Back Schwerpunktsystem German Sistema de referencia del centro del momento Spanish Référentiel barycentrique French Tömegközépponti rendszer Hungarian Sistema di riferimento del centro di massa Italian Układ środka masy Polish Quadro de centro de momento Portuguese Система центра масс Russian Система центра мас Ukrainian Impuls markazi ramkasi Uzbek
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In physics, the center-of-momentum frame (COM frame), also known as zero-momentum frame, is the inertial frame in which the total momentum of the system vanishes. It is unique up to velocity, but not origin. The center of momentum of a system is not a location, but a collection of relative momenta/velocities: a reference frame. Thus "center of momentum" is a short for "center-of-momentum frame".[1]
A special case of the center-of-momentum frame is the center-of-mass frame: an inertial frame in which the center of mass (which is a single point) remains at the origin. In all center-of-momentum frames, the center of mass is at rest, but it is not necessarily at the origin of the coordinate system. In special relativity, the COM frame is necessarily unique only when the system is isolated.
- ^ Dynamics and Relativity, J.R. Forshaw, A.G. Smith, Wiley, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-01460-8