Calculation Definition and 1000 Threads

A calculation is a deliberate process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more results. The term is used in a variety of senses, from the very definite arithmetical calculation of using an algorithm, to the vague heuristics of calculating a strategy in a competition, or calculating the chance of a successful relationship between two people.
For example, multiplying 7 by 6 is a simple algorithmic calculation. Estimating the fair price for financial instruments using the Black–Scholes model is a more complex algorithmic calculation.
Statistical estimations of the likely election results from opinion polls also involve algorithmic calculations, but produces ranges of possibilities rather than exact answers.
To calculate means to determine mathematically in the case of a number or amount, or in the case of an abstract problem to deduce the answer using logic, reason or common sense. The English word derives from the Latin calculus, which originally meant a small stone in the gall-bladder (from Latin calx). It also meant a pebble used for calculating, or a small stone used as a counter in an abacus (Latin abacus, Greek abax). The abacus was an instrument used by Greeks and Romans for arithmetic calculations, preceding the slide-rule and the electronic calculator, and consisted of perforated pebbles sliding on iron bars.

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  1. B

    Questions about metal-semiconductor-metal calculation

    Dear all Pls contact me if you can provide some help for the calculation on the M-S-M model. Using equation: https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/upload_2015-1-20_10-10-27-png.77997/ After plotting LnI vs.V, I use the slope to get Eo, where Eo is in the unit of mV. While if I continue...
  2. marellasunny

    Front crash with crumple zone: relative velocity calculation

    EURONCAP front crash test involves crashing a car moving at 64 kph onto a deformable barrier at 40% of the total vehicle width. According to the EURONCAP website, this is equivalent to two vehicles crashing into each other at 55 kph. How did they arrive at this figure? I presumed that the...
  3. A

    How Is Entropy Change Calculated in a Heat Transfer Problem?

    Homework Statement A solid metallic cube of heat capacity S is at temperature 300K. It is brought in contact with a reservoir at 600K. If the heat transfer takes place only between the reservoir and the cube, the entropy change of the universe after reaching the thermal equillibrium is A...
  4. K

    Calculate Yaw Angle: Best Sensor for Device Movement

    i want to calculate YAW angle for the device movement(consider car turning angle), anyone suggest me the good sensor to calculate the YAW angle...
  5. J

    Calculation and application of dyadic Green's function

    Hello everyone: I'm confusing with the construction and application of dyadic green's function. If we are in the ideal resonant system where only certain resonant mode is supported in this space (such as cavity), the Green's function can be constructed by the mode expansion that is: Gij(r,r')...
  6. J

    Power-split planetary gear set power calculation

    I think we have a problem with this rule. This is my understanding of the existing rule. Am I close? The rule for calculating the power distribution on a power split planetary gear system is based on the equal force rule. To calculate the power on the sun and ring of a planet set with input...
  7. Y

    Velocity calculation in US system from acceleration

    I've been working exclusively in SI units up until now, so using the US System trips me up. Given force in pounds-force, I divide it by mass (units are pound-mass) to get acceleration. I take the integral of acceleration to get velocity, which, according to the US Units, are in mph. Am I...
  8. J

    How to Calculate Sliding Friction in Chain Conveyors?

    Hi All... I have to design a chain conveyor. I am new for this conveyor design. Here i have to find friction between chain and bottom . But i have mass and velocity only .How can i calculate this .please help me
  9. arpon

    Calculating Magnetic Field in a Square with Varying Resistances

    Homework Statement [/B] Consider a square whose successive sides of length L has resistances R, 2R, 2R, R respectively. If a potential difference V is applied between the points (call them , say , A and B) where the sides with R and 2R meet. Find the magnetic field B at the center of the...
  10. A

    Calculation of fluid pressure through water flowing pipe?

