8. Glossary

Capacitor: elementary electronic component consisting of two conductive armatures (or "electrodes") separated by a polarizable insulator (or "dielectric"). Its main property is its ability to store opposite electrical charges on its armatures.

Dipole (electrostatics): pair of two charges of opposite sign separated by any non-zero length. A dipole can be permanent, such as a polar molecule, or induced, such as an electron cloud that deforms under the action of an external field.

Polymer: a substance composed of macromolecules, themselves made up of the repetition of numerous subunits (or monomers). The molecular structure of polymers can be either amorphous (unorganized) or crystalline (organized, in which the chains are aligned).

Viscoelastic: intermediate behavior between that of an ideal elastic solid (symbolized...