• Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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    11 days ago

    Time derivatives!

    • Rate of change in position is called velocity
    • Rate of change in velocity is called acceleration
    • Rate of change in acceleration is called jerk
    • Rate of change in jerk is called snap
    • Rate of change in snap is called crackle
    • Rate of change in crackle is called pop
        • antrosapien@lemmy.ml
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          11 days ago

          I can’t even comprehend what something beyond jerk means in reality or how to even produce it by physical means

          • Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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            11 days ago

            Well these are higher order derivatives, so they do have physical meaning but the latter ones are increasingly abstract and subtle from our normal earthly perspective.

            If you think of a stable and perfectly circular orbit, that’s a steady and constant acceleration. Then if you thrust to make it elliptical, you’re changing the acceleration which can be measured as jerk. But then if that thrust itself is variable, you can measure its changes as snap. And then of course the rate of how much you change that is crackle, and so on.

            • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
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              11 days ago

              If I was working with those concepts, I’d just start using numbers.

              Like, acceleration is v2, jerk is v3, and so on.

              • Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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                11 days ago

                These are n th order mathematical derivatives so I’m pretty sure physicists do something very similar to that whenever n matters.

        • tallricefarmer@sopuli.xyz
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          11 days ago

          They aren’t useful. It is just scientists memeing. Any research that involves anything past jerk would be esoteric.

        • sem@piefed.blahaj.zone
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          10 days ago

          Getting them just right is important for driverless cars learning to brake in a way that feels comfortable to humans

        • fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          Jitter is a technical term for latency variations between Internet packets over time.

          High jitter is bad for VoIP and online gaming and potentially streaming if the jitter is caused by packet loss and retransmits.

          • Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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            11 days ago

            I only know jitter as irregularity in data flow (e.g. network packets).

            Jerk is sometimes called jolt though. Both terms seem fitting to me. Supposedly in roller coaster design, having too much jerk/jolt can be quite unpleasant for riders. Which kind of makes sense, if the acceleration varies too wildly I could see that making me sick.

            • RunawayFixer@lemmy.world
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              10 days ago

              I only know jitter from electronics as well, but it could be applied in mechanics as well. Iirc, jitter is the irregularities in the intervals in a periodic signal, like data transfer. But jitter will be present in anything with a period, it doesn’t have to be digital signal. A jerk is a single action, so there is no period and there can be no jitter. A series of jerks could have a seemingly regular period, but when measured more accurately, the intervals between jerks will have small variances: jitter. Hence why imo a series of irregular jerks could be considered jittery.

              Noone ever uses it that way though and I’m not even sure that I phrased it correctly, but because of the word “jerk” I find it a mildly fun play on words.