MOMENTUM
NUMERICAL PROBLEMS
1. What is the momentum in kg m/s of a 10 kg truck travelling at
a. 20 cm/s
b. 36 km/h
2. An ostrich with a mass of 146 kg is running to the right with a
velocity of 17 m/s. Find the momentum of the ostrich.
IMPULSE
1. What is the braking force needed to bring a 2200 kg car going 18
m/s to rest in 6.0 seconds?
2. A 0.5 kg football is thrown with a velocity of 15 m/s to the right.
A stationary receiver catches the ball and brings it to rest in
0.02s. What is the force exerted by the receiver?
3. A 1400 kg car moving westward with a velocity of 15 m/s collides
with a utility pole and is brought to rest in 0.3 s. Find the magnitude
of the force exerted on the car during collision.
4. A 2.5 kg ball strikes a wall with a velocity of 8.5 m/s to the left. The
ball bounces off with a velocity of 7.5 m/s to the right. If the ball is
in contact with the wall for 0.25 s, what is the constant force exerted
on the ball by the wall?
5. A 2250 kg car travelling to the west is slowed down uniformly from
20 m/s to 5 m/s in 4 s. What force acted on the car during this time?
6. A 2200 kg vehicle travelling at 94 km/h (26 m/s) can be stopped in
21 s by gently applying the brakes. It can be stopped in 3.8 s if the
driver slams on the brakes, or in 0.22 s if it hits a concrete wall.
What force is exerted on the vehicle in each of these stops?
7. A driver accelerates a 240-kg snowmobile which results in a force
being exerted that speeds up the snowmobile from 6 m/s to 28 m/s
over a time interval of 60 s. What is the magnitude of the force that
is exerted on the snowmobile?
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
1. A 76 kg boater, initially at rest in a stationary 45 kg boat, steps
out of the boat and onto the dock. If the boater moves out of
the boat with velocity of 2.5 m/s to the right, what is the final
velocity of the boat?
2. A 63 kg astronaut is on a spacewalk when the tether line to the
shuttle breaks. The astronaut is able to throw a 10 kg oxygen
tank in a direction away from the shuttle with a speed of 12
m/s, propelling the astronaut back to the shuttle. Assuming that
the astronaut starts from rest, find the final speed of the
astronaut after throwing the tank.
3. An 85 kg fisherman jumps from a dock into a 135 kg rowboat
at rest on the west side of the dock. If the velocity of the
fisherman is 4.3 m/s to the west as he leaves the dock, what is
the final velocity of the fisherman and the boat?
4. An astronaut at rest in space fires a thruster pistol to the left
that expels a quick burst of 35 g of hot gas at 875 m/s . The
combined mass of the astronaut and pistol is 84 kg. How fast
and in what direction is the astronaut moving after firing the
pistol?
PERFECTLY INELASTIC COLLISION
1. A 2000 kg limousine going east at 22 m/s strikes a 1200 kg sports
car going west at 30 m/s. How fast are the two cars going together
after the collision?
2. A boy with mass 50 kg running at 5 m/s jumps on to a 20 kg trolley
travelling in the same direction at 1.5 m/s. What is their common
velocity?
3. A truck of mass 500 kg moving at 4 m/s collides with another
truck of mass 1500 kg moving in the same direction at 2 m/s.
What is their common velocity just after the collision if they
move off together?
4. A dry cleaner throws a 22 kg bag of laundry onto a stationary 9.0
kg cart. The cart and laundry begin moving at 3 m/s to the right.
Find the velocity of the laundry bag before the collision?
5. A 1500 kg car is travelling at 15 m/s to the south collides with a
4500 kg truck that is initially at rest at a stoplight. The car and
truck stick together and move together after the collision. What
is the final velocity of the two-vehicle mass?
6. A 1850 kg luxury sedan stopped at a traffic light is
struck from the rear by a compact car with a mass of
975 kg. The two cars become entangled as a result of
the collision. If the compact car was moving at a
velocity of 22 m/s to the north before collision, what is
the velocity of the entangled mass after the collision?
7. A 47.4 kg student runs down the sidewalk and jumps
with a horizontal speed of 4.2 m/s onto a stationary
skateboard. The student and the skateboard move
down the sidewalk with a speed of 3.95 m/s. Find the
mass of the skateboard.
8. A 1250 kg car moving east at 10 m/s collides with a 3250
kg car moving east. The cars stick together and move
east as a unit after the collision at a velocity of 5.22
m/s. Find the velocity of the 3250 kg car before the
collision.
CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS
1. In terms of momentum and impulse, why do air bags
in cars reduce the chances of injury in accidents?
2. Why do gymnasts use floor-mats that are very thick?
3. If you throw an egg against a wall you’ll break it, but
if you throw it with the same speed into a sagging
sheet it won’t break. Explain.
4. In a movie, the hero jumps straight down from a
bridge onto a small boat that continues to move with
no change in velocity. What principle of physics is
violated here?
5. Why is it difficult for a firefighter to hold a hose that
ejects large amounts of water at a high speed?
ELASTIC COLLISIONS
1. A 0.015 kg marble moving to the right at 0.225 m/s makes an elastic head-on
collision with a 0.03 kg marble moving the left at 0.18 m/s. After the
collision, the smaller marble moves to the left at 0.315 m/s. What is the
velocity of the 0.03 kg marble after the collision?
2. On an air track, a 0.4 kg mass m1 moves at 3 m/s in the positive direction. It
approaches a stationary mass m2 of 0.8 kg. They collide and after the
collision, the velocity of mass m2 is 2 m/s in the positive direction. What is
the velocity of the first mass after the collision?
3. A ball of mass of 25 kg and speed 5m/s collides head-on with a ball of mass of
75 kg which is at rest. If the collision is elastic, what are the final velocities?
4. A 16.0 kg canoe moving to the left at 12 m/s makes an elastic head-on collision
with a 4.0 kg raft moving to the right at 6 m/s. After the collision, the raft
moves to the left at 22.7 m/s. Find the velocity of the canoe after the
collision.
5. A 4 kg bowling ball moving to the right at 8 m/s has an elastic head-on collision
with another 4 kg bowling ball initially at rest. The first ball stops after the
collision. Find the velocity of the second ball after the collision.
A 0.060 kg ball, moving at +2.50
m/s, collides head-on with a 0.090
kg ball initially moving away from it
at a speed of +1.15 m/s. What are
the velocities of each ball after the
collision ?
ELASTIC COLLISIONS IN TWO
DIMENSIONS
A 0.250-kg object (m1) is slid on a frictionless surface into a
dark room, where it strikes an initially stationary object with
mass of 0.400 kg (m2). The 0.250-kg object emerges from the
room at an angle of 45.0º with its incoming direction.
The speed of the 0.250-kg object is originally 2.00 m/s and is
1.50 m/s after the collision. Calculate the magnitude and
direction of the velocity (v′2 and θ2) of the 0.400-kg object after
the collision.
