Check your math

Sometimes you check, and you check, but the numbers just don't add up. Avoid the self-doubt and let the Internet check your math.

Space Age Control Inc., producers of miniature, all-environment position transducers, now offers on-line calculators to help engineers, technicians, and researchers see how changes in acceleration, temperature, and gravity affect position transducer performance. Teachers and students can also use the calculators to demonstrate in class the effects of changing physical conditions.

The three calculators offered at www.spaceagecontrol.com are: Sinusoidal Motion, for translating between the variables of displacement, velocity, frequency, and acceleration; Thermal Effect, which shows the effects of changes in temperature upon the length of material; and Cable Sag, which gives the amount of cable sag based on length and straightline distance.

All calculators offer a choice between Imperial and SI units, and they display the actual formula used, just in case that self-doubt creeps back.