Electronic terms, glossary of electronic terms, electronic terms starting from alphabet R, Collection of Electronic Definitions, electronic Acronyms and terms related to electronic industry

rms value

Rms value of an AC sine wave is 0.707 times the peak value. This is the effective value of an AC sine wave. The rms value of a sine wave is the value of a DC voltage that would produce the same amount of heat in a heating element.

 

roll-off rate

Rate of change in gain when an amplifier is operated outside of its bandwidth.

 

rotary switch

Electromechanical device that has a rotating shaft connected to one terminal capable of making or breaking a connection to one or more other terminals.

 

R-2R ladder

Network or circuit composed of a sequence of L networks connected in tandem. Circuit used in digital to analog converters.

 

radar

Acronym for "radio detection and ranging" A system that measures the distance and direction of objects.

 

radio astronomy

Branch of astronomy that studies the radio waves generated by celestial bodies and uses these emissions to obtain information about them.

 

radio broadcast

Transmission of music, voice and other information on radio carrier waves that can be received by the general public.

   

radio-frequency probe

Probe used in conjunction with an AC meter to measure radio-frequency signals.

 

RC

Abbreviation for "resistance capacitance" also abbreviation for "radio controlled" as in "RC model airplanes."

 

RC time constant

Product of resistance and capacitance in seconds.

 

reactance

Symbol "X". Opposition to current flow without the dissipation of energy. Example: The opposition provided by inductance or capacitance to AC current.

 

reactive power

Also called imaginary power or wattless power. It is the power value in "volt amps" obtained from the product of source voltage and source current in a reactive circuit.

 

real number

Number having no imaginary part.

 

receiver

Unit or piece of equipment used to receive information.

 

recombination

Process by which a conduction band electron gives up energy (in the form of heat or light) and falls into a valence band hole.

 

rectangular coordinates

A Cartesian coordinate of a Cartesian coordinate system whose straight-line axes or coordinate planes are perpendicular.

 

rectangular wave

Also known as a pulse wave. A repeating wave that only operates between two levels or values and remains at one of these values for a small amount of time relative to the other value.

 

rectification

Process that converts alternating current to direct current.

 

rectifier

Diode circuit that converts alternating current into pulsating direct current.

 

reed relay

Relay consisting of two thin magnetic strips within a glass envelope. When a coil around the envelope is energized, the relay's contacts snap together making a connection between leads attached to the reed strips.

 

regenerative feedback

Positive feedback. Feedback from the output of an amplifier to the input such that the feedback signal is in phase with the input signal. Used to produce oscillation.

 

regulated power supply

Power supply that maintains a constant output voltage under changing load conditions.

 

regulator

Device or circuit that maintains a desired output under changing conditions.

 

relay

Electromechanical device that opens or closes contacts when a current is passed through a coil.

 

relative

Not independent. Compared with or with respect to some other measured quantity.

 

relaxation oscillator

Free running circuit that outputs pulses with a period dependent or one or more RC time constants.

 

reluctance

Resistance to the flow of magnetic lines of force.

 

remanence

Amount a material remains magnetized after the magnetizing force has been removed.

 

residual magnetism

Magnetism remaining in the core of an electromagnet after the coil current is removed.

 

resistance

Symbolized "R" and measured in ohms. Opposition to current flow and dissipation of energy in the form of heat.

 

resistive power

Amount of power dissipated as heat in a circuit containing resistive and reactive components. True power as opposed to reactive power.

 

resistive temperature detector

(RTD) Temperature detector consisting of a fine coil of conducting wire (such as platinum) that will produce a relatively linear increase in resistance as temperature increases.

 

receptivity

Measure of a material's resistance to current flow.

 

resistor

Component made of material that opposes flow of current and therefore has some value of resistance.

 

resistor color code

Coding system of colored stripes on a resistor to indicate the resistor's value and tolerance.

 

resonance

Circuit condition that occurs at the frequency where inductive reactance (X_L) equals capacitive reactance (X_C).

 

reverse bias

Bias on a PN junction that allows only leakage current (minority carriers) to flow. Positive polarity on the n-type material and negative polarity to the p-type material.

 

reverse breakdown voltage

Amount of reverse bias that will cause a PN junction to break down and conduct in the reverse direction.

 

reverse current

Current through a diode when reverse biased. An extremely small current also referred to as leakage.

 

reverse saturation current

Reverse current through a diode caused by thermal activity. This current is not affected by the amount of reverse bias on the component, but does vary with temperature.

 

RF

Abbreviation for "radio frequency."

 

rheostat

Two terminal variable resistor used to control current.

 

right angle triangle

Triangle having a 90° or square corner.

 

ripple frequency

Frequency of the ripple present in the output of a DC source.

 

ripple voltage

The small variations in Dc voltage that remain after filtering in a power supply.

 

rise time

Time for the leading edge of a pulse to rise from 10% of its peak value to 90% of its peak value.

 

RL differentiator

An RL circuit whose output voltage is proportional to the rate of change of the input voltage.

 

RL filter

Selective circuit of resistors and inductors that offers little or no opposition to certain frequencies while blocking or attenuating other frequencies.

 

RL integrator

RL circuit with an output proportionate to the integral of the input signal.

 

rms

Abbreviation for "root mean square"

 

radio communication

Term used to describe the transfer of information between two or more points by use of radio or electromagnetic waves.

 

radio-frequency amplifier

Amplifier having one or more active devices to amplify radio signals.

 

radio-frequency generator

Generator capable of supplying RF energy at any desired frequency in the radio-frequency spectrum.