Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
REGION I
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF CANDON CITY
Candon City, Ilocos Sur

GENERAL PHYSICS 1
Quarter 1 – Week 7 - Module 7:
Prepared by: Michelle Leslie E. Cabasan

Lesson
Center of Mass
1
I. OBJECTIVES:
1. Explain why only a net external force can change the translational motion of the
center of mass of a system.
2. Determine the motion of the center of mass of a system knowing the external
forces acting on the system.

II. GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What is a center of mass?
2. Why is net external force the only factor that can change the translational motion
of the center of mass of a system?
3. How do we calculate the velocity and acceleration of a center of mass?
4. What is the motion of the center of mass of a system knowing the external forces
acting on the system?

III. DISCUSSION:
Velocity and Acceleration of the Center of Mass
In this section, we will calculate the velocity and the acceleration of the center of
mass of a system consisting of N-point particles. If the velocity, the acceleration, and the
mass of the
i-th particle is , and mi, respectively, and the total mass of the system is M = m1 + m2 +
.. + mn, then we have:
The velocity of the Center Mass

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Take the derivative for the time of the position of the center of mass:

Acceleration of the Center of Mass

Take the derivative for the time of the velocity of the center of
mass:

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Total Momentum and Net External Force
Total Momentum

The total linear momentum of the system is equal to that of a single

particle of mass M moving with the velocity of the center of mass.

The velocity of the center of mass of the system is:

where

is the linear momentum vector of the i-th particle.

Adding the linear momentum of the system constituents we obtain
the total momentum of the system:

From (eq,1) and (eq. 2) we obtain:

Total External Force

The center of mass of a system of particles of mass M moves like an

equivalent particle of mass M would move under the influence of the
net external force on the system.

The acceleration of the center of mass of the system is:

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 where is the net force acting on the i-th particle.
The i-th particle may interact with particles inside the system and
with objects outside the system, therefore the net force on the i-
th particle may include internal forces and external forces. When
adding all the forces acting on the N particles, Newton's 3rd law
pairs between the system constituents will cancel each
other and only the sum of the external forces acting on each of the
particles within the system will be different from zero:

Then, the acceleration of the center of mass is given by:

Rearranging this equation, we obtain:

IV. EXAMPLES:
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.

a. 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?

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

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2. A barge of mass M is at rest and tied to the pier by a cable. A car of mass m is at rest at
the left end of the barge as shown in the figure. A workman, of negligible mass, drives
the car with constant acceleration from the left to the right end. The car attains a
speed vc in a time T when it reaches the right end of the barge. Assume that the barge
does not move while the car is moving from left to right.

a. Is the velocity of the center of mass of the car + barge system constant?
No. The sum of the external forces on the system is equal to the force exerted on the
barge by the cable, then the acceleration of the center of mass is not zero and the velocity of
the center of mass is not constant.

b. What is the magnitude and direction of the force exerted on the barge by the cable
while the car is moving from left to right?
Answer:
Magnitude: mcvc / T
Direction: towards the pier, along the +x axis.

3. You are in a boat moving at a constant speed U measured relative to a frame of reference
fixed to shore. Because you want to arrive earlier to your destination you decide to speed
up the boat by going to the front of it and the run fast towards the back.

The speeds in the following questions and your answers are measured for the same fixed
frame of reference from where U is measured.

a. What is the speed of the center of mass of the boat when you are not moving relative
to the boat?
Answer:
Vcm = U.

b. While you are running towards the back, is the speed of the boat:
• higher than U,
• the same as U,
• lower than U?

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Answer:
While you are running, the speed of the boat measured for the frame of reference
fixed to shore is higher than U.

c. When you reach the end of the boat you stop running. After you stop running, is the
speed of the boat:
• higher than it was before you start running,
• the same as before you start running,
• lower than before you start running?
Answer:
The speed of the boat is the same as before you start running.

