Momentum-Impulse

and
Collisions
Problem1) A bullet with a mass of m = 4grams with a horizontal velocity of 800m/s, hits a
thick steel plate and bounces with a velocity of 600m/s by making a right angle with the
direction of arrival. If the contact of the bullet with the steel plate lasts 2ms,
a) The momentum change of the bullet and the impulse applied by the steel plate to
the bullet.
b) Calculate the average force exerted by the plate on the bullet core.

+y

+x
Problem2) The force F, whose change in time is shown in the graph below, acts for a period
of 4 seconds starting from the moment t = 0 on a block with a mass of 5kg, which is
stationary on a frictionless horizontal plane. During this time, calculate the impulse
transferred on the block by the force F and the momentum, kinetic energy and speed of the
block after 4 seconds. What is the magnitude of the average force?

F (N) F

20

4 t (s)
Problem 3) A steel ball of m ass m 1 = 100 grams is trave ling at a speed of 4m / s in the + x
direction on a frictionless horizonta l surface and hits a ball with a mass of m 2 = 200 gra ms
which is attache d to the e nd of a string with negligible mass that is L = 1.2m long. If the
collision is elastic,
a) Calculat e the ve lo city of the balls just a fte r th e collisio n. (V 1f= ? V 2f= ?)

b ) Calculat e the a ngle that the st ring m ake s w ith the ve rtica l dir ec tio n w he n the ba ll of m ass
m 2 at the e nd o f the str ing re a che s its high est point (= ?)

m1 m2
+x

 
m2

m1 +x

???
Problem4) A block with a mass of 3kg is attached to the end of a spring with a force
constant k=200N/m with its right end attached to the wall in the frictionless horizontal
plane. Another 1.5kg block with a velocity of 4m/s hits this block and sticks. What is the
velocity of the two blocks at the moment they stick together?

a) What is the maximum amount of compression in the spring?

b) What is the change in kinetic energy in this collision?

m1=1.5kg V1i=4m/s m2=3kg V2i=0

 Two battling robots are sliding on a frictionless surface.
Robot A, with mass 20 kg, initially moves at 2.0 m/s
parallel to the x-axis. It collides with robot B, which has
mass 12 kg and is initially at rest. After the collision,
robot A is moving at 1.0 m/s in a direction that makes an
angle α = 30° with its initial direction. What is the final
velocity of robot B?

mA=20 kg mB=12 kg
vA1x=2.0 m/s vB1x= 0

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 mA=20 kg mB=12 kg α = 30°
vA1x=2.0 m/s vB1x= 0
vA2=1.0 m/s vB2= ?

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A 1000-kg compact car is traveling north at 15 m/s when it
collides with a 2000-kg truck traveling east at 10 m/s. All
occupants are wearing seat belts and there are no injuries, but
the two vehicles are thoroughly tangled and move away from
the impact point as one mass. The insurance adjustor has
asked you to find the velocity of the wreckage just after impact.
What do you tell her?

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 the total momentum before the collision, P, has the same value
just after the collision.

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Figure 8.26 shows an elastic collision of two pucks on a
frictionless air-hockey table. Puck A has mass mA = 0.500 kg
and puck B has mass mB = 0.300 kg. Puck A has an initial
velocity of 4.00 mls in the positive x-direction and a final velocity
of 2.00 mls in an unknown direction. Puck B is initially at rest.
Find the final speed vm of puck B and the angles α and β in the
figure.

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 Because the collision is elastic, the initial and final kinetic
energies are equal:

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley