electro-, electr-, electri-

1. The cauterization (burning) of tissue using electric current to generate heat.
2. The application of a needle or snare heated by electric current for the destruction of bodily tissue; such as, for removing warts or polyps and cauterizing small blood vessels to limit blood loss during a surgical procedure.

1. A single unit of a primary or secondary battery that converts chemical energy into electric energy.
2. A single unit of a device that converts radiant energy into electric energy, such as a nuclear, solar, or photovoltaic cell.
3. A device; such as, a battery, that is capable of changing some form of energy including chemical energy or radiant energy, into electricity.
4. A container holding materials that produce electricity by chemical action.

A battery consists of one or more electric cells.

A chair used in electrocuting criminals condemned to death or a sentence of death in such a chair.

1. One of the basic properties of elementary particles that give rise to all electric and magnetic forces and interactions; these properties are given negative and positive algebraic signs and measured in coulombs.

An electron has a negative charge, and a proton has a positive charge.

2. The amount of electricity accumulated in a body by the gain or loss of electrons.
3. An accumulation of electricity in a storage battery, capacitor, etc., which may be discharged.
4. The quantity of electricity that flows in electric currents or which accumulates on the surfaces of dissimilar nonmetallic substances that are rubbed together briskly.

A charge can be positive or negative and one positive charge can combine with one negative charge, and the result is a net charge of zero.

Two objects that have an excess of the same type of charge repel each other, while two objects with an excess of opposite charges attract each other.

1. A chopper (a device that interrupts an electric current or a beam of radiation) in which an electromagnet driven by a source of alternating current sets into vibration a reed carrying a moving contact that alternately touches two fixed contacts in a signal circuit, that periodically interrupts the electrical signal.
2. A fundamental property of matter in which it exhibits two states, positive and negative, that result in the action of electric forces in the presence of an electric field.
3. A chopper apparatus that uses an electromagnet driven by an AC source to vibrate a reed which periodically interrupts an electrical contact.

A chopper is a device for interrupting an electric current, a beam of light, or a beam of infrared radiation at regular intervals, to permit amplification of the associated electrical quantity or signal by an alternating-current amplifier. It is also used to interrupt a continuous stream of neutrons to measure velocity.

1. An unbroken path of material that carries electricity via an electrical conductor; such as, copper wire.

Electric lights, televisions, radios, and other electrical instruments function because of an electric circuit that starts at a power plant which generates electricity and ends up where people have outlets that allow the electric current to perform.

2. The path of the electron flow from a generating source through various components and back to the generating source.
3. A closed path that conveys an electric current through a conducting material which can be made of ionized gases or ionized liquids, but metals are most commonly used.

The most simple electric circuit consists of a source of electricity; such as, a battery and a conducting material as a wire

Current flows from the positive terminal of the battery through the wire to the negative terminal.

A resistor; such as, a light bulb can be added to the circuit, as can a switch that can be used to open the wire. Current flowing through the wire will light the bulb unless the switch is used to cut the circuit off.

Electric charges, at rest and/or in motion, which are the fundamental sources of electric and magnetic fields.

1. A mechanical clock with a pendulum or a balance wheel that is kept in motion by an electromagnetic switch turned on and off regularly by contacts or by an electronic circuit.
2. A clock in which the first wheel of the going train is the rotor of a synchronous electric motor whose speed is entirely controlled by the frequency of the alternating current.
3. Any clock that is operated by electric power; specifically, a clock driven by an alternating-current motor whose current has a definite frequency, controlled at the generator.
4. A clock that is powered by electricity instead of powered manually (winding) or by other sources of energy; specifically, in order to wind the mainspring or to drive the pendulum or oscillator.

A number of turns of wire used to introduce inductance into an electric circuit, to produce magnetic flux, or to react mechanically to a changing magnetic flux.

In high-frequency circuits, a coil may be only a fraction of a turn.

1. A circuit that compares two input signals, which may be digital or analog, but that always results in a digital-signal output.
2. A comparator in which movement results in a change in some electrical quantity that is then amplified by electrical means.

A comparator is a device used to inspect a gaged part (thickness of a metal sheet, a rod, or a wire) for deviation from a specified dimension, by mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, or optical procedures.

Any of various substances that allow the flow of electric current or thermal energy.

Electrical conductors are used to conduct electric current, as in the metal wires of an electric circuit.

Electrical conductors are usually metallic while thermal conductors allow thermal energy to flow because they do not absorb radiant heat and they include materials; such as, metal and glass.

A direct wire path for electric current between two points in a circuit.

A tool which joins electric conductors (various substances that allow the flow of electric current or thermal energy) mechanically and electrically to other conductors and to the terminals of apparatus and equipment.

1. A physical contact that permits electric current flow between conducting parts.
2. A metal strip in a switch or socket that touches a corresponding strip in order to make a connection for electric current to pass: "Some electric contacts are made of precious metals in order to avoid corrosion."

A heavy-duty electrical relay used to control electric power circuits.