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Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:16 am
by MikeK
Skiers seem notorious for butchering engineering terms and using them incorrectly. I won't even get into the power thing right now.
A quick one: It's damping, not dampening.
damp, damped, damping NOT dampen, dampened, dampening
One refers to dissipation of mechanical energy, the other refers to making something wet.
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:24 am
by lowangle al
When it's damp out I usually go with no wax skis.
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:29 am
by MikeK
Nailed it
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:52 am
by lowangle al
MikeK wrote:Nailed it
And I don't even drive a train.
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:06 am
by anrothar
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:28 am
by MikeK
You'll never see an engineering or physics book refer to damping as dampening. I don't care what a grammarian says.
I see ski articles use dampening all the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_ratio
damp used 50 times in that article, dampen... 0
Call it what you want, just sayin'...
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:38 am
by anrothar
Interesting. It's the same in all of the sources, as you said it would be. OK, no 'en'.
Re: Engineering FYI
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:43 am
by MikeK
anrothar wrote:Interesting. It's the same in all of the sources, as you said it would be. OK, no 'en'.
It's an engineering/physics thing. I don't think you'd notice if you weren't in the field.
I'm not a grammar Nazi, but if you talk to an engineer or scientist, that kind of thing might make them question your understanding of the term.
PS - it's more important to understand the concept than how to communicate it.