Answer to Question #277621 in Physics for Kristine

Question

 A car has the same kinetic energy when it is traveling south at 30 𝑚/𝑠 as when it is traveling northwest at 30 𝑚/𝑠. Is the momentum of the car the same in both cases? Explain.

Answer 1

Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity. The momentum of a body is a vector quantity. Vector quantities can have the same value (module) but different directions. Therefore, the momentum of the cars are different because they have different directions, although their modulus is the same.