General Physics 1

Cl ssic l Mech nics

P rt 5: System of p rticles

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 What we should "master" from today's lecture

1. Center of mass (COM)

2. Motion of the COM
3. Conservation of the momentum
4. Kinetic energy of a system
5. Collision
6. (in)Elastic collision

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• We've applied Newton's laws to point
particles. But, many applications
concern extended objects : cars, rockets,
people…
• cars, rockets, people…=system of
particles

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 MOTION
MOTION of MOTION
of individual particles
AN OBJECT = of the CENTER of MASS
+ Relative to the CENTER of MASS
or SYSTEM OF PARTICLES

1. Center of Mass (COM)

2. Motion of Center of Mass
3. Conservation of system momentum
4. Kinetic Energy of a System
5. Collisions (elastic, inelastic, perfertly inelastic)
6. Center of Mass Reference frame
7. Motion of Rocket
 Center of mass

• System of two particles in one dimension. Two point masses, m1 and m2, have
coordinates x1 and x2 on the x axis
m1x1 + m2x2
• The center-of-mass coordinate xcm is de ned by: xcm =
m1 + m2

- if the particles have equal masses, - If the particles are of unequal mass, the
the center of mass is midway center of mass is closer to the more
between them massive particle

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We can generalize from two particles in one dimension to a system of n particles in three
dimensions.

m1 x1 + m2 x2 + ... + mi xi + mn xn ∑m x
i
i i
xcm = =
m1 x1 + m2 x2 m1 + m2 + ... + mi + ... + mn ∑m i
xcm = i
m1 + m2
m1 y1 + m2 y2 + ... + mi yi + mn yn ∑m y i
i i

m2 ycm = =
m1 + m2 + ... + mi + ... + mn ∑m i
i
m1 mn
z
CM m1 z1 + m2 z 2 + ... + mi zi + mn z n ∑m z
i
i i
zcm = =
r1
rcm m1 + m2 + ... + mi + ... + mn ∑m i
ri mi i

! ! ! ! !
O y ri = x i i + yi j + zi k
! ∑ mi ri
i
x ! ! ! ! rcm =
rcm = x cm i + ycm j + z cm k ∑m i
i
 m2 !
∑ mi ri ! !
! i
Mrcm = ∑ mi ri
m1
z
mn rcm =
i
CM ∑ mii
rcm
r1 Total mass
ri mi
M = ∑m i
of the
system
y i
O
x
ri is the position vector of the ith particle.

rCM is the position vector of the CM.

∑m xi
i i ∑m y i
i i ∑m z
i
i i
xcm = ; ycm = ; zcm =
∑m i
i ∑m i
i ∑m i
i
 To Find the center of mass of a continuous object
- Divide the object to have an element of mass dm.
- Position vector of dm is r
- We replace the sum with an integral

! !
! ∑ mi ri ∫ r dm
dm rCM = i
=
(m)
z
∑m ∫ dm
!
i
i (m)
r CM ∑ mi xi ∫ xdm ∫ ydm ∫ zdm
! xCM = i
=
(m)
; yCM =
(m)
; zCM =
(m)

rCM ∑m i ∫ dm ∫ dm ∫ dm
i
O y
(m) (m) (m)

x
Example 8-1 Find the center of mass of a water molecule

H20=2H+O
1 u = 1.66×10−27 kg
∑m x
i
i i
mO xO + mH 1 xH 1 + mH 2 xH 2
xCM = =
∑m i
i mO + mH 1 + mH 2

By symmetry, the
center of mass is => yCM = 0
on the x axis

Coordinates of Oxy, Hydrogen 1 and Hydrogen 2:

Oxy (0 , 0) xo = 0
o
H1 (d cos52.2 ; d sin52.2 )
o o xH1 = xH2 = (9.6 nm) cos 52.2 = 5.9 nm
H2 (d cos52.2o ; -d sin52.2o); (1 u) × (5.9 nm) + (1 u) × (5.9 nm) + (16 u) × (0)
d = 9.6nm xcm =
(1 u) + (1 u) + (16 u)
= 0.66 nm
Another way:
- Finding the center of mass of just the two
hydrogen atoms. the two H atoms replaced by a
single particle of mass m1 + m2 = 2u on the x axis
at the center of mass of the original atoms.
- The center of mass then falls between the
oxygen atom at the origin and the calculated
center of mass of the two hydrogen atoms.

Calculate centers of mass for more complex

systems, such as two uniform sticks.

The center of mass of each stick separately is at

the center of the stick.

The center of mass of the system is found by

treating each stick as a point particle at its
individual center of mass.
 Motion of the center of mass

• The position vector of the center of mass: M r cm

⃗ =
∑
mi r i⃗
i
d r cm
⃗ d r i⃗
• ⃗ = mi v i⃗
∑ dt ∑
Di erentiating the above due to time: M = ⇒ M v cm
dt i i

• ⃗ = mi a i⃗
∑
Again, di erentiating the above due to time: M a cm
i
• According Newtonian 2nd law, F i⃗ is the net force acting on the ith particle.

• Forces acting on a particle fall into 2 categories: F i⃗ = mi a i⃗ = F i,int

⃗ + F⃗
i,ext
• Internal forces due to interactions with other particles within the system.
• External forces due to agents outside the system.

