Equation 5 · The Machine Before Electronics
What does this equation mean?
Read the formula alongside the article passage below. Each part has a deeper page with its role in the equation, the supporting passage and nearby citations.
the while. Read the equation part by part below; each part has a contextual explanation and a link to its mathematical background.
Read it piece by piece
subscript
subscript
The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.
How to interpret it
Read this expression with the definitions, units, and assumptions supplied by the article.
What the article says around this equation
Thomson’s machine implements exactly that division. Each of the ten shafts in the 1872 instrument carries an overhead crank with a pulley pivoted on a parallel axis that is adjustable for the range applying to that place — the amplitude — and each crank can be positioned and clamped to correspond to the required tidal epoch — the phase . The shafts are geared so that their periods are proportional to the periods of the tidal constituents — the frequencies [ 3 ] . The summing cord performs the . The pen writes h(t) against a moving paper roll while a single crank drives everything at once.
Sources cited in the surrounding passage
These citations give research context. Read each source to check which claims it supports.