Helix
['hiːlɪks] or ['hilɪks]
Definition
(noun.) type genus of the family Helicidae.
(noun.) a curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle.
Checker: Patty--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A nonplane curve whose tangents are all equally inclined to a given plane. The common helix is the curve formed by the thread of the ordinary screw. It is distinguished from the spiral, all the convolutions of which are in the plane.
(n.) A caulicule or little volute under the abacus of the Corinthian capital.
(n.) The incurved margin or rim of the external ear. See Illust. of Ear.
(n.) A genus of land snails, including a large number of species.
Checker: Seymour
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Coil, circumvolution, spiral line.[2]. Snail-shell.
Editor: Maynard
Examples
- Such an arrangement of wire is known as a helix or solenoid, and is capable of lifting or pulling larger and more numerous filings and even good-sized pieces of iron, such as tacks. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- In fact, the helix will be found to behave in every way as a magnet, with a north pole at one end and a south pole at the other. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- One shell, the Helix pomatia, after having been thus treated, and again hybernating, was put into sea-water for twenty days and perfectly recovered. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- If the current is sent through the helix in the opposite direction, the north and south poles exchange places. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If the magnet is passed through the helix, the current is reversed as soon as the magnet passes the middle point. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- If the current could be repeatedly reversed just as the helix completed its half turn, the motion could be prolonged; periodic current reversal would produce continuous rotation. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If the motor is to be used for continuous motion, some device must be employed by means of which the helix is capable of continued rotation around its support. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- This shows that the ends of the helix have magnetic power but not the sides. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- A helix through which current flows always points north and south, if it is free to rotate. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The principle is the same if the magnet be made to approach and recede from the poles of an electro-magnet having a helix wound around a soft iron core. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Filings do not adhere to the sides of the helix, but they cling in clusters to the ends of the coil. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Schweigger of Halle discovered that this deflecting force was increased when the wire was wound several times round the needle, and thus he invented the magnetising helix. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- We saw in Section 296 that a coiled wire through which current was flowing would attract iron filings at the two ends of the helix. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If the current is sent through the coil in the opposite direction, the two poles exchange positions and the helix turns until the new north pole points north. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
Checked by Ellen