Momentum & collisions

Momentum
A moving object has momentum
Momentum is the product of the mass and the
velocity of the object
Momentum is a vector and has the same
direction as the velocity vector

 
p  mv
SI unit of momentum is kgm/s
 Concept check !
 Two cars are moving at the same speed , but in
opposite directions. Do the two cars have the same
momentum ?

 Which of the following has the greatest momentum ?

 a 200g bullet moving at 600 m/s
 A 120 lb person walking at 4.5 m/s
 A 1200 kg car moving at 35 mi/h
 A freight train of mass 107 kg moving at 1.5 m/s
 Concept check !
Two cars are moving at the same speed , but in
opposite directions. Do the two cars have the same
momentum ?
No,the momentum vectors are not in the same
direction
Which of the following has the greatest momentum ?
a 200g bullet moving at 600 m/s
A 120 lb person walking at 4.5 m/s
A 1200 kg car moving at 35 mi/h
A freight train of mass 107 kg moving at 1.5 m/s
 Force and momentum
A force acting on an object changes its
momentum
Force = rate of change of momentum

 p
F
t

This is the original and the most general form of

Newton’s II law.
If the mass of the system stays constant, then
p mv
F   ma
t t
 Concept check !
How much force do you require to produce a
momentum change of 45.0 kgm/s in a time of 5.0s?

p 45
F   9.0 N
t 5.0
If the same momentum change has to occur faster in a
time of 0.1 s , how much force should you provide ?

p 45.0
F   450 N
t 01
.
 Impulse on the car
Mass of the car = 200 kg

The impulse on the car by the wall is the change in

momentum of the car.
Impulse = ∆p
= 200(-15.0) – 200(2.60)
= - 3520 kgm/s
 Impulse- change in momentum
theorem

Impulse = f.∆t = ∆p
 Impulse
 Impulse is defined as the product of force and time
 It is also measured as the change in momentum in the
time interval the force acts.

Impulse = force x time= change in momentum

 Concept check !
To escape from a horrible fire,
two people are forced to jump
from the third story of a burning
building on to solid concrete.
Which person is more likely to
sustain serious injuries: the
jumper who comes to an
abrupt halt when he lands or
the jumper who bounces after
impact?
 Concept check !
 To escape from a horrible fire, two people are
forced to jump from the third story of a burning
building on to solid concrete. Which person is
more likely to sustain serious injuries: the jumper
who comes to an abrupt halt when he lands or
the jumper who bounces after impact?

The jumper who bounces after impact !

He suffers greater change in momentum therefore greater
impact force
 F x ∆t = ∆p
 For a constant force,
increasing the time interval
over which it acts increases
the change in momentum it
produces.

 When F= constant ,
Follow through to give
∆p as ∆t more momentum

 In a tennis shot or a golf shot ,

prolonging the time of contact
(follow through) results in
imparting a greater change in
momentum to the ball
 F x ∆t = ∆p
For a given ∆p, increasing the time interval
reduces the impact force.
In a crash , the airbag deploys and reduces the
impact force of the driver .In the absence of an
airbag, the driver hits the steering wheel and comes
to a quick stop, whereas on hitting the airbag, the
driver slows gradually to a stop. The airbag deflates
gradually as the driver hits it allowing him to sink
and slow down gradually to a stop.

Boxers roll with the punch i.e,

they move their head in the
direction of punch thus
prolonging the time of contact
and reduce the impact force
 F x ∆t = ∆p
 For a given ∆t , a larger force results in a larger change
in momentum.
 Which of the following cases is the impact force the
largest, assuming the time of contact to be the same in
each case ?
 A tennis ball caught and brought to rest on impact
 A tennis ball hits and rebounds with a lesser speed
 Achange
•The tennisinball hits and
momentum rebounds
is the withit the
largest when samewith
rebounds speed
the
same speed , in which case the impact force is the largest
How does a karate chop work?
Use Impulse- ∆p theorem to explain how a
karate chop works.
How does a karate chop work?
Use Impulse- ∆p theorem to explain how a
karate chop works.

