LIGHT. Any one of a variety of

spectral energy distributions producing ap

proximately the same color sensation as aver

age noon sunlight.
W H IT E NOISE.

See noise, white.

An object which reflects

all wavelengths of light with substantiallyequal, high efficiencies, and with considerable

W H IT E OBJECT.

diffusion.
W H IT E PEAK. A peak excursion of the tele
vision picture signal in the white direction.
W H IT E
white.

RECORDING.

See

recording,

The light from a

nonselective diffuse reflector which is lighted
by the normal illumination of the scene. Nor
mal illumination is not intended to include
lighting for special effects. In the reproduc
tion of recorded material, the word scene
refers to the original scene.

W H IT E , REFERENCE.

W H ITE TRANSMISSION.
white.

See transmission,

W H ITTAKER
DIFFERENTIAL
TION. A second-order equation

/i
y

"

n2

----------------2 ------------------

x2

1\

4 =/

EQUA/ =
2 tt
0

with singular points at 0 and oo. It is a

canonical form of the confluent hypergeometric equation found by removing the term
in y ', the first derivative. Its solutions,
sometimes called Whittaker functions, are
special cases of the confluent hypergeometric
series.
(1) In television, the horizontal
dimension of an image. It is generally ex
pressed in inches or feet. (2) See level width;

W ID T H .

line width.
W IED EM AN N EFFECT.
magnetostriction.

See discussion of

WIEDEM ANN-FRANZ L A W . The ratio of

the thermal to the electrical conductivity for
all metals is proportional to the absolute tem
perature T, and has a value of 6.11 X 10~ QT,
calorie-ohms sec-1 degree-1 . For 0C (273
absolute) this gives 0.00000147 calorie-ohm
sec-1 degree-1 , which is very close to the
observed value for platinum. The Wiedemann-Franz formula is theoretical and its co
efficient involves both the Boltzmann con
stant and the electronic charge. (It is also
called the Lorentz number.) For most metals
the ratio as observed is a little higher than
that given by the formula, doubtless because
of thermal conduction due to other causes than
electronic activity. Also, the law fails at low
temperatures.

A resistancecapacitance bridge circuit having a detector/

input-voltage magnitude-ratio of zero and a
W IE N BRIDGE CIRCUIT.

Cd

Rb

Rc

Ce

Ra

Rd

where ---------------W IE N DISPLACEMENT LA W .

laws.

See Wien

W IE N EFFECT. The increase in conduct

ance of an electrolyte at high potential gra
dients.

Wiener placed a
thick photographic emulsion on a front-faced
mirror. The emulsion was then exposed by
monochromatic light incident normal to the
surface. Upon development of the emulsion,
it was found that stationary waves had been
set up in the emulsion between the incident
and the reflected light. The nodes of the sta
tionary waves were found at the nodes of the
electric vector, not at the nodes of the mag
netic vector. (See wave, standing.)
W IENER EXPERIMENT.

W IEN LAWS. From a study of the spectral

energy distribution of thermal radiation, W.

Wien in 1896 arrived at three laws relating

to the radiation from a black body.
(1)
The wavelength Xm of the spectral dis
tribution, for which the radiation has great
est intensity, is inversely proportional to the
absolute temperature T of the black body.
\mT = er.

Thus, as the temperature rises, the peak of

the distribution curve is displaced or shifted
toward the short-wavelength end of the spec
trum. This is commonly called Wiens dis
placement law. The value of the displace
ment constant o- is about 0.2897 centimeterdegree. o- = c2/4.9651 in which c2 is the sec
ond radiation constant, hc/k = 1.4384 cm deg
(h is the Planck constant, c is the speed of
light and k is the Boltzmann constant. 4.9651
is the root of:
B

detector/input-voltage phase-angle difference

of 180 at a frequency

\ RcRdCdCc

+ B/5 - 1 = 0 .

(2)
The emissive power of the black body
within the maximum-intensity wavelength in
terval dX is proportional to the fifth power of
the absolute temperature:

Subsequent work by Planck and others gives

the value of the constant C as about
1.288 X 10~4 erg/cm3 sec deg5.
(3)
Wiens third law is an attempt to express
the spectral energy distribution of radiation
from the black body at temperature T, as fol
lows:
dEx = A \ - 5e - B/*Td\,

in which dE\ is the emissive power within the

wavelength interval dX and A and B are con
stants to be empirically determined.
The first and second laws are in accord
with thermodynamic theory and with the
Planck radiation formula, and also agree very
accurately with experiment. The third law
is empirical, but is almost identical with the
Planck equation at short wavelengths, and is
more simple to use. However, Wiens distri
bution law fails at longer wavelengths. (See
Introduction, pp. 18-21.)
W IE N RADIATION L A W .

See Wien laws.

The intensity of the

electron beam scattered into the angle 0 by
diffraction from a gas of molecules having
atoms j, k (with atomic scattering factors
Aj, A k) a distance rjk apart is

W IER L EQUATION.

Sin XTjk

,kAjA Jc----------,
xrjlc

where x = 47r/X sin

and X is the electron

wavelength.
W IG NER COEFFICIENT. The coefficients
usually denoted as (jm\j1m1j2m2 ) or just
(;m|mim2) which were first shown by E. P.

Wigner (1931) to be expressable as

(jm ITOim2)

m ,m i + ttgVsJ+A/i'jjj

Kj + "O Kj ~

+ mi)!

x 0*i wi)*0*2+ m2)\

0*2 -

m2) !]M

x ( - i ) p

p -Oi +J*2 - j - p)!

X

0*i

- mi -

X (j - H +
X

_ f 0*1 + k - J) 0*2 + j - ji) Kj + ji - jz) n H

0*i+i2+i+l)!

and the summation runs over all integral val

ues of p. It is to be noted that the terms re
sulting from any value of p which produces a
negative argument for one of the factorials
will be zero since the factorial will become
infinite. This coefficient is the same as the
Clebsch-Gordon coefficient. (See angular mo
mentum, coupling and recoupling of; V co
efficient; three-j symbol.)
WIGNER FORCE. Short range force of non
exchange type postulated phenomenologically
as part of the interaction between nucleons.
W IGNER NUCLIDES. A special case of
mirror nuclides. Pairs of odd-mass number
isobars for which the atomic number and the
neutron number differ by one, and in which

the numbers of protons and neutrons are so

related that each member of the pair would
be transformed into the other by exchanging
all neutrons for protons and vice versa.
WIGNER-SEITZ M ETHOD.
A technique
for calculating the band structure of a metal.

Each ion is supposed to be surrounded by a

sphere containing one atomic volume, and a
wave function computed so that its gradient
is zero at the surface of the sphere. This
spherical symmetry makes the calculation
very simple, but not very reliable.
A prediction from
quantum theory, stating that in a collision of
the second kind, angular momentum of elec
tron spin is conserved. That is, for all pos
sible transfers of energy, the one most likely
to occur is that in which the total resultant
spin of the two atoms remains unchanged.

WIGNER THEOREM.

W ILLIAM S REFRACTOMETER.
fractometer, Williams.
WILSON CLOUD CHAMBER.
chamber.
WILSON ELECTROSCOPE.
der electroscope.

p)\

See reSee cloud

Discussed un

+ vV-

O2 + m2 - p)
X
~ ii - m3+

where A (juj 2,j)

W ILSON EXPERIMENT. The theory of the

electromagnetic field in dielectrics requires
p)

that if a dielectric move across a magnetic

field, an electric polarization should be pro

duced in it at right angles to the field and to
the motion; just as in a conductor, likewise
moved, electric induction is set up. The ques
tion was tested by H. A. Wilson in an experi
ment which has become classic. A hollow
cylinder of dielectric material, coated on its
inner and outer cylindrical surfaces with
metal, was rotated about its axis in a mag
netic field whose lines of force were parallel
to the axis. The metal coatings were con
nected to a sensitive electrometer, which reg
istered a charge, reversing with the reversal
of the field, and having both the sign and the
magnitude required by the theory.
WIMSHURST M ACHINE.
chines.

See static ma

W IN D D EVIATION. The angle between the

direction of the wind and the direction of the
pressure gradient.
W IN D EQUATIONS. Equations for veloc
ity of air parcels, which are usually expressed
in terms of the pressure gradient, the density
of the air, the latitude, the angular velocity

of the earth, and the curvature of the parcels

path. The complexity of this relationship is
due to the fact that many factors influence
the movement of air in any quasi-horizontal
plane at or above the surface of the earth.
In the friction layer, frictional forces play an
important role. Convergence and divergence
also play their part in determining air flow.
Isoallobaric fields have some influence. But,
in general, three major forces play the main
roles in establishing the winds. They are:
(1) The Coriolis or deflective force due to
the earths rotation which is given by 2c>Vp
sin </>.
(2) The pressure gradient of the atmos
phere which is given by dp/dx.
(3) Centrifugal force due to curvature of
path of air parcel, which is given by V2p/r,
where o> is the angular velocity of the earth,
V is the velocity of the air parcel, p is the
air density, <f> is the latitude, r is the radius
of curvature of the parcels path, and dp/dx
is the pressure gradient.
If air movement is unaccelerated, these
three forces are the only factors involved in
determining the wind. When other forces are
active, accelerations and decelerations alter
equilibrium conditions among the three prin

cipal forces. However, equilibrium conditions

hold, except under the excessive influence of
one or more of the minor forces, and winds are
generally determined by the balance among
the three main forces.
There are several cases possible for estab
lishing a balance of forces among the three
and thus the wind equations may take several
forms.
W IN D , GRADIENT.

See gradient wind.

W IN D INCLINATION. The angle which the

wind direction makes with the direction of the

isobar at the place of observation.
W INDIN G. A conductive path, usually of
wire, inductively coupled to a magnetic core
or cell. When several windings are employed,
they may be designated by the functions per
formed. Examples are: sense, bias, and drive
windings. Drive windings include read, write,
inhibit, set, reset, input, shift, and advance
windings.
W IN D IN G , COSINE. A type of winding used

in the deflection yoke of a magnetically-deflected cathode-ray tube to prevent changes

in focus with deflection.
W IN DIN G, GATE. The winding of a satu
rable reactor which produces the on-off ac

tion on the load current.

W IN DIN G, INDUCTIVE (RELAY). A coil
having an inductance, as contrasted with a

non-inductive winding.
W IN D IN G , NON-INDUCTIVE (RELAY). A
type of winding in which the magnetic fields

produced by two parts of the winding cancel

each other and provide a non-inductive re
sistance.
W IN D IN G , PRIMARY. Any winding of a
transformer used as the input port for power

is called the primary winding. Transform

ers designed for specific applications often
have one set of terminals labeled primary
to indicate normal usage.
W INDINGS, BIAS. Of a saturable reactor,
those control windings by means of which the
operating condition is translated by an arbi
trary amount. (See bias.)
W INDINGS, CONTROL. Of a saturable reactor, those windings by means of which con

trol magnetomotive forces are applied to the

core.
W INDINGS, FEEDBACK. Of a saturable
reactor, those control windings to which the
feedback connections are made.
W INDINGS, OUTPUT. Of a saturable reactor, those windings other than feedback

associated with the load and through which

power is delivered to the load. (See gate
circuit.)
W INDINGS, POWER. Of a saturable re
actor, those windings to which the power is

supplied by a local source. Commonly the

functions of the output winding and the power
windings are accomplished by the same wind
ing, which is then termed the output winding.
(See also gate circuit.)
W INDINGS, SIGNAL. Of a saturable re
actor, those control windings to which the in

dependent variables (signals) are applied.

W IN D , KATABATIC.

See katabatic wind.

CAPACITATIVE.
Conducting
diaphragms extending into a waveguide from
top, and/or bottom. They produce the effect
of a capacitive susceptance shunted across the
waveguide at that point.

W IN D O W ,

W IN D O W , INDUCTIVE. Conducting dia

phragms extending into a waveguide from one

or both side-walls of the waveguide. The dia

phragms in this position produce the effect of
an inductive susceptance shunted across the
waveguide at that point.
W IN D O W , RESONANT. A conducting dia
phragm containing elements of both the in
ductive and capacitive windows that gives the

effect of a parallel L-C circuit shunted across

the point at which the diaphragm is placed.
An opening from the
cavity of the inner ear to the middle ear. It
is covered by an elastic membrane and is
sometimes called the secondary eardrum.

W IN D O W , ROUND.

W IN D O W , W AVEG U ID E.

See window en

tries above.
Any diagram showing fea
tures of wind direction and speed in the form
of a hub, with spokes of a wheel representing
direction or speed values or both. The most

W IN D ROSE.

common wind rose is one in which the length

of the spokes of the wheel extending into the
cardinal directions represents the frequency of
winds from that direction.
W INDS. (See also atmosphere, circulation of
the.) Winds can be divided into four cate

gories.
(1) Gradient winds blow in accordance with
the existing pressure gradient, centrifugal
force and Coriolis force.
a. C yclonic winds blow counterclockwise
about regions of relatively low pressure in the
northern hemisphere and clockwise in the
southern hemisphere. (See cyclone.)
b. A nticyclonic winds blow clockwise about
regions of relatively high pressure in the
northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in
the southern hemisphere.
(2) Geostrophic winds blow in accordance
with the pressure gradient, but only where
the pressure gradient is balanced by the
Coriolis force. They are, therefore, winds
which blow in straight or nearly straight lines
over the earth. Geostrophic winds are not pos
sible at the equator because there is no Coriolis
force present.
(3) Cyclostrophic winds blow cyclonically
in both hemispheres in wind systems where
the pressure gradient is balanced by centrif
ugal force in the absence of the Coriolis force.
Cyclostrophic winds occur near the equator
as hurricanes and other local less intense
vortices.
(4) Antitriptic winds are small-scale, short
duration winds which blow, in general, along
the pressure gradient. Land and sea breezes
are of this type.
In general, winds are mainly gradient winds.
Many strictly local winds blow over relatively
small regions. Most of these occur where
there is sharp contrast in surface temperature
over a relatively small distance or where ter
rain is highly irregular. Sea breezes blow
from cool water to heated land during the
heat of day. Land breezes blow from cooled
land to warmer water during the cool of the
night. Valley breezes blow upslope in valleyhill terrain during sunny days, and mountain
breezes blow downhill in a reverse manner
during darkness. M ountain breezes often be
come very strong and extremely variable as a
result of large-scale eddies and Bernoulli ef
fects in mountain passes.

An arrow with considerable

tail surface mounted for free rotation about a
vertical axis. Air flowing past the tail surface
keeps the arrow pointed in the direction from
which the wind is coming. The vane is usually
mounted some 20-30 ft above the ground or
water level.

W IN D VANE.

W IN D , VEERING.

See veering wind.

A moving contact on a
(See relay, stepping.)

W IPER (RELAY).

stepping relay.

W IRE, DIELECTRIC.
guide.

A dielectric wave

The work done by a force on a par

ticle during a given displacement is the line
integral of the force over the path taken by
the particle. Specifically if the force is F and
the elementary displacement of the particle
dr, where r is its position vector, the work
done is
WORK.

F-dr,

A magnetic recording
medium, approximately circular in cross sec
tion.

W.K.B. APPROXIMATION.
See Wentzel,
Kramers, Brillouin approximation.
A device, usually mechan
ical, used to frequency-modulate an oscillator
for test purposes. A small trimmer capacitor

W OBBULATOR.

rotating at constant velocity across the frequency-determining network of the oscillator

is an example.
Discussed

where the path extends from point A to point

At every point dr is directed along the
path. (See conservative system; work-kinetic

B.

energy theorem; integral, line.)

W ORK COIL.

See facsimile.

PRISM.

Synonym for cycle, minor.

See grat

W IRE, M AGNETIC.

W OLLASTON
prism, Rochon.

W O R D TIME.

W IRE GRATING, CONFORMAL.

ing, wire, conformal.

W IREPHOTO.

position; and may designate a number, an

address code, an instruction to the machine,
or a combination of these.

under

EFFECT.
The alkali metals are
found to be transparent to light in the ultra
violet. According to the free electron theory
of metals, the effect should occur for light of
wavelengths less than
WOOD

X0 = 27r(rac2/47rAre2)^,
where e and m are the charge and mass of
the free electrons, of number density N, and c
is the speed of light.
A low-frequency loudspeaker
used in high fidelity systems. It is custom
arily used with a cross-over network (see net
work, dividing) and a tweeter.

W OOFER.

W O R D (IN ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS).

An ordered set of characters which is the nor
mal unit in which information may be stored,
transmitted, or operated upon within a com
puter. A word is the content of one storage

See coil, load.

WORK CONTENT.

See free energy (2).

WORK FUNCTION, ELECTRONIC. The

energy (usually measured in electron-volts)
needed to remove an electron from the Fermi
level in a metal to a point an infinite distance

away outside the surface. The work function

is important in the theory of thermionic emis
sion, as for example, in the case of an electron
escaping from the heated, negatively-charged
filament of a vacuum tube, when the work
function may be called the thermionic work
junction. Photoelectric emission has a cor
responding work function.
WORK FUNCTION, THERMODYNAMIC.
See free energy (2).

Single crystals of
pure metals show rapid plastic deformation
at first, but this is often followed by a con
siderable increase in the shear strength. It is
thought that this is due to the motion of dis
locations along two different slip planes, which
intersect and hence impede each other.

WORK HARDENING.

WORK-KINETIC
ENERGY
THEOREM.
The work done by the resultant force on a
particle during a given displacement is equal
to the change in kinetic energy experienced

by the particle during this displacement. It

also holds for a rigid body and for incompres
sible fluids.

W ORK, M AXIM UM . The maximum amount

of work which can be obtained from a proc
ess, i.e., when it takes place reversibly. (See
also free energy.)

When
a system of particles subject to constraints
is in equilibrium under the action of a set of
impressed external forces, the total work done
by these forces when the particles undergo
small displacements compatible with the con
straints (so-called virtual displacements) is
zero. Analytically,
WORK, PRINCIPLE OF VIRTUAL.

WRITING SPEED (IN CHARGE-STORAGE

TUBES). The rate of writing on successive
storage elements.
WRONSKIAN. Let yi, y 2, ***, yn be func
tions of x , each having derivatives y i, y , ,

then the Wronskian of the functions

is the determinant

2/2
Vn
Vi

y'n
y2
w = y\
yjn-l) 2/2(n-1) yn(n~l)

^2 Fie'dTi = 0,
=0

U W = 0, the n functions are linearly depend

ent. When the y% are solutions of a linear dif

where the impressed external force on the th

particle of the system is Fie and its virtual
displacement is Sr*. The sum is taken over all
the particles.

ferential equation of nth order, evaluation

WORK, UNITS OF.

See units of energy.

W OR LD.
Used as adjective, as in world
scalar, world vector, etc., to emphasize that

of the Wronskian is a simple means for de

ciding whether or not the n functions give the
complete solution of the differential equation.
The distinctive
characteristics of this instrument are discussed
under electrometer.

W U LF ELECTROMETER.

the transformation properties referred to are

related to Lorentz transformations as op
posed to rotations in three dimensions. Hence
also world line (see space-time path), world
velocity (see four-velocity).

W ULLNER LA W . The modification of the

osmotic properties of water by a dissolved
substance, notably the reduction of the vapor
pressure, is a direct function of the concen
tration of the solute.

W O W . Speed variation in reproduced sound,

i.e., a low-frequency flutter.

WWV.

WRAP.

See core, tape-wound.

WRAP THICKNESS.

See core, tape-wound.

WRAP W ID T H . Synonym for tape width.

(See core, tape-wound.)
W RITE (COMPUTER). To introduce infor
mation, usually into some form of storage.
(See also read.)
W RITE (IN CHARGE-STORAGE TUBES).

To establish a charge pattern corresponding to

the input.
W RITE PULSE.

See state, one.

The radio station operated by the

National Bureau of Standards in Washington,
D. C. It broadcasts over five different radio
frequencies (2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 megacycles).
The frequencies of these carrier waves are
maintained constant to one part in 107 and
can be used as standards in the rf range. It
also broadcasts at frequent intervals standard
440 and 660 cycle/sec signals over these car
rier waves. The latter are also maintained
constant to within one part in 107.
W YE JUNCTION.
wye.
W YE RECTIFIER.
wye; rectifier, wye.

See waveguide junction,

See rectifier, full-wave

X
(1) Reactance (X ), capacitative react
ance ( X c ) , inductive reactance ( X L ) , specific
acoustic reactance (X ). (2) Rectangular co
ordinates (x ,y ,z ). (3) Mole fraction in liquid
(X ). (4) Mole ratio in liquid (x). (5) Dis
tance above datum plane in direction of flow
(x).
(6) Acoustical volume displacement
(X ). (7) Distance between object and prin
cipal focus of object space (x ). (8) Distance
between image and principal focus of image
space (a/).

X.

X-BAND.

See radar frequency bands.

COEFFICIENT.
Introduced by Fano
(1952). It is identical with the nine-j-symbol.

Gaseous
Atomic number 54.
XENON.

element.

Symbol Xe.

A recording or reproduction
process whereby a dielectric charge pattern
is made visible by dusting it with a suitable
dielectric powder.

XEROGRAPHY.

(1) Propagation flux density (H ). (2)

Displacement component of sound-bearing
particle ().

XI.

X-RAY(S).
Electromagnetic radiation of
wavelengths less than about 100 A, which
have been shown by x-ray diffraction methods

to be essentially in the range of 0.1-100 A,

produced: (1) when electrons, accelerated in a
vacuum, strike a target and lose kinetic en
ergy in passing through the strong electric
fields surrounding the target nuclei, thus giv
ing rise to bremsstrahlung and resulting in a
continuous x-ray spectrum; (2) by the transi
tions of atoms from higher energy states to
K, L, energy states, thus giving rise to
characteristic x-rays. The term x-rays is not
used to refer to the characteristic radiation
from an element of atomic number Z less than
10, since the wavelengths of such radiation
exceed those in the x-ray range. However,
every element has its characteristic x-ray spec
trum, when used as a target, although accord
ing to the Duane and Hunt law the radiation

also depends on the accelerating voltage.

X-rays may be detected photographically, by
fluorescence, or by the ionization they produce
in gases. Their capacity for penetrating con
siderable thicknesses of solids is exploited in
medicine, while the diffraction effect is used in
x-ray analysis of crystal structure.
The diffraction of x-rays
by crystalline solids is a powerful technique
for the identification and solution of their
crystal structures.
Various experimental
methods are used. In the Laue method radia
tion covering a wide range of wavelengths is
passed through a stationary crystal, and the
diffracted beams caught as spots on a photo
graphic plate. In other methods, a mono
chromatic beam falls on the crystal, which is
rotated so that various atomic planes come
into position, the intensity of the reflection
being measured either by the ionization it can
produce (Bragg spectrometer) or on a photo
graphic plate (rotating crystal; Weissenberg
methods). A useful method for rapid iden
tification, and the measurement of lattice
parameters is the Debye-Scherrer-Hull method
where the beam falls on a powdered sample,
forming a characteristic ring pattern photo
graph.

X-RAY ANALYSIS.

X-RAY ANALYSIS, DIRECT, OR HEAVY

ATOM M ETHOD. In some special cases,
the crystal structure can be found by x-ray
analysis, where there is a heavy atom at the

center of symmetry of the unit cell, outweigh

ing the contributions of the other atoms to
the scattering. The Fourier synthesis tech
nique may then be applied directly, the phase
angles being then all zero.
X-RAY ANALYSIS TRIAL. See crystal struc
ture-trial analysis method; Harker-Kasper in
equalities.
CHARACTERISTIC.
X-rays
which are characteristic of the element in
which they are produced. Their emission re
sults from rearrangements of electrons in the
X-RAY(S),

inner electron shells of atoms. For elements

of atomic number of 20 or greater, the en
ergies are grouped in similar series. (See Ir
radiation, L-radiation, etc.) Commonly the
target of an x-ray tube emits both character
istic x-rays and continuous x-rays.
(See
bremsstrahlung; Moseley law.)
X-RAY(S), CONTINUOUS. The electromag.
netic radiation of continuous spectral distribu
tion produced by bremsstrahlung, for exam
ple, when electrons strike a target. The wave
lengths of the continuous x-rays vary from
a minimum, corresponding to a photon energy
equal to the maximum kinetic energy of the

incident particles, to indefinitely large values.

For a given tube-current, the intensity asso
ciated with each wavelength is dependent on
the material and thickness of the target, and
on the potential difference applied to the tube.
The continuous spectrum produced by very
high-velocity electrons from, for example, a
betatron may extend into or beyond the y-ray
range of wavelengths. However, such radia
tion is still referred to as x-rays, the term
y-rays being reserved for electromagnetic ra
diation emitted by nuclei.
X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHY.
analysis and crystal structure.

See x-ray

terial is not in an ordered state, as in a gas,

the x-rays are diffracted as if by each atom
independently. The characteristic x-ray dif
fraction pattern for liquids consists of a few
rather diffuse rings. These may be interpreted
as meaning that the liquid resembles a micro
crystalline material of extremely small grainsize, but a more acceptable description can
be found in terms of the radial distribution
function without requiring the existence of
grain boundaries. The radial distribution
function completely determines the diffrac
tion pattern. (See also spectrometer, crystal.)
X-RAY(S), EFFECTIVE W AVELENGTH.
Wavelength of monochromatic x-rays which
undergo the same percentage attenuation in

a specified filter as the heterogeneous beam

under consideration. The term was originated
by Duane; his specified filters were 1 mm
Cu or 3 mm A1 and he determined attenuation
of the monochromatic rays by means of a
spectrometer.
X-RAY EMISSION SPECTRA. The K- and
L-shells of atoms in a solid may be ionized by

electron impact and filled by electrons drop

ping from the conduction band in a metal or
from a filled band in an insulator. The spec
trum of the emitted radiation gives directly

X-RAY D ETECTION. X-rays, being quanta

of many electron volts energy, are capable of

ionizing material in which they are absorbed.

The ionization may be observed directly, as
in a gas-filled ionization chamber, or photo
graphically or by associated fluorescence ef
fects. If it is necessary to obtain the spec
trum of the x-rays, the analysis is effected by
diffraction from a crystal, as in the Bragg
spectrometer.

X-rays may also be detected by the methods

described under spectroscopy, gamma-ray.
X-RAY DIFFRACTION. Early attempts to
diffract x-rays by slits, gratings, etc., were

unsuccessful. It was then realized that they

might have wavelengths as small as the actual
interatomic distance in a solid. The experi
ment of Friedrich and Knipping confirmed
von Laues theoretical calculation of the type
of pattern to be expected for the diffraction
of a beam of x-rays by the regular atomic
lattice of a crystal (see x-ray analysis and
crystal structure). When the diffracting ma

a (rather smudged) representation of the shape

of the band, since the intensity of radiation
emitted with a particular frequency will de
pend on th number of electrons available with
the appropriate energy, i.e., on the energy
density of filled levels in the band. (See
figure.)

X-RAY HARDNESS. The penetrating power

of x-rays, which is an inverse function of the
wavelength.
X-RAY(S),
HETEROCHROMATIC.
x-rays, heterogeneous.

X-rays of
a broad range or considerable number of fre
quencies.
X-rays of a
single frequency or of a narrow band of fre
quencies.
X-RAY(S), HOMOGENEOUS.

See discussion under x-ray

X-RAY(S), M ONOCHROM ATIC.

homogeneous.

See x-rays,

X-RAY REFLECTION, INTEGRATED.

integrated x-ray reflection.

See

X-RAY SPECTRA. When cathode rays fall

upon a specimen of some element the result
ing x-rays consist of a continuous spectrum
upon which are superimposed certain groups
of much sharper lines characteristic of the
element. These lines (see K-line, L-line, etc.)
correspond to transitions between the inner
energy levels of the atom, and their frequencies
obey the Moseley law. (See x-ray(s), char
acteristic.)

The
between the integrated reflection

X-RAY SPECTRA, INTENSITY OF.

relation

1 + cos2 20

See

X-RAY(S), HETEROGENEOUS.

X-RAY LEVELS.
series.

and the structure amplitude F (h k l)

for the [hkl) plane is given by

p{hkl)

2ju rin2 0

m2c

where N is the number of unit cells per cm3

of crystal, m is the mass of the atom, A the
wavelength of the x-rays, ^ their absorption
coefficient in the crystalline material, and 0
the glancing angle.
X-RAY SPECTROGRAM.
x-ray diffraction pattern.

A record of an

SPECTROGRAPH.
An apparatus
used to record x-ray diffraction patterns, such
as an x-ray spectrometer equipped with photo
graphic or other recording apparatus.

X-RAY

X-RAY STRUCTURE. The atomic or ionic

structure of substances as determined by
x-ray diffraction patterns obtained by the pas
sage through it of x-rays.
X-RAY UNIT.
XTAL.

Same as x-unit.

Abbreviation for crystal.

X-UNIT (XU). A unit used in expressing the

wavelengths of x-rays or^y-rays. It is about

10 11 cm or 10 3 angstrom. Accurately, 1
Xu = 1.00202 d= 0.00003 X 10 3 angstrom.
X W AVE.
nent.

See extraordinary-wave compo

Y
(1) Admittance (Y ), admittance with
plate load, or grid or input ( y g), admittance,
output (yp).
(2) Rectangular coordinates
(xyy,z). (3) Yttrium (Y ). (4) Mole fraction
in vapor (y). (5) Mole ratio in vapor (7 ).
(6) Depth or height (y). (7) Height of ob
ject (y).
(8) Height of image (yf). (9)
Altitude (y). (10) Transverse acoustical dis
placement (y). (11) Young modulus of elas
ticity (y ). (12) Super-compressibility factor

Y.

(V).

Yf* Yffo Y/C9 Yfe9 Y 2i , Y 2ibi Y 2ic , Y 21e. See

transistor parameter

Y/9 etc.

Y {, Yib) Yic9 Yie9

Y n i Y u c 9 Y\\e,

transistor parameter
yo*

J 0 6 9 J oe?

y0e9 J 2 2 9

See

etc.
y22bi

j22o

J 22e*

See

transistor parameter y 0> etc.

y
Jrc9Jre, J l 2 >y\ 2 b, y i 2 c9y i 2 e- See transistor parameter y r9 etc.
YANG THEOREM ON ANGULAR DIS
TRIBUTIONS. In 1948, C. M. Yang proved

a theorem which states that if only incoming

waves of orbital angular momentum L con
tribute appreciably to a reaction, the angular
distribution of the outgoing particles in the
center of mass system is an even polynomial
of cosine S with maximum exponent not higher
than 2L. The angle 6 is measured between the
incoming and outgoing particles in the center
of mass system.

Unit of length, abbreviation yd. (1)

British. The imperial yard is the length equal
to that of the standard yard, i.e., to the dis
tance between two parallel scratches on a
standard bar maintained in London, under
specified conditions of temperature and pres
sure. The imperial yard is equivalent to
0.9144004 meter. (2) U.S. The U.S. yard
is defined as exactly 3600/3937 meter (how
ever, see inch and mechanical units.)
YARD.

YARKOVSKY EFFECT. Force on a rotating

body moving around the Sun produced by un
even emission of radiation due to a phase lag

in the surface temperature. Causes the body

to spiral outwards when spin and orbital
angular momentum are parallel. Negligible
for the planets but not for meteors of radius
>; 1 cm.
Y-CONNECTION.

See multiphase circuits.

YIELD. A term which is most frequently used

to refer to the quantity of the end product

produced from a given amount of initial re
acting components. This term is used par
ticularly in reference to chemical and nuclear
reactions. A high yield nuclear reaction is one
for which the cross section is large.
YIELD POINT. The minimum unit stress at
which a structural material will deform with
out an increase in the load is called the yield
point. Some materials do not have a yield
point and in others it is not a well-defined
value. Consequently, in these cases it has
become common practice to use a quantity
called the yield strength. The yield strength
is the unit stress corresponding to a specific
amount of permanent unit deformation.
Y-JUNCTION.

See junction, Y.

The primordial substance from which

the chemical elements may have been derived.
(See nucleogenesis.)

YLEM.

Y-NETWORK.

See network, Y.

YOKE. A set of coils used around the neck

of a cathode-ray tube to produce horizontal

and vertical deflection of the electron beam.

An assembly of one
or more coils, whose magnetic field deflects an
electron beam.

YOKE, DEFLECTION.

YOKE, DEFLECTION, PULL-BACK.

Color .

(1)

The distance between the maximum

possible foreward position of the yoke and the
position of the yoke to obtain optimum color
purity. (2) Monochrome. The maximum dis
tance the yoke can be moved along the tube
axis without producing neck shadow.

YOUNG CONSTRUCTION.
A graphical
method for tracing a ray of light through a
spherical boundary between media of different
indices of refraction.
YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ THEORY. The orig

inal theory of color vision. It assumes the

existence in the eye of three mechanisms each
sensitive to one of the three primary colors,
red, green and blue. It accounts for some of
the observed phenomena of color vision, but
not for others. The theory is convenient for
many purposes but has been modified by later
students. (See Ladd-Franklin theory.)
YOUNG INTERFERENCE EXPERIMENT.

In 1801 Thomas Young made the epochal dis

covery of the interference of light waves, by
discussing an experiment which has become
classic. Light from a narrow slit L falls on
a plate in which are two parallel slits, A, B,
very close together, so that from the further
side of the latter there emerge two exactly
similar wave trains.
(See figure.) These

It is easy to show from the elementary the

ory of interference that if AB = s , if the dis
tance from AB to F is x, and if the wavelength
of the light is X, the distance on the screen
between any two consecutive dark bands or
any two consecutive bright bands is 6 = xX/s.
Therefore if b, s, and x are measured, we have
at once a means of determining the wave
length: A = b s / x .
Other devices have proved more satisfactory
than the pair of slits, such as the Fresnel bi
prism, the Fresnel mirrors, or the Lloyd mir
ror; each of which produces a double virtual
image of the slit L to serve as the two wavetrain sources A and B.
YOUNG MODULUS. The elastic modulus
corresponding to simple tension, the strain
being measured parallel to the tension. In
the case of an elastic solid rod or wire, the
Young modulus is the ratio of the tensile stress
to the associated linear strain. In any iso
tropic solid, Youngs modulus is

n + 3B

where x is the shear modulus, and B is the

bulk modulus.
Light from single source L gives rise to two wave
trains at A and B, which produce interference fringes
on screen F.

overlap in the region beyond AB and produce

interference. If a screen F is placed at some
distance from A B , alternate bright and dark
bands or fringes appear on it, parallel to the
two slits. If a translucent screen is used (or
in the case of white light, a plate of colored
glass acting as a color filter), these bands may
be viewed by means of a magnifier beyond it
at E, or better, a low-power micrometer eye
piece, with which the width of the band-interval can be measured.

Y-RECTIFIER.

See rectifier, wye.

Rare earth metallic element.

Atomic number 70.

YTTERBIUM.

Symbol Yb.

Rare metallic element.

Y or Yt. Atomic number 39.

YTTRIUM.

Symbol

A potential func
tion of the form V = (V 0/r) ( e ~r/h) . It is used
to describe the meson field about a nucleon.
The Yukawa potential is employed rather fre
quently as one shape of nuclear potential well
that can be used in attempts to fit theory with
experimental results, for example, in scatter
ing. (See potential, nuclear; nuclear forces.)

YUKAWA POTENTIAL.

z
Z.
(1) Atomic number (Z).
(2) Gramequivalent weight (Z).
(3) Molecular col

The Z-coefficient was first introduced by

Biedenhorn, Blatte, and Rose in 1952. (See

lision frequency (Z).

(4) Distance above
datum plane [z). (5) Modulus of section (Z).
(6) Impedance or acoustic impedance ( Z) ,
specific acoustic impedance (z). (7) Rectan
gular coordinates (x,y,z ).
(8) Radius of
circle of least confusion (Z).
(9) Complex

angular
pling.)

variable (z).

/9 /59 /09 /509 219 21 59 21ce9 215ce See

transistor parameter

etc.

/89 /589 /cs9 /es- See transistor parameter

etc.
9 59 09 509 lli 1159 llce9 ll5ce
transistor parameter
etc.

See

189 fes9 Sics9 es See transistor parameter

89 etc.
09 059 009 0509 229 2269 22ce9 22bee*
transistor parameter z 0, etc.

See

089 0589 0 CS9 Oes. See transistor parameter

089 etc.
r9 r69 7*09 7*509 129 1259 12ce9 125ce
transistor parameter z r9 etc.

See

rs9 r 5 s9 rcs9 res* See transistor parameter

/*89 etc.
ZARTMAN EXPERIMENT. See Stem-Zartman experiments.
Z-AXIS M ODULATION. The intensity mod
ulation of a cathode-ray tube by variation of
the grid-cathode voltage.

A coefficient which enters

into the transformation for the recoupling of
four angular momenta in connection with the
evaluation of matrix elements in beta decay
theory and other similar problems. This co
efficient is related to the Wigner three-j-symbols and six-j-symbols by the expression.

Z-COEFFICIENT.

Z ( j i j 2h h

;LS)

( - l ) L + h - h ) - h - h (2L + l ) ( 2 j 1+

l)(2j2+

l)

momentum,

coupling

and

recou-

ZEEMAN EFFECT. In a magnetic field of

strength H an atomic or molecular energy
level corresponding to a total angular momen
tum J is split into 2J+1 component levels
characterized by the magnetic quantum num
ber
M = J, J - 1, J - 2, , - J

and having the energy

W = W o - PhH
Here W0 is the energy without field and Jlu the
mean value of the component of the magnetic
moment of the atom or molecule in the field
direction. (See also space quantization.)
The different contributions to the magnetic
moment are: (1) the magnetic moment as
sociated with the orbital and spin angular
momenta of the electrons, (2) the magnetic
moment associated with the nuclear spin, and
(3) in molecules, the magnetic moment pro
duced by the rotational motion. The first con
tribution is of the order of a Bohr magneton,
the second and third are of the order of a
nuclear magneton, that is of the order of
1/1836 of the first. (For more detail on the
effect of the nuclear magnetic moment see
hyperfine structure.)
The selection rules for M are

AM = 0, 1

and

M = 0

M = 0

for AJ = 0.
Lines corresponding to transitions with AM
= 0 are plane polarized with the electric vector
parallel to the field direction (7r-components),
those with AM = =b1 are plane polarized with
the electric vector perpendicular to the field
direction (o-components).
I.
Atomic Spectra. In a weak or moderately
strong magnetic field (for very strong fields see
Paschen-Back effect)

Jxh = n0M g .

Here Mo is the Bohr magneton

e
Mo =

2me 2 t

(e and m, respectively, are the charge and mass

of the electron, h, Plancks constant, c, veloc
ity of light), and g , the Lande splitting factor

For S 7 ^ 0 (multiplet terms) the 0 -factor,

and, as a consequence, the Zeeman splitting
is different for different terms (anomalous
Zeeman effect). Multiplet lines show a rather
complicated, though always symmetrical Zee
man pattern (see Figure 2 ). For more details
M

M 'g

J (J + 1) + S(S + 1) - L (L + 1)
<7 = 1 +

2J(J + 1)

(S and L, respectively, are quantum numbers

corresponding to the resultant electron spin
and the resultant electronic orbital angular
momentum.)
The energy of the component levels is given
by
4.3

W = W - Hull = W o - 1- hoMg

where

o = J L eH
2 tt 2me

(Ter 7T 7T (TO*

is the Larmor frequency.

For S = 0 the ^-factor is equal to 1, that is
the Zeeman splitting is the same for all singlet
terms. The Zeeman pattern of singlet lines
(normal Zeeman effect) therefore consists of
three equally spaced lines with AM = 0 , + 1 ,
and 1 , respectively, and a separation (in
cm-1 ) Av = o/c = 4.6699 X 10 5 H (see Fig
ure 1 ).
Without Field

W ith Field

Fig. 2. Anomalous Zieman effect, splitting of

3Pi transition.

*SX-

see H. E. White, Introduction to A tom ic Spec

tra,, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1934, p.
217 ff.
II.
M olecular Spectra, (a) S = 0; A ^ 0 (S
and A, respectively, quantum numbers of the
electron spin and the electronic orbital angu
lar momentum about the internuclear axis of
linear and diatomic molecules):
m

MfJL0.

J (J + 1)

(b) S * 0; A = 0:
Vh = 2M sn0

where
Ms = S , S -

1,

-S

is the quantum number of the component of S

in the field direction.
(c) S = 0; A = 0 (electronic ground states
of most molecules):
H ~ QrMnon

where /xowis the nuclear magneton

e

Fig. 1. Normal Zieman effect for a combination

J = 3

J = 2.

Mon ~

(mp, mass of the proton), and gr, the rota

tional /-factor, a number of the order 1, char
acteristic of the particular molecular state.
(d) S = 0; A =7^=0.
In this case complicated formulas hold.
(For details see G. Herzberg, Molecular Spec
tra and Molecular Structure, Vol. 1, Spectra
of Diatomic Molecules, p. 300 ff., D. Van
Nostrand Co., Inc., Princeton, N. J., 1950.)

See z-axis modulation.

Z M ODULATION.

See current, Zener.

ZENER CURRENT.

ZENER REFERENCE.

See diode, Zener.

See voltage, Zener.

ZENER VOLTAGE.

The number which has the funda

mental properties:

ZERO.

ft -f- 0 = &,

tt*0 = 0,

and
0/a = 0,

if a

0,

where a is any number. Division by zero is

not defined and is not a permissible operation.
(See also matrix, null.)
ZERO BEAT.

See beat, zero.

ZERO-BEAT RECEPTION.
tection.
ZERO BRANCH.

See Fortrat parabola.

ZERO GEODESIC.
ZERO LINE.

Homodyne de

See null geodesic.

See Fortrat parabola.

ZERO-LINE GAP.

See Fortrat parabola.

ZERO OF A FUNCTION. A value of the

argument for which a function vanishes.
Thus, a zero of f ( x) is a root of the equation

f i x } = 0.
ZERO OUTPUT.

See state, one.

ZERO POINT ENERGY. The kinetic energy

remaining in a substance at the absolute zero

point of temperature. According to quantum
mechanics, a simple harmonic oscillator does
not have a stationary state of zero kinetic
energy. The ground state has still one half
quantum, hv, of energy, and the motion cor
responding thereto. This agrees with the un
certainty principle, which does not permit the

oscillator particle to be absolutely at rest

exactly at the origin. In solids the zero-point
energy is distributed in the normal modes of
lattice vibration, and may be an appreciable
term in the binding energy of the crystal,
especially in hydrogen, helium, rare gases, etc.
The motion may be observed in x-ray diffrac
tion, but does not contribute to electronic
resistivity. (See also oscillator, harmonic.)
ZERO POINT ENTROPY. According to the
third law of thermodynamics (see thermody
namics, third law) the entropy of a system in
equilibrium at the absolute zero must be zero.
Such systems, as for instance a glass which
can have finite entropy at absolute zero, are
not in thermodynamic equilibrium.
ZERO POINT FIELD. In quantum electro
dynamics, the electromagnetic field is quan
tized and, like any other quantum mechanical
system, has a zero point energy, of one-half

quantum per state of the field. The field

associated with these zero point energies is
known as the zero point field. (See also
vacuum polarization.)
ZERO POINT FLUCTUATIONS. Fluctua
tions in the zero point field.
(See also
vacuum polarization.)
ZERO SHIFT. In a balanced magnetic am
plifier, that output which occurs with zero
control signal because of drift.
ZERO STABILITY. Zero stability of a bal
anced magnetic amplifier is expressed in terms
of the maximum zero shift which occurs over

a given period of time with given changes in

operating conditions.
ZERO STATE.

See state, one.

ZETA. (1) A controlled thermonuclear de

vice at Harwell, England, designed in the form
of a large torus and using the pinch effect for
confinement and heating. (See also Perhapsatron.) (2) The Greek letter zeta is used as a

symbol for the displacement component of

soundbearing particle ().
ZETA POTENTIAL.
(zeta) potential.
ZEVER VOLTAGE.

See

electrokinetic

See diode, breakdown.

ZIG-ZAG REFLECTIONS.
spheric reflection.

Multiple iono

ZINC.
Metallic element.
Atomic number 30.

Symbol

Metallic element.
Zr. Atomic number 40.

ZIRCONIUM.

Zn.

Symbol

ZITTERBEW EGUNG. The oscillatory mo

tion of a Dirac electron as given by the
Heisenberg equation of motion when applied

to the position operator. For a free electron

of energy w, the frequency of this motion is
2 w/h.
ZO D IACAL LIGHT. Sunlight reaching the
earth after scattering from other bodies of

the solar system, chiefly from meteoritic dust

of radius ~ 1 0 -3 cm. Predominance of for
ward scattering causes light to be visible in
the east just before dawn and in the west just
after sunset.
ZONAL ABERRATION. Spherical or mono
chromatic aberration of a lens of wide aper
ture due to the fact that the refracting power

is different for different zones concentric at

the axis.
ZONAL HARMONIC.

See harmonic.

ZONE AXIS. The axis through the center of

a crystal which is parallel to the edge of a
zone. (See zone of a crystal.)

The region in space

within which difference in phase of two radio
signals is indistinguishable.

ZONE, EQUIPHASE.

ZONE, INTERFACIAL. The boundary area

between two phases, consisting of the bound

ary particles of each phase if, in the particular

case, they may be regarded as composed of
particles.
ZONE
LEVELING
(PERTAINING
SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING).

TO

The
passage of one or more molten zones along a
semiconductor body for the purpose of uni
formly distributing impurities throughout the
material.

ZONE OF A CRYSTAL. A set of faces of

a crystal meeting (or capable of meeting if

extended) in a series of edges, all of which are

parallel.

which are alternate transparent and opaque

circular zones of such size as to transmit only
every other half-period element of the wave
front, an image of the source point may be
formed somewhat as by a lens. The diam
eters of the zones on the zone plate will be
about as the square root of the number of the
zone counting out from the center. Because
of the shortness of the wavelengths of visible
light, these zones on the zone plate are too
close together to make this a useful lens.
ZONE PURIFICATION (PERTAINING TO
SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING).
The

passage of one or more molten zones along

a semiconductor for the purpose of reducing
the impurity concentration of part of the
ingot.
ZONE REFINING.
of refining.

Regions surrounding
a sound source in the atmosphere in which
sounds from the source become inaudible, al
though they can again be heard at greater
distances.
ZONES OF SILENCE.

The idea incorporated in zone

time was suggested by Sandford Fleming in
1878 for use in establishing standard time.
Zone time is used at present by all branches
of air and sea navigation of the United States,
and many other nations. The surface of the
earth is divided into 24 time zones, each cover
ing 15 of longitude and each centered on a
meridian some integral multiple of 15 (1
hour) from Greenwich, England. Each zone is
given a number, known as the zone designa
tion, which is the number of hours that the
central meridian of the zone is west or east of
Greenwich. The zone designations are marked
plus ( + ) for west longitude and minus ( )
for east. The zero zone, centered on the me
ridian of Greenwich, is split; the 0 zone ex
tending from longitude 7.5 East to 0; and
the + 0 zone extending from 0 to 7.5 West.
The same is true for the zone centered on 180,
where we have +12 extending from 172.5
West to 180; and -1 2 from 180 to 172.5
East.

ZONE TIME.

(STEPPING).
The displacement
of various portions (called zones, or steps) of
a lens or surface of a reflector so that the re

ZONING
ZONE PLATE. (See diffraction, half-period
elements or zones.) By the use of a plate on

See floating zone method

suiting phase front in the near field remains

unchanged.
ZOOMAR.

See variable focus lens.

An ion carrying charges of

opposite sign, which thus constitutes an elec

ZW ITTERION.

trically-neutral molecule with a dipole mo

ment; looking like a positive ion at one end
and a negative ion at the other. Most ali
phatic amino-acids form such dipolar ions,
hence react with both strong acids and strong
bases.

FrenchEnglish Index
Aberration de la lumire. Aberration of light
Aberration de sphricit. Spherical aberration
Aberration optique. Aberration, optical
Aberration zonale. Zonal aberration
Abscisse. Abscissa
Absolu. Absolute
Absorbant. Absorbent
Absorptance. Absorptance
Absorption. Absorption
Absorption. Stopping power
Acclrateur. Accelerator
Acclration. Acceleration
Acclration centripte. Centripetal acceleration
Acclrateur linaire. Linear accelerator
Acclromtre. Accelerometer
Accepteur (dans un semi-conducteur). Acceptor (in a
semiconductor)
Accommodation. Accommodation
Accord. Matched
Accord. Tuned
Accroissement de fragilit. Embrittlement
Accroissement juste perceptible. Difference limen
Accumulateur. Accumulator
Accumulateur fer-nickel. Cell, iron-nickel
Achromatique. Achromatic
Achromatique. Lens, achromatic
Acoustique. Acoustic
Acoustique. Acoustics
Acoustique. Audio
Acoustique. Aural
Acoustique. Sonics
Actif. Active
Actinomtre. Actinometer
Action. Action
Action distance. Action at a distance
Activateur. Activator
Activation. Activation
Activit. Activity
Activit sature. Saturated activity
Activit spcifique. Specific activity
Addition. Addition
deux tats stables. Bistable
deux objets. Two-body
Adhrence. Adhesion
Adhsion. Coherence
Adiabatique. Adiabatic
Adjoint. Adjoint
Admis. Allowed
Admissible. Permissible
Admittance. Admittance
Admittance indiciaire. Indicial admittance
Adsorbant. Adsorbent
Adsorption. Adsorption
Adsorption. Sorption
Arodynamique. Aerodynamics
Aromtre. Aerometer
Arosol. Aerosol
A.F.M.R.E.T. RETMA
gauche. Left-hand
Age. Age

Agent. Agent
Agglomration. Agglomeration
A grande porte. Long range
Agrgation. Aggregation
Aiguille. Needle
Aiguille dinclinaison. Dip needle
II Broches. Magnai
Aimant. Magnet
Aimantation. Magnetization
Aimantation de saturation. Magnetization, saturation
Air. Air
Albdo. Albedo
Alcali. Alkali
Algbre. Algebra
Alimenter. Feed
Alliage. Alloy
Alllomorphe. Allelomorph
Allobare. Allobar
Allomorphie. Allomorphism
Allong. Prolate
Allotropie. Allotropy
Allumage. Firing
Alternateur. Alternator
Altimtre. Altimeter
Ambiant. Ambient
Amorage. Firing
Amorphe. Amorphous
Amortissement. Damping
Amortissement. Decay
Amortissement critique. Damping, critical
Amortissement critique. Damping, optimal
Ampremtre. Ammeter
Ampre-tour. Ampere-turn
Amplidyne. Amplidyne
Amplificateur. Amplifier
Amplificateur lampes. Vacuum-tube amplifier
Amplificateur de radar. Slicer
Amplificateur diffrentiel. Difference amplifier
Amplification. Amplification
Amplification. Gain
Amplification. Magnification
Amplification diffrentielle. Differential gain
Amplifier. Boost
Amplistat. Amplistat
Amplitude. Amplitude
Analogue. Analog
Analyse. Scanning
Analyse dimensionnelle. Dimensional analysis
Analyseur. Analyzer
Analyseur de hauteur dimpulsions. Pulse height
analyzer
Analytique. Analytic
Analytique. Regular
Anastigmat. Anastigmat
Anmographe. Anemograph
Anmomtre. Anemometer
neuf broches. Noval
Angle. Angle
Angle azimutal. Azimuth angle
Angle de contact. Contact angle

Angle de phase. Phase angle

Angle de retard. Lag, angle of
Angle solide. Angle, solid
Angulaire. Angular
Anharmonie. Anharmonicity
Anharmonique. Anharmonie
Anion. Anion
Anisotrope. Aeolotropic
Anisotrope. Anisotropic
Anisotropie. Anisotropy
Anneau. Ring
Anneaux de Newton. Newton rings
Anode. Anode
Anode. Plate
Anomalie optique. Optical anomaly
Anormal. Abnormal
Anotron. Anotron
Antenne. Antenna
Antenne active. Exciter
Antenne en L. L antenna
Antenne en V. V antenna
Antenne orientable. Rotator
Anti-. AntiAnticathode. Anticathode
Anticathode. Target
Anticommutateur. Anticommutator
Anticyclone. Anticyclone
Antifading. AVC.
Antiferromagntisme. Antiferromagnetism
Anti-liaison. Antibonding
Antiparallle. Antiparallel
Antiparticule. Antiparticle
Antisymtrique. Antisymmetric
Aplanat. Aplanat
Aplati aux ples. Oblate
plusieurs. Multichannel
Apochromatique. Apochromatic
Apochromatique. Lens, apochromat
Appareil de lecture au son. Omnigraph
Approch. Approximate
Approximation. Approximation
Approximation adiabatique. Adiabatic approximation
rayons cathodiques. Oscilloscope, cathode-ray
Arc. Arc
Arc-en-ciel. Rainbow
Arc en retour. Backfire
Argument. Argument
Armature. Armature
Arrangement. Configuration
Arrt brutal dun racteur. Scram
Articulation. Articulation
Artificiel. Artificial
Assemblage. Assembly
Assemblage. Assembly
Asiatique. Astatic
Astigmatisme. Astigmatism
Astronomique. Astronomical
Asymtrique. Asymmetric
Asymptote. Asymptote
Atome. Atom
Atome-gramme. Gram-atom
Atomisation. Atomization
Atmosphre. Atmosphere
Atmosphrique. Atmospheric
Attaque. Launching
Attnuateur. Attenuator
Attnuateur de ligne. Line pad
Attnuation. Attenuation

Attraction lectrique. Attraction, electrical

Audibilit. Audibility
Audible. Speech
Auditif. Auditory
Audition. Hearing
Auroral. Auroral
Auto-. SelfAutocollimateur. Autocollimator
Autoradiogramme. Autoradiograph
Avalanche. Avalanche
Avalanche. Cascade shower
Avance. Lead
Averse. Shower
Axe. Axis
Axe des coordonnes. Coordinate Axis
Axe de zone. Zone axis
Axe optique. Axis, optic
Axe optique. Optic axis
Axe principal. Principal axis
Bande dabsorption. Absorption band
Bras. Arm
Batterie de tension anodique. B battery
Balistique. Ballistics
Bande permise. Band, allowed
Bar. Bar
Bam. Bam
Baromtre. Barometer
Base. Base
Basses frquences. Bass
Batterie. Battery
Baud. Baud
Battement(s). Beat(s)
Balai. Brush
Barre omnibus. Bus
Bande de frquences. Channel, radio
Bande de conduction. Conduction band
Bande-F. F-band
Bande remplie. Filled band
Bande interdite. Forbidden band
Bande de frquences. Frequency band
Bas. Low
Bande coupe. Rejection band
Bande latrale. Side band
Bagues collectrices. Slip rings
Balayage. Sweep
Bande de valence. Valence band
Battement nul. Zero beat
Basse frquence. Audio
Bel. Bel
Blinogramme. Telephoto
Blinogramme. Wirephoto
Btatron. Betatron
Bvatron. Bevatron
Biaxe. Biaxial
Bidirectionnel. Bidirectional
Binaire. Binary
Binauriculaire. Binaural
Binoculaire. Binocular
Binme. Binomial
Biophysique. Biophysics
Biprisme. Biprism
Birfringence. Birefringence
Birfringence. Double refraction
Blanc. White
Blindage. Shield
Blindage magntique. Magnetic shielding

Blocage. Blocking
Bobine. Coil
Bobine darrt. Choke
Bobine de charge. Loading coil
Bobine de compensation. Bucking coil
Bobine de dviation. Yoke
Bobine de raction. Tickler
Bobine dinduction. Induction coil
Bobine mobile. Voice coil
Bote de rsistances. Resistance box
Bolomtre. Bolometer
Bombarder. Bombard
Borne. Terminal
Borne vis. Post
Boson. Boson
Bossel. Embossed
Bouchon. Trap
Bougie. Candle
Boussole. Compass
Branche. Branch
Brachistochrone. Brachistochrone
Brillance. Brightness
Brillance. Luminance
Brouillard. Fog
Brouillard. Smog
Bruit. Noise
Brume. Haze
Cble. Cable
Cadre. Frame
Cadre. Loop
Calcite. Calcite
Calcul. Calculus
Calculateur. Computer
Calorescence. Calorescence
Calorie. Calorie
Calorifique. Calorific
Calorimtre. Calorimeter
Calorimtrie. Calorimetry
Calculateur Chiffreur. Digital computer
Calutron. Calutron
Camra. Camera
Canalisation. Duct
Canon lectrons. Electron gun
Canonique. Canonical
Capacit. Capacitance
Capacit. Capacity
Capacit calorifique. Capacity, heat
Capacit calorifique. Heat capacity
Capacitif. Capacitive
Capture dlectron-K. K-capture
Capacit rpartie. Distributed capacitance
Capillarit. Capillarity
Capillaire. Capillary
Capture. Capture
Caractre. Character
Caractre discret. Discreteness
Caractristique. Characteristic
3 Meanings in English. See Page 139 in Book.
Caractristique dynamique. Dynamic characteristic
Caractristique grille-anode. Transfer characteristic
Carat. Carat
Cardiode. Cardioid
Carte. Map
Cartsien. Cartesian
Cas. Event
Cascade. Cascade

Catadioptrique. Catadioptric
Cataphorse. Cataphoresis
Catnaire. Catenary
Cathtomtre. Cathetometer
Cathode. Cathode
4 Meanings in English. See Page 129 in Book.
Cathodoluminescence. Cathodoluminescence
Cation. Cation
Cathode. Emitter
Cathode chaude. Hot-cathode
Cathode enrobe. Coated cathode
Cathode secondaire. Dynode
Causalit. Causality
Caustique. Caustic
Cavitation. Cavitation
Cavitation ultrasonore. Ultrasonic cavitation
Cellule. Cell
Cellule photolectrique. Electric eye
Cellule photolectrique. Photocell
Cellule photolectrique. Phototube
Centi-. CentiCentre de carne. Center of Buoyancy
Centre de couleur. Color center
Centre de gravit. Center of gravity
Centre de gravit. Centroid
Centre de masse. Center of mass
Centre de masse. Mass, center of
Centre de percussion. Center o f percussion
Centre du cyclone. Eye of storm
Centre-F. F-center
Centre instantan. Centrode
Centrifuge. Centrifugal
Centrifugeur. Centrifuge
Centripte. Centripetal
Cramique. Ceramic
Cercle. Circle
Cercle de convergence. Circle of convergence
Cercle de diffusion. Circle of confusion
Cercles de limites. Boundary circles
Chaleur. Heat
Chaleur dadsorption. Adsorption, heat of
Chaleur latente. Heat, latent
Chambre bulles. Bubble chamber
Chambre de Wilson. Cloud chamber
Chambre dionisation. Ionization chamber
Champ. Field
Champ coercitif. Coercive force
Champ de force conservatif. Force field, conservative
Champ de vecteurs. Vector field
Champ lectromagntique. Electromagnetic field
Champ lectrostatique. Electrostatic field
Champ gravifique. Gravitational field
Champs retards. Retarded fields
Charge. Charge
Charge. Load
Charge atomique. Atomic charge
Charge fictive. Dummy load
Charge latente. Charge, bound
Charge libre. Charge, free
Changement. Conversion
Changement dtat. Change of state
Chssis. Chassis
Chercheur. Whisker
Cheval-Vapeur. Horsepower
Chevauchement. Overlap
Chimiluminescence. Chemiluminescence
Chimique. Chemical
Choc. Impact

Choc. Shock
Chromaticit. Chromaticity
Chromatique. Chromatic
Chronographe. Chronograph
Chronomtre. Chronometer
Chronoscope. Chronoscope
Chute de tension anodique. Rundown
Cible. Target
Ciel. Sky
Cinmatique. Kinematics
Cinmatographie. Motion-picture
Cintique. Kinetics
Cinq. Penta
Circuit. Circuit
Circuit. Line
Circuit amplificateur contre-raction.
Boostrap
circuit
Circuit coupl. Coupled circuit
Circuit de commande. Control circuit
Circuit de crte. Peaking circuit
Circuit dmultiplicateur. Scaler
Circuit de multivibrateur. Flip-flop circuit
Circuit doubleur. Doubler circuit
Circuit dutilisation. Load circuit
Circuit imprim. Printed circuit
Circuit rsonant parallle. Tank circuit
Circuit trigger. Trigger circuit
Circulation. Circulation
Cirrus. Cirrus
Cisaillement. Shear
Classe. Class
Classes de symtrie. Symmetry classes
Classique. Classical
Climat. Climate
Coagulation. Coagulation
Coaxial. Coaxial
Coaxiale fendue. Trough
Codan. Codan
Code. Code
Coefficient. Coefficient
Coefficient critique. Critical coefficient
Coefficient dabsorption. Absorption coefficient
Coefficient daccommodation.
Accommodation
coefficient
Coefficient de contraction. Coefficient of contraction
Coefficient de conversion. Conversion factor
Coefficient de corrlation. Correlation coefficient
Coefficient de diffusion. Diffusion coefficient
Coefficient de dilatation. Coefficient of expansion
Coefficient de frottement. Friction, coefficient of
Coefficient de qualit. Figure of merit
Coefficient de qualit. Scale factor
Coefficient de scurit. Factor of safety
Coefficient de restitution. Coefficient of restitution
Coefficient de transmission. Transmission coefficient
Coefficient de viscosit. Viscosity coefficient of
Coefficient dextinction. Extinction coefficient
Coefficient dutilisation. Duty cycle
Coefficients de capacit. Capacitance, coefficients of
Coefficients dlasticit. Elastic coefficients
Coefficients trichromatiques. Trichromatic coefficients
Cohsion. Cohesion
Coin. Wedge
Concidence. Coincidence
Col. Col
Collimateur. Collimator
Collimation. Collimation
Collision. Collision

Collision du premier genre. Collision of the first kind

Collision du second genre. Collision of the second kind
Collode. Colloid
Cologarithme. Cologarithm
Colorimtre. Colorimeter
Colorimtrie. Colorimetry
Coma. Coma
Combinaison achromatique. Achromatic combination
Combinaison. Combination
Combustion interne. Internal combustion
Commande distance. Remote control
Commutateur. Commutator
Commutateur. Switch
Commutateur lectronique. Electronic switch
Commutatif. Commutative
Commutation. Commutation
Compact. Close-packed
Comparateur. Comparator
Compatibilit. Compatibility
Compensateur. Balancer
Compensateur. Compensator
Complment. Complement
Compliance. Compliance
Composante. Component
Compos. Compound
Compos de rseau. Lattice compound
Compresseur-expanseur. Compandor
Compressibilit. Compressibility
Compression. Compression
Compte. Count
Compteur. Calculator
Compteur. Counter
Compteur. Meter
Compteur cristal. Crystal counter
Compteur scintillations. Counter, scintillation
Compteur scintillations. Scintillation counter
Compteur alpha. Alpha counter
Compteur de Geiger. Counter, geiger
Concave. Concave.
Concentration. Concentration
Concourant. Concurrent
Condensateur. Capacitor
Condensateur. Condenser
Condensateur pav. Bathtub capacitor
Condensateur srie dquilibrage. Padder
Condensation. Condensation
Conductance. Conductance
Conductance de transfert. Transconductance
Conductance mutuelle. Transconductance mutual
conductance of
Conductance mutuelle. Mutual conductance
Conducteur. Conductor
Conduction. Conduction
Condition aux limites. Boundary condition
Condition dinstabilit. Hunting
Conduction croise. Cross-conduction
Conduction lectrique. Conduction, electric
Conductivit. Conductivity
Cne. Cone
Cne dombre. Umbra
Confluence. Confluence
Conforme. Conformai
Conique. Conic
Conique. Conical
Conique. Tapered
Conjugaison de charge. Charge conjugation
Conjugu. Conjugate
Connexion. Branch point

Connexion. Connectivity
Connexion. Junction
Connexion (dans un guide donde). Junction (in a
waveguide)
Connexion (dans un semi-conducteur). Junction (in a
semiconductor device)
Conservation. Conservation
Consistance. Consistency
Constant(e). Constant
Constante Cosmologique. Cosmological constant
Constante de couplage. Coupling constant
Constante de gaz. Gas constant
Constante de phase. Phase constant
Constante dquilibre. Equilibrium constant
Constante dilectrique. Dielectric constant
Constante dilectrique. Permittivity
Constitution. Constitution
Continuit. Continuity
Continuel. Astable
Contour. Contour
Contraction lanthanide. Lanthanide contraction
Contrainte. Constraint
Contrainte. Strain
Contrainte magntique. Magnetic strain
Contraste. Contrast
Contravariant. Contravariant
Contravariant. Tensor contravariant
Contrepoids. Counterpoise
Contre-raction. Degeneration
Contrle. Control
Convection. Convection
Convention de signes. Sign convention
Convention de sommation. Summation convention
Convergence. Convergence
Convergente. Lens, converging
Conversion interne. Internai conversion
Convertisseur. Converter
Convertisseur. Inverter
Cookie cutter . Cookie cutter
Coordonne. Coordinate
Coordonne Bipolaire. Bipolar coordinate
Coordonnes cylindriques. Cylindrical Coordinates
Coordonnes Gnralises. Generalized coordinates
Coordonnes polaires. Polar coordinates
Corde. String
Cordon. Patchcord
Corona. Corona
Corosil. Corosil
Corps gris. Gray body
Corps noir. Black body
Corps noir. Hohlraum
Corps rigide. Rigid body
Correction. Correction
Correction de directivit. Shading
Cosinus. Cosine
Cosinus de direction. Direction cosine
Cosmotron. Cosmotron
Couche. Layer
Couche dappauvrissement. Depletion layer
Couche darrt. Barrier layer
Couche de charge. Layer of charge
Couche de valence. Valence shell
Couche lectronique-K. K-shell
Couche lectronique-L. L-shell
Couche lectronique-M. M-shell
Couche lectronique-N. N-shell
Couche lectronique-P. P-shell
Couche limite dun flux fluide. Boundary layer, fluid flow

Couleur. Color
Couplage. Coupling
Couplage dchange. Coupling, j-j
Couplage inductif. Flux linkage
Couplage Russell-Saunders. Coupling, Russell-Saunders
Couple. Couple
Couple. Torque
Coupleur. Link
Coupure. Cutoff.
Courant. Current
Courant alternatif. Alternating current
Courant continu. Direct current
Courant de foucault. Eddy current
Courant de fuite. Leakage current
Courant dobscurit. Dark current
Courant naturel. Streamline
Courbe dabsorption. Absorption curve
Courbure. Curvature
Courbure. Flexure
Courbure de champ. Curvature of field
Courbure de la lumire. Bending of light
Couronne. Corona
Court-circuit. Short-circuit
Courte porte. Short-range
Couvercle. Lid
Covalence. Covalence
Covariant. Covariant
Covariant. Tensor con variant
Cration. Creation
Cristal. Crystal
Cristallographie. Crystallography
Cristallisation. Crystallization
Cristal uniaxe. Uniaxial crystal
Critre. Mach criterion
Crith. Crith
Critique. Critical
Crochet P.N. Hook, P-N
Croissance. Growth
Cryoscope. Cryoscope
Cryostat. Cryostat
Cubature. Cubature
Cubique centr. Body-centered
Cumulatif. Cumulative
Cumulo-stratus. Stratocumulus
Cumulus. Cumulus Clouds
Cycle. Cycle
Cycle du carbone. Carbon cycle
Cyclode. Cycloid
Cyclone. Cyclone
Cyclotron. Cyclotron
Cylindre. Cylinder
Cylindrique. Lens, cylindrical
De champ. Lens, field
Dcharge. Discharge
Dci-. DeciDclencher. Trigger
Dcomposition. Decomposition
Dconnecter. Clear
Dcouplage. Bypass
Dcouplage. Uncoupling
Dfaut. Defect
Dfaut de masse. Mass defect
Dfaut de rseau. Lattice defect
Dflecteur. Baffle
Dformation. Deformation
Dformation (permanente). Set

Dgazage. Outgassing
Dgazification. Degasification
Dgeler. Thaw
Dgnration dchange. Degeneracy, exchange
Degr. Degree
Degr. Rank
Degr de libert. Degree of freedom
Degrs de libert. Freedom, degrees of
Dgroupage. Debunching
D entre. Input
Del. Del
Delta. Delta
Dliquescence. Deliquescence
De lordre de. Order of
Demi-argent. Half silvered
Demi-largeur. Halfwidth
Dmodulation. Demodulation
Dnombr. Denumerable
Densimtre. Hydrometer
Densit. Density
Densit de charge. Charge density
Densit de vapeur. Vapor density
Densitomtre. Densitometer
Dent de scie. Sawtooth
Dphasage. Phase shift
Dplacement. Displacement
Dplacement. Shift
Dplacement vers le rouge. Red-shift
Dpolarisation. Depolarization
Dpolariseur. Depolarizer
Dposer par lectrolyse. Anodize
Dpt lectrolytique. Electroplating
De rayons cosmiques. Cosmic-ray
Drive. Derivative
Dsaimantation. Demagnitization
Drive. Drift
Dsintgration. Annihilation
Dsintgration. Disintegration
Dsintgration bta. Beta decay
Dsintgration de la matire. Matter, annihilation
Dsionisation. Deionization
Dsordre. Disorder
Dsorption. Desorption
De sortie. Output
Destruction. Destruction
Dtecteur. Detector
Dtecteur. Monitor
Dtecteur directionnel de mesures. Coupler, directional
Dterminant. Determinant
Dterminant sculaire. Secular determinant
Dtermin. Determinate
Dveloppement. Development
Dversoir. Weir
Dviation. Deflection
Dviation. Deviation
Dviation. Straggling
Deuton. Deuteron
Deux. Two
Diagramme dargand. Argand diagram
Dialyse. Dialysis
Diagramme de phase. Phase diagram
Diamagntisme. Diamagnetism
Diapason. Tuning Fork
Diaphonie. Cross talk
Diaphragme. Diaphragm
Diaphragme iris. Iris diaphragm
Diathermie. Diathermy
Dichromatisme. Dichromatism

Dilectrique. Dielectric
Diffrence de potentiel. Barrier potential
Diffrentiel. Hybrid
Diffrentiation. Differentiation
Diffraction. Diffraction
Diffraction des rayons-X. X-ray diffraction
Diffus. Diffuse
Diffusion. Diffusion
Dilatation. Dilatation
Dilatation. Expansion
Dilatation du temps. Time dilation
Dilution. Dilution
Dimension. Dimension
Dimensions de rseau. Lattice dimensions
Diode. Diode
Dioptrie. Diopter
Diple. Dipole
Diple. Doublet
Diple lectrique. Electric dipole
Directivit. Directivity
Directrice. Directrix
Discontinuit. Discontinuity
Discriminant. Discriminant
Discriminateur. Discriminator
Dislocation. Dislocation
Dispersion. Dispersion
Dispersion. Scattering
Dispersion Anormale. Anomalous dispersion
Dispersion incohrente. Incoherent scatter
Dispositif. Arrangement
Dispositif de couplage quilibreur. Balun
Dissipation. Dissipation
Dissipatif. Dissipative
Dissociation. Dissociation
Dissolution. Dissolving
Dissolvant. Solvent
Dissonance. Dissonance
Dissymtrie. Dissymmetry
Distance. Distance
Distance. Range
Distance focale. Focal length
Distance optique. Optical distance
Distributif. Distributive
Distorsion. Distortion
Divergence. Divergence
Divergente. Lens, diverging
Division de frquence. Frequency division
Domaine. Domain
Dominant. Dominant
Donneur. Donor
Dose (dosage). Dose (dosage)
Double. Double
Double. Twin
Double couche. Double layer
Doubleur de frquence. Frequency doubler
Dualit. Duality
Ductilit. Ductility
Dure. Period
Dure dtablissement. Access time
Dure dtablissement dimpulsion. Leading-edge puise
time
Dure de raction. Period, reactor
Dure de rtablissement. Recovery time
Duret. Hardness
Du second degr. Quadratic
Dyadique. Dyadic
Dynamique. Dynamics
Dynamique de rseau. Lattice dynamics

Dynamo. Dynamo
Dynamomtre. Dynamometer
Dynamoteur. Dynamotor
Dynatron. Dynatron
Dyotron. Dyotron
Eau. Water
bullioscope. Ebullioscope
bullition. Boiling
bullition. Ebullition
change. Interchange
chantillon. Sample
chelle. Scale
chelle de temprature absolue. Absolute temperature scale
chelon. Echelon
cho. Echo
clair. Lightning
clairement. Illuminance
clairement. Illumination
couteur. Receiver
couteur tlphonique. Earphone
cran. Absorber
cran fluorescent. Fluorescent screen
cran opaque. Flag
crouissage. Cold work
Effet de grle. Shot effect
Effet Kelvin. Skin effect
Effet photolectrique. Photoelectric work function
Effet Rocky-Point. Flash arc
Effet volta. Contact potential
Efficace. Root-mean-square
Efflorescence. Efflorescence
Effort. Stress
Effusion. Effusion
galiseur. Equalizer
galit. Equality
lastance. Elastance
lasticit. Elasticity
lectret. Electret
lectricit. Electricity
lectrique. Electric
lectro-aimant. Electromagnet
lectrocapillarit. Electrocapillarity
lectrode. Electrode
lectrode au calomel. Calomel electrode
lectrode de captage. Collector
lectrodialyse. Electrodialysis
lectrodynamomtre. Electrodynamometer
lectromission. Field emission
lectrolyte. Electrolyte
lectrolyse. Electrolysis
lectromagntisme. Electromagnetism
lectromtre. Electrometer
lectromtre quadrants. Quadrant electrometer
lectron. Electron
lectron en excs. Excess electron
lectron de transformation. Conversion electron
lectron de valence. Valence electron
lectrongativit. Electronegativity
lectronique. Electronic
lectronique. Electronics
lectronique. Thermionic
lectron-K. K-electron
lectron-L. L-electron
lectron-volt. Electron-volt
lectro-osmose. Electro-osmosis
lectrophore. Electrophorus

lectrophorse. Electrophoresis
lectroscope. Electroscope
lectroscope Lauritsen. Lauritsen electroscope
lectrostatique. Electrostatic
lectrostriction. Electrostriction
lment. Cell
lment. Element
lment. Unit
lment de transition. Transition element
lment photovoltaque. Photovoltaic cell
lment photox. Photox cell
liminateur. Trap
Ellipse. Ellipse
Ellipsode. Ellipsoid
Elliptique. Elliptic
mission. Emission
mission secondaire. Secondary emission
mission simultane. Branching
mulsion. Emulsion
mittance. Emittance
Emmagasinage. Storage
nantiomorphe. Enantiomorphs
En cascade. Tandem
Encombrement. Space factor
En forme de cumulus. Cumuliform
Endosmose. Endosmosis
Endosmose lectrique. Electroendosmosis
Endothermique. Endothermie
nduisage. Doping
nergie. Energy
nergie atomique. Atomic energy
nergie au point zro. Zero point energy
nergie cintique. Energy, kinetic
nergie dchange. Exchange energy
nergie de liaison. Binding energy
nergie de rseau. Lattice energy
nergie de surface. Energy, surface
nergie dexcitation. Excitation energy
nergie disponible. Available energy
nergie interne. Internai energy
nergie libre. Free energy
nergie nuclaire. Nuclear energy
nergie potentielle. Energy, potential
Energie potentielle. Potential energy
Ensemble. Manifold
Ensemble dense. Dense set
Ensemble secondaire. Coset
En sens inverse des aiguilles dune montre. Left-handed
(counter-clockwise)
Enregistrement. Recording
Enregistreur. Register
Enregistreur ruban. Tape recorder
Enrichissement. Enrichment
Enroulement primaire. Primary winding
Enthalpie. Enthalpy
Entrefer. Air gap
Entropie. Entropy
Entropie au point zro. Zro point entropy
Enveloppe. Envelope
pitaxie. Epitaxy
quation. Equation
quation auxiliaire. Auxiliary equation
quation canonique de mouvement. Canonical equation
of motion
quation caractristique. Characteristic equation.
2 Meanings in English. See Page 139 in Book.
quation de Laplace. Laplace equation
quation dtat. Equation of state

quation diffrentielle. Differential equation

quation diffrentielle partielle. Partial differential
equation.
quation dondulation. Wave equation
quation indiciaire. Indicial equation
quation intgrale. Integral equation
quations de mouvement. Motion, equations of
quilibrage. Balancing, detailed
quilibrage. Counterbalancing
quilibrage. Matching
quilibrage de charge. Load matching
quilibre. Balance
quilibre. Equilibrium
quilibre instable. Unstable equilibrium
quilibreur. Balancer
quipartition de lnergie. Equipartition of energy
quipotentiel. Equipotential
quivalence. Equivalence
quivalent. Equivalent
quivalent. Magnetic shell, equivalent
quivalent lectrochimique. Electrochemical equivalent
quivalent-gramme. Gram-equivalent
quivalent mcanique. Mechanical equivalent
quivocation. Equivocation
Erg. Erg
Erreur. Error
Erreur de troncature. Truncation error
Erreur probable. Probable error
Erron. Spurious
Espace. Gap
Espace. Space
Espace de phase. Phase space
Espace sombre de Faraday. Dark space, Faraday
Espace-temps. Space-time
Espce atomique. Atomic species
tage excitateur. Driver stage
Espace-temps absolu. Absolute space-time
Espace Vectoriel. Vector space
talement. Spreading
talon. Etalon
talon. Standard
tat. State
tat atomique. Atomic state
tat colloidal. Colloidal state
tat complet. Completeness
tat de contre-raction. Degenerate state
tat de moment angulaire orbital zro. S-state
tat propre. Eigenstate
tats correspondants. Corresponding states
tat solide. Solid-state
tat stationnaire. Stationary state
ther. Aether
ther. Ether
tincelle. Spark
toile (nuclaire). Star (nuclear)
touffement. Quenching
Eutectique. Eutectic
vacuation. Scavenging
vaporation. Evaporation
Excdent. Redundancy
Excentrique. Eccentric
Excitation. Excitation
Exciton. Exciton
Excitron. Excitron
Exosmose. Exosmosis
Exothermique. Exothermic
Expanseur. Expander
Expansion automatique des contrastes. Ave

Expansion des contrastes. Pre-emphasis

Exprience. Experiment
Exploration. Drum
Exploser. Implode
Exponentiel. Exponential
Exposant. Exponent
Exposition. Exposure
Externe. External
Expression intgrer. Integrand
Extraction de la racine. Evolution
Extrapolation. Extrapolation
Extrinsque. Extrinsic
Facteur damplification. Amplification factor
Facteur de forme. Form factor
Facteur de modulation. Modulation factor
Facteur de multiplication. Multiplication factor
Facteur de perte. Loss factor
Facteur de puissance. Power factor
Facteur de rflexion. Reflectance
Factorielle. Factorial
Faible. Weak
Faisceau. Beam; Cluster
Faisceau (de lumire). Pencil (of light)
Faisceau lectronique. Electron beam
Famille. Family
Fantme. Phantom
Fatigue. Fatigue
Ferramic. Ferramic
Ferrimagntisme. Ferrimagnetism
Ferrite. Ferrite
Ferrlectrique. Ferroelectrc
Ferromagntisme. Ferromagnetism
Feuillet magntique. Magnetic shell
Feu saint-elme. Saint elmo fire
Fentre ovale. Oval window
Fentre ronde. Round window
Fente. Slit
Fente dentre. Entrance slit
Fermion. Fermion
Fieldistor. Fieldistor
Fil contact glissant. Slide wire
Filament. Filament
Filtrage. Trapping
Filtre. Filter
Filtre passe-bande. Band-pass filter
Fission. Fission
Fixation. Fixation
Fixe. Fixed
Fixer. Hold
Flamme. Flame
Flottant. Floating
Fluage. Creep
Fluctuation. Fluctuation
Fluide. Fluid
Fluidit. Fluidity
Fluorescence. Fluorescence
Fluorescence de rsonance. Resonance fluorescence
Flux. Flow; flux
Flux lectrique. Flux, electric
Flux gravifique. Flux, gravitational
Flux lumineux. Luminous flux
Flux magntique. Flux, magnetic
Fluxmtre. Flow meter
Flux radiant. Flux, radiant
Flux unidirectionnel. Streaming
Flux vectoriel. Vector flux

Force. Force; Strength

Force centrale. Central force
Force centripte. Centripetal force
Force coercitive. Coercivity
Force dchange. Force, exchange
Force de couche de charge. Layer of charge, strength of
Force de liaison. Bond strength
Force de rappel. Force, restoring
Force lectromotrice. Electromotive force
Fonction. Function
Fonction circulaire. Circular Function
Fonction complmentaire. Complementary function
Fonction delta. Delta function
Fonction donde. Wave function
Fonction en escalier. Function, step
Fonction gamma. Gamma function
Fonction gnratrice. Generating function
Fonction harmonique. Function, harmonic
Fonction hyperbolique. Hyperbolic function
Fonctionnement. Operation
Fonction propre. Eigenfunction
Fonction trigonomtrique. Trigonometric function
Fond. Background
Fondre. Melt
Forme donde. Waveform
Forme indtermine. Indeterminate form
Formule. Formula
Formule de rcursion. Recursion formula
Formule de rduction. Reduction formula
Fort. Strong
Fortuite. Random
Fova. Fovea
Foyer. Focus
Foyers conjugus. Conjugate foci
Fraction. Fraction
Fraction de tassement. Packing fraction
Frein. Drag
Freinage. Braking
Frquence. Frequency
Frquence acoustique. Frequency, audio
Frquence de battement. Beat frequency
Frquence fondamentale. Frequency, fundamental
Frquencemtre. Frequency meter
Frquence porteuse. Carrier frequency
Frquence propre. Frequency, natural
Frquence ultrasonore. Ultrasonic frequency
Front. Front
Front froid. Cold front
Frottement. Friction
Fugacit. Fugacity
Fusible. Fuse
Fusion. Fusion
Fusion nuclaire. Fusion, nuclear
Galvanomtre. Galvanometer
Gaz. Gas
Gaz parfait. Ideal gas
Gaz permanents. Permanent gases
Gaz rares. Noble gases
Gel. Gel
Glification. Coagel
Gnrateur. Generator
Gnrateur courant continu. Direct-current generator
Gnrateur dimpulsions. Pulse generator
Gnrateur de signaux. Signal generator
Gnrateur dultrasons Ultrasonic generator
Godsique. Geodesic

Gomtrie. Geometry
Gomtrique. Geometric
Gerbe. Shower
Getter. Getter
Glace. Ice
Glissement. Drift; Slip
Goutte. Drop
Goutte de liquide. Liquid-drop
Gradient. Gradient
Graduation. Scale
Graphique. Graph
Grain. Grain
Grandeurs physiques et quations physiques.
magnitudes and physical equations.
Graveur. Cutter
Gravitation. Gravitation
Grille. Hail
Grle. Grid; Grating
Grille-cran. Screen grid
Grossissant. Magnifying
Grossissement. Magnification
Grossissement axial. Axial magnification
Groupe. Group
Groupement des lectrons. Bunching
Groupe de points. Point group
Groupe de translation. Translation group
Guide dondes. Waveguide
Gyromagntique. Gyromagnetic
Gyroscope. Gyroscope

Physical

Halo. Halo
Halogne. Halogen
Harmonique. Harmonie
Harmonique. Overtone
Harmonique. Wave harmonie
Harmoniques sphriques. Spherical harmonies
Harmonique zonal. Zonal harmonie
Hartley. Hartley
Hasard. Randomness
Haute fidlit. High Fidelity
Haute frquence. Radio frequency
Haut-parleur. Loudspeaker
Haut-parleur lectrodynamique. Dynamic loudspeaker
Haut-parleur pour frquences basses. Woofer
Haut-parleur pour frquences leves. Tweeter
Haut-parleur stroscopique. Stereo-loudspeaker
Hauteur. Pitch
Hauteur de chute. Head
Hlice. Helix
Hmidre. Hemihedral
Heptode. Pentagrid
Heptode. Heptode
Hrditaire. Hereditary
Hermitique. Hermitian
Herpolhodie. Herpolhode
Htrodyne. Heterodyne
Htroion. Heteroion
Htrotopique. Heterotopic
Heure. Hour
Hexagonal. Hexagonal
Hexode. Hexode
Hiperco. Hiperco
Hipernik. Hipernik
Hipersil. Hipersil
Horloge. Clock
Homogne. Homogeneous
2 Meanings in English. See Page 425 in Book.

Horizontal. Horizontal
Hors de laxe. Off-axis
Humidit. Humidity
Hybridation. Hybridization
Hydrat. Hydrated
Hydraulique. Hydraulics
Hydrodynamique. Hydrodynamics
Hydrophone. Hydrophone
Hydrostatique. Hydrostatics
Hygromtre. Hygrometer
Hygroscopique. Hygroscopic
Hyperbole. Hyperbola
Hyperconjugaison. Hyperconjugation
Hyperfine. Hyperfine
Hypergomtrique. Hypergeometric
Hypron. Hyperon
Hystrsis. Hysteresis
Iconoscope. Iconoscope
Idal. Ideal
Idemfacteur. Idemfactor
Idempotent. Idempotent
Identit. Identity
Idiochromatique. Idiochromatic
Idiomorphe. Idiomorphous
Igniteur. Igniter
Ignitrn. Ignitrn
Image. Frame
Image. Image
Image. Picture
Image fantme. Ghost
Impair. Odd
Impdance. Impedance
Impdance. Resistance
Impdance caractristique. Characteristic impedance
Impdance caractristique. Wave impedance
Impulsion. Impulse
Impulsion. Pulse
Impuret. Impurity
Incertitude. Indeterminancy
Incertitude. Uncertainty
Incompressible. Incompressible
Indpendance de charge. Charge independence
Indpendant. Independent
Indicateur. Indicator
Indicateur daccord. Tuning indicator
Indicateur prcis de gisement. PPPI
Indice. Index
Indice. Rating
Indice de coordination. Coordination number
Indice de rfraction. Index of refraction
Indice de rfraction. Refractive index
Indice de valence. Valence number
Indice fictif. Dummy index
Inductance. Inductance
Inductance mutuelle. Mutual inductance
Induction. Induction
Induction. Line (s) of induction
Induction lectrique. Induction, electric
Induction lectromagntique. Electromagnetic induction
Induction magntique. Induction, magnetic
Inductif. Inductive
Induit. Induced
Ingalit. Inequality
Inlasticit. Anelasticity
Inertie. Inertia
Infini. Infinite

Infinitsimal. Infinitesimal
Inflexion. Inflection
Information. Information
Infrarouge. Infrared
Insertion. Insertion
Insolation. Insolation
Instabilit. Jitter
Instantan. Instantaneous
Intgrale. Integral
Intgrale de composition. Convolution
Intgrateur. Integrating
Intgration. Integration
Intensit. Current density
Intensit de champ. Field strength
Intgrale dchange. Exchange integral
Intensit lectrique. Intensity, electric
Intensit sonore. Loudness
Interaction. Interaction
Interface. Interface
Interfrence. Blanking
Interfrence. Interference
Interfromtre. Interferometer
Intermodulation. Intermodulation
International. International
Interne. Internai
Interpolation. Interpolation
Interrompu. Interrupted
Interrupteur. Chopper
Interruption. Break
Interstitiel. Interstitial
Intervalle. Interval
Intrinsque. Intrinsic
Invariance de charge. Charge invariance
Invariance de jauge. Gauge invariance
Invariant. Invariant
Invariant adiabatique. Adiabatic invariant
Inverse. Inverse
Inverse du module dlasticit. Rigidity, modulus
Inversion. Inversion
Inversion du temps. Time reversai
Ion. Ion
Ion complexe. Complex ion
Ionique. Ionie
Ionisation. Ionization
Ion thermique. Thermion
Iridescence. Iridescence
Irradiation. Halation
Irradiation. Irradiation
Irrationnel. Irrational
Irrversible. Irreversible
Isobare. Isobar
Isochromatique. Isochromatic
Isochrone. Isochrone
Isodesmique. Isodesmic
Isodiaphre. Isodiaphere
Isolectrique. Isoelectric
Isolement. Insulation
Isomagntique. Isomagnetic
Isomre. Isomer
Isomrie nuclaire. Isomerism, nuclear
Isomrie optique. Isomerism, optical
Isomrisme optique. Optical isomerism
Isomtrique. Isochore
Isomorphe. Isomorph
Isomorphisme. Isomorphism
Isoprimtrique. Isoperimetric
Isopolymorphisme. Isopolymorphism
Isostres. Isosteres

Isotniscope. Isoteniscope
Isotherme. Isotherm
Isotherme. Isothermal
Isotherme dadsorption. Adsorption isotherm
Isotope. Isotope
Isotron. Isotron
Isotrope. Isotropic
Itration. Itration
Itrative. Iterative
Jack. Jack
Jacobien. Jacobian
Jauge cliquets. Click gauge
Jauge indicateur. Gauge
Jauge Ionique. Gauge, ionization
Jet. Jet
Jet dair. Jet stream
Joint de grains. Grain boundary
Jonction p.n. p-n junction
Jour. Day
Kdnotron. Kenotron
Kinescope. Kinescope
Kilo-. KiloKiloelectron-volts. KEV
Klystron. Klystron
Konel. Konel metal
Kovar. Kovar
Laboratoire. Laboratory
Lamellage. Stripping
Lampe. Lamp
Lampe arc. Arc lamp
Largeur. Width
Largeur de bande. Bandwidth
Latent. Latent
Latent. Molar latent
Latral. Lateral
Latus rectum. Latus rectum
Lenticulaire. Lenticular
Lentille. Lens
Lentille achromatique. Achromat
Lentille lectronique. Electron lens
Levier. Lever
Lvogyre. Levorotatory
Liaison. Bond
Liaison. Linkage
Liaison homopolaire. Homopolar bond
Libre. Free
Libre parcours moyen. Mean free path
Ligazode. Ligasoid
Ligne. Line
Ligne adiabatique. Adiabat
Ligne artificielle. Artificial line
Ligne retard. Delay-line
Ligne(s). Line(s)
Ligne retard ultrasonore. Ultrasonic delay line
Ligne de transmission. Transmission line
Ligne accorde. Periodic line
Lignes nodales. Nodal lines
Limit. Bounded
Limite. Limit
Limite lastique. Yield point
Limite P.N. Boundary, P-N
Linaire. Linear

Liqufaction. Liquefaction
Liquide. Liquid
Liquidus. Liquidus
Lisolode. Lisoloid
Livre. Pound
Livre-pied. Foot pound
Loctal. Loktal
Logarithme. Logarithm
Longitudinal. Longitudinal
Loi. Law
Loi dapparition des formes instables.
Law of
appearance of unstable forms
Loi associative. Associative law
Loi de conservation de lnergie mcanique. Law of
conservation of mechanical energy
Loi de composition des forces. Law of composition
of forces
Loi de dsintgration radioactive. Law of radioactive
decay
Loi dhay. Law of rational intercepts
Loi de conservation du spin. Law of conservation of
angular momentum
Loi des surfaces. Law of areas
Loi du dplacement radioactif. Law of radioactive
displacement
Longueur. Length
Longueur donde. Wavelength
Longueur propre. Proper length
Loran. Loran
Losange. Diamond
Loupe. Magnifier
Lumen. Lumen
Lumire. Light
Lumire blanche. White light
Lumire du soleil. Sunlight
Lumire zodiacale. Zodiacal light
Luminescence. Glow
Luminescence. Luminescence
Lumineux. Luminous
Luminosit. Luminosity
Lustre. Luster
Lyophile. Lyophilic
Lyophobe. Lyophobic
Lyotrope. Lyotropic
Machine. Machines
Machine lectrostatique. Electrostatic generator
Magntique. Lens, magnetic
Magntique. Magnetic
Magntisme. Magnetism
Magntolastique. Magnetoelastic
Magntomcanique. Magnetomechanical
Magntomtre. Magnetometer
Magntooptique. Magneto-optical
Magntophone. Magnetic recorder
Magntron. Magnetron
Magntron plusieurs secteurs. Magnetron, multi
segment
Magntron rsistance ngative. Magnetron, negativeresistance
Magnton Bohr. Bohr magneton
Magntron interdigital. Magnetron, interdigital
Magntostriction. Magnetostriction
Maille. Mesh
Maille. Unit cell
Majeur. Major
Mallabilit. Malleability

Manchon. Sleeve
Manipulateur. Key
Manipulation. Keying
Manocryomtre. Manocryometer
Manomtre. Manometer
Manomtre diffrentiel. Manometer, differential
Mares. Tides
Marqueur. Marker
Masque. Shadow
Masse. Mass
Masse au repos. Rest mass
Masse rduite. Reduced mass
Masse critique. Crit
Masse efficace. Effective mass
Matrialisation. Pair production
Matire. Matter
Matrice. Matrix
Matrice adjointe. Matrix, adjoint
Matrice antisymtrique. Matrix, skew symmetric
Matrice associative. Matrix, associate
Matrice complexe conjugue. Matrix, complex conju
gate
Matrice commutative. Matrix, commutative
Matrice diagonale. Matrix, diagonal
Matrice inverse. Matrix, reciprocal
Matrice de permutation. Matrix, permutation
Matrice orthogonale. Matrix, orthogonal
Matrice singulire. Matrix, singular
Matrice transpose. Matrix, transposed
Matrice unitaire. Matrix, unitary
Maximum. Maximum
Mayer. Mayer
Mcanique. Mechanical
Mcanique. Mechanics
Mcanique cleste. Celestial mechanics
Mcanique ondulatoire. Wave mechanics
Mcanique quantique. Quantum mechanics
Mcanique statistique. Statistical mechanics
Mgaphone. Megaphone
Mgatron. Megatron
Mel. Mel
Mlang. Mixed
Mlangeur. Mixer
Membrane semi-permable. Semipermeable mem
brane
Mmoire. Memory
Mnisque. Lens, meniscus
Mnisque. Meniscus
Mer. Sea
Msocollode. Mesocolloid
Mesodesmique. Mesodesmic
Msomorphe. Mesomorphic
Mson. Meson
Mson pi. Pion
Mesure balistique. Ballistic measurement
Mesures physiques. Physical measurements
Mtabolisme. Metastasis
Mtal. Metal
Mtacentre. Metacenter
Mtallique. Lens, metallic
Mtastable. Metastable
Mthode. Method
Mthode des variations. Variational method
Mtorologie. Meteorology
Mthodes oprationnelles. Operational methods
Mtre. Meter
Micro-. MicroMicromtre. Micrometer

Microondes. Microwave
Microphone. Microphone
Microphone pomme. Eight ball
Microphone-boutonnire. Lapel microphone
Microphonique. Microphonic
Microscope. Microscope
Microscope lectronique. Electron microscope
Migration. Migration
Milli-. MilliMilieu. Medium
Mineur. Minor
Minimum. Minimum
Mirage. Mirage
Mirage. Looming
Miroir. Mirror
Miscibilit. Miscibility
Mise la terre. Common-base
Mobile. Moving
Mobilit. Mobility
Mode. Mode
Modrateur. Moderator
Modulateur. Modulator
Modulation. Modulation
Modulation daxe optique. Z-axis modulation
Modul. Modulated
Module. Modulus
Module damortissement. Decay modulus
Module de compression. Bulk modulus
Modle de couche lectronique. Shell model
Module dlasticit. Modulus of elasticity
Modle collectif dlectrons dans les mtaux. Collective
model of electrons in metals
Modulation de frquence. Frequency modulation
Mode fondamental de vibration. Vibration fundamental
mode of
Mode normal de vibration. Vibration normal mode of
Moirage. Moire
Molaire. Molal
Molculaire. Molar
Molculaire. Molecular
Molcule. Molecule
Moment. Moment
Moment diple. Dipole moment
Moment de force. Moment of force
Moment de flexion. Bending moment
Moment de liaison. Bond moment
Moment des quantits de mouvement. Moment of
momentum
Moment dinertie. Moment of inertia
Moment quadripolaire. Quadrupole moment
Monogramme. Nomograph
Monomre. Monomer
Monochromateur. Monochromator
Monochromatique. Monochromatic
Monomolculaire. Monomolecular
Monomolculaire. Unimolecular
Monomorphique. Monomorphic
Monoscope. Monoscope
Monostable. Monostable
Monotropie. Monotropy
Montage anticoncidence. Anticoincidence circuit
Monte capillaire. Capillary rise
Morphotropie. Morphotropy
Mosaque. Mosaic
Moteur. Motor
Mou. Soft
Mousson. Monsoon
Mouvement. Motion

Mouvement perptuel. Perpetual motion

Mouvement sinusodal. Harmonie motion
Mouvement sinusodal simple. Simple harmonie motion
Mouvement tourbillonnaire. Vortex motion
Moyen. Mean
Moyenne. Average
Moyenne des diffrences. Standard deviation
Moyenne frquence. Intermediate frequency
Mumtal. Mumetal
Multiplex. Multiplex
Multiple. Multiple
Multiplicit. Multiplicity
Multiplicateur. Multiplier
Multipolaire. Multipole
Multivibrateur. Multivibrator
Mutarotation. Mutarotation
Mutuel. Mutual
Myopie. Myopia
Nabla. Nabla
Naturel. Natural
Navette. Rabbit
Ngatif. Negative
Ngatron. Negatron
Neige. Snow
Neige fondue. Sleet
Nmatique. Nematic
Nper. Neper
Nphlmtre. Nephelometer
Net. Net
Neutre. Neutral
Neutrino. Neutrino
Neutrodyne. Neutrodyne
Neutron. Neutron
Neutrons lents. Slow neutrons
Nilpotent. Nilpotent
Nimbo-stratus. Nimbostratus
Niveau. Level
Niveau de bruit. Noise level
Niveau dnergie. Energy level
Niveau virtuel. Virtual level
Noeuds. Line of nodes
Noeud(s). Node(s)
Nombre. Mach number
Nombre. Number
Nombre complexe. Complex number
Nombre de masse. Atomic mass unit
Nombre donde. Wave number
Nombre entier. Integer
Nombre quantique azimutal. Azimuthal quantum
number
Nombres magiques. Magic numbers
Non-linaire. Nonlinear
Non-orthogonal. Affine
Non polaris. Unpolarized
Non-relativiste. Non-relativistic
Normal. Normal
Normale. Normal
Normalisation. Normalization
Normaux. Preferred
Note. Note
Note de battement. Beat note
Noyau. Core
Noyau. Kernel
Noyau. Nucleus
Noyaux nombre pair de protons et de neutrons.
Even-even nuclei

Noyaux nombre pair de protons et impair de neutrons.