    HI. I'm confused in how to find pressure in horizontal Pipe theoretical. Pipe having 90mm dia and water flowing through 3m/s. If I'm insert one plate in pipe having surface area 'x', then how much pressure acting on the surface of plate by water? please explain me.
  11. K

    Reflection coefficient calculation

    Hi there, I am wondering how to calculate the reflection coefficient of walls upon incident light versus wavelengths,, thanks
  12. B

    Calculating Box Stability: An Energy Approach

    Ok I know this should be easy but it's been a few years since my physics lessons at college and I'm stumped. I work in packaging. I'm working on a tool that will tell me if a box will fall over when it is subjected to an edge drop test. That means that a block is placed under one edge of a box...
  13. A

    Calculation of the pulse energy and pulse duration in Nd:yaq

    How to Calculate the pulse energy and pulse duration in repetitively Q-Switched ND:YAG Laser ? Please help me , I make my graduation research and need some references . 1- Pulse energy (explanations and drawing and rules ) 2- Pulse Duration (explanations and drawing and rules )
  14. B

    How Do You Calculate the Diameter of a Camera Lens Based on a Photograph?

    Homework Statement How we can determine The diameter of the lens of the camera approximitly that this picture took with that? ( we know that lens of the camera made by some parts but we count them as a thin one in Practical calculations ) Homework Equations m = q / p 1/f = 1/q + 1/p f =...
  15. L

    Second Moment of Area calculation?

    Hi there, I am covering a topic on welding at university and I am struggling with deriving the second moment area for the structure attached. The desired second moment of area is also given in the attached image. The first part is particularly confusing to me as I know that the total second...
  16. K

    How Do You Calculate the Kinetic Energy of a Moving Body?

    Homework Statement A body, which has mass of m = 1 kg , is dropped with a horizontal speed of vo = 20 m/s . What is its kinetic energy after 4 s ? Homework Equations Ek = mv2/2 s = vot + gt2/2 The Attempt at a Solution Is it correct? P. S. There is a mistake: Ek = 3200 J
  17. gracy

    Calculating Work Done for Decomposition of 2 moles NH4NO3 at 100°C

    Homework Statement Decomposition of 2 moles of NH4NO3 at 100 degrees C.calculate work done Homework Equations NH4NO3 (s)→N2O(g)+2H2O (g) work done= - RT delta n here R=universal gas constant T=temperature in kelvin and delta n=difference in number of moles of products and reactants. The...
  18. marellasunny

    Calculation of the battery pack voltage for an EV

    I'm a Automotive engineer and hence lack the electrical engineering expertise that you might expect. This is related to a doubt I have in calculating the final battery voltage for an electrical vehicle. This is just a calculation query. I have a module consisting of 12 individual Li-ion cells...
  19. R

    Photodiode : ask help too find 10x calculation error

    Hello Can anybody help me find my mistake in the following reasoning for light falling on a photodiode : "When 0.1464 watts/m2 fall on a 7.34 mm2 window, 1.07E-06 watts will penetrate and for a 0.38 A/W photodiode will produce 4.08E-07 amps which, across a 100k resistance will produce 0.0408...
  20. R

    Calculation of friction coefficient between wheel and road

    Hi all, I need to calculate the friction coefficient between road and the tyre of the car. I came across few answers like which solves as from the following torque equation. Engine torque = braking torque + acceleration troque + Inertial torque + drag torque + rolling resistance. For...
  21. P

    Force calculation - Gripper (Torsion Spring)

    Hi, Currently I am working on a project to find out the force required to open/close the gripper for holding a circular tube. I have used torsion spring between the two gripper and it will work like a clip. The circular tube is SS316 and the gripper is made out of Aluminium 6061. Stainless...
  22. B

    Help with calculation for dynamometer build?

    I'm looking for someone who can help me calculate the torque there will be transferred to my couplings between the rollers and to my belt connecting the 2 set of rollers. I have drawings of it all including inventor pro 2011 drawings/file of it all putted together without the belt and couplings...
  23. ShayanJ

    Problem with a piece of calculation

    I'm reading Gourgoulhon's Special Relativity in general frames. In chapter 11, which is about the principle of least action, he constructs the relativistic version of this principle but I have problem with one part of it. At first, he introduces Lagrangian and then from the fact that the action...
  24. M

    How do I calculate pressure drop in a pipeline?

    Anybody can help me for calculating pressure drop in pipeline. I really appreciate the suggestions from your side. i have the values of dp for equipments and valves...i want to know how to interlink with these dp values for calculation...i want to know, how to calculate the dp of scrubber. i had...
  25. Mentz114

    What Causes the Unexpected Limit in Rindler Horizon Calculations?

