range

range

range, large area of land unsuited to cultivation but supporting native grasses and other plants suitable for livestock grazing. Principal areas in the western hemisphere are the pampas of South America and the prairies of the United States and Canada. Originally the entire ranges of the W United States and Canada were unfenced public land. Under the Homestead Act (1862), more than 50% of the Western range land in the United States passed to private ownership and was fenced with barbed wire. The national forests and other public lands of the West still contain vast unfenced ranges; grazing permits are purchased by ranch owners. Ranges are known as summer or winter ranges according to the time of year when grazing conditions are best. Range management involves regulation of grazing and other economically productive uses of range land to prevent overgrazing or other abuse of the resource.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Range

In masonry, a course of stonework laid in courses.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

range

see MEASURES OF DISPERSION.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Range

 

(Russian areal), the part of the earth’s land surface or water area within the limits of which one or another species (genus, family, and so on) of animals or plants can be found. A range is called continuous if a species is found over the entire region in habitats suitable for its survival. It is called discontinuous or disjunctive if between two or more areas inhabited by a species there are intervening spaces of sufficient size that any contact between populations of a species divided by these spaces is impossible. Sometimes the range is basically continuous, but near its outer limits there are isolated sections which are called island habitats or exclaves. Ranges vary in size: some animals and plants inhabit only a very limited area (for example, a particular mountain top, an island, a mountain gorge, or an isolated lake); others are widely distributed over several continents, on which they occupy enormous areas. Groups of organisms (families and other higher categories—for example, cereals or passerine birds) that are found practically over the entire planet (more exactly, over all dry land or in all oceans) are called cosmopolitan; there are probably no cosmopolitan species.

The range originally represents an area in which a species originates. This may be expanded at some later stage when the species is dispersed; the scale of dispersion depends on the means of dispersal, ability to adapt, and external factors, such as change of climate and other environmental conditions, relationship between dry land and bodies of water, and so on. The range may decrease as a result of the extinction of the species in part of the total area occupied by it. The development of the species may be interrupted, or it may decrease to an insignificant remnant which, as a rule, anticipates extinction of the species. In studying ranges it is essential to map them. The comparative study of ranges is very important in studying flora and fauna. Charts of ranges are widely used in computing the distribution of plant and animal resources, farm and forest pests, disease carriers, and so on.

REFERENCE

Tolmachev, A. I. Osnovy ucheniia ob arealakh. Leningrad, 1962.

A. I. TOLMACHEV

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Range

 

a stove for cooking in residences, canteens, and restaurants. The traditional type of range uses solid fuel and generally has a cast-iron heating surface with burners, an oven, and sometimes a hot-water tank. The frame is made of brick or a metal such as cast iron or steel. These ranges often also heat the rooms adjoining the kitchen; in this case they have a heating panel— a wall, usually of brick, containing gas pipes for the hot gases, which then go into the chimney.

Gas ranges made of sheet steel and of cast iron are in wide use. Their disadvantage is that the combustion products of the gas, including carbon monoxide, enter the kitchen. Most desirable are electric ranges, which automatically regulate heat in the preparation of food and which are easy to keep clean.

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Range

 

in statistics, the difference between the greatest and least values of observation results. Suppose X₁,…, X_n are mutually independent random variables with the distribution function F(x) and probability density f(x). In this case, the range W_n is defined as the difference between the greatest and least values of x₁, …, X_n; it is a random variable to which there corresponds the distribution function

where w ≥ 0. If w < 0, then P{W≤w) = 0.

In mathematical statistics, an appropriately normalized range is used as an estimate of an unknown standard deviation. Suppose, for example, X_k has a normal distribution with parameters (a, a). For n = 5 and n = 10, the quantities 0.42991 w₅ and 0.3249 W_l0, respectively, are unbiased estimates of σ Such estimates are often used in statistical quality control, since complex calculations are not required to determine the range of several results.

REFERENCE

Hald, A. Matematicheskaia statistika s tekhnicheskimi prilozheniiami. Moscow, 1956. (Translated from English.)

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

range

[rānj]

(civil engineering)

Any series of contiguous townships of the U.S. Public Land Survey system.

(communications)

In printing telegraphy, that fraction of a perfect signal element through which the time of selection may be varied to occur earlier or later than the normal time of selection without causing errors while signals are being received; the range of a printing telegraph receiving device is commonly measured in percent of a perfect signal element by adjusting the indicator.

Upper and lower limits through which the index arm of the range-finder mechanism of a teletypewriter may be moved and still receive correct copy.

(control systems)

The maximum distance a robot's arm or wrist can travel. Also known as reach.

The volume comprising the locations to which a robot's arm or wrist can travel.

(ecology)

The area or region over which a species is distributed.

(engineering)

The distance capability of an aircraft, missile, gun, radar, or radio transmitter.

A line defined by two fixed landmarks, used for missile or vehicle testing and other test purposes.

(mathematics)

The range of a function ƒ from a set X to a set Y consists of those elements y in Y for which there is an x in X with ƒ(x) = y.

(mechanics)

The horizontal component of a projectile displacement at the instant it strikes the ground.

(navigation)

A line of bearing defined by a radio range.

(communications)

radio range

(nucleonics)

The distance that a given ionizing particle can penetrate a given medium before its energy drops to the point that the particle no longer produces ionization.

(physics)

The greatest distance between two particles at which a given force between them is appreciable.

(statistics)

The difference between the maximums and minimums of a variable quantity.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

range

1. In masonry, a row or course, as of stone.

2. A line of objects in direct succession, as a range of columns.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

range

1. the total products of a manufacturer, designer, or stockist

2. Physics the distance that a particle of ionizing radiation, such as an electron or proton, can travel through a given medium, esp air, before ceasing to cause ionization

3. Maths Logic

a. (of a function) the set of values that the function takes for all possible arguments

b. (of a variable) the set of values that a variable can take

c. (of a quantifier) the set of values that the variable bound by the quantifier can take

4. the extent of pitch difference between the highest and lowest notes of a voice, instrument, etc.

5. the geographical region in which a species of plant or animal normally grows or lives

6. a series or chain of mountains

7. Nautical a line of sight taken from the sea along two or more navigational aids that mark a navigable channel

8. range of significance Philosophy Logic the set of subjects for which a given predicate is intelligible

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

range

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This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

range

(1) In data entry validation, a group of values from a minimum to a maximum.

(2) With spreadsheets, a series of cells that are worked on as a group. It may refer to a row, column or rectangular block defined by one corner and its diagonally opposite corner.

(3) A geographic distance.

(4) A group of frequencies.

Copyright © 1981-2019 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.