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A basketball player passes a ball to a teammate at a velocity of 6 m/s. The ball has a mass of 0.51 kg. If the original player has a mass of 59 kg and there is no net force on the system, what is the velocity of the player after releasing the ball? Let a positive velocity be in the direction of the pass. –0.05 m/s –0.5 m/s –0.6 m/s –6 m/s

User Shaggydog
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2 Answers

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We apply the momentum preservation principle and we have p before =p after
0=6*0.51+59u
u=-0.05m/s
User Pat Morin
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2 votes

–0.05 m/s

Step-by-step explanation:

The total momentum of the system player+basketball must be conserved before and after the ball has been thrown.

Before throwing the ball, the total momentum of the system is zero, because can assume both the player and the basketball being at rest:


p_i

The total momentum after the ball has been thrown is instead the sum of the momenta of the the player and of the basketball:


p_f=m_p v_p + m_b v_b

where


m_p = 59 kg is the player's mass


v_p is the player's velocity


m_b=0.51 kg is the ball's mass


v_b=6 m/s is the ball's velocity

For the conservation of momentum, we have


p_i=p_f


0=m_p v_p + m_b v_b


v_p=-(m_b v_b)/(m_p)=-((0.51 kg)(6 m/s))/(59 kg)=-0.05 m/s

And the negative sign means that the player travels in the opposite direction to the ball.

User MyNameIs
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