HEAT TRANSFER

The conduction and convection heat transfer in engines are processes that occur in series and
parallel with each other. A series path is convection through the cylinder gas boundary layer,
conduction across the cylinder wall, and convection through the coolant liquid boundary layer;
and a parallel path is conduction through the cylinder wall and through the piston crown. In heat
transfer resistance modeling, we look for regions which have relatively large temperature
differences, and compute the heat transfer resistance across those regions.

Figure of Resistance Network Diagram

The thermal resistance is defined as the ratio of the temperature difference, dT, to the heat
transfer Q. This is analogous to Ohm's law, in which the electrical resistance is defined as the
ratio of the voltage drop across a resistor to the current flow across the resistor.

V = I R or R = V/ I (Ohm's Law)

T = (Q/A) R or R = T / (Q/A) (on a per unit area basis)

The resistance model is very useful in determining the heat transfer in a complex steady state
heat transfer situation. It is assumes that the heat transfer is primarily one dimensional across the
resistance element, so as the problem becomes more multidimensional, the accuracy decreases.

Newton's Law of Cooling

Newton's Law of Cooling is used to model the temperature change of an object of some
temperature placed in an environment of a different temperature.

Newton's Law of Cooling states that the rate of change of the temperature of an object is
proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the ambient temperature (i.e.
the temperature of its surroundings).

Newton's Law makes a statement about an instantaneous rate of change of the temperature..
where T is the temperature of the object at time t, R is the temperature of the surrounding
environment (constant) and k is a constant of proportionality. What this law says is that the rate
of change of temperature is proportional to the difference between the temperature of the object
and that of the surrounding environment.

In order to get the previous equation to something that we can use, we must solve the differential
equation. The steps are given below.

1. Separate the variables. Get all the T's on one side and all the t's on the other side. The
constants can be on either side.

2. Anti-differentiate both sides.

3. Leave in the previous form or solve for T.

We now have a useful equation. When you are working with Newton's Law of Cooling,
remember that t is the variable. The other letters, R, k, C, are all constants. In order to find the
temperature of the object at a given time, all of the constants must first have numerical values.

Applications

1. To predict how long it takes for a hot object to cool down at a certain temperature.
2. To find the temperature of a soda placed in a refrigerator by a certain amount of time.
3. It helps to indicate the time of death given the probable body temperature at the time of death
and current body temperature.

Example 1: The Big Pot of Soup As part of his summer job at a restaurant, Jim learned to cook
up a big pot of soup late at night, just before closing time, so that there would be plenty of soup
to feed customers the next day. He also found out that, while refrigeration was essential to
preserve the soup overnight, the soup was too hot to be put directly into the fridge when it was
ready. (The soup had just boiled at 100 degrees C, and the fridge was not powerful enough to
accommodate a big pot of soup if it was any warmer than 20 degrees C). Jim discovered that by
cooling the pot in a sink full of cold water, (kept running, so that its temperature was roughly
constant at 5 degrees C) and stirring occasionally, he could bring tht temperature of the soup to
60 degrees C in ten minutes. How long before closing time should the soup be ready so that Jim
could put it in the fridge and leave on time?

Solution: Let us summarize the information briefly and define notation for this problem.
Let

= Temperature of the soup at time t (in min).

= Initial Temperature of the soup =100 deg.

= Ambient temperature (temp of water in sink) = 5 deg .

Given: The rate of change of the temperature , is (by Newton's Law of Cooling)
proportional to the difference between the temperature of the soup and the ambient
temperature This means that:

Here a bit of care is needed: Clearly if the soup is hotter than the water in the sink
, then the soup is cooling down which means that the derivative should
be negative. (Remember the connection between a decreasing function and the sign of the
derivative ?). This means that the equation we need has to have the following sign pattern:

where is a positive constant.

This equation is another example of a differential equation. The independent variable is for
time, the function we want to find is , and the quantities are constants. In fact, from
Jim's measurements, we know that , but we still don't know what value to put in for the
constant . We will discuss this further below.

