(physics) a force due to the earth's rotation; acts on a body in motion (airplane or projectile) in a rotating reference frame; in a rotating frame of reference Newton's second law of motion can be made to apply if in addition to the real forces acting on a body a Coriolis force and a centrifugal force are introduced
A fictitious force apparently exerted on any moving body (including a parcel of air) due to the rotation of the earth, observed as a deflection of the body to the right of its direction of travel (i.e., clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere, or to the left (anticlockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere; any equivalent apparent force that deflects objects in a rotating reference frame.