Momentum

 An object with mass that is in motion has momentum which is defined by the equation:

momentum = mass × velocity

p = mv

 Where:
o p = momentum in kilogram metre per second (kg m/s)
o m = mass in kilograms (kg)
o v = velocity in metres per second (m/s)

 This means that an object at rest (i.e v = 0) has no momentum

 Momentum keeps an object moving in the same direction, making it difficult to change
the direction of an object with a large momentum

 Since velocity is a vector this means that the momentum of an object also depends on
its direction of travel
 This means that momentum can be either positive or negative
o If an object travelling to the right has positive momentum, an object travelling in
the opposite direction (to the left) will have negative momentum

The tennis ball's momentum is negative when it moves in the opposite direction to which it
initially was travelling in

 Therefore, the momentum of an object will change if:

o The object accelerates (speeds up) or decelerates (slows down)
o Changes direction
o Its mass changes
Worked example

Which object has the most momentum?

 Both the tennis ball and the brick have the same momentum
 Even though the brick is much heavier than the ball, the ball is travelling much faster
than the brick
 This means that on impact, they would both exert a similar force (depending on the time
it takes for each to come to rest)

Tip

You can remember momentum as mass in motion. The units of momentum are kg m/s which is
the product of the units of mass (kg) and velocity (m/s).

Which direction is taken as positive is completely up to you in the exam. In general, the right and
upwards are taken as positive, and down or to the left as negative.
 Conservation of Momentum
 The principle of conservation of momentum states that:

In a closed system, the total momentum before an event is equal to the total momentum
after the event

 A closed system means the energy within the system is constant and there is an absence
of external forces (e.g. friction)
 In other words:

The total momentum before a collision = The total momentum after a collision

 A system is a certain number of objects under consideration

o This can be just one object or multiple objects

 Since momentum is a vector quantity, a system of objects moving in opposite directions

(e.g. towards each other) at the same speed will have an overall momentum of 0 since
they will cancel out
o Momentum is always conserved over time

 The diagram below shows two masses m with velocity u and M at rest (ie. zero velocity)

The momentum of a system before and after a collision

 Before the collision:

o The momentum is only of mass m which is moving
o If the right is taken as the positive direction, the total momentum of the system
is m × u

 After the collision:

o Mass M also now has momentum
o The velocity of m is now -v (since it is now travelling to the left) and the velocity
of M is V
o The total momentum is now the momentum of M + momentum of m
o This is (M × V) + (m × -v) or (M × V) – (m × v)
Worked example

The diagram shows a car and a van, just before and just after the car collided with the van, which
is initially at rest.

Use the idea of conservation of momentum to calculate the velocity of the van when it is pushed
forward by the collision.

Solution:
Tip

If it is not given in the question already, drawing a diagram of before and after helps keep track
of all the masses and velocities (and directions) in the conversation of momentum questions.

Impulse
 When a resultant (unbalanced) force acts on a mass, the momentum of that
mass will change
 The impulse of a force is equal to that force multiplied by the time for which it
acts:

impulse = force × change in time

impulse = FΔt

 The change in momentum of a mass is equal to the impulse provided by the

force:

impulse = change in momentum

impulse = FΔt = Δp
  Change in momentum can also be described as:

Δp = Δ(mv)

Δp = mv − mu

 Where:
o m = mass in kg
o v = final velocity in m/s
o u = initial velocity in m/s

 Therefore:

impulse = FΔt = Δp = mv − mu

 An example in everyday life of impulse is when standing under an umbrella when

it is raining, compared to hail (frozen water droplets)
o When rain hits an umbrella, the water droplets tend to splatter and fall off it
and there is only a very small change in momentum
o However, hailstones have a larger mass and tend to bounce back off the
umbrella, creating a greater change in momentum
o Therefore, the impulse on an umbrella is greater in hail than in rain
o This means that more force is required to hold an umbrella upright in hail
compared to rain

Since hailstones bounce back off an umbrella, compared to water droplets from
rain, there is a greater impulse on an umbrella in hail than in rain
Example

A 58 g tennis ball moving horizontally to the left at a speed of 30 m s–1 is struck by a

tennis racket which returns the ball back to the right at 20 m s–1.

