Dictionary of Electronics Terms
"A" "B" "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M",
"N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z"

'La' to 'Ld', 'Le' to 'Lil', 'Lim' to 'Ln', 'Lo' to 'Log', 'Log' to 'Lz',

Ladder. A circuit structure using components connected in a chain. A filter. There are two common resistor ladder networks employed in circuit designs, an R2R Ladder and a binary weighted ladder.

Ladder Attenuator. An attenuator circuit that uses a series of components to produce known ratios of values.

Ladder Diagram. A method of showing circuit interconnection using relay contacts, used in industrial engineering. It's the same term as Ladder Logic. Refer to the ladder diagram to the right.

Ladder Filter. A type of Passive Filter.

Lag. The relative time delay between two successive events. The amount one wave is behind another in time; expressed in electrical degrees. Also refer to Phase [Angle]. The difference in time between when a circuit or system transmits a signal and when the far end receives the signal.

Lagging Current. The difference in phase between a current and the voltage that produced it.

Lagging Load. An inductive load that causes the current to lag behind the voltage in phase. A load that is primarily reactive, rather than capacitive.

Laminate. A product made by bonding two or more layers together, usually of different materials, under heat and pressure to form a single structure. The term used to describe the Fabrication of a Printed Circuit Board [PCB].

Laminated Core. A core built up from thin sheets of metal insulated from each other and used in transformers. Read more on transformer cores.

Lamp. A component that produces light, also see Manufacturers of Lamps [a number of styles].

Lamp Driver. An IC designed to supply the current required by a lamp or other device. Also refer to Manufacturers of LED and Lamp Drivers

LAN. See Local Area Network.

Lands. A metallic contact area. Conductors or runs on Printed Circuit Boards [PCB's]. However copper runs are normally called Traces, while copper pads are referred to as lands. Also refer to a separate dictionary of terms relating to Printed Wiring Board Definitions. Note the copper traces are coated so they appear green, while the copper lands have solder applied so they appear silver.

Lands and Traces on a Printed Wireing Board
PWB Lands

Lanyard. A cord attached to a connector dust cap to insure that the cap stays attached to the connector while disconnected.

Lap Splice. [Lap Joint] A joint formed by the connecting of two or more conductors. The Lap splice is one of a number of different styles of wire splices.

Lap Wire Splice
Wire Lap Splice

Lap Winding. An armature winding in which opposite ends of each coil are connected to adjoining segments of the commutator so that the windings overlap.

Laser. An acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Laser Diode Vendors.

Latch. A circuit designed to store information. A component or circuit that maintains its assumed condition until reset by an external signal. The output of a latch will change when the clock goes high but will not latch until the clock goes low. Latches are considered bad design practice in VHDL because they are unusable in synchronous logic circuits. Refer to the schematic of a Set-Reset Latch in the right side-bar. The following are integrated circuit TTL latches; 7475, 74279, 74259, 74375, 74ALS966, a 4099 CMOS IC latch.

Latching Switch. [pulse latching], A switch that remains in a preselected position whenever the actuating voltage is removed or interrupted, and holds that preselected position until a voltage is applied to another position. A mechanical switch that remains in its present position until pushed again. Related Manufacturers;
Companies making Mechanical Switches
Companies making Semiconductor IC Switches.

Latch-Up. A unintended condition occurring in an IC by the application of an improper voltage. A circuit condition when the collector voltage of a transistor does not return to the supply voltage as the transistor is switched from saturation to cut-off, remaining in its avalanche region.

Latency. A delay. The time interval between when a device requests access to a network and when it is granted access.

Lattice Filter. A filter arranged in a bridge network.

Law of Magnetism. Like poles repel; unlike poles attract.

L Band. An out dated term used to describe a range of frequencies between 1 and 2GHz. Also see Frequency Band Usage.

LC Capacitor-Input Filter. This is the most common type of filter. It is used in a power supply where output current is low and load current is relatively constant.

LC Choke-Input Filter. This filter is used in power supplies where voltage regulation is important and where the output current is relatively high and subject to varying load conditions. Also see the section on Passive Filter Definitions. Related; Choke Manufacturers.

LC Circuit. A circuit comprising a capacitor and inductor. A tuned circuit. A Filter. A frequency dependent network used to form a resonant circuit when both the inductance reactance and capacitance reactance are equal.

 
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