Center-of-momentum frame

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href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_de_referencia_del_centro_del_momento" title="Sistema de referencia del centro del momento – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Sistema de referencia del centro del momento" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9f%C3%A9rentiel_barycentrique" title="Référentiel barycentrique – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Référentiel barycentrique" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_di_riferimento_del_centro_di_massa" title="Sistema di riferimento del centro di massa – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Sistema di riferimento del centro di 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class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"><span class="mw-redirectedfrom">(Redirected from <a href="/w/index.php?title=Center_of_momentum_frame&redirect=no" class="mw-redirect" title="Center of momentum frame">Center of momentum frame</a>)</span></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Unique inertial frame in which the total momentum of a physical system vanishes</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid 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0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_citations_needed plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Center-of-momentum_frame" title="Special:EditPage/Center-of-momentum frame">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22">"Center-of-momentum frame"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Center-of-momentum+frame%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">September 2024</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Physics" title="Physics">physics</a>, the <b>center-of-momentum frame</b> (<b>COM frame</b>), also known as <b>zero-momentum frame</b>, is the <a href="/wiki/Inertial_frame" class="mw-redirect" title="Inertial frame">inertial frame</a> in which the total <a href="/wiki/Momentum_(physics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Momentum (physics)">momentum</a> of the system vanishes. It is unique up to velocity, but not origin. The <i>center of momentum</i> of a system is not a location, but a collection of relative momenta/velocities: a reference frame. Thus "center of momentum" is a short for "center-of-momentum <em>frame</em>".<sup id="cite_ref-Forshaw_and_Smith_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Forshaw_and_Smith-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A special case of the center-of-momentum frame is the <b>center-of-mass frame</b>: an inertial frame in which the <a href="/wiki/Center_of_mass" title="Center of mass">center of mass</a> (which is a single point) remains at the origin. In all center-of-momentum frames, the center of mass is at <a href="/wiki/Rest_(physics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Rest (physics)">rest</a>, but it is not necessarily at the origin of the coordinate system. In <a href="/wiki/Special_relativity" title="Special relativity">special relativity</a>, the COM frame is necessarily unique only when the system is isolated. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Properties">Properties</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Properties"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="General">General</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: General"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The center of momentum frame is defined as the inertial frame in which the sum of the linear momenta of all particles is equal to 0. Let <i>S</i> denote the laboratory reference system and <i>S</i>′ denote the center-of-momentum reference frame. Using a <a href="/wiki/Galilean_transformation" title="Galilean transformation">Galilean transformation</a>, the particle velocity in <i>S</i>′ is </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle v'=v-V_{\text{c}},}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msup> <mi>v</mi> <mo>′</mo> </msup> <mo>=</mo> <mi>v</mi> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mi>V</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtext>c</mtext> </mrow> </msub> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle v'=v-V_{\text{c}},}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c763d87d184569bb85559b18267dd1a5289eb5e3" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:11.843ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle v'=v-V_{\text{c}},}"></span></dd></dl> <p>where </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle V_{\text{c}}={\frac {\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}}{\sum _{i}m_{i}}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>V</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtext>c</mtext> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle V_{\text{c}}={\frac {\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}}{\sum _{i}m_{i}}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/a505a4e6ad5570434ee54cfe03f831b34929cec0" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.671ex; width:14.66ex; height:6.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle V_{\text{c}}={\frac {\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}}{\sum _{i}m_{i}}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>is the velocity of the mass center. The total momentum in the center-of-momentum system then vanishes: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \sum _{i}p'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}(v_{i}-V_{\text{c}})=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{i}m_{i}{\frac {\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}}{\sum _{j}m_{j}}}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}=0.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msubsup> <mi>p</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> <mo>′</mo> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> <mo>′</mo> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mi>V</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtext>c</mtext> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mo>=</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>i</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <munder> <mo>∑</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </munder> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>v</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi>j</mi> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.