MOMENTUM…

Momentum is a commonly used term in sports.

Momentum is a physics term; it refers to the quantity

of motion that an object has.
LINEAR MOMENTUM
COURSE OUTLINE
A. Introduction
B. Kinematics
C. Dynamics
D. Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
E. Energy
F. Linear Momentum
G. Fluid Mechanics
H. Thermodynamics
Outline
 Linear Momentum
 1. Linear Momentum
 2. Momentum and Newton's Second Law
 3. Impulse of a Force
 4. Impulse Momentum Relations
 5. Conservation of Momentum
 Collisions
 6. Overview ~ Collisions
 7. Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
LINEAR MOMENTUM

p  mv
 Vector quantity, the direction of the momentum is the same
as the velocity’s
 Inertia in motion
 Applies to two-dimensional motion as well

p x  m v x and p y  m v y

Size of momentum: depends upon mass

depends upon velocity
LINEAR MOMENTUM

 Physical Properties
 Symbol: p
 Type: Derived, Vector
 Dimension: [M*L/T]
 SI unit: kg m/s

p=mv
LINEAR MOMENTUM
Can be thought of as the effort you need to stop an
object from moving.

Determined by two factors:

1. The object’s inertia (mass)
2. The object’s velocity

For example, a heavy truck has more momentum

than a light car travelling at the same speed.
It takes a greater force to stop the truck in a given
time than it does to stop the car
 MOMENTUM and NEWTON’S 2nd LAW OF
MOTION
 Newton's Second Law can be written in terms of the
momentum of a particle.

 but p = mv, so much Δp = mΔv

 Thus the net force acting on a particle equals the time rate
change of the particle's linear momentum
MOMENTUM and NEWTON’S 2nd LAW OF
MOTION

This is how Newton originally stated his second

law!

mutatio motus –”change of motion” caused by the

force impressed
QUIZ
 What is the momentum of a 2 kg object moving with a
velocity of 10.0 m/s to the right?

 What is the momentum of a 2 kg object moving with a

velocity of -10.0 m/s?
Impulse
In order to change the momentum of an object (say, golf ball),
a force must be applied

The time rate of change of momentum of an object is equal

to the net force acting on it

 p m (v f  v i )
F net    m a or :  p  F net  t
t t

 Gives an alternative statement of Newton’s second law

 (F Δt) is defined as the impulse
 Impulse is a vector quantity, the direction is the same as the direction
of the force
Impulse
For a specified object of mass m,

M
F

Change in Momentum
Means
CHANGE IN VELOCITY!
Impulse
Change in velocity
Means
Net Force acting on the object is NOT ZERO

Impulse is related
with a FORCE
causing the object to
CHANGE its MOMENTUM
Impulse
Physical Properties:
 Symbol: I
 Type: Derived, Vector Quantity
 Formula:
 I = F Δt = F (tf – ti)
 Dimension [F*T]; SI Units: N*s (Newton*second)
 1 N*s = 1 kg m/s2 *s= 1 kg m/s

J  I   p  F net  t
Impulse
 Impulse then can be expressed as: I or J

I= = ΣF Δt
or simply

I = Ft = Δp

Ft = m(vf – vi)
Restating Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion
 A non – zero net force applied on the object the changes
the object’s momentum.

acceleration
Question:
A.) Does a moving object have impulse?
B.) Does a moving object have momentum?
 IMPULSE-MOMENTUM RELATIONS
I net = F Δt

I net = Δp = pf – pi

 The average force for the time interval tf – ti is defined as

Fav = I / Δt

 The average force is the constant force that gives the

same impulse as the actual force in the time interval Δt.

 This time is often estimated using the distance travelled

by one of the objects during the collision.
Minimizing the force of impact

Impulse of a Force

Impulse is associated with the forces of

interaction during collisions.
Example: Impulse Applied to Auto Collisions

 The most important factor is the collision time or the

time it takes the person to come to a rest
 This will reduce the chance of dying in a car crash
 Ways to increase the time
 Seat belts
 Air bags

 The air bag increases the time of the collision and

absorbs some of the energy from the body
Impulse is change in momentum

Case 1: Increasing momentum:

If you wish to increase the momentum of an object as much as

possible, you not only apply the greatest force you can, you
also extend the time of application as much as possible.

