Schottenbauer Publishing

Friday, October 3, 2014

Understanding the Path of the Sword: Translational & Rotational Motion

Physics divides motion into two general types: translational (straight) motion and rotational (curved) motion. Understanding these two types of motion is essential to the science of fencing.

The graphs below (Copyright 2014, All Rights Reserved), excerpted from the book series The Science of Fencing from Schottenbauer Publishing, show a toy sword first in translational motion, then in rotational motion.






Discussion Questions
  1. Describe the shapes of the lines in Graph 1. 
  2. Describe the shapes of the lines in Graph 2. Why are they different than Graph 1?
  3. On a separate piece of paper, sketch the physical location of the sword at the beginning, middle, and end of its trajectory, using the data provided in Graph 1.
  4. On a separate piece of paper, sketch the physical location of the sword at the beginning, middle, and end of its trajectory, using the data provided in Graph 2.
  5. In Graph 1, is the toy sword moving parallel to the plane of the camera? What information provides clues to the answer?
  6. In Graph 2, is the toy sword moving parallel to the plane of the camera? What information provides clues to the answer?
  7. Is it common in fencing to have either pure translational motion or pure rotational motion, without combining the two? Give several examples.