Question

You are standing on a sheet of ice that covers the football stadium parking lot in Buffalo; there is negligible friction between your feet and the ice. A friend throws you a .400kg football that is traveling horizontally at 12m/s. Your mass is 65kg. If you catch the ball, with what speed do you and the ball move afterwards?

Answer 1

Question#19425

You are standing on a sheet of ice that covers the football stadium parking lot in Buffalo; there is negligible friction between your feet and the ice. A friend throws you a .400kg football that is traveling horizontally at 12m/s. Your mass is 65kg. If you catch the ball, with what speed do you and the ball move afterwards?

Solution:

Let:

$$m _ {1} = 0.4 \, \text{kg}$$ $$m _ {2} = 65 \, \text{kg}$$ $$v _ {1} = 12 \, \text{m/s}$$ $$v _ {2} -?$$

According to the Newton's laws the total linear momentum cannot change:

$$m _ {1} v _ {1} = (m _ {1} + m _ {2}) v _ {2}$$ $$v _ {2} = \frac {m _ {1} v _ {1}}{m _ {1} + m _ {2}}$$ $$v _ {2} = \frac {0.4 \times 12}{0.4 + 65} = 0.073 \, \text{m/s}$$

Answer: 0.073 m/s.