Centre of Mass

Location of CoM

1. Centre of mass of two thin uniform rods of same length but made up of different materials & kept as
shown, can be, if the meeting point is the origin of co-ordinates

(A) (L/2, L/2) (B) (2L/3, L/2) (C) (L/3, L/3) (D) (L/3, L/6)

2. A thick straight wire of length p m is fixed at its midpoint and then bent in the form of a circle. The
shift in its centre of mass is
a) p m b) 0.5 m c) 2 m d)
p
m
2

3. Two blocks of masses 10 kg and 30 kg are placed along a vertical line if the first block is raised
through a height of 7cm then the distance through the second mass should be moved to raise the
centre of mass of the system by 1cm is
a) 1 cm up b) 1 cm down c) 2 cm down d) 2 cm up

4. Three identical spheres each of mass ‘m’ and radius ‘R’ are placed touching each other so that their
centres A,B and C lie on a straight line. The position of their centre of mass from centre of A is
2R 5R 4R
a) b) 2R c) d)
3 3 3

5. A uniform disc of radius R is put over another uniform disc of radius 2R of same thickness and
density. The peripheries of the two discs touch each other. The position of their centre of mass is
a) At R/3 from the centre of the bigger disc towards the centre of the smaller disc
b) At R/5 from the centre of the bigger disc towards the centre of the smaller disc
c) At 2R/5 from the centre of the bigger disc towards the centre of the smaller disc
d) At 2R/5 from the centre of the smaller disc

6. Six identical particles each of mass ‘m’ are arranged at the corners of a regular hexagon of side
length ‘’L’’. If the mass of the one of the particle is doubled, the shift in the centre of mass is
a) L b) 6L/7 c) L/7 d) L
3

7. Particles of masses m,2m,3m……..nm gram are placed on the same line at distances, l , 2l ,3l ,......nl
cm from a fixed point. The distance of centre of mass of the particles from the fixed point in cm in
( 2n + 1) l l n ( n2 + l ) l 2l
a) b) c) d)
3 n +1 2 n (n + l )l
2

8. Three particles each of mass 2 kg are at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side 3m. If one of
the particles is removed, the shift in the centre of mass is
a) 0.2 m b) 0.5 m c) 0.4 m d) 0.3 m
9. Four identical particles each of mass ‘’m’’ are arranged at the corners of a square of side length ‘’L’’.
If one of the masses is doubled, the shift in the centre of mass of the system. w.r.t diagonally
opposite mass
3 2L L
a) L b) c) L d)
2 5 4 2 5 2

10. A circular hole of radius ‘r’ is made in a disk of radius ‘R’ and of uniform thickness at a distance ‘a’
from the centre of the disk. The distance of the new centre of mass from the original centre of mass
is

2 2 a ( R2 - r 2 ) a ( R2 - r 2 )
a) aR b) 2ar 2 c) d)
R2 - r 2 R -r r2 R2

11. Two identical thin uniform rods of length L each are joined to form T shape as shown in the figure.
The distance of centre of mass from D is

a) 0 b) L/4 c) 3L/4 d) L

12. Figure shows a square plate of uniform thickness and side length 2m. One fourth of the plate is
removed as indicated. The distance of centre of mass of the remaining portion from the centre of
the original square plate is

a) 1/3 m b) 1/2 m c) 1/6 m d) 1/8 m

L
13. Seven homogeneous bricks each of length L, mass M are arranged as shown. Projection x =
10
then x co-ordinate of C.M is

22 32 42 12
a) L b) L c) L d) L
35 35 35 35

14. As shown in figure from a uniform rectangular sheet a triangular sheet is removed from one edge.
The shift of centre of mass is

a) 4.2 cm b) -4.2 cm c) 6.67 cm d) -6.67 cm

15. A circular disc of radius R is removed from a bigger circular disc of radius 2R such that the
circumference of the discs coincide. The centre of mass of the new disc is a R from the centre of
the bigger disc. The value of a is
a) 1/3 b) 1/2 c) 1/6 d) 1/4

16. From a circle of radius a, an isosceles right angled triangle with the hypotenuse as the diameter of the
circle is removed. The distance of the centre of mass of the remaining position from the centre of the
circle is
(p - 1)a a a
(A) 3(p – 1)a (B) (C) (D)
6 3(p - 1) 3(p + 1)
!
17. ( )
A rigid body consists of a 3kg mass located at r1 = 2iˆ + 5 ˆj m and a 2kg mass located at
!
( )
r 2 = 4iˆ + 2 ˆj m . The position of centre of mass is

a) æç 14 ˆj + 19 iˆ ö÷ m b) æç 14 iˆ + 19 ˆj ö÷ m c) æç 19 iˆ + 14 ˆj ö÷ m d) 0
è 5 5 ø è 5 5 ø è 5 5 ø

