The Nominal Value is the stated, designed, or named value of a component or a parameter. It serves as the reference or target value for identification purposes. In essence, it's the value that something is "supposed to be" under ideal conditions. However, due to manufacturing tolerances, environmental factors, and other sources of error, the actual, measured value of a parameter will almost always differ slightly from its nominal value. For example, a resistor might have a nominal value of 100 ohms (100Ω), but its actual resistance might be 100.2Ω or 99.7Ω. The acceptable deviation from the nominal value is specified by its tolerance (e.g., ±1%). In the context of a programmable power supply, a user might set the output to a nominal value of 12.000 volts. The power supply will attempt to produce this voltage exactly, but its actual output, when measured by a high-precision multimeter, might be 12.002 volts due to its own accuracy limitations and the effect of the load. The term "nominal" is used to distinguish the intended value from the actual, measured value. It provides a common reference point for design, testing, and specification. For example, a car's electrical system has a nominal voltage of 12V, but the actual voltage when the engine is running is closer to 13.8V.
Technical Terms
Nominal (Nominal Value)
Technical Terms
Category
- Power Supplies
- 4-Quadrant
- Arc Discharge
- Accuracy
- Arc Protection
- Calibration
- Capacitance
- Common
- Constant Current (CC)
- Constant Voltage (CV)
- Continuous Short-circuit Protection
- Cutoff
- Drift
- Efficiency
- Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
- Equivalent Circuit
- Fall Time
- Floating
- Ground (earth)
- Cooling
- Impedance
- Input Current
- Input Impedance
- Input Power
- Input Voltage
- Inrush Current
- Insulation Resistance
- Intermittent Short-circuit Protection
- Isolation
- Leakage Current
- Line Regulation
- Load Regulation
- Nominal (Nominal Value)
- Operating Temperature
- Output Impedance
- Overcurrent Protection (OCP)
- Overvoltage Protection (OVP)
- Overload Protection
- Parallel Operation
- peak-to-peak
- Power Factor
- Precision
- Protection functions
- Pulse
- Ramp
- Rating
- Relative Humidity
- Remote Controlling
- Ripple
- Ripple and Noise
- Rise Time
- Root Mean Square (RMS)
- Sequence Control
- Series Operation
- Short-circuit Protection
- Slew Rate
- Stability
- Storage Temperature
- Temperature Coefficient
- Typical (Typical Value)
- Voltage Droop
- Withstand Voltage
- Digital Control Programming
- X-ray
- Computed Tomography (CT)
- Laser