Yaw

Yaw may refer to:

Flight dynamics

Flight dynamics is the study of the performance, stability, and control of vehicles flying through the air or in outer space. It is concerned with how forces acting on the vehicle influence its speed and attitude with respect to time.

In fixed-wing aircraft, the changing orientation of the vehicle with respect to the local air flow is represented by two critical parameters, angle of attack ("alpha") and angle of sideslip ("beta"). These angles describe the vector direction of airspeed, important because it is the principal source of modulations in the aerodynamic forces and moments applied to the aircraft.

Spacecraft flight dynamics involve three forces: propulsive (rocket engine), gravitational, and lift and drag (when traveling through the earths or any other celestial atmosphere). Because aerodynamic forces involved with spacecraft flight are very small, this leaves gravity as the dominant force.

Aircraft and spacecraft share a critical interest in their orientation with respect to the earth horizon and heading, and this is represented by another set of angles, "yaw," "pitch" and "roll" which angles match their colloquial meaning, but also have formal definition as an Euler sequence. These angles are the product of the rotational equations of motion, where orientation responds to torque, just as the velocity of a vehicle responds to forces. For all flight vehicles, these two sets of dynamics, rotational and translational, operate simultaneously and in a coupled fashion to evolve the vehicle's state (orientation and velocity) trajectory.

Yam (god)

Yam, Yamm, or Yammu was a Levantine sea and river god, popular in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages.

Yam, from the Canaanite word Yam (Hebrew: ים‎) meaning "Sea", also written Yaw, is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea. Also titled Judge Nahar ("Judge River"), he is also one of the 'ilhm (Elohim) or sons of El, the name given to the Levantine pantheon. Others dispute the existence of the alternative names, claiming it is a mistranslation of a damaged tablet. Despite linguistic overlap, theologically this god is not a part of the later subregional monotheistic theology, but rather is part of a broader and archaic Levantine polytheism.

Yam is the deity of the primordial chaos and represents the power of the sea, untamed and raging; he is seen as ruling storms and the disasters they wreak. The gods cast out Yam from the heavenly mountain Sappan (modern Jebel Aqra; Sappan is cognate to Tsephon). The seven-headed dragon Lotan is associated closely with him and he is often described as the serpent. He is the Canaanite equivalent of the Sumerian Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess.