Eccentricity - Definition and Overview

Eccentric is from the Greek for out of the centre, as opposed to concentric, in the centre.

In mathematics, eccentricity is a parameter associated with every conic section. It can be thought of as a measure of how much the conic section deviates from being circular.
In astrodynamics, the eccentricity of an orbit can be calculated from orbital state vectors as an absolute value of eccentricity vector or using other methods based on orbital energy and angular momentum.
In mechanical engineering, an eccentric is a wheel that rotates on an axle that is displaced from the focus of the circle described by the wheel —in other words, a mechanical motion that can operate either as a cam or a crank, depending upon how it is driven.
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behaviour on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal". There is a saying that « If you're rich, you're eccentric; if you're poor, you're crazy ».

This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page.

Example Usage of Eccentricity
	insanetruckdriv: RT @GiggleFlower: There is a thin, red line between Eccentricity and insanity. That thin red line is a tiny pink dot to me.
	GiggleFlower: There is a thin, red line between Eccentricity and insanity. That thin red line is a tiny pink dot to me.
	Ric4rd0: A civilized society is one which tolerates Eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity. -- Robert Frost

Copyright 2009 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy :: Terms of Use :: Contact Us :: About Us
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the this Wikipedia article.

Eccentricity - Definition and Overview

Example Usage of Eccentricity