File:Electronic-Component-Potentiometer.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
potentiometer
Sign in to saveAlso known as trimpot, trimmer pot, thumb pot, thumbwheel pot, slide pot, slider pot, pot
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. In motion control systems, potentiometers are frequently used as position sensors to provide analog feedback to a controller, allowing for precise tracking of mechanical movement. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
Key facts
- Electronic component.name
- Potentiometer
- Electronic component.image
- File:Electronic-Component-Potentiometer.jpg
- Electronic component.caption
- A typical single-turn potentiometer
- Electronic component.type
- Passive
- Electronic component.symbol
- 50px (IEC standard)50px (ANSI standard)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Potentiometer.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Potentiometers
- inception
- 1887-00-00
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~24 min read
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Nomenclature
- Construction
- Resistance–position relationship: "taper"
- Linear taper potentiometer
- Logarithmic potentiometer
- Contactless potentiometer
- Rheostat
- Digital potentiometer
- Membrane potentiometers
- Applications
- Audio control
- Television
- Motion control
- Transducers
- Computation
- Theory of operation
- Failure
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. In motion control systems, potentiometers are frequently used as position sensors to provide analog feedback to a controller, allowing for precise tracking of mechanical movement. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
The measuring instrument called a potentiometer is essentially a voltage divider used for measuring electric potential (voltage); the component is an implementation of the same principle, hence its name.