Libro

McGraw-Hill

Dictionary of

Engineering

Second Edition

McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto

Contents
Preface ................................................................................................... vStaff.......................................................................................................... vi How to Use the Dictionary ....................................vii Fields and Their Scope ...................................................................... ix Pronunciation Key ............................................................................... xi A-Z Terms.............................................................................................. 1-626 Appendix................................................................................................. 627-643

Equivalents of commonly used units for the U.S. Customary System and the metric system .......................................... 629 Conversion factors for the U.S. Customary System, metric system, and International System ............................................630 Special constants ................................................................................. 634 Electrical and magnetic units .............................................................. 635 Dimensional formulas of common quantities ..................................... 635 Internal energy and generalized work .................................................. 636 General rules ofintegration ................................................................. 637 Schematic electronic symbols ............................................................. 639

Preface
The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering provides a compendium of more than 18,000 terms that are central to the various branches of engineering and related fields of science. The coverage in this Second Editionis focused on building construction, chemical engineering, civil engineering, control systems, design engineering, electricity and electronics, engineering acoustics, industrial engineering, mechanics and mechanical engineering, systems engineering, and thermodynamics. Many new entries have been added since the previous edition with others revised as necessary. Many of the terms used in engineeringare often found in specialized dictionaries and glossaries; this Dictionary, however, aims to provide the user with the convenience of a single, comprehensive reference. All of the definitions are drawn from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, Sixth Edition (2003). Each definition is classified according to the field with which it is primarily associated; if it is usedin more than one area, it is idenfified by the general label [ENGINEERING). The pronunciation of each term is provided along with synonyms, acronyms, and abbreviations where appropriate. A guide to the use of the Dictionary appears on pages vii and viii, explaining the alphabetical organization of terms, the format of the book, cross referencing, and how synonyms, variant spellings, abbreviations,and similar information are handled. The Pronunciation Key is given on page xi. The Appendix provides conversion tables for commonly used scientific units as well as listings of useful mathematical, engineering, and scientific data. It is the editors' hope that the Second Edition of the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering will serve the needs of scientists, engineers, students, teachers,librarians, and writers for high-quality information, and that it will contribute to scientific literacy and communication. Mark D. Licker Publisher

Staff
Mark D. Licker, Publisher—Science Elizabeth Geller, Managing Editor Jonathan Weil, Senior Staff Editor David Blumel, Staff Editor Alyssa Rappaport, Staff Editor Charles Wagner, Digital Content Manager Renee Taylor, Editorial Assistant Roger...