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Describe in your own words how rotating about a point that is not the origin is similar to rotating about the origin and how it is different.

User Shah
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Final answer:

Rotating about a non-origin point follows a similar circular motion for each point on the object as rotating about the origin; however, it involves complexities related to the axis of rotation and potentially combines rotational and translational motion.

Step-by-step explanation:

Rotating an object about a point that is not the origin is similar to rotating about the origin in that, in both scenarios, each point of the object follows a circular path. This is because rotational motion involves circular motion around an axis. However, the rotation around a non-origin point can introduce additional complexities as the axis of rotation and centripetal forces may differ in their impact on the object's motion compared to rotations around the origin.

For instance, when rotating about a point other than the origin, the linear velocities of the points on the object are not solely determined by the angular velocity, as they would be if the rotation was around the center of mass. Objects can also exhibit a combination of rotational and translational motion—like a rotating hockey puck sliding on ice—which can be described using fictitious forces when considering a non-inertial frame of reference.

User Sartaj Singh Gill
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