Question

Consider a firework that has been launched into the air and explodes into 3 pieces. Magically, the pieces explode in a two-dimensional plane parallel to the surface of the earth. A 75-gram piece flies off straight south at 23 m/s, a 25-gram piece flies off straight west at 13 m/s. If we knew the whole firework had a mass of 150 grams, what then is the speed and direction of the last piece?

Answer 1

To determine the speed and direction of the last piece, we can use the conservation of momentum. Given the velocities of the other two pieces, we can calculate the speed and direction using the conservation of momentum equation.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the speed and direction of the last piece, we can use the conservation of momentum. The total momentum before the explosion is equal to the total momentum after the explosion.

Given that the 75-gram piece flies off straight south at 23 m/s and the 25-gram piece flies off straight west at 13 m/s, we can assign positive velocities to the north and east directions, respectively.

Using the conservation of momentum, (mass1 x velocity1) + (mass2 x velocity2) = (mass3 x velocity3), we can calculate the speed and direction of the last piece.

To determine the speed and direction of the last piece, we can use the conservation of momentum. Given the velocities of the other two pieces, we can calculate the speed and direction using the conservation of momentum equation.