Concept in Definition ABC

Size of a body

In general terms, the term magnitude is usually used by people in two different senses, but both quite recurrent. On the one hand, magnitude is the size of a body, for example, "the magnitude of a building or what an incredible magnitude the city we visit has!"
We use this sense of the word a lot when we want to tell another person about the size that something presents, it is certainly a word that facilitates the description the size of a body x.

The greatness, the importance of a fact

And on the other hand, the word magnitude can refer to the greatness, the importance that a fact, situation, or thing presents; "The case of bribery in the Senate triggered a scandal of such magnitude that nobody talks about anything else in the country".

With this reference, the same thing happens as with the previous one, we use it extensively to account for a fact that awakens a tremendous repercussion in its wake.

Public and important figures involved in these cases

Generally, public figures of enormous relevance to the community are involved in these events, as well as public figures. The events that they star in turn out to be so unpublished, curious or scandalous that it causes everyone to be aware of what happened.

Influence of media

Also, it is worth noting that the media communication massive tend to greatly influence the magnitude that an event can take that arouses the attention of public opinion. That is, an important case explodes in the media and then the public attracted by its implications does not stop consuming its contents. The media attentive to this issue do not stop covering it and generating information about that topic. Inevitably this widespread treatment will make the event take on a greater magnitude. People will turn on the TV, the radio, or buy the newspapers, and they will not talk about anything other than that fact.

We must emphasize in any case that although the media have this conduct, it is triggered by the interest that audiences have in certain topics.

Property that is measurable at the behest of a physical-type system

While, At the behest of Physics, the magnitude will be that property that is measurable at the behest of a physical type system. As a consequence of this measurement, values ​​can be assigned to the magnitude. Height, length, surface area, weight, are magnitudes that are plausible to be measured. Physical magnitudes such as those mentioned can be quantified by comparing them with some standard, such as a unit of measurement.

Types of quantities

There are different types of magnitudes ...scalar magnitudes (They have fixed values, they are independent from whoever observes them and they have neither direction nor meaning). Conversely, the vector ones , if they will depend on the gaze of the observer and show direction and meaning. Y the tensor, they oscillate according to the observer and their values ​​will depend on the coordinate system that is chosen. So, the Energy, the density, are scalar magnitudes; the force, the velocity and vector acceleration and stress, tensor.

Astronomy: apparent size of stars

On the other hand, for the Astronomy, a magnitude will be the apparent size of the stars by the greater or lesser intensity that produces their brightness. This very important concept within Astronomy has been promoted since Ancient Greece, where astronomers They classified by their magnitudes, ordering them in terms of degrees, for example, first degree, second degree, third degree, fourth, fifth…

Later, in the 19th century, this classification was perfected by providing a scale of magnitudes and it was established that 2.5 was the difference in brightness between one magnitude and another.

Although, at present, this question is relative, because there are some stars that show a lot of brightness still not belonging to the first magnitude. Thanks to the telescope, stars corresponding to the twentieth magnitude have been detected.

Richter magnitude: measures the level of energy released by an earthquake

And the Richter magnitude is the other type of magnitude with which we can find, and that was specially developed to measure the amount of energy that is released during an earthquake.. Richter Seismological Scale or Local Magnitude Scale as it is formally called and in honor of its creator, the North American seismologist Francis Richter.
International seismology uses this scale extensively after the succession of an earthquake to quantify its relevance.

Issues in Magnitude