Definition

1. Noun:
   • A unit of electrical charge: The coulomb is the standard unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as the amount of electric charge transported by a constant current of one ampere in one second.
   • A person (Charles-Augustin de Coulomb): A French physicist renowned for his pioneering work in electricity and magnetism, most notably for formulating Coulomb's law, which describes the electrostatic force between charged particles.

Examples of Usage

• As a unit of measurement:
  • The battery stores a charge of several thousand coulombs.
  • One coulomb is equivalent to approximately 6.242 × 10¹⁸ elementary charges.
• Referring to the physicist:
  • Coulomb's contributions to electrostatics were fundamental to the field.
  • The unit of electric charge is named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb.

Advanced Usage

• "Coulomb's law": The physical law stating that the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
  • Coulomb's law is analogous to Newton's law of universal gravitation in its inverse-square dependence.
• "Coulomb potential": The electric potential associated with a point charge.
  • The Coulomb potential decreases with distance from the charge.
• "Coulomb barrier": In nuclear physics, the electrostatic potential energy barrier that must be overcome for two nuclei to undergo fusion.
  • High temperatures are required to overcome the Coulomb barrier in stars.

Variants and Related Words

• Coulombic (adj): Pertaining to electrostatic forces or interactions.
  • The coulombic attraction between the ions is strong.
• Coulombmeter (n): An instrument for measuring electric charge in coulombs.
  • The technician used a coulombmeter to verify the capacitor's charge.

Synonyms

• Unit of charge: (No direct synonym, but described as) the SI unit for electric charge.
• Charles-Augustin de Coulomb: The physicist, the namesake of the unit.

Related Phrases

• Coulomb interaction: The interaction between electrically charged particles via the electrostatic force.
  • The stability of the crystal lattice is due to the balance of Coulomb interactions.
• Coulomb explosion: A process where a molecule or cluster disintegrates due to the repulsive Coulomb forces between its constituent atoms after being ionized.
  • The intense laser pulse caused a Coulomb explosion of the molecule.

Related Idioms

(There are no common idioms directly based on the word "coulomb." It is primarily a scientific term.)

Noun

1. French physicist famous for his discoveries in the field of electricity and magnetism; formulated Coulomb's Law (1736-1806)
2. a unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second