What is the formula for momentum?

What is the formula for momentum?

• A. E = m c^2
• B. p = m v
• C. F = m a
• D. p = m a

Answer: (B)

Momentum measures how hard it is to stop a moving object, and it comes from combining how much stuff there is with how fast it’s moving. The formula p = m v captures that idea: momentum equals mass times velocity. Since velocity is a vector, momentum also has a direction—the same as the motion’s direction—which helps explain why momentum changes when velocity changes and why impulses affect momentum. The units check out as kilograms times meters per second (kg·m/s). If an object isn’t moving, its velocity is zero, so its momentum is zero. If either mass or velocity increases, its momentum increases accordingly. The other ideas describe different things: one equation relates energy to mass, another links force to acceleration, and the mistaken form would pair mass with acceleration, which doesn’t describe momentum.

Momentum measures how hard it is to stop a moving object, and it comes from combining how much stuff there is with how fast it’s moving. The formula p = m v captures that idea: momentum equals mass times velocity. Since velocity is a vector, momentum also has a direction—the same as the motion’s direction—which helps explain why momentum changes when velocity changes and why impulses affect momentum.

The units check out as kilograms times meters per second (kg·m/s). If an object isn’t moving, its velocity is zero, so its momentum is zero. If either mass or velocity increases, its momentum increases accordingly.

The other ideas describe different things: one equation relates energy to mass, another links force to acceleration, and the mistaken form would pair mass with acceleration, which doesn’t describe momentum.