SCIENCE 9

1 of 36 © Boardworks Ltd 2006

OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the relationship between momentum

and impulse.
2. Illustrate how impact force is reduced in some
situations like in collisions.
3. Apply the concept of momentum and impulse to
real-life situations.
Identify the following statements if it’s a

FACT

BLUFF
The trajectory of a projectile is
parabolic.
 The curve-like path undertake
by a projectile is called trajectory.
Projectile motion is composed of
both horizontal and vertical
motion.
As the projectile reaches the
maximum height it momentarily
stops.
As a projectile reaches to the
ground its vertical velocity
decreases.
In angle-launched projectile, as
the projectile rises its vertical
velocity increases.
Momentum and
Impulse
 What is Momentum ?
One of the most common team sports is basketball.
Imagine two teams who are involved in a really tight
tournament quarterfinals. Team A has 2 pts ahead of
Team B. Later on in the match, a player from Team
B scores a three-point shot and followed by a series
of 2-point shots from the said team. Team B couldn’t
stop their momentum. What do you mean by
Momentum?
In the example above, these are the things we need
to consider in defining momentum:
a. The object has a mass
b. The object is moving
 What is Momentum ?
Any moving object with a quantity of matter has
momentum. Momentum simply means "mass in
motion." It is equal to the product of mass and
velocity.
 What is Momentum ?
If any object of any mass is not moving, it has zero
momentum since its velocity is zero. Let us first
consider the situation below and try to answer the
given questions.

1.Suppose you ride a bus from Morong Rizal to

Angono Rizal. What do you think will happen to the
bus after if it passes along a curvy road?
a. The bus slows down.
b. The bus speeds up or moves faster.
c. The velocity of bus will not change.
 What is Momentum ?
If any object of any mass is not moving, it has zero
momentum since its velocity is zero. Let us first
consider the situation below and try to answer the
given questions.

After passing curvy road, the bus travels in a

straight road. How will you describe the
velocity of the bus?
a. it increases
b. it decreases
c. it does not change at all
 What is Momentum ?

3. There were only 25 passengers in the bus.

Along the way, 5 passengers drop at URS
Binangonan, and another 4 passengers
dropped-off at Pantok Brgy. Hall. What can
you say about the mass of the bus?
a. it increases
b. it decreases
c. it does not change at all
 What is Momentum ?
• Momentum (p) = mass x velocity

• A really slow moving truck and an extremely

fast roller skate can have the same
momentum.
 Question :
Under what circumstances would the roller skate
and the truck have the same momentum ?
A 1000 kg truck moving at 0.01 m/sec has the
same momentum as a 1 kg skate moving at 10
m/sec. Both have a momentum of 10 kg m/sec.
Answer: If ratio of vs/vt = mt/ms
Mass of the truck = 1000 kg
Velocity of the truck = 0.01 m/s
Mass of the skate = 1 kg
Velocity of the skate = 10 m/s)
( 1000 kg x .01 m/s = 1 kg x 10 m/s = 10 kg m/s )
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Direction: Two cars of different masses are moving at the same velocities.
Complete each of the following statements by identifying the correct car
being described.

A
1. Greater force is needed to stop car ___
because it has higher inertia.
A
2. Bodies with higher momentum like car ____
is more difficult to stop.
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Direction: Two cars of different masses are moving at the same velocities.
Complete each of the following statements by identifying the correct car
being described.

A has higher momentum than car ___

3. Car ___ B
because it has a higher mass.
4. Car A and B will only have the same momentum
when Car ____
B increases its velocity.
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Direction: Two cars of different masses are moving at the same velocities.
Complete each of the following statements by identifying the correct car
being described.

5. B has a momentum of 3,000 kg m/s.

Car ___
 Impulse & Momentum

Driving your car with higher mass at a higher velocity

gives your car a higher momentum. The more
momentum an object has, the more difficult it is to
bring to a stop. Therefore, when someone suddenly
crosses the road while you are driving at a higher
velocity, it would require you to apply greater force on
the brake or it takes you a longer amount of time or
both to slow it down and bring it to a stop.
 Impulse & Momentum

In this case, force and time are important to look at.

