Root Mean Square

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:

    “Today, supremely, it behooves us to remember that a nation shall be saved by the power that sleeps in its own bosom; or by none; shall be renewed in hope, in confidence, in strength by waters welling up from its own sweet, perennial springs. Not from above; not by patronage of its aristocrats. The flower does not bear the root, but the root the flower.”
    —Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    “If the physicians had not their cassocks and their mules, if the doctors had not their square caps and their robes four times too wide, they would never had duped the world, which cannot resist so original an appearance.”
    —Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)