Chapter 7

Impulse and Momentum

Physics 201
General Science - Deanship of Support Studies Dept.

Lecturer: Amnah
7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Introduction:
There are many situations in which the force acting on
an object is not constant, but varies with time.

Figure shows a bat hits a baseball,

(a) before the bat touches the ball the magnitude of the
force is zero at the instant time 𝑡𝑜
(b) During contact, the force rises to a maximum
(c) and then returns to zero at the time 𝑡𝑓 when the ball
leaves the bat.
As a result, the ball’s velocity changes from an initial
value of 𝑣𝑖 to a final value of 𝑣𝑓 .

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem

When the bat strikes the ball, the

magnitude of the force exerted on the
ball rises to a maximum and then
returns to zero when the ball leaves
the bat. The time interval during
which the force acts is ∆t, and the
magnitude of the average force is
തԦ
force 𝐹.

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Definition of Impulse
The impulse of a force is the product of the average force 𝐹തԦ and the
time interval ∆𝑡 during which the force acts:

J  Ft

Impulse is a vector quantity and has the same direction as the

average force.

SI Unit of Impulse: newton  seconds  N  s 

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem

The more massive the ball, the less

velocity it has after leaving the bat.

Both mass and velocity play a role in

how an object responds to a given
impulse, and the effect of each of them
is included in the concept of linear
momentum.

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Definition of Linear Momentum
The linear momentum of an object is the product of the
object’s mass times its velocity:
p  mv
Where,
m is the mass of the body and v is the velocity of the body
SI unit of the momentum is kg m/s

Linear momentum is a vector quantity and has the same direction

as the velocity.
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Example 1:
What is the mass of a bullet moving with 400 m/s and it has 80
kg.m/s of momentum?

𝑃 80
𝑚= = = 0.2 Kg
𝑣 400

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Impulse-Momentum Theorem
When a net force acts on an object, the impulse of this force is
equal to the change in the momentum of the object

𝐽 = ∆𝑃

  F t  mv  mv
f 0

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Example 2:
A baseball (m = 0.14 kg) has an initial velocity of 𝑣Ԧ𝑜 = −38 𝑚/𝑠 as it
approaches a bat. We have chosen the direction of approach as the negative
Ԧ
direction. The bat applies an average force 𝐹that is much larger than the weight of
the ball, and the ball departs from the bat with a final velocity of 𝑣Ԧ𝑓 = +58 𝑚/𝑠.

(a) Determine the impulse applied to the ball by the bat.

(b) Assuming that the time of contact is ∆𝑡 = 1.6 × 10−3 𝑠, find the average
force exerted on the ball by the bat.

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Example 3:
Rain comes down with a velocity of 15 m/s and hits the roof of
a car. The mass of rain per second that strikes the roof of the
car is 0.060 kg. Assuming that rain comes to rest upon striking
the car, find the average force exerted by the rain on the roof at
time of 1 second? .

  F t  mv  mv
f 0

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7.1 The Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Neglecting the weight of the
raindrops, the net force on a
raindrop is simply the force
on the raindrop due to the
roof.

m
Ft  mv f  mv 0 F     v0
 t 

F    0.060kg s  15m s   0.90 N

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7.2 The Principle of Conservation of
Linear Momentum

Principle of Conservation of Linear Momentum

If the net external force acting on a system of bodies is
zero, then the momentum of the system remains constant

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Conservation of Linear Momentum Formula
The principle of conservation of momentum states
that if two objects collide, then the total momentum
before and after the collision will be the same if there
is no external force acting on the colliding objects.

when the net external force is zero, the conservation

of linear momentum formula mathematically
expresses by

𝑃𝑖 = 𝑃𝑓
𝑚1 𝑣1 𝑖 + 𝑚2 𝑣2 𝑖 = 𝑚1 𝑣1 𝑓 + 𝑚2 𝑣2 𝑓
Initial momentum = Final momentum

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7.2 The Principle of Conservation of
Linear Momentum
Example 4
Starting from rest, two skaters push
off against each other on ice where
friction is negligible. One is a 54 kg
woman and one is a 88 kg man.
The woman moves away with a
speed of +2.5 m/s. Find the recoil
velocity of the man.

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Solution:
The total momentum of the skaters before they push on
each other is zero, since they are at rest. (𝑃𝑜 = 0)
Pf  Po

m1v f 1  m2v f 2  0
m1v f 1
vf 2  
m2

vf 2  
 54 kg  2.5m s   1.5m s
88 kg
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7.3 Collisions in One Dimension

There are two types of collisions in physics:

1- Elastic collision
2- Inelastic collision

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7.3 Collisions in One Dimension

(1) Elastic collision  One in which the total kinetic energy of the
system after the collision is equal to the total kinetic energy before
the collision.

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7.3 Collisions in One Dimension
(2) Inelastic collision  One in which the total kinetic energy of the
system after the collision is not equal to the total kinetic energy
before the collision. If the objects stick together after colliding, the
collision is said to be completely inelastic.

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7.5 Center of Mass
The center of mass is a point that represents the average location
for the total mass of a system.

for example, figure below shows two particles of mass 𝑚1 and 𝑚2

that are located on the x axis at the positions 𝑥1 and 𝑥2 respectively.
The position 𝑥𝑐𝑚 of the center-of-mass point from the origin
is defined to be:

m1 x1  m2 x2
xcm 
m1  m2

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 7.5 Center of Mass
Example 5:
Two point masses 5 kg and 12 kg are at 2 m and 6 m from
the origin on X-axis. Locate the position of center of mass
of the two point masses from the origin?
Given:
𝑚1 = 5.0 𝑘𝑔 , 𝑚2 = 12 𝑘𝑔 , 𝑥1 = 2.0 𝑚 & 𝑥2 = 6.0 𝑚
Solution:

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suppose that 𝑚1 = 5.0 𝑘𝑔 and 𝑥1 = 2.0 𝑚, while 𝑚2 = 12 𝑘𝑔 and 𝑥2 = 6.0 m.
Then we expect the average location of the total mass to be located closer to
particle 2, since it is more massive

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7.5 Center of Mass

Velocity of center of mass

m1v1  m2 v2
vcm 
m1  m2
In an isolated system, the total linear momentum does not
change, therefore the velocity of the center of mass does
not change.

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7.5 Center of Mass

In example 4 determine the velocity of center of mass?

Before

m1v1  m2 v2
vcm  0
m1  m2
After

88 kg  1.5 m s    54 kg  2.5 m s 

vcm   0.002  0
88 kg  54 kg
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