In: Physics
(Explain using the law of conservation of momemtum) When a ball strikes the floor and rebounds, it appears that momentum is not conserved. Is this true? Why or why not?
When a ball strikes the ground, it does appear that the momentum is not conserved. This is because when the ball strikes the ground, it bounces up to the same height and we seemingly do not observe any movement/vibration on the ground (considering it to be a concrete ground) and hence, a feeling comes that the momentum of the ball may not have been transferred to the ground.
However, with time, the momentum of the ball does get transferred to the ground and hence, the bounce height eventually gets reduced and finally, the ball rests on the ground (does not bounce at all). That is the effect when 100% of the ball's momentum has been transferred to the ground.
We can therefore infer that with time, both the momentum and the kinetic energy of the ball gets completely transferred to the ground after successive collisions and hence, the ball eventually comes to rest and we say that momentum conservation has happened.