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Aperture vs Diaphragm - What's the difference?

aperture | diaphragm |

As nouns the difference between aperture and diaphragm

is that aperture is an opening; an open space; a gap, cleft, or chasm; a passage perforated; a hole; as, an aperture in a wall while diaphragm is in mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs; also called thoracic diaphragm.

As a verb diaphragm is

to reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.

aperture

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An opening; an open space; a gap, cleft, or chasm; a passage perforated; a hole; as, an aperture in a wall.
  • * Gilpin
  • an aperture between the mountains
  • * Owen
  • the back aperture of the nostrils
  • (optics) Something which restricts the diameter of the light path through one plane in an optical system.
  • (astronomy, photography) The diameter of the aperture (in the sense above) which restricts the width of the light path through the whole system. For a telescope, this is the diameter of the objective lens. e.g. a telescope may have a 100 cm aperture.
  • (spaceflight, communications) The (typically) large-diameter antenna used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency energy containing the data used in communication satellites, especially in the geostationary belt. For a comsat, this is typically a large reflective dish antenna; sometimes called an array .
  • (mathematics, rare, of a right circular cone) The maximum angle between the two generatrices.
  • If the generatrix makes an angle ? to the axis, then the aperture is 2?.

    Usage notes

    The aperture of microscopes is often expressed in degrees, called also the angular aperture, which signifies the angular breadth of the pencil of light which the instrument transmits from the object or point viewed; as, a microscope of 100° aperture.

    Derived terms

    * aperture priority

    diaphragm

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (anatomy) In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs; also called thoracic diaphragm.
  • (anatomy) Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another.
  • A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse.
  • (mechanics) A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies.
  • (acoustics) In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound.
  • (optics, photography) A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device.
  • (chemistry) A permeable or semipermeable membrane
  • * {{quote-book, 1921, Wilder Dwight Bancroft, Applied Colloid Chemistry: General Theory citation
  • , passage=The mass of liquid transported through a porous diaphragm in a given time is directly proportional to the current. }}
  • (construction) A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, havig a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems.
  • Image:Diaphragm.jpg, The thoracic diaphragm . Image:Contraception diaphragme.jpg, A contraceptive diaphragm . Image:Seal (diaphragm).png, A mechanical diaphragm . Image:X5 Paper Pulp Cone.jpg, An acoustic diaphragm .

    Derived terms

    (Derived terms) * diaphragmal * diaphragmic * diaphragmatic * diaphragmatically * interdiaphragm * diaphragm arch * diaphragm pump * diaphragm seal * diaphragm shutter * diaphragm valve * iris diaphragm

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (optics, photography) To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.
  • * {{quote-book, 1870, D. Appleton & Co., Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1869 citation
  • , passage=He employs an equatorial with an object-glass having a focal length of five metres, and which was diaphragmed down to eight centimetres.}}
  • To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating.
  • * {{quote-book, 1996, Tom Drozda et al., Tool and Manufacturing Engineers Handbook, vol. VIII: Plastic Part Manufacturing citation
  • , passage=The holes and burning are caused by the part diaphragming at 20000-40000 cycles/second.}}