noun
definition
The condition of being elliptical (flattened from perfect circular or spherical form)
definition
A measure of this flattening that is a function of the ellipse's equatorial and polar radii
Examples of ellipticity in a Sentence
It arises from the ellipticity of the orbit, is zero at pericentre and apocentre, and reaches its greatest amount nearly midway between these points.
This represents about two-thirds of the total variation of Galileo's acceleration between the equator and the poles, the balance being due to the ellipticity of the figure of the earth.
Bruns in 1889; measured an arc of the meridian in East Prussia in 1831-1832; and deduced for the earth in 1841 an ellipticity of 2 4 9.
If a planet rotates on its axis so rapidly as to have a considerable ellipticity, and if it has satellites revolving very near the plane of the equator, the combined actions of the sun and of the equatorial protuberances may be such that the whole system will rotate almost as if the planes of revolution of the satellites were solidly fixed to the plane of the equator.
The amount of the ellipticity is, however, very small.
To show the cause of this motion, let BQ represent a section of an oblate spheroid through its shortest axis, PP. We may consider this spheroid to be that of the earth, the ellipticity being greatly exaggerated.
The shaping of the horizontally focusing mirror is more extreme as its bend is required to have greater ellipticity for a uniform focus.
The unit most commonly used in protein and peptide work is the mean molar ellipticity per residue.
Molar ellipticity, mean residue ellipticity and delta epsilons are all mentioned in the literature.