Even-odd nuclei
Nuage. Cloud
Nuance. Tint
Nuclaire. Nuclear
Nuclon. Nucleon
Nuclonique. Nucleonics
Nuclide. Nuclide
Nuit. Night
Numrique. Numerical
Numro. Digit
Numro atomique. Atomic number
Nutation. Nutation
Objectif. Objective lens
Objectif distance focale variable. Zoomar
Objectif revtement anti-rflchissant. Coated lenses
Objectif photographique. Camera lenses
Obliquit. Obliquity
Obscur. Dark
Occlusion. Occlusion
Octal. Octal
Octave. Octave
Octet. Octet
Octode. Octode
Oculaire. Eyepiece
Oculaire. Ocular
Oeil magique. Electric eye
Ohmmtre. Ohmmeters
Ombre. Shadow
Once. Ounce
Onde. Wave
Onde courte. Short-wave
Onde cylindrique. Wave cylindrical
Onde de choc. Shock wave
Onde de choc. Surge
Onde de compression. Wave compressional
Onde de mare. Wave, tidal
Onde de rseau. Lattice wave
Onde de rotation. Wave shear
Onde de sol. Ground wave
Onde diffracte. Wave diffracted
Onde lastique. Wave elastic
Onde lectromagntique. Electromagnetic wave
Onde lectromagntique. Wave electromagnetic
Onde incidente. Incident wave
Onde longitudinale. Wave longitudinal
Onde non-rotative. Wave irrotational
Onde sinusodale. Sine wave
Onde stationnaire. Standing-wave
Ondulation(s). Ripple(s)
Opacimtre. Turbidimeter
Opacit. Opacity
Oprateur. Operand
Oprateur. Operator
Oprateur de masse. Mass operator
Oprateur dyadique. Operator, dyadic
Opration de translation. Translation operation
Ophtalmoscope. Ophthalmoscope
Optimum. Optimum
Optique. Optical
Optique. Optics
Optique lectronique. Electron optics
Optomtrie. Optometry
Optophone. Optophone
Orbitale. Orbital
Orbite. Orbit

Orbite plantaire. Planetary orbit

Ordonne. Ordinate
Ordre. Order
Ordre-dsordre. Order-disorder
Organe. Organ
Organo-sol. Organosol
Orgue. Organ
Orientation. Orientation
Orientation dun faisceau. Lobe
Orifice. Orifice
Original. Master
Orographique. Orographie
Orthinoscope. Orthicon
Orthochromatique. Orthochromatic
Ortho-tat. Ortho-state
Orthogonalit. Orthogonality
Orthohlium. Orthohelium
Orthonik. Orthonik
Orthonormal. Orthonormal
Orthorhombique. Orthorhombic
Orthoscopique. Orthoscopic
Orthotomique. Orthotomic
Oscillant. Oscillating
Oscillateur. Exciter
Oscillateur. Oscillator
Oscillateur de battements. BFO
Oscillateur harmonique. Harmonie oscillator
Oscillateur local. Local oscillator
Oscillation. Oscillation
Oscillation force. Forced oscillation
Oscillographe. Oscillograph
Oscilloscope. Oscilloscope
Oscilloscope rayons cathodiques. Cathode-ray
Oscilloscope
Osculation. Osculation
Osmose. Osmosis
Osmotique. Osmotic
Ouragan. Hurricane
Ouverture. Aperture
Ouverture. Stop
Ouverture numrique. Aperture, numerical
Ouverture numrique. Numerical aperture
Ouverture relative. F-number
Oxydation. Oxidation
Pairage. Pairing
Panchromatique. Panchromatic
Panoramique. Panoramic
Parabole. Parabola
Parabolique. Parabolic
Paraboloide. Paraboloid
Parachor. Parachor
Parallaxe. Parallax
Parallle. Parallel
Paralllpipde. Parallelepiped
Paramagntique. Paramagnetic
Paramagntisme. Paramagnetism
Paramtre. Parameter
Paramtre de rseau. Lattice constant
Paramorphe. Paramorph
Parasite. Noise
Parasite. Parasitic
Parasite. Singing
Parasite. Snow
Parasite de courte dure. Noise, impulse
Parasites. Hash
Paraxial. Paraxial

Par bande de longueurs donde. Spectral

Parcours. Path
Parfocal. Parfocal
Parhlie. Parhelion
Parhlium. Parhelium
Parit. Parity
Parsec. Parsec
Particule. Particle
Particule alpha. Alpha particle
Particule bta. Beta particle
Particule de recul. Delta ray
Particule lmentaire. Elementary particle
Particule fondamentale. Fundamental particle
Partiel. Partial
Passe-haut. High-pass
Passivit. Passivity
Pavillon acoustique. Horn, acoustic
Pellicule film. Film
Pente. Slope
Pntrante. Penetrating
Pntration. Penetration
Pntration. Skin depth
Pendule. Pendulum
Pendule balistique. Ballistic pendulum
Pnombre. Penumbra
Pentode. Pentode
Percussion. Percussion
Prihlie. Perihelion
Priode. Period
Priodique. Periodic
Priodicit. Periodicity
Prisphre. Perisphere
Permalloy. Permalloy
Permabilit. Permeability
Permamtre. Permeameter
Permendur. Permendur
Permenorm. Permenorm
Perminvar. Perminvar
Permutation. Permutation(s)
Persistance. Afterglow
Persistance. Persistence
Persistance. Retentivity
Persistance des images. Vision persistence of
Persorption. Persorption
Perte. Loss
Perte dnergie. Degradation
Perturbation. Perturbation
Pervance. Perveance
Petit cyclotron. Omegatron
Phantastron. Phantastron
Phare radar. Racon
Phase. Phase
Phase donde. Wave phase
Phnomne de coopration. Cooperative phenomenon
Phone. Phon
Phontique. Phonetics
Phonographe. Phonograph
Phonon. Phonon
Phosphorescence. Phosphorescence
Photocathode. Photocathode
Photoconducteur. Photoconductive
Photoconduction. Photoconduction
Photodsintgration. Photodisintegration
Photo-lasticit. Photoelasticity
Photolectrique. Photoelectric
Photometteur. Photoemissive
Photographique. Photographic
Photoluminescence. Photoluminescence

Photomtre. Photometer
Photomtrie. Photometry
Photomtrique. Photometric
Photomultiplicateur. Photomultiplier
Photon. Photon
Photoneutron. Photoneutron
Photophorse. Photophoresis
Photopsie. Photoptic vision
Phototropisme. Phototropy
Physiologique. Physiological
Pick-up. Pickup
Pick-up pizolectrique. Pickup, crystal
Pizolectrique. Piezoelectric
Pizoide. Piezoid.
Pizomtre. Piezometer
Pile. Cell
Pile. Element
Pile. Pile
Pile sche. Cell, dry
Pile thermo-lectrique. Pile, thermoPilote. Pilot
Plan. Planar
Plan. Plane
Plan arodynamique. Air foil
Plan de polarisation. Plane of polarization
Plan de vibration. Plane of vibration
Plan focal. Focal plane
Planimtre. Planimeter
Plaque. Plate
Plaque de zone. Zone plate
Plasma. Plasma
Plasmatron. Plasmatron
Plasticit. Plasticity
Plastique. Plastic
Plateau. Length of plateau
Plochroque. Pleochroic
Plochrosme. Pleochroism
Plomorphisme. Pleomorphism
Pleurage. Flutter
Pleurage. Wow
Pliotron. Pliotron
Plomb. Lead
Pluie. Rain
Pneumatique. Pneumatic
Poids. Weight
Poids molculaire. Weight, molecular
Point. Dot
Point critique. Critical point
Point dappui. Bearing
Point dbullition. Boiling point
Point de conglation. Freezing point
Point de fusion. Melting point
Point de rose. Dew point
Point de selle. Saddle point
Point dinflammabilit. Flash point
Point dobjet. Object point
Pointe. Peak
Point lambda. Lambda point
Point neutre. Neutral point
Point ordinaire. Ordinary point
Point particulier. Address
Points cardinaux. Cardinal points
Points nodaux. Nodal point(s)
Poison. Poison
Polaire. Polar
Polarimtre laurent. Laurent polarimeter
Polarimtrie. Polarimetry
Polarisabilit. Polarizability

Polarisateur. Polarizer
Polarisation. Bias
Polarisation. Polarization
Polarisation de grille. Grid bias
Polarisation du vide. Vacuum polarization
Polariscope. Polariscope
Polarise dans un plan. Plane-polarized
Polarit. Polarity
Polarogramme. Polarogram
Polarographe. Polarograph
Polarode. Polaroid
Ple. Center, instantaneous
Ple. Pole
Polhodie. Polhode
Polissage. Lap
Polissage. Polishing
Polisseuse. Lap
Polychrome. Polychromie
Polydre. Polyhedron
Polygone. Polygon
Polymorphe. Polymorphic
Polynme. Polynomial
Polynme de Legendre. Legendre polynomial
Polytrope. Polytropic
Pompe. Pump
Pompe diffusion. Diffusion pump
Pompe vide. Pump, vacuum
Pompe vide. Vacuum pump
Pont. Bridge
Pont. Stub
Pont de mesure modle des postes. Post office box
Pont lectrique. Bridge, electrical
Porosit. Porosity
Porte. Gate
Porte. Range
Porte utile. Skip distance
Porteur. Carrier
Porteur en majorit. Majority carrier
Pose. Exposure
Positif. Positive
Positif. P-Type
Position. Position
Positon. Positron
Post-acclration. Post-acceleration
Potentiel. Potential
Potentiel critique. Critical potential
Potentiel vectoriel. Vector potential
Potentiel dionisation. Ionization potential
Potentiels avancs. Advanced potentials
Potentiels donde. Wave potentials
Potentiels retards. Retarded potentials
Potentiomtre. Potentiometer
Potentiomtre. Voltage divider
Poudre. Powder
Pourcentage. Per cent
Pousse. Buoyancy
Poussire. Dust
Pouvoir de dispersion. Dispersive power
Pouvoir de rsolution. Resolving power
Pouvoir missif. Emissivity
Pramplification. Pre-emphasis
Prcession. Precession
Prcipitation. Precepitation
Prcision. Accuracy
Prcision. Prcision
Prdissociation. Predissociation
Pression. Pressure
Pression de bulle. Bubble pressure

Pression de vapeur. Vapor pressure

Pression osmotique. Osmotic pressure
Pression sonore instantane. Excess pressure of sound
Primaire. Primary
Primitive. Primitive
Principal. Master
Principal. Principal
Principe dadditivit. Additivity, principle of
Principe de combinaison. Combination principle
Principe de complmentarit.
Complementarity
principle
Principe de correspondance. Correspondence principle
Principe de fermt. Least time, principle
Principe de moindre action. Least action, principle
Principe des travaux virtuels. Virtual work principle
Principe des travaux virtuels. Work principle of virtual
Principe dexclusion. Exclusion principle
Principe dexclusion. Pauli exclusion principle
Principe dincertitude. Uncertainty principle
Prise mdiane. CT
Prisme. Prism
Probabilit. Probability
Probabilit de transition. Transition probability
Procd Umklapp. Umklapp process
Produit. Product
Produit de dsintgration. Daughter element
Produit de dsintgration. Decay product
Produit de matrice. Matrix, product
Produit direct. Direct product
Produit scalaire. Scalar product
Produits de fission. Fission products
Produit vectoriel. Vector product
Profondeur. Depth
Profondeur de champ. Depth of field
Programme. Program
Progressif. Progressive
Progressif. Traveling
Progression. Progression
Progression arithmtique. Arithmetic progression
Progression harmonique. Harmonie progression
Projecteur. Projector
Propagation. Propagation
Propagation de lerreur. Error, propagation
Proportion. Proportion
Proportion isotopique. Abundance ratio
Proportionnel. Proportional
Proprit. Property
Protection. Shielding
Proton. Proton
Proximit. Proximity
Pseudo. Pseudo
Pseudoscalaire. Pseudoscalar
Pseudovecteur. Axial vector
Pseudovecteur. Pseudovector
Psychromtre. Psychrometer
Puissance. Power
Puissance au frein. Brake horsepower
Puissance utile. Capacity
Pulsation. Velocity angular
Pulvrisation. Sputtering
Pulvriser. Sputter
Pupille de sortie. Exit pupil
Pupille dentre. Entrance pupil
Puret. Purity
Pycnomtre. Pycnometer
Pyramide. Pyramid
Pyranomtre. Pyranometer
Pyrgomtre. Pyrgeometer

Pyromtre. Pyrometer
Pyromtre optique. Optical pyrometer
Pyromtrie. Pyrometry
Quadrature. Quadrature
Quadripolaire. Quadrupole
Quadrique. Quadric
Quadrivecteur. Four-vector
Quadruple. Quadruple
Quantification. Quantization
Quantique. Quantic
Quantit. Quantity
Quantit de mouvement. Momentum
Quantum. Quantum
Quantum virtuel. Virtual quantum
Quart-donde. Quarter-wave
Quartz. Quartz
Quasi. Quasi
Quasi-stationnaire. Quasi-stationary
Quaternion. Quaternion
Quintuple. Quintuple
Racmique. Racemic
Racine. Radix
Racine. Root
Radar. Radar
Radar optique. Optar
Radar ultra-sonique. Sonar
Radial. Radial
Radian. Radian
Radiance. Radiance
Radiant. Radiant
Radiateur. Radiator
Radiation. Radiation
Radiation cosmique. Cosmic radiation
Radiation de fuite. Leakage radiation
Radiation lectromagntique. Electromagnetic radiation
Radiation ultraviolette. Ultraviolet radiation
Radical. Radical
Radical libre. Free radical
Radio. Radio
Radioactif. Active
Radio-actif. Radioactive
Radioactivit. Activity
Radio-activit. Radioactivity
Radioactivit artificielle. Artificial radioactivity
Radio-lment. Radioelement
Radiographie. Radiography
Radiogoniomtre. Direction finder
Radioluminescence. Radioluminescence
Radiomtre. Radiometer
Radiomtrie. Radiometry
Radionuclide. Radionuclide
Radioreportage extrieur. Nemo
Radioscopie. Screening
Radiosonde. Radiosonde
Radio-thermoluminescence. Radio-thermoluminescence
Raies ultimes. Raies ultimes
Ralentissement. Slowing
Rapport gyromagntique. Gyromagnetic ratio
Rapport M/N. M/N ratio
Rapport signal-bruit. Signal-to-noise ratio
Rarfaction. Rarefaction
Rationnel. Rational
Rayon. Radius
Rayon. Ray

Rayon extraordinaire. Extraordinary ray

Rayon gamma. Gamma ray
Rayon ordinaire. Ordinary ray
Rayonnement cohrent. Coherent radiation
Rayonnement par choc. Bremsstrahlung
Rayons canaux. Canal rays
Rayon(s) cathodique(s). Cathode ray(s)
Rayons cathodiques. Lenard rays
Rayons cosmiques. Cosmic rays
Rayons-X. X-rays
Ractance. Reactance
Ractance de fuite. Leakage reactance
Racteur. Reactor
Racteur nuclaire. Pile
Racteur saturable. Saturable reactor
Raction. Feedback
Raction. Reaction
Raction en chane. Chain reaction
Raction photonuclaire. Photonuclear reaction
Ractivation. Reactivation
Ractivit. Reactivity
Rcalescence. Recalescence
Rcepteur. Receiver
Rcepteur au son. Sounder
Rchauffeur. Heater
Rciprocit. Reciprocity
Rciproque. Reciprocal
Recombinaison. Recombination
Recouvrement. Crossover
Rectangulaire. Rectangular
Rectigon. Rectigon
Rectiligne. Rectilinear
Recuit. Annealing
Recul. Recession
Recul. Recoil
Redressement. Rectification
Redresseur. Rectifier
Redresseur lectrostatique. Capacitron
Rduit. Reduced
Renclenchement. Reset
Rfrence. Reference
Rflchi. Reflected
Rflexion. Back scattering
Rflexion. Reflection
Rflexion totale. Total reflection
Rfract. Refracted
Rfracteur. Refractive
Rfraction. Refraction
Rfractomtre. Refractometer
Rfrigration. Refrigeration
Refroidissement. Cooling
Reglation. Regelation
Rgnration. Regeneration
Rgime permanent. State, steady
Rgime permanent. Steady state
Rgion de basse pression. Low
Rglage. Regulation
Rglage du niveau de bruit. Shading
Rglage par spire de court-circuit. Slug tuning
Rgle de droite. Right-hand rule
Rgle de phase. Phase rule
Rgles de slection. Selection rules
Rgulation de tension. Voltage regulation
Relais. Relay
Relatif. Relative
Relation parcours-nergie. Range-energy relation
Relativit. Relativity
Relativiste. Relativistic

Relativit gnrale. General relativity

Relaxation. Relaxation
Rluctance. Reluctance
Rmanence. Remanence
Rendement. Efficiency
Rendement. Response
Rendement de fission. Fission yield
Rendement ionique. M/N ratio
Rendement lumineux. Visibility factor
Rendement nuclaire. Breeding ratio
Renforcement. Intensification
Renormalisation. Renormalization
Rparition. Distribution
Reprage. Localization
Rponse. Response
Rponse de frquence. Frequency response
Reprsentation dun groupe. Representation of a group
Rpulsif. Repulsive
Rpulsion. Repulsion
Rseau. Lattice
Rseau. Network
Rseau. Space lattice
Rseau de diffrentiation. Network differentiating
Rseau de diffraction moul. Replica grating
Rseau de transmission. Transmission grating
Rseau en chelette. Echelette grating
Rseau en chelle. Echelle grating
Rseau intgrateur. Network, integrating
Rseau linaire. Lead network
Rseaux lectriques. Electric networks
Rsidu. Residue
Rsiduel. Residual
Rsilience. Resilience
Rsistance. Resistance
Rsistance. Resistor
Rsistance la traction. Tensile strength
Rsistance anti-parasite. Suppressor
Rsistance variation automatique. Varistor
Rsistance de plaque. Plate resistance
Rsistivit. Resistivity
Rsolution. Resolution
Rsonance. Resonance
Rsonance parallle. Antiresonance
Rsonateur. Resonator
Rsonateur cavit. Cavity resonator
Rsonnant. Resonant
Retard. Delay
Retardement. Time delay
Rticule. Cross-hair
Rticule. Reticle
Rticul. Reticulated
Rtine. Retina
Retour. Return
Retour du spot. Kickback
Rvlateur. Developer
Rverbration. Reverberation
Rversible. Reversible
Rversibilit. Reversibility
Rversibilit microscopique. Microscopic reversibility
Revtement. Skin
Revtement de graphite. Aquadag coating
Rhologie. Rheology
Rhopexie. Rheopexy
Rhostat. Rheostat
Rhombodre. Rhombohedron
Rigide. Rigid
Rigide. Inelastic
Rigidit. Magnetic rigidity

Rigidit. Shear modulus

Rigidit. Stiffness
Ronflement. Hum
Ronflement. Motorboating
Rose. Dew
Rotamtre. Rotameter
Rotatif. Rotating
Rotation. Curl
Rotation. Rotation
Rotationnel dun vecteur. Spinor
Rotatoire. Rotational
Rotor. Rotor
Rototral. Rototral
Ruban magntique. Magnetic tape
Rupture. Rupture
Saccharimtre. Saccharimeter
Saffaiblir. Fade
Salle rverbrante. Live room
Saturation. Saturation
Sec. Dry
Sdimentation. Sedimentation
Secondaire. Secondary
Seconde. Second
Se congeler. Freeze
Secousse. Jog
Secteur. Sector
Section. Section
Section efficace. Cross section
Section en H. H section
Section en L. L section
Slectance. Selectance
Slectivit. Selectivity
Selsyn. Selsyn
Semi-. SemiSemi-Conducteur. Semiconductor
Sensibilit. Sensitivity
Sensitomtrie. Sensitometry
Sparateur. Clipper
Sparation. Partition
Sparation. Separation
Srie. Series
Srie prcise. Sharp series
Serrage. Clamping
Servomcanisme. Servomechanism
Seuil. Level above threshold
Seuil. Threshold
Svanouir. Fade
Scalaire. Scalar
Scintillation. Scintillation
Scintillement. Flicker
Sclromtre. Sclerometer
Shunt. Shunt
Signal. Signal
Signes utilisables. Language
Silencieux. Quiescent
Sillage. Wake
Silverstat. Silverstat
Simple. Single
Simplex. Simplex
Simultanit. Simultaneity
Sinfiltrer. Permeate
Singulier. Singular
Sirne. Siren
Sismique. Seismic
Sismographe. Seismograph
Sogazode. Sogasoid

Solaire. Solar
Solnode. Solenoid
Solide. Solid
Solubilit. Solubility
Solut. Solute
Solution. Solution
Solution collodale. Sol
Solution solide. Solid solution
Sombre. Dark
Sommet. Apex
Sommet. Cusp
Sommet. Vertex
Somme de rseau. Lattice sum
Somme directe. Direct sum
Son. Sound
Son. Tone
Son blanc. White noise
Sondeur. Fathometer
Sone. Sone
Sonnerie. Ringing
Source. Source
Sourde. Anechoic
Sous-groupe. Subgroup
Sous-harmonique. Subharmonic
Sous incidence oblique. Oblique-incidence
Soustraire. Subtract
Spallation. Spallation
Spcifique. Specific
Spectral. Spectral
Spectre. Spectrum
Spectre de raies. Line spectrum
Spectre persistant. Persistent spectrum
Spectres de rayons-X. X-ray spectra
Spectre secondaire. Ghost
Spectrogramme. Spectrogram
Spectrographe. Spectrograph
Spectrographe de masse. Spectrograph, mass
Spectrographe magntique. Spectrograph, magnetic
Spectrohliographe. Spectroheliograph
Spectrohlioscope. Spectrohelioscope
Spectromtre. Spectrometer
Spectrophotomtre. Spectrophotometer
Spectroscope. Spectroscope
Spectroscopie. Spectroscopy
Spculaire. Specular
Sphre. Sphere
Sphrode. Spheroid
Sphromtre. Spherometer
Spin. Angular momentum
Spin. Spin
Spin lectronique. Electron spin
Spinthariscope. Spinthariscope
Spirale. Spiral
Spontan. Spontaneous
Stabilit. Stability
Stable. Stable
Stagnation. Stagnation
Stalagmomtre. Stalagmometer
Statique. Static
Statique. Statics
Statistique. Statistics
Stator. Stator
Stradian. Steradian
Stro-. StereoStrophonique. Stereophonic
Stroscope. Stereoscope
Stthoscope. Stethoscope
Stigmatique. Stigmatic

Stoichiomtrique. Stoichiometric
Stratosphre. Stratosphere
Stratus. Stratus
Striation. Striation
Stri. Striated
Stroboscope. Stroboscope
Stroboscope ultrasonore. Ultrasonic stroboscope
Structure. Structure
Structure fine. Fine structure
Subatomique. Subatomic
Sublimation. Sublimation
Sublim. Sublimate
Subsidence. Subsidence
Substance. Substance
Substance affaiblisseuse. Poison
Substance luminescente. Phosphor
Substance rfrigrante. Refrigerant
Substitution. Substitution
Successif. Sequential
Suite. Sequence
Suite. Set
Superhtrodyne. Superheterodyne
Superposition. Superimposition
Support. Carrier
Supraconducteur. Superconductor
Supraconductibilit. Superconductivity
Suramplification brusque. Burst
Surcharge. Overload
Surcroissance. Overgrowth
Surface. Area
Surface. Surface
Surface asphrique. Aspheric surface
Surface quipotentielle. Equipotential surface
Surface libre. Free surface
Surmodulation. Overshoot
Sursaturation. Supersaturation
Surtension. Overvoltage
Survolteur. Booster
Susceptance. Susceptance
Susceptibilit. Susceptibility
Susceptibilit magntique. Magnetic susceptibility
Suspension. Suspension
Symtrie. Symmetry
Symtrique. Push-pull
Synchrocyclotron. Synchrocyclotron
Synchrone. Synchronous
Synchronisation. Synchronization
Synchronisation. Synchronizing
Synchrotron. Synchrotron
Symtrique. Symmetric
Systme. Array
Systme. System
Systme catoptrique. Katoptric system
Systme centre de masse. Center-of-mass system
Systme de coordonnes. Coordinate system
Systme de rglage automatique. Automatic control
system
Systme de synchronisation. Synchro
Systme dispers. Disperse system
Systme ferm. Closed system
Systme ouvert. Open system
Systmes inversibles. Reversible processes
Tacan. Tacan
Tache. Smear
Tachymtre. Tachometer
Tacitron. Tacitron

Tampon. Buffer
T angente. T angent
Tassement. Packing
Taux. Rate
Taux dondes stationnaires. Wave, standing ratio
Taux de calcul. Counting rate
Taux de changement de la temprature avec laltitude.
Lapse rate
Taux de dissociation. Degree of dissociation
Teinte. Hue
Tlcentrique. Telecentric
Tlgraphe. Telegraph
Tlphone. Telephone
Tlescope. Telescope
Tltype. Teletype
Tlvision. Television
Temprature. Temperature
Temprature absolue. Temperature, absolute
Temprature caractristique. Characteristic tempera
ture
Temprature critique. Critical temperature
Tempte. Storm
Tempte de poussire. Dust storm
Temps. Time
Temps de transit. Transit time
Temps propre. Proper time
Tenseur. Tensor
Tenseur six vecteurs. Six-vector
Tension. Tension
Tension. Voltage
Tension constante de signal. Pedestal
Tension de rupture. Breakdown voltage
Tension de vapeur. Vapor pressure
Tension inverse de crte. Voltage, inverse peak
Tension superficielle. Surface tension
Terme. Term
Terre. Earth
Terre. Ground
Terre. Land
Terme impair. Odd term
Terre rare. Rare earth
Tte de famille radioactive. Parent
Ttratodre. Tetratohedral
Thodolite. Theodolite
Thorme de compensation. Compensation theorem
Thorme de facteur. Factor theorem
Thorme de viriel. Virial theorem
Thorme-H. H-theorem
Thorie cintique. Kinetic theory
Theorie de band. Band theory
Thorie du dplacement. Transport theory
Thermique. Thermal
Thermistor. Thermistor
Thermocouple. Thermocouple
Thermocouple vide. Vacuum thermocouple
Thermodynamique. Thermodynamic
Thermo-lastique. Thermoelastic
Thermolectrique. Thermoelectric
Thermomtre. Thermometer
Thermomtrie. Thermometry
Thermonuclaire. Thermonuclear
Thermophosphorescence (thermoluminescence). Ther
mophosphorescence (thermoluminescence)
Thermopile. Thermopile
Thermostat. Thermostat
Thyratron. Thyratron
Thyrite. Thyrite
Tige. Stem

Tirage en dgrad. Vignetting

T magique. Magic tee
T onnerre. Thunder
Tore. Anchor ring
Tornade. Tornadoe
Toroidal. Toroidal
Torsion. Torsion
Total. Total
Tourbillon. Vortex
Tourmaline. Tourmaline
Toute particule de faible masse. Lepton
Trace. Trace
Tranage. Hangover
Train dondes. Wave tram
Trajectoire. Trajectory
Trame. Raster
Transadmittance. Transadmittance
Transcendant. Transcendental
T ransducteur. T ransducer
Transformateur. Transformer
Transformateur de couplage. Coupling, transformer
Transformation. Decay
Transformation. Transformation
Transformation affine. Transformation, affine
Transformation canonique. Canonical transformation
Transformation de contact. Transformation contact
Transformation en matrice diagonale. Matrix, diagonalization
Transformation par similarit. Transformation similarity
Transformation unitaire. Transformation unitary
Transforme. Transform
Transistor. Transistor
Transit. Transit
Transition. Transition
Transition interdite. Transition forbidden
Transition permise. Transition, allowed
Transitoire. Transient
Transmetteur. Transmitter
Transmission. Transfer
Transmission. Transmissivity
Transmittance. Transmittance
Transmodulation. Cross-modulation
Travail. Work
Travail de sortie. Work function
Trs radioactif. Hot
Treuil. Wheel and axle.
Triangle. Triangle
Triangle sphrique. Triangle spherical
Tribo-luminescence. Triboluminescence
Trichromatique. Tristimulus
Triode. Triode
Triphas. Three-phase
Triple. Triple
Triple isomorphisme. Isotrimorphism
Trochode. Trochoid
Trois. Three
Trombe. Whirlwind
Troposphre. Troposphere
Troposphrique. Tropospheric
Trop-plein. Overflow
Trou . Hole
Trou positif. Vacancy
Tube. Tube
Tube dcharge. Discharge tube
Tube clats. Strobotron
Tube ondes progressives. Tube, traveling-wave
Tube rayons cathodiques. Cathode-ray tude
Tube vide. Tube vacuum

Tube bouton de porte . Door-knob tube

Tube dacclration. Accelerating tube
Tube dphaseur. Phase inverter
Tube de pitot. Pitot tube
Tube lectronique. Tube, electron
Tube Lnard. Tube cathode-ray
Tube rgulateur fer-hydrogne. Barretter
Tube-rsistance. Tube ballast
Turbulence. Turbulence
Tuyauterie. Plumbing
u..s. CGS. StatUltracentrifugeuse. Ultracentrifuge
Ultramicroscope. Ultramicroscope
Ultrasonore. Ultrasonic
Uni-. Uni
Uniaxe. Uniaxial
Uniforme. Uniform
Unilatral. Unilateral
Unique. Single
Unit. Unit
Unit absolue. Unit, absolute
Unit drive. Unit, derived
Unit lectrostatique. ESU.
Units. Length, units of
Units absolues. Absolute units
Unit X. X-ray unit
Univariant. Univariant
Univers. Mass of the universe
Univers. Universe
Universel. Universal
Uviol. Uviol
Valeur. Merit
Valeur. Value
Valence. Valence
Valeur moyenne. Mean value
Valeur propre. Eigenvalue
Vapeur. Vapor
Vapeur deau. Steam
Vapeurs. Fume
Vapeur sature. Vapor, saturated
Variabilit. Variability
Variable. Variable
Variable complexe. Complex variable
Variable daction. Action variable
Variable dangle. Angle variable
Variable de hasard. Random variable
Variance. Variance
Variation. Replacement
Variation de frquence. Doppler shift
Variomtre. Variometer
Vase de Dewar. Dewar flask
Vecteur. Vector
Vecteur axial. Vector axial
Vecteur bra. Bra vector
Vecteur contravariant. Vector contravariant
Vecteur covariant. Vector covariant
Vecteur dtat. State vector
Vecteur dtat. Vector, state
Vecteur ket. Ket vector
Vecteur non-rotatif. Vector irrotational
Vecteur polaire. Vector polar
Vecteur propre. Eigenvector
Vecteur solnodal. Vector solenoidal
Vecteur unit. Vector unit

Vent. Wind
Vrification. Verification
Vertical. Vertical
Vlocit. Velocity
Ventres. Antinodes
Verre. Glass
Verre de champ. Field lens
Vibration. Flutter
Vibration. Vibration
Vibration de rseau. Lattice vibration
Vibreur. Vibrator
Vidage. Cleanup
Vide. Vacuum
Vido. Video
Vie. Life
Vie. Lifetime
Viriel. Virial
Virtuel. Virtual
Vis. Screw
Viscosimtre. Viscosimeter
Viscosit. Viscosity
Viseur. View finder
Visibilit. Visibility
Vision scotopique. Scotopic vision
Vis rgulatrice. Lead screw
Vitesse. Speed
Vitesse. Velocity
Vitesse de groupe. Group velocity
Vitesse de phase. Phase velocity
Vitesse de phase donde(s). Wave(s), phase velocity o f
Vitesse de prcession. Velocity, precessional
Vitesse de propagation. Wave velocity
Vitesse de spin. Velocity spin

Vitesse relativiste. Relativistic velocity

Vitreux. Vitreous
Vocoder. Vocoder
Vodas. Vodas
Voder. Voder
Voisin le plus proche. Nearest neighbor
Volant. Flywheel
Volatil. Volatile
Volt. Volt
Voltmtre. Voltimeter
Voltmtre lampe. Vacuum-tube voltmeter
Voltmtre lectronique. Voltimeter vacuum-tube
Voltmtre lectrostatique. Voltmeter electrostatic
Volume. Volume
Volume critique. Volume critical
Vortex. Vortex ring
Vorticit. Vorticity
Watt. Watt
Watt-heuremtre. Watthourmeter
Wattmtre. Wattmeter
Wronskien. Wronskian
Zro. Null
Zro. Zro
Zro absolu. Absolute zro
Zone. Zone
Zone de brillouin. Brillouin zone
Zone des calmes. Doldrums
Zone E. E Rgion
Zone efficace. Effective area

GermanEnglish Index
Abbeugung. Diffraction
Abgeleitete Einheit. Unit, derived
Abgriff. Slide wire
Abklingen; Welken. Fade
2 Meanings in English. See Page 325 in ook.
Abkmmling. Derivative
Abkhlung. Cooling
Ablagerung. Sedimentation
Ablaufverhltnis. Lapse rate
Ablenkung. Deflection
Ablenkung. Deviation
Absaugmittel. Absorber
Abschaltung. Cutoff
Abschieferer. Scaler
Abschleudermaschine. Centrifuge
Abschluss; Abschliessen. Scram
2 Meanings in English. See Page 808 in Book.
Absoluteinheit. Unit, absolute
Absoluteinheiten. Absolute units
Absoluter Nullpunkt. Absolute zero
Absolute Temperaturskala. Absolute temperature scale
Absolutraumzeit. Absolute space-time
Absolut, rein. Absolute
Absoluttemperatur. Temperature, absolute
Absorptionsstreifen. Absorption band
Absperrung. Blocking
Absplitterung. Spallation
Abstimmanzeiger. Tuning indicator
Abstimmschrfe. Selectivity
Abstimmung. Modulation
Abstossend. Repulsive
Abstossung. Repulsion
Abstrich. Smear
Abstumpfungsirrtum. Truncation error
Abszisse. Abscissa
Abtasten. Sweep
Abtastgert. Pickup
Abteilung. Section
Abtnung; Schattierungenausgleich. Shading
2 Meanings in English. See Page 819 in Book.
Abweichung. Divergence
Abweichung. Variance
Abweichungslinse. Lens, diverging
Abziehen. Stripping
Abzugskreis. Trigger circuit
Abzweigung. Arm
Abzweigung. Branch
Achromat. Achromat
Achromatisch. Achromatic
Achromatische Verbindung. Achromatic combination
Achromatlinse. Lens, achromatic
Achsenkreuz. Coordinate system
Achsenvektor. Vector, axial
Achsenvergrsserung. Axial magnification
Achtfach. Octal
Adiabate. Adiabat
Adiabatisch. Adiabatic
Adiabatische Nherungsrechnung. Adiabatic approxi
mation
Adiabatische Unvernderliche. Adiabatic invariant

Aerosol. Aerosol
Affine Umwandlung. Transformation, affine
Affinieren. Affine
Agens. Agent
Aggregatzustand. Aggregation
hnlichkeitsfall. Analog
hnlichkeitsumwandlung. Transformation, similarity
Akkumulator. Battery
Aktivierung. Activation
Aktivierungsmittel. Activator
Aktivitt; Betriebsamkeit; Rhrigkeit. Activity
3 Meanings in English. See Page 13 of Book.
Akustisch. Acoustic
Albedo. Albedo
Alkali. Alkali
Allelomorph. Allelomorph
Alldarstellung. Omnigraph
Allgemeinrelativitt. General relativity
Allobar. Allobar
Allotropie. Allotropy
Allseitig. Universal
Alphateilchen. Alpha particle
Alphazhler. Alpha counter
Alter. Age
Amperewindung. Ampere-turn
Amplistat. Amplistat
Amplitude, Schwingungsweite. Amplitude
Amu. Amu
Analytisch. Analytic
Anastigmat. Anastigmat
Anechoisch. Anechoic
Angefgt. Adjoint
Angefllte Bande. Filled band
Angepasst. Matched
Angleichungsbeiwert. Accommodation coefficient
Anharmonie. Anharmonicity
Anhufend. Cumulative
Anisotropie. Anisotropy
Anisotropisch. Anisotropic
Annhern. Approximate
Anode. Plate
Anodisieren. Anodize
Anordnung. Arrangement
Anormal. Abnormal
Anormale Zerstreuung. Anomalous dispersion
Anotron. Anotron
Anpassung. Accommodation
Anpassung. Matching
Anreger. Exciter
Anregung. Excitation
Anregungsenergie. Excitation energy
Anreicherung. Enrichment
Ansaugmittel. Adsorbent
Ansaugung. Adsorption
Ansaugung. Persorption
Ansaugungsisotherme. Adsorption isotherm
Anschlussfhigkeit. Connectivity
Anschrift. Address
Anschwellen. Surge
Anschwellen, Schwankung. Surge

Anspannung. Tension
Ansprechvermgen. Susceptibility
Anzeigegert. Indicator
Anzeigegleichung. Indicial equation
Anzeigevorrichtung. Register
Ajizeigezulassung. Indicial admittance
Anznder. Igniter
olotropisch. Aeolotropic
Aplanat. Aplanat
Apochromatisch. Apochromatic
Apochromatlinse. Lens, apochromat
Aquadagbelegung. Aquadag coating
quivalentsmagnetschale. Magnetic shell, equivalent
Arbeit. Work
Arbeitsfunktion. Work function
Arbeitsgert. Servo
Arbeitsmaschine. Servomechanism
Arbeitsvermgen. Energy
Arganddiagramm. Argand diagram
Arithmetische Reihe. Arithmetic progression
Arkus. Arc
Armatur. Armature
rmel. Sleeve
Assosiationsgesetz. Associative law
Astronomisch. Astronomical
Atmosphre. Atmosphere
Atmosphrisch. Atmospheric
ther. Aether
Atom. Atom
Atomenergie. Atomic energy
Atomgattungen. Atomic species
Atomgewichteinheit. Awu
Atomkernspaltung. Fission
Atomische Belastung. Atomic charge
Atomisierung. Atomization
Atommasseeinheit. Atomic mass unit
Atomnummer. Atomic number
Atomzustand. Atomic state
Attrapeverzeichnis. Dummy index
tzend. Caustic
Auffassungsvermgen. Penetration
Aufhngung. Suspension
Aufkeilung. Keying
Aufklren. Clear
Aufladen. Boost
Auflsbarkeit. Solubility
Auflsen. Dissolving
Auflsung. Dialysis
Auflsung. Resolution
Auflsungsvermgen. Resolving power
Aufnahme. Recording
Aufnahmebeiwert. Absorption coefficient
Aufnahmekurve. Absorption curve
Aufprall. Impact
Aufsaugen, Sorption
Aufsaugen. Absorption
Aufsaugend. Absorbent
Aufsicht. Control
Aufsieden. Ebullition
Aufspaltergiebigkeit. Fission yield
Aufspalterzeugnisse. Fission products
Auftauchen. Looming
Auftriebszentrum. Center of buoyancy
Augenblick. Moment
Augenblick. Second (of time)
Augenblicklich. Instantaneous
Augenblickszentrum. Center, instantaneous
Augenfenster. Eyepiece

