Question

A 12g rifle bullet is fired with a speed of 380m/s into a ballistic pendulum with mass 6.00kg, suspended from a cord 70cm. What is the speed of the bullet and the pendulum's velocity after the collision?

Answer 1

To find the speed of the bullet and the pendulum's velocity after the collision, we can use the principle of conservation of linear momentum. The final velocity of the bullet and pendulum together is approximately 0.0023 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the speed of the bullet and the pendulum's velocity after the collision, we can use the principle of conservation of linear momentum. Before the collision, the total momentum is zero since the pendulum is initially at rest. After the collision, the bullet and pendulum move together. The bullet's momentum is given by:

mbullet × vbullet = (mbullet + mpendulum) × vfinal

Using the given values, where mbullet = 0.012 kg, vbullet = 380 m/s, mpendulum = 6.00 kg, and solving for vfinal, we get:

vfinal = (mbullet × vbullet) / (mbullet + mpendulum)

Substituting the values, we have:

vfinal = (0.012 kg × 380 m/s) / (0.012 kg + 6.00 kg) = 0.0023 m/s