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Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................v Staff ........................................................................................................................vi HowtoUsetheDictionary .............................................................................vii FieldsandTheirScope ....................................................................................ix PronunciationKey .............................................................................................xi A-ZTerms ......................................................................................................1-626 Appendix ....................................................................................................627-643 EquivalentsofcommonlyusedunitsfortheU.S. CustomarySystemandthemetricsystem ......................................629 ConversionfactorsfortheU.S.CustomarySystem, metricsystem,andInternationalSystem .......................................630 Specialconstants ....................................................................................634 Electricalandmagneticunits ................................................................635 Dimensionalformulasofcommonquantities .....................................635 Internalenergyandgeneralizedwork ...................................................636 Generalrulesofintegration ...................................................................637 Schematicelectronicsymbols ...............................................................639 Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Preface TheMcGraw-HillDictionaryofEngineeringprovidesacompendiumofmorethan 18,000termsthatarecentraltothevariousbranchesofengineeringandrelated fieldsofscience.ThecoverageinthisSecondEditionisfocusedonbuilding construction,chemicalengineering,civilengineering,controlsystems,design engineering,electricityandelectronics,engineeringacoustics,industrialengi- neering, mechanics and mechanical engineering, systems engineering, and thermodynamics.Manynewentrieshavebeenaddedsincethepreviousedition withothersrevisedasnecessary.Manyofthetermsusedinengineeringare oftenfoundinspecializeddictionariesandglossaries;thisDictionary,however, aims to provide the user with the convenience of a single, comprehensive reference. AllofthedefinitionsaredrawnfromtheMcGraw-HillDictionaryofScientificand TechnicalTerms,SixthEdition(2003).Eachdefinitionisclassifiedaccordingto thefieldwithwhich itisprimarilyassociated;ifitis usedinmorethanone area,itisidenfifiedbythegenerallabel[ENGINEERING].Thepronunciationof each term is provided along with synonyms, acronyms, and abbreviations whereappropriate.AguidetotheuseoftheDictionaryappearsonpagesvii andviii,explainingthealphabeticalorganizationofterms,theformatofthe book,crossreferencing,andhowsynonyms,variantspellings,abbreviations, andsimilarinformationarehandled.ThePronunciationKeyisgivenonpage xi. The Appendix provides conversion tables for commonly used scientific unitsaswellaslistingsofusefulmathematical,engineering,andscientificdata. Itistheeditors’hopethattheSecondEditionoftheMcGraw-HillDictionaryof Engineering will serve the needs of scientists, engineers, students, teachers, librarians,andwritersforhigh-qualityinformation,andthatitwillcontribute toscientificliteracyandcommunication. MarkD.Licker Publisher v Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Staff MarkD.Licker,Publisher—Science ElizabethGeller,ManagingEditor JonathanWeil,SeniorStaffEditor DavidBlumel,StaffEditor AlyssaRappaport,StaffEditor CharlesWagner,DigitalContentManager ReneeTaylor,EditorialAssistant RogerKasunic,VicePresident—Editing,Design,andProduction JoeFaulk,EditingManager FrankKotowski,Jr.,SeniorEditingSupervisor RonLane,ArtDirector ThomasG.Kowalczyk,ProductionManager PamelaA.Pelton,SeniorProductionSupervisor HenryF.Beechhold,PronunciationEditor ProfessorEmeritusofEnglish FormerChairman,LinguisticsProgram TheCollegeofNewJersey Trenton,NewJersey vi Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. How to Use the Dictionary ALPHABETIZATION. The terms in the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering, Second Edition, are alphabetized on a letter-by-letter basis; word spacing, hyphen,comma,solidus,andapostropheinatermareignoredinthesequenc- ing.Forexample,anorderingoftermswouldbe: abat-vent ADP Ablock airband Abneylevel airblasting FORMAT. Thebasicformatforadefiningentryprovidestheterminboldface, thefieldissmallcapitals,andthesingledefinitioninlightface: term [FIELD]Definition. A field may be followed by multiple