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STEM-GENERAL PHYSICS 1
Quarter 1 – Module 28
Relationship among momentum,
impulse, force, and time of contact in
a system

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Science– Grade 12
Quarter 1 – Module 28: Relationship among momentum, impulse, force and time in a
system

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Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad

Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Roderico D. Duka

Editors: Benjie L. Cadag

Voltaire G. Furio
Alex Barrameda
Edgardo J. Bungcag

Reviewers: Benjie L. Cadag

Voltaire G. Furio
Alex Barrameda
Edgardo J. Bungcag

Language Editor: Ronnalyn N. Jalmasco

Layout Artist: Ma. Rachel B. Espino, Antonio L. Morada

Relate the momentum, impulse, force, and time of contact
in a system.
STEM_GP12MMICIh- 58

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 Supplementary Learning Module for Senior High School Learners

Impulse-momentum relation

Vehicular accident seems to be an ordinary news we

often heard over the radio or while watching TV news. This
scenario may result to physical injury or even death.
Scientifically, vehicular accidents involve Physics
Concepts specifically Impulse and Momentum. You will learn
these terms as you go through this module.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

➢ define momentum and impulse;

➢ describe the relationship between impulse and momentum;
➢ relate force and time with momentum and impulse;
➢ appreciate the concepts of momentum and impulse to road safety; and
➢ solve problems on impulse and momentum.

PRE-TEST
Direction: Answer the following questions. Use separate sheet of paper for
your answer.

1. Two cars, one twice as heavy as the other, move down a hill at the same speed.
Compared to that of the lighter car, the momentum of the heavier car is
___________ as much.

2. Momentum is ______in motion. It is the product of an object’s _________and

its ________.

3. What is it that changes an object's momentum? ___________. It is the product of

__________ and the ___________ for which it acts.

4. If the eggs are of equal mass and are thrown at the same velocity, they will have
the same _________. The wall and the sheet both apply equal _____________.

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 5. The wall applies a _________ force over a __________ time, while the sheet
applies a __________ force over a _________time.

6. Stepping on a car’s brake, a car stops in less time or distance and the driver
experiences more _________.

7. If the time of impact in a collision is extended by four times, by how much is the
force of impact altered?

8. Moving with the same speed, which one is easier to stop, a large truck or a small
car? Explain your answer.

9. If you lose control on your moving car while driving due to brake failure and you
are trying to stop it, would you rather hit a concrete wall or a pile of haystack?
Why?

10. If you want to decrease the momentum of an egg being tossed to you, what
should you do?

Hi! How did you find the test?

Please check your answers at the answer key section and
see how you did. Don’t worry if you got a low score, this
just means that there are more things that you can learn
from this module.

ELICIT

Before we study further the concepts of momentum and impulse try answering the
following questions below.

Directions: True or False. Write the word TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it
is incorrect.
1. The center of mass of an object always lies on a point/line/plane of symmetry (for
homogenous objects)

2. The center of mass of an object needs to lie within the body of that object.

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 3. The center of a donut is its center of mass even though there is no mass at that
point.

4. The total linear momentum of a system is equal to that of a single particle of mass M
moving with the velocity of the center of mass.

I hope you were able to recall what you

learned about the motion of center of mass of
a system to the momentum and net external
force acting on the system.
That sounds very difficult, but I believe you
were able to answer all the questions.
We will now proceed to another mind-boggling
topic that you will surely enjoy.

ENGAGE

Situational Analysis:
Below are true stories of an accident found in the Science Word.

Situation A

Skydiver Lisa Boyer fell 3,810 meters after her parachute failed to
open. She landed in a sludge pond of a sewage treatment plant
survived ---unhurt.
Situation B

Window washer Chris Saggers fell 22 stories to the roof a car. Saggers
landed sprawled out, with the force of impact distributed evenly over
his body. He walked away with only a broken elbow.

