Momentum

● Outcomes:

At the end of this activity the learners must be able to:

1 Explain the relationships between mass and velocity with regards to momentum.
2 Formulate 5 questions based on the formula of momentum.

Click on the Momentum sheet to continue.

 Momentum
What makes an object difficult to stop?
● It's: Mass
To determine how the mass of an object influence its momentum, we can investigate the following scenario.
All the people in the list has different weights but run the 100m in exactly the same time. They run 5m/s.

Questions:
1 Janine weighs double the weight of Susan. Is h
Person Mass in kg Velocity (m/s) Momentum Yes No
Susan 30 5 150 2 In light of this: what can you determine of the re
Peter 45 5 225
Janine 60 5 300 3 What is the total when you multiply John's mass
Nora 70 5 350
John 75 5 375 4 Is that the same amount than his momentum?
Stephen 80 5 400 Yes No
David 90 5 450 5 Who has the largest momentum?
Terry 100 5 500
X 6 Can we say that the heavier the object the large
Y Yes No
Fill in the following values into the table:
7 What is momentum of person X that weighs 50k

8 What is the momentum of person Y that weighs

Can you see momentum is not only about mass? The speed (velocity) of the
object also has an influence its momentum.

● It's: Speed
To determine how the velocity of an object influence its momentum, we can investigate the following scenario.
Stephen can run the 100 m at different speeds, ranging from 1 to 8 m/s:

Person Mass in kg Velocity (m/s) Momentum Questions:

Stephen 80 1 80 1 When Stephen runs the 100m at 6 m/s, he runs
Stephen 80 2 160 also double?
Stephen 80 3 240 2 What is the relationship between Stephen's velo
Stephen 80 4 320
Stephen 80 5 400 Fill in the following values into the table:
Stephen 80 6 480 3 Person X has a weight of 100 and runs 2m/s . W
Stephen 80 7 560
Stephen 80 8 640
X Use the illustration below to change the speed o
Y will be when the train is going faster or slower.
You can determine what the speed is:
 1200kg

Momentum is thus directly proportional to both mass and

velocity.
Momentum = mass x velocity
Formula: p=mv

● How will the graph of momentum look?

You will either have mass as the constant value, or speed as the constant value:

Use the spinners to change the constant value and see what the effect is on the graphs

p m v
40 8 5
80 8 10
120 8 15
160 8 20
200 8 25

Mass is constant Veloci

60 30

50 25

40 20

30 15

20 10

10 5

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 0 20 40 60

Describe in your own words what the graphs represent.

● Formula

To calculate momentum you have to multiply mass and velocity --

To calculate mass you have to devide momentum by velocity --
To calculate velocity you have to devide momentum by mass. --
● Task

Create 5 questions (calculations) to ask your fellow students on momentum.

1
2
3
4
5

● References

Wikipedia. (2001). Retrieved 08 21, 2007, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma

 Definition:
"In general, the momentum of an object can be conceptually thought of as how
difficult it is to stop a moving object, as determined by multiplying two factors: its
mass and its velocity. As such, it is a natural consequence of Newton's first and
second laws of motion. Having a lower speed or having less mass (how we
measure inertia) results in having less momentum." (Wikipedia, 2001)

investigate the following scenario.

the same time. They run 5m/s.

eighs double the weight of Susan. Is her momentum also double?

this: what can you determine of the relationship between weight and momentum?

he total when you multiply John's mass with his velocity?

same amount than his momentum?

the largest momentum?

ay that the heavier the object the larger the momentum?

following values into the table:

momentum of person X that weighs 50kg and is lying down?

he momentum of person Y that weighs 150 kg and is sitting still on a chair?

d (velocity) of the

an investigate the following scenario.

phen runs the 100m at 6 m/s, he runs double the speed than at 3 m/s. Is his momentum
Yes No
he relationship between Stephen's velocity and his momentum?

following values into the table:

has a weight of 100 and runs 2m/s . What is his momentum?

ustration below to change the speed of the "train" and see what the momentum
en the train is going faster or slower.
determine what the speed is: 5 m/s Type the speed and press enter
 The momentum is:

6000 kgm/s²

Symbols
Momentum = p
Mass = m
Velocity(speed) = v

p m v
25 5 5
50 10 5
75 15 5
100 20 5
125 25 5

Velocity is constant
30

25

20

15

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

ass and velocity -- p = mv

um by velocity -- m = p/v
ntum by mass. -- v =p/m
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