The discussion revolves around finding the center of mass for a system involving three masses, as presented in an attachment. Participants are attempting to clarify the positions of these masses and their respective distances from a reference point.
The discussion is ongoing with participants providing feedback on the distances measured for the masses. Some guidance has been offered regarding the need to measure distances from a consistent reference point, and there is an acknowledgment of the need to recheck certain measurements.
There appears to be some confusion regarding the positions of the masses and the reference point used for measurement. Participants are working within the constraints of the information provided in the attachment, which has led to multiple interpretations of the distances involved.
Doc Al said:OK, now it's a bit clearer. The first thing to realize is that the masses are not point masses, but have length. Assuming that they are uniform, each mass has its own center of mass, right at its center. When calculating the center of mass of the system, you need to measure the distance of the center of each mass from your reference point.
Give it another shot.
Measured from the left edge of mass 1, I'd say that your distances are correct for masses 1 and 2, but not for mass 3.jacy said:so the distance for mass 1 will be 1m from my reference point, for mass 2 it will be 6m, for mass 3 it will be 8m. Am i correct.
Doc Al said:Measured from the left edge of mass 1, I'd say that your distances are correct for masses 1 and 2, but not for mass 3.