Kinetic-energy decomposition about the centre of mass ($T=\frac{1}{2}M|\dot{\mathbf{R}}{|}^2+\frac{1}{2}{\sum }_i{m}_i|{\dot{\mathbf{y}}}_i{|}^2$)

For fixed particle masses and positive total mass, write ${\mathbf{x}}_i=\mathbf{R}+{\mathbf{y}}_i$ with $\mathbf{R}$ the centre of mass. The weighted relative velocities sum to zero, so expanding the kinetic energy eliminates the mixed term and yields the displayed decomposition. For a rigid body, the relative contribution is the rotational kinetic energy $I{\omega }^2/2$ about the chosen centre-of-mass axis.