What is the rotational effect of a force?

I think that it is talking about how applying a pushing force to an object can make it rotate.

Here’s an example: You have a ruler, or even a pencil. If you push the ruler in the direct middle (at the 6” mark), it will move straight forward away from you. If you apply the same force to the 1” mark, the ruler will rotate because the force is not applied equally to both sides of the pencil.

If you have a particle that is a point, there is no “both sides” of the point to experience an unequal force that will cause it to rotate.

Also, it is not possible to have a rotating point. Rotation requires a movement is two dimensions at once. If you were to take a point and rotate it around its center, nothing would happen.

It’s called torque. Torque happens when you apply a force to an object that has a pivot point. Take a door for example. I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s harder to push a door open if you push close to the hinge. This is because torque, the rotating force, is weaker if you apply force close to the object’s pivot point.

If a particle is dimensionless, it is itself just one point. So there is no point on the particle that is any distance whatsoever from the pivot point, so you cannot create torque on a particle.

@PhiNotPi but don’t all particles have an instrinsic spin?

@Qingu Only in the realm of quantum mechanics. I answered this question from the standpoint of standard everyday physics. I challenge you to make an electron spin faster. :)