High School

Indicate which of the following has the greatest momentum:

A. A 500 kg car moving at 64 km/h
B. A 250 kg cart moving at 128 km/h
C. A 1,000 kg truck moving at 32 km/h

Explain your answer.

Answer :

Answer:

Explanation:

Given:

m₁ = 500 kg

v₁ = 64 km/h

m₂ = 250 kg

v₂ = 128 km/h

m₃ = 1000 kg

v₃ = 32 km/h

_____________

p max - ?

Nomtice, that:

m₂ = 250 kg;

m₁ = 500 kg = 2·m₂;

m₃ = 1 000 kg = 4·m₂

v₂ = 128 km/h;

v₁ = 64 km/h = v₂ / 2;

v₃ = 32 km/h = v₂ / 4;

Impulses

p₁ = m₁·v₁ = 2·m₂ · (v₂/2) = m₂·v₂

p₂ = m₂v₂

p₃ = m₃v₃ = 4m₂·(v₂/4) = m₂v₂

p₁ = p₂ = p₃

The impulses are the same!

Final answer:

After calculating the momentum of each vehicle using the momentum formula (p = mv), all three vehicles (the 500 kg car moving at 64 km/h, the 250 kg cart moving at 128 km/h, and the 1,000 kg truck moving at 32 km/h) have the same momentum of 8,888.89 kg·m/s.

Explanation:

The question involves calculating and comparing the momentum of three different vehicles: a car, a cart, and a truck, all moving at different velocities. To find the greatest momentum, we use the formula for momentum, which is p = mv, where p stands for momentum, m stands for mass, and v stands for velocity. Since the velocities are given in km/h, we must convert them to m/s by multiplying by 1000 (to convert kilometers to meters) and dividing by 3600 (to convert hours to seconds).

Lets calculate the momentum for each vehicle:

For the 500 kg car moving at 64 km/h: p = m × v = 500 kg × (64,000 m / 3600 s) = 8,888.89 kg·m/s

For the 250 kg cart moving at 128 km/h: p = m × v = 250 kg × (128,000 m / 3600 s) = 8,888.89 kg·m/s

For the 1,000 kg truck moving at 32 km/h: p = m × v = 1,000 kg × (32,000 m / 3600 s) = 8,888.89 kg·m/s

Interestingly, all three vehicles have the same momentum of 8,888.89 kg·m/s. Therefore, none of the vehicles has greater momentum than the others as they all have identical values of momentum.