Translational Motion
translational motion
[tran′slā·shən·əl ′mō·shən]Translational Motion
the motion of a rigid body such that a line connecting any two points of the body is shifted parallel to itself. During translational motion, all points of the body describe identical trajectories, that is, trajectories coincident when superposed, and have at every instant velocities and accelerations that are the same in magnitude and direction. The translational motion of a body is therefore treated in much the same way as the kinematics of a particle (seeKINEMATICS). 20–1257–1]