    Greetings. For my own edification I calculated a set of the congruence of uniformly accelerated observers in flat spacetime in the spherical polar chart. These observers accelerate radially outwards from some ##r## so that their horizons are at the same position ##r_h##. This requires that...
  26. S

    Lagrange Points Calculation Work

    (Sorry text is hard to read, please see attached document for an easier read) I am having trouble with #6, I'm not sure if what I have going on is entirely correct. Also #7 is a little confusing. Problem Statement & work done: For an object in orbit around a second, there are five LaGrange...
  27. T

    Shear stress calculation question

    Homework Statement I've been working on this question for a while but can't get anywhere. I was able to calculate Force BD and Force CE Now I am not sure how they calculated the area of section BD the math isn't making much sense to me Homework Equations σ = P / A A= π r2 The Attempt at a...
  28. ptownbro

    Where is speed factored in the Amperes calculation?

    OK. This may be a stupid question but here it goes. :D When thinking about the measurement of current in Amperes how is the speed of the current factored in the equation? Let me try to illustrate using example. Amperes is the measurement of the number if electrons or coulombs passing a given...
  29. B

    Magnetic flux density calculation for high permeability material

    Hi to all of you, As the Biot-Savart-Law is based on experimentations in air, i like to know how to calculate the magnetic flux density in material with much greater permeability, where the circular like shape of the field distribution troughout the vicinity does not apply. Does anyone has a...
  30. Qw_freak

    Calculation of gamma ray shielding value in liquids?

    Hi folks Please bear with me, I'm new here and this may not be the correct forum to ask this question. If this is the case, I'll of course remove my question and ask it the appropriate place instead. However, here it goes: I need to be able to calculate how much a given intensity of gamma...
  31. R

    Can I Calculate Shear Force and Bending Moment for Partially Loaded Beams?

    Hi, I am designing a beam to replace a load bearing wall. I have produced 2 separate UDL diagrams which, one for floor load and one for wall load. I am trying to find shear force and bending moment as in one for the total of the two diagrams. I know how to do it if the loads are spread...
  32. B

    Calculating Complex Logarithms

    Hello everyone, I am asked to calculate ##\log (e^{1+2i})##, and I would appreciate it if someone could verify my calculation.. My textbook defines ##\log z## as ##\log z = \ln |z| + i \arg z##. ##\log (e^{1+2i}) = \ln |e^{1+2i}| + i \arg(e^{1+2i}) \iff## ##\log (e^{1 + 2i}) = \ln|e e^{2i}|...
  33. BUI TUAN KHAI

    Bmax in Bohr's calculation for energy loss of charged particles (classical case)

    Dear all, I have inquiries about the Bohr's calculation for energy loss of charged particles. These inquires are from the "Techniques for Nuclear and Particle Physics Experiments" (W.Leo). On page 23 of this book, it is written that: the the interaction time is t = b/(γv), with b is the...
  34. K

    Complex Moment of Inertia Calculation

    Homework Statement I'm just looking for the proper equation to use to find the moment of inertia of a complex assembly of bodies. I'm not a student and this isn't homework, but it seemed the most relevant place to pose the question. One of my hobbies is making toys and I'm trying to calculate...
  35. G

    Can you do more than 40 hours of calculation per week?

    I keep track of how much time I spend doing intellectual labor. It works out to 60% of my free time and 49 hours per week. I also separate my labor into two categories: hard and easy. The hard category comes to 43 hours per week since last April. That includes computer coding and writing up...
  36. E

    BH to Sun, back of the napkin calculation of solar mass

    Yesterday I had a bizarre idea. I supposed that a black hole (which I assumed to be a sufficiently dense sphere) became our sun. I know this is completely wrong, but please humor me and see what I've done. Suppose we have a sphere sufficiently dense, so that the Schwarzschild radius, r_s, is...
  37. K

    How Much Magnesium is Needed for 40 mL of Hydrogen Gas Production?

