Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES
9.1. Center of mass
The motion of a rotating ax thrown between two jugglers looks rather complicated, and
very different from the standard projectile motion discussed in Chapter 4. Experiments
have shown that one point of the ax follows a trajectory described by the standard
equations of motion of a projectile. This special point is called the center of mass of the
ax.
The position of the center of mass of a system of two particles with mass m1 and m2,
located at position x1 and x2, respectively, is defined as
Since we are free to define our coordinate system in whatever way is convenient, we can
define the origin of our coordinate system to coincide with the left most object (see
Figure 9.1). The position of the center of mass is now
This equation shows that the center of mass lies between the two masses, closest to the
heavier mass. In general, for a system with more than two particles, the position of the
center of mass will satisfy the following relation
The definition of the center of mass in one dimension can be easily generalized to three
dimensions
or in vector notation
Suppose we are dealing with a number of objects. Figure 9.2 shows a system consisting
of 4 masses, m1, m2, m3 and m4, located at x1, x2, x3 and x4, respectively. The position of
the center of mass of m1 and m2 is given by
Using the center of mass of m1 and m2 and of m3 and m4 we can express the center of
mass of the whole system as follows
For a homogeneous disk (with density [rho]) the masses of object X and D can be
calculated
The position of the center of mass of the rod can be determined as follows
where M is the total mass of the system. Differentiating this equation with respect to time
shows
where vcm is the velocity of the center of mass and vi is the velocity of mass mi. The
acceleration of the center of mass can be obtained by once again differentiating this
expression with respect to time
where acm is the acceleration of the center of mass and ai is the acceleration of mass mi.
Using Newton's second law we can identify mi ai with the force acting on mass mi. This
shows that
This equation shows that the motion of the center of mass is only determined by the
external forces. Forces exerted by one part of the system on other parts of the system are
called internal forces. According to Newton's third law, the sum of all internal forces
cancel out (for each interaction there are two forces acting on two parts: they are equal in
magnitude but pointing in an opposite direction and cancel if we take the vector sum of
all internal forces). See Figure 9.5.
After the ball comes to rest, the x-coordinate of the center of mass of the system
coincides with the x-coordinate of the center of the sphere (symmetry axis). Originally
the center of the sphere was located at x = 0, and we conclude that the system is displaced
over a distance R/2, to the left.
From this definition it is clear that the unit of momentum is (kg m/s) or (N s). Since this
momentum is related to the linear motion of the object, it is called linear momentum. In
Chapter 11 we will be discussing angular momentum which is the momentum related to
the angular motion of the object.
Under certain circumstances the linear momentum of a system is conserved. The linear
momentum of a particle is related to the net force acting on that object:
The rate of change of linear momentum of a particle is equal to the net force acting on the
object, and is pointed in the direction of the force. If the net force acting on an object is
zero, its linear momentum is constant (conservation of linear momentum).
The total linear momentum p of a system of particles is defined as the vector sum of the
individual linear momenta
This expression shows that if the net external force acting on a system of particles is zero
(Fext = 0 N), the linear momentum of the system is conserved.
Example Problem 9-4
A stream of bullets with mass m is fired horizontally with speed v into a large wooden
block with mass M that is initially at rest on a horizontal table. If the block is free to slide
across the table (without friction), what speed will it acquire after it has absorbed n
bullets ?
After the n bullets strike the wooden block, its mass is increased to (M + n m) and its
velocity is V. The x-component of the linear momentum at that point is therefore
or
The final velocity V of the wooden block will always be less than the velocity of the
bullets (independent of how many bullets we fire).
Note: we did not have to consider what happened when the bullets hit the block since
these forces are internal forces.
Sample Problem 9-10
Two blocks with mass m1 and mass m2 are connected by a spring and are free to slide on
a frictionless horizontal surface. The blocks are pulled apart and then released from rest.
What fraction of the total kinetic energy will each block have at any later time ?
Figure 9.8 shows a schematic of the system. The velocities of mass m1 and mass m2 are
defined to be positive when they are directed towards the right in Figure 9.8 (in Figure
9.8 the velocity of m2 is negative).
Consider the system consisting of the two masses and the spring. This is a closed system.
The only external forces acting on the system are the gravitational force and the normal
force. Both these forces are directed vertically. The net force along the x-axis is zero, and
therefore, linear momentum is conserved along the x-axis.
Initially, both masses are at rest, and the total linear momentum along the x-axis is zero.
Suppose at a later time mass m1 has a velocity equal to v1 and mass m2 has a velocity
equal to v2. The total linear momentum at that time is then given by
Since the linear momentum along the x-axis is conserved, pf must be equal to 0. The
velocity v2 of mass m2 can now be expressed in terms of m1 and v1:
This shows that the velocity of mass m1 and of mass m2 always have opposite sign. The
kinetic energy of mass m1 and mass m2 can now be calculated
If f1 is the fraction of the total kinetic energy that is carried by mass m1 we obtain the
following equation for f1:
Problem 43P
A vessel at rest explodes, breaking into three pieces. Two pieces, having equal mass, fly
off perpendicular to one another with the same speed of 30 m/s. The third piece has three
times the mass of each of the other pieces. What is the direction and magnitude of its
velocity immediately after the explosion ?
The vessel is an isolated system on which no external forces are acting. This implies that
the total linear momentum of the system is conserved. Since the vessel is initially at rest,
the initial linear momentum of the system is zero. Since the total linear momentum is
conserved, the final linear momentum of the system must also be zero. Figure 9.9 shows
schematically the direction of the three fragments in which the vessel explodes. The
problem states that m1 = m2 and that m3 = 3 m1. Assuming that the total mass of the
system is conserved we conclude that
or
The problem also states that v1 = v2 = 30 m/s. Conservation of linear momentum along
the x-axis and along the y-axis requires
Problem 48P
A 1400 kg cannon, which fires a 70 kg shell with a muzzle speed of 556 m/s, is set at an
elevation of 39deg. above the horizontal. The cannon is mounted on frictionless rails, so
that it recoils freely. (a) What is the speed of the shell with respect to the earth ? (b) At
what angle with the ground is the shell projected ?
The mass of the cannon is M, and the mass of the shell is m. The firing angle is [theta]
and the muzzle speed is v0. The velocity of the cannon and the shell in with respect to the
earth is vc and vs, respectively. The angle of projection of the shell with respect to the
earth is a.
The external forces acting on the shell and cannon are the gravitational force and the
normal force. These forces are directed along the y-axis. Since there is no external force
acting on the shell along the x-axis, the linear momentum of the system along the x-axis
is conserved. The total linear momentum of the system along the x-axis (the horizontal
axis) is given by (see figure 9.10)
The muzzle speed provided in this problem is measured with respect to the muzzle. Since
the cannon is not at rest, the speed of the shell with respect to the earth will be different
than the speed of the shell with respect to the muzzle. The relation between these
velocities and the firing angles is schematically shown in Figure 9.11. The figure clearly
shows the following relations between the various velocities and firing angles:
or
We conclude that a = 40.4deg.. The velocity of the shell with respect to the earth is given
by
or
M(t) v(t) = M(t) (v(t) + [Delta]v) - [Delta]M U0
We conclude
[Delta]M U0 = M(t) [Delta]v
Dividing each side by [Delta]t gives
Now:
or
We conclude