mean distance
1
8.5
- noun
- /miːn ˈdɪstəns/
- Specialized
:
distancia media
- In addition to describing their dynamics in time and space, populations can be characterized by the mean distance among the individuals within them (Southwood 1981).
Examples
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1 AU is the mean distance between the Sun and Earth.
Blog text (30) -
In addition to home range and crossing time, two other movement parameters, the velocity autocorrelation time scale (a measure of path sinuosity) and mean distance traveled per day were also calculated by the OUF model.
Academic text (2018) -
In either case, the mean distance among individuals decreases, at least on a local scale.
Academic text (2007) -
Overall, the population experiences little change in the mean distance between individuals; it therefore does not exhibit dispersal in the original sense.
Academic text (2007) -
Counterintuitively, farmworkers who used health care had higher mean distances to the nearest FQHC and worked in more rural counties.
Academic text (2011) -
Bykovo generally serves cities nearest to Moscow, so the mean distance for its nonstop flights is only 538 kilometers.
Academic text (1990) -
As with the time data, the on-vib condition produced the shortest mean distance and the on-HPI condition produced the longest, but there were no statistically significant differences among the five conditions.
Academic text (2007) -
At the port of Rio Grande, the trawlers that landed had operated at a mean distance from the coast of 36.167 ± 26.147 nm.
Academic text (2018) -
Hence, the peak of disturbances at a delay of 200 ms can be attributed to maximal rhythmical interference at this point, given that the mean distance between stressed phonemes is about the same order (see Figure 1).
Academic text (2011) -
The mean distance of Mars from the Sun is about 142 million miles.
How Far
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
8.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'mean distance' literally combines 'mean' (average) and 'distance' (space between), so its core sense 'average distance' is directly derivable from the constituents; a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer this meaning. The noun–noun compositional pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically, so despite its technical use in astronomy the expression is transparent.
Etymology
The term mean distance comes from a simple idea: take the farthest and nearest distance of a planet or satellite and find the mean or average of those two numbers. That 'middle' value gives a typical distance for the orbit, so astronomers use it to describe where the body usually is.