impedance

Definition

The electrical world's way of saying 'resistance to change,' literally. It's the total opposition to alternating current flow in a circuit, combining resistance with the fancier reactances that make engineers feel important. Think of it as the circuit's stubborn refusal to let electricity flow freely, measured in ohms and blamed for countless troubleshooting headaches.

Example Usage

We need to match the speaker impedance to the amplifier output or the sound quality will be terrible.

Source: Electrical engineering terminology

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