Physics questions

Question

A bullet of mass 50.0 g strikes a wooden block of mass 5.0 kg and becomes embedded in the block. The block and bullet then flies off at 10.0 m/s. What was the original velocity of the bullet in m/s?

A basketball with a mass of 0.50 kg is thrown horizontally against a wall with a velocity of 15 m/s. If the ball rebounds with a velocity of 13 m/s, what is the impulse of the collision?

Answer 1

For the bullet, conservation of momentum gives mv = (m + M)V to solve for v.

For the basketball, the impulse is m(v₂ – v₁), keeping in mind that in this case v₁ and v₂ have opposite signs.