Nagaraju Kandru
Last Activity: 14 Years ago
2) here, the system of consideration is the wall.
check, whether there is any external force acting on the system.
certainly, there is some external force(along the normal to the wall) on the wall exerted by the ball.
so, conservation of linear momentum is not applicable to the wall.
If we consider (the wall+the ball) as the system, then there is no external force in horizontal direction.
(assuming, the wall is vertical and the ball is moving horizontally).
so, we can apply conservation of linear momentum.
let 'm' be the mass of the ball and 'M' be the mass of the wall. if we take the wall is rigidly fixed.
then ,
(m)x(v) + (M)x(0) = (m)x(v') + (M)x(0).
=> v = v'.
=> elastic collision.
Most important point regarding conservation of linear momentum is, THE SYSTEM which we consider.
if there is no external force in a particular direction, then apply conservation of linear momentum in that direction.
if some external force acts, then apply IMPULSE EQUATIONS.
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If u 've any querries plzz feel free to post them.
Regards,
Nagaraju Kandru(MSc)
IIT-Guwahati