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9.6 Center of Mass - University Physics Volume 1 | OpenStax

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We have been avoiding an important issue up to now: When we say that an object moves (more correctly, accelerates) in a way that obeys Newton’s second law, we have been ignoring the fact that all objects are actually made of many constituent particles. A car has an engine, steering wheel, seats, passengers; a football is leather and rubber surrounding air; a brick is made of atoms. There are many different types of particles, and they are generally not distributed uniformly in the object. How do we include these facts into our calculations? Then too, an extended object might change shape as it moves, such as a water balloon or a cat falling (Figure 9.26). This implies that the constituent particles are applying internal forces on each other, in addition to the external force that is acting on the object as a whole. We want to be able to handle this, as well. The problem before us, then, is to determine what part of an extended object is obeying Newton’s second law when an external forc

9.6 Center of Mass - University Physics Volume 1 | OpenStax Skip to Content Go to accessibility page Keyboard shortcuts menu University Physics Volume 1 9.6 Center of Mass University Physics Volume 1 9.6 Center of Mass Contents Highlights Print Close 9.6 Center of Mass By the end of this section, you will be able to: Explain the meaning and usefulness of the concept of center of mass Calculate the center of mass of a given system Apply the center of mass concept in two and three dimensions Calculate the velocity and acceleration of the center of mass We have been avoiding an important issue up

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