In electronics

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

 and electrical assemblies, the term jack commonly refers to a surface-mounted connector, often, but not always, with the female electrical contact or socket

Socket

Socket may refer to:In mechanics:* Socket wrench, a type of wrench that uses separate, removable sockets to fit different sizes of nuts and bolts...

, and is the "more fixed" connector of a connector pair. The related term "jack plug" commonly refers to a "less fixed" connector of a connector pair, often, but not always, with the male electrical contact or pin, and is generally shortened to simply "Plug

Plug (connector)

In electronics and electrical assemblies, the term plug commonly refers to a movable connector, often, but not always, with the male electrical contact or pin, and is the "movable less fixed" connector of a connector pair...

."

Some connector styles may contain male (pin), female (socket) (see: faIace) or both connection types.
A jack is properly described as a connector that is designed to be mounted (fixed) on the surface of a bulkhead or enclosure; "The stationary (more fixed) connector of a mating pair shall be designated J or X" where J means jack. Its counterpart, the "plug," is designed to attach to a wire, cable or removable electrical assembly; "The movable (less fixed) connector of a mating pair shall be designated P" where P means plug. This convention is currently defined in ASME Y14.44-2008 which is the current actively maintained follow on to the withdrawn IEEE 200-1975; IEEE 200-1975 was derived from the long withdrawn MIL-STD-16 which dates back at least to the 1950s which highlights the heritage of this connector naming convention. IEEE 315-1975 works alongside ASME Y14.44-2008 to define J, P and X references.

The term jack occurs in several related terms:

• The "RJ" prefix which stands for "registered jack
  Registered jack
  A registered jack is a standardized physical network interface — both jack construction and wiring pattern — for connecting telecommunications or data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. The standard designs for these connectors and their wiring...
  
  " in RJ11, RJ45 and similar connectors, and includes the modular jack
  Modular connector
  Modular connector is the name given to a family of electrical connectors originally used in telephone wiring and now used for many other purposes. Many applications that originally used a bulkier, more expensive connector have now migrated to modular connectors...
  
  s used in modern telephone systems and computer network
  Computer network
  A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
  
   interfaces (e.g., "Ethernet
  Ethernet
  Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
  
   jack").

• The telephone jack of old-style manual telephone switchboard
  Telephone switchboard
  A switchboard was a device used to connect a group of telephones manually to one another or to an outside connection, within and between telephone exchanges or private branch exchanges . The user was typically known as an operator...
  
  s, which is the socket fitting the original 1/4" telephone plug. This open-frame, open-circuit accepts 1/4" mono phone plugs.

• The 1/4" phone jack common to many electronic applications, either in a 2-conductor tip-sleeve (TS) or 3-conductor tip-ring-sleeve (TRS)
  TRS connector
  A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug...
  
   configuration.

• The RCA jack
  RCA connector
  An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
  
  , also known as a "phono jack", common to consumer electronics.
• The EIAJ jack
  EIAJ connector
  The EIAJ connector, more formally known as EIAJ RC-5320A, is a coaxial power connector or jack for small appliances. It is recognised by many consumers by the "yellow tip" at the end of the jack. It is also notable that the entire series of connectors has a built-in retention feature...
  
   designed for consumer appliances requiring less than an 18.0 volt power supply.

When the description includes a diameter, the term refers to the jack that matches the corresponding diameter of plug. For example:

• 6.35mm or 1/4" jack
• 3.5mm miniature jack
• Jack, 2.5mm subminiature

A headphone

Headphones

Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...

 (or earphone) jack is commonly one of the three standard sizes of 3-conductor TRS jacks

TRS connector

A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug...

, but the term could refer to any socket used for this purpose.

See also

• TRS connector
  TRS connector
  A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug...
  
  
• Home cinema
  Home cinema
  Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
  
  
• Line level
  Line level
  Line level is a term used to denote the strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog sound between audio components such as CD and DVD players, TVs, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles, and sometimes MP3 players....
  
  
• Sound card
  Sound card
  A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware...
  
  
• Keystone module
  Keystone module
  A keystone module is a standardized snap-in package for mounting a variety of low-voltage electrical jacks or optical connectors into a keystone wall plate, face plate, surface-mount box, or a patch panel....