an instrument for determining a potential difference or electromotive force by measuring the fraction of it that balances a standard electromotive force
2.
a device with three terminals, two of which are connected to a resistance wire and the third to a brush moving along the wire, so that a variable potential can be tapped off: used in electronic circuits, esp as a volume control
Sometimes shortened to: pot
Derived forms
potentiometry (poˌtentiˈometry)
noun
potentiometer in American English
(poʊˌtɛnʃiˈɑmətər; pəˌtɛnʃiˈɑmətər)
noun
Electricity
any of various devices for measuring, comparing, or controlling electric potentials; specif., a kind of resistor that can be varied, as in a rotary device used to control the volume of a radio, TV, etc.
Word origin
< potential + -meter
potentiometer in Electrical Engineering
(pətɛnʃiɒmɪtər)
Word forms: (regular plural) potentiometers
noun
(Electrical engineering: Electronics components)
A potentiometer is a variable resistor in which a wiper sweeps from one end of the resistive element to the other, resulting in resistance that is proportional to the wiper's position.
These variable resistors are known as potentiometers when all three terminals are present, since they act as a continuously adjustablevoltage divider.
Digital potentiometers are versatile devices that you can use in many filtering and waveform-generationapplications.
A potentiometer is a variable resistor in which a wiper sweeps from one end of the resistive elementto the other, resulting in resistance that is proportional to the wiper's position.