Translations in Physics
In physics, translation (Translational motion) is movement that changes the position of an object, as opposed to rotation. For example, according to Whittaker:
If a body is moved from one position to another, and if the lines joining the initial and final points of each of the points of the body are a set of parallel straight lines of length ℓ, so that the orientation of the body in space is unaltered, the displacement is called a translation parallel to the direction of the lines, through a distance ℓ.
— E.T. Whittaker: A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies, p. 1
A translation is the operation changing the positions of all points (x, y, z) of an object according to the formula
where is the same vector for each point of the object. The translation vector common to all points of the object describes a particular type of displacement of the object, usually called a linear displacement to distinguish it from displacements involving rotation, called angular displacements.
A translation of space (or time) should not be confused with a translation of an object. Such translations have no fixed points.
Read more about this topic: Translation (geometry)
Famous quotes containing the words translations and/or physics:
“Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 18:7.
Other translations use “temptations.”
“The pace of science forces the pace of technique. Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces upon us the manufacture of the hydrogen bomb. We do not choose our problems, we do not choose our products; we are pushed, we are forced—by what? By a system which has no purpose and goal transcending it, and which makes man its appendix.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)