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qpwo
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As the title says, can there be any rotation if only one force is applied to an object at rest. For instance, if I had a rod laying flat on a frictionless surface, and I pushed one end, am I correct to say that Newton's second law says that all of that force goes into acceleration the center of mass, and none into rotation? Whereas, if I fixed the center (or applied another force), the rod would rotate?
Then, if this is correct, is there an easy way to figure out the center of rotation? For example, if the rod in the previous example were 10 cm long and lying along the x-axis (centered at x=0), and I pushed with 15 N at x=5cm, and 5 N at x=3cm, I would expect the rod to both accelerate and rotate, but I am not sure how I would find the center of rotation. It seems like the rotation would not be centered on the COM, but it almost seems like it woulld have to be, in order to keep the center of mass uniformly accelerating...
Thanks for the help!
Then, if this is correct, is there an easy way to figure out the center of rotation? For example, if the rod in the previous example were 10 cm long and lying along the x-axis (centered at x=0), and I pushed with 15 N at x=5cm, and 5 N at x=3cm, I would expect the rod to both accelerate and rotate, but I am not sure how I would find the center of rotation. It seems like the rotation would not be centered on the COM, but it almost seems like it woulld have to be, in order to keep the center of mass uniformly accelerating...
Thanks for the help!