What is momentum ?Why do we study momentum
What is momentum ?Why do we study momentum
That is a really good question. It is always important to ask, why we introduce a new concept and what is the physical significance of it.
Momentum is the measure of motion.
When something is moving, how much motion, that something has, is given by the property momentum.
Momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body. In a basic sense, the more momentum a moving object has, the harder it is to stop. [This is why you see the term used metaphorically like in the example of the sports team. It means the team is on a roll (generally, a winning position/streak) and is becoming a stronger team for it. The other teams will have a harder time stopping the team gaining momentum.]
Linear Momentum We know that momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body, but what, exactly, does that mean? Let's think about a baseball being thrown in a straight line through the air in order to try and understand this. When you catch a baseball, you feel the momentum of the ball being imparted to you. The ball will probably push your hand back towards you when you catch it. The more momentum the ball has, the more it will push back your hand as it transfers its momentum to you.
Imagine two baseballs are being thrown at you. One is traveling at 50 mph and the other at 150 mph. Even if you somehow catch that 150 mph ball, it might knock you off your feet. It will take more effort on your part to stop the 150 mph ball than the 50 mph one. So it stands to reason that velocity is a very important aspect of momentum. However, that's not all there is to momentum.
Now imagine two balls being thrown at you at 50 mph. One is a baseball and the other is a bowling ball. You probably aren't going to want to try to stop the bowling ball. It's going to keep traveling even after it hits you. Both balls are traveling at the same velocity, so what makes the bowling ball so much harder to stop? It's because it is heavier. It has more mass. So the other important aspect of momentum is mass.
In physics, we define momentum mathematically as the multiplication of mass and velocity as seen in this equation: p= m * v
- p = momentum
- m = mass
- v = velocity
As far as momentum's units go, we have no special symbol used just for momentum. Instead, it is simply the combination of mass's standard unit of kilograms (kg) and velocity's standard unit of meters per second (m/s). Momentum is measured in standard units of kilograms times meters per second (kg m/s).
The Conservation of Momentum Principle The principle of conservation of momentum states that in an isolated system, two objects that collide have the same combined momentum before and after the collision. That is, momentum is not destroyed in the collision, but transferred between the two objects. In an isolated system, momentum is always conserved in a collision. In the example of you catching a baseball, the momentum from the ball is transferred into your hand.
How momentum is transferred depends on the type of collision. There are three types of collisions: elastic, perfectly inelastic, and partially inelastic.
For studying & better understanding the motion the concept of momentum is quite useful. I think you got an idea about it now.
That is a really good question. It is always important to ask, why we introduce a new concept and what is the physical significance of it.
Momentum is the measure of motion.
When something is moving, how much motion, that something has, is given by the property momentum.
Momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body. In a basic sense, the more momentum a moving object has, the harder it is to stop. [This is why you see the term used metaphorically like in the example of the sports team. It means the team is on a roll (generally, a winning position/streak) and is becoming a stronger team for it. The other teams will have a harder time stopping the team gaining momentum.]
Linear MomentumWe know that momentum is the quantity of motion of a moving body, but what, exactly, does that mean? Let's think about a baseball being thrown in a straight line through the air in order to try and understand this. When you catch a baseball, you feel the momentum of the ball being imparted to you. The ball will probably push your hand back towards you when you catch it. The more momentum the ball has, the more it will push back your hand as it transfers its momentum to you.
Imagine two baseballs are being thrown at you. One is traveling at 50 mph and the other at 150 mph. Even if you somehow catch that 150 mph ball, it might knock you off your feet. It will take more effort on your part to stop the 150 mph ball than the 50 mph one. So it stands to reason that velocity is a very important aspect of momentum. However, that's not all there is to momentum.
Now imagine two balls being thrown at you at 50 mph. One is a baseball and the other is a bowling ball. You probably aren't going to want to try to stop the bowling ball. It's going to keep traveling even after it hits you. Both balls are traveling at the same velocity, so what makes the bowling ball so much harder to stop? It's because it is heavier. It has more mass. So the other important aspect of momentum is mass.
In physics, we define momentum mathematically as the multiplication of mass and velocity as seen in this equation: p= m * v
- p = momentum
- m = mass
- v = velocity
As far as momentum's units go, we have no special symbol used just for momentum. Instead, it is simply the combination of mass's standard unit of kilograms (kg) and velocity's standard unit of meters per second (m/s). Momentum is measured in standard units of kilograms times meters per second (kg m/s).
The Conservation of Momentum PrincipleThe principle of conservation of momentum states that in an isolated system, two objects that collide have the same combined momentum before and after the collision. That is, momentum is not destroyed in the collision, but transferred between the two objects. In an isolated system, momentum is always conserved in a collision. In the example of you catching a baseball, the momentum from the ball is transferred into your hand.
How momentum is transferred depends on the type of collision. There are three types of collisions: elastic, perfectly inelastic, and partially inelastic.
For studying & better understanding the motion the concept of momentum is quite useful. I think you got an idea about it now.
