MadSci Network: Physics |
Recently I ran across this website. http://www.inertialessdrive.com/ Because of the name I thought it was absurd, but some time later I noticed that if you take a quarter and spin it on a table, you can make it rotate along the short axis through its thin dimension and along the long axis parallel to its face. A cone shape will also rotate in two dimensions when rolling on a surface. Could this be made to happen in space? Can an object be made to rotate freely about multiple axes without a surface to push against? I guess what I'm asking is if the momentum of each plane of rotation is conserved separately? Or will they settle somehow into a single plane of rotation? Are there any books or other references that deal with multiple axes of rotation?
Re: Can an object rotate freely about two or more axes in space?
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