voltaic couple

American  

noun

Electricity.

1. a pair of substances, as two different metals, that when placed in a proper solution produces an electromotive force by chemical action.

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voltaic couple British  

noun

1. physics a pair of dissimilar metals in an electrolyte with a potential difference between the metals resulting from chemical action

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Example Sentences

This combination, which is called a "thermo-electric couple," is clearly analogous to the voltaic couple, with heat in place of chemical affinity.

From The Story of Electricity by Munro, John

Or, bearing in mind the fact that an uninjured contact acts as the zinc in a voltaic couple, we might call it ‘zincoid,’ and the injured contact ‘cuproid.’

From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Bose, Jagadis Chandra, Sir

This decay is owing to the wet forming a voltaic couple with the two dissimilar metals and rusting the iron.

From The Story of Electricity by Munro, John

The so-called gilding is really Dutch metal or copper, and the silver is tin or zinc, so that the two actually form a voltaic couple.

From The Seven Follies of Science [2nd ed.] A popular account of the most famous scientific impossibilities and the attempts which have been made to solve them. by Phin, John