A 0.5 kg ball is moving at a speed of 10 ms⁻¹. A bat hits the ball, and the ball rebounds in the opp

Question

A 0.5 kg ball is moving at a speed of 10 ms⁻¹. A bat hits the ball, and the ball rebounds in the opposite direction with a speed of 20 ms⁻¹. If the bat was in contact with the ball for 0.02 seconds, what was the impulse of the bat?

Answer 1

A 0.5 kg ball is moving at a speed of 10 ms⁻¹. A bat hits the ball, and the ball rebounds in the opposite direction with a speed of 20 ms⁻¹. If the bat was in contact with the ball for 0.02 seconds, what was the impulse of the bat?

5 Ns
10 Ns
15 Ns ✓
30 Ns

Explanation

Impulse equals the change in momentum. Take the bat’s direction as positive, so the ball starts at −10 m s⁻¹ and ends at +20 m s⁻¹.

Impulse = 0.5 × (20 − (−10)) = 0.5 × 30 = 15 Ns.

The contact time is not needed for this.

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