I’ve always struggled to conceptualize the difference between the two. I understand their equations are different and KE being a scalar and Momentum is a vector, but to me they seem to describe the same thing … a mass moving with some velocity.
How are they different and why are they not interchangeable. Whats the best way to conceptualize their differences
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The big difference is that energy is proportional to velocity squared, while momentum is only proportional to velocity.
Lets say you sit on a skateboard, and fire a gun. You and the bullet both end up with the same amount of momentum, but the bullet gets the vast majority of the kinetic energy, because it’s moving faster.
Another way of looking at it is that momentum = force * time, while energy = force * distance. A less massive object will move farther when the same force is applied for the same amount of time.
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