In which momentum is not conserved, external forces are exerted, and parabolic trajectories are maintained. Are you ready to finally finish up the basics of momentum and center of mass? Well hold on to your hats, because it’s time to roll. Last week we discussed momentum and center of mass in systems where no external forces acted on the body. But what if the net external fore on the system ... »
Over the past several weeks we’ve been discussing momentum. This week we’ll continue that discussion, but through a slightly different lens. This week I’ll introduce the concept of center of mass and how it relates to this momentum stuff we’ve been talking about. The world is made up of weirdly shaped things. Like a human body, for example. Or tree or a chunk or rock or an ... »
In which billiard balls bounce, cars crash, and kinetic energy is (sometimes) conserved. Over the past few weeks we’ve been discussing momentum and the principle of conservation of momentum. This week we’ll continue on that trajectory and talk about how momentum affects collisions of particles! I know! Exciting, right? Before we jump in, we should probably figure out what we mean when ... »
In which a gun recoils, a crappy diagram is drawn, and kinetic energy is differentiated. Last week I explained the basics of conservation of momentum. Today we’ll do a problem to demonstrate this basic principle. I know you’re excited, so let’s get to it. We know that if a system has no external forces, momentum in the system is conserved (OK, it’s more nuanced than that, ... »
In which balls are thrown, calculations are made, and further explanation is required. Last time on The Physics Philes, we started discussing momentum and impulse. This week we’ll do an example problem, but before we begin I need to add a bit of information. As I was preparing for this week’s post, I realized that I didn’t provide the definition of impulse, which is kinda necessa... »
In which tennis balls are hit, momentum is gained, and physics is resurrected. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of math in this small corner of the Internet. Well, trying to, anyway. But then I realized, hey! This is The Physics Philes, not the Math…Thingy. So this week we see the return of physics! Hopefully I haven’t forgotten too much. One thing I noticed after so many weeks of wo... »
