Asked by Julie

Jerome solves a problem using the law of conservation of momentum. What should Jerome always keep constant for each object after the objects collide and bounce apart?


mass
direction

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Mass.

When using conservation of momentum, each object's mass is constant (unless the object loses/gains mass). Momentum p = m v can change because the velocity (magnitude and/or direction) changes during the collision. The conserved quantity is the total momentum vector of the system, so if directions change you should resolve momentum into components and conserve each component (absent external forces).