Provincial Exam: Simple momentum explosion question

AI Thread Summary
A physics problem involves a 1.0 kg puck that explodes into three pieces, with two pieces having known masses and velocities. The momentum before the explosion is zero, leading to the conclusion that the total momentum after must also equal zero, adhering to the conservation of momentum. The user calculated the momentum of the first two pieces and attempted to find the third piece's momentum using the Pythagorean theorem. However, the calculated answer of 7.8 kg m/s was incorrect; the correct answer is 3.3 kg m/s. The user seeks clarification on the mistake made in their calculations.
Senjai
Messages
104
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



A 1.0kg physics puck is at rest when a small explosion breaks it into three pieces. A 0.50 kg piece, goes north at 10 m/s, a .3 kg piece goes east at 20 m/s. What is the magnitude of the momentum of the third piece.

Homework Equations



p = mv
Momentum Before = Momentum After

The Attempt at a Solution



So i know that the momentum before is zero, so the sum of the momentum on the x-axis is zero, and the sum on the y-axis is zero.

Because the first two pieces are at right angles to each other, i calculated the net momentum, or their resultant, and stated that the momentum of the third piece should be equal and opposite to maintain the law of momentum conservation.

So i determined: the first piece had a momentum of 5 kg m/s north, the second, 6 kg m/s east.

Plugged the values into the pythagorean theorum and got 7.8 kg m/s..

Which is an answer on the sheet, but it's wrong. The correct answer is 3.3 kg m/s

Could anyone tell me where i went wrong??

Regards,
Senjai
 
Physics news on Phys.org
*bump* :(
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...

Similar threads

Replies
4
Views
704
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
9
Views
5K
Replies
4
Views
3K
Back
Top