If I push or hit an object in space (vacuum and no gravitation) in direction what is not going trough its centroid, will it rotate or move along in straight line?
I expect that on earth it will depend on what is less difficult for the object (rotation or linear movement). So the object will do some kind of combination of both movements (rotating and also moving along the direction of impulse or force).
But how could an object "decide" what to do in space, where is not resistance?
Answer
Any linear force not going through the centre of mass will create torque, which I hope you know, is related to how far from the centre of mass the line of force is.
So, if you manage to hit the object exactly at its centre of mass, i.e. the line of force is directly passing through the centre of mass, then it will show NO ROTATION. It will go straight ahead in a line.
But, if you fail to do so, i.e. the line of force misses the centre of mass, it will show BOTH kind of motions, Rotational and Linear. It will go straight ahead in a line as in previous case, but will also rotate. How much is the speed of rotation depends on how badly you missed the centre of mass.
But in both cases, the total momentum will be (has to be) same.
No comments:
Post a Comment