mean distance
the arithmetic mean of the greatest and least distances of a planet from the sun, used in stating the size of an orbit; the semimajor axis.
Origin of mean distance
1Words Nearby mean distance
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How to use mean distance in a sentence
This speed, caused by the solar mass itself, keeps our planet at the same mean distance from the central star.
Urania | Camille FlammarionThe square of the time of revolution (or year) of each planet is proportional to the cube of its mean distance from the sun.
Pioneers of Science | Oliver LodgeOn the orbit of the moon, at its mean distance from the earth, each of these straight sides would be about 6,000 feet long.
It has been calculated that the whites advance a mean distance of seventeen miles along the whole of this vast boundary.
American Institutions and Their Influence | Alexis de Tocqueville et al.The mean distance from the Atlantic to the Mississippi does not probably exceed seven hundred and fifty miles.
The Federalist Papers | Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
British Dictionary definitions for mean distance
the average of the greatest and least distances of a celestial body from its primary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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