High School

Momentum Worksheet

1. A 124 lb kid standing on roller skates holds a 29.6 lb rock at rest. He throws the rock forward at 19.7 ft/s. At what velocity will the kid move backward?

Answer :

Final answer:

The kid will move backwards with a velocity of approximately -4.69 ft/s.

Explanation:

To solve this problem, we can use the principle of conservation of momentum. The initial momentum of the system, which includes the kid and the rock, is equal to the final momentum of the system.

Let's denote the velocity of the kid as vk and the velocity of the rock as vr. The mass of the kid is 124 lb and the mass of the rock is 29.6 lb.

Initially, the rock is at rest, so its initial momentum is zero. The momentum of the kid is given by:

Momentum of the kid = mass of the kid * velocity of the kid

Final momentum of the system = Momentum of the kid + Momentum of the rock

Since the total momentum is conserved, we can set the initial momentum equal to the final momentum:

0 = (mass of the kid * vk) + (mass of the rock * vr)

Substituting the given values, we have:

0 = (124 lb * vk) + (29.6 lb * 19.7 ft/s)

Solving for vk, we find:

vk = - (29.6 lb * 19.7 ft/s) / 124 lb

Therefore, the velocity of the kid moving backwards is approximately -4.69 ft/s.

Learn more about momentum here:

https://brainly.com/question/30677308

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