The Finite Screw System Associated With the Displacement of a Line

Abstract

In determining the screw systems associated with incompletely specified displacements, the displacement of a line was known to be an exceptional case. Recent research has concluded that all possible screws for the finite displacement of a line do not form a screw system. This paper utilizes Dimentberg’s definition of pitch to demonstrate that all possible screws for displacing a line from one position to another can indeed form a screw system of the third order. Two different approaches are taken: one uses the concept of a screw triangle, and the other is based on analytical geometry. A set of three linearly independent screws of the screw system is shown to be perpendicularly intersecting the external bisector of the initial and final positions of the line.