Physics A-Level
Contact time
What Contact time means in Physics A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definition of Contact time
Check what you remember
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Reference: AQA
Increasing it decreases the average force for a fixed momentum change, and decreasing it increases the average force.
Topics that use Contact time
- Momentum (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- Algebraic modelling of collisions
- Area under a force–time graph
- Closed system
- Coalescence and explosions
- Conservation of linear momentum
- Consistency of units and signs
- Elastic versus inelastic collisions
- Explosions as momentum-conserving separations
Using Contact time in the exam
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