Impulse and momentum

Here's the quantities you can know:

/\ Delta (aka the change)
m Mass
t Time
V Velocity
/\p Impulse
F Force
p Momentum
These quantities are defined and explained on other pages execept Impulse
and momentum. They are defined below.

New Quantities

Momentum is defined as the product of an object's mass and velocity

This means p(momentum)=m(mass)*V(velocity) by the definition of momentum
Momentum is measured in N(Newton)m(meters)/s(per second)
Impulse is the product of force and time.
As this suggests the unit for measuring impulse is N(Newton)s(seconds)
A formula for finding impulse is shown and explained below.
From other chapters we know that
1. F = ma
2. a = /\V/t

We can use these formulas to show that /\p(Impulse)=Ft

1. F = ma....it just does
2. F = m(/\V/t)....a=/\a/t
3. F = (m(V-Vo))/t = (mV-mVo)/t..../\V = V-Vo and The Distributive Property
4. F = (p-po)//\t = /\p/t....p=mv and /\p = p-po
5. /\p = Ft....multiply both sides by t
*Several of the formula in the work above become important*
F=/\p/t is Newton's Second Law of Motion.

Formulas
So now we have all the formulas we need for solving impulse and momentum
problems:
1. p = mV
2. F = m(/\V/t)....(From above)
3. /\p = Ft
4. F = ma
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General Problem Solving Strategy:

1. Read the problem.

2. Go through the problem and figure out what is given or implied

Make a list, and identify the quantities you know.
3. Find any formula that will allow you to calculate
anything that you don't know, and apply it.
4. Add what you just found in the last step to your list of knowns.
5. Check to see if you have found the answer. If not, repeat the
previous two steps until you are done.
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Mother of all Example Problems

Joe the alien fires a 20 Kg photon torpedo at 200 m/s from his stationary UFO in deep
space. The torpedo has special no fuel engines that can give 650 N of force. What is
the momentum of the torpedo? How long must Joe fire the engines to get 3000 Ns of
impulse. What speed is Joe attempting to get the torpedo to go? If Joe is firing at you
and your UFO can accelerate at a rate of 30 m/s/s, will you be able to out accellerate
the torpedo?
a. Momentum is just p=mv so plug in the known m (20) and V (200) 20 * 200 = 4000
Kgm/s
b. The needed formula is /\p = Ft. F (650) and /\p (1500) are given. divide both sides
of the equation by F to get /\p/F = t then plug in the known values to get 3000/650 = t
= 4.62 Ns
c. The needed formula now is F = m(/\V/t). F is still 650 N, the torpedo still has a
mass of 20 Kg and time can be found from part b. When you plug them in you get 650
= 20(/\V/2.31). Multiplying both sides by 2.31/20 gives you (4.62 * 650)/20 = /\V =
150 m/s. Since this is the change in speed (hence the /\), 150 needs to be added to the
original 200. The final speed is 350 m/s.

d. F = ma is the importanr equation now. You know F (650 N) and m (20 Kg) so just
divide both sides of the equation by m to solve it for a and plug in the numbers to get
650/20 = a = 32.5 m/s/s. So you better hope you have a big enough head start.

Sample Problems

The answers to each problem follow it in parentheses. They also link to a solution to
the problem.
Try the problem, check your answer, and go to the solution if you do not understand.

1.
What is the momentum of a 23 Kg cannon shell going 530 m/s?
(12190 Kgm/s)

2.
What speed must a 5 Kg object go to have 24 Kgm/s of momentum?
(4.8 m/s)

3.
A bullet going 640 m/s has 42 Kgm/s of momentum. What is its mass?
(66 g or .066 Kg)

4.
What is the impulse imparted by a rocket that exerts 4.8 N for 1.63 seconds?
(7.8 Ns)

5.

For what time must you exert a force of 45 N to get an impulse of 16 Ns?
(.36 s)

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Table of Contents

6.
What force exerted over 6 seconds gives you an impulse of 64 Ns?
(10.7 N)

7.
What is the change in velocity of a .35 Kg air track cart if you exert a force
of 1.2 N on
it for 3 seconds?
(10.3 m/s)

8.
A rocket engine exerts a force of 500 N on a space probe (in outer space!) for
5 seconds.
The probe speeds up from rest to a speed of 21 m/s.

What is its mass?

(119 Kg)

9.
What force exerted for .12 seconds will make a .54 Kg baseball change its
velocity 80 m/s.
(360 N)

10.
How long must the space probe in question 8 fire its engine to change its
velocity by 3 m/s?
(.71 s)

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Table of Contents

11.
A rocket engine burns 5 Kg of fuel per second. The exhaust gas velocity is 608
m/s. What is
the thrust of the engine? What time must it burn to impart an impulse of
12,000 Ns? How much
fuel will it burn to do this?
(3040 N, 3.95 s, 19.7 Kg)

12.
An 11 Ns rocket engine has 12.5 g of fuel. What is the exhaust velocity?
(880 m/s)

13.
A rocket generates 25 N of thrust, and the exhaust gas velocity is 1250 m/s.
At what rate
does it consume fuel in Kg/s? How much fuel has it burned in 5 minutes?
(.02 Kg/s, 6 Kg)

14.

A small rocket probe in deep space has a mass of 68.5 Kg, 45.2 Kg of which is
fuel. Its engine
consumes .250 Kg of fuel per second, and it has an exhaust velocity of 720
m/s. For how much
time will the engine burn? What is the initial acceleration of the rocket
engine? What is the
acceleration just before it runs out of fuel?
(180.8 s, 2.63 m/s/s, 7.73 m/s/s)

15.
A rocket takes off from the surface of the Earth straight up. The total mass
of the rocket is
5000 Kg, 3500 Kg of which is fuel. The exhaust gas velocity is 3000 m/s, and
the rocket
consumes 25 Kg of fuel per second. For how long do the engines burn? What is
the thrust of the
engine? What is the initial and final accelerations of the rocket? (Don't
forget gravity)
(140 s, 75000 N, 5.2 m/s/s, 40.2 m/s/s)

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Table of Contents

Solutions to Sample Problems

1.
What is the momentum of a 23 Kg cannon shell going 530 m/s?

23 * 530 = 12190 kgm/s....p = mV

Go to: Problem Formulas Table of Contents

2.
What speed must a 5 Kg object go to have 24 Kgm/s of momentum?
24 = 5 * V....p = mV
V = 24/5 or 4.8 m/s
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

3.
A bullet going 640 m/s has 42 Kgm/s of momentum. What is its mass?
42 = 640 * m....p = mV
m = 42/640 or .066 kg
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

4.
What is the impulse imparted by a rocket that exerts 4.8 N for 1.63 seconds?
4.8 * 1.63 = 7.824 or 7.8 Ns..../\p = Ft
Go to: Problem Formulas Table of Contents

5.
For what time must you exert a force of 45 N to get an impulse of 16 Ns?
16 = 45 * t..../\p = Ft
t = 16/45 or .36 s
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

6.
What force exerted over 6 seconds gives you an impulse of 64 Ns?
64 = 6 * N..../\p = Ft
N = 64/6 or 10.7 N
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

7.
What is the change in velocity of a .35 Kg air track cart if you exert a force
of 1.2 N on
it for 3 seconds?
.35 * /\V = 1.2 * 3....F = m(/\V/t)
/\V = 3.6/.35 or 10.3 m/s
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

8.
A rocket engine exerts a force of 500 N on a space probe (in outer space!) for
5 seconds.
The probe speeds up from rest to a speed of 21 m/s.
21 * m = 500 * 5....F = m(/\V/t)
m = 2500/21 or 119 kg
Go to: Problem Formulas

What is its mass?

Table of Contents

9.
What force exerted for .12 seconds will make a .54 Kg baseball change its
velocity 80 m/s.
N * .12 = .54 * 80....F = m(/\V/t)
N = 43.2/.12 or 360 N
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

10.
How long must the space probe in question 8 fire its engine to change its
velocity by 3 m/s?
500 * t = 119 * 3....F = m(/\V/t)
t = 357/500 or .71 s
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

11.
A rocket engine burns 5 Kg of fuel per second. The exhaust gas velocity is 608
m/s. What is
the thrust of the engine? What time must it burn to impart an impulse of
12,000 Ns? How much
fuel will it burn to do this?
a. 5 * 608 = 3040 N....F = m(/\V/t)
b.

12000 = 3040 * t..../\p = Ft

t = 12000/3040 or 3.95 s

c. 3.95 * 5 = 19.7 s....fuel burned per second multiplied by the number of

seconds it is
burning
Problem

Go to:

Formulas

Table of Contents

12.
An 11 Ns rocket engine has 12.5 g of fuel. What is the exhaust velocity?
11 = .0125 * V....F = m(/\V/t)
V = 11/.0125 or 880 m/s
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

13.
A rocket generates 25 N of thrust, and the exhaust gas velocity is 1250 m/s.
At what rate
does it consume fuel in Kg/s? How much fuel has it burned in 5 minutes?
a. 25 = 1250 * V....F = m(/\V/t)
kg/s = 25/1250 or .02 Kg/s
b. .02 * 5 min * 60 sec/min = 6 kg....fuel burned per second multiplied by
the number of
seconds it is burning
Go to: Problem Formulas Table of Contents

14.

A small rocket probe in deep space has a mass of 68.5 Kg, 45.2 Kg of which is
fuel. Its engine
consumes .250 Kg of fuel per second, and it has an exhaust velocity of 720
m/s. For how much
time will the engine burn? What is the initial acceleration of the rocket
engine? What is the
acceleration just before it runs out of fuel?
a. 45.2/.25 = t....Amount of fuel divided by the burn rate
b.