In a karate chop, the demonstrator brings down his hand with a

great speed. If he reduces the time of contact of his hand with the
block , then the change in momentum to zero occurs over a short
time interval increasing the force of impact. (force exerted by the
block on him is equal and opposite to the force exerted by him on
the block). This large force can break the block.
 Conservation of momentum
 When no external force acts on a system , the total
momentum of the system remains the same
 Total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision

 For a system of two masses,

m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1f + m2v2f

 Recoil of a gun
When a bullet is fired from a gun, the gun recoils a little.
Pgun(i) + pbullet(i) = pgun(f)
+ p bullet(f)
0 + 0 = pgun(f) +
p bullet(f)
pgun(f) = - p bullet(f)

Mg V g = - Mb Vb
The mass of the gun being very large in comparison to the mass
of the bullet, the recoil velocity of the gun is small compared to
the velocity of the bullet.
 Concept check !
 . An inventor has asked an Olympic biathlon
team to test his new rifles during the target
shooting segment of the event. The new 0.75
kg guns shoot 25.0 g bullets at 615 m/s. The
team’s coach has hired you to advise him
about how these guns could affect the biathlet
e’s accuracy. Use momentum conservation
principles to explain your answer supporting it
with numerical figures.
 Concept check !
 . An inventor has asked an Olympic biathlon
team to test his new rifles during the target
shooting segment of the event. The new 0.75 kg
guns shoot 25.0 g bullets at 615 m/s. The team’s
coach has hired you to advise him about how
these guns could affect the biathlete’s accuracy.
Use momentum conservation principles to
explain your answer supporting it with numerical
figures.
Not a good idea to use these rifles!
Hint : work out the recoil veoclity
 Rocket propulsion
The operation of a rocket
depends on the law of
conservation of momentum
where the system is the
rocket plus its ejected fuel
The downward momentum of
the ejected gases result in a
compensating upward
momentum of the rocket
 Concept Check !
A tennis ball is placed on top of the basket ball and
dropped from a known height. It is found that the
tennis ball bounces to a height much higher than
where it was dropped from. Does this violate the
momentum conservation principle ?
 Concept Check !
A tennis ball is placed on top of the basket ball and
dropped from a known height. It is found that the
tennis ball bounces to a height much higher than
where it was dropped from. Does this violate the
momentum conservation principle ?
No. The basket ball transfers some of
its momentum to the tennis ball and
since the basket ball is a lot heavier,
this gain in momentum makes the
tennis ball bounce higher than where it
was dropped from.
 Force- time graphs
Impulse = Area under the force- time curve

The impulse or change in

momentum is a product of the
average force and time and is equal
to the area under the curve as in
fig.

Example: The F - t graph for a

tennis racquet hitting a ball might
look like this. The amount of
momentum transferred equals the
area under the curve.
Concept check !
Renee is happily skating while Lyla
comes up from behind and locks
her, so that they begin to move
together .How will their final velocity
in this situation compare to that of
the next where Renee and Lyla are
skating towards each other before
they lock into each other ?

The final velocity will be less in the

second case because their momentum
subtract . In the first situation their
momenta add together.
 collisions
 Momentum is always conserved in any type of collision
 However, the total kinetic energy of the system is not
conserved in some collisions, which are called inelastic
collisions.
 If the total kinetic energy is conserved in a collision, it
is termed as elastic collision.
 Concept check !
When the icecream falls of the cone and stopped as it hit
the floor , where did its momentum go ? Does this situation
not obey momentum conservation laws ?
If the icecream lost its total momentum on impact, the floor
would have gained an equal amount of momentum, but
considering that the mass of the floor is reallllly large, it
hardly moved.
Total momentum is ALWAYS conserved in an isolated
system.

What type of collision is this ?