18. A thin uniform rod of length ‘’L’’ is bent at its midpoint as shown in the figure. The distance of the
centre of mass from the point ‘’0’’ is

L q L q L q L q
a) sin b) cos c) sin d) cos
2 2 2 2 4 2 4 2

19. A bomb of mass ‘m’ at rest at the coordinate origin explodes into three equal pieces. At a certain
instant one piece is on the x-axis at x = 40 cm and another is at x=20cm, y=-60cm. The position of
the third piece is
a) x=60 cm, y=60cm b) x=-60 cm, y=-60 cm c) x=-60 cm, y=60cm d) x=60 cm, y=-60cm

20. The centre of mass of the letter F which is cut from a uniform metal sheet from point A is

a) 15/7,33/7 b) 15/7,23/7 c) 22/7,33/7 d) 33/7,22/7

Kx 2
21. The centre of mass of a non-uniform rod of length L whose mass per unit length l = , where k
L
is a constant and x is the distance from one end is
3L L K 3K
a) b) c) d)
4 8 L L
22. A rope of length 30 cm is on a horizontal table with maximum length hanging from edge A of the
table. The coefficient of friction between the rope and table is 0.5. The distance of centre of mass
of the rope from A is
a) 5 15 cm b) 5 17 cm c) 5 19 cm d) 7 17 cm
3 3 3 3
Displacement of CoM

1. A man weighing 80 kg is standing at the centre of a flat boat and he is 20 m from the shore. He walks
8 m on the boat towards the shore and then halts. The boat weight 200 kg. How far is he from the shore
at the end of this time?
(A) 11.2 m (B) 13.8 m (C) 14.3 m (D) 15.4 m

2. Two bodies of different masses 2 kg and 4 kg are moving with velocities 2 m/s and 10 m/s towards
each other due to mutual gravitational attraction. Then the velocity of the centre of mass is
a) 5ms -1 b) 6ms -1 c) 8ms -1 d) zero

3. If two particles of masses 3kg and 6 kg which are at rest are separated by a distance of 15 m. The
two particles are moving towards each other under a mutual force of attraction. Then the ratio of
distances travelled by the particles before collision is
a) 2:1 b) 1:2 c) 1:3 d) 3:1

4. A boy of mass 50 kg is standing at one end of a boat of length 9m and mass 400 kg. He runs to the
other end. The distance through which the centre of mass of the boat boy system moves is
a) 0 b) 1 m c) 2m d) 3m

5. A dog weighing 5 kg is standing on a flat boat so that it is 10 metres from the shore. It walks 4m on
the boat towards the shore and then halts. The boat weight 20 kg and one can assume that there is
no friction between it and water. The dog from the shore at the end of this time is
a) 3.4 m b) 6.8 m c) 12.6 m d) 10 m

6. Three particles each 1kg mass are placed at the corners of a right angled triangle AOB, O being the
origin of the co-ordinate system OA and OB along +ve x-direction and +ve y-direction. The position
vector of the centre of mass is ( OA = OB = 1m ) in meters
i+ j i- j 2 (i + j )
a) b) c) d) ( i - j )
3 3 3

7. Two particles of masses ‘’p’’ and ‘’q’’ ( p > q ) are separated by a distance ‘’d’’ the shift in the
centre of mass when the two particles are interchanged is
a) d ( p + q ) / ( p - q ) b) d ( p - q ) / ( p + q ) c) d p / ( p - q ) d) d q ( p - q )

8. A man of mass M stands at one end of a plank of length L which lies at rest on a frictionless surface.
M
The man walks to other end of the plank. If the mass of the plank is , then the distance that the man
3
moves relative to ground is :
3L L 4L L
(A) (B) (C) (D)
4 4 5 3
9. A particle of mass 3m is projected from the ground at some angle with horizontal. The horizontal range
is R. At the highest point of its path it breaks into two pieces m and 2m. The smaller mass comes to
rest and larger mass finally falls at a distance x from the point of projection where x is equal to
3R 3R 5R
(A) (B) (C) (D) 3R
4 2 4
10. Two interacting particles form a closed system whose centre of mass is at rest. Fig. illustrates the
positions of both particles at a certain moment and the trajectory of the particle of mass ml. Select the
trajectory of the particle of mass m2 if m2 = ml.
 m2

m1
m2 m2

(A) (B) (C) m2 (D) m2

11. There are some passengers inside a stationary railway compartment. The track is frictionless. The
centre of mass of the compartment itself (without the passengers) is C1, while the centre of mass of the
'compartment plus passengers' system is C2. If the passengers move inside the compartment along the
track.
(A) both C1 and C2 will move with respect to the ground
(B) neither C1 nor C2 will move with respect to the ground
(C) C1 will move but C2 will be stationary with respect to the ground
(D) C2 will move but C1 will be stationary with respect to the ground