⃗ = ⃗ + ⃗
∑ ∑
⇒ M a cm F i,int F i,ext
i i
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 Motion of the center of mass

⃗ = ⃗ + ⃗
∑ ∑
⇒ M a cm F i,int F i,ext
i i
• According to Newtonian 3rd law, for each internal force acting on one particle, there is an
equal but opposite force acting on another particle. The internal forces thus be cancelled
⃗ =0
∑
out. F i,int
i

∑
Thus, the center of mass of a system moves like a particle of mass M = mi under the
•
F⃗
i
⃗ =
∑
in uence of the net external force acting on the system: M a cm i,ext
i

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Exercise A cylinder rests on a sheet of
paper on a table. You pull the paper
to the right.
a) Which external forces act on the
cylinder?
b) How does the cylinder's center of
mass move?
c) How the cylinder rolls on the paper,
backward or forward?

Answer
a) Weight, Normal force, friction force Fn CM
b) The center of mass accelerates to the ffriction
right, because the net external force W
F
acting on the cylinder is that of friction to f’friction
the right.
c) Backward relative to the paper but
forward relative to the ground

! ! ! !
Macm = W + Fn + f friction
$#! "
=0
 Conservation of the momentum

• The momentum of a particle is de ned as the product of its mass and velocity: p ⃗ = m v ⃗
• The total momentum of a system of many particles is the sum of the momenta of each particles, and
equals the total mass M times the velocity of the COM: P ⃗ = p i⃗ = mi v i⃗ = M v cm
⃗
∑ ∑
i i
dP ⃗ ⃗
d v cm ⃗
• Di erentiating the above respectively to time: =M ⃗ = F net_ext
= M a cm
dt dt
• When the net external force acting on a system of particles is zero, the rate of change of the total
momentum is zero, and the total momentum of the system remains constant:
⃗
F net_ext =0

= 0 ⇒ P ⃗ = const ⃗
dP ⃗
dt
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 Conservation of the momentum
!
1. If the external force is not zero, dP !
the momentum of the system is = Fnet ,ext ≠ 0
not conserved dt

2. but the x-component of the

external force is zero Fx=0, the dPx
Fx = 0 => =0
x-component of the momentum dt
of the system is conserved => Px = const
px=const
Conservation of
Momentum in one
direction
 Kinetic energy of a system

• The kinetic energy of a particles is the sum of the kinetic energies of the individual particles:
1 1
2
mi( v i⃗ · v i⃗ )
∑ ∑2 ∑2
K= Ki = mivi =
i i i
• The velocity of each particle can be written as the sum of the velocity of the COM, and the velocity of the particle relative to the
COM: v i⃗ / gnd = v i⃗ / COM + v COM
⃗ / gnd ⇒ v i⃗ = u i⃗ + v COM
⃗
1 1
• mi( v i⃗ · v i⃗ ) = ⃗ + u i⃗ )( v COM
⃗ + u i⃗ )
∑2 ∑2
K becomes K = mi( v COM
i i
1 2⃗ 1 2⃗ 1
⃗ mi u i⃗
∑2 ∑2 ∑2
= mi v COM + mi u i + v COM
i i i

• mi u i⃗ = M u COM
⃗
∑
uCOM is, the velocity of the COM relative to the COM, uCOM = 0. Then we have
i
• The kinetic energy of the system equals to the KE of the COM plus KE of the particles relative to COM:
1 2⃗ 1 2⃗ 1
⃗
mi u i = M v 2COM
∑2
K = M v COM + + Krel
2 i
2
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 Collision

• In a collision, two objects approach and interact strongly for a very short time.
• During the brief time of collision, any external forces are much smaller than the forces of interaction
between the objects.
⃗
F ext_net =0

= 0 ⇒ P ⃗ = const ⃗
dP ⃗ ⃗
• Momentum of the system is conserved
dt
= F net_ext
• Classi cation:
1. Elastic collision (total kinetic energy is conserved)
2. Inelastic collision (total kinetic energy is not conserved)
3. perfectly inelastic collisions (after collision, 2 objects stick together and have the same velocity)
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 Elastic collision
v1 v2 V’1 V’2
m1 m2 m1 m2

Before collsion After collision

! ! ! !
• Conservation of momentum: m1v1 + m2 v2 = m1v '1 + m2 v '2 (1)
! ! ! !
m1 (v1 − v '1 ) = m2 (v '2 −v2 ) (2)
1 !2 1 !2 1 ! 2 1 ! 2
m1v1 + m2 v2 = m1v1ʹ + m2 v2ʹ (3)
• For elastic collisions, 2 2 2 2
conservation of kinetic energies !2 !2 ! 2 !2
m1 (v1 − v1ʹ ) = m2 (v2ʹ − v2 ) (4)
! ! ! !
• Eq(6) The relative velocity of two v1 + v '1 = v '2 +v2 (5)
particles before and after ! ! ! !
collision has the same (v1 − v2 ) = −(v '1 −v '2 ) (6)
magnitude
! !
! (m1 − m2 )v1 + 2m2v2
• From(2) and (6) , the velocity of
v1ʹ =
m1 + m2
the two particles after collision ! !
! (m2 − m1 )v2 + 2m1v1
v2ʹ =
m1 + m2
 Perfectly Inelastic Collisions in One Dimension

v2 V
v1 m2
m1 m2 m1

Before collision
After collision

• Conservation of momentum: ! ! !
m1v1 + m2 v2 = (m1 + m2 )V (1)

! !
! m1v1 + m2 v2
• After collision, two objects stick V= ( 2)
together, and has the same velocity m1 + m2
 The coefficient of restitution
• The coefficient of restitution, e, is ! !
a measure of the elasticity of a v2ʹ − v1ʹ
collision.
• It is defined as the ratio of the e= ! !
relative speed after collision to
the relative speed before
v2 − v1
collision
• For an elastic collision, e = 1;
• for a perfectly inelastic collision,
e=0