Why is momentum considered a vector quantity?

Momentum is a vector because it is the product of a scalar and a vector.

Momentum is a vector because it is the product of a scalar and a vector.

Momentum is frequently expressed as ##p=mv##, where ##p## is momentum, ##m## is mass, and ##v## is the velocity. Mass is a scalar; it doesn't have any direction associated with it, only its magnitude. Velocity, on the other hand, certainly has a magnitude and a direction, and so is denoted as a vector.

When you multiply a scalar and a vector together as we have in the above equation, you take the product of the magnitude of each term while keeping the direction of the vector. This results in another, new vector quantity. Therefore, momentum is a vector with the same direction as its respective velocity, and a magnitude equal to the product of the magnitudes of its mass and velocity.

Hope this helps!