This is totally my interpretation, not meant to be be authoritative. To me a spark is an incandescent piece of matter, which can be incandescent for any number of reasons, including but hardly limited to electrical - I have a curtain in front of my fireplace to keep sparks from flying out and igniting the rug. But an arc is struck between two points of different electrical potential, when the gradient is sufficient to strip electrons off atoms between the two points and sufficient current flows to cause incandescence.
> From: "Speakman, Jim" <jim.speak...@uk.thalesgroup.com> > Reply-To: "Speakman, Jim" <jim.speak...@uk.thalesgroup.com> > Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 16:32:09 +0100 > To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org > Subject: Arcing & Sparking > > > Fellow Listers > > At a recent equipment design review, a discussion on arcing and sparking > indicated a lack of definitive knowledge of the difference between an 'arc' > and a 'spark'. > > Is an 'arc', basically just a long 'spark'. If so, at what point > (precisely) does a 'spark' become an 'arc'? > > Have I got it all wrong? Are they 'something else'. > > Can anyone enlighten my darkness? > > __________________________ > Jim Speakman > (Design Safety Representative (Southern Sites) > > Thales Defence Ltd > Thales Sensors > Manor Royal > Crawley > West Sussex > RH10 9PZ > > >> * Tel: +44(0)1293 644911 >> * Mob: +44(0)7968 529439 >> * Fax : +44(0)1293 644194 >> * e-mail jim.speak...@uk.thalesgroup.com >> > __________________________ > This e-mail contains confidential information for the addressee only. If a > transmission error has misdirected this e-mail, please notify us on > +44(0)1293 644911 and delete it and all copies from your system. You should > not use, disclose, distribute or copy this communication if received in > error. > > > ------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety > Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. > > Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to: > majord...@ieee.org > with the single line: > unsubscribe emc-pstc > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com > Dave Heald: emc_p...@symbol.com > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org > Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org > > Archive is being moved, we will announce when it is back on-line. > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: emc_p...@symbol.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org Archive is being moved, we will announce when it is back on-line. All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
