Question

The high-speed winds around a tornado can drive projectiles into trees, building walls, and even metal traffic signs. In a laboratory simulation, a standard wood toothpick was shot by pneumatic gun into an oak branch. The toothpick's mass was 0.19 g, its speed before entering the branch was 195 m/s, and its penetration depth was 16 mm. If its speed was decreased at a uniform rate, what was the magnitude of the force of the branch on the toothpick

Answer 1

Force = 225.77 kN (kilo newton)

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this question, we simply need to calculate the deceleration of the toothpick as it entered the oak branch.

Initial speed = 195 m/s

Final speed = 0 m/s

Distance traveled = 0.016 m

`V^2 - U^2 = 2*a*s`

`0-195^2=2*a*0.016`

`a = -1188281.25` (m/s^2)

Hence we have found the deceleration of the toothpick to be 11882812.5 m/s^2 and we can find the force as follows:

Force = mass * acceleration

Force = 0.19 * 1188281.25

Force = 225.77 kN (kilo newton)