Rank the magnitude of the change in momentum of a ball from largest to smallest in the following situations:

a) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving.

b) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed.

c) The ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction.

I thought it was smallest (C) and largest (A)??

1 answer

smallest is correct

largest is the other one [b)]
... the change in momentum is twice the original momentum