depolarization








noun

  1. a sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions.
  2. Optics. a state, or the production of a state, in which rays of light or similar radiation exhibit different properties in different directions.Compare circular polarization, elliptical polarization, plane polarization.
  3. Electricity.
    1. the deposit of gases, produced during electrolysis, on the electrodes of a cell, increasing the resistance of the cell.
    2. a vector quantity indicating the electric dipole moment per unit of volume of a dielectric.
    3. the induction of polarity in a ferromagnetic substance.
  4. the production or acquisition of polarity.

noun

  1. the condition of having or giving polarity
  2. physics the process or phenomenon in which the waves of light or other electromagnetic radiation are restricted to certain directions of vibration, usually specified in terms of the electric field vector
n.

1815; see de- + polarization. Related: Depolarize; depolarized.

n.

1812, from polarize + -ation, and in part from French polarisation, noun of action from polariser. Figuratively from 1871; of social and political groups, “accentuation of differences,” from 1945.

n.

  1. Elimination or neutralization of polarity, as in nerve cells.

n.

  1. The production or condition of polarity.
  2. A process or state in which rays of light exhibit different properties in different directions, especially the state in which all the vibration takes place in one plane.
  3. The partial or complete polar separation of positive and negative electric charge in a nuclear, atomic, molecular, or chemical system.
  4. The coating of an electrode with a thick layer of hydrogen bubbles, with the result that the flow of current is weakened or arrested.
  5. The development of differences in potential between two points in living tissues, as between the inside and outside of the cell wall.

  1. A condition in which transverse waves vibrate consistently in a single plane, or along a circle or ellipse. Electromagnetic radiation such as light is composed of transverse waves and can be polarized. Certain kinds of light filters, including sunglasses that reduce glare, work by filtering out light that is polarized in one direction.
  2. The displacement of positive and negative electric charge to opposite ends of a nuclear, atomic, molecular, or chemical system, especially by subjection to an electric field. Atoms and molecules have some inherent polarization.
  3. An increased resistance to the flow of current in a voltaic cell, caused by chemical reactions at the electrodes. Polarization results in a reduction of the electric potential across the voltaic cell.

The direction in which the electrical field of an electromagnetic wave points.

In politics, the grouping of opinions around two extremes: “As the debate continued, the union members were polarized into warring factions.”

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