Lo.Lee.Ta. said:Oh! I didn't even think of that! Okay, so there can be particles with negative momentum and others with positive momentum of equal magnitude, and they can cancel each other out?
This may seem counterintuitive, but it is possible for a system of particles to have kinetic energy without any momentum. This can occur when the particles have equal and opposite velocities, canceling out their individual momentums.
Yes, the total momentum of a system can still be zero even if individual particles are moving. As long as the momentums cancel out each other, the net momentum of the system will be zero.
No, momentum is a vector quantity and cannot be negative. If the particles in a system have opposite velocities, their momentums will have different directions but will still sum up to zero.
The mass of particles affects the relationship between kinetic energy and momentum by directly influencing the magnitude of both quantities. A system with particles of larger mass will have a higher momentum and kinetic energy compared to a system with particles of smaller mass.
Kinetic energy is the energy that a system possesses due to its motion, while momentum is the measure of the system's motion. Kinetic energy depends on the mass and velocity of the particles, while momentum only depends on the mass and velocity of the particles in the direction of motion.