Mean Definition and 1000 Threads

  1. J

    What does it mean when we say that average KE is equal to temperature?

    I know that delta h(Enthalpy) is heat and it is also the total kinetic energy of the system. Temperature is the average kinetic energy of the system from enthalpy. For example, a bathtub may have the same temperature as the ocean, but the total enthalpy will be greater for the ocean...
  2. BrainMan

    Understanding Symbols in Physics Equations: What Do They Mean?

    Homework Statement I have been reading a lot about physics and equation that look like the photo I attached. What do the brackets and the EXP mean? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution
  3. ChrisVer

    What is boost supposed to mean?

    What does it mean to boost something along the z axis? To give some acceleration to it, or to spatially translate it? I think it's the 2nd?
  4. N

    Proving the existence of the arithmetic-geometric mean

    Homework Statement Given: 1. a_{1} < b_{1} 2. a_{n} = \sqrt{a_{n-1}b_{n-1}} 3. b_{n} = \frac{a_{n-1} + B_{n-1}}{2} 4. The sequences a_{n} and b_{n} are convergent. Prove: The sequences a_{n} and b_{n} have the same limit. The Attempt at a Solution Assume by contradiction that...
  5. Mr Davis 97

    What does p = mv (momentum) really mean?

    What does p = mv really mean? For example, why is there a physical law based upon the product of mass and velocity? Why does a human made operation, multiplication, give a quantity called momentum? If we define momentum as the product of m and v, why can't we define by some other operation, like...
  6. Greg Bernhardt

    What is the mean value theorem

    [SIZE="4"]Definition/Summary The mean value theorem states that if a real-valued function f is continuous and differentiable on an open interval (a,b), then there is a point c in that interval such that f'(c) \ =\ (f(b) - f(a))/(b - a). It also applies if the condition of...
  7. F

    What does cross product of vectors actually mean?

    I understand that dot product of vectors means projecting one vector on to the other. But I don't understand what is the physical significance of a cross product? I have read that cross product gives the area of the parallelogram which has each of the vectors as its sides...but why do we want to...
  8. D

    Does the Existence of the Axis of Evil Mean a Special Frame of Reference?

    Does the existence of the "Axis of Evil" observed by WMAP and Planck mean that there is a special frame of reference in the universe?
  9. J

    Statistics: independently distributed mean and variance

    Homework Statement Math and verbal SAT scores are each N(500, 10000) 1)If the math and verbal SAT scores were independently distributed, which is not the case, then what would be the distribution of the overall SAT scores? Find its mean and variance. Homework Equations The...
  10. Z

    Infinite Universe: What does it mean?

    I know some folks may get tired of questions about the finite/infinite scope of the universe. Sorry for that. But as you know, many concepts are hard to wrap one's head around. Let me make my question as clear as possible from the outset: -I am NOT asking whether the universe is infinite or...
  11. E

    Does the Block Universe Theory Suggest Time and Motion Are Illusions?

    Does block universe mean that time and motion are illusions?
  12. cosmik debris

    Mean distance between points of 2D array

    Say I have an N X N array of points, I would like a formula to give the mean distance between the points. There are lots of short distances but only two long ones (diagonal). There are plenty of algorithms to do this but I would like to work out a formula if there is one. Can someone point me in...
  13. E

    Circle in the Complex Domain where Mean is not the Centre

    Hello people of Physics Forums, In my research into transmission lines, I have come across the following function: x = ( a - i * b * tan(t) ) / ( c - i * d * tan(t) ) In the above equation x, a, b, c and d are complex and t is real. If my analysis is correct, varying t from -pi/2 to...
  14. S

    Does born rigidity mean elongation of a body?

    Consider an unbreakable nail. A nail of length 10cm moving at 0.866c. If i stop the nail by hitting its cap, would the tip end countinues to travel?
  15. K

    Range of one standard deviation from mean

    my question is on part ii, my range ( as shown in the photo), is between 4.52 and 16.28, so my working would be (6+10+4+4)/(6+10+4+4+1) X100% ... the answer given is 72% which is differnt form my answer? which part of my working is wrong ?
  16. Y

    What do we exactly mean by space is expanding?

    I know this question had often been asked on PF but I don't get them. What do mean when we say that space is expanding? I mean that space is no physical entity that can expand. Space is just (apparently) "nothingness". Please solve my confusion.
  17. Q

    What does it mean to say that something "is a gauge theory"?

    Hello, Brief context to this question: I'm an economics student and I've recently seen a lecture by phycisist-turned-economist Eric Weinstein, who says that "neoclassical economics is a naturally occurring gauge theory". In response to this, I tried to find out about group theory and gauge...
  18. K

    How to find mean distance between galaxies from redshif?

