Meanings
plural arithmetic spirals
- mathematicsSynonym of Archimedean spiral.
The Parker spiral is the shape of the Sun's magnetic field as it extends through the solar system. Unlike the familiar shape of the field from a bar magnet, the Sun's extended field is twisted into an arithmetic spiral by the magnetohydrodynamic influence of the solar wind.
2010 March 4, Wikipedia contributors, “Parker spiral”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, revision 347739381Synonyms: Archimedean spiral
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of Archimedean spiral.
Origin
It is a spiral whose equation in polar coordinates is linear, which would thus, when quantized, yield an arithmetic progression.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
arithmetic spiral. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arithmetic%20spiral
“arithmetic spiral.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arithmetic%20spiral. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arithmetic spiral,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arithmetic%20spiral.
Source: arithmetic spiral on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.