A boeing 747 commercial airliner strikes a fly in flight. Regard the combination of the jet and fly as an isolated system, free of any external forces. Does the fly or the jet experience the larger change in linear momentum as a result of the collision? explain.
Is the answer to this question, both experience the same change? but I do not know how to explain it ....
Please someone who knows physics answer:)
Is the answer to this question, both experience the same change? but I do not know how to explain it ....
Please someone who knows physics answer:)
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In an isolated (ie closed) system, momentum is a conserved parameter. This is invariable; momentum is always conserved in a closed system.
Because of this, the amount that the momentum of the fly is changed by, the momentum of the jet must be changed by the exact opposite amount so that when all the changes add up, they add up to zero. If the changes didn't add up to zero, the total momentum in the system would have changed, which violates the conservation of momentum.
Momentum is a vector, that is to say, it has both a magnitude and a direction. So when I say that the momentum of one object changes by the exact opposite amount of the other, I mean the exact same amount in the opposite direction (it really is as simple as that when considering 2 objects).
So the answer is "neither the fly nor the jet experience a larger change" because the magnitude of their changes is the same. It is only the direction which is different.
This may seem counter-intuitive, until you realise that we are not talking about VELOCITY, but MOMENTUM. Obviously, the velocity of the fly changes a lot more than the velocity of the jet. But although momentum is related to velocity, it isn't the same thing.
Because of this, the amount that the momentum of the fly is changed by, the momentum of the jet must be changed by the exact opposite amount so that when all the changes add up, they add up to zero. If the changes didn't add up to zero, the total momentum in the system would have changed, which violates the conservation of momentum.
Momentum is a vector, that is to say, it has both a magnitude and a direction. So when I say that the momentum of one object changes by the exact opposite amount of the other, I mean the exact same amount in the opposite direction (it really is as simple as that when considering 2 objects).
So the answer is "neither the fly nor the jet experience a larger change" because the magnitude of their changes is the same. It is only the direction which is different.
This may seem counter-intuitive, until you realise that we are not talking about VELOCITY, but MOMENTUM. Obviously, the velocity of the fly changes a lot more than the velocity of the jet. But although momentum is related to velocity, it isn't the same thing.