Momentum of a Car: What Happens When Stopping?

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When a car stops, its momentum is not conserved because it transitions to a velocity of zero, resulting in zero momentum. The forces acting on the car, such as air resistance and friction, do work to slow it down. In an isolated system, momentum is conserved, meaning the car's momentum is transferred to the Earth. However, due to the Earth's significantly larger mass, any change in its rotation speed is imperceptible. Ultimately, the momentum of the car dissipates through these forces rather than being retained.
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What happens to the momentum of a car in movement when it stops?
 
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The car has forces acting on it to slow it down, they all do work on the car, and the energy is transferred through the air resistance and friction.

Momentum isn't conserved, if that's what your asking.
 
it should be 0 because the velocity becomes 0 when the car stops. (Momentum is mass in motion)
 
mprm86 said:
What happens to the momentum of a car in movement when it stops?
In an isolated system, momentum is conserved. The momentum of the car when it brakes to a stop, is transferred to the earth. But the Earth's mass is so much larger than the car's that the Earth's change in rotation speed is not measurable.
 

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