[ 52 ] CENTRE OF MASS, IMPULSE, MOMENTUM & COLLISION

TEST-1

(Calculation of position, velocity & acceleration of centre of mass )

1. Two heavenly bodies S1 and S2 not far from each other are seen revolving in orbits :
(1) Around their common centre of mass
(2) Which are arbitrary
(3) With S1 fixed and S2 moving round S1
(4) With S2 fixed and S1 moving round S2
2. The distance between the centres of the carbon and oxygen atoms in the carbon monoxide gas molecule is
1.12 × 10–8cm. Calculate the centre of mass of the molecule with respect to the carbon atom.
(1) 0.48 × 10 –8 cm (2) 0.64 × 10–8 cm (3) zero (4) 1.12 × 10–8
3. Determine the x and y coordinates of the center of mass of the system shown in the figure. The system
consists of masses m, m and 2m placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side 1m.

Y
2m

1m 1m

X
m 1m m

(1) (0.5, 0.866) (2) (0.5, 3 ) (3) (0.43, 0.5) (4) (0.5, 0.43)

4. If the centre of mass of three particles of masses 10, 20 and 30 units be at a point (1, –1, 3) where should a
fourth particle of mass 40 units be placed so that the combined centre of mass may be at the point (1, 1, 1)?
(1) 1, 5.5, –2 (2) 3, 5, 4 (3) 1.5, 0, –2 (4) None of these
5. Figure shows a rectangular plate of length L, the half of which is made of material of density d1 and another half
of density d2. The distance of centre of mass from the origin O is

O d1 d2

 d1  2d2  L  d1  3d 2  L  d1  3d 2  L  3d1  d 2  L
(1) 2  d1  d 2  (2) 4  d1  d 2  (3) 2  d1  d 2  (4) 4  d1  d 2 
6. A square of side 4 cm and uniform thickness is divided into four equal squares. If one of them is cut off, find the
position of the center of mass of the remaining portion from its geometric centre.

3 2 1
(1) 3 2 cm (2) cm (3) cm (4) cm
2 3 2
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7. Masses of 1 kg each are placed at the corners B and C of a uniform square plate ABCD. A mass of 2 kg is to
be placed on the plate so that the centre of the mass of the system should be at the centre O. Then the mass
should be placed at
S C
D

P R
O
A Q B
(1) P (2) Q (3) R (4) S
8. From a circular disc of radius 4 m, a circular portion of radius 2 m just passing through the centre of the disc
is cut off. Find the centre of mass of the remaining part from the original centre of mass.

4m 2m
C2 C C1

1 2 3
(1) m (2) m (3) m (4) 2 m
3 3 2
9. Two discs of radii 4 cm and 2 cm respectively are attached as shown in the figure. Where is the new centre of
mass of the system from C1

C1 C2

(1) 1 cm (2) 1.2 cm (3) 1.3 cm (4) 1.4 cm

10. If n particles of masses 1, 2, 3..... are placed at points at distance 1, 2, 3..... from the origin of co-ordinates on
the x-axis, the centre of mass is at a distance of

n(n  1) n 2 ( n  1) 2
(1) from the origin (2) from the origin
2 4

( 2n  1)
(3) from the origin (4) None of these
3
11. Three identical spheres, each of mass 1 kg are placed touching each other with their centres on a straight line.
Their centres are marked K, L and M respectively. The distance of centre of mass of the system from K is

KL  KM  LM KL  KM KL  LM KM  LM
(1) (2) (3) (4)
3 2 3 3
[ 54 ] CENTRE OF MASS, IMPULSE, MOMENTUM & COLLISION
(Motion of Centre of Mass)
12. Two blocks of masses 3m and m are connected by a massless and inextensible string which passes over a
massless and frictionless pulley. Calculate the magnitude of acceleration of centre of mass of the system
when the blocks are allowed to accelerate. (given g = 10 m/s2)
(1) 5 m/s2 (2) 2.5 m/s2 (3) 2 m/s2 (4) zero
13. A stationary bomb explodes into two parts of 3 kg and 4 kg and move away along the same line with velocities
8 m/s and 6 m/s. The velocity of C.M. is
(1) 0 (2) 4 m/s (3) 8 m/s (4) 6 m/s
14. Two identical particles move towards each other with velocity 2v and v respectively. The velocity of centre of
mass is
(1) v (2) v/3 (3) zero (4) v/2
15. A man weighing 80 kg is standing on a trolley weighing 320 kg. The trolley is resting on frictionless horizontal
rails. If the man starts walking on the trolley along the rails at speed 1 m/s then after 4 s his displacement
relative to the ground will be :
(1) 5m (2) 4.8 m (3) 3.2 m (4) 3.0 m
16. Two particles of masses 1 kg and 3 kg move towards each other under their mutual force of attraction. No
other force acts on them. When the relative velocity of the two particles is 2 m/s, their centre of mass has a
velocity of 0.5 m/s. But when the relative velocity of approach becomes 3 m/s, the velocity of the centre of
mass is
(1) 0 (2) 0.5 m/s (3) 1.5 m/s (4) none of these

