Monday, November 4, 2013

An 8.09 kg bowling ball moves in a straight line at 1.28 m/s. How fast must a 1.34 g Ping-Pong ball move in a straight line so that the two balls have the same momentum? Answer in units of m/s.

This question is made a lot simpler because it states that both the bowling ball and the ping pong ball are moving in straight lines. That means we can calculate for just linear momentum. To calculate momentum, you multiple the mass (in kilograms) by the velocity (in meters per second).
The equation can be written p = m*v where P is momentum, m is mass, and v is velocity. Simply plug in the numbers from the initial question.
P = 8.08 x 1.28
P = 10.3552 kg-m/s
In order to find the velocity needed by the ping pong ball to achieve the same momentum, the formula can be written in the following format.
V = P/m
You will also need to convert the ping pong ball's gram mass into kilograms.
V = 10.3552/.00134
V = 7,727.7611 m/s
The ping pong ball will be moving incredibly fast. To give a comparison, the speed of sound is only 343 m/s.

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