I think the erm condensor is mostly used when it applies to electrolitic
capacitors.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barney Gaylord" <barneymg@mgaguru.com>
To: "The Roxter" <rocknatural@gmail.com>; "MG List" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 10:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Mgs] MGA sputtering engine and bad replacement parts
> At 12:16 PM 11/28/2009 -0600, The Roxter wrote:
>>...
>>I have always wondered why we call a capacitor a "condenser" just
>>because it's on a car.
>>....
>
> Ah, history time. The term "condenser" is not unique to automobiles
> use. The device was originally called a condenser long before it
> became known as a capacitor.
>
> According to Wikipedia, "The term [condenser] was first used for this
> purpose by Alessandro Volta in 1782, with reference to the device's
> ability to store a higher density of electric charge than a normal
> isolated conductor". Apparently Wikipedia is wrong, and that was not
> the first use of the term (or the original concept).
>
> See here:
> http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3726/is_200506/ai_n13643083/
> The term "condenser" was earlier applied to application of the Leyden
> Jar (invented 1745), used to collect and store an electrical charge,
> assumed at the time to be a condensed fluid. For the next two
> centuries, devices used to retain electrical charges were called
> condensers [and sometimes still are].
>
> More recently the device came to be called "capacitor" when it became
> easier to calculate the actual capacity of the device to store
> electrical charge, and devices were invented that had the capacity to
> store much larger charges. Now lets see if someone can find the date
> of first use of the term "capacitor" for this device.
>
> Incidentally, there is one electrical condenser that is definitely
> not a capacitor, the synchronous condenser (more like an electric
> motor with no output shaft).
>
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