For your consideration:

(1) Check that the differential equation above makes sense. Can it also describe the case
of a cold object heating up in a warmer environment?

(2) What do you think the constant represents ?

(3) What units would this constant have ?

(4) If you were to compare the rate of cooling of the soup inside a sealed styrofoam
container, and inside a metal pot, which one might correspond to a larger value of k?

Back to the same old equation

The equation we arrived at above looks different from the ones we have just investigated, but as
we shall soon see, the difference is rather superficial. Indeed, by defining a new variable, we will
show that the equation is really completely related to the exponential decay seen previously. To
see this, define

= Temperature difference between soup and water in sink at time t.

= Initial temperature difference at time t=0

Note that if we take a derivative of , and use the Newton's law of cooling, we arrive at

(We have used the fact that is constant to eliminate its derivative, and we plugged in for
in the last step.) What a nice surprize ! By defining this new variable, we have arrived
once more at the familiar equation
whose solution is well known to us, namely:

We can use this result to conclude (by plugging in and ) that

It follows that

We found the solution in general form, but it looks quite complicated. Let's try to understand this
expression and its predictions in the case of the problem described above.

How the soup will cool

From the information in the problem, we know that

so that,

We also know that after 10 minutes, the soup cools to 60 degrees, so that .
Plugging into the last equation, we find that

Rearranging,
(The steps are much the same as in our previous work in the example on radioactive decay. In the
last step we took a reciprocal of both sides of the equation. This just makes all the quantities
come out to be positive in the next step, so it is done for convenience, though it is not an
essential step). We have found that

Taking the natural logarithm of both sides, and solving for , we find that

Thus,

So we see that the constant which governs the rate of cooling is per minute. Now we
can specify the solution fully, since all constants have been determined from the information in
the problem. The prediction is that the temperature of the pot of soup at time t will be

The behaviour of this solution is shown in the diagram.

For your consideration:

(1) Look at the behaviour of the solution corresponding to the function . What will
happen after a very long time? What will the eventual temperature of the soup be?

(2) How can this be understood from the expression for ? In particular, what will
happen to the term ? Will this term be increasing or decreasing with time?

(3) What will the temperature of the soup be after 1 hour ?

(4) Is there something analogous to a half life in this problem?

 (5) What would happen if Jim did not stirr the soup occasionally? Would it still cool the
same way ? Would Newton's Law of Cooling apply just as before? Why are we assuming
that the pot is well-stirred?

(6) What would happen if the water in the sink was not running ? How would this change
our assumption that the ambient temperature was a constant ?

Solving Jim's Soup problem

To finish our work, let us determine how long it takes for the soup to be cool enough to put into
the refrigerator. We need to wait until , so at that time:

This equation can be solved for in much the same way as before. Subtracting 5 from both sides
and dividing by 95 we get:

Taking logarithms of both sides, we find that

Thus, using the fact that we have

Thus, it will take a little over half an hour for Jim's soup to cool off enough to be put into the
refrigerator.

Summary:

We have just seen yet another example of a simple differential equation and how it can be used to
 make predictions. To summarize what we found, here is the connection between the differential
equation of Newton's Law of Cooling and its solution:

Newton's Law of Cooling Solution

Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic Radiation covers a range of wavelengths or frequencies but having the

following properties:

it is propagated by varying electric and magnetic fields oscillating at right angles to each other,
maintains a constant velocity of 2.997924591 x 108 metres per second (c, the speed of light) in
vacuum,

Gamma Radiation (wavelength of 10-10 and 10-4 m)

Normally produced by the transitions within the excited nucleus of an atom and usually occurs as
the result of some previous radioactive emission. It may be detected by photographic plates or a
radiation detector such as a Geiger tube or scintillation counter.

X-Rays (wavelength of 10-11 and 10-9 m)

X-rays are produced by the most energetic energy changes of atomic electrons. X-rays are a
form of ionizing radiation and the shorter wavelengths are highly penetrating. They can be
detected by photographic film or with a fluorescent screen or by the ionization they produce in a
geiger counter.

