An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A measure of the angular displacement per unit time. Of a particle traveling on a circular path or a rotating body, the ratio of the angle traversed to the amount of time it takes to traverse that angle: ω = dθ/dt. For a rigid body, all lines in it rotate through the same angle in the same time, and the angular velocity is the characteristic of the body as a whole. The angular velocity is related to the linear velocity by the equation v = rω, where r is the distance of the point from the rotation axis. → vector angular velocity.

See also: → angular; → velocity.