A bullet of mass is fired horizontally with a speed of into a stationary wooden block…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A bullet of mass 20g is fired horizontally with a speed of 300ms−1 into a stationary wooden block of mass 980g resting on a smooth horizontal surface. The bullet embeds completely in the block and they move together after impact.
(i) Determine the common speed of the bullet–block system immediately after the impact.
(ii) Calculate the kinetic energy of the bullet just before impact.
(iii) Calculate the kinetic energy of the combined system immediately after impact.
(iv) Find the percentage loss of kinetic energy that occurs during the embedding process.