1 Science 9 Handout – Quarter 4 Week 4
Science 9 Handout – Quarter 4 Week 4
Conservation of Momentum and Collision
Introduction
Conservation of Momentum
- To make an object accelerate, an external must act upon that object.
- Also, to change the momentum of an object, an external force is also
required.
- If there will be no external force present, then there will be no change in
momentum.
- This concept of momentum conservation
occurs in a system – a collection of many
objects or particles; each of which has a
mass and velocity; and affect one another.
The bowling ball and bowling pin, and the
football players in the illustration make up 2
different systems.
- Another example of a system is the
illustration that shows the two children on their
skateboards. Initially these two children are rest. After
these two children has pushed each other away, the
girl moved to the left, while the boy moved to the
right. Newton’s Third Law tells us that the force that
the girl exerts on the boy and the force that makes
the girl move in the other direction are of equal
magnitude but opposite direction. Or in other words,
when a body exerts a force on another body, the
second body exerts a force equal in magnitude to
the first but in opposite direction.
- No net/unbalanced external force acts on the boy-
girl system, thus, the total momentum of the system does not change.
Remember that momentum, like velocity and force, is a vector quantity. The
momentum gained by the girl is of equal magnitude but opposite direction to
the momentum gained by the boy. In this system, no momentum is gained or
lost. We say that momentum is conserved.
Development
- Conservation of momentum can be shown with the equation below:
Total Initial Momentum = Total Final Momentum
Change in Momentum = 0
0 = pboy + pgirl
-pboy = pgirl
-(mv)boy = (mv)girl
2 Science 9 Handout – Quarter 4 Week 4
Sample problem:
A. Two ice skaters stand together. They “push off” and travel directly away from
each other, the boy with a velocity of 1.50 m/s. If the boy weighs 735 N and
the girl, 490 N, what is the girl’s velocity after they push off? (Consider the ice
to be frictionless.)
Given:
Vboy = 1.50 m/s Wboy = 635 N Wgirl= 490 N
Find:
Vgirl = ?
Solution:
- Take note that in this problem, the given is the “weight” and not the “mass”.
Remember that Weight = mass/acceleration due to gravity, or w=m/g.
Therefore, we have to compute for the mass first, because we are talking about
the momentum of the objects in the system.
- Thus, m=w/g
Total Initial Momentum = Total Final Momentum
Change in Momentum = 0
0 = pboy + pgirl
-pboy = pgirl
-(75 kg x 1.50 m/s)boy = (50 kg) (vgirl)
-112.5 kg m/s (50 kg) (vgirl)
=
50 kg 50 kg
-2.25 m/s = vgirl
- Since the two skaters stand on the ice which is frictionless, then there is no
external force present. The momentum of the boy and girls is conserved, and
there is no change in momentum after the push-off.
The girl moves at a rate of 2.25 m/s opposite to the direction of the boy.
B. Two ice skaters stand together. They “push off” and travel directly away from
each other, the boy with a velocity of 0.50 m/s and the girl with a velocity of
0.65 m/s. If the mass of the boy is 60 kg, what is the girl’s mass?
Given:
boy girl
Mass 60 kg ?
-0.65 m/s
Velocity 0.50 m/s (negative, because it is in
the opposite direction)
3 Science 9 Handout – Quarter 4 Week 4
Find:
mgirl = ?
Solution:
- Since the given is the problem is the mass of the objects of the system, then we
can proceed to the computation of the mass of the girl
Total Initial Momentum = Total Final Momentum
Change in Momentum = 0
0 = pboy + pgirl
-pboy = pgirl
-(60 kg x 0.50 m/s)boy = (mgirl)(-0.65 m/s)
-30 kg m/s (mgirl)(-0.65 m/s)
=
-0.65 m/s -0.65 m/s
46.15 or 46 kg = mgirl
Collision
- An encounter between two objects resulting in exchange of impulse and
momentum. Because the time of impact is usually small, the impulse provided
by external forces like friction during this time is negligible. If we take the
colliding bodies as one system, the momentum of the system is therefore
approximately conserved. The total momentum of the system before the
collision is equal to the total momentum of the system after the collision.
- It also refers to any interaction of particles in which momentum is exchanged
or transferred.
- Collisions are categorized according to whether the total kinetic energy of the
system changes. Kinetic energy may be lost during collisions when (1) it is
converted to heat or other forms like binding energy, sound, light (if there is
spark), etc. and (2) it is spent in producing deformation or damage, such as
when two cars collide.
- The types of collision are:
a. Elastic collision - one in which the total kinetic
energy of the system does not change, and
colliding objects bounce off after collision.
b. Inelastic collision - one in which the total kinetic
energy of the system changes (i.e., converted to
some other form of energy).
c. Perfectly inelastic collision - Objects stick
together after collision, and maximum kinetic
energy is lost.
4 Science 9 Handout – Quarter 4 Week 4
- For the momentum of the objects to be conserved in collisions, the total
momentum of the system before collision must be equal to its total momentum
after collision.
Total Momentum Before Collision = Total Momentum After Collision
(p1 + p2)before (p1 + p2)after
Sample problem:
A. A 0.2-kg ball moves to the right with a speed of 3 m/s. It hits a 0.5-kg ball at rest.
After collision, the second ball moves to the right with a speed of 1 m/s. What
is the speed of the first ball after collision?
Given:
m1 = 0.2 kg m2 = 0.5 kg
v1 = 3 m/s v2 = 0
v1’ = ? v2’ = 1 m/s
Before After
m1v1 + m2v2 = m1v1’ + m2v2’
(0.2 kg x 3 m/s) + (0.5 kg x 0) = (0.2 kg) v1’ + (0.5 kg x 1 m/s)
0.6 kg m/s = (0.2 kg) v1’ + 0.5 kg
0.6 kg m/s - 0.5 kg = (0.2 kg) v1’
0.1 kg m/s (0.2 kg) v1’
=
0.2 kg 0.2 kg
0.5 m/s = v1’
B. A 15-kg tuna fish moving horizontally to the right at 5 m/s swallows a 2-kg
dalagang bukid that is swimming to the left at 7.5 m/s. What is the velocity of
the two fishes together?
Given:
m1 = 15 kg m2 = 2 kg
v1 = 5 m/s v2 = -7.5 m/s
v’ = ?
Before After
m1v1 + m2v2 = (m1+m2) v’
(15 kg x 5 m/s) + (2 kg x -7.5 m/s) = (15 kg + 2 kg) v’
75 kg m/s + (-15 kg m/s) = (17 kg) v’
60 kg m/s = (17 kg) v’
60 kg m/s (17 kg) v1’
=
17 kg 17 kg
3.53 m/s = v’
