Force: Momentum & Impulse – Part 1 (Lesson 6)

 Understand the concepts of momentum and impulse

 Recall and use the equation momentum = mass × velocity, p = mv
 Recall and use the equation for impulse Ft = mv – mu

MOMENTUM

Any object which is moving will have momentum.

Momentum is defined as the product of mass and velocity.

p=mxv
p: momentum (kg m/s or N/s)
m: mass (kg)
v: velocity (m/s)

Since velocity is a vector quantity, momentum is also a vector quantity, i.e.

it has direction.

v = 1 m/s v = - 2 m/s

mass = 2 kg mass = 0.5 kg

A B

For A, it is moving to the right and we can assume the positive direction is
to the right so its velocity is 1 m/s. For B, as it is moving in the opposite
direction (i.e. to the left) its velocity will be – 2/ms.

Also, we can also deduce that:

 The bigger the mass, the bigger the momentum.
 The faster the velocity, the bigger the momentum.
Question 1

Calculate the momentum of a 1.60 x 103 kg car traveling at 20.0 m/s.

Question 2

How fast is a 1.50 kg ball moving if it has a momentum of 4.50 kg.m/s?

IMPULSE

When a moving object changes its velocity, it experiences an impulse.

Impulse is defined as the change of momentum.

𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆 = 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎

𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆 = 𝒎𝒗 − 𝒎𝒖

𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆 = 𝒎(𝒗 − 𝒖)

m: mass (kg)
v: final velocity (m/s)
u: initial velocity (m/s)

The unit for impulse is “kg m/s” or “Ns” (unit for impulse and momentum
is the same)

Note: there is no symbol for impulse. It will be written as impulse in the

formula.

Question 3

A 1200 kg car traveling at 20.0 m/s speeds up to 30.0 m/s. What is the
impulse experienced by the car?
Question 4

A 1500 kg car accelerates from 55.0 km/h to 90.0 km/h. Calculate the
impulse experienced by the car.
(hint: change the velocity to m/s first)

Question 5

A tennis ball of mass 0.11 kg travelling at 40 m s-1 hits a wall head on and
bounces off, returning along the same path at 30 m s-1. Calculate the
impulse on the tennis ball.
(hint: when the object changes direction, the velocity will be negative)

Impulse is also the product of force and the time in which the change in
momentum (or velocity) occurs.

For example, if a moving object changes its velocity in 4 seconds, due to an

external force of 3 N acting on it. We can calculate impulse by

𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 = 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑥 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 = 𝐹𝑡

𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 = 3 × 4 = 12 𝑚/𝑠

Hence, there are two formulas to calculate impulse.

Question 6

A football is kicked by a boy with a force of 4.5 N over a period of 0.02

seconds. Calculate the impulse of the ball.