time constant

English

Noun

time constant (plural time constants)

(mathematics) A characteristic of an exponential function, represented by τ in the function:
$y(t)\ =\ y_{o}e^{-t/\tau }\$ .
(physics) The time in which a physical system's response to a step-wise change in an external variable reaches approximately 63% of its final (asymptotic) value.
For radioactivity: the decay constant.

Alternative forms

time-constant

Translations

math: characteristic of exponential function

Finnish: aikavakio

physics: characteristic of step response

Finnish: aikavakio

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.