What is the acceleration of a bullet passing through a board?

[fiziks09]

Hello, please any help will be very much appreciated;

A bullet is fired through a board, 14.0 cm thick, with its line of motion perpendicular to the face of the board. If it enters with a speed of 450 m/s and emerges with a speed of 220 m/s, what is the bullet's acceleration as it passes through the board?

 

[JaredJames]

Hi there, this belongs in the homework section.

Jared

 

[JaredJames]

Using: v² = u² + 2as

Where s = distance, u = initial speed, v = final speed and a = acceleration.

You know s, u and v. Plug them in and rearrange to give an answer for a.

Don't forget to convert cm to m.

We cannot give you direct answers as per the guidelines, but we can help, however in future you must show your attempt.

Jared

 

[fiziks09]

Oh thanks very much...

 

[rwisz]

I would first like to clarify that the given scenario is an example of motion in one dimension, specifically in the x-direction. The bullet's initial velocity is 450 m/s in the positive x-direction, and its final velocity is 220 m/s in the negative x-direction.

To determine the bullet's acceleration, we can use the equation a = (vf - vi)/t, where a is the acceleration, vf is the final velocity, vi is the initial velocity, and t is the time taken for the bullet to pass through the board.

Since the bullet's motion is perpendicular to the board, it will take the bullet the same amount of time to enter and exit the board. Therefore, we can use the thickness of the board (14.0 cm) as the distance traveled by the bullet.

Converting the thickness of the board to meters (0.14 m), we can now plug in the values into the equation:

a = (220 m/s - 450 m/s)/0.14 m

a = -1571.4 m/s^2

This means that the bullet's acceleration as it passes through the board is -1571.4 m/s^2, which is in the opposite direction of its initial velocity. This acceleration is quite high, which is expected as the bullet experiences a significant change in velocity in a short amount of time.

I hope this helps and provides a scientific explanation for the given scenario. If you have any further questions or need clarification, please do not hesitate to ask.