Stokes noun¹. [stǝʊks] In sense 2 stokes. L19.
[Sir George Stokes (1819-1903), Irish-born physicist and mathematician.]
Physics.
I. attrib.
1. Used attrib. and in possess. to designate concepts and phenomena discovered by Stokes or arising out of his work, esp. regarding sedimentation. L19.
Stokes' formula = Stokes' law (b) below. Stokes' law (a) the principle (not always true) that in fluorescence the wavelength of the emitted radiation is longer than that of the radiation causing it; (b) the principle that the resisting force on a spherical particle moving through a fluid is equal to 6ηVr (where η is the viscosity of the fluid, V the speed of the particle, and r its radius), and its limiting rate of fall equal to 2gr²ρ/9η (where g is the acceleration due to gravity and ρ the difference in density between the particle and the fluid). Stokes' line, Stokes' shift: pertaining to or exhibiting spectral emission at a lower frequency than the incident radiation. Stokes' theorem: that the surface integral of the curl of the function over any surface bounded by a closed path is equal to the line integral of a vector function round that path.
II. Pl. same. Also (rare) as sing. stoke [stǝʊk].

2. The unit of kinematic viscosity in the cgs system, equal to 1 cm²/s. M20.

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Stokes noun². [stǝʊks] E20.
[Sir Wilfrid Stokes (1860-1927), English engineer.]
In full Stokes trench mortar, Stokes mortar. A type of light muzzle-loading mortar.

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