Question

Which of the following has the largest momentum?

A. a 10kg dog running down the street at 30mph
B. a tightrope walker slowly crossing niagara falls
C. a 0.02kg bullet moving down the barrel at 800mph
D. a semi truck parked in a parking lot

Answer 1

Momentum = mass x velocity

Thus Option A is the correct answer

Momentum (dog) = 10 kg x (0.447 x 30) m/s

= 134.1 Kg m/s

Momentum ( bullet) = 0.02 kg x (0.447 x 800) m/s

= 7.152 Kg m/s

Momentum ( truck) = 0, as v = 0

tightrope has both low mass and low speed, thus its momentum will be low