Glossary of engineering: A–L

This glossary of engineering terms is a list of definitions about the major concepts of engineering. Please see the bottom of the page for glossaries of specific fields of engineering.

A
Absolute electrode potential: Absolute pressure: Absolute zero: Absorbance: AC power: Acceleration: Acid: Acid–base reaction: Acid strength: Acoustics: Activated sludge: Activated sludge model: Active transport: Actuator: Adenosine triphosphate: Adhesion: Adiabatic process: Adiabatic wall: Aerobic digestion: Aerodynamics: Aerospace engineering:

Afocal system: Agricultural engineering: Albedo: Alkane: Alkene: Alkyne: Alloy: Alpha particle: Alternating current: Alternative hypothesis: Ammeter: Amino acids: Amorphous solid: Ampere: Amphoterism: Amplifier: Amplitude: Anaerobic digestion: Angular acceleration: Angular momentum: Angular velocity: Anion: Annealing (metallurgy): Annihilation: Anode: ANSI: Anti-gravity: Applied engineering: Applied mathematics: Arc length: Archimedes' principle: Area moment of inertia: Arithmetic mean: Arithmetic progression: Aromatic hydrocarbon: Arrhenius equation: Artificial intelligence: Assembly language: Atomic orbital: Atomic packing factor: Audio frequency: Austenitization: Automation: Autonomous vehicle: Azimuthal quantum number:

B
Barometer: Battery: Base: Baud: Beam: Beer–Lambert law: Belt: Belt friction: Bending:Bending moment: Benefit–cost analysis: Bernoulli differential equation: Bernoulli's equation: Bernoulli's principle: Beta particle:

Binomial distribution: Biocatalysis: Biomedical engineering: Biomimetic: Bionics: Biophysics: Biot number: Block and tackle: Body force: Boiler: Boiling point: Boiling-point elevation: Boltzmann constant:

Boson: Boyle's law: Bravais lattice: Brayton cycle: Break-even: Brewster's angle: Brittleness: Bromide: Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory: Brownian motion:

Buckingham π theorem: Buffer solution: Bulk modulus: Buoyancy:

C
Calculus: Capacitance: Capacitive reactance: Capacitor: Capillary action: Carbonate: Carnot cycle: Cartesian coordinates: Castigliano's method: Casting: Cathode: Cathode ray: Cell membrane: Cell nucleus: Cell theory: Center of gravity: Center of mass: Center of pressure: Central force motion: Central limit theorem: Central processing unit: Centripetal acceleration: Centripetal force: Centroid: Centrosome: Chain reaction: Change of base rule: Charles's law: Chemical bond: Chemical compound: Chemical equilibrium: Chemical kinetics: Chemical reaction: Chemistry: Chloride: Chromate: Circular motion: Civil engineering: Clausius–Clapeyron relation: Clausius inequality: Clausius theorem: Coefficient of performance: Coefficient of variation:\mu Coherence: Cohesion: Cold forming: Combustion: Compensation: Compiler: Compressive strength: Computational fluid dynamics: Computer: Computer-aided design: Computer-aided engineering: Computer-aided manufacturing: Computer engineering: Computer science: Concave lens: Condensed matter physics: Confidence interval: Conjugate acid: Conjugate base: Conservation of energy: Conservation of mass: Continuity equation: Continuum mechanics: Control engineering: Convex lens: Corrosion: Cosmic rays: Coulomb: Coulomb's law: Covalent bond: Crookes tube: Cryogenics: Crystallization: Crystallography: Curvilinear motion: Cyclotron:

D
Dalton's law: Damped vibration: Darcy–Weisbach equation: DC motor: Decibel: Definite integral: Deflection: Deformation (engineering): Deformation (mechanics): Degrees of freedom: Delta robot: Delta-wye transformer: De Moivre–Laplace theorem: Density: Derivative: Design engineering: Dew point: Diamagnetism: Dielectric: Differential pressure: Differential pulley: Differential signaling: Diffusion: Dimensional analysis: Direct integration of a beam:

Dispersion: Displacement (fluid): Displacement (vector): Distance: Doppler effect: Dose–response relationship: Drag: Drift current: Ductility: Dynamics: Dyne:

E
Economics: Effusion: Elastic modulus: Elasticity: Electric charge: Electric circuit: Electric current: Electric displacement field: Electric generator: Electric field: Electric field gradient: Electric motor: Electric potential: Electrical potential energy: Electric power: Electrical engineering: Electrical conductance: Electrical conductor: Electrical impedance: Electrical insulator: Electrical network: Electrical resistance: Electricity: Electrodynamics: Electromagnet: Electromagnetic field: Electromagnetic radiation: Electromechanics: Electron: Electronvolt: Electron pair: Electronegativity: Electronics: Elemental analysis: Endothermic process: Energy: Engine: Engineering: Engineering economics: Engineering ethics: Environmental engineering: Engineering physics: Enzyme: Escape velocity: Estimator: Euler–Bernoulli beam theory: Exothermic process:

F
Factor of safety: Falling bodies: Farad: Faraday constant: Fermat's principle: Fick's laws of diffusion: Finite element method: FIRST: Fission: Flow velocity: Fluid: Fluid dynamics: Fluid mechanics: Fluid statics: Flywheel: Focus: Foot-pound: Fracture toughness: Fraunhofer lines: Free fall: Frequency modulation: Freezing point: Friction: Function: Fundamental frequency: Fundamental interaction: Fundamental theorem of calculus: Fundamentals of Engineering Examination (US):

G
Galvanic cell: Gamma rays: Gas: Gauge pressure: Geiger counter: General relativity: Geometric mean:

Geometry: Geophysics: Geotechnical engineering: Gluon: Graham's law:

Gravitational constant: Gravitational energy: Gravitational field: Gravitational potential: Gravitational wave: Gravity: Ground state:

H
Half-life: Haptic: Hardness: Harmonic mean:

Heat: Heat transfer: Helmholtz free energy: Henderson–Hasselbalch equation: Henry's law: Hertz : Hexapod: Hexapod: Hoist: Horsepower: Hot working: Huygens–Fresnel principle: Hydraulics: Hydrocarbon:

I
Ice point: Ideal gas: Ideal gas constant: Ideal gas law: Identity: Impedance (electrical): Inclined plane: Indefinite integral:Inductance: Inductor: Industrial engineering: Inertia: Infrasound: Integral: Integral transform: International System of Units: Interval estimation: Inorganic chemistry:Ion: Ionic bonding: Ionization: Isotope:

J
J/psi meson: Joule:

Joule heating:

K
Kalman filter: Kelvin: Kelvin–Planck statement: Kinematics:

L
Laminar flow: Laplace transform: LC circuit: Le Chatelier's principle: Lenz's law: Lepton: Lever: L'Hôpital's rule: Light: Linear actuator: Linear algebra: Linear elasticity: Liquid: Logarithm: Logarithmic identities: Logarithmic mean temperature difference: Lumped capacitance model: Lumped element model: