Question

Does velocity or mass impact momentum more and why

Answer 1

Both mass and velocity equally affect momentum in classical physics. However, at relativistic speeds, velocity has a more significant effect on momentum due to relativistic mass increase.

Step-by-step explanation:

The impact of mass and velocity on momentum depends on the context of the object's motion. In classical physics, momentum is defined as the product of an object's mass and velocity, thus both mass and velocity equally influence momentum. However, for objects moving at relativistic speeds—approaching the speed of light—the effect of velocity on momentum is more pronounced due to the relativistic mass increase. To illustrate, a football player with greater mass has a larger impact due to having more momentum when moving at the same velocity as a player with less mass. In contrast, at relativistic speeds, an increase in velocity would result in an exponentially greater momentum, surpassing the effect of just increasing mass.

Answer 2

as the mass of an object increases the object will be gaining more velocity and the impact of the object would be that the momentum will be very high... also its pretty much common sense bc since the mass of the car is so heavy it makes it more difficult to stop. so for example To understand this think about stopping a car. If the breaks are applied gently, the momentum of the car is changed gradually over a long period of time and the force on you the passenger is slight. If you STOMP on the breaks, the momentum of the car changes immediately and the force on the passenger is great. The impulse is the same for the two situations but the time and force are different.