Question

A 87.5kg ice hockey player hits a 0.13kg puck, giving the puck a speed of 44m/s. What is the magnitude of the player's velocity after hitting the puck?

1) 0.5 m/s
2) 1.0 m/s
3) 2.0 m/s
4) 4.0 m/s

Answer 1

The magnitude of the player's velocity after hitting the puck is 0.56 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. The momentum before the collision is equal to the momentum after the collision. The momentum of the player is given by the product of the mass of the player (87.5 kg) and the initial velocity of the player (which is 0 m/s because the player is initially at rest). The momentum of the puck is given by the product of its mass (0.13 kg) and its final velocity (which is 44 m/s). Since momentum is a vector quantity, we need to consider the direction of the velocities when calculating the final velocity of the player.

The magnitude of the player's velocity after hitting the puck can be found using the equation:

|player's velocity| = (momentum of player before collision + momentum of puck before collision) / (mass of player + mass of puck)

Substituting the given values, we get:

|player's velocity| = ((87.5 kg * 0 m/s) + (0.13 kg * 44 m/s)) / (87.5 kg + 0.13 kg) = 0.56 m/s

Therefore, the magnitude of the player's velocity after hitting the puck is 0.56 m/s.