Centrally
(Cen"tral*ly), adv. In a central manner or situation.
Centre
(Cen"tre) n. & v. See Center.
Centric
(Cen"tric Cen"tric*al) a. Placed in the center or middle; central.
At York or some other centrical place.
Sir W. Scott.
— Cen"tric*al*ly, adv. — Cen"tric*al*ness, n.
Centricity
(Cen*tric"i*ty) n. The state or quality of being centric; centricalness.
Centrifugal
(Cen*trif"u*gal) a. [L. centrum center + fugere to flee.]
1. Tending, or causing, to recede from the center.
2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower cluster. (b) Having the
radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some embryos.
Centrifugal force (Mech.),
a force whose direction is from a center.
When a body moves in a circle with uniform velocity, a force must act on the body to keep it in the circle
without change of velocity. The direction of this force is towards the center of the circle. If this force is
applied by means of a string to the body, the string will be in a state of tension. To a person holding
the other end of the string, this tension will appear to be directed toward the body as if the body had
a tendency to move away from the center of the circle which it is describing. Hence this latter force is
often called centrifugal force. The force which really acts on the body being directed towards the center
of the circle is called centripetal force, and in some popular treatises the centripetal and centrifugal
forces are described as opposing and balancing each other. But they are merely the different aspects
of the same stress. Clerk Maxwell.
Centrifugal impression (Physiol.),
an impression (motor) sent from a nerve center outwards to a
muscle or muscles by which motion is produced. — Centrifugal machine, A machine for expelling
water or other fluids from moist substances, or for separating liquids of different densities by centrifugal
action; a whirling table. — Centrifugal pump, a machine in which water or other fluid is lifted and discharged
through a pipe by the energy imparted by a wheel or blades revolving in a fixed case. Some of the largest
and most powerful pumps are of this kind.
Centrifugal
(Cen*trif"u*gal), n. A centrifugal machine.
Centrifugence
(Cen*trif"u*gence) n. The property or quality of being centrifugal. R. W. Emerson.
Centring
(Cen"tring) n. See Centring.
Centripetal
(Cen*trip"e*tal) a. [L. centrum center + petere to move toward.]
1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center.
2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the
summit. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos.
3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification
of a bone. R. Owen.
Centripetal force (Mech.),
a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving
round the sun, the center of the system, See Centrifugal force, under Centrifugal. — Centripetal