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Lesson: Chapter 4 — Newton's Laws of Motion

4.2. Momentum 2 of 7

Question 2

What is the unit of momentum, and what kind of quantity is it?

The right answer is the one marked above.

kg m s−1; it is a vector quantity. Momentum = mass × velocity, so the units multiply too: kg × m s−1 = kg m s−1.

Velocity is a vector and mass is a scalar. A vector multiplied by a scalar gives a vector — and its direction is the direction of the velocity.

kg m s−2 is the newton, the unit of force. The only difference is the power of the second, so take care.

Answer the question to continue.