center of mass
Noun
Meaning
point representing the mean position of the matter in a body
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Examples
A counterweight at the upper end keeps the center of mass well above geostationary orbit level.
Applications Diagram showing how a smaller object (such as an extrasolar planet ) orbiting a larger object (such as a star ) could produce changes in position and velocity of the latter as they orbit their common center of mass (red cross).
A simple construction involving the center of mass frame can be used to show that if a stationary elastic sphere is struck by a moving sphere, the two will head off at right angles after the collision (as in the figure).
A new plan was put into effect in which NEAR flew by Eros on December 23, 1998 at 18:41:23 UT at a speed of 965 m/s and a distance of 3827 km from the center of mass of Eros.
Another, commonly used reference frame, is the center of mass frame - one that is moving with the center of mass.
By the modern definition, the term binary star is generally restricted to pairs of stars which revolve around a common center of mass.