rotateX() - CSS: Cascading Style Sheets

The rotateX() CSS function defines a transformation that rotates an element around the abscissa (horizontal axis) without deforming it. Its result is a <transform-function> data type.

The axis of rotation passes through an origin, defined by the transform-origin CSS property.

Note: rotateX(a) is equivalent to rotate3d(1, 0, 0, a).

Note: Unlike rotations in the 2D plane, the composition of 3D rotations is usually not commutative. In other words, the order in which the rotations are applied impacts the result.

Syntax

The amount of rotation created by rotateX() is specified by an <angle>. If positive, the movement will be clockwise; if negative, it will be counter-clockwise.

rotateX(a)

Values

a: Is an <angle> representing the angle of the rotation. A positive angle denotes a clockwise rotation, a negative angle a counter-clockwise one.

Cartesian coordinates on ℝ²	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ²	Cartesian coordinates on ℝ³	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ³
This transformation applies to the 3D space and can't be represented on the plane.		$(\begin{matrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & cos(a) & -sin(a) \\ 0 & sin(a) & cos(a) \end{matrix})$	$(\begin{matrix} 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & cos(a) & -sin(a) & 0 \\ 0 & sin(a) & cos(a) & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{matrix})$

Examples

HTML

<div>Normal</div>
<div class="rotated">Rotated</div>

CSS

div {
  width: 80px;
  height: 80px;
  background-color: skyblue;
}

.rotated {
  transform: rotateX(45deg);
  background-color: pink;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Transforms Level 2 The definition of 'rotateX()' in that specification.	Editor's Draft	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Please see the <transform-function> data type for compatibility info.