</mn> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \sum _{i}p'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}(v_{i}-V_{\text{c}})=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{i}m_{i}{\frac {\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}}{\sum _{j}m_{j}}}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}=0.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c4b6b5f75ad4b52d181690ce8968a2f266e7d2ec" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -3.338ex; width:94.584ex; height:7.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \sum _{i}p'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v'_{i}=\sum _{i}m_{i}(v_{i}-V_{\text{c}})=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{i}m_{i}{\frac {\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}}{\sum _{j}m_{j}}}=\sum _{i}m_{i}v_{i}-\sum _{j}m_{j}v_{j}=0.}"></span></dd></dl> <p>Also, the total <a href="/wiki/Energy" title="Energy">energy</a> of the system is the <i>minimal energy</i> as seen from all <a href="/wiki/Inertial_reference_frame" class="mw-redirect" title="Inertial reference frame">inertial reference frames</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Special_relativity">Special relativity</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Special relativity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Special_relativity" title="Special relativity">relativity</a>, the COM frame exists for an isolated massive system. This is a consequence of <a href="/wiki/Noether%27s_theorem#Example_2:_Conservation_of_center_of_momentum" title="Noether's theorem">Noether's theorem</a>. In the COM frame the total energy of the system is the <i><a href="/wiki/Rest_energy" class="mw-redirect" title="Rest energy">rest energy</a></i>, and this quantity (when divided by the factor <i>c</i><sup>2</sup>, where <i>c</i> is the <a href="/wiki/Speed_of_light" title="Speed of light">speed of light</a>) gives the <a href="/wiki/Invariant_mass" title="Invariant mass">invariant mass</a> (<a href="/wiki/Rest_mass" class="mw-redirect" title="Rest mass">rest mass</a>) of the system: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{0}={\frac {E_{0}}{c^{2}}}.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <msub> <mi>E</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msup> <mi>c</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{0}={\frac {E_{0}}{c^{2}}}.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/f682050094cdf2aea119a2ad29472ecef4d93e15" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.171ex; width:10.446ex; height:5.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{0}={\frac {E_{0}}{c^{2}}}.}"></span></dd></dl> <p>The invariant mass of the system is given in any inertial frame by the relativistic invariant relation </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{0}{}^{2}=\left({\frac {E}{c^{2}}}\right)^{2}-\left({\frac {p}{c}}\right)^{2},}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>0</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msup> <mo>=</mo> <msup> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mi>E</mi> <msup> <mi>c</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msup> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msup> <mo>−</mo> <msup> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mi>p</mi> <mi>c</mi> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msup> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{0}{}^{2}=\left({\frac {E}{c^{2}}}\right)^{2}-\left({\frac {p}{c}}\right)^{2},}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/b88e39bcccc817871068125799746fe4f4b84483" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.505ex; width:23.942ex; height:6.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{0}{}^{2}=\left({\frac {E}{c^{2}}}\right)^{2}-\left({\frac {p}{c}}\right)^{2},}"></span></dd></dl> <p>but for zero momentum the momentum term (<i>p</i>/<i>c</i>)<sup>2</sup> vanishes and thus the total energy coincides with the rest energy. </p><p>Systems that have nonzero energy but zero <a href="/wiki/Rest_mass" class="mw-redirect" title="Rest mass">rest mass</a> (such as <a href="/wiki/Photons" class="mw-redirect" title="Photons">photons</a> moving in a single direction, or, equivalently, <a href="/wiki/Plane_wave" title="Plane wave">plane</a> <a href="/wiki/Electromagnetic_wave" class="mw-redirect" title="Electromagnetic wave">electromagnetic waves</a>) do not have COM frames, because there is no frame in which they have zero net momentum. Due to the invariance of the <a href="/wiki/Speed_of_light" title="Speed of light">speed of light</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Massless_particle" title="Massless particle">massless</a> system must travel at the speed of light in any frame, and always possesses a net momentum. Its energy is – for each reference frame – equal to the magnitude of momentum multiplied by the speed of light: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle E=pc.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>E</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mi>p</mi> <mi>c</mi> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle E=pc.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/191cc9681904761bcc03a49c5a4faa33b7d8fc99" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:7.697ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle E=pc.