What’s on the Momentum poster
The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes.
- Total momentum before a collision equals total momentum after, in a closed system.
- p = mv · impulse = FΔt = Δp
- Elastic collision = Momentum AND kinetic energy conserved
- Inelastic collision = Momentum conserved, KE lost
- Perfectly inelastic = Objects move together afterwards
- Common mistake: Assuming kinetic energy is conserved → Only momentum is, in general
Momentum is a vector. In two dimensions, conserve it separately in each direction.
Questions about the Momentum poster
- What’s on the Momentum poster?
- The rule, 3 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes. Total momentum before a collision equals total momentum after, in a closed system.; p = mv · impulse = FΔt = Δp; Elastic collision = Momentum AND kinetic energy conserved; Inelastic collision = Momentum conserved, KE lost; Perfectly inelastic = Objects move together afterwards; Common mistake: Assuming kinetic energy is conserved → Only momentum is, in general. Momentum is a vector. In two dimensions, conserve it separately in each direction.
- Who is the Momentum poster for?
- Momentum belongs to the Physics section rather than to a school year, because physical science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning mechanics can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Momentum poster?
- Momentum is always conserved in a closed system. Kinetic energy is not. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Momentum belongs on the wall where that physical science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Momentum?
- Circular Motion, Free Body Diagrams and Friction & Drag sit alongside Momentum in the Physics section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Circular MotionFree Body DiagramsFriction & Drag
- Is the Momentum poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Momentum downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Physics section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Momentum poster print at?
- Momentum is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Momentum loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Momentum on the same wall.
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