I\'m studying momentum in physics and I have a couple questions about the Ballis
ID: 2263768 • Letter: I
Question
I'm studying momentum in physics and I have a couple questions about the Ballistic Pendulum model. In this scenario:
You will fire a paintball into a pendulum bob and measure how far it moves horizontally. Knowing that the pendulum swings in a circular arc allows you to calculate to what height. The apparatus shown in the figure consists of a pendulum bob
(labeled canister) and a paintball marker mounted inside a wooden box. The pendulum bob is suspended from the ceiling. A paintball is propelled from a paintball marker by high pressure CO2 gas.
a.) Define the paintball plus pendulum bob as a system at the instant that the paintball collides with the bob. Do any external forces act on this system? Illustrate your answer using a free body diagram.
b.) Will momentum be conserved during the collision? Is any approximation involve? Explain.
c.) Will momentum be conserved while the pendulum is swining? Explain.
Thanks!!
Explanation / Answer
A) During collision with the bob tension in the string and weight of the system,which is the centripetal force are the only forces acting on it and it is normal to the motion of the bob
B)During the collision momentum is conserved because tension and weight,the only forces acting on the system is perpemdicular to the direction of motion and hence no effect on momentum
C)During circular motion momentum is not conserved because forces such as weight and tension start acting in the direction of motion