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Mechanics

Momentum & Collisions

Collisions and recoil: impulse and conservation

5 skills · Last skill is Premium

Momentum and collisions cover impulse, conservation in one dimension, elastic collisions, the coefficient of restitution and the centre of mass, including cases that stick together and recoil.

Skills in this topic

  • Momentum & Impulse

    Find momentum and impulse, and the average force behind a change of motion

  • Conservation of Momentum

    Apply momentum conservation to collisions that stick together and to recoil

  • Elastic Collisions

    Handle collisions that also conserve kinetic energy, starting with equal masses

  • Coefficient of Restitution

    Use the coefficient of restitution and momentum conservation to find speeds after a collision

  • Centre of Mass

    Locate the mass-weighted centre of a system and follow how it moves

Guides

Understanding Momentum Intuitively (The Second Ledger, and Why Collisions Obey It)

Momentum is mass times velocity, impulse is what changes it, and collisions conserve it even when energy is lost. The picture behind p = mv and every collision.

Exam paths that include this topic

AP Physics 1A-Level Physics
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