Momentum

What is linear Momentum?

The linear momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and its velocity.

Momentum=Mass ×Velocity

Units:

Linear Momentum is a ………………………….. Quantity, it has a ………………………………. and a ………………………..

The “Linear” in linear momentum is there to distinguish it from angular momentum.

 A body has linear momentum if it is moving along a ………………………………….. line; it has angular momentum if it is
turning. (We don’t have angular momentum in our specification)

Momentum in collisions

Principle Conservation of Linear Momentum

“In any interaction between bodies,

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..”

It can be mathematically written as;

Momentum before collision = Momentum after collision

Elastic Collisions

Inelastic Collisions
Q4: A trolley of mass 2 kg moving at a speed of 3ms-1 catches up and collides with another trolley of mass 1kg moving at
5 -1
a speed of 1ms-1 which is travelling in the same direction. Following the collision, the first trolley has velocity ms
3
Show that the collision is perfectly elastic.

Practical Investigations

Momentum investigations are best carried out using a linear air track. This is a triangular tube with holes in it, through
which air is blown. The “vehicles” are slides which fit over the track; they move over the cushion of air. This allows the
effects of friction (an “external force”) to be ignored.

The track is first adjusted so that it is horizontal – so that the vehicles have no tendency to move in either direction on
the track. Each vehicle has a card of a set length on it. This allows light gates to be used. These contain a beam of light
falling on a photodiode; when a vehicle goes through the gate, the card on it interrupts the beam of light.

The light gate records the time for which the beam of light is interrupted; this allows the speed of the vehicle to be
length of card
calculated using speed= for which light beam is interrupted.
time

The vehicles can have various masses added to them to verify conservation of momentum for different masses. The
vehicles can be made to stick together during a collision by adding a pin to the front of one vehicle and a piece of
plasticine to the other – this will allow inelastic collisions to be investigated.

The vehicles can be made to undergo almost perfectly elastic collisions by attaching a stretched rubber band to the front
of each, which allows them to “bounce off” each other. Collisions can be investigated by ensuring that each moving
vehicle passes through a light gate before collision and after collision.

Conservation of momentum can then be verified by calculating the momentum of each vehicle before and after the
collision; this can be repeated using different masses, and elastic and inelastic collisions. Experiments could also show
whether the “elastic” collisions really are perfectly elastic.

Force and Momentum

Newton’s Second Law

 If Standard SI units (Newton’s , kilograms, meters, seconds ) are used then this becomes ;

 If the force acting on a body is ………………………………………, then we have F as the average force.
 Also with the reference to the N2 we can derive another unit for momentum

Momentum and Impulse

The impulse-momentum equation

We know,

final momentum – initial momentum

Force=
time

For a body moving under a constant force, rearranging this equation, we get:

This gives:

 This also means that the impulse of a constant force is given by ;

Impulse( N s )=force( N )×time for whichacts(s )

Force Time Graphs

 The area under the graph represents …………………………………………

 Impulse for a constant force;

 Impulse for a variable force

Note: In the Region R, the force becomes ………………………………….. so the impulse it exerts will

also be …………………………………………………………….

Force time graph for a ball hitting a wall

The Diagram above shows a possible graph of force against time during a collision (ball hitting a wall). The graph shows
how the horizontal force on the ball varies with time before and after the collision; there is no horizontal force on the
ball. The total change of momentum of the ball in this collision with the wall would be given by the area under the
graph.

The following will represent;

Point Explanation
1

The exact shape of the graph would depend on the material of the ball was made of. If the ball was very hard, then it
would not deform significantly during the collision, and the “spike” on the graph would be much narrower, showing that
the collision is much shorter in duration. A very squashy ball would deform readily, leading to a flatter graph and a
longer lasting collision.

Applications of momentum
Rocket Repulsion

For a rocket to be propelled forward it must expel

exhaust gases. The moment of the rocket in the
forward direction is equal to the momentum of the
exhaust gases in the backward direction.

The equation ;

Can sometimes be thought of the other way

round ; i.e.

This is useful when thinking about things like

firework rockets, where a stream of matter is
ejected at a speed of V.

Crimple zones to avoid crashes

Crumple zones are structural areas in the front and

sometimes rear of a vehicle that are designed to
absorb energy upon impact in a predictable way.

When a car crashes, the goal is for the

structure to crush in a relatively gradual,
predictable way that absorbs much of the impact
energy, keeping it away from the occupants in what is
termed a “controlled crush.”

Moving cars have kinetic energy. As energy cannot

be created or destroyed, when a car brakes its kinetic
energy changes into heat energy. The brakes heat up
and then transfer the energy to the surroundings. Modern cars also havesafety features that absorb kinetic energy
in collisions. These typically include:

 seat belts

 air bags

 crumple zones

All these features reduce injuries to the people in the car by absorbing energy when they change shape.

As they deform they increase the amount of time the person takes to come to a stop. This reduces the acceleration and
force on the person, so reducing injury.
Seat belts have to be replaced after a crash because the large forces may damage them.

HOW TO INVESTIGATE THE PRINCIPLE of Momentum conservation?

 Two trolleys A and B are kept on a

friction compensated slope.

 A is kept at the start of the slope with a

card. It has a cork at the front with a
pin.

 B is kept in between the two light

gates (connected to a computer)
without a card. It has a cork on its
front.

 A is given a push and the first light

gate will record the time for it to cut it. Velocity = length of card/time

 When A attaches to B, they will both start moving in the same direction with a common final velocity.

 This velocity is recorded by the second light gate.

