Chapter 3: Q53P (page 127)
Object A has mass and initial momentum , just before it strikes object B, which has mass . Just before the collision object B has initial momentum . (a) Consider a system consisting of both objects A and B. What is the total initial momentum of this system just before the collision? (b) The forces that A and B exert on each other are very large but last for a very short time. If we choose a time interval from just before to just after the collision, what is the approximate value of the impulse applied to the two-object system due to forces exerted on the system by objects outside the system? (c) Therefore, what does the Momentum Principle predict that the total final momentum of the system will be just after the collision? (d) Just after the collision, object A is observed to have momentum . What is the momentum of object B just after the collision?
Short Answer
a) The total initial momentum of this system just before the collision is ,
b) the approximate value of the impulse applied to the two-object system due to forces exerted on the system by objects outside the system is ,
c) the total final momentum of the system just after the collision is and
d) the momentum of the object B just after the collision is .
, the mass of the Earth is
, and the center-to-center distance is
. How far from the center of the Sun is the center of the mass of the Sun-Earth system? Note that the Sun’s radius is
.
apart (about one atomic radius). Which interactions between two electrons is stronger, the gravitational attraction or the electric repulsion? If the two electrons are at rest, will they begin to move toward each other or away from each other? Note that since both the gravitational and the electric forces depend on the inverse square distance, this comparison holds true at all distances, not just at a distance of
.
are connected by a low-mass spring (Figure 3.63). This device is thrown through the air with low speed, so air resistance is negligible. The motion is complicated: the balls whirl around each other, and at the same time the system vibrates, with continually changing stretch of the spring. At a particular instant, the
ball has a velocity
and the
ball has a velocity
. a) At this instant, what is the total momentum of the device? b) What is the net gravitational (vector) force exerted by the earth on the device? c) At a time
later, what is the total momentum of the device?