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:
“How shall my animal
Whose wizard shape I trace in the cavernous skull,
Vessel of abscesses and exultation’s shell,
Endure burial under the spelling wall....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“In his very rejection of art Walt Whitman is an artist. He tried to produce a certain effect by certain means and he succeeded.... He stands apart, and the chief value of his work is in its prophecy, not in its performance. He has begun a prelude to larger themes. He is the herald to a new era. As a man he is the precursor of a fresh type. He is a factor in the heroic and spiritual evolution of the human being. If Poetry has passed him by, Philosophy will take note of him.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)