Momentum… A concept quite often used in physics. What is meant by this term? If we ask this question to a simple layman, in most cases we will get the answer that the momentum of the body is a certain impact (push or blow) exerted on the body, due to which it gets the opportunity to move in a given direction. In general, a fairly correct explanation.
The momentum of a body is a definition that we first encounter at school: in a physics lesson, we were shown how a small cart rolled down an inclined surface and pushed a metal ball off the table. It was then that we reasoned about what could have an impact on the strength and duration of this physical phenomenon. From such observations and conclusions many years ago, the concept of the body's momentum was born as a characteristic of movement, directly dependent on the speed and mass of the object.
The term itself was introduced into science by the Frenchman René Descartes. It happened at the beginning of the 17th century. The scientist explained the momentum of the body only as the "quantity of motion." As Descartes himself said, if one moving body collides with another, it loses as much of its energy as it gives to another object. The potential of the body, according to the physicist, did not disappear anywhere, but was only transferred from oneitem to another.
The main characteristic that a body's momentum has is its directionality. In other words, it is a vector quantity. This implies the statement that any body in motion has a certain momentum.
The formula for the impact of one object on another: p=mv, where v is the speed of the body (vector value), m is the mass of the body.
However, the momentum of a body is not the only quantity that determines movement. Why do some bodies, unlike others, do not lose it for a long time?
The answer to this question was the appearance of another concept - the impulse of force, which determines the magnitude and duration of the impact on the object. It is he who allows us to determine how the momentum of the body changes over a certain period of time. The impulse of force is the product of the magnitude of the impact (actual force) and the duration of its application (time).
One of the most remarkable features of IT is its persistence in a closed system. In other words, in the absence of other influences on two objects, the momentum of the body between them will remain stable for an arbitrarily long time. The principle of conservation can also be taken into account in a situation where there is an external impact on the object, but its vector impact is 0. Also, the momentum will not change even if the impact of these forces is insignificant or acts on the body for a very short period of time (as,for example, when fired).
It is this conservation law that has been haunting inventors who have been puzzling over the creation of the notorious "perpetual motion machine" for hundreds of years, since it is precisely this law that underlies such a concept as jet propulsion.
As for the application of knowledge about such a phenomenon as body momentum, they are used in the development of missiles, weapons and new, albeit not eternal, mechanisms.