Ultraviolet Radiation (wavelength of 4x10-9 and 4x10-7 m)

Ultraviolet radiation is subdivided into three categories:

UV-A 320-400nm
UV-B 290-
320nm
UC-C 230-290nm
 It is produced by fairly large changes in the electrons of an atom and it may occur in heavy or
light elements. The Sun produces a large amount of ultraviolet radiation, which is mostly
absorbed by the ozone layer on its way to Earth.

Visible light (wavelength of 4x10-7 (red) and 7x10-7 m) (violet)

This is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum to which the human eye is sensitive The full
spectrum, Red - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet, can often be seen in rainbows
or when white light is passed through a prism. Visible light is produced by black body radiation
from very hot objects such as stars and bulb filaments. The wavelength of the light emitted
depend on the nature of the atom and this is an important tool in chemical analysis.

Infrared Radiation (wavelength of 7x10-7 and 10-6 m)

The natural vibration frequency of atoms and molecules and the rotational frequencies of some
gaseous molecules fall in the infrared region. Discovered in 1800 by William Herschel.

www.electromagnetics.info

Microwaves (wavelength of 10-3 and 0.03 m)

Produced by specially designed electronic valves. High power microwave sets each use a
magnetron valve which can radiate kilowatts of power. Radar waves are microwaves produced
by magnetron valves.

Radio Waves (wavelength of about 1mm and over)

Produced by oscillating electric charge. Radio waves can be generates by oscillating currents in
electric circuits and feeding this current into a wire or pattern of wires called an aerial or antenna.
The oscillating charges in the aerial set up an oscillating electromagnetic field which spreads out
into space as an electromagnetic wave. Another aerial can detect the wave, with either the
electric or magnetic field producing a current in the aerial. A resonant circuit can be used to
separate currents of different frequencies so that the receiving circuit can be tuned. Raiod waves
can be subdivided into the following:

Long Wave
Medium Wave
Short Wave
UHF
 VHF

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Electromagnetic waves travel through a vacuum at the speed of light, m/s. As well
see in the next chapter, this is the fastest speed there is: anything faster resides at present only in
the realm of theoretical speculation. Because the speed of EM waves is constant, we can
calculate a waves frequency if we know its wavelength, and vice versa:

Wavelength and frequency are the only qualities that distinguish one kind of EM wave from
another. As a result, we can list all the kinds of EM waves on a one-dimensional graph called the
electromagnetic spectrum.

A higher frequencyand thus a shorter wavelengthcorresponds to a wave with more energy.

Though all waves travel at the same speed, those with a higher frequency oscillate faster, and a
waves oscillations are associated with its energy.
Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum between roughly 400 and 700
nanometers (1 nm = m). When EM waves with these wavelengthsemitted by the sun, light
bulbs, and television screens, among other thingsstrike the retina at the back of our eye, the
retina sends an electrical signal to our brain that we perceive as color.
 ULTRA VIOLET RADIATION

Ultra-Violet light is made by special lamps, for example, on sun beds. It is given
off by the Sun in large quantities. We call it "UV" for short.

The UV attracts insects, which are electrocuted

by high-voltage wires near the lamp - so they
won't land on the food and contaminate it.

Uses

Uses for UV light include getting a sun tan, detecting forged bank notes in shops, and
hardening some types of dental filling.

You also see UV lamps in clubs, where they make your

clothes glow. This happens because substances in washing
powder "fluoresce" when UV light strikes them - they
absorb the UV and then re-radiate the energy at a longer
wavelength. Your teeth do the same thing!
The lamps are sometimes called "blacklights" because we can't see the UV coming from them.

When you mark your posessions with a security marker pen, the ink is invisible unless you
shine a UV lamp at it.
Ultraviolet rays can be used to kill microbes. Hospitals use UV
lamps to sterilise surgical equipment and the air in operating
theatres.

Food and drug companies also use UV lamps to sterilise their

products.

Suitable doses of Ultraviolet rays cause the body to produce

vitamin D, and this is used by doctors to treat vitamin D deficiency
and some skin disorders.

