Question

True and False ? 10. In any two-body collision, the momentum changes of the colliding bodies are opposite.

Answer 1

ANSWER

True

EXPLANATION

The law of conservation of momentum states that:

Mathematically, we have that:

$mu+MU=mv+MV$

where m = mass of first body;

M = mass of the second body;

u = initial velocity of first body;

v = final velocity of first body;

U = initial velocity of the second body;

V = final velocity of the second body.

This can be rewritten as:

$\begin{gathered} mv-mu=MU-MV \\ \Rightarrow mv-mu=-(MV-MU)_{} \end{gathered}$

As we can see, the change in momentum of the first body is equal and opposite to that of the second body.

Hence, the answer is true.