Automotive Electrical Terms To Know

Capacitance - The property of a capacitor or condenser that permits it to receive and retain an electrical charge.

Circuit – A source, resistance, and path to carry a flow from the source to the resistance and back to the source. An example is an electrical circuit. The wires (path) allow electricity from the batter (source) to flow to a headlamp (resistance) and back to the battery.

Conductor – Any material that can form a path for electrical current.

Voltage - the rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity in a circuit;

Ohms – Unit of measurement for resistance to the flow of electric current in a given unit or circuit.

Current – The movement of free electrons in a conductor

Resistance - The measure of opposition to electrical flow in a circuit.

Electromagnetism - The physics of the electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a force on particles that possess the property of electric

Electromotive force (EMF) - voltage: the rate at which energy is drawn from a source that produces a flow of electricity in a circuit; expressed in volts

Induction – The imparting of electricity to an object by magnetic fields.

Insulator - a material such as glass or porcelain with negligible electrical or thermal conductivity

Ohm’s law – Formula for computing unknown voltage, resistance, or current in a circuit by using two known factors to find the unknown value.

Amperage - the strength of an electrical current measured in amperes

Parallel circuit – An electrical circuit that has two or more resistance units wired so that current can flow through them at the same time.

Potential Energy - the mechanical energy that a body has by virtue of its position; stored energy

Semiconductors - A substance, such as silicon, that acts as a conductor or insulator, depending on its operating condition and application.

Series Circuit – A circuit with only one path for current to flow.

Series Parallel circuit – A circuit in which a series and parallel circuits are combined.

Valence ring - The outermost orbital ring of electrons in an atom.

Voltage drop – A lowering of circuit due to excessive lengths of wire, undersize wire, or through a resistance.