Glossary - Electronic and measurement
Definition
A
AC resistance
For a simple ohmic resistance, in an alternating current circuit, electric current and voltage are in phase. Thus there is no phase shift. Moreover, the resistance value is not influenced by the level...
C
Calibration
Measurement comparisons of a testing instrument with values of a defined normal following a documented procedure with the aim of identifying and file deviations. In addition it can be checked if the specified...
Capacitor testing
A capacitor consists of two isolated metal plates that are oriented opposite to each other or two metal foils that are wound up with an isolating interlayer. Its main property is the capacity. In a two-wire...
Control Software
The RS-232 interface allows the DU Meter to be connected directly to a PC, for automated operation including selection of test set-ups and downloading measurement data. Please use following informations...
D
DC resistance
In principal the electric resistance of a conductor is dependent on its temperature and the particular frequency of voltage. The frequency dependence is easy to avoid if a direct current source is used...
E
Effective resistance
For an ohmic resistance or an effective resistance R it is insignificant whether it is connected to a direct current or an alternating current source. In both operating states it shows the same reaction....
Electric and magnetic SI units
Analogies can be found between the electrical circuit and the magnetic circuit. According to the ohmic resistance, a magnetic resistance is therefore defined in a magnetic circuit. In an electrical circuit...
Equivalent Series Resistance
Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) refers to the resistance that adds to the impedance due to imperfections within the capacitor's material. If an alternating current voltage is applied on a capacitor,...
F
Four-terminal sensing
A constant current source sends a constant current to the resistor and its feed lines which is subject to...I
Impedance
For alternating current, impedance (Symbol Z) refers to a resistance, where electrical current and voltage are not in phase. Inductivities have an impedance of jωL, while capacitors have an impedance...
Impedance analysis
The impedance is an important parameter, which is describes the characteristics of electric components, circuits, and materials that are used for fabrication of components. In the era of digitalization...
Inductance Measurements
A coil is usually made up from several conductor loops connected in series with the basic property of inductivity. The conducting wire is wound up on a core. If the core consists of ferromagnetic material,...
K
Kelvin probes
Kelvin probes (Four-terminal sensing) allow measurements of light resistances with a low measurement current. This method disregards the contact resistance and the thermoelectric voltage for the measurement...
L
Leakage inductance
The term leakage inductance describes the fraction of inductivity generated by magnetic leakage flux in magnetic coupled systems. Leakage inductances usually referred to as Ls oder Lσ,...
Lenz's law
The law refers to the electromagnetic induction. The general wording is: "Induced quantities seek to constrict their origin." An induced current it always generates a magnetic field that counteracts...
M
Measurement precision
The measurement precision refers to the deviation of the measurement reading from the true absolute physical value, both, digital and analog. Therefore absolute measurement readings are examined and compared...
Measurement range
A measuring device reacts on a physical quantity, the quantity to be measured (e.g voltage) and displays a corresponding reading. If several measurement ranges are available an adequate range has to be...
Measurement speed
It is also called measurement rate or measurement frequency. The measurement speed is the frequency of measurements of a sensor. It indicates the number of measurements within a certain time (typically...
O
Oscillating circuit
An oscillatory electric circuit made up of a coil L and a capacitor C represent an oscillating circuit. Firstly, the capacitor is charged. The oscillating circuit saves electric energy in the electric...
P
Phase angle
It describes the phase shift between total voltage and total electric current. In the voltage triangle this matches the phase shift between total voltage and active voltage. For the resistance triangle...
Phase shift
In a system with several sinusoidal functions, for a definite distinction, in addition to frequency and peak value, the phase angle has to be noted. Two sinusoidal oscillations of the same frequency are...
Phases
The term phase refers to the process of deferring an oscillation from a defined point of origin. The phase is indicated as time or angular dimension. For two iso-frequent harmonic oscillations 1 and 2,...
Q
Quality factor
Quality factor (Q) or coil Q-factor is a dimensionless unit for the losses of a coil, quartz, or a resonator. For coils this refers to the ohmic losses of the coil-wire. They are inversely proportional...
R
Resistance measurement
With an ohmmeter the resistance of a component separated from the remaining circuit can be measured. The measuring device sends an electric current of defined size through the analyzed component and determines...
Resistance Meter
A micro ohmmeter is a resistance measuring device that determines the electric resistance (Unit: Ohm) in a direct current circuit. The resistance of an electrically conductive component at alternating...
Resolution
Resolution is the power of a measuring device (e. g. ADC) to discriminate between two slightly different measurement readings in a reproducible manner. In this context the absolute value is not of importance....
RLC meter
RLC-LCR-measurement devices are capable of determining the impedance of two-terminal networks. They measure electric current, voltage and phase shift and consequently derive the desired quantities, which...
S
Skin effect
At high frequencies mainly electrons at the surface of an electric conductor are excited. As a consequence, the ohmic ratio increases because limited parts of the conductor are available for the transport....
T
Transformer
With a transformer alternating currents can be transformed, meaning either amplified or reduced. In principle the transformer consists of two adjacent coils. One coil generates a magnetic field upon an...
Transformer testers
In order to determine the quality of a transformer a transformers tester can be utilized. Several measurements are required to obtain all important parameters and properties of a transformer. These are:...
Turns
It specifies the number of loops for an electromagnetic coil. The total magnetic flux in a coil is the sum of the single magnetic fluxes in each loop. For a coil with several loops the effective magnetic...
Turns ratio
Transformers are typical translators of voltages and electric currents. Transformers cannot translate direct current. The translation of input and output voltage (the current, respectively) follows from...
U
Unit prefixes
Femto f 10−15 0,000.000.000.000.001
Piko p 10−12 0,000.000.000.001
Nano n 10−9 0,000.000.001
Mikro μ 10−6...
Piko p 10−12 0,000.000.000.001
Nano n 10−9 0,000.000.001
Mikro μ 10−6...
