7.

1 Momentum and Its Relation to Force

Linear momentum or momentum, a vector quantity, is a property of an object related to its mass and velocity. It is a measure
of the difficulty encountered in bringing an object to rest. The greater the object’s mass and velocity the greater is its momentum and
the harder it is to stop. For example, a heavy iron ball used for the shot put is harder to stop than a baseball whose speed is the same.
Qualitatively, momentum reflects the tendency of a moving object to continue moving at a constant velocity along a straight line and
the difficulty encountered in reducing that motion. Quantitatively, the momentum p of an object is defined as the vector product of its
mass and velocity. That is,

p =mv (7.1)

The S.I. unit of momentum is kg m/s. Its direction is along the velocity of the object.

A force is required to change the momentum of a body. Newton originally stated his second law in terms of momentum: The
rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to the net force applied to it. In equation:

F = ( △ p) / ( △ t) (7.2)

where F is the net force applied to the object (the vector sum of all forces acting on it) and p is the resulting change of momentum
that occurs during the time interval t. As implied by Eqn. (5.2), a rapid change in momentum requires a large net force while a
gradual change in momentum requires less net force.

If v0 is the initial velocity of a particle and v is its final velocity after a time t has elapsed, then Eqn. (7.2) can be written as

F = m (v - vo) / (△ t) = m( △ v) / ( △ t)

but the rate of change of velocity per unit time is just the acceleration, a = v/t, so

F = ma (7.3)
which is the Newton’s second law of motion.

Conservation of Momentum
Consider two particles A and B that collide on each other and thereby exerting forces on each other. Before the collision,
particle A moves with a velocity vA0. The impulsive force FB on A exerted by the other particle B on particle A for a time interval t,
changes the velocity of particle A from its initial velocity vA0 to a new velocity vA. Assuming that this impulsive force is constant,
the change of momentum of particle A then is
FB on A t = mA (vA – vA0)

Similarly, the change in momentum of particle B due to the impulsive force of particle A is

FA on B t = mB (vB – vB0)

so that the total impulse of the external forces acting on the system, that is on the particles, is just

(FA on B + FB on A) t = mA (vA – vA0) + mB (vB – vB0)

However, Newton’s Third Law says that the action-reaction pair, FA on B and FB on A, must be equal in magnitude but opposite
in direction, so that their sum must be zero, i.e.,
FA on B + FB on A = 0.

Thus, 0 = mA (vA – vA0) + mB (vB – vB0)

or equivalently, mA vA0 + mB vB0 = mA vA + mB vB (7.4)

 The left side of the equation is the total momentum before the collision while the term on the right side is the total momentum
after the collision. There is no change in the total momentum during the collision. This is a situation in which the momentum is
conserved. But we must bear in mind that here, we consider that there is no external force acting on the cars.
In general, no matter how many bodies are involved, we can state that
“If the vector sum of the external forces on the system is zero, the total momentum of the system is constant.”
This statement is the principle of conservation of (linear) momentum.
A cement truck full of cement has a mass of 45 000 kg. It travels north at a speed of 10 m/s.
a. Calculate the truck’s momentum.
b. How fast must a 650-kg car travel to have the same momentum?
b. For the momentum of the car to equal that of the truck, it
a. The truck’s momentum points north, in the same must drive north (in the same direction as the truck). The
direction with its velocity. The magnitude of its magnitude of the car’s momentum must also equal to that of
momentum is: the truck. Thus,

ptruck = mtruck vtruck = _________ vcar = (mtruck vtruck) / mcar = __________

Two blocks, A and B, are approaching each other. Block A whose mass is 4.00 kg is traveling 5.00 m/s eastward while block B
whose mass is 3.00 kg is traveling 8.00 m/s due west. After the collision, the velocity of block A is found to decrease by half directed
opposite to its initial direction. Assuming that there is no external force acting the system, what is the velocity of block B after
collision?
Solution:
We gather the information given in the problem which are:
mass of block A mA = 4.00 kg
mass of block B mB = 3.00 kg
initial velocity of block A vA0 = + 5.00 m/s
initial velocity of block B vB0 = - 8.00 m/s
final velocity of block A vA = - 2.50 m/s
Since there is no external force acting on the system, then the momentum is conserved. Using Eqn. (5.4)

vB = (mA vA0 + mB vB0 – mAvA) / mB = ____________ direction ________.

