Previously: energy conservation

Advantages:

– Useful when
Newton’s laws
difficult to apply

– Scalar: easier to
work with than
vectors
 Previously: energy conservation

Advantages: Disadvantages:

– Useful when – Scalar: some info is

Newton’s laws lost
difficult to apply

– Scalar: easier to – Mechanical E not

work with than always conserved
vectors
 Intuitive idea:
Lots of momentum ~ hard to stop
Impulse
Impulse
 Momentum vs. Energy Comparison

integral over time integral over space

impulse-momentum work-energy
theorem theorem
You are testing a new car (which has only crash test dummies
on board). Consider two ways to slow the car from a speed of
90 km/h (56 mi/h) to a complete stop:
(i) You let the car slam into a wall, bringing it to a sudden stop.
(ii) You let the car plow into a giant tub of gelatin so that it
comes to a gradual halt.
In which case is there a greater net impulse on the car?

0% 0% 0% 0%

1. greater impulse in case (i)

2. greater impulse in case (ii)
3. same impulse in both cases
4. not enough info to decide

1 2 3 4
 A ball (mass 1.0 kg) is
initially moving to the left at
30 m/s. After hitting the
wall, the ball is moving to
the right at 20 m/s. What is
the impulse of the net force
on the ball during its
collision with the wall?
0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

1. 50 kg • m/s to the right

2. 50 kg • m/s to the left
3. 10 kg • m/s to the right
4. 10 kg • m/s to the left
5. none of these
1 2 3 4 5
 Consider two carts of masses m and 2m, at rest on an
air track. You first push the light cart for 3 s, and then
push the heavier cart for 3 s, exerting equal force on
each. When you are finished pushing, which cart has
more momentum?

1. The lighter cart (m).

2. The heavier cart (2m).
3. The two have equal
momenta.

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 Consider two carts of masses m and 2m, at rest on an
air track. You first push the light cart for 3 s, and then
push the heavier cart for 3 s, exerting equal force on
each. When you are finished pushing, which cart has
more kinetic energy?

1. The lighter cart (m).

2. The heavier cart (2m).
3. The two have equal
kinetic energies.

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 Example: a baseball has mass m = 0.145 kg.
Between t = 0 and t = 2.50 ms, a bat exerts the
following horizontal force on the ball:

a) Find impulse exerted by bat on ball

b) Find impulse by gravity on ball during this interval
c) Find average force on ball during this interval
d) Find momentum and velocity of ball at t = 2.50 ms.
 Initially, ball has velocity

• Find momentum and velocity of ball at t = 2.50 ms.

 Conservation of momentum
for a system

Fnet = 0  p remains constant

 Rain falls vertically into an open train car traveling on a
straight horizontal track with negligible friction. As a
result of the accumulating water, the car’s speed

1. increases.
2. does not change.
3. decreases.

0% 0% 0%

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 Which of these systems are isolated?
1. While slipping on a patch of ice, a car
collides with another car, and the two
stick together. System: both cars.
2. Same as 1. System: slipping car.
3. A single car slips on a patch of ice.
System: car. 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

4. A car makes an emergency stop on a

dry road. System: car
5. A ball drops to the ground. System:
ball.
6. A billiard ball collides with another
billiard ball on a pool table. System:
both balls.
7. This system is not isolated.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Momenta before and after a collision
 During the collision just shown, how does the
net force on the larger object (1) compare in
magnitude to the net force on the smaller object
(2)?

1. net force on 1 is greater

0% 0% 0%
2. net force on 2 is greater
3. net forces on 1 and 2
are equal

1 2 3
 An isolated system

FBDs:

By N3,
 An isolated system

FBDs:

By N3,

By N2, and
 An isolated system

FBDs:

By N3,

By N2, and

Put these together:

Changes in momentum
for isolated system
 Changes in momentum
for isolated system

Definition: total momentum of system

 Conservation of momentum

∑ Fext = 0  P remains constant

A car accelerates from rest to a certain speed.
As this happens, the magnitude of the car’s
momentum changes by a certain amount. As a
result, the momentum of the Earth changes by

0% 0% 0% 0%
1. a larger amount
2. a smaller amount
3. the same amount
4. This cannot be answered
without knowing the details of
the interaction.

