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cookie monsta
Nov11-06, 11:01 PM
this question has really stumped me.

23 people on a boat rest on water without friction. Each person has an average mass of 70 kg, and the boat itself weighs 10^4 kg. The entire party walks the entire 8 m distance of the boat from bow to stern. How far (in meters) does the boat move?

i know i have to use this equation somwhere:

x_cm = ( m1x1 + m2x2 ) / ( m1 + m2 )

so far i think
m1 = 23 * 70
x1 = 0
m2 = ?
x2 = ?

can anyone help me?

thnx

Zeno's Paradox
Nov12-06, 05:02 AM
You have data to calculate the center of mass before the people move. Since, there are no external forces acting on the c.m., will he change?

So,

x_{cm}_{i} = x_{cm}_{f}

vijay123
Nov12-06, 05:18 AM
is it like this?

in an isolated system, momentum is conserved. so, m1v1=m2v2, were m1 is the mass of boat, v1 is it's velocity, m2 is the mass of all the people, v2 is the velocity of them,

v2=(m1v1)/m2
d2/t=m1/m2 x d1/t
d2=m1/m2 x d1

since every1 covers d1, assume that the center of mass is over 1point that covers the 8meters....

does this make sense?

cookie monsta
Nov12-06, 04:12 PM
no i dont think im makes sense cuz we're not dealing with velocity here

cookie monsta
Nov12-06, 04:39 PM
so i got this so far but i dunno which is which to plug in

m_{1}x_{1}_{i} + m_{2}x_{2}_{i} = m_{1}x_{1}_{f} + m{2}x_{2}_{f}

am i on the right track?