Ivan Nikiforov said:
Hello! Thank you for your comment! I will try to explain the question in more detail. On the blue circle, points B and C are highlighted. Next to the circle is point A (Fig. 1).
View attachment 362461
If the circle rotates clockwise, then points B and C rotate simultaneously relative to point O. As a result, point B ends up to the right of point A, and point C ends up to the left of point A (Fig. 2).
View attachment 362462
Point B ends up "to the right" of A
from our overhead vantage point.
It is important we are clear
whose "right" we are talking about, in any given scenario.
Ivan Nikiforov said:
If point A rotates counterclockwise, it moves to a new position in which point B is on the right and point C is on the left (Fig. 3).
View attachment 362465
Hang on. "If A rotates counterclockwise" is ambiguous. An object rotating usually means "about its own centre point". What you mean is "If A is rotated
about point O".
Ivan Nikiforov said:
Thus, from the perspective of the final positions of points A, B, and C, these two types of movement are the same.
Great so far.
Ivan Nikiforov said:
However, when point A rotates, points B and C do not rotate relative to point O. This is equivalent to moving the circle with points B, O, and C to a position to the right of the original position of point A.
"to the right of A"
from whose perspective? Again, I think you mean
"from our overhead vantage point".
And be careful with words such as "
equivalent".
See below:
Ivan Nikiforov said:
That is, we can say that for an observer at point A, the circle with points B, O, and C moves along an orange trajectory in a counterclockwise direction (Figure 4). Is this reasoning correct?
View attachment 362466
Well, an observer has an
orientation. They are facing a certain way.
In the first scenario you start like this:
and end like this:
.
But in the second scenario, you start like this:
but end like this:
So, is it really "equivalent" for the
observer at point A? That's up to you if you want to ignore their orientation - the induced rotation about their own center point.
I'd say you've got the geometry itself right, it's a question of being explicit in your descriptions of what's going on: do points have "orientation", or "directions of observation"? I would say a point does
not, by default. But adding "observers" at the locations changes things.
It'll be fine as long as you are careful consistent in your descriptions. And - when you are breaking from an established consistency - explicitly state it.