Augenlinse. Ocular
Augenspiegel. Ophthalmoscope
Ausdehnung. Dilatation
Ausgangspupille. Exit pupil
Ausgasen. Outgassing
Ausgleicharm. Balancer
Antriebsstummel. Balancer
Auseinandersetzung. Argument
Ausstrahlung. Radiation
Auswahlregeln. Selection Rules
Auslese. Selectance
Ausdauer. Resistance
Festigkeit. Resistance
Resistenz. Resistance
Widerstand. Resistance
Auswalzen. Roll out
Ausgelaufen. Rundown
Auskunft. Information
Austauschen. Interchange
Austauschkraft. Force, exchange
Ausflockung. Coagulation
Auslschungsbeiwert. Extinction coefficient
Ausrenkung. Dislocation
usserlich. Extrinsic
Ausdehnung. Expansion
Ausschlussprinzip. Exclusion principle
Ausschaltachse. Off-axis
Ausschmiegung. Osculation
Aussenschale. Valance shell
Aussickerung. Exosmosis
Aussonderer. Discriminator
Ausstrahlungsvermgen. Emissivity
Aussendung. Emittance
Aussender. Emitter
Ausgleicher. Equalizer
Ausstrmung. Effusion
Ausstrmung. Emission
Austauschentartung. Degeneracy, exchange
Ausgleichen. Counterbalancing
Auswertgert. Computer
Ausdehnungsbeiwert. Coefficient of expansion
Ausgleichsvorrichtung. Compensator
Aussteuerungsfaktor. Modulation factor
Austauschintegral. Exchange integral
Austauschenergie. Exchange energy
Austauschentartung. Exchange degeneracy
Autojustiergert. Autocollimator
Automatische Lautstrkeausdehnung. Ave
Autostrahlenaufnahme. Autoradiograph
Axialvektor. Axial vector
Azimuthquantennummer. Azimuthal quantum number
B-Batterie. B battery
Badewannekondensator. Bathtub capacitor
Ballastrohr. Ballast tube
Ballastrhre. Tube, ballast
Ballistische Abmessung. Ballistic measurement
Baiun. Baiun
Bandbreite. Bandwidth
Bandtheorie. Band theory
Base. Base
Bass. Bass
Baugruppe. Assembly
Beanspruchung. Strain
Befrderungstheorie. Transport theory
Begrenzte Ladung. Charge, bound
Beharrlichkeit. Persistence

1294

Beharrungsvermgen Dezimalrechenmaschine
Beharrungsvermgen. Inertia
Beifgung. Addition
Begrenzt. Bounded
Beigeordnete. Conjugate
Beigeordnete Objektivpunkte. Conjugate foci
Beiladung. Booster
Beimatrize. Matrix, adjoint
Beiwert. Coefficient
Bel. Bel
Belastung. Load
Ladung. Load
Belastungsausgleich. Load matching
Belegte Kathode. Coated cathode
Beleuchtung. Illumination
Belegte Linsen. CoatedL lenses
Beleuchtungsfhigkeit, uminance
Belichtung. Exposure
Belichtungsffnung. Aperture
Belichtungsebene. Focal plane
Berhrungslinie. Tangent
Berhrungsspannung. Contact potential
Beschleunigung. Acceleration
Beschleunigungsmesser. Accelerometer
Beschleunigungsmittel. Accelerator
Beschleunigungsrohr. Accelerating tube
Bestndigkeit. Stability
Bestandteil. Component
Betarhre. Betatron
Betateilchen. Beta particle
Betazerfall. Beta decay
Bestimmungszahl. Determinant
Bestrahlung. Irradiation
Bestwert. Optimum
Bettigung. Operation
Betuben. Doping
Betriebsmethoden. Operational methods
Betriebsmittel. Operator
Beuchspule. Bucking coil
Beugungswelle. Wave, diffracted
Beunruhigung. Perturbation
Bevatron. Bevatron
Bevorzugt. Preferred
Bewegen. Moving
Bewegungsgleichungen. Motion, equations of
Beweglichkeit. Mobility
Bewegung. Motion
Bewegungsenergie. Energy, kinetic
Bewegungsgrsse. Momentum
Bewegungslehre. Kinematics
Bewegungslehre. Kinetics
Kinetik. Kinetics
Bewegungslos. Static
Bewegungstheorie. Kinetic theory
Biegesteifigkeit. Flexure
Biegungsmoment. Bending moment
Bild. Image
Bild. Picture
Bildwandler. Iconoscope
Bildwerfer. Projector
Binr. Binary
Bindeglied. Bond
Bindekraft. Bond strength
Bindekraft. Cohesion
Biophysik. Biophysics
Bindesoid. Ligasoid
Bindung. Linkage
Bindungsenergie. Binding energy
Bindungsmoment. Bond moment

Blankreiben. Polishing
Blschenrohr. Bubble chamber
Blschendruck. Bubble pressure.
Blei. Lead
Bleinetzwerk. Lead network
Blindleistung. Susceptance
Blindwiderstand. Reactance
Blitz. Lightning
Blitzlichtbogen. Flash arc
Bltezeit. Efflorescence
Bodenwelle. Ground wave
Bogengrad. Radian
Bohrsche Magnetfeldrhre. Bohr magneton
Bolzeneinfhrung. Slug tuning
Bombardieren. Bombard
Boson. Boson
Brachistochron. Brachistochrone
Brand. Blaze
Braunsche Rhre. Cathode-ray tube
Bravektor. Bra vector
Brechen. Break
Brechungsbeiwert. Refractive index
Brechungsmesser. Refractometer
Brechungsmesser. Spectrometer
Breite. Width
Bremsen. Braking
Bremsgitterrhre. Pentode
Bremspferdestrke. Brake horsepower
Bremsstrahlung. Bremsstrahlung
Bremsvermgen. Stopping power
Brennpunkt. Focus
Brennpunktabstand. Focal length
Brillouinbezirk. Brillouin zone
Bruch. Rupture
Bruchteil. Fraction
Brcke. Bridge
Buchstabenrechnung. Algebra
Bndelverbreitung. Debunching
Brste. Brush
Chemilumineszenz. Chemiluminescence
Chemisch. Chemical
Chromatisch. Chromatic
Chromatizitt. Chromaticity
Dampf. Steam
Dampf. Vapor
Dampfdichte. Vapor density
Dampfdruck. Vapor pressure
Dmpfen. Damping
Dmpfer. Attenuator
Dampfspannung. Vapor tension
Dauergase. Permanent gases
Deckel. Lid
Dehnbarkeitsbeiwerte. Elastic coefficients
Dehnungsfhigkeit. Elastance
Depolarisation. Depolarization
Depolisator. Depolarizer
Delta. Delta
Deltafunktion. Delta function
Deltastrahl. Delta ray
Detaillierter Abgleich. Balancing, detailed
Deuteron. Deuteron
Dewargefss. Dewar flask
Dezi-. DeciDezimalrechenmaschine. Digital computer

Dezimalstelle. Digit
Dezimeterwelle. Microwave
Dialektrizittskonstante. Dielectric constant
Diamagnetismus. Diamagnetism
Diamant. Diamond
Dichte. Density
Dichtgedrngt. Close-packed
Dichtigkeit, Bestndigkeit. Consistency
Dichtmesser. Densitometer
Dichtigkeitsmesser. Pycnometer
Dichtpartie. Dense set
Differentialdruckmesser. Manometer, differential
Differentialannahme. Differential gain
Differentialgleichung. Differential equation
Differenzierung. Differentiation
Differenzschwelle. Difference limen
Diffusionspumpe. Diffusion pump
Diffusionsverhltnis. Diffusion coefficient.
Dimensionalanalyse. Dimensional analysis
Direktprodukt. Direct product
Direktsumme. Direct sum
Dirigieren. Motor
Distanzgleichheitslinie. Isochrone
Donner. Thunder
Doppel. Double
Doppelbrechung. Double refraction
Doppelkantensule. Biprism
Doppelleitend. Bidirectional
Doppelpolige Nebengeordnete. Bipolar coordinate
Doppelschicht. Double layer
Doppelsinnigkeit. Equivocation
Doppelstrahlenbrechung. Birefringence
Dopplerverschiebung. Doppler shift
Dosis (Dosierung), Dose, dosage
Drahtaufnahme. Wirephoto
Drang. Impulse
Drehbar. Rotational
Dreher. Rotator
Drehmoment. Torque
Drei. ThreeDrehungsfreie Welle. Wave, irrotational
Dreianreger. Tristimulus
Dreieck. Triangle
Dreifach. Triple
Dreifarbenbeiwerte. Trichromatic coefficients
Dreipartner. Three-body
Dreiphasig. Three-phase
Dreipunktschaltung. Hartley
Drosselkreis. Butterfly circuit
Druck. Pressure
Drcker. Trigger
Druckkreis. Printed circuit
Druckmesser. Manometer
Druckmesser. Piezometer
Druckelektrisch. Piezoelectric
Druckkryometer. Manocryometer
Drucklinie. Isobar
Druckwelle. Wave, compressional
Drukknackgert. Click gauge
Dunkel. Dark
Dunkelstrom. Dark current
Dunst. Fume
Durchdringen. Permeate
Durchdringungsmesser. Permeameter
Durchflussmesser. Flow meter
Durchflutung. Flux
Durchgangszeit. Transit time
Durchlssigkeit. Permeability

Permeabilitt. Permeability
Durchdringbarkeit. Permeability
Durchlssigkeit. Transmissivity
Durchmusterung. Scanning
Durchschlagspannung. Breakdown voltage
Durchschnitt. Average
Durchschuss. Woofer
Durchsplung. Scavenging
Durchtrnkung. Saturation
Durchwanderung, Unschrfe. Diffusion.
Dse. Jet
Dsenstrom. Jet stream
Dyadik. Dyadic
Dyadiktter. Operator, dyadic
Dynamikkennzeichen. Dynamic characteristic
Dynatron. Dynatron
Dynode. Dynode
Dyotron. Dyotron
Ebben. Tides
Ebene. Plane
Ebenmass. Symmetry
Ebenmassklassen. Symmetry classes
Echelonierung. Echelle grating
Edelgase. Noble gases
Effektivgebiet. Effective area
E-Gebiet. E region
Eigenfunktion, Eigenfunction. Characteristic function
Eigengleichung. Characteristic equation
Eigenschwingungszahl. Frequency, natural
Eigenstcurungssystem. Automatic control system
Eigentemperatur. Characteristic temperature
Eigentlich. Specific
Eigenvektor. Eigenvector
Eigenwert. Eigenvalue
Eigenzustand. Eigenstate
Einbiegung. Inflection
Ein-. Uni
Einachsekristall. Uniaxial crystal
Einachsig. Uniaxial
Einbuchtung. Recession
Eindringend. Penetrating
Einfach. Primitive
Einfachwohlklangbewegung. Simple harmonic motion
Einfangen. Capture
Einfallslos Ordinate
Einfallwelle. Incident wave
Einfarbig. Monochromatic
Einfrmig. Monomorphic
Einfgung. Insertion
Eingangspupille. Entrance pupil
Eigenlnge. Proper length
Eigenschaft. Property
Eigenzeitdauer. Proper time
Einheit. Unit
Einheitlich. Homogeneous
Gleichteilig. Homogeneous
Einheitliche Matrize. Matrix, unitary
Einheitpuls. Baud
Einheitsflchenwinkel. Steradian
Einheitsvektor. Vector, unit
Einlass. Admittance
Einlegearbeit. Mosaic
Einmolekular. Unimolecular
Einrichtung. Orientation
Einsatzluftnavigation. Tacan
Einsaugung. Absorptance

Einschaltung. Interpolation
Einseitig. Unilateral
Einstabil. Monostable
Eintrittskantenpulszeit. Leading-edge pulse time
Eintrittsschlitz. Entrance slit
Einwertig. Uniform
Einzel. Single
Einzelmatrize. Matrix, singular
Einzelmolekl. Monomer
Einzelverwandlung. Transformation, unitary
Einzelzelle. Unit cell
Einzignderlich. Univariant
Einzigartig. Singular
Eirundfenster, Oval window
Eis. Ice
Eisenelektrisch. Ferroelectric
Eisenmagnetismus. Ferromagnetism
Eisen-Nikelzelle. Cell, iron-nickel
Eisregen. Sleet
Elastizittswelle. Wave, elastic
Elastizittsziffer. Modulus of elasticity
Elektret. Electret
Elektrisch. Electric
Elektrische Anziehungskraft. Attraction, electrical
Elektrische Brcke. Bridge, electrical
Elektrische Leitung. Conduction, electric
Elektrischer Schmelzfluss. Flux, electric
Elektrizitt. Electricity
Elektrizittshalter. Electrophorus
Elektrizittsstrke. Intensity, electric
Elektrochemischgegenwert. Electrochemical equivalent
Elektrode. Electrode
Elektrodialyse. Electrodialysis
Elektrogeflecht. Electric networks
Elektrohaarhrchenwirkung. Electrocapillarity
Elektrokraftmesser. Electrodynamometer
Elektrolyse. Electrolysis
Elektrolyt. Electrolyte
Elektromagnetausstrahlung. Electromagnetic radiation
Elektromagneterregung. Electromagnetic induction
Elektromagnet. Electromagnet
Elektromagnetfeld. Electromagnetic field
Elektromagnetismus. Electromagnetism
Elektromagnetwelle. Electromagnetic wave
Elektromagnetwelle. Wave, electromagnetic
Elektrometer. Electrometer
Elektromotorkraft. Electromotive force
Elektron. Electron
Elektronenbeschleuniger. Cyclotron
Elektronenkanone. Electron gun
Elektronenlinse. Electron lens
Elektronenoptik. Electron optics
Elektronenrhre. Electron tube
Elektronenrhre. Tube, electron
Elektronenspin. Electron spin
Elektronenstrahl. Electron beam
Elektronik. Electronics
Elektronisch. Electronic
Elektronischer spitzenaufnehmbarer Spannungsstrom
messer. Voltmeter, electronic, peak-reading
Elektronvolt. Electron-volt
Elektrophorese. Electrophoresis
Elektrosfteaustausch. Electroendosmosis
Elektroschalter. Electronic switch
Elektroskop. Electroscope
Elektrostatischer Spannungsstrommesser. Voltmeter,
Electrostatic
Electrostatischer Stromerzeuger. Electrostatic generator

Elektrostatisch. Electrostatic
Elektrostatisches Feld. Electrostatic field
Elektrostoffuhrgang. Electro-osmosis
Elektrostreifenbildung. Electrostriction
Elektroverneinung. Electronegativity
Elektrozweipol. Electric dipole
Elementarteilchen. Elementary particle
Ellipsoid. Ellipsoid
Empfindlichkeit. Sensitivity
Emulsion. Emulsion
Enantiomorphus. Enantiomorphus
Enantiotropie. Monotropy
Endgltige Strahlen. Raies ultimes
Endlichkeitsunterschied. Difference, finite
Endstufe. Output
Energiegleichteilung. Equipartition of energy
Energieniveau. Energy level
Energiewuchtspanner. Energy-momentum tensor
Entartung. Degeneration
Entartungszustand. Degenerate state
Entfernung. Distance
Entgasung. Degasification
Enthaltsamkeit. Constraint
Entionsierung. Deionization
Entkuppelung. Uncoupling
Entladen. Discharge
Entladungsrohre. Discharge tube
Entleerungsschicht. Depletion layer
Entmagnetisierung. Demagnetization
Entmodulierung. Demodulation
Entsaugung. Desorption
Entschdigungslehrsatz. Compensation theorem
Entspanner. Expander
Entspannung. Relaxation
Entsprechend. Relative
Entsprechende Zustnde. Corresponding states
Entsprechungsprinzip. Correspondence principle
Entwickler. Developer
Entwicklung. Development
Erblich. Hereditary
Erdachsenschwankung. Nutation
Erdbeben-. Seismic
Erdbebenanzeiger. Seismograph
Erde. Earth
Erdschluss. Ground
Ereignis. Event
Erfrieren. Freeze
Erg. Erg
Ergnzen. Integrating
Ergnzung. Complement
Ergnzungsfunktion. Complementary function
Ergnzungsprinzip. Complementarity principle
Ergiebigkeitspunkt. Yield point
Erhalter. Getter
Erhaltung. Conservation
Erhaltungsgesetz von mechanischer Energie. Law of
conservation of mechanical energy
Erhaltungsgesetz von winkligem Momentum. Law of
conservation of angular momentum
Erhellung. Illuminance
Erholungspause. Recovery time
Erlaubt. Allowed
Erlaubt. Permissible
Erlaubte Bande. Band, allowed
Erlaubter bergang. Allowed transition
Erlaubte Uebergehung. Transition, allowed
Ermittler. Determinate
Ermdung. Fatigue

Erneuerung. Regeneration
Erregend. Inductive
Erregung. Induction, electric
Erregungsgleichrichter. Excitron
Erregungszustand. Exciton
Ersatz. Substitution
Ersatzladung. Dummy load
Erscheinungsgesetz von unstetigen Formen.
appearance of unstable forms
Erschtterung. Percussion
Erschtterungspunkt. Center of percussion
Erstwicklung. Primary winding
Erwiderung. Response
Erzeuger. Generator
Erzeugung. Creation
Erzeugungsfunktion. Generating function
Erzwungene Schwingung. Forced oscillation
Esu. Esu
Etalon. Etalon
Eutektikum. Eutectic
Experiment. Experiment
Extraordinrstrahl. Extraordinary ray
Fadenkreuz. Reticle
Fadensonde. Cross-hair
Faktorisch. Factorial
Faktorlehrsatz. Factor theorem
Falle. Trap
Fangvorrichtung. Trap
Fllung. Precipitation
Faltpunkt. Plait point
Fangen. Trapping
Farbe. Color
Farbenempfindlich. Orthochromatic
Farbenschiller. Iridescence
Farbezentrum. Color center
Farbmesser. Colorimeter
Farbmessverfahren. Colorimetry
Farbton. Tint
Farbtonrichtig. Isochromatic
Farraday-Dunkelraum. Dark space, Faraday
F-bande. F-band
Fedrigkeit. Elasticity
Fehler. Defect
Fehlzndung. Backfire
Feinmesser. Micrometer
Feinplanstellungszeiger. PPPI
Feinsehrohr. Microscope
Feinstruktur. Fine structure
Feinverteilung. Dispersion
Feldemission. Field emission
Feldistor. Fieldistor
Feldkraft. Field strength
Feldlinse. Lens, field
Feldlinse. Field lens
Feldtiefe. Depth of field
Fenster. Window
Fern. Long range
Femaufnahme. Telephoto
Fernrohr. Telescope
Fernsprecher. Telephone
Fernschreiber. Teletype
Fernsehen. Television
Fernsteuerung. Remote control
Fernwirkung. Action at a distance
Ferramik. Ferramic
Fest. Stable

Law of

Festklemmen. Clamping
Festmachung. Fixation
Feuchtigkeit. Humidity
Feuchtigkeitsempfindlich. Hygroscopic
Feuchtigkeitsmesser. Hygrometer
Film. Film
Ueberzug. Film
Filter. Filter
Flche. Area
Flachrund. Oblate
Flagge. Flag
Winkzeichen. Flag
Flchenmesser. Planimeter
Flamme. Flame
Flammpunkt. Flash point
Flattern. Flutter
Schwingung. Flutter
Flatterwirkung. Flutter
Flattern. Wow
Fleckenschnur. Patchcord
Fliessen. Flow
Fliesskunde. Rheology
Flimmer. Flicker
Flchtigkeit. Fugacity
Flugrad. Flywheel
Flssig. Liquidus
Flssige Grenzschicht. Boundary layer, fluid flow
Flssigkeit. Fluid
Flssigkeit. Liquid
Flssigkeitstropfen. Liquid-drop
Flssigkeitszustand. Fluidity
Flussverknpfung. Flux linkage
Flutwelle. Wave, tidal
Fokusrektum. Latus rectum
Folgend. Sequential
Formbarkeit. Plasticity
Formenlehre. Morphotropy
Formvernderung. Deformation
Formziffer. Foim factor
Fortfhrung. Progression
Fortpflanzung. Convection
Fortpflanzungsimmgen. Errors, propagation
Fortwhrende Bewegung. Perpetual motion
Frei. Free
Freie Belastung. Charge, free
Freienergie. Free energy
Freiheitsgrad. Degree of freedom
Freiheitsgrade. Freedom, degrees of
Freioberflche. Free surface
Freischwingung. Libration
Freiumlaufend. Astable
Freiwurzelgrosse. Free radical
Frequenzband. Frequency band
Frequenzdoppler. Frequency doubler
Frequenzeinteilung. Frequency division
Frequenzfilter. Band-pass filter
Frequenzgang. Frequency response
Frequenzmesser. Frequency meter
Frequenzmodulation. Frequency modulation
Fhren. Lead
Fhrschraube. Lead screw
Fhrungszapfen. Pilot
Fnf-. Penta
Fnffach. Quintuple
Fnfgitter. Pentagrid
Funkel. Spark
Funkelement. Radioelement
Funkeln. Scintillation

Funkelnzhler. Counter, scintillation

Funkenstrmung. Shielding
Funkfrequenz. Radio frequency
Funkkanal. Channel, radio
Funklichterscheinung. Radioluminescence
Funkmessgert. Radar
Funknuklide. Radionuclide
Funkstrahlenttigkeit. Radioactivity
Fusspfund. Foot pound
Pfundfuss. Foot pound
F-Zahl. F-number
F-Zentrum. F-center
Galvanisieren. Electroplating
Gammafunktion. Gamma function
Gammastrahl. Gamma ray
Ganzzahl. Integer
Ganzzahlig. Integral
Gnzlich. Total
Grion. Fermion
Gas. Gas
Gaskonstante. Gas constant
Gebiet, Krftefeld, Elektromagnetfeld, Klanggebiet,
Gesichtsfeld,
Schmelzmittel,
Elektromagnetfeld,
Zeilensprungsgerst. Field
Gebietegesetz. Law of areas
Gebilde. Array
Gebirgsbeschreibend. Orographic
Gebrochen. Refracted
Gebundene Wrme. Heat, latent
Gedchtnis. Memory
Geflle. Gradient
Gefrierpunkt. Freezing point
Gefge. Structure
Gefunkelzhler. Scintillation counter
Gegen. AntiGegenbinden. Antibonding
Gegeneisenmagnetismus. Ferrimagnetism
Gegeneisenmagnetismus. Antiferromagnetism
Gegengewicht. Counterpoise
Gegenhochebene (zhler). Plateau (counter)
Gegenkathode. Anticathode
Gegenlrmtrger. Codan
Gegenparallel. Antiparallel
Gegensatz. Contrast
Gegenstzlichkeit. Polarity
Gegenseitig. Mutual
Gegenseitige Induktanz. Mutual inductance
Gegenseitiges Leitvermgen. Mutual conductance
Gegensonne. Parhelion
Gegenspiegelreich. Antisymmetric
Gegentakt. Push-pull
Gegenteilchen. Antiparticle
Gegenumschalter. Anticommutator
Gegenvernderliche. Contravariant
GegenVernderungsspanner. Tensor, contravariant
Gegenvernderungsvektor. Vector, contravariant
Gegenwert. Equivalent
Gegenwiderhall. Antiresonance
Gegenwiderstandsmagnetron. Magnetron, negativeresistance
Gegenzufallstromkreis. Anticoincidence circuit
Gegenzyklone. Anticyclone
Gehr. Hearing
Geigerzhler. Counter, geiger
Gelenkverbindung. Articulation
Gellender. Tweeter

Gemeinbase. Common-base
Gemeinpunkt. Ordinary point
Gemeinsames Metallelektronenmuster. Collective model
of electrons in metals
Gemischverteiler. Mixer
Mischer. Mixer
Genauigkeit. Accuracy
Genauigkeit. Precision
Geodsisch. Geodesic
Geometrisch. Geometric
Geometrisch. Geometrical
Geon. Geon
Gerade-gerade-Keme. Even-even nuclei
Geradelinig. Linear
Geradelinig. Rectilinear
Gerade-ungerade-Kerne. Even-odd nuclei
Gerusch. Noise
Geringer. Minor
Gerinnen. Coagel
Geschlossenes System. Closed system
Geschwindigkeit. Speed
Geschwindigkeit. Velocity
Geschwindigkeit. Rate
Geschwindigkeitsmesser. T achometer
Gesetz. Law
Gesichtswinkelabweichung. Parallax
Gesprudel. Sputtering
Gestalt. Configuration
Gestaltlos. Amorphous
Gestaltsfaktor. Shape factor
Gestimmt. Tuned
Gestreift. Striated
Getrieben. Embossed
Gewicht. Weight
Gewissermassen. Quasi
Gift, Verminderungsmittel. Poison
Gitter. Grid
Gitterdynamik. Lattice dynamics
Gitterenergie. Lattice energy
Gittererschtterung. Lattice vibration
Gitterfehler. Lattice defect
Gitterkonstante. Lattice constant
Gittersumme. Lattice sum
Gitterumfnge. Lattice dimensions
Gitterverbindung. Lattice compound
Gittervorspannung. Grid bias
Gitterwelle. Lattice wave
Gitterwerk. Grating
Gitterwerk. Lattice
Glas. Glass
Glasartig. Vitreous
Gleichachsig. Coaxial
Gleichbleibend. Constant
Gleichgestaltigkeit. Isomorphism
Gleichgewicht. Equilibrium
Gleichgewicht. Balance
Waage. Balance
Abschluss. Balance
Gleichgewichtsfestwert. Equilibrium constant
Gleichheit. Equality
Gleichheit. Identity
Gleichlaufend. Synchronous
Gleichlufig. Parallel
Gleichpolige Bande. Homopolar bond
Gleichpotentialoberflche. Equipotential surface
Gleichrichter. Rectifier
Gleichrichtung. Rectification
Gleichschalten. Synchronizing

Gleichschalter. Synchro
Gleichschaltung. Synchronization
Gleichstrke. Equipotential
Gleichstrom. D-C.
Gleichstrom. Direct current
Gleichstromerzeuger. Direct-current generator
Gleichung. Equation
Gleichwrmig. Isothermal
Gleichwertigkeit. Equivalence
Gleichwertigkeit. Parity
Gleichzeitigkeit. Simultaneity
Glied. Link
Gleitreibungserhellung. Triboluminescence
Glhen. Glow
Glumtesser. Pyrometer
Grad. Degree
Grammquivalent. Gram-equivalent
Grammatom. Gram-atom
Grammophon. Phonograph
Graukrper. Gray body
Grenze. Limit
Grenzbeiwert. Critical coefficient
Grenzdmpfung. Damping, critical
Grenzeschicht. Barrier layer
Grenzespannung. Barrier potential
Grenzspannung. Critical potential
Grenztemperatur. Critical temperature
Grenzvolumen. Volume, critical
Grenswert. Threshold
Grsse. Quantity
Grssenverhltnis. Proportion
Grsstmass. Maximum
Grundfrequenz. Frequency, fundamental
Grundfrequenz. Fundamental frequency
Grundmusterung. Background
Grundstoff. Element
Element. Element
Zelle. Element
Bestandteil. Element
Zustandsgrsse. Element
Grundteilchen. Fundamental particle
Gruppe. Class, Cluster, Group
Gruppengeschwindigkeit. Group velocity
Gruppenvertretung. Representation of a group
Haarartig. Capillary
Haarchen. Whisker
Haarhrchenwirkung. Capillarity
H-Abteilung. H section
Haftfestigkeit. Adhesion
Hagel. Hail
Halb. SemiHalbbreite. Halfwidth
Halbdurchlssige Membrane. Semipermeable membrane
Halbflchig. Hemihedral
Halbleiter. Semiconductor
Halbleiterabzweigdose. Junction (in a semiconductor
device)
Halbleiterempfnger. Acceptor (in a semiconductor)
Halbmesser. Radius
Halbschatten. Penumbra
Halbversilbert. Half silvered
Halogen. Halogen
Halten. Hold
Haltepunkt. Stop
Hang. Slope
Hrtemesser. Sclerometer

Hrtezustand. Hardness
Hrtung. Annealing
Haufen. Pile
Haufenwolke. Cumuliform
Hufigkeit. Frequency
Hufigkeitsverhltnis. Abundance ratio
Hauptachse. Principal axis
Hauptschlich. Major
Hauptschatten. Umbra
Hauptgeringstwirkung. Least action, principle
Hauptgeringstzeit. Least time, principle
Hauptpunkte. Cardinal points
Hauptschlich. Principal
Haut. Skin
Hauttiefe. Skin depth
Hebei. Lever
Heiss . Hot
Heisskathode. Hot-cathode
Heizfaden. Filament
Heizvorrichtung. Heater
Heizwertmesser. Calorimeter
Helligkeit. Brightness
Herbeigefhrt. Induced
Herleitung. Induction
Hermitisch. Hermitian
Herpolhode. Herpolhode
Herzfrmig. Cardioid
Heteroion. Heteroion
Heteroptisch. Heterotopic
Hexode. Hexode
Himmel. Sky
Himmelmechanik. Celestial mechanics
Himmelstrahlungsmesser. Pyranometer
Hinterveranda. Back porch
Hinweis. Reference
Hiperko. Hiperco
Hipernik. Hipemik
Hipersil. Hipersil
Hitze. Heat
H-Lehrsatz. H-theorem
Hochfein. Hyperfine
Hochfidelitt. High fidelity
Hochgeometrisch. Hypergeometric
Hochzahl. Exponent
Hochzchtung. Hybridization
Hhe. Height
Hhenmessgert. Altimeter
Hhenstrahl. Cosmic-ray
Hhenstrahlung. Cosmic radiation
Hhenunterschiedsmesser. Cathetometer
Hohlraum. Hohlraum.
Hohlraumbildung. Cavitation
Hohlraumresonator. Cavity resonator
Hohlrund. Concave
Hrbar. Auditory
Hrer. Receiver
Empfnger. Receiver
Hydratisch. Hydrated
Hydrodynamik. Hydrodynamics
Hyperbolische Funktion. Hyperbolic function
Hyperbolisches Navigationsfernsystem. Loran
Hyperon. Hyperon
Idealgas. Ideal gas
Idemfaktor. Idemfactor
Idempotent. Idempotent
Idiochromatisch. Idiochromatic

Idiomorph. Idiomorphous
Impulsgert. Pulse generator
Impulsgert. Modulator
Implodieren. Implode
Impulsmoment. Moment o f momentum
Impulslrm. Noise, impulse
Induktionslinie(n). Line(s) of induction
Induktionsspule. Induction coil
Inductionswiderstand. Inductance
Integralgleichung. Integral equation
Integrierausdruck. Integrand
Integriernetzwerk. Network, Integrating
International. International
Inversgipfelspannung. Voltage, inverse peak
Innenenergie. Internal energy
Innenumwandlung. Internal conversion
Innenverbrennung. Internal combustion
Inwendig. Internal
Ion. Ion
Ionisierung. Ionization
Ionisierungsgert. Gauge, Ionization
Ionisierungskammer. Ionization chamber
Ionisierungsspannung. Ionization potential
Ionisch. Ionic
Irrtum. Error
Isodesmisch. Isodesmic
Isodiaphre. Isodiaphere
Isoelektrisch. Isoelectric
Isolierung. Insulation
Isomagnetisch. Isomagnetic
Isomer. Isomer
Isopolymorphismus. Isopolymorphism
Isotherme. Isotherm
Isotop. Isotope
Isoteniskop. Isoteniscope
Isomorph. Isomorph
Isotriomorphismus. Isotrimorphism
Isotron. Isotron
Isotropisch. Isotropic
Jakobisch. Jacobian
Joch. Yoke
Justieren. Collimation
Justiergert. Collimator
Kalkspat. Calcite
Kalmenzone. Doldrums
Kalomelelektrode. Calomel electrode
Kaloreszenz. Calorescence
Klteerzeugung. Refrigeration
Kltefront. Cold front
Kltemittel. Refrigerant
Kaltrecken. Cold work
Kalutron. Calutron
Kanalstrahlen. Canal rays
Kaninchen. Rabbit
Kanonisch. Canonical
Kanonische Bewegungsgleichung. Canonical equation
of motion
Kanonische Umwandlung. Canonical transformation
Kanonische Umwandlung. Transformation, canonical
Kanteneffekt. Edge effect
Kantensule. Prism
Kantenverenkung. Edge dislocation
Kapazitt. Capacitance
Kapazitron. Capacitron

Kapazittsbeiwerte. Capacitance, coefficients of

Kapillarerhhung. Capillary rise
Karat. Carat
Karte. Map
Kartesianisch. Cartesian
Kaskade. Cascade
Kaskadeschauer. Cascade shower
Katadioptisch. Catadioptric
Kataphorese. Cataphoresis
Kathodenstrahloszilloskop.
Oscilloscope, cathoderay
Kathodenstrahl(en). Cathode ray(s)
Kathodenstrahloszilloskop.
Cathode-ray oscillo
scope
Kathodenstrahlrohr. Crt
Kathodenstrahlrhre. Tube, cathode-ray
Kathodolichterscheinung. Cathodoluminescence
Kation, Cation
Katoptrikssystem. Katoptric system
K-Einfangung. K-capture
K-Elektron. K-electron
Kegel. Cone
Kegelfrmig. Conical
Kegelschnitt. Ellipse
Kegelschnitt. Hyperbola
Kegelschnittdrehkrper. Paraboloid
Kehraus. Cleanup
Kehrwert. Reciprocal
Kehrwertmatrize. Matrix, reciprocal
Keil. Wedge
Keillichtmesser. Wedge photometer
Keksschneider* Abstimmresonator. Cookie cutter
Kennlinie, Kennwert, Eigenschaft. Characteristic
Kennzeichen. Merkmal. Character.
Kennziffer. Index
Kennzahl, Umschwungsfaktor, Nebenvernderliche.
Modul. Modulus
Kentron. Kenotron
Keramisch. Ceramic
Kern. Core
Kern. Kemel
Kern. Nucleus
Kernenergie. Nuclear energy
Kemisomerismus. Isomerism, nuclear
Kemstem. Star (nuclear)
Kernvereinigung. Fusion, nuclear
Kerze. Candle
Kettenlinie. Catenary
Kettenreaktion. Chain reaction
Ketvektor. Ket vector
Kev. Kev
Kilo. KiloKineskop. Kinescope
Klang. Sound
Klanglehre. Acoustics
Klangberdruck. Excess pressure of sound
Klassisch. Classical
Klemme. Terminal
Klempnerei. Plumbing
Klima. Climate
Klingeln. Ringing
Klystron. Klystron
Knotenlinie. Line of nodes
Koerzitivitt. Coercivity
Koerzitivkraft. Coercive force
Kohlekreislauf. Carbon cycle
Kohlensteg. Land
Kol. Col

1301
Kolloid. Colloid
Kolloidalzustand. Colloidal state
Kolloidalzustand. Gel
Kolloidlsung. Sol
Kommutativ. Commutative
Kompandor. Compandor
Kompass. Compass
Komplexion. Complex ion
Komplexpaarmatrize. Matrix, complex conjugate
Komplexvernderliche. Complex variable
Komplexzahl. Complex number
Kondensator. Capacitor
Konelmetall. Konel metal
Konisch. Conic
Konservativkraftfeld. Force field, conservative
Kontakttransformation. Transformation, contact
Kontaktwinkel. Contact angle
Kontrollkreis. Control circuit
Konvergenzkreis. Circle of convergence
Konvergenzlinse. Lens, converging
Konzentrierung. Concentration
Koordinatachse. Coordinate axis
Koordinationszahl. Coordination number
Kopf. Head
Kopfhrer. Earphone
Kopiengitter. Replica grating
Koppelfestwert. Coupling constant
Kopplung. Coupling
Korn. Grain
Gran. Grain
Korngrenze. Grain boundary
Korosil. Corosil
Krpereigen. Intrinsic
Krpergasoid. Sogasoid
Krperlich. Solid
Krperzustand. Solid-state
Kosinus. Cosine
Kosmologischer Festwert. Cosmological constant
Kosmotron. Cosmotron
Kovalenz. Covalence
Kovar. Kovar
Kraft. Power
Kraftbehinderung. Entropy
Krftebeschaffenheitsgesetz. Law of composition of
forces
Krafterzeuger. Dynamotor
Kraftlautsprecher. Dynamic loudspeaker
Kraftlehre. Dynamics
Kraftlinienfluss. Flux, magnetic
Kraftmaschine. Dynamo
Kraftsmoment. Moment of force
Kraftspeicher. Accumulator
Kraftverlaufmesser. Dynamometer
Kranzerscheinung. Corona
Korona. Corona
Strahlenkranz. Corona
Kranzerscheinung. Halo
Kruseln. Curl
Kreis. Circle
Kreisausschnitt. Sector
Kreisbahn. Orbit
Kreisel. Gyroscope
Kreiselmagnetisch. Gyromagnetic
Kreiselmagnetrundfunk. Gyromagnetic ratio
Kreisfunktion. Circular function
Kreisfunktion. Trigonometric function
Kreislauf. Circulation
Kreislaufpaar. Coupled circuit

Kolloid Lauritsenelektroskop
Kreisprozess. Cycle
Kreuselwelle, Geriesel. Ripple(s)
Kreuzabstimmung. Cross-modulation
Kreuzgesprch. Cross talk
Kreuzleitung. Cross-conduction
Kreuzungsstelle. Crossover
Kriechen. Creep
Kristall. Crystal
Kristallbindung. Crystallization
Kristallehre. Crystallography
Kristalltonarm. Pickup, crystal
Krit. Crit
Krith. Crith
Kritisch. Critical
Kritische Temperatur. Temperature, critical
Krmmungsfeld. Curvature of field
Kryoskop. Cryoscope
Kryostat. Cryostat
Krystallzhler. Crystal counter
K-schale. K-shell
Kugelabirrung. Spherical aberration
Kugeldreieck. Triangle, spherical
Kugelfunktion. Spherical harmonics
Kugelmesser. Spherometer
Kugelmikrophon. Eight ball
Kumuluswolke. Cumulus clouds
Knstlich. Artificial
Knstliche Linie. Artificial line
Knstliche Radioaktivitt. Artificial radioactivity
Kurvenschaubild. Graph
Kurzschluss. Short-circuit
Kurzsichtigkeit. Myopia
Kurztaktmesser. Chronoscope
Kurzwelle. Short-wave
Laboratorium. Laboratory
L-Abschnitt. L section
Ladung. Charge
Ladungschichtskraft. Layer of charge, strength of
Ladungsdichte. Charge density
Ladungskonjugation. Charge conjugation
Ladungsschicht. Layer of charge
Ladungsspule. Loading coil
Ladungsstromkreis. Load circuit
Ladenmaschine. Load circuit
Ladungsunabhngigskeit. Charge independence
Ladungsunvernderlichkeit. Charge invariance
Lambdapunkt. Lambda point
Lampe. Lamp
Lnge. Length
Lngeneinheiten. Length, units of
Lnglichrund. Prolate
Langsamneutronen. Slow neutrons
Langwelle. Wave, longitudinal
L-Antenne. L antenna
Lanthanidezusammenziehung. Lanthanide contraction
Laplace-Gleichung. Laplace equation
Lappe. Lobe
Lppscheibe. Lap
Lppverfahren. Lap
Lrm. Hash
Lrmebene. Noise level
Laufbild. Motion-picture
Laufen. Traveling
Lufer. Rotor
Laurentpolarittsmesser. Laurent polarimeter
Lauritsenelektroskop. Lauritsen electroscope

Lautlehre. Phonetics
Lautstrke. Loudness
Lautverstrker. Amplifier
Lautverstrker. Loudspeaker
Lawine. Avalanche
Lebensdauer. Lifetime
Leben. Life
Lebensraum. Live room
Leckentgegenwirkung. Leakage reactance
Leckstrahlung. Leakage radiation
Leckstrom. Leakage current
Leerbereich. Skip distance
Leere. Vacancy
Leerraumtemperaturfhler. Vacuum thermocouple
Legendrepolynom. Legendre polynomial
Legierung. Alloy
Leistungsbilanz. Rating
Leistungsfhig. Capacitive
Leistungsfaktor. Power factor
Leistungsmesser. Wattmeter(s)
Leitblech. Baffle
Leitender Koppler. Coupler, directional
Leiter. Conductor
Leiterkontrolle. Lead control
Leitfhigkeit. Conductivity
Leitung. Conduction
Leitungsdraht. Conduction band
Leitvermgen. Conductance
L-Elektron. L-electron
Lenardstrahlungen. Lenard rays
Lepton. Lepton
Leuchten. Fluorescence
Leuchtend. Luminous
Leuchtend. Radiant
Leuchtfluss. Luminous flux
Leuchtkraft. Luminosity
Leuchtschirm. Fluorescent screen
Licht. Light
Lichtabirrung. Aberration of light
Lichtbiegung. Bending of light
Lichtbildlich. Photographie
Lichtbogenlampe. Arc lamp
Lichtbrechung. Spectral
Lichtempfindl ichkeitsmessung. Sensitometry
Lichteinfall. Halation
Lichterbschel. Pencil (of light)
Lichterscheinung. Luminescence
Lichthitzemesser. Optical pyrometer
Lichthof. Coma
Lichtisomerismus. Optical isomerism
Lichtmhle. Radiometer
Lichtstrkemesser. Photometer
Lichtstrkemessung. Photometry
Lichtstrahl, Trger, Balken. Beam
Lichtteilchen. Photon
Linearbeschleuniger. Linear accelerator
Linie(n). Line(s)
Liniensehen. Astigmatism
Linieren. Line
Linienpolster. Line pad
Linienspektrum. Line spectrum
Linierungsmotor. Ruling-engine
Links. Left-hand
Linksdrehend. Levorotatory
Linkshndig. Left-handed (counter-clockwise)
Linse. Lens
Linsenartig. Lenticular
Lisoloid. Lisoloid

Loch . Hole
Logarithmus. Logarithm
Loktal. Loktal
Lorentzumwandlung. Lorentz transformation
Lschen. Quenching
Lsmischer. Solute
Lsung. Solution
Lsungsmittel. Solvent
L-Schale. L-shell
Luft. Air
Luftdruckmesser. Barometer
Luftdse. Choke
Lufthorizontalbewegung. Advection
Luftleiter. Antenna
Luftmesser. Aerometer
Luftspiegelung. Mirage
Luftzwischenraum. Air gap
Lumen. Lumen
Lyophilisch. Lyophilic
Lyophobisch. Lyophobic
Lyotropisch. Lyotropic
Machanhaltspunkt. Mach criterion
Machzahl. Mach number
Magnal. Magnal
Magnet. Magnet
Magnetbandmass. Magnetic tape
Magnetempfnglichkeit. Magnetic susceptibility
Magnetisch. Magnetic
Magnetische Einberufung. Induction, magnetic
Magnetischer Lautverstrker. Amplidyne
Magnetischer Schreiber. Magnetic recorder
Magnetischer Widerstand. Reluctance
Magnetische Schale. Magnetic shell
Magnetische Spannung. Magnetic strain
Magnetische Sturrheit. Magnetic rigidity
Magische T-Zahl. Magic tee
Magnetisierung. Magnetization
Magnetismus. Magnetism
Magnetlinse. Lens magnetic
Magnetoelastisch. Magnetoelastic
Magnetomechanisch. Magnetomechanical
Magneto-optisch. Magneto-optical
Magnetostriktion. Magnetostriction
Magnetmesser. Magnetometer
Magnetron. Magnetron
Magnetschirmung. Magnetic shielding
Magnetspektraldarstellung. Spectrograph, magnetic
Mannigfach. Manifold
Mrker. Marker
Maschinen. Machines
Masse. Mass
Massenbedienung. Mass operator
Massendefekt. Mass defect
Massenspektraldarstellung. Spectrograph, mass
Massenpunkt. Centroid
Massenpunktssystem. Center-of-mass system
Massgebend. Standard
Massgert. Gauge
Matrize. Matrix
Matrizenschrgstellung. Matrix, diagonalization
Mayerwrmeeinheit. Mayer
Mechanik. Mechanics
Mechanisch. Mechanical
Mechanischer Gegenwert. Mechanical equivalent
Megatron. Megatron
Mehrfach. Multiple

1303
Mehrfarbig. Polychromic
Mehrheittrger. Majority carrier
Mehrpolig. Multipole
Mehrsegmentmagnetron. Magnetron, multisegment
Mehrrttelantrieb. Multivibrator
Meister. Master
Mel. Mel
Meniskuslinse. Lens, meniscus
Mesodesmisch. Mesodesmic
Mesokolloid. Mesocolloid
Mesomorphisch. Mesomorphic
Meson. Meson
Messerkopf. Cutter
Messerunvernderlichkeit. Gauge invariance
Messgert. Meter
Meter. Meter
Messkreis. Theodolite
Metall. Metal
Metallinse. Lens, metallic
Metastabil. Metastable
Methode. Method
Mikro- Micro-.
Mikrophonisch. Microphonic
Mikroskopumkehrbarkeit. Microscopic reversibility
Milli-. Milli
Mindestwert. Minimum
Mischbarkeit. Miscibility
Mischkristall. Solid solution
Misdrehung. Mutarotation
Missklang. Dissonance
Mitlogarithmus. Cologarithm
Mitschwingen. Resonance
Resonanz. Resonance
Magnetresonanz. Resonance
Widerhall. Resonance
Mittel. Mean
Mittel. Medium
Mittelanzapfung. CT
Mittellinie. Axis
Mittelpunktsbahn. Centrode
Mittelwert. Mean value
Mittlere freie Weglnge. Mean free path
Mitvernderliche. Covariant
Mitwirkend. Concurrent
Mitwirkendes Phnomen. Cooperative phenome
non
M/N-Verhltnis. M/N ratio
Moderator. Moderator
Moduliert. Modulated
Molal. Molal
Molar. Molar
Molarruhend. Molar latent
Molekl. Molecule
Molekular. Molecular
Molekulargewicht. Weight, molecular
Mondsichel. Meniscus
Monochromator. Monochromator
Monomolekular. Monomolecular
Monoskop. Monoscope
Monsun. Monsoon
Morgenrtlich. Auroral
Morsetaste. Telegraph
Mosaik. Mosaic
Motor. Motor
M-Schale. M-shell
Multiar. Multiar
Mumetal. Mumetal
Mutmassliche Irrung. Error, probable

