3 ms·
I think that this is indeed the formula in GP's question. And indeed sometimes math notation is obtuse like that. It looks like 2 terms, but the triangle goes t
by tomerv 5y ago
I think that this is indeed the formula in GP's question. And indeed sometimes math notation is obtuse like that. It looks like 2 terms, but the triangle goes together with the t as a single term. At other times it might be called "dt" and despite looking like a multiplication of 2 variables (d and t, or triangle and t in this case) it's just a single variable with a named made of 2 characters.
The important thing here is that "For a pulse of width Dt" is the definition of this variable, but this can be easily missed if you're not used to this naming convention.
- enriquto 5y ago> it's just a single variable with a named made of 2 characters. I have this same problem with programming, when I have to deal with code written by non-mathematicians. They tend to use all these stupid variables with more than one letter and that confuses the heck out of me.
- kergonath 5y agoThat’s because “Δ” means “a change of” or “an interval of”. So, Δt is “an interval of time”. It is like a compound word, really. It conveys more information than giving it an arbitrary, single-letter name. This convention is used in a whole bunch of scientific fields, like quantum mechanics, chemistry, biology, mechanics, thermodynamics, etc. It’s also very useful in how it relates to derivatives, which is a crucial concept in just about any kind of science you could care to mention. So yes, there is a learning curve, but we write things this way for good reasons, most of the time. Multiplication should be represented by a (thin) space in good typography, to avoid this sort of things. Not doing it is sloppy and invites misreading. Same with omitting parenthesis around a function’s argument most of the time (e.g. sin 2πθ instead of sin(2 π θ) ).