Momentum and collision

Momentum

the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity.

Physics of collisions

A collision occurs when two or more objects hit each other. ... Kinetic energy is conserved in elastic collisions, whereas kinetic energy is converted into other forms of energy during an inelastic collision. In both types of collisions, momentum is conserved.

Impulse momentum

An object's change in momentum is equal to its impulse. Impulse is a quantity of force times the time interval.

Units of momentum

In classical mechanics, linear momentum, translational momentum, or simply momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object, quantified in kilogram-meters per second. It is dimensionally equivalent to impulse, the product of force and time, quantified in newton-seconds.

Conservation of momentum

The law of momentum conservation can be stated as follows. For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an isolated system, the total momentum of the two objects before the collision is equal to the total momentum of the two objects after the collision.

Types of collisions

There are two general types of collisions in physics: elastic and inelastic. An inelastic collisions occurs when two objects collide and do not bounce away from each other. Momentum is conserved, because the total momentum of both objects before and after the collision is the same.

Collision

an instance of one moving object or person striking violently against another.