(Conservation of Linear Momentum)

17. The variation of momentum with time of one of the body in a two body collision is shown in figure. the
instantaneous force is maximum corresponding to point :

S
R
P
P Q
t

(1) P (2) S (3) R (4) P & S

18. A body of mass 3 kg is acted upon by a force which varies as shown in the graph below. The momentum
acquired is given by :


Force(N)

   
Time(s)
(1) Zero (2) 5 Ns (3) 30 Ns (4) 50 Ns
CENTRE OF MASS, IMPULSE, MOMENTUM & COLLISION [ 55 ]
19. Sailing of a boat is based on the principle of
(1) momentum conservation (2) angular momentum conservation
(3) energy conservation (4) mass conservation
20. A boy of mass m stands on one end of a wooden plank of length L and mass M. The plank is floating on water.
If the boy walks from one end of the plank to the other end at a constant speed, the resulting displacement of
the plank is given by

ML mL  mL   mL 
(1) (2) (3)   (4)  
m M  M m M m
21. A shell is fired from a cannon with a velocity v at angle  with the horizontal direction. At the highest point of
its path, it explodes into two pieces of equal mass. One of the pieces retraces its path to the cannon and the
speed of the other piece immediately after explosion is

3 3
(1) 3v cos  (2) 2v cos  (3) v cos  (4) v cos 
2 2
(Collision)
22. The coefficient of restitution for a perfectly elastic collision is
(1) 1 (2) 0 (3)  (4) – 1
23. A shell initially at rest explodes into two pieces of equal mass, then the two pieces will
(1) be at rest.
(2) move with different velocities in different directions.
(3) move with same velocity in opposite directions.
(4) move with same velocity in same direction.
24. In the elastic collision of objects
(1) only momentum is remains constant. (2) only K.E. is remains constant.
(3) both are remains constant. (4) none of these.
25. A body is dropped and observed to bounce a height greater than the dropping height. Then :
(1) the collision is elastic.
(2) there is additional source of energy during collision.
(3) it is not possible.
(4) this type of phenomenon does not occur in nature.
26. A sphere of mass m moving with a constant velocity u hits another stationary sphere of the same mass. If e
is the coefficient of restitution, then ratio of velocities of the two spheres (first sphere/second sphere) after
collision will be :
1 e  1  e   e  1  e 1
(1)   (2)   (3)   (4)  .
1  e  1  e   e 1  e  1
27. A steel ball strikes a steel plate placed on a horizontal surface at an angle θ with the vertical. If the co-efficient
of restitution is e, the angle at which the rebound will take place is :
1  tan θ  1  e 
(1) θ (2) tan   (3) e tan θ (4) tan  .
 e   tan θ 
28. When two bodies stick together after collision, the collision is said to be
(1) perfectly elastic (2) partially elastic (3) perfectly inelastic (4) none of the above
[ 56 ] CENTRE OF MASS, IMPULSE, MOMENTUM & COLLISION
29. A rubber ball is dropped from a height of 5 m on a planet where the acceleration due to gravity is not known.
On bouncing, it rises to 1.8 m. The ball loses its velocity on bouncing by a factor of
(1) 16/25 (2) 2/5 (3) 3/5 (4) 9/25
30. A bullet is fired from a rifle. If the rifle recoils freely, then the kinetic energy of the rifle is
(1) less than that of the bullet (2) more than that of the bullet
(3) same as that of the bullet (4) equal or less than that of the bullet
31. A sphere of mass m, moving with velocity v, enters a hanging bag of sand and stops. If the mass of the bag
is M and it is raised by height h, then the velocity of the sphere was

Mm M m m
(1) 2gh (2) 2gh (3) 2gh (4) 2gh
m m Mm M
32. An inelastic ball is dropped from height of 100 m. Due to earth, 20% of its energy is lost. To what height the
ball will rise
(1) 30 m (2) 40 m (3) 60 m (4) 20 m
33. Three blocks are initially placed as shown in the figure. Block A has mass m and initial velocity v to the right.
Block B with mass m and block C with mass 4m are both initially at rest. Neglect friction. All collisions are
elastic. The final velocity of block A is

(10.6v to the left (2) 1.4v to the left (3) v to the left (4) 0.4v to the right

34. A smooth sphere is moving on a horizontal surface with a velocity vector ( 2 î  2 ˆj ) m/s immediately before

it hits a vertical wall. The wall is parallel to vector ˆj and coefficient of restitution between the sphere and the

wall is e = 1 2 . The velocity of the sphere after it hits the wall is

(1) î  ĵ (2)  î  2 ˆj (3)  î  ĵ (4) 2 î  ˆj
35. A small ball moves towards right with a velocity v. It collides with the wall and returns back and continues
2
to and fro motion as shown in the figure. If the average speed for first to and fro motion of the ball is   v,,
3
then the coefficient of restitution of impact is :

(1) 0.5 (2) 0.8 (3) 0.25 (4) 0.75