Something else to try in a club, with a glass of tonic: UV light

makes the quinine in tonic water glow pale blue.

This video clip from YouTube shows it clearly :

Dangers

Large doses of UV can damage the retina in your eyes, so it's important to check that your
sunglasses will block UV light.

The cheaper sunglasses tend not to protect you against UV, and this can be really dangerous.
When you wear sunglasses the pupils of your eye get bigger, because less light reaches them.

This means that if your sunglasses don't block UV, you'll actually get more ultra-violet light in
your eyes than if you didn't wear them, although you won't notice at the time. So before you
buy sunglasses, check that they offer UV protection!

Large doses of UV cause sunburn and even skin cancer. Fortunately, the ozone layer in the
Earth's atmosphere screens us from most of the UV given off by the Sun. Think of a sun tan as
a radiation burn!
INFRA RED

Infra red waves are just below visible red light

in the electromagnetic spectrum ("Infra" means
"below").

You probably think of Infra-red waves as heat,

because they're given off by hot objects, and
you can feel them as warmth on your skin.

Infra Red waves are also given off by stars,

lamps, flames and anything else that's warm -
including you.

The detector on this security light picks up the

Infra red radiation from your body.

Uses

Infra-red waves are called "IR" for short.

They are used for many tasks, for example, remote controls for TVs and video recorders, and
physiotherapists use heat lamps to help heal sports injuries. IR is also used for short-range
communications, for example between mobile phones, or for the Dolby Screentalk headset
system used in some cinemas.

Because every object gives off IR waves, we can use them to "see in the dark". Night sights for
weapons sometimes use a sensitive IR detector. Remember the film, "Predator"?
 It might surprise you to
know that you probably
have an Infra red-
sensitve camera in your
pocket right now.!

CCD chips are used as

pickup devices in digital
cameras, including This YouTube clip shows it nicely:
camcorders and mobile
phone cameras.

In fact, the CCD chip has a filter on it to stop most of the

infra red from messing up the picture. But the photo
shows that enough gets through to tell if a TV remote
control is working or not. Try it - a handy diagnostic tool
in your pocket!

Apart from remote controls, one of the most common modern

uses for IR is in the field of security.

"Passive Infra-Red" (PIR) detectors are used in burglar alarm

systems, and to control the security lighting that many people
have fitted outside their houses.

These detect the Infra-Red emitted by people and animals.

You've probably seen TV programmes in which police

helicopters track criminals at night, using "thermal imaging"
cameras which can see in the dark.
These cameras use Infra-Red waves instead of "ordinary" light,
which is why people look bright in these pictures. Similar
cameras are also used by fire crews and other rescue workers,
to find people trapped in rubble.

Weather forecasters use satellite pictures to see what's heading

our way. Some of the images they use are taken using IR
cameras, because they show cloud and rain patterns more
clearly.

Dangers

The danger to people from too much Infra-Red radiation is very simple - overheating.

BLACK BODY RADIATION:

Black body is the best radiator or absorber of heat radiation which falls on it. The perfectly black
body is hence stated as one which emits every wavelength with maximum energy for each
wavelength for particular temperature of body. This black body is also called as ideal radiator.
The good example of black body is the ceramic-lined closed container with the hole in it. It may
also be vacant tin with the hole punched on lid.

Any radiation that enters hole is reflected numerous times round inside surface and tends to be
trapped inside it.
Absorber inside the black body may be silvery so that reflection is high. With numerous
reflections and absorption, hole looks black. As good absorber of radiation is good radiator, a
hole in a closed container is also the black radiator.

Inside is ceramic-lined and blackened to decrease quickly any reflected radiation and it is heated
to the high temperature in the furnace or heat chamber. It must be noted that radiation from the
perfectly black body relies only on temperature. It doesn't depend on nature of the surface inside.
Black body radiation is therefore also known as temperature radiation. Non-black body radiators
like hot filament of the n electric lamp may have some wavelengths of lower intensity compared
with those emitted by the perfectly black body at same temperature.

