Impulse

For other uses, see Impulse (disambiguation)}}}.

In classical mechanics, the impulse of a force is the product of the force and the time during which it acts. Although momentum is conserved within a closed system, individual parts of a system can undergo changes in momentum. Impulse has the same units and dimensions as momentum (kg m/s or N·s). The impulse of a time-varying force is calculated as the integral of force with respect to time:

Impulse is the force applied in a unit of time. force x time which equates to change in momentum.

[\mathbf = \int \mathbf\, dt ]

where

I is impulse,

F is the force,

dt is an infinitesimal amount of time.

In the presence of a constant net force, impulse is equal to the average impulse:

[\mathbf = m \Delta \mathbf = \mathbf\Delta t ]

where

m is the mass of the object,

Δv is the change in velocity,

F is the constant net force applied (in order to change the velocity), and

[\Delta t] is the time interval over which the force is applied.

Using the definition of force yields:

[\mathbf = \int \frac}\, dt ]

[\mathbf = \int d\mathbf ]

[\mathbf = \Delta \mathbf ]

In the technical sense, impulse is a physical quantity, not an event or force. However, the term "impulse" is also used to refer to a change in an object's momentum caused by a fast-acting force. This type of impulse is often idealized so that the change in momentum happens with no change in time. This sort of change is a step change, and is not physically possible. However, this is a useful model for certain computations, such as computing the effects of ideal collisions, especially in game physics engines.

References

External links and references

[Dynamics]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Impulse

See also

References

External links and references