Question

What is meant by momentum?

Answer 1

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. In terms of an equation, the momentum of an object is equal to the mass of the object times the velocity of the object.
Momentum = mass velocity
x
p = m v
x
where 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.
The units for momentum would be mass unit’s time’s velocity units. The standard metric unit of momentum is the kg.m/s. While the kg.m/s is the standard metric unit of momentum, there are a variety of other units that are acceptable (though not conventional) units of momentum. Examples include kg.mi/hr, kg.km/hr, and g.cm/s. In each of these examples, a mass unit is multiplied by a velocity unit to provide a momentum unit. This is consistent with the equation for momentum.