The quantity representing an object's motion, equal to its mass multiplied by its velocity, is called what?

The quantity representing an object's motion, equal to its mass multiplied by its velocity, is called what?

• A. Force
• B. Acceleration
• C. Momentum
• D. Inertia

Answer: (C)

Momentum is the quantity that measures an object's motion, defined as p = m v. It combines how much matter there is (mass) with how fast and in what direction it’s moving (velocity). Because velocity has direction, momentum is a vector as well—the direction matches the motion, and the magnitude grows with both mass and speed. That’s why heavier objects or faster-moving ones have more momentum, and why momentum is conserved in isolated systems during interactions. Think of momentum as what you have to "push" or "stop" to change an object's motion. It’s different from force (which changes momentum), acceleration (the rate of change of velocity), and inertia (the resistance to changes in motion, related to mass but not the motion quantity itself). The units are kilograms multiplied by meters per second (kg·m/s).

Momentum is the quantity that measures an object's motion, defined as p = m v. It combines how much matter there is (mass) with how fast and in what direction it’s moving (velocity). Because velocity has direction, momentum is a vector as well—the direction matches the motion, and the magnitude grows with both mass and speed. That’s why heavier objects or faster-moving ones have more momentum, and why momentum is conserved in isolated systems during interactions.

Think of momentum as what you have to "push" or "stop" to change an object's motion. It’s different from force (which changes momentum), acceleration (the rate of change of velocity), and inertia (the resistance to changes in motion, related to mass but not the motion quantity itself). The units are kilograms multiplied by meters per second (kg·m/s).