radius vector

American  

noun

radii vectores, plural radius vectors plural

1. Mathematics. the length of the line segment joining a fixed point or origin to a given point.

2. Astronomy.

   1. the straight line joining two bodies in relative orbital motion, as the line from the sun to a planet at any point in its orbit.

   2. the distance between two such bodies at any point in the orbit.

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radius vector British  

noun

1. maths a line joining a point in space to the origin of polar or spherical coordinates

2. astronomy an imaginary line joining a satellite to the planet or star around which it is orbiting

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radius vector Scientific  

1. A line segment that joins the origin and a variable point in a system of polar or spherical coordinates.

2. The imaginary straight line that connects the center of the Sun or another body with the center of a planet, comet, or other body that orbits it.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• radii vectores
  plural
• radius vectors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of radius vector

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radius vector

Note that the torque vector is orthogonal to both the force vector and the radius vector.

From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016

I have before stated that I considered the establishment of this error of the radius vector of Uranus to be a very important determination.

From Astronomical Discovery by Turner, Herbert Hall

Could not Dr. Alexander write a Sabbath-school book, without filling it full of such phrases as "right ascension," "declination," "precession of the equinoxes," "radius vector," and the like?

From Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity by Patterson, Robert

It is always subject to the law of inverse squares, and what is more, its repelling power coincides exactly with the path which the centripetal force takes, that is, the radius vector.

From Aether and Gravitation by Hooper, William George

M. Le Verrier then remarks, as one of the strong proofs of the correctness of the general theory, that the error of radius vector is explained as accurately as the error of longitude.

From Astronomical Discovery by Turner, Herbert Hall