Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Center of mass, and its connection with momentum

We've been looking at collisions -- situations in which one object separates into several pieces, and situations in which several objects smash together. It certainly looks like momentum is a good tool to use when dealing with collisions.

There's another tool which can also help you to solve problems involving collisions: the center of mass of a system.

Today, we'll define just what the center of mass is, and do a few simple calculations.

Next, let's see how this concept is related to the that concept of momentum, and why it might be useful in some types of collision.


Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.