Question

A small cotton ball has a very small mass: about 0.0005kg. The cotton ball has such a high momentum that if it hits the international space station, it makes a big dent and causes damage.Think about the equation for momentum. What must be true about the cotton ball for it to have such a high momentum?

Answer 1

We will have the following:

`\rho=m\cdot v\Rightarrow v=(\rho)/(m)`

Since we are given a small mass for the cotton ball, and a high momentum, we will have that the speed at which the cotton ball must be traveliing should be incredibly high.