Page 103 - Electrical Engineering Dictionary

breakaway points of the root loci break- vide nice user interfaces to deal with them.
away points on the root loci correspond to See also breakpoint instruction.
multiple-order roots of the equation.
breakpoint instruction a debugging in-
breakaway torque minimum torque struction provided through hardware support
needed to begin rotating a stationary load. in most microprocessors. When a program
Breakaway torque represents the absolute hits a break point, specified actions occur that
minimum starting torque specification for a save the state of the program, and then switch
motor used to drive the load. to another program that allows the user to ex-
amine the stored state. The user can suspend
breakdown as applied to insulation (in- the execution of a program, examine the reg-
cluding air), the failure of an insulator or in- isters, stack, and memory, and then resume
sulating region to prevent conduction, typi- the program’s execution, which is very help-
cally because of high voltage. ful in a program’s debugging.

breakdown strength voltage gradient at
breath noise the noise that is commonly
which the molecules of medium break down
produced when talking at the microphone. It
to allow passage of damaging levels of elec-
is due to breathing.
tric current.
breeder reactor a nuclear reactor in
breakdown torque maximum torque that
which a non-fissile isotopes are converted to
can be developed by a motor operating at
fissile isotopes by irradiation. Ideally, such
rated voltage and frequency without expe-
a reactor produces more fissile products than
riencing a significant and abrupt change in
it consumes.
speed. Sometimes also called the stall torque
or pull-out torque.
Bremsstrahlung electromagnetic radia-
breakdown voltage the reverse biased tion, usually in the X-ray region of the spec-
voltage across a device at which the current trumproducedbyelectronsinacollisionwith
begins to dramatically deviate and increase the nucleus of an atom. Bremsstrahlung ra-
relative to the current previously observed at diation is produced in regions of high electric
lower voltages close to the breakdown volt- potential such as areas surrounding electro-
age. This effect is attributed to avalanche or static septa and RF cavities. Bremsstrahlung
zener breakdown. It is usually specified at a is German for breaking.
predetermined value of current.
In a diode, applying a voltage greater than Brewster angle the angle from normal at
the breakdown voltage causes the diode to which there is no reflection at a planar inter-
operate in the reverse breakdown region. face between two media. The Brewster an-
gles for perpendicular and parallel polariza-
breakpoint (1) an instruction address at tions are different. For nonmagnetic media,
which a debugger is instructed to suspend the in which the relative permeability is unity,
execution of a program. the Brewster angle for perpendicular polar-
ization does not exist.
(2) a critical point in a program, at which
execution can be conditionally stopped to
allow examination if the program variables Brewster mode a bound radiative sur-
contain the correct values and/or other ma- face mode when one of the media is a plasma
nipulation of data. Breakpoint techniques are medium and has a positive dielectric func-
often used in modern debuggers, which pro- tion.

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2000 by CRC Press LLC