 The principle can be verified by:

 Mau = v(ma + mb)

 The recorded and the calculated velocity will be same.

Investigate and relate net force to rate of change of momentum in situations where mass is constant (Newton’s
second law of motion)
  When the masses are added to the end of the
pulley, the trolley will accelerate.
 The motion sensor will record the displacement of
the trolley at regular intervals.
 The different velocities will be calculated by the
computer.
 The mass is kept constant.
 Calculate P = mv for all the velocities.
 Graph will be:

Gradient is F since ∆P/t = F

F is constant because mass is constant.

Momentum Unit Questions

1.1.1 Momentum
1. What is the momentum of?

a a plane of mass 2 x 105kg flying at 270ms−1?

b a horse of mass of 400kg carrying a rider of mass 75kg, galloping at 10ms−1?

2. An 800kg car is travelling at 33ms −1. How much force must the brakes apply, if they are to stop the car
completely in four seconds?

3. In a car crash, a passenger with a mass of 82kg is not wearing a seatbelt. The car is travelling at 45kmh −1.
What impulse must the car’s airbag provide in order to stop the passenger’s motion?

4. Explain why hitting an airbag will cause less injury than if a passenger hits the dashboard.

5. A wooden mallet is being used to hammer a tent peg into hard ground.

a The head of the mallet is a cylinder of diameter 0.100m and length 0.196m. The density of the
wood is 750kgm-3. Show that the mass of the head is approximately 1.2 kg.

b The head strikes the tent peg as shown at a speed of 4.20ms-1 and rebounds at 0.58ms-1. Calculate the
magnitude of its momentum change in the collision.
c The head is in contact with the peg for 0.012s. Estimate the average force exerted on the peg by the
head during this period.
d Give a reason why your value for the force will only be approximate.
e With reference to your calculations above, discuss whether a mallet with a rubber head of the same mass
would be more or less effective for hammering in tent pegs.

1.1.2 Collisions
1 A movie stuntman with a mass of 90kg stands on a stationary 1kg skateboard. An actor shoots the stuntman with a
9mm pistol. The 8-gram bullet leaves the pistol at 358ms −1 and embeds completely in the stuntman’s bulletproof
vest. At what speed will the stuntman roll away?

2 A girl in a stationary boat on a still pond has lost her oars in the water. To get the boat moving again, she throws
her rucksack horizontally out of the boat with a speed of 4ms−1.
Mass of boat = 60kg; mass of girl = 40kg; mass of rucksack = 5kg.
a How fast will this action make the boat move?
b If she throws the rucksack by exerting a force on it for 0.2s, how much force does she exert?
3 How can Newton’s third law help to explain the problem suffered by the boy stepping out of the boat in Worked
example 2 in the section ‘Explosions’?
4 In a stunt for an action movie, the 100kg actor jumps from a train which is crossing a river bridge. On the river
below, the heroine is tied to a raft floating towards a waterfall at 3ms −1. The raft and heroine have a total mass of
200kg.

a If the hero times his jumps perfectly so as to land on the raft, and his velocity is 12ms−1 at an angle of 80°
to the river current, what will be the velocity of the raft immediately after he lands? Draw a vector diagram to show
the momentum addition. (Ignore any vertical motion.)
b If the waterfall is 100m downstream, and the hero landed when the raft was 16m from the bank, would
they plummet over the fall? (Assume the velocity remains constant after the hero has landed.)
5
a Define linear momentum.
The principle of conservation of linear momentum is a consequence of Newton’s laws of motion. An examination
candidate is asked to explain this, using a collision between two trolleys as an example. He gives the following
answer, which is correct but incomplete. The lines of his answer are numbered on the left for reference.
i During the collision the trolleys push each other.
ii These forces are of the same size but in opposite directions.
iii As a result, the momentum of one trolley must increase at the same rate as the momentum of the
other decreases.
iv Therefore the total momentum of the two trolleys must remain constant.
b In which line of his argument is the candidate using Newton’s second law?
c In which line is he using Newton’s third law?
d The student is making one important assumption which he has not stated. State this assumption. Explain at what
point it comes into the argument.
e Describe how you could check experimentally that momentum is conserved in a collision between two trolleys.

1.1.3 Energy in collisions

1 A bowling ball travelling at 5ms−1 strikes the only standing pin straight on. The pin flies backward at 7ms −1.
Calculate:
 a the velocity of the bowling ball after the collision
b the loss of kinetic energy in this collision.
(Mass of bowling ball = 6.35kg; mass of pin = 1.5kg.)

2 Calculate the kinetic energy of an alpha particle which has a momentum of 1.08 x 10 −19kgms−1
a in joules
b in electron volts
c in MeV.

(Mass of neutron = mass of proton = 1.67 x 10−27kg)

3 Explain why the slingshot orbit of a satellite passing near a planet and then flying away at a different angle as a
result of the effect of the planet’s gravity would be an elastic collision.

1.1.4 Real collisions

1 An alpha particle moving at 3% of the speed of light collides elastically with a stationary aluminium nucleus
(atomic number 13 and mass number 27). If the alpha particle bounces backwards at 0.1% of the speed of light, what
is the velocity of the aluminium nucleus after the collision?

2 In a pool shot, the cue ball of mass 0.17kg travels at 6ms −1 and hits the stationary black ball in the middle of the
table. The black ball, also of mass 0.17kg, travels away at 45º
with a speed of 4.24ms−1, ending up in the corner pocket. By
resolving the components of the black ball’s momentum, find out
what happens to the cue ball.
Year Jan Jun
14 16 14
15 17 13
16 15 13*
17 18* 12
18