Momentum in Football

This past unit in physics was all about momentum and how it is conserved between two objects during a collision. This reminded me of tackles in football (seeing as at Iolani we’re pro at football – 4peats!). Tackles are a pretty frequent occurrence when it comes to football. Ideally, when two people hit each other the momentum should be able to be calculated using the equation for the change in p: MVf – MVi(player 1) = MVf – MVi(player 2). Assuming we know the mass of both players and their initial and final velocities we can prove that momentum was conserved. Furthermore, if we assume that when player 1 makes a tackle and lands on top of player so that this is a sticky collision, we can use the following equation to calculate any of the variables or to help find the momentum: M1V1 + M2V2 = (M1 + M2) Vf. However, if the players hit each other then fall backwards, we can use the bouncy collision equation to help calculate the momentum: M1V1i + M2V2i = M1V1f + M2V2f. Anyways, way to go Raiders! :)