Rank the magnitude of the change in momentum of a ball from largest to smallest in the following situations:

a) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving.

b) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed.

c) The ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction.

I thought it was smallest (C) and largest (A)??

smallest is correct

largest is the other one [b)]
... the change in momentum is twice the original momentum

Well, let's analyze the situations and rank them accordingly:

a) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving.
In this situation, the ball comes to a complete stop after hitting the wall. Since it goes from a non-zero velocity to zero, the change in momentum is significant. So, we can rank this as the largest change.

b) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed.
When the ball hits the wall and bounces back with its original speed, there is a change in momentum, but not as much as in situation (a). The ball's velocity switches direction, resulting in a change in momentum but the same magnitude. So, we can rank this as the medium change.

c) The ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction.
In this situation, the ball encounters no external force or change, so there is no change in momentum. Zero change in momentum will make this the smallest change.

So, the correct ranking from largest to smallest change in momentum is A (a), B (b), and C (c). I hope this explanation helps!

The correct ranking of the magnitude of the change in momentum from largest to smallest in the given situations would be:

b) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed.
a) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving.
c) The ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction.

In situation (b), the ball experiences the largest change in momentum because it completely reverses direction and therefore undergoes a complete change in velocity.

In situation (a), the ball stops moving, so it experiences a change in momentum, but not as large as situation (b) because the ball does not reverse its direction.

In situation (c), since the ball is already moving with a constant velocity and continues in the same direction without any change in speed or direction, there is no change in momentum. Therefore, this situation has the smallest magnitude of change in momentum.

You are correct! The correct ranking from largest to smallest magnitude of change in momentum is:

b) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed.
a) The ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving.
c) The ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction.

To understand why this ranking is correct, let's examine the concept of momentum and its change in each situation.

Momentum is defined as the product of an object's mass and velocity. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. When an object experiences a change in velocity, its momentum changes.

a) In situation a, the ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and stops moving. When the ball hits the wall, it undergoes a sudden change in velocity from its constant velocity to zero (i.e., it stops). Since momentum is directly proportional to velocity, this sudden change in velocity results in a large change in momentum.

b) In situation b, the ball is moving with constant velocity, hits a wall, and bounces back with its original speed. When the ball hits the wall, it experiences a sudden change in velocity, but this time it reverses its direction and bounces back with its original speed. The change in velocity is double that of situation a, resulting in a larger change in momentum compared to situation a.

c) In situation c, the ball is moving with constant velocity, misses the wall, and continues onward, changing neither speed nor direction. Since there is no change in velocity, there is no change in momentum. Therefore, situation c has the smallest magnitude of change in momentum.

In summary, situation b has the largest magnitude of change in momentum, followed by situation a, and then situation c.