CHAPTER # 7

Momentum
 So What’s Momentum ?
• Momentum = mass x velocity

• This can be abbreviated to :

. momentum = mv

• Or, if direction is not an important factor : .

. momentum = mass x speed

• So, A really slow moving truck and an

extremely fast roller skate can have the
same momentum.
 Question :
• Under what circumstances would the roller
skate and the truck have the same
momentum ?
• The roller skate and truck can have the same
momentum if the ratio of the speed of the
skate to the speed of the truck is the same as
the ratio of the mass of the truck to the mass
of the skate.
• A 1000 kg truck moving at 0.01 m/sec has the
same momentum as a 1 kg skate moving at
10 m/sec. Both have a momentum of 10 kg
m/sec. ( 1000 x .01 = 1 x 10 = 10 )
 Impulse and Momentum
• If momentum changes, it’s because mass or
velocity change.
• Most often mass doesn’t change so
velocity changes and that is acceleration.
• And mass x acceleration = force
• Applying a force over a time interval to an
object changes the momentum
• Force x time interval = Impulse
• Impulse = F t or Ft Ft == mvmv
 MOMENTUM
• An object at rest has no momentum, why?
• Because anything times zero is zero
• (the velocity component is zero for an object at rest)
• To INCREASE MOMENTUM,
apply the greatest force possible for as long
as possible.
• Examples :
• pulling a sling shot
• drawing an arrow in a bow all the way back
• a long cannon for maximum range
FORCE

• hitting a golf ball or a baseball

. (follow through is important for these !)
TIME
 MOMENTUM
• SOME VOCABULARY :
• impulse : impact force X time (newton.sec)
. Ft = impulse

• impact : the force acting on an object

(N) . usually when it hits something.

• impact forces : average force of impact

 MOMENTUM
• Decreasing Momentum
• Which would it be more safe to hit in a car ? Ft
mv

mv Ft

• Knowing the physics helps us understand why

hitting a soft object is better than hitting a hard one.
 MOMENTUM
• In each case, the momentum is decreased by the same
amount or impulse (force x time)

• Hitting the haystack extends the impact time (the time in

which the momentum is brought to zero).

• The longer impact time reduces the force of impact and

decreases the deceleration.

• Whenever it is desired to decrease the force of impact,

extend the time of impact !
 DECREASING MOMENTUM
• If the time of impact is increased by 100 times (say from .01
sec to 1 sec), then the force of impact is reduced by 100
times (say to something survivable).

• EXAMPLES :
• Padded dashboards on cars
• Airbags in cars or safety nets in circuses
• Moving your hand backward as you catch a fast-moving ball
with your bare hand or a boxer moving with a punch.
• Flexing your knees when jumping from a higher place to the
ground. or elastic cords for bungee jumping
• Using wrestling mats instead of hardwood floors.
• Dropping a glass dish onto a carpet instead of a sidewalk.
 EXAMPLES OF DECREASING
MOMENTUM
• Bruiser Bruno on boxing … F = change in t

momentum

Ft = change in
momentum
• Increased impact time reduces force of impact
• Barney Jervais on bungee Jumping … Ft = Δmv applies here.
mv = the momentum gained before the cord
begins to stretch that we wish to change.

Ft = the impulse the cord supplies to

reduce the momentum to zero.

Because the rubber cord stretches for

a long time the average force on the
jumper is small.
 Questions :
• When a dish falls, will the impulse be less if it lands on a
carpet than if it lands on a hard ceramic tile floor ?
• The impulse would be the same for either surface
because there is the same momentum change for each.
It is the force that is less for the impulse on the carpet
because of the greater time of momentum change.
There is a difference between impulse and
impact.

• If a boxer is able to increase the impact time by 5 times

by “riding” with a punch, by how much will the force of
impact be reduced?
• Since the time of impact increases by 5 times, the force
of impact will be reduced by 5 times.
 BOUNCING
• IMPULSES ARE GREATER WHEN AN OBJECT
BOUNCES
• The impulse required to bring an object to a stop
and then to throw it back upward again is greater
than the impulse required to merely bring the object
to a stop.
• When a martial artist breaks boards,
• does their hand bounce?
• Is impulse or momentum greater ?

