Glossary of Forgotten Electrical Language
Seed Terms
Section titled “Seed Terms”| Term | Modern Equivalent | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Radiant heat | Thermal radiation, with caution | Seeded |
| Ultra-red | Infrared | Seeded |
| Electric waves | Electromagnetic waves, often radio-frequency | Seeded |
| Candle-power | Historical luminous intensity unit | Candidate |
| Brilliancy | Luminance/perceived brightness, context-dependent | Candidate |
| Light flux density | Illuminance | Candidate |
| Counter-electromotive force | Back EMF, induced opposing voltage, or phasor voltage-drop representation | Source-located candidate page |
| Electrostatic capacity | Capacitance | Source-located candidate page |
| Susceptance | Imaginary part of admittance | Candidate |
| Effective resistance | AC resistance or equivalent real-power-loss resistance | Source-located candidate page |
| Distributed capacity | Capacitance spread along a line or apparatus structure | Candidate |
| Transient term | Natural or temporary response term | Candidate |
| Condensive reactance | Capacitive reactance | Candidate page |
| Wattless component | Reactive or quadrature component | Candidate page |
| Imaginary unit j | Imaginary unit and quarter-period AC operator | Candidate page |
Glossary pages should preserve Steinmetz’s usage before translating into modern terms.
Promoted Term Pages
Section titled “Promoted Term Pages”These pages now have source-located OCR anchors and should be scan-verified next:
Glossary Method
Section titled “Glossary Method”Each term needs three layers before it becomes canonical:
- Steinmetz usage with exact source location.
- Modern engineering equivalent, including whether the term was renamed or narrowed.
- Conceptual warning notes where modern shorthand hides the original physical picture.
First Cross-Source Clusters
Section titled “First Cross-Source Clusters”Radiation and Illumination
Ultra-red, ultra-violet, radiant heat, candle-power, brilliancy, light flux, light flux density, and illumination belong together. They show the move from physical radiation to physiological visibility.
AC Symbolic Language
Impedance, reactance, admittance, conductance, susceptance, condensive reactance, the imaginary unit j, and wattless components should be defined together. The important question is how Steinmetz keeps the geometry and the physical phase relation visible.
Transient and Field Language
Transient term, distributed capacity, electric field, line oscillation, traveling wave, reflection, and inductive discharge need exact anchors in the transient sources before interpretation is added.