ISBN: | 978-5-5109-6462-2 |
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. A synonym is arc discharge. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on thermionic emission of electrons from the electrodes supporting the arc. An archaic term is voltaic arc as used in the phrase "voltaic arc lamp".