Rotating-frame derivative formula Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-05
If a frame rotates with angular velocity relative to an inertial frame, the derivatives of any vector satisfy
Applying this formula twice to a position gives the Coriolis acceleration, Euler acceleration, and centrifugal acceleration terms.
Rotational deflection of a falling body Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
In an Earth-fixed rotating reference frame, the horizontal displacement of a freely falling body receives contributions from Coriolis acceleration and centrifugal acceleration. A short-fall approximation substitutes the unperturbed downward velocity into the Coriolis term and the Earth's surface position into the centrifugal term. If gravitational acceleration excludes centrifugal acceleration, both contributions must be included explicitly.
Rotor radius 2026-10-13
The rotor radius is the perpendicular distance from the rotation axis to a specified sample position, not the tube's length. A filled tube spans a range . Consequently, one rotational speed produces different local centrifugal accelerations along that range. A reported relative centrifugal force needs a stated reference position, such as the outermost sample radius.
Sedimentation coefficient 2026-10-13
The sedimentation coefficient is radial drift velocity divided by local centrifugal acceleration. It has units of time and combines particle properties with those of the surrounding liquid. In a dilute, deterministic mathematical model with negligible particle inertia, an effective displaced volume , particle mass , local liquid density and linear friction coefficient give
The subtraction represents buoyancy. Equal mass does not imply equal : changing shape changes drag force, and changing the medium changes both buoyancy and viscosity.[ref]
For an isolated sphere of radius and uniform density , Stokes's law supplies , where is dynamic viscosity, and . Therefore
This original force-balance check predicts fourfold on doubling with everything else fixed, and zero drift when . It applies to dilute isolated spheres in Stokes flow, not arbitrary folded proteins or crowded suspensions. If and remain constant in a uniform medium, the ordinary differential equation has the exponential function solution . Arrival at an outer boundary therefore depends on starting position as well as ; a separation has no universal size cutoff.
Tidal force Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
Differential gravitational acceleration, multiplied by the affected mass, across a spatially extended body. In the linear approximation the acceleration difference is , where is the tidal tensor. Stellar tidal forces limit the domain of a circumplanetary orbit; sufficiently strong ones can produce tidal disruption.
To isolate a tidal force, subtract the gravitational acceleration shared by the body as a whole. Let a reference test particle follow , and let another have position . In a translating accelerated reference frame with parallel, nonrotating axes,
for a source point mass, when . Here is its standard gravitational parameter and the last term uses Big O notation. This Taylor expansion removes the common inward pull and keeps the spatial variation. The near side has an excess pull toward the source; the far side has a deficit of inward pull, which is an outward relative acceleration. Both sides can stretch apart while both still accelerate toward the source.[ref]
Figure 1.
Subtracting common gravitational acceleration reveals radial stretching and transverse squeezing
. Blue arrows show the exact Newtonian gravitational field at several positions near a reference point. Orange arrows show its linear residual, calculated with the tidal tensor. Arrow lengths use separate scales in the two panels; this is a comparison of direction and spatial variation, not two equal-magnitude fields. Details.
For a material element of mass , the residual external force in this translating accelerated reference frame is . Actual deformation also depends on elasticity, pressure and self-gravity. A rigid body approximation suppresses deformation but can still have internal forces that resist the tidal force. The point-mass tidal stretching and squeezing pattern describes freely falling, noninteracting test particles, rather than promising the same shape for every solid, star or ocean. A rotating reference frame introduces centrifugal acceleration and Coriolis acceleration, which must be included separately.