Chapter VII

Center of Mass, Momentum, Impulse, and Collisions

Center of mass
Momentum
Impulse
Impulse-momentum relation
Law of conservation of momentum
Collisions
Center of Mass, Impulse, Momentum, and Collision
Problems
Energy and momentum experiments

Caber, Ben Clark T.

Rodolfo, Ruth Mae M.
Teope, Chrystene Jeine A.
Violon, Jada Auola
 7.1 Differentiate center of mass and geometric center
What is center of mass?
Center of mass is a unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass
sums to zero.

What is geometric center?

Geometric center is the arithmetic mean position of all points in the shape.

What is the difference of center of mass and geometric center?

At some point, it is quite confusing to know the difference between the two but if we look at the
figures above, we can see that the center of mass changes relative to the position of the mass
of the body while the geometric center stays the same.
 7.2-3 Relate the motion of center of mass of a system to the
momentum and net external force acting on the system
/Relate the momentum, impulse, force, and time of contact in
a system
What is center of mass? “If the net external force on a system of particles is zero, then (even if
the velocity of individual objects changes), there is a point associated with the distribution of
objects that moves with zero acceleration (constant velocity).”

This point is called the “center of mass” of the system. It is the balancing point for the mass
distribution. Center of mass CM is also known as the Center of Gravity.

What are the motion of Center of Mass?

There are two kinds of forces:

Internal Forces – forces between an object within the system and another object within the
system.

External Forces – forces between an object within the system and an object outside the
system.

Example 7.2.1
A child of mass m is standing at the left end of a thin and uniform slab of wood of length
L and mass M. The slab lies on a horizontal and frictionless icy surface of a lake.

Starting from rest, the child walks towards the right end of the slab. How far and in what
direction did the center of mass of the child-slab system move when the child has reached the
right end of the slab?

The center of mass does not move while the child is walking along the slab. It remains where it
was when the child was at the left end of the slab.

Velocity and Acceleration of the Center of Mass

Consider two particles A and B of masses m1 and m2, respectively. Take the line joining A and
B as the X-axis. Let the coordinates of the particles at time ‘t’ be x1 and x2. Suppose no
external force acts on the system. The particles A and B, however, exert forces on each other
and these particles accelerate along the line joining them. Suppose the particles are initially at
rest and the force between them is attractive.

In each of the above situations, there is an unbalanced force. It is commonly said that in each
situation there is a net force acting upon the object. The net force is the vector sum of all the
forces that act upon an object. That is to say, the net force is the sum of all the forces, taking
into account the fact that a force is a vector and two forces of equal magnitude and opposite
direction will cancel each other out. At this point, the rules for summing vectors (such as force
vectors) will be kept relatively simple.

Example 7.2.3
Observe the following examples of summing two forces:

Mass Motion

The total momentum of any system is related to its total mass and the velocity of its center of
mass by the equation
Ptotal = mtotalvcm
Conservation of Momentum states that “momentum is equal to the mass of an object
multiplied by its velocity and is equivalent to the force required to bring the object to a stop in a
unit length of time.”
m1* Δv1 = -m2 * Δv2
The momentum changes are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Example 7.2.5
A 12,000 kg railroad car is traveling at 2 m/s when it strikes another 10,000 kg railroad
car that is at rest. If the cars lock together, what is the final speed of the two railroad cars?

p1 = p2 m2 =mass of both cars 12,000 + 10,000

m1 v1 = m2 v2 24,000 = 22,000 v2
(12,000) (2) = (22,000) v2 24,000/22,000 = v2
v2 = 1.1m/s

Example 7.2.6
A 20 gram bullet traveling at 250 m/s strikes a block of wood that weighs 2 kg. With what
velocity will the block and bullet move after the collision?

p1 = p2 m1 v1 5 = (2.02) v2
= m2 v2 5/2.02 = v2
(.020) (250) = (2 + 0.020) v2 2.5 m/s = v2
What is impulse?

Impulse is a term that quantifies the overall effect of a force acting over time. It is conventionally
given the symbol J and expressed in Newton-seconds.
For a constant force,
J=F Δt
This is exactly equivalent to a change in momentum Δp.
The impulse of force can be extracted and found to be equal to the change in momentum of an
object provided the mass is constant: Impulse = FaverageΔt = mΔv

Example 7.3.2
Find applied force which makes 10m/s change in the velocity of the box in 5s if the mass
of the box is 4kg.
Impulse=Change in momentum
F·t=p2-p1
F·t=m· (V2-V1)
F·t=4kg·10m/s
=40kg·m/s
Impulse of the box is 40kg.m/s

F= (40kg·m/s) / (5s)
=8 N Applied force

What is force?