}"></span></dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Two-body_problem">Two-body problem</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Two-body problem"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>An example of the usage of this frame is given below – in a two-body collision, not necessarily elastic (where <i>kinetic energy</i> is conserved). The COM frame can be used to find the momentum of the particles much easier than in a <a href="/wiki/Lab_frame" class="mw-redirect" title="Lab frame">lab frame</a>: the frame where the measurement or calculation is done. The situation is analyzed using <a href="/wiki/Galilean_transformations" class="mw-redirect" title="Galilean transformations">Galilean transformations</a> and <a href="/wiki/Conservation_of_momentum" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservation of momentum">conservation of momentum</a> (for generality, rather than kinetic energies alone), for two particles of mass <i>m</i><sub>1</sub> and <i>m</i><sub>2</sub>, moving at initial velocities (before collision) <b>u</b><sub>1</sub> and <b>u</b><sub>2</sub> respectively. The transformations are applied to take the velocity of the frame from the velocity of each particle from the lab frame (unprimed quantities) to the COM frame (primed quantities):<sup id="cite_ref-Forshaw_and_Smith_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Forshaw_and_Smith-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} ,\quad \mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{2}-\mathbf {V} ,}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> <mspace width="1em" /> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} ,\quad \mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{2}-\mathbf {V} ,}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/10d5315def1b49744972093b541de4b1dd18c6db" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:30.078ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} ,\quad \mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=\mathbf {u} _{2}-\mathbf {V} ,}"></span></dd></dl> <p>where <b>V</b> is the velocity of the COM frame. Since <b>V</b> is the velocity of the COM, i.e. the time derivative of the COM location <b>R</b> (position of the center of mass of the system):<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="3pt" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">R</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mi>t</mi> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mtd> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mi>t</mi> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">r</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">r</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/38ae7c3881c71bda7542345395326e206a54955b" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -6.838ex; width:28.937ex; height:14.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>so at the origin of the COM frame, <span class="nowrap"><b>R'</b> = <b>0</b></span>, this implies </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn mathvariant="bold">0</mn> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/11de6fa78e169edb55e4816c86cd00846b46af3e" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:18.544ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>The same results can be obtained by applying momentum conservation in the lab frame, where the momenta are <b>p</b><sub>1</sub> and <b>p</b><sub>2</sub>: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbf {V} ={\frac {\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbf {V} ={\frac {\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/b6d787cd79862fd9252ab9b304cf0787bc985382" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.171ex; width:33.027ex; height:5.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbf {V} ={\frac {\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>and in the COM frame, where it is asserted definitively that the total momenta of the particles, <b>p</b><sub>1</sub>' and <b>p</b><sub>2</sub>', vanishes: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }+\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>+</mo> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn mathvariant="bold">0</mn> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }+\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/2df86a2a205cd3fa371fd5fae0c7189b8b9dfe41" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:29.562ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }+\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>Using the COM frame equation to solve for <b>V</b> returns the lab frame equation above, demonstrating any frame (including the COM frame) may be used to calculate the momenta of the particles. It has been established that the velocity of the COM frame can be removed from the calculation using the above frame, so the momenta of the particles in the COM frame can be expressed in terms of the quantities in the lab frame (i.e. the given initial values): </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }&=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }\\&=m_{1}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} \right)={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}\right)\\&=-m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }\\\end{aligned}}.}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="3pt" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> </mtd> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mo>−</mo> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }&=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }\\&=m_{1}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} \right)={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}\right)\\&=-m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }\\\end{aligned}}.}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/af043468f6ef87fabc44742a099c2d7ccfe68869" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -4.962ex; margin-bottom: -0.209ex; width:42.807ex; height:11.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }&=m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}^{\prime }\\&=m_{1}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {V} \right)={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\left(\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}\right)\\&=-m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }\\\end{aligned}}.