Electric vs. Electrical

Edwards Finance > Electrical Engineering

Q. How to decide which of these two words to use? Example: I can say "electric cable". yet i think i can still say "electrical cable", can I? I know, on the other hand, that i cannot say "electric engineer". The proper designation is of course "electrical engineer"

A. -As the working of the thing gets more complex you move from electric to electrical. So 'an electric fire' but 'an electrical circuit'. -The adjective "Electronic" actually implies more than just the complexity of a circuit. An electronic circuit involves active "electronic" components like transistors, diodes and even vacuum tubes. "Electric[al] circuits" usually refers to passive circuits like house wiring or relay logic wiring, which would have components like switches, breakers, and relays. Electronic circuits deal with the actual management and control of electron movement using semiconductors or, in the case of vacuum tubes, thermionic emission. Electronics "uses electricity directly to control electricity". It's really a different class of device. Electrical circuits deal with the simple switching of electrical current using mechanical means. I do, however, agree that "electrical" seems to imply a greater degree of complexity than "electric". "Electric" is often used as an adjective to distinguish an object from, say, a mechanical one. So you might say "electric motor" in contrast with "hydraulic motor", or "electric shaver" to distinguish it from a manual-type razor.

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