beginning of content:
SAT Subject Test
An object with mass and speed
directed to the right strikes a wall and rebounds with speed
directed to the left.
The change in the object's momentum is
Select an Answer
directed to the left
Correct Answer:
Yes
directed to the left
Correct Answer:
No
Correct Answer:
No
directed to the right
Correct Answer:
No
directed to the right
Correct Answer:
No
View Correct Answer
The change in the object's momentum is directed to the left. Momentum is a vector quantity. Its magnitude for an object of mass
and speed
is
. Taking the positive direction to be to the right (the initial direction of the object), the object has momentum
before striking the wall and momentum
afterward. The change in momentum is the final value minus the initial value:
This is a change of magnitude directed to the left.
Question Difficulty:
hard