Provost's Theory of Heat Exchange:

It defines that when the object is at constant temperature or is in thermal equilibrium, it is losing
and gaining heat at equal rates.

Let us consider the enclosure P at constant temperature T. Inside the enclosure are two objects A
and B. A is cold while object B is hot.

Temperature T is though greater than temperature of cold body TA and less than the temperature
of the hot body TB.

TB > T > TA

At first, body A receives more radiation falling on it from B that it emits. As a result, temperature
of A rises that is it warms up. Also, body B emits more radiation than it receives from A,
therefore temperature of B decreases that is it cools down. Ultimately, equilibrium temperature T
is obtained. At this temperature both bodies are emitting and absorbing radiation at same rate.
Above procedure shows exchange of heat through radiation of bodies at different temperatures to
reach the thermal equilibrium as opposed to what occurs if they were to be in contact. Though, if
body A is the black body, then at temperature T, it radiates a considerable amount of that heat at
same rate. If B is though a silvery surface, then, at temperature T, it radiates and absorbs less heat
than A.

Stefan-Boltzmann Law of Radiation:

Stefan found by experiment, while Boltzmann illustrated theoretically, that total rate of radiation
emitted per unit area by the perfectly black body was proportional to fourth power of its absolute
temperature (T) in Kelvin.

E/tA T4
E/tA T4

Where,

E = total heat energy emitted

t = time of emission

A = total surface area

T = absolute temperature

= constant known as Stefan constant

Value of = 5.7 x 10-8Wm-2k-4

For any other body or surface different from the black body

E/tA eAT4

Where, e = emissivity of the surface (e is a number characterizing the emitting properties of a

particular surface). But, rate of emission is power, that can be represented as:

E/t = power P

Therefore P = eA T4

If the black body X is placed inside the enclosure at the constant temperature T o, then X will
ultimately reach temperature To. From Provost's theory of heat exchanges, X receives from
enclosure as much radiation as it emits, which is ATo4

If X is initially at temperature T inside the enclosure, net heat per second radiated by X is

P = eA(T4 - To4)

Practical Application of Transfer of Heat:

Some of the practical applications comprise: screening action of clouds, green house and thermos
flask. Thermos flask is described to illustrate how knowledge of conduction, convection and
radiation has been utilized to keep materials at constant temperatures without loss of heat.

Kirchhoffs Radiation Law

 In 1859 Robert Gustav Kirchhoff (1824 Mar 12 1887 Oct 17) set the science of radiation
thermodynamics, a subset of the science of physics, onto a proper mathematical foundation and
thereby initiated the process that culminated in Max Plancks derivation of a complete and
correct description of the spectrum of blackbody radiation forty-one years later. Kirchhoff got the
radiation thermodynamics ball rolling by presenting a simple rule: in a system at thermal
equilibrium, a body that absorbs radiation with a certain efficiency, emits radiation with that
same efficiency. But Kirchhoff understood that a certain subtlety underlay that simplicity.

Imagine that the vapor of a chemical element fills a certain volume. A narrow beam of light
containing all wavelengths passes through that volume, then passes through a prism and spreads
out into a spectrum on a screen calibrated to show the wavelengths of the light falling on it. On
that spectrum dark lines represent the wavelengths of light that the vapor has absorbed due to its
particular nature. Then we turn off the light and heat the vapor to incandescence. If a narrow
beam of light emitted by the vapor follows the path of the first beam and goes through the prism,
then bright lines will occupy the positions where the dark lines appeared. A more complicated
version of that experiment, conducted with sodium vapor, inspired Kirchhoff to devise his
radiation law.

