If the ball has lost half the magnitude of its impact momentum immediately after it recoils, to what height does the ball reach after its first rebound? 1. h 2. h 3 3. 0 4. h 2 5. h 4

1 Answer
Dec 11, 2017

See below.

Explanation:

Let the ball be dropped from a height H.

therefore,
u=0
a=-g
S=-H

where u is initial velocity, a is acceleration due to gravity, S equals distance traveled.

So,
v^2 = u^2 + 2aS
v^2 = 2(-g)(-H)
v = sqrt(2gH)

(You could have also derived this using energy conservation)

Let the mass of the ball be m.

initial momentum = msqrt(2gH)

final momentum = 1/2initial momentum
= (msqrt(2gH))/2

We consider the mass of the ball to remain same

So,

v_o =(sqrt(2gH))/2

where v_o equals the velocity of the ball immediately after the impact.

Since we want to find the height,

u_o = (sqrt(2gH))/2
a = -g
v_o = 0

where u_o is the initial velocity after the impact, a is acceleration due to gravity, v_o is final velocity which is zero since the ball is moving upwards.

v_o^2 = u_o^2 + 2aS
0 = (gH)/2 + 2(-g)(S)
S = H/4

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