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27) The recoil of a shotgun can be significant. Suppose a 3.3-kg shotgun is held tightly by an arm and shoulder with a combined mass of 15.0 kg. When the gun fires a projectile with a mass of 0.038 kg and a speed of 385 m/s, what is the recoil velocity of the shotgun and arm shoulder combination?

User Hjaved
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Since the initial linear momentum of the system is 0, the linear momentum of the gun-arm system must be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the linear momentum of the bullet.

Find the linear momentum of the bullet:


\begin{gathered} p_{\text{bullet}}=m_{\text{bullet}}v_{\text{bullet}} \\ =(0.038kg)(385(m)/(s)) \\ =14.63\operatorname{kg}\cdot(m)/(s) \end{gathered}

If the gun-arm system recoils with a speed v, the total linear momentum of the gun-arm system is:


(3.3\operatorname{kg}+15.0\operatorname{kg})v

Since the linear momentum of the gun-arm system must have the same magnitude as the linear momentum of the bullet, then:


(3.3\operatorname{kg}+15.0\operatorname{kg})v=14.63\operatorname{kg}\cdot(m)/(s)

Isolate v and find its value:


\begin{gathered} v=\frac{14.63\operatorname{kg}\cdot(m)/(s)}{3.3\operatorname{kg}+15.0\operatorname{kg}} \\ =0.79945\ldots(m)/(s) \\ \approx0.8(m)/(s) \end{gathered}

Therefore, the recoil speed of the shotgun and arm-shoulder combination is 0.8 meters per second.

User Mark Carpenter
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