Question

A bullet mass is 15 gm is fired from mass 5 kg with a velocity of 500m calculate the recoil the velocity og the gun and also explain the recoil velocity

Answer 1

The recoil velocity of the rifle is -0.6 m/s.

This is a conservation of momentum problem. The explosion of the gunpowder is an internal force allowing us to use the conservation of momentum. Initially the rifle and the bullet are at rest.

Σ

p

0

=

Σ

p

f

0

=

m

r

v

r

+

m

b

v

b

0

=

(

5

)

(

v

r

)

+

(

0.015

)

(

200

)

−

3

=

5

v

r

v

r

=

−

0.6

m

s

The negative sign tells us the rifle moves in the opposite direction of the bullet