(Science World)

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Guide questions:
1. What factor affect Lisa’s landing unhurt?
2. Is there a significant effect on Chris Saggers landing sprawled out position?
3. What do you think could have happen to Lisa Boyer if she landed on a solid ground?
4. What could have happened to Chris Saggers if he landed with his foot first on the
roof of the car?

If you notice, the above situations happened

based on real-life experiences. This sounds
interesting because we will be focusing on
daily experiences and will look upon its
explanation scientifically.

Activity 1: MOMENTUM BASHING

Objectives

➢ To determine if increasing mass increases momentum.

➢ To describe automobile technologies that reduce the risk of injury in
a collision.

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Background information

To better understand what happens in a crash, it helps to see how force, inertia, and speed
are related in a property called momentum. The amount of momentum often referred to as
“oomph” or “bashing power,” that an object has depends on its mass and its velocity. In this
activity you will investigate how an object’s mass affects its “bashing power!”

Title: “Momentum Bashing”

Materials:

▪ ruler with center groove

▪ 4 marbles, same size
▪ 5-ounce (148 ml) paper cup
▪ scissors •
▪ meter sticks (2)
▪ book to support track (3–4 cm height)

Procedures:

1. Cut a 3.0 cm square section from the top of the paper cup.
2. Place the ruler with one end on a textbook (approximately 3.0 cm height) and the
other end resting on the desk.
3. Place the 3.0 sq. cm opening of the cup over the end of the ruler resting on the desk.
4. Place a meter stick alongside the cup to measure the distance it moves.
5. Position ONE (1) marble in the groove at the ruler’s maximum height.
6. Release the marble and observe the cup.
7. Measure the distance the cup moved (to the nearest 0.1 cm).
8. Perform three (3) trials for 1, 2, 3, and 4 marbles and average the results. Record
these measurements in the data table below.

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 Number of Measure distance cup moves (cm) Average distance cup
marbles moves (cm)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
1

Analysis
1. Describe the relationship between the number of marbles hitting the cup and
the distance the cup moves.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Crash questions:

2. What determines if one car has more momentum than another in a two-car
collision?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

3. Explain why an 80,000-pound big rig traveling 2 mph has the same
momentum as a 4,000-pound sport utility vehicle (SUV) traveling 40 mph.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

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 Congratulations! I hope you enjoyed the
activities and learned the concepts behind
“Momentum Bashing.”
You see, they are practical applications of
Momentum and Impulse. They are very helpful
for you and your family.
Now, we’ll further discuss the concepts so that
you will understand what you have performed in
the activities.

EXPLAIN

What is momentum?
We all know that a baseball struck squarely by a bat is harder to stop than the same
ball thrown gently. We also know that the heavy iron ball used for the shot put is harder to
stop than a baseball whose speed is the same. These observations suggest that a measure
of the tendency of moving body to continue moving at constant velocity is the product of mv
of its mass m and its velocity v.

The quantity mv is called the linear momentum (symbol p) of a moving body:

p = mv Equation 1

Momentum is a vector quantity whose direction is the direction of v. The kinetic energy
of a moving body, which also depends on its mass and velocity because KE = 1/2mv2, is a
scalar quantity with magnitude only. Because mv describes the tendency of the moving body
to pursue a straight path at constant velocity, it is referred to as linear momentum.

❖ Example 1
A truck of mass 5 kg is travelling at 10 m/s. Calculate the momentum of the truck and the
direction in which it is acting.

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 Solution:

p = mv
p = 5kg x 10 m/s
p = 50 N

❖ Example 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What effect on its momentum does a doubling the kinetic energy of a moving object has?

Solution: The object’s initial kinetic energy is KE1 = 1/2mv2, and its final kinetic energy is
KE2 = 1/2mv2. Since KE2 = 2KE1,

½ mv22 = 2(1/2 mv12)

v22 = 2v12
v2 = √2v1
Hence:
p2 = mv2 = √2mv1 = √2p1

The object’s final momentum has increased by a factor of √2.

What is impulse?
What is needed to cause a change in momentum.

