VIDEO: Translation in Physics
Translation in physics - what is it?
- In physics, translation (more precisely: translational movement) means the parallel displacement of a body.
- However, this movement must meet certain special conditions: All points on the body must move at the same speed.
- All points of the body follow parallel paths during translation, that is, they move in the same direction.
- A translation can be described by specifying a speed vector, i.e. the size and direction of the speed with which the translation takes place.
- In principle, this speed can be assigned to any point on the body, but expediently to the center of gravity.
- In a translation, the movement of a body is fully described if you know how the center of gravity of this body moves.
Use the physics formula correctly for kinetic energy - that's how it's done
The formula for the kinetic energy can in principle be found in any collection of formulas ...
Translation - examples and counterexamples
The above explanations may sound a bit strange at first, as they are an attempt to derive a more or less abstract concept from the
physics to explain. A few examples and also counterexamples should therefore clarify what is meant by translation:- If rigid bodies such as stones are moved uniformly, there is a translation, because every point this Body (especially the center of gravity of the stone) performs the same parallel movement at the same speed the end.
- Small mass points such as electrons also perform translations. These elementary particles are considered to be point-like.
- However, if a point or a line in a body retains its position in space while moving, there is no translation. So if a triangle rotates around its center of gravity or a ball rotates around an axis, there is no translation.
- The rotation of a wheel (e.g. B. the front wheel of your bicycle) is not a translation (even if you move like this as an almost rigid body). The movement of a rolling wheel is composed of a rotation around its axis and a translation in your direction of travel.
- Even bodies that deform during your movement (e.g. B. dent by air friction), do not perform any translations. Of course, this also applies to liquids and gases.
