range
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range
Range
range
see MEASURES OF DISPERSION.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
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.
Range
in statistics, the difference between the greatest and least values of observation results. Suppose X1,…, Xn are mutually independent random variables with the distribution function F(x) and probability density f(x). In this case, the range Wn is defined as the difference between the greatest and least values of x1, …, Xn; 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, Xk has a normal distribution with parameters (a, a). For n = 5 and n = 10, the quantities 0.42991 w5 and 0.3249 Wl0, 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.)range
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range
range
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.