THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY April 26, 2001 exponential function ______________ TODAY'S SPONSOR: TechSanity Get smart fast! Get TechSanity! Ed Bott, author of 15 books on Windows and Office, serves up tips, tricks and help in this free newsletter. http://whatis.techtarget.com/techsanity/0,289905,sid9,00.html _____________ TODAY'S WORD: exponential function See our the definition with hyperlinks and mathematical notation at http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213699,00.html An exponential function is a mathematical function of the following form: "f(x)= a to the x power" where "x" is a variable, and "a" is a constant called the base of the function. The most commonly encountered exponential-function base is the transcendental number "e", which is equal to approximately 2.71828. Thus, the above expression becomes: "f(x)= e to the x power" When the exponent in this function increases by 1, the value of the function increases by a factor of "e". When the exponent decreases by 1, the value of the function decreases by this same factor (it is divided by "e"). In electronics and experimental science, base-10 exponential functions are encountered. The general form is: "f(x)= 10 to the x power" When the exponent increases by 1, the value of the base -10 function increases by a factor of 10; when the exponent decreases by 1, the value of the function becomes 1/10 as great. A change of this extent is called one order of magnitude. RELATED TERMS: transcendental number http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci284002,00.html ________________ SELECTED LINKS [1] The term "order of magnitude" has become part of our everyday speech. http://archives.emazing.com/archives/science/2000-12-15 ____________________ TECHTARGET FEATURE McGraw-Hill Illustrated Telecom Dictionary , 3rd Edition By: Jade Clayton This annually updated collection of to-the-minute definitions helps you decipher telecom and data terminology, concepts, insider jargon, and acronyms. This third edition moves beyond traditional telecom and networking topics to embrace and explain the fast moving world of Internet telephony (VoIP). The accompanying CD lets you search the entire book. http://www.digitalguru.com/dgstore/product.asp?isbn=0071372016&ac_id=76 __________________________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR! What do you like? Networks? Computer Games? Shareware? Get FREE info on the topics that interest you most. Postmaster Direct will find related news, information and special offers and deliver them directly to your e-mailbox, all at no charge! http://whatis.techtarget.com/postmasterDirect/1,289639,sid9,00.html _________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS [1] meter cubed per kilogram http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci546250,00.html [2] Fast Guide to Case Studies http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci546256,00.html [3] becquerel http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci546275,00.html [4] Internet Group Management Protocol http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci214391,00.html [5] permeability http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci543303,00.html To Remove your email address from the distribution list for this specific newsletter "Reply" to this message with REMOVE in the subject line. You will receive an email confirming that you have been removed. To Remove yourself from additional distribution lists or to update your preferences, go to the WhatIs.com registration page at: http://WhatIs.techtarget.com/register
