Question

Suppose a rigid body is at rest on a smooth horizontal surface.If a force is applied whose line of action does not pass through the center on the mass of the body. Then will the body rotate, translate or both?

Answer 1

The body will definitely have translational motion. The rotational motion will depend on the magnitude and position of the force that is being applied.

Basically you have three forces acting on the block -

1) Weight

2) Applied force

3) Normal

The normal shifts its position such that the body remains in rotational equilibrium. Once it reaches the extreme position, the body topples.