5.9.2 Conservation of Momentum

Conservation of Momentum

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In a closed system, the total momentum before an event is equal to the total momentum after the event. This principle is known as the conservation of momentum.

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Example:

Consider two footballs with the same mass, $m$ . One football is stationary, while the other is moving at a velocity of $v$ .

The momentum before they collide is just the sum of the momentum of each ball:

total momentum before = $(m×v)+(m×0)$

Total momentum before = $mv$

So the total momentum before the collision is just the momentum of the moving ball because the other ball is not moving and so has no momentum.

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After the collision, the total momentum remains $mv.$ Ball B, which was initially stationary, now has velocity and momentum, while ball A moves with a reduced velocity. The sum of these two momentums after the collision will still equal the total momentum before the collision, $mv.$

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