coefficient /co·ef·fi·cient/ (ko″ah-fish´int)
coefficient
coefficient
1. an expression of the change or effect produced by variation in certain factors, or of the ratio between two different quantities.
2. a number or figure put before a chemical formula to indicate how many times the formula is to be multiplied.
biological coefficient the amount of potential energy consumed by the body at rest.
correlation coefficient a measure of the relationship between two statistical variables, most commonly expressed as their covariance divided by the standard deviation of each.
linear absorption coefficient in radiation physics, the fraction of a beam of radiation absorbed per unit thickness of the absorber.
mass absorption coefficient in radiation physics, the linear absorption coefficient divided by the density of the absorber.
phenol coefficient a measure of the bactericidal activity of a chemical compound in relation to phenol.
sedimentation coefficient the velocity at which a particle sediments in a centrifuge relative to the applied centrifugal field, usually expressed in Svedberg units (S), equal to 10−13 second, which are used to characterize the size of macromolecules.
coefficient of thermal conductivity a number indicating the quantity of heat passing in a unit of time through a unit thickness of a substance when the difference in temperature is 1°C.
coefficient of thermal expansion the change in volume per unit volume of a substance produced by a 1°C temperature increase.
co·ef·fi·cient (k   -f sh nt)n. The mathematical expression of the amount or degree of any quality possessed by a substance, or of the degree of physical or chemical change normally occurring in that substance under stated conditions. |
coefficient
[kō′efish′ənt]
Etymology: L, cum, together with, efficere, to effect
a mathematic relationship between factors that can be used to measure or evaluate a characteristic under specified conditions. Examples include Henry's law, which measures solubility coefficient; Graham's law, which calculates diffusion coefficient; and the oxygen-utilization coefficient, which measures the amount of oxygen in a patient's venous blood in terms of the proportion of oxygen in his or her arterial blood.
coefficient
1. an expression of the change or effect produced by the variation in certain factors, or of the ratio between two different quantities.
2. in chemistry, a number or figure put before a chemical formula to indicate how many times the formula is to be multiplied.
absorption coefficient
1. the fraction of a beam of radiation that is absorbed in passing through a unit length of absorbing material.
2. a number indicating the volume of a gas absorbed by a unit volume of a liquid at 32°F (0°C) and at a pressure of 760 mmHg.
alienation coefficient
a measure of the lack of association between two variables. Called also the coefficient of nondetermination.
Bunsen coefficient
see absorption coefficient (2) (above).
contingency coefficient
a measure of association between qualitative assessments of two variables.
correlation coefficient
a measure of association which indicates the degree to which two or more sets of observations fit a linear relationship. Denoted by 'r', it can vary from −1.0 to 1.0.
determination coefficient
the coefficient of determination is the square of the correlation coefficient (r2). It describes the proportion of the variation of one of the correlated variables, explainable by the variation of the other variable. The value of the coefficient must lie between 0 and 1.
digestibility coefficient
percentage of the food ingested that is absorbed.
disarray coefficient
the measure of the degree of discord between two variables.
friction coefficient
the effect that the material in a surface has on the frictional force created by the application of a force to the surface: S = f × N, where S = friction, f = friction coefficient, N = reaction to the vertical application of a given force. In a normal joint the f value is very small (0.008).
coefficient of nondetermination
see alienation coefficient.
coefficient
Vox populi A variable or factor which allows the calculation of a property or quantity of a substance under various conditions. See Absorption coefficient, Activity coefficient, Adsorption coefficient, Attenuation coefficient, Dice coefficient of similarity, Inbreeding coefficient, Intraclass correlation coefficient, Mass attentuation coefficient, Mass energy absorption coefficient, Octanol-water partition coefficient, Spearman's rank (order) correlation.
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