| coefficient | 1.
(mathematics) number or letter, especially the former, put before a
mathematical expression to indicate that the expression is to be multiplied by
that number; as in the expression, 4ab,
4 is the coefficient of ab; in 4abx, 4ab is the coefficient of x. 2. (physics) number indicating the degree of a
quality possessed by a substance, either always or under fixed conditions; as,
the coefficient of expansion of iron. Examples:
coefficient of expansion, a number
that, when multiplied into the number expressing the rise of temperature, gives
the resulting expansion of a body; coefficient
of friction, a number that, when multiplied into the number expressing the
pressure between two bodies, gives the resulting friction; coefficient of restitution, a fraction that, when multiplied into
the relative velocity of two colliding bodies just before impact, gives their
relative velocity just afterward; differential
coefficient, ratio of the infinitesimal increase of a function to that of a
variable on which the function depends; a derivative |
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