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Printable Glossary

A

Abrasion Resistance - A measure of the ability of a wire, wire covering or material to resist surface wear or damage by mechanical means.

Accelerated Life Test - A test in which certain conditions such as voltage, temperature, etc., to which a cable or material is subjected are increased in magnitude above normal operating values to obtain observable deterioration in a reasonable period of time, and thereby provide a relative measure of the probable cable or material life under operating voltage, temperature, etc.

Accelerator - A chemical additive which hastens a chemical reaction under given conditions, known also as a Promotor or Sensitizer.  It is commonly used in plastics and rubber compounding to reduce curing time.

Acceptance test - A test made to demonstrate the degree of compliance with specified requirements.

Adjacent Conductor - Any conductor next to another conductor in the same multi-conductor cable layer or in adjacent layers.

Admittance - The measure of ease with which an alternating current flows in a curcuit.  The reciprocal of impedance.

Aging - The change in properties of material with time under specific conditions.

Aircraft Ignition Cable - High tension cable for ignition systems of internal combustion aircraft engines.

Air Spaced Coaxial Cable - One in which air is essentially the dielectric material.  Spirally wound synthetic filaments, beads, or braided filaments may be used to center the conductor.

Alloy - A metal formed by combining two or more other metals.

Alternating Current - Electric current that periodically and regularly reverses its direction.  The frequency of the change in flow is expressed in cycles per second (Hertz or Hz).

Ambient Temperature - The temperature of a medium, such as gas or liquid, surrounding an object.

American Wire Gauge (AWG) - The standard system used for designating wire diameter.  Also referred to as the Brown and Sharp (B & S) wire gauge.

Ampere - The unit expressing the rate of flow of an electrical current.  One ampere is the current flowing through one ohm of resistance at one volt potential.

Ampere's Rule - Current in a certain direction is equivalent to the motion of positive charges in that direction. The magnetic flux generated by the current in a wire encircles the current in the counter-clockwise direction when it is approaching the observer.

Annealed Wire - Wire which has been softened by heating.  Sometimes referred to as soft drawn wire.

Anti-Oxidant - Substance which prevents or slows down degradation due to oxidation.

Arc Resistance - Having resistive properties to an arc establishing a conductive path.

ASTM - Abbreviation for American Society for Testing and Materials.

Attenuation - Relative power loss in an electrical system.  Applied to coaxial cables, the power drop or signal loss in a circuit, expressed in decibels, dB.

AWM - Designation for Appliance Wiring Material.

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