Exercise 7.1
Block A has a mass 1.00 kg, and block B has mass 3.00 kg. The blocks are forced together, compressing a spring S between them;
then the spring is released from rest on a level frictionless surface. The spring, that has a negligible mass, is not fastened to either
block and drops to the surface after it has expanded. Block B acquires a speed of 1.20 m/s. What is the final speed of block A?

5.2 Collisions and Impulse

There are two quantities that determine the impulse of the force of an object: the force and the time the force acts. Consider
an object that is moving at a certain speed and direction. In order to change its momentum, force must be applied. The length of time
that the force acts also affects the object’s momentum.

The impulse I of a net force Fnet constantly acting on an object for a time interval t is defined as the product of the net force
and the time interval such force has in contact with the object. That is,

I = F t (7.5)

Impulse has the same direction with the net force. Its SI unit is Newton-second (N·s).

An equation relating the impulse of a force and the subsequent momentum of the object on which the force acts, is derived
easily using Newton’s Second Law of Motion (ΣF = ma). Recall that a = v/t,
thus
Fnet = m a = m (v / t)
⇒ Fnet t = m (v – vo) = p – po = p (7.6)
Eqn. (7.6) is the impulse–momentum theorem which states

“The change in momentum of a body during a time interval equals the impulse of the net force that acts on the body during
that interval.”

The head of a golf club is in contact with a 35 g ball for 5.0 x 10 -3 s. The ball leaves the club with a speed of 60 m/s. Find
the average force that was acting on the ball during the impact.

The force of the club on the ball is directed along the direction of the velocity and is the only force acting on the body in
that direction. The ball’s initial speed vo is zero and its final speed v is 70 m/s. So the average force from Eqn. (7.4) is

Fclub on ball = mball (v – vo) /t = ____________

A 10-g ball moving at 5.0 m/s strikes a wall

perpendicularly and rebounds at the same speed. What are (a) po = m vo = _________, direction: _________
(a) the initial momentum of the ball (b) final momentum of
the ball and (c) the impulse given to the wall? (d) If the (b) pf = m vf = _________, direction: _________
time of contact of the ball and the wall is 3.0 ms, what is
the magnitude of the average force exerted by the wall on (c) I = pf - po = _________, direction: _________
the ball?
(d) F = (pf - po) / t = _________, direction: _________

Elastic Collision

A collision is an event in which a relatively large force acts on each colliding body for a relatively short interval of time. The
basic idea of collision is that the motion of the colliding bodies (or at least one of them) changes rather abruptly.

Two colliding bodies that separate immediately after collision are said to have undergone a perfectly elastic collision. In this
type of collision, no energy transformation can take place. By this we mean that the sum of kinetic energies of the two colliding bodies
is the same after the collision as before. Hence we can write the equation for conservation of kinetic energy as:

KEA + KEB = KEA0 + KEB0 (7.7)

where KEA and KEB are the kinetic energies after collision of bodies A and B respectively, while KEA0 and KEB0 are their kinetic
energies before the collision.

Suppose the system is composed of several bodies, we can generalized Eqn. (7.7) as

∑i KEi o = ∑i KEi (7.8)

where KE io is the initial kinetic energy of every body consisting your system and KE i is the final kinetic energy.

An object of mass m1 = 3 kg, moving with velocity vo1 = 12 m/s, collides head-on with a stationary object whose mass is m2 = 9 kg.
Given that the collision is elastic, what are the final velocities of the two objects. Neglect friction.
Solution:
Momentum conservation yields
m1 vo1 = m1 v1 + m2 v2 (i)

where v1 and v2 are the final velocities of the first and second objects, respectively. Since the collision is elastic, the total kinetic
energy must be the same before and after the collision. Hence,

½ m1 v20 1 = ½ m1 v21 + ½ m2 v22 (ii)

Using the values of m1, m2 and vo1 and then solving (i) and (ii) simultaneously, we found that the values of v1 that satisfy the
equations are _____ and _____ . We choose the negative root because we expect that the object with mass m1 will bounce back
(reversing its direction) as a result of the collision. Likewise, the final velocity of the second object, using (i), is ______. The
positive sign indicates that the motion of the object with mass m2 after collision is opposite to the other object. Note that the
magnitude of their relative velocity before and after the collision is the same which is _______ as what we expect for perfectly
elastic collision of two bodies in a straight line.

