Physics Unit 1 Research:

Made by: Adham Ibrahim

Moustafa Mohamed
Youssef Bedair

Conservation Of Linear
Momentum
What is Momentum?
In Newtonian mechanics, linear momentum, translational momentum, or
simply momentum (pl. momenta) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is
a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If m is an object's mass and v is its
velocity (also a vector quantity), then the object's momentum is:

P= mass(kg)x Velocity(v)
In SI units, momentum is measured in kilogram meters per second (kgms-1).

What Does it State?

Newton's second law of motion states that a body's rate of change in momentum is equal to the net
force acting on it. Momentum depends on the frame of reference, but in any inertial frame it is
a conserved quantity, meaning that if a closed system is not affected by external forces, its total
linear momentum does not change. Momentum is also conserved in special relativity (with a
modified formula) and, in a modified form, in electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, quantum field
theory, and general relativity. It is an expression of one of the fundamental symmetries of space and
time: translational symmetry.

What is Conservation of Momentum?

For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an isolated system, the total
momentum of the two objects before the collision is equal to the total momentum of the two
objects after the collision. That is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum
gained by object 2.

What is the logic behind Momentum Conservation?

 Consider a collision between two objects - object 1 and object 2. For such a collision,
the forces acting between the two objects are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction (Newton's third law). This statement can be expressed in equation form as
follows.

The forces act between the two objects for a given amount of time. In some cases, the
time is long; in other cases the time is short. Regardless of how long the time is, it can
be said that the time that the force acts upon object 1 is equal to the time that the
force acts upon object 2. This is merely logical. Forces result from interactions (or
contact) between two objects. If object 1 contacts object 2 for 0.050 seconds, then
object 2 must be contacting object 1 for the same amount of time (0.050 seconds). As
an equation, this can be stated as

Since the forces between the two objects are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction, and since the times for which these forces act are equal in magnitude, it
follows that the impulses experienced by the two objects are also equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction. As an equation, this can be stated as

But the impulse experienced by an object is equal to the change in momentum of that

object (the impulse-momentum change theorem). Thus, since each object experiences
equal and opposite impulses, it follows logically that they must also experience equal
and opposite momentum changes. As an equation, this can be stated as
The Law of Momentum Conservation
The above equation is one statement of the law of momentum conservation. In a collision, the
momentum changes of object 1 is equal to and opposite of the momentum change of object 2.
That is, the momentum lost by object 1 is equal to the momentum gained by object 2. In most
collisions between two objects, one object slows down and loses momentum while the other
object speeds up and gains momentum. If object 1 loses 75 units of momentum, then object 2
gains 75 units of momentum. Yet, the total momentum of the two objects (object 1 plus object
2) is the same before the collision as it is after the collision. The total momentum of the
system (the collection of two objects) is conserved.

Collisions
For any collision occurring
in an isolated system,
momentum is conserved.
The total amount of
momentum of the
collection of objects in the
system is the same before the collision as after the collision. A common physics lab
involves the dropping of a brick upon a cart in motion.

The dropped brick is at rest and begins with zero momentum. The loaded cart (a cart
with a brick on it) is in motion with considerable momentum. The actual momentum of
the loaded cart can be determined using the velocity (often determined by a ticker tape
analysis) and the mass. The total amount of momentum is the sum of the dropped
brick's momentum (0 units) and the loaded cart's momentum. After the collision, the
momenta of the two separate objects (dropped brick and loaded cart) can be
determined from their measured mass and their velocity (often found from a ticker tape
analysis). If momentum is conserved during the collision, then the sum of the dropped
brick's and loaded cart's momentum after the collision should be the same as before the
collision. The momentum lost by the loaded cart should equal (or approximately equal)
the momentum gained by the dropped brick. Momentum data for the interaction
between the dropped brick and the loaded cart could be depicted in a table similar to
the money table above.
 
Before Collision  After Collision Change in
 
Momentum Momentum Momentum
Dropped Brick 0 units 14 units +14 units
Loaded Cart 45 units 31 units -14 units
Total 45 units 45 units  
Note: that the loaded cart lost 14 units of momentum and the dropped brick gained
14 units of momentum. Note also that the total momentum of the system (45 units)
was the same before the collision as it was after the collision.

When do they usually occur?

Collisions commonly occur in contact sports (such as football) and racket and bat sports
(such as baseball, golf, tennis, etc.). Consider a collision in football between a fullback
and a linebacker during a goal-line stand. The fullback plunges across the goal line and
collides in midair with the linebacker. The linebacker and fullback hold each other and
travel together after the collision. The fullback possesses a momentum of 100 kg*m/s,
East before the collision and the linebacker possesses a momentum of 120 kg*m/s,
West before the collision. The total momentum of the system before the collision is 20
kg*m/s, West (review the section on adding vectors if necessary). Therefore, the total
momentum of the system after the collision must also be 20 kg*m/s, West. The fullback
and the linebacker move together as a single unit after the collision with a combined
momentum of 20 kg*m/s. Momentum is conserved in the collision. A vector
diagram can be used to represent this principle of momentum conservation; such a
diagram uses an arrow to represent the magnitude and direction of the momentum
vector for the individual objects before the collision and the combined momentum after
the collision.
.

 
Now suppose that a medicine ball is thrown to a clown who is at rest upon the ice; the
clown catches the medicine ball and glides together with the ball across the ice. The
momentum of the medicine ball is 80 kg*m/s before the collision. The momentum of
the clown is 0 m/s before the collision. The total momentum of the system before the
collision is 80 kg*m/s. Therefore, the total momentum of the system after the collision
must also be 80 kg*m/s. The clown and the medicine ball move together as a single
unit after the collision with a combined momentum of 80 kg*m/s. Momentum is
conserved in the collision.
 
