Conservation of

Momentum

Applications in daily life

Newton’s Cradle

By pulling one ball away from the others and

releasing it, the ball will swing and strike the second ball, which in

turns sends the momentum through the

series of balls causing the last ball to move

away from the group.

When the last ball swings back, its collision then causes the first

ball to move away.

This process repeats until

it finally wears down.

Pulling away several balls will

result in the same number of

balls moving away at the other end.

rocket

A large mass of fuel is blasted out of the bottom of the rocket

at a high velocity.

To conserve momentum, the rocket must have equal momentum

in the opposite direction, and so the rocket shoots

up into the air.

As more fuel is burnt, the mass of

the rocket increases but the

momentum remains more or

less constant, so velocity increases.

Jet engine

The fuel used in either a jet or rocket

engine has mass, as does the rocket/jet

being propelled.

When burned, the fuel generates hot

exhaust gases (which have mass) being forced out the back end of

the engine.

Since the gases have low mass,

but high velocity, they

have momentum.

In order to conserve

momentum in the entire system, the jet/rocket (which has a high mass) starts moving in

the opposite direction.

In addition, the acceleration is

enhanced by the fact that the

rocket/jet is losing mass (the fuel being burned).

squidSquids secrete a jet of

water(ink) from their body.

An equal and opposite momentum is created.

The squid moves in the opposite direction.

football

When two players hit each other,

they will either bounce back or fall based

on their momentum.

The momentum

is equal before and

after collision.

Thank You