3 ms·

If I'm reading Wikipedia correctly, the formula is quadratic for some metals, and cubic or quintuplic(?) for others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_re

• VygmraMGVl 1y ago
  Typically, the behavior of any given metal is a mix of mechanisms so the measured behavior is fit to a curve where you fit n. So for metals the exponent is typically a decimal between 2 and 5.
  • fwip 1y ago
    Thanks, I appreciate the explanation. :)
• Sniffnoy 1y ago
  You would normally just say "5th degree" or "5th power".
  • gjm11 1y ago
    But the specific word they were looking for is "quintic". (And the corresponding word for 4th-degree, in case anyone is curious, is "quartic"; one sometimes sees "biquadratic", which unfortunately is also sometimes used to describe a particular subset of quartics.)
    • Sniffnoy 1y ago
      Oh right, silly me. Wow, my own vocabulary deserted me there, huh? Yeah I think generally "sextic" is the highest you see before people stop doing that, and that one's somewhat uncommon I'd say. ("Quintic" is actually fairly common, contrary to what I said earlier, oops.) The fact that seventh-degree would be "septic" might be one reason stop with the words at that point!
      • gjm11 1y ago
        I'm pretty sure that more than half the times I've seen "quintic" are in one single context: talking about the fact that while you can solve polynomial equations of degree 1-4 by doing arithmetic and taking n'th roots, this stops being possible once you get as far as quintic equations. (The "insolubility of the quintic".)