Linear Impulse and Momentum

Impulse and Momentum

Momentum
Assume theres a car speeding toward you, out of control without its brakes, at a speed of 27 m/s (60 mph). Can
you stop it by standing in front of it and holding out your hand? Why not?

Unless youre Superman, you probably dont want to try stopping a moving car by holding out your hand. Its too
big, and its moving way too fast. Attempting such a feat would result in a number of physics demonstrations upon
your body, all of which would hurt. You cant stop the car because it has too much momentum. Momentum is a
vector quantity, given the symbol p, which measures how hard it is to stop a moving object. Of course, larger
objects have more momentum than smaller objects, and faster objects have more momentum than slower objects.

The momentum P of a body of mass m moving with velocity v is

p m v

Momentum is a vector quantity. The unit of momentum is kg.m/s2 in SI Unit and slug.ft/s2 in imperial unit.

MIET7296 Apply Scientific Principles and Techniques

College of Science, Engineering and Health
School of Engineering (TAFE)

Class Notes
1

Prepared by Yadana Wai

In most problem-solving situations, a change in momentum results from the change in velocity. If the mass of a
particle is constant, then

p (m v ) m v

F ma

v P
m

t
t . The rate of change of momentum of an object is equal to

From Newtons second law,

the net force acting on it. This is a restatement of Newtons second law in terms of momentum. This form of the
second law corresponds to Newtons original formulation, and it also holds for changing mass.

Example 1: Determine the momentum of a 5.0 kg bowling ball rolling with a velocity of 3.5 m/s [North] toward a
set of bowling pins.
Example 2: A body A of mass 5kg moves to the right with a velocity of 4 m/s. A body B of mass 3 kg moves to the
left with a velocity of 8 m/s. Calculate
(i)
The momentum of A
(ii)
The momentum of B
(iii)
The total momentum of A and B
Example 3: What is the mass of a car that is travelling with a velocity of 28 m/s[West] and a momentum of 4.2
104 kg m/s [West]?

Impulse and momentum

As you can see, momentum can change, and a change in momentum is known as an impulse. The concepts of
impulse and momentum are very closely related, even though we speak of the impulse of a force of a mass. Forces
for which impulses are calculated usually act for only very short lengths of time, for example the blow of a
hammer, an explosion, or the impact of a cue on a billiard ball. The impulse of a force is calculated from the
following relationship:

Impulse " I " F t P m v

he vector quantity impulse is represented by a capital I, and since it's a change in momentum, its units are the
T
same as those for momentum, [kg.m/s], and can also be written as a Newton-second [N.s] in SI Unit.
Example 4: A force of 20N acts on a body of mass 500g for 3 seconds. What change in momentum is produced in
the body?
Example 5: Assume a D3A bomber, which had a momentum of 3.6105 kg.m/s, comes to a halt on the ground.
What impulse is applied?

MIET7296 Apply Scientific Principles and Techniques

College of Science, Engineering and Health
School of Engineering (TAFE)

Class Notes
2

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Example 6: The rocket engine of a missile ejects 200kg of exhaust gases per second at a speed of 1000m/s relative
to the engine. Calculate the thrust of the rocket engine when the missile is travelling at 300 m/s.

MIET7296 Apply Scientific Principles and Techniques

College of Science, Engineering and Health
School of Engineering (TAFE)

Class Notes
3

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Conservation of momentum
The concept of momentum is particularly important because, if no net external force acts on a system, the total
momentum of the system is a conserved quantity.

momentum before momentum after

m1 v1 m 2 v 2 m1 v1 ' m1 v 2 ' if

ext

Example 7: A man driving a car of mass 1.5 tonnes sees a track ahead and brakes hard. His wheels lock and he
slides into the truck at 25 km/h. If the truck has a mass of 8 tonnes and was travelling at 10 km/h in the same
direction as the car at the time, what would be the final velocity of the two vehicles if they locked bumper bars on
impact?

Reference:
Introduction to Engineering Mechanics - Schlenker/McKern
http://www.wellesley.edu/Physics/phyllisflemingphysics/107_o_momentum.html
http://uccpbank.k12hsn.org/courses/APPhysicsCI/course%20files/readings/lesson11studysheet.pdf

MIET7296 Apply Scientific Principles and Techniques

College of Science, Engineering and Health
School of Engineering (TAFE)

Class Notes
4

Prepared by Yadana Wai