Energy/Momentum related question

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving energy and momentum, specifically focusing on a collision between a ball and a cube, and subsequent calculations related to their velocities and the distance they fall from a table.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the horizontal velocity of the ball and the cube after a collision using impulse and conservation of momentum. They express uncertainty about their calculations. Another participant suggests checking for any unclear concepts. A follow-up question is raised regarding the distance between the impact points of the objects with the floor.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided feedback on the original poster's calculations, indicating that they appear correct. Guidance is offered on how to approach the additional question about the distance fallen, referencing the height of the table and the horizontal velocities calculated earlier. Multiple interpretations of the problem are being explored.

Contextual Notes

The problem is based on a physics test question from 1995, and there are references to impulse being determined from a diagram. The discussion includes the use of kinematic equations for calculating distances.

daewoo
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I got this question that I'm stumped on, was hoping if someone could see if I'm correct and what i did wrong.

A 5.0kg ball initialy at rests at the edge of 2.0m long, 1.2 m high frictionless table, A hard plastic cube of mass 0.50kg slides across the table at a speed of 26m/s and strikes the ball, causing the ball to leave the table in the direction in which the cube was moving.

It also gave us Implulse which is 12N/S

1) Determine the horrizontal velocity of the ball immediatley after the collision
2) Determine the velocity of the cube immdiately after the collision

What i did:
for the 1st question since they gave us impulse which is equal to FT=MV i basically divided the impulse by the mass to get my velocity of 2.4 m/s which I'm not sure if i did right.

for the second one, i went M1V1 + M2V2 = M1V1(prime) + M2V2(prime) and basically i solved for V2 prime and got 2.0 m/s.

Did i do them right? if not tell me what i have to do. Thanks
 
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Looks OK. Let us know if there are any concepts that are unclear or confusing.
 
well actually there's another question to that, That i can't figure out

3) Determine the distance between the two points of impact of the objects with the floor.

Any ideas?
 
Since you know how high the table is off of the ground, you can find out how long it takes for either object to hit the ground after it gets to the edge of the table and starts to fall. You've already found the post-impact horizontal velocity of both objects, so you can use that to calculate how far away from the table each object will land.
 
old...but still good..

I know this problem is old, but I'm sure many other people check up on this problem, (as it is a 1995 ap physics c test free response problem.) You get impulse= 12 by counting squares on the diagram. I got the same answers as the first poster, and for the last part, (part e), I got 1.51 m apart by using the kinematic distance equations:

Delta Y: .5Ayt^2
and
Delta X: Vixt

(some parts of the equation cancel out because there's no horiz. acceleration and there is no initial y velocity.)

hope this helps.
 

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