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Most people would refer to computers as being electronic, whereas a flashlight would be described as electric. I know the general difference (electronic devices use transistors?), but what is it exactly, and how did the second term even come into existence? Why not just use electric for both? |
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The distinction comes from the two fields of electrical engineering and electronics (which some consider a subset of the former). Electronics refers to technology that works by controlling the motion of electrons in ways that go beyond electrodynamic properties like voltage and current. That is, electrical technology would work the same if you replaced electrons by some other charge-carrying particles, but electronic technology depends on the specific properties of electrons themselves, such as in semiconductor medium. Because electronic devices are typically used for representing and manipulating information, this makes for a simple rule of thumb for distinguishing electrical and electronic. Typically, if something uses electricity merely as energy, it is electrical, while if it uses electricity as the medium for manipulating information, it is almost surely electronic. |
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The distinction for the two words you are referring to is with regards to the complexity of the circuit which uses electricity. A flashlight is a very simple system. It doesn't primarily feature integrated circuits or digital logic or any advanced circuitry. It uses electricity thus it is "electric". A computer is an extremely complex circuit. Most people can't begin to grasp the concept of a CPU from the perspective of a current-flow device. An electrician can't just hook it up to the power mains. At some point along the complexity spectrum a device ceases to be merely electric and becomes electronic. Note: I think this also requires integrated circuits and the like. I don't imagine that anyone would refer to the power grid as electronic (though some components of it are). Consider these cases: * An electric chair * An electronic chair The first is a chair which predominantly features electricity. The second is a chair which has some feature made of a complex circuit (for example, the seats in cars which are automatically-adjusting).
The first is a run of the mill toaster. The second is a toaster that lets you program in an image to burn into the toast, and which sends you an email when the toast is done. |
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