Liikumissuundi

Liikumissuundi (plural) is the Estonian term for the directions of movement—the orientation along which an object, person or organism moves or is intended to move. A movement direction is typically described together with speed and can be represented by a unit vector, a bearing, or a compass angle tied to a reference frame, such as north or a coordinate axis. In practice it can be stated qualitatively (forward, left, backward) or quantitatively (bearing 120°, azimuth 2.1 radians).

The concept is distinct from movement path and speed. The direction specifies where motion is headed at a given moment, while the path traces the sequence of positions over time and speed measures how fast the motion occurs. In many fields, the direction is treated as a vector or as an angle that can change as movement proceeds.

Applications and fields of use include physics and engineering, where liikumissuund is central to velocity, forces, and trajectory calculations; mathematics and robotics, where it is formalized as a direction vector and used in motion planning and control; biology and biomechanics, where movement directions help analyze gait and locomotion patterns; and geography or transportation, where trajectories derived from sensor data reveal travel directions and patterns. In sports and dance, the term describes the orientation of the body during performance.

Common notational conventions include bearing or azimuth measurements (often relative to north), heading angles, or Cartesian components of a velocity vector. See also vektor, kiirus, trajektoria, and suund for related concepts.