Momentum

Momentum is a measure of how difficult it is to stop an object.

It takes into account both the:

In a way, it’s similar to inertia, though inertia only takes into account the mass of the object, not also the velocity.

Units

Momentum is measured in kilogram meters per second (kgms^{-1}).

We know because of the units, we can calculate momentum using the following equation:

\text{momentum} = \text{mass} \times \text{velocity}

p = mv

Where:

The greater the momentum of an object, the more difficult it is to stop it.

Question	Answer
Momentum	Momentum is a measure of how difficult it is to stop an object.
What two factors does momentum take into account?	Mass and velocity of the object.
How is momentum similar to inertia and how is it different?	Similar to inertia, but inertia only takes into account mass, not velocity.
What are the units of momentum?	Kilogram meters per second (kgms^{-1}).
What is the equation for momentum?	\text{momentum} = \text{mass} \times \text{velocity} or p = mv.
What does p represent in the momentum equation and its units?	p is momentum in kilogram meters per second (kgms^{-1}).
What does m represent in the momentum equation?	m is the mass of the object in kilograms (kg).
What does v represent in the momentum equation?	v is the velocity of the object in meters per second (ms^{-1}).
How does momentum relate to stopping an object?	The greater the momentum of an object, the more difficult it is to stop.