Electronic-hydraulic analogies are the representation of electronic circuits by hydraulic circuits. Since electric current is invisible and the processes in play in electronics are often difficult to demonstrate, the various electronic components are represented by hydraulic equivalents. Electricity (as well as heat) was originally understood to be a kind of fluid, and the names of certain electric quantities (such as current) are derived from hydraulic equivalents.
The electronic–hydraulic analogy (derisively referred to as the drain-pipe theory by Oliver Lodge) [1] is the most widely used analogy for "electron fluid" in a metal conductor. As with all analogies, it demands an intuitive and competent understanding of the baseline paradigms (electronics and hydraulics), and in the case of the hydraulic analogy for electronics, students often have an inadequate knowledge of hydraulics.[2]
The analogy may also be reversed to explain or model hydraulic systems in terms of electronic circuits, as in expositions of the Windkessel effect.
- ^ Paul J. Nahin, Oliver Heaviside: The Life, Work, and Times of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age, JHU Press, 2002 ISBN 0801869099 page 59
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Effects of Analogical Processeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).