My name is Daniel Khachaturyan. I am 18 years old and live in Laval. I have studied for a year and am on my 3rd semester in the pure and applied science program at Ahuntsic College. This glossary was is made in hopes to aid those who have taken an interest in electrical engineering and which to learn more. This glossary should give a basic understanding of power structures and various objects and phenomenon surrounding it.
blackout
A period of darkness (as in a city) caused by a failure of electrical power.
Example: Due to the tree falling on top of a power line. The whole area is in a blackout.
fr: coupure électrique
capacitors
A device that is used to store electrical energy.
Example: The excess energy for peek power usage is kept within the capacitors.
fr: condensateurs
circuit
The path followed by a flow of electric current.
Example: The power circuit is flowing throughout the entire house.
fr: circuit
circuit breaker switch
An electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overcurrent/overload or short circuit.
Example: A power is usually what causes these circuit breaker switches to trigger.
fr: interrupteur disjoncteur
conductor
A material or device that conducts or transmits heat, electricity, or sound, especially when regarded in terms of its capacity to do this.
Example: Copper is an excellent conducteur.
fr: conducteur
current
The movement of an electrical charge.
Example: The current of electricity is too much for the cables to bear.
fr: courant
electricity
The flow of electrons that power everyday electronics.
Example: Electricity is what power everything in this house.
fr: électricité
frequency
Rate at which something occurs or is repeated over a particular period of time or in a given sample.
Example: The balckouts are happening at a frequency previously unheard of.
fr: fréquence
fuse
An electrical safety device consisting of a wire or strip of fusible metal that melts and interrupts the circuit when the current exceeds a preset amperage.
Example: The fuse will have to be replaced after the power surge.
fr: fusible
open circuit
An electrical circuit where the current doesn't flow. Can be caused by disconnecting certain part or missing wires.
Example: The open circuit is preventing the neighbourhood from receiving power.
fr: circuit ouvert
outage
A period of interruption especially of electric current.
Example: The house had a power outage due to some road work.
fr: panne
power grid
A network of electrical transmission lines connecting a multiplicity of generating stations to loads over a wide area.
Example: The power grid is what allows the city to have power.
fr: réseau électrique
resistance
Electrical Resistance is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it.
Example: There's too much resistance preventing the current from flowing properly.
fr: résistance
smart grid
An electricity network that uses digital and other advanced technologies to monitor and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the varying electricity demands of end users.
Example: The new smart grid should simplify our search for faults when outages occur.
fr: grille intelligente
transformers
A device employing the principle of mutual induction to convert variations of current in a primary circuit into variations of voltage and current in a secondary circuit.
Example: To prevent power lines from breaking, we need to use transformers to reduce the voltage.
