Question

A student throws a 130 g snowball at 6.5 m/s at the side of the schoolhouse, where it hits and sticks. What is the magnitude of the average force on the wall if the duration of the collision is 0.18 s?

Answer 1

4.7 N

Step-by-step explanation:

130 g = 0.13 kg

The momentum of the snowball when it's thrown at the wall is

`p = mv = 0.13*6.5 = 0.845 kgm/s`

Which is also the impulse. From here we can calculate the magnitude of the average force F knowing the duration of the collision is 0.18 s

`p = F\Delta t`

`F*0.18 = 0.845`

`F = 0.845 / 0.18 = 4.7 N`