Block diagram

Graphic method for the symbolic representation of functional relationships which greatly facilitates the surveying (diagramming) of complicated systems, consisting of rectangles, triangles, circles, etc. and so-called blocks which are connected by arrowed lines. All block diagrams can be placed between two extremes: (a) abbreviated or simplified block diagrams where each block represents a piece of apparatus or a set of equations and connecting lines show which blocks influence each other and (b) detailed or exact block diagrams where each connecting line represents a physical or mathematical variable and the block itself represents the function.