A projectile fired into the air suddenly ex- plodes into several fragments. What

Question

A projectile fired into the air suddenly ex-
plodes into several fragments.
What can be said about the motion of the
center of mass of the system made up of all
the fragments after the explosion?

Options:

1. Center of mass of the system moves in the direction opposite to the direction of a fragment with the biggest mass,
2. Center of mass of the system follows the same parabolic path the projectile would have followed if there had been no explosion,
3. Center of mass of the system moves in the direction opposite to the direction of the biggest fragment,
4. Center of mass of the system moves in the direction of a fragment with the biggest mass,
5. Center of mass does not move,
6. Center of mass of the system moves in the direction opposite to the direction of a projectile just before it exploded,
7. Center of mass of the system moves in the direction of the biggest fragment,
8. There is not enough information given.

Explanation / Answer

Center of mass of the system follows the same parabolic path the projectile would have followed if there had been no explosion, Conservation of motion. First law: The velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force. In this case the force was not external but internal and if the explosion acted in a perfect manner as to effect a equal force on all the fragments, then the center of mass would still follow the the path of the projectile.

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