Name: ____________________

Momentum and Impulse

Reading Notes

Section 7-1: Momentum and Its Relation to Force

What is the symbol for momentum? _____ What are the units of momentum? __________

What is the basic equation for momentum? ____________________

The direction of momentum is the same as the direction of what other quantity? ____________________

What equation relates the net force to the momentum of an object? ____________________

Section 7-2: Conservation of Momentum

Under what circumstances should the law of conservation of momentum be used?

Explain what an “external force” is.

What is the basic equation that states conservation of momentum? ___________________________________

Conservation of momentum is the same as what other physical law? ______________________________

Example: A truck rear-ends a parked car. The two (wrecked) cars eventually come to rest. Why is momentum
not conserved in this situation?

Section 7-3: Collisions and Impulse

What is impulse? (Best answer is three words long.) __________ _____ _______ _______________
noun prepositio n physical quantity

What are two equations for impulse? _______________ and _______________

What must we do to find impulse if the force varies with time?

What does Newton’s Third Law guarantee about the impulse applied to objects A and B when they collide with
each other?

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Section 7-4: Conservation of Energy and Momentum in Collisions
Section 7-6: Inelastic Collisions

Define the following types of collisions. Don’t guess the answers.

Explosion:

Elastic Collision:

Inelastic Collision:

Completely Inelastic Collision:

Section 7-8: Center of Mass

Section 7-10: Center of Mass and Translational Motion

Describe what the center of mass of an object is.

What is the relationship between total momentum and the motion of a system’s center of mass?

What is the relationship between the forces on a system and the acceleration of the system’s center of mass?

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Example: Cart 1 has a mass of 0.3 kg. Cart 1 rolls without friction toward Cart 2 on a horizontal track. The
two carts collide and separate. The positions of Cart 1 and Cart 2 are shown in the diagrams below.

Between which two times does the collision take place? _____ sec to _____ sec. Explain your reasoning.

Find the initial and final speeds of Cart 1 and Cart 2.

Initial Speed of Cart 1: __________ Final Speed of Cart 1: __________

Initial Speed of Cart 2: __________ Final Speed of Cart 2: __________

Explain how you found these speeds from the graphs.

Determine the mass of Cart 2. Explain every step using words.

As a result of the collision, what is the impulse applied to…

Cart 1? Cart 2?

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During the collision, what is the average force applied to…

Cart 1? Cart 2?

What type of collision is this?

____ Explosion ____ Elastic ____ Inelastic ____ Completely Inelastic

Explain your reasoning.

Example: A 0.5 kg basketball is dropped from rest 1

m above the ground. The force that the ground exerts
on the ball is shown below as a function of time when
the ball bounces once off of the ground.

How fast is the ball moving when the ball reaches the
floor?

What impulse is applied to the ball? How high does the ball go after bouncing?

How fast does the ball move when the ball leaves the Evaluate whether this ball is a good basketball.
floor?

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In-Class Activity: Hang the masses shown from the left and right sides of the level apparatus. Record how far
from the center each mass must be placed.

MLeft (g) xLeft (cm) MRight (g) xRight (cm) What type of relationship is there between mass and
50 50 distance from the center of mass?
50 100
50 150
100 50
100 100
100 150 Write an equation that relates MLeft, xLeft, MRight, and
150 50 xRight.
150 100
150 150

Example: Suppose that there are 6  109 people on the earth, all of whom are in the state of Connecticut (so
that each person has 1 m2 of area to himself), and that each person has mass of 100 kg (220 lbs). Everyone
jumps one meter (3.3 feet) into the air at the same time. The earth itself has a mass of 6  1024 kg, and the width
of a carbon atom is 10–10 m.

When the people jump, the earth and people move, but what doesn’t move is ___________________________.

How far will the earth move when all of the people on earth jump?

Example: The diagram shows blocks 1 and

2 connected by a spring. They are released
from rest on an incline and slide down the
incline. Both blocks are subject to these
forces: weight, normal, friction, and spring.

List the forces that CAN change the motion of the List the forces that CANNOT change the motion of
center of mass of the 1-2 system. the center of mass of the 1-2 system.

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Example: Match each graph A through N the descriptions 1 through 13. Think about what the slope or area of
each graph represents. Note: Graphs (A) and (B) are used twice in matching, so (A) and (B) appears twice
under each one.

(Graph A) (Graph A) (Graph B) (Graph B) (Graph C)

(Graph D) (Graph E) (Graph F)

(Graph G) (Graph H) (Graph I)

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 (Graph J) (Graph K) (Graph L)

(Graph M) (Graph N)

Note: Description 1 matches three graphs, and description 2 matches two graphs.

1. ___ & ___ & ___ The net force on me is 2 N.
2. ___ & ___ My mass is 2 kg.
3. ___ My acceleration is 2 m/s2.
4. ___ I gained 4 kgm/s of momentum.
5. ___ My velocity is 2 m/s.
6. ___ The acceleration of gravity on our planet is 2 m/s2.
7. ___ I used 4 J of energy.
8. ___ I am a 2-watt light bulb.
9. ___ I gained 4 J of kinetic energy.
10. ___ My spring constant is 2 N/m.
11. ___ I weigh 2 N.
12. ___ My speed increased by 4 m/s.
13. ___ I traveled 4 meters forward.