Explore the concepts of momentum and impulse, their definitions, and applications in physics through this educational resource.

Impulse is a vector, so a negative impulse means the net force is in the negative direction. Likewise, a positive impulse means the net force is in the positive direction.

Action potentials (those electrical impulses that send signals around your body) are nothing more than a temporary shift (from negative to positive) in the neuron’s membrane potential caused …

When we calculate impulse, we are multiplying force by time. This is equivalent to finding the area under a force-time curve. This is useful because the area can just as easily be found for a …

Impulse is a vector, so a negative impulse means the net force is in the negative direction. Likewise, a positive impulse means the net force is in the positive direction.

The impulse on this person's face is to the left, but the impulse on the ball is to the right, because the ball was initially going left and it had a force on it to the right that made it recoil and bounce …

Impulse is a change in an object's momentum. The impulse experienced by an object is equal to the net force acting on the object multiplied by the length of time the force acts (Δp = ΣFΔt).

Whether or not a neuron is excited into firing an impulse depends on the sum of all of the excitatory and inhibitory signals it receives. If the neuron does end up firing, the nerve impulse, …

Learn about synapses, the connections between neurons in the nervous system, and how they transmit signals efficiently on Khan Academy.

Impulse is not a force, it is simply a change in momentum. The net impulse divided by the time-interval during which the object experiences the impulse is equal to the net force on the object.