Momentum ... A concept often used in physics. What is meant by this term? If we ask this question to a simple layman, in most cases we will get the answer that the body's impulse is a certain impact (push or blow) exerted on the body, so that it gets the opportunity to move in a given direction. In general, a fairly correct explanation.
The impulse of the body is the definition that we first encounter at school: at a physics lesson we were shown how a small trolley rolled down an inclined surface and pushed a metal ball from a table. It was then that we reasoned what might affect the strength and duration of this
physical phenomenon. From such observations and conclusions many years ago, the concept of a body's impulse was born as a characteristic of motion that directly depends on the speed and mass of the object.
The term itself was introduced into science by the Frenchman Rene Descartes. It happened at the beginning of the XVII century. The scientist explained the impulse of the body only as a “momentum”. As Descartes himself said, if one moving body collides with another, it loses as much of its energy as it gives to another object. The potential of the body, according to the physicist, did not disappear anywhere, but was only transferred from one object to another.
The main characteristic that an impulse of a body has is its directivity. In other words, it is a vector quantity. This implies the assertion that every body in motion has a certain momentum.
The formula for the effect of one object on another: p = mv, where v is the velocity of the body (vector value), m is the mass of the body.
However, the momentum of the body is not the only quantity that determines movement. Why do some bodies, unlike others, do not lose it for a long time?
The answer to this question was the emergence of another concept - an impulse of force, which determines the magnitude and duration of exposure to an object. It is he who allows us to determine how the momentum of the body changes over a certain period of time. A momentum of force is a product of the magnitude of the effect (the force itself) on the duration of its application (time).
One of the most noteworthy features of IT is its preservation unchanged under the condition of a closed system. In other words, in the absence of other effects on two objects, the momentum of the body between them will remain stable for as long as you like. The conservation principle can be taken into account in a situation where an external effect on an object is present, but its vector impact is 0. Also, the momentum will not change even when the effect of these forces is negligible or acts on the body for a very short period of time (as, for example, shot).
It is this law of conservation that has been haunting inventors who puzzle over the creation of the notorious “perpetual motion machine” for hundreds of years, since it is precisely this that underlies such a concept as jet propulsion.
As for the application of knowledge about such a phenomenon as the impulse of the body, they are used in the development of missiles, weapons, and new, if not eternal, mechanisms.