Terminology

Terminology

Electronics has it’s own terminology and it’s impossible to avoid. We’ll try to introduce new terms as we need them, and some you already know. For example, you know that a car battery produces 12 volts even if you don’t really know what a volt is.

Volt – Measuring electrical potential

A volt is a measure of electrical potential energy. As an analogy, image a reservoir where water can flow out and over a small cliff. The height of the cliff determines the potential energy of the water. The size of the reservoir determines the total amout of energy available. A battery is like the reservoir and cliff combined; it can hold a certain amount of total energy depending on how big it is, and the voltage is like the cliff, determining how much potential energy is available.

Amp – Measuring electrica current (flow)

Ohm – Measuing electrical resistance