Rolling Motion (or plane motion) & its types

The motion of a rigid body undergoing rotation about an axis, with the axis of rotation having a translational motion, is called rolling motion or plane motion. Thus rolling motion is a combination of translational and rotational motion.

Examples: A spinning ball thrown in the air, wheels of vehicles moving on the road, etc are examples of Rolling Motion.

[ Learn about Pure Rolling motion ]

Types of Rolling Motion

Rolling motion can further be classified as follows:

(a) Pure rolling (or rolling without slipping/sliding)

In this case, there is no relative motion between the contact points, i.e., the contact point between the body and the surface is at relative rest.

(b) Impure rolling (or rolling with slipping/sliding)

In this case, there is relative motion between the contact points.