Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A resistor, used in certain photoelectric cells, whose resistance varies as a function of the intensity of light it is exposed to.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An electronic component whose resistance is inversely proportional to the intensity of incident light; a photoconductor

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In most 'automatic'-mode strobes, the photoresistor controls a short-duration timer which drives a trigger circuit for the thyristor.

    RadioPopper JrX Will Make You Fat and Happy [Full Review] 2009

  • She recently built an "optical encoder," a photoresistor she programmed to count flashes of light.

    High Schools Add Classes 2008

  • It outputs a squarewave whose pitch is controlled by the amount of light striking a photoresistor.

    Boing Boing 2010

  • If you aren't happy about your housemates sneaking around your room, maybe you could give the laser tripwire project a try, as it involves hooking up a laser pointer, a photoresistor, and a webcam together, creating a laser tripwire that will capture a photo of the intruder and upload a link to the photo on Twitter.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Gadgets 2010

  • If you want to use stock components, then you can take a standard LED and photoresistor, (

    Make - All Discussions DParfitt 2010

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