Coriolis force

Coriolis force

n.

A pseudo force used mathematically to describe motion, as of aircraft or cloud formations, relative to a noninertial, uniformly rotating frame of reference such as the earth.

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[After Gaspard G. de Coriolis (1792-1843), French mathematician.]

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Coriolis force [ˌkɒrɪˈəʊlɪs]

n

(Astronomy) a fictitious force used to explain a deflection in the path of a body moving in latitude relative to the earth when observed from the earth. The deflection (Coriolis effect) is due to the earth's rotation and is to the east when the motion is towards a pole

[named after Gaspard G. Coriolis (1792-1843), French civil engineer]

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Coriolis force

A velocity-dependent pseudo force used mathematically to describe the motion of bodies in rotating reference frames such as the Earth's surface. Bodies moving on the plane of rotation appear to experience a force, leftward if the rotation of the reference frame is clockwise, rightward if counterclockwise. Such motion gives rise to the Coriolis effect.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Coriolis force - (physics) a force due to the earth's rotation; acts on a body in motion (airplane or projectile) in a rotating reference frame; in a rotating frame of reference Newton's second law of motion can be made to apply if in addition to the real forces acting on a body a Coriolis force and a centrifugal force are introduced natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics" force - (physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"