Question

a child tosses a 0.20kg softball straight up into the air and hits the ball horizontally. The ball receives an impulse of 3.0N*s. what will be the horizontal speed of the ball?

Answer 1

According to Newton's 2nd law of force, we have,

F = m * a....(i), where

F = applied force

m = mass of object

a = accelaration caused due to the applied force F

Now since acceleration is rate of change of velocity, from (i) we have,

F = m * (v/t)....(ii), where

v = horizontal velocity (speed)

t = time

Thus from (ii),

F * t = m * v....(iii)

As per provided data,

Impulse = F * t = 3.0 N*s

Mass = m = 0.20 kg

Thus from (iii),

3.0 = 0.20 * v

Or, v = 15 m/s

Thus, the horizontal speed of the ball is 15 m/s.