4. Let's assume that in part a) you run from the front to the back with a well-known
speed v(t ). Your mass is m and the boat's mass is Mb. Find the speed, Vb(t ), that the boat
has while you are running. Answer the question for the following two cases:
• relative to the boat, you are running at a speed smaller than the speed of the boat
• relative to the boat, you are running with a speed larger than the speed of the boat
Answer:
Case 1: Vb(t) = U + (m/Mb)(U - v(t))
Case 2: Vb(t) = U + (m/Mb)(U + v(t))

Two identical blocks of mass m are connected with a massless spring and placed on a
horizontal and frictionless table. The two block-spring systems are initially at rest. A force of
magnitude f and parallel to the surface is applied to the left block at the instant t1 and is
removed at t2.
a. Describe mathematically the motion of the center of mass of the system after the
force f is removed. Consider a coordinate system with its origin coinciding with the
center of mass at the instant when the force f is removed.
Answer:
The center of mass will move along the +x axis with a constant speed given by:

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 The position of the center of mass changes linearly with time as:

b. Describe in words the motion of the two blocks for

times t > t2.
Answer:
The blocks will oscillate and at the same time, they will translate to the right with a
constant speed of.

The net force on each block is not zero. It is an elastic force that produces the
oscillation of the blocks. The motion of the blocks is complicated but the center of mass will
still move at a constant speed Vcm.

c. What is the speed of the blocks at the instant when the spring is at maximum
compression and maximum extension?

Both blocks move at Vcm.

At the instant when the spring is at maximum compression or extension the blocks do
not move relative to each other. The 2 blocks+spring system is still moving with the
velocity of the center of mass, therefore the blocks' speed at the instant of maximum
extension and compression is Vcm.

5. Two points mass 3 kg and 5 kg are at 4 m and 8 m from the origin on X-axis. Locate the
position of the center of mass of the two-point masses (i) from the origin and (ii) from 3
kg mass.

Solution:
Let us take, m1 = 3 kg and m2= 5 kg
(i) To find the center of mass from the origin:
The point masses are at positions, x1 = 4 m, x2 = 8 m from the origin along X-axis.

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 The center of mass is located 6.5 m from the origin on X-axis.
(ii) To find the center of mass from 3 kg mass:
The origin is shifted to 3 kg mass along X-axis. The position of 3 kg point mass is
zero (x1 = 0) and the position of 5 kg point mass is 4 m from the shifted origin (x2 = 4 m).

The center of mass is located 2.5 m from 3 kg point mass, (and 1.5 m from the 5 kg
point mass) on X-axis.
This result shows that the center of mass is located closer to a larger mass.
If the origin is shifted to the center of mass, then the principle of moments holds
good.
m1x1=m2x2; 3x2.5=5x1.5;7.5=7.5
When we compare case (i) with case (ii), the xCM = 2.5m from 3 kg mass could also
be obtained by subtracting 4 m (the position of 3 kg mass) from 6.5 m, where the center of
mass was located in case (i).

V. GENERALIZATION
The center of mass is a position defined relative to an object or system of objects. It is
the average position of all the parts of the system, weighted according to their masses. For
simple rigid objects with uniform density, the center of mass is located at the centroid.

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VI. EXERCISES:
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following problems on a separate sheet of paper. A complete
solution is required.

1. From a uniform disc of radius R, a small disc of radius R/2 is cut and removed as shown
in the diagram. Find the center of mass of the remaining portion of the disc.

2. Locate the center of mass of a uniform rod of mass M and length l.

3. A man of mass 50 kg is standing at one end of a boat of mass 300 kg floating on still
water. He walks towards the other end of the boat with a constant velocity of 2 ms-1 for
a stationary observer on land. What will be the velocity of the boat, (a) for the stationary
observer on land? (b) for the man walking in the boat?

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 Lesson
Momentum and Impulse
2
I. OBJECTIVES:
1. Define momentum and impulse.
2. Explain the advantage of momentum over velocity as the description of motion in a
multi-body system.

II. GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What are momentum and impulse?
2. How is momentum related to impulse?
3. How is momentum related to impulse?

III. DISCUSSION:
Definition in terms of Velocity
Momentum (which is given the symbol p) is defined by:

for a single object of mass m traveling with velocity v.

Vector Nature
It is important to note that momentum is a vector. The direction of the momentum of
an object is the same as the direction of the object's velocity.

Units
The units of momentum, as can be seen from its definition, are kg m/s.

Momentum is Additive in a Multi-Body System

For a single object, momentum and velocity are essentially equivalent since
momentum is directly proportional to velocity. For a multi-body system, however, there is a
significant advantage in using momentum instead of velocity to describe the motion. To see
the advantage, consider this example:

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A truck of mass mt is loaded with a heavy cargo of mass mc. Unfortunately, the cargo is not
well secured, and as the truck begins to accelerate the cargo starts to slide back along the
truck bed.
At a certain instant, the x-velocity of the truck is vt,x and the x-velocity of the cargo is vc,x.

