Two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other. Each increase of one power of 10 is an increase in magnitude of 1. For example, 106 is 4 orders of magnitude above 102.
An amount equal to 10 times a given value; thus if some quantity was 10 times as great as another quantity, it would be an order of magnitude greater; if 100 times as great, it would be larger by two orders of magnitude
The difference in two values measured by their logarithms. The quantity 100 (log=2.0) is an order of magnitude larger than the quantity 10 (log=1.0).
estimates of the values of appropriate quantities, usually made to the nearest power of ten
a degree in a continuum of size or quantity; "it was on the order of a mile"; "an explosion of a low order of magnitude"
a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10
a factor of ten For example
The order of magnitude is the degree of brightness of a celestial body. The numerical classification 0 is reserved for the brightest stars like Vega. A difference of five orders of magnitude represents a difference in luminance of 100, each order of magnitude equals a multiplicator of 2,512.
A tenfold increase or 90% decrease; a decade, q.v. Frequency ranges: Medium frequency 316 to 1000 KHz (1 MHz) and 1.0 to 3.16 MHz; High frequency 3.16 to 10.0 MHz and 10.0 to 31.6 MHz; Very high frequency 31.6 MHz to 100 MHz and 100 to 316 MHz, etc. are in orders of magnitudes or as broken down here, pairs of one-half orders of magnitude. A one-half order of magnitude increase is an increase by a factor of the square root of ten, approximately 3.16, that is, if you multiply by the same number (the square root of ten) twice you get a one order of magnitude or tenfold increase.
A factor of 10. Compare octave, magnitude. Two quantities of the same kind which differ by less than a factor of 10 are said to be of the same order of magnitude. Order of magnitude is used loosely by many writers to mean a pronounced difference in quantity but the difference may be much less or much more than a factor of 10.
See Order of Magnitude Estimate. [D03106
Quantity given to the nearest power of ten. A factor of ten or so.
An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. The ratio most commonly used is 10.
