Momentum and Impulse

This past week we have learned about the relationship between momentum and impulse. Momentum is the mass of an object multiplied by the velocity. Force also affects the momentum of an object. More force more momentum, vice versa. Impulse is the change of momentum divided by the change in time. For the most part, impulse stays the same. However, the momentum can vary. If you were to drop an ege, an egg would break upon impact on a cement ground. But take the same impulse and drop the egg on a cushion. The egg will not break because the contact time at which the egg is touching the cushion is greater than the contact of the egg and the cement ground. The millisecond difference of the contact time is the difference between a broken and a solid egg. This principle is applicable in many real world situations. Take for example a car. When a car gets into an accident, the car crumples like a can. Cars are designed to crumple to increase the contact time. Like the egg, the person driving the car will have the same impulse, but less momentum.

Blogpost #12

This week we have been experimenting with momentum. Momentum is mass times the velocity of an object. We have experimented with two air carts to see how the change of their mass affects their momentum. I have concluded that a cart with a heavier mass will have more momentum than a cart with less mass. We have also learned about how impulse and momentum are related. A cushion or Styrofoam does not affect the momentum, it affects the time at which the momentum is in contact with another object. That is why many companies wrap their product in styrofoam and bubble wrap when they ship their products to the customers.

Blog Post Momentum

What I define as “Momentum” is the ability for an object to easily increase its acceleration. What I mean is that when objects have a running start to their direction of motion, they can accelerate faster. For example, baseball players gain momentum when they want to steal a base when they start to take one or two steps before the pitcher pitches the ball to home plate. Because they took their one or two steps before they started to sprint to second base, they usually arrive at second base safely. The law or rule of momentum applies to everything on this earth.