cold working

Plastic deformation of metal below the recrystallization temperature.

center of buoyancy

The ‘centroid’ of the immersed portion of a floating body.

center of gravity

(center of mass) The imaginary point in a body at which the mass may be assumed to be concentrated.

center of percussion

The point on a compound pendulum whose distance from the center of oscillation is the same as the length of a simple pendulum with the same periodic time.

center of pressure

The point on a submerged surface at which the resultant pressure may be taken to act.

centerless grinding

The grinding of cylindrical or conical surfaces on workpieces running in rollers instead of centers

capacitance

The ‘charge’ on a conducting body divided by its ‘potential’. Unit the ‘farad’.

capacitor

An electrical component having capacitance usually consisting of two conducting surfaces of large area separated by a very thin (usually) dielectric.

carbide tools

High-speed machine tools of tungsten, titanium or tantalum carbide, or combinations of these in a matrix of cobalt or nickel.

case hardening

The production of a hard surface on steel by heating in a carbonaceous medium to increase the carbon content, and then quenching.