The brake serves to apply a force to the car for a
given amount of time to change the car’s
momentum. This amount of force applied multiplied
by the duration of time it was applied is called
Impulse. And the greater the impulse, the greater the
change in momentum. To change the impulse, you
can either increase or decrease the force applied
and the time of contact.
 Impulse & Momentum

Rearranging the equation above will help us understand how impact

force is affected by the change in momentum and the time of contact.
This shows that force of impact is directly proportional
to the momentum of the body and inversely
proportional to the time of contact.

The above equation shows that the impact force of a fast-moving car is
higher and therefore it can cause greater damage after the collision than
the car moving at a lower velocity. On the other hand, the equation tells
us that the impact force could be decreased by extending the time of
contact.
 Impulse & Momentum
Think about riding in an out-of-control car. Would you
prefer hitting a haystack or a brick wall? Your
knowledge of physics will help you save your life.

In both cases, the momentum has been decreased by same amount

of impulse.
The product of smaller force with longer
time = The product of bigger force and
shorter time.
 Impulse & Momentum

Since our goal is to make the force of

impact lower to save our life, we need to
extend the time. By hitting a haystack
instead of the brick wall, you are extending
the contact time (during the time the
momentum is brought to zero). This results
in lower force of impact.
 Impulse & Momentum

The law of physics tells us that if you are

driving at a high velocity and a crash causes the
car to stop immediately, the driver and the
passengers will be thrown forward (Law of
inertia!) at the same velocity causing major
fatalities and death. This made the engineers
designed car’s crumple zones. These areas are
built to bend or collapse because crumpling
allows the vehicle to take a little longer before
coming to stop. Thus, impact forced is lowered
 Impulse & Momentum

This is also the reason why the boxer often

relaxes his neck and moves his head backward
upon recognizing that he will be hit in the head by
the opponent. Moving backward means
extending the time of impact of the glove with his
head thus, decreasing the impact force during
collision.
 Impulse & Momentum

The same principle is

applied in using parachute when
jumping off a plane for example.
The air pushes the parachute
upward making the time of
contact of the person and the
ground longer. Extending the
time of contact means
decreasing the impact force.
 Check Your Understanding

Direction: Fill in the blanks with the correct word

to complete the paragraph describing each of the
given picture.

bend my knees
1.I am a gymnast. I need to _____
when landing from a certain height to ________
increase
reducing
the time of contact with the floor thus _______
the force of impact. (reducing, increase, bend)
 Check Your Understanding

airbags because it
2. Cars are designed with __________
can lessen or prevent injuries in the event of crash
or collision. The inflation of the airbag is initiated by
decreases the impact force
crash sensors. This ________
by _______
increasing the time of contact. (airbags,
decreases, increasing)
 Check Your Understanding

crumple zones into

3. Car manufacturers design ____________
cars so that car will likely be crumpled rather than
rebounded in a collision. When the car crumples, the
change in the car’s momentum happens over a
long time. This _______
______ decreases the force of impact on
the passengers and thereby increasing chances of
survival. (long, decreases, crumple zones)
 MOMENTUM
• SOME VOCABULARY :
• impact : the force acting on an object (N)

• impact forces : average force of impact

• impulse-momentum theorem – The
impulse on an object is equal to the
change in momentum that it causes.
F∆t = p2-p1
 MOMENTUM
• In each case, the momentum is decreased by the
same amount or impulse (force x time)

• Hitting the haystack extends the impact time (the

time in which the momentum is brought to zero).

• The longer impact time reduces the force of

impact and decreases the deceleration.

• Whenever you need to decrease the force of

impact, extend the time of impact !
 MOMENTUM
• Decreasing Momentum
Ft
• Which would be safer to hit in a car ?
mv

mv Ft

• Knowing the physics helps us understand why

hitting a soft object is better than hitting a hard one.
 Impulse and Momentum
• Impulse = change in momentum (mv)
• Most often v changes (accel)
• And m x a = force
• Applying a force over a time interval to an
object changes the momentum
• Force x time interval = Impulse
• Impulse = FΔt or

FΔt = mΔv
 DECREASING FORCE
• If the time of impact is increased by 100 times
(from .01 sec to 1 sec), then the force of impact is
reduced by 100 times
• EXAMPLES :
• Padded dashboards on cars
• Airbags in cars or safety nets in circuses
• Moving your hand backward as you catch a fast-moving ball
with your bare hand or a boxer moving with a punch.
• Flexing your knees when jumping from a higher place to the
ground. or elastic cords for bungee jumping
• Using wrestling mats instead of hardwood floors.
• Dropping a glass dish onto a carpet instead of a sidewalk.
 EXAMPLES OF DECREASING
MOMENTUM
• Manny Pacquio on boxing … Ft = change in
momentum

