Momentum Defined

Momentum is defined by the equation:

momentum = mass × velocity
p=m×v
(Where p stands for momentum)

Momentum is defined as the product of mass and velocity

The units of momentum are kg m/s (the units of mass multiplied by the units of velocity).

Momentum is a vector quantity: it has direction as well as magnitude

This means that momentum can be negative as well as positive:

If an object travelling to the right has positive momentum, an object travelling in the opposite direction
(to the left) will have negative momentum.

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 The Conservation of Momentum
In the absence of external forces (such as friction), the total momentum of a system remains the
same.
This means that in a collision, the sum of the momentums before the collision will be the same as the
sum of momentums after the collision.

Diagram showing the total momentum of a system before and after a collision
• In the above diagram the total momentum before and the total momentum after must be equal:

𝑚∗𝑢 =𝑀∗𝑉−𝑚∗𝑣
• Note that because the red ball is travelling to the left after the collision, its momentum will be
negative – hence the minus sign in the above equation

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