Motion Of Center Of Massrelative Motion And Reduced Mass Topic

Motion of the Centre of Mass - Relative Motion and Reduced Mass

Notes:

  • The centre of mass of a system is the point where all the masses of the system can be considered to be concentrated.
  • The motion of the centre of mass of a system is independent of the internal forces of the system.
  • The relative motion of two objects is the motion of one object relative to the other.
  • The reduced mass of a two-object system is the mass of a hypothetical single object that would have the same momentum as the two-object system.
  • Examples:
    • The centre of mass of a car is located at a point somewhere between the front and rear axles.
    • The relative motion of the Earth and the Moon is the motion of the Moon around the Earth.
    • The reduced mass of the Earth-Moon system is about 5.98 x 10^24 kg.
  • Applications:
    • The motion of the centre of mass is important in many areas of physics, such as astronomy, mechanics, and engineering.
    • The relative motion of objects is important in understanding collisions and other interactions between objects.
    • The reduced mass is important in understanding the motion of two-object systems, such as the Earth-Moon system.

NCERT Book References: