Q7.33 Separation of Motion of a system of particles into motion of the centre of mass and motion about the
centre of mass :
(a) Show
where is the momentum of the ith particle (of mass )and Note is the velocity
of the ith particle relative to the centre of mass.Also, prove using the definition of the centre of mass
The momentum of ith particle is given by :
The velocity of the centre of mass is V.
Then the velocity of ith particle with respect to the center of mass will be :
Now multiply the mass of the particle to both the sides, we get :
or (Here p'i is the momentum of ith particle with respect to center of mass.)
or
Now consider :
But as per the definition of centre of mass, we know that :
Thus