vorticity

noun

vor·tic·i·ty vȯr-ˈti-sə-tē

: the state of a fluid in vortical motion

broadly : vortical motion

: a measure of vortical motion

especially : a vector measure of local rotation in a fluid flow

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web In the case of Sandy, forecasters monitored a higher-order variable called potential vorticity, a measure of a weather system's swirl, to help predict the storm's future development. —

Ian Roulstone, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2013 Radio beam vorticity and orbital angular momentum. —

Edwin Cartlidge, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2011 High vorticity often means stronger storms. —

Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2022 The gold lines model vorticity (rotation) while the gray lines represent wind speed, with the red swath denoting the highest speeds. —

Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2017 Without the backing of a mathematical proof, the value of the vorticity might only seem to be increasing to infinity because of some artifact of the simulation. —

Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 16 Nov. 2022 That signature is a correlation between the divergence and the anticyclonic vorticity. —

Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 27 Sep. 2022 Soon enough, at a point along the boundary where the opposing flows meet, the fluid’s vorticity explodes. —

Quanta Magazine, 12 Apr. 2022 The problem is that for this to work, the mathematicians don’t just have to solve the equations (now written in self-similar coordinates) for the usual parameters, such as velocity and vorticity. —

Quanta Magazine, 12 Apr. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vorticity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.