12. Two bodies of 6 kg and 4 kg masses have their velocity 5iˆ - 2 ˆj + 10kˆ and 10iˆ - 2 ˆj + 5kˆ respectively.
Then the velocity of their centre of mass is
a) 5iˆ + 2 ˆj - 8kˆ b) 7iˆ + 2 ˆj - 8kˆ c) 7iˆ - 2 ˆj + 8kˆ d) 5iˆ - 2 ˆj + 8kˆ
! !
13. Two particles of equal masses have velocities v1 = 4iˆ and v 2 = 4 ˆj . First particle has an acceleration
!
( )
a1 = 5iˆ + 5 ˆj ms -2 while the acceleration of the other particle is zero. The centre of mass of the
two particles moves in a path of
a) Straight line b) parabola c) circle d) ellipse

14. Two masses m1 and m2 ( m1 > m2 ) are connected to the ends of a light inextensible string which
passes over the surface of a smooth fixed pulley. If the system is released from rest, the
acceleration of the centre of mass of the system will be (g= acceleration due to gravity)
g ( m1 - m2 ) g ( m1 - m2 ) g ( m1 + m2 ) g ( m1 + m2 )
2

a) b) c) d)
( m1 + m2 ) ( m1 + m2 )
2
( m1 - m2 ) ( m1 - m2 )

15. Two bodies of masses m1 and m2 are moving with velocity v1 and v2 respectively in the same
direction. The total momentum of the system in the frame of reference attached to the centre of
mass is (v is relative velocity between the masses)
a) m1m2 v b) 2m1m2 v c) zero d) 4m1m2 v
m1 - m2 m1 + m2 m1 + m2

16. A shell in flight explodes into n equal fragments k of the fragments reach the ground earlier than
the other fragments. The acceleration of their centre of mass subsequently will be

a) g b) ( n - k ) g c)
(n - k ) g d)
(n - k ) g
k n
17. A body of mass ‘m’ is dropped and another body of mass M is projected vertically up with speed ‘u’
simultaneously from the top of a tower of height H. If the body reaches the highest point before
the dropped body reaches the ground, then maximum height raised by the centre of mass of the
system from ground is
2 2
u2 u2 1 æ Mu ö 1 æ mu ö
a) H + b) c) H + ç ÷ d) H + ç ÷
2g 2g 2g è m + M ø 2g è m + M ø

18. Two blocks of equal mass are tied with a light string, which passes over a massless pulley as shown
in figure. The magnitude of acceleration of centre of mass of both the blocks is (neglect friction
everywhere)

æ ö æ ö
a) ç 3 - 1 g ÷
ç 4 2 ÷
b) ( )
3 -1 g c)
g
2
d) ç 3 - 1 ÷ g
ç 2 ÷
è ø è ø

19. A rope thrown over a pulley has a ladder with a man of mass m on one of its ends and a counter
balancing mass M on its other end. The man climbs with a velocity v r relative to ladder. Ignoring
the masses of the pulley and the rope as well as the friction on the pulley axis, the velocity of the
centre of mass of this system is
m m M 2M
a) vr b) vr c) vr d) vr
M 2M m m

20. Two particles of masses 2 kg and 3 kg are projected horizontally in opposite directions from the top
of a tower of height 39.2 m with velocities 5 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. The horizontal range of
the centre of mass of two particles is
a) 8 2 m in the direction of 2 kg b) 8 2 m in the direction of 3kg
c) 8 m in the direction of 2 kg d) 8 m in the direction of 3 kg

21. Two particles A and B of mass 1 kg and 2 kg respectively are projected in the directions shown in
figure with speeds u A = 200 m / s and uB = 50 m / s , Initially they were 90 m apart. Find the
(
maximum height attained by the centre of mass of the particles g = 10 m / s 2 )

a) 115.55 m b) 145.55 m c) 4.55 m d) 34.55 m