Precession

There are two types of precession, torque-free and torque-induced, the latter being discussed here in more detail.

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Only solid objects can be in torque-free precession. For example, when a plate is thrown, the plate may have some rotation around an axis that is not its axis of symmetry. When the object is not perfectly solid, internal vortices will tend to dampen torque-free precession.

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