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This sample is an excerpt from one presentation on Conservation of Momentum in Boardworks High School Physics, which contains 73 interactive presentations in total.

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Momentum and collisions

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If two objects collide or interact, the forces acting on each one will be the same size but in opposite directions. The same is true for the change in momentum of each object.

This means that the momentum lost by one of the objects will be gained by the other object. Therefore, whenever two objects collide or interact, momentum is conserved.

What is conservation of momentum?

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Using conservation of momentum

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Conservation of momentum question

Two trolleys collide and stick together. From the data below, calculate the velocity of the trolleys after the collision.

trolley A trolley Bmass = 3 kg mass = 5 kgvelocity = 8 m/s velocity = -4 m/smomentum = 24 kg m/s (3 x 8) momentum = -20 kg m/s (5 x -4)

total momentum before collision = 4 kg m/s (24 + -20)

mass after collision = 8 kg (3 + 5)

momentum after collision = 4 kg m/s

velocity after collision = momentum / mass = 0.5 m/s

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Investigating momentum

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