Originally Posted By: paul
if you want me to understand the way your thinking then you should answer the questions below yourself.


What do I mean by "system"
All the things that interact with the pipe, including the pipe itself, the accelerator, the mass, the turns, etc. Most of them are fixed together so I treat it as just two parts - the mass and the pipe (with all its attachments).


What does "total" mean in "total momentum"
The sum of the momentums of all the parts in the system at some specified point in time.

What is the meaning of a negative momentum?
Moving in the opposite direction to what something with positive momentum would be.

If object A has momentum pA and object B has momentum pB, what is the total momentum of the system comprising A and B?
a) pA + pB



Quote:

but I do know that total momentum means all 3 stages in a 3 stage event.

Let's not call it total when adding changes in momentum through time. If you're thinking it's this and I'm thinking it's all at one time, then we can't communicate.

Forget that old thread where I did that - I already said I'd made a mistake with the numbers, so the whole list of additions is meaningless.


Last edited by kallog; 09/09/11 03:42 PM.