Net force

time
Case 2: Decreasing momentum
 You can change the momentum of an object in two ways

A.) Faster
B.) Slower
A.) Increasing the coOOOOOntact Time

B.) Decreasing the contact time

Ouch!
Case 3: Increasing momentum in a very short time
Graphical Interpretation of Impulse
 Usually force is not constant,
but time-dependent

impulse   Fi  t i  area under F (t ) curve

 ti

 If the force is not constant,

use the average force applied
 The average force can be
thought of as the constant
force that would give the
If force is constant: impulse = F t
same impulse to the object in
the time interval as the actual
time-varying force gives in
the interval
Problem:

A 50-g golf ball at rest is hit

by the club with 500-g mass.
After the collision, golf
leaves with velocity of 50
m/s.

a) Find impulse imparted to ball

b) Assuming club in contact
with ball for 0.5 ms, find
average force acting on golf
ball
Problem:

1. Use impulse-momentum relation:

Given:
impulse  p  mv f  mvi
mass: m=50 g  0.050 kg 50 m s   0
= 0.050 kg
 2.50 kg  m s 
velocity: v=50 m/s
2. Having found impulse, find the average
Find: force from the definition of impulse:

p 2.50 kg  m s
impulse=? p  F  t , thus F  
Faverage=? t 0.5 10 3 s
 5.00 103 N 
Conservation of Momentum
Note: according to Newton’s 3rd law, that is also a
reaction force to club hitting the ball:

F  t   F R  t , or
 
mv f  mv i   M V f  M V i , or
of club

mv f  M V f  m v i  M V i CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
Linear Momentum

 The total momentum p of a system of particles is

the sum of the momenta of the individual
particles.

P = Σ mivi = Σ pi

 According to Newton's Second Law,

Σ Fext = Fnet,ext = ΔP/Δt = mΔv/Δt = ma

 Conservation of Momentum

Pinitial = Pfinal
More applicable than the law of conservation of mechanical energy.

• REASON: Although internal forces exerted by one

particle in a system on another are often NOT
CONSERVATIVE. Internal forces can change the total
mechanical energy of the system but they DON'T affect
the total momentum.
 Conservation of Momentum

 Definition: an isolated system is the one that has no external

forces acting on it
Momentum in an isolated system in which a
collision occurs is conserved (regardless of
the nature of the forces between the objects)
 A collision may be the result of physical contact between two
objects
 “Contact” may also arise from the electrostatic interactions of the
electrons in the surface atoms of the bodies
Conservation of Momentum

 Mathematically:
m1 v 1 i  m 2 v 2 i  m1 v 1 f  m 2 v 2 f

 Momentum is conserved for the system of objects

 The system includes all the objects interacting with
each other
 Assumes only internal forces are acting during the
collision
 Can be generalized to any number of objects
 In a collision, two objects approach and interact strongly for a very
short time.
 During this brief time of collision,
F ext << F interaction between two objects
 The only important force is the one between the objects colliding,
which are equal and opposite.
Types of Collisions
 Momentum is conserved in any collision
what about kinetic energy?

 Inelastic collisions K E i  K E f  lost energy

 Kinetic energy is not conserved
 Some of the kinetic energy is converted into other types
of energy such as heat, sound, work to permanently
deform an object
 Perfectly inelastic collisions occur when the objects stick
together
 Not all of the KE is necessarily lost
You can use a golf club for all kinds of non-golfy purposes -- walking stick,
fishing rod, club, to name three. And now we can add to that list --
firestarter.
Over the weekend, a golfer's routine swing in the rough at the Shady Canyon
Golf Course in Irvine, Calif., struck a rock. Not so different from the way
you play, right? Only this time, the impact caused a spark, and the spark set
off a blaze that eventually covered 25 acres (101171.41056 Square Meters),
according to the Steven Buck, General Manager of Shady Canyon Golf
Course, and required the efforts of 150 Orange County firefighters, writes
the Associated Press.
Wow. And I felt bad the time I shanked a ball through the window of a house
too close to the fairway. That was nothing compared to this!
The golfer's name is being withheld, which is probably for the best, and no
charges are going to be filed. Fortunately, it all could have been much
worse. As it was, the blaze required both helicopters and on-the-ground
crews.
ELASTIC COLLISION and INELASTIC COLLISION
Elastic collision
 total kinetic energy of the objects is the same after collision as
before the collision
Inelastic collision
 total kinetic energy of the objects is not the same
after collision as before the collision

An extreme case is the perfectly inelastic collision, in which all of the kinetic energy
relative to the centre of mass is converted to thermal or internal energy of the system,
and the two objects STICK TOGETHER!!!

