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Q.What do you mean by impulse ? Is impulse a scalar or a vector quantity.

Haryana BsehBoard of School Education Haryana (Senior Secondary Part-I / Class 11) 2020Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
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Impulse is the product of force and the (short) time for which it acts, and equals the resulting change in momentum; it is a vector, in the direction of the applied force.

Step 1 — Definition.

Impulse is defined as the product of the (average) force and the time interval for which it acts:

J⃗=F⃗avg Δt\vec J = \vec F_{avg} \, \Delta t

For a varying force, J⃗=∫F⃗ dt\vec J = \int \vec F\,dt.

Step 2 — Relation to momentum.

From Newton's second law, F⃗=dp⃗dt\vec F = \dfrac{d\vec p}{dt}, so

J⃗=∫F⃗ dt=∫dp⃗=Δp⃗\vec J = \int \vec F\,dt = \int d\vec p = \Delta \vec p

Impulse thus equals the change in momentum produced by the force — useful for impact/collision situations where the exact force-time profile isn't known but the momentum change is measurable.

Step 3 — Vector or scalar? …

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