Question

Hey besties, im having a mental breakdown on this question. pls help :D

A tennis ball with a speed of 28.4 m/s is
moving perpendicular to a wall. After striking
the wall, the ball rebounds in the opposite
direction with a speed of 26.412 m/s.
If the ball is in contact with the wall for
0.0158 s, what is the average acceleration of
the ball while it is in contact with the wall?
Take “toward the wall” to be the positive
direction.
Answer in units of m/s
2

Answer 1

With "toward the wall" designated as the positive direction, the average acceleration felt the ball in the 0.0158 s of contact with the wall is

`a_(\rm ave) = (-26.412(\rm m)/(\rm s) - 28.4(\rm m)/(\rm s))/(0.0158\,\mathrm s) ≈ \boxed{-3470 (\rm m)/(\mathrm s^2)}`