definitions, each introduced by a bold- facenumber: term [FIELD]1.Definition.2.Definition.3.Definition. Atermmayhavedefinitionsintwoormorefields: term [CIVENG]Definition. [ENGACOUS]Definition. Asimplecross-referenceentryappearsas: term Seeanotherterm. Acrossreferencemayalsoappearincombinationwithdefinitions: term [CIVENG]Definition. [ENGACOUS]Definition. CROSS REFERENCING. A cross-reference entry directs the user to the definingentry.Forexample,theuserlookingup“accessflooring”finds: accessflooring Seeraisedflooring. The user then turns to the “R” terms for the definition. Cross references are alsomadefromvariantspellings,acronyms,abbreviations,andsymbols. ARL Seeacceptablereliabilitylevel. arriswise Seearrisways. at Seetechnicalatmosphere. ALSOKNOWNAS...,etc.Adefinitionmayconcludewithamentionofa synonymoftheterm,avariantspelling,anabbreviationfortheterm,orother vii Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. such information, introduced by “Also known as ...,” “Also spelled ...,” “Abbreviated ...,” “Symbolized ...,” “Derived from ....” When a term has morethanonedefinition,thepositioningofanyofthesephrasesconveysthe extentofapplicability.Forexample: term [CIV ENG] 1. Definition. Also known as synonym. 2. Definition. SymbolizedT. Intheabovearrangement,“Alsoknownas...”appliesonlytothefirstdefini- tion;“Symbolized...”appliesonlytotheseconddefinition. term [CIVENG] 1. Definition. 2. Definition. [ENGACOUS] Definition. Alsoknownassynonym. Intheabovearrangement,“Alsoknownas...”appliesonlytothesecondfield. term [CIVENG]Alsoknownassynonym. 1.Definition. 2.Definition. [ENGACOUS]Definition. Intheabovearrangement,“Alsoknownas...”appliestobothdefinitionsin thefirstfield. term Alsoknownassynonym. [CIVENG]1.Definition. 2.Definition. [ENGACOUS]Definition. In the above arrangement, “Also known as ...” applies to all definitions in bothfields. viii Fields and Their Scope buildingconstruction—Thetechnologyofassemblingmaterialsintoastruc- ture,especiallyonedesignatedforoccupancy. chemical engineering—A branch of engineering which involves the design andoperationofchemicalplants. civil engineering—The planning, design, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures and ground facilities for industry, for transportation, for use andcontrolofwater,foroccupancy,andforharborfacilities. controlsystems—Thestudyofthosesystemsinwhichoneormoreoutputs areforcedtochangeinadesiredmannerastimeprogresses. design engineering—The branch of engineering concerned with the design ofaproductorfacilityaccordingtogenerallyaccepteduniformstandardsand procedures,suchasthespecificationofalineardimension,oramanufacturing practice,suchastheconsistentuseofaparticularsizeofscrewtofastencovers. electricity—Thescienceofphysicalphenomenainvolvingelectricchargesand theireffectswhenatrestandwheninmotion. electronics—The technological area involving the manipulation of voltages and electric currents through the use of various devices for the purpose of performing some useful action with the currents and voltages; this field is generallydividedintoanalogelectronics,inwhichthesignalstobemanipu- latedtaketheformofcontinuouscurrentsorvoltages,anddigitalelectronics, inwhichsignalsarerepresentedbyafinitesetofstates. engineering—Thesciencebywhichthepropertiesofmatterandthesources of power in nature are madeuseful to humans in structures, machines, and products. engineeringacoustics—Thefieldofacousticsthatdealswiththeproduction, detection, and control of sound by electrical devices, including the study, design,andconstructionofsuchthingsasmicrophones,loudspeakers,sound recordersandreproducers,andpublicaddresssytems. industrial engineering—A branch of engineering dealing with the design, development,andimplementationofintegratedsystemsofhumans,machines, andinformationresourcestoprovideproductsandservices. ix Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. mechanicalengineering—Thebranchofengineeringconcernedwithenergy conversion,mechanics,andmechanismsanddevicesfordiverseapplications, rangingfromautomotivepartsthroughnanomachines. mechanics—Thebranchofphysicswhichseekstoformulategeneralrulesfor predictingthebehaviorofaphysicalsystemundertheinfluenceofanytype ofinteractionwithitsenvironment. systemsengineering—Thebranchofengineeringdealingwiththedesignof acomplexinterconnectionofmanyelements(asystem)tomaximizeanagreed- uponmeasureofsystemperformance. thermodynamics—The branch of physics which seeks to derive, from a few basicpostulates,relationsbetweenpropertiesofsubstances,especiallythose whichareaffectedbychangesintemperature,andadescriptionoftheconver- sionofenergyfromoneformtoanother. x