Shape factor may refer to one of number of values in physics, engineering, or image analysis. Typically, a shape factor refers to a value that is affected by an object's shape but is independent of its dimensions.
In physics:
- Shape factor, or shaping factor, a performance measure for filters such as band-pass filters
- Shape factor of crystallites, a term in the Scherrer equation used in X-ray diffraction
- The view factor in the field of radiative heat transfer
In engineering:
- Shape factor (boundary layer flow)
- Structural indices derived from falling weight deflectometer data
In image analysis:
- Shape factor (image analysis and microscopy) including:
- The compactness measure of a shape
Famous quotes containing the words shape and/or factor:
“This whole day have I followed in the rocks,
And you have changed and flowed from shape to shape,
First as a raven on whose ancient wings
Scarcely a feather lingered, then you seemed
A weasel moving on from stone to stone....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.... This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking.”
—Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)