1. Momentum

2. What is Momentum?When explained algebraically, momentum lookslike this: p = mv P means momentum, m means mass, and vmeans velocity. So, what we can gain from this, momentum is a bodys mass times its mass.So, a semi-truck loaded with sand while moving five miles per hour has a higher momentum than a cyclist moving thirty miles per hour 3. So... What is momentum?Weve learned how to express momentum, butwe still dont really know what it is, what the effects of it are, and why we care about it.Momentum is a way we can tell how much forcewe need to change an objects motion.A large truck takes a lot more force to slowdown than a small toy car, even if the toy car isgoing much faster. The reason this is so can becontributed to momentum. 4. Solving problems with momentum Okay, imagine an environment where there isno air resistance, nor friction.There is a girl, weighing 27kg wearing rollerblades in the middle of this room.A person, standing in front of this girl, throws aball to her, the ball weighs 3kg, and was thrown at the speed of 10 m/s The girl catches the ball. How fast will this girlmove after catching the ball? 5. Solving problems with momentumGiven the idea of momentum, we can calculate her speed after the ball was thrown.So, the balls momentum, during its time afterbeing thrown, and before being caught can beexpressed as P=mv. To plug in the numbers, its momentum was 3kg*10m/sThe balls momentum was 30. 6. Solving problems with momentumIn a closed environment, momentum will get transferred from one body to the other, in the case of a collision. So, we know that the girls momentum will be30 after catching the ball. Therefore, knowing the momentum is 30, and her weight, along with the ball, is also 30, wecan do some algebraic manipulation to find herspeed. The original equation: p=mvAfter conducting the manipulation: p/m=v (cont...) 7. P/m=v mean that the momentum divided by themass equals the speed. Therefore, plugging thenumbers in, the girls mass, with the ball, is 30,the momentum is also 30, therefore, her speedwill be 1 m/s. This same idea can be put into any equation. A car weighing 2000kg moving 30 miles per hourhits a truck weighing 4000 pounds at rest,The cars momentum is 60000. It gets transferred into the truck. We are going to assume that thecar completely stops after the collision, and allenergy goes to the truck. The truck will end upgoing 15 miles per hour. 8. SummaryMomentum is expressed as p=mv Momentum deems how much force is required to change the velocity in a moving body Momentum can be transferred from one body to another, in the event of a collision 9. Sources... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momentum http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/momentum.html