9.1 and 9.

2 Conservation of Linear Momentum

1. A fast athlete, of mass 70 kg, can run at 10 m/s. At what speed would the following have the same momentum:
(a) a 20-g bullet; (b) a 1500-kg car? (Ans 1: 3.5 ×104 m/s; (b) 0.47 m/s)

2. A ball of mass m1 = 3 kg moving south at 6 m/s collides with a ball of mass m2 = 2 kg initially at rest. The
incoming ball is deflected in the direction 60o South of West and the target ball moves off at 25o East of
South. What are the final speeds? (Ans 7: v1 = 3.1 m/s, v2 = 5.5 m/s)

3. A 500-g ball of putty moving horizontally at 6 m/s collides with and sticks to a block lying on a frictionless
horizontal surface. If 25% of the kinetic energy is lost, what is the mass of the block? (Ans 8: m = 167 g)

4. A particle of mass m1 = 2 kg moving at speed u1 makes a one-dimensional completely inelastic collision with
a particle of mass m2 = 3 kg, initially at rest. If 60 J of kinetic energy are lost, find u1 . (Ans 10: u1 = 10 m/s)

5. A particle of mass m1 = 1 kg moving along the x axis collides with a particle of mass m2 = 2 kg initially
at rest. The incoming particle is deflected in the direction 30o above the x axis, whereas the target particle
moves off at 10 m/s at 45o below the x axis. What are the initial u1 and final v1 speeds of the 1-kg particle?
(Ans 14: (a) u1 = 38.6 m/s; v1 = 28.3 m/s)

6. A 1000-kg Subaru GL at rest at a stoplight is struck from the rear by a 1400-kg Pontiac 6000. They couple
together and leave skid marks 4 m long. The coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.6. (a) What was their common
speed just after the collision? (b) What was the speed of the Pontiac just prior to the collision? (Ans 17: (a)
v = 6.86 m/s; (b) u = 11.8 m/s)

7. A 1500-kg Buick Electra moving at 20 m/s makes a completely inelastic one-dimensional collision with a
stationary 1000-kg Ford Escort. If the coefficient of kinetic friction is µk = 0.5, estimate the distance they
move after the collision. Assume the wheels are locked. (Ans 18: v = 12 m/s just after collision; a=-4.9
m/s2 ; ∆x=14.7 m)

8. Jack, of mass 75 kg, and Jill, of mass 60 kg, are at rest on a frictionless frozen lake. Find their final speeds
if Jack throws a 0.5-kg ball to Jill at 24 m/s relative to the ice and she catches it. Assume the ball moves
horizontally. (Ans 24: (a) vJack = 0.16 m/s; (b) vJill = 0.2 m/s)

9. A 15-g bullet strikes and embeds in a 2-kg block suspended at the end of a 1.2-m string. After the collision
the string rises to a maximum angle of 20o to the vertical. Find: (a) the speed of the bullet; (b) the percentage
loss in kinetic energy due to the collision. (Ans 27: (a) 160 m/s; (b) ∆K = –190.6 J, loss is 99.3%)

10. A projective of mass m = 200 g strikes a stationary block of mass M = 1.3 kg from below with speed u = 30
m/s ((Fig 1: Left)) The projective embeds in the block. (a) To what height does the block rise? (b) What is
the loss in kinetic energy due to the collision? (Ans 28: (a) 81.6 cm; (b) Ki = 90 J, K f = 12 J, ∆K = –78 J)

Figure 1: Problems
11. A 10-g bullet moving at 400 m/s strikes a ballistic pendulum of mass 2.5 kg. The bullet emerges with a speed
of 100 m/s. (a) To what height does the pendulum bob rise? (b) How much work was done by the bullet in
passing through the block? (Ans 29: (a) H = v2 /2g = 7.3 cm; (b) W = –∆K = +750 J)

12. A projectile of mass 0.25 kg moving at 24 m/s collides with and sticks to a 1.75-kg block that is connected
to a spring for which k = 40 N/m (Fig 1: Right). The block is initially on a frictionless part of a horizontal
surface but starts to slide on a rough section immediately after the collision. If the maximum compression of
the spring is 0.5 m, what is the force of friction on the block? (Ans 30: f = 8 N)

Compiled by Denzel Wei 1

 Figure 2: Serway 9th Ed. Ex 9.8
13. A 1500-kg car traveling east with a speed of 25.0 m/s collides at an intersection with a 2500-kg truck traveling
north at a speed of 20.0 m/s as shown in Fig 2(Left). Find the direction and magnitude of the velocity of the
wreckage after the collision, assuming the vehicles stick together after the collision. (Ans : θ = 53.1o ;
v f = 15.6 m/s)

14. According to an accident report, a Chevrolet of mass m1 = 950 kg was moving east and a Ford of mass m2
= 1350 kg was moving north as shown in Fig 2(Right). Although the brakes were applied, the cars collided
and joined together. The skid marks after the collision were straight and 8 m long, in a direction 37o north of
east. µk was estimated to be 0.6. Was either car exceeding the 15-m/s speed limit? (Ans : u1 = ?? m/s; u2 =
?? m/s)

15. A 3.24 kg Super X rifle, initially at rest, fires a 11.7 gram bullet with a muzzle speed of 800 m/s. (a) What is
the recoil velocity of the rifle, v2 ? (b) What is the ratio of the KE of the rifle and bullet? (Ans : v2 = 2.89i
m/s; KE 2
KE1 = 0.38%)

Figure 3: Problem.

