Wentelingen

Wentelingen is the Dutch term for rotations or turning motions, referring to the act of turning around an axis. The word derives from wentel, “to revolve.” The plural wentelingen denotes multiple turning events or motions.

In mathematics and physics, a wenteling is a rigid-body rotation, a transformation that preserves distances. In two dimensions, a wenteling about a fixed point is described by a rotation angle θ; in three dimensions, rotations occur about an axis and can be described by rotation matrices, Euler angles, or quaternions. Rotations are characterized by angular velocity and angular momentum.

Wentelingen appear in many contexts. A wheel turning, a rotor in an engine, or the spinning of a planet are all examples of rotations. In mechanical engineering and robotics, wentelingen describe orientation changes of components, and in astronomy they describe the Earth's diurnal rotation and other planetary spins.

Related concepts include rotation, revolution, angular velocity, angular momentum, and the mathematical structures SO(2) and SO(3); commonly used representations are Euler angles and quaternions. Important distinctions exist between pure rotations about a fixed axis and more complex motions that combine rotation with translation or changing axes.