Question

In a football game, a receiver is standing still, having just caught a pass. Before he can move, a tackler, running at a velocity of 3.56m/s, grabs him. The tackler holds onto the receiver, and the two move off together with a velocity of 1.83m/s. The mass of the tackler is 87.0 kg. Assuming that momentum is conserved, find the mass of the receiver.

Answer 1

The mass of the receiver is 169.6 kg.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the mass of the receiver, we can use the conservation of momentum principle. According to this principle, the total momentum before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the collision. In this case, the momentum of the tackler before the collision is given by mass of the tackler multiplied by its velocity, and the momentum of the receiver after the collision is given by mass of the receiver multiplied by their common velocity after the collision.

Using the equation for conservation of momentum and the given values, we can set up the following equation: mass of the tackler * 3.56m/s = mass of the receiver * 1.83m/s. Solving for the mass of the receiver, we get:

Mass of the receiver = (mass of the tackler * 3.56m/s) / 1.83m/s

Substituting the values, we get:

Mass of the receiver = (87.0 kg * 3.56m/s) / 1.83m/s = 169.6 kg