(i) Calculate the impulse delivered to the ball by the racket

(ii) State which direction the impulse is in

Solution:

(i) Step 1: Write the known quantities


o Taking the initial direction of the ball as positive (the left)
o Initial velocity, u = 30 m s–1
o Final velocity, v = –20 m s–1
o Mass, m = 58 g = 58 × 10–3 kg

Step 2: Write down the impulse equation

Impulse I = Δp = m(v – u)

Step 3: Substitute in the values

I = (58 × 10–3) × (–20 – 30) = –2.9 N s

(ii) Direction of the impulse


o Since the impulse is negative, it must be in the opposite direction to which
the tennis ball was initial travelling (since the left is taken as positive)
o Therefore, the direction of the impulse is to the right

Exam Tip

Remember that if an object changes direction, then this must be reflected by the change
in sign of the velocity. As long as the magnitude is correct, the final sign for the impulse
doesn't matter as long as it is consistent with which way you have considered positive
(and negative). For example, if the left is taken as positive and therefore the right as
negative, an impulse of 20 N s to the right is equal to -20 N s
 Force & Momentum
 Force can also be defined as the rate of change of momentum on a body
 The change in momentum is defined as the final momentum minus the initial
momentum
 These can be expressed as follows:

 When a force acts on an object that is moving, or able to move, the object will
accelerate (or decelerate)
o This causes a change in momentum

 Δt is the change in time, or the time taken for the force to change
 Where the change in momentum is defined as

Final momentum – Initial momentum

 Force and momentum are vectors so they can be either positive or negative
values
Example

A tennis ball hits a racket with a change in momentum of 0.5 kg m/s.For the different
contact times, which tennis racket experiences more force from the tennis ball?

Tip: Remember ‘rate of change’ describes how one variable changes with respect to
anotherIn maths, how fast something changes with time is represented as dividing
by Δt (e.g. acceleration is the rate of change in velocity)More specifically, Δt is used for
finite and quantifiable changes such as the difference in time between two events

Newton's Third Law in Collisions

 When one object exerts a force on another object, the second object will exert an equal
force on the first object in the opposite direction
 When two objects collide, both objects will react, generally causing one object to speed
up (gain momentum) and the other object to slow down (lose momentum)
 Newton's third law can be applied to collisions

 Consider the collision between two trolleys, A and B:

o When trolley A exerts a force on trolley B, trolley B will exert an equal
force on trolley A in the opposite direction
 In this case:

FB–A = –FA–B

 While the forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, the
accelerations of the objects are not necessarily equal in magnitude
 From Newton's second law, acceleration depends upon both force and mass, this
means:
o For objects of equal mass, they will have equal accelerations
o For objects of unequal mass, they will have unequal accelerations
Tip

Remember that pairs of equal and opposite forces in Newton's third law act on two
different objects. It's a really common mistake to confuse Newton's third law with
Newton's first law, so applying this check will help you distinguish between them.
Newton's first law involves forces acting on a single object. These differences are
shown in Scenario 1 (Newton's first law) vs. Scenario 2 (Newton's third law)
 Momentum & Safety Features
 Since force is equal to the rate of change in momentum, the force of an impact in
a vehicle collision can be decreased by increasing the contact time over which
the collision occurs
o The contact time is the time in which the person is in contact with what
they have collided with
 Therefore, safety features are created to reduce the impact of a force, such as in:
o Vehicles
o Playgrounds
o Bicycle helmets
o Gymnasium crashmats

Vehicles

 Vehicle safety features are designed to absorb energy upon an impact by

changing shape
 The main vehicle safety features are crumple zones, seat belts and airbags
o For a given force upon impact, these absorb the energy from the impact
and increase the time over which the force takes place
o This, in turn, increases the time taken for the change in momentum of the
passenger and the vehicle to come to rest
o The increased time reduces the force and risk of injury on a passenger

 The usefulness of safety equipment depends on two main

factors: mass and velocity
 If the impact is from a large mass, for example, a truck travelling very fast and
colliding with a wall, the momentum will be very large
o The change in momentum (ie. from a high speed to rest) will also be very
large
o This means that a very long contact time is needed to reduce the force of
impact
 The seat belt, airbag and crumple zones help reduce the risk of injury on a
passenger

