metacenter

met·a·cen·ter

M0244000 (mĕt′ə-sĕn′tər)n. The point where an imaginary vertical line running through the center of buoyancy of a tilted floating body crosses the line that originally passed vertically through the body's center of buoyancy when it was at equilibrium.

met•a•cen•ter

(ˈmɛt əˌsɛn tər)

n. the intersection between two vertical lines, one through the center of buoyancy of a hull in equilibrium, the other through the center of buoyancy when the hull is inclined slightly to one side or toward one end. [1785–95; < French métacentre]

Thesaurus

Noun

metacenter - (shipbuilding) the point of intersection between two vertical lines, one line through the center of buoyancy of the hull of a ship in equilibrium and the other line through the center of buoyancy of the hull when the ship is inclined to one side; the distance of this intersection above the center of gravity is an indication of the stability of the shipmetacentreship building, shipbuilding - the construction of shipsintersection, intersection point, point of intersection - a point where lines intersect

Metacenter

metacenter

[′med·ə‚sen·tər] (fluid mechanics) The intersection of a vertical line through the center of buoyancy of a floating body, slightly displaced from its equilibrium position, with a line connecting the center of gravity and the equilibrium center of buoyancy; the floating body is stable if the metacenter lies above the center of gravity.

Metacenter

the point whose position determines the stability (stability of equilibrium) of a floating body. A floating body in equilibrium is acted upon by a buoyancy force A whose line of action passes through the center of buoyancy CB (the center of gravity of the mass of liquid in the immersed part of the body) and by the force of gravity P, which is applied at the center of gravity (CG) of the body (see Figure 1). In the case of greatest practical importance, when the floating body has a longitudinal plane of symmetry, the point of intersection of this plane with the line of action of the buoyancy force is called the metacenter (A/); When the body is inclined, the position of the metacenter changes. A floating body will be stable if the lowest metacenter (which sometimes is the only metacenter) of the body lies above the center of gravity of the body.

16-730.0 Art 1

Figure 1. Position of the metacenter M for stable (a) and unstable (b) equilibrium of a floating body

REFERENCE

Iablonskii, V. S. Kratkii kurs tekhnicheskoi gidromekhaniki. Moscow, 1961. Chapter 4.

metacenter

Related to metacenter: metacentre, transverse metacenter

noun

Synonyms for metacenter

noun (shipbuilding) the point of intersection between two vertical lines, one line through the center of buoyancy of the hull of a ship in equilibrium and the other line through the center of buoyancy of the hull when the ship is inclined to one side

Synonyms

metacentre

Related Words

ship building
shipbuilding
intersection
intersection point
point of intersection