You are holding a shopping basket at the grocery store with two 0.55 kg cartons of cereal at one end of the basket. The basket is 0.81 m long. Where should you place a half gallon of milk (1.8 kg) so that the center of mass (COM) of your groceries is at the center of the basket?
m from the center of the basket, opposite the cartons of cereal.
2007-03-31 09:27:38 · 2 answers · asked by soccerjock 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
2*0.55 = 1.10
1.10 kg/1.8kg = x m/0.405m
x = 1.10*0.405/1.8
x = 0.25 m from center
Check
Milk end = 1.8 * 0.25 = 0.45
Cereal end = 1.10 * 0.405 = 0.45
2007-03-31 09:42:29 · answer #1 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We need to redefine the length to be from (-.405 to .405). This makes the center at the origin 0.
COM is equal to sum( (1.1)(.405)+1.8x divided by sum (1.1+1.8)
By these coordinates, 0 is the center of the basket. Therefore, COM=0.
0=(.506+1.8x)/(2.9)
-.174=.621x
x=-.25m
2007-03-31 16:44:02 · answer #2 · answered by jessie03522 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