• Example :
• The Pelton Wheel.
 CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
• To accelerate an object, a force must be applied.
• The force or impulse on the object must come
from outside the object.

• EXAMPLES : The air in a basketball,

sitting in a car and pushing
on the dashboard or sitting in a boat
and blowing on the sail don’t create
movement.
• Internal forces like these are balanced and cancel
each other.
• If no outside force is present, no change in
momentum is possible.
The Law of Conservation of Momentum

• In the absence of an external force, the momentum of

a system remains unchanged.

• This means that, when all of the forces are internal

(for EXAMPLE: the nucleus of an atom undergoing
. radioactive decay,
. cars colliding, or
. stars exploding
the net momentum of the system before and after the
event is the same.
 QUESTIONS
• 1. Newton’s second law states that if no net force is
exerted on a system, no acceleration occurs. Does it
follow that no change in momentum occurs?
• No acceleration means that no change occurs in
velocity of momentum.

• 2. Newton’s 3rd law states that the forces exerted on

a cannon and cannonball are equal and opposite.
Does it follow that the impulse exerted on the
cannon and cannonball are also equal and opposite?
• Since the time interval and forces are equal and
opposite, the impulses (F x t) are also equal and
opposite.
 COLLISIONS
• ELASTIC COLLISIONS
Momentum transfer from one
Object to another .

Is a Newton’s cradle like the one

Pictured here, an example of an
elastic or inelastic collision?
• INELASTIC COLLISIONS
 Problem Solving #1
• A 6 kg fish swimming at 1 m/sec swallows a 2 kg fish
that is at rest. Find the velocity of the fish immediately
after “lunch”.

• net momentum before = net momentum after

• (net mv)before = (net mv)after
• (6 kg)(1 m/sec) + (2 kg)(0 m/sec) = (6 kg + 2 kg)(vafter)
• 6 kg.m/sec = (8 kg)(vafter)
• vvafter
after == 6 kg m/sec / 8 kg
.

• 8 kg
• vafter = ¾ m/sec
 Problem Solving #2
• Now the 6 kg fish swimming at 1 m/sec swallows a 2
kg fish that is swimming towards it at 2 m/sec. Find
the velocity of the fish immediately after “lunch”.

• net momentum before = net momentum after

• (net mv)before = (net mv)after
• (6 kg)(1 m/sec) + (2 kg)(-2 m/sec) = (6 kg + 2 kg)(vafter)
• 6 kg.m/sec + -4 kg.m/sec = (8 kg)(vafter)
• vvafter
after == 2 kg m/sec / 8 kg
.

• 8 kg
• vafter = ¼ m/sec
 Problem Solving #3 & #4
• Now the 6 kg fish swimming at 1 m/sec swallows a 2
kg fish that is swimming towards it at 3 m/sec.
• (net mv)before = (net mv)after
• (6 kg)(1 m/sec) + (2 kg)(-3 m/sec) = (6 kg + 2 kg)(vafter)
• 6 kg.m/sec + -6 kg.m/sec = (8 kg)(vafter)
• vafter = 0 m/sec

• Now the 6 kg fish swimming at 1 m/sec swallows a 2

kg fish that is swimming towards it at 4 m/sec.
• (net mv)before = (net mv)after
• (6 kg)(1 m/sec) + (2 kg)(-4 m/sec) = (6 kg + 2 kg)(vafter)
• 6 kg.m/sec + -8 kg.m/sec = (8 kg)(vafter)
 MOMENTUM VECTORS
• Momentum can be analyzed by using vectors
• The momentum of a car accident is equal to the
vector sum of the momentum of each car A & B
before the collision.

B
MOMENTUM VECTORS (Continued)
• When a firecracker bursts, the vector sum of the momenta
of its fragments add up to the momentum of the firecracker
just before it exploded.

• The same goes for subatomic elementary particles. The

tracks they leave help to determine their relative mass and
type.
 CHAPTER #8 - MOMENTUM
• Finish