Car Crash Video

Momentum, Impulse, and

Collisions
Momentum
 Newton’s 1st Law and Momentum (ρ)

 N1L: “An object in motion will stay in motion

unless acted on by an unbalanced force
“Momentum” expresses the resistance of a body
to slowing down or speeding up
 related to an object’s inertia
 Momentum

Momentum can be defined as "mass in motion."

All objects have mass; so if an object is moving,
then it has momentum - it has its mass in
motion. 
Momentum depends upon the variables mass
 and velocity.
 Calculating Momentum (p)

 Momentum = mass • velocity

p = m • v
 where p is momentum, m is the mass, and v is the
velocity.
 The equation illustrates that momentum is directly
proportional to an object's mass and directly
proportional to the object's velocity.
 Units for Momentum

p = m • v

 p = (kg) • (m/s)

 The units for momentum would be mass units times

velocity units. The standard metric unit of momentum
is the kg•m/s.
 Momentum is a Vector

 Momentum is a vector quantity – so it is fully described by both

magnitude and direction. 
 The direction of the momentum vector is the same as the
direction of the velocity of the ball.
 To fully describe the momentum of a 5-kg bowling ball moving
westward at 2 m/s:
 P = m*v
 P = 5 kg * 2 m/s
 P = 10 kg *m/s westward
 Example

 A toy car has a mass of 5 kg. If it is moving at a velocity of 4 m/s, what is its
momentum?
Givens Unknown Equation Substitute Solve
 Example

 What is the momentum of a 25 kg boy moving at a speed of 1.2 m/s?

Givens Unknown Equation Substitute Solve

Example

 If a car with a mass of 50 kg and has a momentum of 250 kg*m/s, what is the
velocity of the car?
Givens Unknown Equation Substitute Solve
Example

 If a person is moving with a velocity of 27m/s and has a momentum of 400kg*m/s,

what is the person's mass?
Givens Unknown Equation Substitute Solve
 What if…

A car possesses 20 000 units of momentum. What would

be the car's new momentum if ...
a. its velocity was doubled.
b. its velocity was tripled.
c. its mass was doubled (by adding more passengers and a
greater load)
d. both its velocity was doubled and its mass was doubled.