Rainer Weiss

A gravitational wave is a very slight stretching in one dimension. If there's a gravitational wave traveling towards you, you get a stretch in the dimension that's perpendicular to the direction it's moving. And then perpendicular to that first stretch, you have a compression along the other dimension.

American Physicist

Eugene Parker

The tail of the comet always points straight away from the sun, in antisolar direction. Sometimes the tail trails behind, but sometimes it's perpendicular, and sometimes it's ahead of the comet like a headlight on a railroad locomotive.

American Scientist

Frances E. Willard

This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.

American Activist

Mark Ruffalo

I have two hammocks, one Mayan and one Guatemalan, both family size because I like to lie in them perpendicular. When I'm working on a character, I lie in them and daydream. They're the best tools for working that I have.

American Actor

E. B. White

I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that doesn't have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many men are born upright.

American Writer

Pieter Zeeman

Now all oscillatory movements of such an electron can be conceived of as being split up into force, and two circular oscillations perpendicular to this direction rotating in opposite directions.

Dutch Physicist

Johannes Stark

We can in fact first place the beam of rays of moving positive atomic ions in a plane perpendicular to the axis in which we see the spectral lines emitted by them.

Physicist

Peter Diamandis

Companies have too many experts who block innovation. True innovation really comes from perpendicular thinking.

American Businessman

George Bernard Shaw

Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

Irish Playwright

Martin Landau

My mantra is 'stay perpendicular.' Horizontal is not as good.

Picture a corner of a room where two walls meet the floor for a clear mental image of perpendicular.

Visual Example

In everyday language, 'perpendicular' suggests something is very straight or exactly upright.

Common Use

In geometry, 'perpendicular' is precise, not just 'about 90 degrees,' but exactly 90 degrees.

Geometry Application

'Perpendicular' is not just vertical or horizontal; it indicates direction relative to something else.

Direction Indicator

Use 'perpendicular' to describe the orientation of one thing compared to another.

Relative Position

When reading maps or plans, 'perpendicular' ensures you expect features at precise right angles.

Precision in Maps

In architecture, 'perpendicular' specifically refers to the height, not any angle.

Architectural Feature

In historical buildings, 'perpendicular' may show the style of Gothic architecture.

Cultural Context

 you're in this vicinity you've got to get away so you're feeling the wind and there's tremendous wind now that you're going to be feeling and you want to go perpendicular to the wind or down wind if you are in fact able to see where the blast was in front of you you've got to get out of there if you don't get out of there you're going to

Surviving a nuclear...

 Traditional boards of lumber were fairly strong against forces parallel to the wood’s fiber growth. But they were vulnerable to forces applied perpendicular to this direction. As a result, wood lacked steel’s tensile strength or concrete’s compressive strength— each necessary to support tall buildings

Could we build a wooden...

 to achieve the range of motion that I required to mount the curb, I would have to use a different joint, like my hip. So I turned my body perpendicular to the curb and placed my foot up sideways, and I was able to step up immediately. Within five minutes, no staircase was safe from my advances.

The perks of being a...

 and our mental experience -- I'm going to tell you a personal story. So if I cover my left eye -- I'm talking about me personally, not all of you -- if I cover my left eye, I look at the grid -- pretty much like the one I'm showing you. Everything is nice and fine and perpendicular.

The quest to understand...

 A two-dimensional space is defined by two perpendicular lines, which describe a flat plane like a piece of paper. And a three-dimensional space adds a third perpendicular line, which gives us height and the world we're familiar with. So, what about four dimensions? And five?

Exploring other...

 is tuned to just the right frequency that an atom moving towards it will absorb a photon of the laser beam and slow down. The slow down effect comes from the transfer of momentum between the atom and the photon. A total of six beams, in a perpendicular arrangement,

What is the coldest...

 she was very close because of the strength of these calls and because she said she was on this line of position which is something that fred noonan would have done as a navigator if they haven't found the island directly on course they'll fly on a perpendicular

Amelia Earhart Part I:...

 its magnetization is easily disturbed by heat energy and can cause bits to switch unintentionally, leading to data loss. Scientists resolved this limitation in a remarkably simple by changing the direction of recording from longitudinal to perpendicular,

How do hard drives work?...

 To remain stable, a kayaker keeps the center of mass directly over the kayak center of buoyancy, which is in the middle of its submerged volume. Traveling out to sea, it helps to keep the kayak perpendicular to the waves, because turning sideways

When Watersports Become...

 the wave fronts are now concentric spheres, with the sound traveling along rays perpendicular to these waves. Now imagine a moving sound source, such as a train whistle. As the source keeps moving in a certain direction,