Law of Conservation of

Momentum
(elastic collisions)
Lesson 3
Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Announcements
HW #2 due TODAY
HW #3 due tomorrow

Lunch Bunch sections meet today and

tomorrow

AP Physics B Standards
Law of Conservation of Momentum (elastic collisions)

LESSON 3:

I.D.3.a. Students should understand linear momentum

conservation, so they can:
(2) Identify situations in which linear momentum, or a component of
the linear momentum vector, is conserved.
(3) Apply linear momentum conservation to one-dimensional elastic
collisions.

Lesson Objectives
Students will be able to
1. identify systems in which momentum is conserved.
2. use conservation of momentum to perform related
calculations.
3. use conservation of momentum to describe elastic
collisions.

Demo: Newtons Cradle

For what system is momentum

conserved?
What is special about the
collision between the spheres?
How do you calculate the total
momentum of the system?

Momentum change
demonstration

Using only a meter stick, find the momentum

change of each ball when it strikes the desk from a
height of exactly one meter.
Which ball, Bouncy or Lazy, has the greatest
change in momentum?

External versus internal forces

External forces:
forces coming from outside the
system.

External forces change the

momentum of the system.

Internal forces:
forces arising from interactions
within a system.

Internal forces cannot change

the momentum of the system.

Lesson Objective 3.1

An external force in golf

The club head

exerts an external
impulsive force on
the ball and changes
its momentum.

The acceleration of
the ball is greater
because its mass is
smaller.

Lesson Objective 3.1

The System

An internal force in billiards

The forces the balls

exert on each other
are internal and
do not change the
momentum of the
system.

Since the balls have equal

masses, the magnitude of
their accelerations is equal.

Lesson Objective 3.1

The System

Law of Conservation of
Momentum

If the net external force on a system

is zero, then the vector sum of the
momentums of the objects will remain
constant before and after a collision
or other event.

Pbefore = Pafter
Lesson Objective 3.2

o Sample Problem 3.1:

A 75-kg man sits in the back of a 120-kg canoe that is at rest in a still
pond. If the man begins to move forward in the canoe at 0.50 m/s
relative to the shore, what happens to the canoe?

Lesson Objective 3.2