CENTER OF MASS, IMPULSE, MOMENTUM AND COLLISION PROBLEMS

CENTER OF MASS

1) Four particles are distributed in the X-Y plane as shown in Fig. 1 below. Find the
coordinates (XCM, YCM) of the particles. The particles are on the corners of a 2.0-m
square.

2) 2. Six particles with equal mass m are arranged to correspond to the six corners of a
regular hexagon, as shown in Fig. 2 below. Locate the center of mass of the system.

3. Find the position of the center of mass of five equal-mass particles located at the five corners of a square
based right pyramid with sides of length L and height h.

IMPULSE

1. A tennis player receives a shot with the ball (0.060 kg) traveling horizontally at 50 m/s, and returns the shot
with the ball traveling horizontally at 40 m/s in the opposite direction. What is the impulse delivered to the
ball by the racket?
2. A 1500-kg automobile travels eastward at a speed of 8.0 m/s. It makes a 90 0 turn to the north in a time of
3.0 s and continues with the same speed. Find (a) the impulse delivered to the car as a result of the turn (b)
the average force exerted on the car during the turn and (c) the average force of the car on the road during
the turn.
3. Now, the bears I live with average, the males, eight to twelve hundred pounds [360 to 540 kg]. They're the
largest bears in the world…. They've been clocked at 41 [mph] and they've run a hundred meter dash in
5.85 seconds, which a human on steroids doesn't even approach.

a. Compute the speed of a grizzly bear using Mr. Treadwell's hundred meter statement.
b. Compute the momentum of a grizzly bear using the speed you calculated in part a. and the average mass
stated by Mr. Treadwell.
 c. How fast would a 250 lb man have to run to have the same momentum you calculated in part b?
d. How fast would a 4000 lb car have to drive to have the same momentum you calculated in part b?

MOMENTUM

1. A bicycle has a momentum of 24 kg•m/s. What momentum would the bicycle have if it had …

a. … twice the mass and was moving at the same speed?

b. … the same mass and was moving with twice the speed?
c. … one-half the mass and was moving with twice the speed?
d. … the same mass and was moving with one-half the speed?
e. … three times the mass and was moving with one-half the speed?
f. … three times the mass and was moving with twice the speed?

2. Jerome plays middle linebacker for South's varsity football team. In a game against cross-town rival North, he
delivered a hit to North's 82-kg running back, changing his eastward velocity of 5.6 m/s into a westward velocity of
2.5 m/s.

a. Determine the initial momentum of the running back.

b. Determine the final momentum of the running back.
c. Determine the momentum change of the running back.
d. Determine the impulse delivered to the running back.

3. While playing basketball in PE class, Logan lost his balance after making a lay-up and colliding with the padded
wall behind the basket. His 74-kg body decelerated from 7.6 m/s to 0 m/s in 0.16 seconds.

a. Determine the force acting upon Logan's body.

b. If Logan had hit the concrete wall moving at the same speed, his momentum would have been reduced to zero in
0.0080 seconds. Determine what the force on his body would have been for such an abrupt collision.

COLLISION

1. Two balls, each with mass 2 kg, and velocities of 2 m/s and 3 m/s collide head on. Their final velocities are
2 m/s and 1 m/s, respectively. Is this collision elastic or inelastic?
2. Two balls of mass m1 and m2, with velocities v1 and v2 collide head on. Is there any way for both balls to
have zero velocity after the collision? If so, find the conditions under which this can occur.
3. One pool ball traveling with a velocity of 5 m/s hits another ball of the same mass, which is stationary. The
collision is head on and elastic. Find the final velocities of both balls.

SOURCES:

http://academics.wellesley.edu/Physics/phyllisflemingphysics/104_p_momentum.html

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/calcpad/momentum/problems

https://physics.info/momentum/practice.shtml