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Let's say I have a 1 meter steel rod floating in the vacuum of deep space far from any significant gravitational force, and at rest relative to myself.

Say I apply some force perpendicular to it and near one end:

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Clearly the bar will remain within the plane of the bar and the force.

Within that plane, will the rod rotate about its center of mass, move entirely together with some veloctiy in the direction of the force, or a little of both?

If a little of both, how can we calculate how much of each as a function of the strength of the force?

Andrew Tomazos
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  • If the force is in line with the COM you have translation only, if off center of COM, as you describe, you have translation and rotation. – Adrian Howard Feb 04 '20 at 09:56
  • @AdrianHoward: As per diagram force is not in line with COM - so how do we calculate how much translation and how much rotation? – Andrew Tomazos Feb 04 '20 at 10:09
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    Initially there is no translation, only rotation. What happens after the first infinitesimal instant depends on how the force acts once the bar starts to rotate. Does the force continue to act perpendicular to the bar ? Or does it act in a fixed direction in space regardless of the orientation of the bar ? If so, does it act through a fixed point in space or through a point that is fixed on the bar ? – gandalf61 Feb 04 '20 at 10:38
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    Does this answer your question? Force applied off center on an object – Superfast Jellyfish Feb 04 '20 at 11:22

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