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Material Flow Single Boundary Sign Tool

Apply the explicit inflow-positive boundary convention to one nonnegative material flow.

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Description

Retain the sign for inflow and negate for outflow.

A material balance tracks input, output, recovery, and unaccounted quantities on a common mass basis. A recovered amount is not automatically suitable for reuse.

Retain the sign for inflow and negate for outflow.

When to use this tool

Use Material Flow Single Boundary Sign when you need a supplied material-reconciliation or reuse share.

How to use the tool and how it works

  1. Enter magnitude, direction. Use the units and conventions below.
  2. Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
  3. Read signedFlow. Use the output convention below.

Require nonnegative magnitude and direction inflow or outflow. Retain the sign for inflow and negate for outflow.1

Input fieldMeaning and unitsAccepted input
magnitudeMagnitudeRequired. Finite number; minimum 0.
directionDirection or sign convention stated above.Required. Text; one of "inflow", "outflow"; maximum UTF-16 length 8192.
Output fieldInterpretationReturned shape
signedFlowSigned FlowRequired. Finite number.
json
{
  "input": {
    "magnitude": 12,
    "direction": "outflow"
  },
  "output": {
    "signedFlow": -12
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

  • The boundary orientation is supplied; this does not verify a physical flow, units, conserved quantity, or a complete material balance.
  • Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
  • Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Verify measurements, losses, and material qualification before interpreting recovery as usable production input.

References

  1. Calculation and input contract: environmental-science/material-flow-single-boundary-sign — tool.io

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