I guess I don't really see the difference between a pivot and a force that is exactly equal in magnitude (but opposite in direction from) the applied force...
This mostly makes sense to me from your description. However, one question lingers. You say that two forces applied at different points will always cause rotation about the COM. How is it possible to get rotations about a different axis then? Isn't applying forces the only thing we can ever...
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...