    If we know the mean number density of galaxies in the universe, the redshift z and the Hubble constant. Is it possible to find the mean distance between galaxies at such redshift? The redshift gives a ratio of two distances between the same pair of bodies, at two different time due to the...
  19. W

    Is Mean Curvature Invariant Under Coordinate Changes?

    Hi All: I am curious about the definition of mean curvature and its apparent lack of invariance under changes of coordinates: AFAIK, mean curvature is defined as the trace of the second fundamental form II(a,b). II(a,b) is a quadratic/bilinear form, and I do not see how its trace is invariant...
  20. E

    Casimir Effect, what does (x,θ) mean?

    Hello look at (3.24). Above it, it states "We make the same switch to polar coordinates (x, φ) in the (x, y) plane, and substitute y ≡ (ax/nπ):" Should (x, φ) be (r, φ)? Is this a typo? Thank you. http://aphyr.com/data/journals/113/comps.pdf
  21. J

    Find the mean number density of particles in the stellar atmosphere.

    Homework Statement The atmosphere of a star has a mean radiation pressure of 0.33 N m-2and a mean gas pressure of 8300 N m-2. Calculate: a) the mean number density of particles in the stellar atmosphere, and b) the radiation pressure in a stellar atmosphere with twice the effective...
  22. K

    What doe it mean that energy is quantized?

    The smallest amount of energy possible is called quantum of energy and is = hf. But are frequencies also quantized? or are they continuous. If frequencies are continuous, then energy can be continuous, no? I am thinking that Planck's constant would mean each frequency has its own quantum...
  23. A

    What does it mean for a function to be defined on an interval?

    So I was looking at one of the definitions of first order DE's. But I don't get what this statement means: let a function f(x) be defined on an interval I.
  24. E

    MHB What does the following formalism mean?

    Hi, could you please explain to me what does the following formalisms mean? i'm interested in the body part. Thank you in advance.
  25. S

    Geometric Mean Radius of Hollow Conductor

    Homework Statement GMR_{hollow cylinder}=Re^{-Kμ} where K=\frac{AR^4-R^2r^2+Br^4+r^4ln(R/r)}{(R^2-r^2)^2}, where R is the outer radius and r is the inner radius, and mu is the relative permeability. We are to determine the numerical values of A and B. I am stumped on how to begin attempting...
  26. S

    Caclulus III problem involving mean.

    http://i.imgur.com/DkYMylb.png, probably easier to understand than me trying to type it out. so far I tried exapanding the (y_i - y(x_i))^2 and and then subbing in y_i = ax + b. This gives me part of the answer but I'm not sure if it's legal. I'm generally struggling to find a workable...
  27. maverick_starstrider

    What does an 2H- in front of a chemical symbol mean? (i.e. 2H-MoX_2)

    Title says it all. I'm reading a lot about the transition metal dichalcogenides and I often see something like 2H-MoS_2 What does that 2H- mean? My best guess is that it has something to do with a hexagonal lattice or stacking or something. Anybody know?
  28. G

    Schools What does this essay topic exactly mean? (university application)

    I'm applying for Pusan National University (Busan, South Korea) undergraduate admissions and Physics is my choice of major the question they ask is: Please describe how much have you learned about your intended major? do they want to know my previous experience about learning Physics...
  29. G

    Statistical thermodynamics - mean energy of a nonlinear oscillator

    Homework Statement Consider a classical one-dimensional nonlinear oscillator whose energy is given by \epsilon=\frac{p^{2}}{2m}+ax^{4} where x,p, and m have their usual meanings; the paramater, a, is a constant a) If the oscillator is in equilibrium with a heat bath at temperature T...
  30. R

    Mathematical Difference Between Mean Free Path vs RMS Free Path?

    I was wondering if there is a mathematical difference between the RMS free path and the mean free path of molecules in an ideal gas. For example, When I calculate the mean free path, I use use the average velocity and the scattering rate which is a function of the average velocity. I then...
  31. T

    Gamma distribution from sample mean of Exponential distribution

    Homework Statement Let X1, X2,...,Xn be a random sample from the exponential distribution with mean θ and \overline{X} = \sum^{n}_{i = 1}X_i Show that \overline{X} ~ Gamma(n, \frac{n}{θ}) Homework Equations θ = \frac{1}{λ} MGF Exponential Distribution = \frac{λ}{λ - t} MGF Gamma...
  32. C

    MHB Does the Mean Work Week Differ for 18-25 Year Olds?

