rotateX()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since March 2022.

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

Try it

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.

css
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 ℝ^2 Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ^2 Cartesian coordinates on ℝ^3 Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ^3
This transformation applies to the 3D space and can't be represented on the plane.
( 1 0 0 0 cos ( a ) - sin ( a ) 0 sin ( a ) cos ( a ) ) \left( \begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & \cos(a) & -\sin(a) \\ 0 & \sin(a) & \cos(a) \end{array} \right)
( 1 0 0 0 0 cos ( a ) - sin ( a ) 0 0 sin ( a ) cos ( a ) 0 0 0 0 1 ) \left( \begin{array}{cccc} 1 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & \cos(a) & -\sin(a) & 0 \\ 0 & \sin(a) & \cos(a) & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & 1 \end{array} \right)

Formal syntax

Error: could not find syntax for this item

Examples

HTML

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

CSS

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

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

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Transforms Module Level 2
# funcdef-rotatex

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also