galvanometer
an instrument for detecting the existence of small electric currents and determining their strength.
Origin of galvanometer
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use galvanometer in a sentence
As in other moving-coil galvanometers, a soft iron cylinder within the form concentrates the field of the magnet.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerTo measure a current I may use a very great number of types of galvanometers or besides an electrodynamometer.
Current-measuring instruments, or galvanometers, depend for their action on the magnetic properties of current electricity.
General Science | Bertha M. ClarkThese impulses have been measured by delicate galvanometers and magnified millions of times by modern amplifying apparatus.
Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa YoganandaAmong the galvanometers, we remarked an apparatus that was exhibited by Prof. Zenger, of Prague.
British Dictionary definitions for galvanometer
/ (ˌɡælvəˈnɒmɪtə) /
any sensitive instrument for detecting or measuring small electric currents
Derived forms of galvanometer
- galvanometric (ˌɡælvənəʊˈmɛtrɪk, ɡælˌvænə-) or galvanometrical, adjective
- galvanometrically, adverb
- galvanometry, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for galvanometer
[ găl′və-nŏm′ĭ-tər ]
An instrument that detects small electric currents and indicates their direction and relative strength. Current flowing through the galvanometer passes through a coil near a magnetized needle on a pivot; the strength of the current in the coil regulates the strength of a magnetic field that displaces the needle. Galvanometers can be used directly as ammeters, and are the core element of many ohmmeters and voltmeters.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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