1 2 3 4
 What’s conserved?

Conserved p and E
p conserved  ∑Fext = 0

Description Elastic
E conserved  no
collision
dissipative forces act, and
Wnet, ext = 0
Example billiard
balls;
atoms
 What’s conserved?

Conserved p and E p only

p conserved
 ∑Fext = 0
Description Elastic Inelastic
collision collision
E not conserved 
dissipative forces act,
Example billiard car crash; and/or
balls; no friction Wnet, ext ≠ 0
atoms
 What’s conserved?

Conserved p and E p only neither

Description Elastic Inelastic diss.

collision collision forces act;
F  0
Example billiard car crash; car crash
balls; no friction w/ road
atoms friction
 Special case:
perfectly elastic head-on 1D collision
Momentum conservation:

Energy conservation:
 Special case:
perfectly elastic head-on 1D collision
Momentum conservation:

Energy conservation:

Algebra 

or

Works only for this special case!

 A (nearly) elastic,
1D, head-on
collision:
“Newton’s Cradle”
 A (nearly) elastic,
1D, head-on
collision:
“Newton’s Cradle”
 A (nearly) elastic,
1D, head-on
collision:
“Newton’s Cradle”
Another special case: perfectly inelastic
(objects stick together after impact)
 A compact car and a large truck collide head-on and
stick together (a perfectly inelastic collision). Which
vehicle undergoes the larger magnitude momentum
change?

1. The car.
2. The truck.
3. The two undergo the 25% 25% 25% 25%

same (magnitude)
momentum change.
4. This cannot be
answered without
knowing the final
velocity.

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 A compact car and a large truck collide head-on and
stick together. Which vehicle undergoes the larger
magnitudeof acceleration?

25% 25% 25% 25%

1. The car.
2. The truck.
3. The two have the
same (magnitude)
acceleration.
4. This cannot be
answered without
knowing the final

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 Example: a car and a truck, with masses and
initial speeds as shown, collide at a slippery
intersection after an ice storm. They remain
stuck together after the collision (completely
inelastic collision). What is the final velocity
of the wreckage?
 Rocket propulsion:
follows from conservation of momentum
 If a rocket
experiences a
constant thrust, its
acceleration must

1. increase over time

0% 0% 0%
2. decrease over time
3. remain constant
over time

1 2 3
 Example: P 8.64

What is a reasonable top speed for a rocket? Assume

that a rocket is fired from rest at a space station in deep
space (negligible gravity).
a) If the rocket ejects gas at a relative speed of 2000
m/s and you want the speed eventually to be 1.00 x
10-3 c, what fraction of the initial mass is NOT fuel?
b) What is this fraction if the final speed is to be 3000
m/s?
 Center of mass:
weighted average location of all mass

Defined for discrete masses…

… or solid objects.
Symmetry makes CM easy to find
 How to find CM in general?

Discrete masses:

Example:
Mearth = 5.97  1024 kg
Mmoon = 7.35 1022 kg
re to m = 3.84  108 m
CM for continuous mass distributions

Sum becomes integral:

 True or false: it is possible for an object’s
center of mass to be outside of the object itself.

1. True
2. False 0% 0%

1 2
A yellow object and a red object
are joined together. Each object
is of uniform density.
The center of mass of the combined object is at the position
shown by the green “X.” Which object has the greater mass,
the yellow object or the red object?
25% 25% 25% 25%

1. the yellow object (on the left)

2. the red object (on the right)
3. Both have the same mass.
4. not enough info to decide

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 Net force on a system

F = Fint + Fext …
 Net force on a system

F = Fint + Fext …

… Fext.
 A tennis ball and basketball are
dropped from a height h together,
so that when the basketball hits the
ground, it will bounce back up and
almost immediately hit the tennis
ball. After the basketball hits it, 0% 0% 0%
how high will the tennis ball rise?

1. to about its original

height, h
2. much higher than h
3. much lower than h
1 2 3
The basketball and the tennis ball
m