| Definition: | time τ in the expression of a quantity F growing or decaying exponentially towards a constant value A with increasing time t, or in the expression of an exponentially damped oscillation, where f is a periodic function of time Note 1 to entry: The time constant of an exponentially varying quantity is the duration of a time interval at the end of which the absolute value of the difference between the quantity and the limit has decreased to 1/e of the absolute value of this difference at the beginning of the time interval, where e is the base of natural logarithms. Note 2 to entry: The time constant of a damped oscillation is the inverse of the damping coefficient.
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