In physics, a center-of-momentum frame (zero-momentum frame, or COM frame) of a system is any inertial frame in which the center of mass of the system is at rest (has zero velocity and hence momentum). Note that the center of momentum of a system is not a location, but rather defines a particular inertial frame (a velocity and a direction). Thus "center of momentum" already means "center-of-momentum frame" and is a short form of this phrase.
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 physical point) is at the origin at all times. In all COM frames, the center of mass is at rest, but it may not necessarily be at rest at the origin of the coordinate system.
Read more about Center-of-momentum Frame: Two-body Problem
Famous quotes containing the word frame:
“Painting seems to be to the eye what dancing is to the limbs. When that has educated the frame to self-possession, to nimbleness, to grace, the steps of the dancing-master are better forgotten; so painting teaches me the splendor of color and the expression of form, and as I see many pictures and higher genius in the art, I see the boundless opulence of the pencil, the indifferency in which the artist stands free to choose out of the possible forms.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)