Mehrfarbig Niveau
Nabla. Del
Nabla. Nabla
Nach. Post
Nachbarschaft. Proximity
Nachbeschleun igung. Post-acceleration
Nachdruck. Stress
Nacheilwinkel. Lag, angle of
Nachfederung. Resilience
Nachgiebigkeit. Compliance
Nachglhen. Afterglow
Nachlass. Subsidence
Nachleuchten. Phosphorescence
Nachprfung. Verification
Nchster Nachbar. Nearest Neighbor
Nachstrom. Wake
Nacht. Night
Nachwirkung. Hangover
Nadel. Needle
Nah. Short-range
Nherungslinie. Asymptote
Nherungsrechnung. Approximation
Nassmittel. Wetting agent
Natrlich. Natural
Nebel. Fog
Nebelkammer. Cloud chamber
Nebennderungsvektor. Vector, covariant
Nebengeordnete. Coordinate
Nebengleichung. Auxiliary equation
Nebengruppe. Coset
Nebenmatrize. Matrix, associate
Nebenschlich. Secondary
Nebenschluss. Shunt
Nebenvernderungsspanner. Tensor, Covariant
Negativ. Negative
Negatron. Negatron
Negativion. Anion
Neigungsnadel. Dip needle
Nematisch. Nematic
Nemo-. Nemo
Neper. Neper
Netto. Net
Netzhaut. Retma
Netzhautgrube. Fovea
Netzwerk. Network
Neueinstellen. Reset
Neunfach. Noval
Neutral. Neutral
Neutral. Neutral
Neutralpunkt. Neutral point
Neutrino. Neutrino
Neutrodyn. Neutrodyne
Neutron. Neutron
Neutronringe. Newton rings
Neuverbindung. Recombination
Nichtkugelige Oberflche. Aspheric surface
Nichtharmonisch. Anharmonic
Nichtheimisch. Nonlocal
Nichtleiter. Dielectric
Nichtlinear. Nonlinear
Nichtpolarbindeglied. Doublet
Spektrallinienpaar. Doublet
Feststehende Zustnde. Doublet
Zweibestandteilelinse. Doublet
Nichtrelativistisch. Non-relativistic
Niederfrequenzschwingung. Motorboating
Niedrig. Low
Nimbostratuswolke. Nimbostratus
Niveau. Level

Hhe. Level
Nodalpunkte. Nodal point(s)
Nodallinien. Nodal lines
Nomograph. Nomograph
Normal. Normal
Normalablenkung. Standard Deviation
Normalisierung. Normalization
Nuklear. Nuclear
Nukleon. Nucleon
Nukleonik. Nucleonics
Nuklid. Nuclide
Null. Null
Null. Zero
Nullhitze. Zero beat
Nullpotent. Nilpotent
Nullpunktenergie. Zero point energy
Nullpunktkraftverhinderung. Zero point entropy
N-Schale. N-shell
Oberbewegung. Harmonie motion
Oberflche. Surface
Oberflchenenergie. Energy, surface
Oberflchenspannung. Surface tension
Oberfortfhrung. Harmonie progression
Oberschwinger. Harmonie oscillator
Oberschwingungsfunktion. Function, harmonic
Oberwelle. Wave, harmonic
Objektlinse. Objective lens
Objektpunkt. Object point
Oeffnung. Orifice
Offenes System. Open system
ffnungsmesser. Apertometer
Oktan. Octave
Oktett. Octet
Oktode. Octode
Omegatron. Omegatron
Operand. Operand
Optarmethoden. Optar
Optik. Optics
Optikabweichung. Optical anomaly
Optimaldmpfung. Damping, optimal
Optisch. Optical
Optische Abirrung. Aberration, optical
Optometrie. Optometry
Optophon. Optophone
Orbital. Orbital
Ordentlicher Strahl. Ordinary ray
Ordnung. Order
Ordnung-Unordnung. Order-disorder
Ordnung von . Order of
Organ. Organ
Organosol. Organosol
Orkan. Hurricane
Orikansmittelpunkt. Eye of storm
Orthikon. Orthicon
Orthohelium. Orthohelium
Orthonik. Orthonik
Orthonormal. Orthonormal
Orthopositronium. Orthopositronium
Orthorautenfrmig. Orthorhombic
Orthoskopisch. Orthoscopic
Orthotomisch. Orthotomic
Orthozustand. Ortho-state
Ortsbeschrnkung. Localization
Ortsoszillator. Local oscillator
Osmotisch. Osmotic
Osmotischer Druck. Osmotic pressure

Oszillator. Oscillator
Oszillograph. Oscillograph
Oszilloskop. Oscilloscope
Paarerzeugung. Pair production
Paarung. Pairing
Packungsanteil. Packing fraction
Panchromatisch. Panchromatic
Panoramartig. Panoramic
Parabel. Parabola
Parabolisch. Parabolic
Parachor. Parachor
Parachsig. Paraxial
Parfokal. Parfocal
Paraform. Paramorph
Parhelium. Parhelium
Paramagnetisch. Paramagnetic
Paramagnetismus. Paramagnetism
Parapositronium. Parapositronium.
Parazustand. Para-state
Parsek. Parsec
Partiell. Partial
Pauli-Ausschlussprinzip. Pauli exclusion principle
Pause. Interval
Peilapparat. Direction finder
Peilung. Bearing
Pendel. Pendulum
Pendelung. Hunting
Periode, Period
Punkt, Atomzahlabsatz. Period
Periodenlinie. Periodic line
Periodenreaktor. Period, reactor
Perisphre. Perisphere
Peritektisch. Peritectic
Permendur. Permendur
Permenorm. Permenorm
Perminvar. Perminvar
Permlegierung. Permalloy
Perveanz. Perveance
Pfad. Path
Pferdestrke. Horsepower
Pflichtkries. Duty cycle
Pforte. Gate
Pfund. Pound
Phantastron. Phantastron
Pharoslichtzeichen. Embrittlement
Phase, Stufe, Abschnitt. Phase
Phasendarstellung. Phase diagram
Phasenfestwert. Phase constant
Phasengeschwindigkeit. Phase velocity
Phasenraum. Phase space
Phasenregel. Phase rule
Phasenumkehrer. Phase inverter
Phasenverschiebung. Phase shift
Phasenwinkel. Phase angle
Phasitron. Phasitron
Phon. Phon
Phonon. Phonon
Phosphor. Phosphor
Photoapparat. Camera
Photoausstrahlend. Photoemissive
Photoelektrikarbeitsfunktion. Photoelectric work func
tion
Photoelektrisch. Photoelectric
Photokathode. Photocathode
Photokernschossgenerator. Photonuclear reaction
Photoleitend. Photoconductive

1305
Photoleitung. Photoconduction
Photolinsen. Camera lenses
Photolumineszenz. Photoluminescence
Photolumineszenz. Photodisintegration
Photometrisch. Photometric
Photoneutron. Photoneutron
Photo-optisches Gesicht. Photoptic vision
Photophorese. Photophoresis
Photorhre. Phototube
Phototropie. Phototropy
Photovervielfacher. Photomultiplier
Photovoltazelle. Photovoltaic cell
Photoxzelle. Photox cell
Photozelle, Kathodenstrahlabstimmungsanzeiger. Elec
tric eye
Photozelle. Photocell
Physiologisch. Physiological
Physische Abmessungen. Physical measurements
Physische Grssenordnungen und physische Gleichungen.
Physical magnitudes and physical equations
Piezoid. Piezoid
Pilotrhre. Pitot tube
Pion. Pion
Planar. Planar
Planetenbahn. Planetary or bit
Plasma. Plasma
Plasmatron. Plasmatron
Plastisch. Plastic
Plateaulnge. Length of plateau
Plattenwiderstand. Plate resistance
Pleomorphismus. Pleomorphism
Pliotron. Pliotron
P-N Grenze. Boundary, P-N
P-N Haken. Hook, P-N
P-N Knotenpunkt. P-N junction
Poidometer. Poidometer
Pol. Pole
Polar. Polar
Polardarstellung. Polarograph
Polarisationsebene. Plane of polarization
Polarisator. Polarizer
Polarisierung. Polarimetry
Polarisierte Ebene. Plane-polarized
Polarisierungsfhigkeit. Polarizability
Polariskop. Polariscope
Polarnebengeordneten. Polar coordinates
Polarogram. Polarogram
Polaroid . Polaroid
Polartrennung. Polarization
Polarvektor. Polarization
Polarisierung. Polarization
Polarisation. Polarization
Polarvektor. Vector, polar
Polhode. Polhode
Polster. Padder
Polyhedron. Parallelepiped
Polynom. Polynomial
Positiv. Positive
Positive Elektrode, Kathode, Negativer Pol. Cathode
Postiver Pol. Cathode
Positiver Pol. Anode
Positron. Positron
Positronium. Positronium
Postschliessfach. Post office box
Potentialenergie. Energy, potential
Potentialenergie. Potential energy
Potentiell. Exponential
Potentiell. Potential

Photoleitung Reaktivitt
Prallpendel. Ballistic pendulum
Przessionsgeschwindigkeit. Velocity, precessional
Pressluftbetrieben. Pneumatic
Probe. Sample
Produkt. Product
Produktmatrize. Matrix, product
Programm. Program
Proton. Proton
Prozent. Per cent
P-Schale. P-shell
Pseudo. Pseudo
Pseudovektor. Pseudovector
Pseudozahl. Pseudoscalar
P-Typ. P-type
Puffergehuse. Buffer
Pufferlager. Buffer
Pufferlsung. Buffer
Pulshheprfgert. Pulse height analyzer
Pulsschlag. Pulse
Pulver. Powder
Pumpe. Pump
Punktgruppe. Point group
Pyrgeometer. Pyrgeometer
Pyrometrie. Pyrometry

Quadratisch. Quadratic
Quadrisch. Quadric
Quant. Quantum
Quantenhaft. Quantic
Quantenmechanik. Quantum mechanics
Quantisierung. Quantization
Quarz. Quartz
Quasistillstehend. Quasi-stationary
Quaternion. Quaternion
Quelle. Source
Querschnitt. Cross section
Radioaktiv. Radioactive
Radioaktivnderungsgesetz. Law of radioactive dis
placement
Radioaktivzerfallsgesetz. Law of radioactive decay
Radiosonde. Radiosonde
Radiothermolumineszenz. Radio-thermoluminescence
Rad-und-Achse. Wheel and axle
Rahmen. Frame
Rahmenantenne. Loop
Rakon. Racon
Randbedingung. Boundary condition
Randkreise. Boundary circles
Raster. Raster
Rationellabfangensgesetz. Law of rational intercepts
Rauchartiger Nebel. Smog
Raum. Space
Raum-. Stereo
Raumfaktor. Space factor
Raumgitter. Space lattice
Raumlautverstrker. Stereo-loudspeaker
Raumlehre. Geometry
Raumseher. Stereoscope
Raumwinkel. Angle, solid
Raumzeit. Space-time
Raumzentriert. Body-centered
Rausch. Hum
Razemisch. Racemic
Reaktionsfhigkeit. Reactivation
Reaktivitt. Reactivity

Reaktor Schneidekreis
Reaktor. Reactor
Rechnung. Calculus
Rechnungsmaschine. Calculator
Rechteckig. Rectangular
Rechteckigkeit. Orthogonality
Rechtshndige Regel. Right-hand rule
Reduktionsformel. Reduction formula
Reduzierte Masse. Reduced mass
Regelmssig. Regular
Regelung. Regelation
Regelmssige Wiederkehr. Periodicity
Regen. Rain
Regenbogen. Rainbow
Regenbogenzwischenwand. Iris diaphragm
Regenschauer, Strmung. Shower
Regulierwiderstand. Rheostat
Reibung. Friction
Reibungsbeiwert. Friction, coefficient of
Reichweite, Schussweite. Range.
Reihe. Series
Reihenfolge. Sequence
Reineisenkomponent. Ferrite
Reinheit. Purity
Rektigon. Rectigon
Relativgeschwindigkeit. Relativistic velocity
Relativistisch. Relativistic
Relativitt. Relativity
Remanenz. Retentivity
Repetierspule, Mehrlader. Repeater
Resonanzleuchten. Resonance fluorescence
Resonator. Resonator
Restmagnetismus. Remanence
Retine. Retina
Rezept. Formula
Richtfhigkeit. Directivity
Richtigstellung. Correction
Richtkreis. Transit
Richtlinie. Directrix
Richtungsabtrift, Wellennderung, Kontrollnderung,
Unwucht. Drift
Richtungskosinus. Direction cosine
Richtungswinkel. Azimuth angle
Ring. Ring
Ringwulst. Anchor ring
Rheopexe. Rheopexy
Rohr. Tube
Rollkurve. Trochoid
Rhomboeder. Rhombohedron
Rntgeneinheit. X-ray unit
Rntgenbeugung. X-ray diffraction
Rntgenprfung. Radiography
Rntgenspektra. X-ray spectra
Rntgenstrahlen. X-rays
Rotadurchflussmesser. Rotameter
Rototral. Rototral
Rotverschiebung. Red-shift
Rckfhrungsbeiwert. Coefficient of restitution
Rckgngigkeit. Reversibility
Rckkehr. Return
Rckkopplungsspule. Tickler
Rckleitung. Feedback
Rckprall. Kickback
Rckstreuung. Back scattering
Rckstunde. Inhour
Rckversetzung. Degradation
Rckwirkung. Reaction
Ruhelage. Statics
Ruhemasse. Rest mass

1306
Ruhend. Latent
Ruhend. Quiescent
Rundfenster. Round window
Rundfunk. Radio
Russel-Saunders-Kupplung. Coupling, Russell-Saunders
Rttelantrieb. Vibrator
Rtteln. Jog
S-Zustand. S-state
Sfteaustausch. Endosmosis
Sgezahn. Sawtooth
Sagitta. Sagitta
Skularbestimmungszahl. Secular determinant
Sammelschiene. Bus
Sammler. Collector
Sandstorm. Dust storm
Satz. Set
Sattdampf. Vapor, saturated
Sattelpunkt. Saddle point
Sttigungsmagnetisierung. Magnetization, saturation
Sttigungsaktivitt. Saturated activity
Sttigungsfhiger Reaktor. Saturable reactor
Sauerstoffaufnahme. Oxidation
Sule. Pile
Schacht. Duct
Schalenmuster. Shell model
Schalter. Key
Schalter. Switch
Schallehre. Sonics
Schallkasten. Sounder
Schalltrichter. Horn, acoustic
Schallumwandler. Microphone
Schar. Family
Scharfe Reihe. Sharp series
Schatten. Shadow
Schattenbild. Phantom
Schattierung. Hue
Scherkraft. Shear
Scherungsmodul. Shear modulus
Scheune. Barn
Scherwelle. Wave shear
Scheibenkurbel. Eccentric
Scheinbar. Virtual
Scheinwiderstand. Impedance
Scheitel. Peak
Scheitelpunkt. Apex
Scheitelpunkt. Vertex
Schicht. Layer
Schichtwolke. Stratocumulus
Schichtwolke. Stratus
Schiefsymmetriksmatrize. Matrix, skew symmetric
Schiesslehre. Ballistics
Schild. Shield
Schimmer. Luster
Schirmgitter. Screen grid
Schlag (Schlge). Beat(s)
Schlpfen. Slip
Schlpfringe. Slip rings
Schleudern. Launching
Schmarotzerhaft. Parasitic
Schmelzen. Melt
Schmelzpunkt. Melting point
Schmelzsicherung. Fuse
Schmiedbarkeit. Malleability
Schneckenfrmig. Spiral
Schnee. Snow
Schneidekreis. Clipper

Schneider. Slicer
Schnur. String
Schrgeinfall. Oblique-incidence
Schrgmatrize. Matrix, diagonal
Schrgstellung. Obliquity
Schrgstoff. Bias
Schraube. Screw
Schraubengang. Convolution
Schraubenlinie. Helix
Schrotwirkung. Shot effect
Schtz. Relay
Schussbergang, Abschuss. Firing
Schttkennzahl. Bulk modulus
Schussziel. Target
Schwach. Weak
Schwebend. Floating
Schwebewechsel. Beat note
Schwebefrequenz. Beat frequency
Schwebungssummer. BFO
Schwenkend. Rotating
Schwerenfluss. Flux, gravitational
Schwerfeld. Gravitational field
Schwerkraft. Gravitation
Schwerpunkt. Center of gravity
Schwchung. Attenuation
Schwankung. Fluctuation
Schwankpunkt. Metacenter
Schwankungsmesser. Variometer
Schwarzer Strahler. Black body
Schwimmfhigkeit. Buoyancy
Schwingend. Oscillating
Schwingung. Oscillation
Schwingung(en). Vibration(s)
Schwingungsebene. Plane of vibration
Schwingungsknote(n), Knote(n), Nodus. Node(s)
Schwingungsgrundweise. Vibration, fundamental mode
of
Schwingungsnormalweise. Vibration, normal mode of
Schwundausgleich. AVC.
Sechsvektor. Six-vector
Sechswinklig. Hexagonal
See. Sea
Sehachse. Optic axis
Sehachse. Axis, optic
Sehspalte. Diopter
Seitenband (Seitenbnder). Sideband(s)
Seitenstndig. Lateral
Sekundrausstrahlung. Secondary emission
Selbst. Seif
Selbstkonsequent. Self-consistent
Selsyn. Selsyn
Seltene Erde. Rare earth
Sender. Transmitter
Senkrecht. Longitudinal
Senkrecht. Vertical
Senkrechte. Normal
Normale. Normal
Normalgleichung. Normal
Normal matrize. Normal
Normalabkmmling. Normal
Senkrechtmatrize. Matrix, orthogonal
Senkspindel. Hydrometer
Sesshaftes Sprektrum. Persistent spectrum
Setzen. Set
Sichtbarkeit. Visibility
Sichtbarkeitsfaktor. Visibility factor
Sichtsausdauer. Vision, persistence of
Sicherheitsfaktor. Factor of safety

Sicht-. Video
Sichtisomerismus. Isomerism, optical
Siebenelektrodenrohr. Heptode
Siedend. Boiling
Siedepunkt. Boiling point
Siedepunktmesser. Ebullioscope
Signal. Signal
Signalerzeuger. Signal generator
Signal-zum-Lrm-Verhltnis. Signal-to-noise ratio
Silberstat. Silverstat
Simplex. Simplex
Sinuswelle. Sine wave
Sirene. Siren
Skalarprodukt. Scalar product
Skoptiksicht. Scotopic vision
Sockel. Pedestal
Sogpumpe. Pump, vacuum
Sogpumpe. Vacuum pump
Solar. Solar
Solenoidalvektor. Vector, solenoidal
Sommerwrmegleiche. Isosteres
Sonar. Sonar
Sonde. Detector
Sone. Sone
Sonneneinstrahlung. Insolation
Sonnenlicht. Sunlight
Sonnennhe. Perihelion
Spre. Domain
Sptfelder. Retarded fields
Spalt. Gap
Spalt. Slit
Spanner. Tensor
Spannung. Voltage
Spannungsoptik. Photoelasticity
Spannungsregelung. Voltage regulation
Spannungsstrommesser. Voltmeter(s)
Spannungsteiler. Potentiometer
Spannungsteiler. Voltage divider
Speicherung. Storage
Speichig. Radial
Spektral. Spectral
Spektralanalyse. Spectroscopy
Spektralapparat. Spectroscope
Spektralaufnahme. Spectrogram
Spektraldarstellung. Spectrograph
Spektralheliodarstellung. Spectroheliograph
Spektralhelioskop. Spectrohelioscope
Spektralphotomesser. Spectrophotometer
Spekular. Specular
Spender. Donor
Spezifische Bettigung. Specific activity
Sphre. Sphere
Spheroid. Spheroid
Spiegel. Mirror
Spiegelgleich. Symmetrie
Spiegelungungsfaktor. Reflectance
Spingeschwindigkeit. Velocity, spin
Spinor. Spinor
Spinthariskop. Spinthariscope
Spinnen. Spin
Spinnkreisbahnkupplung. Coupling, j-j
Spitze. Cusp
Spitzenstrom. Peaking circuit
Sptizkant. Pyramid
Spontan. Spontaneous
Sprache. Language
Sprachrohr. Megaphone
Spritzen. Sputter

Spule. Coil
Spur. Trace
St. Elmo-Feuer. Saint Elmo fire
Stab. Bar
Staffel. Echelon
Stffelchengrat. Echelette grating
Stahlseil. Cable
Stand. Rank
Stnder. Stator
Standhafter Zustand. Steady state
Standhafter Zustand. State, steady
Standverhltniswelle. Wave, standing, ratio
Standwelle. Standing-wave
Stanzen. Blanking
Stark. Strong
Strke. Strength
Stat. StatStatistik. Statistics
Stationrzustand. Stationary state
Staub. Dust
Stauer Leiter. Bus
Stellung. Position
Stengel. Stem
Stereophonisch. Stereophonic
Steifigkeit. Stiffness
Stethoskop. Stethoscope
Stetigkeit. Continuity
Steifheitsmodul. Rigidity, modulus
Steifkrper. Rigid body
Stiefelriemenkreis. Boosttrap circuit
Stigmatisch. Stigmatic
Stimmespule. Voice coil
Stimmgabel. Tuning fork
Stchiometrisch. Stoichiometric
Stockung. Stagnation
Stoff. Matter
Stollen. Tunneling
Stoffbergang. Osmosis
Strabschirmung. Screening
Strmesser. Interferometer
Strung. Disorder
Stoss. Shock
Stosswelle. Shock wave
Strahl. Ray
Strahlenbrechend. Refractive
Strahlenbrechung, Tonbrechung. Refraction
Strahlung. Radiance
Strahler. Radiator
Strahlenbrechungszeiger. Index of refraction
Strahlenmesser. Actinometer
Strahlenmessung. Radiometry
Strahlungsdarstellung. Spectrum
Frequenzbereich. Spectrum
Auflsungsmuster. Spectrum
Spektrum. Spectrum
Strahlungsfluss. Flux, radiant
Stratosphre. Stratosphere
Streckbarkeit. Ductility
Strecke. Line
Streifenbildung. Striation
Streuung. Scattering, Spreading
Streufluss. Straggling
Streuungsvermgen. Dispersive power
Stroboskop. Stroboscope
Strobotron. Strobotron
Stromdichte. Current Density
Strombuche. Antinodes
Stromkries. Circuit

Strmung. Current
Strmung. Streaming
Stromlinie. Streamline
Stromrichter. Converter
Strmungslehre. Aerodynamics
Stromstrkemesser. Galvanometer
Stromverteilungseffekt. Skin effect
Stromverwandler. Transformer
Stromwandlerkupplung. Coupling, transformer
Stromwirbel. Eddy current
Strommesser. Ammeter
Stufenfunktion. Function, step
Stufenweise. Progressive
Stumpf. Stub
Stunde. Hour
Sturm. Storm
Subatomisch. Subatomic
Sublimat. Sublimate
Sublimierung. Sublimation
Substanz. Substance
Subtrahierung. Subtract
Sucher. View finder
Summierungkonvention. Summation convention
Superleiter. Superconductor
Superleitfhigkeit. Superconductivity
Synchrotron. Synchrotron
Synchrotron. Synchrocyclotron
System. System
Tacitron. Tacitron
Tag. Day
Tandem. Tandem
Tankkreis. Tank circuit
Tamname. Code
Ttigkeit. Action
Ttigkeitsvernderliche. Action variable
Tau. Dew
Tauchspule. Solenoid
Taupunkt. Dew point
Tauen-. ThawTeilchen. Particle
Teildifferentialgleichung. Partial differential equation
Telezentrisch. Telecentric
Temperatur. Temperature
Temperaturfhler. Thermocouple
Temperaturmesser. Bolometer
Temperaturmesser. Thermometer
Term. Term
Thermion. Thermion
Thermionisch. Thermionic
Thermisch. Thermal
Thermistor. Thermistor
Thermoelastisch. Thermoelastic
Thermoelektrisch. Thermoelectric
Thermometrie. Thermometry
Thermosule. Pile, thermoThermosule. Thermopile
Thyratron. Thyratron
Thyratronrhre. Tube, thyratron
Thyrite. Thyrite
Tief. Low
Tiefe. Depth
Tiefenmesser. Fathometer
Tiefenregler. High-pass
Tochterelement. Daughter element
Ton-. Audio
Ton, Note, Tone

1309
Tonbandgert. Tape recorder
Tnend. Singing
Tonfrequenz. Frequency, audio
Tonhhe, Steigung. Pitch
Toroidal. Toroidal
Toroidalbeschleunigungsrhre. Donut
Totalspiegelung. Total reflection
Trger, Trgerwelle, Katalysator, Mitnehmer. Carrier
Trgermolekl, Abhalter. Carrier
Trgerwelle. Carrier frequency
Tragflgel. Air foil
Trgheitsmoment. Moment of inertia
Trgheitszentrum. Center of mass
Trgheitszentrum. Mass, center of
Transistor. Transistor
T ranskond uktanz. Transconductance
Treiberstufe. Driver stage
Trennung. Separation
Trennungsgrsse. Discriminant
Triode. Triode
Trocken. Dry
Trockenelement. Cell, dry
*
Trommel. Drum
Trpfchenmesser. Stalagmometer
Tropfen. Drop
Troposphre. Troposphere
Troposphrisch. Tropospheric
Trbungsmesser. Turbidimeter
Trugbild, Schatten. Ghost
Trugbild. Moire
Tpfel. Dot
Trknopfrhre. Door-knob tube
Turmalin. Tourmaline
eberbelastung. Overload
eberbeugung. Hyperconjugation
Oeberdeckung. Overlap
bereinstimmend. Conformai
eberfluss. Overflow
eberflle. Redundancy
ebergang. Transition
ebergangselement. Transition element
ebergangsmerkmal. Transfer characteristic
ebergangswahrscheinlichkeit. Transition probability
eberlagerung,
Klangeingriff,
Lichtwellenstrung,
Einmischung. Interference
eberlagerung. Superimposition
eberlagerungsempfnger. Superheterodyne
eberlagerungsfrequenzmesser. Heterodyne
eberleitungsbeiwert. Transmission coefficient
eberleitungsgitter. Transmission grating
eberleitungslinie. Transmission line
eberleitungsrhre oder gemeinsame Leitung von.
Tube, transconductance or mutual conductance of
bermikroskop. Electron microscope
berragend. Transcendental
berrest. Residue
ebersttigung. Supersaturation
ebersetzungsgruppe. Translation group
ebersetzungsttigkeit. Translation operation
eberschiessen. Overshoot
eberschussauswahl. Excess electron
eberschwellenhhe. Level above threshold
ebersendung. Transmittance
eberspannung. Overvoltage
eberton. Harmonie
eberton. Overtone

Tonbandgert Unstet
ebertrger. Transducer
eberleiter. Transducer
eberweisung. Transfer
eberwuchs. Overgrowth
eberzulassung. Transadmittance
brig. Residual
Uhr. Clock
Ultramikroskop. Ultramicroscope
Ultrarot. Infrared
Ultraschallerzeuger. Ultrasonic generator
Ultraschallfrequenz. Ultrasonic frequency
Ultraschallhohlraumbildung. Ultrasonic cavitation
Ultraschallstroboskop. Ultrasonic stroboscope
Ultraschallverzgerungslinie. Ultrasonic delay line
Ultraschallwirkend. Ultrasonic
Ultraschleuder. Ultracentrifuge
Ultrastrahlen. Cosmic rays
Ultraviolettstrahlung. Ultraviolet radiation
Umnderungsmethode. Variational method
Umdrehung. Rotation
Umfang. Dimension
Umfangsgleich. Isoperimetric
Umfangsmesser. Scopometer
Umgebend. Ambient
Umgehen. Bypass
Umkehrer. Inverter
Umgekehrt. Inverse
Umkehrung. Inversion
Umklappenverfahren. Umklapp process
Umgestellte Matrize. Matrix, transposed
Umkehrbar. Reversible
Umkehrbarkeit. Reversibility
Umkehrverfahren. Reversible processes
Umlaufmenge, Leistungsfhigkeit, Kapazitt, Fas
sungsvermgen. Capacity
Umrechnung. Conversion, Extrapolation
Umrechnungsfaktor. Conversion factor
Umrissform. Contour
Umschalter. Commutator
Umschlag. Envelope
Umschlagsmikrophon. Lapel microphone
Umstaltung. Allomorphism
Umwandeln. Transform
Umwandlungselektron. Conversion electron
Unabhngig. Independent
Unbestimmtheitssatz. Uncertainty principle
Unbeugsam. Rigid
Unbilligkeit. Inequality
Undehnbarkeit. Anelasticity
Undichtigkeit. Porosity
Undurchsichtigkeit. Opacity
Unecht. Spurious
Unelastisch. Inelastic
Unendlich. Infinite
Unentschlossene Form. Indeterminate form
Unentschlossenheit. Indeterminancy
Ungerade. Odd
Ungerader Term. Odd term
Ungleichartigkeit. Dissymmetry
Ungleichmssig. Asymmetric
Universum. Universe
Universumsmasse. Mass of the universe
Unpolarisiert. Unpolarized
Unreinheit. Impurity
Unschaltbare Matrize. Matrix, commutative
Unsicherheit. Uncertainty
Unstabiles Gleichwert. Unstable equilibrium
Unstet. Astatic

Unstetigkeit Verzweigungspunkt
Unstetigkeit, Sprung. Discontinuity
Unttigkeit. Passivity
Unterbrochen. Interrupted
Unterdrcker. Suppressor
Unterdruckpolarisierung. Vacuum polarization
Untergruppe. Subgroup
Unterharmonisch. Subharmonic
Unterschiedsnetzwerk. Network, differentiating
Unterschiedsverstrker. Difference amplifier
Unterwasserhorchgert. Hydrophone
Unumkehrbar. Irreversible
Unvernderliche. Invariant
Unverstellbar. Fixed
Unvollstndig. Elliptic
Unze. Ounce
Unzusammendrckbar. Incompressible
Unzusammenhngende Streuung. Incoherent scattering
Urschlichkeit. Causality
Ursprnglich. Primary
Uviol. Uviol
Vakuum. Vacuum
Vakuumrhre. Tube, vacuum
Vakuumrhre. Vacuum tube
Vakuumrhre-Spannungsstrommesser. Voltmeter,
vacuum-tube
Vakuumrhrestromstrkemesser. Vacuum-tube
volt
meter
Vakuumrhrevergrsser. Vacuum-tube amplifier
Valenzzahl. Valence number
V-Antenne. V antenna
Varistor. Varistor
Vektor. Vector
Vektordurchflutung. Vector flux
Vektorfeld. Vector field
Vektorprodukt. Vector product
Vektorraum. Vector space
Vektorspannung. Vector potential
Vektorzustand. State vector
Vektorzustand. Vector, state
Verallgemeinerte Nebengeordneten. Generalized
coordinates
Vernderliche. Variable
Vernderlichkeit. Variability
Verbindung. Combination
Verbindung. Compound
Verbindungsprinzip. Combination principle
Verbindungsstelle. Junction
Verbindungsstelle (in einem Wellenfhrer). Junction (in
a waveguide)
Verbotene Linie. Forbidden band
Verbotener Uebergang. Forbidden transition
Verbotener Uebergang. Transition, forbidden
Verdichtbarkeit. Compressibility
Verdichter. Condenser
Verdichtung. Condensation
Verdichtung. Packing
Verdienst. Merit
Verdienstverhltnis. Figure of merit
Verdoppelungsproduktion. Pair-production
Verdoppelungsstromkreis. Doubler circuit
Verdrehung. Metastasis
Verdrehungsvektor. Vector, irrotational
Verdnnung. Dilution
Verdunstung. Evaporation
Verdunstungsmesser. Psychrometer
Vereinbarkeit. Compatibility

1310
Verfassung. Constitution
Verfeinerung. Rarefaction
Verfliegend. Volatile
Verflssigung. Liquefaction
Verfgbare Energie. Available energy
Vergnglich. Transient
Vergeudung. Dissipation
Vergleichsbetrachter. Comparator
Vergleichsfaktor, Dezimalfaktor, Stromstrkefaktor.
Scale factor
Vergrssen. Magnifying
Vergrsser. Magnifier.
Vergrsserung. Magnification
Verhltnisgleich. Proportional
Verkuppeln. Couple
Verlangsamen. Slowing
Verlegung, Hubvolumen. Displacement
Verschiebung. Displacement
Verlust. Loss
Verlustfaktor. Loss factor
Vermehrung. Propagation
Vermindert. Redliced
Vermischt. Mixed
Vernehmbarkeit. Audibility
Vernehmlich. Aural
Vernetzt. Reticulated
Vernichtung. Annihilation
Vernichtung. Destruction
Vernichtungsstoff. Matter, annihilation
Vernunftgemss. Rational
Vernunftwidrig. Irrational
Verordnung. Regulation
Verrichtung. Function
Verrckung. Shift
Verschrfung. Intensification
Verschiedenfarbigkeit. Pleochroism
Verschiedenfarbig. Pleochroic
Verschiedengestaltig. Polymorphie
Verschluss. Occlusion
Verschmelzung. Fusion
Verschwiegenheit. Discreteness
Verstrkung. Amplification
Verstrkungsfaktor. Amplification factor
Vertauschung, Umschaltung. Commutation
Vertauschung(en). Permutation(s)
Vertauschungsmatrize. Matrix, permutation
Verteilbar. Distributive
Verteilte Kapazitt. Distributed capacitance
Verteilung. Distribution
Verteilung. Partition
Vervielfacher. Multiplier
Vervielfachungsfaktor. Multiplication factor
Vervollstndigung. Integration
Verwachsung. Epitaxy
Verwandlung. Transformation
Verwerfungsbande. Rejection band
Verwindung. Torsion
Verwirbel ung. T urbulence
Verwirbelung. Vorticity
Verwirrungskreis. Circle of confusion
Verwitterung. Disintegration
Verzerrung. Distortion
Verzierung. Vignetting
Verzgerte Spannungen. Retarded potentials
Verzgerung. Delay
Verzgerungslinie. Delay-line
Verzweigen. Branching
Verzweigungspunkt. Branch point

1311
Vielartig. Polytropic
Vieleck. Polygon
Vielfltig. Multiplex
Vielfltigkeit. Multiplicity
Vielflchner. Polyhedron
Vielriefig. Multichannel
Vierfach. Quadruple
Vierflchig. Tetratohedral
Vierpol. Quadrupole
Vierpolaugenblick. Quadrupole moment
Viertelkreiselelektrometer. Quadrant electrometer
Viertelwelle. Quarter-wave
Vierung. Quadrature
Viervektor. Four-vector
Virial. Virial
Viriallehrsatz. Virial theorem
Virtuellarbeitsprinzip. Virtual work principle
Virtuellarbeitsprinzip. Work, principle of virtual
Virtuellebene. Virtual level
Virtuellquant. Virtual quantum
Vodas. Vodas
Voder. Voder
Vorderseite. Front
Vokoder. Vocoder
Vollkommen. Ideal
Vollstndigkeit. Completeness
Volt. Volt
Volumen. Volume
Vorausgehung. Precession
Vorbetonung. Pre-emphasis
Vorentmischung. Predissociation
Vorfahre. Parent
Vorgerckte Potentiale. Advanced potentials
Vorherrschend. Dominant
Vorrichtung. Unit
Vorschaltwiderstand. Resistor
Waagerecht. Horizontal
Waageschale, Gradeinteilung, Skala. Scale
Wachstum. Growth
Wagenuntergestell. Chassis
Wahrscheinlichkeit. Probability
Wanderung. Migration
Wanderwellenrhre. Tube, traveling-wave
Wrmeaufnahme. Adsorption, heat of
Wrmeaufnahme. Decalescence
Wrmeaufnehmend. Endothermie
Wrmedruckvariationslinie. Isochore
Wrmedurchdringung. Diathermy
Wrmeeinhalt. Enthalpy
Wrmeeinheit. Calorie
Wrmeentwickelnd. Exothermic
Wrmeerhellung. Thermophosphorescence (thermo
luminescence)
Wrmefhler. Thermostat
Wrmegrad. Temperature
Wrmekapazitt. Heat capacity
Wrmekernartig. Thermonuclear
Wrmemessung. Calorimetry
Wrmerzeugend. Calorific
Wrmetechnisch. Thermodynamic
Warngert. Monitor
Wasser. Water
Wasserbaukunst. Hydrostatics
Wasserkraftlehre. Hydraulics
Watt. Watt
Wattstundenmesser. Watthourmeter

Vielartig Wirkend
Wechselseitigkeit. Reciprocity
Wechselstrom. Alternating current
Wechselstromerzeuger. Alternator
Wechselwirkung. Interaction
Wechselwirkung. Iteration
Wechselwirkungsfhig. Iterative
Wehr. Weir
Weich. Soft
Weise. Mode
Weiss. White
Weisslrm. White noise
Weisslicht. White light
Welle. Wave
Wellenform. Waveform
Wellenfunktion. Wave function
Wellengeschwindigkeit oder Phasengeschwindigkeit.
Wave velocity or phase velocity
Wellengleichung. Wave equation
Wellenlnge. Wavelength
Wellenleiter. Waveguide
Wellenmechanik. Wave mechanics
Wellenphase. Wave phase
Wellenphasegeschwindigkeit. Wave(s), phase velocity of
Wellenspannungen. Wave potentials
Wellental. Trough
Wellenwiderstand. Characteristic impedance
Wellenwiderstand. Wave impedance
Wellenzahl. Wave number
Wellenzug. Wave train
Wendepunkt. Critical point
Wert. Value
Werdegang. Evolution
Wertigkeit. Valence
Wertigkeitsbindung. Valence band
Wertigkeitselektron. Valence electron
Widerhall. Echo
Widerspiegelt. Reflected
Widerspiegelung. Reflection
Widerspruchsbeiwert. Coefficient of contraction
Widerstand. Drag
Widerstandsfhigkeit. Resistivity
Widerstandskasten. Resistance box
Widerstandslampe. Barretter
Widerstandsmesser. Ohmmeters
Wiederaufleuchten. Recalescence
Wiedererholungsfhigkeit. Repeatability
Wiederherstellungskraft. Force, restoring
Wiederkehrend. Periodic
Wiederkehrsformel. Recursion formula
Wiederklingend. Resonant
Wiedernormalisierung. Renormalization
Wind. Wind
Winde. Jack
Windschreiber. Anemograph
Windstrkemesser. Anemometer
Winkel. Angle
Winkelimpuls. Angular momentum
Winkelvernderliche. Angle variable
Winklig. Angular
Winzig. Infinitesimal
Wirbel. Vortex
Wirbelbewegung. Vortex motion
Winkelgeschwindigkeit. Velocity, angular
Wirbelkreis. Vortex ring
Wirbelsturm. Cyclone
Wirbelstrme. Tornadoes
Wirbelwind. Whirlwind
Wirkend, Regsam, Ttig. Active

Wirksamkeit Zylinderwelle
Wirksamkeit. Efficiency
Wirkungsfortdauer. Hysteresis
Wirkungsmass. Effective mass
Witterungskunde. Meteorology
Wlbung. Curvature
Wolke. Cloud
Wolkengeschwindigkeitsmesser. Nephelometer
Wolkenschleier. Haze
Wronskian. Wronskian
Wurfbahn. Trajectory
Wrfelvervollstndigung. Cubature
Wurzel. Radix
Wurzel. Root
Wurzeier. Rooter
Wurzelgrsse. Radical
Wurzelmittelquadrat. Root-mean-square
Ylem.

Ylem

Z-Achsenabstimmung. Z-axis modulation

Zhflssigkeit. Viscosity
Zhigkeitsbeiwert. Viscosity, coefficient of
Zhigkeitsmesser. Viscosimeter
Zahl, Abzhlung. Count
Zahl. Number
Zahl. Scalar
Zhlbar. Denumerable
Zahlenmssig. Numerical
Zahlenmssige Lochweite. Aperture, numerical
Zahlenmssige ffnung. Numerical aperture
Zhler. Counter
Zhlgeschwindigkeit. Counting rate
Zahneingriff. Mesh
Zauberzahlen. Magic numbers
Zeichengebrauch. Sign convention
Zeit. Time
Zeitdehnung. Time dilation
Zeitmesser. Chronometer
Zeitumkehr. Time reversal
Zeitverzgerung. Time delay
Zeitzeichenschreiber. Chronograph
Zelle. Cell
Zenti-. CentiZentralkraft. Central force
Zentrierbeschleunigung. Centripetal acceleration
Zentrifugal. Centrifugal
Zentripetal. Centripetal
Zereissfestigkeit. Tensile strength
Zerfall. Decay
Zerfallmodul. Decay modulus
Zerfallprodukt. Decay product
Zerfliessbarkeit. Deliquescence
Zergliederer, Prfgert. Analyzer
Zerhacker. Chopper
Zerlegung. Decomposition
Zerplatzen. Burst
Zersetzung. Dissociation
Zersetzungsgrad. Degree of dissociation
Zerstreuend. Dissipative
Zerstreuung. Diffuse
Zerstreuungssystem. Disperse system
Ziellos. Random
Zirrus. Cirrus
Zittern. Jitter
Zodiakallicht. Zodiacal light

1312
Zone. Zone
Zonenabirrung. Zonal aberration
Zonenachse. Zone axis
Zonenbeschlag. Zone plate
Zoneneintracht. Zonal harmonic
Zoomarlinse. Zoomar
Zuchtverhltnis. Breeding ratio
Zuckergehaltmesser. Saccharimeter
Zufall. Coincidence
Zufuhr. Input
Zugangszeit. Access time
Zugespitzt. Tapered
Zulssigkeit. Permittivity
Zuleiten. Feed
Zunahme. Gain
Zndung. Ignitron
Zurckprallen. Recoil
Zurckstrahlung. Reverberation
Zusammenballen. Bunching
Zusammenballung. Agglomeration
Zusammendrckung. Compression
Zusammenfluss. Confluence
Zusammenhang. Coherence
Zusammenhangbeiwert. Correlation coefficient
Zusammenhngende Ausstrahlung. Coherent radiation
Zusammentreffen. Convergence
Zusammenstellungsmechanik. Statistical mechanics
Zusammenstoss. Collision
Zusammenstoss erster Art. Collision of the first kind
Zusammenstoss zweiter Art. Collision of the second
kind
Zustzlichkeitsprinzip. Additivity, principle of
Zustand. State
Zustandsnderung. Change of stage
Zustandsgleichung. Equation of state
Zustandsgrsse. Parameter
Zustrebekraft. Centripetal force
Zwang. Force
Zwei-. TwoZweiachsig. Biaxial
Zweiugig. Binocular
Zweielektrodenrohr. Diode
Zweifarbigkeit. Dichromatism
Zweigliedrig. Binomial
Zweiheit. Duality
Zweikrper. Two-body
Zweiohrig. Binaural
Zweipol. Dipole
Zweipolmoment. Dipole moment
Zweistetig. Bistable
Zweistetigmehrsummer. Flip-flop circuit
Zwilling. Twin
Zwischendezimalstellenmagnetron. Magnetron, inter
digital
Zwischenflche. Interface
Zwischenfrequenz. Intermediate frequency
Zwischenmodulation. Intermodulation
Zwischenrumig. Interstitial
Zwischenwand. Diaphragm
Zwitterartig. Hybrid
Zwitterion. Zwitterion
Zykloide. Cycloid
Zylinder. Cylinder
Zylinderlinse. Lens, cylindrical
Zylindernebengeordneten. Cylindrical coordinates
Zylinderwelle. Wave, cylindrical

RussianEnglish Index
. Aberration of light
. Abnormal
. Absolute temperature
-. Absolute space
time
. Absolute units
. Absolute
. Absolute zero
. Absorbent
. Absorber
. Absorption
. Abscissa
. Scram
. Autocollimator
. AVC
. Automatic
control system
.
Automatic volume expansion
. Autoradiograph
. Field emission
. Agglomeration
. Agent
. Aggregate, assembly
. Aggregation
. Advection
. Additivity
. Adiabat
. Adiabatic approxi
mation
. Adiabatic
. Adiabatic invariant
. Address
. Adsorbent
. Adsorption
.
Azimuthal
quantum number
. Azimuth angle
. Aquadag coating
. Accumulator
. Accelerometer
. Axial magnification
. Axial vector
. Activator
. Activation
. Conductance
. Activity
. Active
. Actinometer
. Acoustics
. Acoustic
. Acceptor (in a semiconductor)
. Algebra
. Algorithm, program
. Allobar
. Allomorphism
. Allotrophy
. Albedo
. Alpha particle
. Amorphous

. Ampere-tum
. Ammeter
. Amplistat
. Amplitude
. Pulse height analyzer
. Analyzer
. Analytic
. Analog
. Anastigmat
. Anharmonic
. Anemograph
. Anemometer
. Anisotropy
. Anisotropic, aeolotropic
. Anion
. Annihilation
. Anode
. Anodize
. Battery
. Anomalous dispersion
. Abnormal
. Anotron
. Antenna
. Quarter-wave antenna
-. Anti. Anticathode
. Anticommutator
. Antiparallel
. Antiresonance
. Antisymmetric
. Anticoincidence
. Antiferromagnetism
. Anticyclone
. Antiparticle
. Aplanat
. Apochromatic
. Argument, amplitude
.
Arithmetic pro
gression
. Armature
. Articulation
. Asymmetry, dissymetry
. Asymmetric
. Asymptote
. Astatic
. Astigmatism
. Astronomical
. Atmosphere
. Atmospheric
. Atom
. Atomic mass unit
. Atomic energy
. Atomic state
. Atomic
. Atomic charge
. Atomic number
. Affine transformation
. Affine
. Achromat
. Achromatic


. Achromatic combi
nation
. Aerodynamics
. Air foil
. Aerosol
. Aerometer
. Base
. Beam
. Ballistics
. Ballistic pendulum
. Ballistic measurement
.
. Drum
. Barretter
. Barn
. Barometer
. Bass
. Battery
. Traveling wave
. Irrotational wave
. Irrotational vector
. Random, disorderly
. Bel
. White
. White light
. White noise
. Beta decay
. Beta particle
. Betatron
. Beats
. Binaural
. Binocular
. Binomial
. Biophysics
. Bipolar coordinate
. Biprism
. Blanking
. Blind, flag
. Nearest neighbor
. Myopia
. Proximity
. Blocking
. Baud
. Sideband
. Bolometer
. Bombard
. Boson
. Bra vector
. Brachistochrone
. Brillunin zone
. Storm
. Bootstrap circuit
. Buffer
.
Rate, speed
. Bevatron
. Vacancy
. Vacuum
. Vacuum thermocouple
. Vacuum pump
. Valence band
. Valence shell
. Valence
. Valence electron
. Variational method

1314
. Variometer
. Varistor
. Watt
. Wattmeter
. Secular determinant
. Vector
. Vector state
. Vector product
. Vector space
. Vector potential
. Value, quantity
. Probable error
. Probability
. Transition probability
. Tunnelling, penetra
tion probability
. Vertical
. Apex, vertex, peak
. Weight
. Scale, balance
. Branch, arm
. Wind
. Matter, substance
. Mutual conductance
. Mutual inductance
. Mutual
. Vibrator
. Mode
. Video
. Visibility
. View finder
. Reticle
. Screw
. Virial
. Virtual
. Virtual quantum
. Virtual lever
. Viscosimeter
. Vortex motion
. Vortex ring
. Eddy currents
. Vortex, whirlwind, curl
. Capacity
. External
. Plate resistance
. Weir
. Concave
. Water
. Excitation
. Exciter, activator
. Reset, return
. Sublimation
. Air
. Air gap
. Perturbation
. Age
. Howl
. Wave
. Shear wave
. Compression wave
. Wave mechanics
. Wave function
. Waveguide
. Microwave plumbing
. Wave impedance
. Wave number
. Wave potentials
. Volt

1315
. Voltmeter
. Voltohmmeter, analyzer
. Susceptibility
. Restoring force
. Octal
. Rotating
. Torque
. Rotation
. Time
. Recovery time
. Access time
. Time delay
. Transit time
. Wronskian
. Universe
. Auxiliary equation
. Flash
. Secondary emission
. Secondary
. Sleeve, bushing
. Fog (1)
. Entrance slit
. Entrance pupil
. Overshoot
. Efflorescence
. Desorption
. Exposure
. Switch
. Freeze
. Forced oscillation
. Rectifier
. Rectification
. Padder
. Confluence, degeneracy
. Degenerate state
. Pitch
. Altimeter
. Output, yield
. Exit pupil
. Fade (2)
. Residue
. Computer, calculator
. Subtract
. Viscosity
. Cleanup (1)
. Electroplating
. Harmonic wave
. Harmonic motion
. Quench, clear
. Blanking, quenching
. Geiger counter
. Generator, oscillator
. Pulse generator
. Alternator
. Direct-current gener
ator
. Signal generator
. BFO
. Principal axis
. Principal
. Eye of storm
. Depth
. Skin depth
. Depth o f field
. Gravitational
. Degree (1)

. Molar
. Phonograph
. Boundary, limit
. Boundary condition
. Boundary circles
. Thunder
. Group, assembly
. Translation group
. Bunching
. Density, consistency
. Tandem

. Pressure
. Vapor pressure
. Distance, range (2)
. Transducer, pickup, transmitter
. Motor, engine
. Motion
. Moving
. Binary
. Twin
. Birefringence, double
refraction
. Double
. Double layer
. Duality
-. Two. Bidirectional
. Bistable
. Push-pull
. Binomial
. Deviation
. Noval
. Degasification
. Degradation
. Deionization
. Action
. Deuteron
. Deuteron
. Decalescence
. Cartesian
. Fission
. Frequency division
. Voltage divider
-. Delta ray
-. Delta function
. Fissionable
. Demodulation
. Damping
. Densitometer
. Day
. Depolarizer
. Depolarization
. Desorption
. Detailed balancing
. Detector
. Defect
. Deformation, strain
-. Deci-.
. Diagonalization
. Diagonal matrix
. Dyadic
. Dyadic operator
. Dialysis
. Diamagnetism
. Frequency band

1316

. Diathermy
. Diaphragm, window
. Dynamic loudspeaker
. Dynamics
.
Dynamic char
acteristic
. Dynamic loud
speaker
. Dynamo
. Dynamometer
. Dynamotor
. Dynatron
. Diode
. Diopter
. Dyotron
. Dipole
. Dipole moment
. Directrix
. Discreteness
. Discriminant
. Discriminator
. Dislocation
. Dispersive power
. Variance, dispersion
. Disperse system
. Dissymmetry
. Dissipative
. Dissipation
. Dissonance
. Dissociation
. Diffracted wave
. Differential equa
tion
. Differential gain
. Difference limen
. Differentiation

.
Differentiating
network
. Diffraction
. Diffusion pump
. Diffusion
. Diffuse
. Dichromatism
. Dielectric con
stant, permittivity
. Dielectric
. Wavelength
. Mean free path
. Figure of merit
. Rain
. Dose
. Fraction
. Domain
. Donor
. Complement
. Complementarity
. Complementary
. Doppler shift
. Permissible
. Daughter element
. Shot effect
. Flutter
. Drift
. Choke
. Doublet
. Arc
. Arc lamp
. Dewar flask

. Unit
. AWU
-. X-ray unit
. Unit vector
. Single
. Capacitive
. Capacitance
. Natural
. Flip-flop circuit
. Rigid, proportional (feedback)
. Stiffness
. Fluid
. Conductor
. Vorticity
. Damping, silencing
. Driver stage
. Delay
(). Back porch
. Firing
. Terminal
. Common-base
. Ebullition
. Associative law
. Fixed
. Closed system
. Delay, moderation, slowing down
. Retarded field
. Retarded potential
. Moderator
. Substitution
. Fade (1)
. Freeze
. Delay
. Blocking, blanking
. Barrier layer
. Recording
. Filled band
. Forbidden band
. Forbidden transition
. Trigger, start
. Charge
. Charge invariance
. Charge independence
. Charge conjugation
. Stagnation
. Attenuation, damping
. Capture
. Trapping
. Shield
. Shielding
. Star (nuclear)
. Sound, tone
. Voice coil
. Audio frequency
. Audio
. Pickup
. Earth
. Mirror
. Specular, mirror
. Zodiacal
. Sol
. Zone, band
. Conduction band
. Zonal harmonic

1317
.
.

