Making Things Go: Acceleration and Momentum

Making Things Go Ms. Shinkle October 5-6, 2007 Acceleration • To accelerate an object, a force must be applied. • The force on the object must come from outside the object. Acceleration • If more force is applied, an object more will be accelerated ____ • If an object is more massive it will be accelerated ____ less Accelerated Motion Graph Positive & Negative Acceleration Effect of Mass on Acceleration F = ma Acceleration • Difference in velocity over time Acceleration = final velocity – initial velocity time a = (vf – vi)/ t Momentum • Property of a moving object due to its mass and velocity • Momentum has a direction • Momentum is ZERO if object is not moving Momentum = mass x velocity p = mv How Much Momentum? Momentum = mass x velocity p = mv • A slow moving elephant – Although it has a small velocity, it has a lot of mass • A bullet – Although it has a small mass it has a very large velocity