Vipul: Created page with 'The '''rigid body approximation''' is an approximation whereby dry solid bodies are treated as rigid bodies, whence they are capable of translation and rotation, but they remain …'

2009-11-22T17:29:39Z

Created page with 'The '''rigid body approximation''' is an approximation whereby dry solid bodies are treated as rigid bodies, whence they are capable of translation and rotation, but they remain …'

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The '''rigid body approximation''' is an approximation whereby dry solid bodies are treated as rigid bodies, whence they are capable of translation and rotation, but they remain ''rigid'', in the sense that they do not change in shape or size. Specifically, the distance between any two marked points in the body remains unchanged.

The rigid body approximation is useful when we want to ignore or abstract away issues of shape deformation. This is so even though many of the forces ([[normal force]], [[friction]]) do occur due to these deformations. As long as these forces do not change the shapes of the bodies to a significant extent, the rigid body approximation is still useful for exploring the ''geometry'' of what is happening.

Also related is the [[point mass approximation]].

Rigid body approximation - Revision history

Vipul: Created page with 'The '''rigid body approximation''' is an approximation whereby dry solid bodies are treated as rigid bodies, whence they are capable of translation and rotation, but they remain …'