Questions tagged [rotations]

This tag is for questions about rotations: a type of rigid motion in a space.

In 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the rotation is a type of distance-preserving linear transformation that has a fixed point and preserves orientation. In terms of the usual inner product $\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle$ on $\Bbb R^2$ and $\Bbb R^3$, rotations are the transformations $T$ such that $\langle Tx,Ty\rangle=\langle x,y\rangle$ for all $x,y$, and the determinant of $T$ is equal to 1.

Geometrically, the rotation in $\Bbb R^2$, "spins" the plane around a point without flipping the plane or sliding it. In $\Bbb R^3$, a rotation fixes a line (called the axis of rotation) and "spins" the space around this line (without reflecting or sliding).

More generally, given an inner product space $V$ over a field $\Bbb F$, anything in the part of the orthogonal group connected to the identity can be considered a "rotation." This allows rotations to be defined for $\Bbb R^n$ for $n$ greater than 2 and 3, as well as vector spaces over fields other than $\Bbb R$.

As an example, the space $\Bbb R^4$ with a non-Euclidean metric $(1,1,1,-1)$ is Minkowski space which is a model for special relativity. Rotations still play an important role here beyond that of rotations in the spacial coordinates. For example, Lorentz transformations are rotations which move the time coordinate.

Rotations can also be represented in terms of matrices and the tag often goes with this tag, as questions can pertain to rotation matrices.

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How to rotate a whole rectangle by an arbitrary angle around the origin using a transformation matrix?

Suppose, I have a 2D rectangle ABCD like the following: $A(0,0)$, $B(140,0)$, $C(140,100)$, $D(0,100)$. I want to rotate the whole rectangle by $\theta = 50°$. I want to rotate it around the Z-axis by an arbitrary angle using a rotation…
user6704
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How can I divide degrees greater than 360 to be within the 360 degrees?

I've got a rotation of something in degrees, however this rotation can be greater than 360 or less than 0. How can I multiply/divide this to be within 360? For example, 1800 to be turned into 360, 900 turned into 180, etc?
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Unit Vectors in Rotation Matrices

If I have a rotation matrix $R$, say: $$R = \begin{bmatrix} \cos \theta & -\sin \theta \\ \sin \theta & \cos \theta \\ \end{bmatrix}$$ when I multiply it by a vector, $$V' = R.V$$ does the vector necessarily have to be a unit vector for my result…
John Tan
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Rotation about arbitrary point and arbitrary axis

This should be a simple problem, but I appear to not be able to get this correct. I have an object that is rotating in a circle on the $x$-$y$ plane (rotating in the $-z$ direction) at a speed $\dot{\gamma}$. This object is also rotating about its…
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Range of angle in axis-angle representation of rotations

According to Euler, one can represent any rotation in 3D by an angle in the range $[0,\pi]$ and a unit vector representing the direction of an axis of rotation, some details are here. Other possible types of representation of rotations include the…
Yuri
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Rotate Object relative to other Object

I have an object (cube) which has two other objects attached to it (cones). If I rotate the cube along any axis, how do I determine the rotation of the cones (which emanate at a specific angle from the exact center of the cube) in relation to the…
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Finding rotation matrix from angles between plane intersections and axes

I have a proper rotation transformation between coordinate axes $\{X, Y, Z\}$ and $\{X^\prime, Y^\prime, Z^\prime\}$. What I am given are three angles, all of which have vertex at the origin: Let the line of intersection between the $XY$ plane and…
Mark Fischler
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Rotationmatrix for coordinate system

this is my first question with regard to mathematics. So, if I made any mistake in terms of naming and/or convention, please let me know. I'm having a little problem with rotating a coordinate system in 3D space. I have 5 points in 3D space and two…
Shelling
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Show that transformation returns a hyperbola

Given graph of $f(x)=1/x$, i.e. $G=\{(x,y)^t:xy=1\}$, I want to show that rotation of this grph by 45° clockwise gives us a hyperbolic graph. This means I need to come to something of form $\{(x,y)^t: {x^2 \over a^2}-{y^2\over b^2}=1\}$. How do I…
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determine coordinate of second point, given first point coordinates, rpy, and distance from point1 to point 2

Let's assume we have a camera located at coordinate 190, 170, 150. It is facing YPR: -135, 45, 0. It produces a 1600x900 image, and it sees a point in the viewport 30 units away, off center by 20 pixels up and 10 pixels to the right of center. I'm…
pinate
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Finding rotation around $z$-axis

Imagine a table with a $XY$ coordinate system in its plane and a green vertical line at $X=XL$. Further imagine there is a camera placed in $(XC,YC,ZC)$ looking down on the table: The position of the camera is just approximately known: $XC \approx…
Andy
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Rotations in D dimensions

So, if we are in $\Bbb R^{n}$ there are $n(n-1)/2$ rotations. Which is to say: Given $1$ of the $n$ axis, we can rotate it onto $n-1$ other axis. We then divide by $2$ to not overcount. That's OK, however if we are in a 2D plane, rotating $x$ axis…
Matteo
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Rotation around non orthogonal axis

I am trying to wrap my head around some problem. How to calculate correct angle of rotation, when one of the rotation axis isnt orthogonal to machining plane. Lets imagine that we put a box on the table c axis, and want to machine its right/left…
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I have two references frames with three vectors in each - how do I find the rotation matrix between them?

I have a problem involving reference frames that I was hoping for help with. I have two references frames, A and B with a common origin. I have three vectors $f$,$g$,$h$ in each references frame, i.e. I have $f_{xA}, f_{yA}, f_{zA}$ and $f_{xB} ...…
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How to convert/rotate Euler angles from one coordinate system to another

I have two Euler angles (Z and Y'). They are made for a coordinate system where X is forward, Z is up, and Y is to the left. I have another coordinate system that is rotated around X 180 degrees. So X is forward, Z is down, Y is to the right. I need…