Write the incoming particle speed as , its final signed speed as , and the rod's final centre-of-mass velocity along the impact direction as . Let be the signed impact distance from the centre, and choose the sign of the angular velocity so that the contact point's velocity component is . The rod's central moment of inertia is .
The impulse delivered to the rod is . Conservation of linear and angular momentum givesUsing these in conservation of kinetic energy,This is the equal-mass instance of the effective contact mass calculation. For , both final speeds are nonnegative, so equal speeds require . Therefore andBoth symmetric impact points lie on the rod, since .