IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM

If you were in a car that was out of control and had to choose between hitting a concrete wall or a haystack. What would you choose?

We know that its harder to stop a large truck than a small car when both are moving at the same speed.

MOMENTUM
Momentum is a quantity of motion possessed by a body because of its mass and velocity conjointly.

MOMENTUM
The momentum of an object is defined as the product of its mass and its velocity v:
Momentum = p = mv

The unit for momentum is the product of the unit of mass and the unit of velocity.

In SI units momentum is in kg m/s. A smaller unit is the g. cm/s.

IMPULSE
A force F acting on an object for time t is said to exert an impulse on the object. The impulse of the force is the product of F and t, or Impulse = Ft F represents the average force during time t.

The sum of impulses of all force acting on an object for a certain time is equal to the change in momentum of the object during the time of interest.

IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM EQUATION

This is called the impulse-momentum equation

( F)t = mVf-mVo impulse time t = 2(x-x0) / (v +v0)

where x-x0 distance the object moves during the impulse v0 initial velocity at the start of the impulse v - velocity at the end of the impulse

The product Ft is called the impulse of the force F in the time interval t during which it was acting.
The equation says

impulse is equal to the change in momentum.

In the collision of bodies, the time involved t, which is the time the bodies are in contact, is usually very short and the forces F exerted by the bodies on one another varies.

The force is zero at the instant just before impact, increases to a maximum value, and then goes back to zero just before the two bodies separate. It is given in the equation that for a given change in momentum, the shorter the time interval, the greater is the average force.

Conservation of Momentum
The amount of a conserved quantity in the universe never changes.
When a small part of the universe, which we call the system, is isolated from the rest of the universe, the total momentum of objects in the system is constant.

Two Extreme Cases of Collision (with respect to changes in kinetic energy)

Elastic Collision Inelastic Collision

ELASTIC COLLISION

There is no change in the kinetic energy of the system.

INELASTIC COLLISION

The two bodies stick together and move as one body after collision.

The kinetic energy after collision is less than the total kinetic energy before collision.
This energy lost during collision is converted to other forms of energy, principally heat.

PARTIALLY ELASTIC
In between the two cases, the perfectly elastic and inelastic collision.

Example

Example

Example

Example

For a system to be isolated, the sum of external forces that act on objects in the system must add to zero. Also no matter, energy, or light should enter or leave the system.

For an isolated system with two object, the conservation of momentum equation can be written as 0 = (m1v1 m1v10) + (m2v2 m2 v20)

(m1v1 + m2v2) = (m1v10 + m2v20)

final momentum = initial momentum

of two objects

of two objects

In an isolated system, the initial and final momentum are equal.

Illustration of Conservation of Momentum

SAMPLE PROBELMS
1. A golf club strikes a golf ball. The club and ball remain in contact for 0.60 x 10-3 s. The 45-g ball leaves the club with a speed of 70 m/s. Calculate the average force of the club on the ball.

2. A cement truck full of cement has a mass of 42,000 kg. It travels north at a speed of 18 m/s, or about 40 mi/h. Calculate the trucks momentum. How fast must a 750kg Chevy Sprint travel to have the same momentum?

3. An impulse of 7.5 x 104 N.s stops a car in 0.10 s, (a) calculate the average force on the car. (b) if the impulse time is tripled, what is the average force on the car?

4. The momentum of a 900-kg car initially moving north at 10 m/s increases by 10,800 kg. m/s. Calculate the cars final velocity (a vector). (b) Calculate the cars final velocity if its momentum decreases by 10,800 kg. m/s.

5. A car and its driver traveling at a speed of 18 m/s (40 mi/h) are stopped abruptly by a collision with the rear end of parked moving van. The cars front end is pushed in 0.55 m by the collision; the stopping distance of the car, then, is also 0.55m. A 60-kg driver, who is restrained by a seat belt and shoulder strap, is also stopped in 0.55 m. Calculate (a) the time required to stop the car (b) the average force acting on the driver, and (c) the deceleration of the driver.

6. A ball of mass 0.16 kg is moving horizontally to the left at 8 m/s when it hits a vertical wall causing the ball to rebound with a speed of 6 m/s. Assuming that the ball was in contact with the wall for 0.05 seconds (a) what is the impulse of the force exerted by the wall, and (b) what is the average force exerted on the ball by the wall?