Momentum

Momentum=Mass x Velocity

Momentum is mainly about how much ‘oomph’ an object has. It’s a property that all moving objects have

• The greater the mass of an object, or the greater its velocity, the more momentum the object has
• You can work out the momentum of an object using:
• p=mv momentum = mass x velocity

Momentum before = momentum after

In a closed system, the total momentum before an event is the same as after the event. This is called conservation of momentum

In snooker, balls of the same size and mass collide with each other. Each collision is an events where the momentum of each ball changes, but the overall momentum stays the same

Before: The red ball is stationary, so it has zero momentum. The white ball is moving with a velocity so has a momentum of p=mv

After: The white ball hits the red ball, causing it to move. The red ball now has momentum. The white continues moving, but at a much smaller velocity. The combined momentum of the red and white ball is equal to the original momentum of the white ball, mv

If the momentum before an event is zero, then the momentum after is zero