virial
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English
Etymology 1
From Latin vīs (vīs has a hidden "r" that shows in forms such as the genitive plural, vīrium).
Adjective
virial (not comparable)
- (mechanics) Of or pertaining to the interactive forces between molecules or particles.
Noun
virial (plural virials)
- (mechanics) One-half of the product of the stress of attraction or repulsion with the distance between two particles.
- 1875, James Clerk Maxwell, “On the Dynamical Evidence of the Molecular Constitution of Bodies”, in Nature, 11 (1875), 357-359, 374-377:
- The quantity 1/2 Rr, or half the product of the attraction into the distance across which the attraction is exerted, is defined by Clausis [Prof. Clausis of Bonn] as the virial of the attraction. (In the case of pressure or repulsion, the virial is negative.)
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Adjective
virial (not comparable)
- Misspelling of viral.
Spanish
Adjective
virial m or f (masculine and feminine plural viriales)