Act of Motion and boomerangs

[michaelrabenberg]

Act of Motion. A Planned Act by which an Agent causes the position or location of some Object to change.

I throw a boomerang with perfect out-and-back accuracy, so it ends up precisely where it started. Was my act an Act of Motion? I can see an argument for a "no" answer and an argument for a "yes" answer:

No: The location of the boomerang was not ultimately different from its starting location as a result of my act, so I didn't cause the location of the boomerang to change (i.e., to change ultimately), so my act wasn't an Act of Motion.

Yes: The location of the boomerang was at some times different from its starting location as a result of my act, so I did cause the location of the boomerang to change (though non-ultimately), so my act was an Act of Motion.

The heart of the matter is of course how "change" is to be interpreted in the definition.

Is there an official(-ish) correct answer to this? Note that how one answers this also affects how one understands at least some of Act of Motion's subclasses, such as Act of Location Change.

[BrendaBraitling]

@michaelrabenberg It does sound like a trick question on a freshman physics exam... it is solved in science class by looking at a specified incrementing of time which captures the path as well as the starting point and ending point.

It seems there should be some mention of the path of the object and an element of time.

Regarding 'position' and 'location' - are we then dealing with spatiotemporal things - spatial things? Are these precise words or common language?

[cameronmore]

If this is cleared up by changing the definition from 'by which' to 'during which', are there any objections to that change?

The boomerang moves, but it also moves back, but just because it moves back does not mean it didn't move.

[michaelrabenberg]

Does changing "by which" to "during which" clarify how "change" is to be interpreted in the textual definition?

[oliviahobai]

If nobody objects I'm going to request this topic move to a Github discussion thread. Since @michaelrabenberg you make a good argument that the given Act of Motion changes the location of the boomerang, the definition is fine as is.

With this said a finer description of change would be good for the CCO, so more discussion on the matter is a good idea, too. Thank you !

[michaelrabenberg]

But I also gave an argument that the act doesn't change the location of the boomerang.