A gun of mass 10kg fires a bullet of mass 240g at a speed of 300ms-1. What is the speed of the gun's recoil?

First, convert the mass of the bullet into SI units -> 240g=0.24kg

The law of the conservation of momentum states that m1v1=m2v2. To find the speed of the gun, rearrange for v1 to give v1=m2v2/m1 and substitute in the given values; m2=0.24kg, v2=300ms-1, and m1=10kg. This gives v1=0.24x300/10=7.2ms-1

JF

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

How does having a rotating plate in a microwave help food to be heated eavenly?


Describe and explain the life cycle of a star?


Describe the workings behind the Photoelectric effect


A sample of pure gold has a density of 19300 kgm^-3. If the density of a gold nucleus is 1.47x10^17Kgm^-3, discuss what this implies about the structure of the gold atom. [4 marks]