    When 197 workers aged 18-25 were asked how many hours they worked in the previous week, the mean was 37.7, with a standard deviation of 13.3. Does this suggest that the population mean work week for these age groups differs from 40 hours? Answer by compiling parts.a. Identify the relevant and...
  33. J

    What does cross section area mean when dealing with stress/strain?

    What does "cross section area" mean when dealing with stress/strain? Homework Statement For clarification, here is an example problem: A circular steel wire 2 m long must stretch no more than 0.25 cm when a tensile force of 400 N is applied to each end of the wire. What minimum diameter is...
  34. Y

    Introduction level Solid State - Mean free time/path & lattice spacing

    Homework Statement Silver has a density of 10.5E3 kg/m3 and a resistivity of 1.6E-8 Ω*m at room temperature. On the basis of the classical free electron gas model, and assuming that each silver atom contributes one electron to the electron gas, calculate the average time, Tau, between...
  35. T

    What does mean free electron. for laser

    does it mean extract electrons from the out put of laser beem
  36. K

    What does 0 electric potential difference mean?

    This isn't a homework question, but while working on some questions in Physics AP C, I've come across several questions involving 0 PD (potential difference). My question is simple; what does 0 PD mean? so far i know that 0 potential difference of any kind is arbitrary, since it represents the...
  37. E

    Why does conditional probability used in mean square error equal zero?

    Hi guys, I am having trouble showing that \mathbb{E}\left[(Y-\mathbb{E}[Y|X])^{2}\right]=0. I understand the proof of why E[Y|X] minimizes the mean square error, but I cannot understand why it is then equal to zero. I tried multiplying out the square to get...
  38. E

    95% confidence interval on the mean

    Homework Statement What does it mean? Is this the interval such that 95% of the means from a sample mean distribution (frequency distribution of means of sample size n) are a certain number of standard deviations from the population mean? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution
  39. T

    Confused about mean and standard deviation for samples

    Homework Statement Here is a slide in my notes: I am kind of confused about mean and standard deviation. So in my notes it says X1 to Xn are independent measurements. Then it says each independent measurement has a mean μ. But how is this possible, if they are independent measurements (in...
  40. L

    What is the Mean Square of a Signal and Why is its Time Average Zero?

    I was reading about noise and noise voltage/root hertz here - http://www.stanford.edu/class/me220/data/lectures/lect02/Noise_writeup.pdf What exactly is mean square. why do we need Mean square. How do we know time average of noise voltage is zero?
  41. L

    What the following statement exactly mean?

    what the following statement exactly mean :"A topological space is a set M with a distinguished collection of subsets,to be called the open sets".and I don't understand the meaning of "distinguished collection ".it's better have some example.thanks
  42. J

    Interpreting Positive Potential Energy in Point Charges

    If a group of point charges as a whole, has positive potential energy, what does that mean? What will happen if the point charges are free to move?
  43. N

    Distribution of sample mean and variance, and variance of sample means

    Distributions: sample mean and variance, and variance of sample means? Hi. Say you have a population, and from there you can draw a stochastic variable ##X## with a specified distribution. So you take out a few sizeable samples from the population, and calculate the mean and variance of ##X##...
  44. I

    Find the 90% two-sided confidence interval for the mean score.

    The distribution of grades is know to follow a normal distribution, but the mean and variance are unknown. A random sample of 12 students produced the following scores: 59, 84, 68, 93, 49, 77, 82, 75, 81, 58, 70, 80 Find the 90% two-sided confidence interval for the mean score.
  45. J

    What does it mean if the capability index is .08

    What does it mean if the capability index is .08 and how can you increase the numerical value?
  46. D

    MHB What does zero at infinity mean?

    For the following algebraic expressions for the Laplace transform of a signal, determine the number of zeros located in the finite \(s-\)plane and the number of zeros located at infinity. Does that mean pole since at a pole the plot will diverge to \(\infty\)? Otherwise, what would be a zero...
  47. S

    Less than one photon, what does it mean?

    Hello, What does less than one photon mean? 0.5 or 1/2 photon what does it mean?
  48. gfd43tg

    What does it mean to be ''in series'' or ''in parallel''

    Hello, I've had a qualm over the definition of ''in series'' or ''in parallel''. I want to know, when two components are in series, does that mean that they share the same current, or does it mean that the components only share one node on one side of the component with each other. Similarly...
  49. T

    What does mean sulfur has auto-ignition Temperature 248-266C

    same question.
  50. U

    Mean Occupation Number of Non-interacting quantum fluids

    Hi, I get two contradicting sections of the book "Concepts in Thermal Physics": Earlier in the section they used the grand partition function to derive the mean occupation number ##<n_i> = -\frac{1}{\beta}\frac{\partial ln Z}{\partial E_i}## Later in the section, they said ##<n_k> =...
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