At an instant when a particle of mass 80 g has a velocity of 25 m/s in the positive y direction, a 75g particle has a velocity of 20 m/s in the positive x direction. What is the speed of the center of mass of this two-particle system at this instant?

Answer 1

y momentum = .080 *25 = 2
x momentum = .075*20 = 1.5

total momentum = sqrt (4 + 2.25) = 2.5
total mass = 0.155
speed of mass center= 2.5/0.155 = 16.1