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

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"