1.5.

3 Centre of Gravity

• The centre of gravity of an object is the point at which the weight of the object may be
considered to act
• For example, for a person standing upright, their centre of gravity is roughly in the
middle of the body behind the navel, and for a sphere, it is at the centre
• For symmetrical objects with uniform density, the centre of gravity is located at the point
of symmetry

The centre of gravity of a shape can be found by symmetry

Stability
Stability

• The position of the centre of gravity of an object affects its stability

• An object is stable when its centre of gravity lies above its base

The object on the right will topple, as its centre of gravity is no longer over its base

• The wider base an object has, the lower its centre of gravity and it is more stable
• The narrower base an object has, the higher its centre of gravity and the object is more
likely to topple over if pushed
 The most stable objects have wide bases and low centres of gravity

Exam Tip
Since the centre of gravity is a hypothetical point, it can lie inside or outside of a body. The
centre of gravity will constantly shift depending on the shape of a body. For example, a human
body’s centre of gravity is lower when learning forward than upright

1.5.4 Investigating Centre of Gravity

• When an object is suspended from a point, the object will always settle so that its
centre of gravity comes to rest below the pivoting point
• This can be used to find the centre of gravity of an irregular shape:
 Diagram showing an experiment to find the centre of gravity of an irregular shape

• The irregular shape (a plane laminar) is suspended from a pivot and allowed to settle
• A plumb line (lead weight) is then held next to the pivot and a pencil is used to draw a
vertical line from the pivot (the centre of gravity must be somewhere on this line)
• The process is then repeated, suspending the shape from two different points
• The centre of gravity is located at the point where all three lines cross
1.6.1 Momentum

• An object with mass that is in motion has momentum which is defined by the equation:

momentum = mass × velocity

p = mv

• Where:
o p = momentum in kilogram metre per second (kg m/s)
o m = mass in kilograms (kg)
o v = velocity in metres per second (m/s)

• This means that an object at rest (i.e v = 0) has no momentum

• Momentum keeps an object moving in the same direction, making it difficult to change
the direction of an object with a large momentum

• Since velocity is a vector this means that the momentum of an object also depends on
its direction of travel
• This means that momentum can be either positive or negative
o If an object travelling to the right has positive momentum, an object travelling in
the opposite direction (to the left) will have negative momentum
 The tennis ball's momentum is negative when it moves in the opposite direction to which it
initially was travelling in

• Therefore, the momentum of an object will change if:

o The object accelerates (speeds up) or decelerates (slows down)
o Changes direction
o Its mass changes

Worked Example
Which object has the most momentum?

• Both the tennis ball and the brick have the same momentum
• Even though the brick is much heavier than the ball, the ball is travelling much faster
than the brick
• This means that on impact, they would both exert a similar force (depending on the time
it takes for each to come to rest)

Exam Tip
You can remember momentum as mass in motion. The units of momentum are kg m/s which is
the product of the units of mass (kg) and velocity (m/s).

Which direction is taken as positive is completely up to you in the exam. In general, the right and
upwards are taken as positive, and down or to the left as negative.

Conservation of Momentum
EXTENDED
 • The principle of conservation of momentum states that:

In a closed system, the total momentum before an event is equal to the total
momentum after the event

• A closed system means the energy within the system is constant and there is an
absence of external forces (e.g. friction)
• In other words:

The total momentum before a collision = The total momentum after a collision

• A system is a certain number of objects under consideration

o This can be just one object or multiple objects

• Since momentum is a vector quantity, a system of objects moving in opposite

directions (e.g. towards each other) at the same speed will have an overall
momentum of 0 since they will cancel out
o Momentum is always conserved over time

• The diagram below shows two masses m with velocity u and M at rest (ie. zero
velocity)

The momentum of a system before and after a collision

• Before the collision:

 o The momentum is only of mass m which is moving
o If the right is taken as the positive direction, the total momentum of the
system is m × u

• After the collision:

o Mass M also now has momentum
o The velocity of m is now -v (since it is now travelling to the left) and the
velocity of M is V
o The total momentum is now the momentum of M + momentum of m
o This is (M × V) + (m × -v) or (M × V) – (m × v)

Worked Example
The diagram shows a car and a van, just before and just after the car collided with the
van, which is initially at rest.

Use the idea of

conservation of momentum to calculate the velocity of the van when it is pushed
forward by the collision.
Exam Tip
If it is not given in the question already, drawing a diagram of before and after helps
keep track of all the masses and velocities (and directions) in the conversation of
momentum questions.

1.6.2 Impulse

• When a resultant (unbalanced) force acts on a mass, the momentum of that mass will
change
• The impulse of a force is equal to that force multiplied by the time for which it acts:

impulse = force × change in time

impulse = FΔt

• The change in momentum of a mass is equal to the impulse provided by the force:

impulse = change in momentum

impulse = FΔt = Δp

• Change in momentum can also be described as:

Δp = Δ(mv)

Δp = mv − mu

• Where:
o m = mass in kg
o v = final velocity in m/s
o u = initial velocity in m/s

• Therefore:

impulse = FΔt = Δp = mv − mu

• An example in everyday life of impulse is when standing under an umbrella when it is

raining, compared to hail (frozen water droplets)
o When rain hits an umbrella, the water droplets tend to splatter and fall off it and
there is only a very small change in momentum
o However, hailstones have a larger mass and tend to bounce back off the
umbrella, creating a greater change in momentum
o Therefore, the impulse on an umbrella is greater in hail than in rain
 o This means that more force is required to hold an umbrella upright in hail
compared to rain

Since hailstones bounce back off an umbrella, compared to water droplets from rain, there is a
greater impulse on an umbrella in hail than in rain

Worked Example
A 58 g tennis ball moving horizontally to the left at a speed of 30 m s–1 is struck by a tennis
racket which returns the ball back to the right at 20 m s–1.

(i) Calculate the impulse delivered to the ball by the racket

(ii) State which direction the impulse is in

(i) Step 1: Write the known quantities

•
o Taking the initial direction of the ball as positive (the left)
o Initial velocity, u = 30 m s–1
o Final velocity, v = –20 m s–1
o Mass, m = 58 g = 58 × 10–3 kg
Step 2: Write down the impulse equation

Impulse I = Δp = m(v – u)

Step 3: Substitute in the values

I = (58 × 10–3) × (–20 – 30) = –2.9 N s

(ii) Direction of the impulse

•
o Since the impulse is negative, it must be in the opposite direction to which the
tennis ball was initial travelling (since the left is taken as positive)
o Therefore, the direction of the impulse is to the right

Exam Tip
Remember that if an object changes direction, then this must be reflected by the change in sign
of the velocity. As long as the magnitude is correct, the final sign for the impulse doesn't matter
as long as it is consistent with which way you have considered positive (and negative). For
example, if the left is taken as positive and therefore the right as negative, an impulse of 20 N s
to the right is equal to -20 N s

Force & Momentum

EXTENDED

• Force can also be defined as the rate of change of momentum on a body

• The change in momentum is defined as the final momentum minus the initial momentum
• These can be expressed as follows: