Momentum is defined as which product?

Momentum is defined as which product?

• A. Mass divided by velocity
• B. Force times distance
• C. Velocity
• D. Mass times velocity

Answer: (D)

Momentum is the product of an object's mass and its velocity, p = m v. Because momentum is a vector, its direction is the same as the motion. The units are kilograms times meters per second. Heavier objects or faster-moving objects have more momentum, and doubling either mass or speed doubles momentum. The other options don’t describe momentum: mass divided by velocity isn’t the same quantity, velocity alone has no mass, and force times distance is work, not momentum. In dynamics, momentum helps explain why objects resist changes in motion and how impulses change motion, with the change in momentum equal to the impulse applied.

Momentum is the product of an object's mass and its velocity, p = m v. Because momentum is a vector, its direction is the same as the motion. The units are kilograms times meters per second. Heavier objects or faster-moving objects have more momentum, and doubling either mass or speed doubles momentum. The other options don’t describe momentum: mass divided by velocity isn’t the same quantity, velocity alone has no mass, and force times distance is work, not momentum. In dynamics, momentum helps explain why objects resist changes in motion and how impulses change motion, with the change in momentum equal to the impulse applied.