- #1
Josh0768
- 53
- 6
- Homework Statement
- A particle is situated between two walls that are closing in on each other. The particle is moving at 1.61 km/s in the -x direction, the left wall is moving at 1.01 km/s in the +x direction, and the right wall is moving at 2.51 km/s in the -x direction. What is the velocity of the particle after bouncing off of the left wall 10 times and the right wall 9 times?
- Relevant Equations
- Delta v = v final - v initial
Conservation of momentum
???
I thought it would be a good idea to pretend that the walls are stationary and that each time the particle hits a wall, it gets a velocity addition of the velocity of the wall it’s hitting. Using this I ended up at the formula
V = initial velocity of particle + n(velocity of left wall) + m(velocity of right wall)
where n and m are the number of collisions with the left and right walls, respectively.
Needless to say, this does not give me the right answer. Thoughts?
V = initial velocity of particle + n(velocity of left wall) + m(velocity of right wall)
where n and m are the number of collisions with the left and right walls, respectively.
Needless to say, this does not give me the right answer. Thoughts?
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