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RMS stands for root mean square. In electronics, it is the so-called DC equivalent voltage of a sine wave. It is the amount of DC voltage that would be applied to a resistance heating device to give the same heating as the AC voltage it measures. In a 120 volt AC circuit that powers up a toaster to toast bread, the peak of the sine wave is at almost 170 volts. The sine wave goes from zero up to 170 volts and then back to zero. It then goes down to -170 volts, and then back up to zero to repeat the cycle. If we applied a 120 DC battery to the nichrome wire heating elements in the toaster, it would toast the bread the same way the AC sine wave did, and in the same time. There is a mathematical explanation of root mean square, and it can be found by using the link below to the Wikipedia post on this idea from statistics. (The character set here will not support posting it.)

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16y ago

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