Suppose we have three bodies in space. What practical advantage is there in calculating their center of mass? Can you give me a practical example?
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hey!
in the case that you are asking why we calculate the centre of mass( or anything) of 3 bodies in outer space then that leads to the bigger question of why we care about outer space- the answer to which is curiosity. the centre of mass is simply a very useful parameter in understanding how the system evolves with time and also how it interacts with its surroundings as a system. it is also at the root of the very popular physics meme “assume the cow is a sphere” because its centre would then be its centre of mass and that is an easy way to deal with complex objects and rigid bodies.
if you were asking particularly about why centre of mass would be usefull in outer space- i’m sure there are very many interesting scenarios where the com would become useful. like for instance, the com of the sun and the earth are used to calculate the position of lagrange points and the gravity of the moon is also factored in so as to keep a satellite in position.
a cooler example would be how we find exoplanets from systems with 2 stars. the stars orbit around each other in a seemingly predictable pattern because they are the 2 major bodies but the existance of a planet slightly throwf off the pattern from what would be expected. i am pretty unfamiliar with how exactly this would work too but it does use the fact that the change in the distance of the centre of mass from us is useful info
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