- #1
mattward70
- 1
- 0
I am having difficulty understanding a basic idea about momentum.
I already learned several different types of momentum problems but this one is confusing me. Thanks for your help in advance.
"A 10 g bullet is fired into a 10 kg wood block that is at rest on a wood table. The block, with the bullet embedded, slides 5.0 cm across the table. What is the speed of the bullet?"
I have tried to read past threads on this for the sake of repitition but i couldn't find any like this. We haven't covered Energy yet, and most of the past threads either dealt with friction (which I assume is neglegent, because it is not mentioned, and our teacher wouldn't require us to find a chart on the coefficient of wood to wood) or the problems dealt with energy, which I don't know how to do yet.
I understand that this is an inelastic collision, but I don't understand where to start. What confuses me is that you know the box slides 5 cm but you don't know how long it took or its acceleration... It just seems like there are too many unknowns to solve the problem. No, I didnt wait until the last minute to do the homework assignment, and yes i will be going to my teachers office hours tomorrow, but its bugging me and I'd like to know this technique before i cal sleep tonight so any help will be appreciated...thanks
I already learned several different types of momentum problems but this one is confusing me. Thanks for your help in advance.
"A 10 g bullet is fired into a 10 kg wood block that is at rest on a wood table. The block, with the bullet embedded, slides 5.0 cm across the table. What is the speed of the bullet?"
I have tried to read past threads on this for the sake of repitition but i couldn't find any like this. We haven't covered Energy yet, and most of the past threads either dealt with friction (which I assume is neglegent, because it is not mentioned, and our teacher wouldn't require us to find a chart on the coefficient of wood to wood) or the problems dealt with energy, which I don't know how to do yet.
I understand that this is an inelastic collision, but I don't understand where to start. What confuses me is that you know the box slides 5 cm but you don't know how long it took or its acceleration... It just seems like there are too many unknowns to solve the problem. No, I didnt wait until the last minute to do the homework assignment, and yes i will be going to my teachers office hours tomorrow, but its bugging me and I'd like to know this technique before i cal sleep tonight so any help will be appreciated...thanks