Consider a system of two particles having masses and . If the particle of mass is pushed towards the centre of mass of particles through a distance , by what distance would the particle of the mass move so as to keep the centre of mass of particles at the original position?
The position of the centre of mass for a two-particle system is given by . Since the centre of mass remains at its original position, the shift in the centre of mass is zero, i.e., . Therefore, , which implies . Considering only the magnitudes of the displacements (as both must move towards the centre of mass to keep it stationary), we have: Where is the distance moved by and is the distance moved by . Thus, the distance moved by the second particle is .
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