In order to close a door, you throw an object at the door. Which would be more effective in closing the door, a 50g tennis ball or a 50g lump of sticky clay? Explain clearly what physics principles you used to draw your conclusion.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Tennis ball would be more effective.

Step by step solution

01

Given data

50g tennis ball or 50g lump of sticky clay.

02

The rate of change of momentum

The applied force equals the rate of change of momentum.

03

Effect of clay and ball on the door

Closing the door with a tennis ball is more successful since the ball bounces back at you whereas the clay sticks to the door. In this situation, the change in momentum of the tennis ball will be greater, and the net force will be bigger (the net force can be expressed as the rate of change of momentum).

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

In an elastic collision involving known masses and initial momenta, how many unknown quantities are there after the collision? How many equations are there? In a sticking collision involving known masses and initial momenta, how many unknown quantities are there after the collision? Explain how you can determine the amount of kinetic energy change.

Two asteroids in outer space collide and stick together. The mass of each asteroid, and the velocity of each asteroid before the impact, are known. To find the momentum of the stuck-together asteroids after the impact, what approach would be useful? (1) Use the Energy Principle. (2) Use the Momentum Principle. (3) It depends on whether or not the speed of the asteroids was near the speed of light. (4) Use the relationship among velocity, displacement, and time. (5) It depends on whether the collision was elastic or inelastic.

Give an example of what we can learn about matter through the use of momentum and energy conservation applied to scattering experiments. Explain what it is that we cannot learn this way, for which we need to measure the distribution of scattering angles.

A projectile of massm1moving with speed v1in the +xdirection strikes a stationary target of massm2head-on. The collision is elastic. Use the Momentum Principle and the Energy Principle to determine the final velocities of the projectile and target, making no approximations concerning the masses. After obtaining your results, see what your equations would predict ifm1m2, or ifm2m1. Verify that these predictions are in agreement with the analysis in this chapter of the Ping-Pong ball hitting the bowling ball, and of the bowling ball hitting the Ping-Pong ball.

There is an unstable particle called the “sigma-minus” (), which can decay into a neutron and a negative pion (ττ):-n+ττ-. The mass of the -is 1196MeV/c2, the mass of the neutron is 939 MeV/c2, and the mass of the ττis 140MeV/c2. Write equations that could be used to calculate the momentum and energy of the neutron and the pion. You do not need to solve the equations, which would involve some messy algebra. However, be clear in showing that you have enough equations that you could in principle solve for the unknown quantities in your equations. It is advantageous to write the equations not in terms of v but rather in terms of E and p; remember that E2-(ρc)2=(mc2)2.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free