The center of mass of a system of particles is

the point that moves as though (1) all of the

system’s mass were concentrated there and
(2) all external forces were applied there.
How to find the center of mass?
The center of mass of a system of n
particles is defined to be the point
whose coordinates are given by
𝑛
1
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑥𝑖
𝑀 Figure. The center of mass
𝑖=1
𝑛 (black dot) of a baseball bat
𝑛 1
1 𝑂𝑅 𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑟Ԧ𝑖 flipped into the air follows a
𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑦𝑖 𝑀 parabolic path, but all other
𝑀 𝑖=1
𝑖=1 points of the bat follow more
𝑛 complicated curved paths.
1
𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑧𝑖 Where M is the total mass of the system.
𝑀
𝑖=1
 The center of mass of the two-particle system:

Case-1
The position of the center of
mass of this two-particle
system to be

𝑚2 𝑑
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = Case-1
𝑚1 + 𝑚2
Case-2
The position of the center of
mass of this two-particle
system to be

𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 =
𝑚1 + 𝑚2 Case-2
The location of the center of mass with respect
to the particles is the same in both cases.
 𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2 𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = = Where, 𝑀 = 𝑚1 + 𝑚2
𝑚1 + 𝑚2 𝑀

𝑀𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2

The velocity of the system’s (two body system) center of mass:

Differentiating with respect to time gives

𝑑𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑥1 𝑑𝑥2

𝑀 = 𝑚1 + 𝑚2
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑀𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑚1 𝑣1 + 𝑚2 𝑣2

𝑚1 𝑣1 + 𝑚2 𝑣2
𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑚 =
𝑀
Many Particles: We can extend this equation to a more general situation in
which n particles are strung along the x axis.

The total mass is then, 𝑀 = 𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + … … … . . + 𝑚𝑛

And the location of center of mass is then
𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2 + … … … . +𝑚𝑛 𝑥𝑛
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 =
𝑀
𝑛
1 ;The subscript i is an index that takes
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑥𝑖
𝑀 on all integer values from 1 to n.
𝑖=1

Three Dimensions:
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
1 1 1
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑦𝑖 𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑧𝑖
𝑀 𝑀 𝑀
𝑖=1 𝑖=1 𝑖=1
We can also define the center of mass with the language of vectors. First
recall that the position of a particle at coordinates xi, yi, and zi is given by
a position vector (it points from the origin to the particle):

𝑟Ԧ = 𝑥𝑖 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑦𝑖 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑧𝑖 𝑘෠

Similarly, the position of the center of mass of a system of particles is

given by a position vector:

𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝑘෠

In general,
𝑛
1
𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑟Ԧ𝑖
𝑀
𝑖=1

Where M is the total mass of the system.

Solid Bodies: An ordinary object, such as a baseball bat, contains so many
particles (atoms) that we can best treat it as a continuous distribution of
matter. The “particles” then become differential mass elements dm, the sums
become integrals, and the coordinates of the center of mass are defined as

1 1 1
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑥 𝑑𝑚, 𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑦 𝑑𝑚, 𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑧 𝑑𝑚,
𝑀 𝑀 𝑀

Where M is now the mass of the system.

Evaluating these integrals would be difficult for most common objects such
As television set. So here we consider only uniform objects. Such objects
have uniform density, or mass per unit volume i.e. density ρ is the same for
any given element of an object as for the whole object.

𝑑𝑚 𝑀
ρ= =
𝑑𝑉 𝑉
Where dV is the volume occupied by a mass element dm, and V is the total
Volume of the object.
 𝑀
Substituting 𝑑𝑚 = 𝑑𝑉 into the above equations
𝑉

1 1 1
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑥 𝑑𝑉, 𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑦 𝑑𝑉, 𝑧𝑐𝑜𝑚 = න 𝑧 𝑑𝑉,
𝑉 𝑉 𝑉

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW FOR A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES

The motion of the center of mass of any system of particles is governed

by Newton’s second law for a system of particles, which is

𝐹 𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑀 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚

Here 𝐹 𝑛𝑒𝑡 is the net force of all the external forces acting on the system, M
is the total mass of the system, and 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚 is the acceleration of the system’s
center of mass.
Proof: For a system of n particles
𝑛
1
𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = ෍ 𝑚𝑖 𝑟Ԧ𝑖
𝑀
𝑖=1
⟶ 𝑀𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑚1 𝑟Ԧ1 + 𝑚2 𝑟Ԧ2 + … … … . +𝑚𝑛 𝑟Ԧ𝑛
Differentiating with respect to time gives
𝑑 𝑟Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑟Ԧ1 𝑑𝑟Ԧ2 𝑑𝑟Ԧ𝑛
𝑀 = 𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + … … … + 𝑚𝑛
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
⟶ 𝑀𝑣Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑚1 𝑣Ԧ1 + 𝑚2 𝑣Ԧ2 + … … … . +𝑚𝑛 𝑣Ԧ𝑛
𝑑 𝑟Ԧ𝑖
Here 𝑣𝑖 = is the velocity of the ith particle, and 𝑣Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 is the velocity of
𝑑𝑡
the center of mass.
Again differentiating with respect to time gives

⟶ 𝑀𝑎Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝑚1 𝑎Ԧ1 + 𝑚2 𝑎Ԧ2 + … … … . +𝑚𝑛 𝑎Ԧ𝑛

 𝑑𝑣𝑖
Here 𝑎𝑖 = is the acceleration of the ith particle, and 𝑎Ԧ 𝑐𝑜𝑚 is the velocity of the
𝑑𝑡
center of mass.
Although the center of mass is just a geometrical point, it has a position, a velocity,
and an acceleration, as if it were a particle.
From Newton’s second law, 𝒎𝒊 𝒂𝒊 is equal to the resultant force 𝐹 𝑖 that acts on
the i th particle.
⟶ 𝑀𝑎Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝐹 1 + 𝐹 2 + … … … . + 𝐹 𝑛

Hence the total mass of the group of particles times the acceleration of its center of
mass is equal to the vector sum of all the forces acting on the group of particles.
Among the forces that contribute to the right side will be forces that the particles of the
system exert on each other (internal forces) and forces exerted on the particles from
outside the system (external forces). By Newton’s third law, the internal forces form
third-law force pairs and cancel out in the sum that appears on the right side of the Eq.
What remains is the vector sum of all the external forces that act on the system.

⟶ 𝑀𝑎Ԧ𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 𝐹 𝑒𝑥𝑡
This states that the center of mass of a system of particles moves as though all the
mass of the system were concentrated at the center of mass and all the external
forces were applied at that point.
H.W :Walker Sample Problem: 9.01, 9.02