A student hits a rolling bowling ball with a mallet and the bowling ball speeds up. Another student claims that the student broke the Law of Conservation of Momentum because the bowling ball gained momentum. Which of these is the best explanation of why the Law is not broken?
The force on the ball cancels the force on the hammer because they are equal and opposite The Law of Conservation of Momentum only applies for objects of equal mass.
The mallet loses as much momentum as the bowling ball gained.
The momentum of the bowling ball is the same before and after the hammer hits it.