A student hits a baseball with a bat. The ball speeds up and flies away. Another student claims that the student broke the law of conservation of momentum because the ball gained momentum. Which of these is the best explanation of why the law is not broken in this closed system?
A. The bat also experiences a change in momentum in the opposite direction.
B. The mass of the bat and the ball remains constant throughout the interaction.
C. The total momentum of the system is conserved, with the bat and ball contributing to it.
D. The gravitational force acting on the ball compensates for the increase in its momentum.