Fundamentals of Physics/Linear Momentum and Collisions

< Fundamentals of Physics



Forces between two colliding objectsEdit

Collisions are typically very brief, say   ms, or   s. During this time, a parameter called "impulse" exists, defined as  , which is the change in an object's momentum. How far does the bug and SUV move in this time? The bug from above will move   cm, the SUV will "move" about the diameter of an atom making up the windshield. The bug get crushed because its internal structure cannot sustain an acceleration of about 10,000g.


This equal and opposite force idea leads to momentum, which is defined as   or more correctly,  . Notice   involves velocity directly. We also have "conservation of momentum" that says that




indicating that the law means add all objects carrying momentum before a collision and set equal to the sum of all momenta carrying objects after the collision. Since   is a vector, so you must sum the momenta of all objects in the   direction, then in the   direction, both before and after the collision in order the conservation law to be helpful. Lastly, there are two types of collisions, elastic and inelastic. In elastic collisions, the colliding objects bounce off of each other, while in inelastic, they all stick together creating a new "conglomerate mass" which is the sum of the individual masses that stuck together. In applying the conservation law for an inelastic collision, you typically have something like


Notice that there's only one velocity after the collision
