CEnter of MAss

&
M OMENTUM!
 Center of Mass
The point at which
all of the mass of an
object or system CENTER OF MASS
may be considered
to be concentrated.
A system can be one
or more objects that CENTER OF MASS
may or may not be
connected in space.
CENTER OF
MASS

CENTER OF
MASS
Center of Mass for solid, symmetrical
objects of uniform density
Located at the geometric center of the object

xcm xcm xcm

xcm xcm xcm

 Center of Mass for more complicated
situations

The bar above is not of uniform density. Center

of mass is not at the geometric center.
Towards which end is it?

xcm

xcm
Center of mass is not
inside the object
 Experimental Determination of CM
1. Hang a plumb line.
2. Suspend the object
vertically from a point
on the object so it can
swing down freely.
3. Draw a vertical line
xcm
where the object fell.
4. Suspend the object
from a different point
on the object. And let
it swing down freely.
5. Draw another vertical
line that intersects
with the first vertical
line that you drew.
Where the two lines
intersect is the CM.
Even if the other parts
of the object have
other accelerations
 Toppling Rule of Thumb
• If the CG of the object is above
the area of support, the object
will remain upright.
• If the CG is outside the area of
support the object will topple.
 Another look at Stability
• Stable equilibrium: when for a
balanced object a displacement
raises the CG (to higher U so it
tends to go back to the lower U).
• Unstable equilibrium: when for a
balanced object a displacement
lowers the CG (lower U).
• Neutral equilibrium: when the
height of the CG does not change
with displacement.
 Momentum
• A measure of how hard it is to stop an
object which is moving.
• Related to both mass and velocity.
Momentum = mass x velocity

p = m  v
(in kg m/s)
 Why is momentum important?
The same momentum exists
before and after a collision.
Momentum lets us predict
collisions…

….and explosions!
 Elastic Collisions
▪ Linear momentum is conserved
▪ Total energy is conserved
▪ Total kinetic energy is conserved
Inelastic Collisions
▪ Linear momentum is conserved
▪ Total energy is conserved
▪ Kinetic energy is not conserved
Momentum
vs.
Inertia

• Inertia is a property of mass that resists changes in velocity;

however, inertia depends only on mass. Inertia is a scalar
quantity (no direction).
• Momentum is a property of moving mass that resists changes in
a moving object’s velocity. Momentum is a vector quantity that
depends on both mass and velocity (has direction).
EXAMPLE: Momentum practice problem.
If a football player’s momentum is 400 kg m/s,
and he has a mass of 120 kg, what is his velocity
(in m/s)?

Ans.
Givens: p = 400 kg m/s, m = 120 kg
Unknown: v=?
Equation: p=mv
𝐩
Solve: =𝐯
𝐦
𝐦
𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐠 𝐬
Substitute: =𝐯
𝟏𝟐𝟎 𝐤𝐠
Ans. 3.33 m/s = v
P.O.D. 1: Find the momentum of the following.
Car: m = 1800 kg; v = 80 m /s

Bus: m = 19800 lbs. (2.2 kg v = 16 m /s

2.2 lbs = 1 kg);

Train: m = 3.6 104 kg; v = 4 m /s

 Momentum vs. Kinetic Energy
• Kinetic energy and momentum are different quantities, even
though both depend on mass and velocity.
• Kinetic energy (TKE = ½mv2) is a scalar quantity. Mass is always
+ and when you square the velocity you always get a + answer.
Kinetic Energy doesn’t depend on direction.
Kinetic Energy Momentum
A = ½(4 kg)(1 m/s)2 = 2 J
B = ½(4 kg)(1 m/s)2 = 2 J

A B
 Momentum vs. Kinetic Energy
Momentum (p = mv)is a vector, so it always depends on direction.
Sometimes momentum is + if velocity is in the + direction and
sometimes momentum is  if the velocity is in the  direction.

Kinetic Energy Momentum

A = ½(4 kg)(1 m/s)2 = 2 J = 4 kg 1 m/s = 4 kgm/s
B = ½(4 kg)(1 m/s)2 = 2 J = 4 kg 1 m/s = 4 kg m/s

A B
Two balls with the same mass and speed have the same
kinetic energy but opposite momentum.
 Conservation of Momentum
The law of conservation of momentum states
when a system of interacting objects is not influenced by outside forces
(like friction), the total momentum of the system cannot change.
 Collisions

v1 v2 v3 v4

m1 m2 m1 m2

v1 v2 v3

m1 m2 m1 m2
EXAMPLE: Elastic collisions

Two 0.165 kg billiard balls roll toward each other and collide
head-on. Initially, the 5-ball has a velocity of 0.5 m/s. The 10-ball
has an initial velocity of -0.7 m/s. The collision is elastic and the
10-ball rebounds with a velocity of 0.4 m/s, reversing its direction.
What is the velocity of the 5-ball after the collision?
Ans. G.U.E.S.S.
G. ivens: m1 = m2 = 0.165 kg, v1 = 0.5 m/s, v2 = 0.7 m/s, v4 = 0.4 m/s
U. known: v3
E. quation: m1v1 + m2v2 = m1v3 + m2v4
S. olve: m1v1 + m2v2 = m1v3 + m2v4
m2v4 m2v4
m1v1 + m2v2 m2v4 = m1v3
𝐦𝟏 𝐯𝟏 +𝐦𝟐 𝐯𝟐 −𝐦𝟐 𝐯𝟒
𝐦𝟏
= 𝐯𝟑
S. ubstitute:
𝒎 𝒎 𝒎
(𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝒈)(𝟎.𝟓 ) +(𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝒈)(−𝟎.𝟕 ) −(𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟓 𝒌𝒈)(𝟎.𝟒 )
𝒔 𝒔 𝒔
𝟎.𝟏𝟔𝟓 𝐤𝐠
= 𝐯𝟑
0.6 m/s = v3
P.O.D. 2: A 200 kg football player moves at 5 m/s towards a
150 kg player moving at 7 m/s. They collide and bounce off
each other in opposite directions. If the 200 kg player is
moving at 3 m/s after the impact, how fast (in m/s) is the
150 kg player moving?
EXAMPLE: Inelastic collisions

