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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Momentum and impulse


Q.1 In splitting logs with a hammer and wedge, is a heavy hammer more effective than a
lighter hammer? Why?

Q.2 Suppose you catch a baseball and then someone invites you to catch a bowling ball with
either the same momentum or the same kinetic energy as the baseball. Which would you
choose? Explain.

Q.3 When rain falls from the sky, what happens to its momentum as it hits the ground? Is
your answer also valid for Newton’s famous apple?

Q.4 In a completely inelastic collision between two objects, where the objects stick together
after the collision, is it possible for the final kinetic energy of the system to be zero? If so,
give an example in which this would occur. If the final kinetic energy is zero, what must
the initial momentum of the system be? Is the initial kinetic energy of the system zero?
Explain.

Q.5 Since for a particle the kinetic energy is given by K = ½( mv 2) and the momentum by P =
mv, it is easy to show that K = P2/2m. How, then, is it possible to have an event during
which the total momentum of the system is constant but the total kinetic energy changes?

Electric Forces and Electric Fields


Q.6 A glass object is charged to -3 nC by rubbing it with a silk cloth. In the rubbing process,
have protons been added to the object or have electrons been removed from it?

Q.7 Explain from an atomic viewpoint why charge is usually transferred by electrons.

Q.8 When defining the electric field, why is it necessary to specify that the magnitude of the
test charge be very small?

Q.9 Would life be different if the electron were positively charged and the proton were
negatively charged? Does the choice of signs have any bearing on physical and chemical
interactions? Explain.

Q.10 An electron moving horizontally passes between two horizontal plates, the upper charged
negatively, the lower positively. A uniform, upward-directed electric field exists in the
region between the plates, and this field exerts an electric force downward on the
electron. Describe the movement of the electron in this region.

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