Impulse On Ball

Question

When spiking a volleyball, a player changes the velocity of the ball from 4.5 m/s to -24 m/s along a certain direction.

If the impulse delivered to the ball by the player is -9.2 kg⋅m/s, what is the mass of the volleyball?

Answer 1

Hi Omar M.!

To solve this problem, we will use a special case of the impulse-momentum theorem. In this particular situation, the impulse of the force acting on some object is equal to the change in the momentum of that object:

J = FΔt = Δp = mΔv

With the information given, we can rearrange the equation to solve for mass using the terms we have:

J = FΔt = Δp = mΔv => m = J/Δv = J/(v_f - v_o)

<=> -9.2 kg*m*s^-1/(-24 m*s^-1 - 4.5 m*s^-1)

m = 0.32 kg

Hope this helps!

Cheers