KEY CONCEPTS

SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES AND MOMENTUM

1. CENTER OF MASS
The motion of an extended object, such as a tennis racket, often appears very
complex. If we look closely, we will see there is one point that moves exactly as
indicated by the simple rules for point objects. This point is called the center of mass,
and it acts as if the mass of the entire object were concentrated at that one point.
For an object that is symmetrical with a uniform density we can easily guess the
location of the center of mass, because it is at the objects geometric center. When the
object is not symmetrical, a simple way to find the center of mass is to use a plumb line.
For an object with a plane of symmetry if we hang the object from a point and draw a
vertical plumb line down from the same point, the center of mass will lie directly below
the point where the object is hung. This procedure is then repeated by hanging the
object from a different point, one that does not lie on the first line, and drawing a vertical
plumb line down from this second point; the center of mass will lie at the intersection of
these two lines. For an object without a plane of symmetry, the procedure must be
followed yet a third time, such that the three plumb lines drawn from the points of
suspension do not all lie in a single plane. Their intersection, then, is the center of
mass.
2. IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
In his studies of mechanics, Newton developed the concept of momentum, or
the quantity of motion of an object. Momentum p is a vector quantity and is equal to the
product of mass and velocity:

p = mv
Just as mass is a measure of an the inertia of a body at rest, momentum is a measure
of the inertia of a body in motion. In other words, while mass is a measure of how
difficult it is to make an object move, momentum is a measure of how difficult it is to
stop a moving object. An object becomes harder to stop as its mass increases, or as its
velocity increases.
Newton originally wrote his second law (F = ma) in terms of the momentum. A
modern statement of the law is
The rate of change of the momentum of a body is proportional to the
resultant force acting on the body and is in the direction of that force.

KEY CONCEPTS
SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES AND MOMENTUM
Mathematically this is written as

p
t
or
dp
F=
dt

F=

As long as the mass of the object does not change, this is exactly the same as F = ma.
The impulse J of a force is defined as the force times the elapsed time (the time
during which the force is applied). We can see from the above equation, that this is just
the change in momentum.

J = Ft = p
Considerable physical insight can be gained from this equation. Notice that, for a
given change in momentum, the force depends on the elapsed time. Thus, if the time
over which the force is applied is very short, the force is very large. On the other hand,
if the elapsed time is very great, the force is much smaller. Devices such as helmets,
pads, bumpers, and airbags are used to reduce the force of impact by increasing its
duration.
Momentum can also be defined for a system of particles. The total momentum of
the system is just the sum of the momenta of each element of the system. Thus, for
several particles the total momentum is

p tot = pi = miv i .
i

3. CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM - COLLISIONS

We will now examine the law of conservation of momentum, which states
When the external forces acting on a system of particles are 0, the total
linear momentum of the system is conserved.
In other words, if no external forces act on a system, the total momentum of the system
does not change.
Individual parts of the system may experience changes in
momentum, but the systems total momentum will remain constant. This is a result of
Newtons third law. Any internal force will be paired with and canceled by another
equal and opposite force. Thus, though a force may change the momentum of a
particular object within the system, the effect of this change on the total momentum will
be counterbalanced by another force on another object.

KEY CONCEPTS
SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES AND MOMENTUM
The principle of conservation of momentum is particularly useful in dealing with
collisions, because the forces of interest in collisions are all internal to the system.
The external forces are either 0 or are so much smaller than the internal forces that we
can ignore them. For example, in a car crash, many external forces such as friction with
the road act on the cars, but these are much smaller than the forces between the cars.
As a result, we can ignore these external forces when considering the collision itself.
Lets analyze a collision between two objects. The total initial momentum equals
the total final momentum:
p1i + p2i = p1 f + p2 f .

Here the subscripts 1 and 2 indicate the two objects, and the subscripts i and f stand for
initial and final. If a force on object 1 exerted by object 2 increases the momentum of
object 1, an equal and opposite force acts on object 2 and decreases its momentum;
the total momentum stays constant.
The three major types of collisions are elastic , inelastic, and completely
inelastic . Knowing the type of collision provides information that helps in working
problems. Such information is important, because the conservation of momentum
equation merely constrains the motion it doesnt fully determine it.
In an elastic collision the objects involved completely regain their original
shapes, and energy is conserved. In an inelastic collision the objects are deformed,
and some of the energy is lost (or more accurately is converted from mechanical energy
to heat and energy stored in the deformed objects). In a completely inelastic
collision, the objects stick together. In such collisions, the colliding bodies lose as
much mechanical energy as is possible while conserving momentum.
To analyze elastic collisions we can use both the principle of conservation of
momentum and that of conservation of kinetic energy, with the equations

m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1 f + m2v2 f

1
2

m1v1i2 + 12 m2v 2i2 = 12 m1v1 f2 + 12 m2v 2 f2

Here we have already entered the formulas for momentum and kinetic energy.
Unfortunately, the presence of the v2 term makes the kinetic energy formula difficult to
work with. It is useful to combine it with the momentum equation to get

(v1i v 2i ) = (v1 f v 2 f ).
This indicates that after the collision the relative velocity of the two objects is equal in
magnitude and opposite in sign to their relative velocity before the collision.

KEY CONCEPTS
SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES AND MOMENTUM
This equation can then be combined with the momentum equation to find
equations for the final velocities in terms of the initial velocities:

v1 f =

2m2
m m2
v 2i + 1
v1i
m1 + m2
m1 + m2

v2 f =

2m1
m m1
v1i + 2
v 2i
m1 + m2
m1 + m2

It is interesting to consider these equations for the special case in which the two
masses are the same. In this case the two objects, upon colliding, simply switch
velocities. This can be written:
v1f = v 2i

v 2 f = v1i .

The case of a regular inelastic collision is difficult to analyze because we need to

know how much energy the objects lose in the collision, or exactly how inelastic the
collision is. However, a completely inelastic collision is quite simple to describe. Since
the two objects stick together when they collide
v1 f = v 2 f = v f .

This greatly simplifies the conservation of momentum equation, which can be solved to
yield

vf =

m1v1i + m2v 2i
.
m1 + m2

A wide variety of other situations exist in which conservation of momentum may

be applied. For instance, consider the situation of several objects colliding and moving
in more than one dimension. You may be given one or more of the final velocities and
be asked to solve for the initial velocities. In cases such as these, the equations for
conservation of momentum and energy alone may not be sufficient to reach a final
solution, but they will help .
4. PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY
The following steps are useful for solving collision problems:
1.

Write down the conservation of momentum equation for each direction.

2.

Write down the conservation of kinetic energy equation if applicable (i.e. if

it is an elastic collision).

3.

Include any additional information that is known (such as a final velocity,

or in a problem involving multiple directions, a final direction)

4.

Solve for the desired quantity.