Short circuit

A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no (or a very low) electrical impedance is encountered. The electrical opposite of a short circuit is an "open circuit", which is an infinite resistance between two nodes. It is common to misuse "short circuit" to describe any electrical malfunction, regardless of the actual problem.

Definition

A short circuit is an abnormal connection between two nodes of an electric circuit intended to be at different voltages. This results in an excessive electric current limited only by the Thévenin equivalent resistance of the rest of the network and potentially causes circuit damage, overheating, fire or explosion. Although usually the result of a fault, there are cases where short circuits are caused intentionally, for example, for the purpose of voltage-sensing crowbar circuit protectors.

In circuit analysis, a short circuit is a connection between two nodes that forces them to be at the same voltage. In an ideal short circuit, this means there is no resistance and no voltage drop across the short. In real circuits, the result is a connection with almost no resistance. In such a case, the current is limited by the rest of the circuit.

Lazy evaluation

In programming language theory, lazy evaluation, or call-by-need is an evaluation strategy which delays the evaluation of an expression until its value is needed (non-strict evaluation) and which also avoids repeated evaluations (sharing). The sharing can reduce the running time of certain functions by an exponential factor over other non-strict evaluation strategies, such as call-by-name.

The benefits of lazy evaluation include:

  • Performance increases by avoiding needless calculations, and error conditions in evaluating compound expressions
  • The ability to construct potentially infinite data structures
  • The ability to define control flow (structures) as abstractions instead of primitives
  • Lazy evaluation is often combined with memoization, as described in Jon Bentley's Writing Efficient Programs. After a function's value is computed for that parameter or set of parameters, the result is stored in a lookup table that is indexed by the values of those parameters; the next time the function is called, the table is consulted to determine whether the result for that combination of parameter values is already available. If so, the stored result is simply returned. If not, the function is evaluated and another entry is added to the lookup table for reuse.

    Short circuit (disambiguation)

    A short circuit is a type of malfunction of an electrical circuit, or a hydraulic condition in a basin or unit process in which the actual flow time of water through the basin or unit process volume divided by peak hourly flow. Short Circuit may also refer to:

  • Short Circuit (1986 film), a film about a robot that comes to life
  • Short Circuit (video game), based on the film
  • Short Circuit 2 (1988), the film's sequel
  • Short Circuit (1943 film), an Italian film
  • Short Circuit (album), a 2003 album by Japanese techno group I've Sound
  • Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus, a 1978 compilation album of English punk and reggae
  • A song by Daft Punk from their 2001 house album Discovery (Daft Punk album)
  • See also

  • Open circuit (disambiguation)
  • Short-circuit evaluation
  • Podcasts:

    PLAYLIST TIME:

    Latest News for: short-circuit

    Direct economics — the great Maga experiment

    Financial Times 05 Apr 2025
    The arbitrariness of the tariffs is a feature not a bug in the plan to short-circuit the financial establishment ....

    Satya Nadella shares when 3 Microsoft CEOs walk into a room on Microsoft’s 50th anniversary and get interviewed

    The Times of India 05 Apr 2025
    Your enthusiasm is legendary, but do you ever worry that your energy might short-circuit the AI? I mean, even robots need a coffee break after your pep talks.”— satyanadella (@satyanadella) To this, Ballmer responded, “Come on, dude.

    Ghaziabad: At least six trucks gutted, farmhouse damaged in two major fires

    Hindustan Times 04 Apr 2025
    Two vehicles were also gutted in the fire that is believed to have started from a short-circuit ... banquet hall, was gutted in the blaze, suspected to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit.

    Top-rated Cinema Columbus Film Festival to showcase indie-screen scene

    The Columbus Dispatch 04 Apr 2025
    Salute Your Shorts, another staple of the L.A. film fest circuit, brings in judges who have won Oscars and served at Sundance ... Approximately 50 feature-length and short films will be shown during the five-day run.

    Canadian Solar unveils 630 W anti-hail TOPCon PV panel

    PV Magazine 04 Apr 2025
    The Chinese manufacturer said its new bifacial module features a thicker 35 mm frame and 2.5 mm fully tempered glass on both sides ... The open-circuit voltage ranges from 45.1 V to 46.2 V and the short-circuit current is 12.77 A to 13.05 A ... ....

    Fire breaks out in battery gallery at A.P. Secretariat; Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directs security audit

    The Hindu 04 Apr 2025
    Government orders inquiry into the blaze that occurred in Block-2; as per preliminary assessment, short circuit is said to be the reason; further action after forensic report, says Home Minister Anitha ....

    Fire breaks out at bike showroom in Bahadurpura

    The Times of India 04 Apr 2025
    No injuries or casualties were reported.Authorities confirmed that a short circuit sparked the blaze ... .

    Federal judge rules action against NEA unnecessary after it backed off bans on gender ideology

    Newsday 04 Apr 2025
    U.S ... “If the Court enjoins the NEA from imposing an eligibility bar at this juncture, it will in effect short circuit the ongoing administrative review process set to conclude in a matter of days,” he continued ... Sign up ... newsday-tv-logoStreaming Now.

    What's behind the sign ban in Riverhead, plus other efforts to restrict debate at town board meetings?

    Newsday 04 Apr 2025
    "It’s a real short circuit; it closes that gap.” ... In 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ... "It’s a real short circuit; it closes that gap.”National issues debate.

    Heterojunction solar cell based on indium tin oxide buffer layer achieves 25.36% efficiency

    PV Magazine 03 Apr 2025
    This innovation reportedly resulted in a 0.1% efficiency increase deriving from optimized short-circuit current density and fill factor ... resulting in higher short-circuit current generation.”.

    Fire breaks out at boys’ hostel in Pune’s SPPU, no injuries

    Indian Express 03 Apr 2025
    The SPPU administration in Pune said the fire caused by a short circuit was extinguished quickly. .

    Tempo Catches Fire In North Kashmir’s Tangmarg; No Injuries Reported

    Kashmir Observer 03 Apr 2025
    ... destroyed after a fire broke out due to an apparent wiring short circuit in Tangmarg area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

    Tempo Catches Fire In North Kashmir's Tangmarg No Injuries Reported

    MENA FN 03 Apr 2025
    (MENAFN - Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- A Tempo Traveler bearing registration number PB01A-0198 was completely destroyed after a fire broke out due to an apparent wiring short circuit in Tangmarg ... .

    'A powerful message': Va. senators celebrate passage of their bill to block Canada tariffs

    News Leader - Staunton 03 Apr 2025
    Senate rebukes Trump's Canada tariffs with help of four Republicans ... Sens ... They called Trump's proposed 25% levy on Canadian imports "nonsensical" and showed that a president cannot short-circuit Capitol Hill in imposing tariffs ... Republican Sens.

    Timberwolves’ wild win in Denver again put end-of-game struggles on display

    Duluth News Tribune 03 Apr 2025
    All was well that ended well for Minnesota, but the end-of-game offensive incompetence continues to rear its head and is a looming threat to short-circuit any potential playoff run the Timberwolves hope to make this spring.
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