Meaning & use
time constant
The time a system needs for its response to a sudden change to reach about sixty-three percent of its final value.
See it in a sentence
Engineers measured the circuit's time constant to see how quickly the capacitor would charge.
A shorter time constant means the temperature sensor reacts to changes almost instantly.
A note on using this word
Time constant is widely used in electronics and physics, especially for exponential processes such as RC circuits or radioactive decay.
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