Someone fires a 0.04 kg bullet at a block of wood that has a mass of 0.5 kg. The block of wood is sitting on a frictionless surface, so it moves freely when the bullet hits it. The wood block is initially at rest. The bullet is travelling 300 m/s when it hits the wood block and sticks inside it. Now the bullet and the wood block move together as one object. How fast are they traveling?

Question

Physics

Jaylen Cooley

7 October, 06:31

Someone fires a 0.04 kg bullet at a block of wood that has a mass of 0.5 kg. The block of wood is sitting on a frictionless surface, so it moves freely when the bullet hits it. The wood block is initially at rest. The bullet is travelling 300 m/s when it hits the wood block and sticks inside it. Now the bullet and the wood block move together as one object. How fast are they traveling?

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Answers (1)

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Jaqueline Bailey · Answer 1

The momentum of the wood and the bullet is equal to the momentum of the bullet before it hits the wood

0.04 x 300 = 12 kg m/s

(0.5 + 0.04) * v = 12 kg m/s,

v = 12 kg m/s / 0.54 kg = 22.2 m/s