Question

A hovering mosquito is hit by a raindrop that is 50 times as massive and falling at 8.1 m/s , a typical raindrop speed. how fast is the raindrop, with the attached mosquito, falling immediately afterward if the collision is perfectly inelastic?

Answer 1

here we will use the momentum conservation

initial total momentum = final total momentum

`P_i = P_f`

`m_1v_(1i) + m_2v_(2i) = m_1v_(1f) + m_2v_(2f)`

now plug in all data here

`m(0) + 50m(8.1) = mv + 50mv`

`405 = 51 v`

`v = 7.94 m/s`

so the final speed will be 7.94 m/s