Educator

Collisions, Part 1

• The linear momentum of an object is a vector equal to the product of its mass and velocity.
• If a force acts on an object for a certain period of time, the average value of the force times the time interval is the impulse provided by the force.
• In a collision, total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision.
• In an inelastic collision, mechanical energy is not conserved; part of the internal energy appears as internal energy of the colliding objects. If two objects stick together when they collide, the collision is said to be completely inelastic.
• In a ballistic pendulum a bullet penetrates a vertically hanging block, which then swings to a certain maximum height whose value depends on the bullet’s velocity.