characteristic (redirected from Characteristics)

characteristic

In logarithms and floating point, the number that indicates where the decimal point is placed.

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characteristic

Maths

a. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated number

b. another name for exponent esp in number representation in computing

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characteristic [‚kar·ik·tə′ris·tik]

(electronics)

A graph showing how the voltage or current between two terminals of an electronic device varies with the voltage or current between two other terminals.

(mathematics)

That part of the logarithm of a number which is the integral (the whole number) to the left of the decimal point in the logarithm.

For a family of surfaces that depend continuously on a parameter, the limiting curve of intersection of two members of the family as the two values of the parameter determining them approach a common value.

For a ring or field, the smallest possible integer whose product with any element of the ring or field equals zero, provided that such an integer exists; otherwise the characteristic is zero.