angular momentum

noun

: a vector quantity that is a measure of the rotational momentum of a rotating body or system, that is equal in classical physics to the product of the angular velocity of the body or system and its moment of inertia with respect to the rotation axis, and that is directed along the rotation axis

Examples of angular momentum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The team showed that the neutral particles inside an interferometer followed a different path from that of their spin, a quantum mechanical property of particles similar to angular momentum: Denkmayr and his colleagues had indeed found evidence of the Cheshire cat theory. —Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2024

Now that only their back is in contact with the ground, the linear momentum from their leg turns into angular momentum, which rotates the athlete around an axis that extends upward from their back’s contact point with the ground. —Amy Pope, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2024

This principal is called conservation of angular momentum. —Amy Pope, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2024

To conserve angular momentum, the moon speeds up a teensy tiny amount, and thus moves away from us. —Popsci Staff, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above