CURRENT, ALTERNATING (A.C.).--A low frequency current that surges to and fro in a circuit.
CURRENT, AUDIO FREQUENCY.--A current whose frequency is low enough to be heard in a telephone receiver. Such a current usually has a frequency of between 200 and 2,000 cycles per second.
CURRENT, PLATE.--The current which flows between the filament and the plate of a vacuum tube.
CURRENT, PULSATING.--A direct current whose voltage varies from moment to moment.
CURRENT, RADIO FREQUENCY.--A current whose frequency is so high it cannot be heard in a telephone receiver. Such a current may have a frequency of from 20,000 to 10,000,000 per second.
CURRENTS, HIGH FREQUENCY.--(1) Currents that oscillate from 10,000 to 300,000,000 times per second. (2) Electric oscillations.
CURRENTS, HIGH POTENTIAL.--(1) Currents that have a potential of more than 10,000 volts. (2) High voltage currents.
CYCLE.--(1) A series of changes which when completed are again at the starting point. (2) A period of time at the end of which an alternating or oscillating current repeats its original direction of flow.
DAMPING.--The degree to which the energy of an electric oscillation is reduced. In an open circuit the energy of an oscillation set up by a spark gap is damped out in a few swings, while in a closed circuit it is greatly prolonged, the current oscillating 20 times or more before the energy is dissipated by the sum of the resistances of the circuit.
DECREMENT.--The act or process of gradually becoming less.