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/rˈeɪdiəs vˈɛktər/ Listen

noun

Radius vector n.

(Math.) A straight line (or the length of such line) connecting any point, as of a curve, with a fixed point, or pole, round which the straight line turns, and to which it serves to refer the successive points of a curve, in a system of polar coordinates. See Coordinate, n.

(Astron.) An ideal straight line joining the center of an attracting body with that of a body describing an orbit around it, as a line joining the sun and a planet or comet, or a planet and its satellite.

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Etymology of 'Radius vector'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Radius vector" Quotes from Famous Books

... simply a misuse of language. It would really be interesting if the Duke of Argyll would explain how he proposes to set about showing that the elliptical form of the orbits of the planets, the constant area described by the radius vector, and the proportionality of the squares of the periodic times to the cubes of the distances from the sun, are either caused by the "force of gravitation" or deducible from the "law of gravitation." ...

— Collected Essays, Volume V - Science and Christian Tradition: Essays • T. H. Huxley

... engineer (section D of the Public Works Department) and I have to make an important measurement in connexion with the Apothegm of the Bilateral which runs to-night precisely through this spot. My fingers now mark exactly the concentric of the secondary focus whence the Radius Vector should be drawn, but I find that (like a fool) I have left my Double Refractor in the cafe hard by. I dare not go for fear of losing the place I have marked; yet I can get no further ...

— The Path to Rome • Hilaire Belloc

... the circle PER represents the earth, E the equator, PP' the poles, T the centre of the earth, C the mechanical centre of the terral vortex, M the moon, XX' the axis of the vortex, and A the point where the radius vector of the moon pierces the surface of the earth. If we consider the axis of the vortex to be the axis of equilibrium in the system, it is evident that TC will be to CM, as the mass of the moon to the mass of the earth. Now, if we take these masses respectively as 1 to 72.3, and the moon's ...

— Outlines of a Mechanical Theory of Storms - Containing the True Law of Lunar Influence • T. Bassnett