A train car moving to the right at 10 m/s collides with a

parked train car. They stick together and roll along the track.
If the moving car has a mass of 8,000 kg and the parked car
has a mass of 2,000 kg, what is their combined
velocity after the collision?
Ans. G.U.E.S.S.
G. ivens: m1 = 8000 kg m2 = 2000 kg, v1 = 10 m/s, v2 = 0 m/s
U. known: v3
E. quation: m1v1 + m2v2 = (m1 + m2)v3
𝐦𝟏 𝐯𝟏 +𝐦𝟐 𝐯𝟐
S. olve: 𝐦𝟏 +𝐦𝟐
= 𝐯𝟑
S. ubstitute:
𝒎 𝒎
(𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝒈)(𝟏𝟎 𝒔 ) +(𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒌𝒈)(𝟎 𝒔 )
= 𝐯𝟑
𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐠 +𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐠

8 m/s = v3
P.O.D. 3: A 2000 kg car rear ends a 2500 kg truck which is at
rest. If the car was moving at 30 m/s initially, how fast (in
m/s) would the car truck system move forward together?
Force is the Rate of Change of Momentum
• Momentum changes when
a net force is applied.
• The inverse is also true:
– If momentum changes,
forces are created.
• If momentum changes
quickly, large forces are
involved.
This means that force and momentum are
directly proportional
 Force and Momentum Change
The relationship between force and motion follows directly
from Newton's Second Law.
𝐯
F = ma  F= m  Ft = mv
𝐭
Force (N) F = Dp
Dt

Change in time (sec)

Change in momentum
(kg m/sec)
 Impulse Defined
The product of F t from the last slide is called Impulse.
The symbol for impulse is J. So, by definition:

J=Ft
Example: A 50 N force is applied by a cattle
rancher to a 400 kg horse for 3 s to brand it. What
is the impulse of this force?
Ans. J = (50 N) (3 s) = 150 N · s.
Note that we didn’t need to know the mass of the object in
the above example.
 P.O.D. 4

A sucker feels an impulse of 3000 kg m/s for 0.5 seconds

when he gets slapped by a buddy. How much force does he
feel (in N)?
 Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
Suppose a ball of mass m1 collides with another ball of mass m2. The
collision is not head on so the two balls will move off at angles to
each other after the collision.

Momentum before:
m1 pin = m1 v1 + m2 v2 = m1 v1 + m2 (0) = m1 v1
pin = m1 v1
v1
Momentum after:
pout = m1va + m2vb
a m2 b
va By the law of
vb
conservation of momentum:
pin = pout
So: m1 v1 = m1va + m2vb
 Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
Suppose a ball of mass m1 collides with another ball of mass m2. The
collision is not head on so the two balls will move off at angles to
each other after the collision.

We can break our diagonal momentums after

m1 the collision into x and y components as we
did with forces and velocities last semester:
v1

m1 vbx
a m2 b vax m2

va a b
vb

va
vb
vay vby
 Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
Suppose a ball of mass m1 collides with another ball of mass m2. The
collision is not head on so the two balls will move off at angles to each other
after the collision.
We can break our diagonal momentums after the
m1
collision into x and y components as we did with
forces and velocities last semester:
v1
vax m1 m2 vbx
a m2 b a b
va vb
vb
va vay vby
Horizontal things with horizontal things,
vertical things with vertical things:
m1vax =  m2vbx
m1v1 = m1vay + m2vby
 Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
Suppose a ball of mass m1 collides with another ball of mass m2. The
collision is not head on so the two balls will move off at angles to each other
after the collision.
We can break our diagonal momentums after the
m1
collision into x and y components as we did with
forces and velocities last semester:
v1
vax m1 m2 vbx
a m2 b a b
va vb
vb
va vay vby
The vertical components are given by vsin :
m1v1 = m1vay + m2vby
m1v1 = m1vasin a + m2vbsin b
EXAMPLE: Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
33 kg
kg Suppose a ball of mass 3 kg moving at a
velocity of 10 m/s collides with another ball of
10 m/s mass 6 kg. The collision is not head on so the
two balls will move off at angles to each other
after the collision. The 3kg ball moves off at
25 6 kg 45 an angle of 25 to the horizontal at a velocity
8 m/s of 8 m/s while the 6 kg ball moves off at an
vb = ? angle of 45. What is the final velocity of the 6
kg ball?
pin = pout
m1v1 = m1vasin a + m2vbsin b
m1vasin a m1vasin a

m1v1 m1vasin a = m2vbsin b

m1v1 m1vasina
= vb
m2sinb
(3 kg)(10 m/s) (3 kg)(8 m/s)sin 25
(6 kg)sin 45
= vb  4.68= 𝐯𝐛
 P.O.D. 5: Conservation of Momentum in 2-D
88 kg
kg Suppose a ball of mass 8 kg moving at a
velocity of 12 m/s collides with another ball of
12 m/s mass 4 kg. The collision is not head on so the
two balls will move off at angles to each other
after the collision. The 8 kg ball moves off at
40 4 kg 45 an angle of 40 to the horizontal at a velocity
6 m/s of 6 m/s while the 4 kg ball moves off at an
vb = ? angle of 45. What is the final velocity of the
4 kg ball?