A racquetball strikes a wall with a speed of 30 m/s and rebounds with a speed of 26 m/s.The collision takes 20 ms.What is the average acceleration of the ball during the collision? A)zero B)200 m/s² C)2800 m/s² D)1500 m/s² E)1300 m/s²

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

We can use the formula for acceleration during a collision:

a = (v2 - v1) / t

where v1 is the initial velocity, v2 is the final velocity, and t is the time during the collision. Plugging in the given values, we get:

a = (26 m/s - 30 m/s) / (20 ms)
a = -4 m/s / (0.02 s)
a = -200 m/s^2

Note that the negative sign indicates that the acceleration is in the opposite direction to the initial motion of the ball (i.e. towards the wall). The magnitude of the acceleration is 200 m/s^2, so the closest answer choice is C, 2800 m/s^2 (which is 200 times larger than the actual acceleration because it is in millimeters per second squared, rather than meters per second squared).

A Racquetball Strikes a Wall with a Speed of 30