A massive projectile traveling at 23 m/s elastically collides (in one dimension) with a very light target mass ( $m _ { \text {projectile } } m _ { \text {target } }$ ) that was initially at rest. After the collision, the velocity of the target mass
A) is 23 m/s.
B) is 33 m/s.
C) is 46 m/s.
D) cannot be determined (masses not given).

Question

A massive projectile traveling at 23 m/s elastically collides (in one dimension) with a very light target mass ( $m _ { \text {projectile } } > > m _ { \text {target } }$ ) that was initially at rest. After the collision, the velocity of the target mass
A) is 23 m/s.
B) is 33 m/s.
C) is 46 m/s.
D) cannot be determined (masses not given).

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In an elastic collision where the projectile mass is much larger than the target mass, the target mass will move away with approximately twice the velocity of the projectile. Hence, the target mass will have a velocity of 46 m/s.

A Massive Projectile Traveling at 23 M/s Elastically Collides (In mprojectile >>mtarget m _ { \text {projectile } } > > m _ { \text {target } }mprojectile ​>>mtarget ​

A Massive Projectile Traveling at 23 M/s Elastically Collides (In $m _ { \text {projectile } } > > m _ { \text {target } }$