Question

What is the difference between impulse and momentum?

Answer 1

Hint: Momentum and impulse are physics concepts that are used to describe various characteristics of moving bodies. The primary distinction is in how they are calculated, what they represent, and what they inherently consider. Classical mechanics, a branch of physics centred on Newton's second law of motion, includes concepts like momentum and impulse.

Complete answer:
The product of mass and velocity determines the object's momentum, whereas the impulse is the change in momentum that occurs when a large force is applied to an object for a short period of time. When an object collides, the impulse it feels is equal to the change in momentum.

Each is calculated in a completely different way. The impulse of an object is calculated by multiplying its mass by its velocity, whereas the impulse of a body is calculated by calculating the integral of a force over time, or, alternatively, by calculating the change in the body's momentum. This holds true for any system with more than one body; all you have to do is add up all the vectors.

Because the impulse is an integral of a force, it can be calculated without knowing the force, whereas the force is calculated using the momentum.Impulse considers two factors: the force acting on a system and the length of time for which that force acts. Momentum, on the other hand, only gives the instantaneous effects of a force on a system in terms of the product of mass and velocity, without providing any information about how that force has acted previously.

Note: The second law states that the rate at which a body's momentum changes over time is proportional to the force applied and occurs in the same direction as the applied force. We can make a direct connection between how a force acts on an object over time and the object's motion thanks to the impulse-momentum theorem. One of the reasons why impulse is important and useful is that forces are rarely constant in the real world.