 Seat belts
o These are designed to stop a passenger from colliding with the interior of
a vehicle by keeping them fixed to their seat in an abrupt stop
o They are designed to stretch slightly to increase the time for the
passenger’s momentum to reach zero and reduce the force on them in a
collision
 Airbags
o These are deployed at the front on the dashboard and steering wheel
when a collision occurs
o They act as a soft cushion to prevent injury on the passenger when they
are thrown forward upon impact
 Crumple zones
o These are designed into the exterior of vehicles
o They are at the front and back and are designed to crush or crumple in a
controlled way in a collision
o This is why vehicles after a collision look more heavily damaged than
expected, even for relatively small collisions
o The crumple zones increase the time over which the vehicle comes to
rest, lowering the impact force on the passengers

Crash Mats

 Crash mats used in gymnasiums help reduce the risk of injury for falls in
gymnastics and climbing
o They are thick and soft to offer shock absorption of the force created by
the person landing on the mat
 When a person lands on a crash mat with a large force, for example after
jumping, the soft landing means their body is in contact with the mat for a longer
period of time than if it was otherwise not there
  This increases the contact time over which their momentum is reduced creating
a smaller impact force and a lower chance of injury

A bouldering mat is a type of crash mat used to reduce the chance of injury in
falls whilst climbing

 In a similar way, playgrounds utilise cushioned surfaces as children will often fall
onto these with a large force
o The cushioned surface reduces the risk of a severe injury by increasing
their contact time with the ground
 Meanwhile, a child in a gymnasium can use a thinner crash mat than an adult
due to having a lower mass
 This is the same for activities where a person/adult will fall with a low velocity
such as falling from lower heights
o Therefore, thin crash mats are suitable for low-impact activities
 Safety features are intended to reduce the chance of serious injury but do not
completely prevent it in all cases
Example exam question

Trolley A of mass 0.80 kg collides head-on with stationary trolley B at a velocity of 3.0
ms-1.Trolley B has twice the mass of trolley A.The trolleys stick together. Using the
conservation of momentum, calculate the common velocity of both trolleys after the
collision. Determine whether this is an elastic or inelastic collision.
 To find out whether a collision is elastic or inelastic, compare the kinetic energy
before and after the collision
o If the kinetic energy is conserved, it is an elastic collision
o If the kinetic energy is not conserved, it is an inelastic collision

 Elastic collisions are commonly those where objects colliding do not stick
together and then move in opposite directions
 Also, in Elastic collisions, relative speed of approach before is equal to relative
speed of separation after the collision.
 Inelastic collision are where objects collide and stick together after the collision
 Also, in Inelastic collisions, relative speed of approach before is not equal to
relative speed of separation after the collision.

Elastic Collisions
 When two objects collide, they may spring apart retaining all of their kinetic energy. This
is a perfect elastic collision
 An elastic collision is one where kinetic energy is conserved

Equation for kinetic energy

 Since kinetic energy depends on the speed of an object, in a perfectly elastic collision
(head-on approach) the relative speed of approach = the relative speed of separation
Example

Two similar spheres, each of mass m and velocity v are travelling towards each other. The
spheres have a head-on collision. What is the total kinetic energy after the impact?

Tip

Despite velocity being a vector, kinetic energy is a scalar quantity and therefore will never
include a minus sign. This is because in the kinetic energy formula, mass is scalar and the v2 will
always give a positive value whether its a negative or positive velocity

Inelastic Collisions
 Whilst the momentum of a system is always conserved in interactions between objects,
kinetic energy may not always be
 An inelastic collision is one where kinetic energy is not conserved

Equation for kinetic energy

  The kinetic energy is transferred into other forms of energy such as a heat or sound
 Inelastic collisions can be when two objects collide and they crumple and deform. Their
kinetic energy may also disappear completely as they come to a halt
 A perfectly inelastic collision is when two objects stick together after collision, as shown
in the example below

Example

Two trolleys X and Y are of equal mass. Trolley X moves towards trolley Y which is initially
stationary. After the collision, the trolleys join and move off together. Prove that this collision is
inelastic.

Tip

Although kinetic energy may not always being conserved, remember momentum will always be
conserved.