Meaning & use
open circuit
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Meanings
nouncountablephysics
An electrical path that has a gap or break, so that current cannot travel all the way around it.
Grammar: Often used with an or the: the lamp has an open circuit.
Patterns
- an open circuit in something
- a fault caused by an open circuit
A broken wire created an open circuit, and the lamp stopped working.
Turning off the switch makes an open circuit so no current flows.
The technician found an open circuit in the heating element.
noununcountabletechnical
The condition of a device when no load is connected, as in open-circuit voltage.
Grammar: Often used before a noun as a modifier: open-circuit voltage.
Patterns
- open-circuit voltage
- under open circuit conditions
The battery's open-circuit voltage was measured with a meter.
Under open circuit conditions, the solar cell produces its highest voltage.
Word forms
| plural | open circuits |
|---|
Common combinations
- create an open circuit
- Opening the switch creates an open circuit.
- find an open circuit
- The meter helped him find an open circuit in the cable.
- open-circuit voltage
- Open-circuit voltage is measured with nothing connected.
- test for an open circuit
- Test for an open circuit by checking continuity.
- open circuit fault
- An open circuit fault can make a whole string of lights go out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- broken circuit
- Broken circuit is the everyday wording for a circuit that has failed, while open circuit is the exact technical term.
- break
- Break names the gap in a wire itself, whereas open circuit describes the whole path being interrupted.
- discontinuity
- Discontinuity is a more general engineering word for a gap and is less common in basic electronics.
Opposites
Word family
- circuit noun
- a complete path for electric current
- closed circuit noun
- a complete circuit through which current flows
- short circuit noun
- an unintended path that lets current bypass the load
- circuitry noun
- the system of circuits in a device
Commonly confused: open circuit or short circuit?
open circuit vs short circuit
A short circuit lets too much current flow along an unintended route, but an open circuit stops current completely.
Practice
A lamp does not light because a wire inside it has snapped, leaving a gap. The lamp has an ___.
Choose one answer.
A gap in the path means current cannot flow, which is an open circuit. A short circuit would involve too much current, and a closed circuit would let the lamp work.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “open circuit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.