Give some examples to illustrate the law of conservation of momentum.
The law of conservation of momentum can be illustrated using the following examples:
(i) Recoil of the gun
The bullet and the gun, both are at rest before firing and initial momentum of the system is zero. When the bullet is fired, it moves forward with a large velocity, As per the conservation of momentum, the gun must moves backward with a velocity such that the final mometum is zero.
(ii) Flight of rockets and jet engines:
When a rocket is fired, it throws a stream of burnt gases in the vertically downward direction with a large velocity. So, the outgoing gases have large momentum in the downward direction. According to the law of conservation of momentum, the rocket gets an equal and opposite momentum which causes it to fly up.
