Translation and rotation of objects, the major focus of this week’s course material, are very interesting. The distinction is simple. Translation of an object does not require any fixed points be maintained, while rotation of an object requires the maintenance of at least one fixed point of the object Translations and rotations are found in the study of geometries of all kinds (especially non-Euclidean geometries), physics (especially special relativity and the Lorentz transformation, and the change from Cartesian to polar coordinates), and mathematics (especially linear algebra and tensor analysis).

This week let’s talk about translation and rotation, and how these concepts are used in various fields of study. What are some typical real world situations where you find translation and/or rotation being used? Pick one such situation and describe it in some detail. What was the most interesting thing you learned about how the concepts are used?

Put the application you chose to explore in the subject line heading of your initial post (for example, “Rotation of coordinates used to simplify the evaluation of non-symmetric matrices”)

500 WORDS NEEDED