00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
| the amount of heat per unit time per area that can be conducted through a plate of thickness of a given material, differing by one unit of temperature |
| to be reflected many times, as sound waves from the walls of a confined space |
| pinch effect | |
| —n | |
| the constriction of a beam of charged particles, caused by a force on each particle due to its motion in the magnetic field generated by the movement of the other particles | |
pinch effect
self-constriction of a cylinder of an electrically conducting plasma. When an electric current is passed through a gaseous plasma, a magnetic field is set up that tends to force the current-carrying particles together. This force can compress the plasma so that it is heated as well as confined, but such a self-pinched plasma cylinder is unstable and will quickly develop kinks or break up into a series of lumps resembling a string of sausages. The pinch effect, therefore, must be augmented with other magnetic-field configurations to produce a stable magnetic bottle.
Learn more about pinch effect with a free trial on Britannica.com.