Variation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Variation is an instance of change.

Variation means an instance of change or the rate or magnitude of change. It may refer to:

Biology:

• Biodiversity
• Genetic variation, differences within a species

Physics:

• Magnetic variation, difference between magnetic north and true north, measured as an angle
• Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the Moon

Mathematics:

• Bounded variation
• Calculus of variations, a field of mathematics which deals with functions of functions.
• Coefficient of variation in statistics, the magnitude of variance relative to the mean. Variation often refers to a vague notion of the extent of spread in measurements of a variable, quantified in the variance.

Arts:

• Variation (ballet), solo dance or dance figure
• Variation (music), formal technique where material is altered during repetition
• Variations (album), composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Other:

• Variation (game), modifications made to a game by a community of players (as opposed to a central authority)
• Variation (chess), particular series of moves