Center of Mass
Center of Mass
Center of Mass
AP Physics C
Mrs. Coyle
Center of Mass
• The point of an object at which all
the mass of the object is thought to
be concentrated.
• Extended Object
Center of Mass of a System of
Particles in one Dimension
XCM= Smixi
M
• mi is the mass of each particle
• Answer: 0.5cm
Coordinates of Center of
Mass of a System of
Particles in Three
Dimensions
m x i i m y i i m z i i
xCM i
yCM i
zCM i
M M M
Coordinate of CM using the
Position Vector, r
m r i i
rCM i
M
ˆ ˆ ˆ
ri xi i yi j zi k
Example 2: Center of Mass
in two Dimensions
Find the CM of the following system:
m1=1kg
2m
m2=2kg
2m m3=3kg
1
rCM
M r dm
Center of Mass of an
Extended Object
1 1
xCM x dm yCM y dm
M M
1
zCM z dm
M
CM of Uniform Objects
• Uniform density,
ρ=m/V=dm/dV
20 cm
10 cm
Ans:
x=11.7cm,
y=13.3cm
0 cm
10 cm 20 cm 30 cm
Example #44 “Fosbury Flop”
• Find the CM