Mechanics of particles and systems Particle systems and celestial mechanics Concept
Reduced mass
Builds on Centre of mass
Summary
The reduced mass of two bodies with masses and is . It is the mass to use when two interacting bodies are replaced by one body, their relative position, moving around a fixed centre. It turns the two-body problem into a one-body problem in a central field. It appears in the same way in classical and in quantum mechanics.
Reading path
To understand this page from the ground up, read these 7 pages in order. The foundations come first.
Show the path as a graph
- no evidence level
- Euclidean space object
- Function concept
- Function of several variables concept
- Double integral concept
- Triple integral concept
- Centre of mass concept
- Reduced mass concept
Where this leads
18 pages build on this one.
- Milankovitch cycles
- Jacobi integral
- Kepler's equation
- Accretion disk
- Inelastic collision
- Two-body problem
- Orbital mechanics
- Tisserand's parameter
- Coefficient of restitution
- Jacobi integral
- Kepler's laws of planetary motion
- Kepler's equation
- Hill sphere
- Roche limit
- Hill sphere
- Sitnikov problem
- Lagrange points
- Circular restricted three-body problem
Further reading
About this page
| Tag | X5G1A3A4VR |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://X5G1A3A4VR |
| Kind | concept |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 70F05, 70F15 |
| Uses | Centre of mass |
| Same as | |
| Changed | 3 November 2026 |
Markdown · JSON · Edit on GitHub
What this page needs for W1
- an inventory row: the row of the inventory that the node accounts for (0 of 1)
- a source with a locator (0 of 1)
The writing levels say how complete the text of a page is. They do not measure its truth.