Electrical Engineering/Nominal voltage

Advertisement

Expert: John F. Iannuzzi - 9/10/2006


Question
Hi,
I faced the term "Nom. voltage" in more than one electrical instrument manual, in some places they say that the specific equipment works under 18 to 36 Vdc 24V nom. , my question is what do they mean by nom?

Answer
Nominal voltage is the "normal" voltage that one can expect to measure at any given test point.  In the example that you give, the system is usually measured to be 24 volts but conditions may exist that allow the voltage to change around the "nominal" value.  The change can be as low as 18Vdc or as high as 36 Vdc.  Systems connected should be designed to tolerate that specified voltage swing.

John

Electrical Engineering

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

John F. Iannuzzi

Expertise

I can answer questions concerning analog and digital circuit design/analysis, switching power supplies, Digital Signal Processing, LASERs, optics and bar code scanning. I can also answer questions about sensors, data acquisition, embedded systems and programming/interfacing to PC based systems.

Experience

I have over 20 years in the electronics industry. I have designed electronic systems for the Aerospace, Nuclear and Material Handling industries. Strong circuit design and analytical skills.

Organizations
IEEE Senior member,(Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)

Education/Credentials
BS Physics, Drexel University

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.