Activity

Investigating Momentum
Objective:
a. Identify the factors that affect momentum.

b. Perform mathematical computation in solving problems about momentum.

Materials Needed:
Board or plank (at least 1.0 m long), books, ruler/meterstick, toy cars/trucks, marker, timer

Procedure:
Part A. What’s my Momentum?
1. Place car no.1 about 10cm/0.10m from the foot of the inclined plane. Mark it letter A as its initial position.
2. Position the small toy car at cm./0. m. Mark and record the time it takes for the toy car to move down the incline plane
and hit car no.1.

3. Measure how far car no.1 moved. Record this as the stopping distance.

Table 1: Stopping Distance of the Toy Car

Initial distance(m) Total distance Stopping distance
travelled (m)

Small toy car

Big toy car

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 using big toy car and position it at 20cm/0.20m

Guide Questions:
Q1. How will you compare their stopping distances?
____________________________________________________________________________

Q2. Did the two toy vehicles immediately stop as they hit car no.1?
____________________________________________________________________________

Q3. Which has a greater stopping distance? lesser?

____________________________________________________________________________

Q4. Which is easier to stop?

____________________________________________________________________________

Q5. If momentum is a measure of how difficult it is to stop a moving object, which of the two vehicles had a greater
momentum?
___________________________________________________________________________________
Part B: Keeping up our Momentum!

Total distance Time(s) Velocity (m/s) Mass (kg) Momentum

travelled (m) (kg m/s)

Small toy car

Big toy car

Solution:
Velocity: V= d/t Momentum:p=mv
Vsmall toy car= psmall toy car=

VBig toy car= pbig toy car=

Guide Questions:
Q1. How do you find the momentum of an object?_____________________________________________

Q2. What is the unit used for momentum?___________________________________________________

Q3. Which toy car has higher momentum?

______________________________________________________________________________________

Q4. What factor causes it to have higher momentum than the other toy car?
___________________________________________________________________________________
 Activity
Investigating Momentum

Objective:
a. Identify the factors that affect momentum.

b. Perform mathematical computation in solving problems about momentum.

Materials Needed:
Board or plank (at least 1.0 m long), books, ruler/meterstick, toy cars/trucks, marker, timer

Procedure:
Part A. What’s my Momentum!
1. Place car no.1 about 10cm/0.10m from the foot of the inclined plane. Mark it letter A as its initial position.
2. Position the toy car at 20cm/0.20m. Mark and record the time it takes for the toy car to move down the incline
plane and hit car no.1.

3. Measure how far car no.1 moved. Record this as the stopping distance.

Table 1: Stopping Distance of the Toy Car

Initial distance(m) Total distance Stopping distance

travelled (m)

0.20m

0.40m

0.60m

0.80m

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 while varying only the initial distance for 40 cm/0.40m, 60cm/0.60m, 80 cm/0.80m,
Guide Questions:
Q1. How will you compare their stopping distances?
____________________________________________________________________________

Q2. Did the toy car immediately stop as it hit car no.1?
____________________________________________________________________________

Q3. At what initial distance does the toy car has the greatest stopping distance? least?
____________________________________________________________________________

Q4. At what initial distance it is easiest to stop?

____________________________________________________________________________

Q4. If momentum is a measure of how difficult it is to stop a moving object, at what initial distance does it has the
greatest momentum?
___________________________________________________________________________________

Part B: Keeping up our Momentum!

Initial distance (m) Total distance Time(s) Velocity (m/s) Mass (kg) Momentum
travelled (m) (Kg m/s)

0.20m

0.40m

0.60m

0.80m

Solution:
Velocity: V= d/t Momentum:p=mv
V= p=

V= p=

V= p=

V= p=

Guide Questions:
Q1. How do you find the momentum of an object?_____________________________________________

Q2. What is the unit used for momentum?___________________________________________________

Q3. At what initial distance does it has the highest momentum?

______________________________________________________________________________________

Q4. What factor causes it to have the highest momentum?

___________________________________________________________________________________