If there is a stick in space and you provide an impulse on one end of the stick, then will it rotate or will it simply undergo translational motion in a straight line?
If you have the stick on earth on top of a surface then it will rotate about its centre of mass which acts as the pivot. However in space, in the absence of a gravitational field or friction I'd imagine that there is no obvious pivot point which means that the stick will just travel in a straight line in the direction the impulse was in. Am I right?
If you have the stick on earth on top of a surface then it will rotate about its centre of mass which acts as the pivot. However in space, in the absence of a gravitational field or friction I'd imagine that there is no obvious pivot point which means that the stick will just travel in a straight line in the direction the impulse was in. Am I right?