To set something in motion from rest, a force must be applied for a period of time.
We might expect that the greater the force and the longest the time, the more momentum
the object will have. This expectation is correct, the product of a constant force F and the
time interval ∆t during which it acts is called impulse:

Impulse (J) = F ∆t Equation 2

Impulse, like momentum is a vector quantity. Let us see how the momentum of an
object is affected by when it receives a certain impulse.

The second law of motion states that the force F applied to an object of constant
mass m that undergoes the acceleration a is given by F = ma. When a force F is applied at
the time t1 = 0 to an object whose initial velocity is v, at the later time t2 = ∆t its velocity will
have changed to v + ∆v. the object’s acceleration in this time interval is

a = velocity change = ∆v
time interval ∆t

and so
F = ma = m∆v
∆t

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 Which we rewrite as

F ∆t = m∆v

Figure 1: (a). the time t = 0,

a force F is applied to a
body whose velocity is v.
(b) At the later time t2 = ∆t,
the velocity of the body is v
= v+ ∆v.

Evidently the impulse provided by the force equals the momentum change of the
object.

F ∆t = ∆(mv) = ∆p Equation 3

Impulse = momentum change

Figure 2. Applying a constant

(a) force F to a mass m for a time of
∆t changes its momentum by ∆p
= F∆t. At (a) the mass is initially
(b) at rest; (b) its initial momentum is
(a) in the same direction as F; at (c)
(c) its initial momentum is in the
(a) opposite direction to F; and at (d)
its initial momentum is
(d) perpendicular to F.
(a)
Since momentum is a vector
quantity, the momentum change
∆p must be added to the initial
(e) momentum p, by the process of
(a)
(a)
vector addition.

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 Figure 2 shows the effect of applying the constant force F for the time ∆t to several
objects with different momentum p1. In each case the final momentum p 2 is obtained by
finding the vector sum p2 = p1 + F∆t

In the SI, the unit of impulse is the Newton. second (N.s), and the unit of momentum
is the kg.m/s; they are actually the same, of course, but it is often convenient to distinguish
between them in this way.

❖ Example 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The head of a golf club is in contact with a 46-g golf ball for 0.50 ms (1 ms = 1
millisecond = 10 -3 s), and as a result the ball flies off at 70 m/s. Find the average force that
was acting on the ball during the impact.

Solution: The ball starts from rest, hence its momentum change is

∆mv = (0.046 kg)(70 m/s) = 3.22 kg.m/s

From equation 3 we therefore have

F = ∆mv = 3.22 kg.m/s = 6.4 x 103 N

∆t 5.0 x 10 -4 s

A force of the same magnitude but acting in opposite direction acts on the club’s
head during the impact, in accord with the third law of motion. No golf club could withstand
such a static load, but the impact is so brief that its only effect on the shaft is to bend it
temporarily by a few centimeters.

❖ Example 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 1400 kg car moving westward with a velocity of 15 m/s collides to a utility pole and
brought to rest at 0.3 s. Find the magnitude of the force exerted on the car during the
collision.

Solution: We can directly solve for F using equation

F = ∆mv = (1,400 kg)(-15.m/s) = -70,000 N, to the west

∆t 0.3 s

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 Note that 15 m/s velocity is fast and it needed a large amount of force in order
to stop the massive car at a very short period of time. Failure to stop the car could
result in a greater damage on the car and other structure that can be hit by it aside
from the utility pole.

ELABORATE

Practical Application of Impulse and Momentum

Relationships of impulse, momentum, force and time

It should be clear from the equation relating impulse to change in momentum, Ft =

Δmv, that any amount of force would (eventually) bring a moving object to rest. If the force is
very small, it must be applied for a long time, but a greater force can bring the object to rest
in a shorter period of time.

If you jump off a porch and land on your feet with your knees locked in the straight
position, your motion would be brought to rest in a very short period of time and thus the
force would need to be very large – large enough, perhaps, to damage your joints or bones.

Suppose that when you hit the ground, your velocity was 7.0 m/s and that velocity
was brought to rest in 0.05 seconds. If your mass is 100. kg, what force was required to
bring you to rest?

F = Δmvt = (100. kg)(7.0 m/s)0.050s = 35 N

If, on the other hand, when your feet first touched the ground, you allowed your
knees to flex so that the period of time over which your body was brought to rest is
increased, then the force on your body would be smaller and it would be less likely that you
would damage your legs.

Suppose that when you first touch the ground, you allow your knees to bend and
extend the stopping time to 0.50 seconds. What force would be required to bring you to rest
this time?

F = Δmvt = (100. kg)(7.0 m/s)0.50s =350 N

With the longer period of time for the force to act, the necessary force is reduced to
one-tenth of what was needed before.

Extending the period of time over which a force acts in order to lessen the force is a
common practice in design.

Other examples:

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 ➢ Padding in shoes and seats allows the time to increase.
➢ The front of automobiles are designed to crumple in an accident; this increases the
time the car takes to stop.
➢ Barrels of water or sand in front of abutments on the highway and airbags serve to
slow down the stoppage time. These changes all serve to decrease the amount of
force it takes to stop the momentum in a car crash, which consequently saves lives.
➢ The purpose of an airbag is to help the passenger in the car reduce their speed in
collision without getting injured.

Practice Problem:
1. A force of 186 N acts on a 7.3–kg bowling ball for 0.40 s.
a. What is the bowling ball’s change in momentum?
b. What is its change in velocity?

2. The momentum of a 3000 kg truck is 6.36 × 104 kg·m/s. At what speed is the truck
traveling?

3. A 0.24–kg volleyball approaches Tina with a velocity of 3.3 m/s. Tina bumps the ball,
giving it a speed of 2.4 m/s but in the opposite direction. What average force did she
apply if the interaction time between her hands and the ball was 0.025 s?

4. Small rockets are used to make tiny corrections to the speed of a satellite. If a rocket
has a thrust of 35 N and is used to change the velocity of a 72000–kg satellite by 63
cm/s, for how long should it be fired?

5. A 2250 kg car travelling to the west is slowed down uniformly from 2.0 m/s to 5.0 m/s
in 4.00s. What constant force acted on the car during this time?

EVALUATE

Post Test: Answer the following questions.

1. When the speed of an object is doubled, its momentum

a. decreases
b. doubles
c. increases
d. remains the same

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 2. When the force that produces an impulse acts twice as much time, the impulse is..
a. doubled
b. halved
c. quadrupled
d. the same

3. A cannonball shot from a cannon with a long barrel and increased its speed because
it receives a greater
a. average force
b. impulse
c. work
d. momentum

4. Will the momentum be less if a bottle of wine fell from atop of a table and landed on a
carpet rather than on a hard floor?
a. No, both are the same
b. Yes, if it lands on the carpet
c. No, if it lands on the floor
d. No more, if it lands on a hard floor

5. Two cars of the same velocity and mass accidentally lose their track due to brake
failure. The car hits the haystack and the second one hits a concrete wall. Which of
the following statements is TRUE?

a. The second car has greater momentum than the first one.
b. Both have the same momentum.
c. Bothe have the same impulse.
d. The second car has greater impulse than the first one.
Problem Solving: Solve for the unknown. Show your computation in a separate sheet of
paper.
6. Compare the momentum of a 2000 kg van moving at 30 m/s with a 5000 kg truck
moving at 12 m/s.

7. A bicycle has a momentum of 24 kg.m/s. What momentum would the bicycle have if
it had…

a. Twice the mass and was moving at the same speed

b. The same mass and was moving the same speed
c. One-half the mass and was moving with twice the speed
d. The same mass and was moving with one-half the speed

8. What is the momentum of a golf ball with a mass of 62 g moving at 73 m/s?

9. For how long a time must a tow truck pull with a force of 550 N on a stalled 1200 kg
car to give it a forward velocity of 2.0 m/s?
10. Ben plays middle line backer for Sorsogon National High School’s varsity football
team. IN a game against it rival Daraga National High School, he delivered a hit to
DNHS’s 82-kg running back, changing his eastward velocity of 5.6 m.s into a
westward velocity of 2.5 m./s.

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 a. Determine the initial momentum of the running back
b. Determine the final momentum of the running back
c. Determine the momentum change of the running back
d. Determine the impulse delivered to the running back

Congratulations for the job well done.

You have made it this far. Just enjoy what you are doing.

Everything will paid off, soon. ☺

EXTEND

Additional Readings/Study Aids:

The following pages from The Physics Classroom tutorial may serve to be useful in
assisting you in the understanding of the concepts and mathematics associated with this
module.

• Momentum
• Impulse-Momentum Change Equation
• Real World Application

The following terms used in this module are defined as

follows:

Terms Meaning
o Impulse Change in momentum
o Momentum A property of a moving object equal to its mass times velocity.
o Force Is a push of pull upon an object resulting from object’s
interaction with another object.
o Time The measureable period during which an action, process or
condition exerts or continues.
o Velocity The speed of an object in a given direction
o Vector quantity A quantity that has magnitude and direction.

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Pre-Test
1. Twice
2. Inertia, mass, velocity
3. Impulse, force and time
4. Momenta, impulses
5. Bigger, shorter, smaller, longer
6. Force
7. Quarter (One fourth)
8. It is easier to stop a car than a truck with the same speed because the truck is
massive than a car. Since mass is proportional to its velocity, therefore it has
greater momentum.
9. A pile of hay
10. As it touches my palm I will move my hand backward as to increase the time
of impact that lessen the impact force.
Elicit
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. T

Situational Analysis:
1. The factor that affects Lisa’s landing-unhurt is the delayed time of contact due to the
soft, squishy sludge that brought her body to rest in about 0.03 sec ---30 times longer
than if she landed on solid ground.
2. Saggers sprawled out landing made the force of impact distributed evenly over his
body. Because the force of the impact was distributed over this longer time, it was
never strong enough to cause serious injury.
3. If Boyer had landed on solid ground, she would have come to a crashing halt in about
0.0001 sec. The concentrated force of that abrupt landing would have killed her
instantly.
4. If he had hit the roof feet first, the force would have been focused in a small area,
shattered his legs, and driven the bones into his spine.

Answer to Part 1: Momentum Bashing

1. As the number of marbles increases the distance the cup moves increases. The
average increase in distance was (estimated 6.8 cm, 6.5, and 5.8) for each additional
marble: 1–2, 2–3, 3–4 respectively. (Note: this data may vary depending on the result
of the actual activity.)
2. Momentum is a product of a car’s mass and velocity. A lighter car can have a greater
momentum if it has a high speed compared with the heavier car.
3. Since momentum is the product of mass and velocity, the truck’s large mass and
slow speed is matched by the SUV’s smaller mass but greater speed.
momentum = mass x velocity
p = mv

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 Big Rig’s momentum = SUV’s momentum

mv = mv
(80,000 lbs.)(2 mph) = (4,000 lbs.)(40 mph)

1. #Apply What You Learned: Practice Problem

1. (a). ∆p = 74 kg.m/s (b). ∆v = 10m/s
2. v = 21.2 m/s
3. F = 55 N
4. ∆t = 1,300 sec.
5. -84, 375 kg.m/s, to the west, or 84, 375 kg.m/s, to the east

Evaluation: Post Test

1. b
2. a
3. b
4. a
5. b
Problem solving
6. pvan = 60000 N, ptruck = 60000N, same momentum
7. a. 48
b. 48
c. 24
d. 12
c. 36
8. 4.5 kg.m/s
9. 4.4 sec
10. a. 460 kg.m/s , east
b. 210 kg.m/s, west
c. 660 kg.m/s, west
d. 660 N, west

→ Study.com
→ Modern Technical Physics, pp. 122-125
→ https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-physics-flexbook-
2.0/section/6.1/primary/lesson/momentum-and-impulse-phys
→ https://scripts.mit.edu/srayyan/PERwiki/index.php?title=Module

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