>Can anyone explain what is really a "ballast" ?
>what is exactly? when to use that word & regard to what?
>
>Tal

You could use a resistor in place of the inductor, but you
wouldn't want to; it would dissipate too much power.

But this is the essence of a "ballast": A component added
to the circuit (usually in series) to "burn off" the "extra"
voltage.  This was done in car ignition systems to supply
6 volts to the coil from a 12 volt battery.

And what you found in the dictionary probably talked about
adding weight to the boats so they would float right side
up when they didn't otherwise have their cargo aboard.  In
the same sense as the resistor, this dead weight had no
apparent function but in reality was important to have.

I might mention that the trick in the fluorescent lights
is that they don't dissipate much power, because they
use reactance rather than resistance to accomplish
their task.

Barry


Ballast is

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