Momentum Conservation in Tennis Ball Collision

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a momentum conservation problem involving a tennis racket and a tennis ball during a collision. The original poster presents a scenario where a racket strikes a ball, and they seek to determine the racket's velocity after impact and the average force exerted on the ball during contact.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply the conservation of momentum to find the final velocity of the racket and questions how to approach the calculation of average force. Some participants affirm that the first part is indeed a conservation of momentum question, while the second part relates to impulse.

Discussion Status

The discussion has progressed with the original poster setting up the momentum equation but encountering difficulties in solving for the final velocity. They express confusion regarding which mass to use for calculating force in the second part of the problem. There is no explicit consensus, but some guidance has been provided regarding the nature of the problem.

Contextual Notes

The original poster indicates they are given all necessary values except for the final velocity of the racket, and they mention a specific time duration for the contact between the racket and the ball. There is an acknowledgment of potential confusion regarding the application of mass in the force calculation.

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A tennis player swings her 1000 g racket with a speed of 8.00 m/s. She hits a 60 g tennis ball that was approaching her at a speed of 11.0 m/s. The ball rebounds at 36.0 m/s.

1)How fast is her racket moving immediately after the impact? You can ignore the interaction of the racket with her hand for the brief duration of the collision.

2)If the tennis ball and racket are in contact for 9.00 ms, what is the average force that the racket exerts on the ball?

is this a momentum problem where i figure out the p_initial and then p_final and subtract final from initial? and then solve for velocity after from the p_final? and I am not sure for the second question. thanks in advance for your help.
 
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As you suggested, the first part looks like a conservation of momentum question. The second part deals with impulse.
 
ok i got a little farther... basically i set it up like m_r*v_r + m_b*v_b = m_r2*v_r2' + m_b2*v_b2'. where m_r is the mass of racket v_r is velocity of racket m_b is mass of ball and v_b is velocity of ball and same for other side except they are the final values. i am given all of the values except for v_r2' and i tried solving for it but i get a wrong answer. for the second part i just did accel = (v_b' - v_b)/t and then F=ma. but i am confused as to which mass to use because using the racket's mass gave me a wrong answer.
 
nevermind i got it
 

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