Question

Cliff's brother, Will, hooks the battery up backward and fires the gun. The bullet (m = 0.005 kg, q = 2.0 x 10-4 C) still leaves the barrel of the rifle at 60 m/s, but the plates now cause the bullet to stop and return to the gun. If the distance between the plates is again 4 cm, how far does the bullet travel between the plates before turning around?

Answer 1

The bullet travels a distance of 0.04 m between the plates before turning around.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the distance the bullet travels between the plates before turning around, we need to determine the time it takes for the bullet to travel from one plate to the other and back. Since the bullet stops and returns to the gun, the total time of this round trip is the twice the time it takes to travel from one plate to the other. We can find the time using the formula:

time = distance / velocity

Given that the distance between the plates is 4 cm (or 0.04 m) and the velocity of the bullet is 60 m/s, we can plug in these values into the formula:

time = 0.04 m / 60 m/s

Simplifying, we get:

time = 0.00067 s

Therefore, the bullet travels a distance of 0.04 m before turning around between the plates.