Momentum is conserved for any interaction between two objects occurring in an
isolated system. This conservation of momentum can be observed by a total system
momentum analysis or by a momentum change analysis. Useful means of representing
such analyses include a momentum table and a vector diagram. Later in Lesson 2, we
will use the momentum conservation principle to solve problems in which the after-
collision velocity of objects is predicted.

Newton’s Third Law

The third law states that all forces between two objects exist in equal magnitude and opposite
direction: if one object A exerts a force FA on a second object B, then B simultaneously exerts a
force FB on A, and the two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction: FA = −FB.The third
law means that all forces are interactions between different bodies, or different regions within one
body, and thus that there is no such thing as a force that is not accompanied by an equal and
opposite force. In some situations, the magnitude and direction of the forces are determined entirely
by one of the two bodies, say Body A; the force exerted by Body A on Body B is called the "action",
and the force exerted by Body B on Body A is called the "reaction". This law is sometimes referred to
as the action-reaction law, with FA called the "action" and FB the "reaction". In other situations, the
magnitude and directions of the forces are determined jointly by both bodies and it isn't necessary to
identify one force as the "action" and the other as the "reaction". The action and the reaction are
simultaneous, and it does not matter which is called the action and which is called reaction; both
forces are part of a single interaction, and neither force exists without the other.
The two forces in Newton's third law are of the same type (e.g., if the road exerts a forward frictional
force on an accelerating car's tires, then it is also a frictional force that Newton's third law predicts for
the tires pushing backward on the road).
From a conceptual standpoint, Newton's third law is seen when a person walks: they push against
the floor, and the floor pushes against the person. Similarly, the tires of a car push against the road
while the road pushes back on the tires—the tires and road simultaneously push against each other.
In swimming, a person interacts with the water, pushing the water backward, while the water
simultaneously pushes the person forward—both the person and the water push against each other.
The reaction forces account for the motion in these examples. These forces depend on friction; a
person or car on ice, for example, may be unable to exert the action force to produce the needed
reaction force.
Newton used the third law to derive the law of momentum; from a deeper perspective, however,
conservation of momentum is the more fundamental idea (derived via Noether's
theorem from Galilean invariance), and holds in cases where Newton's third law appears to fail, for
instance when force fields as well as particles carry momentum, and in quantum mechanics.

Momentum Conservation in Explosions

.

 
 

Momentum conservation is often demonstrated in a Physics class with a homemade

cannon demonstration. A homemade cannon is placed upon a cart and loaded with a
tennis ball. The cannon is equipped with a reaction chamber into which a small amount
of fuel is inserted. The fuel is ignited, setting off an explosion that propels the tennis
ball through the muzzle of the cannon. The impulse of the explosion changes the
momentum of the tennis ball as it exits the muzzle at high speed. The cannon
experienced the same impulse, changing its momentum from zero to a final value as it
recoils backwards. Due to the relatively larger mass of the cannon, its backwards recoil
speed is considerably less than the forward speed of the tennis ball.

In the exploding cannon demonstration, total system momentum is conserved. The

system consists of two objects - a cannon and a tennis ball. Before the explosion, the
total momentum of the system is zero since the cannon and the tennis ball located
inside of it are both at rest. After the explosion, the total momentum of the system
must still be zero. If the ball acquires 50 units of forward momentum, then the cannon
acquires 50 units of backwards momentum. The vector sum of the individual momenta
of the two objects is 0. Total system momentum is conserved.
 

As another demonstration of momentum conservation, consider two low-friction carts at

rest on a track. The system consists of the two individual carts initially at rest. The total
momentum of the system is zero before the explosion. One of the carts is equipped
with a spring-loaded plunger that can be released by tapping on a small pin. The spring
is compressed and the carts are placed next to each other. The pin is tapped, the
plunger is released, and an explosion-like impulse sets both carts in motion along the
track in opposite directions. One cart acquires a rightward momentum while the other
cart acquires a leftward momentum. If 20 units of forward momentum are acquired by
the rightward-moving cart, then 20 units of backwards momentum is acquired by the
leftward-moving cart. The vector sum of the momentum of the individual carts is 0
units. Total system momentum is conserved.

Equal and Opposite Momentum Changes

Just like in collisions, the two objects involved encounter the same force for the same
amount of time directed in opposite directions. This results in impulses that are equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction. And since an impulse causes and is equal to a
change in momentum, both carts encounter momentum changes that are equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction. If the exploding system includes two objects or
two parts, this principle can be stated in the form of an equation as:

If the masses of the two objects are equal, then their post-explosion velocity will be
equal in magnitude (assuming the system is initially at rest). If the masses of the two
objects are unequal, then they will be set in motion by the explosion with different
speeds. Yet even if the masses of the two objects are different, the momentum change
of the two objects (mass • velocity change) will be equal in magnitude.
The diagram below depicts a variety of situations involving explosion-like impulses
acting between two carts on a low-friction track. The mass of the carts is different in
each situation. In each situation, total system momentum is conserved as the
momentum change of one cart is equal and opposite the momentum change of the
other cart.

 
In each of the above situations, the impulse on the carts is the same - a value of 20
kg•cm/s (or cN•s). Since the same spring is used, the same impulse is delivered. Thus,
each cart encounters the same momentum change in every situation - a value of 20
kg•cm/s. For the same momentum change, an object with twice the mass will
encounter one-half the velocity change. And an object with four times the mass will
encounter one-fourth the velocity change.