rotornoun/ˈɹəʊ.tə/

• 1

  A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.

  • Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
• 2

  automotivecyclinghobbiesA rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.

• 3

  aeronauticsaerospaceaviationA rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.

• 4

  climatologymeteorologynatural-sciencesA type of powerful horizontal-axis atmospheric vortex generated by the interaction of strong winds with mountainous terrain.

  • A glider instructor, who had been in the COS area for more than 25 years, was interviewed. He stated that around 1200 on the day of the accident, he observed a rotor hit the ground with estimated wind speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.
• 5

  algebramathematicssciencesA quantity having magnitude, direction, and position.

  • These quantities are unit lengths measured anywhere on the axes in the positive directions. They have magnitude, direction, and position, and are thus what I have called rotors (short for rotators) to distinguish them from vectors, which have magnitude and direction but no position.
• 6

  cellular-automatacomputingengineeringThe set of cells within an oscillator that switch between being alive and dead over the course of the oscillator's period.

  • The following figure shows examples of the most versatile class of these oscillators. The first emulates the p10 shown above; the second has period 62 and a rotor of size 10.
  • The problem of determining the asymptotic colouring for a cyclic pattern from a given initial black and white pattern is completely solved. The analysis leads to the proposal of the distinction between primary and secondary rotor cells (i.e. a refinement of the classical stator-rotor distinction).
• 7

  An amusement park and carnival ride consisting of a rotating cylindrical chamber in which centrifugal force adheres riders to the wall as the floor drops away, creating a sensation of defying gravity.