Linear Momentum Problem sheet 2

1. A pitched 140 g baseball , in horizontal flight with a speed vi of 39.0 m/s is

struck by a bat. After leaving the bat, the ball travels in the opposite direction
with speed v f , also 39.0 m/s.
(a) What impulse J acts on the ball while it is in contact with the bat during the
collision?
(b)The impact time Dt for the baseball-bat collision is 1.20 ms. What average
force acts on the baseball? Which approximation did you use in this case ?
(c) Now suppose the collision is not head on, and the ball leaves the bat with a

speed v f of 45.0m/s at an upward angle of 300 . What now is the

impulse on the ball ?
2. Two skaters collide and embrace, in a completely inelastic collision. Thus,
they stick together after impact, as suggested by the figure., where the origin is

placed at the point of collision. Alfred whose mass mA = 83 kg is originally

moving east with speed v A = 6.2 km/hr . Barbara, whose mass mB = 55 kg is

originally moving north with speed vB = 7.8 km/hr . What is the velocity of the
couple after they collide ?
y

V
vA
q
x
mA vB
mB
3. A cue stick strikes a stationary pool ball, with an average force of 50 N over a
time of 10 ms. If the ball has mass 0.20 kg, what speed does it have just after
impact ?

4. After a completely inelastic collision, two objects of the same mass and the
same initial speed are found to move away together at ½ their initial speed.
Find the angle between initial velocities of the objects.

5. In figure, ball 1 with an initial speed of 10 m/s collides elastically with

stationary balls 2 and 3, whose centers are on a line perpendicular to the initial
velocity of the ball 1 and that are initially in contact with each other. The three
balls are identical. Ball 1 is aimed directly at the contact point, and all motion
is frictionless. After the collision, what are the velocities of (a) ball 2
(b) ball 3, and (c) ball 1?

v0 2
x
1 3

6. Show that if a neutron is scattered through 90 in an elastic collision with an

initially stionary deuteron, the neutron loses 2/3 of its initial kinetic energy
to the deuteron( take the mass of neutron as 1.0 u and mass of deuteron is
2.0u)