Negative frequency Negative frequency The concept of negative and positive frequency can be as simple as a wheel rotating one way or the other way: a "signed value" of frequency can indicate both the rate and direction of rotation. The rate is expressed in units such as revolutions (a.k.a. "cycles") per second (hertz) or radian/second (where 1 cycle corresponds to 2"π" radians). Let "ω" be a nonnegative parameter with units of radians/sec. Then the angular function (angle vs. time) , has slope −"ω", which is called a negative frequency. But when the function is used as the argument of a cosine operator,
Collision frequency Collision frequency Collision frequency is defined in chemical kinetics and collision theory, in the background of "theoretical kinetics". If a system contains "n" type-a molecules per unit volume and "n" type-b molecules in that same unit volume, then the number of a-b collisions per unit time in that volume will be proportional to the product "nn". or, in terms of molar volumes ("[x]=n /N" where N is the Avogadro constant) By kinetic theory it can be shown that: where The collision frequency ("Z") is usually expressed in units of "moles of collisions" per unit time per unit volume: or equivalently: