Impulse and Momentum 37

LEVEL # I
OBJECTIVE PROBLEMS (Only one option is correct)
 IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
1. It is kinetic energy of a body increases by 21%, the momentum of a body increase by
(A) 10 (B) 11 (C) 9 (D) 12
2. If the KE of a body becomes four times of its initial value, then the new momentum will be :
(A) three times its initial value (B) four times its initial value
(C) twice its initial value (D) unchanged.
3. A shell explodes and many pieces fly off in different directions. The following is conserved :
(A) Kinetic energy (B) Momentum
(C) Neither momentum nor KE (D) Momentum and KE.
4. Choose the correct definition of impulse :
(A) impulse is defined as rate of change of momentum of particle
(B) impulse is defined as change in momentum of a particle
(C) impulse is defined as the integral of force with respect to time
(D) both 2 and 3 are correct.
5. A particle of mass m is projected from the ground at an angle è from vertical. The change in
momentum when it is at highest point of its track.
(A) mu sin è (B) 2 mu sin è (C) mu cos è (D) 2 mu cos è
u
6. A bullet of mass m fired with velocity u forming an angle è with the
horizontal and get embedded in a wooden block of same mass m. 
m
The block is placed on smooth surface. The magnitude of horizontal
component of impulse is :
mu cos è mu sin è
(A) (B) (C) mu cos è (D) mu sin è .
2 2
 
7. Two bodies having masses m1 and m2 and velocities u 1 and u 2 collide and form a composite
system of m 1 u 1  m 2 u 2  0m 1  m 2  . The velocity of the composite system is :
 

(A) 0 (B)

u1  u 2

(C)

u1  u 2

(D) u 1  u 2  / 2 .
 

8. An earth satellite of mass M circles the earth with speed V. The change in momentum when it goes
halfway around the earth is :
Mv
(A) 0 (B) Mv (C) 2Mv (D)
2
9. The magnitude of the momentum of a particle varying with time is shown in figure. The variation of
force acting on the particle is shown as :
P

t
t0 2t0
Impulse and Momentum 38

F F F F

t0 2t0
(A) (B) (C) t (D) t0 2t0
t .
t t
t0 2t0 t0 2t0

CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
10. A rocket works on the principle of conservation of :
(A) mass (B) kinetic energy
(C) linear momentum (D) angular momentum.
11. A bomb projected in a parabolic path under the effect of gravity, explodes in mid air. The centre of
mass of fragments will :
(A) move vertically upwards and then downwards
(B) move vertically downwards
(C) move in irregular path
(D) move in the parabolic path as the unexploded bomb would have moved.

CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM AND ENERGY

12. A bag of mass M hangs by a long thread and a bullet (mass m) comes horizontally with velocity v
and gets caught in the bag. Then for the combined system (bag + bullet) :
(A) Momentum is mMv/(M+m) (B) KE is (1/2)Mu2
(C) Momentum is mv(M+m) /M (D) KE is m2v2/2(M+m).
13. A cannon of mass 2m located at the base of an inclined plane shoots a shell of mass m in horizontal
direction with velocity v0. The angle of inclination of plane is 45º and the coefficient of friction
between the cannon and the plane is 0.5. The height to which cannon ascends the plane as a result
of recoil is :
v 02 v2 v 02 v 02
(A) (B) (C) (D)
2g 12g 6g g
HEAD ON COLLISION

14. Which one of the following statement is true :

(A) Momentum is conserved in elastic collisions but not in inelastic collision
(B) Total KE is conserved in elastic collisions but momentum is not
(C) Total KE is not conserved but momentum is conserved in inelastic collision
(D) KE and momentum both are conserved in all types of collisions.
15. A mass m1 moves with a large velocity. It strikes another mass m2 at rest in a head on collision. It
comes back along its path with lesser speed after collision. Then :
(A) m1 > m2 (B) m1 < m2
(C) m1 = m2 (D) there is no relation between m1 and m2.
16. A ball of mass m moving with a speed u undergoes a head-on elastic collision with a ball of mass
nm initially at rest. The fraction of the incident energy transferred to the heavier ball is
n n 2n 4n
1 n (1  n) 2 (1  n) 2 (1  n) 2
(A) (B) (C) (D) .
Impulse and Momentum 39
17. A body is dropped and observed to bounce a height greater than the dropping height. Then :
(A) the collision is elastic
(B) there is additional source of energy during collision
(C) it is not possible
(D) this type of phenomenon does not occur in nature.
18. Six identical balls are lined up along a straight frictionless groove. Two similar balls moving with
speed v along the groove collide with this row on extreme left side end. Then :
(A) One ball from the right end will move on with speed 2v, all the other remains at rest
(B) Two balls from the extreme right will move on with speed v each and the remaining balls
will be at rest
(C) All the balls will start moving to right with speed v/8 each
(D) All the six balls originally at rest will move on with speed u/6 each and the two incident
balls will come to rest.
19. A ball impinges directly on a similar ball at rest. The first ball is brought to rest by the impact. If half
the kinetic energy is lost by impact, what is the value of the coefficient of restitution ?
1 1 1 3
(A) (B) (C) (D) .
2 2 3 2 2
20. A sphere of mass m moving with a constant velocity u hits another stationary sphere of the same
mass. If e is the coefficient of restitution, then ratio of velocities of the two spheres (First sphere/
Second sphere) after collision will be :
1 e  1  e   e  1  e 1
       .
1  e  1  e   e 1  e  1
(A) (B) (C) (D)

OBLIQUE COLLISION
21. A steel ball strikes a steel plate placed on a horizontal surface at an angle è with the vertical. If the
co-efficient of restitution is e, the angle at which the rebound will take place is :
 tan è   e 
è tan 1   e tan è tan 1  .
 tan è 
(A) (B) (C) (D)
 e 
CENTRE OF MASS
22. Choose incorrect one. If no external force acts on a system :
(A) Velocity of centre of mass remains constant
(B) Velocity of centre of mass is not constant
(C) Velocity of centre of mass may be zero
(D) Acceleration of centre of mass is zero.
23. Two blocks of masses 10 kg and 4 kg are connected by a spring of negligible mass and placed on
a frictionless horizontal surface. An impulse gives a velocity of 14 ms-1 to the heavier block in the
direction of the lighter block. The velocity of the centre of mass is :
(A) 30 ms-1 (B) 20 ms-1 (C) 10 ms-1 (D) 5 ms-1.
24. The centre of mass of a body :
(A) Lies always at the geometrical centre (B) Lies always inside the body
(C) Lies always outside the body (D) May lie within or outside the body.
25. A system consists of mass M and m(<M). The centre of mass of the system is ;
(A) At the middle (B) Nearer to M
(C) Nearer to m (D) At the position of large mass.
Impulse and Momentum 40
26. Which one of the following is correct about centre of mass :
(A) It depends on frame of reference
(B) In centre of mass frame momentum of a system is always zero
(C) Internal forces may affect the motion of centre of mass
(D) Centre of mass and centre of gravity are synonymous.
27. All the particles of a body are situated at a distance R from the origin. The distance of the centre of
mass of the body from the origin is :
(A) =R (B) R (C) >R (D)  R.
28. A loaded spring gun of mass M fires a shot of mass m with a velocity V at an angle of elevation è .
The gun is initially at rest on a horizontal frictionless surface. Just after firing, the centre of mass of
the gun-shot system :
m
(A) moves with a velocity V
M
Vm
(B) moves with a velocity cos è in the horizontal direction
M
(C) remains at rest
VM  m 
(D) moves with a velocity M  m  in the horizontal direction.

SUBJECTIVE PROBLEMS
IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
29. A steel ball with a mass of m = 20 g falls from a height of h1 = 1 m onto a steel plate and rebounds
to a height of h2 = 81 cm. Find: the impulse of the force received by the plate during the impact.
30. A baseball (which has an official weight of about 0.14 kg) is moving horizontally at a speed of 93
mi/h (about 42 m/s) when it is struck by the bat (see figure). It leaves the bat in a direction at an
angle  = 35º above its incident path and with a speed of 50 m/s. (a) Find the impulse of the force
exerted on the ball. (b) Assuming the collision lasts for 1.5 ms ( = 0.0015 s), what is the average
force ? (c) Find the change in the momentum of the bat. (Given cos 35º = 0.82)
31. What are reasonable magnitudes for the impulse I, average force Fav, and collision time t for a
golf club hitting a golf ball ? Mass of the golf ball is 45 g and is thrown over a range of 175yd
(160m). Take angle of projection 45º and g = 10 m/s2.
CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
32. A 3 kg mass moving at a speed of 15 ms-1 collides with a 6 kg object initially at rest. They stick
together. Find the velocity of the combination after the collision.
33. Two ice skaters, A and B, approach each other at right angles. Skater A has a mass of 50 kg and
she is traveling in the + x direction at 2 ms-1. Skater B has a mass of 40 kg and he is moving in the
+ y direction at 2.5 ms-1. They collide and cling together. Find the final velocity of the couple.
34. A trolley of mass 300 kg carrying a sandbag of 25 kg is moving uniformly with a speed of 27 km/
h on a frictionless track. After a while, sand starts leaking out of a hole on the trolley’s floor at the
rate of 0.05 kg s-1. What is the speed of the trolley after the entire sand bag is empty ?
Impulse and Momentum 41
35. A man of mass m moves on a plank of mass M with a constant velocity m urel
u rel . with respect to the plank, as shown in figure.
(i) If the plank rests on a smooth horizontal surface, then determine
its velocity with respect to ground. M
(ii) If the man travels a distance L with respect to the plank, then find L
the distance travelled by the plank with respect to ground.
36. Two identical blocks A and B of mass M each are kept on each other on a smooth horizontal
plane. There exists friction between A and B. If a bullet of mass m hits the lower block with a
horizontal velocity v and gets embedded into it. Find the work done by friction between A and B.
37. A 75.2 kg man is riding on a 38.6 kg cart travelling at a speed of 2.33 m/s. He jumps off in such a
way as to land on the ground with zero horizontal speed. Find the resulting change in the speed of
the cart.

CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM AND ENERGY

)
30º
38. The bob A of a pendulum released from 300 to the vertical hits another bob B of
the same mass at rest on a table as shown in fig. How high does the bob A rise
A
after the collision ? Neglect the size of the bobs and assume the collision to be m
elastic. m
B
39. A small empty bucket of mass M is attached to a long inextensible cord of length l. The bucket is
released from rest when the cord is in a horizontal position. In its lowest position the bucket
scoops up a mass m of water, what is the height of the swing about the lowest position?
40. Two particles A and B lighter particle has mass m, are released from infinity. They move towards
each other under their mutual force of attraction. If their speeds are v and 2v respectively find the
K.E. of the system.
41. A 1200 kg car travelling with a speed of 25 m/s in an easterly direction crashes into the rear end of
a 9000 kg truck moving in the same direction at 20 m/s. The velocity of the car right after the
collision is 18 m/s to the east. (a) What is the velocity of the truck right after the collision? (B) How
much mechanical energy is lost in the collision? Account for this loss in energy.
HEAD ON COLLISION
42. A block of mass m moving at a speed v collides with another block of mass 2m at rest. The lighter
block comes to rest after collision. What is the coefficient of restitution.
43. A particle is dropped on a surface from a height of 20 m. If the coefficient of restitution is 0.5, what
is the total distance covered by the particle before coming to rest.
44. A ball of mass m is dropped onto a floor from a certain height. The collision is perfectly elastic and
the ball rebounds to the same height and again falls. Find the average force exerted by the ball on
the floor during long time interval.
45. Answer carefully, with reasons :
(A) In an elastic collision of two billiard balls, is the total kinetic energy conserved during the
short time of collision of the balls (i.e. when they are in contact) ?
(B) Is the total linear momentum conserved during the short time of an elastic collision of two
balls?
Impulse and Momentum 42
(C) What are the answers to (A) and (B) for an inelastic collision ?
(D) If the potential energy of two billiard balls depends only on the separation distance between
their centres, is the collision elastic or inelastic ? (Note, we are talking here of potential
energy corresponding to the force during collision, not gravitational potential energy).
46. The centres of the spheres 1, 2 and 3 lie on a single straight line. Sphere 1 is moving with an (initial)
velocity v1 directed along this line and hits sphere 2. Sphere 2, acquiring after collision a velocity
v 2 , hits sphere 3. Both collisions are absolutely elastic . What must be the mass of sphere 2 for the
sphere 3 to acquire maximum velocity (the masses m1 and m 3 of spheres 1 and 3 are known)?

V1
1 2 3
m2 m3 h
m1
47. A ball is dropped from a height h above the landing and bounces down the
flight of stairs. Denoting by e the coefficient of restitution, determine the d

value of h for which the ball will bounce the same height above each step. d

48. Sphere of mass m1 = 3 kg impinges with a velocity of 7 m/s directly on another sphere of mass
m2 = 5 kg. The velocities after impact are in the ratio 2 : 3. Find the coefficient of restitution and
loss of energy.
OBLIQUE COLLISION
49. A projectile is fired with a speed u at an angle  above a horizontal field. The coefficient of
restitution of collision between the projectile and the field is e. How far from the starting point, does
the projectile makes its second collision with the field?
50. A body of mass m makes an elastic collision with another identical body at rest. Show that if the
collision is not head on, the bodies go at right angle to each other after the collision.
51. A molecule in a gas container hits a horizontal wall with speed 200 ms-1 and 300 with the normal,
and rebounds with the same speed. Is momentum conserved in the collision ? Is the collision elastic
or inelastic ?
52. Two smooth spheres A and B, of equal radius but mass m and M, are free to move on a horizontal
table. A is projected with speed u towards B which is at rest. On impact, the line joining their
centres is inclined at an angle  to the velocity of A before impact. If e is the coefficient of restitu-
tion between the spheres, find the speed with which B begins to move. If A’s path after impact is
perpendicular to its path before impact, show that
eM  m
tan 2   .
Mm
52. An imperfectly elastic particle is projected from a point in a horizontal plane with velocity u at an
angle  to the horizon. If e be the coefficient of restitution, then calculate,
(i) the time after which it ceases to rebound from the plane
(ii) its range
(iii) tangent to the angle of projection at the nth rebound.
Impulse and Momentum 43

53. A wedge of mass M and angle  can move freely on a smooth horizontal plane. A smooth sphere
of mass m strikes it in a direction perpendicular to its inclined face with a speed v and rebounds. If
the coefficient of restitution is e, then find the speed of the sphere and that of the wedge after
impact.

VARIABLE MASS SYSTEM

54. A rocket had an initial mass of 2.72 x 106 kg and a final mass of 2.52 x 106 kg after the fuel was
burnt and the gases were expelled at the rate of 1290 kg/s
(a) Find the time of complete burning of fuel
(B) Find the maximum velocity if vr = 55000 m/s and g = 9.8 m/s2.
where vr = velocity of ejected gas with respect to the rocket.
55. A rocket of initial mass 10000 kg ejects gases at a constant rate of 30 kgs-1 with a relative speed
of 5 kms-1. Neglecting gravity, what is the acceleration of the rocket one minute after the blast of
rocket?
56. A rocket is moving up with constant acceleration a. Assume external forces on it to be zero.
Exhaust gases escape with velocity u relative to the rocket. Find how its mass changes with time if
its initial mass is m0.
57. A lorry loaded with sand moves under a constant force F on a plane road. Sand spills at a constnat
rate m kg/s through a small hole in the bottom of the lorry. If it starts from rest and the loaded lorry
has an initial mass m0, find its acceleration and velocity as a function of time. Neglect any friction
forces.

CENTRE OF MASS
58. Two solid spheres of radii 6 cm and 12 cm and masses 36 g & 18 g respectively touch each other.
What is the position of centre of mass of the combination?
59. Prove that the CM of two particles lies between the particles on a line that connects the two
particles.