commutators
Rotating electrical contacts
Commutators are rotating switches in electric motors and generators that reverse current direction, converting between AC and DC power.
The cylindrical device with copper segments contacts carbon brushes as it spins: The motor's commutators needed replacing after years of wear.
In mathematics, a commutator measures how much two operations fail to commute—how much order matters when combining them.
Bristled implements for grooming
- segmentsSeparate parts of something
- armatureRotating electromagnetic coil
- DC motorCurrent-driven rotational device
- generatorElectricity-producing machine
split ring · sparking · rotor · dynamo · rectification · windings · contact · rotation
Swapping positions of elements
- interchangeReciprocal transfer between parties
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
- swapExchange one for another
- rearrangementAltered ordering of elements
sequence · ordering · shuffling · inversion · parity · composition
Transformation scaling constants
- eigenvectorsVectors scaled by matrices
- quantum mechanicsPhysics at nanoscopic scales
- cross productBinary vector operation
brushes
Bristled implements for grooming
- segmentsSeparate parts of something
- armatureRotating electromagnetic coil
- DC motorCurrent-driven rotational device
generator · split ring · sparking · rotor · dynamo · rectification · windings · contact · rotation · electromagnetic
transposition
Swapping positions of elements
- interchangeReciprocal transfer between parties
- cycleRepeating sequence of events
- swapExchange one for another
rearrangement · sequence · ordering · shuffling · inversion · parity · composition
eigenvalues
Transformation scaling constants
- eigenvectorsVectors scaled by matrices
- quantum mechanicsPhysics at nanoscopic scales
- cross productBinary vector operation