An office worker smacks a table...

Question

An office worker smacks a table, bringing his hand to rest in 0.0025 seconds from an initial speed of 4.00 m/s. How much force is exerted on the table, taking the effective mass of his forearm and hand to be 1.5 kg?

Answer 1

Force x time = change of momentum

Initial momentum = mv = 1.5 x 4

Final momentum = 0 as hand is at rest

Change = 1.5 x 4 = F x 0.0025