Conservation of momentum Definition and 757 Threads

First time posting, I hope I do this correctly! I am struggling to grasp this concept. This is my attempt at solving. If I am completely off base, will some explain to me again how it works. Our instructor explained it to us with a very detailed formula which, I must confess, has caused me...

Homework Statement A student performs a ballistic pendulum experiment using an apparatus similar to that shown in the figure. Initially the bullet is fired at the block while the block is at rest (at its lowest swing point). After the bullet hits the block, the block rises to its highest...

Homework Statement A 15g bullet strikes and becomes embedded in a 1.10kg block of wood placed on a horizontal surface just in front of the gun. If the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the surface is .25, and the impact drives the block a distance of 9.5m before it comes...

Homework Statement A gun is fired vertically into a 1.40kg block of wood at rest directly above it. If the bullet has a mass of 21.0g and a speed of 310m/s, how high will the block rise into the air after the bullet becomes imbedded into it? Homework Equations m1v1+m2v2= m1v11+ m2v12...

Homework Statement 1. A force F= 12 N i is applied to a 3kg ball which has coordinate of (2,2). What is the acceleration of the center of mass. 2. A girl jumps from a boat to a dock. Why does she have to jump with more energy than she would need if she were jumping the same distance from...

Homework Statement A bullet with a mass of 6.00 g is fired through a 1.25 kg block of wood on a frictionless surface. The initial speed of the bullet is 896m/s, and the speed of the bullet after it exists the block is 435 m/s. At what speed does the block move after the bullet passes through...

Homework Statement An m2 = 1.7 kg can of soup is thrown upward (north) with a velocity of v2 = 6 m/s. It is immediately struck from the side by an m1 = 0.5 kg rock traveling at v1 = 7.8 m/s. (west) The rock ricochets off at an angle of 46 degrees with a velocity of v3 = 5.6 m/s. What is...

Homework Statement A 0.0854 kg block is released from rest from the top of a 25.8◦ frictionless incline. When it has fallen a vertical distance of 0.905 m, a 0.0164 kg bullet is fired into the block along a path parallel to the slope of the incline, and momentarily brings the block to rest...

I'm having a little bit of trouble trying to figure out how to solve this problem. I know it has to do with conservation of momentum, but I can't seem to get my first step on the problem. The problem is as follows: A bowling ball with a mass of 5.5kg hangs from the end of a 5.0m cable...

Homework Statement Two particles of masses m and 3m are moving toward each other along the x-axis with the same speed v. They undergo a head-on elastic collision and rebound along the x- axis. I don't seem to be getting the right answer...I would really appreciate it if someone could...

Can conservation of momentum be directly derived from quantum field theory (e.g. QED). My feeling is this should be true since the Dirac equation reduces to Schrodinger's wave equation in the nonrelativistic limit which is a reflection of Newton's second law, thereby implying conservation of...

Homework Statement A 730-N man stands in the middle of a frozen pond of radius 5m. He is unable to get to the shore of the pond because there's no friction between his shoes and the ice. So the man throws his 1.2kg textbook north horizontally at velocity of 5m/s. How long does it take him to...

Homework Statement http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2281/springblockconsst5.th.jpg I need help with part 2 of the problem, which asks to find the maximum compression of the spring. I have already found the work done by friction in part 1. Homework Equations I know momentum is...

While standing still on the baseball field, you throw the ball to a teammate. Why do you not move backward as a result? Is the law of conservation of momentum violated?

Homework Statement I was wondering if a glider hits a rubber band bumper is kinetic energy conserved? I can't tell if the data I have supports conservation or loss. I am writing a lab report and data shows that momentum had around a 5% change. Kinetic energy had a 10%-15% change. Momentum...

Homework Statement If two objects one traveling right and the other traveling left collide. The collision is inelastic. What would the sign of the instantaneous velocity of each object? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I think the instaneous velocity would be zero for...

Homework Statement A spring of negligible mass and force constant k = 400 N/m is hung vertically, and a 0.200-kg pan is suspended from its lower end. A butcher drops a 2.2-kg steak onto the pan from a height of 0.40 m. The steak makes a totally inelastic collision with the pan and...

