Rotation in 3D (Does the order of rotation matter?)

[Fu-Kwun Hwang]

The following simulation illustrates that the order of rotation does matter.
There are 3 objects in the simulation.
The center is the one without any rotation.
The left on is
(1) rotate around x-axis by 90 degree(c1)
(2) rotate by y-axis by 90 degree (c2).
(3) rotate by z-axis by 0 degree (c3)
 you can change the axis direction with selection boxs.

The lower left selection box shows "123" which meansthat the left object has been rotated in the order of (1) -> (2) -> (3)

The lower right selection box shows "213" which means the the right object has been rotated in the order of (2) -> (1) -> (3)

Embed a running copy of this simulation
<applet code='users.ntnu.fkh.rotatexyz_pkg.rotatexyzApplet.class' archive='http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/ejsuser/2/ejs_rotatexyz.jar' name='rotatexyz5371' id='rotatexyz5371' width='789' height='559' mayscript=true><param name='draggable' value='true'></applet>
Embed a running copy link(show simulation in a popuped window)
<a href='http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/msg.php?smfejs=5371' target='smfejs'>Run simulation</a>

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Press the Alt key and the left mouse button to drag the applet off the browser and onto the desktop. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Taiwan License

• Please feel free to post your ideas about how to use the simulation for better teaching and learning.
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