Can you transfer momentum

Well, that is not the textbook definition but it would be better to imagine it as that. So, when a moving object strikes a stationary object, why was energy transfered? The truth is, energy wasnt transfered. A better term would be, energy was induced. Let me explain. When the moving object strikes the stationary one, the electrons come really close to one another.

Then they repel one another. The electrons in the stationary object repel the electrons in the moving one. The force of repulsion is directly proportional to the speed of the moving object.

The faster the object, the closer the electrons will be pressed together when it strikes the stationary one. So, the repulsion force will have to increase to compensate the exclusion principle.

This repulsion force is just enough to lower the velocity of the first object to levels acceptable with the principle. So, the first object either slows down, or stops. In our terms, it loses its momentum. But we remember from Newtons third law.

Force always acts in both ways. The electrons of the stable object push back against the moving object. But, this force also acts in the opposite direction in which the electrons are applying force, in other words, the direction the moving object was moving in before impact. This energy gained in this manner by the second object, is equal to the energy that was negated by the pushing electrons from the initial moving object.

We can say, that energy in the first object was transfered to the second one. There we have it. Momentum has transfered, we think. But, thats not what really happened. But its similar, and weird at the same time.

I hope i answered your question. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How and why does momentum get transferred?

Asked 2 years, 9 months ago. Active 2 years, 9 months ago. Viewed times. Improve this question. NightKruger NightKruger 9 9 bronze badges. The way you said it makes it seem like it is the other way around. For two objects made of regular matter the force that causes momentum transfer is simply the electric repulsion of the electrons of the atoms on the surface of the objects.

An equation can also be treated as a statement which describes qualitatively how one variable depends upon another. Two quantities in an equation could be thought of as being either directly proportional or inversely proportional. Momentum is directly proportional to both mass and velocity. A two-fold or three-fold increase in the mass with the velocity held constant will result in a two-fold or a three-fold increase in the amount of momentum possessed by the object.

Similarly, a two-fold or three-fold increase in the velocity with the mass held constant will result in a two-fold or a three-fold increase in the amount of momentum possessed by the object. Thinking and reasoning proportionally about quantities allows you to predict how an alteration in one variable would effect another variable. In a collision, a force acts upon an object for a given amount of time to change the object's velocity.

The product of force and time is known as impulse. The product of mass and velocity change is known as momentum change. In a collision the impulse encountered by an object is equal to the momentum change it experiences. Several problems in this set of problems test your understanding of the above relationship.

In many of these problems, a piece of extraneous information is provided. Without an understanding of the above relationships, you will be tempted to force such information into your calculations. Physics is about conceptual ideas and relationships; and problems test your mathematical understanding of these relationships. If you treat this problem set as a mere exercise in the algebraic manipulation of physics equations, then you are likely to become frustrated quickly.

As you proceed through this problem set, be concepts-minded. Do not strip physics of its conceptual meaning. Several of the problems in this set of problems demand that you be able to calculate the velocity change of an object. This calculation becomes particularly challenging when the collision involves a rebounding effect - that is, the object is moving in one direction before the collision and in the opposite direction after the collision.

Velocity is a vector and is distinguished from speed in that it has a direction associated with it. In a collision, the velocity change is always computed by subtracting the initial velocity value from the final velocity value. If an object is moving in one direction before a collision and rebounds or somehow changes direction, then its velocity after the collision has the opposite direction as before.

Ignoring this principle will result in great difficulty when analyzing any collision involving the rebounding of an object. In a collision between two objects, each object is interacting with the other object.

The interaction involves a force acting between the objects for some amount of time. This force and time constitutes an impulse and the impulse changes the momentum of each object. Such a collision is governed by Newton's laws of motion; and as such, the laws of motion can be applied to the analysis of the collision or explosion situation.

So with confidence it can be stated that In a collision between object 1 and object 2, the force exerted on object 1 F 1 is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force exerted on object 2 F 2. The above statement is simply an application of Newton's third law of motion to the collision between objects 1 and 2. Now in any given interaction, the forces which are exerted upon an object act for the same amount of time.

You can't contact another object and not be contacted yourself by that object. And the duration of time during which you contact the object is the same as the duration of time during which that object contacts you. Touch a wall for 2. Such a contact interaction is mutual; you touch the wall and the wall touches you. It's a two-way interaction - a mutual interaction; not a one-way interaction. Thus, it is simply logical to state that in a collision between object 1 and object 2, the time during which the force acts upon object 1 t 1 is equal to the time during which the force acts upon object 2 t 2.

The basis for the above statement is simply logic. Now we have two equations which relate the forces exerted upon individual objects involved in a collision and the times over which these forces occur. It is accepted mathematical logic to state the following:. Objects encountering impulses in collisions will experience a momentum change.

The momentum change is equal to the impulse. Thus, if the impulse encountered by object 1 is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the impulse experienced by object 2, then the same can be said of the two objects' momentum changes.

This statement could be written in equation form as.