A meteor whose mass was about 10^8 kg struck the Earth (m = 6.0 X 10^24) with a speed of about 15 km/s and came to rest in the earth. A) what was the Earth's recoil speed? B) what fraction of the meteor's KE was transformed into KE of the earth? C) By how much did the Earth's KE change as a...

Homework Statement An astronaut is a distance L from her spaceship, and it is at rest with respect to the ship, when she discovers that her tether is broken. She tosses a wrench with a spees Vw in the direction opposite that of the ship in ordr to propel herself back to the ship. The...

Homework Statement A bullet of mass 1.9×10^−3 kg embeds itself in a wooden block with mass 0.991kg which then compresses a spring (k= 100N/m ) by a distance 4.5×10^−2m before coming to rest. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and table is 0.55. a) What is the initial speed...

Homework Statement A block moves at 5 m/s in the positive x direction and hits an identical block, initially at rest. A small amount of gunpowder had been placed on one of the blocks. The explosion does not harm the blocks but it doubles their total kinetic energy. After the explosion, the...

Conservation of Momentum vs. Energy in "sticking" collisions Homework Statement So here's the deal I'm wondering why when you have a collision where the two objects stick together momentum is conserved but energy isn't. (or at least that's how I'm reading what my math is telling me)...

Suppose there are three astronauts outside their spaceship and that two of them decide to play catch with the third. This means the first two astronauts are attempting to throw the third back and forth. All astronauts weigh the same on Earth and are equally strong. The first throws the second...

Homework Statement If the mass of an object increases, its momentum A. always increases B. always decreases C. sometimes increases, sometimes decreases D. sometimes decreases, never increases E. sometimes increases, never decreases Homework Equations MV=momentum The Attempt at...

Conservation of momentum! help please!? A m1 = 0.450 kg block is released from rest at the top of a frictionless track h1 = 2.85 m above the top of a table. It then collides elastically with a 1.00 kg mass that is initially at rest on the table, as shown in Figure P6.47. Figure P6.47...

Homework Statement A certain nucleus at rest suddenly decays into three particles, two of which are charged and can be easily detected. The data gathered for these two particles is: - Particle 1 has mass 2.93e-25 kg moving 5.69e+06 m/s at 69.5o. - Particle 2 has mass 1.33e-25 kg moving...

I am not sure if I understand the premises under which conservation of momentum can be considered. First of all, I am aware that momentum is conserved if there are no external forces acting on a system. So, if you are looking at two objects colliding, their momentums will always be conserved if...

[b]1. A railroad car of mass 28400kg moving at 2.33 m/s collides and couples with two coupled railroad cars, each of the same mass as the single car and moving in the same direction at 1.06 m/s. What is the speed of the three coupled cars after the collision? Answer in units of m/s [b]2...

Homework Statement A bullet of mass 0.008 kg and initial speed 300 m/s penetrates an initially stationary pop can of mass 0.042 kg and emerges with a speed 210 m/s. What is the initial momentum of the bullet and pop can system? =2.4 kgm/s What is the final momentum of the bullet...

Hello, I am just starting Lagrangian mechanics and on a conservation problem but I am stuck. I have part of the solution (i think) but I am not sure how to complete it. Homework Statement In an infinite homogeneous plane. Find all the components of momentum and angular momentum that are...

Homework Statement Design an experiment to determine if momentum is conserved in an explosion interaction using an air track. I need to come up with the procedure for this experiment. Homework Equations Not applicable. The Attempt at a Solution I have decided to use two gliders...

Homework Statement This is more of a theoretical problem than a practical one. I am having a bit of difficulty understanding the concept of inelastic collisions and conservation of momentum. The law states that during inelastic collisions, total momentum is conserved, but total kinetic energy...

Homework Statement A particle with mass m and speed v collides with another particle with mass m, which is initially stationary. The collision is elastic. Show that the particles travel in perpendicular directions after the collision.Homework Equations 1)initial momentum = final momentum...

