In mathematics, the root mean square (abbreviated RMS or rms), also known as the quadratic mean, is a statistical measure of the magnitude of a varying quantity. It is especially useful when variates are positive and negative, e.g., sinusoids. RMS is used in various fields, including electrical engineering.
It can be calculated for a series of discrete values or for a continuously varying function. The name comes from the fact that it is the square root of the mean of the squares of the values. It is a special case of the generalized mean with the exponent p = 2.
Read more about Root Mean Square: Definition, RMS of Common Waveforms, RMS in Frequency Domain, Relationship To The Arithmetic Mean and The Standard Deviation
Famous quotes containing the words root and/or square:
“She saw a dust bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister calxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“This house was designed and constructed with the freedom of stroke of a forester’s axe, without other compass and square than Nature uses.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)