Before you use the center of mass approach, you should first understand the following terms: System: Any collection of objects that are of interest to you in a particular situation. In many problems, you have a certain freedom in choosing your system. Making a wise choice for the system is often the first step in solving the problem efficiently. Center of mass: The point that represents the "average" position of the entire mass of a system. The postion of the center of mass r⃗ cm can be expressed in terms of the position vectors r⃗ i of the particles as

On a horizontal frictionless surface, a small block with mass 0.200 kg has a collision with a block of mass 0.400 kg. immediately after the collision, the 0.200 kg block is moving at 12.0 m/s in the direction 30° north of east and the 0.400 kg block is moving at 11.2 m/s in the direction 53.1° south of east. use coordinates where the +x-axis is east and the +y-axis is north.(a) what is the total kinetic energy of the two blocks after the collision (in ) what is the x-component of the total momentum of the two blocks after the collision? (indicate the direction with the sign of your ) what is the y-component of the total momentum of the two blocks after the collision? (indicate the direction with the sign of your answer.)