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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rapidity

Rapidity \Ra*pid"i*ty\ (r[.a]*p[i^]d"[i^]*t[y^]), n. [L. rapiditas: cf. F. rapidit['e].] The quality or state of being rapid; swiftness; celerity; velocity; as, the rapidity of a current; rapidity of speech; rapidity of growth or improvement.

Syn: Rapidness; haste; speed; celerity; velocity; swiftness; fleetness; quickness; agility.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
rapidity

1650s, from French rapidité and directly from Latin rapiditatem (nominative rapiditas) "swiftness, rapidity, velocity," from rapidus "hasty, swift, rapid" (see rapid).

Wiktionary
rapidity

n. 1 speed, swiftness; the condition of being rapid 2 (context physics English) A measure of velocity relative to the speed of light 3 (context physics English) A measure of the velocity of a particle in a beam relative to the beam's axis

WordNet
rapidity

n. a rate that is rapid [syn: celerity, quickness]

Wikipedia
Rapidity

Mathematically, rapidity can be defined as the hyperbolic angle that differentiates two frames of reference in relative motion, each frame being associated with distance and time coordinates.

In relativity, rapidity denoted by w is commonly used as a measure for relativistic velocity. For one-dimensional motion, rapidities are additive whereas velocities must be combined by Einstein's Velocity-addition formula. For low speeds, rapidity and velocity are proportional, but for higher velocities, rapidity takes a larger value, the rapidity of light being infinite.

Using the inverse hyperbolic function , the rapidity corresponding to velocity is where c is the velocity of light. For low speeds, is approximately . Since in relativity any velocity is constrained to the interval the ratio satisfies . The inverse hyperbolic tangent has the unit interval for its domain and the whole real line for its range, and so the interval maps onto .

Rapidity does not have the dimensions of velocity. A more direct relation with ordinary velocity v comes from re-scaling it and defining the relativistic velocity V as cw. Then V reduces to ordinary velocity when .

Usage examples of "rapidity".

All they unanimously desire is to put an end to the system of aggrandisement which your Emperor has established and acts upon with such alarming rapidity.

Having thus learned that equality in everything was the rule of the house, I went to work like the others and began to eat the soup out of the common dish, and if I did not complain of the rapidity with which my companions made it disappear, I could not help wondering at such inequality being allowed.

But just as he was going to strike, the cetacean stole away with a rapidity that could not be estimated at less than thirty miles an hour, and even during our maximum of speed, it bullied the frigate, going round and round it.

The presence of a foreign substance increases the rapidity of coagulation, and it has been observed that bleeding from small wounds is more quickly checked by covering them with linen or cotton fibers.

I only met with empty space, and I could not help laughing at the rapidity with which Angela had availed herself of the opportunity of escaping me.

The sentence is pregnant with most of the requirements that have come to be demanded of systems of military cryptography, requirements such as simplicity, reliability, rapidity, and so on.

The rapidity of the deglaciation suggests that some extraordinary factor was affecting the climate.

The rapidity of the deglaciation suggests that some extraordinary factor was affecting climate .

As an illustration of the rapidity of changes in elective officers where suffrage is absolutely free, each succeeding House in the ten Congresses, with a single exception, contained a majority of new members.

Statistics show that insanity is increasing with alarming rapidity everywhere, yet medical experts differ widely as to the causes of mental deterioration, and science is not yet in possession of knowledge of the exact etiology of functional insanity.

But it was possible that others existed whose bite was mortal such as the deaf vipers with forked tails, which rise up under the feet, or those winged snakes, furnished with two ears, which enable them to proceed with great rapidity.

This meteor soon began to move forward, turning over and over on itself with dizzy rapidity, and sweeping up into its center a column of water from the lake, while its gyratory motions made all the surrounding currents of air rush toward it.

Carried on by the current, it shot through the channel with the rapidity of an arrow, passed before Harding and Herbert, who, not thinking it within range, withheld their fire, then, rounding the northern point of the islet with the two remaining oars, they pulled towards the brig.

The rapidity and the intensity of this ideational process are obviously dependent upon physiological conditions.

With lightning rapidity Izzard searched through her small memory unit of proper names.