Question

Which object has the greatest momentum...and why

Answer 1

The formula for momentum is p=mv where p is the momentum (kgms-1), m is the mass (kg) and v is the velocity (ms-1). So, to work out the momentum, we just multiply these numbers together and work out which is the largest.

1) 12kgms-1
2) 10kgms-1
3) 27kgms-1
4) 16kgms-1

Therefore the object with the greatest momentum is 3 - a 9kg mass moving at 3m/s

Answer 2

Answer:

Object 3 has the greatest momentum, because the mass is small enough compared with the velocity of the object.

Explanation:

The momentum is defined as:

$p = mv$  (1)

                             

Where m is the mass and v is the velocity.

Therefore, the value for the mass and velocity of each object can be replaced in equation 1:

                                 

1) Case for m = 12  kg and v= 1 m/s

$p = (12kg)(1m/s)$

$p = 12kg.m/s$

2) Case for m = 5  kg and v= 2 m/s

$p = (5kg)(2m/s)$

$p = 10kg.m/s$

3) Case for m = 9  kg and v= 3 m/s

       

$p = (9kg)(3m/s)$

     

$p = 27kg.m/s$

4) Case for m = 4  kg and v= 4 m/s

$p = (4kg)(4m/s)$

$p = 16kg.m/s$

                 

Hence, Object 3 has the greatest momentum (27kg.m/s), because the mass is small enough compared with the velocity of the object.  

Summary:

Remember that the momentum establishes the quantity of movement that any object can have as a consequence of its mass and its velocity.