It would be a perfectly inelastic collision.
 Elastic collision
 Both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved
 No kinetic energy is lost as heat or sound in elastic
collisions
 Perfectly elastic collisions occur between atomic and
subatomic particles
 However, collision between two billiard balls can be
termed highly elastic.
 Inelastic collision
 An inelastic collision is one in which the momentum is
conserved, but kinetic energy is not.
 Some of the kinetic energy is lost as heat or sound or
used to permanently deform the objects in collision .
 Perfectly Inelastic collision
 A perfectly inelastic collision is one in which the
colliding objects stick together after collision.
 There is maximum loss in kinetic energy in a
perfectly inelastic collision
 The equation for conservation of momentum is

m1v1i + m2v2i = ( m1 + m2) Vf

 Conservation of momentum
A squid propels itself by
squirting out water at a
very high speed
The downward
momentum of the water
mass is equal to the
opposite momentum of
the squid
 In elastic collisions

Both of the collisions shown above are inelastic , because most of the kinetic
Energy is lost as heat and sound.
 Predict the outcome when one of the
spheres in Newton’s cradle is raised and
released .
b)The ball at the far right raises to the same
height and the rest stay still

c) two spheres at the far right rise to half of the

original height

Option c cannot happen because even

though momentum is conserved, Kinetic
energy is not conserved and this collision is
nearly elastic which means very little KE is
lost

Option b is possible because both

momentum and KE are conserved in this
case
 Elastic collisons - equations
Equation for conservation of momentum
m1v1i + m2v2i = m1v1f + m2v2f

Equation for conservation of kinetic energy

2 2
m1v1 f m2 v2 f m1v12i m2 v22i
  
2 2 2 2
 Glancing Collisions- 2 D
collisions
It is possible that the colliding objects do not move in the
same straight line as The line of impact in case of glancing
collisions; After collision if the objects move at angles to
the line of impact, the momentum conservation equations
can be written for the line of impact( x axis) and the
direction perpendicular to the line of impact( Y axis )

m1v1ix  m2 v2ix  m1v1 fx  m2 v2 fx and

m1v1iy  m2 v2iy  m1v1 fy  m2 v2 fy
Ex: Collisθion in 2- dimensions

Along the line of impact

m1 v1i + 0 = m1 v1f cos θ + m2 v2f cos ф
In the direction perpendicular to the line of impact
0 = m1v1f sin θ - m2 v2f sin ф
 Ex: 2 D collisions
An atom bomb at rest explodes into three fragments . The 2 1kg
pieces fly off as in fig; what is the velocity of the 2 kg piece ?

2 kg

1 kg 60° 60° 1 kg

10 m/s 10 m/s

Conservation of momentum in the vertical direction

1 (- 10 cos 60) + 1 ( - 10 cos 60) + 2 v = 0

v = 5 m/s
 Types of Collisions
Type Total kinetic energy Examples/comments
of the system
Perfectly inelastic Maximum loss of Objects stick together after
kinetic energy collision
Inelastic Loss of KE by any Collision between
amount macroscopic objects like car
crashes
Nearly elastic Negligible loss of billiard balls, bowling balls, steel
kinetic energy bearings and other objects made
from resilient materials
Perfectly elastic Absolutely no loss of collisions between atoms, molecules,
subatomic particles and other similar
Kinetic energy
microscopic bodies
Super elastic Gain in Kinetic energy contrived collisions between objects
that release potential energy on
contact, fictional superelastic
materials like flubber

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Who is at fault ?
 Momentum conservation
principles can be applied
to the situation to
reconstruct the scene of
the car crash and to
determine the initial
velocities of the drivers at
the instant of crash .
 Ballistic Pendulum
A bullet of mass m is fired into a pendulum block of mass M
The collision is perfectly inelastic resulting in the bullet being embedded in the block
Since the pendulum is free to swing about the pivot, the bullet block combination
rises to a height h

Equations:
To solve for the final velocity of the bullet block combination, use conservation
of momentum
m v + 0 = ( M + m ) Vt

To solve for the height to which the block rises, use conservation of energy

( M + m) v t 2 = ( M + m) g h
2