A steel ball of mass 0.6500 kg is fastened to a chord that is 75.0 cm long and fixed at the far end. The ball is then released when the
chord is horizontal. At the bottom of its path , the ball strikes a 3.50 kg steel block initially at rest on a frictionless surface. The
collision is elastic. Find (a) the speed of the ball and (b) the speed of the block, both just after the collision.
Solution:
Let l be the length of the chord, mball , mblock , vball and vblock be the masses and the velocity of the ball and the block, respectively.
(1) Use conservation of mechanical energy to obtain the velocity of the ball when it is about to collide with the block.
mballgl = ½ mball v2baa~about~to~collide ⇒ vbaa~about~to~collide =  = _________
(2) Use conservation of linear momentum to obtain an equation relating the total initial momentum of the system and the total final
momentum.
mballvbaa~about~to~collide = mballvbaa~after~collision + mblockvblock after~collision
(3) Use conservation of kinetic energy to obtain another equation relating the velocity of ball and the block before and after the
collision.
½ mball v2baa~about~to~collide = ½ mball v2ball~about~to~collide + ½ mblockv2block after~collision
(4) Equating the equations in steps 2 and 3 gives the velocity which are vball = _________________ and vblock =
___________________.

Inelastic Collision

In inelastic collisions, the total kinetic energy of the system is not conserved. Some of the total kinetic energy before
collision is transformed into other types of energy such as thermal or potential energy, so the total kinetic energy after collision is less
than the total initial kinetic energy. The inverse can also happen when potential energy is released, the total final kinetic energy is
greater than the total initial kinetic energy. Examples of this type are explosives.

A special case of inelastic collision is completely inelastic collision in which the colliding bodies stick together and move as
one body after collision. In this case the final velocity of the bodies is the same.

A 5.00 g bullet moving at 670 m/s strikes a 700 g wooden block at rest on a frictionless surface. The bullet emerges, traveling in the
same direction with its speed reduced to 425 m/s. What is the resulting speed of the block?
Solution:

We choose the initial velocity of the bullet to be on the positive direction. With this, the initial speed of bullet is
vbullet, 0 = + _____

Since the final velocity of the bullet is in the same direction with its initial velocity, its final velocity is also positive, i.e,
vbullet = + ______

Using conservation of momentum,

mbullet vbullet,0 = mbullet vbullet + mblock vblock

⇒ vblock = mbullet (vbullet,0 – vbullet) / mblock = ____________

The positive sign indicates that the final speed of the block is in the same direction of the bullet.

A 0.15 kg bullet traveling 235 m/s hits a 1.50 kg block of wood and makes a completely inelastic collision with it. If the block is
stationary in a rough surface when hit, how far will it move after the collision? The coefficient of friction between the block and the
rough surface is = 0.45.
Solution:
The conservation of momentum gives
mbullet vo, bullet = (mbullet + mwood ) v (i)
where mbullet is the mass of the bullet, mwood is the mass of wood, vo,bullet is the initial speed of bullet and v is the speed of the bullet
and wood when the two move as one body (after collision).
Using work-energy theorem, we get

½ (mbullet + mwood ) v2 + Woth = 0 (ii)

where

Woth = - Fk d = - FN d = - (mbullet + mwood )gd (iii)

with d as the distance that the block-bullet system will move before coming to rest.

Using (i), (ii) and (iii), we find that the distance d = __________.

A 5.0 g putty is thrown horizontally into a 1.50 kg wooden block resting on a horizontal surface. The coefficient of kinetic friction
between the block and the surface is 0.25. The putty sticks in the block, which is observed to slide 0.15 m along the surface before
stopping. What was the initial speed of the putty?
Solution:
Let mputty be the mass of the bullet, mblock be the mass of the block, vinit be the speed of the bullet and
vputty-block be the speed of the block and bullet when they collided. Using conservation of linear momentum for the collision of the putty
and block,
mputty vinit = (mputty + mblock) vputty-block (i)
Using conservation of energy for the motion of block-bullet body sliding against a rough surface,
½ (mputty + mblock) v2putty-block + Wother = 0 (ii)
where

Wother = - Fk d = - FN d = - (mputty + mblock )gd (iii)

Using Eqns. (i), (ii) and (iii), the initial speed of the putty is _____________.