F = (720 * .25) = 180....F = m(/\V/t)

180 = 68.5 * a....F = ma
a = 180/68.5

c.

F = (720 * .25) = 180....F = m(/\V/t)

180 = (68.5 - 45.2) * a....F = ma

a = 180/23.3
Go to: Problem Formulas

Table of Contents

15.
A rocket takes off from the surface of the Earth straight up.
of the rocket

The total mass

is 5000 Kg, 3500 Kg of which is fuel. The exhaust gas velocity is 3000 m/s ,
and the rocket
consumes 25 Kg of fuel per second. For how long do the engines burn? What is
the thrust of the
engine? What is the initial and final accelerations of the rocket? (don't
forget gravity)
a.

3500/25 = t....Amount of fuel divided by the burn rate

b.

F = (25 * 3000)....F = m(/\V/t)

c1. 75000(from b) - (9.8 * 5000)(gravity) = 5000 * a....F = ma

26000/5000 = a
c2. 75000(from b) - (9.8 * (5000 - 3500))(gravity) = (5000 - 3500) * a....F =
ma
60300/1500 = a

Momentum with Examples

MOMENTUM
Look at the given pictures. If both the car and the truck have same speed, which one can be stopped first? Of
course all you say, it is hard to stop truck relative to car. Well, what is the reason making car stop easier? They
have same speed but different masses. Can mass effect the stopping time or distance? The answer is again
YES! It is hard to stop heavier
objects. What we are talking about so far is momentum.
Momentum is a physical concept that is defined as moving body. In other
words for talking about momentum we must have moving object, it must have both mass and velocity. Let me
formulize what we said;
Momentum=Mass X Velocity
We show momentum in physics with p, mass with m and velocity with v. Then equation
becomes;
p=m.v

Since velocity is a vector quantity and multiplied with mass (scalar quantity) momentum becomes also vector
quantity. It has both magnitude and direction. Direction of momentum is the same as velocity. From the
definition and given equation we can change momentum by changing its mass or changing its velocity.
Unit of the momentum is kg.m/s as you can guess from the equation.
Example Calculate the momentum of the give objects.
a.

A basketball ball having 2kg mass and 6m/s velocity moves to the east

b.

A car having 15m/s velocity and 1500kg mass moves to the north

c.

A child having mass 25kg and velocity 2m/s moves to the west

a. Momentum of basketball;

?????

b. Momentum of car;

c. Momentum of boy;

Impulse Momentum Exam1 and Problem Solutions

1. An object travels with a velocity 4m/s to the east. Then, its direction of motion and magnitude of velocity are
changed. Picture given below shows the directions and magnitudes of velocities. Find the impulse given to this
object.

I=F.t=p=m.V
where V=V2-V1=-3-4=-7m/s
I=m.V=3.(-7)=-21kg.m/s
2. Ball having mass 4kg and velocity 8m/s travels to the east. Impulse given at point O, makes it change
direction to north with velocity 6m/s. Find the given impulse and change in the momentum.

Initial and final momentum vectors of ball are shown in the figure
below.

P1=m.V1=4kg.8m/s=32kg.m/s
P2=m.V2=4kg.6m/s=24kg.m/s
P=P2+P1 (vector addition)
P2=P22+P12=m2(v22+v12)
P2=16.100
P=40kg.m/s
Impulse=change in momentum
I=P=40kg.m/s
3. Find the impulse and force which make 12m/s change in the velocity of object having 16kg mass in 4 s.
F.t=P=m.V
F.4s=16kg.12m/s
F=48N
F.t=Impulse=192kg.m/s

4. Applied force vs. time graph of object is given below. Find the impulse of the object between 0-10s.

Area under the force vs. time graph gives us impulse.

F.t=20.2/2+20.(6-2)+20.(10-6)/2
F.t=140kg.m/s
5. A ball having mass 500g hits wall with a10m/s velocity. Wall applies 4000 N force to the ball and it turns back
with 8m/s velocity. Find the time of ball-wall contact.

