Physical coefficient facts for kids

A physical coefficient is an important number that characterizes some physical property of a technical or scientific object.

Examples of Physical Coefficients

1. Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (thermodynamics) (dimensionless) - Relates the change in temperature to the change in a material's dimensions.
2. Partition Coefficient (K_D) (chemistry) - The ratio of concentrations of a compound in two phases of a mixture of two immiscible solvents at equilibrium.
3. Hall coefficient (electrical physics) - Relates a magnetic field applied to an element to the voltage created, the amount of current and the element thickness. It is a characteristic of the material from which the conductor is made.
4. Lift Coefficient (C_L or C_Z) (Aerodynamics) (dimensionless) - Relates the lift generated by an airfoil with the dynamic pressure of the fluid flow around the airfoil, and the planform area of the airfoil.
5. Ballistic coefficient (BC) (Aerodynamics) (units of kg/m²) - A measure of a body's ability to overcome air resistance in flight. BC is a function of mass, diameter, and drag coefficient.
6. Transmission Coefficient (quantum mechanics) (dimensionless) - Represents the probability flux of a transmitted wave relative to that of an incident wave. It is often used to describe the probability of a particle tunnelling through a barrier.
7. Damping Factor a.k.a. viscous damping coefficient (Physical Engineering) (units of Newton-seconds per meter) - relates a damping force with the velocity of the object whose motion is being dampened.
8. Coefficient of friction (dimensionless) which could be static or dynamic - it relates friction, a force resisting motion between things touching each other, to a normal force, a force pushing the things together.
9. Diffusion coefficient - relates concentration differences in a medium with how much or how fast diffusion occurs in Fick's Law.