A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another
object.
Whenever there is an interaction between two objects, there is a force upon each of the objects.
When the interaction ceases, the two objects no longer experience the force. Forces only exist
as a result of an interaction.

What is the relationship between the momentum, impulse, force, and time of contact in a
system?

Impulse-Momentum Theorem
The impulse-momentum theorem states that the change in momentum of an object equals the
impulse applied to it.

J = Δp

If mass is constant, then… Δt = mΔv

If mass is changing, then… Fdt = m dv + v dm

The impulse-momentum theorem is logically equivalent to Newton's second law of motion (the
force law).

Momentum measures the 'motion content' of an object, and is based on the product of an
object's mass and velocity. Momentum doubles, for example, when velocity doubles. Similarly, if
two objects are moving with the same velocity, one with twice the mass of the other also has
twice the momentum.

Force, on the other hand, is the push or pull that is applied to an object to CHANGE its
momentum. Newton's second law of motion defines force as the product of mass times
ACCELERATION (vs. velocity). Since acceleration is the change in velocity divided by time, you
can connect the two concepts with the following relationship:

force = mass x (velocity/time) = (mass x velocity)/time = momentum/time

Multiplying both sides of this equation by time:

force x time = momentum
7.4 - Explain the necessary conditions for conservation of
linear momentum to be valid.
What is the law of conservation of linear momentum?

The law of conservation of linear momentum states that the momentum will remain constant
no matter what until and unless any external force comes into action.

For Example,
When a gun is fired and if we assume that the initial position was at rest and hence the initial
momentum to be zero the final momentum should also be zero according to the law of
conservation of momentum.
Application of the law of conservation of momentum is important in the solution of collision
problems.

The operation of rockets exemplifies the conservation of momentum: the increased forward
momentum of the rocket is equal but opposite in sign to the momentum of the ejected exhaust
gases. In mathematical sense, there is a proof of existence of conserving linear momentum.

Note: The momentum remains conserved, i.e., the momentum that is lost initially is equal to the
momentum gained afterwards.

Example
A bullet of mass 10 g was hit in a block of wood whose mass is 5 kg. Immediately after
the collision the speed of the wood and bullet combination is 0.6 m/s. Calculate the original
speed of the bullet.

Solution:
In this inelastic collision, the conservation of momentum is followed. After the collision the two
objects stick together and move with a common velocity vf.
We then have,
m1v1 +m2v2 = (m1 + m2) vf m1 mass of the bullet, v1 its initial velocity, m2 is the mass of
the block, v2 its initial velocity.

Initially the block is at rest, v2 = 0

Therefore
(0.01 kg) v1 = (5 kg) (0.6 m/s)
v1 = 300 m/s

Conservation of linear momentum is also possible in two dimensions by calculating the

component of momentum in different axes like x, y and z, also the component of velocity should
be calculated in all the axes.

Px =mVx
Py = mVy
Pz = mVz
Where Vx, Vy, Vz are the velocities in x, y and z directions respectively.
 7.5-6 Compare and contrast elastic and inelastic collisions
/Apply the concept of restitution coefficient in collisions
What is a collision?
A collision is an event where momentum or kinetic energy is transferred from one object to
another.

What is momentum?
Momentum (p) is the product of mass and velocity.
p = mv

Types of Collision

In physics, collisions can be defined as either elastic or inelastic. To perform the deformation,
the energy comes from the objects’ original kinetic energy.

Elastic Collision - is a collision in which there is no net loss in kinetic energy in the system as a
result of the collision. Both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved quantities in elastic
collisions.

Example 7.5.1
Collisions in ideal gases approach perfectly elastic collisions, as do scattering
interactions of sub-atomic particles which are deflected by the electromagnetic force.
Some large-scale interactions like the slingshot type gravitational interactions between satellites
and planets are perfectly elastic.

What is a perfectly elastic collision?

Perfectly Elastic collision will be the ones in which kinetic energy is fully conserved, that is, it
is not at all lost or converted into any other form.

Inelastic Collision - a collision in which there is a loss of kinetic energy. While momentum of
the system is conserved in an inelastic collision, kinetic energy is not.
This is because some kinetic energy had been transferred to something else. Thermal energy,
sound energy, and material deformation are likely culprits.

