Question

A small rubber ball is thrown at a heavier, larger basketball that is still. The small ball bounces off the basketball. Assume there are no outside forces acting on the balls. a. How does the force on the small ball compare to the force on the basketball? b. Compare the total momentum of the two balls before and after the collision. c. The mass of the basketball is 600 grams and its velocity before the small ball hits is 0 m/s. The mass of the small ball is 100 grams and its velocity is +5 m/s before the collision and -4 m/s afterward. What is the velocity of the basketball after the collision?

Answer 1

Using law of conservation of momentum we have zero + 0.1 x 5 is equal to 0.1 x minus 4 + 0.6 x a where a is the velocity of basketball which is + 1.5 metre per second.