F.t=P=m.V=m.(V2-V1)
-4000.t=0,5kg.(8-10)
t=0,00025s

Impulse Momentum Exam2 and Problem Solutions

Impulse Momentum Exam2 and Problem Solutions
1. Objects shown in the figure collide and stick and move together. Find final velocity objects.
Using conservation of momentum law;
m1.V1+m2.V2=(m1+m2).Vfinal
3.8+4.10=7.Vfinal
64=7.Vfinal
Vfinal=9,14m/s

2. 2kg and 3kg objects slide together, and then they break apart. If the final velocity of m 2 is 10 m/s,
a) Find the velocity of object m1.
b) Find the total change in the kinetic energies of the objects.

a)Using conservation of momentum law;

(m1+m2).V=m1.V1+m2.V2
5.4=30+2.V1
V1=-5m/s
b) EKinitial=1/2/m1+m2).V2
EKinitial=1/2.5.16=40joule
EKfinal=1/2.2.52+1/2.3.102

EKfinal=175 joule
Change in the kinetic energy is =175-40=135 joule

3. As shown in the figure below, object m 1 collides stationary object m2. Find the magnitudes of velocities of the
objects after collision. (elastic collision)

In elastic collisions we find velocities of

objects after collision with following formulas;
V1'=(m1-m2)/(m1+m2).V1
V2'=(2m1/m1+m2).V1
m1=6kg, m2=4kg, V1=10m/s
V1'=(6-4/6+4).10=2m/s
V2'=(2.6/6+4).10=12m/s

4. Momentum vs. time graph of object is given below. Find forces applied on object for each interval.

F.t=P
F=P/t
Slope of the graph gives us applied force.
I. Interval:
F1=P2-P1/10-0=-50/10=-5N
II. Interval:

F2=50-50/10=0
III. Interval:
F3=100-50/10=5N
5. A box having mass 0,5kg is placed in front of a 20 cm compressed spring. When the spring released, box
having mass m1, collide box having mass m2 and they move together. Find the velocity of boxes.

Energy stored in the spring is transferred to

the object m1.
1/2.k.X2=1/2.mV2
50N/m.(0,2)2=0,5.V2
V=2m/s
Two object do inelastic collision.
m1.V1=(m1+m2).Vfinal
0,5.2=2.Vfinal
Vfinal=0,5m/s

Ex 1) A 5.0 kg mass has its velocity change from 8.0 m/s east to 2.0 m/s east. Find
the objects change in momentum.
m = 5.0 kg
Vi = 8.0 m/s East
Vf = 2.0 m/s East
p = ?

J = Ft = mv =p
p = mV
= (5.0 kg)(2.0 m/s - 8.0 m/s)
= -30. kgm/s East

or +30. kg m/s West

2.mass moving with a vector of 8.0 m/s east has an impulse applied to it which
causes its velocity to change to 20. m/s East.
Find Impulse:
m = 5.0 kg
Vi = 8.0 m/s East
Vf = 20. m/s East
J=?
J = Ft = mv =p
J = mv = (5.0 kg)(12. m/s East)
= 60. kg m/s east
= 60. Ns East

Find the force if the impulse was applied for 3.0 sec.
F=?
t = 3 seconds
m = 5.0 kg
Vi = 8.0 m/s East
Vf = 20. m/s East
J = 60. kg m/s east

J = Ft = mv =p
J = Ft = 60. Ns East
F(3.0 sec) = 60. Ns East
F = 20. N East
Ex 3) How long would it take for a net upward force of 100. N, to increase the speed
of a 50. kg object from 100. m/s to 150. m/s.
F = 100. N
m = 50. kg
Vi = 100. m/s
Vf = 150. m/s
t=?

J = Ft = mv =p
Ft = mv
(100. N)t = 50. kg(50. m/s)
t = 25. secs
Ex 4) A 1.0 kg ball traveling @ 4.0 m/s strikes a wall and bounces straight back @
2.0 m/s.

Find p
m = 1.0 kg
Vi = 4.0 m/s
Vf = ?
Vf = -2.0 m/s
(opposite direction)
p = ?
J = Ft = mv =p (a) p = mv

= (1.0 kg)(-2.0 m/s - 4.0 m/s)

= - 6.0 kgm/s
(b) What is impulse applied to the ball?
J = p = -6.0 kgm/s
(c) What is impulse applied to the wall?
J = +6.0 kgm/s

COLLISIONS
Momentum is conserved in all collisions. However, we can examine collisions under two titles if we consider
conservation of energy. For example, if the objects collide and momentum and kinetic energy of the objects are
conserved than we call this collision elastic collision. On the other hand if the momentum of the object is
conserved but kinetic energy is not conserved than we call this type of collision inelastic collision. In in elastic
collisions some of the kinetic energy is converted to heat and sound.
The picture given below shows the examples of elastic collision in which both kinetic energy and momentum of
the system are conserved.

In this picture, which is an example of inelastic collision, momentum of the objects is conserved however;
kinetic energy of the objects is not conserved.

To sum up, we can say that, momentum of the system is conserved in both elastic and inelastic collisions
however; kinetic energy is conserved only in the elastic collisions.

Example A bullet which has velocity 150m/s and mass 4kg sticks to the stationary block. They move
together after the collision. Find the height they have after the collision.

Example Look at the given picture below. Particle having mass 4m and velocity 3v explodes and breaks into
two pieces. One of the pieces has mass 3m and velocity 2v. Find the second momentum of the second particle
and show it in a given diagram.