Momentum and Collisions - Mission MC2 Detailed Help


TRUE       or      FALSE:
In a collision, the impulse encountered by an object is equal to its momentum.

(Note: Exact wording of question is randomly generated and may vary from the above wording.)


 
Momentum Change - Impulse Theorem:
When a force is exerted upon an object in a collision, the object is said to have encountered an impulse. The impulse is simply the mathematical product of the force exerted on the object and the amount of time over which it was exerted. The impulse changes the object's momentum and is equal to the amount of momentum change.
 
Impulse = Momentum Change


 
Words are important to the meaning of ideas and the tendency to simply drop words out of a sentence will destroy or distort an idea. The impulse-momentum change theorem is a perfect illustration. In a collision, there is an impulse encountered by an object that causes and is equal to the momentum change that it experiences. Impulse is equal to momentum change. The careless dropping of change from the prior sentence destroys the idea and causes potential frustration on this question. Students who redefine the impulse-momentum change theorem to be the impulse-momentum theorem will almost certainly miss this question.