A ball of mass 5.0kg hits a smooth vertical wall normally with a speed of 2ms-1 and rebounds with the same speed. Determine the impulse experienced by the b...
Question 1 Report
A ball of mass 5.0kg hits a smooth vertical wall normally with a speed of 2ms-1 and rebounds with the same speed. Determine the impulse experienced by the ball
Answer Details
The impulse experienced by the ball can be calculated using the impulse-momentum theorem, which states that the impulse on an object is equal to the change in momentum of the object.
In this case, the ball has an initial momentum of p = mv, where m is its mass and v is its velocity, and it rebounds with the same speed, but in the opposite direction. This means that the final momentum of the ball is -mv.
The change in momentum, therefore, is:
Δp = -mv - mv = -2mv
The impulse experienced by the ball is equal to the change in momentum, so:
impulse = Δp = -2mv
Substituting the given values, we get:
impulse = -2(5.0 kg)(2 m/s) = -20.0 kg m/s
Since impulse is a vector quantity, its magnitude is always positive. Therefore, we take the absolute value of the calculated impulse to get:
impulse = 20.0 kg m/s
So the correct answer to the question is 20.0 kg m/s.
Download The App On Google Playstore
Everything you need to excel in your exams
Personalized AI Learning Chat Assistant
200,000+ Exam Questions Across IGCSE, JAMB, WAEC & NECO
Over 3,900 Lesson Notes
Offline Support - Learn Anytime, Anywhere
Green Bridge Timetable
Literature Summaries & Potential Questions
Track Your Performance & Progress
In-depth Explanations for Comprehensive Learning