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GCSE Physical Education · key term
A circular movement in which the end of a limb traces a circle and the limb sweeps out a cone shape, combining flexion, extension, abduction and adduction.
Used by AQA and OCR
Paper 1
A circular movement of a limb combining flexion, extension, abduction and adduction.
Revise: Joint movementsAt the shoulder, you also need to recognise abduction, adduction, rotation and circumduction.
Paper 1
A circular movement of a limb that combines flexion, abduction, extension and adduction. The end of the limb traces a circle while the limb sweeps out a cone.
Revise: Movement at Synovial JointsCircumduction means moving a limb in a circular pattern. The joint remains relatively fixed while the far end of the limb traces a circle, so the limb sweeps out a cone. It combines flexion, abduction, extension and adduction rather than simply twisting the bone.
Distinguish rotation from circumduction: twisting around the limb’s long axis is rotation; moving the whole arm in a circle is circumduction.
Do not confuse shoulder rotation with circumduction: rotation turns the upper arm around its own long axis; circumduction moves the arm through a circular path.
Distinguish rotation, where a bone turns around its own long axis, from circumduction, where the end of a limb follows a circular path.
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