Root Mean Square - Definition

Definition

The RMS value of a set of values (or a continuous-time waveform) is the square root of the arithmetic mean (average) of the squares of the original values (or the square of the function that defines the continuous waveform).

In the case of a set of values, the RMS value is given by this formula:

x_{\mathrm{rms}} = \sqrt{ \frac{1}{n} \left( x_1^2 + x_2^2 + \cdots + x_n^2 \right) }

The corresponding formula for a continuous function (or waveform) defined over the interval is

f_{\mathrm{rms}} = \sqrt {{1 \over {T_2-T_1}} {\int_{T_1}^{T_2} {}^2\, dt}},

and the RMS for a function over all time is

f_\mathrm{rms} = \lim_{T\rightarrow \infty} \sqrt {{1 \over {T}} {\int_{0}^{T} {}^2\, dt}}.

The RMS over all time of a periodic function is equal to the RMS of one period of the function. The RMS value of a continuous function or signal can be approximated by taking the RMS of a series of equally spaced samples. Additionally, the RMS value of various waveforms can also be determined without calculus, as shown by Cartwright.

In the case of the RMS statistic of a random process, the expected value is used instead of the mean.

Read more about this topic:  Root Mean Square

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    “No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this—”devoted and obedient.” This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.”
    —Florence Nightingale (1820–1910)

    “... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.”
    —Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)

    “According to our social pyramid, all men who feel displaced racially, culturally, and/or because of economic hardships will turn on those whom they feel they can order and humiliate, usually women, children, and animals—just as they have been ordered and humiliated by those privileged few who are in power. However, this definition does not explain why there are privileged men who behave this way toward women.”
    —Ana Castillo (b. 1953)