Mission MC4: Force, Impulse, and Momentum Change

Mission MC4 focuses on a comparison of the relative magnitude of the  force, the impulse and the momentum change experienced by two interacting objects. The mission consists of 32 questions organized into 8 Question Groups. You must answer one question from each Question Group to complete the mission. The learning outcomes for this mission are ...
 

Learning Outcomes

• The student should be able to extend the law of action-reaction in order to compare the collision forces, impulses and the momentum changes of two colliding objects.
• The student should be able to explain the meaning of the law of momentum conservation and to describe when the law does and does not apply to a collision.

 

Launch Mission MC4

 

Getting Help

If you are not familiar with this topic, then you should first learn about the topic using our written Tutorial or our Video Tutorial:
 

The Physics Classroom, Momentum and Its Conservation Unit, Lesson 2, Part a

The Physics Classroom, Momentum and Its Conservation Unit, Lesson 2, Part b

The Physics Classroom, Momentum and Its Conservation Unit, Lesson 2, Part c
 

• In a collision between two objects of unequal mass, how do the forces on the individual objects compare to each other?
• In a collision between two objects of unequal mass, how do the impulses and momentum changes experienced by the individual objects compare to each other?
• When it comes to collisions, what is an external force?
• When it comes to collisions, what is an isolated system?
• Under what conditions is momentum conserved in a collision?
• What is meant by saying that momentum is conserved in a collision?
• How can the momentum of a system of two objects be determined?

 

Video Tutorials:

Action-Reaction and the Law of Momentum Conservation

  

 

 

Question-Specific Help

Each Question Group has its own Help page with information specific to the question. You can access the Help page from within the mission by tapping on the Help Me! icon (textbook). For your convenience, links to those pages are provided below: