Degrees of Freedom of a Moving Rigid Body

distances between the points

P

1

,

P

2

,

P

3

axes

distance

P

1

P

2

10

distance

P

1

P

3

5

distance

P

2

P

3

6

coordinates of the point

P

1

x

0

y

0

z

0

coordinate angles θ, ϕ for the position of

P

2

θ (0 ≤ θ ≤ π) =

0.78

ϕ ( 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ 2 π ) =

0

coordinate angle ζ for the position of

P

3

ζ ( 0 ≤ ζ ≤ 2 π )

0

opacities

sphere(

P

1

P

2

,

P

1

)

0.2

sphere

P

1

P

3

,

P

1)\)\)]

, sphere

P

2

P

3

,

P

2



0.3

P

3

positions

0

This Demonstration explains how six coordinates can describe the position of a moving rigid body. Varying the six coordinates for the position of the body (three for the position of a point of the body and three for the orientation of the body), it is possible to observe the corresponding displacement of the rigid body.