ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM VOCABULARY

Alternators: A dynamo that generates an alternating current

Sentence: The battery and the alternator were finished and I was on the way out.

Blackout: Total loss of electric power from the power distributor.

Sentence: A power failure blacked out the city last night.

Brownout: A temporary reduction of voltage supplied by the electric power distributor.

Sentence: The cafe was without lights because of a brownout.

Conductor: material, such as copper wire, in which electrons can move easily.

Sentence: The wires in a circuit are made from copper which is a very good conductor of electricity.

Capacitance: The ability of a component to store an electrical charge.

Sentence: The lamp constantly charges and discharges its metal exterior, measuring a change in capacitance

Circuit: A closed loop through which charges can continuously move.

Sentence: The circuit helps electricity flow in toys.

Electrodes: A conductor through which electricity enters or leaves an object, substance, or region

Sentence: With electrodes in the brain, scientists translated neural signals into speech

Ferromagnetic: A term used to describe materials that are strongly attracted by magnetic force

Sentence: Typical instances of ferromagnetic substances are iron, cobalt, nickel, etc.

Galvanometer: device that uses an electromagnet to measure electric current

Sentence: He connected a galvanometer, a device used to measure current, to the output of the extra metal electrode

Filament: This physical component of a light bulb controls the brightness of the light.

Sentence: The filament in the light bulb burned out.