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A 150 g baseball pitched at a speed of 40 m/s is hit straight back to the pitcher at a speed of 60 m/s. What is the magnitude of the average force on the ball from the bat if the bat is in contact with the ball for 5.0 ms?

User Xlmaster
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Final answer:

The magnitude of the average force on the baseball from the bat is 3000 N.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the magnitude of the average force on the baseball, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force exerted on an object is equal to the rate of change of its momentum. In this case, since the initial momentum of the baseball is in the negative x-direction and the final momentum is in the positive x-direction, we can calculate the change in momentum and divide it by the time of contact to find the average force.

The initial momentum of the baseball is given by the product of its mass (150 g) and initial velocity (-40 m/s), which is -6 kg·m/s. The final momentum is given by the product of its mass and final velocity (60 m/s), which is 9 kg·m/s.

The change in momentum is then 9 kg·m/s - (-6 kg·m/s) = 15 kg·m/s. The time of contact is given as 5.0 ms, which is equal to 0.005 s.

Therefore, the magnitude of the average force on the ball from the bat is 15 kg·m/s / 0.005 s = 3000 N.

User Kylex
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