rotatorio

Rotatorio is a Spanish adjective and noun form that denotes anything that rotates or revolves around an axis. The term is widely used in physics, engineering, and technology to describe objects, mechanisms, or phenomena involving circular motion. It derives from Latin rota, meaning wheel, and is cognate with the English words rotatory and rotary. In technical Spanish, rotatorio is often preferred when emphasizing the motion or function of rotation, as in movimiento rotatorio, eje rotatorio, mecanismo rotatorio, rotor, turbina, motor eléctrico, or unidad rotatoria.

Key concepts associated with rotatorio include angular velocity, angular acceleration, and moment of inertia. Angular velocity measures how fast something rotates; angular acceleration measures how quickly that rate changes; moment of inertia describes how mass resists changes in rotational motion.

Applications and examples span several domains. In mechanical engineering, rotatorio describes components such as rotors in electric machines, turbines, gears, and rotary joints or ejes rotatorios and rodamientos rotatorios. In instrumentation and sensing, rotary encoders (encoders rotatorios) convert angular position into electrical signals. In dentistry and medicine, rotatorio tools refer to rotating devices such as fresa rotatoria used for drilling or cutting. In robotics and automation, rotatory actuators and joints enable planar or three-dimensional rotation.

Differences from giratorio can be subtle and context-dependent; in some fields the terms are used as near-synonyms, while rotatorio often emphasizes the rotational function or device. See also rotation and rotación.