}"></span></dd></dl> <p>Notice that the <a href="/wiki/Relative_velocity" title="Relative velocity">relative velocity</a> in the lab frame of particle 1 to 2 is </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {u} =\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {u} =\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/7c7a7dfb2b447ec774db6ade4c26e4ed0e926e33" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:14.439ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {u} =\mathbf {u} _{1}-\mathbf {u} _{2}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>and the 2-body <a href="/wiki/Reduced_mass" title="Reduced mass">reduced mass</a> is </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mu ={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi>μ</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mu ={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/7e20bb87cd05f5b84de1f51896b171fb0232d04f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -2.171ex; width:14.366ex; height:5.009ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mu ={\frac {m_{1}m_{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>so the momenta of the particles compactly reduce to </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} .}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mo>−</mo> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mi>μ</mi> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} .}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/d48cc9997d79d6d573a5682cd44f5e1f3ab7a869" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:18.554ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} .}"></span></dd></dl> <p>This is a substantially simpler calculation of the momenta of both particles; the reduced mass and relative velocity can be calculated from the initial velocities in the lab frame and the masses, and the momentum of one particle is simply the negative of the other. The calculation can be repeated for final velocities <b>v</b><sub>1</sub> and <b>v</b><sub>2</sub> in place of the initial velocities <b>u</b><sub>1</sub> and <b>u</b><sub>2</sub>, since after the collision the velocities still satisfy the above equations:<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="3pt" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">R</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mi>t</mi> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mtd> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> <mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="normal">d</mi> </mrow> </mrow> <mi>t</mi> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mrow> <mo>(</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">r</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">r</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> <mo>)</mo> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mfrac> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> <mrow> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mrow> </mfrac> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/a485f8f60544d7ba1c980abe04bf484a138df812" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -6.838ex; width:28.937ex; height:14.676ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\frac {{\rm {d}}\mathbf {R} }{{\rm {d}}t}}&={\frac {\rm {d}}{{\rm {d}}t}}\left({\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {r} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {r} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\right)\\&={\frac {m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}}{m_{1}+m_{2}}}\\&=\mathbf {V} \\\end{aligned}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>so at the origin of the COM frame, <b>R</b> = <b>0</b>, this implies after the collision </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn mathvariant="bold">0</mn> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/28ce372337216e2dffb6132e6a238e8e2174fd97" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:18.395ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}^{\prime }+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}^{\prime }={\boldsymbol {0}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>In the lab frame, the conservation of momentum fully reads: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} }"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} }</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c18f3a2e311be05253c65b1b46b8e8daf1d6c56b" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.838ex; width:47.124ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}+m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} }"></span></dd></dl> <p>This equation does <i>not</i> imply that </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {V} ,\quad m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {V} }"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> <mspace width="1em" /> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {V} ,\quad m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {V} }</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/6e35d7b27e1cc0eec059c644d90989474e192d5f" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:48.367ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle m_{1}\mathbf {u} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {v} _{1}=m_{1}\mathbf {V} ,\quad m_{2}\mathbf {u} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {v} _{2}=m_{2}\mathbf {V} }"></span></dd></dl> <p>instead, it simply indicates the total mass <i>M</i> multiplied by the velocity of the centre of mass <b>V</b> is the total momentum <b>P</b> of the system: </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {P} &=\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}\\&=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} \\&=M\mathbf {V} \end{aligned}}}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mtable columnalign="right left right left right left right left right left right left" rowspacing="3pt" columnspacing="0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em 2em 0em" displaystyle="true"> <mtr> <mtd> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">P</mi> </mrow> </mtd> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mo stretchy="false">(</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>+</mo> <msub> <mi>m</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo stretchy="false">)</mo> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> <mtr> <mtd /> <mtd> <mi></mi> <mo>=</mo> <mi>M</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">V</mi> </mrow> </mtd> </mtr> </mtable> </mrow> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {P} &=\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}\\&=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} \\&=M\mathbf {V} \end{aligned}}}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/d5b6705933ee67312a28e4038d0fcd8967de97ce" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -4.005ex; width:18.535ex; height:9.176ex;" alt="{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathbf {P} &=\mathbf {p} _{1}+\mathbf {p} _{2}\\&=(m_{1}+m_{2})\mathbf {V} \\&=M\mathbf {V} \end{aligned}}}"></span></dd></dl> <p>Similar analysis to the above obtains </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} ,}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mo>−</mo> <msubsup> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">p</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi class="MJX-variant" mathvariant="normal">′</mi> </mrow> </msubsup> <mo>=</mo> <mi>μ</mi> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <mi>μ</mi> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mo>,</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} ,}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/9c20571e3835ae149049aa5760d3e82f788ca958" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -1.005ex; width:26.401ex; height:2.843ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{1}^{\prime }=-\mathbf {p} _{2}^{\prime }=\mu \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mu \Delta \mathbf {u} ,}"></span></dd></dl> <p>where the final <a href="/wiki/Relative_velocity" title="Relative velocity">relative velocity</a> in the lab frame of particle 1 to 2 is </p> <dl><dd><span class="mwe-math-element"><span class="mwe-math-mathml-inline mwe-math-mathml-a11y" style="display: none;"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mathbf {v} _{1}-\mathbf {v} _{2}=\Delta \mathbf {u} .}"> <semantics> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mstyle displaystyle="true" scriptlevel="0"> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mo>=</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>1</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>−</mo> <msub> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">v</mi> </mrow> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mn>2</mn> </mrow> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mi mathvariant="normal">Δ</mi> <mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mi mathvariant="bold">u</mi> </mrow> <mo>.</mo> </mstyle> </mrow> <annotation encoding="application/x-tex">{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mathbf {v} _{1}-\mathbf {v} _{2}=\Delta \mathbf {u} .}</annotation> </semantics> </math></span><img src="https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/95ca547ae76eaae0ad791bae002d5eba31a47eee" class="mwe-math-fallback-image-inline mw-invert skin-invert" aria-hidden="true" style="vertical-align: -0.671ex; width:21.383ex; height:2.509ex;" alt="{\displaystyle \Delta \mathbf {v} =\mathbf {v} _{1}-\mathbf {v} _{2}=\Delta \mathbf {u} .}"></span></dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Laboratory_frame_of_reference" class="mw-redirect" title="Laboratory frame of reference">Laboratory frame of reference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Breit_frame" title="Breit frame">Breit frame</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Forshaw_and_Smith-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Forshaw_and_Smith_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Forshaw_and_Smith_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Dynamics and Relativity, J.R. Forshaw, A.G. Smith, Wiley, 2009, <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-470-01460-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-470-01460-8">978-0-470-01460-8</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Classical Mechanics, T.W.B. Kibble, European Physics Series, 1973, <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-07-084018-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-07-084018-0">0-07-084018-0</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>An Introduction to Mechanics</i>, D. Kleppner, R.J. Kolenkow, Cambridge University Press, 2010, <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-19821-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-19821-9">978-0-521-19821-9</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&oldid=1257147243">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Center-of-momentum_frame&oldid=1257147243</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Classical_mechanics" title="Category:Classical mechanics">Classical mechanics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Coordinate_systems" title="Category:Coordinate systems">Coordinate systems</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Frames_of_reference" title="Category:Frames of reference">Frames of reference</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Geometric_centers" title="Category:Geometric centers">Geometric centers</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Kinematics" title="Category:Kinematics">Kinematics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Momentum" title="Category:Momentum">Momentum</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_American_English_from_August_2020" title="Category:Use American English from August 2020">Use American English from August 2020</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_Wikipedia_articles_written_in_American_English" title="Category:All Wikipedia articles written in American English">All Wikipedia articles written in American English</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_needing_additional_references_from_September_2024" title="Category:Articles needing additional references from September 2024">Articles needing additional references from September 2024</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_needing_additional_references" title="Category:All articles needing additional references">All articles needing additional references</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 13 November 2024, at 13:52<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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Center-of-momentum frame - Wikipedia