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