Imagine you want to consider the truck plus the cargo as a single system. What
velocity should we assign to the system? It turns out that the appropriate velocity to use in the
equations of dynamics is the velocity of the center of mass. In other words, we would have to
imagine the system to be a single point particle that is located at a special point somewhere
between the position of the cargo and that of the truck (remember that the velocity Model can
only be applied to a single point particle). This point moves in a way that is different than the
cargo's movement and also different than the truck's. Working with the motion of the center
of mass is often counter-intuitive, and therefore we will not focus on it.
Suppose instead we asked for the momentum of the system composed of the truck plus
its cargo. It turns out that the appropriate momentum to use is simply the sum of the momenta
of the parts. In other words:

The simplicity of this expression allows us to continue to think intuitively in terms of

the components of the multi-body system since it is easy to recover the momentum of the
whole from the momentum of the parts. In other words, the momentum Model will allow us
to consider a single system to be composed of a collection of several point particles.

Newton's Second Law for Momentum

To understand how interactions change momentum, we need a version of Newton's
Second Law that involves momentum. The appropriate form is:

You can show that this form of Newton's Second Law reduces to the
regular F = ma for the case of a single object with constant mass if you substitute in the
definition of momentum in terms of velocity.
It is very important to notice the qualifier "external" on the sum of forces in this law.
The internal forces cancel out and have no net effect on the overall motion of a multi-body
system (though as we shall see, it is important to remember that the motion of the pieces of a
multi-body system is affected by internal forces). Only external forces can have a net
influence on the motion of the system. This property is central to the utility of the momentum
Model, as we shall see in the following modules.

Impulse
To find an expression for the change in momentum as a result of the action of external
forces, we have to integrate Newton's Second Law, giving:

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 The time integral of the force is generally given the name impulse (denoted by the
symbol J):

so:

IV. EXAMPLES:
1. A 50 kg mass is sitting on a frictionless surface. An unknown constant force pushes the
mass for 2 seconds until the mass reaches a velocity of 3 m/s.
a. What is the initial momentum of the mass?
b. What is the final momentum of the mass?
c. What was the force acting on the mass?
d. What was the impulse acting on the mass?
Answers:
a. What is the initial momentum?
Momentum is mass times velocity. Since the mass is at rest, the initial velocity is 0
m/s.
momentum = m⋅v = (50 kg)⋅(0 m/s) = 0 kg⋅m/s

b. What is the final momentum?

After the force is finished acting on the mass, the velocity is 3 m/s.
momentum = m⋅v = (50 kg)⋅(3 m/s) = 150 kg⋅m/s

c. What was the force acting on the mass?

mv – mv0 = Ft
From parts a and b, we know mv0 = 0 kg⋅m/s and mv = 150 kg⋅m/s.
150 kg⋅m/s – 0 kg⋅m/s = Ft
150 kg⋅m/s = Ft

Since the force was in effect over 2 seconds, t = 2 s.

150 kg⋅m/s = F ⋅ 2s
F = (15 kg⋅m/s) / 2 s
F = 75 kg⋅m/s2
Unit Fact: kg⋅m/s2 can be denoted by the derived SI unit Newton (symbol N)
F = 75 N

d. What was the impulse acting on the mass?

The impulse is the force multiplied by the time passed. It is also equal to the change in
momentum over the same time.
Ft = 75 N ⋅ 2 s
Ft = 150 Ns or 150 kg⋅m/s
The impulse was 150 kg⋅m/s.

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2. An object travels with a velocity of 4m/s to the east. Then, its direction of motion and
magnitude of velocity is changed. The picture given below shows the directions and
magnitudes of velocities. Find the impulse given to this object.

Solution:
I = F.Δt = Δp = m.ΔV
where ΔV = V2 - V1 = -3 - 4 = -7m/s
I = m.ΔV = 3.(-7) = -21kg.m/s

3. The ball having a mass of 4kg and velocity of 8m/s travels to the east. The impulse given
at point O, makes it change direction to the north with a velocity of 6m/s. Find the given
impulse and change in the momentum.

The initial and final momentum vectors of the ball are shown in the figure below.

P1 = m.V1 = 4kg.8m/s = 32kg.m/s

P2 = m.V2 = 4kg.6m/s = 24kg.m/s
ΔP = P2 + P1 (vector addition)
ΔP2 = P22 + P12 = m2(v22+v12)
ΔP2 =16.100
ΔP = 40kg.m/s
Impulse = change in momentum
I = Δ = 40kg.m/s

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V. GENERALIZATION:
Momentum is mass in motion, and any moving object can have momentum. An
object's change in momentum is equal to its impulse. An impulse is several forces times the
time interval. Impulse is not equal to momentum itself; rather, it's the increase or decrease of
an object's momentum.