Example 7.5.2
The ballistic pendulum is a practical device in which an inelastic collision takes place.

You see inelastic collisions when objects stick together after colliding, such as when two cars
crash and weld themselves into one. However, objects don’t need to stick together in an
inelastic collision; all that has to happen is the loss of some kinetic energy.

NOTE: Regardless of whether a collision is elastic or inelastic, momentum is always the same
before and after the collision, as long as you have a closed system.

Which is more damaging – a mostly elastic or mostly inelastic vehicle collision?

This depends on which you are more concerned about: the vehicle or the passenger.
Suppose a vehicle collides elastically with another object. The vehicle will necessarily rebound.
The change in momentum as the vehicle rebounds is greater than in an equivalent inelastic
collision. The force on an occupant is therefore greater and that is clearly worse for the
occupant.

On the other hand, because it is an elastic collision no energy will be dissipated in deforming the
vehicle. Damage to the structure of the vehicle would therefore be minimized.
Always remember that in elastic collisions, the change in momentum as an object rebounds is
greater than in an equivalent inelastic collision.
 7.7 Predict motion of constituent particles for different types
of collisions (e.g., elastic, inelastic)
What happens to two bodies during an elastic collision?

Elastic collisions occur when the colliding objects bounce off of each other after the collision.

Elastic collision usually occurs between hard and/or bouncy objects. An elastic collision is one in
which the sum of the kinetic energy of all the colliding objects before the event is equal to the
sum of the kinetic energy of all the objects after the event. In this type of collision momentum is
conserved. Therefore the law of conservation of momentum can be written as:

m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1f + m2v2f

What happens to two bodies during an inelastic collision?

In Inelastic collisions, two objects collide and kinetic energy is not conserved. In this type of
collision some of the initial kinetic energy is converted into other types of energy (heat, sound,
etc.), which is why kinetic energy is NOT conserved in an inelastic collision. In this collision, the
two objects colliding stick together after the collision.

Therefore the law of conservation of momentum can be written as:

m1v1 + m2v2 = (m1 + m2) vf

Example 7.7.1
Two balls, red and blue, are about to collide in a certain point in the line. If the red ball
has a mass 5 kg of and a velocity of 3 m/s, while the mass of the blue ball is 10 kg and a
velocity of 5 m/s; what will the directions of the two balls be after the collision if the red ball is
going to the right while the blue ball is to the left? Consider an elastic collision.

7.8-9 - Solve problems involving center of mass, impulse,

and momentum in contexts such as, but not limited to, rocket
 motion, vehicle collisions, and ping-pong. ( Emphasize also
the concept of whiplash and the sliding, rolling , and
mechanical deformations in vehicle collisions . /Perform an
experiment involving energy and momentum conservation
and analyze the data identifying discrepancies between
theoretical expectations and experimental results when
appropriate
How to calculate the center of mass?

The center of mass is the sum of the products of individual segments of mass and their
respective locations, divided by the total mass.

Where:

Xcom = Center of mass

m1 = Mass 1

m2 = Mass 2

x1 = Distance of mass 1

x2 = Distance of mass 2
Example 7.8.1

Note: If the two particles have the same mass, the CoM is halfway in between the particles.

Quite often there are more than 2 particles.

How to calculate Momentum?

Momentum is a measure of strength and a measure of how difficult it is to stop an object.

Where: p = Momentum m = Mass v = Velocity

Example 7.8.2 A 325 kg motorcycle is moving at 10 m/s, south. Find its momentum.
How to calculate Impulse?

Impulse is the measure of how much the force changes the momentum of an object.

Where: J = Impulse = orce Δt = time

Since Impulse is the change in Momentum:

Example 7.8.3 If the time of force application of a box, 15 N, is 5 s, find the impulse.

J = 15 N * 5 s J = 75 N

What is Conservation of Momentum?

Where:

m1 = Mass 1
m2 = Mass 2

v1 = Velocity 1 before collision

v2 = Velocity 2 before collision

v’1 = Velocity 1 after collision

v’2 = Velocity 2 after collision

What is Conservation of Energy?

Where:

m1 = Mass 1

m2 = Mass 2

v1 = Velocity 1 before collision

v2 = Velocity 2 before collision

v’1 = Velocity 1 after collision

v’2 = Velocity 2 after collision

What is Energy-Momentum relation? In physics, the energy–momentum relation is the

relativistic equation relating any object's rest (intrinsic) mass, total energy, and momentum:

Where: E = Energy p = Momentum c = Velocity m = Mass