RHEOSTATS: Variety

RHEOSTATS: Variety

•  A variety of Rheostats for use in the science laboratory including: Tube  |  Open  |  Simple types.

(Wikipedia excerpt: .."...The most common way to vary the resistance in a circuit continuously is to use a rheostat.[6] Because of the change in resistance, they can also be used to adjust magnitude of current in a circuit. The word rheostat was coined in 1843 by Sir Charles Wheatstone,[7] from the Greek ῥέος rheos meaning "stream", and -στάτης -states (from ἱστάναι histanai, "to set, to cause to stand") meaning "setter, regulating device",[8][9][10] which is a two-terminal variable resistor. For low-power applications (less than about 1 watt) a three-terminal potentiometer is often used, with one terminal unconnected or connected to the wiper.

Where the rheostat must be rated for higher power (more than about 1 watt), it may be built with a resistance wire wound around a semi-circular insulator, with the wiper sliding from one turn of the wire to the next. Sometimes a rheostat is made from resistance wire wound on a heat-resisting cylinder, with the slider made from a number of metal fingers that grip lightly onto a small portion of the turns of resistance wire...")

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