9.3 Elastic Collisions in One Dimension

1. An α particle of mass 4 u (atomic mass units) moving at 1.5 × 107 m/s collides elastically with a gold nucleus
of mass 197 u initially at rest. Find the recoil velocity of the nucleus given that the α particle returns along
its original path. (Ans 31: v2 − v1 = −(u2 − u1 ), ∑ p : 4U1 = 197V2 + 4V1 , thus v2 8u1 /201 == 5.97 × 105
m/s)

2. (I) The head of a golf club moving at 160 km/h collides elastically with a 46-g golf ball initially at rest. Find
the final velocities of both for the following club-heads: (a) mass 46 g; (b) mass 92 g. (Even though the club
is held in the hand, the club-head behaves as if it were free. This has been proved by allowing the head to
pivot freely at the end.) (Ans 32: (a) v2 − v1 = u1 , ∑ p : u1 = v1 + v2 , thus v1 = 0, v2 = u1 = 160 km/h; (b)
v2 − v1 = u1 , ∑ p : 2u1 = 2v1 + v2 , thus v1 = u1 /3, v2 = 4u1 /3 = 213 km/h)

Compiled by Denzel Wei 2

 3. A pendulum bob of mass m is released from a height H above the lowest point. It collides at the lowest point
with another pendulum of the same length but with a bob of mass 2m initially at rest. Find the heights to
which the bobs rise given that the collision is (a) completely inelastic, (b) perfectly elastic. (Ans 33: (a)
√
u = 2gH, ∑ p : mu = 3mv ⇒ v = u/3, Ei = E f gives h2 = H/9, (b) v2 − v1 = u1 , ∑ p : 2v2 + v1 = u, thus
v2 = 2u/3, v1 = −u/3, Conservation of ME gives h1 = H/9 and h2 = 4H/9)

4. A particle of mass m1 and with speed u makes a one dimensional elastic collision with a particle of mass
m2 initially at rest. Find their final velocities given that: (a) m1 = 3m2 ; (b) m2 = 3m1 . (Ans 34: (a)
v1 = u1 /2, v2 = 3u1 /2; (b) v1 = –u/2, v2 = u/2)

5. A particle of mass m1 and with initial velocity +u makes a head-on elastic collision with a particle of mass
m2 at rest. Find m2 /m1 given that the final velocity of m1 is: (a) −u/3; (b) +u/2. (Ans 36: Let r = m2 /m1 ,
thus v1 = u(1 − r)/(1 + r); (a) (1 − r)/(1 + r) = 1/3, so m2 = 2m1 , (b) (1 − r)/(1 + r) = 1/2, so m2 = m1 /3)

9.4 Impulse
1. The head of a golf club strikes a 46-g golf ball at rest. If the collision lasts 0.5 ms and the ball is given a speed
of 220 km/h, estimate the average force on the ball. (Ans 39: Favg = I/∆t = 5620 N)

2. Water from a hose emerges at 10 m/s horizontally and strikes a wall. It then dribbles down. The flow rate is
1.5 kg/s. What is the average force on the wall? Is this estimate likely to be too large or too small? (Ans 45:
F = d p/dt = vdm/dt = 15 N)

3. A machine gun fires 15-g bullets at 450 m/s at a rate of 600 rounds/min. What is the average force on the
support? (Ans 47: (15/1000)(450)(600/60) = 67.5 N)

4. A ball of mass 200 g falls from 4 m and rebounds to 3 m. Ifit is in contact with the ground for 10 ms, find
the average force on it. Assume the motion is vertical. (Ans 49: v2 = 2gh, v1 = 8.85 m/s, v2 = 7.67 m/s;
∆p = m(8.85 + 7.67) = 3.30 kgm/s in 0.01 s, thus F = 330 N)

5. A 60-g tennis ball strikes the ground at 25 m/s at 40o to the horizontal. It bounces off at 20 m/s at 30o
to the horizontal; see Fig 4(Left). (a) Find the impulse exerted on the ball. (b) If the collision lasted 5
ms, find the average force exerted on the ball by the court. (Ans 51: (a) I = −0.11i + 1.56j kgm/s, (b)
F = I/∆t = –22i + 312j N)

Figure 4: Problems

6. From the F versus t curve shown in Fig 4(Right), find: (a) the impulse; (b) the average force. (Ans 52: (a)
Area = 350 kgm/s; (b) F = I/∆t = 70 N)

Compiled by Denzel Wei 3