Intro to Physics
Study Guide
Momentum
1. What are the two variables that momentum depends on?
2. Momentum can be defined as
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________.
3. Which of the following is the correct symbol for momentum?
a. M
b. Mom
c. P
d. F
4. List the units for each variable:
P=
M=
V=
5. The momentum of an object at rest is ____________________ .
6. Which has a great amount of momentum, a mack truck going 40 m/s2 or a
skateboarder going 40 m/s2?
7. To stop an object, we have to apply a force over a period of _________________ .
8. What is the formula for impulse?
9. What are the units for impulse?
10. The greater the time over which the collision occurs, the smaller the
_______________ acting on the object.
11. In order to minimize the effect of the force on an object involved in a collision,
what can you do?
12. What does the law of conservation of momentum state?
13. Describe the kinetic energy in an elastic collision. Give an example of an elastic
collision.
14. Describe the kinetic energy in an inelastic collision. Give an example of an elastic
collision.
15. Choose whether each collision in elastic or inelastic.
I = Inelastic
E = Elastic
________
A tennis player returning a serve. (Specifically, the ball on raquet)
________
A truck crashing into a bridge.
________
An egg falling and cracking on the ground.
________
Billiards balls colliding.
16. A 185.25 kilogram motorcycle is moving at a speed of 87.75 m/s. What is the
momentum of the cycle?
17. If the motorcycle above crashes into a wall and stops in a time of 0.05 seconds,
how much force acted on the cycle to bring it to a stop?
18. Calculate the momentum of a 1200 kg car with a velocity of 25m/s.
19. What is the momentum of a child and wagon if the total mass of the
child and wagon is 22kg and the velocity is 1.5m/s?
20. The parking brake on a 1200kg automobile has broken, and the vehicle has
reached a momentum of 7800kg.m/s. What is the velocity of the vehicle?
21. A roller coaster climbs up a hill at 5 m/s2 and then zips down the hill at 40 m/s2.
When is momentum great: going up the hill or going down the hill?
22. A soccer ball crashes into another soccer ball at rest. Does the total momentum
of the balls increase, decrease or stay the same?
23. What would you need to do to increase the momentum of a golf ball?
24. Why are dashboards padded in cars?
25. A freight train rolls down the track. If it were to keep rolling at the same speed,
but had twice as much mass, its momentum would be _____________________________.
26. What is the momentum of a 10 kg bowling ball at 2 m/s2?
27. What impulse occurs when an average force of 13 N is exerted on a cart for 4
seconds?
28. What is the momentum of a 60 kg carton that slides at 4 m/s across an icy
surface?
29. How much momentum does a 3000 kg truck have traveling at 25 m/s?
30. A halfback (m = 60 kg), a tight end (m = 90 kg), and a lineman (m = 120 kg) are
running down the football field. Consider their ticker tape patterns below.
Compare the velocities of these three players. How many times greater are
the velocity of the halfback and the velocity of the tight end than the velocity
of the lineman?
Which player has the greatest momentum? Explain.