Impulse Is the Area, and the Bounce Costs Double

You'll learnthat a bounce takes twice the impulse of a stick, because momentum runs +mv to −mv.

A ball that bounces straight back takes twice the impulse of one that sticks — the reversal runs its momentum all the way from +mv to −mv. Watch the force-time graph shade itself in, learn why an integral (not peak × time) reads a varying force, and why every airbag is just trading time for force at a fixed Δp.

8 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · v2

MOMENTUM LAB

Before you start

What you're looking at

A 0.5 kg ball flying at a wall at +6 m/s, with two possible outcomes: stick to rest, or bounce back at −6 m/s.

The question

Which outcome, sticking or bouncing, demands the bigger impulse from the wall?

Watch for

The signed velocity. Sticking ends at 0; bouncing reverses all the way to −6 m/s.

What the symbols mean

Signed axis: + toward the wall, − away; impulse J = ∫F dt, measured in N·s = kg·m/s.

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