Root Mean Square Calculator

The root mean square formula for a set of nn numbers x1​,…,xn​x1​,…,xn​ is the following:

With the help of the summation sign we can rewrite it as:

We see that this expression is the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the values in our set. This is where the name "root-mean-square", which is abbreviated as "RMS", comes from. Sometimes the root mean square is called the "quadratic mean".

We now know what the root mean square is, so it's time to learn how to calculate RMS by hand.

Let 2,6,3,−4,2,4,−1,3,2,−12,6,3,−4,2,4,−1,3,2,−1 be our dataset for which we want to apply the root mean square equation to. We need to perform the following steps:

1. The first step is to find the square or each number. The set of squared values is the following:

   4,36,9,16,4,16,1,9,4,14,36,9,16,4,16,1,9,4,1.

2. Sum those squared numbers:

   4+36+9+16+4+16+1+9+4+1=1004+36+9+16+4+16+1+9+4+1=100.

3. Divide 100100 by the number of values contained in our dataset. We see that there are 1010 of them, so we obtain 100/10=10100/10=10.

4. The last step we need to apply the root mean square equation is to compute the square root of the value obtained above. The quadratic mean of our dataset is 1​0≈3.161​0≈3.16.

To use our root mean square calculator, start by entering your values. At first, four fields are visible, but more fields will appear as you go. You can enter up to 30 numbers.

The root mean square of your numbers will be displayed at the bottom of the RMS calculator. It will update as you enter more and more variables.

Similar to other means, the root mean square has a weighted variant. It is used when we want some values to contribute more to the average than others (in the default version each value contributes the same, i.e., they all have the same weight).

Suppose that we have a list of numbers x1​,x2​,…,xn​x1​,x2​,…,xn​, along with an associated list of weights w1​,w2​,…,wn​w1​,w2​,…,wn​.
The weighted root mean square is given by the formula:

For all you more advanced readers, it may be useful for you to know that the quadratic mean (and most other means, like the arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic are particular cases of a more general concept. Namely, we let p=0p=0 and define the generalized mean with the exponent pp of the values x1​,x2​,…,xn​x1​,x2​,…,xn​ as:

which can be rewritten as:

Clearly, for p=1p=1, we have the arithmetic mean. By setting p=2p=2, we obtain the quadratic mean, while p=3p=3 would give the cubic mean, and so on. Also, note that for p=−1p=−1, we arrive at the harmonic mean:

Finally, it can be proved that the geometric mean is the limit value when pp approaches 00.

🔎 To learn more abut the different means mentioned above, visit our dedicated tools:

• Arithmetic mean calculator;
• Geometric mean calculator; and
• Harmonic mean calculator.

It is true that the root mean square is less popular than the arithmetic or geometric mean, but it does have several important applications:

• In statistics, the population standard deviation is just the root mean square of the differences between data points and the population expected value. In fact, the root mean square can be used to determine the standard deviation via the following formula:

  xRMS2​−xˉ2=σ2xRMS2​−xˉ2=σ2

  where:

  • xRMS​xRMS​ is the root mean square;

  • xˉxˉ is the population mean; and

  • σ2σ2 is the squared standard deviation (i.e., variance).

• In physics, the RMS appears, e.g., in electrical engineering, signal processing, and the physics of gas molecules.

  Let us just discuss one example.

  Imagine we have NN identical particles with mass mm, and the ii-th particle is moving at speed vi​vi​. We know that the kinetic energy of such a particle is equal to 21​mvi2​21​mvi2​.

  Go to our kinetic energy calculator if you need a refresher on this concept ;)

  In total, they have the kinetic energy of

  21​m(v12​+...+vn2​)21​m(v12​+...+vn2​).

  If we want to find one speed which, with respect to all these particles, would give the same total kinetic energy, we quickly conclude that this speed would be the root mean square of all the speeds v1​,…,vn​v1​,…,vn​.