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Author Topic: What does U stand for? Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-07-2004 12:17 AM                        We all know I stands for intensity and P for power. We also all know that U is used in formulas for voltage. But what is the word that is abbreviated with U?  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 01-07-2004 01:27 AM                        Being the expert you are with the english language, you should know..... JJ  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-07-2004 02:10 AM                  Hmmmm... to me, "I" stands for current and "E" stands for voltage. Are you asking about what "U" stands for in a formula or as in "FU" which would mean Fuck You, Michael? >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-07-2004 02:31 AM                        I know I is current, but what I mean is not what it stands for, but from which words the abbrevaiations are actually derived from. The way I learned it, E is used as an alternative to emf when referring to the electromotive force. quote: Being the expert you are with the english language, you should know..... It may not even be an English word. Actually, I think I is derived from intensitè, but that is basically the same word as intensity. However, I can tell you that in your sentence, you should write "English" with a capital E. But what I am curious about is from which word the formula sign U is derived.  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 01-07-2004 03:05 AM                        "All right class, let us open up our dictionaries to the F section. Fuck You, a term usually used against a towering asshole, especially in conjunction with anger." Do I really have to say much more? JJ  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-07-2004 03:12 AM                        You`re still quite young, but you should be mature enough to admit that you have outmaneuvered yourself. If you take a rhetorical shot and it backfires, come up with a witty counterattack, don`t take refuge in plain aggression. Anyway, that doesn`t contain much information about the formula abbreviations.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-07-2004 03:40 AM                  I know that if “U” is used as in “U.S.A.” it’s considered an abbreviation of “United” and it’s derivation for use is obvious. But when used as a symbol like in a physics formula where “U” denotes internal energy, I haven’t got a clue. OTOH, when used as in the road sign “No U Turn” for example, while it’s still being used as a symbol, its derivation is once again obvious. Ya know what I’m sayin’? >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-07-2004 03:53 AM                        Maybe I have created some confusion here. Is it at all common in English to represent voltage in formulas with an U? In German, you would write P=UI.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-07-2004 04:05 AM                  I think it's common in English to usually represent voltage as "E". Thus: P=IE (pie) It may be "emf" in some circles and formulae. >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-07-2004 04:23 AM                        I was taught to look at the electromotive force as different from the voltage, but since the voltage results from the charges being moved by the emf, and both are given in volts, it probably makes sense to use the terms interchangeably. If it is not common to use U here, then it may be a specific German abbreviation. I always suspected it stands for something like "ungleichheit" (="inequality") referring to the potential difference. But I never found any solid information on this.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-07-2004 04:38 AM                  Yeah, that's what I learned too. Electromotive force is the "force" to make the movement of the potential difference around a circuit. Both being expressed in volts only adds to the confusion. It makes sense where the "U" came from based on what you said: quote: ... "ungleichheit" (="inequality") referring to the potential difference ... >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Gunnar Johansson Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Gothenburg, Sweden Registered: Mar 2003 posted 01-07-2004 05:27 AM                        But then it doesn´t quite make sense that it´s the same in Swedish (for U that is) but the German word is not applicable. I´ve been taught P=UI as well as U=RI, having unit Volt, but being different from E, and not entirely interchangable (but that could have more to do with being consistent and understood than a physical fact).. I´d like to argue that the question still stands, and that I, too, am intersted in the answer. Hope somebody knows.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-07-2004 08:22 AM                       Michael, I've never seen "U" used at all, but it has been more than 25 years since I studied electronics, too. The textbooks I have say either: E=IR or V=IR "E" is electromotive force (or "V" for voltage), "P" is power, "I" intensity, and "R" resistance; there was no "U". It must be something outside the United States, or something that has been implemented since I studied the subject. quote: Being the expert you are with the english language, you should know... I may be speaking out of turn, but in Michael's defense, he does ask questions when he wants to know something.  |  IP: Logged Steven Privett Expert Film Handler Posts: 208 From: Pasadena, TX, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 01-07-2004 08:31 AM                    Here's a nice wallpaper, learn it, live it.  |  IP: Logged William T. Parr Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 823 From: Cedar Park, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-07-2004 09:20 AM                     Michael I studied Electronics as recently as 10 years ago and I never saw U in any formulas I used. Did you see this in a typed ou formuala or a hand writen formula? Reason I ask is if it was a hand writen formula it may have been a V that was poorly writen to look like a U. Could you also provide the context or formula for which it was used. That may be of some assistance in finding the correct answer here. [ 01-07-2004, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: William T. Parr ]  |  IP: Logged

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