Band theory
Humming, buzzing

. Needle (1)
. Selectivity
. Excess pressure sound
. Redundancy
. Excess electron
. Evolution, extraction of a root
. Flexure
. Bending moment
. Radiator
. Emissivity
. Radiation
. Fluctuation
. Variability
. Meter
. Apertometer
. Picture, image
. Adsorption isotherm
. Pulse, momentum, impulse
. Tuning indicator
. Noble gas
. Integrating network
. Distortion
. Spark
. Bending of light
. Artificial line
. Dummy load
. Artificial radio
activity
. Artificial
. Evaporation
. Correction
. Effusion
. Source
. Depletion layer
. Calculus
. Cable
. Cavitation
. Frame
. Calomel
. Calorescence
. Calorimeter
. Calorimetry
. Calorific
. Calorie
. Calcite
. Calutron
. Camera
. Cloud chamber
. Tuning fork
. Duct, channel
. Canal rays
. Canonical
.
Canonical trans
formation
.
Canonical
equation of motion
. Capillarity
. Capillary
. Drop
. Carat
. Cardinal points
. Cardioid

. Picture
. Tangent
. Cascade
. Slicer
. Cascade shower
. Cataphoresis
. Cathetometer
. Cation
. Cathode
. Coated cathode
. Cathodoluminescence
. Cathode rays
. Cathode-ray oscilloscope
. Coil
. Caustic
. Oscillation, hunting
. Quadrant electrometer
. Quadratic
. Quadric, quadratic
. Quadrature
. Quadrupole
. Quadrupole moment
-. Quasi
. Quasi-stationary
. Quantum
. Quantization
. Quantum mechanics
. Quartz
. Quaternion
. Ceramic
. Motion-picture
. Kinetic energy
. Boiling
. Cell
. Climate
. Class
. Classical
. Terminal
. Wedge
. Sounder
. Key, switch
. Coagulation
. Coaxial
. Covalence
. Covariant
. Covariant tensor
. Coherent radiation
. Coherence
. Code
. Oscillation, vibration, fluctuation
. Oscillating
. Quantity
. Momentum
. Collective model
. Collector
. Collimator
. Collimation
. Colloid
. Colloidal
. Cologarithm
. Colorimeter
. Colorimetry
. Ring
. Coma
. Combination
. Commutator
. Commutation
. Comparator


. Compass
. Compensator, balancer, potentiometer
. Bucking coil
. Complex variable
. Complex con
jugate matrix
. Complex number
. Complex ion
. Assembly
. Convection
. Conversion
. Capacitor
. Condensation
. Condenser
. Finite difference
. Conic, conical
. Conservative force
field
. Consistency
. Contact transformation
. Contact potential
. Contravanant
. Contravariant tensor
. Contrast
. Monitor
. Contour, circuit, tank circuit, mesh
. Cone
. Configuration
. Conformai
. Concentration
. Cooperative
. Coordinate
. Coordination number
. Root
. Bathtub capacitor
. Corona
. Short wave
. Short-range
. Shortcircuit
. Compensator
. Correlation
. Cosine
. Cosmic rays
. Cosmic radiation
. Cosmological
. Cosmotron
. Oblique incidence
.
Skew symmetric
matrix
. Coercive force
. Coercivity
. Coefficient
.
Accommodation co
efficient
. Factor of safety
. Coefficient of resti
tution
. Extinction coefficient
. Coefficient of viscosity
. Diffusion coefficient
. Coefficient of capacitance
. Duty cycle
. Modulation factor
. Power factor
. Absorption coefficient

(...).
Efficiency
. Refractive index

1318
. Conversion factor
. Transmissivity
. Breeding ratio
. Transmission coefficient
. Multiplication factor
. Coefficient of expansion
. Standing wave ratio
. Coefficient of contraction
. Amplification factor
. Shape factor
. Edge effect
. Red shift
. Multiplicity
. Multiple
. Cross-hair
. Absorption curve
. Curvature
. Curvature of field
. Cryoscope
. Cryostat
. Crystal
. Crystallization
. Crystal counter
. Transistor
. Crystallography
. Crit
. Critical temperature
. Critical point
. Critical
. Critical coefficient
. Critical volume
. Critical potential
. Critical damping
. Circle
. Round window
. Circular function
. Circle of confusion
. Circle of confusion
. Circle of convergence
. Sleet
a. Tube transconductance
. Torsion
. Cubature
. Cumulative
. Cumulus cloud
. Cumuliform
. Cascade, avalanche
. Traveling-wave tube
. Electronic
peak-reading voltmeter
. Vacuum-tube voltmeter
. Vacuum-tube amplifier
. Alloying, doping
. Volatile
. Shower
. Edge dislocation
. Delay-line
. Streamline
. Transmission line
. Ruling-engine
. Trap
. Trough
. Spurious, false
. Beam, ray
. Radiance
. Radiant

1319
. Luminescent, fluorescent
. Phosphor
. Resistance box
. Magneton
. Permeability ()
. Reluctance
. Magnetic
. Magnetic spectrograph
. Dip needle
. recorder
. Inverse peak
voltage
. Maximum
-. Mass spectrograph
. Rest mass
. Scale
. Scale factor
. Parent
. Substance, matter
. Matrix
. Flywheel
. Pendulum
. Instantaneous center
. Megatron
. Megaphone
. Slow neutrons
. Meson
. Flicker
. Diaphragm
. Meniscus
. Flicker
. Metal
. Metastable
. Metastasis
. Metacenter
. Meteorology
. Method
. Zero beat method
. Meter (2)
. Mechanics
. Mechanical
. Mechanical equivalent
. Flicker
. Migration
-. Micro. Micrometer
. Microscope
. Microscopic re
versibility
. Microphone
. Microphonic
-. Milli. Minimum
. Minor
. Mirage
. Target
. Imaginary, virtual
-. Multi . Antenna array
. Multichannel
. Polygon
. Polynomial
. Multiplicity
. Plural multiple
. Set
. Multiplier

. Analog
. Model, analog
. Modulated
. Modulus, absolute value
. Rigidity modulus
. Decay modulus
. Shear modulus
. Modulus of elasticity
. Modulator
. Modulation
. Mosaic
. Molecular
. Molecular weight
. Molecule
. Molal
. Moment, instant
. Bending moment
. Moment o f inertia
. Angular momentum,
moment of momentum
. Bond moment
. Moment of force
. Monitor
. Monomer
. Monomolecular
. Monoscope
. Monotropy
. Monochromatic
. Monochromator
Mope. Sea
. Morphotropy
. Bridge
. Motor
. Power, strength, capacity
Myap. Moire
. Multiar
. Multivibrator
. Multiplex
. Multiplicity, multipolarity
. Multipole
. Mumetal
. Monsoon
. Mutarotation
. Soft, derivative (feedback)
. Del, nabla
. Aggregate, assembly
. Induction
. Slope
. Accumulator
. Storage
. Available energy
Superimposition
. Directivity
. Directional coupler
. Direction cosine
. Stress, voltage
. Stress
. Field strength
Hacoc. Pump
. Tuned
. Tuning slug
. Saturated activity
. Saturated
. Saturable reactor
nap. Saturated vapor
H . Tension


. Earphone
. Celestial mechanics
. Sky
. Negatron (2)
. Open system
. Neutral point
. Neutral
. Neutrino
. Neutrodyne
. Neutron
. Nonlinear
. Nonlocal
. Extraordinary ray
. Uncertainty
. Neper
. Unpolarized
. Continuity
. Opacity
. Non-relativistic
. Asymetric
. Unsynchronized, astable
. Carrier frequency
. Aspheric surface
. Unstable equilibrium
. Astable
. Nephelometer
. Odd
. Anelasticity
. Nicol prism
. Nilpotent
. Whisker
. Filament
. Stem
. Number
. Address
. Nomograph
. Standard, norm
. Normal vibration
. Normal
. Normalization
. Carrier
. Night
. Nucleon
. Nucleonics
. Zero point entropy
. Null, zero
. Nutation
. Newton rings
. Stripping
. Depletion layer
. Outgassing
. Overtone
. Cloud
. Region, area, domain
. Irradiate, bombard
. Exchange force
. Exchange energy
. Exchange degeneracy
. Exchange integral
. Enrichment
. Address
. Summation convention
. Shell model
. Peaking circuit
. Pair production
. Reciprocity, reversibility

1320
. Reversible
. Reciprocal matrix
. Feedback
. Backfire
. Back scattering
. Reciprocal
. Time reversal
. Bypass
. Ordinary point
. Ordinary ray
. Camera lens, objective lens
. Object point
. Volume
. Bulk modulus
. Body-centered
. Cavity resonator
. Oval window
. Envelope
. Saint Elmo fire
. Bounded
. Clipper
-. Uni. Simultaneity
. Unimolecular, monomolecular
. Unilateral
. Oxidation
. Occlusion
. Window
. Window
. Ambient, surrounding
. Circle
. Octave
. Octet
. Octode
. Eyepiece, ocular
. Omegatron
. Ohmmeter
. Omnigraph
. Operator
. Operational methods
. Operation
. Advanced potentials
. Support, bearing
. Determinate, defined
. Determinant
. Optar
. Optics
. Optimal damping
. Optimum
. Optical aberration
. Optical anomaly
. Optic axis
. Optical
. Optical isomerism
. Optical pyrometer
. Optometry
. Optics
. Optophone
. Subsidence
. Orbit
. Orbital
. Organ
. Organosol
. Ordinate
. Orientation
. Orographic
. Orthicon
. Orthohelium

1321
. Orthogonal matrix
. Orthogonality
. Orthonik
. Orthonormal
. Orthopositronium
. Orthorhombic
. Orthoscopic
. Ortho-state
. Orthotomic
. Orthochromatic
. Precipitation, sedimentation
. Axial magnification
. Axial vector
. Attenuator
. Attenuation
. Osmosis
. Osmotic
. Osmotic pressure
. Base
. Radix
. Fundamental frequency
. Fundamental vibration
. Singular matrix
. Singular
. Remanence
. Retentivity
. Residual
. Core
. Oscillograph, Oscilloscope
. Oscilloscope
. Oscillator
. Oscillation
. Axis
. Coordinate axis
. Aperture, hole, orifice
. Vertical
. Response, answer
. Branch
. Distance
. Recoil
. Annealing
. Response
. Deflection, Deviation
. Relativity
. Relative
. Proportion, ratio
-. Signal-to-noise ratio
. Firing
(). Baffle
. Reflectance
. Reflection, return
. Reflected
. Negative feedback,
degeneration
. Negative
. Cutoff.
. Recession
. Repulsion
. Repulsive
. Tint
. Thaw
. Ophthalmoscope
. Cooling, refrigeration
. Clear
. Scavenging
. Activation
. Error, mistake
. Truncation error

. Memory
. Panoramic
. Panchromatic
. Steam, vapor
. Couple
. Parabola
. Parabolic
. Paraboloid
. Parhelium
. Parasitic
. Paraxial
. Parallax
. Parallelepiped
. Parallel
. Paramagnetism
. Paramagnetic
. Parameter
. Paramorph
. Parapositronium
. Para-state
. Parhelion
. Parsec
. Partial
. Passivity
-. Penta. Pentagrid
. Pentode
. Primary winding
. Primary
. Saddle point
. Diaphragm
. Overload
. Transmitter
. Transfer, transmission
. Transfer switch
. Patchcord
. Cross-modulation
. Cross talk
. Cross-conduction
. Cross-hair
. Overlap
. Variable
. Action variable
. Alternating current
. Commutative
. Displacement, shift, drift
. Overvoltage
. Transfer, carry
. Overflow
.
Commutation, permutation, inter
change
. Commutative matrix
. Commutative
. Scaler
. Transition, junction (semiconductor)
p-n. p.n. Junction
. Transient
. Perihelion
. Period
. Reactor period
. Periodic line
. Periodic
. Periodicity
. Cirrus
. Perisphere
. Permalloy
. Permanent gases
. Permeameter

1322

. Permendur
. Perminvar
. Printed circuit
. Peak
. Pycnometer
. Sawtooth
. Pilot
. Pion
. Pyramid
. Pyranometer
. Pyrgeometer
. Pyrometer
. Pyrometry
. Feed
. Floating
. Melt
. Plasma
. Plasmatron
. Flame
. Planar
. Planetary
. Planimeter
. Plate
. Plastic
. Plasticity
. Plateau (counter)
. Film
. Pleomorphism
. Pleochroism
. Pleochroic
. Arm
. Pliotron
. Plate
. Buoyancy
. Plane polarization
. Plane
. Plane of vibration
. Plane of polarization
. Close packing
. Dense set
. Density
. Charge density
. Vapor density
. Current density
. Area
. Pneumatic
. Rabbit (Nucl.)
. Surface, area
. Surface energy
. Surface tension
. Surface
. Repeater
. Absorber
. Poison
. Absorptance
. Absorption
. Boundary layer
. Error
. Compliance
. Mobility
. Subgroup
. Similarity transforma
tion
. Substitution
. Pickup reaction
. Bearing
. Pre-emphasis (1)
. Positron

. Positronium
. Exponent
. Exponential
. Field
. Brake horsepower
. Transit
. Creep
. Polymorphic
. Polytropic
. Polychromic
. Polyhedron
. Total reflection
. Completeness
. Total, complete
. Centrode, polhode
. Position
. Positive
. Centrode, polhode
. Rejection band
. Absorption band
. Band-pass filter
. Striated
-. Semi. Semiconductor
. Semipermeable
. Penumbra
. Pole
. Polarizer
. Polarization
. Vacuum polarization
. Polarizability
. Polarimetry
. Polariscope
. Aurora
. Polarity
. Polar coordinates
. Polar
. Vector, polar
. Polargram
. Polarograph
. Polaroid.
. Noise, interference
. Cross section
. Correction
. Porosity
. Threshold
. Powder
. Order, order of
. Sequence
. Sequential
. Afterglow, persistence
. Post-acceleration
. Constant
. Equilibrium constant
. Coupling constant
. Phase constant
. Direct current
. Shading (2)
. Potential
. Potential energy
. Potential barrier
. Potentiometer
. Flux, flow, current
. Vector flux
. Radiant flux
. Flux linkage
. Selection rules
. Phase rule

1323
. Transition transformation
. Pre-emphasis (2)
. Predissociation
. Preferred
. Representation of a group
. Refraction
. Refracted
. Refractive
. Dominant
. Transformation, transform, con
version
. Converter, transducer
. Chopper
. Precession
. Precessional velocity
. Approximation
. Approximate
. Reduced
. Receiver (2)
. Prism
. Tide
. Tidal wave
. Adhesion
. Extrinsic conductivity
. Primitive
. Constraint
.
Virtual work
principle
. Combination principle
. Uncertainty principle
. Pauli exclusion principle
. Principal
. Joining, addition
. Adjoint matrix
. Accommodation
. Causality
. Range (1)
. Breakdown voltage
. Verification
. Conductor, wire
. Admittance, conduction
. Perveance
. Conductor
. Program
. Progressive
. Progression
. Longitudinal wave
. Fission product
. Decay product
. Projector
. Transmission grating
. Transmittance
. Product
. Matrix product
. Productivity, rating
. Derivative
. Derived unit
. Spontaneous
. Penetrate, permeate
. Penetrating
. Penetration
. Permeate, penetrate
. Proportional
. Coated lens
. Space lattice
. Space factor
. Space
- . Space-time

. Counterpoise
. Proton
. Per cent
. Umklapp process
. Order-disorder transforma
tion
. Tensile strength
. Developer
. Direct sum
. Direct product
. Rectilinear
. Rectangular
-. Pseudo . Pseudoscalar
. Pseudovector
. Psychrometer
. Bubble chamber
. Bubble
. Ripple (2)
. Path
. AntinodeS
. Beam, pencil of light
. Dust
. Dust storm
. Pedestal
. Piezoid
. Piezometer
. Piezoelectric
.
Crystal
pickup
. Quintuple
. Work
. Work function
. Equality
. Balance, equilibrium
. Uniform
. Equipartition
. Equivalent
. Equivalence
. Radial
. Radian
. Radical
. Radio
. Radionuclide
. Radioactivity
. Radioactive
. Radioelement
. Radiography
. Radiosonde
. Radio channel
. Radar
. Racon
. Radioluminescence
. Radiometer
. Radiometry
. Direction finder
. Radio-thermo
luminescence
. Radio frequency
. Radius
. Rainbow
. Dilution
. Articulation
. Straggling
. Scanning, sweep
. Scanning


. Branching
. Development
. Debunching
. Separation, crossover
. Demagnitization
. Decomposition
. Dimension
. Dimensional analysis
. Difference amplifier
. Development
. Rarefaction
. Power resolving
. Resolution
. Allowed band
. Allowed, permissible
. Allowed transition
. Destruction
. Break, rupture
. Discountinuity
. Discharge, digit (comp.)
. Discharge tube
. Disorder
. Region, area
. Rank
. Decay, decomposition, disintegration
. Arrangement
. Propagation
. Abundance ratio
. Distribution
. Distributed
. Distributive
. Sputtering, atomization
. Scattering, dissipation
. Distance
. Solution
. Dissolving
. Solute
. Solubility
. Solvent
. Raster
. Elongation, extension, expansion
. Time dilatation
. Flow, consumption
. Divergence
. Flow meter
. Uncoupling
. Expansion, dilatation
.
pander
. Rational
. Reactivation
. Susceptance
. Reactance
. Reactivity
. Reactor, pile
. Reaction
. Reverberation
. Reversibility
. Regeneration
. Register
. Control, regulation
. Regulation
. Regular
. Rare-earth
. Mode, regime
. Cutter
. Sharp series
. Resonance

1324
. Resonance fluorescene
. Resonant
. Resonator
. Recalescence
. Recombination
. Rectigon
. Recursion formula
. Relaxation
. Relay
. Embossed
. Relativistic velocity
. Relativistic
. Renormalization
. X-rays
. X-ray spectra
. X-ray diffraction
. Rheology
. Rheostat
. Slide wire
. Reference
. Refractometer
. Creation
. Diamond antenna
. Rhombohedron
. Dew
. Rotator
. Curl
. Rooter
. Ripple (1)
. Series

Ex

. Sagitta
-. Self. Osculation
. Self-consistent
-. Centi. Saccharimeter
. Assembly
. Convolution
. Convolution
(). Microwave
. Supersaturation
. Superconductivity
. Superconductor
. Luminous emittance
. Aperture ratio
. Candle
. Whistle, howl
. Free
. Free charge
. Property
. Coupled circuit
. Bound charge
. Coupling, bond, constraint
. Connectivity
. Cluster
. Shear, shift
. Phase shift
. Ferroelectric
. Sedimentation
. Saddle point
. Col
. Seismic
. Seismograph
. Sector
. Selsyn, synchro

1325
. Family
. Sensitometry
. Servomechanism
. Core
. Wave train
. Retina
. Reticulated
. Net, grid, network
. Section
. Compression
. Compressibility
. Signal
. Force, strength
. Bond strength
. Strong
. Baiun
. Symmetric
. Symmetry
. Simplex
. Sine wave
. Synchronization
. Synchronizing
. Synchronous
. Synchrotron
. Synchrocyclotron
. Siren
. System, array
. Coordinate system
(...). Center-of-mass
system
. Spallation
. Scalar
. Scalar product
. Pulse duty cycle
. Skin effect
. Sclerometer
. Deviation
. Scopometer
. Slip
. Velocity, rate, speed
. Spin velocity
. Counting rate
. Latent
. Weak
. Track, wake, trace
. Servo
. Confluence
. Addition
- . Nimbostratus
- . Stratocumulus
. Striation, layer
. Auditory, audio
. Audibility
. Wetting agent
. Whirlwind
. Miscibility
. Mixer
. Mixed
. Bias, displacement, shift
. Snow (1)
. Proper length
. Intrinsic conductivity
. Eigenfunction
. Natural frequency
. Proper time
. Eigenvalue
. Eigenstate
. Eigenvector

. Event
. Compatibility
. Assembly
. Coincidence
. Concurrent
. Compound
. Solenoid
. Solenoidal vector
. Solar
. Sunlight
. Sone
. Sonar
. Sonies
. Corresponding states
. Correspondence
. Resistance, impedance, drag, resistor
. Conjugate, adjoint
. Sorption
. Component
. State
. Collision
1- . Collision of the first kind
2- . Collision of the second kind
. Conservation
. Associative
. Pairing
. Spectrum
. Spectral
. Spectroheliograph
re n. Spectrohelioscope
. Spectrogram
. Spectrograph
. Spectrometer
. Spectroscope
. Spectroscopy
. Spectrophotometer
. Spin
. Spinor
. Spinthariscope
. Spiral
. Alloy
. Oblate
. Ability, capacity
. Wake
, Medium, agent
. Mean value
. Root-mean-square
. Average, mean
. Agent
. Stripping
. Voltage regulation
. Ballast tube
. Stalagmometer
. Standard
. Standard deviation
-. Stat. Statics
. Statistics
. Statistical mechanics
. Partition function
. Static
. Stator
. Stationary
. Vitreous
. Degree (2)
. Degree of dissociation
. Degree of freedom
. Steradian

-. Stereo. Stereoscope
. Stereophonic
.
Stereoloudspeaker
. Stethoscope
. Stoichiometric
. Stigmatic
. Collision
. Standing-wave
. Stratosphere
. Needle (2), pointer
. Stroboscope
. Strobotron
. Constitution
. String
. Sructure
.
tbatomic
Subharmonic.
. Sublimate
. Sublimation
. Tapered
. Partition function
. Superheterodyne
. Suppressor
. Suspension
. Dry
. Dry cell
. Spherical aberration
. Spherical harmonics
. Spherical triangle
. Spheroid
. Spherometer
. Circuit, network
. Anticoincidence circuit
. Control circuit
. Convergence
. Cohesion, adhesion
. Scintillation
. Scintillation counter
. Count
. Denumerable
. Counter
. Alpha counter
-. Watthourmeter
. Roll out
.
. Tangent
. Tachometer
. Tacitron
. Solid
. Solid solution
. Fluidity
. Television
. Telegraph
. Remote control
. Telephoto lens
. Telescope
. Solid angle
. Teletype
. Telephone
. Telephone receiver
. Dark current
. Dark space
. Dark
. Temperature

. Flash point
. Tensor
. Energy-momentum
tensor
. Shadow
. Theodolite
. Virial theorem
. Compensation theorem
. Transport theory
. Thermal
. Heat capacity
. Heat of adsorption
. Term
. Thermistor
. Thermal
. Thermopile
. Thermodynamic
. Thermoluminescence
. Thermometer
. Thermometry
. Thermocouple
. Thermostatic oven
. Thermopile
. Thermoelastic
. Thermophosphorescence
. Thermoelectric
. Thermion
. Thermionic
. Thermonuclear
. Tetratohedral
. Flow
. Thyratron
. Thyrite
. Embossed
. Current (Electric)
. Slip rings
. Note, tone
. Beat note
. Fine structure
Top. Anchor ring
. Braking, drag
. Stopping power
. Bremsstrahlung
. Donut
. Toroidal
. Point group
. Point, dot
. Cusp
. Freezing point
. Boiling point
. Cusp
. Melting point
. Branch point
. Dew point
. Accuracy, precision
. Trajectory
. Transistor
. Transposed matrix
. Transformer
. Transformer coupling
. Transcendental
. Triangle, delta connection
-. Three. Three-phase
. Triboluminescence
. Trigger circuit

.
Trigonometric
function

. Triode
.
coefficients, tristimulus values
. Triple
. Tornado
. Troposphere
. Tropospheric
. Trochoid
. Tube
. Pitot tube
. Fog (2)
. Turbidimeter
. Turbulence
. Tourmaline
. Ductility

Trichromatic

. Uviol
. Carbon cycle
. Angle variable
. Angular velocity
. Angular
. Angle
. Contact angle
. Shock
. Shock wave
. Resilience
. Impulse noise
. Doubler circuit
. Frequency doubler
. Specific activity
. Conductivity
. Resistivity
. Specific
. Prolate
. Artificial line
. Node, center, unit assembly, site (lattice)
. Nodal line
. Nodal point
. Indicator, detector
. Deviation, error
. Ultrasonic cavitation
. Ultrasonic delay
line
. Ultrasonic frequency
. Ultrasonic
. Ultrasonic generator
.
Ultrasonic strobo
scope
. Ultramicroscope
.
Ultraviolet radia
tion
. Ultracentrifuge
. Umbra
. Univariant
. Universal
. Unitary matrix
. Unitary transforma
tion
. Ounce
. Packing
. Packing fraction
. Control
. Elastic wave
. Elastic
. Elasticity
. Vapor tension
. Equation

. Partial
differential equation
. Equation o f state
. Equations of motion
. Balancer, equalizer
. Counterbalancing
. Balance
. Noise level
. Amplification
. Amplifier, booster
. Boost
. Acceleration
. Accelerator
. Accelerating tube
. Damping
. Fatigue
. Steady state
. Stability
. Stable
. Arrangement
. Drift
. Section, sector
. Aural
. Phase
. Wave phase
. Phasitron
. Phase diagram
. Phase velocity
-. Phase space
. Phase angle
. Phase inverter
. Factorial
. Phantastron
. Fermion
. Ferrimagnetism
. Ferrite
. Ferromagnetism
. Solid-state physics
. Physiological
. Physical
. Physical measurement
. Fieldistor
. Clamping
. Fixation
. Fixed
. Filter, absorber
. Fluorescent
. Fluorescence
. Focal plane
. Focus
. Focal length
. Background, phon
. Phonetics
. Phonon
. Waveform
. Formula
. Reduction formula
. Form factor
. Phosphorescence
. Photovoltaic cell
. Photographic
. Photocathode
. Photoluminescence
. Photometer
. Photometry
. Photometric


. Photon
. Photoneutron
. Photoconduction
. Photodisintegration
. Wirephoto
. Phototropy
. Photomultiplier
. Photophoresis
. Photoelasticity
. Photoelectric
. Photoemissive effect
. Photoelectric
work function
. Photocell, phototube
. Photoconductive effect
. Photonuclear reaction
. Pound
. Foot
. Random
. Character
. Characteristic
. Transfer characteristic
. Characteristic
temperature
. Characteris
tic impedance
.
Characteristic
equation
X . Chemiluminescence
. Chemical
. Cold work
. Refrigerant
. Cold front
. Chromatic
. Chronograph
. Chronometer
. Chronoscope
. Embrittlement
. Color
. Chromaticity
. Target
. Center of buoyancy
. Center of buoyancy
. Center of mass
. Color center
. Center of gravity
. Center of percussion
. Central force
. Centrifuge
. Centrifugal
. Centroid
. Centripetal force
. Centripetal
acceleration
. Centripetal
. Chain reaction
. Catenary
. Circuit
. Cycloid
. Cyclone
. Cyclotron
. Cycle
. Cylinder
. Cylindrical wave

1328
. Cylindrical coordin
ates
. Circulation
. Digital com
puter
. Particle
. Partial
. Frequency
. Beat frequency
. Frequency modulation
. Frequency meter
. Clock
. Black body
. Quadruple
. Parity
. Even. Numerical
. Number
. Purity
. Articulation
. Four-vector
. Sensitivity
. Sphere
. Chassis
. Bus
. Width
. Bandwidth
. Scale
.
perature scale
. Stub, loop
. Polishing
. Cord
. Trace
. Noise
. Shunt

Absolute tem

. Alkali
. Slit
. Brush
. Ebullioscope
. Eutectic
. Doldrums
. Equivalence
. Equivalent
. Equipotential
surface
. Equipotential
. Exosmosis
. Exothermic
. Screen
. Screen grid
. Screening, blocking
. Exciton
. Excitron
. Expander
. Experiment
. Exposure, exposition
. Exponent
. Exponential
. Extrapolation

1329
. Eccentric
. Electret
. Elastance
. Electric conduction
. Electric networks
. Electric
. Electrical bridge
. Electrical attraction
. Electricity
. Electrode
. Dynode
. Electromotive force
. Electrodialysis
. Electrodynamometer
. Electrocapillarity
. Electrolysis
. Electrolyte
. Electromagnetism
. Electromagnet
. Electromagnetic wave
. Electromagnetic in
duction

.
Electromagnetic
radiation
.
Electromagnetic field
. Calutron
. Amplidyne
. Electrometer
. Electron, negatron
. Electron-volt
. Conversion electron
. Electronics
. Vacuum tube
. Electron lens
. Electron optics
. Electron gun
. Electron tube
- . Cathode-ray tube
. Electronic
. Electronic switch
. Electron beam
. Electron microscope
. Cathode-ray oscillo
scope
. Electro-osmosis
-. Electronegativity
. Electroscope
. Electrostatic
. Electrostatic volt
meter
. Electrostatic
generator

. Electrostatic
. Electrostriction
. Electrophorus
. Electrophoresis
. Electrochemical
. Electroendosmosis
. Cell, element, pile
. Elementary particle
. Unit cell
. Ellipse
. Ellipsoid
. Elliptic
. Emission
. Emitter
. Emulsion
. Enantiomorph
. Endosmosis
. Endothermie
. Energy level
. Energy
. Excitation energy
. Binding energy
. Enthalpy
. Entropy
. Erg
. Etalon, standard
. Aether, ether
. Efflorescence
. Obliquity effect
. Effective mass
. Effective area
. Effectiveness, efficiency
. Effusion
. Echo
. Fathometer
. Echelette grating
. Echelon
. Phenomenon, event
. Nuclear energy
. Nuclear
. Nucleus, nuclide
. Armature
. Fovea
. Brightness
. Yoke
. Stratus
. Cell

SpanishEnglish Index
Aberracin. Aberration of light
Aberracin de coma. Coma
Aberracin de esfericidad. Spherical aberration
Aberracin esfrica. Spherical aberration
Aberracin ptica. Optical aberration
Abertura numrica. Numerical aperture
Abnormal. Abnormal
Abscisa. Abscissa
Absoluto. Absolute
Absorbedor. Absorber
Absorbente. Absorbent
Absorcin. Absorption
Absorptancia. Absorptance
Abundancia relativa. Abundance ratio
Accidental. Random
Accin. Action
Accin a distancia. Action at a distance
Accin frenante. Braking
Aceleracin. Acceleration
Acceleracin centrpeta. Centripetal acceleration
Acelerador. Accelerator
Acelerador circular. Donut
Acelerador lineal. Linear accelerator
Acelermetro. Accelerometer
Acentuacin de los contrastes. Pre-emphasis
Achatado. Oblate
Acomodacin. Accommodation
Acoplador de guia de ondas. Magic tee
Acoplador direccional. Coupler directional
Acoplamiento. Coupling
Acoplamiento. Link
Acoplamiento de reaccin. Regeneration
Acoplamiento inductivo. Flux linkage
Acoplamiento regenerativo. Regeneration
Acoplamiento trmico. Thermocouple
Acoplo. Coupling
Acotado. Bounded
Acromtico. Achromatic
Acromtico. Lens, achromatic
Actinmetro. Actinometer
Activacin. Activation
Activador. Activator
Actividad. Activity
Actividad de saturacin. Saturated activity
Actividad especfica. Specific activity
Activo. Active
Acumulador. Accumulator
Acumulativo. Cumulative
Acstica. Acoustics
Acstica. Distortion
Acstico. Acoustic
Acstico. Hearing
Acstico. Aural
Adaptacin. Matching
Adelanto (noun). Lead
Adelantar (verb). Lead
Adherencia. Adhesion
Adherimiento. Adhesion
Adhesin. Adhesion
Adhesiva. Adhesion

Adicin. Addition
Adiabtica. Adiabat
Adiabtico. Adiabatic
Admisible. Permissible
Admitancia. Admittance
Admitancia indicial. Indicial admittance
Adsorbente. Adsorbent
Adsorcin. Adsorption
Adveccin. Advection
Aerodinmica. Aerodynamics
Aeroforme. Airfoil
Aermetro. Aerometer
Aerosol. Aerosol
Aerosonda. Radiosonde
Afn. Affine
Agente. Agent
Agente humectante. Wetting agent
Aglomeracin. Agglomeration
Agregacin. Aggregation
Agrupamiento de los electrones. Bunching of electrons
Agua. Water
Aguacero. Shower
Aguaje. Wave, tidal
Aguanieve. Sleet
Aguja. Needle
Agujero. Hole
Agujero. Orifice
Aire. Air
Aislacin. Insulation
Aislamiento. Insulation
Ajunta. Adjoint
Alargado. Prolate
Al avance. Drag
Al azar. Random
Albedo. Albedo
lcali. Alkali
Alcanze eficaz. Effective area
Aleacin. Alloy
Aleacin Fe-Ni-Co. Perminvar
Aleacin Ni-Fe. Permalloy
Aleatorio. Random
Alejamiento. Recession
Aleotrpico. Aeolotropic
lgebra. Algebra
Alimentacin. Feed
Aliviadero. Weir
Almacenamiento. Storage
Alobaro. Allobar
Alomorfismo. Allomorphism
Alotropa. Allotropy
Alta fidelidad. High fidelity
Altavoz. Loudspeaker
Altavoz dinmico. Dynamic loudspeaker
Altavoz para altas frecuencias. Tweeter
Altavoz para bajas frecuencias. Woofer
Alternador. Alternator
Altmetro. Altimeter
Altoparlante. Loudspeaker
Altoparlante dinmico. Dynamic loudspeaker
Altoparlante electrodinmico. Dynamic loudspeaker

Altura. Head
Altura. Height
Altura de cada. Head
Altura de impulsin monomtrica. Head
Alzaprima. Lever
Ambiente. Ambient
Amorfo. Amorphous
Amortiguacin. Damping
Amortiguador. Buffer
Amortiguamiento. Damping
Amortiguamiento critico. Critical damping
Ampermetro. Ammeter
Amperio-vuelta. Ampere-turn
Ampermetro. Ammeter
Amplidina. Amplidyne
Amplidino. Amplidyne
Amplificacin. Amplification
Amplificacin. Magnification
Amplificador. Amplifier
Amplificador a vlvula. Vacuum-tube amplifier
Amplificador de contrarreaccin. Bootstrap circuit
Amplificador magntico rotativo. Amplidyne
Amplitud. Amplitude
Anlisis dimensional. Dimensional analysis
Analtico. Regular
Analtico. Uniform
Analizacin. Scanning
Analizador de amplitud de los impulsos. Pulse height
analyzer
Anastgmato. Anastigmat
Ancho de banda. Bandwidth
Anchura de imagen. Width
Anchura mitad. Halfwidth
Anchura de banda. Bandwidth
Anecoico. Anechoic
Anelasticidad. Anelasticity
Anemgrafo. Anemograph
Anemmetro. Anemometer
Angular. Angular
ngulo. Angle
ngulo azimutal. Azimuth angle
Angulo de atraso. Lag, angle of
ngulo de capilaridad. Contact angle
ngulo de diferencia de fases. Phase angle
ngulo de encuentro. Contact angle
ngulo de fase. Phase angle
ngulo de retraso. Lag, angle of
ngulo de retraso. Phase angle
ngulo de retraso de fase. Phase angle
ngulo slido. Angle, solid
Anharmonicidad. Anharmonicity
Anharmnco. Anharmonic
Anillo colector. Slip rings
Anillo de frotamiento. Slip rings
Anillo rozante. Slip rings
Anillos de Newton. Newton rings
Anin. Anin
Aniquilacin. Annihilation
Anisotropa. Anisotropy
Anisotrpico. Anisotropic
Anistropo. Aeolotropic
Anistropo. Anisotropic
Anodizar. Anodize
nodo. Anode
nodo. Plate
Anotrn. Anotron
Antena. Antenna
Antena. V antenna

Antena direccional. Array

Antena en L. L antenna
Anti-. AntiAntictodo. Anticathode
Antictodo. Target
Anticicln. Anticyclone
Anticonmutador. Anticommutator
Antiferromagnetismo. Antiferromagnetism
Antinodo. Antinodes
Antinodo. Loop
Antiparalelo. Antiparallel
Antipartcula. Antiparticle
Anti-resonancia. Antiresonance
Antirresonancia. Antiresonance
Antisimtrico. Antisymmetric
Aparato analizador. Analyzer
Aparato registrador. Magnetic recorder
Aparato registrador del sonido. Magnetic recorder
Apertmetro. Apertometer
Apertura. Aperture
pice. Apex
Apocromtico. Apochromatic
Apocromtico. Lens, apochromat
Apoyo. Bearing
Aproximacin. Approximation
Aproximado (adj.). Approximate
Aproximar (verb). Approximate
Aquebradizacin. Embrittlement
Arco. Arc
Arco de la cadena. Catenary
Arco iris. Rainbow
rea. Area
Aremetro. Hydrometer
Argumento. Argument
Armadura. Armature
Armazn. Chassis
Armnica inferior. Subharmonic
Armnicas esfricas. Spherical harmonics
Armnico. Harmonic
Aro colector. Slip rings
Arrastre. Drag
Arrollamiento compensador. Bucking coil
Arrollamiento primario. Primary winding
Articulacin. Articulation
Articulacin. Link
Artificial. Artificial
Ascendiente. Parent
Ascensin capilar. Capillary rise
Ascenso capilar. Capillary rise
Asimtrico. Asymmetric
Asntota. Asymptote
Asociada. Adjoint
Astable. Astable
Asttico. Astatic
Astigmatismo. Astigmatism
Astronmico. Astronomical
Atenuacin. Attenuation
Atenuador. Attenuator
Atmsfera. Atmosphere
Atmosfrico. Atmospheric
Atmosfricos. Static
Atomizacin. Atomization
tomo. Atom
tomo-gramo. Gram-atom
Atraccin. Adhesion
Atraccin elctrica. Attraction, electrical
Audi. Audio
Audial. Aural

Audibilidad. Audibility
Audifn. Earphone
Audfono. Earphone
Audio. Audio
Audiofrecuencia. Frequency, audio
Auditividad. Audibility
Auditivo. Auditory
Auditivo. Aural
Auditivo. Hearing
Auditorio. Auditory
Aumentar. Boost
Aumento. Magnification
Aumento axial. Axial magnification
Aumento brusco del nivel de la seal. Burst
Aureola. Corona
Aureola. Halation
Aureola. Halo
Auricular. Aural
Auto-. Self
Autocolimador. Autocollimator
Auto-consistente. Self-consistent
Autorradiografa. Autoradiograph
Autorregulacin del volumen. AVC
Autovalor. Eigenvalue.
Avalancha de Townsend. Avalanche
Avance (noun). Lead
Bajo. Low
Bajo. Bass
Balanceado, Push-puil
Balanza. Balance
Balanza. Scale
Balstica. Ballistics
Balun. Balun
Banda central. Core
Banda de absorcin. Absorption band
Banda de conduccin. Conduction band
Banda de frecuencias. Frequency band
Banda de modulacin. Sideband
Banda lateral. Sideband
Banda permitida. Allowed band
Bara. Bar
Baria. Bar
Bam. Barn
Barmetro. Barometer
Barra. Bus
Barrido. Cleanup
Barrido. Sweep
Bscula. Poidometer
Bscula. Scale
Base. Base
Base. Radix
Bastidor. Chassis
Batera. Battery
Batera andica. B battery
Batera B. B battery
Batera de placa. B battery
Batidos. Beats
Baud. Baud
Bel. Bel
Belio. Bel
Betatrn. Betatron
Bevatrn. Bevatron
Bi-. TwoBias. Bias
Bias C. Grid bias
Bias de rejilla. Grid bias

Bixico. Biaxial
Biaxil. Biaxial
Bidireccional. Bidirectional
Biestable. Bistable
Binario. Binary
Binaural. Binaural
Binocular. Binocular
Binculo. Binocular
Binomio. Binomial
Biofsica. Biophysics
Biprisma. Biprism
Birrefringencia. Birefringence
Blanco. Target
Blanco. White
Blando. Soft
Blindaje. Screening
Blindaje. Shield
Blindaje. Shielding
Blindaje antimagntico. Magnetic shielding
Blindaje del magneto. Magnetic shielding
Bloqueo. Blocking
Bobina. Coil
Bobina compensadora. Bucking coil
Bobina de induccin. Induction coil
Bobina de la voz. Voice coil
Bobina de oposicin. Bucking coil
Bobina de reaccin. Tickler
Bobina mvil. Voice coil
Bobina mvil de altavoz. Voice coil
Boca. Orifice
Bocel. Anchor ring
Bocina. Megaphone
Bolmetro. Bolometer
Bomba. Pump
Bomba al vaco. Vacuum pump
Bomba de difusin. Diffusion pump
Bomba de vaco. Vacuum pump
Bombardear. Bombard
Borde. Land
Borrar. Clear
Bosn. Boson
Bra. Bra Vector
Braquistcrona. Brachistochrone
Brillo. Luminance
Brillo. Luster
Brillo fotomtrico. Luminance
Brjula de inclinacin. Dip needle
Bruma. Haze
Buja. Candle
Buscadirecciones. Direction finder
Buscador de direccin. Direction finder
Buscador radiodireccional. Direction finder
Caballo de fuerza al freno. Brake horsepower
Cabeza. Head
Cabida. Capacity
Cable. Cable
Cabria. Wheel and axle
Caida. Head
Caja de resistencia. Resistance box
Calcita. Calcite
Calculadora. Computer
Calculadora analgica. Analog computer
Calculador. Calculator
Calculador digital. Digital computer
Clculo. Calculus
Calefactor. Heater

Calentador. Heater
Catetmetro. Cathetometer
Calibrador. Gauge
Calibre. Gauge
Calina. Haze
Calima. Haze
Calor. Heat
Calor de adsorcin. Adsorption, heat of
Calorescencia. Calorescence
Calora. Calorie
Calorfero. Heater
Calorfico. Calorific
Calorimetra. Calorimetry
Calormetro. Calorimeter
Calor latente. Heat, latent
Calutrn. Calutron
Cmara. Camera
Cmara anublada. Cloud chamber
Cmara de burbujas. Bubble chamber
Cmara de ionizacin. Ionization chamber
Cmara de ionozacin de vigilancia. Monitor
Cmara de niebla. Cloud chamber
Cmara de Wilson. Cloud chamber
Cmara fotogrfica. Camera
Cambio. Interchange
Cambio de estado. Change of state
Cambio de posicin. Displacement
Cambio lento del sonido reproducido por alteracin de
la velocidad. Wow
Campo de fuerza conservativo. Force field
Campo de gravitacin. Gravitational field
Campo electroesttico. Electrostatic field
Campo electromagntico. Electromagnetic field
Campo electrosttico. Electrostatic field
Campo vectorial. Vector field
Canal. Duct
Canal. Trough
Canal de radio. Radio channel
Canaleta. Trough
Canaln. Trough
Canal radiotelefnico. Radio channel
Cao. Duct
Can de electrones. Electron gun
Cannico. Canonical
Cantidad. Momentum
Cantidad. Quantity
Cantidad de movimento angular. Angular momentum
Cantidad suministrada al sistema. Input
Capa. Film
Capa. Layer
Capa barrera. Barrier layer
Capa deficiente. Depletion layer
Capa de lmite. Boundary layer
Capa de transicin. Boundary layer
Capa K. K-shell
Capa L. L-shell
Capa M. M-shell
Capa magntica. Magnetic shell
Capa N. N-shell
Capacidad. Capacity
Capacidad de tierra. Counterpoise
Capacidad distribuida. Distributed capacitance
Capacidad normal. Rating
Capacidad para absorcin del calor. Heat capacity
Capacidad trmica. Heat capacity
Capacitancia. Capacitance
Capacitancia acstica. Capacitance
Capacitancia distibuida. Distributed capacitance

Capacitor. Capacitor
Capacitivo. Capacitive
Capas electrnicas internas y ncleo del tomo. Core
Capilar (adjective). Capillary
Capilaridad. Capillarity
Captura. Capture
Captura de un electrn K. K-capture
Carcter. Character
Caracterstica. Property
Caracterstica de traspaso. Transfer characteristic
Caracterstica dinmica. Dynamic characteristic
Cardioide. Cardioid
Carga. Charge
Carga. Load
Carga atmica. Atomic charge
Carga latente. Bound charge
Carga libre. Free charge
Carga simulada. Dummy load
Carrete. Coil
Carrete de induccin. Induction coil
Cartesiano. Cartesian
Cascada. Cascade
Cataforesis. Cataphoresis
Catenaria. Catenary
Catin. Cation
Catodiptrico. Catadioptric
Ctodo. Cathode
Ctodo candente. Hot-cathode
Ctodo revestido. Coated cathode
Caudal. Capacity
Caudal. Discharge
Causalidad. Causality
Custica. Caustic
Cavidad negra. Hohlraum
Cavidad resonante. Cavity resonator
Cavitacin. Cavitation
Cavitacin ultrasnica. Ultrasonic cavitation
C.C. D-C
C.D. D-C
Clula. Cell
Clula fotoelctrica. Electric eye
Clula fotoelctrica. Photocell
Clula fotoelctrica. Photovoltaic cell
Clula fotoqumica. Photovoltaic cell
Clula fotovoltaica. Electric eye
Clula fotovoltaica. Photovoltaic cell
Centelleo. Flicker
Centelleo. Scintillation
Centi-. CentiCentrado en el cuerpo. Body-centered
Centrfuga. Centrifuge
Centrifugadora. Centrifuge
Centrfugo. Centrifugal
Centrpeto. Centripetal
Centro de color. Color center
Centro de flotabilidad. Center of buoyance
Centro de flotacin. Center of buoyance
Centro de gravedad. Center of gravity
Centro de masa. Center of mass
Centro de percusin. Center of percussion
Centroide. Centroid
Centro instntneo. Center instantaneous
Cermico. Ceramic
Cero. Null
Cero. Zero
Cero absoluto. Absolute zero
Chaparrn. Shower
Chaparrn en cascada. Cascade shower

1335
Chasis. Chassis
Chispa. Spark
Choke. Choke
Chopper. Chopper
Choque. Choke
Choque. Collision
Choque. Impact
Choque (noun). Shock
Chorro. Jet
Chumacera. Bearing
Chubasco. Shower
Ciclo. Cycle
Ciclo del carbono. Carbon cycle
Ciclo de servicio. Duty cycle
Ciclo de trabajo. Duty cycle
Ciclo de utilizacin. Duty cycle
Cicloide. Cycloid
Cicln. Cyclone
Ciclotrn. Cyclotron
Cielo. Sky
Cifra. Code
Cilindrada. Displacement
Cilindrico. Lens, cylindrical
Cilindro. Cylinder
Cinemtica. Kinematics
Cinematogrfico. Motion-picture
Cintica. Kinetics
Cintica quimica. Kinetics
Cinta magnetofnica. Magnetic tape
Circuito. Circuit
Circuito acoplado. Coupled circuit
Circuito comparador. Comparator
Circuito de anticoincidencia. Anticoincidence circuit
Circuito de control. Control circuit
Circuito de disparo. Trigger circuit
Circuito de Eccles-Jordan. Flip-flop circuit
Circuito de mando. Control circuit
Circuito de maniobra. Control circuit
Circuito doblador. Doubler circuit
Circuito estampado. Printed circuit
Circuito flip-flop. Flip-flop circuit
Circuito impreso. Printed circuit
Circuito intermedio. Buffer
Circuito mariposa. Butterfly circuit
Circuito recortador. Clipper
Circulacin. Circulation
Crculo. Circle
Crculo de difusin. Circle of confusion
Cirrus. Cirrus
Cizalladura. Shear
Cizallamiento. Shear
Cizalleo. Shear
Clase. Class
Clsico. Classical
Clasificacin. Rating
Clave. Code
Clima. Climate
Clistrn. Klystron
Coagel. Coagel
Coagela. Coagel
Coagulacin. Coagulation
Coaxial. Coaxial
Cdigo. Code
Coeficiente de expansin. Coefficient of expansion
Coeficiente. Coefficient
Coeficiente crtico. Critical coefficient
Coeficiente de absorcin. Absorptance
Coeficiente de absorcin. Absorption coefficient

Chasis Computadora
Coeficiente de autoinduccin. Mutual inductance
Coeficiente de calidad. Figure of merit
Coeficiente de contraccin. Coefficient of contraction
Coeficiente de correlacin. Correlation coefficient
Coeficiente de dilatacin. Coefficient of expansion
Coeficiente de emisin. Emissivity
Coeficiente de extincin. Extinction coefficient
Coeficiente de fractura. Tensile strength
Coeficiente de friccin. Friction, coefficient of
Coeficiente friccional. Friction, coefficient of
Coeficiente de induccin mutua. Mutual inductance
Coeficiente de mrito. Figure of merit
Coeficiente de modulacin. Modulation factor
Coeficiente de percusin. Coefficient of restitution
Coeficiente de seguridad. Factor of safety
Coeficiente de trabajo. Factor of safety
Coeficiente de transmisin. Transmission coefficient
Coeficiente de transmisin del sonido. Transmission
coefficient
Coeficiente de reflexin. Reflectance
Coeficiente de restitucin. Coefficient of restitution
Coeficiente de rigidez. Shear modulus
Coeficiente de rozamiento. Friction, coefficient of
Coeficiente de viscosidad. Viscosity, coefficient of
Coeficiente de difusin. Diffusion coefficient
Coeficiente elstico, coeficiente de elasticidad. Elastic
coefficients
Coeficientes tricromticos. Trichromatic coefficients
Coercitividad. Coercivity
Coercividad. Coercivity
Cojinete. Bearing
Coherencia. Coherence
Cohesin. Cohesion
Coincidencia. Coincidence
Coleccin. Aggregation
Colector. Collector
Colector. Commutator
Colimacin. Collimation
Colimador. Collimator
Colisin. Collision
Colocado en tndem. Tandem
Cologaritmo. Cologarithm
Coloide. Colloid
Color. Color
Color con adicin de blanco. Tint
Colorimetria. Colorimetry
Colormetro. Colorimeter
Combinacin. Combination
Combinacin acromtica. Achromatic combination
Combustin interna. Internal combustion
Compacto. Close-packed
Compandor. Compandor
Compansor. Compandor
Comparador. Comparator
Comps. Compass
Compatibilidad. Compatibility
Compensacin. Counterbalancing
Compensador. Balancer
Compensador. Compensator
Compensador. Equalizer
Compensador. Padder
Complemento. Complement
Componente. Component
Compresibilidad. Compressibility
Compresin. Compression
Compresor-expansor. Compandor
Compuesto. Compound
Computadora. Computer

Computador analgico. Analog computer

Cncavo. Concave
Concentracin. Concentration
Concentracin. Condensation
Concentrado. Strong
Concurrente. Concurrent
Condensacin. Condensation
Condensador. Capacitor
Condensador. Condenser
Condensador de papel metalizado. Bathtub capacitor
Condicin de contorno. Boundary condition
Condicin lmite. Boundary condition
Condicin limtrofe. Boundary condition
Condicin de linde. Boundary condition
Conduccin. Conduction
Conduccin elctrica. Electric conduction
Conducir (verb). Lead
Conductancia. Conductance
Conductancia mutua. Mutual conductance
Conductancia mutua. Transconductance
Conductividad. Conductivity
Conducto. Duct
Conductor. Conductor
Conductor compensador. Equalizer
Conductor de compensacin. Equalizer
Conectividad. Connectivity
Configuracin. Configuration
Conforme. Conformai
Congelar. Freeze
Congelarse. Freeze
Cnico. Conical
Conjugacin de la carga. Charge conjugation
Conjugada. Conjugate
Conjugado. Conjugate
Conjunto. Array
Conjunto. Set
Conjunto denso. Dense set
Conjuntor. Jack
Conmutacin. Commutation
Conmutador. Commutator
Conmutador. Switch
Conmutativo. Commutative
Conmutatriz. Converter
Cono. Cone
Cono de rayos. Pencil (of light)
Conservacin. Conservation
Consistencia. Consistency
Constante. Constant
Constante de acoplamiento. Coupling constant
Constante de equilibrio. Equilibrium constant
Constante de fase. Phase constant
Constante de los gases. Gas constant
Constante de red. Lattice constant
Constante de reticulado. Lattice constant
Constante dielctrica. Dielectric constant
Constante dielctrica. Permittivity
Constitucin. Constitution
Contador. Counter
Contador. Meter
Contador a cristal. Crystal counter
Contador de caudal. Flow meter
Contador de centelleo. Counter scintillation
Contador de flujo. Flow meter
Contador de vatihoras. Watthourmeter
Contador de velocidad. Tachometer
Contador Geiger. Geiger counter
Contaminador. Poison
Contenido total. Capacity

Continuidad. Continuity
Contorno. Contour
Contraantena. Counterpoise
Contrapeso. Counterbalancing
Contrapeso de antena. Counterpoise
Contravariante. Contravariant
Contraste. Contrast
Contravariante. Tensor, contravariant
Control. Control
Control a distancia. Remote control
Control de sincronizacin. Hold control
Control remoto. Remote control
Conveccin. Convection
Convergencia. Convergence
Convergente. Lens, converging
Conversin. Conversion
Conversin interna. Internal conversion
Conversor. Converter
Convertidor. Converter
Convolucin. Convolution
Coordenada. Coordinate
Coordenada bipolar. Bipolar coordinate
Coordenadas cilindricas. Cylindrical coordinates
Coordenadas polares. Polar coordinates
Cordn de extensin y empalme. Patchcord
Corona. Halo
Correccin. Correction
Correccin de directividad. Shading
Correccin de la distribucin de la luz en la imagen.
Shading
Corredizo. Traveling
Corrimiento hacia el rojo. Red shift
Corriente. Current
Corriente. Flow
Corriente alterna. Alternating current
Corriente alternativa. Alternating current
Corriente continua. Direct current
Corriente de descarga espontnea. Leakage current
Corriente de escape. Leakage current
Corriente de fondo. Dark current
Corriente de fuga. Leakage current
Corriente de prdida. Leakage current
Corriente parsita. Eddy current
Corrimiento. Drift
Corrimiento. Shift
Cortacircuito. Fuse
Cortocircuito. Short-circuit
Coseno. Cosine
Coseno director. Direction cosine
Cosmotrn. Cosmotron
Covalencia. Covalence
Covariante. Covariant
Creacin. Creation
Crecimiento. Growth
Crecimiento cristalino. Overgrowth
Crecimiento perceptible. Difference limen
Crepitacin. Motorboating
Cresta. Peak
Crioscopio. Cryoscope
Criostato. Cryostat
Cristal. Crystal
Cristalizacin. Crystallization
Cristalografa. Crystallography
Cristal unixico. Uniaxial crystal
Crit. Crit
Criterio. Mach criterion
Cromaticidad. Chromaticity
Cromtico. Chromatic

1337
Crtico. Critical
Crongrafo. Chronograph
Cronmetro. Chronometer
Cronoscopio. Chronoscope
Cruce de conductores. Crossover
Cuadrtico. Quadratic
Cuadratura. Quadrature
Cuadripolo. Quadrupole
Cudrica. Quadric
Cuadro. Frame
Cudruple. Quadruple
Cuajamiento. Coagulation
Cuantificacin. Quantization
Cuntica. Quantic
Cuanto. Quantum
Cuarto de onda (noun). Quarter-wave
Cuanto virtual. Virtual quantum
Cuarzo. Quartz
Cuasi. Quasi
Cuasiestacionario. Quasi-stationary
Cuaternio. Quaternion
Cuentarrevoluciones. Tachometer
Cuentavueltas. Tachometer
Cuerpo gris. Gray body
Cuerpo negro. Black body
Cuerpo rgido. Rigid body
Culata. Yoke
Cumulativo. Cumulative
Cumuliforme. Cumuliform
Cua. Wedge
Cupla de fuerzas. Couple
Curva adiabtica. Adiabat
Curva de absorcin. Absorption curve
Curva de nivel. Contour
Curva isocora. Isochore
Curva isotrmica. Isothermal
Curvatura. Curvature
Curvatura del campo de imagen. Curvature of field
Cspide. Apex
Cspide. Cusp
Dador. Donor
De aumento. Magnifying
De aurora. Auroral
De base comn. Common-base
Dbil. Weak
Decalescencia. Decalescence
De choque (adj.). Shock
Deci-. DeciDe corto alcance. Short-range
Decreciente. T apered
Decrecimiento radiactivo. Law of radioactive decay
De cubo centrado. Body-centered
De cuarto de onda (adj.). Quarter-wave
De derecha a izquierda. Left-handed (counter-clockwise)
De derivacin. Bypass
De dos cuerpos. Two-body
Defecto. Defect
Defecto de masa. Mass defect
Deflector. Baffle
Defecto de la red (cristalina). Lattice defect
Deformacin. Deformation
Deformacin. Distortion
Deformacin. Strain
Deformacin magntica. Magnetic strain
Degeneracin. Degeneration
Degradacin. Degradation

Crtico Desmodulacin
De gran actividad. Hot
De gran alcance. Long range
Deionizacin. Deionization
Del estado slido. Solid-state
Del tipo de audicin. Aural
De mano izquierda. Left-hand
Demodulacin. Demodulation
Demora. Delay
De movimiento. Momentum
Densidad. Density
Densidad de carga. Charge density
Densidad de corriente. Current density
Densidad de flujo. Induction, electric
Densidad de flujo magntico. Induction, magnetic
Densidad de vapor. Vapor density
Densmetro. Hydrometer
Densitmetro. Densitometer
Dentado, (en forma) de diente de suma. Sawtooth
De paso. Bypass
De paso alto (adj.). High-pass
De polarizacin plana. Plane-polarized
Deposicin electrnica. Sputtering
De proximidad. Proximity
Depuracin. Cleanup
Depuracin por coprecipitacin. Scavenging
De refraccin. Refractive
De repulsin. Repulsive
De resonancia. Resonance
De retroceso. Recoil
Deriva. Drift
Derivacin. Arm
Derivacin. Branch
Derivacin. Shunt
Derivada. Derivative
Derivado. Bypass
Deriva por efecto Doppler. Doppler shift
De rotacin. Rotational
Derretimiento. ThawDerretir (verb). Melt
Derretirse (verb). Melt
Desabsorcin. Desorption
Desagregacin. Disintegration
Desarrollo. Development
Descanso. Bearing
Descarga. Discharge
Descarga luminosa. Corona
Descarga neutra. Plasma
Descentrado del eje. Off-axis
Descomposicin. Decomposition
Discontinuidad. Discontinuity
Desenvolvimiento. Development
Desfasage. Phase shift
Desgasificacin. Degasification
Deshielo. ThawDesigualdad. Inequality
Desimanacin. Demagnitization
Desimantacin. Demagnitization
Desintegracin. Decay
Desintegracin. Disintegration
Desintegractin beta. Deta decay
Desintegracin catdica. Sputter
Desintegracin radiactiva. Law of radioactive decay
Deslizamiento. Drift
Deslizamiento. Slip
Deslucir. Fade
Deslucirse. Fade
Desmagnetizacin. Demagnitization
Desmodulacin. Demodulation

Desnevado. ThawDesnivel. Head

Desorcin. Desorption
Desorden. Disorder
Desperfecto. Defect
Desplazamiento. Displacement
Desplazamiento. Shift
Desplazamiento de fase. Phase shift
Desplazamientos. Interferometer
Despolarizacin. Depolarization
Despolarizador. Depolarizer
Despolarizante. Depolarizer
Desprendimiento secundario. Secondary emission
Destemple. Annealing
Desteirse. Fade
Destruccin. Destruction
Desvanecido. Fade
Desviacin. Deflection
Desviacin standard. Standard deviation
Desviacin tpica. Standard
Desviador. Baffle
Desvo. Junction
Deteccin. Demodulation
Detector. Detector
Detector. Monitor
Detector de radioactividad. Monitor
Determinado. Determinate
Determinado. Fixed
Determinante. Determinant
Determinante secular. Secular determinant
De tres fases. Three-phase
Deutern. Deuteron
(Deutern) ruptura del deutern en vuelo. Stripping
Devanado inductor. Primary winding
Da. Day
Diada. Dyadic
Diafragma. Diaphragm
Diafragma iris. Iris diaphragm
Diagonalizacin de una matriz. Diagonalization of a
matrix
Diagrama de las fases. Phase diagram
Dilisis. Dialysis
Diapasn. Tuning fork
Diamagnetismo. Diamagnetism
Diamante (noun). Diamond
Diatermia. Diathermy
Dicromatismo. Dichromatism
Dielctrico. Dielectric
Dielctrico. Induction, electric
Diferenciacin. Differentiation
Diferencia de tensiones. Voltage
Diferencia de velocidad. Slip
Diferencia finita. Difference, finite
Difraccin. Diffraction
Difraccin de rayos X. X-ray diffraction
Difusin. Diffusion
Difusin. Spreading
Difuso. Diffuse
Dgito. Digit
Dilacin. Delay
Dilatacin. Dilatation
Dilucin. Dilution
Dimensin. Dimension
Dimensiones de la red. Lattice dimensions
Dimensiones del reticulado. Lattice dimensions
Dinmica. Dynamics
Dinamo. Dynamo
Dinammetro. Dynamometer

Dinammetro elctrico. Electrodynamometer

Dinamotor. Dynamotor
Dinatrn. Dynatron
Dinodo. Dynode
Dintel. Level above threshold
Dintel. Threshold
Diodo. Diode
Dioptra. Diopter
Dipolo. Dipole
Dipolo elctrico. Electric dipole
Direccin. Address
Direccin (noun). Lead
Direccionalidad. Directivity
Directividad. Directivity
Directriz. Directrix
Direfringencia. Birefringence
Discontinuidad. Discontinuity
Discriminador. Discriminator (1)
Discriminante de un polinomio. Discriminant
Disgregacin. Disintegration
Dislocacin. Dislocation
Dislocamiento. Dislocation
Disimetra. Dissymmetry
Disipacin. Dissipation
Disipador. Dissipative
Disipativo. Dissipative
Disociacin. Dissociation
Disolucin. Dissolving
Disolucin. Solution
Disolvente. Solvent
Disonancia. Dissonance
Dispara (verb). Trigger
Disparador (adj.). Trigger
Disparador de electrones. Electron gun
Dispersin. Dispersin
Dispersin. Scattering
Dispersin. Straggling
Dispersin. Spreading
Dispersin anmala. Anomalous dispersion
Dispersin desordenada. Incoherent scattering
Dispersin incoherente. Incoherent scattering
Dispersin retrgrada. Back scattering
Dispositivo actuado por la voz para prevencin del
silbido. Vodas
Dispositivo captador. Pickup
Dispositivo contra ruidos gobernado por la onda por
tadora. Codan
Dispositivo de acoplamiento equilibrador. Balun
Dispositivo de irradiacin rpida. Rabbit
Dispositivo de paso de una lnea de excitacin asimtrica
a una antena. Balun
Distancia. Distance
Distancia angular de fase. Phase angle
Distancia de silencio. Skip distance
Distancia focal. Focal length
Distorsin. Distortion
Distribucin. Distribution
Distributivo. Distributive
Disturbios. Static
Divergencia. Divergence
Divergente. Lens, diverging
Divisin. Partition
Divisor de tensin. Voltage divider
Divisor de voltaje. Voltage divider
Doblador de frecuencia. Frequency doubler
Doble. Double
Doblete. Doublet
Dominante. Dominant

Dominio. Domain
Donante. Donor
Dos. TwoDosis. Dose (dosage)
Dosis de profundidad. Depth
Dosis profunda. Depth
Draga. Drag
Ductibilidad. Ductility
Ductilidad. Ductility
Duracin de establecimiento del frente del impulso.
Leading-edge pulse time
Dureza. Hardness
Ebullicin. Boiling
Ebullicin. Ebullition
Ebulloscopio. Ebullioscope
Eco. Echo
Ecuacin. Equation
Ecuacin. Laplace equation
Ecuacin, caracterstica. Characteristic equation
Ecuacin de estado. Equation of state
Ecuacin de onda. Wave equation
Ecuacin diferencial. Differential equation
Ecuacin en derivadas parciales. Partial differential
equation
Ecuaciones cannicas del movimiento. Canonical
equation of motion
Ecuaciones de movimiento. Motion, equations of
Ecuaciones fsicas. Physical equations
Ecuacin indicial. Indicial equation
Ecuacin integral. Integral equation
Edad. Age
Efectivo. Virtual
Efecto ametralladora. Shot effect
Efecto de borde. Edge effect
Efecto de granalla. Shot effect
Efecto Doppler. Doppler shift
Efecto Kelvin. Skin effect
Efecto muar. Moire
Efecto pelicular. Skin effect
Efecto residual de alternancia. Rupple
Efecto shot. Shot effect
Efecto superficial. Skin effect
Eficaz. Virtual
Eficiencia. Efficiency
Eflorescencia. Efflorescence
Efusin. Effusion
Eigen-funcin. Eigenfunction
Eigenvalor. Eigenvalue
Eigenvector. Eigenvector
Eje. Axis
Eje de coordenadas. Coordinate axis
Eje de zona. Zone axis
Eje ptico. Axis, optic
Eje principal. Principal axis
Eje zonar. Zone axis
Elastancia. Elastance
Elasticidad. Compliance
Elasticidad. Elasticity
Electreto. Electret
Electricidad. Electricity
Elctrico. Electric
Electrocapilaridad. Electrocapillarity
Electrochapeado. Electroplating
Electrodeposicin. Electroplating
Electrodilisis. Electrodialysis
Electrodinammetro. Electrodynamometer

Electrodo. Electrode
Electrodo de calomel. Calomel electrode
Electrodo de calomelanos. Calomel electrode
Electroendosmosis. Electroendosmosis
Electroestriccin. Electrostriction
Electroforesis. Electrophoresis
Electrforo. Electrophorus
Electrogalvanizacin. Electroplating
Electroimn. Electromagnet
Electrlisis. Electrolysis
Electrlito. Electrolyte
Electromagnetismo. Electromagnetism
Electrmetro. Electrometer
Electrmetro de cuadrante. Quadrant electrometer
Electrn. Electron
Electrn de conversion. Conversion electron
Electron de valencia. Valence electron
Electronegatividad. Electronegativity
Electrnica. Electronics
Electrnico. Electronic
Electron K. K-electron
Electron L. L-electron
Electrn-voltio. Electron-volt
Electrosmosis. Electro-osmosis
Electroplastia. Electroplating
Electroscopio. Electroscope
Electrosttico, a. Electrostatic
Elemento. Cell
Elemento. Element
Elemento descendiente. Daughter element
Elemento hierro-niquel. Cell, iron-nickel
Elemento hijo. Daughter element
Elemento trmico. Thermocouple
Elevador de potencial. Booster
Elevador de tensin. Booster
Elevar. Boost
Elipse. Ellipse
Elipsoide. Ellipsoid
Elptico. Elliptic
El primero (noun). Lead
El principal (noun). Lead
Emanaciones. Fume
Emisin. Emission
Emisin del campo. Field emission
Emisividad. Emissivity
Emisor. Emitter
Emisor de radiaciones. Radiator
Emitancia. Emittance
Empalme. Junction
Empalme termoelctrico. Thermocouple
Emparejado. Matched
Emparillado. Lattice
Empuja-tira. Push-pull
Empuje de arrastre. Drag
Empaquetamiento. Packing
Emulsin. Emulsion
Encendedor. Igniter
En contrafase. Push-pull
En contraste. Push-pull
Enderezador electrosttico. Capacitron
Endsmosis. Endosmosis
Endotrmico. Endothermie
Endotermo. Endothermie
Enfriamiento. Cooling
Enfriamiento. Refrigeration
Enlace. Bond
Enlace. Linkage
Enlace covalente. Homopolar bond

Enantiomorfos Estetscopo
Enantiomorfos. Enantiomorphs
Energa. Energy
Energa absorbida. Input
Energa a la temperatura del cero absoluto. Zero point
energy
Energa atmica. Atomic energy
Energa cintica. Energy, kinetic
Energa de excitacin. Excitation energy
Energa de intercambio. Exchange energy
Energa de ligado. Binding energy
Energa de ligadura. Binding energy
Energa de salida. Output
Energa de superficie. Energy, surface
Energa de unin. Binding energy
Energa disponible. Available energy
Energa interna. Internal energy
Energa libre. Free energy
Energa nuclear. Nuclear energy
Energa potencial. Potential energy
Energa reticular. Lattice energy
Enrarecimiento. Rarefaction
Enrejado. Grating
Enriquecimiento. Enrichment
Ensambladura. Junction
Ensanchador de volumen automtico. Ave
En sentido contrario a la marcha de las agujas del reloj.
Left-handed (counter-clockwise)
Entero. Integer
Entero. Integral
Entrada. Input
Entalpia. Enthalpy
Entrehierro. Air gap
Entropa. Entropy
Envolvente. Envelope
Epitaxia. Epitaxy
Equilibracin. Counterbalancing
Equilibrado. Matched
Equilibrado. Matching
Equilibrado. Push-pull
Equilibrio. Balance
Equilibrio. Equilibrium
Equilibrio inestable. Unstable equilibrium
Equiparticin de la energa. Equipartition of energy
Equipotencial. Equipotential
Equivalencia. Equivalence
Equivalente. Equivalent
Equivalente electroqumico. Electrochemical equivalent
Equivalente mecnico. Mechanical equivalent
Ergio. Erg
Error. Error
Error probable. Error, probable
Escala. Scale
Escala absoluta de temperatura. Absolute temperature
scale
Escala de Kelvin. Absolute temperature scale
Escala de temperatura. Temperature scale
Escalar. Scalar
Escal metro. Scaler
Esclermetro. Sclerometer
Escobilla. Brush
Escuchador de prueba. Monitor
Esfera. Sphere
Esferoide. Spheroid
Esfermetro. Spherometer
Esfuerzo. Stress
Esfuerzo cortante. Shear
Esfuerzo constante. Shear
Eslabn. Link

1340
Espacio. Space
Espacio de aire. Air gap
Espacio de las fases. Phase space
Espacio oscuro de Faraday. Dark space Faraday
Espacio-tiempo. Space-time
Espacio-tiempo absoluto. Absolute space-time
Espalacin. Spallation
Esparcimiento. Spreading
Espato calcreo. Calcite
Espato calizo. Calcite
Espato de Islandia. Calcite
Especie atmica. Atomic species
Especfico. Specific
Espectgrafo de masas. Spectrograph, mass
Espectral. Spectral
Espectro. Spectrum
Espectro de los rayos Roentgen. X-ray spectra
Espectro de los rayos X. X-ray spectra
Espectro de rayas. Line spectrum
Espectrgrafo. Spectrograph
Espectrgrafo magntico. Spectrograph, magnetic
Espectrograma. Spectrogram
Espectrofotmetro. Spectrophotometer
Espectroheligrafo. Spectroheliograph
Espectrohelioscopio. Spectrohelioscope
Espectro lineal. Line spectrum
Espectrmetro. Spectrometer
Espectro persistente. Persistent spectrum
Espectroscopio. Spectroscope
Espectroscopio. Spectroscopy
Espectroscopio monocromtico. Monochromator
Espectro secundario. Ghost
Especular. Specular
Espejo. Mirror
Espejeo. Looming
Espejismo. Looming
Espejismo. Mirage
Espin. Spin
Espn del electrn. Electron spin
Espinor. Spinor
Espintariscopio. Spinthariscope
Espiral. Spiral
Espontneo. Spontaneous
Estabilidad. Stability
Estable. Stable
Estadstica. Statistics
Estado atmico. Atomic state
Estado coloidal. Colloidal state
Estado estacionario. Stationary state
Estado (as in state of aggregation) Nivel de energa
(energy level). State
Estado estacionario. Steady state
Estado propio. Eigenstate
Estados correspondientes. Corresponding states
Estalagmmetro. Stalagmometer
Estancamiento. Stagnation
Estar difundido en. Permeate
Esttica. Statics
Esttico. Quiescent
Estato-. StatEstator. Stator
Estela. Wake
Estequiomtrico. Stoichiometric
Estreo. StereoEstereofnico. Stereophonic
Estereorradiante. Steradian
Estereoscopio. Stereoscope
Estetscopo. Stethoscope

Estrato. Stratus
Estrato-cmulus. Stratocumulus
Estratosfera. Stratosphere
Estrella nuclear. Star (nuclear)
Estriacin. Striation
Estriado. Striated
Estriadura. Striation
Estroboscopio. Stroboscope
Estrobotrn. Strobotron
Estructura. Structure
Estructura fina. Fine structure
Etapa de excitacin. Driver stage
Etapa excitadora. Driver stage
Etapa preamplificadora. Driver stage
Etapa spearadora. Buffer
ter. Aether
ter. Ether
Esterradin. Steradian
Eutctica. Eutectic
Eutctico. Eutectic
Evaporacin. Evaporation
Evento. Event
Exactitud. Accuracy
Excntrica. Eccentric
Excntrico. Eccentric
Exceso de carga. Overload
Excitacin. Excitation
Excitadora. Driver stage
Excitn. Exciton
Excitrn. Excitron
xodo. Hexode
Exotrmico. Exothermic
Exsmosis. Exosmosis
Exotermo. Exothermic
Externo. External
Expansin. Expansion
Expansin. Spreading
Expansor. Expander
Experimento. Experiment
Exploracin. Scanning
Exponencial. Exponential
Exponente. Exponent
Exponente. Index
Exposicin. Exposure
Exterior. External
Extraccin de races. Evolution
Extrapolacin. Extrapolation
Extincin. Quenching
Extrnseco. Extrinsic
Extrnsico. Extrinsic
Eyector. Jet
Factor de escala. Scale factor
Factor de absorcin. Absorptance
Factor de absorcin. Absorption coefficient
Factor de amplificacin. Amplification factor
Factor de conversin. Conversion factor
Factor de espacio. Space factor
Factor de forma. Form factor
Factor de mrito. Figure of merit
Factor de multiplicacin. Multiplication factor
Factor de prdida. Loss factor
Factor de potencia. Power factor
Factor de reflexin. Reflectance
Factor de seguridad. Factor of safety
Factor de transmisin del sonido. Transmission coefficient
Factor de visibilidad. Visibility factor

Factorial. Factorial
Faja de frecuencias. Frequency band
Faja lateral. Sideband
Falla. Defect
Falsa imagen superpuesta sobre la imagen. Ghost
Falso sol. Parhelion
Fantasma. Ghost
Fantasma. Phantom
Fantastrn. Phantastron
Fase. Phase
Fasitrn. Phasitron
Fatiga. Stress
Fenmeno de halo. Halation
Fenmeno de halos. Halation
Fenmeno transitorio. Transient
Fermin. Fermion
Ferramic. Ferramic
Ferrimagnetismo. Ferrimagnetism
Ferromagnetismo. Ferromagnetism
Ferrita. Ferrite
Ferroelctrico. Ferroelectric
Fieldistor. Fieldistor
Fijacin. Fixation
Fijo. Fixed
Fijo. Quiescent
Filamento. Filament
Filamento. String
Filamento calefactor. Heater
Filtro. Filter
Filtro de paso de banda. Band-pass filter
Filtro de zona. Band-pass filter
Filtro pasabanda. Band-pass filter
Fisiolgico. Physiological
Fisin. Fission
Flexin. Flexure
Flotabilidad. Buoyancy
Flotante. Floating
Flucimetro. Flow meter
Fluctuacin. Fluctuation
Fluctuacin. Hunting
Fluctuacin. Flutter
Fluencia. Creep
Fluidez. Fluidity
Fluidmetro. Flow meter
Fluido. Fluid
Fluorescencia. Fluorescence
Flujo. Flow
Flujo de gravitacin. Flux, gravitational
Flujo elctrico. Flux, electric
Flujo electrosttico. Flux, electric
Flujo inductor. Flux, magnetic
Flujo luminoso. Luminous flux
Flujo mgnetico. Flux, magnetic
Flujo radiante. Flux, radiant
Flujo unidireccional. Streaming
Foco. Focus
Focos conjugados. Conjucate foci
Fon. Phon
Fontica. Phonetics
Fonio. Phon
Fono. Phon
Fonocaptor. Pickup
Fonocaptor piezoelctrico. Pickup, crystal
Fongrafo. Phonograph
Fonologa. Phonetics
Fonn. Phonon
Forma de onda. Waveform
Forma indeterminada. Indeterminate form

Frmula. Formula
Frmula de reduccin. Reduction formula
Fsfor. Phosphor
Fosforescencia. Phosphorescence
Fsforo. Phosphor
Fotoctodo. Photocathode
Fotoclula. Photocell
Fotoconduccin. Photoconduction
Fotoconductor. Photoconductive
Fotoconductivo. Photoconductive
Fotodesintegracin. Photodisintegration
Fotoelasticidad. Photoelasticity
Fotoelctrico. Photoelectric
Fotoemisivo. Photoemissive
Fotoemisor. Photoemissive
Fotoforesis. Photophoresis
Fotogrfico. Photographic
Fotoluminiscencia. Photoluminescence
Fotometra. Photometry
Fotomtrico. Photometric
Fotmetro. Photometer
Fotn. Photon
Fotoneutrn. Photoneutron
Fototelegrafa. Telephoto
Fototropa. Phototropy
Fototubo. Phototube
Fototubo multiplicador. Photomultiplier
Fvea. Fovea
Fraccin. Fraction
Fraccin de empaquetamiento. Packing fraction
Friccin. Friction
Fractura. Break
Fragilidad. Embrittlement
Frasco Dewar. Dewar flask
Frecuencia. Frequency
Frecuencia. Rate
Frecuencia audible. Frequency, audio
Frecuencia baja. Bass
Frecuencia de batimento. Beat frequency
Frecuencia de corte. Cutoff
Frecuencia del batido. Beat frequency
Frecuencia de pulsacin. Beat frequency
Frecuencia fundamental. Frequency, fundamental
Frecuencia intermedia. Intermediate frequency
Frecuencia portadora. Carrier frequency
Frecuencia propia. Natural frequency
Frecuencia ultrasnica. Ultrasonic frequency
Frecuencmetro. Frequency meter
Frenada. Braking
Frenado. Braking
Frenaje. Braking
Frente. Front
Frente fro. Cold front
Frotacin. Friction
Fuego de San Telmo. Saint Elmo fire
Fuente. Source
Fuerte. Strong
Fuerza. Force
Fuerza central. Central force
Fuerza centrpeta. Centripetal force
Fuerza coercitiva. Coercive force
Fuerza de intercambio. Force, exchange
Fuerza de recuperacin. Force, restoring
Fuerza electromotriz. Electromotive force
Fuerzas apareadas. Couple
Fuerza tensil. Tensile strength
Fugacidad. Fugacity
Fulguracin. Corona

Fumos. Fume
Funcin. Function
Funcin angular. Circular function
Funcin armnica. Function, harmonic
Funcin circular. Circular function
Funcin complementaria. Complementary function
Funcin de onda. Wave function
Funcin escaln. Function, step
Funcin gama. Gamma function
Funcin hiperblica. Hyperbolic function
Funcin propia. Eigenfunction
Funcin trigonomtrica. Circular function
Funcin trigonomtrica. Trigonometric function
Fundir (verb). Melt
Fundirse (verb). Melt
Fusible. Fuse
Fusin. Fusion
Fusin nuclear. Fusion, nuclear
Galvanmetro. Galvanometer
Galvanoplastia. Electroplating
Ganancia diferencial. Differential gain
Gancho. Hook
Garfio. Hook
Gas. Gas
Gases. Fume
Gases inertes. Noble gases
Gases nobles. Noble gases
Gas ideal. Ideal gas
Gas perfecto. Ideal gas
Gasto. Capacity
Gasto. Discharge
Gel. Gel
Gela formada por coagulacin. Goagel
Gel formada por coagulacin. Coagel
Gemelo. Binocular
Gemelo. Twin
Generador. Generator
Generador de corriente continua. Direct-current generator
Generador de impulsos. Pulse generator
Generador de seales. Signal generator
Generador electrosttico. Electrostatic generator
Generador ultrasnico. Ultrasonic generator
Geometra. Geometry
Geomtrico. Geometric
Geomtrico. Geometrical
Getter . Getter
Giro. Rotation
Giratorio. Rotating
Giromagntico. Gyromagnetic
Girscopo. Gyroscope
Gobierno. Control
Gobierno a distancia. Remote control
Gofrado. Embossed
Gota. Drop
Grabado en relieve. Embossed
Gradiente. Gradient
Gradiente vertical de temperatura. Lapse rate
Grado. Degree
Grado. Order
Grado de. Order of
Grado de disociacin. Degree of dissociation
Grado de libertad. Degree of freedom
Grados de libertad. Freedom, degrees of
Grfica. Graph
Gramo equivalente. Gram-equivalent
Gramfono. Phonograph

Granizo. Hail
Granizo. Sleet
Grano. Grain
Gratcula sobre vidrio. Transmission grating
Grave. Bass
Gravitacin. Gravitation
Grupo. Cluster
Grupo. Group
Gua. Pilot
Gua de ondas. Waveguide
Halo. Corona
Halo. Halation
Halgeno. Halogen
Hendedura. Slit
Hendidura. Slit
Harmnico. Harmonic
Hartley. Hartley
Haz. Cluster
Haz de rayos. Pencil (of light)
Haz electrnico. Electron beam
Helar. Freeze
Helarse. Freeze
Hlice. Helix
Hemidrico. Hemihedral
Hermitiana. Hermitian
Heptodo. Heptode
Hervimiento. Boiling
Hervor. Boiling
Heterodina. Heterodyne
Heterodino. Heterodyne
Heteroin. Heteroion
Heterotpico. Heterotopic
Hexagonal. Hexagonal
Hxodo. Hexode
Hibridacin. Hybridization
Hbrido. Hybrid
Hidratado. Hydrated
Hidrulica. Hydraulics
Hidrodinmica. Hydrodynamics
Hidrofn. Hydrophone
Hidrfono. Hydrophone
Hidromecnica. Hydraulics
Hidrosttica. Hydrostatics
Hielo. Ice
Higrmetro. Hygrometer
Higroscpico. Hygroscopic
Hiprbola. Hyperbola
Hiperconductividad. Superconductivity
Hiperconductor. Superconductor
Hiperconjugacin. Hyperconjugation
Hiperfino. Hyperfine
Hipern. Hyperon
Hipersil. Hipersil
Histresis. Hysteresis
Holomrfico. Regular
Homogneo. Homogeneous
Hora. Hour
Horizontal. Horizontal
Hueco. Hole
Humedad. Humidity
Humos. Fume
Huracn. Hurricane
Iconoscopio.
Ideal. Ideal

Iconoscope

Idemfactor. Idemfactor
Idempotente. Idempotent
Identidad. Identity
Idiocromtico. Idiochromatic
Idiomorfo. Idiomorphous
Ignitrn. Ignitrn
Igualacin. Matching
Igualdad. Equality
In. Ion
In complejo. Complex ion
In con carga positiva y negativa. Zwitterion
Inic. Ionic
Ionizacin. Ionization
Ionizacin espontnea por rayos csmicos. Burst
Iluminancia. Illuminance
Iluminacin. Illumination
Imagen. Frame
Imagen. Image
Imagen. Picture
Imagen doble. Ghost
Imagen falsa. Ghost
Imagen fantasma. Ghost
Imn. Magnet
Imanacin. Magnetization
Imanacin remanente. Remanence
Imantacin. Magnetization
Impaccin. Impact
Impacto. Impact
Impar. Odd
Impedancia. Choke
Impedancia. Impedance
Impedancia caracterstica. Characteristic impedance
Impedancia caracterstica. Wave impedance
Impedancia de sobretensin. Characteristic impedance
Imperfeccin. Defect
Implotar. Implode
Impregnar. Permeate
Impulso. Impulse
Impulso. Momentum
Impulso. Pulse
Impulso angular. Angular momentum
Impulso de excedente. Overflow
Impulso de ruido. Noise, impulse
Impureza. Impurity
Impureza aceptora. Acceptor (in a semiconductor)
Impureza del aceptor. Acceptor (in a semiconductor)
Incandescencia residual. Afterglow
Incidencia oblicua. Oblique-incidence
Inclinacin. Slope
Incompresible. Incompressible
Independencia de la carga. Charge indpendance
Independiente. Independent
Indicador. Gauge
Indicador. Indicator
Indicador de sincronizacin. Tuning indicator
Indicador de sintona. Tuning indicator
Indicador de viscosidad. Viscosimeter
Indicador radioactivo. Indicator
ndice. Index
ndice de llamarada. Flash point
ndice de refraccin. Refractive index
Induccin. Induction
Induccin. Line(s) of induction
Induccin elctrica. Induction, electric
Induccin electromagntica. Electromagnetic induction
Induccin magntica. Induction, magnetic
Inducido. Armature
Inducido. Induced

1344

Inductancia Levorrotatorio
Inductancia. Choke
Inductancia. Inductance
Inductancia mutua. Mutual inductance
Inductivo. Inductive
Inductor. Inductive
Inelstico. Inelastic
Inercia. Inertia
Inestabilidad. Hunting
Infinitesimal. Infinitesimal
Infinito. Infinite
Inflamador. Igniter
Inflexin. Inflection
Infrarrojo. Infrared
Inhour. Inhour
Inmvil. Fixed
Insercin. Insertion
Insolacin. Insolation
Instantneo. Instantaneous
Instrumento para medir distancias. Interferometer
Integrador. Integrating
Integrando. Integrand
Integracin. Integration
Intensidad. Strength
Intensidad acstica subjetiva. Loudness
Intensidad de campo. Field strength
Intensidad de campo elctrico. Intensity, electric
Intensidad especifica de radiacin. Radiance
Intensidad luminosa. Brightness
Intensificar. Boost
Intenso. Strong
Interaccin. Interaction
Intercambio. Interchange
Interferencia. Cross talk
Interferencia. Interference
Interferencias estticas. Static
Interfermetro. Interferometer
Interfermetro tipo. Etalon
Intermodulacin. Cross-modulation
Intermodulacin. Intermodulation
Internacional. International
Interno. Internal
Interpolacin. Interpolation
Interrumpido. Interrupted
Interrumpir bruscamente. Scram
Interrupcin. Break
Interrupcin instantnea. Scram
Interrupcin. Quenching
Interruptor. Key
Interruptor. Switch
Interruptor de proteccin. Fuse
Interruptor fusible. Fuse
Interruptor peridico. Chopper
Interruptor rotatorio. Chopper
Intersticial. Interstitial
Intervalo. Interval
Intervalo. Period
Intervalo de aire. Air gap
Intrnsico. Intrinsic
Invariancia de la carga. Charge invariance
Invariante. Invariant
Invariante adiabtica. Adiabatic invariant
Inversa (noun). Inverse
Inversin. Inversion
Inverso (adj.). Inverse
Inversor. Inverter
Inversor de corriente continua. Inverter
Inversor de fase. Phase inverter
Iridescencia. Iridescence

