Hall effect

American  

noun

Physics, Electricity.

1. the electromotive force generated in a strip of metal longitudinally conducting an electric current and subjected to a magnetic field normal to its major surface.

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Hall effect British  

noun

1. the production of a potential difference across a conductor carrying an electric current when a magnetic field is applied in a direction perpendicular to that of the current flow

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Hall effect Scientific  

/ hôl /

1. A phenomenon that occurs when an electric current moving through a conductor is exposed to an external magnetic field applied at a right angle, in which an electric potential develops in the conductor at a right angle to both the direction of current and the magnetic field. The Hall effect is a direct result of Lorentz forces acting on the charges in the current, and is named after physicist Edwin Herbert Hall (1855–1938).

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Etymology

Origin of Hall effect

1900–05; named after Edwin H. Hall (1855–1938), American physicist who discovered it

Example Sentences

In the late 1800s, physicists discovered what is now called the Hall effect.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

This computation scheme is based on a combination of fractional quantum Hall effect and a superconductor.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

In 1982, scientists discovered the fractional quantum Hall effect in heterostructures of gallium arsenide, where a gas of electrons confined in a two-dimensional plane is placed under high magnetic fields.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

To date, this effect, known to physicists as the "fractional quantum Hall effect," has been observed a handful of times, and mostly under very high, carefully maintained magnetic fields.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

The Hall effect would naturally tend to make the frequency of a wave through a resisting medium change, and lengthen.

From Invaders from the Infinite by Campbell, John Wood