In a billiard game, when the cue ball strikes the rack of colored balls, the momentum of the cue ball is transferred to the other balls during the collision.
Before the collision, the cue ball has a certain momentum, which is the product of its mass and velocity. When it hits the rack of balls, this momentum is not lost; rather, it is redistributed among the cue ball and the colored balls.
After the collision, the cue ball slows down and continues to move, albeit at a lower speed, while the colored balls scatter across the table. This scattering indicates that the momentum has been transferred to them. According to the law of conservation of momentum, the total momentum of the system (the cue ball and the colored balls combined) before the collision must equal the total momentum after the collision, provided no external forces are acting on the system.
In summary, the momentum of the cue ball decreases after the collision as some of its momentum is transferred to the other balls, but the total momentum of the entire system remains constant.
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