How are entangled photons created? From what I understand the prediction of entanglement is based the conservation of momentum. In that case, you can’t leave behind any momentum in the device that creates the pair. That must be hard to do. Any mistake would make the photons have different...

I was having a discussion about the cause/s of conservation of momentum with a friend and was given a very unsatisfactory explanation (something to do with space being homogenous). Is it an irreducable physical law like the conservation of energy, or is there a good (intuitive) physical...

I'm currently reading Understanding Physics by Asimov and am stuck on an example he gives regarding conservation of momentum. What I don't understand is, why half the velocity? -2v makes sense to me if the momentum of the small mass "canceled out" an equal momentum of the larger mass, but...

I have a homework problem from the conservation of momentum chapter that I can't for the life of me figure out how to solve. The question goes like this: A 5.00 gram bullet moving with an initial speed of 400 m/s is fired into and passes through a 1.00 Kg block. The block, initially at rest on a...

We will apply a force of some distance for some period of time. Let's say the goal is to apply a maximum force over a small distance. We apply 1 Newton at right angles to a frictionless lever, 1 meter from the pivot point. At 10 centimeters from that pivot point is an object that weighs 1 kg...

I have a problem, I'm trying to work out this simple equation and I'm confusing myself. This is the question: a white snooker ball hits a stationary red ball elastically at speed of 50cm/second, and both move off at different velocitys. if the balls are the same mass(50g) and the final...

Homework Statement You are playing bocci with your friends. You roll your ball towards your opponent's stationary ball (of equal mass) with a certain speed. After the collision, your ball travels along a path o32 degrees from its original path with a speed of 2.50m/s, while your opponent's...

[SOLVED] Conservation of momentum + elastic collision Hey guys, I couldn't even start this one, tried to think about it, but I'm hitting a blank A block of mass m = 2.20 [kg] slides down a 30 degrees incline which is 3.60 [m] high. At the bottom, it strikes a block of mass M = 7.00 [kg]...

Hi everyone, If you have a sphere of 10kg, traveling at an initial velocity v. And this sphere collides with two other spheres, each of 5kg. One shoots off at an angle of 60 degrees from the normal, and one at 45 degrees from the normal. There sphere that fires off at 60 degrees now travels at...

Homework Statement A 20 kg wood ball hangs from 2m long wire. The maximum tension the wire can withstand without breaking is 400N. A 1 kg projectile traveling horizontally hits and embeds itself in the wood ball. What is the largest speed this projectile can have with causing the wire to...

I'm taking Physics for the first time in three years by correspondence... I'm struggling with a few questions, so any help would be greatly appreciated! I promise there isn't actually THAT many questions here. For the most part I have the answers to the parts a and b. Thanks in advance for any...

Say I have three wheels. Their characteristics are the following: WHEEL ONE 20 kg mass 10 cm radius Accelerated from 0 to 10 m/s in one second WHEEL TWO 10 kg mass 20 cm radius Accelerated from 0 to 10 m/s in one second WHEEL THREE 10 kg mass 10 cm radius Accelerated from 0 to...

Homework Statement Calculus based so feel free to explain with integrals and such Homework Equations \vec{p}=m\vec{v} Newton's 3rd law, action reaction forces are internal forces. The Attempt at a Solution I Guess my question is just understand why I got those answers. I'm a...

True or False: As a stone slides down a frictionless ice covered hill its mechanical energy is concerved but its momentum is not. False- if mechanical energy is concerved so is momentum right??

Homework Statement A large plate is dropped and breaks into three large pieces. The pieces fly apart parallel to the floor. As the plate falls, its momentum has only vertical components, none parallel to the floor. After the collision, the component of momentum parallel to the floor must...

Homework Statement An astronaut is a distance L from her spaceship, and is at rest with respect to the ship, when she discovers that her tether has broken. She tosses a wrench with a speed of V_W in the opposite direction of the ship to propel herself back to the ship. The astronaut has mass...

Homework Statement An astronaut in his space suit and with a propulsion unit (empty of its gas propellant) strapped to his back has a mass of 143 kg. During a space-walk, the unit, which has been filled with propellant gas, ejects some gas with a velocity of +30.9 m/s. As a result, the...