VI. EXERCISES:
Activity 1
DIRECTIONS: Read and analyze each statement carefully. Choose the letter of the correct
answer. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. How much momentum is present in a 0.250 kg cart moving at 0.400 m/s?

A. 0.1 kg-m/s B. 1 kg-m/s C. 10 kg-m/s D. 100 kg-m/s

2. If 2 objects collide and stick together, what will happen to their velocities?
A. Velocities will increase C. Velocities will stay the same
B. Velocities will decrease D. None of the above

3. When the speed of an object is doubled, what will happen to its momentum?
A. Doubles C. Quadruples
B. Decreases D. Remains unchanged

4. A 10kg toy truck moves at 5m/s East. It collides head-on with a 5kg toy car moving 10
m/s moving west. What is the total momentum of the system?
A. 0 kg.m/s B. 10 kg.m/s C. 30 kg.m/s D. 50 kg.m/s

5. What is the difference between a car hitting a wall vs. a car hitting a haystack?
A. The impulse on the car hitting the wall is greater.
B. The force on the car hitting the haystack is greater.
C. The collision time of the car hitting the haystack is greater.
D. The change in momentum of the car hitting the wall is greater.

6. In a physics experiment, two carts of mass 1.5 kg each are rolled towards each other. The
orange cart has a velocity of 2 m/s, and the blue cart has a velocity of -1m/s. The carts
stick together when they collide. What is their final speed?
A. 0.33 m/s B. 0.50 m/s C. 0.67 m/s D. 1.00 m/s

7. A runner has a momentum of 670 kg.m/s and is traveling at a velocity of 9 m/s. What is
his mass?
A. 0.0134 kg B. 74.40 kg C. 80.00 kg D. 6030 kg

8. What is the unit for impulse?

A. kg B. m/s C. N D. N.s

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9. What does the theorem of the impulse-momentum theorem state?
A. The force on a moving object is equal to the magnitude of the impulse.
B. The impulse on an object is equal to the change in momentum it causes.
C. The impulse on an object is less than the change in momentum it causes.
D. The impulse on an object is greater than the change in momentum it causes.

10. The momentum of an object depends upon what factors?

A. Size and shape C. Mass and energy
B. Mass and speed D. Mass and velocity

Activity 2
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following problems on a separate sheet of paper. A complete
solution is required.

1. Find the impulse and force which make a 12m/s change in the velocity of an object
having 16kg mass in 4 s.

2. The applied force vs. time graph of an object is given below. Find the impulse of the
object between 0-10s.

3. A ball having a mass of 500g hits the wall with a 10m/s velocity. Wall applies 4000 N
force to the ball and it turns back with 8m/s velocity. Find the time of ball-wall contact.

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VII. REFERENCES:
“Momentum and Impulse Connection.” 2019. Physicsclassroom.com. 2019.
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/momentum/Lesson-1/Momentum-and-
Impulse-Connection.
“Impulse Momentum Exam1 and Problem Solutions.” n.d. Www.physicstutorials.org.
https://www.physicstutorials.org/home/exams/impulse-momentum-exams-and-
solutions/impulse-momentum-exam1-and-solutions.
“Major Test: Momentum, Impulse, and Collisions - Quiz.” n.d. Quizizz.com. Accessed
October 24, 2021.
https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/616480196ef5db001ed13772/major-test-momentum-
impulse-and-collisions.
“Impulse and Momentum.” n.d. Tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.Or.us. Accessed October 24, 2021.
http://tuhsphysics.ttsd.k12.or.us/Tutorial/Lessons/Imp_and_Mom.html.
Myers, Richard L. 2006. The Basics of Physics. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

VIII. ANSWER KEY:

10. D

9. B

8. D

7. B

6. B

5. C

4. A

3. Δt = 0,00025s 3. A

2. F.Δt = 140kg.m/s 2. B

1. Impulse = 192 kg.m/s 1. A

Activity 2 Activity 1
Lesson 2
v21 = -2.33 m/s
v21 = (-0.33) – (2)
b. v21 = v2 – v1
3. a. v2 = -0.33 m/s
2
2. xCM =
𝑙
6
1. x =
R
Lesson 1

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