What kind of device/thing can convert momentum into heat?

Question

What kind of device/thing can convert momentum into heat?

Answer 1

A damper (also known as a shock absorber) does exactly that.

Answer 2

Also brakes convert momentum to heat.

Answer 3

The best way to convert momentum into heat is to apply friction and try to slow it down; the lost energy becomes heat.

So brakes are a classic example.  Disc breaks expand to grab the wheel and caliper breaks come in form the side to grab it.

Turning a s***w into a piece of wood creates heat.  You can feel this when you use a drill.  The s***w is an inclined plane wrapped around an axle; or elongated wheel.

Wheels on axels need to be lubricated to be efficient; otherwise the turning can create heat.  In the forward wheels of a rear wheel drive car the wheels are allowed to turn freely on the axle.

A spring can create heat; it is an inclined plane wrapped around and constructed of an elastic material to absorb the shock; when it does it heats up as the energy lost becomes heat.

When you want to see how heat is generated look for inefficiencies.  The waste energy often becomes heat.  In a car the explosions inside the piston create heat, but the movement of the mechanical parts like the piston, the crankshaft and the rods creates more heat; that is why they are in an oil bath and why you have a radiator to cool them down.

If you hold a fan and prevent it from turning then feel the motor, you will feel heat.  Often holding the fan will burn it out.  The electricity and magnetic fields are enough to create the energy of rotation; but by stopping that motion you release some of the energy as heat.  Do that too much and the windings of the motor can burn out.

Simply moving through the air creates heat.  The friction causes some energy to be lost and most often lost energy is done so as heat.  Streamlining just doesn't make it more efficient to travel through the air, but it reduces the amount of heat generated.

Moving any item through a material creates friction and that friction produces heat.  Trying to prevent something from moving is done by increasing the friction and that also creates heat.

Answer 4

A wall. Drive your car into a wall, and the momentum gets converted to heat.

You car's brakes will do it also.