vacuum tube

vacuum tube

n. Abbr. VT

An electron tube from which all or most of the gas has been removed, permitting electrons to move with low interaction with any remaining gas molecules.

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vacuum tube or valve

Noun

same as valve (sense 3)

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vacuum tube

An electron tube from which all air has been removed. The vacuum ensures transparency inside the tube for electric fields and moving electrons. Most electron tubes are vacuum tubes; cathode-ray tubes, which include television picture tubes and other video display tubes, are the most widely used vacuum tubes. In other electronic applications, vacuum tubes have largely been replaced by transistors.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

vacuum tube - electronic device consisting of a system of electrodes arranged in an evacuated glass or metal envelope electron tube, thermionic tube, thermionic vacuum tube, thermionic valve, tube acorn tube - a small vacuum tube; used at high frequencies anode - a positively charged electrode by which electrons leave an electrical device cathode - a negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device circuit, electric circuit, electrical circuit - an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow diode, rectifying tube, rectifying valve - a thermionic tube having two electrodes; used as a rectifier electrode - a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit electronic device - a device that accomplishes its purpose electronically electron multiplier - a vacuum tube that amplifies a flow of electrons gas-discharge tube - a tube in which an electric discharge takes place through a gas control grid, grid - an electrode placed between the cathode and anode of a vacuum tube to control the flow of electrons through the tube klystron - an electron tube used to generate or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the microwave region by velocity modulation magnetron - a diode vacuum tube in which the flow of electrons from a central cathode to a cylindrical anode is controlled by crossed magnetic and electric fields; used mainly in microwave oscillators pentode - a thermionic tube having five electrodes plate - the positively charged electrode in a vacuum tube television pickup tube, television-camera tube - a tube that rapidly scans an optical image and converts it into electronic signals tetrode - a thermionic tube having four electrodes triode - a thermionic vacuum tube having three electrodes; fluctuations of the charge on the grid control the flow from cathode to anode which makes amplification possible X-ray tube - a vacuum tube containing a metal target onto which a beam of electrons is directed at high energy for the generation of X rays