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[Phys-L] Re: electric vs. electrical



Webster's Dictionary lists "electric" and "electrical" as interchanga=
ble adjectives. Thus, the choice of which to use seems to be (as you=
have surmised) the one that is more euphonious.

Mark


-----Original Message-----
=46rom: Forum for Physics Educators on behalf of John Denker
Sent: Mon 1/2/2006 5:39 PM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: electric vs. electrical
=20
Robert Cohen wrote:
Does anyone know if there is a "proper" distinction between when yo=
u use
"electric" and when you use "electrical"?

To my ears, there is a slight difference in connotation.
-- electric covers things that are electrified or directly embody e=
lectricity
("electric field", "electric motor")
-- electrical covers things that indirectly deal with electricity
("electrical engineer")

It would sound funny to say "electric engineer".

Also: it is a moving target. In the olden days people said "electri=
cal field"
but nowadays (for the last 100 years at least) "electric field" seems=
to be
the standard usage.

In particular, I'm wondering
whether it is "electric energy" or "electrical energy" and whether =
it
makes any difference.

I can't imagine it makes much difference. This is a close call.
If I were writing, I would probably say "electrical energy". If
I were editing, I would probably let electric/electrical energy
slide eee-ther way (or eye-ther way).

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

FWIW I checked three reputable dictionaries, *none* of which recogniz=
e
a systematic distinction. They all say "electrical" is equivalent to
"electric". But I think I'm right anyway.
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