National League for Nursing (NLN) Science Practice Exam

If a 10-kg object moving at 5 m/s changes to 15 m/s, what is the applied impulse?

1. 10 kg·m/s

2. 20 kg·m/s

3. 15 kg·m/s

4. 100 kg·m/s

The correct answer is: 100 kg·m/s

Impulse is defined as the change in momentum of an object. The momentum (p) of an object can be calculated using the formula \( p = m \times v \), where \( m \) is the mass and \( v \) is the velocity. In this case, the mass of the object is 10 kg. The initial velocity is 5 m/s, and the final velocity is 15 m/s. To find the initial momentum, we multiply the mass by the initial velocity: Initial momentum = \( 10 \, \text{kg} \times 5 \, \text{m/s} = 50 \, \text{kg·m/s} \). Next, we calculate the final momentum using the final velocity: Final momentum = \( 10 \, \text{kg} \times 15 \, \text{m/s} = 150 \, \text{kg·m/s} \). The change in momentum, which is equal to the impulse, can be calculated by subtracting the initial momentum from the final momentum: Change in momentum (Impulse) = Final momentum - Initial momentum = \( 150 \, \text{kg·m/s} - 50 \,