Electrostriction

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A process in specific solids that results in physical deformation when exposed to an electric field occurs due to the material's inherent characteristics
2. This phenomenon describes how certain materials alter their dimensions under the influence of electric fields, reflecting internal property changes
3. A phenomenon in materials where a change in size or shape occurs when an electric field is applied, resulting from the intrinsic properties of the material

Etymology: Electrostriction is a compound of "electro-", from "electricity" (itself from New Latin "electricus", coined in the 1600s from the Greek "ēlektron", amber, because rubbed amber attracts light objects), and "-striction", from Latin "strictio", a drawing tight, from "stringere", to bind or draw tight. The pairing describes a material that contracts or deforms when an electric field is applied. The concept was named in the nineteenth century, when physicists began studying how electric fields change the shape of insulating materials. Unlike piezoelectricity, the effect does not depend on the direction of the field: a material that is electrostrictive will deform the same way whether the field points one way or the other, because the strain scales with the square of the field strength. The term is a technical coinage rather than an ordinary word with a long life in common speech. Its meaning has stayed close to its construction: "electro" for the field, "striction" for the squeezing or tightening of the material.