coherer

American  

[koh-heer-er, -her-] / koʊˈhɪər ər, -ˈhɛr- /

noun

1. a person or thing that coheres.

2. Radio. a device usually used in detecting radio waves, as a tube filled with a conducting substance in granular form, whose electrical resistance increases when struck by radio waves.

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coherer British  

/ kəʊˈhɪərə /

noun

1. physics an electrical component formerly used to detect radio waves, consisting of a tube containing loosely packed metal particles. The waves caused the particles to cohere, thereby changing the current through the circuit

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Etymology

Origin of coherer

First recorded in 1890–95; cohere + -er ¹

Example Sentences

He invented the coherer for the detection of electric waves and to him Marconi’s first wireless message was addressed.

From Scientific American • Oct. 28, 2011

I remember building my first "coherer" set, using filings from the milled edges of a nickel and a quarter.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus, ignoring the intermediate steps, we get this: whenever the sending key is depressed current flows through the coherer and performs whatever duty is set before it.

From Marvels of Scientific Invention An Interesting Account in Non-technical Language of the Invention of Guns, Torpedoes, Submarine Mines, Up-to-date Smelting, Freezing, Colour Photography, and many other recent Discoveries of Science by Corbin, Thomas W.

A, aerial; E, earth plate; F, coherer; M, multiplier; C, condenser; R, relay; B, battery; E, earth plate.

From Hertzian Wave Wireless Telegraphy by Fleming, John Ambrose

This condition is so singuarly like that of a Branly or Lodge coherer as to suggest a further analogy.

From Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants by Flammarion, Camille