To begin to deduce the result of that experiment imagine a tube whose inner wall neither emits
nor absorbs radiation. Two cylindrical slugs occupy opposite ends of that tube and contact with
appropriate heat reservoirs maintains them both at the same temperature. Slug-1 emits radiation
with a presumed intensity of E 1 watts per square centimeter and Slug-2 absorbs a fraction A2 of
that emission. Likewise, Slug-2 emits radiation with an intensity of E 2 watts per square
centimeter and Slug-1 absorbs a fraction A1 of it, reflecting the rest. Because, by assumption, the
system exists in thermal equilibrium with itself (its parts all have the same temperature), the
second law of thermodynamics (in Rudolf Clausiuss version: net heat will not, of itself, flow
from a cold body to a warmer body) necessitates that the amount of radiation coming from one
slug must equal the radiation coming from the other: if that did not happen, then one slug would
send more radiation to the other slug than the other slug sends back to it, become cooler as a
result, and thereby destroy the equilibrium. The amount of radiation coming off Slug-1 equals
the sum of E1 and the amount of E2 reflected from the slug, both multiplied by the area of the
slugs face. The analogous sum describes the radiation coming off the face of Slug-2. Equating
those two sums and, because both slugs faces have the same area, dividing out the area yields

E1+E2(1-A1)=E2+E1(1-A2).

(Eqn 1)

Subtracting E1+E2 from both sides of that equation and dividing the result by minus one yields

E2A1=E1A2.
(Eqn 2)

Finally, dividing that equation by the product A1A2 yields

(E1/A1)=(E2/A2).

(Eqn 3)

That equation expresses the fact that the emissivity of a given body stands in direct proportion to
that bodys absorptivity. To the extent that a bodys emissivity depends upon certain properties of
the body, to the same extent and in precisely the same way the absorptivity will depend upon
those properties. Put more simply, a good absorber of radiation is also a good emitter of
radiation.

A simple experiment demonstrates how the absorptivity of a body controls the bodys emission
of radiation. Imagine a thermally insulated pipe filled with hot liquid and put into a cold
environment, the colder the better. The flat caps closing the ends of the pipe consist of a
thermally conductive material with the exterior faces painted, one white and the other black.
Thermometers positioned the same short distance from the end caps on the line passing through
the center of the pipe receive radiation from the caps and heat up as a consequence. People who
have actually conducted this experiment have found that the thermometer near the black cap
displays a higher temperature than does the thermometer near the white cap, indicating that the
black cap, which has an absorptivity close to unity, emits heat radiation at a rate faster than does
the white cap, which has an absorptivity close to zero.

DYNAMICS

NEWTONS LAWS OF MOTION

Newtons first law (law of inertia)

This law states that A body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless an
unbalanced force acts on it. The mass of a body is a measure of its inertia. Inertia is the
property that keeps an object in its state of motion and resists any efforts to change it.

Newtons second law (law of momentum)

Momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and its velocity.

Momentum p=mv. The SI unit for momentum is kgm/s or Ns. The Newtons second law
states that The rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the applied force and
takes place in the direction in which the force acts

Change in momentum= mv-mu

Rate of change of momentum= mv-mu/t

Generally the second law gives rise to the equation of force F=ma

Hence F=mv-mu/t and Ft=mv-mu

The quantity Ft is called impulse and is equal to the change of momentum of the body. The SI
unit for impulse is Ns.

Examples

1. A van of mass 3 metric tons is travelling at a velocity of 72 km/h. Calculate the

momentum of the vehicle.
Solution
Momentum=mv=72km/h = (20m/s) 3103 kg
=6.0104 kgm/s

2. A truck weighs 1.0105 N and is free to move. What force will give it an acceleration of
1.5 m/s2? (take g=10N/kg)
Solution
Mass of the truck = (1.0105)/10=6.0104
Using F=ma
=1.510104
=1.5104 N
3. A car of mass 1,200 kg travelling at 45 m/s is brought to rest in 9 seconds. Calculate the
average retardation of the car and the average force applied by the brakes.
Solution
Since the car comes to rest, v=0, a= (v-u)/t = (0-45)/9=-5m/s (retardation)
F=ma = (1200-5) N =-6,000 N (braking force)
4. A truck of mass 2,000 kg starts from rest on horizontal rails. Find the speed 3 seconds
after starting if the tractive force by the engine is 1,000 N.
Solution
Impulse = Ft=1,0003= 3,000 Ns
Let v be the velocity after 3 seconds. Since the truck was initially at rest then u=0.
Change in momentum=mv-mu
= (2,000v) - (2,0000)
=2,000 v
But impulse=change in momentum
2,000 v = 3,000
v = 3/2=1.5 m/s.

