The online mechanical impulse simulations on this page will help you to better understand this important concept of physics, how it is calculated and how it is related to other quantities.
What is the mechanical impulse
Mechanical impulse is a physical quantity that is defined as the product of the force acting on an object and the time during which the force acts. Mathematically, impulse is expressed as J = F ∆t, where J is the impulse, F is the force and ∆t is the time during which the force acts.
Impulse is a very important quantity in physics, since it is related to many other physical quantities, such as velocity, momentum and kinetic energy.
Units of the mechanical impulse
Mechanical impulse is a vector quantity, which means that it has a direction and a quantity. The direction of the impulse is the same as the direction of the force acting on the object. It has units of Newton-second (N-s) in the International System of Units (SI). It can also be expressed in units of kilogram-meter per second (kg-m/s) in the System of Technical Units (SUT).
Law of conservation of mechanical impulse
The law of conservation of impulse states that, in an isolated system, the total amount of impulse before and after a collision is the same. This means that if two objects collide, the sum of their impulses before the collision is equal to the sum of their impulses after the collision.
Mechanical impulse simulations
Impact force and collision time
To inject a given momentum into an object by impact, the force required is inversely proportional to the time of application.
Velocity maximization
In this simulation, the force applied by the machine is constant. To maximize the velocity, the contact time must be increased by dragging the ball to the left. What does the area of the graph below represent?
Impulse laboratory
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