Rotation around a fixed axis the same mass and velocity of rotation. Like linear momentum, angular momentum is vector quantity, and its conservation implies that the direction of the spin axis tends to remain unchanged. For this reason, the spinning top remains upright whereas a stationary one falls over immediately. The angular momentum equation can be used to relate the moment of the resultant force on a body about an axis (sometimes called torque), and the rate of rotation about that axis. Torque and angular momentum are related according to just as F = "d"p/"dt" in linear dynamics. In the absence of an external torque,
Angular velocity is formula_5, and the linear velocity is formula_6, so that formula_7. In the general case of a particle moving in the plane, the angular velocity is measured relative to a chosen center point, called the origin. The diagram shows the radius vector r from the origin "O" to the particle "P", with its polar coordinates formula_8. (All variables are functions of time "t".) The particle has linear velocity splitting as formula_9, with the radial component formula_10 parallel to the radius, and the cross-radial (or tangential or circular) component formula_11 perpendicular to the radius. When there is no radial component, the