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Suppose a person holding a gun is running at the speed of a bullet, and he fired the bullet. Will the speed of the bullet be constant with the person or more than the person?

a) Constant with the person
b) More than the person
c) Less than the person
d) Depends on the gun

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The speed of the bullet will be less than the person as the bullet experiences a greater acceleration and reaches a higher velocity compared to the person.

Step-by-step explanation:

The speed of the bullet will be c) Less than the person. When a person fires a gun, the bullet experiences a recoil force that pushes it forward, while at the same time, the person experiences an equal and opposite recoil force that pushes them backward. According to Newton's third law of motion, the force exerted by the bullet on the person is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force exerted by the person on the bullet.

Since the person is much heavier than the bullet, the bullet will experience a greater acceleration and reach a higher velocity compared to the person. This means that the speed of the bullet will be less than the speed of the person.

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