Analogies between Systems

Abstract

We saw in chapter 1 that transducers operate by transforming energy from one domain to another, such as mechanical to electrical in the case of a piezo-electric device. Interesting analogies exist between several of the basic types of energy or signal, and we will discuss them now in order to illuminate our later discussion and comparison of the types of transducer. It is well known, for example, that the flow of fluid through a pipe is analogous to that of current through a resistor. Consideration of such analogies is not only interesting and instructive in itself, but can have considerable practical application and can sometimes provide the insight required for the solution of a problem by transposing the problem into a more familiar domain. We will consider initially only mechanical and electrical systems, but later extend our view to all the types of energy and signal considered above. The reader is referred to the book by Shearer et al. (1971) for a comprehensive treatment of mechanical and electrical networks.