Name of Learner:

Grade and Section: Date:

SCIENCE 9
Impulse and Momentum

I. Learning Competency

Relate impulse and momentum to collision of objects (e.g., vehicular collision)

S9 S9FE-IVb-36

II. Background Information for Learners

In the Philippines, you often hear news about vehicular accidents due to over
speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. Most of the time, road accidents
cause slight to major injuries and unfortunately even death. What do you think are
the factors influencing this event? Why do some collisions are tragic while others are
mild? This lesson will help you answer these questions.

Supposed there are two vehicles moving at the same velocity (40 km/h) but
having different masses. Vehicle A has a mass of 10,000 kilograms while vehicle B
has 2,000 kilograms. If the two vehicles lose their breaks and crash against a wall,
which of the vehicles do you think would have more damages? What factors
contribute to this impact upon collision given that the velocities are the same?

A B

Figure 1. Vehicles hitting a wall

You got it right! Vehicle A will have the greater impact due to a greater mass
than vehicle B. Fast and massive vehicles tend to cause more damage than slow
and small ones. The two quantities: mass and velocity, are the factors that affect
momentum. Thus, mathematically, momentum = mass x velocity. Momentum is
defined as “mass in motion”. Any object with mass and in motion has momentum.

Another quantity that you will learn in this learning activity is impulse. What is
impulse? How is it related to collision of objects. This and more you will learn as you
proceed with this learning activity.
III. Accompanying DepEd Textbook and Educational Sites
Department of Education. Science - Grade 9, Learners Module, Reprint
Edition, 2017, First Edition 2014, (p 257-258). Pasig City Philippines

IV. Activity Proper

Activity 1. Checking your Knowledge!

1. Study and analyze the data below. Which of the two balls will be harder to
stop? Why do you say so?
Ball A Ball B
Mass 0.60 kg 0.60 kg
Velocity 40 m/s 20 m/s
Answer:

2. Which of the two objects have greater momentum? Why do you say so?
Object A Object B
Mass 10 kg 20 kg
Velocity 50 m/s 50 m/s
Answer:

Activity 2. Investigating Momentum!

The objective of this activity is to identify the factors that affects momentum.

You need the following materials:

(Ask assistance from your teacher if these materials are not available at
home)
plane board/inclined plane/plywood about 1 m long
protractor
books
ruler or tape measure
block of wood
toy cars with different masses

Procedure:
1. Place several books on top of the table and position the plane board at an
angle of about 15 degrees from horizontal. Label distances of 20cm,
40cm, 60cm and 80 cm from the lower portion of the inclined plane up to
the edge. Place a block of wood 10 cm from the foot of the inclined plane
as its initial position.
2. Using two toy cars with different masses, toy car A is light and toy car B is
twice as heavy as the toy car A. Position the light toy car first from 20 cm
and let it roll until it will hit the wood. Measure how far the block of wood
moved.
3. Repeat step 2 while varying only the distance this time at 40cm, 60cm and
80cm.
4. Repeat step 1 -3 using the heavier toy car.
5. Record data in the table below.
 Table 1.
Initial Distance Stopping distance of Stopping distance of
(cm)/Point of release Toy Car A (light) Toy Car B (heavy)
20
40
60
80

If it is not possible for you to perform the activity refer to the table below
and answer the guide questions that follow. Note: The recorded data was
based on the result of the activity done by the writer of this activity sheet
Read pages 257-258 of Science 9 Learner’s Module for additional
information.

Table 2.
Initial Distance Stopping distance of Stopping distance of
(cm)/Point of release Toy Car A (light) Toy Car B (heavy)
20 10.0 11.5
40 10.2 12.0
60 10.5 12.2
80 11.0 15.0

Guide Questions:

1. How do you compare their stopping distances?

2. Did the two toy cars stop immediately as they hit the block of wood?
Why do you think so?

3. How do you describe the stopping distances of the two toy cars with
reference to the point of release?

4. How do you describe the velocity of the toy cars with reference to the
point of release?

5. Which of the two cars had a greater momentum? Why do you think so?

6. Is it possible for the two bodies of different masses to have equal

momentum? How?

When two vehicles collide, the force of impact might be great and cause more
damage to the vehicles and may even risk the lives of passengers. Small impacts
may only cause dents and slight injuries, but big forces could totally bring too much
wreckage to the vehicles and possibly cause death.
 Table 1 shows that when two objects having different masses but have the
same velocity, the heavier objects have greater momentum than the lighter ones.
However, when the objects have the same mass but have different velocity, object
with greater velocity will have greater momentum. When objects have greater
momentum, they are difficult to stop!

Table 1. Mass and Velocity to Create Momentum

Object Mass (kg) Velocity (m/s) Momentum (kg. m/s)
A 50 10 500
B 20 10 200
C 50 5 250

You have learned that mass is the amount of matter or substance that makes
up an object. Velocity refers to both the speed and the direction of motion of an
object. You might also encounter a definition of momentum as inertia in motion. For
objects moving at the same velocity, a more massive object has a greater inertia in
motion therefore it will also have greater momentum compared to the smaller object.

Consider a car with a mass of 2000kg and cruising at a speed of 20 m/s

(60km/h). If the car collides to a tree and comes to a sudden stop in 0.1 s, its
deceleration can be calculated as:

- 200 m/s2

The impact force that caused the deceleration can be calculated using the
second law of motion. Thus,

F= ma
= ( 2 000 kg) ( -200 m/s2)
= - 4 x 105 N

The negative sign (-) indicates that the impact of force on the car is opposite
its direction of motion.

Sudden stops or jerks gives tremendous forces because the change in speed
happens within a very short time interval For example, a sudden blow of a
karate expert’s bare hand can break a thick layer of lumber or bricks due to a very
large force imparted upon impact.
 The second law of motion can be expressed as

Eq. 1 or
Eq. 2

Since Eq. 3

Eq. 4

The quantity mv is called momentum of a moving body or

p Eq. 5

Momentum is represented by p. It is a vector quantity, which follows the

direction of velocity v. Therefore, when a body changes velocity, its momentum
likewise changes.

Eq. 6

Using equation 6, equation 2 becomes

The product is called impulse. Hence,

impulse = change in momentum

In collision, impulse is great if a massive body moving at a very high speed
suddenly stops. The impact force F is huge if the change in momentum happens with
a very short time interval.

Consider the table below

Table 2. Relationship of Force, Time and Impulse

Force (N) Time (s) Impulse (N.s)
100 20 2000
100 40 4000
50 60 3000
100 60 6000

 In table 2 above, you observed that when force is the same, but are applied
at different duration of time, the impulse varies. On the other hand, when
force varies and the duration of time the force is applied remains same, the
impulse also varies.
 To lessen the impact of collision, cars are provided with seat belts and air
bags. Seat belt restrains the wearer from too much forward movement and
so he/she moves with the car and stops with the car during an impact.
It becomes a life-saving mechanism, and aided with the airbag, reduces the
danger of death. Air bags supplement the seat belt by deploying a rapidly
inflating cushion in the space between the passenger and the steering
wheel or dashboard to prevent crash injuries.
Activity 3. Ask Yourself!

1. How is momentum related to the effects or damages due to vehicular

collision?

2. How is impulse related to the effects or damages due to vehicular

collision?

V Reflection

Complete the statements below.

In this lesson I have learned that to avoid greater injuries in vehicular

incidents I will

I realized that

I will apply