Rotor may refer to:

Science and technology

Engineering

Rotor (electric) The rotor is a moving component of an electromagnetic system in the electric motor, electric generator, or alternator. Its rotation is due to the interaction between the windings and magnetic fields which produces a torque around the rotor's ...

, the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *

ROTOR ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...

, a former radar project in the UK following the Second World War *

Rotor Componentes Tecnológicos ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...

, is a Spanish manufacturer of high-end

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

components with headquarters in

Ajalvir Ajalvir () is a town and municipality in the Autonomous Community of Madrid in central Spain, located north-east of Madrid and from Alcalá de Henares. It is located in the comarca of Alcalá. The name Ajalvir is believed to have derived from ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. *

Rotor (antenna) An antenna rotator (or antenna rotor) is a device used to change the orientation, within the horizontal plane, of a directional antenna. Most antenna rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller. The controller is normally place ...

*In

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

, the rotor is a part of a

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

that rotates about its own

axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

. **

Helicopter rotor On a helicopter, the main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift (force), lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust ...

, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft such as a helicopter **

Rotor (turbine) A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

, the rotor of a turbine powered by fluid pressure **Rotor (crank), a variable-angle bicycle crank **Rotor (brake), the disc of a

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the #Calipers, calipers to squeeze pairs of #Brake pads, pads against a disc (sometimes called a

rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

rotor) to create friction. There are two basic types of brake pad friction mechanisms: abrasive f ...

, in U.S. terminology ** Rotor (brake mechanism), a device that allows the handlebars and fork to revolve indefinitely without tangling the rear brake cable - see

Detangler The detangler, Gyro or rotor is an invention for the freestyle BMX bicycle, allowing the handlebars to turn a complete 360° rotation without the brake cables getting tangled up. A detangler is usually only used for the rear brake cable. The f ...

** Rotor (distributor), a component of the ignition system of an internal combustion engine **

Pistonless rotary engine A pistonless rotary engine is an internal combustion engine that does not use pistons in the way a reciprocating engine does. Designs vary widely but typically involve one or more wikt:rotor, rotors, sometimes called rotary pistons, as describe ...

Computing

Rotor machine In cryptography, a rotor machine is an electro-mechanical stream cipher device used for encrypting and decrypting messages. Rotor machines were the cryptographic state-of-the-art for much of the 20th century; they were in widespread use from ...

, the rotating wheels used in certain cipher machines, such as the German Enigma machine ** Rotor (Enigma machine), a rotating part of the German Enigma machine * Rotor (software project), the former code name for Microsoft's shared source implementation of its Common Language Infrastructure

Chemistry

* The rotating part of a

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...

, which also holds the samples *

Rigid rotor In rotordynamics, the rigid rotor is a mechanical model of rotating systems. An arbitrary rigid rotor is a 3-dimensional rigid object, such as a top. To orient such an object in space requires three angles, known as Euler angles. A special r ...

, a mathematical model for rotating systems (usually molecules)

Medicine

Rotor syndrome Rotor syndrome (also known as Rotor type hyperbilirubinemia) is a rare cause of mixed direct (conjugated) and indirect (unconjugated) hyperbilirubinemia, relatively benign, autosomal recessive bilirubin disorder characterized by non-hemolytic jaun ...

, a rare liver disorder

Mathematics

Rotor (mathematics) A rotor is an object in the geometric algebra (also called Clifford algebra) of a vector space that represents a rotation about the origin. The term originated with William Kingdon Clifford, in showing that the quaternion algebra is just a spec ...

, an even-graded multivector used to produce rotations and some other affine transformations *

Curl (mathematics) In vector calculus, the curl, also known as rotor, is a vector operator that describes the Differential (infinitesimal), infinitesimal Circulation (physics), circulation of a vector field in three-dimensional Euclidean space. The curl at a poin ...

, known as rotor in some countries, a vector operator that shows a vector field's rate of rotation

Other uses

SC Rotor Volgograd SC Rotor Volgograd () is a Russian professional football club from the large city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (formerly Stalingrad). The club plays in the second-tier Russian First League, and are the largest and best supported Volgograd club. ...

, a Russian football club *

Rotor (Sonic the Hedgehog) ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics and Sega of America, based on the Sonic video game franchise, and especially the 1993 ''Sonic'' saturday morning cartoon. After debuting with a four-issue mini ...

, a fictional character from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe *

Rotor (ride) The Rotor is an amusement ride designed and patented by German engineer Ernst Hoffmeister in 1948. The ride was first demonstrated at Oktoberfest 1949 and still appears in numerous amusement parks. The Rotor is a large, upright barrel, rotated ...

, the trade name for an amusement ride *

Rotor (meteorology) In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric stationary waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, abov ...

, a turbulent horizontal vortex that forms in the trough of lee waves *Rotor, a space colony in Isaac Asimov's novel ''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

'' *'' R.O.T.O.R.'', a 1987 science fiction/action movie {{disambiguation