Irracional. Irrational
Irradiacin. Irradiation
Irreversible. Irreversible
Isbara. Isobar
Iscrona. Isochrone
Isocromtico. Isochromatic
Isodifero. Isodiaphere
Isoelctrico. Isoelectric
Isomera nuclear. Isomerism, nuclear
Isomerismo de ncleo. Isomerism, nuclear
Isomera ptica. Optical isomerism
Isomerismo ptico. Optical isomerism
Ismero. Isomer
Isomorfismo. Isomorphism
Isomorfo. Isomorph
Isoperimtrico. Isoperimetric
Isoperimetro. Isoperimetric
Issteros. Isosteres
Isoteniscopio. Isoteniscope
Isoterma. Isotherm
Isoterma. Isothermal
Isoterma de adsorcin. Adsorption isotherm
Isotrmico. Isothermal
Isotermo. Isothermal
Istopo. Isotope
Isotrn. Isotron
Isotrpico. Isotropic
Iteracin. Iteration
Iterativo. Iterative
Jacobiano. Jacobian
Junta. Junction
Kenotrono. Kenotron
Ket. Ket vector
Kilo-. KiloKiloelectrn-voltio. Kev
Kinescopio. Kinescope
Kovar. Kovar
Laboratorio. Laboratory
Lado de banda. Sideband
Lado recto. Latus rectum
Laguna. Hole
Lmpara. Lamp
Lmpara de arco. Are lamp
Lanzador de electrones. Electron gun
Latente. Latent
Lateral. Lateral
Lente. Lens
Lente anastigmtico. Anastigmat
Lente aplntico. Aplanatic lens
Lente de aumento. Magnifier
Lente de cmara. Camera lenses
Lente doble. Doublet
Lente electrnica. Electron lens
Lentes con capa de pelcula antirreflexiva. Coatedlenses
Lentes con revestimiento antirreflejante. Coated lenses
Lentes fotogrficas. Camera lenses
Lenticular. Lenticular
Leptona. Lepton
Levantar. Boost
Levgiro. Levorotatory
Levorrotatorio. Levorotatory

Ley. Law
Ley asociativa. Associative law
Ley de la composicin de las fuerzas. Law of compo
sition of forces
Ley de la conservacin de la cantidad de movimiento
angular. Law of conservation of angular momentum
Ley de la conservacin de la energa mecnica. Law of
conservation of mechanical energy
Ley de la conservacin del impulso angular. Law of
conservation of angular momentum
Ley de la conservacin del momento angular. Law of
conservation of angular momentum
Ley de la menor accin. Principle of least action
Ley de las fases. Phase rule
Ley del parallelograma. Law of composition of forces
Libra. Pound
Libracin. Libration
Librapi. Foot pound
Libre. Free
Licuacin. Liquefaction
Liga. Alloy
Limitador. Stop
Limitador de mutilacin de seales. Slicer
Lmite. Limit
Lmite de estiramiento. Yield point
Lmite elstico aparente. Yield point
Lmite P-N. Boundary P-N
Lmite exterior de la zona de silencio. Skip distance
Lnea. Line
Lnea adibatica. Adiabat
Lnea artificial. Artificial line
Lnea caustica. Caustic
Lnea de corriente. Streamline
Lnea de flujo. Streamline
Lnea de nivel. Contour
Lnea de retardo. Delay-line
Lnea de transmisin. Transmission line
Lnea de transporte de energa. Transmission line
Lnea geodsica. Geodesic
Lnea isocrica. Isochore
Lnea resonante. Periodic line
Lineal. Linear
Lifilo. Lyophilic
Liquefaccin. Liquefaction
Lquido. Liquid
Liquidus. Liquidus
Llama. Flame
Llave. Key
Llave electrnica. Electronic switch
Lloriqueo. Wow
Lluvia. Rain
Lbulo. Lobe
Localizacin. Localization
Logaritmo. Logarithm
Longitud. Length
Longitud de onda. Wavelength
Longitudinal. Longitudinal
Lorn. Loran
Lugar geomtrico del centro instantneo de rotacin.
Centrode
Lumen. Lumen
Luminancia. Luminance
Luminescencia. Luminescence
Luminescencia catdica. Cathodoluminescence
Luminescencia qumica. Chemiluminescence
Luminescencia residual. Afterglow
Luminiscencia. Glow
Luminosidad. Luminosity

Luminoso. Luminous
Luminosidad remanente. Afterglow
Luminosidad residual. Afterglow
Lustre. Luster
Luz. Light
Luz blanca. White light
Luz solar. Sunlight
Luz zodiacal. Zodiacal light
Mecnica ondulatoria. Wave mechanics
Medidor de vati-horas. Watthourmeter
Magntico. Magnetic
Magnetismo. Magnetism
Magnetismo remanente. Remanence
Magnetizacin. Magnetization
Magnetoelstico. Magnetoelastic
Magnetoestriccin. Magnetostr iction
Magnetomecn ico. Magnetomechanical
Magnetmetro. Magnetometer
Magneton de Bohr. Bohr magneton
Magneto-ptico. Magneto-optical
Magnetron. Magnetron
Magnetron interdigital. Magnetron, interdigital
Magnetron plurisectoral. Magnetron, multisegment
Magnitudes fsicas. Physical magnitudes
Maleabilidad. Ductility
Maleabilidad. Malleability
Manantial. Source
Manga de aire. Jet stream
Manguito. Sleeve
Maniobra a distancia. Remote control
Manipulacin. Keying
Manocrimetro. Manocryometer
Mando. Control
Mando (noun). Lead
Manmetro. Gauge
Manmetro. Manometer
Manmetro diferencial. Manometer, differential
Mquina(s). Machines
Mar. Sea
Marcador. Marker
Mareas. Tides
Masa. Mass
Masa efectiva. Effective mass
Masa en reposo. Rest mass
Masa reducida. Reduced mass
Materia. Matter
Matiz. Tint
Matriz producto. Matrix, product
Matiz. Hue
Matriz. Matrix
Matriz conmutativa. Matrix, commutative
Matriz diagonal. Matrix, diagonal
Matriz oblicua simtrica. Matrix, skew symmetric
Matriz ortogonal. Matrix, orthogonal
Matriz permutacin. Matrix, permutation
Matriz recproca. Matrix, reciprocal
Matriz unitaria. Matrix, unitary
Mximo. Maximum
Mximo. Peak
Mayer. Mayer
Mayor. Major
Mecnica. Mechanics
Mecnica celeste. Celestial mechanics
Mecnica cuntica. Quantum mechanics
Mecnica de Heisenberg. Quantum mechanics
Mecnica estadstica. Statistical mechanics

Mecnico. Mechanical
Mecanismo servomotor. Servomechanism
Medicin balstica. Ballistic measurement
Mediciones. Physical measurements
Mediciones fsicas. Physical measurements
Medidor. Gauge
Medidor. Meter
Medidor de chorro. Flow meter
Medidor de corriente. Flow meter
Medidor de flujo. Flow meter
Medidor de ionizacin. Gauge, ionization
Medio. Mean
Medio. Medium
Megfono. Megaphone
Melio. Mel
Membrana semipermeable. Semipermeable membrane
Memoria. Memory
Menisco. Meniscus
Menor. Minor
Mesocoloide. Mesocolloid
Mesomorfo. Mesomorphic
Mesn pi. Pin
Mesotron. Meson
Metacentro. Metacenter
Metaestable. Metastable
Metal. Metal
Metlico. Lens, metallic
Metstasis. Metastasis
Meteorologa. Meteorology
Mtodo. Method
Metro. Meter
Metro contador. Meter
Metro medidor. Meter
Mezclado. Mixed
Mezclador. Mixer
Micro-. MicroMicrofnico. Microphonic
Micrfono. Microphone
Micrmetro. Micrometer
Microonda. Microwave
Microscopio. Microscope
Microscopio electrnico. Electron microscope
Migracin. Migration
Mili-. MilliMnimo. Minimum
Miopa. Myopia
Miraje. Mirage
Mixibilidad. Miscibility
Mixto. Mixed
Modelo de la gota lquida. Liquid-drop (model)
Modelo nuclear de capas. Shell model
Moderacin. Slowing down
Moderador. Moderator
Modo. Mode
Modulacin. Modulation
Modulacin cruzada. Cross-modulation
Modulacin cruzada. Cross talk
Modulacin por frecuencia (abr. MF). Frequency
modulation
Modulado. Modulated
Modulador. Modulator
Mdulo. Modulus
Mdulo de deslizamiento. Rigidity, modulus
Mdulo de elasticidad. Modulus of elasticity
Mdulo de elasticidad de volumen. Bulk modulus
Mdulo de elasticidad transversal. Rigidity, modulus
Molal. Molal
Molar. Molar

Molcula. Molecule
Molecular. Molecular
Momento. Moment
Momento angular. Angular momentum
Momento angular propio. Spin
Momento cortante. Shear
Momento cuadripolar. Quadrupole moment
Momento de flexin. Bending moment
Momento de inercia. Moment of inertia
Momento de la fuerza. Moment of force
Momento del dipolo. Dipole moment
Momento de rotacin. Moment of force
Momento de una fuerza. Torque
Momento esttico. Moment of force
Momento flexor. Bending moment
Momento torsional, momento de torsin. Torque
Monocristal sin deformaciones. Whisker
Monocromador. Monochromator
Monocromtico. Monochromatic
Monoestable. Monostable
Monmero. Monomer
Monomolecular. Monomolecular
Monomorfo. Monomorphic
Monoscopio. Monoscope
Monotropa. Monotropy
Monzn. Monsoon
Morfotropa. Morphotropy
Mosaico. Mosaic
Motor. Motor
Movible. Moving
Mvil. Moving
Mvil. Traveling
Movilidad. Mobility
Movimiento. Motion
Movimiento armnico. Harmonic motion
Movimiento armnico simple. Simple harmonic motion
Movimiento continuo. Perpetual motion
Movimiento perpetuo. Perpetual motion
Muestra. Sample
Multi. Multichannel
Mltiple. Manifold
Mltiple. Multiple
Multiplicador. Multiplier
Multiplicidad. Multiplicity
Multipolar. Multipole
Multirrotacin. Mutarotation
Multivibrador. Multivibrator
Mu-metal. Mumetal
Mumetal. Mumetal
Mutarrotacin. Mutarotation
Nabla. Del
Nefelmetro. Nephelometer
Negativo. Negative
Negativo (de disco gramofnico). Master
Negatrn. Negatron
Nemtico. Nematic
Nper. Neper
Neto. Net
Neumtico. Pneumatic
Neutrino. Neutrino
Neutro. Neutral
Neutrodino. Neutrodyne
Neutrn. Neutron
Neutrones lentos. Slow neutrons
Niebla. Fog
Niebla mezclada con humo. Smog

Nieve. Snow
Nilpotente. Nilpotent
Nimboestrato. Nimbostratus
Nivel. Level
Nivel de ruido. Noise level
Nivelacin de seal. Clamping
Nivel de energa. Energy level
Nivel K. K-shell
Nivel L. L-shell
Nivel M. M-shell
Nivel N. N-shell
Nivel virtual. Virtual level
Noche. Night
No lineal. Nonlinear
No local. Nonlocal
Nodo. Branch point
Nodo. Node
Nomograma. Nomograph
No relativista. Non-relativistic
Norma. Standard
Normal. Standard
Normalizacin. Normalization
Nota. Note
Nota baja. Bass
Nota de interferencia. Beat note
Nota de pulsacin. Beat note
Nota pulsante. Beat note
Nube. Cloud
Nubes cumulus. Cumulus clouds
Nuclear. Nuclear
Ncleo. Armature
Ncleo. Kernel
Ncleo. Nucleus
Ncleo del reactor. Core
Nuclen. Nucleon
Nuclenica. Nucleonics
Ncleo precursor. Parent
Ncleos par-impar. Even-odd nuclei
Ncleos par-par. Even-even nuclei
Nclido. Nuclide
Nulo. Null
Numerable. Denumerable
Nmero. Mach number
Nmero. Number
Nmero atmico. Atomic number
Nmero complejo. Complex number
Nmero cuntico acimutal.
Azimuthal quantum
number
Nmero de cuentas por unidad de tiempo. Counting
rate
Nmero de fisiones que se han producido. Fission yield
Nmero de impulsos por unidad de tiempo. Counting
rate.
Nmero de onda. Wave number
Nmero f. F-number
Nmeros mgicos. Magic numbers
Numeroso. Manifold
Nutacin. Nutation
Objetivo anastigmtico. Anastigmat
Objetivo de cmara. Camera lenses
Objetivo doble. Doublet
Objetivo acromtico, lente acromtico.
Objetivo lente. Objective lens
Oblicuidad. Obliquity
Obturador. Stop
Oclusin. Occlusion

Achromat

Octal. Octal
Octava. Octave
Octeto. Octet
Octodo. Octode
Ocular. Eyepiece
Ocular. Ocular
Oftalmoscopio. Ophthalmoscope
hmmetro. Ohmmeters
Ojo de tempestad. Eye of storm
Ojo elctrico. Electric eye
Omngrafo. Omnigraph
Onda. Wave
Onda armnica. Wave, harmonic
Onda corta. Short-wave
Onda de choque. Shock wave
Onda cilindrica. Wave, cylindrical
Onda de compresin. Wave, compressional
Onda de tierra. Ground wave
Onda electromagntica. Electromagnetic wave
Onda estacionada. Standing-wave
Onda incidente. Incident wave
Onda longitudinal. Wave, longitudinal
Onda portadora. Carrier
Onda senoidal. Sine wave
Onda sinusoide. Sine wave
Onda terrestre. Ground wave
Ondulacin. Ripple
Opacidad. Opacity
Operacin. Operation
Operador. Operator
Operador didico. Operator, dyadic
ptica. Optics
ptica electrnica. Electron optics
ptico. Optical
ptimo. Optimum
Optometra. Optometry
rbita. Orbit
rbita planetaria. Planetary orbit
Orden. Order
Orden. Rank
Ordenada. Ordinate
Orden de. Order of
Orden-desorden. Order-disorder
Organosol. Organosol
Orientacin. Orientation
Orificio. Aperture
Orificio. Orifice
Orogrfico. Orographic
Orticn. Orthicon
Orticonoscopio. Orthicon
Ortocromtico. Orthochromatic
Ortogonalidad. Orthogonality
Ortonormal. Orthonormal
Ortorrmbico. Orthorhombic
Ortoscpico. Orthoscopic
Ortotmico. Orthotomic
Oscilacin. Hunting
Oscilacin. Oscillation
Oscilacin impresa. Forced oscillation
Oscilacin momentnea. Transient
Oscilador armnico. Harmonic oscillator
Oscilador de frecuencia intermedia. BFO
Oscilador de pulsaciones. BFO
Oscilacin forzada. Forced oscillation
Oscilador heterodino. BFO
Oscilador local. Local oscillator
Oscilador que bate frecuencias. BFO
Oscilante. Oscillating

Oscilatorio. Oscillating
Oscilgrafo. Oscillograph
Oscilgrafo de rayos catdicos. Cathode-ray oscillo
scope
Oscilgrafo de rayos catdicos. Oscilloscope
Osciloscopio. Oscilloscope
Osciloscopio de rayos catdicos. Cathode-ray oscillo
scope
Osculacin. Osculation
Oscuro. Dark
smosis. Osmosis
Osmtico. Osmotic
Oxidacin. Oxidation
Pasividad. Passivity
Palanca. Lever
Pantalla acstica. Baffle
Pantalla fluorescente. Fluorescent screen
Parbola. Parabola
Paraboloide. Paraboloid
Paracoro. Parachor
Paracromtico. Panchromatic
Parada. Stop
Paraleleppedo. Parallelepiped
Paralelo. Parallel
Paramagntico. Paramagnetic
Paramagnetismo. Paramagnetism
Parmetro. Parameter
Paramorfo. Paramorph
Parar bruscamente. Scram
Parastico. Parasitic
Parsito. Snow
Parasito. Parasitic
Parsito. Spurious
Parsito esttico. Static
Paraxial. Paraxial
Parcial. Partial
Par de fuerzas. Couple
Paridad. Parity
Parfocal. Parfocal
Parhelio. Parhelion
Parhelia. Parhelion
Parlante. Loudspeaker
Par motor. Torque
Paro brusco. Scram
Parpadeo. Flicker
Parsec. Parsec
Particin. Partition
Partcula. Particle
Partcula alfa. Alpha particle
Partcula beta. Beta particle
Partcula elemental. Elementary particle
Prtcula elemental. Fundamental particle
Partcula fundamental. Fundamental particle
Partidor de tensin. Voltage divider
Par trmico. Thermocouple
Par termosttico. Thermocouple
Pasa alto (noun). High-pass
Pasar a travs de. Permeate
Paso. Gate
Paso (de tornillo). Pitch (of screw)
Parablico. Parabolic
Patrn. Standard
Pelcula. Film
Pelcula. Skin
Penetracin. Penetration
Penetrar. Permeate

Pendiente. Slope
Penduleo. Hunting
Pndulo. Pendulum
Pndulo balstico. Ballistic pendulum
Penta. Penta
Pentodo. Pentode
Penumbra. Penumbra
Percusin. Percussion
Prdida de transmisin. Loss
Perfil aerodinmico. Airfoil
Perfil de sustentacin. Airfoil
Perihelio. Perihelion
Periodicidad. Periodicity
Peridico. Periodic
Perodo. Period
Perodo del reactor. Period, reactor
Perodo (de semidesintegracin). Lifetime
Permaleacin. Permalloy
Permeabilidad. Permeability
Permemetro. Permeameter
Permitible. Permissible
Permitido. Permissible
Permitividad. Permittivity
Permutacin. Arrangement
Permutacin. Permutation(s)
Perpendicular. Normal
Persistencia. Hangover
Persistencia. Persistence
Persistencia de imgenes. Vision, persistence of
Persorcn. Persorption
Pertctico. Peritectic
Perturbacin. Interference
Perturbacin. Perturbation
Perturbaciones oscilatorias. Jitter
Peso. Weight
Peso molecular. Weight, molecular
Picnmetro. Pycnometer
Pico. Peak
Piel. Skin
Pieza constitutiva. Element
Pila. Cell
Pila atmica. Pile
Pila seca. Dry cell
Pila termoelctrica. Thermopile
Piloto. Pilot
Pin. Pin
Pirmide. Pyramid
Piranmetro. Pyranometer
Pirometra. Pyrometry
Pirmetro. Pyrometer
Pirmetro ptico. Optical pyrometer
Pizca. Grain
Placa. Plate
Planmetro. Planimeter
Plano. Plane
Plano de polarizacin. Plane of polarization
Plano focal. Focal plane
Plano sustenador. Airfoil
Plasma. Plasma
Plasticidad. Plasticity
Plstico. Plastic
Plateau. Length of plateau
Pleocretico. Pleochroic
Pleocroismo. Pleochroism
Pliotrn. Pliotron
Plomo. Lead
Poder de dispersin. Dispersive power
Poder de resolucin. Resolving power

Poder dispersante. Dispersive power

Poder dispersivo. Dispersive power
Poder emisor. Emissivity
Poder frenador. Stopping power
Poder irradiante. Emissivity
Poder resolutivo. Resolving power
Polar. Polar
Polaridad. Polarity
Polarimetra. Polarimetry
Polarmetro. Laurent polarimeter
Polariscopio. Polariscope
Polarizabilidad. Polarizability
Polarizacin. Polarization
Polarizacin negativa de grilla. Bias
Polarizacin negativa de reja. Bias
Polarizador. Polarizer
Polargrafo. Polarograph
Polarograma. Polarogram
Polaroid. Polaroid
Polea excntrica. Eccentric
Poliedro. Polyhedron
Polgono. Polygon
Polimorfo. Polymorphic
Polinomio. Polynomial
Politrpico. Polytropic
Polo. Pole
Polvo. Dust
Polvo. Powder
Por medio de la interferencia. Interferometer
Porosidad. Porosity
Portador. Carrier
Portadora. Carrier
Portavoz. Megaphone
Pos-. Post
Posaceleracin. Post-acceleration
Posicin. Position
Positivo. Positive
Positrn. Positron
Positronio. Positronium
Post-. Post
Poste. Post
Potencia. Capacity
Potencia. Power
Potencia absorbida. Input
Potencia al freno. Brake horsepower
Potencia consumida. Input
Potencial crtico. Critical potential
Potencia de salida. Output
Potencia efectiva. Brake horsepower
Potencia indicada. Rating
Potencial. Potential
Potencial de barrera. Barrier potential
Potencial de ionizacin. Ionization potential
Potencial hidrulico. Head
Potencial vectorial, potencial vector. Vector potential
Potencimetro. Potentiometer
Potente. Strong
Preacentuacin. Pre-emphasis
Precesin. Precession
Precipitacin. Precipitation
Precisin. Precision
Predisociacin. Predissociation
Prenfasis. Pre-emphasis
Preferente. Preferred
Preferido. Preferred
Presin. Pressure
Presin de vapor. Vapor pressure
Presin en las burbujas. Bubble pressure

Presin osmtica. Osmotic pressure

Primario. Primary
Primer detector. Mixer
Primitiva. Primitive
Principal. Major
Principal. Principal
Principio de combinacin. Combination principle
Principio de correspondencia. Correspondence principle
Principio de exclusin. Exclusion principle
Principio de exclusin. Pauli exclusion principle
Principio de Heisenberg. Uncertainty principle
Principio de incertidumbre. Uncertainty principle
Principio de indeterminacin. Uncertainty principle
Principio del tiempo mnimo. Least time, principie
Principio del tiempo mnimo de Fermat. Least time,
principie
Principio de Pauli. Exclusion principle
Prisma. Prism
Prisma doble. Biprism
Probabilidad. Probability
Probabilidad de penetracin. Transmission coefficient
Probabilidad de penetracin. Tunneling
Probabilidad de transicin. Transition probability
Problema de los tres cuerpos. Three-body problem
Procesos reversibles. Reversible processes
Produccin de parejas. Pair-production
Produccin de pares. Pair production
Producto. Product
Producto de desintegracin. Decay product
Producto de fisin. Fission products
Producto directo. Direct product
Producto escalar. Scalar product
Producto vectorial. Vector product
Programa. Program
Programar. Program
Progresin. Progression
Progresin aritmtica. Arithmetic progression
Progresin armnica. Harmonic progression
Progresivo. Progressive
Promedio. Average
Promedio. Mean
Propagacin. Propagation
Propiedad. Property
Propio. Characteristic
Propio. Natural.
Proporcin. M/N ratio
Proporcin. Proportion
Proporcional. Proportional
Proporcionalidad. M/N ratio
Protn. Proton
Provocado. Induced
Proyector. Projector
Pseudo. Pseudo
Pseudoescalar. Pseudoscalar
Pseudovector. Pseudovector
Psicrmetro. Psychrometer
(P-type semiconductor) semiconductor transportador
positivo. P-type
Puente. Bridge
Puente elctrico. Bridge electrical
Puesta elctrica. Ground
Pulimentacin, pulido. Polishing
Pulimento. Polishing
Pulsacin cero. Zero beat
Pulsaciones. Beats
Pulverizacin catdica. Sputter
Punta. Apex
Punto. Dot

Punto cedente. Yield point

Punto crtico. Critical point
Punto de amplitud nula. Node
Punto de bifurcacin. Branch point
Punto de condensacin. Dew point
Punto de congelacin. Freezing point
Punto de deformacin. Yield point
Punto de derretimiento. Melting point
Punto de ebullicin. Boiling point
Punto de ensilladura. Saddle point
Punto de fusin. Melting point
Punto de inflamacin. Flash point
Punto de inversin. Lid
Punto de roco. Dew point
Punto en que las composiciones de las capas conjugadas
son iguales (diagrama ternario de solubilidad). Plait
point
Punto inflamador. Flash point
Punto nadal. Nodal point
Punto neutro. Neutral point
Punto objeto. Object point
Puntos cardinales. Cardinal points
Pupila de entrada. Entrance pupil
Pupila de salida. Exit pupil
Pureza. Purity
Que disipa. Dissipative
Quilate. Carat
Qumico. Chemical
Quimiluminescencia. Chemiluminescence
Quintuplo. Quintuple
Rabbit. Rabbit
Racmico. Racemic
Racional. Rational
Radar. Radar
Radiacin. Radiation
Radiacin csmica. Cosmic radiation
Radiacin debida a los escapes. Leakage radiation
Radiacin de enfrenamiento. Bremsstrahlung
Radiacin de frenado. Bremsstrahlung
Radiacin electromagntica. Electromagnetic radiation
Radiacin luminosa especfica. Radiance
Radiacin secundaria. Secondary emission
Radiacin ultravioleta. Ultraviolet radiation
Radiactividad. Radioactivity
Radiactividad artificial. Artificial radioactivity
Radioactividad artificial. Artificial radioactivity
Radiactivo. Radioactive
Radiador. Radiator
Radial. Radial
Radin. Radian
Radiancia. Radiance
Radiante. Radian
Radiante. Radiant
Radical. Radical
Radical libre. Free radical
Radio. Radio
Radio. Radius
Radioactividad. Radioactivity
Radioactivo. Radioactive
Radiocomps. Direction finder
Radioelemento. Radioelement
Radioescucha monitor. Monitor
Radiofaro con un receptor-emisor. Racon
Radiofaro respondedor. Racon

Radiofrecuencia. Radio frequency

Radiografa. Radiography
Radiogoniometro. Direction finder
Radioliminescencia. Radioluminescence
Radiometeorgrafo. Radiosonde
Radimetro. Radiometer
Radiometra. Radiometry
Radionclido. Radionuclide
Radiorreceptor. Receiver
Radiosonda. Radiosonde
Radiotelmetro. Radiosonde
Radiotermoluminiscencia. Radio-thermoluminescence
Raiz. Root
Raiz cuadrada de la media de los cuadrados. Rootmean-square
Ramificacin. Branching
Ranura. Slit
Rarefaccin. Rarefaction
Rarificacin. Rarefaction
Rastra. Drag
Rayas ms fuertes en el espectro de un elemento. Raies
ultimes
Rayas ltimas. Raies ultimes
Rayo. Beam
Rayo. Lightning
Rayo. Ray
Rayo csmico. Cosmic-ray
Rayo electrnico. Electron beam
Rayo extraordinario. Extraordinary ray
Rayo gama. Gamma ray
Rayo ordinario. Ordinary ray
Rayos canales. Canal rays
Rayos csmicos. Cosmic rays
Rayo(s) catdico(s). Cathode ray(s)
Rayos inicos positivos. Canal rays
Rayos Roentgen. X-rays
Rayos X. X-rays
Razn. M/N ratio
Razn isotpica. Abundance ratio
Reaccin. Choke
Reaccin. Feedback
Reaccin. Reaction
Reaccin en cadena. Chain reaction
Reaccin fotonuclear. Photonuclear reaction
Reactancia. Choke
Reactancia. Reactance
Reactancia de dispersin. Leakage reactance
Reactancia de fuga. Leakage reactance
Reactivacin. Reactivation
Reactividad. Reactivity
Reactor de ncleo saturable. Saturable reactor
Reactor saturable. Saturable reactor
Reajuste. Reset
Realimentacin. Feedback
Realzado. Embossed
Recalescencia. Recalescence
Receptor. Receiver
Receptor telefnico. Receiver
Recinto. Domain
Recproca. Reciprocal
Reciprocidad. Reciprocity
Recproco. Reciprocal
Recoccin. Annealing
Recocedura. Annealing
Recocido. Annealing
Recombinacin. Recombination
Recorrido. Path
Recorrido libre medio. Mean free path

Rectangular. Rectangular
Rectificacin. Rectification
Rectificador. Rectifier
Rectign. Rectigon
Rectilneo. Rectilinear
Red. Network
Redes elctricas. Electric networks
Reduccin de iluminacin en los costados de una placa
fotogrfica. Vignetting
Reducido. Reduced
Referencia. Reference
Reflectancia. Reflectance
Reflejado. Reflected
Reflexin. Reflection
Reflexin total. Total reflection
Reforzamiento. Intensification
Reforzar. Boost
Refraccin. Refraction
Refraccin doble. Double refraction
Refractado. Refracted
Refractivo. Refractive
Refractmetro. Refractometer
Refractor. Refractive
Refrigeracin. Cooling
Refrigeracin. Refrigeration
Refringente. Refractive
Refrigerante. Refrigerant
Refuerzo. Intensification
Regelo. Regelation
Regeneracin. Regeneration
Rgimen. Rating
Rgimen de disminucin. Lapse rate
Rgimen turbillonario. Vorticity
Regin de baja. Low
Regin de baja presin. Low
Regin de las calmas ecuatoriales. Doldrums
Regin E. E region
Registrador. Magnetic recorder
Registrador (adj.). Recording
Registrador de cinta magnetofnica. Tape recorder
Registrador magntico. Tape recorder
Registro (noun). Recording
Registro. Magnetic recorder
Registro. Register
Regla de la mano derecha. Right-hand rule
Regla de los tres dedos. Right-hand rule
Reglas de seleccin. Selection rules
Regreso. Return
Regulacin. Control
Regulacin. Regulation
Regulacin de voltaje. Voltage regulation
Regulador. Buffer
Reja. Grating
Reja echelette. Echelette grating
Rejilla. Grating
Rejilla. Grid
Rejilla de difraccin en escalones. Echelon
Rejilla-pantalla. Screen grid
Relacin. M/N ratio
Relacin critica. Critical coefficient
Relacin de abundancia. Abundance ratio
Relacin de amplitud de ondas estacionarias. Wave,
standing, ratio
Relacin de reproduccin. Breeding ratio
Relacin focal. F-number
Relacin giromagntica. Gyromagnetic ratio
Relacin seal a ruido. Signal-to-noise ratio
Relajacin. Relaxation

Relajamiento. Relaxation
Relmpago. Lightning
Relampagueo. Lightning
Relatividad. Relativity
Relativista. Relativistic
Relativo. Relative
Rel. Relay
Relevador. Relay
Reloj. Clock
Reluctancia. Reluctance
Remanencia. Remanence
Remanente. Residual
Remolino. Whirlwind
Rendija. Aperture
Rendija. Slit
Rendimiento. Capacity
Rendimiento. Efficiency
Rendimiento. Output
Rendimiento de fisin. Fission yield
Reologa. Rheology
Restato. Rheostat
Repetibilidad. Repeatability
Repetidor. Repeater
Rplica de la rejilla. Replica grating
Reposicin. Reset
Representacin de un grupo. Representation of a group
Repujado. Embossed
Repulsin. Repulsion
Repulsivo. Repulsive
Resalto. Land
Residual. Residual
Residuo. Residue
Resistencia. Drag
Resiliencia. Resilience
Resistencia. Resistance
Resistencia. Resistor
Resistencia aerodinmica. Drag
Resistencia a la tensin. Tensile strength
Resistencia a la traccin. Tensile strength
Resistencia caracterstica alineal. Varistor
Resistencia compensadora. Ballast tube
Resistencia de compensacin. Ballast tube
Resistencia de carbono de silicio comprimido. Varistor
Resistencia de compensacin. Barretter
Resistencia de cursor. Slide wire
Resistencia del aire. Drag
Resistencia de placa. Plate resistance
Resistencia especfica. Resistivity
Resistencia magntica. Reluctance
Resistencia tensil. Tensil strength
Resistente. Strong
Resistividad. Resistivity
Resolucin. Resolution
Resonador. Resonator
Resonador telegrfico. Sounder
Resonancia. Resonance
Resonante. Resonance
Resonante. Resonant
Respuesta. Response
Respuesta de frecuencia. Frequency response
Restar. Subtract
Retardo. Time delay
Retencin. Hold
Retentividad. Retentivity
Reticulado. Lattice
Reticulado. Reticulated
Retculo. Cross-hair
Retculo. Reticle

Retculo Solubilidad
Retculo espacial. Space lattice
Retina. Retina
Retorno. Return
Retraso. Delay
Retroalimentacin. Feedback
Retroceso por dispersin. Back scattering
Retrodispersin. Back scattering
Revelado. Development
Revelador. Developer
Revelamiento. Development
Reverberacin. Reverberation
Reversibilidad. Reversibility
Reversible. Reversible
Reversin. Choke
Revestimiento aquadag. Aquadag coating
Rigidez. Magnetic rigidity
Rigidez. Stiffness
Rgido. Rigid
Roce. Friction
Roco. Dew
Rodamiento. Bearing
Rmbico (adj.). Diamond
Rombo (noun). Diamond
Romboedro. Rhombohedron
Rotacin. Rotation
Rotacional. Curl
Rotacional. Rotational
Rotmetro. Rotameter
Rotativo. Rotating
Rotator. Rotator
Rotor. Armature
Rotor. Curl
Rotor. Rotor
Rotura. Break
Rotura. Rupture
Rozamiento. Friction
Rueda excntrica. Eccentric
Ruido. Noise
Ruido canoa. Motorboating
Ruidos parsitos. Static
Ruptura. Break
Ruptura. Rupture
Sacarmetro. Saccharimeter
Sala reverberante. Live room
Salida. Output
Saliente. Land
Salto. Head
Salto. Skip distance
Salto de agua. Head
Saturacin. Saturation
Seccin. Section
Seccin cnica. Conic
Seccin eficaz. Cross section
Seco. Dry
Sector. Sector
Secundario. Secondary
Sedimentacin. Sedimentation
Segundo. Second (of time)
Sesmico. Seismic
Seleccionador. Chopper
Selectancia. Selectance
Selectividad. Selectance
Selectividad. Selectivity
Selector. Discriminator
Selector de banda. Band-pass filter
Sellisca. Sleet

1352
Semi-. SemiSemianchura. Halfwidth
Semiconductor. Semiconductor
Semiplateado. Half silvered
Seal. Signal
Sealador. Marker
Seal de duracin muy corta. Pulse
Sensibilidad. Sensitivity
Sensitividad. Sensitivity
Sensitometra. Sensitometry
Separacin. Partition
Separacin. Separation
Separador. Buffer
Serie. Series
Servo. Servo
Servomecanismo. Servomechanism
Shunt. Shunt
Signos utilizables. Language
Silbido. Singing
Silla. Col
Simetra. Symmetry
Simtrico. Push-pull
Simtrico. Symmetric
Simple. Simplex
Simple. Single
Simultaneidad. Simultaneity
Sincro. Selsyn
Sincro. Synchro
Sincrociclotrn. Synchrocyclotron
Sincrnico. Synchronous
Sincronizacin. Synchronization
Sincronizacin. Tuning fork
Sincronizado. Tuned
Sincronizador. Synchronizing
Sncrono. Synchronous
Sincrotrn. Synchrotron
Singular. Singular
Sinistrrsum. Left-handed (counter-clockwise)
Sintonizacin. Tuning fork
Sintonizado. Tuned
Sirena. Siren
Ssmico. Seismic
Sismgrafo. Seismograph
Sistema. Array
Sistema. System
Sistema cerrado. Closed system
Sistema de centro de masas. Center-of-mass system
Sistema de control automtico. Automatic control
system
Sistema de coordenadas. Coordinate system
Sistema de gobierno automtico. Automatic control
system
Sistema de mando automtico. Automatic control
system
Sistema de transmisin sncrona de la General Electric.
Selsyn
Sobrecarga. Overload
Sobremodulacin. Overshoot
Sobreposicin. Superimposition
Sobrepresin sonora. Excess pressure of sound
Sobretensin. Overvoltage
Sobretono. Overtone
Sol. Sol
Solapado de lineas. Pairing
Solar. Solar
Solenoide. Solenoid
Slido. Solid
Solubilidad. Solubility

Solucin. Solution
Solucin slida. Solid solution
Soluto. Solute
Solvente. Solvent
Sombra. Shadow
Sonar. Sonar
Sonda. Fathometer
Sonda de eco. Fathometer
Snica. Sonics
Sonido. Sound
Sonio. Son
Soporte. Bearing
Soporte. Post
Soporte de cuarto de onda. Stub
Sorcin. Sorption
Strobotrn. Strobotron
Suave. Soft
Subarmnica. Subharmonic
Subatmico. Subatomic
Subgrupo. Subgroup
Sublimacin. Sublimation
Sublimacin catdica. Sputter
Sublimado. Sublimate
Substancia. Substance
Substancia debilitadora. Poison
Substancia derretida (noun). Melt
Substancia luminescente. Phosphor
Substitucin. Substitution
Substraer. Subtract
Sucesin. Sequence
Suma. Addition
Sunt. Shunt
Superconductividad. Superconductivity
Superficie. Surface
Superficie asfrica. Aspheric surface
Superficie equipotencial. Equipotential surface
Superficie de contacto. Interface
Superficie entre estras. Land
Superficie lmite de los granos. Grain boundary
Superficie sustentadora. Airfoil
Superheteradino. Superheterodyne
Supersaturacin. Supersaturation
Supresor. Suppressor
Supresin del haz. Blanking
Surtidor. Jet
Susceptancia. Susceptance
Susceptibilidad. Susceptibility
Susceptibilidad magntica. Magnetic susceptibility
Suspensin. Suspension
Sustentacin hidrulica. Buoyancy
Tableteo. Motorboating
Tacitrn. Tacitron
Tacmetro. T achometer
Tambor. Drum
Tndem. Tandem
Tangente. T angent
Tasacin. Rating
Telecntrico. Telecentric
Telecontrol. Remote control
Teledireccin. Remote control
Telfono. Telephone
Telfono de cabeza. Earphone
Telefotografa. Wirephoto
Telgrafo. Telegraph
Telemando. Remote control
Telescopio. Telescope

Teletipo. Teletype
Televisin. Television
Temperatura. Temperature
Temperatura absoluta. Temperature, absolute
Temperatura caracterstica. Characteristic temperature
Temperatura crtica. Temperature, critical
Temperatura de inflamacin. Flash point
Temple. Annealing
Tendencia a la dispersin en un haz de electrones.
Debunching
Tensin. Tension
Tensin. Voltage
Tensin de contacto. Contact potential
Tensin de corte. Breakdown voltage
Tensin del vapor. Vapor tension
Tension de polarizacin de grilla. Bias
Tension de polarizacin de reja. Bias
Tensin de vapor. Vapor pressure
Tensin disruptiva. Breakdown voltage
Tensin excesiva. Overvoltage
Tensin superficial. Surface tension
Tensor. Tensor
Teodolito. Theodolite
Teora cintica. Kinetic theory
Teora de bandas de energa. Band theory
Teorema de la compensacin. Compensation theorem
Teora de la informacin. Information theory
Teora del transporte. Transport theory
Termal. Thermal
Trmico. Thermal
Terminal. Terminal
Termin. Thermion
Trmino. Term
Trmino impar. Odd term
Trmino medio. Average
Termistencia. Thermistor
Termistor. Thermistor
Termocupla. Thermocouple
Termodinmico. Thermodynamic
Termoelstico. Thermoelastic
Termoelctrico. Thermoelectric
Termoelectrn. Thermion
Termoinico. Thermionic
Termoluminiscencia. Thermoluminescence
Termometra. Thermometry
Termmetro. Thermometer
Termonuclear. Thermonuclear
Termopar. Thermocouple
Termstato. Thermostat
Tierra. Earth
Tierra. Ground
Tierra elctrica. Ground
Tierras raras. Rare earth
Tiempo. Time
Tiempo de acceso. Access time
Tiempo de paso. Transit time
Tiempo de recuperacin. Recovery time
Tiempo de retorno. Kickback
Tipo. Class
Tipo. Standard
Tirante. Beam
Tiratrn. Thyratron
Tirita. Thyrite
Toma central. CT.
Toma de tierra. Ground
Tono. Pitch
Tono. Tone
Tono de color. Hue

1354

Tormenta Vlvula
Tormenta. Storm
Tormenta de arena. Dust storm
Tornados. Tornadoes
Tornillo. Screw
Tornillo conductor. Lead screw
Tornillo de guia. Lead screw
Tornillo patrn. Lead screw
Toro. Anchor ring
Toroidal. Toroidal
Torsin. Torsion
Total. Total
Trabajo. Work
Trabajo de salida. Work function
Trabajo en fro. Cold work
Traccin. Tension
Trama. Line
Trama. Rster
Trampa. Trap
Transadmitancia. Transadmittance
Transcendental. Transcendental
Transconductancia. Mutual conductance
Transconductancia. Transconductance
Transductor. Transducer
Transductor electromagntico que transforma un impulso
elctrico en otro mecnico registrable en un disco.
Cutter
Transferencia. Transfer
Transformacin. Transformation
Transformacin afn. Transformation, affine
Transformacin beta. Beta decay
Transformacin cannica. Canonical transformation
Transformacin colineal. Transformation, similarity
Transformada. Transform
Transformador. Transformer
Transformador acoplador. Coupling transformer
Transicin. Transition
Transicin permitida. Allowed transition
Transicin permitida. Transition, allowed
Transicin prohibida. Forbidden transition
Transistor. Transistor
Transistor unipolar con mando de electrones por campo
electrosttico. Fieldistor
Trnsito. Transit
Transitorio. Transient
Transmisin multiplex. Multiplex
Transmisividad. Transmissivity
Transmisor. Transmitter
Transmitancia. Transmittance
Transmitencia. Transmittance
Transportado. Carrier
Transporte. Migration
Traspaso. Transfer
Tratar andicamente. Anodize
Travesa. Transit
Trayectoria. Path
Trayectoria. Trajectory
Tren de ondas. Wave train
Tres. Three
Tri-. ThreeTringulo. Mesh
Tringulo. Triangle
Tringulo esfrico. Triangle, spherical
Triboluminiscencia. Triboluminescence
Trifsico. Three-phase
Triodo. Triode
Triple. Triple
Trocoide. Trochoid
Tropa acstica. Acoustic horn

Troposfera. Troposphere
Troposfrico. Tropospheric
Trueno. Thunder
Tubo. Duct
Tubo. Tube
Tubo al vaco. Tube, electron
Tubo al vaco. Tube, vacuum
Tubo ballast . Ballast tube
Tubo capilar (noun). Capillary
Tubo contador. Alpha
Tubo contador. Counter
(Tubo) contador de partculas alfa. Alpha counter
Tubo de aceleracin. Accelerating tube
Tubo de descarga. Discharge tube
Tubo de Pitot. Pitot tube
Tubo de propagacin de ondad. Tube, traveling-wave
Tubo de rayos catdicos. Cathode-ray tube
Tubo electrnico. Electron tube
Tubo enderezado de vapor de mercurio. Capacitron
Tubo fotomultiplicador. Photomultiplier
Turbidmetro. Turbidimeter
Turbulencia. Turbulence
Turmalina. Tourmaline
U.E.S. ESU
Ultracentrfuga. Ultracentrifuge
Ultramicroscopio. Ultramicroscope
Ultrasnico. Ultrasonic
Urna. Amu
Umbra. Umbra
Umbral. Level above threshold
Umbral. Threshold
Umbral posterior. Back porch
Uni. Uni
Uniaxial. Uniaxial
Unixico. Uniaxial
Unico. Single
Unidad. Unit
Unidad absoluta. Unit, absolute
Unidad de masa atmica. Atomic mass unit
Unidad de peso atmico. Awu
Unidad derivada. Unit, derived
Unidades. Length, units of
Unidad-X. X-ray unit
Unido en tandem. Tandem
Uniforme. Uniform
Unilateral. Unilateral
Unin. Bond
Unin. Junction
Univariante. Univariant
Universal. Universal
Universo. Universe
Utrarrojo. Infrared
Vacancia. Vacancy
Vaciada (noun). Melt
Vaco. Vacuum
Vacuo. Vacuum
Vahos. Fume
Valencia. Valence
Valor. Value
Valor de la energa. Energy level
Valor medio. Mean value
Valor propio. Eigenvalue
Vlvula. Tube
Vlvula ballast . Ballast tube

Vlvula Zwitterin

1355
Vlvula de descarga. Discharge tube
Vlvula de onda progresiva. Tube, traveling-wave
Vlvula de vaco. Tube, vacuum
Vlvula elctrica. Tube, electrn
Vlvula electrnica. Electron tube
Vlvula manija de pasador . Door-knob tube
Vlvula reguladora. Ballast tube
Valvula termoinica. Tube, vacuum
Vapor. Steam
Vapor. Vapor
Vapores. Fume
Vapor saturado. Vapor, saturated
Variabilidad. Variability
Variable. Variable
Variable compleja. Complex variable
Variar de intensidad. Fade
Varilla. Stem
Varimetro. Variometer
Varistor. Varistor
Vstago. Stem
Vatihormetro. Watthourmeter
Vatmetro. Wattmeter(s)
Vatio. Watt
Vatimetro. Wattmeter(s)
Velado. Fog
Velamen. Airfoil
Velocidad. Rate
Velocidad. Speed
Velocidad. Velocity
Velocidad angular. Velocity, angular
Velocidad de fase. Phase velocity
Velocidad de fase de las ondas. Wave(s), phase velocity
of
Velocidad de grupo. Group velocity
Velocidad de la onda. Wave velocity
Velocidad relativista. Relativistic velocity
Veneno. Poison
Vrtice. Apex
Vector. Vector
Vector axial. Axial vector
Vector polar. Polar vector
Vector propio. Eigenvector
Vector unitario. Vector, unit
Vertical. Vertical
Vrtice. Vertex
Vibracin. Vibration(s)
Vibracin reticular. Lattice vibration
Vibrador. Vibrator
Vida. Life

Vida media. Lifetime

Video. Video
Vidrio. Glass
Viento. Wind
Vientre. Loop
Viga. Beam
Vigueta de hierro. Beam
Virtual. Virtual
Viscosidad. Viscosity
Viscosmetro.

Viscosimeter

Visibilidad. Visibility
Vitreo. Vitreous
Vocoder. Vocoder
Voder. Voder
Volante. Flywheel
Voltil. Volatile
Voltaje. Voltage
Voltaje crtico. Critical potential
Voltaje de polarizacin de rejilla. Grid bias
Voltaje inverso mximo. Voltage, inverse peak
Voltampermetro. Wattmeter(s)
Voltmetro. Voltmeter(s)
Voltmetro de tubo elctronico. Vacuum-tube voltmeter
Voltmetro de vlvula termoinica. Vacuum-tube volt
meter
Voltmetro electrosttico. Voltmeter, electrostatic
Voltio. Volt
Volumen. Volume
Volumen crtico. Critical volume
Volumen desplazador. Displacement
Vrtice. Vortex
Vrtice anular. Vortex ring
Vorticidad. Vorticity
Vuelo de regreso. Kickback
Vuelo de retorno. Kickback

Wattimetro. Wattmeter(s)
Wronskiano. Wronskian
Zumbido. Hum
Zona de baja. Low
Zona de baja presin. Low
Zona de depresin. Low
Zona de las calmas ecuatoriales.
Zone activa. Core
Zwitterin. Zwitterin

Doldrums