NOTE: Actual collisions

 Most collisions fall between elastic and perfectly inelastic collisions
Perfectly Inelastic Collisions:
 When two objects stick together
after the collision, they have
undergone a perfectly inelastic
collision
 Suppose, for example, v2i=0.
Conservation of momentum
becomes
m 1 v1 i  m 2 v 2 i  ( m 1  m 2 ) v f
m 1 v1 i  0  ( m 1  m 2 ) v f
E.g., if m1  1000 kg, m2  1500 kg :
(1000 kg)(50 m s )  0  ( 2500 kg)v f ,
5  10 4 kg  m s
vf   20 m s.
2.5  10 kg
3
Perfectly Inelastic Collisions:

 What amount of KE lost during

collision?

1 1
KEbefore  m1v12i  m2 v22i
2 2
1
 (1000 kg)(50 m s ) 2  1.25  10 6 J
2
1
KEafter  ( m1  m2 )v 2f
2
1
 ( 2500 kg)( 20 m s ) 2  0.50  10 6 J
2

 K E lo st  0 . 75  10 6 J

lost in heat/”gluing”/sound/…
Elastic Collisions
 Both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved
 Typically have two unknowns

m1v1i  m2 v2 i  m1v1 f  m2 v2 f
1 1 1 1
m1v1i  m2 v2 i  m1v1 f  m2 v22 f
2 2 2

2 2 2 2
 Solve the equations simultaneously
Example 1
A 3 kg rifle which is initially at rest contains a
bullet with a mass of 0.03 kg. The bullet is
fired from the rifle at a speed of 300 m/s to the
right. What is the recoil speed of the rifle?
Quiz:
1. A 2.0 N-force from a certain load stops a 2.0 kg-object
initially moving at 10.0 m/s.

a. Compute for the impulse imparted to the object.

b. What force was applied by the object on the load?

2. (True or False) The momentum of a system may be

conserved even when mechanical energy is not.
3. (True or False) Kinetic energy is conserved in an elastic
collision
4. Consider two less-than-desirable options. In the first you
are driving 30 miles/hr and crash head-on into an identical
car also going 30 miles/hr. In the second option you are
driving 30 mph and crash head-on into a stationary brick
wall. In neither case does your car bounce off the thing it
hits, and the collision time is the same in both cases. Which
of these two situations would result in the greatest impact
force?
A. first
B. second
C. both
D. can not be determined
Example 2
 High-speed stroboscopic photographs show that the head
of a golf club of mass 200 g is traveling at 55.0 m/s just
before it strikes a 46.0-g golf ball at rest on a tee. After the
collision, the club head travels (in the same direction) at
40.0 m/s. Find the speed of the golf ball just after impact.
 Example 3
 In a feat of public
marksmanship, Juzzel fires a
bullet into a hanging target. The
target, with bullet embedded,
swings upward.
 Noting the height reached at the
top of the swing, he
immediately inform the crowd
of the bullet's speed. For
arbitrary masses: m1 (bullet),
m2 (hanging target), and h
(height, top of the swing), how
did he calculate the bullet's
speed? (See Figure above)
Problem solving:Two-Dimensional Collisions
 For a general collision of two objects in three-
dimensional space, the conservation of momentum
principle
m1 v 1 i  m 2 v 2 i  m1 v 1 f  m 2 v 2 f

… implies that the total momentum of the system in

each direction is conserved
m1v1ix  m2 v2 ix  m1v1 fx  m2 v2 fx and
m1v1iy  m2 v2 iy  m1v1 fy  m2 v2 fy
 Use subscripts for identifying the object, initial and final,
and components
Example:

What would happen after

the collision?

Stationary

It is also possible for two bodies to undergo scattering

Example:

Assume: m1=m2 and v1i=5 m/s

What would happen after

the collision?

Stationary

It is also possible for two bodies to undergo scattering

For this problem: assume that q = f = 60°