Momentum Conservation Essay

731 Words2 Pages

Introduction:

To start things off, collisions between objects are carried out by the laws of momentum and energy. Momentum can be described as mass in motion. All objects on earth have mass, so if an object is moving, it basically has momentum. The measure of momentum that an object has is counted on two things: the amount of mass that object has and the objects velocity. In scientific terms, the momentum of an object is equal to the mass times the velocity of the object.

Momentum = mass x velocity (p = mv)

The equation above clarifies that the momentum of an object is directly proportional to the mass and velocity of that object. The standard unit for momentum would be the mass (kg) times the velocity (ms-2) of that object which …show more content…

Momentum Conservation Principle:

The law of momentum conservation tells us that in the collision between 2 objects in an isolated system, the momentum of the two objects before the collision is the same to the momentum after the collision. This means that (2) the amount of momentum that object 2 gained is equal to the amount of momentum that object 1 lost. This statement tells us that the total momentum of colliding objects is conserved. This tells us that momentum is a unchanging value.

The Logic Behind Momentum Conservation:

In a collision between two objects, object 1 and object 2, the forces acting between the two objects are equal in magnitude but opposite and direction. This explanation is Newton’s third …show more content…

The forces that are acting between the two objects only last for a short or long period of time. Not taking how long the time is in account, the amount of time that the force acts on object 1 is equal to the amount of time that the force acts on object 2. For instance, if object 1 has contact with object 2 for 0.01 seconds, then object 2 should be having contact with object 1 for 0.01 seconds, which is logical. T1 = T2

Considering the forces between both of the objects, object one and object two, are equal in magnitude and are opposite in direction, and also considering that the time that these two objects acting on each other are equal in magnitude are equal, we conclude that the impulses of the two objects are also equal in magnitude and are opposite in direction.

F1 x T1 = -F2 x T1

In the equation above, the impulses are equal in magnitude and are opposite in direction. Since each object consists of equal and opposite impulses, it is also logic that they consist of equal and opposite changes in momentum. In terms of an equation, this can be written

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