    Homework Statement Determine how many grams of Mg must react with HCl in order to produce 40 mL of hydrogen gas at 22 degrees Celsius and 1.02 bar. Also, If the Mg ribbon weighs 0.836 mg/mm, how many mm of the ribbon will you require? Homework Equations PV=nRT Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) -->...
  38. P

    Heat from an A/C inverter calculation more than energy consumed?

    Hi guys can anyone please tell me that it is possible with an air conditioner of type inverter to put less energy than what the piece is receiving as heat. So let's say that on the inverter it says output KWh/ input KWh =4. Henthalpy= G+TS 4*Hinput= Houtput inside the house So to heat my...
  39. K

    Two-Antenna Method for Gain Calculation

    Can someone please help me understand how two-antenna method is used to measure gain of an antenna ? I could't even find literature on it, please if anyone could even suggest any document that would also be great. Thanks.
  40. M

    What is the purpose of r hat in physics?

    Hi I am struggling big time with Physics and vectors and I keep coming across r hat (^) like what is it exactly and how do you calculate it? Thanks in advance
  41. H

    MHB Derivative Calculation: f'(x) & Increase/Decrease

    Have a function f(x)=4x^3-x^4 Found the x values are X -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 , 4, f(Y) -5, 0, 3, 16, 27, 0 i Need to find f^{\prime}(x) and find where it incteases and decreases??f`(x)= 3*4x^2-4x^3=4x^2(3-x) what to Next?
  42. C

    Should I Use Total or Partial Differentiation in Absolute Error Calculation?

    The absolute error of the quantity p should be calculated. p=a*b where a and b are two variables. By taking ln on both sides: lnp=lna+lnb, then differentiating: dp/p=da/a+db/b dp=abolute error Should I have used total or partial differential in the differentiation step?
  43. R

    How Do You Calculate the Lift Force of a Jack Screw?

    Homework Statement What formula would I use to calculate the lift force of a Jack Screw when I know the force exerted on the linear screw? It would be similar to the Jack used to lift a car. Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution
  44. R

    How Do I Calculate the Lift Force of a Jack Screw?

    What formula would I use to calculate the lift force of a Jack Screw when I know the force exerted on the linear screw? It would be similar to the Jack used to lift a car.
  45. A

    Projectile motion-range calculation

    1. the surface of a hill is inclined at α to horizontal,a stone is thrown from the top of the hill at initial speed u at angle β with vertical line. How far from the top will the stone strike the ground? 2. R=(u^2 sin2θ)\g or by rotational co ordinate geometry3. can't prove that the dist...
  46. A

    MHB Convolution - calculation and drawing

    Hi! I need your help with convolution. I am having problem understanding it. I don't understand the example, it shows the calculation and the drawing. Could you please explain the solution to me - why the ranges of t are taken that way and how does the drawing represent the answer?I'll show...
  47. N

    How Do You Calculate Air Pressure with Varying Flow Rates and Orifice Sizes?

    I have a basic airflow question and my mind is in the fog. I'm trying to find the air pressure at a known flow rate and orifice size but I'm having issues with the unit conversions. I'm using Bernoulli's equation Pressure = 1/2 x Air Density x Flow Rate/Area. My Flow Rate is in L/M and the area...
  48. ajayguhan

    Isentropic Compression of Saturated Water: Workdone Calculation

    Workdone= integral Pdv a kg of saturated water was compressed isentropically from 1 bar to 10 bar. I solved it in the following logic: Since water is incompressible dv=0 , work =0 But my answers was wrong. The solution was integral Vdp where V is Vf at 1 bar My doubt is , is workdone...
  49. G

    Spherical shape surface area calculation

    Homework Statement Homework Equations [/B] Surface area of sphere = 4*Pi*r^2, where r: is the radius of the sphere circleThe Attempt at a Solution Solution:[/B] 1. In terms of “r” and “R”, and the radius of sphere “S”, and “d”: Given that: · Surface area of both shaded area are equal...
  50. skate_nerd

    Small question about atomic form factor calculation

    Homework Statement This problem just has me find an atomic form factor for some arbitrary basis atom in a bravais lattice where the electron wave function is given (it has a dependence on the Bohr radius in an exponential). I calculated the form factor (a very long, nasty integral that...
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