Question

You have measured a carts mass and observed that it changed position. What other information do you need to determine the carts momentum during that time? A. The carts electric charge. B. The net force on the cart. C. The displacement of the cart. D. The carts gravitational potential energy

Answer 1

Given that we know the mass and displacement of an object for a given amount of time, to determine the momentum we can use the fact that the change in momentum is equal to the impulse. This can be written as:

$Ft=m\Delta v$

Where:

$\begin{gathered} F=\text{ net force} \\ t=\text{ time} \\ m=\text{ mass} \\ \Delta v=\text{ change in velocity} \end{gathered}$

Therefore, we need to know the net force in order to determine the momentum in that time.