Practice portal › Rotational Motion › Centre of Mass

Two persons of masses 55 kg and 65 kg respectively, are at the opposite ends of a boat. The length of the boat is 3.0 m and it weighs 100 kg. The 55 kg man walks up to the 65 kg man and sits with him. If the boat is in still water the centre of mass of the system shifts by

Asked in CBSE AIPMT 2012 · Discrete systems and motion of the centre of mass

Answer: (3) zero

Step-by-step solution

Given: 55 kg and 65 kg on a 100 kg boat, L=3.0 m, still water.

Idea: the water is still and frictionless, so no external horizontal force acts on the man-plus-boat system.

⃗Fₑₓₜ=M⃗a_cm=0, and the system starts at rest.

A centre of mass that starts at rest with zero external force stays exactly where it is.

The man and the boat each move, in opposite directions, but the shift of the centre of mass is zero.

Why the other options are wrong

More Centre of Mass questionsAll Centre of Mass questions →

Reading this solution needs no sign-in. You only sign in to practise against the clock and keep your progress.

Practise this with a timer