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Glite Dictionary
voltage divider

voltage divider

6.8
A set of resistors connected in a line across a battery or power supply that gives a smaller output voltage
  • noun
  • /ˈvoʊltɪdʒ daɪˈvʌɪdər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : divisor de voltaje
  • The voltage divider consisted of two resistors in series, which allowed us to obtain the desired output voltage.
  • capacitive voltage divider
  • voltage divider ratio

Examples

  • So that's on our website calledallaboutcircuits.com and it's called a voltage divider calculator.

  • Well, if I did that, we said this thing's basically a voltage divider, right.

  • So let's go back to the voltage divider circuit and let's clear everything apart from that there.

  • There we go, I'm not happy with my dumb voltage divider power supply solution, but I'm smiling because it is working and will most likely work for years like this.

    Blog text (28)

  • The K5SS more than likely just replaced that with digital components/solid state semiconductor driven voltage dividers, and then the whirlpool stuff took over from there.

    Blog text (6)

  • The nominal measured value of the bootstrap-line-to-pixel capacitive voltage divider ratio is 0.51, weakly dependent on voltage.

    Academic text (2000)

  • In the example above, if the technology voltage budget is 12 V, a capacitive voltage divider ratio of 0.5 is needed so that a 12-V bootstrap pulse can shift the pixel voltage by 6 V.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Using a voltage divider is a common method in electronics to reduce the voltage to a safer level for sensitive components.

  • When designing circuits, engineers often use a voltage divider to achieve the specific voltage requirements for their applications.

Synonyms

potential divider
vsvoltage divider
  • UK
7.1

A set of resistors connected one after another that gives a smaller, adjustable voltage from a source

has the same function but is called by another term

Surface Forms

voltage divider singular
voltage dividers plural

Morphology

voltage + divider

The meaning is directly composed from 'voltage' (electric potential) + 'divider' (something that divides), so a B1 learner who knows those words can infer it is a device or circuit that divides/reduces voltage to a portion of the total. The specific technical detail (resistors in series) may be beyond general vocabulary knowledge, but the core sense is compositional and predictable.

Etymology

Voltage divider shows the simple idea of splitting an electrical 'push' called voltage into smaller parts, with the divider doing the splitting. That's why a voltage divider is a small circuit that gives a smaller 'part' of the total voltage to another device.