Ft = change in
momentum
• Increased impact time reduces force of impact
• Bungee jumping provides another example
 MOMENTUM
• An object at rest has no momentum, why?
• (the velocity component is zero for an object at rest)
• To INCREASE MOMENTUM,
apply the greatest force possible for as long
as possible.
• Examples :
• pulling a sling shot
• drawing an arrow in a bow all the way back
• a long cannon for maximum range
• hitting a golf ball or a baseball
FORC

. (follow through is important for

E

these !)
TIME
The Law of Conservation of Momentum

• In the absence of an external force, the

momentum of a system remains unchanged.

• This means that, when all of the forces are

internal (for EXAMPLE: cars colliding or stars
exploding) the net momentum of the system
before and after the event is the same.
 COLLISIONS

• ELASTIC COLLISIONS
• INELASTIC COLLISION
• PERFECTLY INELASTIC
COLLISION
 Types of Collisions
 Elastic

 Inelastic

 Perfectly
inelastic
 Types of Collisions
Kinetic
Momentum Stick
Type Energy
Conserved Together
Conserved
Elastic  
Some KE
Inelastic converts to
thermal energy

Perfectly
Inelastic  
 COLLISIONS
• ELASTIC COLLISIONS
Momentum transfer from one Object to another. The
total kinetic energy of the system does not change.
Example:
Billiard ball collisions.

Is a Newton’s cradle like the one

Pictured here, an example of an
elastic or inelastic collision?
 Elastic Collision

In an elastic collision, the two objects bounce

after collision, and they move separately.
p = p before after

P = mv
mv + mv
1 1 2 2= mv + mv 1 1 2 2’

V1 V2
m2
m1 v1 V2 =

BEFORE COLLISION = AFTER COLLISION

 Inelastic Collision

In an inelastic collision, the two objects deform

during collision, and the total kinetic energy
decreases, but the object move separately
after the collision.
p = p before after

P = mv
mv + mv
1 1 2 =
2 mv + mv 1 1 2 2’

m1 m2 m2
v1 V2 V1 V2
=
BEFORE COLLISION = AFTER COLLISION
 Perfectly Inelastic Collision

• Two objects stick together and move with

common velocity after collision. Both
objects are deformed.
p = p before after

P = mv
mv + mv =
1 1 2 v(m1+m2)
2

m1 v1 V2
m2 V
=
BEFORE COLLISION = AFTER COLLISION
 Examples of
Perfectly Inelastic Collisions
 Check Your Understanding

A.MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the

best answer.
1. Which of following describes momentum?
a. mass times its velocity.
b. force times its acceleration.
c. force times the time interval.
d. mass times its acceleration.
 Check Your Understanding

A.MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the

best answer.

2. Which of these is the quantity of matter in

an object?
a. force
b. mass
c. motion
d. time
 Check Your Understanding
A.MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the
best answer.

3. What is impulse?
a. the change in volume of an object.
b. the change in momentum of an object
c. the original momentum of the object.
d. a force applied to an object for a period
of time.
 Check Your Understanding

A.MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the

best answer.

4. Which of the following would describe

momentum?
a.p=mv
b. p=m/v
c. p=v/t
d. p=F/t
 Check Your Understanding
A. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the best answer.
5. A mini dump truck full of abaca fiber collides with a
motorcycle or habal-habal. The velocity of the truck and
the motorcycle is the same. Which has a greater
impulse? Why?
A. The mini dump truck because it has larger change in
momentum.
B. The mini dump truck because it is full of abaca fiber.
C. The motorcycle because it has larger change in
momentum.
D. The motorcycle because it has lesser mass.
 Check Your Understanding
A. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the letter of the best answer.

6. A car collided with a bus that has greater mass and

velocity than the ca r. Which of these describes the
change of momentum of the bus and the car?
A. The change of momentum of the bus is less than that
of the car.
B. The change of momentum of the bus is greater than
that of the car.
C. The change of momentum of the car and the bus is the
same.
D. The change of momentum of the car and the bus is
zero.