Lesson Plan: Conservation of Momentum Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to calculate the momentum changes of objects that exchange momentum with each other by applying the principle of momentum conservation.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- use the formula in contexts where v can vary and where there are up to two different objects that change in velocity,
- find the combined momentum of two objects when their velocities are either in the same direction or in opposite directions,
- show that if momentum is conserved, the combined momentum of a pair of objects is unchanged when both of the objects change their speeds,
- show that if momentum is conserved, when an object breaks into pieces, the combined momentum of the pieces is equal to the momentum of the unbroken object,
- distinguish between changes in velocities of pairs of objects in which momentum is or is not conserved.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the fact that the momentum of an object is the product of its mass and its velocity.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- forces acting on objects,
- accelerations of objects,
- kinetic energies of objects,
- motion in two (or more) dimensions.
