eli5 Why can’t an object rotate around multiple directions?

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I can imagine a pencil rotating about an axis parallel to its length and perpendicular to its length at the same time and I have also seen several self balancing mechanisms online (got no idea wt that is) where a ball spins in multiple directions

So what do they mean by an object can only have one axis of rotation?

In: Physics

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

any way you try to do a constant rotation an object around 2 axis, there is always 1 other axis were rotating around that axis looks exactly the same. so that is the axis of rotation.

its like saying “you can only walk in a streight line in 1 direction”, you might say “but I am walking north AND east, thats 2 directions” to which I respond “no, thats 1 direction north-east”

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