Richard Moody wrote: > > ---------- > What is an accelerometer? An accelerometer is a (usually) small device containing a calibrated mass that is attached to a (usually) piezoelectric material that generates an electrical signal when it is disturbed. If the accelerometer is disturbed just a little bit the signal will be small, if the disturbance is greater the signal will be larger. In other words, the signal amplitude is proportional to the rate of acceleration of the object being measured. On a larger scale this is how the magnitude of earthquakes is measured. Those that I have used are considerably smaller than that -- about 8 or 10 mm in diameter and perhaps 12 mm tall. They are attached to the surface under consideration -- usually by "gluing" them on with a wax based adhesive -- and the electrical signal is sent to an analyzer of some sort. The type of analyzer used will be determined by what you want to measure. It could be something as simple as a voltmeter but is usually something that will display the frequency spectrum and the amplitude of the motion of the vibrating object, i.e., a spectrum analyzer. > Will it help me in my sex life... I would normally say, probably not. These days, however, I can't be so certain. It really depends on a number of factors that are beyond the scope of this column. Be assured, though, if it does we'll not hold it against you. > ...or is it > good only for the shop? SICR : )) Their usefulness in the shop is rather limited and fairly time consuming. Kind of like the Internet. > Wondering Richard ddf
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