A descriptive term for a pattern seen when a multimeric protein is separated into lanes in an electrophoretic gel—each step corresponds to a different length of protein, as may be seen with von Willebrand factor multimers
However, if the robot is not facing the stairs, but facing, for example, a wall, then the measured scan gives a one big step in range data, as shown in Figure 14(b), which is clearly distinguishable from the staircase pattern.
Stepped gears, which have gears of different diameters layered in a staircase pattern, and pinion gears with shafts are machinable thanks to the prevention of interference between grinding wheels and workpieces.