Weight of a body in a lift or elevator

When a body is in a lift at rest then the weight
W = mg
 When the lift moves upwards with acceleration a then the weight becomes
W = m (a + g)
If the lift moves downwards with acceleration a then the weight becomes
W = m (g-a)
Example
A girl of mass stands inside a lift which is accelerated upwards at a rate of 2 m/s 2.
Determine the reaction of the lift at the girls feet.
Solution
Let the reaction at the girls feet be R and the weight W
The resultant force F= R-W
= (R-500) N
Using F = ma, then R-500= 502, R= 100+500 = 600 N.

Newtons third law (law of interaction)

This law states that For every action or force there is an equal and opposite force or
reaction
Example
A girl of mass 50 Kg stands on roller skates near a wall. She pushes herself against the wall with
a force of 30N. If the ground is horizontal and the friction on the roller skates is negligible,
determine her acceleration from the wall.
Solution
Action = reaction = 30 N
Force of acceleration from the wall = 30 N
F = ma
a = F/m = 30/50 = 0.6 m/s2

Linear collisions
Linear collision occurs when two bodies collide head-on and move along the same straight
line. There are two types of collisions;
a) Inelastic collision: - this occurs when two bodies collide and stick together i.e. hitting
putty on a wall. Momentum is conserved.
b) Elastic collision: - occurs when bodies collide and bounce off each other after collision.
Both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved.

Collisions bring about a law derived from both Newtons third law and conservation of
momentum. This law is known as the law of conservation of linear momentum which states
that when no outside forces act on a system of moving objects, the total momentum of the
system stays constant.
Examples
1. A bullet of mass 0.005 kg is fired from a gun of mass 0.5 kg. If the muzzle velocity of the
bullet is 300 m/s, determine the recoil velocity of the gun.
Solution
Initial momentum of the bullet and the gun is zero since they are at rest.
Momentum of the bullet after firing = (0.005350) = 1.75 kgm/s
But momentum before firing = momentum after firing hence
 0 = 1.75 + 0.5 v where v = recoil velocity
0.5 v = -1.75
v =-1.75/0.5 = - 3.5 m/s (recoil velocity)
2. A resultant force of 12 N acts on a body of mass 2 kg for 10 seconds. What is the change
in momentum of the body?
Solution
Change in momentum = P = mv mu= Ft
= 1210 = 12 Ns
3. A minibus of mass 1,500 kg travelling at a constant velocity of 72 km/h collides head-on
with a stationary car of mass 900 kg. The impact takes 2 seconds before the two move
together at a constant velocity for 20 seconds. Calculate
a) The common velocity
b) The distance moved after the impact
c) The impulsive force
d) The change in kinetic energy
Solution
a) Let the common velocity be v
Momentum before collision = momentum after collision
(150020) + (9000) = (1500 +900) v
30,000 = 2,400v
v = 30,000/2,400 = 12.5 m/s (common velocity)
b) After impact, the two bodies move together as one with a velocity of 12.5 m/s
Distance = velocity time
= 12.5 20
= 250m
c) Impulse = change in momentum
= 1500 (20-12.5) for minibus or
=900 (12.5 0) for the car
= 11,250 Ns
Impulse force F = impulse/time = 11,250/2 = 5,625 N
d) K.E before collision = 1,500 202 = 3 105 J
K.E after collision = 2400 12.52 = 1.875 105 J
Therefore, change in K.E = (3.00 1.875) 105 = 1.25 105 J

Some of the applications of the law of conservation of momentum

1. Rocket and jet propulsion: - rocket propels itself forward by forcing out its exhaust gases.
The hot gases are pushed through exhaust nozzle at high velocity therefore gaining
momentum to move forward.
2. The garden sprinkler: - as water passes through the nozzle at high pressure it forces the
sprinkler to rotate.