The reciprocal succession of (normally two) things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence; as, the alternation of day and night, cold and heat, summer and winter, hope and fear
A sequence that alternates between positive and negative values. (Sometimes wrongly used to mean a permutation.)
The reciprocal succession of things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence; as, the alternation of day and night, cold and heat, summer and winter, hope and fear
The regular alternation of forms or of mode of reproduction in the life cycle of an organism, such as the alternation between diploid and haploid phases, or between sexual and asexual reproductive cycles. Also called metagenesis, xenogenesis. In biology, alternation of a sexual phase (gametophyte) and a nonsexual phase (sporophyte) in the life cycle of an organism. The two phases, or generations, are often distinct in structure and sometimes in chromosome makeup. Alternation of generations is common in algae, fungi (see fungus), mosses, ferns, and seed plants. The character and extent of the two phases vary greatly among different groups of plants and algae. During the course of evolution, the gametophyte stage has been progressively reduced. Thus in higher (vascular) plants, the sporophyte is the dominant phase; in more primitive, nonvascular plants the gametophyte is dominant. Among animals, many invertebrates (e.g., protozoans, jellyfish, flatworms) have an alternation of sexual and asexual generations