Before you use the center of mass approach, you should first understand the following terms: System: Any collection of objects that are of interest to you in a particular situation. In many problems, you have a certain freedom in choosing your system. Making a wise choice for the system is often the first step in solving the problem efficiently. Center of mass: The point that represents the "average" position of the entire mass of a system. The postion of the center of mass r⃗ cm can be expressed in terms of the position vectors r⃗ i of the particles as