Impulse In Our Daily Life

Impulsive force is equal to the change in momentum of a body provided the mass remains constant as we know. Impulse acts for a very small duration of time but has a large value of magnitude. The value of the impulse force changes quickly, which makes the magnitude calculation somewhat difficult. Therefore, that is the reason the average force is taken into consideration. The impulsive nature of the exerted force causes a sudden change in the momentum of a body in a very small period of time. Let’s look at some multiple brief examples to help you gain a strong understanding through a variety of examples.

1. Soccer Player

When a soccer player kicks a ball suddenly with force, the ball will shoot away. When the ball is at rest, we know the velocity is zero. Therefore, the product of the mass and velocity of the body, which is the momentum, comes out to be zero. After the force is exerted by the player, the momentum increases to a higher value as a result of the velocity that is created. The sudden change of momentum leads to the creation of an impulsive force. The impulsive force essentially helps the ball travel long distances in a short duration of time.

2. Golf

At the time that the golf ball is hit by the player, it receives a sudden change in momentum. This leads to a short reaction time and the development of a large impulsive force. This large impulsive force is what helps the ball advance in the forward direction swiftly while covering a large distance.

3. Tennis

At the time a tennis ball hits the racket, it creates a high magnitude and short duration of force that helps to change the direction of the motion of the ball. The force exerted by the player's action on the ball is what we call the impulsive force.

4. Martial Art Artists

Martial art artists make an impulsive force to demonstrate their skills in a number of tricks. When a martial artist tries to break a hard object such as a brick or wooden plank, the artist's hand moves swiftly to hit the object at a faster rate. By increasing the speed of their hand movement, the reaction time gets significantly reduced, and a huge magnitude impulsive force gets created. The impulsive force is usually strong enough to break the hard objects into piences.

5. Pile driver

When the driver of the pile is made to drop on a pile, it feels a sudden change in momentum. This sudden change gives rise to the development of an impulsive force. The impulsive force exists for a short duration of time but has a high magnitude value, which causes the impulsive force exerted on the pile to drive into the ground.

6. Pestle and Mortar

When the pestle strikers the mortar, a short time force is exerted on the spices contained in the mortar. This force exerted is very strong and has a small response time. Therefore, the impulse force causes the spices within the mortar to get crushed and break into smaller pieces.

7. Egg Carton

When you go to buy eggs from a shop, the eggs are stored in a specifically designed soft cardboard-like material. This design essentially allows the eggs to be prevented from coming into contact with any external force. The eggs as we know are delicate by nature, and even for a short duration force is strong enough to damage and break the eggs. The cardboard increases the reaction time therefore, the impulse forces get reduced automatically, which allows the eggs to be prevented from being broken.

8. Dropping a Ball

When a ball is dropped for a given height, it bounces back as soon as it hits the floor. The momentum which is created by the ball suddenly turns to zero when it hits the floor. The change in momentum takes place in a very short duration of time, which leads to the development of an impulsive force. The impulsive force has a high magnitude, which allows the ball to bounce. The bounce can be reduced by reducing the magnitude of the impulse force. The best method to reduce the value of the impulsive force is to increase the time it takes for the momentum to change. Therefore, that is why a cushion is placed on the floor, and the ball is dropped on it. The cushion allows for the momentum of the ball to take more time than usual to get changed, allowing for the magnitude of force to be reduced along with the bounce.

Thanks for reading this blog post and understanding the applications of the impulse force in our daily life. Feel free to check out the rest of our blog posts.