Question

Suppose you are traveling in a minivan at highway speeds and the momentum of an unlucky bug is suddenly changed as it splatters onto your windshield. Although the momentum of the van is very large compared to the momentum of the bug, the change in momentum of the van compared to the change in the bug is:________.

Answer 1

Answer:

- 1

Explanation:

Let p₁, p₂ represent the initial momentum of the bug and minivan and p₃, p₄ represent the final momentum of the bug and minivan.

From the law of conservation of momentum,

p₁ + p₂ = p₃ + p₄     p₃ =0 since the bug stops.

So, p₄ = p₁ + p₂

The change on momentum of the van is p₄ - p₂ = p₁ + p₂ - p₂ = p₁

The change on momentum of the bug = p₃ - p₁ = 0 - p₁ = - p₁

The change on momentum of the van compared to the change on momentum of the bug is  p₁/- p₁ = - 1.

So, the change in momentum of the minivan is negative of the change in momentum of the bug.