A strange fluid

It is good to see that you still have your 'tongue firmly stuck in your cheek' as we say in the UK, Hansrudolf.  I must admit to not seeing the error until you pointed it out, well spotted.

 

Terry

It's clear; you need the dielectric liquid in the tank and the dialectic incantations outside the tank for the thing to work.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

Probably couldn't spell parafin either

 

John S.

Hi, strange how you read the word thats supposed to be there, although it is spelt wrong. Couldn't see it till I got to Andrew's post.

Hi There

I usually check such words if I am not sure of the meaning.

An Internet search found:
Riding upon the basic principle of dialectic fluid (That is fluid that is electrically neutral) that exhibits high heat-transfer and dissipation qualities,

 

Good enough for me.

 

So I left as is even though it could have been dielectric.

regards david

Hi David,

 

There are often mistakes on the internet, it is not infallible.  There is no such word as dielectic in the Oxford Compact English Dictionary (all 20 volumes of it).  What you saw was probably a typo. For example the following question from a forum, note the later correct spelling in the actual question (my underlining):

 

" Dielectic union between brass and black pipe

How important is it?

I'm installing a new boiler with existing black pipe. I will have brass valves (3) and brass taco air separator. Are the dielectric unions necessary? Is this a BIG deal?"

 

However, a Dialectic is:

 

Is that not what we are practising now?  It is probably worth double checking with a good print dictionary

 

Best regards

 

Terry

 

Hi There

I still think dialectic is correct.

Will ask author.

regards David

 

Oh, come on!  The correct word is clearly "dielectric" as in "dielectric constant".  A dielectric is basically an insulator - if the working fluid was not an insulator it would short out the spark.

 

There is no such word as "dielectic" but there is a word "dialectic" as in "dialectical materialism" which was the yawningly boring topic that Marxists used to drone on about.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_materialism.

 

If you look up spark erosion on Wikipedia you get the following intro:

 

Electric discharge machining (EDM), sometimes colloquially also referred to as spark machining, spark eroding, burning, die sinking or wire erosion,^[1] is a manufacturing process whereby a desired shape is obtained using electrical discharges (sparks). Material is removed from the workpiece by a series of rapidly recurring current discharges between two electrodes, separated by a dielectric liquid and subject to an electric voltage. One of the electrodes is called the tool-electrode, or simply the ‘tool’ or ‘electrode’, while the other is called the workpiece-electrode, or ‘workpiece’.

When the distance between the two electrodes is reduced, the intensity of the electric field in the volume between the electrodes becomes greater than the strength of the dielectric (at least in some point(s)), which breaks, allowing current to flow between the two electrodes. This phenomenon is the same as the breakdown of a capacitor (condenser) (see also breakdown voltage). As a result, material is removed from both the electrodes. Once the current flow stops (or it is stopped - depending on the type of generator), new liquid dielectric is usually conveyed into the inter-electrode volume enabling the solid particles (debris) to be carried away and the insulating proprieties of the dielectric to be restored. Adding new liquid dielectric in the inter-electrode volume is commonly referred to as flushing. Also, after a current flow, a difference of potential between the two electrodes is restored to what it was before the breakdown, so that a new liquid dielectric breakdown can occur.

I agree Dielectric is the correct spelling but I wouldn't trust wikipedia as far as I could throw it.

it's too easy for people who don't know what they are doing to edit it.

 

Roy.

Hi There

I don't trust Wikipedia.

The references I found were on a spark erosion website and a site about cooling a Cray super computer.

regards David

 

I have been using EDM or programming it or specifying parts to be made with it for almost 30 years professionally. In my early work I went on training courses for EDM at Mitsubishi and Japax, both major makers of EDM machines. I also built my own EDM machine to the Ben Fleming design with many modifications.

 

I have never seen the oils used in these machines labeled or called anything except dielectric oil or just dielectric, in the manuals or on the machine labels.  I hope this helps end the nonsense about other spellings in the context of EDM.  I have no knowledge of the correct use of the word "dialectic" or other applications using dielectric materials.

 

Water is used as the dielectric in wire EDM machines, just for the curious. 

 

The function of a dielectric substance in EDM is to insulate the electrode from the work until a critical energy is reached. At this point the dielectric breaks down and allows an arc to form between the electrode and the work. The energy of this arc erodes the surface of the work and leaves a crater. The process occurs many thousands of times a second. 

 

 

 

Hmm... I'm afraid that I agree with everybody else - it's wrong (and I studied linguistics...). And since the author clearly made the original error, I hope that he has the good grace to acknowledge his slightly amusing slip - which I did spot in the article. I'm afraid to say though that it did nothing more than amuse me - we see so many of these mistakes these days, all over the place - quite often propagated from one original slip-up.

 

But that said, I can see where anybody using 'dialectic' might be coming from in this instance. The Wiki definition is clearly correct, but if you look at the second principle, it says "Everything is made out of opposing forces/opposing sides (contradictions)." If we take the material to be worked on as opposing the force of the too, then the idea of a 'dialectic' between the two perhaps makes a little more sense?

 But strictly speaking, it's not the correct word - which is dielectric.

 

David

It would be nice if one could read from the introductory post what this is all about, instead we have a series of adverts obscuring the text, why cant you put the adverts somewhere else  so that people can read them if they want to instead of having them plastered all over the pages.

Dick

--di-e-lec-tric adj. --die-lect-tri-cal-ly adv.

Hi again, one thing about word spell check is that it will tell you the correct spelling it won't tell you if you have used the correct word. For an example: if you type dialectric it will give three alternatives: - dielectric,  dialectic,  dielectrics. I suppose its easy to select the wrong one when you are editing.

Hi There

I do not rely on a spellchecker for words like that.

I do search the internet.

Usually Mike Haughton's articles in MEW include a word that looks wrong.

When I check it is always right, just a word I have never heard of.

Then, I am not a chemist like Mike.

regards david

 

Hi There

I don't have adverts over the text.

Might be your browser.

regards David