The total momentum of an aggregate object (set of point masses) is given by: Since force is the time derivative of momentum. We can also define the total force. This means that we can treat all forces acting on a given rigid body as if their vector sum was acting on a single point at the body's center of mass with the same mass as the entire body. |
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Lecture 22 | Slide 5 | 6.837 Fall '00 |