Rotation and Revolution

• Rotation


  Circular movement of an object around a center of rotation
• Rotation

  • Three-dimensional objects like Earth, Moon, and other planets always rotate an imaginary line called the rotation axis
  • The axis passes through the body's center of mass, rotating upon itself or spinning
• Revolution

  • Often used as a synonym for rotation, however, in fields like astronomy and its related subjects, it is referred to as an orbital revolution
  • Used when one body moves around another
• Rotation (Earth)

  1. Turning on its axis

  2. Takes 24 hours to complete a rotation with respect to the Sun

  3. The axis of rotation is tilted by 23.5 degrees causing the different seasons of the year
• Revolution (Earth)

  1. Its movement around the Sun

  2. Takes a full year (365 days) for one complete revolution around the Sun

  3. The path it moves around the Sun in is called an orbit which, in its case, is elliptical
• Planets

  • Mercury
  • Venus
  • Earth
  • Mars
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune
• Revolution (Mercury)

  88 days
• Rotation (Mercury)

  59 days
• Revolution (Venus)

  225 days
• Rotation (Venus)

  243 days
• Revolution (Mars)

  687 days
• Rotation (Mars)

  24.6 hours
• Revolution (Jupiter)

  11.9 years
• Rotation (Jupiter)

  9.9 hours
• Revolution (Saturn)

  29.5 years
• Rotation (Saturn)

  10.7 hours
• Revolution (Uranus)

  84 years
• Rotation (Uranus)

  17.2 hours
• Revolution (Neptune)

  164.8 years
• Rotation (Neptune)

  16.1 hours