The analysis of temperature fluctuations by pulse-counting techniques

Abstract

To determine experimentally the mean value of a randomly fluctuating quantity, it may be necessary to measure the average value over a considerable interval of time. This problem arose in a recent study of the temperature fluctuations over a heated horizontal plate, and a system was used that depended on the counting of electrical pulses generated at a rate proportional to the quantity being measured. The advantage of this technique is that mean values may be measured over time intervals of almost unlimited length with little added difficulty for the experimenter. Circuits are described which measure: (a) the mean square of a fluctuating quantity and of its time-derivative, (b) the statistical distribution of the fluctuations, (c) the mean frequency of the fluctuation assuming a particular value, and (d) the mean product of two fluctuating quantities. Over the range of use, the stability and linearity of the calibrations is better than 1%, more than sufficient for work on natural convection. In its present form, the equipment responds uniformly to all frequencies below 100 c/s, but it would not be difficult to extend this range of response to higher frequencies.